A Region Not My Own

by ObsidianOlive

Summary:

Derek Tracy, a determined young man from the Hoenn region, decides to do away with tradition and take on the Kanto region as his first Gym League circuit! Follow him as he establishes himself among the local trainers, captures Pokemon completely foreign to him, and tries to prove himself to a region not his own!

Chapter 1

The bus buzzed and vibrated as it thundered down the uneven road. The pitter patter of the engine occasionally interrupted the dull blowing of cold air from the ceiling vents.

Kanto really needs to invest in better roads. I thought, looking out the window and into the open countryside. This land was far more spacious than home. Trees dotted open fields and shrubs made neat little groupings around flattened hills. If this had been Hoenn, you wouldn't have been able to see more than a few feet in front of you without being cut off by dense foliage.

This isn't home, but that's kinda the point. I reminded myself. You wanted something different, and you got it.

I stifled a yawn as I checked my PokéNav+, a brand-new orange device that fit snugly in the palm of my hand. A little green arrow showed my location on the map of Kanto that I had downloaded before leaving home.

Almost there. I flipped closed the digital display on the device. I really hope the ten-hour flight and two-hour bus ride were worth it.

Looking around the empty bus, there really wasn't much to do to pass the time, so my eyes once again wandered to the open fields of southern Kanto. A small stream split the unchanging landscape, a little blue sliver of color among the yellows and pale greens. An ache in my chest started to form already as I couldn't help but think about home.

Was I right to refuse Mom and Dad's help? I could have already started my journey if I had just let one of them sponsor me, instead of going halfway across the world to 'make it on my own'. That wasn't even right, either. I wouldn't be headed to the Poké-Lab if Dad hadn't called in a favor and gotten me in touch with the Professor.

I sighed, pulling up the hood on my jacket. I could hear my father's voice in my head, even without him there. There's no use crying over a broken Pokéball. You made your decision and you need to stick with it.

A crackle of static came loud over the speakers of the bus. "Passengers, we are arriving in Pallet Town, please make sure to grab all of your belongings before you depart. Thank you for taking Houndoom Transit."

I glanced around, the announcement shaking me out of my thoughts. In the last few minutes, we had pulled into a smaller town. White buildings with red doors and thatched roofs lined up in neat suburban lines. Their yards were huge, far bigger than anything you could own in Lilycove. We passed young children running through the streets, and old folks casually trailing behind them. I saw the occasional farmer driving a large truck, or a delivery person walking the mail, but not a single person my age.

Pallet Town was the place where people began and ended their Pokémon journeys, but not where they stayed. I thought. Everyone my age must have shipped out when this year's Season started.

Pokémon of different shapes and colors were here too. Purple-furred rats and tanned birds flitted about the place, completely mundane to the natives but exotic to me. For the first time since landing at the Viridian airport, I felt excitement shiver its way through my chest, replacing that dull weight that had been there the entire flight. This was one of the reasons I had chosen to start here. This was part of why a journey across Kanto enticed me so much more than the idea of trekking around my home region.

And in the distance, I could see a bright red roof with a small windmill attached atop a hill. The building was large, yet homely, and it seemed to watch over the rest of Pallet Town like a teacher at the front of a classroom. That was where my journey was supposed to begin. The Laboratory of Pokémon Professor Samuel Oak.

---

The Lab, which I had already seen to be bigger than most buildings in Pallet Town, was actually far larger than I had imagined it to be. The massive main building stretched over a hundred meters wide, and there were several other tertiary buildings stretched across a large grass clearing. Beyond them, there were acres and acres of grazing grass that was lined with white picket fencing. I could see distant dark shapes moving across the pastures, but I couldn't make out what Pokémon they were supposed to be at this distance.

I walked up the white steps leading to the building, grasping the straps of my small satchel tight. Every step had a note of finality to it. I could feel a cold weight pressing against my stomach as all the excitement I'd had on the bus left me.

Eventually, after possibly hundreds of steps, a wide wooden door stood before me. There was no knocker or doorbell. All of the windows on this side of the building looked to be on the second floor, so I couldn't even peek in to see anyone who might come and greet me. I gulped as my eyes caught a small bronze plaque beside the door.

S. Oak - Professor of Pokémon

I felt my breath catch just a bit as every bit of moisture in my body abandoned my mouth. While Professor Oak wasn't from Hoenn, you couldn't go anywhere in the world without hearing the name Samuel Oak, former Champion of Kanto and the Leading Scientific Authority on Pokémon.

Maybe I just go home? If I leave now I could probably still get Dad to sponsor my journey. Rebellious thoughts played in my mind. I shook my head, pinching my nose. No. You made it this far, knock on the damn door.

Before my irrational brain could stop me, I thrust my hand forward. My knuckles impacted the wood with a satisfying thunk. Immediately, I heard movement within the lab.

"Coming! Be just one moment!" A muffled voice called. Even from here, I could tell that the voice was male and somewhat elderly. The moisture from my mouth reappeared, but this time as sweat on my palms.

After a few moments of staring intently at the wooden door and attempting to ignore the shuffling noises from inside, I heard footsteps begin to approach. I had just enough time to absentmindedly think 'Huh, the door is made out of oak.' before said door creaked inward.

Out stepped a man, barely taller than myself, with sun-touched skin and white hair. He wore a white lab coat, clean but very wrinkled, over a red polo and a pair of khakis. His eyes were curious and sharp, but surrounded with smile lines. His nose was large, and his mouth was slightly open in an unknowing grin.

Professor Oak glanced around me as he pulled the door to the lab fully open. "Oh, yes? Who might you be?" His voice was high and leathery, like the sound of an old book being opened for the first time in a long time.

I stood there for a moment, staring. This was the man who had conquered both Kanto and Johto? The man who had outdone centuries of research in just the first few years of his career? I was actually taken aback by how normal he seemed. He looked more like someone's grandfather than the living legend that the world made him out to be.

I snapped back to reality as his words registered in my brain. "Hello, I- I'm Derek Tracy?" I cleared my throat, shaking the nervousness out as much as I could. "I think my dad called about getting my Trainer card?"

The old man's eyes widened with recognition. "Ah, yes! I remember now! Mr. Tracy from the Hoenn region!" He opened the door and gestured me forward. "Please come in, young man. I've just finished up researching for the day."

I bowed my head as I passed him. "Thank you, sir."

The inside of the Oak Laboratory was just as spectacular as the outside. Stretched out in front of me was a wide room, though it was more akin to a warehouse, with massive metal machines and rows of bookshelves and computers. Every surface was covered in stacks of paperwork, or half-finished devices. The high ceilings had arched windows, letting natural light flow into the workspace. It truly looked the part of a research laboratory to a Pokémon professor, though the one time I had visited Professor Birch's lab it hadn't been near as cluttered.

Professor Oak began speaking as he closed the door behind me. "I was quite curious when I received your father's call earlier this week." He said, walking past me and leading me through rows of machinery. "It is highly irregular for a fledgling trainer to want to begin their journey in a region that is not their own, especially without any lucrative sponsorships waiting for them."

"Uh, yes, sir," I mumbled.

He glanced back, sharp brown eyes analyzing my face. "Well, your business is your business, young man. To say it is irregular is not to say that it is unheard of. After looking through your Trainer Application, I was more than happy to make the arrangements to have your registration take place here in Kanto. You had some very impressive theoretical and practical exam scores, Mr. Tracy." He turned back, focusing on bringing us to a section of the room that had been cordoned off from the equipment, a small lounge with a few chairs and a low coffee table. "Please, sit."

Professor Oak sat down in a large, overstuffed chair, and picked up a still steaming mug that he had seemingly left to come and open the door. I sat opposite of him, dropping my satchel to the side of my chair. My chest was at war with itself. There was a warmth at hearing a famous trainer and professor say that I had done well, but having the full attention of said man was a lot. As we walked through the lab, it was almost like the Professor had changed. His speaking came out more professionally, and he stood straighter. I was beginning to see the edges of that great man who the world knew him to be.

"With how well you performed on your exams, I have already taken the liberty of printing your Trainer card and beginning your registration paperwork. I left it somewhere around here." Professor Oak continued, glancing about the table. Eventually, his eyes lit up, and he pulled a small manilla envelope from the center of a stack of papers, causing it to slide forward and splay the papers across the table.

"Dear me!" He exclaimed with a chuckle. I felt a slight grin touch my lips as he threw his hands up in the air. "I apologize, normally I would have my research assistant with me, but she's conducting a research study out on Route 1 and won't be back for a few days. It always gets so messy when she's not here to run the ship."

"It's no problem, Professor," I said, bowing my head again. "Thank you for going through all this trouble."

"It is no issue, Mr. Tracy." He leaned forward, handing me the envelope. "Please verify that all the information on there is correct."

Inside there was a small plastic card with white and blue lettering. A Pokéball logo covered the left side, and the right had a small picture of me that had been taken the week before. Same dark hair, dark eyes, and tan skin. I was even wearing the same blue and black hoodie that I was wearing now in the photo. My trainer information was organized overtop of the Pokéball logo.

Trainer License: Derek M. Tracy

Age: 16 | Class: C

Height: 175 cm | Weight: 70.76 kg

Eyes: Brown | Hair: Black

"Yes, sir, everything looks correct," I said.

"Good, good." Professor Oak rose from his chair. "Now, I believe, we move on to my favorite part."

I felt the cold in my stomach disappear, replaced by a sudden drop into a pit. "My starter? Already?" The older man's nod did nothing to remove my shock. "I thought I would have to wait longer or fill out some paperwork first-"

"Young man." The Pokémon Professor's soft voice stopped me in my tracks. "Are you going to continue to worry about bureaucracy, or are you going to meet the partner that you will begin your journey with?"

My eyes widened, and I looked up at the Professor. His sharp eyes were gleaming, and the grin he wore showed me why his face was weathered with smile lines. This man had been a trainer once, and I saw it in the same manic expression that my father wore, that every trainer I had ever met wore.

"I would like to meet my Pokémon-" I gulped as I corrected myself." -partner, sir."

"Good!" He said, turning on a heel towards a large machine at the end of a long row of machines. "Now, normally a trainer would receive their starter from a family member, or perhaps even an organization that had sponsored them. I, myself, even sponsor a few trainers each year to begin their journeys. Your starter is no exception. Your father sent this Pokémon to me just yesterday."

"My dad did?" I tugged at the edges of my sleeves. "He didn't say anything to me about it."

The Professor reached inside of the machine, producing a small sphere with a red and white cap. A standard Pokéball. On its front button, there was a small water droplet sticker proudly showing on its face. "Yes, I suppose he wouldn't. He had mentioned it being quite the surprise."

Professor Oak held his hand forward, offering me the Pokéball. My hand started to lift but hesitated. Dad really sent this, for me?

Did I deserve this?

That thought almost stopped me cold, but then I remembered something my father had said to me once. If you ever get lost, or scared, and someone helps you out, if you haven't already earned it, you work your ass off to show them that it wasn't wasted.

A surge of strength, momentary and inspiring, shot through me. I gripped the Pokéball in my hand, scooping it away from the Professor. It was warm to the touch. I ran my thumb over the perfectly machined surface before letting it land on the center button. I pressed it, and the ball opened with a click.

A bright red light filled the room as a streak of energy spread from the Pokéball to an unoccupied spot on the floor. The light solidified, a glowing white silhouette forming between myself and the professor. It shaped itself, becoming round and blue.

I felt tears pin-prick at the edges of my eyes in awe. I had seen Pokémon released before, but this was the first time that it was my Pokémon being released. I glanced up at the Professor and his manic smile had returned. He wasn't looking at me, but at my feet, where a brand new Pokémon sat.

Bright blue fur with white speckling gleamed in the lights, and an almost perfectly spherical blubbery body waggled its tail excitedly. The dark blue eyes looked up at me, with their white teeth pulled into a happy expression. The tears of happiness began to fully pool in my eyes. My dad had gotten me one of my favorite Pokémon, one that I had spent hours watching sun themselves on the beaches of Lilycove.

"Spheal!" My new Pokémon barked up at me.

---

Spheal's fur was the softest thing I had ever touched. I ran my fingers through the pale blues and whites on its back, and the fur rippled like water. The Pokémon closed its eyes, a soft rumble emanating from its chest.

He's so small. I thought. The Spheal and Sealeo in Lilycove were so much bigger, he couldn't be more than a few months old. Dad must have ordered him from a breeder because there was no way he had gotten this young of a Pokémon without seriously pissing off a Walrein somewhere.

I shivered at the thought of an angry Walrein, a force of water and ice that could easily leverage its weight of several hundred pounds. It was hard to believe the creature sitting in front of me, standing barely two feet off the ground, would one day be a rampaging ice walrus.

A chuckle interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to see Professor Oak still looking down at me. His expression was soft. "It is one of the greatest perks of my job, to get to see new trainers receive their first Pokémon." He said. "I hope you like him."

"I love him." I spoke without hesitation. The small seal opened its eyes once again and gave a cheerful bark. He closed his eyes and went back to nuzzling my hand.

"Good, good." The Professor said. "Now you must do two more things before your bond may really be complete."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The first is you two must agree on a name. It won't do to have you referring to your partner as just the name of his species."

"A name?" I removed my hands from the Spheal, standing a bit taller. It looked up at me, its eyes intelligent and full of expectation. His tongue lolled out of his mouth, innocently flapping as he panted. It was so hard not to give the little guy something cute and innocent, something that fit with the creature's small stature and round features. Spheal wouldn't be that way forever, though, if I had anything to do with it. The image of a Walrein came to mind again, a regal and powerful force of the ocean.

I leaned back down and scooped up the Spheal in my arms. He gave an excited squeak, gripping my arm with his stubby feet.

"I think I have a name for you, something pretty strong," I said, looking into Spheal's dark eyes. "Is Artis an okay name?"

Artis gave another squeak, quickly followed by a bark. His large tongue licked across my face, warm and cold at the same time.

"Gross!" I laughed as I wiped my cheek with my sleeve. I looked back up at the Professor. "I think he likes it?"

Professor Oak chuckled. "Yes, it would seem he does." The professor reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tablet. "I ran his Pokéball through a few tests, and the computer was able to register some of the more widely known skills and abilities that he should have access to."

The small computer listed several pieces of data about Artis, including his height and weight, and approximate age. According to the computer, I was right. Artis was supposed to be three to four months old. It also listed an ability, Thick Fat, written in a larger font. Under his Move Selection were listed Rollout, Defence Curl, and Growl.

No water-type moves? I suppressed a small amount of disappointment in my gut. Well, it's okay. If I get him training soon, we should have some under our belt. It will be more difficult to get him to learn- Wait. What's this?

I scrolled a little farther down on the tablet, shifting Artis' weight to be held in one arm. There was a separate section under Move Selection labeled 'Egg Moves'. Generally, a Pokémon only received an egg move if they had a specific and powerful parent, and those moves were generally limited. If Artis had access to an egg move, Dad really must have gotten him from a breeder. I clicked the file, and my eyes widened.

"Aqua Ring?" I felt excitement begin to bubble in my chest. "Professor, I don't think-"

"I also found that quite curious, young man." Professor Oak took the tablet back, closed the Move Selection folder, and pulled up another document. "Aqua Ring is not generally a technique that members of the Spheal line can learn, so I took it upon myself to contact your father and find the breeder he had purchased young Artis from."

Called it! I silently pumped my fist, feeling vindicated that I was right.

"I was able to track the breeder to a business in Sootopolis and made a phone call to the owner to see about which lines they had bred for this particular egg. Unfortunately, due to confidentiality laws, I was not able to inquire as to the sire." The Pokémon Professor continued on, not missing the disappointment as it crossed my face. His eyes glinted in smug pride. "But, being someone of my standing in the scientific community does not come without certain perks."

"So you know what his parents are?" I said, scratching underneath Artis' chin.

He held up a finger. "I have an idea, though the breeder was unable to confirm it. Aqua Ring is generally only able to be passed on the Spheal through a few lines, the most notable of which are the Vaporeon, Marill, Remoraid, and Feebas lines. Due to the location, and more specifically the region, I believe that your Spheal's father was of the Milotic line."

My draw dropped. "Milotic?" I looked back down at the bundle of blubber and fur in my arms, who was already beginning to fall asleep. Milotic were some of the rarest and most powerful Pokémon in the Hoenn region. Off the top of my head, I could only think of two in the entire Hoenn League. How the heck had Dad paid for that expensive of a Pokémon?

The Professor grunted in confirmation. "Regardless of his parentage, the Spheal line tends to produce very powerful combatants. Speaking of which, there is one more thing we must tend to before you may properly begin your journey."

The Professor beckoned me forward, leading me toward the back of the Lab. We stepped outside of a set of rear doors to an open area that couldn't be seen from the front of the lab. There was a rectangular section of dirt, maybe twenty meters long by fifteen meters wide, that had been marked out of the grass by white paint.

"Normally, I would have trainers who begin at Laboratory begin their journey by battling their peers, and I wished to offer you the same, but circumstances prevent that." Professor Oak spread his arms in resignation. "As all of the trainers that I had sponsored left on their journeys earlier in the week, would you mind having myself as your first opponent?"

"Y- You?' I sputtered. Artis snarled at the light spray that came out of my mouth.

"Well, you would obviously not be competing against my personal team." He gave a smirk as his eyes wandered to the skies. "No, my Dragonite happens to be off hunting on Mt. Silver, and the rest of my team is off enjoying themselves in the far pastures of the ranch. I have prepared one of the younger Pokémon from the ranch to be your opponent, should you choose to battle." From a belt clip that had been hidden underneath his lab coat, Professor Oak produced a single Pokéball.

I looked down at Artis. "I don't know, bud," I asked him. "Are you okay to battle?"

"Spheal!" He barked. Artis pushed against my chest with his two small legs until I released him. When he reached the ground, instead of landing on his feet, his entire body bounced and rolled like a ball. Once he had reached one end of the makeshift battlefield, he lifted up his front legs, clapping and barking with excitement.

That is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I thought. I turned back to the Professor, who was already walking to his side of the battlefield. "I think he wants to battle!" I called, stifling a chuckle.

"It would seem so!" He replied in kind. Professor Oak, tossed his Pokéball upwards with the motion of someone who had done it thousands of times before and released his Pokémon. A burst of red light struck the ground, quickly solidifying into a small canine shape. The creature was small, smaller even than Artis, with a sleek coat or orange and black striped fur. Tufts of lighter tan fur sprouted from its lower jaw, and in a crest along the center of its head, and A large fluffy tail wagged behind it.

"This, young man, is a Growlithe." Professor Oak began to explain. "Native to Kanto and a few other regions, this is one of our most recognizable fire types. While she would normally be at a type disadvantage to your Artis, I took into account your Pokémon's move set when deciding what might be a decent challenge for a fledgling trainer and Pokémon."

The two Pokémon stared at each other for a moment, before Artis let out a friendly bark, body wiggling with excitement. The Growlithe regarded him at first with confusion, but she quickly responded with several high-pitched yips. Both Pokémon let their tongues loll out of their mouths and sat back with the satisfaction that they had made a friend.

"Are you ready Mr. Tracy?" The former Champion called out to me.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Artis called out before I could. "Spheal! Spheal!" He squeaked. I let my Pokémon speak for me and instead chose to just nod my head.

The Professor raised one hand, palm outstretched, gesturing for me to start.

The moves that Artis could use came to mind immediately. I hadn't had time to see exactly what he could do, and I especially hadn't had a chance to train him in the training plan that I had spent the last few months writing out. All I could rely on were verbal commands, and Professor Oak would hear exactly the orders I was going to give.

"Artis!" I called. "Use Rollout!"

My Spheal jumped into action, tucking his legs against his stomach and pulling in his tail. Like a character out of a video game, he began to roll. Artis was a blur of blue and white fur moving across the battlefield. The Growlithe's eyes went wide

"Dodge, Growlithe!" Professor Oak said at the last moment.

The orange pup dashed to the side, Artis missing her by less than a hair.

"Growlithe, ember!" Called the Professor.

The fire-type swung its head around, tracking Artis' form, and opened its tiny maw. A fiery red light shone between its teeth, and small sparks ejected themselves from its mouth. Each tiny ember zoomed through the air, popping and crackling upon impact.

I winced as I heard a low whine emerge from my new Pokémon. Artis came to a rolling stop, landing in his front legs. As he stopped I could see small black marks marring his blue and white coat.

"Aqua Ring!" I yelled. "Then keep up the pressure with Rollout again!"

Artis kept eye contact with the Growlithe but nodded. Artis gave a small bark, and water began to pool at the tip of his snout. He began to spin once again, pulling himself into a ball and beginning his Rollout. This time, however, a ring of water slowly expanded outward from his body. As it reached its maximum diameter, maybe six inches out from Artis' body, it began to glow a light blue color. The streaks of black that had started to appear in his fur began to disappear.

Artis flew forward, faster than before.

"Growlithe! Wait for him to pass and Ember again!"

The orange canine side-stepped again, blasting Artis with its bright coals. Artis squealed but kept moving. With the Aqua Ring up, I could see the damage from the burns already beginning to heal itself.

Artis rolled around the field, making a quick U-turn towards the Growlithe, but the Growlithe continued to side-step. They were locked in a battle where Growlithe couldn't get through Artis' Thick Fat, and any damage that it did inflict was healed by the Aqua Ring, but Artis couldn't hit Growlithe with an attack because of how long it took to cross the field with Rollout.

I can't use Growl or Defence Curl, because Growlithe isn't physically attacking, but Artis isn't going to win a drawn-out fight either. He's using too much energy just moving around and healing himself, while Growlithe just has to stand around and fire off Embers.

I clenched my fists, trying to think of something, anything to do. Professor Oak might also be using a brand new Pokémon, but I wanted to be able to say that I had beaten him. He was the former Champion of the Indigo League, there was no better bragging card.

It was one little thing, one tiny infinitesimally small thing, that bloomed a plan in my head. As Artis flew past the Growlithe for the umpteenth time, a small droplet of water disconnected itself from the Aqua Ring, no longer controlled by Artis' move, and splashed across Growlithe's nose. The fire-type shook her head as she sidestepped, obviously upset at the sudden cold. A light clicked in my head.

Right as Artis finished his U-turn and began the Rollout towards Growlithe, I shouted. "Artis! Stop Rollout and Aqua Ring now!"

My Pokémon hesitated, which was exactly what I wanted. Normally, when a water type cancels a move where they are controlling an amount of water, the water would drop to the ground, splashing everywhere. However, an object in motion stays in motion. So when a Spheal rolling at twenty kilometers an hour suddenly lurches to a stop, the mass of water they were carrying with them will quickly and suddenly go flying into the open mouth of a fire-type that happens to be in front of them.

Like a dream, the splash of cold water drenched Professor Oak's Growlithe. While the force wasn't enough damage to physically injure her, the splashback clogged her mouth and nose, and splashed upwards into her eyes, giving me the chance I needed.

Professor Oak saw my plan the moment water moved and called. "Growlithe, dodge!"

His voice was drowned out by my own. "Artis, Rollout!"

Artis barreled forward with a speed that no half-drowned Growlithe could hope to match. There was a crunch as Artis slammed into the orange canine, and she was thrown easily five meters back. The Growlithe whimpered on the grass but made no motion to get up. Professor Oak recalled her to her Pokéball.

"YES!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, arms extended all the way into the air. Artis began hopping and clapping his front legs together, barking in victory.

"You've done well, young man." Professor Oak said with a small smile. He approached Artis and began to inspect him, checking for signs of lasting damage.

"Th- Thank you! Uh, sir." I sputtered. I took a breath and bowed quickly. "Thank you, sir. It was an honor to get to battle a former champion."

"It is no problem, Mr. Tracy." Professor Oak stood and offered a hand. "It's always nice to get out of the Lab and have a battle every once in a while. You did very well for your first battle. I am sure we'll see many more such battles in the future."

Heat rose in my chest, and was at a loss for words. I had gotten my first Pokémon and won my first battle in a manner of minutes. Today was a dream come true. I returned Artis to his Pokéball, and held it there in my hand. We had won our first battle, and someone already believed we would keep winning.

---

Professor Oak led me back into the Laboratory. We placed the Pokéballs for Artis and the Growlithe into a large machine with a glass top. It was supposed to heal them over the course of about an hour, so the Professor and I returned to the lounge to pass the time.

We sat in silence for a few moments before the Professor began to rummage through the drawers of a nearby desk. He took out an object, a small rectangular red electronic, and held it in his hand.

"Mr. Tracy, I think this piece of equipment would be of use in your hands." Professor Oak offered it out to me.

I took the device into my hands and began to inspect it. It was electronic with a large blue camera on the outside, and it could be folded open to show two large touchscreen displays. On the back, there was a serial number and a small Pokéball logo.

"What is this, sir?" I pressed the power button, and the screen lit itself to a small blue holding screen. There were folders and folders of data within it, each labeled with the name of a different Pokémon.

"That, young man, is a Pokédex." The Professor said. "It is a high-tech encyclopedia of Pokémon data, patented by myself. With it, you should be able to identify and receive data on any known Pokémon that you encounter."

My eyes widened. "Sir, this is so much! I don't think I could pay you back for something like this-"

"Mr. Tracy." He said in a firm voice. "You've shown me today that you will become an excellent trainer, and your previous examiners have said much of the same. I wish to assist that spark to grow as much as I can."

"I send most trainers who start out at the Laboratory out into the world with a request. A request that they catch as many Pokémon as possible, to help me document and study as many species of Pokémon as possible, and to possibly unlock some of the mysteries surrounding them." The Professor stood, retrieving Artis' Pokéball from the healing machine. "Of course, I don't normally offer such a thing, but with a full sponsorship you could have access to a myriad of resources here."

"I-" I looked down at the Pokédex, taking in exactly what it represented.

He's offering me a sponsorship. All he wants me to do is catch a few Pokémon for him.

A hole opened up in my stomach. "I'm sorry professor, I don't think I can do that."

For the first time, Professor Oak seemed to be at a loss for words. His smile lines crinkled in confusion.

"What do you mean?" His brow furrowed.

I bowed my head and held the Pokédex back out to the Pokémon Professor. "I am planning on being a champion, someone who trains hard and wins. I can't do that if I'm out catching every Pokémon I see. Not only would it distract from my training, but I don't think I could stomach capturing Pokémon that I wasn't planning on raising myself."

There was a long period of silence.

"Derek…" The Professor sighed, and I felt his hand close mine, pressing the Pokédex further into my palm. "That is fine."

I looked up at him. His old eyes were resolute and firm, and his lips were curled in a small grin. "But- I thought-"

"Young man, this journey is a coming of age that every Pokémon trainer faces. I only ask people who begin at my lab to help as a personal request. You were free to refuse to do so." He patted my hand, and reached over to tousle my hair. "Keep the Pokédex. It should be a useful tool on your journey."

I felt a liquid pool at the edges of my eyes. I had barely left home, and someone I greatly respected was offering me resources because they believed in me. I tucked the Pokédex into my side pouch and wiped my eyes.

"Thank you, sir." I bowed deeper than I ever had before.

"You are welcome." Professor Oak handed me a small tray. On it, there were six round indentations, five of which were filled with Pokéballs. He placed Artis' ball in the sixth slot.

I glanced up in confusion before he quickly explained. "Another token of starting at the Oak Lab."

The Pokémon Professor looked up at a small clock on the wall, and back at me. "It's getting a bit late, but it's still early enough for you to begin your Pokémon journey. You should be on your way."

I thanked Professor Oak and prepared my stuff to leave. Artis' ball and the five empty Pokéballs all slotted onto my magnetic trainer belt. The Pokédex sat in a pouch on my opposite hip, right next to the PokéNav that my mother had gifted me. I tightened my satchel strap, and set out from the Pokémon Laboratory.

The edge of Pallet Town was an open field with tall grasses, and the road was hardpack. Scattered trees littered the landscape, and straggling bushes waved in the winds. Kanto couldn't have been more different from Hoenn if it tried. I released Artis from his Pokéball.

My Spheal appeared in an already familiar blaze of red and white light, solidifying before my eyes. He looked perfectly healthy, maybe even more so than before his fight. Artis' tongue lolled out of his mouth as he looked up at me, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"This is it, bud," I said. "We're about to set off on the official beginning of our League journey."

He barked, happiness clear on his face. He nuzzled my leg and rolled forward once, as if to say: Come on, we could start already!

I grinned. This Pokémon was the perfect starter, and I couldn't be happier with him. Checking the PokéNav, I could see that the next major town was Viridian City, a town that happened to be equipped with a League Gym. It was only supposed to be two days on foot. I adjusted my straps, raised my hoodie, and took the first step to conquer the Indigo League.

Notes:

And there we go! This fic actually started quite a while ago on FF.net, but I recently set up my account to bring it on over here! I'm going to be posting all the chapters that are already out on here and a few other websites, and then will be releasing all new chapters simultaneously.

Chapter 2: The March of the Bellsprout

Route One was actually far more boring than I was going to give it credit for. After about three hours of walking, the most Artis and I had seen was a few Pidgey.

When I had looked through the Pokedex entry for the Pokemon, I had been impressed by the behemoths that the tiny pigeon would become, but I didn't feel like Pidgeot was the right one for me.

Eventually, we pulled off the main road and found a small circle of grass that would work as a campsite. Though the area was sparse and dry, trees were becoming much more prominent and the surrounding terrain was closer to a forest than a badland.

I had Artis help me set up the campsite. He took one end of the tarp into his teeth and rolled his blubbery little body across the clearing.

Aloud, I said, "You're so friggin' cute, buddy."

He barked in acknowledgment, clapping his flippers together.

Within twenty minutes we had a fully set up tarped area, a nice little fire, and an easy place to rest on our bedroll. Artis took over my inflatable pillow, and thus he became my pillow. I rested my head against his side and felt his warm fur against my face.

"This is the life…" I said, absentmindedly. "You would've made the flight over here so much more comfortable.

Artis mumbled in agreement, snuggling into my side.

I still couldn't believe it. Dad had gotten me one of my absolute favorite Pokemon as my starter, and he had a powerful lineage to boot. Professor Oak's mention that he could even be related to a champion's Milotic had my mind racing.

I know that breeders aren't necessarily confined to using the Pokemon in their area, but it made it a hell of a lot easier to source powerful specimens of each line in locations where they naturally flourished. It helped even more when powerful trainers of those regions captured said Pokemon and raised them, making them even more potent for their local breeders.

Whatever the case, my Spheal was born to be a champion's partner. I could feel it in my bones. Dad knew a lot of people, being a lead Ace Trainer and all. There was no way he would've settled for anything else.

I frowned.

That's exactly why I didn't want to stay in Hoenn.

As much as I loved Artis, and now that I had him no one could ever take him from me, I didn't just want to be handed it all. I wanted to earn it.

"Hey bud," I said, rolling over, "Wanna do some training before we hit the hay?"

Artis barked happily, spraying me with drool.

"That's the spit- I mean, the spirit!" I chuckled.

---

Artis was a loud snorer after an afternoon of training. We'd only practiced his Rollout for maybe an hour, but that combined with the long day of travel had left him exhausted. Though he wasn't the reason I couldn't sleep, he definitely wasn't helping.

At least he's keeping all the wild Pokemon away. I thought, glancing through the files on the Pokedex that Professor Oak had given me. Though there's not anything really strong on this route, I could see a flock of Spearow being really annoying to deal with.

I had initially gone into this journey with the intention of learning as I went, but having access to an encyclopedia of Pokemon given to me by the Pokemon Professor was too cool not to glance through.

Pidgey and Spearow are both really cool, but I don't think that either would work for my team. Rattata is basically a lamer Zigzagoon, and Oddish is a cuter Shroomish. I sighed. Nothing is really catching my attention here. We might have to wait till later to find someone to balance out our team.

Having a water-type in this section of Kanto had accidentally set me up for success. According to the map, the upcoming Viridian Gym was a ground-type gym, and the Pewter one after that was rock-type. Both were extremely good match-ups for Artis, so I could afford to delay getting another team member until one caught my eye.

The rustling of grass gave me pause.

I sat up, closing the Pokedex. Artis' snores still sounded every few seconds, but I could still hear movement on the edges of camp. I reached down and patted Artis' side, trying to wake the Pokemon.

His snoring intensified.

Shit. He's out cold.

I returned Artis, and his snoring ceased as he disappeared in a flash of light.

The light had given me enough illumination to see a Pokemon walking away from my camp, deeper into the forest. I had only seen a vague outline, but it didn't register in my head as any of the Pokemon that I'd been studying. It was too short and spindly.

"Shit," I whispered under my breath. As I leaned down and began rolling up my tarp and bedroll, I kept whispering, "shit, shit, shit."

There was a Pokemon that I didn't recognize walking past me into a dark forest at night. If this wasn't the definition of a call to action for a trainer, I didn't know what was.

It was minutes before my camp was packed and ready to go. I pulled out my heavy flashlight and a hand warmer, and I walked into the darkness.

---

"Walking into darkness" might have been a slight misnomer. It happened to be near a full moon, and outside of the cover of my camp, the ground was actually pretty visible. Hiking through the forest at night wasn't ever going to be easy, but between the moon and my flashlight I was able to make progress.

The Pokemon I was following made steady, but slow progress. Even with a several-minute head start, its tiny legs could only carry it so far and I was able to catch up fairly quickly.

It was maybe half a meter tall, and it walked on two spindly thin legs. Flashes of it as it moved in and out of the moonlight gave me a good idea that it was a grass type. Its body was green, and its arms took the form of tiny leaves. Its large head shone yellow; it was a big bulb-shaped flower.

The first ten minutes of following the Pokemon were just to try and wait it out, to see if it would pause its little walk so that I could scan it with my Pokedex. The next ten were purely out of sheer curiosity.

This little guy just isn't stopping! I thought, still keeping up with his pace. He's definitely going somewhere on purpose, but where could he be headed?

In total, we walked for a little over a half an hour before we encountered anything interesting. It was another Pokemon.

The tiny grass type was joined by a second one. Same bulbous head, the same tiny legs. It was slightly shorter, but definitely the same species. The two started walking in step with one another, both headed in the same direction.

The two grass types seemed reinvigorated and ran as hard as their little legs carried them. I actually had to start jogging to keep pace, and as we ran, I became aware of another noise in the distance. A loud and low rumbling, like hundreds of little trees slowly falling in the distance.

A heavy feeling pooled in my gut. I really hope that's not what I think it is.

I glanced back down at the two Pokemon, specifically the tiny thudding of their plant-like feet on the wooden roots below our feet. A sound hundreds of times quieter, but nearly identical, to what I could hear in the distance.

The two Pokemon hopped between bushes, underneath branches, and over hills. I was struggling to keep up now. Their small size made it a lot easier for them, and I had to untangle myself from more than one bundle of branches.

It wasn't long before I lost sight of them, but the rumbling led me in the direction that I was sure they were headed. Though I knew it was probably a terrible idea, my curiosity was far too high to leave now.

It wasn't until I finally crested another large hill that I finally saw it.

The treeline was broken in front of me, and there was a long path that was open to the sky. The path was maybe twenty yards across at its widest, and I could see the treeline resume itself on the other side. Across this wide-open space, there were fields of golden flowers that stretched as far as I could see to the east and to the west. The fields were moving. It took me seconds to confirm my fears. Each plant was a Pokemon, the same one that I had followed here. There were more Pokemon here than I had ever seen, each endless row easily twenty pokemon deep.

I stood there and stared for a long while. From my vantage point between the bushes, I could see hundreds, if not thousands, of Pokemon marching past me. Their tiny heads bobbed up and down as they walked, and their beady eyes rarely wandered from directly in front of them. They walked on two spindly legs that were tendrils made of leaves and vines.

I fumbled with a pouch on my waist, not taking my eyes off the massive movement of plant Pokemon. I flipped open the Pokedex and clicked the scan button. After a moment, the Pokedex returned an answer to my question.

"Bellsprout, the flower Pokemon," The small device vocalized. "This Pokemon is the pre-evolution to Weebinbell and is classified as a grass and poison type. Bellsprout is one of the few carnivorous lines of plant-type Pokemon, and is native to hot and humid climates."

Below a photo of a Bellsprout, there was a list of other facts about the strange little Pokemon. Apparently, it captured its food by growing its vines to extraordinary length and constricting it to death. They were quick fighters that could apply a myriad of status effects to their prey. Nowhere in the document, however, did it list that they would be traveling in a group large enough to overrun a small town.

The Bellsprout didn't move in exact lines, or in any particular order. They moved in groups of three and four, clumped together so tightly that you wouldn't notice the divisions if you weren't looking closely. They all headed west, driven by some unseen force.

A pair of bushes on the other side of the pathway began to rustle. The new motion caught my eye, and I saw a small hunched form creep forward. The intruding creature was short, about the same height as the Bellsprout, with shaggy beige fur and gnarled claws. It looked like a larger, mutated Rattata. This must have been its evolution, a Raticate. I had seen the name mentioned earlier, but this was my first time seeing the Pokemon.

The Pokemon crept forward. It must have thought that the Bellsprout would make an easy meal because it had no problem approaching the masses of plant Pokemon. The Raticate lowered its back haunches, crouching down low and gathering its strength for a large leap. Its jaws opened wide, and I could see its massive incisors begin to glow with white light.

The Raticate jumped forward, claws and fangs bared.

There was a blast of Plop! Plop! Plop! as a series of wet concussions blasted off within the span of a few seconds. The Raticate vanished in a cloud of purple, yellow, and green powder. The powder obscured everything, cutting off the Raticate, the other side of the forest, and the Bellsprout from my vision completely.

I didn't even see them move! I thought. That must have been Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, and who knows what else? I need to get somewhere safe.

I pulled myself back from the treeline. I had come here chasing a Bellsprout, but walking out into that mass exodus seemed like an easy way to die. I couldn't see how the Raticate was doing, but that amount of inhalants would have killed me. I hiked a little farther down the path before peeking back out.

The Raticate was splayed out at the edge of the path. Its eyes were glazed and facing opposite directions, and a pink foam leaked from the corners of its mouth. Most of the Bellsprout had continued past it, but several of the larger specimens had stopped to feed. The furry Pokemon had gray and green vines wrapped around the center of its body, and the Bellsprout had started to envelop the creature's limbs with their bell-shaped heads.

I turned away, and I felt the remains of my dinner coming back up. I shoved my hand against my mouth and kept everything down. This was part of Pokemon that dad talked about, what they didn't show you on TV. Wild Pokemon didn't have access to the nutrient-balanced and printed food that trained Pokemon did, and they had to eat.

I could've lived without that. I felt sick. That's a solid "no" on catching a Bellsprout.

I turned back towards the way that I had come but stopped short.

In my way, there were five little yellow heads. Five Bellsprout.

Shit.

I looked around, but they stood on the thin footpath I'd created and it was dense woods on either side.

The Bellsprout drew closer, the largest of them beginning to grow thin tendrils of vines from their arms. They began to reach forward.

Nope! I yelled in my head. Nope, nope, nope, nope!

I put everything I had into two large steps forward, jumping as far as I could. The Bellsprout was maybe a meter at their tallest, and I felt like I could clear that.

I would've been right, too, had the largest one not wrapped my leg in a vine as I passed over it.

I hit the ground with a heavy thud. I was on the other side of the Pokemon, but I could feel the vine pressing further up my shins, reaching up toward my knee.

"Shit!" I yelled. "I'm not dying on day one!"

I kicked as hard as I could at the Pokemon, and it recoiled in pain.

With another kick off the ground, scrapping my hands and knees, I pushed myself away from the Pokemon. The other four Bellsprout pushed in, each beginning to grow their own vines.

I took off into the forest, heart thumping in my ears. My lungs burned as I started running, and I could feel small branches whipping past my face. I kept trying to build speed, but the woods were too thick. Every turn just meant another tree, every patch of clearing followed by a line of bushes.

As I ran I heard someone yell "Hey! You! You're going the wrong way!"

I stopped in my tracks, trying to find the source of the voice, but I couldn't find them. It sounded like it was back in the direction of the Bellsprout.

Speaking of, my lapse in the movement had shown that the Pokemon I had followed earlier must not actually have been running at their top speed, because they very quickly covered the ground between us.

The five Pokemon spread out around me, forming a half-circle.

A fluffy stuffed animal hit the ground in front of them.

A pink Pokedoll.

The stuffed Clefairy began to play music and vibrate, transfixing the wild Pokemon that had surrounded me.

At that moment, a person sprinted by, grabbing my elbow and pulling me along in their wake.

I wasn't exactly thrilled to stay as the Bellsprout ravenously started to grasp at the doll, so I sprinted after them.

---

My savior was a young woman, probably older than me, wearing a long white lab coat and sprinting with the prowess of a decathlon champion. As we sprinted through the woods, she expertly weaved between bushes and underneath trees, stopping only once we had reached a slight clearing off of the massive Bellsprout migration.

"Can you climb?" She half-yelled between breaths.

My lungs were heaving, so it took a moment to choke out: "Yeah, a bit!"

"Good, grab this!" She snatched a rope, barely noticeable from the tree it was hanging from, and tossed the limp end back towards me.

I grasped the end, feeling it dig into my hands as it took my full weight, and pressed both my feet into the tree. It had been a while since Gym class, but I had never fallen out of shape.

A few moments later I was pulling myself up into a small wooden platform, maybe three meters across, that had been set up in the tree. It had no walls or ceiling, though the branches around it gave the illusion of one, and there were a few bags set off in a corner next to an open bedroll.

I shuffled away from the edge, giving the woman space to climb up behind me. When I offered my hand to help pull her up, she accepted.

"Thanks." She said between heavy breaths.

"No problem." I sighed, plopping down into the space. "That was a close one, I can't thank you enough for that.

She took a few moments to catch her breath. "You can thank me by not making me do it again." She said sharply, with more than a hint of annoyance. "What are you doing so far off route?"

Uh oh. I pulled out my PokeNav+ to check the map and my stomach grew cold. I had no idea I'd gotten so far off the path. I was easily a kilometer or two outside Route One.

Part of each region's League's responsibility was to mark out routes that were safe for trainers to pass through from town to town. The League tended to mark the areas outside of these routes as extremely dangerous for trainers without at least four badges. There were no legal repercussions for entering these zones, but the danger kept newer trainers on the established routes.

"Sorry, I had no idea I'd passed the Ranger markers," I admitted. "I was following one of the Bellsprout that had passed by my camp and I must've missed 'em."

"Well, you need to be better about that." She scolded, wiping the sweat from her brow. "The Rangers put those up for your safety, and trainers should never leave the routes without proper permission. You're lucky you ran into me, and not the Ursaring that's been around the last few nights."

She glanced up at me, realizing that I didn't recognize the name. She spread her arms to mimic a menacing creature. "Giant bear, big teeth."

She scooted across the platform and laid herself down, getting a better look at the massive amount of Pokemon moving below us. I moved into a similar position. Down below, there were hundreds of Bellsprout moving in lines, all feeding into a river of Pokemon. I could see every variation of green and yellow, the Pokemon themselves not being entirely uniform in their color.

It was like spring itself moving through a forest. The contrast between the dark woods and the bright Bellsprout was awe-inspiring.

"Wow," I said.

"Yeah," she replied. "Wow."

I glanced to the side, taking in her appearance full for the first time. She couldn't have been more than a couple of years older than me. Her face was kind and soft, and her expression was only intense in how obviously she admired the waves of marching Pokemon. A complete transformation from the annoyed person I'd been dealing with a few minutes prior, the woman's green eyes were alight with curiosity and wonder. Her hair was cut to shoulder length and draped over the back of her lab coat-

Lab coat.

"Wait," I realized, "You're Professor Oak's assistant?"

She started at my words and turned to face me, though she continued to glance down at the Bellsprout. "Yeah…" She said, uncertain. "Do I know you?"

"No, sorry, " I said "I just remembered that the Professor had said his aide was out-"

"Oh, you know Professor Oak?"

"Not really. I stopped by his lab earlier to pick up my Trainer Card. He mentioned you while I was there."

She sat up from her spot at the edge of the perch and glanced at me with the same curious eyes that she had previously had for the Bellsprout. I felt my cheeks heat up as I had her full, undivided, attention. And following that, they reddened more in the embarrassment that I couldn't keep my composure being in the same space as a pretty girl for more than five minutes.

It's not like that. I thought. I'm just not used to anybody this intense. It doesn't matter that I think she's pretty. At least, I don't think it does?

After a few more moments of studying me, realization flashed across her face. "You're that Hoenn guy!" She exclaimed, "I prepped your documents yesterday; Derek something, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," I said, "Derek Tracy."

She leaned forward and offered her hand out with a smile. "Daisy Oak," she said, "Nice to meet you, Derek Tracy."

I shook her hand, enjoying the moment before my eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "You're his granddaughter?" I exclaimed.

Daisy chuckled. "Yeah, though I'm glad he introduced me as his aide first." She tucked her legs in and sat with her back against a branch. "It'd be unfortunate if that was the only thing I was known for."

We dipped into silence as my mind started racing with questions that I definitely shouldn't ask. I knew from experience that being related to somebody important sucked sometimes, especially when people would assume that nepotism would be involved.

Come to think of it, that's why I left Hoenn in the first place.

I took another minute to look at Daisy, really look at her, with the new lens that I had just acquired. She had returned to studying the migration below, propping up her PokeNav+ on a tripod to record the mass of Pokemon. Even with the hundreds of footsteps making a low rumble in the air, I could hear her humming to herself.

This girl likes Pokemon. I thought dumbly. Like really likes Pokemon. It makes sense that she'd take after her grandpa.

"So what's causing this migration?" I said, attempting small talk that I thought she'd find interesting.

As I'd hoped, her small smile broke into a grin as she looked up from her video. "That's what I'm here to find out," Daisy said. "It's normal for Bellsprout to seek out the Sprout Tower, but we've never seen them group to this quantity, especially not this early in spring."

"This could be a once-in-a-century event," she continued, "so I'm being careful to record all of my findings for posterity. I think that it could be caused by anomalously elevated environmental temperatures and increased humidity striking earlier than normal in this part of the world, so the Bellsprout line was compelled to undergo premature migratory behaviors. My findings have been inconclusive so far though, especially because I'm still waiting on ecological data from Pewter City before I can start drawing up a temperature map and cross-referencing it with the previous year's migration patterns."

I sat for a moment, slightly overwhelmed. This girl really likes Pokemon.

"So…" I stumbled, "What's Sprout Tower?"

Daisy looked stunned at the question, but continued to smile. "You understood everything else?" She asked, incredulous.

"Well, I followed everything you said?" I scratched the back of my head. "You were saying that because the planet's heating up, it's too hot for the Bellsprout and they keep panicking because they think it's summer?"

She looked legitimately impressed. "Huh," Daisy said. "Yeah, you could put it like that."

It was my turn to grin, and I couldn't help but feel self-satisfied. Take that Mr. Henson's biology class! I knew I didn't deserve that B!

Daisy pulled her PokeNav+ off the tripod and swiped for a moment before bringing up images of a tall wooden building. "This is the Sprout Tower." She said, moving to sit next to me. "It's a really old building in Johto that was built using a massive Bellsprout as its core, and ever since it's been where the Bellsprout migrate to in spring."

"That's really cool!" I said, not commenting on just how close Daisy was sitting. "I know almost nothing about either Johto or Kanto, so this is all a little intimidating."

"You came all the way here from Hoenn, and you didn't do a cursory search first?" She questioned.

"Well, that's kind of the whole point." When she waited for me to elaborate, I continued. "I love Hoenn a lot, but I've been there my whole life. I know everything about Hoenn. When it came to picking the region that I would compete in, I knew the exact route I would take if I tried to take on the Ever Grande Conference. I knew what my team would look like, I knew what Gyms I would challenge, and I even knew who would be my rivals. I didn't want that. I wanted an adventure."

And I would've had every advantage handed to me. I added silently. Mom and Dad would've made helped me have an easy route to the top.

"That's actually pretty admirable," she said. "You came in ill-prepared, but with good intentions."

"Yeah," I chuckled, "and I almost got eaten for it."

"Almost." Daisy emphasized. "Every trainer almost gets eaten at some point or another. No reason to linger on it. As long as you've learned your lesson, it's just a funny anecdote that you can tell people later about your adventure. Heck, even I have some embarrassing stories from my League challenge."

That got my attention. Daisy was the granddaughter of the Pokemon Professor, intelligent enough to be a research aide, and she had done a League challenge?

Legendaries almighty, I think I'm in love. She's so much cooler than me. I chuckled.

Daisy, obviously thinking I was laughing at her, frowned. "What? I was serious when I said everybody had embarrassing stories. Do you think I'm lying to make you feel better?"

"No!" My chuckles evolved to full laughter. "I just made myself laugh, it's nothing important."

"Sure…" She said suspiciously. "And the Victreebell chum doesn't want to share it with the class?"

"Nope!" I said, "though I could be convinced if someone would like to share one of those stories?"

"Huh, story for story?" When I nodded, she continued, "Well there was this one time when I was doing a contest in Saffron…"

---

Daisy and I chatted into the early hours of the morning. She was just so interesting, with her love of Pokemon research, and had dozens of stories about her adventures. It turned out that I was right, she was nineteen to my sixteen. She'd done her League challenge a few years ago, though she'd decided a few months in that she preferred coordinating to training.

In fact, she let slip that she'd actually won last year's Spring Pokemon Contest as its grand champion. After that, she'd decided to retire from contests and focus on getting an 'actual career'. She now worked at her grandfather's lab to get experience in different fields of Pokemon study until she decided on her researcher specialization.

In return, I told her about growing up in Lilycove. I mostly kept Mom and Dad to myself, but I found myself talking honestly about feeling like my parents having too much of a hand in my journey. It was cathartic in a way, letting details slip here and there that I felt she could relate to, also having a pretty important family member.

It wasn't until the rumbling of the Bellsprout had faded and the migration faded that I realized the time. The sun peaked between the trees, and the buzzing of insects replaced the silence.

My alarm on my PokeNav+ went off, signaling that I should be waking up, and I felt sadness pool in my stomach as I silenced it.

"Does that mean you have to head out?" Daisy asked. Maybe I was projecting, but I thought I heard some disappointment in her voice.

"I probably should if I'm going to get to Viridian anytime soon." I sighed, and started to push myself into a standing position.

My legs were numb, and I immediately stumbled. Daisy grabbed my elbow and steadied me. She pulled herself up.

"You know, you've been up all night." She said, "If you want… …I could walk you back to the route?"

I could feel my cheeks flush. "Yeah, that would be nice. I'd like that."

Daisy smiled. "Good, give me just a minute to pack my things and we'll get going."

"Sure, sure," I said.

I took the opportunity to climb down, using the rope we'd used earlier. The forest felt too empty with the Bellsprout gone. After a few minutes, Daisy tossed a large canvas duffle down to me, and I steadied the rope as she climbed down.

We walked mostly in silence over the next few minutes, following the trails that had been trampled by the migration. The ground was smooth, and any obstacles had been cleared by the hundreds of Pokemon that had moved through the area. It made hiking far easier and quicker than it had been to get here.

I found myself not being very grateful for the quick journey.

After about twenty minutes, we found ourselves at the route marker, a sign left by the Rangers to worn trainers that they were leaving the approved route. It was bright yellow, and written in a dozen different languages.

"Damn," I sighed. "I should not have missed that."

Daisy laughed. "I really don't know how you passed it. It even glows in the dark." She glanced around. "So you're headed to Viridian?"

"Yeah, which is this way?" I asked, feeling bummed.

"Yes." She frowned. "And I'm headed back this way towards Pallet."

The silence hung heavy and awkward in the air.

"Then-"

"I guess-"

We spoke at the same time, and both started when we interrupted the other.

We laughed. "It's been fun," I said. "Thank you for the hike and the company."

"And then saving you from almost dying." Daisy corrected me, "And you're welcome."

"Yeah, thanks." I held out my hand. "See ya, Daisy."

She grasped it back and shook my hand. "Goodbye, Derek."

I released the handshake and turned away towards Viridian. I only made it a few steps before I heard her yell out for me.

"Wait!" Daisy called. When I turned, she was crossing the small gap between us. Her PokeNav+ was in her hand.

"What's up?"

She held out her PokeNav+ to me. "Give me your number."

I looked at her, then the PokeNav+, then down at my own. I laughed. "Sure. I'm an idiot for not thinking of it myself."

"I want to make something clear." Daisy declared, meeting my eyes. I felt my palms clam up at her straight-faced intensity. "I really enjoyed talking with you and would like to do so again. I'm going to be in Pewter City in three weeks to gather the ecological data that I told you about. Would you like to meet me there?"

I was stunned. Wow. She's the most straightforward person I've ever met. And then my brain caught up to what she was actually saying.

"Like, a date?" I said hesitantly.

"Yes."

My ability to form conscious thought evaporated. The singular gear in my head burst into flame from overworking.

It's official. Kanto is so much better than Hoenn.

"Y- yeah." I stuttered out. "I'd- I'd like that."

"Good," Daisy said, satisfied with my answer, "I'd like that too."

She waited for me to put in my number, and sent a quick text through so I'd have hers. Daisy nodded, finding everything satisfactory.

"I'll see you in a few weeks, Derek." She said.

"See you then, Daisy," I replied.

She turned away, massive canvas bag slung over her lab coat, and started walking towards Pallet Town. It wasn't more than a minute before she disappeared into the trees.

I honestly don't know if I stood there for one minute or five. My mind was racing.

I've never gone on a date before. What will I wear? I only brought athletic clothes for hiking and training. I don't have anything nice to wear.

An image of myself and Daisy at a fancy restaurant, her wearing a lab coat and myself in a hoodie, flashed through my mind.

I chuckled to myself, the absurdity of it was enough to shake me out of my thoughts. I had three whole weeks to figure out how that was going to go. And besides, she was only the granddaughter of the only important person I knew in Kanto, who happened to be an international touchstone for the entire Pokemon community.

My palms started sweating.

"No pressure…" I said to myself as I took off back down Route One.

No pressure, indeed.

---

Chapter 3: Seeing the Goalposts

I reached Viridian City by early afternoon. It turns out that when distracted by more important things (such as an upcoming outing with a former contest champion), a person can absolutely hike on zero hours of sleep.

Did I hike well?

Absolutely not.

I fully went into autopilot mode and missed out on the sights for most of Route One. This resulted in several unfortunate falls into potholes, two separate occasions of straying off the path, and a single face plant into a well-positioned tree.

Needless to say, the silver tops of the buildings of Viridian City were like reaching the pearly gates. One bright red domed roof stood out from the others, conveniently located on the south side of town.

Oh, thank the legendaries. I let out an audible sigh of relief.

The Pokemon Center, the League's free sanctuary for wandering trainers and battling competitors. As long as you were registered for the season, you had access to the latest medical care, healthy food for both humans and Pokemon, and most importantly: comfortable lodging.

As mentioned before, the identifier for the Pokemon Center in any given town was the iconic bright red dome, stamped with a large white 'P'. As I walked off the path from Route One, it was only a matter of crossing the street to reach my home base while in Viridian. The wide windowed doors slide open upon my approach, letting a wave of cool air-conditioned wind wash over me.

I made my way in, passing by an open lounging area, and walked up to the front desk. Behind it was another immediately recognizable staple of Pokemon training: Nurse Joy.

The medical professional was one of a huge family of nurses, doctors, researchers, and caretakers that had installed themselves as a pillar of Pokemon society. Their iconic pink hair always stood out from the crowd and let everyone around them know that they were on the scene.

As I approached, Viridian City's Nurse Joy looked up with a smile. "Hello there!" She said in a cheerful voice. "Can I help you with anything today?"

Her voice was pleasant and soothing, and I immediately felt a wave of drowsiness wash over me. Two days of hiking with no sleep was really taking its toll.

"Yeah, hi," I rasped, "I'm Derek Tracy. I was hoping that I could register for a room for the next few days?"

"Yes, absolutely," Nurse Joy offered a hand out, "may I please see your trainer card? We can get you checked in immediately, and then it's up to you to check out when you're ready to leave."

I fished the card out of my pocket and handed it over. I felt my hand hesitate as it passed Artis' ball on my waist. "I also have a new Pokemon," I added, "we haven't done anything too rough in the last couple of days, but I was wondering if you could look him over?"

As Nurse Joy finished scanning my card, she said, "Of course, we're always happy to see to a Pokemon's care. You can leave him in that tray there, and I'll make sure you've made away when he's ready to be picked up."

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!"

I know we've only trained a bit, but I want to be really careful with such a young starter.

These developmental months were some of the most important in a Pokemon's life. I would need to stop by the computer lab at some point to do some research on the best diet and exercise that I could do for Artis.

"Alright," Nurse Joy said as her computer beeped, "Mr. Tracy, you're going to be in room C-12. Your trainer card will act as the room key, and you're free to enjoy any of the facilities here at the Viridian Pokemon Center." She leaned in to say the rest quietly, "though there will always be time for that after a good rest."

I flashed her a grateful smile and took back my trainer card. I must really look like garbage if Nurse Joy is commenting on it. I chuckled.

Room C-12 was on the third floor of the Center, and thankfully the building had working and clean elevators. I didn't even take in the details of my room before stumbling through the doors and collapsing onto the bed.

My first sleep since becoming a Pokemon Trainer was heavenly.

---

I woke up later to a dull thumping on the door of my room. My mouth was dry and cottony, and my eyes felt crusty.

Other than that, I felt positively refreshed. I slid out of bed, remembering that I had fallen asleep fully clothed. The light coming through my blinds told me it was barely nighttime, and my PokeNav+ let me know that I'd only been asleep for four or five hours.

I waddled over to the door, still sore from my first real trek on a trainer route. I clicked open the door, and was surprised to not find another person looking back at me.

Instead, a bright pink Pokemon, about a meter and a half tall and shaped like an egg, stared back at me.

Blissey. I thought, vaguely recognizing one of several Pokemon that Nurse Joys around the world were known for raising. Hard to get for many trainers, as the Joy family had a near monopoly on Happiny breeding.

This Blissey was wearing a small nurse's hat with a red cross on the front as well as a white apron. She reached into the front pocket and brought out a red Pokeball with a blue water-droplet sticker on the front: Artis' ball.

"Blissey!" She chimed, saying her own name in a musical note.

Ah, he must be done with his check-up.

"Thank you, Blissey," I said, taking his ball, "I really appreciate you bringing him all the way up to me."

The pink Pokemon gave a wide smile and sang, "Blissey!" She waved one of her small wing-like arms and pranced down the hall.

I closed the door and placed Artis down on the desk, giving the room its first proper once over. There was a small bed, the blankets still warped around the depression I'd left from my nap, a chest of drawers, a desk, and a small bathroom.

Not bad, not bad at all. I thought. If the accommodations are this good at every Pokecenter, I'm gonna be one happy camper.

I took a quick shower and got dressed into one of my nicer outfits. My hiking clothes were definitely going to need a wash before I was going anywhere near them again. I slipped on a blue button-up and a light pair of pants, then headed down to the cafeteria.

The facility was smaller than I'd expected, with enough tables and chairs to fit maybe fifty trainers trying to eat at any given time. Even this small, though, it looked huge with how sparsely populated it was. There was only one other group of trainers seated at any of the tables.

I glanced at my PokeNav+. 7:27, that's not very late at all. Where the heck is everybody else?

I walked by the food counters, all self-serve, and grabbed a few overly-warm chicken strips and a pre-packaged salad. I walked my tray over to the group of trainers that sat at the edge of the hall.

"Excuse me," I said, a little anxiety bubbling in my chest as I talked to strangers, "I was wondering if I could join you all for dinner? I just hiked in today and was hoping that maybe some other trainers could fill me in on where everyone else was?"

The trainers were a group of three people, all a very eclectic sort, and they all had a very different aesthetic. Two of them immediately deferred to the middle of the group, a femme presenting trainer wearing a light green blouse and red skirt, with long brown hair and green eyes. They wore a yellow bow in their hair.

The one to their immediate left had spiky black hair with a strip of white running through it and wore a loud red tracksuit. They were easily the tallest of the group, and definitely the most physically built.

The third member of their group was willowy and small, not at all filling out the oversized purple sweater that draped off of them. They also wore an equally oversize knit cap with a fluffy red ball on the end.

The green-bloused trainer glanced at the other two trainers before answering. "Yeah, sure," they said, giving an unsure smile, "we'd love to have some company."

"Thanks," I said, sitting down beside the one wearing the tracksuit. "I'm Derek Tracy, by the way."

"Nice to meetcha," they said, "I'm Hina Kaneal, and I use she/her pronouns."

"Ah," I gave a smile. "Cool, he/him over here."

The trainer in the purple sweater gave a small wave. "Amy Turaunt, she/they." Their voice was small, but they were surprisingly declarative.

Following suit, the trainer in the tracksuit grunted, "Yuji Amano, he/him." He seemed friendly enough but was still glancing at Hana, taking cues and deferring to her.

If Hana noticed she didn't mention it. "So Derek, you said you just got in today?"

"Yeah," I said, "I did Route One in about a day and a half, but I don't know much about the city itself. Or why the Pokecenter is so empty."

I glanced around, and no other trainers could be seen walking around the cafeteria or in any of the nearby lounges.

"That's part of coming to Viridian so early in the season," Hana said, "given Viridian's reputation, almost no one else has shown up."

"Oh, is this gym supposed to be pretty difficult?"

"Only the strongest!" Amy piped up, holding up two hands to show emphasis. Her hands were still covered by the purple sleeves, and it made their diminutive form seem even smaller. "Are you not from around here? Everybody knows that Giovanni's the toughest there is!"

"Nah, I'm from Hoenn." I admitted, "I decided to do my League challenge here, but I don't know a ton about the Kanto circuit."

"That makes sense that you wouldn't know, then." Yuji half turned in his chair to face me. "Giovanni is widely considered to be one of, if not the, strongest member of our gym circuit."

"And he's also known for being pretty ruthless," Hana added, "especially to new trainers."

"That makes sense then," I said, "that means that only the strongest, bravest, or dumbest trainers would come here first. And I'm the dumb one, so that must make you guys strong or brave!"

All three gave genuine laughs, and Amy flashed me a big grin. "Well, Yuji and me are the brave ones. Hana is definitely the strongest of us three."

Hana didn't deny it, instead saying, "And that's why we're here. We wanted to challenge Giovanni first because there is no losing. If we lose, we were beaten by the strongest Gym Leader."

"And if you win," I finished the thought, "you'd have beaten the stronger leader first."

"That's the plan." Yuji gave a nod.

"That's a great plan!" I said. "You guys are definitely thousand IQ thinkers! I want in!'

Hana gave me a confused glance. "What?"

"I want in!" I said again, "I'm a new trainer, and you guys seem to know your stuff. Let me train with you and take on Giovanni!"

Amy laughed. "Derek, you're awesome!" She had tears welling up in her eyes from laughing. "You can't beat Giovanni as a new trainer!" Amy wiped her eyes with her long sleeves.

"Seriously though," Yuji warned, "Giovanni is an insane opponent. We've put days of studying his battles to come up with strategies that would work for our starters and spent our entire pre-season training to take him on. How long have you been a trainer?"

"What time is it?" I ask nonchalantly.

Hana glanced at her watch, "Quarter to eight," She said.

"About thirty-two hours."

Amy burst out laughing again, and Yuji gave an exasperated sigh, running his fingers through his black and white hair. It was only Hana that took my words fully at face value.

"You're really serious about this." She gave me a look, glancing me over.

I very quickly realized why the other two deferred to her.

She's the planner.

Hana had been studying me since I had sat down at their table. Thinking back, she hadn't taken her eyes off of my face, analyzing my expressions, other than to look at the number of Pokeballs on my belt. Her stare was intense, but not intimidating.

I met her gaze. "Yeah," I said, "I might be a funny guy, but I'm not here to mess around."

I knew that Hana understood what I meant by that. I hadn't come to Kanto to slack off, and I was willing to put in the effort.

Hana put both her hands on the table, interlacing her fingers. "Tell you what," she offered, "my gym challenge is tomorrow. Come to the Gym and watch the match. If you're still okay with going up against him, we'll let you train with us while we're in town."

Both Yuji and Amy gave surprised looks at that, but neither looked reproachful. Instead, they both turned and waited for my answer.

"There's no way I'll cow after just watching somebody else battle," I said, feeling determination surge through my body. I was serious. "If anything, that's just gonna get me hyped up for my own battle!"

Hana smiled and nodded, and Yuji and Amy both gave impressed looks. I'd definitely give the right answer.

This Giovanni guy didn't know what was coming for him.

---

After I finished dinner I headed back up to my room, ready to relax a bit and actually rest. I pulled on some pajamas and released Artis from his ball.

"Spheal, pheal!" He barked, excited to be released. He turned and began sniffing the carpet before looking up at me curiously.

"Hey, bud," I said, "We're in Viridian City! We made it to our first Gym town!"

Artis barked a few more times, excited that I was excited, but very obviously had no understanding of what I was talking about.

"Oh boy," I sighed, "nobody actually explained what our journey was, huh?"

Artis nodded, but didn't seem bothered. His expression was just excited and happy enough to tell that there wasn't a thought behind those eyes. I smiled.

"It's okay, we'll talk about it tomorrow." I pulled up the covers on the bed, "do you want to sleep up here with me, or on the floor?"

The Spheal flopped up onto the sheets, quickly shimmying into the blankets. He crawled around underneath then before popping his head up.

"Spheal!" He beckoned, almost like he was saying Are you coming or what?

I grinned and pulled in next to him, feeling his warm fur immediately turning the bed into a cozy furnace. I wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled in for the night, ready to sleep.

My PokeNav+ buzzed.

I sat up and snatched it off the desk. There were three people who had my PokeNav+ number, and it was later in Hoenn than in Kanto, meaning both my parents would be asleep.

Sure enough, there was a text from Daisy:

[21:41, Daisy] Hey, Derek, I was just making sure you'd made it to Viridian safe?

I felt the edge of my mouth turn up in a grin. I started typing, but before I could finish another message popped up.

[21:41, Daisy] It's Daisy, by the way. I wasn't sure if you'd saved my number, so I thought I'd clarify.

I chuckled. Of course I saved her number! She's the coolest person I've met so far.

I waited another moment before replying as the typing bubbles popped up again, indicating that Daisy was writing something. They stopped and started a few different times, but no more messages came.

[21:45, Me] Yeah, I made it here safe and sound! I'm staying at the pokecenter rn, and I found some other trainers to show me the ropes around here

[21:45, Me] Did you make it to Pallet okay?

She responded quickly,

[21:46, Daisy] Yes! I got home before noon and managed to unload all my footage to the other lab techs.

[21:46, Daisy] I'm going to have to wait a few days for their analysis, so I came home and took a nap.

[21:46, Me] Same here! I was actually bedding down with Artis (my spheal), but tbh Im not feeling that tired.

I sent a photo of Artis that I'd taken on the trail yesterday. His tongue lolled out to the side and his blue fur was covered in small sticks and patches of grass.

[21:47, Daisy] He's so cute! I love him!

[21:48, Daisy] He looks really healthy, even with how young he is. I remember grandpa mentioning he had an egg move? (Btw, I'm also not feeling that tired.)

I leaned down and rubbed Artis between the ears. "My friend Daisy says 'hi', and she thinks you're cute." I fawned over him as I gave him scritches.

He nuzzled into my hand.

I started texting Daisy back about the Professor's hypothesis about Artis' parent, and she gave all kinds of helpful speculation.

Eventually, our conversation steered away from Pokemon and we started texting about personal stuff. I learned her favorite color, her comfort foods, and her favorite movies. In turn, I told her about myself. I sent her a link to my favorite Poketube channel and texted about the podcasts I'd been listening to on the trails.

The conversation took a turn when we realized that we were both fantasy novel fans, especially Cosmere books. It became a "nerd-off" to see who could spout more knowledge about our favorite series.

She won by a country mile.

Though, in a way, I won too.

---

The next morning I woke up well-rested and satisfied. It was later than I would normally get up, but completing the first leg of my journey deserved a treat.

And I definitely didn't sleep in because I stayed up talking to Daisy all night, for the second night in a row.

Definitely not.

Artis and I made our way down to the cafeteria and got breakfast. Cereal and OJ for me, high protein chow for him.

As I went to leave for the day, see the town and all that, I was stopped by Nurse Joy at the reception.

"Mr. Tracy?" She called.

"Uh, yes, Nurse Joy?" I hesitated.

"I just wanted to make you aware that a few other trainers left you a message," She said. "Specifically, Mr. Amano left this for you."

Nurse Joy handed me a small slip of paper that Yuji had written the address for the Gym and the time for Hana's battle. It started soon enough that I should start making my way there.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," I bowed my head in appreciation.

"It's no problem," she said, giving a polite smile, "those trainers are good company. They work well together, and they're driven towards their goals."

I really took a second to look at Nurse Joy. She was smiling, and she genuinely seemed to want to help encourage my relationship with Hana's group. It dawned on me that all Nurse Joys stood as the first line of contact for trainers with the League. We interacted with them the most, so of course they would be able to tell which trainers had a real shot at going far in the circuit, and which personality types would work well together.

"Sometimes I forget that Pokemon Centers are here for more than just medicine," I said, returning Nurse Joy's grin. "Thank you for the advice."

The pink-haired nurse gave me a nod and returned to typing away on the Center computer.

---

By the time I got to the Viridian City Gym, a battle was already in progress. The clay-orange building was massive, with a large half-barrel roof. It had nothing on the Lilycove Contest Center, but in the later parts of the season, I could see it hold fifteen to twenty thousand people.

The inside stadium was surrounded by rows and rows of seats with four separate battlefields. Only one of them was occupied at the moment.

"Krabby! Dodge left and Bubblebeam!" Yelled a young trainer in red and white fishing attire.

The small red crab scuttled across the dirt floor of the battlefield, weaving between impact craters and scars of upturned earth. Charging toward the Pokemon was a massive stone rhino, horn lowered and hundreds of pounds of muscle formed into a battering ram on legs.

A Rhyhorn.

The massive Pokemon charged past Krabby, digging its horn into the ground to plow forward and create the iconic move Bulldoze. The Krabby's trainer had called the dodge out at just the right moment, giving the crab ample time to swing around and release a torrent of bubbles towards the Rhyhorn's hide.

The rhino Pokemon turned at the last moment, pulling up its horn and spraying dirt to intercept the move. The Rhyhorn turned back and resumed its charge, creating another Bulldoze in a direct line to the Krabby.

"Same move, Krabby!" The fisherman shouted again.

I grimaced. Rhyhorn was clued into the tactic, and even from across the arena I could see it anticipating the attack.

Sure enough, as Krabby started scuttling at the last possible moment, Rhyhorn canceled its Bulldoze and whipped its horn around, swiping the tip underneath Krabby's back legs. It jerked its head up with a Horn Attack, tossing the crab into the sky.

"Shit!" The fisherman started to panic as his Pokemon tumbled through the air. "Try and land somewhere soft!"

Rhyhorn wasn't going to let the Krabby land. It swiped a chunk of earth from the ground in the same way that it had tossed Krabby up. The dirt clod was a perfect execution of the move Smack Down, and down Krabby did plummet as the pseudo-boulder rammed into it.

The match was called by the referee before Krabby hit the ground.

My eyes traveled to the opposite side of the arena, towards Rhyhorn's trainer. He was a tall man, with tanned skin and a dark suit. His bright red tie was the only pop of color in his attire. He reminded me of a Gym Leader from Hoenn, Norman. Both were the strong and quiet type, ones who let their Pokemon battle with little instruction, as they had already drilled hours and hours of training.

Norman had a dad-like warmth to him, making trainers feel respected and appreciated after a match. His methods might be harsh, but after a good fight, Norman would leave the battle on the field.

Giovanni had none of that.

He hadn't uttered a single word since I'd entered the arena, not even one to tell the fisherman that he'd lost the match, not that he needed to. Instead, he seemed cold, distant, and bored. His eyes drifted over the line of trainers who were waiting for their turn off to the side, and apparently they found nothing of value.

His leader platform was raised, several feet higher than the challenger platform, and had a cushioned high-back chair centered on it. He sat straight back, respectable, but not engaged.

Cold iron pooled in my stomach.

Even though the trainer had made mistakes, Krabby hadn't been poorly trained. It listened to commands and executed them thoroughly, and it hadn't scratched Rhyhorn. Artis and I had a grand total of maybe three hours of real training under our belt, and he couldn't even use an offensive water-type move yet.

My confidence in our ability to challenge this gym was dwindling.

I stopped studying the Gym Leader and started looking through the stands for Hana's group. Even as sparsely populated as it was, it took a minute to find them. Amy actually noticed me first, waving across the crowd and gesturing for me to come sit.

Yuji nodded as I approached. "Hey, Derek."

"Sup," I nodded back, "and hello Amy!"

She smiled widely, bouncing in their seat. "We were afraid you weren't gonna make it, Derek!" Amy pointed down towards the small line of waiting trainers. "Hana's up next!"

Hana was walking up to the challenger platform. Today, she'd elected to wear a jean jacket over white and green athletic wear. She stepped up to the platform carefully and purposefully, her eyes narrowed on the other side of the field.

I knew that she was studying Giovanni, the same way I had. His expressions, his rhythms. Even if he didn't seem interested in the battle now, those things changing would be the first step to fighting him when he was.

Yuji leaned forwards, resting his arms against his knees. "Come on, Hana," he said under his breath, "you got this."

"Challenger Hana Kanael," the referee announced loudly enough to be heard without a microphone, "this will be a one-on-one challenge against the Viridian City Gym Leader, Giovanni, for your first badge. Standard League challenge rules apply, and returning your Pokemon will stand as an admission of defeat. Are you ready?"

Hana nodded, still intent on Giovanni. "I'm ready!"

Hana pulled a Pokeball out from the pocket of her jacket and gracefully tossed it into the air. With a click and a flash of red light, her Pokemon began to materialize.

Gross. A disgusted shiver ran through my spine as I recognized the spindly legs and yellow bell-shaped head. I remembered the poor Raticate from just a few days ago.

"Bellsprout!" Yelled Hana's Pokemon.

Giovanni stayed seated in his chair, grabbing a Pokeball from the small side table next to him. He wordlessly released his Pokemon.

Yuji cursed at the same time that Amy whispered, "Oh no!"

I recognized the sand-colored scales of the tiny clawed Pokemon on the field, the second time in a row that I had done so. A small Sandshrew, in pretty good shape but on the younger side, walked to its starting position.

I frowned. Sandshrew was good, but not great. What was the problem here? This Pokemon didn't look old enough to be very problematic.

Amy noticed my confusion and tapped Yuji's shoulder. He looked over and explained, "Hana's main strategy relies on Wrap. We studied up on Giovanni and this is her worst-case scenario out of all his low-level Pokemon. It knows Rapid Spin."

Shit. I copied Yuji.

Wrap was what the Bellsprout had tried on me on Route One, growing its tendrils to entrap its prey and keep a heavy restriction on the opponent's moves. Trapping an enemy was a powerful ability because it limited your opponent's options.

None of that worked when your opponent knew Rapid Spin, which lets the Pokemon move at unreal speeds, throwing off anything that might have grappled or attached the Pokemon, including Wrap.

"Both Pokemon in position," the referee called, "begin in three, two, one!"

"Paige," Hana called out to the Bellsprout, "Start with a Sleep Powd-"

Hana didn't get to finish her sentence as the Sandshrew rolled into a ball and went bounding across the field, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. The Pokemon had begun a Rollout without Giovanni saying a word. Sandshrew rolled past Paige (I was assuming that was the Bellsprout's name), narrowly missing a full collision.

Hana, to her credit,kept her cool and called another order. "Stun Spore!"

There was a Pop! As Paige's bell-shaped mouth blasted a wave of yellow in the direction of Sandshrew. The yellow Pokemon dodged by rolling left, and then changed direction to begin circling Paige. The sand around the two of them began to swirl and raise into the air.

"Sandstorm." Amy declared. "That's bad, it uses it like a budget Sand Tomb."

The trail of sand grew thick, and instead of filling the area it swirled around Paige and trapped her within. The Bellsprout began to cry out as tiny flecks of sand and rock pelted it, inflicting small, but not insignificant, damage.

"Paige!" Hana yelled over the swirling sandstorm, "Growth into Vine Whip, crowd-control style!"

The Bellsprout dug its legs into the ground, and tiny roots sprouted from all over its body, reinforcing limbs and giving itself significantly more bulk. Paige's vines extended fully from its hands, and the Bellsprout lashed outwards with the full weight of its tendril whips in a circle, making it almost impossible for Sanshrew to dodge.

Wa-crack!

The noise of the move caused me to flinch, and I was struck by how impressively Hana had trained this Pokemon. Unfortunately, a loud noise doesn't always equal a successful hit. The Sandshrew had successfully dodged the Vine Whip at the cost of ending its Sandstorm cyclone.

There was a gouge in the ground, several feet long and several inches deep, where Sandshrew had avoided the attack.

"Sandshrew." The entire audience turned as Giovanni spoke for the first time. "Fury Storm." He spoke softly, but his words carried a malicious weight to them, and his intense gaze narrowed at the trainer across from him.

Hana glared right back, and said, "Paige, dodge and continue your attacks"

Both Pokemon sprung into action. Sandshrew moved back into its Rollout and sand once again followed in its wake. Paige whipped its arms forward, crashing twice into the sand on either side of Sandshrew and attempting to disrupt its movements. Sandshrew bounded over the whips, continuing through and successfully completing its first lap around Bellsprout.

The Sandstorm began again.

Paige kept striking, but to no avail. Sandshrew was just too fast, and from what Yuji had said this wasn't Hana and Paige's style of fighting at all. Hana was adapting on the fly because the Pokemon happened to have a move that countered her strategy, so she avoided the interaction completely.

Yuji groaned, "Sand Rush just kicked in."

Oh. That clicked some dots together for me regarding Giovanni's strategy. Sand Rush was a rare ability that boosts a Pokemon's speed in a sandstorm. It explained the "Storm" in Fury Storm. As Sandshrew extended its claws, imbued with sickening green energy, and made to slash at Paige, I realized the other half of the combo.

"Sandshrew makes a sandstorm trap, boosts its own speed," I murmured, "and starts chaining Fury Cutters. Each hit is stronger and faster than the last."

"Yeah," Amy sighed, already sounding resigned, "this sucks."

Fury Cutter was a unique move that got a little stronger each time that it hit consecutively, and it channeled bug-type energy, something that Paige wasn't weak to, but she definitely didn't resist.

Hana winced as Paige missed another Vine Whip, and desperation finally crept into her voice. "Paige, Acid!" She pleaded at her Pokemon, grimacing as the Bellsprout took a hit from a Fury Cutter.

The Pokemon flexed itself and tilted its head back to start summoning the poison needed for the attack, but it was obvious that it didn't have a ton of experience with the move. Paige was just a little too slow, and Sandshrew slash up her back with a third Fury Cutter.

Paige fell to the ground with a light thump and a soft sigh, fainted.

"Challenger Hana's Pokemon is unable to battle!" The referee announced. "Leader Giovanni is the winner!"

Hana's shoulders dropped low as she returned Paige, and she stared at the ground when stepping off the podium. Not only had she lost to Giovanni, she hadn't landed a single move on the Sandshrew.

I thought back to the previous fight. Krabby hadn't landed a single hit that I'd seen on the Rhyhorn.

My frown deepened, and I felt my brow crease as I thought about it more. Giovanni didn't just beat his opponents, all of whom looked like they had zero badges, but he embarrassed them. His Pokemon not taking a single hit didn't just show a disparity in the Pokemon's abilities, but it showed a difference in the experience of the trainers as well.

Hana was not a bad trainer. Everything about her battle spoke of hard work and dedicated studying. She had done her due diligence, and it had amounted to nothing in the face of Giovanni's experience.

It made me angry.

I stood up, walking past Yuji and Amy.

"Where ya going, Derek?" Amy called curiously.

"Be back in a second!" I ground my teeth.

I left the stands, passing by where Hana was walking up to meet her friends.

She didn't even notice as I walked by, her shoulders were still down and she looked dejected. Humbled.

I left the main arena and headed back out to the reception hall.

I need to be in Pewter in just under three weeks. I thought. It takes two to get through the forest, and I'd need a recovery day because I just have Artis…

I marched up to the counter and placed my trainer card in front of the attendant.

"Hi, I'd like to sign up for a Gym Challenge. Do you have anything available five days from now?"

---

Chapter 4: Make Him Bleed!

Yuji's jaw went slack as he heard my plan. "Five days?" He half-yelled.

We'd gathered Hana and headed back to the Pokemon Center from the Gym. She left Paige with Nurse Joy, and we gathered in one of the comfy lounges on the first floor of the Center. We were seated in plush couches, all relatively relaxing, other than Hana, who was furiously typing away at a laptop.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I think I can whip something together in five days."

Amy leaned forward, the pom-pom on their beanie flopping in front of their face. They looked like they were breaking bad news to a kid. "Derek, I don't think you can win after only five days of prep. We've been training for weeks and weeks and weeks! But Hana lost and she's the strongest one!"

"Nah." I shook my head.

"Nah?" Amy's head tilted in confusion, letting the pom-pom on their beanie wiggle to the side.

I sat down my water bottle and used my hands to talk. "Hana didn't lose. She walked in there with the odds against her, and she did something that I'm pretty sure doesn't happen very often." I pointed at my mouth.

Hana looked up from her laptop at the sound of her name, brow furrowed. It took her a moment, but realization passed across her expression.

"I made him give an order to his Pokemon." She said, leaning back into the coach.

I snapped my fingers and gave her a grin. "From what I saw, this dude does not like having to step in against low-level trainers. So, even though Paige didn't land a hit, you didn't actually lose. And you weren't even fighting using your whole plan. That was all improv, right?"

"Yeah..." Hana pulled her legs up into her chair, drifting into thought. The edges of her mouth curved up in a smile, and she went back to typing.

Yuji spoke up, "but that doesn't change anything? Like we said, Hana was training for weeks. How are you going to match that in just five days?"

"Well first off, my goal isn't so lofty as your guys'." I said, "I'm not gonna win, I'm just gonna make him bleed."

Yuji sighed, very much exasperated. "Dramatic much?"

Amy chuckled, "Spooky!"

"Yeah, we're gonna get spooky!" I leaned forward and fist-bumped Amy. "The way I figure it, if I can get one good shot in him, I'll be satisfied."

"So, who's gonna battle me?" I looked at each of my new friends.

"I will." Hana declared without looking up from her notes.

Yuji frowned. "Isn't Paige still out of commission though?"

"She should be ready to go in about an hour," Hana spoke, closing her laptop and looking Yuji in the eye, "and I need to see exactly what we're working with before we can plan a training regimen. Plus, Yuji, you're our best eyes on the battle. I want you impartial so you can give the best feedback."

He blushed and rubbed the back of his head, murmuring something under his breath in agreement.

"But why don't I get battle Derek?" Amy moped, "Pennywise has been wanting to battle more anyway..."

Hana smiled and reached over, taking Amy's hand. "I know, but can you do me this favor? I need to work off some frustrations from this morning." She still smiled, but the crease in her eyebrows made it clear that her loss was eating at her.

Amy melted. "Aw, shucks, you know I can say no when you ask me for a favor!"

Hana fully had both of her teammates' weak spots pinned. Yuji couldn't resist a compliment about his skills, and Amy would do anything when asked nicely.

Amy was wrong, I'm not the spooky one here. I shuddered thinking about how quickly I'd cave once Hana figured out whatever my weak spot was.

---

After about an hour of resting in the lounge, we collected Paige from the front desk and headed out to the private training grounds behind the Pokemon Center. A high stone wall separated us from the rest of the city and neither of the two training fields were in use. Relegated to the corner of the lot were several outdoor workout machines, like a squat machine and a weight rack powered by the weight of the person sitting on it.

I walked to the end of the nearest field and released Artis. He materialized on the ground and immediately rolled onto his back, showing his round white tummy to the sky in a blatant attempt for tummy rubs.

Amy and Yuji cooed at how adorable he was, and I leaned down to give him scratches on his ears. Even on a warm day like today, his fur was still a comfortable temperature.

"Hey buddy," I said, "these are our new friends. That's Amy and Yuji, and over there that's Hana." They each waved when I introduced them. "They're gonna help us train and get stronger so that we can battle a bunch of really strong trainers. Does that sound good to you?"

Artis rolled back onto his feet and barked in excitement.

"Yeah, I love you too. We're gonna battle Hana and her Pokemon, Paige, okay?"

He yipped, and turned to face Hana, waving his little flipper. Hana, who up to this point had been giving him an analytic look, hesitantly smiled and waved back.

Yuji pulled a red Pokedex from his pocket and focused it on Artis. It chirped before announcing, "

Spheal, the Clap Pokemon. This ocean Pokemon is found natively in the Hoenn region. It cannot swim well and instead uses its form to roll around much faster than it could otherwise travel."

Yuji swiped through the rest of the entry. "Huh, no wonder I've never seen one of these before."

"And even if you do, Artis is gonna be the best one you ever meet," I hyped up my Pokemon, "cause he's gonna be a champion's partner."

"Spheal!" Artis barked in agreement. He rolled out in front of me, taking his place on the battlefield.

Hana reached into the pocket of her jean jacket and pulled out Paige's ball. She released her Pokeball and the Bellsprout popped into existence with a determined cry. "Sprout!"

Yuji stepped up to the sidelines, acting as our impromptu referee. "Alright, this is going to be a one-on-one challenge, with Standard League Challenge rules applying. Are both competitors ready?"

Hana nodded and I gave a thumbs up.

"Begin!" He shouted.

Hana yelled first, sending swift instructions to her Bellsprout. "Roots out!"

Paige made a leaping jump towards Artis, slamming her spindly legs into the ground. She grew in all directions, extending her arm tendrils and rooting her feet in place. That must've been a call to do both Ingrain and Wrap.

"Get out of there buddy!" I yelled, "Rollout!"

Artis hesitated just a second too long on my command, fear in his eyes at the outstretched plant growing towards him. By the time he tucked his head to roll, Paige had already extended her vines are him and locked him in place. Against everything I expected from the tiny grass type, she leaned backward and used the leverage from her rooted legs to lift Artis above her head.

"Break her grip!" I said.

Artis tried even harder to get his Rollout going, but he had zero leverage against both of Paige's arms.

"Powder Barrage!" Hana called for another combination move.

I had the presence of mind to yell a counter before it began. "Gimme a big Aqua Ring bud!"

Paige released a series of wet pop noises as she spat three different puffs of spores. Purple, then yellow, then white clouds sprayed out towards Artis.

The Aqua Ring that Artis summoned was much wider than normal, he'd understood what I was asking for. As the clouds of spores washed over Artis, they collided with the water of the ring, dying it into a grey-purple slush.

"Growth into Vine Whip!" Hana gave her next command.

My first instinct was to yell for a Defense Curl, but I paused and waited for the Bellsprout to raise her arm to strike Artis.

An arm that was no longer wrapped around my Pokemon.

"Roll out of there!" I yelled.

Artis began his Rollout, his fur skidding against Paige's vines like tires against the asphalt. He ripped his way out of the hold, only possible because Paige had released half her hold. Like blue lighting, he bounded his way across the field, screeching to a halt right before the edge of the battlefield.

Paige turned to follow, but her spindly legs were still implanted in the ground from her Ingrain. She looked up at Hana, waiting for a command.

Hana and I paused, both trying to decide how to continue. Artis had zero ranged moves, something that I need to remedy but couldn't do anything about right now. Going back into Paige's range was suicide.

On the other hand, Hana couldn't order Paige to leave her spot. Ingrain was a great move when you could hold your opponent captive and it let you tank damage for a long time, but it rooted your Pokemon to the spot.

Hesitantly, Hana called, "Paige, use Acid! Force him forward!"

Ugh, I knew she wasn't out of tricks.

Technically, I had known that Paige had access to Acid, but Hana had been hesitant to use it during the gym battle. It might've been too slow to use against Giovanni, but I wasn't a Gym Leader.

"Build up speed bud! Stay out of her range!"

The Bellsprout opened her bell-shaped mouth wide, peppering the opposite side of the field with a viscous acid that sizzled and popped as it hit the cement. Artis flinched as it popped near him, but dutifully restarted his Rollout.

It became a game of dodging puddles of acid and maneuvering to stay outside of the range of Paige's tendrils. Artis was fast, so fast, but he only had so much real estate to deal with. He was quickly running out of ground.

He was doing what I said though. He kept building speed, taking turns wide and doubling back on himself.

Hana was in full analytical mode across the battlefield. Her eyes flicked back and forth across the ground, and I could see the gears turning in her head to calculate how long it would be until Artis had nowhere to go.

Her planning gave me an opening.

In the moments before Artis had to enter Paige's space, moving at a less-than-optimal time, I threw a curveball.

"Full-speed hit! Give it all you got!" I yelled.

Hana's eyes widened as I interrupted her planning, causing her to hesitate.

Artis turned on a dime, narrowly dodging a roiling purple puddle as he bounded back across the battlefield. With Hana's hesitation, he collided fully with Paige, ripping her out of the ground and sending both of them flying.

"Get up Paige!" Hana called, "then Vine Whip!"

"Get your speed back up bud!" I called, but I felt a small pang of disappointment. The hit had been really great, but it hadn't been enough. Paige was recovering much faster than Artis was, and she was way less exhausted.

Paige turned, still bulky with extra vines from her Growth, and cracked her Vine Whip through the air. Artis went down without another cry.

Yuji called out from the sidelines, "Derek's Pokemon can't fight, so Hana is the winner!"

I sighed and returned Artis before letting a grin ghost onto my face.

This is our  second  battle. Hana's been training for weeks, and we still did some real damage.

Looking at Paige, she had some nasty bruising across the left side of her vines, and her yellow head was discolored in patches across the side. She couldn't have another hit if she wanted to.

"Good match!" I said to Hana as I strode across the battlefield, offering a handshake.

She took my hand before giving me a questioning side-eye. "Why did you have Artis attack early? You had more time before you ran out of room, you could've used that to build more speed."

"Well," I started, scratching the back of my head, "I figured we didn't have a very good chance of making it out, regardless of when we decided to hit. You were actually the reason we moved when we did. You were so tied up in your plan that I figured we might get a better shot when you weren't ready."

Hana frowned, scrunching her eyebrows. "I guess that makes sense, though I think you might've won if you'd given it a few more seconds."

"Nah," I shook my head. "I saw the limits of what Artis can handle a few days ago, and I know his limitations. We weren't going to win. But we got a great hit in, and we earned it. I'd take that over scraping by for a victory any day."

Hana smiled. "And I suppose that is the whole purpose of this exercise."

"Yup!" I grinned, "we're gonna do that, but better, against Giovanni! That asshole isn't ready for us!"

---

After we dropped Artis and Paige off with Nurse Joy, we reconvened at the lounge.

"-and that's why you have to figure out a long-range move." Yuji finished up, "Artis is too young to compete on a physical level with most of Giovanni's Pokemon, even with the type advantage, but they defend really poorly from energy-based attacks."

The other two were working on small projects of their own while Yuji was giving me the breakdown of what he'd seen during our battle. Amy was doodling with some colored pencils, gripped in her sweater-covered hands, and Hana was once again typing away on her laptop.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I figured Water Gun was the get, 'cause a lot of ground types are also rock types, so it'll deal a ton of damage."

"No," Hana said, "challengers throw out their Pokemon first, and there's no way Giovanni will give you that inch. He'll do what he did with me and throw out a full ground type."

Yuji nodded. "Ice-type moves are going to be more surprising and going to give you an edge. Plus, they often have a way wider coverage."

Amy slid her drawing forward, and I was surprised as I glanced at it. Given her eccentric nature, I had thought she was making some sort of art, but there was instead a diagram of a battlefield with several arcs and lines overlaid onto it.

"These are the normal attack strategies for his ground types," she said, "and they're all really different. His Sandshrew likes to move in a bunch of curves, because its got Rollout, but the Diglet can show up almost anywhere. It likes to pop up right in front of people though, like a jack in the box." Amy grinned spookily.

Hana turned her laptop towards me, showing a breakdown of the known moves, types, and abilities of Giovanni's zero-badge Pokemon.

I took a deep breath, feeling deeply out of my league. "Wow..." I said, "...you guys really don't mess around."

Yuji nodded. "We take this really seriously. If you want to train with us, this is what we do."

"Tight, tight, tight..." I glanced at the three of them, and a wave of gratitude washed over me. "I really appreciate this guys. Like, I would have no idea where to start on my own."

"Nah, it's not a problem Derek!" Amy smiled and patted me on the back. "Yuji and me saw how you looked after Hana got beat! Anybody who gets that mad for a friend of ours has to be good people!"

Yuji grunted and nodded in agreement.

"And I can't challenge him again for two weeks, which is past when we wanted to leave," Hana added. "So I'm gonna live this one through you. All of you." She said, turning to the whole group.

Wow, I thought, I'm really glad I met these guys. Nurse Joy was right, they're good people.

---

I sighed as I turned off my alarm. On the third day of waking up before dawn, I still really hadn't adjusted. Since our battle on Monday, Hana had laid out an intensive training schedule for me and Artis to catch up with the others.

This sucks… I groaned as I slid on some workout clothes. She'd put Yuji in charge of Artis' endurance training, and he really believed that trainers should all be working out with their Pokemon. My legs and back were stiff, and my shoulders strained as I stretched them above my head.

I swang by the cafeteria to pick up some cereal and OJ before heading out back to the training yard.

Yuji was already running laps around the yard, his tiny purple Rattata, Despereaux, trailing behind him.

He'd taken his track top off to exercise, and he was fit underneath. While he lacked bulk, his muscles were lean and sinewy, clearly defined from hours and hours of training. Sweat ran down the dips of his collarbones, past his pecks and the two small scars on the underside of each one, and trailed across his abs and he slowly brought himself to a stop.

Damn, that's hot. The dude was attractive. I had nothing else to add to that thought.

He saw me approaching and grabbed his jacket off an empty chair. He tossed it over his shoulders, bashful. I blushed a little, realizing I'd been openly ogling the guy.

I went to apologize, but he held up a hand. "It's fine," he chuckled, "you ready to get started?"

"Yeah," I huffed, remembering why I was out here. "I get that we're supposed to train with our Pokemon, but isn't every day a bit much?"

"Depends on who you ask," said Yuji. "Bruno trains more than his Pokemon, and he's in the Elite Four. Though we're mostly training you this hard to get you jump-started, the same as we're doing for Artis. We all already put in the work in the pre-season, so we're just trying to catch you up."

Despereaux stood up on his two hind legs, nodding thoughtfully and agreeing with his trainer.

"I mean, I ran," I emphasized, pouting just a bit.

I sighed.

I guess it's fair though. I did a lot of endurance training, like hiking and swimming, but what Yuji has me doing puts all that to shame!

I definitely felt the last few days of strength training all over my body, though I wouldn't be feeling the positive effects without consistent work. I released Artis and we did our warm-up laps before we joined Yuji on the communal machines.

We did a bunch of different exercises, most of them with unreasonable names like the "Kalosian Split Squat" or the "Unovan Bell Lift". It left me exhausted, and this was before even we started working on our actual battle training.

At least Artis was having a good time. The little Spheal was an endless well of energy in the exercises. Yuji had him carrying a large tire, affixed by a chain to his waist, in laps around the field. He was specifically working on building his leg strength so that we wouldn't have to rely on Rollout to get from point to point.

After about two hours, Amy and Hana appeared with water to fetch Yuji. Today was the day of his challenge, and he needed to get cleaned up before the fight.

I waved as they headed back inside, and looked back down at Artis who was panting heavily.

"Let's get back to work, bud."

He barked in agreement.

---

By mid-afternoon, we finally made some progress.

"Powder Snow!" I called.

Artis exhaled with purpose, using his whole diaphragm. Small wisps of whitened cold air spread outward in a cone from his mouth, crawling across the pavement and leaving thin lines of frost in their wake.

"Yes!" I shouted, throwing my hands into the air. I rushed across the battlefield and wrapped him up in my arms, straining as I lifted his blubbery body. "You're such a good boy!"

It wasn't near good enough to be considered a proper use of the move but it was definitely progressing.

I scratched him behind the ears and let him down. "Alright, one more time and we'll go inside for lunch!"

Artis mumbled a complaint but gave a slow exhale outward. The temperature of the air around him lowers, and finally, flakey powdered snow erupted from his mouth in a soft stream. It was gentle, and it wasn't going to cause any harm.

Yet.

In the distance, I heard Yuji call out, "Derek! I did it!"

He sprinted up to the low wall around the yard from the street, hopping it with little effort it. Hana and Amy were both sporting large grins as they came through the gate like normal people.

I turned and gave Yuji and him an epic high five. "Hell yeah!" I paused and considered for a moment. "What'd you do?"

His face, so excited moments before, fell in disbelief. Yuji looked to his hand, then to me, and back to his hand.

Amy held up their phone, "He made Giovanni call out specific moves to avoid Despereaux's attacks, cause his rat was just too fast!"

Hana had a satisfied smirk on her face. "Unlike in my battle, he wasn't able to completely shut down our strategizing."

On the phone, a blur of purple fur kited a Geodude across the battlefield, staying out of its reach other than to dash by and strike it at with dark-energy-infused Bite attacks. Amy zoomed the camera in on Giovanni's annoyed face as he leaned forward in his chair and took an active role in the battle. With his trainer's orders, Geodue was able to avoid the attack and get a solid hit in on the Rattata.

I smiled.

We were getting closer.

---

Day four was Amy's fight. While the group was at the Gym, I was able to get Artis up to two good blasts of Powder Snow before he was fully exhausted. They were at the point where they could do some damage, but I was still worried that they weren't going to hit as hard as we wanted them to.

Amy's fight went even better than Yuji's. They appeared that afternoon carrying an entire pie that Yuji and Hana had bought for them as a prize.

Hana had spent the most time crafting the strategy for Amy's tiny clown Pokemon, a Mime Jr. called Pennywise. The reference was not lost on me, but both trainer and Pokemon enjoyed cackling in malicious ways, so it fits.

Pennywise had the move Barrier, which allowed it to erect small barriers of psychic force to help defend against attacks. Hana's plan had prepared for several different Pokemon, but especially Giovanni's Diglett. It had Pennywise create the small barriers on a horizontal plane above the ground, which the tiny clown climbed on and hopped between to avoid the ground entirely.

Between that and its Mimic move, which it used to copy Diglett's Sand Attack, Pennywise was near untouchable.

Unfortunately, he lacked the stopping power to actually defeat the Diglett and had taken a direct shot from a Sucker Punch. While it hurt to see the tiny guy take a super-effective move, it was so satisfying to see Giovanni angrily stand from his chair. Amy shouted something across the battlefield, sticking out her tongue as she returned Pennywise. A vein on the Gym Leader's forehead pulsed angrily.

When I asked them later, Amy said that they had called Giovanni a "geriatric entitled crybaby."

They deserved their pie.

And we were chipping away at him.

---

My phone buzzed before my alarm went off.

I blearily cracked open my eyes to see that I had a text from Daisy.

[[06:29, Daisy]]  Good luck today, Derek. I'm sure you guys are going to do great!

I smiled. I'd mentioned to Daisy at the beginning of the week that I'd be challenging Giovanni today, but I hadn't been able to keep up our texts as much as I'd wanted with all the training.

She'd remembered.

I texted back a gif of a pirate in handcuffs that said "Off to the gallows we go" and curled back into my pillow.

My alarm went off.

"Ugh…" I groaned.

Artis and I rolled out of bed, literally in his case, and got dressed for the day. Today was the day that hadn't come quickly enough.

I looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. It had only been a week since I had landed in Kanto, but I was already changing. Yuji's training meant I stood straighter, I kept better posture. And I let my dark hair take on more of its natural floof, instead of compressing it down with gels like I'd used to.

I'd abandoned my athletic wear today, instead wearing an outfit that Yuji and Amy had picked out. The outfit was a pair of beige pants and a white crew top, covered by a bright blue blazer with three-quarter sleeves. It was obvious that they wanted me and Artis to match, and this was just casual enough that I wasn't overdressing for a first badge challenge.

I looked stronger, older, and more competent.

I hesitated as I went to leave my room. I unclasped my PokeNav+ from my waist and hit the record button.

"Hey dad," I said into the microphone, "I know I haven't sent you guys any messages yet, but I wanted you to know I've been training really hard for my first Gym battle. Artis, that's what I named my Spheal, has been my best friend and I love him to the moon and back. Thanks for him, dad. I love you both, and I miss you guys. Tell Mom I said hi."

I ended the recording and sent it along with the link to the Viridian City Gym streaming channel.

Yuji, Amy, and Hana were all waiting downstairs for me, and they had already grabbed Artis and I breakfast. Cereal and OJ for me, high protein chow for him.

"Aww, you guys," I said, touched. "You didn't have to do that."

Yuji shoulder clasped me ."You're one of us now, friend," he said. "You've been working very hard this week, and you deserve it."

Amy chuckled. "Also, we literally just grabbed everything from the cafeteria bar."

"It's the thought that counts!" I started shoveling my cereal as Artis shoved his entire head into his food dish.

Hana pulled out her laptop to go through our strategy, but I raised my hand between bites. "Guys, I got this!" I said

Hana raised an eyebrow. "So he's going to use-

"Cubone, probably."

She continued rapid firing throwing me prompts that we'd practiced.

"And if not, it'll be-"

"Sandshrew."

"And in the case of Cubone, he'll open with-"

"Belly Drum, followed by Rock Smash."

"And if you win-"

"I'll be the number one ranked trainer of the season, having beaten one of the strongest gym leaders a week into the season."

"But our chances of winning are-"

"Less than possible, and we should prepare for a loss..."

I slammed down my cereal bowl, having finished my breakfast. "...But no matter what, we're gonna make the asshole bleed!"

Yuji and Amy gave a cheer, and Hana gave a self-satisfied smirk.

We were out for blood.

---

When we marched into the Gym, it was dead empty other than the faculty. Everyone else who had come to try their hand at the Viridian City Gym had cleared out over the week, leaving just the four of us.

The others took their spots in the stands, whereas I was ushered to the Gym field.

I stopped before I passed through the gate.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

This was it. I thought. My first ever Gym challenge.

Even if I knew it was going to be a loss, this marked the first real step on my League journey. I was making my official debut into the world of professional Pokemon battling.

I stepped onto the astroturf, feeling the false grass crunch underneath my feet.

I opened my eyes and was overwhelmed by the thousands and thousands of seats around me. I imagined the twenty-five thousand seats that rose up around me, all filled with cheering fans.

The air smelled like rich earth, and there was a slight echo to everything within the indoor arena.

I was alone on the pitch, other than the referee, who stood off to the side of the battlefield. He was looking down a hallway on the other side of the arena, a tunnel that lead towards the offices and locker rooms meant for real competitors.

Walking out of the darkness was Gym Leader Giovanni. His posture was perfect and intimidating, his black suit accentuating his cold and dangerous look.

He crossed the pitch to climb up the steps to his platform and sat into the black chair atop it.

Giovanni's eyes passed over me. His face made no changes, and showed no emotions. I was just another zero-badge trainer who wasn't worth the effort.

"You got this Derek!" Amy yelled from the stands. Yuji immediately shushed her, and even down here, I could see him flush with embarrassment.

Giovanni's eyes narrowed as he looked up into the stands. He definitely recognized my friends, and he turned his glare back on me.

Now I was grouped in with the others, now I meant something. I could see it in his eyes. Now I was an annoyance.

He turned towards the referee and nodded.

"Challenger Derek Tracy" the referee echoed exactly what he'd said at Hana's challenge, "this will be a one-on-one challenge against the Viridian City Gym Leader, Giovanni, for your first badge. Standard League challenge rules apply, and returning your Pokemon will stand as an admission of defeat. Are you ready?"

I looked Giovanni directly in the eye. "I'm ready."

I released Artis from his ball. We'd talked about the stakes of this fight beforehand, so when he popped out, he was ready for battle. Artic let out a bark, as deep and as strong as he could muster. Even at his age, he'd made it intimidating.

Giovanni held my gaze, grasping a Pokeball from his side table and releasing the Pokemon within.

I held back any trace of the excitement that filled my chest as a small, bipedal Pokemon equipped with a bone helmet and club.

Cubone. We'd called it.

Step one, check.

"Begin!" Shouted the referee.

Cubone let out a loud yelp and began to slam its bone club into its stomach to an aggressive rhythm. Belly Drum made a Pokemon more aggressive and raised its attacking power. Though, from the look of the red marks on its stomach, it hurt real bad.

Step two, check.

As Cubone completed its drumming, it thrust its bone club high into the air and rushed towards the pot that Artis hadn't yet moved from yet.

The reason for this was that the Spheal was using a move we'd been training in the breaks between Powder Snow all week.

Artis' baby blue fur had taken on a silvery sheen as he had been tensing his muscles and activating his Defense Curl.

The tightening of muscles from the Defense Curl made Artis a coiled spring, waiting to be released. The moment Cubone made its move, Artis released all that energy.

Defence Curl had a neat interaction with Rollout, causing the offensive move to gain in power and speed when used together.

Like a rocket, Artis crossed the field faster than Giovanni's Sandshrew had ever been.

Cubone's Rock Smash shattered the ground where Artis had been, leaving a three-foot fissure in the earth as he missed.

My heart skipped a beat as Cubone quickly turned to make a second strike, and brought down another Rock Smash behind Artis.

It missed by millimeters, exploding a shower of dirt forward.

Artis, propelled by both Rollout and the explosion of dirt behind him, headed for Giovanni's side of the field.

Turning on a dime once he'd hit the halfway point, Artis used his doubly powerful Rollout slam into the ground, sending up a huge wave of dirt and debris behind him. In his wake he left a gouge in the earth, creating a channel down the center of the field.

Step three, donezo.

The Cubone turned to follow Artis, but stopped at the channel, hesitating at its depth.

Yes! I silently cheered.

We'd created a dividing line to stop Cubone from being able to close the distance with Artis again. The powered-up Rock Smash was a one-hit K.O. if it hit Artis, so it was so very important to keep it away.

"Artis! Powder Snow!"

Giovanni's eyes widened, and he sat forward on his chair.

A wave of white burst from Artis' mouth, showering the field in white. It covered everything, obscuring the field in a thick white haze. The powdered ice hung in the air for full seconds.

The battlefield was still for a moment as no one could see what was happening, and I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold running up my spine.

Pokemon battling was like nothing else.

The snow settled and my heart plummeted.

Cubone was nowhere to be seen.

Fuck… He must have moved before being hit.

Giovanni stood from his chair and commanded, "Cubone, Bonemerang!" his voice was deep and charismatic, something akin to a Bond villain.

Fuck! Cubone hadn't had any ranged moves in our studies. I almost looked up at Hana, but I couldn't afford to waste a moment.

"Artis, Powder Snow into the ditch!"

Artis rolled forward, his movement still boosted by his Defense Curl-Rollout combination.

We had one shot left.

A yellowed bone club appeared from inside the ditch that Cubone had jumped into for cover.

Artis' tail pushed off the ground, clearing him several feet into the air.

The bone flew higher.

White snow exploded in a cone from Artis' mouth as he flew in an arc, straight down into the ditch.

The same moment that I hear the crack of impact on flesh was the moment that both Pokemon were obscured from view by the expansion of ice and snow once again.

The arena was silent.

I stared into the cold fog, willing it to clear.

Artis was visible first. Fainted and splayed out across the dirt, knocked unconscious by the Bonemerang.

Though it hurt to see the little guy in that condition, I held my breath.

The fog dissipated fully.

"Cu- Cubone..." the Cubone pathetically warbled as it pulled itself out of the ditch, frost burns covering its body from the ice of Artis' move.

Damn it…

My friends burst into cheers in the stands, startling Giovanni and the referee who had both been standing in silence.

Giovanni's scowl returned as he looked up at the audience. He glanced back at me, though, and gave a slight nod.

"Challenger Tracy's Pokemon is unable to battle!" The referee announced. "The winner is Gym Leader Giovanni!"

My friends continued to cheer, but I felt an emptiness in my stomach.

I'd done what I wanted to do. I hit Giovanni's Pokemon hard. As he returned it, I could see that Cubone was barely standing.

Giovanni walked off the platform and left without another word.

If I'd hit with one more move, maybe I could have...? My thoughts drifted. I shook my head. No. It took everything to get that far. We did it. We made him bleed.

I returned Artis and walked back to the stands.

My friends ran down to meet me, all our hard work for the week pouring out as Amy jumped me into a hug while Yuji patted my shoulder. Hana was more than self-satisfied, she was grinning. But I still had the nagging thought in my head.

I could have done more.

---

Chapter 5: Refresh, Relax, Regroup

After my battle, we went out to eat to celebrate. And by "out to eat" I mean that four trainers on a budget grabbed take-out and we retreated back to the Pokemon Center.

All four of us were snug on the couches of the lounge, the place that had become a regular hangout spot here, passing around boxes of chow mein and spicy pork as we talked about the last week's worth of effort.

"And I was so close to getting a hit in!" Amy held her fingers a millimeter apart. "Pennywise just couldn't reach that stupid little worm from up on the barriers!"

"I hardly think a Diglett deserves to be called a worm," said Yuji. His black and white hair was pulled up in a loose bun. "It managed to stay relevant even though it was underground for most of the fight. And when it did hit, it hit hard!"

"Yeah, well, it was a rotten strategy anyway!" Amy pouted into her rice.

We all gave a laugh. No one elected to tell her that digging underground was basically exactly the strategy that they'd been using to stay in the sky with Pennywise's Barrier.

Hana reached over and grabbed the dumplings. "I'm just glad to be done with Viridian Gym for a while. I don't plan on seeing Giovanni again any time soon." She frowned as she found the box empty, and glanced over at Amy.

Amy shook their head and pointed at Yuji. He noticed and quickly popped the last dumpling into his mouth. Yuji quickly regretted that as the hot soup dumpling popped in his mouth and his face distorted in pain.

I let a grin ghost onto my lips.

These people were truly awesome. They'd taken me in less than a week ago and we were already having fun as a group of friends.

And we were having fun. I just... ...well I wasn't really getting into the festivities.

I know it was my plan to take potshots at Giovanni. I'd led the charge on the moral victory plan, but when it came down to it, I was bitter that I hadn't gotten the win. I think it really came down to how unachievable the win had seemed at the beginning of the week, and how close it had been by the end of the fight. We'd only exchange a handful of moves each, but the one hit that Artis had gotten in had almost taken out the Cubone all together.

If I'd just-

"-Derek?" Yuji called.

I looked up. Hana and Amy were engaged in a debate as to who should get the last of the spicy pork, but Yuji was giving me a concerned look.

I shifted in my seat. "Sorry, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing important," he said, still hesitant. "I was just wondering what you were going to do tomorrow?"

"Oh, I figured I would get some more training in-"

"Mourf ahnt-," Amy swallowed her mouthful of spicy pork before finishing her outburst. "-you can't train the day after a big battle!"

I frowned. "But I was real close to a win, so I figured I could finish up-"

"We can a hard rule when it comes to training, Derek," Hana interrupted. "We have to take breaks after every milestone, even if it's just for a day."

Yuji nodded. "It's true," he turned to me. "If you go as hard as you have been forever, you're going to burn out sooner rather than later."

I shrugged and leaned back into my coach, pulling my legs up.

There was a bit of silence as the others glanced at each other. They were having a full conversation in a series of looks, and I raised an eyebrow.

Amy spoke up first. "Hey, uh, Derek? Do you wanna come with me tomorrow on my day off?"

I smiled, "Oh, that's okay Amy. You don't have to do that."

"Actually," Hana said. "I think that's quite a good idea. How about we have you tag along on our days off tomorrow, and you can see what it looks like to take some time off training?"

"Yeah!" Amy pulled out her phone and sent me a text. "We're gonna go here around ten am, so wear something comfy!"

"And I'll come pick you up from there on my way to the mall!" Yuji suggested.

"Then you can assist me on my shopping trip afterwards." Hana finished planning my itinerary for the day.

Each of them looked at me with kind expressions, giving me the kind of look that said that they wouldn't take a no for an answer.

"Sure," I said, shrugging, "I guess that works."

---

After I agreed to their demands, we ate the last of the takeout and all retired to our rooms.

I sighed as I left Artis' ball on my desk and pulled off my blazer. I'd release him before I really went to bed, but I wanted some time to be alone before then. I stripped off my new crew neck but strained as I pulled my arms above my head. The muscles were still sore from how intense this week had been.

Ugh, I mentally groaned, I guess they might be right about taking a break.

As I started to unhook the rest of my gear, I noticed that my Pokenav+ had two unread messages on it, on from Daisy and one from my Dad.

I clicked Daisy's first.

She'd sent two messages, one photo and one text. The photo was a screenshot from the Viridian Gym live stream that they'd been broadcasting of the battle. Most Gym challenges were live-streamed, but very few of them got a lot of real coverage until after trainers started gaining their third and fourth badges.

The photo was from a camera on Giovanni's side of the field, looking towards me. It was of the moment that Artis had lept into the air, blasting cold air down into the ditch. The white cloud took up half the screen, and I was perfectly framed in the other half. My arm was extended while I shouted orders and my eyes were intense. Honestly, if I hadn't known it was me, I would've thought this was somebody a lot more experienced.

[[15:21, Daisy]] You did a great job today! I know you didn't get the win, but you two had an amazing battle. You're already starting to look like a pro.

A grin split my face.

I plopped down onto my bed and stared at the message for a while. She was right, I did look like a pro in that photo. I could remember the feeling before the actual battle, of stepping onto the pitch and staring at the thousands of seats surrounding the field. It had felt good. Really good.

I texted her back a quick thank you and went to the other message.

My dad had left a voice recording, the same as what I'd left for him. I popped in an earbud and pressed play.

"Hey, Der," My dad's voice played, using his nickname for me since I was a little kid. His voice was warm and deep, and I felt a pang of homesickness at hearing it. "I'm glad you finally sent us an update. Your mom and I have been worried, but we trusted that you'd send a message when you weren't on the road."

I frowned, feeling guilty. I'd been in Viridian for almost a week, and today was the first message I'd sent since landing.

"I'm glad you liked the Spheal. You named him Artis, right? Well, let me tell you, he was not easy to get ahold of. That little guy has a lot of potential in his family line, so I'm hoping he'll be a good enough partner for you. You've been training him well. We watched your match today."

I held my breath for his judgment. Everyone else might've said I did a good job, but my dad was the trainer in our family. One of the most senior members of Hoenn's Ace Trainers, my dad had decades of Pokemon training knowledge in his brain.

"You did fantastic, son." He said, and I let go of my breath, feeling warm tears well up in my eyes. "that was a close loss, and I think there are a few holes in your training, but the strategy was sound. I read up a bit more, and that Giovanni guy is one of the toughest leaders over there. You started at the highest learning curve and almost beat the guy."

I wiped my eyes and smiled. Validation from my dad was always earned, and he always meant it when he said it.

I frowned at his next sentence, though.

"If you want, I could probably put in a word with the Kanto Ace Trainers?" He offered, "maybe you could do some training with them-"

I paused the message and let out an angry sigh.

He doesn't get it. I thought. The whole reason I came out here is that I don't want him to help. I want to earn it on my own.

I got up and brushed my teeth, changing into my night clothes before wandering back to bed. I looked at my Pokenav+, debating listening to the rest.

The progress bar showed that I was already most of the way through it. I clicked the resume button.

"-to fill out those holes. Maybe I could even look into sending you another Pokemon?" He stopped, as though he was waiting for me to answer. "Well, let me know if any of that sounds like it would help. I hope we'll hear more from you soon, Der. Your mom wants her own messages."

There was a heavy pause, like he was debating hanging up, before he finally said, "I love you, my son."

The Pokenav+ beeped to let me know that was the end of the recording.

I slid into my covers, feeling like crap.

I'm such an asshole. I thought. He's really just trying to help.

My dad was always trying to help. It wasn't that he didn't care, it was that he cared too much. That's fine for a lot of other people's parents, but my dad helped lead the Ace Trainers, the most elite force of Pokemon trainers in a given region. I got bullied a lot in school whenever I excelled, especially by the other kids. And I knew they were just echoing what their parents thought. I was only good at what I did because my dad happened to be one of the best trainers in the region.

And the worst part was that they were right. Dad would never let me fail. We lived and breathed Pokemon at home. I would get out of school and we'd be in the backyard watching one of his Pokemon train. We would go inside for dinner and watch reruns of famous matches from past Ever Grande Conferences. I would go to bed and I could hear him get up in the middle of the night to take an emergency call from the Ace Trainers.

It's not like I didn't love it either. Dad was my inspiration, the person who ignited my love of Pokemon battling. I drank in every bit of knowledge that he would give me. But there were always the whispers, the stares. Every time I aced an exam, or put my hand up in class, I could hear people disregard my effort and talk about how lucky I was to have my dad be who he was. When I'd scored one of the highest scores in my class on Hoenn's Trainer Card Exam, even my teacher had attributed everything I'd done to my dad.

I couldn't handle it. I knew that if I'd done my journey in Hoenn, that's what my career would have been. I'd been online enough to know that other trainers could be spiteful, and they'll take any excuse to tear down somebody's credibility. Forum posts were toxic.

I clicked on my Pokenav+, hitting the record button.

"Hey dad..." I hesitated. What the hell was I supposed to say?

"... I was just going to say that I love you too," I finally got out. "And I don't think you need to make any calls or send me a Pokemon. I made some friends out here, and they've really helped me land on my feet."

I smiled as I thought about the last week of intense training. My dad would've loved that.

"I'll try and message more often," I promised. "I'm actually planning on heading back onto the Routes in a couple of days, so I'll leave you guys a message before I leave and once I'm back in town. And I promise I send mom some messages too."

"I love you, dad," I said before ending the message.

I rolled over and sighed. Today had been a lot. I reached over and released Artis onto the bed. He curled up against my side without questions.

For now, it was time to sleep.

---

The next morning I was actually awake after the sun came up, instead of training before dawn. I was still sore, but the break from training left me feeling a different style of rested.

I slid on a comfy sweater and some loose pants, just like Amy had said to, and headed downstairs to the reception area.

Amy was already waiting when I got there. They were dressed in a light purple sundress and their iconic pom pom beanie. They held a cup of coffee in one hand and a bottle of OJ in the other.

"Hiya Derek," they smiled as I walked up and offered me the OJ. "You're right on time!"

I took the bottle and greedily cracked it open. "Yeah," I said. "I'm not one to leave people hangin'. Thanks for this, by the way."

"It's no biggy," said Amy, stepping out the front door and waving goodbye to Nurse Joy. "I just figured I haven't seen you skip a day yet, so you'd probably want one."

I smiled, feeling a bit wistful. "It's a thing my mom and I used to do a lot. Both of us like to sleep in, so we used to leave our alarms till the last possible minute, and slam some cereal and an orange juice right before it was time to go to school."

"Oh," they paused. "That makes way more sense than what I thought."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What did you think it was?"

"I thought that you were obviously a Victreebell disguised as a human, and the only thing that satiated your plant-thirst was your love of orange juice."

I fully stopped walking and stared at them. Amy stuck their tongue out and gave me a wide grin.

"You're a deeply odd person, ya know that?"

"Yeah!" They said with a skip in their step.

"Good." I started walking again. "Plus, Victreebell eat meat, not other plants."

Amy wrinkled their nose. "Gross."

We walked for another ten to fifteen minutes, enjoying the morning air of Viridian City. While there weren't a lot of trainers around town, Viridian was still a bustling metropolitan area. We walked past schools and parks, skyscrapers and parking garages, even a museum.

The city was beautiful when you took the time to look at it. We saw things that had faded to the background when all we concentrated on was getting from the Center to the Gym and back.

We eventually came to a small cafe that Amy had scouted on one of their trips through the city. They dragged me in and helped them build a sampler platter from all the different cakes in the shop.

We grabbed our food (and a refill of coffee and OJ) and headed outside to the little circular tables. The whole thing gave a very Kalosion vibe.

"So Amy," I asked as we started dividing the cakes. "Where are you from?"

They used their fork to stop mine, scooping up the chocolate mousse cake before I had a chance to try it.

"Well..." They thought about it for a bit. "That's kind of a big question."

"Oh, if you're not okay talking about it-"

"Nah, it's nothing like that. It's just that I'm from a bunch of places, really." Amy took a big bite of cake, savoring it for a moment. "My moms always moved a lot, ya know? I think my favorite place we lived was in Cerulean because the river was really pretty!"

"That's cool," I said, "is Cerulean pretty famous for its river?"

"Yeah, I don't remember if it has a name or not, but it runs all the way from Route 4 to the ocean. It wraps around Cerulean, which is where it gets its name from." Amy picked out a slice of strawberry cake topped with homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberries. "I forget sometimes that you're not from Kanto, cause everybody knows about the river."

"Yeah, I don't know a ton about Kanto," I admitted. "I should probably fix that, but we've been so busy this week."

"And that's why we have cake!" Amy smiled wide as they scooped up another piece from the platter. "We always take breaks causes there's always a ton of things to keep getting better at. Since we know we're never gonna be done improving, we gotta rest when we can."

"Yeah," I took my first slice of cake while watching Amy inhale their third. "I guess you're right..."

Amy grinned happily at me as I finally took part in their rest-day ritual. To their credit, the cake was delicious. The piece I'd grabbed was a slice of tiramisu, and it was wonderfully fluffy and sweet. It was a little rich, but the sampler platter's slices were only a couple of inches thick, so it went down quickly. Before long, we fell into a gentle rhythm of our forks clattering against the plates and watching the people go by as we ate.

After Amy finished off our last slice, a thin piece of lemon pound cake, they patted their belly with their hands and burped. "Derek," they said, "what are you going to do now that we've done what we can at the gym?"

"Well, I figure I've got to be in Pewter in two weeks, so I'm probably going to head out tomorrow."

"So soon?" They sat up quickly, but groaned and collapsed back down into their chair. "You're not gonna stick around a little longer?"

"Nah, I made a commitment." I shrugged. "And it's not like there's a ton more I can do in Viridian anyway. I don't want to stay still for the next two weeks, so there's no point hanging around here without being able to challenge the gym."

"But you could always get some extra training in." A new voice piped up from down the street.

Yuji was standing there, having abandoned his tracksuit for the day, and instead dressed in a loose sweater and a pair of jeans. He had a cross-body bag strapped across his chest, and his white and black hair was left loose. We scooted our chairs and let Yuji slide another in at our table.

Amy burped. "Yuji, I think I'm dying..." They slid down in their chair and sighed dramatically.

He smiled and rubbed their head, the way a sibling would, and said, "No, you just ate too much again. You should go sleep it off."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I just have to send Hana a text really quick." Amy pulled out their phone and lazily began typing.

"Are you almost ready to leave, Derek?" Yuji looked over at me. He had very dark eyes, but they looked genuinely relaxed.

"Yup! Ready when you are." I stood up and immediately felt a shift in weight, and my gut felt heavy. Amy wasn't the only one who'd eaten too much.

Yuji and I headed off from the cafe, leaving Amy to meander their way back to the Center. The day was starting to warm up, and passing pedestrians were more common. We did have to pull off to the side of the street for a moment as Yuji got a text message.

"Anything important?" I asked as I watched people walk by.

He gave a concerned look at his Pokegear before typing out a response. Yuji slid the device back into his pocket. "Nothing that can't wait till later. Just moving around some plans."

"Oh, that sucks," I said absentmindedly. "Do we need to cancel?"

Yuji smiled. "No, nothing like that. Today is just about relaxing from a long week. Everything else can be dealt with later." He stepped back onto the sidewalk and started leading me down the way.

We made our way to a large outdoor mall, a full shopping center with lines of outlet stores and small restaurants. Yuji's excitement was very visible as we neared a massive building at the center of the complex, with bright neon displays listing showings and times. The theater.

"Oh!" I exclaimed as I realized what were doing. "I didn't realize you liked movies so much. What are we gonna see?"

Yuji gave the faintest blush and pushed his hair out of his face. "Well, it would be incorrect to say that I'm a fan of 'movies' in general. This theater just happened to be showing some of my favorite old films at matinee prices this month." Yuji gestured up to a promotional poster on the wall.

There the theater advertised a month of 'thrilling action-packed martial arts films', where they would be showing a different classic movie on each day of the first month of the League season. Today was a movie that was over twenty years old: Crouching Arcanine, Hidden Dragonite.

I laughed. "So you like martial arts movies? That makes so much sense!"

"I find that any film where they appreciate traditional combat styles, especially martial arts films, do a better job telling a story without words." Yuji looked unsure. "Are you okay with watching this with me today?"

"Dude, this rules. I'm definitely in." I clasped his shoulder and pulled him over to the ticket line. He buzzed with happiness at my enthusiasm.

Yuji was a really interesting guy. When we were training he was always task-oriented and it was hard to get a read on him. He always spoke in a measured tone and had a very stilted way with words. But now I knew something interesting about him, he liked old movies. I really didn't know a lot about any of my new friends, and I was having a great time learning about them.

One of the upsides of our screening was that it was in the middle of the day, so Yuji and I had also the whole theater to ourselves. The movie was actually pretty great, especially because I'd never seen it before. It was ultimately lacking in both Arcanine and Dragonite, but it had some sick martial arts wirework. The story was actually really beautiful too, with a decent love plot, a princess, and some scary rogues.

As we left the theater I turned to Yuji. "I totally get it, solid movie."

He gave a wide smile. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you won't be opposed to joining me again if something like this comes up in the future?"

"Yeah, count me in. I trust your taste in movies now."

We walked around for a few minutes after the film, chatting about our favorite plot lines and character, before turning into a large clothing retailer. The indoors smelt like packaging plastic, and the air condition was cranked way too low. Within minutes, Hana spotted us and waved us over to where she stood at a rack of clothing.

Like all of the rest of us, Hana had abandoned her training outfits for something more casual. She wore a light green blouse, white trousers, and a floppy sun hat.

Hana gave a light finger wave as we approached, still flipping through a wide rack of jackets. "Hi boys, did you enjoy your movie?"

Yuji nodded. "It went better than I could've hoped. It seems I've found another who enjoys the nuances of a good martial arts film."

"More like I thought the action was cool and the people were pretty," I said in a loud stage whisper, causing others to laugh. "Seriously though, it was really fun. Thank you guys for forcing me out here."

"Well," Hana said, "I'm glad. It's my turn now Yuji, and I need someone to carry my things."

Yuji grimaced and sent me an apologetic look. "Good luck." He whispered as he passed me. Louder, he said, "I'll be at the Center when you finish up. I'll see you both later."

I gave a confused glance around the store and cringed when I saw the pile of packages that Hana had left by the door to the store. Easily, she'd gather almost a dozen bags at this point.

I went to step away, but Hana called for me. "Derek, are you a thirty or thirty-two-inch waistband?"

"What?" I turned around and Hana had moved towards a rack of men's apparel and was flipping through nicer pairs of slacks. "Uh, thirty-two? I'm sorry did you just no-scope my pants size?"

"Well, you look like you're about Yuji's size, if not a little smaller." Hana continued shopping without looking up. "I know you're probably a little shorter in the legs, because you have a bigger torso than him, but I used him as a starting point."

"Do you do his shopping?"

"I do all of our shopping. Neither Amy or Yuji actually like shopping, and since I know what they like, I take care of it while I'm out. And not just the clothing, I keep track of all our supplies between cities, too." Hana glanced up at my eyes and squinted. She nodded, finding whatever she'd been looking for, and finally selected a light green set of hammer pants from the rack.

"Try these on," she said, grabbing an off-white long sleeve off of her pile, "and this too."

I stood holding both articles for a moment, stunned. Hana really shopped for their whole group? The three of the did always look really put together, but that had to be a ton of work.

I frowned as I looked down outfit in my hands. "Wait, why are we doing this? I just got a nice outfit. And didn't Amy and Yuji pick that one out?"

Hana sighed. "They picked it up from the retailer. I'd already ordered by the time they got there. And you're going to need something casual for your date in Pewter, right?"

Heat rose up my neck. "Wha- What do you mean?" How does she know?

"Well, Amy texted us earlier that you had a commitment in Pewter in two weeks." Hana held up her Pokegear to show their group text, timed for right after when Yuji and I had left for the movies.

When we'd stopped off the street, he'd been responding to Amy! I thought. Traitor.

"And from there it was just a guess," Hana continued. "You don't know anything else about Pewter, so you obviously didn't set anything up, and you're not from the region, so it's not like you'd have family there. You're just like the rest of us when it comes to sponsors, so it couldn't be professional."

"That's a heck of a guess..." I eyed her suspiciously.

"A guess that blush of yours confirmed." Hana gave a self-satisfied smirk. "It's okay, you don't have to tell us about them. I just assumed that you'd need a good outfit, and helping other people shop soothes my brain. Now go try it on and see if I need to size it up."

My brain ceased functioning as I considered how smart Hana was. I don't know why it surprised me, I'd seen the lengths her mind could go to all week as she strategized against Giovanni.

I made my way into the changing stall and absentmindedly started dressing up in Hana's outfit. The hammer pants fit perfectly, and the shirt was a soft v-neck that was intentionally sized up to let it drape over my shoulders. I stepped out of the stall.

Hana's eyes glimmered as she looked at her work. "And once again, I'm proven a genius."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess I look pretty good," I said. "I don't know how you're expecting me to pay for this stuff, though. I still have to shop for the trip through the forest."

That was the sad truth of it. I'd been in Kanto a week and hadn't won a single battle against another trainer, which was pretty much my only way to make money. I had a decent starting fund that I'd saved up and the Pokemon Center was always free for trainers, but if I wanted to bring on another team member before getting to Pewter, there was no way I had the kind of money to be dropping on new luxury clothes.

"Oh, hush," Hana said as she moved over to a jewelry table. "I'll cover it for now, and I already picked us up some jobs for the Viridian Forest."

Us?

"Wait, are you guys also heading out tomorrow?" I felt my brow furrow. "I thought you weren't planning on leaving for a few more days?"

"We weren't," Hana admitted, "but, when you told Amy that you were leaving, we decided as a group that we'd go with you. Amy and Yuji are at the Center packing up our stuff right now."

I felt overwhelmed, stunned, and confused. Today was supposed to be their day off, and they're using it to pack to travel with me?

Tears prickled at the edge of my eyes, and my throat got a lump in it.

"You guys don't need to do that!" I said, moving to grab my Pokenav+ out of my other set of pants. I picked it up, and Hana's hand drifted on top of the keyboard.

"It's no big deal, Derek," She said softly. "You did a lot for us this week, and we just wanted to return the favor. And we can't let somebody who knows literally nothing about Kanto to wander through the Viridian Forest on their own."

I pulled her into a hug. She stiffened a little in surprise, but gently patted me on the back. I released her quickly, wiping my eyes.

"Sorry 'bout that," I dried my face. "I'm just not used to people dropping everything for me. It means a lot, ya know?"

"There's nothing to be sorry about. If you hadn't been around to make us feel better about the Giovanni challenges, we'd probably be in a lot different of a place right now. I doubt Amy and Yuji would have even decided to keep up with their challenges. The least we can do is help you through the forest."

I let that statement breathe for a minute.

As down as I was about my loss to Giovanni, they were all feeling that too, I realized. If I hadn't been making a game of it all week, of playing up how we'd get our revenge by getting one hit in, they'd be just as sad about their losses.

I nodded. "Thanks, Hana." I straightened up, thinking about what she'd said earlier. "What was this about jobs in the Viridian Forest?"

---

We spent another two hours shopping. Hana wasn't satisfied with just one outfit, especially once I opened up and told her who I was going on a date with. She'd also made me accessorize, getting some rings, wristbands, and ear clasps to finish out all the looks she'd picked out. I now had outfits for every occasion that didn't require functional clothing, like partying or going to brunch.

While we shopped, Hana told me about another way that trainers could make money in Kanto. Apparently, their League had outsourced a lot of minor complaints to traveling trainers, creating a "request board" system at every Pokemon Center. Originally these tasks had just been to clear annoying Pokemon off of routes or to help assist in non-emergency situations like blocked roads or remove storm debris. It was a tidy little system that let the League pay trainers for acts of necessary public service.

It had all changed once they let private citizens start listing their own requests. Suddenly, less necessary tasks were appearing on job boards than superfluous ones. People would ask for help clearing weeds, repairing homes, finding lost pets, or even entertaining kids. Wealthier individuals would even list requests for specific Pokemon, a job that had previously been privy to specific breeding facilities. Kanto now had a bustling economy of trainer gig work, and any attempt to stall or lessen it was shot down by public opinion.

Hana and I grabbed the last of her packages (though I carried nearly all of them), and headed back to the Pokemon and Amy met us downstairs, both looking rested and refreshed. They wore different outfits from earlier, slick and stylish and definitely picked out by Hana.

"Let me get that," Yuji quickly walked up and grabbed several of the boxes off the stack, taking some of the weight.

"Thanks, bud," I exhaled. "I did not know how I was going to get these in the elevator. "

"I'm normally the one who carries all of Han's things." He said, giving a sympathetic smile.

Amy hopped anxiously from foot to foot. "Come on, guys! I want to get going!"

"Get going? We just got here!" I chuckled.

"And we still need to get dressed," Hana declared as she hit the button for the elevator. When she saw the confusion on my face, she elaborated, "did I forget to mention it earlier? We always end our vacation days with nights on the town."

Amy cheered, and even Yuji let out a noise of excitement.

"Well, why didn't you say anything earlier?" I grinned, "let's do this thing!"

Hana and I rushed up to our rooms, returned to the others, and headed off for a night of music, dancing, drinks, and fun in Viridian City.

It was really nice to find a group of people who genuinely made me feel like I belonged.

---

Chapter 6: Enter the Viridian Forest

We all met in the lobby of the Pokemon Center the next morning, achy and dehydrated from our night on the town. Amy and Hana both had heavy bags under their eyes, and the former was drifting in and out of sleep as they leaned into Hana's shoulder. Even I was sore in my hips and lower back from the amount of dancing we'd done.

The only one who looked chipper was Yuji. He stood by the reception desk, carrying both his own and Amy's bags as he checked us out of the Center. "Thank you for everything, Nurse Joy," he said, voice full of energy. "It's truly been an honor to stay with you."

Nurse Joy giggled. "There's no need for that Mr. Amano. We were happy to have the four of you for your stay." She handed him back his trainer card. "I hope you have a safe trip through the forest."

Yuji smiled and thanked her.

Ugh, jerk. I thought, groaning as my sore back complained under the weight of my bag. Of course he looks fine after a long night with basically no sleep. Dude doesn't even look sore.

I glanced over at Hana, and she met my eyes. We nodded to each other and mutually agreed on what we'd do next.

We both slid our packs off our shoulders and dropped them into Yuji's hands.

"Bye, Nurse Joy!" I waved as we walked out the door.

"We'll see you when we come back through!" Hana guided a sleepy Amy behind her.

Yuji didn't even question our decision. Instead, he gave an exasperated sigh and shouldered all four of our bags.

Together, the four of us headed out of the Pokemon Center and, eventually, out of Viridian City. Route 02 gradually split off from the main roads and headed among the tall fields towards the distant dark shapes that made up the Viridian Forest. Even though we could see the forest itself, Route 02 was deceptively long and could take two whole days of walking to even get to the forest.

We didn't leave Yuji holding the burden of our bags. As soon as we made it to the actual route, we each shouldered our supplies and got into a loose walking formation. Even though I knew very little about the Kanto region, I was placed in front because I had a Pokenav+. Its consistent signal and library of maps made It invaluable to have on loose routes like this one. Hana followed behind me as a secondary navigator with an eye for the route guideposts, followed by Amy and then Yuji.

Walking with my friends had a completely different vibe than traveling alone. On Route 01, I'd just been me, joined for a few stretches by Artis. I'd mostly just been quietly walking along the trails with an earbud in, listening to podcasts, and watching the countryside go by. Honestly, it had been a glorified nature walk.

With the others, we just talked. We talked about little things, meaningless things. We commented on things we passed, we argued about music, and we cooed over the small Pokemon that crossed our path. It made the time pass so much faster than any amount of podcasts.

Eventually, Hana steered the discussion toward things that were important for us to know about the Viridian Forest. Even though the others all knew much more about the route, it was important to remember that we were all still green trainers. None of the others had ever gone through anything like the forest.

"Remember, we don't want to run into anything bigger than a Weedle," Hana explained, reading off of her notes. "Beedrill are the biggest source of injuries on the route, but there are also other native species, like Pidgeot and Ariados that have caused their fair share of trainer incidents. There are also invasive species like Roserade and Carnivine that have been spotted in the forest, so we should keep our eyes up when we're walking. There have been no recent sightings of Team Rocket in the area, so we should be-"

"Wait," I frowned and looked up from my Pokedex, where I'd been searching through all of the Pokemon that Hana had named. "What the hell is Team Rocket?"

I heard all three of the others stop behind me. I turned and they had all gone pale and were staring at me in a mix of surprise and confusion.

Well, now I feel dumb.

Amy spoke up first. "Oh, Derek... ...you really don't know anything about Kanto."

I gave them a flat look. "I feel like I've stated this multiple times."

Yuji opened his mouth the speak and then reconsidered. He tried again, this time saying, "Team Rocket are villains, criminals who steal others' Pokemon and make a profit off of selling them to the highest bidder. They're a full organization that can be traced back to just about every crime under the sun."

"Oh, so they're like gangsters?"

Hana frowned. "Do you not have anything like that in Hoenn?"

I shook my head. "We had some crazy eco-terrorists a couple of years ago, but nothing like what you're talking about. Are they normally a problem for low-rank trainers?"

Hana nodded. "They mostly prey on inexperienced and weak trainers, taking them as easy targets to steal their Pokemon. Once you have a bit of notoriety, they tend to leave you alone unless you cause trouble for them."

I grinned. "Then I guess we better get to earning some badges!"

The others gave polite laughs, but I could see the talk about Team Rocket had made them nervous. Whatever the deal with these criminals was, they had impacted the lives of people who were just living in the region. From what I'd figured out, all of my friends came from very different parts of Kanto, and they'd all had equal reactions to the organization.

Team Rocket was bad news, and I hoped we'd never have to interact with them.

---

We made it through both days of Route 02 with very few interesting interactions. We passed some Pokemon that were on the weaker side every once in a while, but none of the others seemed interested in catching anything anytime soon. They'd done what every new trainer did when they first started training to be a champion and planned out every prospective Pokemon for their individual teams. Apparently, Hana and Yuji both had eyes out for Pokemon that existed in the Viridian Forest, but neither would elaborate when I asked.

I personally didn't have any idea what Pokemon I would add to the roster for my team. Back when I'd been in Lilycove, I'd always imagined a team of powerhouses led by a Flygon or a Walrein, and with Artis I was halfway there, but I really had no idea what else could be found in this region. Ideally, I'd eventually like to have a team that was balanced both in types and roles, instead of specializing in a single strategy or type. Artis would eventually play the role of my tanky defensive wall, so my next Pokemon should probably be something that could physically deal a lot of damage to balance him out.

We did end up passing a few Pokemon that I hadn't seen before, and I recorded both the male variant of Nidoran and the blue pinecone, Pineco, into my Pokedex. While I had turned down Professor Oak's request to capture a Pokemon of every species, it still made sense to document what I could when I saw them. Neither of them struck me as Pokemon that I was very interested in. Nidoking had been tempting, but there were so many other ground types that I wanted to keep my options open.

As we walked, the others started covering my knowledge of the Kanto region. Having three trainers who'd lived here their entire lives was unsurprisingly very helpful in getting me up to speed on this region's League.

"And which city's Gym is specialized in Grass-type Pokemon?" Hana asked, testing what we'd been going over.

"Uh, Cerulean- no, wait, that one's water type." I racked my brain as we walked. "It's the other 'C' one, uh, Celadon!"

Amy giggled but didn't speak up. I could hear Hana's smile, though, as she said, "Correct. And which Gym leader is known for being very aggressive and attack-heavy in their fights? Bonus points if you can name their type specialization."

"Lieutenant Surge, with an electric type Gym!" I smiled in self-satisfaction. Of course, I was going to remember which Gym Leaders were the most passionate fighters. It was just one of those things my brain had an easy time remembering.

"Very good!" Hana directed her next question to the other two. "He's got the basics on the gyms down, what should we go over next?"

Yuji quietly spoke up. "Perhaps Derek may want to know about some of the Pokemon from this region. Derek, will you require assistance in finding Pokemon to add to your team?"

"Sure, I guess." I thought about what I'd aim for next, but instead decided to aim a little higher. "Are there any good dragons in this region?"

Amy let out a sad sigh. "Kanto has two native dragons, and one isn't even a dragon until its final stage."

"Dragonite and Kingdra," Hana explained when I shot her a questioning look.

For once, I actually recognized both of the Pokemon being talked about. Horsea, Kingra's first stage, was also native to Hoenn, and it was a fairly uncommon but well-known water type. Kingra's power had been shown off multiple times in the Ever Grande Conference, using a combination of Rain Dance, Dragon Dance, and Swift Swim it made itself untouchably fast. Honestly, it would have made an amazing team member, but with Artis already covering my water type slot, I wasn't in a rush to jump into another.

Dragonite was a completely different story. Everyone knew about Dragonite. The orange dragon was a monster on the battlefield, and at the top of its class when it came to physical fighting. Both of Kanto's most recent champions, Professor Oak and Lance, and Drake of Hoenn's Elite Four had tamed Dragonites and turned them into some of the strongest Pokemon around. It would make an amazing hitter and definitely carry any team to victory. Even though its pre-evolutions were rare, if someone had enough money they could commission an egg from some of the more exclusive breeding houses.

All of that didn't really matter, though. I was a zero-badge trainer with one Pokemon on my belt. Dragons were notoriously strong-willed and hard to train. In order to tame one, it had to respect or fear its trainer. Ideally, I would want it to trust and respect me, but I definitely couldn't make one fear me at my current strength.

"It is kind of weird that you guys only have two," I mused. "Especially when one of them is so rare. In Hoenn, I can think of at least three or four that are available to most trainers on the routes."

"Yeah," Amy grumbled. "Most people who want a dragon type here have to import them from other regions, or we just kinda don't have 'em."

We fell into a healthy silence as we walked. We were in the final hours of day two, and the setting sun illuminated the dense forest further down the route.

The Viridian Forest was magnificent. The route outside of Liliycove was also supposed to be a forest but it was full of short trees and dense bushes, the constant humidity making it more similar to a jungle. This was nothing like that. The Viridian Forest had tall trees that stretch high into the sky, easily two to three-hundred feet tall. The thick trunks of the trees were evenly spaced about a dozen feet from each other, creating natural archways of branches and walkways between the low bushes. Because of the spacing of the trees, you could see deep into the forest where the canopy absorbed all of the light of the sunset, leaving a deep and solemn darkness.

It made me feel small.

We camped a few hundred feet from the treeline that night. We could have traveled for another hour or so, but none of us were eager to sleep in the dark forest more than we had to. We'd fallen into a habit of setting up our tents with the entrances facing each other at night, leaving a small space for us to talk or sit between the tents. The other three had a larger tent that they all slept in, and I had my single that I didn't normally feel the need to pull out. This close to the forest, though, there was no way I was sleeping exposed to the elements.

Once we'd served ourselves dinner from our ration packs, Hana started running through the guidelines for traveling through the Viridian Forest.

"Just like the other routes, there's going to be guideposts every half-mile to make sure we're staying on the path," she said. "However, about eight miles in, they're going to change from yellow to red, which signifies that we should move as carefully and quietly as possible until they turn back."

I nodded, and Yuji and Amy both gave sounds of understanding. From what they'd told me before, Viridian Forest was home to some nasty bug and grass types that could get really aggressive. The more accessible parts of the route often only had first-stage Pokemon, but once we hit the red markers, we were open season for the big ones.

The Viridian Forest Trail was about seventy-five miles long and would take us about nine days to complete because of the slow pace in the middle. Battling outside of emergencies was a definite no-go, as it was almost certainly going to alert the more aggressive Pokemon in the forest. Given that the majority of the trail would be in the 'quiet zone', we'd have almost a week of no training and minimal talking. The rest of Route 02 was on the other side of the forest, which would take another two days to complete, setting us up for an expected eleven days of travel until Petwer.

"I resupplied our pecha berries and antidotes in Viridian," Hana continued, "but we only have enough to cure five to ten cases of poisoning, depending on the severity. I also bought some paralyze heals and awakenings, but I'm hoping that we won't run into anything with those capabilities. We also won't have signal in the forest, outside of the Pokenav+'s positioning system, so I'm going to leave a notification with the Rangers tomorrow morning that we're headed into the forest tomorrow morning."

Amy threw a lazy hand in the air. "And what were the jobs you picked up for the forest?"

Hana pulled out her phone and scrolled as she talked. "I only signed us up for two, because I know expediency is a goal for this trip." She smiled as I threw her a grateful look. "We're supposed to be catching a strong bug or grass type for a trainer in Lavender Town, and someone in Pewter is willing to pay us for any rare or exotic mushrooms that we come across."

That all sounded reasonable. Both jobs were passive ones that required minimal additional effort on our part. Hopefully, we'd come across a sleeping Roselia or something similar that could be taken out by a Powder Snow.

I blanched as I thought about all of the other potential Pokemon we could run into.

I raised a hand. "What Pokemon are we going to have out while we travel?"

Hana gestured to Yuji to answer. He nodded and spoke up. "Despereaux is the only one of our Pokemon that can actually keep up with our hiking speed for the yellow zones, so he'll be out for the first and last days." He turned to Amy. "In the red zones, I was hoping that I could carry Pennywise because he wouldn't be as much of a burden on my shoulder."

Amy nodded. "Yeah, as long as he's okay with it. His Barriers will help if we run into trouble."

"He also won't be the only one out. I'll have Paige on my pack in case we have to run away from something big. Her Powder Barrage should be able to slow it down," Hana said.

I felt a little guilty as I realized the only Pokemon that wouldn't be contributing was Artis. He was too slow to keep up with us as we walked, and he was far too heavy to be carried. I could pick him up every once in a while, but forty kilos was too much to move with any amount of speed.

"And I can take shifts to carry any of the Pokemon, or the bags of the people carrying the Pokemon so that we can distribute some of the weight," I said, not wanting to not contribute.

Yuji made to say something, but Amy put a hand on his arm. "Sure, Derek! I'm sure Pennywise would like to hang out with you," they said.

I nodded, and Yuji gave me a look. I couldn't read it exactly, but as best I could tell he didn't want me to have to pull any extra work. He very obviously only made plans that put burdens on himself, but that didn't work for me. If was going to be a part of this group, I was going to earn it.

As I zipped up my tent and laid down for the night, I pulled out my Pokedex. There was no harm in starting to try to plan out some of my team, after all.

Especially not if it would let me help my friends.

---

The next morning we woke up before dawn. We wanted as much time with the sun as possible before nightfall in the forest.

We packed up camp and up tout our fire, falling into a different hiking order than normal. I handed my Pokenav+ over to Hana, who would be taking the lead. Without a phone signal to provide data, it was basically just a GPS anyway, and she'd promised to take good care of it. Behind her was me, and then Amy, and then Yuji bringing up the rear with his partner, Despereaux.

I hadn't interacted too much with the Rattata, but he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. The purple Pokemon always listened diligently to Yuji's every command and would carry them out to the best of his ability. Despereaux had none of the timidness that I'd seen of the other Rattata on the routes, and you could tell he was a fighter just by looking at him.

As we passed under the canopy, the cold temperatures of the morning dipped by another few degrees. The cool air of the forest was humid and earthy, and the light breeze raised the hair on the pack of my neck. This place was old, and it knew it. The thick undergrowth was ever so slightly thinner along the trail markers, but the resilient root system made the trail just as perilous as the bushes surrounding it.

We didn't really speak when walking through the forest. We didn't technically have to be quiet yet, but there was something so oppressive about the darkness that made us all hesitant to talk. Even under what should have been a rising sun, the branches of the trees never betrayed that it was anything other than night.

Without my Pokenav+ or the sun, I had no way to gauge how long we walked. There was no point of reference in the woods, only the next tree, the next bush, and the next trail marker. Occasionally we would hear rustling in the woods, and we would all stop and hold our breaths. Minutes would pass, but when nothing jumped from the bushes to attack us we continued on.

After several hours of walking, Hana pulled us off of the trail to stop for lunch. We sat among the roots of the trees, eating our protein bars in relative silence.

Amy yelped, standing up quickly from their spot at the base of the tree.

All three of us turned, and my hand shot down to Artis' Pokeball.

My shoulders relaxed, however, when I saw the Pokemon that had caused their outburst. Attached to the tree by its sticky little red feet was a bulbous beige worm, about a third of a meter long. Its bright white stinger on its head and proud red nose identified it as a Weedle.

Hana let out a nervous laugh, and I let go of the breath I was holding. Yuji sighed and gave an order for Despereaux to keep an eye on the Pokemon.

Amy flushed. "Sorry about that," they muttered under their breath. "I just heard something behind me."

Yuji put their arm over Amy and pulled them into a hug. "It's fine, I think that we're all a little on edge."

Hana and I joined the group hug, showing solidarity, but that didn't stop of from hearing Amy mutter "coulda been a Scyther" under their breath.

We all laughed.

---

It was mid-afternoon when we hit the first red marker. It signaled that we'd made it eight miles into the forest (making great time) and that it was time to be cautious as we walked. Yuji returned Despereaux and Amy and Hana brought out their Pokemon. I took Yuji's pack as he carried the Mime Jr.

Our pace slowed considerably, and the nervous energy that we'd had at lunch was only amplified by our increased silence. We made it less than an hour into the red zone before we had our first incident.

As we walked, I heard a cracking of branches and twigs behind us, and my head whipped around.

Yuji had heard it too, and he shouted a warning. "Get down!"

Crash!

The bushes behind Yuji exploded as a shiny black carapace burst out from the undergrowth.

The creature had a single massive horn and two clawed arms. It stood at a meter and a half in height, and its yellow eyes were alight in rage.

Shit. I thought as I recognized the bug from the list of dangerous Pokemon that Hana had made.

We'd run into a Heracross.

As the fighting bug rampaged across the trail, though, I realized that it wasn't angry at us.

"Pinsir!" Screamed an unfamiliar Pokemon voice from the other side of the trail.

An identically sized brown bug type sprinted towards the Heracross, snapping two massive pincers on the top of its head that clacked menacingly.

The two Pokemon collided, and the trees around us shook. The Heracross got both of its arms around Pinsir and lifted it off the ground. The Pinsir struggled and lashed out at Heracross, battering it with its hands and slashing for any carapace that it could reach. The Heracross slammed the Pinsir into a tree beside it, cracking the wood, but the Pinsir shrugged it off like it had been a light breeze. The Pokemon returned its hit by slamming its arm against the Heracross' chest, leaving a crack in its carapace.

This was nothing like a trainer battle. This was brutal.

Hana's hand landed on my shoulder, and I whipped around. She was scared. "We need to go!" She yelled as quietly as she could. Amy was clutching her arm, and even from here, I could see their knees visibly shaking.

I nodded and made to take off down the trail when I realized we'd left someone behind.

Yuji was standing at the edge of the clearing, eyes transfixed on the fight. Pennywise the Mime Jr. was hanging on to his back, seemingly forgotten as he struggled to hold on.

I ran to him, startling him out of his trance. "Hana says it's time to go," I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

The Pinsir escaped the grip of the Heracross and brandished its pincers, wrapping them around the torso of the Pokemon and slamming it into the same tree. The wood crackled and groaned under the strain.

"But..." Yuji looked at me, then back at the fight. There was determination in his eyes. He winced as Pinsir slammed Heracross into the tree again.

I realized what was going on.

Heracross was the Pokemon he'd been hoping to catch in the Viridian Forest.

On the fucking legends, I swore.

"Alright, fine!" I yelled. "Stay away from the fight for now, let me make sure the others are safe!"

I snatched Pennywise off of Yuji's back before he fell off and ran back to Hana and Amy. They'd taken refuge behind a fallen log while they waited for us, and Paige stood guard diligently between her trainer and the battle. Amy was pale and shaking.

Hana's eyes widened in distress as I returned without Yuji. I put Pennywise into Amy's arms before explaining what happened. "Yuji wants to catch the Heracross, he's on standby watching the fight."

Hana put her head in her hands and inhaled, taking a deep and shaky breath. She collected herself and looked up at me. "I need to be out there," Hana stated. Her eyes still showed how scared she was, but her expression was controlled. "Paige is the best shot at weakening it enough to be caught."

I nodded and help haul her to her feet. Amy held Pennywise tight to their chest, but also stood with us. Neither Hana nor I said anything to stop them. They were just as good a battler as the rest of us.

I released Artis, who immediately understood the situation from the rampaging of the two bug types. He rolled in front of me, and I could see the cold mist already gathering from his mouth. He was ready for a fight.

The Heracross had retaliated against the Pinsir, planting both of his feet against the ground and leveraging the Pinsir into the air. The brown bug still held onto Heracross by its Vice Grip attack from its pincers, but Heracross was able to move without being impeded too much.

Heracross leaned its head backward, before bringing its horn down like a battleaxe onto Pinsir's side. A crack resounded through the air and Heracross did its first real damage to the Pinsir.

Yuji had done what I'd asked and stayed away from the fight. Despereaux was out now though, and the two of them looked determined to intervene.

Hana ran up to him and said something, but I couldn't hear over the persistent sounds of carapace impacting carapace. He nodded back at us and pointed at the tree behind the two fighters, the one that had taken multiple hits from their duel.

I nodded in understanding. Hana crept around the edge of the fight with Paige, positioning themselves to have the Pokemon directly between themselves and the tree. Amy caught on to what was happening and whispered to Pennywise. Within moments, there was a thin transparent barrier of light in front of each of us, though I could see the tiny psychic type struggling to hold that many barriers at once. We'd need to do this soon.

Yuji and I sprinted past the two Pokemon, finding our way behind the towering trunk of the tree. We looked at each of the others, and we all nodded in agreement.

There was a small pause as Pinsir gained the upper hand in the fight again, crunching down with its Vice Grip attack. In that moment, Hana, Yuji, and I all shouted our orders.

"Stun Spore!"

"Take Down!"

"Rollout!"

The cloud of yellow spores hit the two Pokemon first, and both had been too distracted to dodge. Pinsir and Heracross both stiffened as their muscles seized from the Stun Spore.

Neither Yuji nor I had aimed at the Pokemon. Artis and Despereaux slammed into the tree at the same time. With it already having cracked multiple times, the wood groaned under the sudden assault. Splinters of wood shattered outwards from the trunk, sending out a spray of deadly shrapnel that impacted against Pennywise's shields as the Mime Jr. struggled to keep them up. They held, and the tree precariously leaned forward.

The bugs couldn't move or even shout as the weight of the old tree came crashing down on them. A huge dust cloud went up as the tree impacted the ground, reverberating through our bones.

We waited, breath held.

The dust cleared, and both Pokemon lay there, fainted.

I looked around at the other trainers. We all were panting, out of breath. Achievement was clear on their faces, but we were all way too wired to cheer.

I pulled Yuji's bag off of my shoulder and handed it to him. He gave me a grateful look and pulled a Pokeball from it.

He stepped forward, tossing the Pokeball towards the Heracross. It disappeared in a flash of red light, and the Pokeball landed on the ground.

It rumbled once.

Twice.

Three times.

The Pokeball clicked, confirming the catch.

Yuji's face burst out into a grin, and he reclaimed his Pokeball and the new member of his team.

His face went slack as the Pinsir next to him moved. He jumped back and we all tensed again. Apparently, the falling tree hadn't fainted it completely, and it was just held back by both Paige's paralysis and the weight of the tree that had landed on it. Yuji looked at each of us, silently asking if any of us wanted to catch it.

Amy viscously shook their head, and I gave a thumbs down. As strong as that Pinsir had proven itself to be, it had also shown to be angry and vindictive, not traits that I wanted in my teammates.

Hana, however, pulled a Pokeball off her belt and chucked it at the Pinsir. It disappeared in a flash, and the tree collapsed further into the ground, filling the space the that the Pokemon had left.

Three of us looked at her as one, confusion clear on our faces.

Hana walked up to the ball, stored it in her bag, and wiped her hands on her shirt. "We needed a bug type for our job," she said in a shaky voice. "I'm positive that this counts."

I looked at my distressed friend for several seconds before I realized what she'd meant.

Our job.

She meant the job she'd picked up in Viridian, the one she'd grabbed because it was supposed to be an easy pick-up on our way through the forest.

The looks on the other's faces made it clear they'd also forgotten about it. It must've been the shock of what we'd just been through, or the sincere ridiculousness of the situation, but Hana broke into a grin as we all stood there in stunned silence. Her shoulders rocked as she laughed, though honestly it could be considered closer to crying.

It didn't take much for the three of us to join in. Just like when Amy had been scared earlier, we pulled into a group hug in the forest. I think we all just needed some human contact after that.

None of us had ever seen anything like that in person. I'd watched so many trainer battles that it was practically in my blood, but I had never realized just how brutal the wilds could be.

And this was day one in the red zone of the Viridian Forest.

---

We continued on for another hour even though we knew nightfall was coming soon. We wanted to get as far as possible from the sight of Heracross and Pinsir's duel, just in case any other Pokemon had heard it and came to inspect it.

We set up camp directly on the trail, trying to keep away from the dense foliage that could contain any number of Pokemon. We set up as large a bonfire as possible to keep the bug and grass types away and slept in shifts to keep it burning. While we watched it to make sure it didn't get out of hand, we weren't particularly worried with the sheer humidity of the forest.

I also completely forwent setting up my tent. It was the other's idea, but since we were sleeping in shifts there was enough room for the remaining three to share the tent. Whoever came in from the watch would wake up the next person and take their spot in the tent.

I ended up on the second shift after Yuji and before Hana. We all made the silent decision that we wouldn't be waking Amy for a shift. They were still pale and nonverbal by the time we bedded down, and it was clear that the fright of the battle had taken a lot out of them.

Sleep came way too easily after the events of the day. Not only had we gone through the whole ordeal with Heracross, but we'd also traveled twelve miles through dense forest. We still had six or seven whole days left in the red zone, depending on our progress. I had a dreamless nap before Yuji woke me for my watch. Once I vacated my spot, he wordlessly slumped into my spot, not even crawling into the bedroll before falling asleep.

Ultimately, nothing happened on my watch. I heard a few Pokemon fly high over our camp, and occasionally saw sets of eyes reflecting light in the darkness, but our fire did its job of keeping the Pokemon away. To pass the time more quickly, I started studying my Pokedex again.

I honestly couldn't thank Professor Oak enough for the high-tech encyclopedia. Besides my Pokenav+, it was probably the most important thing that I owned. I had caught myself up on the local Pokemon up through the rest of Route 02, including in the forest, and was now giving a look at what I'd be facing in the Pewter City Gym. The lines that I was supposed to be facing, Geodude and Onix, were both doubly weak to water type moves, so Artis would be able to sweep them as long as he didn't get hit. He was getting bulkier by the day, but he had a natural weakness to rock type moves.

My alarm went off before I expected it to, and I realized that it was well past midnight. I wasn't tired and debated not even waking Hana for her morning shift. I decided against it though and gave her shoulder a gentle nudge.

Her eyes popped open and she blinked sleep from her eyes. When she'd woken enough to recognize her surroundings, she gave me a grateful nod and started getting up. I leaned over and grabbed Yuji's collapsable percolator off of the fire, pouring Hana a cup of hours-old coffee. I didn't touch the stuff, but apparently the members of my group were all caffeine fiends.

Hana pulled her coat on and joined me on a log by the fire. She gratefully took the cup and sipped on it. We sat and listened to the crackling of the fire and the distant cries of Pokemon.

It was a few minutes before either of us spoke up. "How did you guys meet?" I asked, breaking the quiet.

"What?" Hana turned and furrowed her brow.

"You, Yuji, and Amy. How did you guys meet? From what I can tell you're all from different parts of Kanto."

Hana's expression soothed as she understood what I was asking. "Well, you're half right," She corrected. "Yuji and Amy are from Kanto. I'm technically from the Sevii islands."

That surprised me. I knew that Kanto had taken over the islands a few centuries ago as a southern colony, but other than that I didn't know very much about the islands. It was less surprising that Hana herself was from there, and more that I was meeting anyone from them at all. Parts of the islands were supposedly closer to Alola than Kanto, and it took a long time to get there from the mainland.

"We actually met online," Hana continued. "The Kanto forums are the most popular ones in the islands, given our connection to the Kanto region, and I met both of them in the beginner trainer forum."

"So you took a boat across the sea to travel the roads with two internet strangers?" I laughed. "Didn't your parents tell you not to talk to strangers?"

Hana laughed too. "It wasn't like that. On the islands, there aren't a whole lot of people in general, let alone around my age. Once I figured out I was old enough to get into the trainer forums, I disappeared into the internet. I spent a long time studying all of the strategies that trainers posted, learning as many secrets as I could. Eventually, I started posting my own hypothetical training strategies. Amy was the first person to comment on one of my posts."

"Oh yes, Amy, the beacon of positivity."

"Absolutely not! They trolled my post, leaving a huge paragraph about how I didn't understand how psychic types worked. And to their credit, I didn't. My post was completely wrong."

"And did Yuji set them straight?"

"Worse! Yuji was the moderator who locked my post when other people started dog-piling on it!" Hana was giggling so much at the memories that little tears started to bead in the corners of her eyes.

I laughed too. I could definitely imagine Yuji sitting with his back perfectly straight in front of a computer, telling off internet trolls and moderating forums.

"After Amy had to apologize or lose their account, we made up. We did a few championship watch parties for some of the Indigo Plateau last year, and Yuji and a few others joined us. We became fast friends after that. We did research, shared strategies, and trained. All of it was online. When it came time to figure out where I was going to start my journey, I could only afford a boat to Cinnabar. Amy and Yuji both flew to the island to take the boat to the mainland with me. We headed up from Pallet Town, past Route 01, and eventually made it to Viridian."

Hana looked up and smiled at me, a genuine friendly smile. "And then we met you, a hot-headed trainer who said he was going to 'make Giovanni bleed' with two days of training under his belt."

"To be fair," I said. "I'm just that good."

Hana nodded. "And, to be fair, you did it. A week after getting your first Pokemon, and starting the season several days later than everyone else, you went toe-to-toe with Giovanni's first badge Pokemon."

"And lost," I sighed.

"And almost won." Hana pulled out her Pokegear. "I don't know how much you're on the Kanto forums, but people noticed."

I frowned and looked down at the screen. She still had no signal, but she had tabbed a forum thread from a few days ago. It used the same photo that Daisy had sent me with her text, and it was titled 'Who is this guy? Did he almost BEAT Giovanni?' It had a couple of speculative comments about Artis, and there was some praise for Hana's idea to dig a ditch in the field, but most of the comments were about me. Some were calling out my outfit (for both good and bad reasons), some were commenting on how I kept my cool the whole fight, and a lot were speculating that I was going to do well this season. Someone had even posted that I was probably headed to Pewter next, and to keep an eye out for my challenge in a few weeks.

I was stunned. "I had no idea," I said dumbly as I handed Hana back her Pokegear.

"We should get you set up on the Kanto trainer forums." Hana grinned mischievously. "I happen to know a former moderator, maybe he can help you out."

We both laughed.

It was genuinely nice to spend time with my friend.

Even more so because we still had a week left in the red zone, and we knew the worst was yet to come.

---

Notes:

And there we go! You're all caught up on everything on other sites! From now on, I'll be posting here every time a new chapter comes out!

When it comes to this chapter, I'm glad I decided to start taking the narrative a little slower because I feel like I'm letting the relationship between the characters actually breathe. Hana and Derek got to have some really bonding as friends today, and Yuji added a new member to his team!

I'm planning on spending another chapter in the forest, maybe more depending on how well-paced the next one is. After that, we're hitting Petwer City, the date with Daisy, and our first real shot at earning a badge!

Anyway, I'll see you all next time!

Chapter 7: Separated

Notes:

Slight trigger warning: The second half of the chapter contains an extremely personal inner monologue regarding death.

I never actually went back to bed after I got Hana up for her shift. We sat and spent the rest of the night chatting, eventually waking the others when Hana's alarm for dawn went off. We packed up camp and buried our firepit.

The morning travel went without major incident, but both our progress and morale significantly decreased. Though we had chosen not to speak too much in the yellow zone, we couldn't raise our voices in the red zone. Whispers were the most we allowed ourselves, and it was hard to keep up a conversation at a whisper while hiking.

We were moving at a much slower pace than we had the previous day, the battle with Heracross and Pinsir fresh in our minds. It was hard not to be fearful when every tree or shrub could hold the next Scyther or Beedrill.

Throughout the day I would occasionally look back and see Yuji holding Heracross' ball in front of him. He was more than thrilled at his new teammate, but he didn't want to release the Pokemon until we'd left the red zone, mostly because we weren't sure how it would react to being caught.

If it went on a rampage, it could get every single one of us killed, either from itself or any other Pokemon that came wandering through.

Around mid-day, Hana held up a hand and signaled for all of us to stop. Without looking back, she held up a finger to her ear and then pointed ahead of us on the trail.

She'd heard something.

Maybe twenty feet away, a dense series of branches had overgrown the path, obscuring our view. As I listened harder, I could hear the rustling of something moving on the other side.

I clenched Artis' Pokeball, and Yuji moved up to let Pennywise down in front of us. Paige the Bellsprout popped up on Hana's shoulder, pointing its mouth threateningly at the branches.

A person stepped through the overgrowth, annoyingly swatting at the leaves in their way.

We all relaxed immediately.

The person was about our age, on the shorter side with dark hair and thick black glasses. They wore all khaki clothing and carried a massive butterfly net over their shoulder.

As they noticed us, they stopped in surprise. We both looked at each other for a moment before Yuji gave a shy wave.

They gave an unsure wave back, and there was a collective sigh of relief. It had been a fear of ours that if we encountered trainers on the trail they might want to challenge us to a battle. While we could obviously decline, we were trying to move with as little hassle as possible. This person was definitely aware of the Ranger's guidelines for the forest.

As we approached, they sat their butterfly net against a tree and rested against the side of the trail. "Are you headed to Pewter?" They asked in a whisper. Their voice was deceptively deep for their size.

I nodded. "How's it looking up ahead?" I whispered back.

The bug catcher frowned and gestured for the whole group to come closer so we could speak easier. "About a day or two up the way, there's evidence of a Beedrill swarm scouting for more food. I think their Kakuna are probably close to hatching, so be very careful headed through there."

Hana and Yuji gave nods of appreciation, but I could feel Amy's arm grab onto my elbow. I glanced down and could see that they were holding onto me and Hana, and they had the same expression they'd had yesterday after the Heracross battle. It wasn't just the forest, they were so much paler than normal.

The whole endeavor had shaken them deeply, more than any of the rest of us.

The others started to ask for more details from the bug catcher, but I pulled Amy back down the trail a few steps. When I guided them by the hand, they came easily enough.

I turned and leaned down to be eye-height with them, as I stood about a head taller than them. They didn't meet my eyes, instead playing with their hands.

"Hey, Ames," I said gently. "Are you okay?"

"Gee, I wonder what gave that away?" They tried to be sarcastic, but it was really obvious that their heart wasn't in it. "It's okay. I'll be okay."

"Do you have, like, bug trauma or something? It's pretty obvious yesterday really got to you."

They sighed, tugging their cap off their head by the pom-pom. "No, it's nothing like that." Amy tensed up as they fiddled with their hat.

I let the quiet hang in the air for a second. I wasn't going to pressure them to tell me if they didn't want to. Amy was the member of the group I knew the least about, and I realized recently that was on purpose. Whenever I asked the group about their goals for the future, Amy was always the one to give a nonchalant answer or to make a joke. They were an innately secretive person, and that was okay.

Amy finally spoke up, gripping their hat tightly. "So, you know how I want to be a psychic specialist someday?"

I nodded. They hadn't said it outright until just now, but they had mentioned their love of Abra and Exeggcute when teaching me about some of the potential Pokemon in Kanto, both were psychic types.

"Well, Yuji and Amy already know this, but that's because," they paused, debating the best way to say what they were trying to say. "I want to be a psychic specialist because I'm a little psychic, too."

Oh...

I kept my face as measured as possible, but that was big news. Psychics weren't socially ostracized or looked down on, but they were rare. Human people with the ability to speak with others via their minds or to lift small objects without touching them, psychics were just a little different than other people. The only pair of Gym Leaders in Hoenn, Tate and Liza, were a set of twin psychics that ran the Mossdeep City Gym. Because of their proximity to my hometown of Lilycove, I'd seen a few performances from traveling psychics, and I knew that their abilities were very real.

It also explained a lot of why Amy had been so intimidated by the fight yesterday. It was said that psychics could always feel the surface emotions of those around them.

"So when we got spooked by the Pokemon yesterday..." My eyes widened in understanding.

Amy nodded. "I felt all of our fear, not just mine."

They'd experienced everything that had happened at that fight. I thought back to Hana's tears, Yuji's anxiety, and my own fear at the danger. I didn't understand how anyone could make sense of any of that. The rest of us had been exhausted dealing with our own feelings, let alone everyone else's.

I scooped Amy up in a big bear hug, and they returned it in kind.

I sat them down and said, "I'm sorry that you had to go through that." I winced as I thought about the impending danger. "And I'm sorry that you're probably gonna have to deal with it again."

Amy shook their head and wiped their eyes where they'd started tearing up. "It's okay, I'll live. It just really sucks that my friends have to take care of me anytime anything happens."

"That's never going to be a problem for us." I tussled their hair and helped them put back on their beanie.

They hugged me again. "Thanks, Derek."

"No problem, Amy." I returned their hug and looked out into the forest.

This place sucks.

Amy and I joined the others to talk with the bug catcher. It turned out that his name was Dane, and he was traveling back to his hometown of Viridian with his Beedrill and Butterfree that he'd been training in Pewter.

Dane was a nice enough guy, but we didn't have the opportunity for conversation with our fear of impending death and destruction.

As a counter to that, we decided to take our lunch break and refuel before heading back into the forest. We said our farewells to Dane and parted ways.

---

The next two days on the trail went quietly. The night immediately after talking to Dane the bug catcher was the most careful we'd spent so far. His warning about a hive of Beedrill hunting for food had brought our want to talk from zero into the negatives.

When it came time to take watches, we now always had two people awake, with Amy feeling well enough to take over a shift. We swapped in half shifts, with someone new taking over halfway through the other person's shift to keep them company. Under the new schedule, I spent some of my watch talking to Amy and the other half talking to Hana. It was a bit of a bummer to have Yuji not on my rotation, but I made up for it by walking next to him in the hiking order.

Amy told me a little more about their past as a psychic. They'd always had the ability to feel other's feelings, and weren't sure where they had gained the ability, as neither of their parents was psychic. They hadn't manifested the ability to properly communicate with their mind or the ability to move objects without touching them yet, but they hoped to expand their control as they caught more psychic Pokemon.

I was fascinated with Amy's abilities. One of my friends basically had superpowers, and they didn't mind me pestering them with questions about it. And now that they'd opened up about it, they seemed just as eager to discuss it with me.

We whispered next to the fire for hours until the alarm went off, signaling Amy for bed. They actually left the fire with a smile on their face, the fatigue from the Heracross fight having finally worn off.

A few minutes later, Hana popped out of the tent. Even from across the camp, I could hear Amy already snoring from the comfort of their bedroll.

I handed Hana a cup of old coffee, as was now our tradition on the third night of being in the red zone.

When they took it happily, I mentioned it. "I don't know how you stand that stuff. It smells like motor oil." I whispered in distaste.

"This stuff?" Hana made a face. "This isn't about taste. This is all about the caffeine."

"You know that's like a drug, right? You're addicted to that crap."

"Yeah, now let me get my fix in peace." She said with a grin.

I shrugged, also grinning. I didn't actually have a stake in the argument, but after two other night shifts together, there was precious little to talk about. Just the light-hearted stuff, and then the deeply personal stuff.

We fell into our normal habit of sitting with our backs against each other, looking out in both directions of the trail to keep watch. I could hear the clicking of my Pokenav+ coming from her side of the camp, though obviously, I couldn't see her without turning around.

"I am going to need that back at some point, ya know?"

Hana clicked her tongue dismissively, but I could hear her smile. "I don't know, it's a pretty nifty device. I might just have to keep it."

"Fine, fine," I said. "I'll sell it to you for one million dollars."

"Oh really? I think you could've gone higher. Well, I'll have my people call your people, and we'll send you a check for it."

We laughed, both stifling our voices as much as we could.

My smile faded as I drifted to thoughts that had been occupying my mind on the trail the last few days.

"A million dollars would be really nice..." I said wistfully.

"You thinking about money again?"

"Again?"

"Back when we were shopping for your date," Hana said. "You mentioned that you were a little low on funds."

I frowned. "Oh, I guess I did."

"You totally don't have to answer if you don't want to, because this is kind of personal, but how low are you?"

Instead of answering, I pulled my wallet clip out of my pocket and handed it over my shoulder to her. She took it and flipped through it, finding the four large bills I had to my name.

I had four thousand pokedollars to live off of for however long it would last me. It wouldn't be a problem until we hit Pewter, and I could stay at the Pokemon Center for free, but I couldn't afford to leave on another route without making some money.

"Oh, that's not that bad," she said, but her tone didn't quite agree. "That'll at least get you some healing supplies in Pewter."

"Yeah, maybe," I sighed.

Hana passed my wallet clip back over her shoulder and took a moment to think.

"Do you want my opinion or my advice?" She finally said.

"Hana, as someone tied for the smartest person I know, I always want your opinion first."

She chuckled. "Is the money the real issue?"

My stomach sank. "No..."

"Derek, have you won any battles since you left home?"

I sighed.

That was my real problem. The money was a symptom of the fact that I had zero wins under my belt. I was nearly two weeks into the season, and I'd only succeeded against a puppy that had been specifically picked to lose to my Pokemon.

"If you're not counting Professor Oak, which I'm not, then nope."

Hana leaned back, resting her head on my back. "You know what I'm going to say, then."

"I almost won against Giovanni, people noticed, and I should be proud of my achievement?" I guessed, considering it was almost verbatim what she'd said a few nights ago.

"Yes, but," she emphasized, "besides us, how many trainers have you actually seen in the last two weeks?"

I thought about it for a moment. "We passed Dane the other day...:

Hana raised her hands, gesturing to the forest around us. "And you couldn't exactly battle in the 'murder woods'."

"I guess you're right." And she was right. She was always right.

After the day of Hana's match in the Viridian Gym, almost every other trainer had cleared out of Viridian. The Pokemon Center had been basically empty for our entire stay.

"What does it mean to you, 'to win'?" Hana asked suddenly.

My frown deepened.

"It means to win, right? To beat your opponent."

"But you've already told me that you don't always win by 'winning'. Remember the whole 'make him bleed' plan? You didn't beat your opponent because he was still standing. But you told me that was what you needed to do to win."

I fell fully silent. Hana was getting somewhere with this, and I was going to let her cook.

"When I battle, I don't battle to beat my opponent," she said. "When it's an important battle, I try to be like Lorelei. She's my hero, you know? The only member in the Elite Four's history to be from the Sevii Islands. And she got there by surviving as long as she could in every fight she was in."

Hana sat up and shifted in her seat. I turned to face her and her face was animated. She was getting close to her point.

"That's not a metaphor, by the way," she continued. "Look at her team: Dewgong, Cloister, Lapras. Every one of her Pokemon is a wall. I might have an affinity for Grass-types, but I want to emulate that. As long as I stay in longer than people expect me to, that's how I win in a battle."

Hana looked at me, making her point clear. The reason I didn't have any victories wasn't that I was losing. It's that I didn't have the right mindset to strive for. I'd been close with my plan against Giovanni, but obviously I hadn't meant that one in my heart. Wanting to make people hurt wasn't going to be what got me through a battle.

And not running into any other trainers also didn't help, but that didn't work with the metaphor.

"I think I get what you're putting down. Thanks, Hana."

"Good," she said. "Because I am going to have to charge you one million dollars for the counseling, which happens to be the price of a Poken-"

I shoved her off her log, and we both laughed quietly.

As I pulled her to her feet, I noticed something. "Hey," I asked. "Did you get signal back? Your Pokegear is buzzing."

Hana frowned. "My Pokegear is in my bag, I've had it off since we got to the forest-"

She stopped herself, and her eyes flooded with panic.

Fear shot down my spine as we both looked up.

The black night sky was glowing with dots, but they weren't stars.

They were glistening, red, shiny, compound eyes.

Dozens and dozens of Beedrill eyes, all descending on the camp.

---

Hana made a mad dash for the tent, shouting for our friends to wake up.

I knew she wanted us to run, I did too, but we both knew there was no way to escape that many flying Pokemon. We needed to fight, to scare them off, to do something.

I released Artis. He appeared in a flash but I didn't look down at him before I gave my order. I was too transfixed on the skies.

"Artis!" I yelled, hoping to speed my friends' waking along. "Freeze anything that gets close!"

Three more red flashes of light went off in our camp as my friends all released their Pokemon. They made it to me before the first Beedrill entered camp.

The Hana, Yuji, and I all stood back to back, leaving Amy in the center. They'd been awoken quickly and were obviously feeling all of our fear through their psychic empathy, so we fell into a protective stance. Just because they were at a disadvantage, though, didn't mean they were out of the fight.

Pink psychic shields burst in glowing existence around us, courtesy of Pennywise.

Artis rolled in front of me, cool mist leaking from his mouth as he growled at the incoming bug types.

Desperaoux's purple fur prickled with energy, and the Rattata's eyes focused with laser intensity

Light pneumatic pops sounded from behind me as Paige began to pre-empt her spore attacks.

The first Beedrill that entered camp came from the skies to the south, lowering itself to eye level before gliding in.

This was my first time seeing a Beedrill in person, and it was terrifying.

The poison bee Pokemon stood at three feet in height, but six inches of that made up a fierce pointed white stinger, harder than bone and shaper than steel. Grown on the ends of each of its arms were two similarly wicked-looking yet smaller stingers.

The worst part were the eyes.

The compound eyes of the bug reflected the firelight at a thousand different angles, almost glowing themselves. When people had described the bug type Pokemon's eyes, they always said they were lifeless pits, driven by a hive mentality.

There wasn't anything lifeless about the malice in those eyes.

I swore then and there to never catch a bug type if I lived through the night.

Behind me, I heard several more Beedrill descend, and all hell broke loose.

The first Beedrill rushed towards my side of the circle, bearing its stingers in front of it like a pair of javelins. The tips glowed a bright purple. Poison Sting.

Artis released his first Powder Snow, obscuring the Pokemon in thick white flakes of snow and ice.

I jumped as it burst through the fog, ice covering its wings but still very mobile. Its stingers impacted the barrier in front of me, leaving hairline cracks in it like glass.

Amy whimpered behind me.

"Defense Curl into Rollout!" I yelled, trying to tune out the other orders being shouted behind me.

At the moment that Artis' fur turned silver, the Beedrill slammed the barrier again, getting about an inch of its stinger through the psychic energy.

I ducked down and hefted the log I'd been sitting on earlier over my head.

Artis lept from the ground, a silver and blue bullet, and slammed into the back of the Beedrill. The bug type was pressed between Artis and the psychic barrier, smothering it in an intense impact. It fell to the ground and started to stand back up, but I slammed the log into the back of its head. It went down, fainted.

"Fuck you!" I yelled. "Artis, repeat!"

Two more Beedrill descended from the sky, giving Artis targets. He was building up speed, rolling circles around our shields to get more coverage. Between his natural propulsion from his tail and the Rollout speed, he was easily able to jump ten feet into the air to slam into the second Beedrill.

Desperaoux ran out in front of me, kicking off of the falling second Beedrill as he also lept into the air. His fangs shined with dark type energy as he brought down a crunch of the third Beedrill.

I nodded to Yuji, but he quickly called Desperaoux back as a fourth and fifth Beedrill rounded from behind the trees, headed towards his side of the circle.

I looked away, unable to spare the time as four more descended.

Artis had lost his momentum after KOing the second Beedrill, so instead I gave him a new command. "Give me bursts of snow, buddy! Pace yourself, you don't need to knock 'em out, you just need to keep 'em off us!"

Artis growled in agreement, and began opening and closing his jaw in rhythm to cut off his Powder Snow early. Our most recent training had gotten us to three full-sized blasts, but he could keep up these small ones for a while.

I picked up a large stick off the ground, intending to claim some more knockouts on my own, but Artis' protection gave me enough time to glance at the rest of the battle.

Desperaoux was leaping from Beedrill to Beedrill, using his small size to his advantage as he twirled through the air like an acrobat. His Bites weren't knocking any out on their own anymore, but the Rattata's erratic movements distracted the Beedrill enough to keep them off of us. Occasionally he'd get lucky with a nip to the wing, and they'd go down from the injury.

Hana was having Paige pull double duty. The Bellsprout systematically pumped out several different spore attacks, similar to what I was having Artis do, but also used them in tandem with their Vine Whips to keep the Beedrill at bay.

Amy was kneeling between us all, holding Pennywise in their hands. The Mime Jr. was sweating heavily in concentration, keeping his tiny pink hands raised above his head. Holding our protective barriers was taking everything out of him.

I heard a yelp and looked back

Fuck.

I'd gotten distracted and hadn't noticed that Artis was running low on snow. His breaths were coming in shorter bursts, letting the Beedrill get closer and closer.

He had a gash down his front from where a stinger had gotten past him.

I went to yell for him to return, but I saw a Beedrill act differently from the rest. Its head was reared back, like it was getting ready to spew something out of its creepy bug mouth.

He's not going to have time to move, even if he hears me.

I moved without thinking. I sprinted from behind the psychic shields, pulling Artis' ball free from my belt.

I wasn't going to have time to return him, either.

It was quicker just to move.

Everything went into bullet time as color dimmed in my vision.

I stepped once.

A thick string of viscous goo shot from the Beedrill's mouth.

I stepped again.

I recognized the move. It was String Shot.

I stepped the final time, touching Artis' ball to his side.

He disappeared in a flash of pale red light at the same time the String Shot hit me square in the back.

The impact knocked me forward, and I felt Artis' ball go flying from my hand.

Things sped back up.

The String Shot kept spraying, covering the backs of my arms and legs in a stretchy and sticky material.

Two more Beedrill grabbed onto the string, helping the first lift me up before I ever actually hit the ground.

The others all shouted my name, yelling for their Pokemon to save me.

I was already above the treetops before they made it to Artis' ball.

The sudden lift upwards and the shock of the night hit all at once.

I blacked out.

---

My mouth was cottony and numb, and my head pounded with a dull ache.

My arms were affixed above my head, and I could feel something sharp and rough digging into my back.

I opened my eyes to look, but I began to panic as I felt the pressure of something sticky holding the whole of my upper face still. It didn't cover my nose, but my hair, forehead, and eyes felt solid and thick.

Oh, no. Tears welled underneath my String Shot mask. No, no, no, no, no...

I thrashed against the tree, but the bindings on my arms and legs held firm. The bark dug into my back, scraping it as I tried to escape.

I gave up after... ...I don't know how much time passed. My arms were dead and asleep, and my back felt wet.

I'm going to die...

The thought had never been so prevalent in my mind.

It wasn't unheard of, trainers going missing or dying out on the routes. It was a dangerous world, full of scary things. It made sense. I just never thought it would be me.

I cried. I cried a lot. I cried until the tears wouldn't come.

I had no idea how long I'd been asleep before I'd woken up, but I was severely dehydrated. From the uncomfortable warmth on the left side of my body, the tree that I was stuck to was exposed to the sun.

I'm going to die in the sun without being able to see it. It felt cruel after days in the dark forest.

Dane had told us, he'd given us the warning. The Beedrill nest was looking for food, being unusually close to the route. We'd even listened to his warnings, done everything every guideline had told us, and this still happened.

And that's where I was. There was no mistaking it. The sounds I could hear occasionally flying above me told me I was at the Beedrill nest.

It wasn't fair.

I'd come halfway across the world to die to a bug type. They were Pokemon that weren't strong enough to even be considered in a League team, but they'd gotten me.

I was a failure.

I'd left Artis all alone in his ball. If I hadn't gotten distracted, if I'd been better, he wouldn't have been in danger in the first place.

I thought about my friends. I thought about Daisy. I thought about my mom and dad, and how if I hadn't been stupid enough to travel to a region that I didn't belong to that I'd probably be fine.

Who was the grandstanding for anyway?

I told myself that I'd come here to avoid my parents making it too easy, to stop people who I didn't know from saying that I'd had help on my way to be champion.

I turned down knowledge and resources and advice from the two people who loved me the most to shut up some hypothetical internet trolls.

And I'd still gotten help. My parents still trusted me with Artis, Professor Oak offered to sponsor me, Daisy tutored me, Hana provided my battle strategies, Yuji trained me, and Amy had comforted me.

So my stupid line in the sand really had meant nothing.

It can't mean nothing.

If it meant nothing than I'd really let down the people I really cared for. I hadn't earned their help, I hadn't shown them that I was worth it.

I couldn't die now.

I had to earn it.

I wriggled under my restraints again. They hadn't gotten any weaker, but I had.

I let out a shaky breath.

"Please," I cried softly. "Please, help me, anyone. I need one more chance. I promise, I'll earn it."

The air around me grew cold.

At first I thought it was a trick of the dehydration, some psychosis from dying, but it stayed constant.

"He he he he..." A femine voice, high pitched and whispered, laughed softly.

I held my breath.

The cold deepened as something drifted towards me.

I knew in my heart what this was immediately, but I didn't want to admit it.

Ghost type Pokemon were rare. They weren't as sparce as dragons, but it was close. Even the strongest trainers, unless they had specific training with them, chose to avoid them.

Ghosts were bad news. They were violent and dangerous pranksters. Every single guidebook said not to approach one until you had at least four badges, and even then it was supposed to be with the utmost caution.

I had no choice.

"Please, help me, I whispered.

The presence stopped moving forward, but I could feel something cold and phantom-like touch my face. I tensed every muscle to force myself not to flinch back. I couldn't afford to offend this Pokemon.

"I promise, if I get out of this, I'll earn your help. If you want, you can come with me out of the forest. I'll take you to see the world." My words came out on the verge of begging, but I meant every word.

The presence pulled back from my face and I started to panic that it would leave me.

Something pulled at the bindings on my wrists.

My heart soared as the ghost slowly began to separate the String Shot from my arms.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." I repeated during the entire process like a mantra.

My arms came free and lowered to my sides for the first time in I don't know how many hours. They were numb, rubbery, and bloodless from the time elevated, so I began to rub them to get the blood flowing before I had any real motor control.

As soon as I could feel my fingertips, I dug my hands under the edges of the String Shot mask and began to pull away. It hurt, but no worse than a bad waxing.

My eyes blinked and adjusted to the first light they'd seen in hours.

It was early evening, and the sun was setting again. I could see the purple and orange hues in the distance over the tree line.

For a fifty foot radius around me, there was only an open field. The tree I was bound to was the only one in a clearing, and much bigger than any of the others.

I looked closer to my body and my heart nearly stopped. All around me, also stuck to the tree and spaced evenly about two meters apart, were shiny golden cocoons.

Kakuna, the pre-evolution to Beedrill.

They slumbered, or if they were awake they didn't seem to notice me. The cocoons were half a meter tall each, and their outermost layers were dry and cracked. They were close to hatching, just like Dane had said.

Far, far above me, the Beedrill hive itself was in the upper boughs of the tree. Dozens of the hellish bug types fluttered around the branches, too far away to notice my newfound freedom.

I looked around for my rescuer, but I couldn't see them. The air was still cold, so they were still nearby.

"Where did you go?" I whispered, calling out for it.

A sphere of blue-purple energy, vaporous and undefined, began to form in the air in front of me. It was like looking at a figure in the far distance through a low pixel camera, blurred and distorted.

"Thank you. I owe you one."

The purple ball pulsed, and drifted towards my feet. It was urging me to undo the rest of my bindings. I leaned forward, pulling at the String Shot around my legs, finally fully freeing myself.

I stretched my legs, the muscles stiff and aching. The skin on my arms and ankles where the String Shot had been was deeply indented, like the lines left on your skin from an overly tight rope. As I climbed down, I confirmed that I had holes across the back of my shirt and deep scrapes from my thrashing.

I looked around again. Still, neither the Kakuna or the Beedrill had seen me. As long as I was quiet, there was a good chance I could sneak away from the tree and back into the forest. I would have more problems there, but right now I was more worried about the three-foot-tall bees with a selection of stingers.

The air around me warmed up, and I glance around in worry and confusion. My ghost... ...friend(?) was no longer around.

I tightened my shoelaces and took a deep breath. I was weak, bloody, and dehydrated, but I needed to make it out of this forest.

I took one step, and then another, and another. Every shaky step carried me a little farther from the fucked up tree.

I was making progress, halfway there, when a sound broke my heart.

A branch snapped loudly, resounding from the tree behind me.

I turned, and there at the base of the tree, the ghost had formed into a defined form that I recognized.

The tiny shape of a blue face with yellow-red eyes and purple hair, throat covered in a string of ruby beads, stared at me with a mischievous grin on their face. The Misdreavus held the two halves of the stick aloft with a glowing blue energy, clearly having snapped it on purpose.

"Why...?" I asked in a pathetic whimper, tears swelling in my eyes.

I knew why. Misdreavus were known pranksters, and I was the entertainment

I hadn't imagined it at the campsite. The Kakuna's eyes each snapped into a glowing red light when they were awakened. Each one awakened the ones next to and above them, carrying a wave of red light all the way up the trunk.

I'd never seen a more horrifying Christmas tree.

Before the Beedrill began to buzz, before they took off from their branches, before they flew into the woods, I was already sprinting though the forest.

I tripped on branches and stones, fell through bushes and against tree trunks.

The buzz from dozens and dozens of Beedrill was a constant hum in the forest, growing louder by the second.

Barely above that sound, though, I heard yelling far ahead of me.

Human yelling.

People.

I took off in that direction, weaving between thick trees as my stiff legs would let me.

Thunk!

A String Shot slammed into the trunk next to me.

I rolled under a set of branches, panic overcoming but not eradicating my fatigue.

I dodged another String Shot, dashing past a line of bushes.

And there were no more trees in front of me. I'd broken into a clearing of some kind.

I kept running, but I felt myself start to resign. I'd messed up. With no tree and no bushes, I had no cover. They were going to get me again, and there would be no third chance.

A Heracross burst through the treeline to my left, shattering wood and spraying leaves in every direction.

"Heracross!" It screamed its name, drawing out each syllable and grabbing all of the Beedrills' attention. The strong Pokemon had multiple cracks running along the side of its chitin armor.

I know that bug...

More importantly, I knew the black and white haired guy gripping onto its back for dear life.

My face broke into the widest grin and I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Yuji, you crazy bastard! You fucking did it!"

He'd found me, and the smile and relief on his face made all the fatigue melt from my body. My buddy was in control.

Yuji said something to Heracross, and the bug grabbed the trunk of a fallen tree off the ground, easily ten feet long and hundreds of pounds, and brandished it like a massive club.

As the Beedrill approached, Heracross swung the tree in wide arcs, taking out multiple Pokemon in each swing. We might've had a hard time against this swarm, but this forest belonged to Heracross. That bug had lived here its whole life, and it knew how to treat a pesky hive.

From the hole in the treeline behind Heracross, Hana and Amy ran out from the trees. As soon as they spotted me, they ran to meet me, each pushing themselves underneath one of my shoulders to help me limp to cover.

When we made it under tree cover, our group collapsed in the darkness, and both of them wrapped me in a hug. I did the best I could to return it, but I was still weak.

I could feel my consciousness slipping again, feeling safe in my friends' grip.

"Ya, know," I mumbled. "I'm getting a little tired of this forest. Can we go to Pewter now?"

Amy burst into tears and laughter, and they wiped the snot from their nose and nodded.

Hana smiled. "Yeah, Derek," she said, eyes full of tears. "We'll get you there. Rest for now."

That was the last thing I heard as I lost consciousness once again.

Notes:

Wow, that was a chapter and a half. Funnily enough, the word count was about as long as normal, but I feel like so much happened.

I hope his internal monologue when near death wasn't too dark for y'all. I'm hoping that this event is the straw that breaks the camel's back on his character development, and doing introspection is a big part of that.

Also, Yuji made friends with Heracross! I'll go more into detail next chapter, but the only reason he hadn't released it yet was because he couldn't risk it potentially rampaging and attracting more Pokemon. Since the worst had already happened, he took a chance.

Well, I hope you guys liked it, and I'll see ya next time!

Chapter 8: Pewter City

I woke up warm. I was comfortable, wrapped in something fluffy and dry. The gentle rocking kept me comfortable-

Rocking?

My eyes shot open and almost immediately closed from the intense light of looking directly into the sun. I winced and opened them again slowly.

This time, I laid eyes on the black and pointed carapace of a barbed bug monster inches from my face.

"Heracross!" It spoke as gently as it was loud.

"Ahhh!" I couldn't help it, I screamed. I flailed, trying to raise my arms to protect myself, but whatever I was wrapped in had me tightly bound.

"Hera!" The Pokemon also yelled, releasing me from its arms and dropping me four feet onto the rocky trail.

"Derek!" Someone called my name.

"Owww...." I rolled over on the ground, my arms having been freed in the fall.

I heard a snort, and I looked up.

Amy was standing off to the side of the dirt road, doubled over and laughing at my expense. Yuji was by them, a mix of emotions on his face but he primarily looked relieved.

Hana had sprinted over to where I had fallen, and she helped me up by the arm. I looked down at my now filthy sleeping bag that had been left in the dirt, and back towards the massive bug type that had been holding me. He was apologizing profusely, but Yuju waved him off.

It's the Heracross, the one Yuji caught. I thought we weren't letting it....

The memories of what had happened before I passed out hit me all at once.

My eyes darted to the sky.

Like earlier, I could actually see the blue clouds and the sun. There were no trees above us, and the sides of the roads only contained dense fields.

We weren't in the Viridian Forest anymore.

My knees went weak. Thank the legends...

Hana hadn't let go of my elbow, and seeing my fatigue she led me to the side of the road. She looked better than when I'd fallen asleep. She had tiny cuts and bruises on her face that had started healing. Her expression was full of worry, though.

"Hey, Derek," Hana said gently. "How are you feeling?"

I didn't respond at first, the fog in my brain slowing my thoughts. I slowly did a mental inventory, stopping through every injury I'd gained in the forest.

I felt dry and warm, but not as dehydrated as I'd been when running away. My back was sore, and I could feel the cloth of my shirt rubbing against the scabs from the bark of the Beedrill nest. My wrists and ankles had almost fully recovered from the String Shot bindings.

What I didn't expect was that I was only hurt physically. My bones were tired and my skin was scraped, but my heart felt lighter than it had before. Something about the tree, the experience I'd had there, had grounded a part of me that I hadn't realized was drifting.

I spoke, feeling my dry throat stick to the words. "I think.... ....I think I'm okay," I rasped.

Yuji handed me a water bottle and I gave him a grateful nod. The water was cold, recently refilled from somewhere, and its cool sensation soothed me down to my gut.

Hana was hovering over me like a mother Taillow, checking over my face for signs that I was safe and that I was telling the truth.

Amy surprised me, now that my thoughts had returned to me. I would've expected them to be the most down and out of us all, given their empathic abilities, but they weren't. Amy was grinning wildly, and they looked genuinely happy for the first time that I'd seen since we entered the forest.

"What happened? After the Beedrill?"

Yuji smiled and gestured to his Heracross. "Achilles defeated them quickly, and we had him carry you as we escaped the forest."

Achilles... I nodded to the Pokemon in gratitude. The bug type that I had only seen being fierce before bowed to me now, his muscular limbs flexing as he did so. His name definitely fit.

"You should've seen it, Derek" Amy beamed. "With him out, we could just rush through the forest, cause nothing wanted to fight him!"

I gave them a soft smile, but I felt my brow furrow. "But even if you were at top speed, you still would have had days..." I mumbled. I looked at Hana, who was still seated next to me on the side of the road. "How long was I out?"

Hana shifted uncomfortably. "Well, with what you just went through and everything, we didn't want to force you through the forest again. You mumbled a lot when you were out, and it seemed like you were in pain so-"

Yuji stepped up and put a hand on Hana's shoulder. He looked to Amy and gestured for them to finish the story.

"I could feel your emotions, ya know, because of," they gestured towards their brain, "all this. And you were not in a good place. So we talked about it and decided to keep you under. Pennywise knows Hypnosis, so any time I could feel you start waking up..."

"He made sure I didn't."

Amy nodded. "Though we stopped once we left the forest, and figured we'd let you wake up on your own."

They all looked a bit upset about it, but Hana looked especially troubled. It had been her idea, definitely. Yuji had Amy explain it because he knew it made her uncomfortable, but I could see the guilt on Hana's face.

I struggled with how I felt about the whole situation.

On one hand, I really didn't want to be in the Viridian Forest any more, but on the other... ....I guess, looking at it from their perspective, there wasn't really another option.

I thought about the new lightness in my chest. Part of that freedom came from the immediate safety of being out of the forest. Because of what they'd done, I hadn't had to face what would be potentially another week of darkness and danger.

"And this guy carried me the whole time?" I thumbed over to Achilles the Heracross.

Yuji nodded. "He only ever sat you down when we fought, and that only happened twice."

"Thanks," I gave a grateful look to the Pokemon and he bowed again. "Nobody actually answered my question, how long have I been out?"

Amy reached for their Pokegear to check the date, but Hana spoke without looking up. "Two days." Her shoulders slumped with more guilt.

My eyes popped open with surprise.

Two days was a long time to be asleep, but that wasn't what was surprising about that number. We were supposed to take nine days to get through Viridian Forest. Counting our three days of travel we'd gotten in beforehand, they'd cleared the forest in a little over half the time we'd planned.

I looked back down the road in the direction we'd come from, and in the far distance, I could see the dark shadow of the forest. We'd already made decent progress into Route 02, and we'd probably make it to Pewter within a day, or two at the absolute maximum.

"Holy shit, guys," I said in genuine awe. "How the hell are you still standing?"

Yuji shrugged. Amy walked over and plopped down next to me. "We just wanted you safe, dude," They said casually. "And I've been feeling so refreshed ever since Achilles joined the group! He's always radiating confidence and energy, it helped a lot with all the panic."

I turned to where Hana still hadn't looked up from the ground. I glanced at the other two and motioned for them to come closer. Both humored me and sidled forward. I weakly wrapped my arms around all three of their shoulders, startling Hana and pulling us all into a hug.

Amy melted into the hug, and Yuji hesitantly but happily joined in. Hana stayed stiff and uncomfortable, but made it very obvious the hug was appreciated.

I closed my eyes and said, "Thank you all, so much. I'm okay with what happened, and I'm so thankful to have you all as friends. You guys were just looking out for me."

Yuji gave a grunt of acknowledgment, and Amy nuzzled into our sides. Hana burst into tears and finally accepted the hug. The other two pulled us all closer.

I patted Hana on the back, and I looked back toward the forest.

The shadow of the Viridian Forest was clear in the distance, but it was behind us.

---

We traveled for another two hours, though I definitely slowed our progress by walking mostly on my own. My back had been scrapped up more than I'd noticed in the adrenaline of the forest, and every step sent uncomfortable stinging and soreness lancing across it.

Achilles offered to carry me again, but I turned the Pokemon down. He'd done enough for our entire group the last few days.

The Heracross was hilariously different than we'd expected after catching it in such a violent way. Yuji explained to me that he was actually very docile and polite, but the Pinsir had been antagonistic towards him, causing their feud. Hana had almost released the Pokemon to help find me, but Achilles had convinced them not to do so.

The north side of Route 02 was nearly identical to the southern side we'd passed through to get to Viridian Forest, with wide plains and tall grasses flanked by a distant tree line. It was peaceful, almost too peaceful compared to the last few days.

I kept my eye out for interesting Pokemon, but my Pokedex had a similar selection here as the south side of the forest. Nothing there had caught my eye, either. The forest had a good selection of grass types, but I was not headed back there anytime soon.

Well, I almost had... A cold chill up my spine accompanied memories of a mischievous smile and a snapping branch. I shivered as I thought about the ghost type that I had desperately offered to join my team. I'm glad I got away from that thing.

Someone draped my sleeping bag across my shoulders, and I looked back to see Achilles standing there with a polite grin. I smiled back. He'd noticed my discomfort and pulled it out without being asked. He'd also been carrying the majority of our bags as we hiked.

"Thanks," I said, offering him a fist bump.

The hulking bug looked at me with confusion. I chuckled and pulled his fist up to meet mine. "Like this."

His yellow eyes widened and he smiled. "Cross cross!" Achilles said.

I looked back toward the front of the group and saw Yuji grinning from ear to ear. My friend was normally so stoic, but every time one of us had a good interaction with his new Pokemon, his goofy grin grew three sizes.

"Hey, Yuji," I called. "You've been wanting a Heracross for a while, right?"

"Yes!" He spoke without looking back. "He was one of the first Pokemon I ever decided to seek out for my competitive team. Achilles is a great step toward my ideal lineup."

If a beetle could blush, Achilles would be bright red. He began mumbling to himself, of course only saying his own name, and bowed his head to the ground.

I furrowed my brow, thinking about the rest of Yuji's potential team. So far, he had a Rattata and a Heracross, two very physical Pokemon. His style seemed to be hitting fast and hard.

We stopped for the night shortly after that. The sun was beginning to set and the plains made any spot we chose equally good for camping. None of us decided to set up our tents, instead electing to sleep under the sky for the first night in a while. After laying out our bedrolls, the others got started on heating up dinner while I stepped a ways away from camp.

I pulled Artis' ball from my belt. Hana had handed it over earlier. She'd been the one to pick him up after the Beedrill attack, but she hadn't let him out since then. She didn't want him to panic with me gone, or later unconscious, so she'd elected to wait for us to leave the forest and for me to wake up.

I pulled at the sticker on the front of the ball, where it was torn and dirty. The sticker was kind of like me and Artis. Just a few weeks ago, it had been shiny and new, it hadn't been exposed to the wild yet. Now, we all had a few more bumps and tears than we'd had before. I silently promised that once I started winning matches, I was going to get Artis a new Pokeball. It was going to be something expensive or more fitting, like a Luxury Ball or a Dive Ball.

I clicked the button on his ball, and he appeared in a flash of red light.

I'd had a whole conversation planned, ready to explain what had been going on the last few days, but I didn't even get to start delivering it before my Spheal lept forward, tackling me to the ground. His heavy body kept me pinned as he started to lick my face.

"Pfft, hey-" I tried to talk but Artis continued his onslaught. I could hear him whimpering as he did so.

I let him go on for a few minutes before I rolled, pulling him off of me and into a hug.

"I'm sorry, buddy." I gripped tight around his big blubbery body and he nuzzled into the crook of my neck. I not-so-subtly wiped my face off on his fur, trying to get the Spheal drool off of me. "That was scary, huh?"

Artis yipped in my ear and pulled back. His big eyes were obviously worried. "Pheal!" He yelped.

"Yeah, I know," I said. "And I came out mostly okay. We're gonna be okay."

I looked him over as he barked his response. The gash from the Beedrill stinger had mostly healed and was nothing more than a pink line now. He'd gotten plenty of rest in his ball.

"I have a plan, bud, on how to make sure this doesn't happen again. Does that sound good to you?"

Artis rolled backward and tipped excitedly. "Sph-spheal!"

"I thought you'd be interested. I've been thinking a lot about everything that's happened, and I've decided we're going to make some changes. First off, we're not turning down anybody's help anymore. If somebody offers us any kind of help, we're gonna take 'em up on it and make it up to them later. I wanna make it clear, we're not taking handouts," I overemphasized, and Artis nodded accordingly. "But if somebody wants to help us, we're gonna make sure we do our best to pay 'em back. Clear?"

He nodded, eyes focused.

"Okay, second, we're changing how we train. I know Yuji had us focusing a lot on physical stuff, and we'll keep doing some of that, but we're going to focus on getting you a bigger range of moves to use first."

My reasoning for the second change had become clear when I asked Yuji about his search for a Heracross. His style of training had been developed for the team he'd been planning for his journey. He'd always planned to have Pokemon that relied on martial prowess and physical strength. It should've been obvious that it wasn't going to work for me and Artis.

Instead, I pulled out my Pokenav+ and opened up the notes I'd made over the last few years, before I'd decided to take on Kanto. I'd abandoned them to the depths of my cloud storage when I decided to make my way in a different region. It hadn't occurred to me to look through them again as I'd been trying to learn from my friends and wouldn't be running into the majority of Pokemon that I'd picked out for my team. I had, however, always planned on having a Walrein on my team.

I flipped through the notes, years of planning running back into my mind. They weren't nearly as organized or detailed as Hana's notes, but they were mine. And there was no reason I couldn't repurpose some of them for other Pokemon that I could run into in this region. I did feel a pang of disappointment as I passed the pages for Flygon, the other Pokemon I'd considered for my starter. Finally, I reached the earliest pages containing everything I had for Spheal.

"Alright, bud, I have some long-term plans for what we're going to set up for you. I'd eventually like to get you to use some of the powerhouse moves for your line, like Surf and Blizzard, but those are a long way away. For now, we need to get you up to speed on using your water type moves."

Artis lolled his tongue to the side, breathing in happy pants. "Spheal!" He barked and an Aqua Ring formed in the air around him.

I scratched behind his ears as he released the move. "Yes, buddy, that's very good. You're getting a lot quicker at that. But I was talking about using your water to attack. We focused a lot on ice for the Viridian fight, but now we need to get your Water Gun up and working. Once we get that figured out and perfect your Powder Snow, we can move on to Brine and Aurora Beam. Does that sound good to you?"

Artis narrowed his eyes in determination, and got to work without answering me. He leaned his head back like he was about to exhale a Powder Snow, but no cold mist leaked from his mouth. Instead, he breathed out, and something akin to a sneeze of water sprayed out. He looked down his snout, confused and disappointed.

I laughed. "Good first try, buddy, but let's start by focusing on transferring the energy that you use for Aqua Ring to your mouth...."

---

The next morning I woke up naturally, rested, and in a place I recognized for the first time in a long time. The blue sky was cloudless above me, and the March chill kept the air a comfortable cool. Artis was pressed into my side, snoring loudly. We'd stayed up late last night training his moves. I might've still been too injured to train, but he'd been cooped up in his ball for days and had energy to spare.

My nose twitched. Something was cooking.

I looked over and saw Yuji attending a small fire in a ring of stones. He'd pulled his black and white hair up in a bun and was wearing his tracksuit top open over a white t-shirt. It couldn't have been more than twenty or thirty minutes after dawn, but he was relaxed and awake.

I scooted out of my sleeping bag, careful not to wake Artis, and made my way to the fire. He nodded as he noticed I was up, and used a pair of tongs to turn some sausages.

"Ya know," I whispered in mock disgust, "It's kind of awful how much of a morning person you are."

Yuji smiled. "I've always been an early riser. It's the best time to get some training in, and it leaves you energetic for the rest of the day."

I sighed. I couldn't disagree with him, having now done his routine.

"That doesn't make it less annoying! Some of us have to work to look that good in the morning."

"But counterpoint," He held up his pan. "Breakfast."

I conceded the point and took a sausage. We fell into a comfortable quiet for a few minutes, letting the popping of the oil do all of the talking.

Surprisingly, it wasn't me who broke the silence.

"Derek," Yuji said in a low tone, "You are aware that Hana only had your best interest in mind?"

I looked over at him in surprise. "Yeah, I already said I was okay with how the forest went down. Does she still feel guilty about that?"

He shifted uncomfortably. Personal talks were not his forte. "That, and other things."

When I shot him a 'go on' glance, he continued. "After you were taken, it was some time before we were able to leave. Admittedly, I had... ...negatively impacted that process. I left in the wake of the Beedrill, attempting to find the direction the hive was traveling in so that we could rescue you. I was gone for over an hour and when I returned, I found that Hana had discovered why, specifically, the Beedrill had come to our camp."

I felt touched at first when Yuji admitted he'd run off into the woods to save me, but then I frowned. I thought the Beedrill just showed up by chance. We did everything the Rangers had said to, right?

Yuji kept going. "When the sun rose, Hana realized that our camp had been exposed to the sky. Since she had picked the campsite based on the widening of the trail and given that we had stopped at night, she hadn't checked to make sure that the canopy still covered our camp."

He grimaced as he finished, and grabbed his water to take a long drink.

Damn. That connected a lot of dots. An open canopy combined with the huge bonfire we'd built to keep the ground Pokemon away would be a beacon to Pokemon flying over the forest. We'd accidentally led them right toward us.

I looked over at Hana, who was still asleep in her bedroll. Even in her dreams, she was frowning with her brow furrowed. That would've been a lot for anyone to take on, especially since it led to my capture.

"That's not really her fault, though," I protested. "We all slept there, and nobody noticed it. We all made the same mistake-"

"I didn't say she was right," Yuji interrupted. "I agree with you, and Amy and I both said as much. She seems determined to ignore us, though, and take the blame onto herself."

A hand patted me on the back, and I looked up to find Amy standing behind me, bleary-eyed and drowsy.

"Stop worrying so much," they said. "I can't sleep when your emotions spike like that."

I started to apologize but they waved me off. "I've been keeping an eye on her anxiety. She's doing a lot better now that you're awake, and I think she'll come around in a few days."

Amy grabbed a sausage from the pan and sat down next to me, all three of us enjoying our breakfast.

Hana was very annoyed when she woke up to find that everything had already been eaten.

---

"Nobody told me Pewter City was underground!"

Yuji sighed. "Derek, it's hardly underground. The city happens to be based in the quarry that it was founded around. It's still exposed to the sky and it's basically at sea level."

"Look at that!" I argued, pointing at the steep drop-off into the quarry a quarter mile deep. "It's practically in a canyon!"

Hana shoulder-checked me gently as she passed. "'In a canyon' would still be above ground."

The quarry in question was a series of massive rock walls that surrounded three-quarters of Pewter City where they'd cut directly into the mountainside. We were coming from the south side, the only side without the walls, but had come over on a large hill that displayed the entire city to us.

It was much bigger than Viridian City and had significantly more interplay with the local environment. Large low houses were staggered among rocky ridges and hills, with winding paths connecting the larger streets and buildings. All the way across the city on the north side, a massive domed building stood under the shadow of the northern wall. It was impressive, tough, and chaotic.

It was mid-afternoon by the time we finished walking the meandering trail down toward the city, following the flow of the hillside. The trail deposited us right onto the main road, letting us walk into the third city on our journey.

Hopefully, it would be the place I would get my first badge.

I had no immediate plans for after Pewter, and we'd made it through the Viridian Forest quicker than we'd budgeted, so I was in no rush to sign up at the Gym. Instead, I pulled out my Pokenav+ and helped us get to the Pewter City Pokemon Center. Traveling the streets was very different than in Viridian City; People seemed to be significantly less friendly, and the winding roads meant that more people were crowded into smaller sidewalks.

Eventually, Yuji pointed out the bright red roof of the center and we pushed our way through the crowds. I thought we'd have a bit more space inside, but the lobby was also full of people. The far majority were obviously trainers, Pokeballs and athletic clothes present on almost every person.

"What gives?" I asked as I pulled the others into a loose line for the front desk. "This place is crowded, did we come on like a busy day?"

Yuji grunted in displeasure, glancing around at the crowd. "No, I think that is just how it is at the beginning of the season here."

Hana winced as someone pushed past her. "Rock types have a lot of abusable weaknesses, so Pewter is known for being the first gym for a lot of different trainers. Unfortunately, I doubt the crowds will be going away anytime soon."

I looked down at Amy, and noticed that they had gone pale again. Their face was tense, and sweat was starting to bead on their brow.

I leaned over to Yuji and Hana. "Can you guys work on the rooms? We can leave our trainer cards with you, but I want to get Amy out of the crowd."

Yuji quickly nodded, offering a hand for my bag. Hana similarly grabbed Amy's and the two promised to text us when we had rooms.

I grabbed Amy by the hand and slowly led them through the sea of people. They kept up with me, but multiple times I was afraid that if I let go of their hand I would lose them in the crowd. We made it out of the front door of the Pokemon Center and a block away before the crowd dispersed enough for up to catch our breath.

Amy shot me a grateful look. "Thanks, Derek," they panted as though they had just done a run. "Everybody in there was a lot. A ton of them were anxious, some were angry, and the rest were just generally unpleasant. All the conflicting emotions were rough."

"No problem, Ames. I figured we could do a little bit of shopping and grab some food for the others. That way you wouldn't have as many people on your mind."

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Amy took off their beanie and pulled their dark hair up into a ponytail, letting the wind cool off their stress.

The two of us started wandering the area around the Pokemon Center, which happened to be very inconveniently placed in reference to either the gym or the Pokemart. There were a few smaller shopping centers for normal people, gift shops and boutiques and the like, that we slowly drifted between.

"Hey, Ames?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"What kind of things do Yuji and Hana like? Like, if I wanted to get them thank-you gifts, what would they want?"

They thought about it for a minute. "Hana is pretty obvious, she likes accessories. Hats, scarves, jewelry; anything she can throw onto an outfit. Yuji... ...He only ever really talks about martial arts, workouts, pins, or old movies."

One of those was not like the others.

"Hang on, pins?"

Amy glanced up at me in confusion. "Yeah? Haven't you seen the inside of his track jacket? He's got like thirty pins in there."

I blushed a bit. "I can honestly say that whenever he's taken that thing off, I was not looking at the jacket."

Amy wrinkled her nose. "Gross."

"What? He's hot, sue me."

"Eh, I don't think about people like that." Amy pointed at their brain. "I'm more of an emotional-connection kind of bean."

"Bean?"

"Non-binary. ENBY. Bean."

"Oh." I considered it for a moment. "I guess that makes sense. I also think I need an emotional connection to people, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate someone having a nice figure. He works hard to look that good."

"Yeah, I guess he does," Amy sighed. "Anyways, he's got a lot of different pins, so that might be a good thing to get him."

"Cool, cool, cool," I said, letting the conversation die down. I already had an idea for what I wanted to get Amy anyway.

The way I saw it, I didn't have a lot of money, but I owed my friends a lot. Not only had they taken me and taught me the ropes on Kanto, but they'd saved my friggin' life. I could afford to spend at least a little bit of my budget on getting them thank-you gifts.

---

Amy and I walked around for about an hour popping in and out of shops before Hana sent us a group text that they'd gotten a room, singular. Apparently, the Pewter Pokemon Center was significantly busier than the Viridian City one on an almost year-round basis, so the Center had to squeeze more people in per room.

I sighed wistfully thinking about how nice my private room in Viridian had been.

On our way back, Amy and I picked up some takeout for the group, making sure to get a double order of dumplings to prevent the food thievery that had happened last time. When we made it back to the Center, it was just as crowded, but fewer individuals were actively trying to check in or see the counter. Instead, dozens and dozens of trainers loitered in groups of three to twelve around the center, taking up every available seat in the building.

I didn't recognize any of the trainers here, but that made sense. Living in Hoenn, I would've only seen coverage of the best of the best, trainers who would've made international news. The people who were in this Center were going after the rock type badge in the early season, hardly a veteran trainer move.

We made our way into the crowded elevator and it creaked and shook the entire way up to the fourth floor.

As we stood in the group of trainers, someone behind us said, "Man! Who has food? That smells awesome."

I turned and there was a heavier-set person with dark skin and green hair, wearing a purple and orange vest and leaning in towards us. I was a decent height, but they had easily four to five inches on me. They had a small group of people with them, maybe half the people in the elevator. I glanced down at their belt. I noted three Pokeballs.

"That's us, sorry about that." I gave an apologetic smile.

"No problem, no problem," They had a wide grin and pulled out their Pokegear. "Just let me know where you got that, it's got me starvin'."

"Uh, sure. Amy, do you remember the name of the place?"

"General Pix's Place, like two blocks down."

"Hell yeah, brother." They started typing when they caught themselves and stopped. "Sorry my guys, I totally forgot to introduce myself before gettin' in your business. I'm Terry, Terry Parkers."

"Nice to meet you, Terry." I precariously balanced a container of soup in one hand to offer a hand to them. "Derek Tracy, he/him."

"Same here, brother." He shook my hand, and looked down at Amy. Terry cleared his throat before speaking. "And uh, hi to you too."

I raised an eyebrow. Amy was blushing.

Huh.

"Amy, she/they." They offered a hand, the same as I had, but Terry hesitated before gently shaking their hand. His massive hand dwarfed Amy's in comparison.

There was a beat of awkward silence.

The elevator dinged.

"Well, sorry to cut it short, but we have to get this food to our friends," I said quickly, stepping off the elevator. "Nice to meet you, Terry, and the rest of you," I added, noticing that none of the rest of his group had spoken up or introduced themselves.

Amy stepped off, and Terry was more than enamored. He didn't hear me until the doors started closing. Terry looked up and said, "Yeah, hope to see you guys around! Maybe we'll battle or somethin'-"

He was cut off by the doors closing.

I looked down at Amy, and they were doing their best not to look at me. I could see scarlet blush running up their neck, and their ears were bright red.

"What was that about an 'emotional-"

"Derek," Amy interrupted. They groaned into their sleeve. "Don't tease me about this. It's the worst part about my brain thing."

"The worst part-? Oh!" My eyes widened with realization. "So you weren't necessarily the one who-"

"I don't know. All I know is that when emotions are directed at me, I feel them a lot stronger than I normally do. So maybe I felt something, maybe I didn't, but he definitely did."

"Oof." I struggled to come up with something more coherent than that. There were layers to that problem that I had neither the expertise nor experience to help with.

We awkwardly and appropriately walked to the room in silence.

When we knocked, Yuji opened the door. He'd taken off his track jacket and thrown on a simple t-shirt.

"Welcome to home base," he said, gesturing to the rest of the room. "This is where we'll be staying for basically our whole stay in Pewter."

The room was about the same size as the one I'd had in Viridian, but instead of a queen-sized bed, nightstand, and desk, the room was only equipped with two twin-sized bunk beds.

I groaned. "If it's not too late, I dibs bottom bunk?"

Yuji nodded. "That's fine, I prefer sleeping up top anyway."

Amy chuckled at the unsaid joke, but I shot them a look and they kept it quiet. Hana was in the attached bathroom, freshly cleaned in pajamas with her hair pulled up in a towel. She waved at us as we started unloading the food.

"At least the water's hot," she said, joining us on the floor for dinner. "And the beds are still comfy, even if they're on the small size."

Amy slapped Hana's hand away from the dumpling container, grabbing it first. I rolled my eyes and pulled out the second order, handing it to her.

"Well, that's something. Oh hey," I said, remembering my own purchases. "I grabbed you guys some things while we were out. Just some small thank-you gifts for everything you guys have done the last couple weeks."

"You didn't have to do that, Derek," Yuji spoke up first.

Hana looked apprehensive. "Are you sure? I know you don't have a ton to spend-"

I shook my head. "Nope, none of that. You guys are my friends, and I wanted to get you something to say thank you."

Amy rolled their eyes and took a bite of chow mein. "I already tried to talk him out of it when we were in the store, he's not gonna stop now guys."

"Exactly, Ames. That's why I'm giving you yours first."

Amy choked on their noodles. "Ack- When did you get something for me? I was with you the whole time!"

"Did you really think I was going to get something for the two of them, and not something for you?"

They looked away. "I guess not? I don't know, I just didn't even think about it."

I reached into my plastic bag and pulled out a small leather strip with a series of wooden beads. I'd already taken the tags off of everything when we'd been waiting on our food. Along with that, I pulled out two small plastic dropper bottles.

I handed the over, and Amy looked at me with a raised eyebrow, not sure what they were looking at. "Those are scented oils. Uh, I think it was lavender and mint? The lady at the shop said that they helped with headaches, and you could apply them to the bead on the necklace so that you could smell them while we traveled."

Amy uncapped the purple oil, taking a deep inhale. Their face broke into a big grin. "Thanks, Derek." They leaned over and latched onto my arm, giving me as big of a hug as they could while sitting. I pulled them close and squeezed them tight before letting go.

"Yuji, you're next!" I declared. "Amy told me you like collecting pins, and helped me pick out this one." I slid the pin across the carpet towards him.

Yuji plucked it off the ground and did something I hadn't expected. He started tearing up.

"Oh, dude, is that okay? I didn't-"

Amy put their hand on my arm and shook their head. "It's okay, he's happy."

I looked up, and Yuji's smile caught up to his tears. He quickly stood up and stepped over the food, pulling me into the biggest hug the guy had ever given me. I heartily returned it. We held the hug for over a minute, and I worried I wouldn't be able to breathe. He was a lot stronger than me, after all.

Eventually, he released me, still not saying a word. He wiped his eyes and pulled his jacket off his bed, pinning his new pin onto it. He presented it proudly.

The pin itself had only cost me a few bucks. It was an enamel rendering of a small purple Rattata holding a pink, blue, and white flag. Something so little had brought him a lot of joy, and it made me happy too.

I turned to Hana, who had a big grin on her face. Everybody in the room had been very obviously touched by Yuji's tears, and there wasn't a dry eye among us.

"And last, but not least, is Hana." I rummaged around in my bag. "To be honest, it was hardest to shop for you, and I had to pull up the footage from the Giovanni fight in order to get the right color."

I pulled out a cotton scarf, the same light green color as Hana's battling outfit that she'd used for her gym fight. It had definitely cost the most, but for me, It felt like the least creative gift. I had wanted initially to get her a new notebook or something similar, but Amy had pointed out that she already had all of the organizational tools she would ever need in her laptop.

She still gave me a big smile and gratefully took the scarf from my hands. She ran it through her fingers to feel the texture and gave it a nod of satisfaction. "Thank you, Derek. It's perfect."

"So, uh," I said. "That's everything that I have to hand out. I figured you guys would appreciate something, even if it was small."

"I hope I never get you for Secret Santa," Hana said absentmindedly as she wrapped the scarf around her neck.

"Don't give me the credit, I just financed it. Amy basically picked out the presents."

The bean in question grunted. "Nope! I just told you what they liked. You go everything else on your own."

"Ames! You're makin' me look bad. I gotta keep up my 'aloof cool guy' persona."

Yuji chuckled. "Derek, I appreciate you dearly as my friend, but you have never been aloof once in your life."

We all laughed. That night was the first one since the forest that we'd felt fully safe. We had full bellies of food that we hadn't cooked ourselves, warm beds with comfy covers, and running hot water.

There was almost nothing that could ruin the moment.

Almost.

---

I sat up in my bed, dripping sweat.

I looked around in panic, searching for the danger. My senses were in full panic mode.

I was in a dark room, moonlight streaming through the window next to me. Gentle snoring came from the top bunk across the way.

I was in the Pewter Pokemon Center, in our room.

My breathing was shakey, and I was on the edge of hyperventilating. My nose and forehead were numb as my adrenaline pumped, and I could hear the dull roaring of my own pulse in my ears.

I went to adjust my blankets, but my hands were trembling too much. I had no grip strength.

What the fuck? I thought- I thought I was okay. Something's wrong... ..I- I shouldn't be panicking like this.

Across from the foot of my bed, the door handle clicked.

The door creaked open.

A pair of yellow and red eyes floated in the darkness, menacing and alight with cruel joy. It smiled, showing its bright white teeth.

"He he he he..." A ghostly feminine voice giggled.

I screamed.

Notes:

What an ending to a chapter!

Thank you guys for enjoying this chapter of ARNMO, I appreciate you giving it a read! Shoutout to Viridi Mayai who definitely called the Misdreavus plotline in the comments!

For those wondering, I decided to use the HG/SS interpretation of Pewter City, where there are huge stone walls around the city. I thought this would add a lot of flavor to the rugged city.

Also, if you somehow don't have the context for the scene, the blue, pink, and white flag is the transgender flag. I've put some hints alluding to it in chapter four, but I figured it would be good to confirm because a few people had been confused. For Derek, it was a small thing that his buddy might enjoy having, but for Yuji, it meant a lot to have his only real guy friend do a small gesture to acknowledge his gender. That's why he reacted so positively to such a little thing.

Anyway, thanks for the read, I appreciate all of you who've left reviews and comments so far!

Chapter 9: A Ghostly Problem

The moment Yuji's feet hit the ground, the eyes disappeared, and the hallway lights flickered back on.

"Derek!" Yuji spun around the room, looking for danger. "What's wrong?"

I couldn't move, I couldn't answer him. My body just wouldn't respond. My jaw was locked in place, my hands had clamped down on the bedsheets.

People in the hallway started to open their doors, checking to see what the commotion was.

Amy climbed down from their bed, flicked on our room light, and made their way to me. Their eyes filled with worry.

"Something has him terrified," Amy said, their own eyes widening as they experienced my emotions.

Hana had crossed the room and made it to the doorway. "Sorry guys, night terrors," she lied effortlessly to the other trainers. "We'll take care of it."

Before she closed the doors, I could see that her answer had mollified most of them, and people started returning to their rooms.

Hana looked at the other two. "Do we know what happened?"

My eyes flicked around the room. Just because I couldn't see the ghost didn't mean that it wasn't there. I wanted to tell them that we were in danger, but my mouth still refused to open.

Yuji leaned down, sitting on the edge of my bed. "Derek? Can you respond? Was it actually a nightmare?"

"He's feeling more anxiety and frustration," Amy winced at the emotions blooming in my chest. "I don't think it was a nightmare."

Amy's analysis gave me a sense of safety. They knew exactly what I was feeling, even if it was just as unpleasant for them.

They'd told me they felt emotions much more strongly when it was directed at them. I tried to feel gratitude as much as I could.

Amy nodded. "You're welcome, Derek." They turned to Yuji and Hana. "I'm right, it wasn't a nightmare."

My eyes flicked down to my hands, and I saw my fingers unclenching far too slowly.

What is going on? I raged in my mind. Yes, that scared the shit out of me, but I shouldn't be this unresponsive. The Misdreavus must have used something on me.

That made the most sense. All my life I'd always been on the 'fight' scale of fight-or-flight. I'd never frozen up like this.

The rage helped clear my mind, and I was able to unclench my jaw ever so slightly.

Yes! I screamed in my mind.

I interrupted the others, who were still discussing what could be wrong, with the smallest whisper I could get out. It came out frustratingly slow.

"Gh... ...ost... ...type," I breathed out. I inhaled heavily after, feeling light-headed from the strain.

The others all stopped.

"Did he just say 'ghost type'?" Hana asked nervously.

Amy stared at me in horror.

Yuji once again got onto the bed, making direct eye contact with me. His dark eyes were alight with alarm.

"Derek, do you know where it came from, and where it went?" He said slowly.

"For... ...est.. ...Mis... ...dre..." I gave up on the word and inhaled as hard as I could with my locked-up body. It was just too hard.

Within seconds, Hana had pulled her laptop from her bag and connected it to Yuji's Pokedex. "There are no ghost types native to the Viridian Forest," she said, eyes glued to the screen. "However, doing a cursory glance, there is a line of ghost types named Misdreavus who are native to Mt. Silver. One could've come to the forest from there?"

Amy recovered enough to give them an update. "He feels proud. I think you got it, Hana."

I nodded ever so slightly, regaining movement in my neck. The clenching of every muscle in my body was painful, and I didn't know how much more of this I could take before I had an actual panic attack.

Yuji wasn't satisfied with the answer, though. "Derek, do you know where it went?" He repeated.

I didn't need Amy to translate. I shook my head 'no'.

My friends all began to look around uncomfortably. They knew as well as I did that ghost types were not to be messed with as a low-level trainer. They drilled it into us in every class: ghost types were dangerous, tricky, and often murderous.

I felt every muscle in my body go lax, and I sputtered out a cough. Every single one of my friends jumped at the loud noise.

I kept going with a hacking cough, my lungs not prepared for the huge inhale I'd done when my muscles had relaxed. Amy patted my back, but honestly, it was more for comfort than anything else.

Yuji handed me one of our water bottles and I drank from it greedily.

After I finished, I turned to them. "Holy shit, that fucking sucked."

Yuji and Hana gave anxious smiles, obviously happy that I was out of whatever that had been, but Amy tossed their arms around my torso and pulled me into as big of a hug as their small body would allow.

I didn't need to ask what that was about, I just hugged them back. As well as they'd been acting functional for the last few minutes, they'd felt every bit of the fear and anxiety that I'd felt.

"I'm pretty sure I'm haunted," I announced to the room as I kept up my hug with Amy

Amy pulled away quickly and punch me in the arm. For a tiny person, their boney arm still packed a punch.

"Ow!" I yelped. "I'm haunted, not dead! Don't use me as a punching bag."

They punched my arm again, albeit softer this time. "You didn't think to mention to your resident psychic that you might have a ghost following you?"

I stared at them. "Well, when you put it like that- Wait a minute, how am I at fault here? I thought I got away from it!"

"Derek," Hana spoke up hesitantly. "When did you even meet a ghost type?"

I frowned, letting unpleasant memories surface. "When I was stuck at the Beedrill nest, it helped me escape. Well, it helped and then alerted the hive, so I guess it was really just trying to get me killed."

Yuji let out a frustrated breath. "It's probably been hiding in your shadow this whole time, waiting for you to feel safe so it can prank you again."

My eyes bulged. "They can do that?"

He shrugged. "We have a lot of myths about ghosts in Saffron, the psychics hate them."

"Yeah, we do!" Amy got up and started looking around the room, checking under the beds and in the bathroom. "They're not as bad as dark types, but they disrupt the hell out of our powers."

Hana pulled back up her notes. "If yours is a Misdreavus, you'll be safe once the sun comes up. According to this, they sleep during the day."

"It is." I nodded. "I'm sure of it."

"Do they have them in Hoenn?"

"No, but a friend of mine growing up really wanted one. She even had a replica set of the red beads that Misdreavus wears."

"That's great! Could you send her a message and see if she knows anything helpful?"

"Uh," I hesitated. We hadn't spoken in some time, and it would be a bit awkward to text her out of the blue. Especially when it was just to ask her advice and not to actually say 'hi'.

"I don't know, she's really busy these days-"

"Derek," Hana gave me a flat look. "This article also says that Misdreavus 'feeds off the fear of those they prank'. This thing's going to get hungry again."

"I'll text her."

Hana nodded.

Yuji reached up and slid his entire mattress off of the top bunk. Amy nodded at him and did the same, though they put in significantly more effort to reach the top bunk.

"What are you guys doing?" I gave them both a puzzled glance.

Yuji glanced at Amy, and then went back to getting his bedding tidy. They nodded and turned to me.

"One of the biggest wards against ghosts is a feeling of safety," Amy explained. "Even if it's only subconsciously, you're going to feel safer if we do a sleepover. And because you feel safer, you be safer."

"So what, are we doing a cuddle pile?"

"Yeah."

I glanced up at Hana, and she gave all three of us weird looks. "I love you all as friends, but I'm skipping the 'cuddle pile'."

Yuji walked over and grasped the edge of Hana's bed. "No, you're not," he said, a little too much of a grin on his face.

He tugged as hard as he could, and Hana's mattress, with Hana fully on it, landed on the ground.

Amy and I laughed ourselves silly at Hana's expression, and promptly shut up when she reminded us that she was the one who organized the supplies.

No one was brave enough to argue with the person who bought your food.

---

The next morning, I left the Pokemon Center with a goal. The others all were doing their days off to celebrate getting to Pewter, but I convinced them that I'd technically already slept through two whole days of the trip and needed to catch up.

I held Artis' ball tight as I moved through the crowds of trainers still surrounding the Pokemon Center. My initial goal had been to use the training grounds, but the sheer amount of trainers in the area had defaulted the place into a battle arena. Right now, two zero-badge trainers were using the field to settle an argument.

Instead, I walked across the way, using my Pokenav+ to get me to the public fields near the Gym. Pewter City's Gym was just as impressive as Viridian's but significantly older. It did have the difference of having an open top, though, so it cut a much more imposing figure than Giovanni's gym.

Like I'd feared, the trainers had also taken over the public fields, but that wasn't my real goal. As I approached, I walked toward the flashiest battle I could find. There were two trainers currently battling, and I actually recognized one of them.

Terry, the guy that Amy and I had met yesterday, was battling against another trainer that I knew to be one of his group. He was commanding a vicious-looking blue Pokemon, with a ridge of red scales running down its back. I didn't recognize it, so I pulled out my Pokedex and scanned it.

"Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokemon," it pinged. "This Pokemon has extremely developed jaws that can cause extreme injury, even with minimal effort."

It was fighting a bright red fox Pokemon that I actually knew from my home region, though I'd never seen one in person. Out of sheer appreciation for its beautiful tails, I scanned it anyway.

"Vulpix, the Fox Pokemon. Inside this Pokemon's body burns a flame that never goes out. During the daytime, when the temperatures rise, this Pokemon releases flames from its mouth to prevent its body from growing too hot."

I gave a low whistle of appreciation as the Vulpix released several small purple flames into the air that began to float around Totodile. Even the Pokemon's moves were beautiful.

I wouldn't mind having one of those on my team.

I tore myself away from the fight, though, and looked for my real target. Dozens of trainers had gathered to watch the two rare Pokemon battle, but they were only in my way.

There!

Hanging off of a nearby fence, five kids around ten years old or so watched the battle in awe. Their eyes got big as they watched Totodile strike back with a Water Gun.

I felt bad interrupting, but I walked up to them. "Hey guys, sorry for getting in your way, but I was wondering if you were locals?"

Four of them immediately deferred to the one in the middle. They were neither the tallest nor the broadest, but they had an air about them that I could tell the others respected. They had dark skin and a jaw that was going to be strong when they got older.

They looked me up and down, eyes pausing on Artis' ball. "We're too young to battle, sorry Mister," they said.

"No, no, this is nothing like that," I answered, trying not to show that the other four starting to snicker was getting on my nerves. "I was just wondering if you guys knew anywhere I could train that the other out-of-towners wouldn't know about?"

That was my reason for seeking them out. Kids always knew the places that would be the most cleared out, and asking a local gave me a leg up on the other trainers in town. Everyone else was going to be patiently waiting for their turns to battle while I was seeking out a private training ground.

The kid's eyes narrowed at me before they glanced at the others and grew a mischievous grin. "We could tell you for... .. twenty bucks?"

"How about we call it thirty and you agree to not tell anybody else about the training ground?" I pulled the cash out of my pocket.

All of their eyes went wide, and they quickly looked at each other. "Deal!"The lead one said.

I grinned. Thirty bucks wasn't even a quarter of a Pokeball, but to these kids, it was an entire afternoon of snacks and fun.

"Lead on."

---

The lead one, I found out his name was Harrison, led me down the walking trails to the outskirts of town while his buddies went to greedily spend the money I'd given them.

"So mister," Harrison asked as we walked. "Why did you want to come all the way out here to train? Wouldn't it have been better to battle with all the other people?"

"You'd think that, but my Pokemon and I are trying to get some of the basics down for new moves, and he works best in a stress-free environment."

"Um, that's not what my brother says. He says that Pokemon unlock their biggest potential when they're battling others."

"That's true for most things, but we're going to be working on technique today, which is something that you can only get down with hours of hard work. You can't just throw your Pokemon into trauma after trauma and expect them to improve."

I looked down at him, questioning something he said. "Is your brother some kind of trainer?"

"Yeah." He said simply, offering no further explanation.

We walked for a few minute minutes before he announced, "We're here."

I looked around and grinned. We were just outside of town enough to be inconvenient for others, and we'd moved right up against the quarry wall to a small dry riverbed with an abandoned waterwheel. Both were in disrepair, and the shattered rocks around the dirt field told me that I wasn't the only one to use this place as a training ground.

"This is perfect. Thanks, Harrison."

"Do you mind if I stick around and watch? After my friends get the snacks they're gonna come down here anyway."

"Sure, as long as you stick to our agreement and don't tell other people about this place."

He gave me a thumbs up and headed over to the waterwheel, where he sat on the floor with his back against it.

I released Artis in a flash of red light, and he popped out as energetic as ever. He barked to say 'hello', and quickly rolled in a circle around me.

I leaned down and scratched his chin. "Hey, buddy. Our friend Harrison over there," I gestured to the kid and he waved, "found us a place to practice for our next battle."

Artis happily barked at Harrison, which made the kid smile.

"So, we're going to work on what we were doing the other night. It's going to be Water Gun drills until we get it down, and then practicing using Powder Snow and Rollout at the same time."

Artis once again took my mentioning the move as permission to practice and gave his best attempt at a Water Gun. A pitiful stream of water dribbled onto the ground from his snout, and he mumbled sadly.

Harrison giggled.

I ignored him. "That's okay bud, we just need to figure out what your process is for learning. You picked up Powder Snow through repetition, so we can probably get there with enough tries."

Harrison spoke up from the wheel, "If one of your friends has a Pokemon that already knows the move, you can probably use that to speed up Artis' learning."

I squinted at him. "You know a lot about training Pokemon. Your brother teach you that?"

He shrugged.

"Anyways," I looked back down at Artis. "Unfortunately nobody we know currently has a water type, so we'd have to ask a stranger." I shuddered.

I might've started the conversation with Hana's group, but social interaction was not my strong suit.

"So, we're going to have to get by with hard work. We're going to earn that move! Right buddy?"

He jumped into the air and yipped excitedly.

"Alright, bud! Concentrate on this rock here. This is gonna be your target..."

---

Several hours later, Artis and I returned to the Pokemon Center. Harrison and his friends had stuck around the whole day to watch us train and were actually really helpful when it came to their callouts. I forgot how much kids' brains were sponges for knowledge, and they could often recall things faster than I could.

It was mid-afternoon when I got back to the Center, though I didn't immediately head up to the room. Instead, I wandered the first floor until I found the computer lab.

I found an empty stall, and there were actually more than I thought there'd be, and I plugged my Pokenav+ into the console. The Pokenav+ might've been good enough on its own to send recordings and do an audio call, but I wanted a video call and that could only be done at a console.

I took a deep breath and dialed a number that I'd memorized as soon as I was old enough to stay the night at a friend's house.

The call rang for a moment, and I feared they wouldn't pick up, when the camera clicked on and my mom answered the phone.

My mom was an intimidating lady at the best of times. She wore a grey suit, the shoulders constructed and clean, and her dark glasses frames gave her a severe librarian look. She was significantly paler than me, which meant that it was easier to see when she was angry from the vein that would pulse in her forehead.

When her expression split into the widest grin I'd ever seen, however, it ruined the whole image. She quickly looked off-screen and called my dad's name.

"Andrew! Andrew, Derek's on the phone!" My mom turned back to her screen. "Hi, honey! It's so good to see you! How have you been? How's Kanto? Your dad said you made some friends?"

There was a crash off-screen, something that sounded suspiciously like a door slamming open, and my mom jumped in her seat. She gave an angry glare as my dad rushed to sit down next to her, clearly out of breath.

"Mari, you're asking him too many questions, let him answer one first!" My dad said with a grin.

My dad was where I got my color from. His skin was dark, much darker than mine, and his long black hair was braided over one shoulder. The sides of his head were shaved, as was his face. He was built and scarred from his time in the Ace Trainers, and he struggled to fit in the chair made for normal-sized people.

They couldn't look more different, but to me they looked perfect. My dad had met my mom at a meeting on Ever Grande because she was one of the lawyers that represented the League in legal disputes. She'd actually been doing an investigation on one of his colleges when they met, and apparently, she couldn't stand him at the time. He'd been the one to fall first, and he'd waited until after the case to ask her out for drinks. The rest was history.

"Hi, Mom. Hey, Dad." I felt overwhelmed as I saw the two of them sitting there. Even though I'd just heard Dad's voice a week ago, it was nothing like seeing them talk directly to me. It was the first time I'd spoken to them since they dropped me off at the Lilycove airport.

"Kanto's great!" I pushed through the emotions. "I was calling because I made it to Pewter City, and you had mentioned wanting updates."

"I'm glad you called, Der. Your mom was starting to worry you'd forgotten about us."

She scoffed. "I was not!" She turned to the camera. "Your dad is making things up. I knew you'd call eventually, when you were ready."

"Yeah, I think I did too," I agreed. I shook my head and went into focus mode. "So to answer your questions in order: I've been okay, though I got spooked on my journey a few times. Kanto is good, and I'm loving the cool weather. And my friends are pretty great and I'll probably send you photos sometime soon."

My mom nodded, satisfied, while my dad looked impressed. "That's great, Der," he chuckled. "By week two on my journey, I'd almost died at least twice, so you're already doing better than your old man."

My mom must've noticed my wince, because she leaned farther into the frame with a worried look. "What happened?" She asked.

I sighed. "So there was this thing in the Viridian Forest-"

"Haha!" My dad laughed. "It's always a cave or a forest."

My mom shot him a 'lawyer glare' and he shut his mouth.

I continued. "There was an incident in the forest with some bug types, but I got out okay. My friends helped save my butt and made sure everything was okay."

I very specifically didn't give them more details and kept everything about Misdreavous to myself.

My mom gave me a suspicious look, but didn't press further.

Instead, she started asking me more questions I didn't want to answer. "How are you doing on money? Do you need us to send you anything?"

My dad piggybacked on her question. "Yeah, Der. Have you thought any more about me sending you another Pokemon?"

I took a deep breath.

We were getting into the stuff I'd actually called to tell them.

"So, um, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you guys about." I cleared my throat. "I've done a lot of introspection over the last few weeks, and I've decided on something."

"I made the decision that I'm not going to reject people's help anymore, but I am going to pay them back whenever I can."

Both went to speak, but I cut them off. "I know that you're my parents, and you don't think I need to pay you back for anything, but this is important to me. Dad, I know you want to send me another Pokemon, but I need to earn Artis first."

He scrunched his eyebrows at me, but looked pensive. My mom chose to speak up.

"I actually think that's really admirable, Derek." She said in a stiff voice. Looking closer I could tell she was tearing up. "I just also want you to know that if you ever need help, we'll always be there for you, baby."

She grabbed a tissue from off screen and started dabbing her eyes. Mine were a little watery, but I held it together because Mom was a sympathetic crier, something I'd inherited from her. If either of us went, then we both would.

My dad slipped his hands into hers. "Der, I respect a call like that a lot. You're choosing to make your own way, and we're okay with that. We just also want you to know that we're your parents, and we should be allowed to spoil you from time to time. It's our legends-given right."

"I know, that's why I'm willing to compromise. If you want to send me stuff, wait until I've earned it. I think badges are a fair place to start."

"Two badges, then I'll send you another Pokemon."

I shook my head. "Four, let me get halfway there."

"No, you're going to need a strong team to get the fourth badge, that's when they get hard. I get to send you one after three badges, that's the longest I'll wait."

Mom piped up. "And we get to send money to feed your new teammate."

I sighed, but that was better than what I'd been hoping for. "Sure, assuming I have room in my team, you can send me another teammate when I hit three badges."

My mom quickly pulled a notepad off of her desk and started writing. I rolled my eyes when she held up a hand-written contract to the camera.

"Do these terms look agreeable to you?" She asked in her 'lawyer voice'.

Now that I think about it, just adding the word 'lawyer' in front of stuff Mom does basically just describes when she's being stern.

"Yes, that looks fine Mom."

"Good, I'm glad that we could come to an agreement." Her facade broke immediately as she started tearing up again. "My little boy is so grown up now. I have to get him to sign a contract to send him money..."

I panicked as her tears started to fall freely. "Mom, you can't start crying because then I'm going to start crying!"

"I can't help it!" She sobbed.

"Go, Der!" My dad said with a big grin on his face. "Escape this!"

"I love you both! Bye Mom, bye Dad, I'll call soon."

I hit the hang-up before Mom could keep crying. I took a moment to wipe my eyes on my sleeve, feeling a goofy smile on my face.

That had felt good. I missed them a lot.

I moved to the text-based function of the Pokenav+ and sent Daisy a text that I was in Pewter early, and that I would be around when she stopped in town. She wasn't supposed to be here until the fourth of April, so I had a little less than a week to prepare.

I also checked my email and found an email from my childhood friend, the one I'd asked about my Misdreavous problem.

It read:

Hey Derek!

Long time, no see! I thought you forgot about me. I'm pretty busy, but I can spare a few minutes to give you some tips.

First off, I'm so JEALOUS you got haunted by a Misdreavus. They're so graceful and beautiful!

Second, your friend is probably right about it staying in your shadow. Relax, it's probably not there anymore. It probably won't jump back in until you get on better terms with it or it thinks you're going to be leaving for a long time.

Having it in your shadow is actually the best possible option, because it can't take any actions without revealing itself.

Third, if you're planning on catching it (which you totally should) you should get on its good side first. Keep up your end of the deal and offer to take it to see new and cool stuff.

Fourth, the articles might say it 'eats fear' but while that's technically true, it's not the only thing it eats. Ghost like good food just like you and me. Try leaving it out something tasty at night, that'll probably stave off the pranking. I find they like sweets.

Anyway, I've got to go take care of a thing, so I'll have to text you later.

P.

I grinned as I finished reading the text. She was just as excitable as ever, and genuinely seemed to have no ill will toward me for not reaching out in a few years. The ball had definitely been in my court there, and I'd dropped it.

I sent her a thank-you message and closed up the computer console.

Sweets, huh?

---

Later that night, I walked out to the alleyway behind the Pokemon Center. I hadn't told my friends where I was going, because they'd probably stop me, but I did have my Pokenav+ open to speed dial, ready to call if anything bad happened.

In the other hand, I had a cheap box of chocolates that I'd gotten on sale from the Valentine's Day clearance aisle. Given that the holiday was over a month ago, I'd gotten them for seventy-five percent off.

I stepped into the alleyway, careful to keep my Pokenav+ light on low. I glanced around and verified that I was alone.

"Hey," I called out to the darkness. "Misdreavus? I heard you liked sweets, so I figured I'd bring you some."

There was no response, but the air in the alley got significantly colder.

"I know you enjoy your pranks, and oh boy you got me earlier," I feigned enjoyment. I had not enjoyed that prank. "But I was wondering if you'd prefer if I brought you snacks instead?"

A pair of glowing yellow and red eyes appeared at the end of the alley. They seemed cautious, but interested.

I gulped as I stared into the eyes. Every single bit of training and preparation said not to go near these guys, and I was treating it like my Valentine.

"H- hi. I know that I also said I'd take you to see the world. If you want to get started on that, my friend and I train at an old waterwheel out of town. It's kind of spooky, so I figured you might like it."

The eyes began to approach me quite quickly, and the white-toothed grin appear beneath it, just like it had this morning. I felt a jolt of energy go through my body, artificial fear trying to do what it had done before.

"Mean Look," I said, naming the move it was using. "You're really good at that, I bet you scare people a lot."

"He he he he..." Giggling came from the darkness. The teeth disappeared as the Misdrevous realized it wouldn't work on me again, not while I was prepared. They didn't look upset, though. If anything, the eyes looked more intrigued.

I sat the box of chocolates on the floor.

"That's for you. If anything I've said says interesting, you can just let me know by hanging out with me. If you want to go visit the waterwheel sometime, you can just hop in my shadow. I won't even try to catch you unless you ask."

I took a shaky step out of the alleyway, letting the streetlamp illuminate me. I let out a breath I'd been holding the whole time.

In the darkness, I could hear the crumpling of paper and the greedy chowing of a hungry Pokemon.

I smiled as I turned to go inside, still very nervous.

We weren't done yet, but it was progress.

I slept soundly that night.

Notes:

Little bit of a shorter chapter. but life's a little busy rn. I'll defo be getting back to my normal rate next week!

Thank y'all for reading!

Chapter 10: A Date with Daisy

Notes:

Jeebus, it's been a whole week since I updated! Life has been busy, but to make it up to you guys, you get the longest chapter yet (by a lot!). Seriously, this one comes in at almost 9k words! Anyway, it's a bit of a sweeter one, because we finally get to Derek and Daisy's date! I hope you guys enjoy!

Also, T/W for Guns at the end of the chapter.

"Powder Snow! Cut him off, bud!"

Artis rolled across the dirt ground, bouncing over rocks and into the air. He released a blast of white snow from his mouth, stopping the Rattata from retreating.

Yuji winced. "Despereaux, Lazer Focus before he lands, follow through after!"

"Don't let him get close! Water Gun!"

Despereaux's purple fur rippled with energy as his pupils narrowed with extreme precision, his next hit was going to do serious damage. Artis didn't wait to land. Instead, he blasted off a Water Gun toward the Rattata, drenching him to cause some damage and propelling himself backward from the fight.

Artis hit the ground with a heavy thump, but his blubber had gotten used to absorbing fall damage. Despereaux's attacks all required him to be right up in the melee, and he normally used his intense speed to get in and hit his opponent hard. Since Artis had spent the last few days practicing using his Powder Snow and Water Gun in quick combination, it was almost impossible for the Rattata to get to him without taking heavy damage.

"Chain Defense Curls!" I yelled, taking advantage of the pause in the fight. Despereaux was still waiting for our Powder Snow to clear before he could approach.

"Focus!" Yuji yelled. My ears perked up, I knew from our previous battles that he was commanding Despereaux to use both Focus Energy and Lazer Focus, almost guaranteeing that his next hit would knock Artis out.

"Charge up Snowout!"

Artis rolled forward from his crouched Defense Curl position, his reinforced fur gleaming silver. He sped up, and his body was moving too fast to gain friction on the ground, spinning out like the back wheel of a race car. As he did so, heavy white snow began to cloud around him, obscuring his actual body from view. We'd started working on this trick recently, a combination of some of the few moves Artis had down.

Despereaux's focus was interrupted as the Rattata hesitated. It had lost sight of Artis and didn't have the ability to hit him blindly through the snow. Yuji's face looked as concerned as his Pokemon's.

As the Rattata looked back at Yuji for help, I took advantage of its blindness. "Now!"

Out of the cloud, Artis burst forward as a missile of silver and white, his blue fur entirely obscured by the Defense Curl and Powder Snow. He left a shower of rocks and snow in his wake, and I actually had to cover my face from the debris.

"Hold your ground! Endure into Bite!" Yuji braced his Pokemon.

Despereaux clenched his muscles, gritting his teeth and digging his claws into the dirt. A wave of cold snow hit the Rattata first, blasting forward from Artis' technique.

I suppressed my grin. Yuji hadn't seen it. He'd Endured too early.

Artis impacted him at full speed. There was the resounding smack of flesh on flesh as the tiny three-kilo rat was hit head-on by forty kilos of reinforced blubber.

Despereaux went flying, landing a few feet away. Fainted.

"Yes!" I shouted, pumping both my fists into the air.

Artis barked in celebration, his fur returning to its normal blue tone, and the ice slowly melting away.

Yuji sighed but gave a begrudging grin. He returned Despereaux to his ball, clipping it to his belt.

He walked forward to give me the customary post-battle handshake, but I rushed forward and scooped him up into a hug. I lifted him off the ground, and I heard him inhale as I crushed his ribs.

"I did it!" I cheered. "Take that, Giovanni! I won one!"

Amy gave a loud two-fingered whistle, and Hana gave polite golf claps from her spot in her lawn chair. The kids started clapping and cheering from their spot by the waterwheel, proud of themselves and our accomplishments. Harrison was particularly loud, as he'd been coming out almost every day to watch us train.

It had been five days since we started training by the waterwheel. While I mostly trained out here with Artis on his own, Amy, Hana, and Yuji had started joining us for the occasional battle between our Pokemon. We'd bought some cheap chairs and an ice cooler at the department store to set up a little training base camp out here.

The kids had loved having a constant stream of entertainment with our training, though some still preferred to go watch the other trainers at the park. I'd had a pretty constant group of at least two or three of them at any given time, and Harrison was always one of them.

The kid had a serious eye for training. Harrison had been really helpful in making calls that I hadn't seen while training Artis. He was really familiar with common practice drills and training philosophies.

Today marked our first win against a real trainer, ever. To be fair to Yuji, the match-up had been in our favor just due to the sheer versatility that I'd been training into Artis. Despereaux had been trained for a down-and-dirty quick-hit melee fight; it was hard to do that when you couldn't get close to your opponent.

If Yuji had used Achilles, whose armor I couldn't even touch with Artis' ranged moves, we would've lost, no questions asked.

None of that mattered to me, though.

Our first real win!

Yuji tapped me on the back and I put him down. He doubled over and took a deep breath, but he was still smiling.

"Oh, I'm sorry man," I apologized.

He waved me off. "It is fine," he said, standing up straight and clasping me on the shoulder. "Congratulations on your first victory!"

"Thanks, man!"

I picked Artis off the ground and hugged him. He licked my face and nuzzled into my neck.

I turned to where Amy and Hana were sitting. "Standard bet, Yuji's paying for dinner!"

Both of them cheered.

---

We said goodbye to the kids, letting them know that we wouldn't be training there tomorrow, and headed back into town. Eating at the Pokemon Center was technically possible, but with all the other trainers there was never a whole table available to us. So on our second day in Pewter, we found a cheap pizza place that also served sandwiches and salads. Everything was cheap and tasty, so we'd made it a customary bet for our daily battles that the loser would pay for dinner.

Even with the money we'd gotten for the Pinsir commission, my wallet was looking pretty pathetic from all the losses.

"So, Derek," Amy said between bites of pizza. "Are you excited about your date tomorrow?"

I quickly sat my Pokenav+ down. I'd been checking it for texts from Daisy.

"No, uh," I looked away, feeling my cheeks heat up. "I don't think I know what you're talking about?"

"Liar," they said with a grin.

Yuji nudged them with his elbow. "The rest of us don't even require Amy's... ...insight to see that's a lie." He chuckled.

Hana smiled. "Guys, don't tease him! I don't think he can get any more red!"

"Alright!" I groaned, putting my head into my hands. "Yes, I'm nervous. Can we move on now?"

"Nope," said Amy. "Where are you taking her?"

"She asked me out, so she said she was making the plans."

"She say where she's taking you?"

"I'm supposed to meet her at the museum."

"Ugh, you guys are gonna look at old stuff?"

"Hey! I like old stuff." I frowned. "And yeah, because she's supposed to be working around there, 'cause technically she's doing a work trip."

Yuji spoke up. "I'm still not sure I understand, where did you meet Daisy Oak?"

"Uh," I hesitated. "Route 01."

I didn't mention that I had gone off-route by accident on day one.

Amy gave me a skeezy grin. "Yeah. Apparently, our little guy is a charmer."

"I'm pretty sure this amounts to bullying."

"I agree," Hana came to my defense. "We should be focusing on when we're going to challenge Brock. Luckily, he doesn't allow for reservations longer than a week. We just need to be at the Gym early enough to sign up."

Yuji nodded. "I believe Despereaux and Achilles are prepared for the challenge."

I was thankful we'd changed topics. My burger wasn't quite sitting right with how anxious the talk about my date was making me.

"I agree," I said. "I think we've almost overprepared, honestly. How many pages is your spreadsheet on Brock?"

Hana glanced over before looking down at the table, abashed. "Eighteen..." She said in a small voice.

Amy snorted. "It was ten yesterday!"

Hana blushed. "I realized I'd forgotten to factor in the gym trainers for this challenge. While Giovanni prefers to get the challenge out of the way, Brock has each challenger fight a gym trainer the day before their battle."

Amy rolled their eyes. "We're going to crush the gym trainers!"

"But what if we're not prepared?" Hana looked genuinely upset at the idea.

Yuji laid his hand on her elbow. "Hana, it may be best to prepare for the times when we will not be prepared."

"As much as I agree with Mr. 'Art of War', I think we can do a healthy balance," I came to Hana's defense the same way she'd come to mine. I did, however, turn to her with an apologetic expression. "It is a bit much, though."

"Derek!" She protested.

I shrugged. "It is!"

"Watch! In your fight, you're going to win because of something in my notes!" Hana harumphed, sticking her nose into the air

I sighed. "Fair enough."

"Which of us will be going first?" Asked Yuji.

Hana's offended facade vanished as she pulled out her notebook. "Well, I went first last time, so I'd like to go last this time. It'll give me the most amount of time to observe Brock in each of your fights."

I raised my hand. "And I went last in Viridian, so I kinda want to go earlier this time."

"Do ya wanna go first?" Amy asked.

I glanced at Yuji, and the two of us shared a look. We both really wanted to go first.

"Battle for it?" I ask.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Hana wrote down a loose challenger order. "So it'll be Derek or Yuji, then the other one, then Amy, then myself?"

Everyone nodded or gave some acknowledgment.

Hana flipped through her calendar. "Alright, do you two want to battle on the day after tomorrow? That'll let us sign up the next morning and get in a week later."

I nodded at Yuji. "I'm looking forward to it, bud."

He smiled, just as determined. "I am as well."

Amy reached out, grabbed two fries off my plate and pressed them together between the two of us.

"Now kiss!" They said playfully.

I sighed. Letting a moment of silence go by as a feint, before snapping my hand across the table and pulling a slice of pepperoni off of Amy's pizza.

"This is your 'dumb tax'. It's for when you act dumb."

I bit into the pepperoni.

Amy's jaw went slack. "Hey!" They yelled indignantly.

The other two laughed at our antics.

---

After dinner, we all headed back to the Pokemon Center. As everyone else walked in, I lagged behind.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna make a call real quick," I called. "Be inside in a minute!"

Amy went to make a comment, a mischievous grin on their face, but Hana covered their mouth.

"Okay, see you inside," Hana said, the rest of them leaving me outdoors.

Giving it a minute to make sure that they'd actually gone upstairs, I waited by the front door. Once I was satisfied, I pulled my shoulder bag off my arm and rummaged around for a small styrofoam container that I'd picked up at the diner.

I walked around the Pokemon Center, the container in hand, and made my way to the back alley. Once I was alone, I put my hand to my mouth and spoke just above a whisper.

"Hey, Misdreavus? Dessert time!"

The air temperature dropped by several degrees, and the little hairs started to rise on the back of my neck. The shadows in the alley seemed to expand, draining out the small amount of light that leaked in from the streetlights.

Tiny whispers crawled up the back of my neck, incoherent and malicious. Their voices were inhuman, and they were quiet enough that I almost excused them as imaginary.

I would be lying if I said the sound itself didn't trigger an instinctive need to run.

I gritted my teeth and said, "Oh dang, too bad this alley is haunted. Guess I have to run away with this caramel chocolate cake!" I shook the little styrofoam container.

All the voices were silenced at once.

And then, all together, they spoke.

"Cake?"

"Yes, fresh from the store." I popped the top open, revealing a slightly shaken dessert

The temperature returned to normal, and I heard a childlike squeal of excitement from the darkness. Misdreavus dropped her illusions, allowing the alleyway to regain some of its light.

Her little ghost form, less intimidating after a week of interactions like this, was almost cute as she floated up to the box. Her tiny red eyes gleamed with hunger and a phantom force subtly tried to pull it from my grip.

I let it go with little resistance. It had been bought for her, after all. The top popped open and she started sinking her little teeth into the chocolate cake. She squealed little noises of enjoyment as she tore into it, not letting a single crumb fall.

It's hard to imagine her as a ghost that tried to kill me when she acts like that, I thought. Though I suppose ghost types have always been known to be fickle and chaotic.

I shivered as I thought once again about how excited she'd looked when she'd alerted the Beedrill to my presence.

I stepped a little closer to the streetlights.

Misdreavus finished her cake, crumpling the container with the blue light of her Confusion move and tossing it into the dumpster. She looked up at me with her little yellow-red eyes, her tiny grin curious to see if I had more.

I shook my head. "Sorry, that's everything I had."

"Dreavous," She pouted, sticking out her lip. "Drea, drea. Dreavous?"

I couldn't instinctively understand her intentions as well as I could with Artis, as I hadn't really seen her outside of these interactions, but I got the gist of what she was asking from the way that she inclined her head toward the front of the alley.

"No, sorry again. I'm not planning on leaving Pewter for at least another week or two. I know I said we'd go see stuff, but a lot of my time is going to be spent in cities as well as the routes. So there's always going to be a balance of the two."

"Mis, drea..." Misdreavous sighed, less than thrilled at my answer.

"I just want to make sure you know," I held up both my hands in a respectful and non-threatening way. "You don't have to stay here in Petwer, or even at the Pokemon Center. You could always go explore."

A part of me hoped she would. While I had come around to the idea from the prodding from my friend, I was really intimidated by the idea of trying to train a ghost type so early in my career. The last week's worth of research had shown a fair number of trainers who had gotten too cocky too early on, and their ghost types had brought them to their end out of retaliation.

She already tried to kill me once, I reminded myself.

Misdreavus would make a very powerful Pokemon one day, and she could really set me apart from the standard trainers at my level. Mismagius, her evolved form, had access to crazy moves like Nasty Plot that would make her a force to be reckoned with.

She was a really tempting potential teammate, but all of my anxieties held me back from actively pursuing her.

At the end of the day, I had decided to fully let it be her choice. No matter what, I would fulfill the deal I'd made in desperation and let her follow me for as long as she wanted, but I wouldn't press her to be caught until she brought it up on her own.

Misdreavus didn't even consider my suggestion to leave. She shook her head and floated closer to my face, lowering the temperature of the air with every meter that she came closer.

"Misdreavous!" She said with a happy tone. The ghost pressed forward, closing her eyes and leaning her head toward me.

I understood what she was asking, but my hand hesitated.

Was this another prank?

I pressed my hand forward anyway, gently rubbing the top of Misdreavous' head.

I stiffened in surprise as I touched her ghostly forehead.

The ghost was warm.

Weird, I thought. I'd expected her to be as ghostly cold as she made the air around her, but she was just as warm as a normal living Pokemon.

Misdreavus pressed her head up against my palm like a cat, grumbling when I didn't immediately keep rubbing her head. I quickly started moving my hand, not wanting to upset to ghost. She felt solid, just like if I had been petting Artis.

She purred.

I felt the edges of my lips upturn. "You're a fan of head rubs, huh?"

"Drea drea!" Musdreavus chirped, pulling back and giving me a wide smile.

"That's good to know." I picked my bag up and turned to head back to the Center. "I'm going to a side of town I don't normally go to tomorrow. Do you want anything special?"

"Misdrea!" She pointed at the dumpster.

I chuckled. "Alright, I'll bring you more cake."

Misdreavous cheered. She flew upwards, doing a little loop, before plummeting down to the shadows that cloaked the floor. She sunk through them like a diver into water.

A chill ran up my spine, and I looked down to see that my shadow was still touching the ones of the alley.

I eyed it suspiciously. Did she...?

I shook my head.

There was no reason to think she'd tagged along.

None at all.

I ran back into the Center.

---

I woke up the next morning to a pile of clothes being dropped on my face.

"Put these on," Hana demanded. "I set out three tops and three bottoms that all go with each other, giving us nine possible outfits. We'll accessorize you from there."

"Hanaaaa....." I groaned from my covers. "Is the sun even up yet?"

"It is in Hoenn."

"But I'm not in Hoenn anymore!" I whined.

Amy called from their bunk. "Just do it, Derek! The rest of us are trying to sleep!"

"I concur," Yuji sighed. "Even the most rigorous training does not call for waking this early. Suffer, Derek, so that we may rest."

I groaned, pulling myself out of my covers. I tried to wipe the tiredness from my eyes. "Didn't we already choose the outfit back in Pewter?"

"We picked an outfit. And I pulled out those pieces as options for today. There's also the high probability that we can do better." Hana started rifling through her things. "And we need to do your makeup and run you through what you are and aren't going to say or do."

I gave her a bleary look. "Why didn't we do this earlier this week?"

Hana turned, her green eyes gleaming. "Because you were too busy training!" She threateningly pointed a stick of eyeliner at me. "Now, get those on before I start dressing you!"

I was in the bathroom before you could say 'Rattata'.

After about forty-five minutes of changing between outfits over and over again, Hana finally gave me a nod of approval. She decided that we'd go with a light cream coloured turtle-neck to combat how chilly Pewter had gotten in early April. My pants were a pair of olive green wide-leg slacks, and I wore the cleaner of my two sets of sneakers underneath. Hana pulled out the scarf I'd bought her, wrapping it around my next to complete the look.

All in all, I wasn't mad with how it had turned out. Hana really had an eye for fashion, and it gave the right vibes for a day out in Pewter. I didn't start protesting again until she actually sat me down and started to apply makeup.

"Okay, this feels like a bit much," I grumbled.

"It's a bit much to put effort in on a first date?" Hana raised an eyebrow at me. "I didn't realize you were too 'macho' for makeup. Derek."

"It's not a macho thing!" I protested. "I just don't know if I'm setting the right standards. I'm not always going to have you to help me with this, ya know?"

She smiled softly. "Derek, you only get one first shot with this girl. You like her, right?"

"Yeah?" I shrugged. "I mean, I think? The whole point about this is that we're supposed to be getting to know each other. Dressing nicely is one thing, but isn't going all out like this just kind of presenting somebody other than me? I don't know, I guess I'm just not sure how this whole thing works."

Hana sighed, setting down her makeup palette. "You're not wrong. The thing is, Daisy asked you out, right?" When I nodded, she continued. "That means she's already interested in you. She's met you, she knows the kind of arena she's stepping into. You don't need to worry about being misconstrued as somebody else, you just need to worry about showing her that you're willing to put in effort for her. Does that make sense?"

"So," I blinked a few times, latching onto Hana's use of the word 'arena'. "It's kind of like a Pokemon challenge? Like... ...she's the challenger and I'm the gym leader. She already knows my type and team, and I just have to give my best showing?"

Hana gave me a deadpan stare.

I shrugged.

She grabbed the pillow off of my bed, brought it up to her face, and yelled into it, startling Yuji and Amy.

Hana gently placed the pillow back in the bed, fluffing it twice, and turned back to me with an impatient smile.

"Yes, Derek," she gritted her teeth. "Dating is like a 'Pokemon Challenge'. Now, shut up, and let me put this foundation on you."

I chose to just let Hana do her thing.

She grumbled the entire time she worked on my face, throwing out complaints about my 'single track mind' and that I 'was a battle-obsessed idiot' under her breath.

It's not my fault that basically all of my social interaction these days has to do with Pokemon battling, I thought. Maybe I should pick back up reading or something.

After another half hour, Hana sat back with a satisfied sigh. The sun had started to rise and Yuji had gotten up with it. He'd headed downstairs, grabbed us all morning refreshments, and come back right as we were finishing up.

He stopped as he walked in the door. "Hana," he said, looking at me with eyes wide. "You never cease to amaze."

She gave him a big grin. "I know, I'm a genius."

Hana handed me her hand mirror, and I turned it over.

Damn!

I stared at the reflection.

I'll say it once again, damn! I look good!

Hana hadn't done any massive changes to my face with her makeup. In fact, she'd kept everything very subtle.

She'd covered the small blemishes I'd gotten from hiking and training, as well as the few still-healing scrapes from the Viridian Forest, patching me up with some light concealer. Then, she'd enhanced all my contours to give me a much more masculine and older look. Not old, just more mature.

The final touch was the eye shadow. She'd give me just enough to have that mid-2000s boyband look, with a smokey and alluring touch to it. She'd chosen to highlight the eyeshadow with a light green colour, coordinated with the outfit, that made my dark eyes pop in contrast.

I sat back on my bed, stunned. "Yuji's right, you're a genius."

Hana gave a smug bow, and both Yuji and I gave her golf claps in return. I stood up and walked over to the mirror in the bathroom, giving my entire look a once-over.

Hana has done work. The outfit, the makeup: it was flawless. I still wasn't sure that it looked like me, but it looked close enough that I was comfortable going out like this.

At the very least, I hoped that Daisy would like it.

---

A bowl of cereal, a bottle of OJ, and an hour later I found myself standing outside the Pewter City Museum of Science.

The museum had been the massive domed building that I'd seen as we'd entered town. Up close, it was even more impressive. The purple half-barrel roof was huge, almost as tall as the quarry wall behind it. In front, there was a set of regal white stone stairs that led up to an arched entryway. The entire building was accentuated by the fact that there was almost no one in front of it, leaving it as a monolith among the other normal-sized buildings. It was appropriately empty for nine in the morning on a Tuesday.

I climbed the steps and my legs started to feel like they each had a Magneton weighing them down.

Did I overdress? Maybe I should have worn something else. What if she forgot, or changed her mind?

I stepped through the front doors and my thoughts melted away.

The Pewter Museum of Science was breathtaking.

The doors opened up into a foyer that led to a front counter and ticket attendant, but from there the room expanded into a massive open warehouse of exhibits.

Glimmering stones, ancient fossils, and priceless exhibits were all beautifully lit in their glass display cases. The ceiling extended ten to twelve meters into the air, streaming banners that showed different sections and exhibit names, creating a sea of coloured cloth that rippled in the air conditioning. Multiple arched walkways split off of the main floor, headed to private exhibits and showrooms, and a spiraling staircase climbed into the air to a higher floor.

"Excuse me, sir?"

I blinked. I refocused on the voice calling out to me.

At the counter a few meters in front of me was an attendant in a pink hat, with long flowing brown curls. They gave me a concerned smile, getting my attention with a slight wave.

"Can I help you with anything?" The attendant asked.

I shook my head, embarrassment heating up my cheeks. I had no idea how long I'd been staring at the exhibits just past the counter. I walked up to them.

"Sorry, yeah. I'm here looking for a Daisy Oak? She said that there'd be a ticket waiting for me at the front?"

The attendant nodded. "Yes, you must be Mr. Tracy? Ms. Oak had asked me to inform her when you arrived. She'll be here in just a few minutes. Feel free to wait just inside the foyer."

"Thank you," I inclined my head.

Daisy had texted that she was doing some work at the Pewter Museum, but I hadn't realized she had enough pull to be giving requests to the front desk.

After a few moments of waiting, a door to the side of the front desk popped open. Daisy's dark blonde hair popped out of it, and she gave me the most radiant smile.

"Hi, Derek," Daisy stepped out of the doorway.

As amazing as she'd looked on Route 01, that didn't even come close to how beautiful she was after a full night's rest and the amenities of the city. Daisy stood in a long researcher's coat, white and buttoned all the way up the front. A light olive blouse peeked out of the top, and she had her hair pulled back with a dark headband, showing off her subtle but stunning makeup. A pair of gold and peridot earrings glimmered on her ears.

"Uh-" My brain rebooted. "Hi- Hi, Daisy!"

My arm awkwardly came up, unsure of how to greet her, and caught between a hug and a handshake.

She chuckled, leaning over and pulling me into a polite, gentle, and quick hug.

"I'm glad you made it," said Daisy. "I honestly worried about how you were going to do with the Viridian Forest."

"Well, I wasn't gonna miss this." I gestured not to the museum, but to Daisy herself. "I made you a promise, right?"

Her cheeks were dusted pink. "So you did."

The confidence I'd had when I'd looked in the mirror earlier was fully gone. I stood with my shoulders slouched, fiddling with my hands. I'd been looking forward to this for weeks, but now that I was here I still had no idea what to do.

Luckily, Daisy seemed prepared to cover for me.

She gently placed her hand into the crook of my elbow. "So, I have just a few more things I want to check on before we go look at the exhibits. Would you mind tagging along to the lab so that I can wrap things up?"

"Sure, yeah," I gave a nervous nod, far too aware of how close she was. "I'd be happy to."

Daisy smiled, guiding me along by my elbow. The receptionist gave us a wave as we stepped into the doorway.

The hallway behind it was long, narrow, and undecorated. It reminded me of the corridors of a school or office building, with heavy metal doors, white walls, and little personalized placards.

Daisy led me well down the hallway, having us walk for several minutes. Every once in a while, she would point out a door and mutter something about the office's inhabitants to me.

"That's Dr. Agate's office. She's really nice, but she's always out in the dig sites," Daisy murmured to me. "And Dr. Euclase can be pretty stern, I'd avoid his office."

"How do you know so much about the people who work here?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

Daisy smiled fondly. "I did an expedition based out of Pewter into the field about six months ago. Half of the researchers here went with me, and then I spent another three weeks going over the data sets with them. Grandfather really respects the institution, so he introduced me to them before he actually let me work at his lab."

"That's really cool! That must've been such an awesome experience."

"It was definitely memorable. We did a deep dive into a series of unexplored caves to map some migrational patterns of a bunch of the local Pokemon." Daisy stopped in front of a door. "This is the lab. Did you want to come in?"

"Yeah!"

All my nervousness had been... ...not forgotten, but temporarily misplaced as Daisy excitedly talked about the Museum. I loved seeing and hearing new things, especially when other people were passionate about them.

Daisy swiped a keycard and opened the door, holding it to let me in behind her. I peeked a glance at the plaque on the wall.

Dr. Spinel, Head of Paleontology and Ancient Zoology

Inside the door was not an office room, like I'd expected, but instead a florescent-lit room with stainless steel floors and countertops. There were multiple still-air boxes and computer terminals set up along them, as well as other expensive pieces of machinery and technology that I couldn't name if you paid me.

Several research aides stood at various workstations, murmuring data to each other. Barely anyone looked up when we entered the room, though several tossed Daisy pleasant glances and nods.

Daisy tossed me a look that very much said 'Wait here for a second', and walked off toward where a large balding person with a crown of ginger hair sat at a still-air box, both arms up to the elbow in the attached rubber gloves.

She said something quietly, and the researcher turned and smiled at her. They spoke in low tones, talking animatedly to each other. While they spoke, I glanced over into a still-air box that was unattended next to me. Inside, there were large fragments of a curved stone laid out in a spiral pattern, each one with a thin gray shell-like quality to it.

Not 'shell-like', I realized. That is a shell, a fossilized one!

The fossil fragments had been laid out to recreate the helix pattern of the original shellfish Pokemon that had died thousands of years ago. It was almost a full meter across, taking up most of the space within the box. On the side of the container, there was a label that said: OM - #0139, Specimen 34c.

I looked down at the fossil with amazement and a little bit of envy. With the wonders of modern science, certain labs could regenerate the DNA in fossils to create fossil Pokemon. These Pokemon were known to be very powerful, often dominating in battles due to their hardiness and violent disposition. In Hoenn, a trainer had made it to the top four of the Evergrande Conference last year with their ace, an Armaldo. I wasn't sure what kind of prehistoric Pokemon Kanto had, but they were sure to be powerful. Only people who were already pretty well off or career trainers could afford them, though, because of just how rare an intact fossil was.

I looked back up as Daisy returned, the researcher in tow. They were taller than I'd realized when they were sitting, and their heavier form took up most of the aisle as they moved.

"Derek, this is Dr. Spinel," She introduced us. "He's the head of the paleontology department, and I've been working with him on my Bellsprout migration project. His department has a ton of data on the ecology of Kanto and its relation to the Pokemon living here."

"It's nice to meet you, sir" I offered a handshake and bowed my head in respect.

"There's no need to be so formal!" Dr. Spinel's voice boomed as he enthusiastically returned my handshake. "It's always good to meet one of Daisy's friends, especially when it's the young man that she's been so very fondly talking about." He shot her a smug grin.

I glanced at her and she wouldn't meet my eyes, instead blushing with full force.

"Now then," he continued. "Are you ready for the test?"

My eyes shot back up to his rosy face, easily a head or two taller than me. "Excuse me?"

Dr. Spinel raised an eyebrow. "The test? Did no one tell you?"

"Uh-" I gave Daisy a panicked look, but she gently shook her head, also unsure. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't realize that-"

Dr, Spinel burst out laughing, causing several research aides to look our way. "I'm kidding! Why would there be a test?" He was chuckling so much that he had to wipe his eyes. "I'm sorry for the joke, but it's one of the few ways to pass the time in a lab. I need to get my laughs in where I can"

I gave him a polite smile, but he'd fully got me. I was still recovering from the sheer panic of being faced with a pop quiz.

Daisy stepped in. "Dr. Spinel spends large stretches of the year locked in the lab with the newer research aides. I should've realized he'd try to pull one over on you." She sent him a disappointed glance. "I just thought he'd behave himself when meeting a guest."

He wavered under her scolding. "Yes, yes, I apologize." He cleared his throat, straightening his posture. "So, Derek, was it? Do you happen to have an interest in the Pokemon of the ancient world?"

I took a breath, steadying myself and letting an actual grin settle on my face. "Yes, sir. I'm a big fan of Pokemon in general, so ancient and mysterious Pokemon are just that much more interesting." I glanced at the fossil that I'd been looking at a moment ago and stepped in front of it. "Actually, I was just admiring this one here. What Pokemon did this belong to?"

"Ah, you saw that one, did you?" Dr. Spinel stepped forward, pulling a clipboard from next to the still-air box. "You have a good eye. That's a Helix Fossil, belonging to the Omanyte line. That one specifically belonged to a rather old female Omestar. Radiometric dating puts it at between sixteen to twenty-thousand years old."

I resisted every urge to pull out my Pokedex and start looking through the pages of the Pokemon he'd mentioned.

"That's amazing!" I said instead. "I haven't actually seen a Pokemon fossil in person before, so this is all really cool."

"Oh?" Dr. Spinel gave me an excited look. "Then you should make the most of your trip today. With the League instating Mt. Moon and Grandpa Canyon as protected sites, fossils are becoming rarer and rarer here in Kanto as our dig sites are being fully excavated. We've had to cordon off this collection from the League for research because they keep trying to revive them!"

He gave Daisy a smile. "You should make sure to show him the Aerodactyl exhibit. It's still as breathtaking as the day we finished assembling the skeleton."

She nodded. "I'm planning on showing him the Ancient World and New Horizons exhibits. Between those two, I think we'll have a full day."

He turned back to me. "You're lucky, young man. Not many people have the opportunity to explore this place with an expert. Even though she spent only a few weeks here with us, sometimes I feel as though Daisy knows more about this place than I do. Though, not enough to sneak off and get into trouble." He winked at me.

"And that's enough of that," Daisy grabbed me by my arm and started to lead me back to the door. "Thank you for everything, Dr. Spinel. I'll make sure to get you the rest of that data once we've finished up."

He nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Derek. I hope you'll visit us here at the Pewter Museum again."

"Yes, sir! I'd love the opportunity to."

"Daisy?" Dr. Spinel called as we started to leave.

She turned back. "Yes, Dr. Spinel?"

"The lab coat?" The balding researcher held out his hand expectantly. "I seem to recall you mentioning an amount of effort that went into your outfit?"

She glanced at me and blushed. "Oh, right! Thank you," Daisy said, unbuttoning her white research coat.

Underneath, she was wearing a light olive blouse and cream-coloured pants, the inverse of the outfit Hana had picked for me. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought we'd coordinated outfits.

My eyes widened in realization.

It was planned! Hana, you evil genius!

As much as I didn't think about her as one, between being a champion coordinator and the Pokemon Professor's granddaughter, Daisy was a public figure. All Hana would have had to do was some cursory searches to find Daisy's preferred colours, and boom, she'd have what Daisy was most likely to wear on our date.

It went even deeper than that. Every single outfit that Hana had made me try on this morning had followed this colour scheme. She knew what she was doing, and it had gone exactly to her plan.

Daisy handed Dr. Spinel the coat and locked her elbow into mine. She glanced at our two outfits, and I saw her smile as she looked us both up and down. She didn't say anything about it, but I could tell she liked it.

Dr. Spinel called behind us. "Don't get into any trouble, you two! There are no gaps in the security cameras to sneak off into." I couldn't see him anymore, but I heard him chuckle at his own joke.

I picked up the pace as a blush started working its way up my neck.

"Don't mind him," Daisy said. "He's just teasing me for bringing someone over. He always has to get the last laugh in"

"I really thought I was going to have to pass a test," I gave a nervous chuckle. "I mean, I'm good at tests, but that doesn't mean they're any less stressful."

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? How'd you do on your STCE?"

I gave her a smug look. "746 in the written, 799 in the practical. 1545 overall."

The Standardized Trainer Competency Exam was a test that each trainer had to take to get their training license. It was a two-part test that judged a trainer's actual knowledge, and their ability to apply said knowledge in the field. Both sections were scored out of 800. The scores themselves weren't very valuable to anybody after taking the actual exam, but it didn't mean that there wasn't an entire culture of comparing your score to other people's, especially among new trainers.

She gave me a begrudging nod. "That's pretty good."

"Pretty good?" I said, pretending to be offended. "I did better than ninety percent of the people cramming for the test. How'd you do?"

Daisy shrugged, but her amusement told me she was putting on a show. "Well, it was a few years ago, so I'm sure that the test changed a bit."

"Oh, come on," I rolled my eyes. "How much better did you do?"

"800 on the written, 775 on the practical. 1575 overall."

My eyes widened. She was Professor Oak's granddaughter and an academic at heart, so there was no way she was going to score lower than me, but a perfect score on the written was unreal. You could feel your way through the practical with some knowledge and some common sense, which is how I'd gotten as high as I had, but the essay questions alone on the written exam meant you had to have a perfect memory of the material and the ability to translate that to whatever the questions were.

"You're amazing."

Daisy started out of her preening grin, red rushing up her neck. "Thanks, Derek," she said softly.

She grabbed my hand and led me toward the exit to the private section of the museum. We popped out of the same door we'd come in, depositing us next to the front desk. We walked through the foyer, out into the open hall that I'd seen as I'd come through the front doors earlier.

All around me were precious stones, artifacts, and fossils on display. Even with our detour to Dr. Spinel's lab, it was still barely mid-day, and there was almost no one else wandering the museum floor. We had basically the whole place to ourselves.

"So, of the two exhibits I wanted to show you, one is on the first floor and one is on the second. Where do you want to start?"

"I'm always a big fan of working my way up. Let's start down here?"

She smiled wordlessly nodding and pulling me along to the back side of the museum towards a massive gold banner that had an illustration of the fossilized skull of a dinosaur Pokemon and read THE ANCIENT WORLD in large letters. Ahead of us were displays of fully assembled fossilized skeletons, massive displays that were contained behind glass cases. Illustrations and information on the Pokemon in their revived states were present below them. There were easily over a dozen different species on display, even including Pokemon that weren't native to Kanto. I especially recognized the fossils for Armaldo and Cradily, two Pokemon that had been discovered in Hoenn.

The crowning jewel of the exhibit was the skeleton of an Aerodactyl, a massive winged reptile. While the plaque said the average specimen was about two meters tall, this skeleton came in at a whopping four meters tall, more than double the average. Its wingspan took up most of the back wall, and it towered over the other fossils.

"This is amazing," I said. "Like, really, I had no idea the museum would have this many fossils on display."

Daisy nodded. "Pewter takes its rocks really seriously. Fossils, evolution stones, meteors; anything that has to vaguely do with geology, they have their hands on. This museum is the number one in the world when it comes to rock collections."

"And, by virtue of you working here, does that mean you're also a, uh, rock person?"

She giggled. "No, not at all. My expedition just happened to be delving into Mt. Moon, and the people here are the experts. Well," Daisy tilted her head as she reconsidered, "I guess I technically was looking for a rock, but that's nowhere near my actual field of study."

"Yeah, I remember you mentioned last time that you were still deciding on a specialization, though you'd been thinking about Pokemon migration. Is that still a thing?"

"I think so. I'm going to decide after I finish my report on the Bellsprout migration, but I really do think that Pokemon movement on a mass scale is just so interesting. And there are so many historical references to entire populations of Pokemon just up and moving to a new place that I don't think I'd ever run out of things to study."

Daisy's eyes shined the color of peridots as she talked about her research. We were slowly walking through the Ancient World exhibit, but neither of us was actually looking at the displays in detail. How could I, when Daisy was so interesting to listen to? She spoke knowledgeably and with passion, two characteristics that made her excitement contagious.

Before long, an hour had passed and we'd finished the prehistoric section of the museum.

Daisy glanced back at the displays. "That went a lot more quickly than I'd thought, I'm sorry if we rushed through that."

I waved her off. "It's fine, I'm having a great time. Plus, we can grab a bite to eat after this if we end up shooting past the next one." I hesitated. "I mean, uh, if that's okay with you?"

Daisy brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I'd like that."

I grinned from ear to ear. "Then let's get through this next exhibit. You said it was on the second floor?"

She stood up straight in excitement. "Yes! It's just up these stairs."

As we walked to the spiral staircase, Daisy told me about her hyper fixation with the exhibit. "To be honest, this one is my favorite. It's called New Horizons, and it focuses on the space age and the minerals that can be found on other planets. I especially love their collection of extraterrestrial stones and space-age equipment."

We made it to the second floor and my attention was immediately drawn to the exhibit across the floor.

"These guys have a space shuttle?" My eyes went bigger than saucers, and any pretenses of walking slowly were thrown out the window. I rushed past glass display cases and detailed plaques to get to the display. We were seemingly alone up here, as there really weren't any other visitors at this hour and the staff seemed concentrated on the first floor.

I rushed up to the exhibit, where the Pewter Museum had a full, actual space shuttle. The white silicon paneling was scrubbed clean but pock-marked and darkened in places from where it had reentered orbit. The nose of the shuttle was face up, towards the far ceiling of the exhibit, and the wide wings of the shuttle were spread over their football-pitch-sized wingspan. It was raised half a dozen meters off the ground, letting us see up into the main engine nozzles.

"I saw a couple of these launch off of Mossdeep when I was a kid, but after they retired the program my mom and I stopped making the trip. I always wanted to go up in one, but they were so inefficient and broke constantly. In fact, they once built an entire shuttle out of spare parts because it was cheaper-" I paused, realizing that Daisy hadn't spoken up in a while.

I looked back at where Daisy was, and she was giving me a look that I couldn't place. Daisy had both her hands clasped behind her back and her lips pulled back in an amused smile.

I blushed. "What?"

"Nothing," She chuckled. "I was just enjoying listening to you talk."

Legends, she's pretty.

"Uh-" My brain malfunctioned. "I uh- I do that a lot."

"Mhmm," Daisy's eyes glimmered. She took a step to be next to me. "So your mom also enjoys space shuttles?"

I looked back up at the massive machine. It was easily forty meters high, from tail to nose, and loomed over the two of us. It was beautiful.

I shook my head. "Not really. I think, she just liked how much I liked the launches."

"She sounds lovely."

"Yeah, she's pretty great," I turned to Daisy, who had joined me in looking up at the shuttle. "What about you? Any interest in space?"

Daisy smiled without taking her eyes off the ship. "The first Pokemon I ever caught was a Clefairy," she said simply.

Whoa...

To non-trainers, that wouldn't have meant a lot. But to me, that told me everything I needed to know about Daisy and space.

Clefairy was a Pokemon synonymous with the Moon. Outside of specifically needing moonstones to evolve, they could be found in 'places where the sky touched the earth'. We had some in the Meteor Falls in Hoenn, but everybody knew about the tales of groups of Clefairy living in Kanto's Mt. Moon. The tiny pink fairy was rare, but people who got their hands on one always found themselves drawn to the stars.

"That's incredible."

Daisy finally looked back at me, grinning from ear to ear. "She's amazing. I found Luna the first time I went through Mt. Moon, and she helped on my expedition while I was looking for the Moon Stone. Not just one of its fragments, but the real one."

That was the legend. Deep in the caverns of Mt. Moon, there was supposed to be a single massive moonstone, a meteor that dropped from the moon to the earth thousands of years ago. All of the other stones found on Mt. Moon were just slivers of it, pieces scattered by the impact. If somebody could find the real one, they'd find one of the most coveted legends in the world.

"Ever find it?" I asked.

She frowned, but her excitement was still clear in her eyes. "Not yet. But studying how the Clefairy were drawn to Mt. Moon is what sparked my interest in Pokemon migration. One of these days I'm planning on heading back into the caves to try again."

"I'm sure you'll find it," I said, meaning every word. "And hey, maybe I'll get to be there when you do?"

Daisy leaned into my side, resting her head on my shoulder. We both looked up at the space shuttle. "Maybe you will."

She interlocked her fingers into mine, and my back went stiff. I'm sure if anybody looked at me, I'd be bright red.

I'd never done this before, and my mind was a mess.

Holy legends, she's holding my hand! What do I do? Are my palms sweaty? Should I-

A metallic click sounded behind me as someone pressed something cold into my back.

"Sorry to break this sweet moment up, but you two love birds need to come with me," a deep and raspy voice said behind us.

Daisy flinched, standing up straight, but her eyes widened as she saw the man behind me.

I breathed in slowly, my heart slamming in my chest for a completely different reason than it had been moments before.

I turned.

There, standing behind me and holding a gun, was a middle-aged man in a dark cap and black clothes, embroidered with a bright red letter on his chest.

A red 'R'.

Team Rocket.

Notes:

I hoped you guys liked it! Don't forget to drop a comment if you enjoyed yourself, cause all that seratonin makes me work harder! I hope I'll get the next chapter to you guys sooner!

Chapter 11: Prisoners in Pewter Museum

Notes:

T/W: Gun, Violence, Terrorism. Basically, if people getting kidnapped and threatened makes you feel unsafe, you may want to skim this chapter. 

The Team Rocket member gestured for us to step back with the muzzle of his gun. The revolver gleamed silver in the light of the museum.

My heart was slamming in my chest. I'd never seen a gun before. I mean, of course they were in movies and TV shows, but in the age of Pokemon trainers, what kind of person needed a weapon that could kill another person?

"Hey- hey, man," I stuttered, instinctively stepping in front of Daisy and keeping my hands up. "You don't have to point that thing at us. If you want-"

He leveled the revolver at my face. "Shut up."

I did so.

The Rocket grunt grinned. "Now both of you, hand over your Pokemon and valuables. Now."

Daisy stepped forward, a Pokeball already in her hand. When I looked at her expression I could see that she was scared, yes, but also furious.

"Ah, ah, ah..." The grunt turned the gun on her. "Not too quick, little miss. Sit it on the floor like a good little girl."

My vision tinted red. The asshole was already holding us up at gunpoint, but the sexist comments made him so much more punchable. I put one hand onto Artis' ball, but Daisy shook her head slightly. She knew what I did. It didn't matter how strong her Pokemon were, or that even Artis could probably take this guy. All he had to do was pull the trigger and he'd get one of us.

Daisy sat her Pokeball on the ground and slid her handbag down her arm, sitting it next to her Pokemon. When she stood back up, she was seething.

I looked down at the little blue sticker on Artis' ball. A weight formed in my stomach.

I didn't want to give him up.

I almost clicked the button on his ball, releasing him right then and there, but I looked back up at the grunt. His dark eyes were bored, and he was just waiting for an excuse.

I sat Artis and my Pokenav+ with Daisy's things.

The grunt made a noise of approval. "Good, you two decided to be smart. Now, we're not going to be giving your Pokemon back, but if you stay quiet you might just get away without me shooting you. Of course, we wouldn't want that." He winked at me.

Across the floor, a crack echoed from an adjoining hallway, and a person slumped to the floor. I flinched, instinctively stepping towards the sound, but stopped when I saw what it was.

Two more grunts in black and red uniforms stood over the unconscious body of a security guard. One of them had a raised firearm, and it was clear they'd clocked the security guard in the back of the head, knocking them out.

One of those grunts released a Pokemon from a ball, a grey-skinned humanoid with reptilian features and a stocky body. A Machop. The fighting type hefted the body of the security guard over its shoulder, following behind the two grunts as they approached us.

"Anybody else on this floor?" One of them asked.

The grunt with the revolver shrugged. "Not that I've seen. The boss was right, this place is empty. I've got these two lovebirds here, but that's about it."

"Alright, take them and the guard to the lobby. Aestus wants them all rounded up and out of the way. We left Kevin on the security monitors."

He nodded, picked up our things, and turned back to us. "You two, come with me."

We wordlessly went with him. I glanced at Daisy, trying to catch her eye, trying to do anything, but she was focused on the grunt in front of us. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was looking at something the guard was carrying.

Her handbag.

As we got to the top of the spiral staircase, the grunt waited for us to go first, keeping his gun level at us. I went first, and Daisy followed.

As she went by the guard, Daisy tripped, giving a panicked yelp and falling into the grunt.

"Hey!" He yelled. "Get the fuck off of me!"

He pushed her away and slammed the gun into the side of her face. She went tumbling and I lurched in front of her to stop her from falling down the stairs or off the landing onto the floor below.

Daisy was breathing heavily, and she had a nasty bruise already forming on her left cheek.

Rage pounded through my chest and I almost charged him, but Daisy's hand subtly grabbed my wrist.

"Don't," she whispered. "That was on purpose."

I looked her up and down, not seeing what she was talking about, but stiffened as I felt her slide something into my back pocket. She gave me a reassuring nod, her summer green eyes definitely planning something.

I nodded, helping her to her feet.

The grunt was pissed. He shoved the gun in my face, and I flinched when cold metal touched my cheek. "No more funny business. You or your fucking girlfriend mess up again, one of you dies. I don't care if we're limiting casualties, I get you before you make the lobby."

"No, you're right," I mumbled, not meeting his eyes. I didn't want to clue him into whatever Daisy had just done. "We'll stay in line."

"You better."

We continued our march, the Machop trailing behind us, all the way down the spiral staircase and to the back of the Ancient World exhibit. There were over a dozen grunts down here, all armed with firearms and Pokemon. The purple snake-like Arbok and the gas-spewing Weezing were common, but several Machop and Raticate also milled about with the grunts. A few of the grunts were standing guard over the receptionist and the two other guests that had wandered in today, while all the rest had gotten to work ransacking the museum.

Glass sheets shattered and cracked as the Rockets used their Pokemon to break the display boxes around the fossils. Machop and Raticate began gathering the bones, loading them into lightweight shipping crates. They occasionally grabbed a rare stone or artifact from the surrounding area, but it was clear the Rockets were here for the fossils.

At the head of the group, a single Rocket gave orders to the rest of the grunts. They stood out not only by their swift orders, stiff posture, and stern attitude, but they also had a white band of fabric across the biceps of their black uniform jacket. The Rocket stood slightly shorter than me, but their height didn't take away from the no-nonsense aura that they exuded. Bright red hair peeked out from under their cap, and they turned their eyes on us as the grunt led us toward the other hostages.

Daisy and I were brought to the group as the grunt vaguely motioned with his gun for us to line up against the wall. We were stationed just past the Aerodactyl exhibit, with no real exits or escape routes anywhere nearby. In total, there were six of us hostages: myself, Daisy, the receptionist, the security guard, and two other guests who looked to be an elderly couple. We all stood shoulder to shoulder, with the exception of the security guard, who the Machop propped against the wall before joining the other Pokemon in their work.

The lead Rocket stepped in front of the group, flanked on both sides by several grunts. As they were closer, I could see that they weren't much older than me, probably closer to Daisy's age. Their blue eyes were analytical and calculating. They rapidly glanced between each of the hostages, finally settling on speaking directly to myself and Daisy. It was clear that of the conscious hostages, we were the only trainers.

"Thank you for joining us," the Rocket spoke. Their voice was quiet and strong, but extremely precise. Honestly, they reminded me a lot of Yuji. "I am Officer Aestus of the Team Rocket organization. You may address me as such, or as 'sir' for those who are so inclined."

The older man of the elderly couple stepped forward, spitting on the ground. When he spoke up, his voice was deep and heavily accented. "You are scum, undeserving of respect. We will not address you with- with pleasantries."

The old man couldn't have been taller than a meter and a half, but he stood strong in front of five separate Rockets, with more just meters away. His bushy eyebrows were furrowed in a resolute scowl. His partner, an elderly woman of similar height, stood at his elbow. She was significantly less confident, but she stood by him nonetheless.

I couldn't have said it better myself, I thought.

Aestus turned his eyes toward the old couple, the edge of his lips turning down into a frown. He gave them a dismissive look, then gestured with his head.

A blur of black feathers descended from the rafters of the museum, moving faster than I could track with my eyes. It slammed into the old man's gut, causing him to double over as he struggled to inhale. The old woman supported him as he fell to one knee, and she murmured in a low voice to him.

I stepped forward, between the Rockets and the elderly couple. a few of the Rockets reached for their weapons, but Aestus hold up a hand.

Just as quickly as it had approached, the feathered Pokemon arced towards Aestus, landing on his shoulder. Now motionless, I could see the Pokemon properly. It was black, like a crow or a raven, and its beady red eyes stared me down. Its crown feathers were styled to look like an intimidating little fedora.

"Murkrow!" It squawked, making it clear that I wasn't to get any closer.

Aestus spoke to the Murkrow. "Thank you, my friend." The Rocket glanced down at the coughing old man before looking up at me. "I hope that is all the violence that shall be necessary."

He raised an eyebrow, daring any one of us to speak. When we didn't, he nodded.

"Now, as I was meaning to say, I have given the strict orders to my men that they shall not cause undo harm upon the civilians here." His eyes flickered between the security guard and Daisy's cheek. "And while I see that they have not been followed to the letter, I hope that more conflict shall not be needed." His voice was strict and targeted at the grunts.

The grunt that had mugged us blanched, holding his gun a little tighter.

"These are the two things that I will require from you over the upcoming hours," Aestus continued. "One, each of you will be patient. You will only be required to stay here until we have completed our business. Once we have gathered our supplies, we will leave. We will not be requiring that you accompany us. Two, you will be amicable to our requests. These are very few. You will simply be bound and asked to remain silent, refraining from causing any distractions for my men. If both of those requirements are meant, your safety will be guaranteed."

Aestus looked down at the old man, who had finally caught his breath. "Our mission today is not one of violence. Do not make me change the parameters of my orders."

With that ominous statement, the Rocket Officer turned on his heel, walking away from us. Several of the working grunts fell into line with him, marching toward the private wing that we'd left Dr. Spinel and his researchers in. One of them collected a small box containing our Pokemon, and I winced as they left with Artis.

In total, they left us with two guards watching our group, and four more Rockets scattered about the fossil exhibits. Their Pokemon shifted and moved the crates as they filled them, gathering them towards the front of the building.

I helped the old man to his feet, and he gave me a grateful nod. I glanced up at Daisy, but she was focused and intent on the retreating Rockets. Concern for her friends was clear on her face.

I wasn't feeling much better.

I hope Spinel will be okay. I thought. Hopefully he's packing a few Fossil Pokemon of his own.

Given that we hadn't heard the sound of open battle yet, and they hadn't escorted any of the researchers to our hostage group, we could only hope that they hadn't been found yet.

The guard grunts took turns pulling plastic ties from their belts and binding our hands behind our backs. They cordoned off the floor around the back wall, removing any chairs or furniture that we potentially could have used. All six of us began to settle down, watching the Rockets work. The receptionist, with some amount of effort, had wiggled out of her cardigan and sat it underneath the guard's head. He had a nasty welt on the back of his head, and it was unlikely that he was waking up any time soon. The old couple spoke in hushed tones to each other, speaking a language that I didn't recognize.

Daisy and I both sat leaned against the back wall, staying shoulder to shoulder. After the guards bound each of us, they retreated a few meters away to keep watch on us. Once it was clear that they weren't interested in any conversations between us, I leaned toward Daisy.

"What did you snag off the grunt?" I whispered, trying not to draw attention to us.

"Two things. My trainer ID and my security pass," Daisy said, leaning into my shoulder. "I didn't want them to know my name. That would just cause more problems, especially for Grandpa."

I nodded.

Daisy's pretty well known. If any one of these grunts recognizes her, they suddenly have a bargaining chip with Professor Oak. That would put her in way more danger.

I shifted. "And why are they in my pocket?"

Daisy frowned. She mumbled something, but when I couldn't hear her, she spoke up. "These pants don't have real pockets."

Despite the situation, the danger, and the terror, I almost laughed out loud right there. Hell, maybe it was because of the bubbling fear in my gut. A laugh would go a long way right now.

I composed myself.

"We need to do something," I whispered urgently. "I know we can't fight 'em, but they're ransacking the museum and hurting people."

Daisy set her jaw. "I agree. I have most of a plan already, but I'm struggling."

"What do you have so far?"

"If we can get away from these two, there's a security room on the second floor." We both glanced at the still-unconscious security guard laid out next to us. "During my introduction tour, they showed me that there was a silent alarm there that would call the police and, more importantly, the League."

"That's a good plan," I said.

"Thanks," Daisy winced as she shifted her arms under her. "I just don't have a way out of these ties. Especially not with them so close."

I frowned.

My eyes went wide as I had an idea.

I don't know if she's actually here, but...

"I might have something. I'm not sure."

Daisy raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. "What do we need to do?"

"Just get shoulder to shoulder with me. Make a dark space behind us, where they can't see."

I couldn't be sure, but Misdreavus had hopped into the shadows last night when I wanted to leave. Normally she stared at me hauntingly until I left, so I was hoping that she'd been taking the opportunity to show me that she was tagging along.

Over the next few minutes, we took turns shifting our bodies to form a triangle with the wall. We had to be slow to not draw the attention of the grunts watching us.

When we were finally in position, I started whispering again, but not to Daisy. "Misdreavous, if you're there, I really need some help."

Daisy stiffened, shooting me a panicked look. "You have a ghost?"

"Not really, but one's been following me around- ah!" I stifled a yelp as something nipped at my fingers behind my back.

Daisy and I both went dead still, but neither of the grunts turned around. Between the shifting of Pokemon and moving crates, they hadn't heard.

"Misdreavous, if you can get these ties off of us, I'll buy you an entire cake. I'll even let you come with me and pick the flavor. You have to be quiet though."

I couldn't see her reaction, but Daisy went deathly still behind me. The temperature in the space behind us had started to drop drastically, letting me know that Misdreavus had manifested outside of my shadow. From the slight rummaging, I guessed that Misdreavus had started freeing Daisy first.

Now that we have Misdreavus, we have a Pokemon. I thought. That means we have a chance. I don't know how good of a battler she is, so we'll have to avoid fighting where we can, but she might just be able to help us get out.

Daisy exhaled, subtly flexing her arms behind her back as her ties came loose. She nodded to me.

A cold force gripped the plastic ties on my wrists, and I could hear a low clicking noise as a phantom energy started pulling them apart. Within seconds, I was free.

"Alright, now what?" I whispered to Daisy.

"You see the Anorith display behind us?"

I glanced up at the shattered glass case. It was set into the wall to our left, maybe five feet away. At first, I couldn't see what was special about it. It was a dip into the wall, causing an inset diorama with several plastic Anorith hanging onto a false cliff.

My eyes widened.

On the left side of the cliff, there was a small metal box. A keycard scanner.

Now that I was looking for it, I could see a faint black outline of a doorway on the side of the cliff, normally invisible to the eyes of guests. There was a maintenance passage in the Anorith exhibit.

I turned back to Daisy. "We can make that. I can get Misdreavus to make a distraction, then we can quietly make a break for it?"

She nodded. "That's what I'm thinking. Once we're back there, we can get to most places in the museum since the grunts are still walking the long way through the foyer, I can only assume that they haven't started using the access halls yet."

"You're so freakin' smart," I looked at Daisy in awe.

Daisy smiled softly, and her summer green eyes glimmered. Even with the purple bruise forming on her cheek, I had never been more attracted to her than at that moment.

"I know," she said simply.

"We can't leave these people here," I stated.

Daisy glanced at the unconscious guard and the still-coughing old man. She sighed. "I know."

I nodded.

It was going to make escaping that much harder, because we couldn't be subtle about it with three different people who would need assistance. First things first, though. We needed to get into position.

Daisy and I started shifting down the wall, slowly sidling against the floor to not draw attention to ourselves. We'd gone unnoticed by the other hostages so far, but I noticed the receptionist's eyes snap up as we slowly started getting closer to the other members of the group.

The older woman's eyes widened in fear, and she subtly shook her head at us.

I gave her an apologetic look, but I lifted one hand from behind my back ever so slightly.

Her eyes widened to saucers as she saw that I was unbound.

I gestured toward the unconscious, mouthing to her. "Can you help me carry him?" I silently asked.

She looked down at him and then back up at me. She nodded.

"Good," I mouthed.

Daisy had made it to the old couple, and she was helping them get their feet under them so that they'd be ready to run.

I leaned my back against the wall, whispering into my shadow. "Misdreavus, I need you to cause a distraction, a big one."

She giggled from my shadow, and little goosebumps formed up the back of my neck.

Am I really about to let a ghost run rampant? I shook the doubt from my head. Fuck it.

"Just try to break something big, but not valuable."

The cold aura of the Pokemon vanished, and I distantly heard the laughter of a little girl.

I hope that doesn't bite me in the ass.

I glanced around at the other hostages. The receptionist had backed up to me, giving me access to her bindings. I quickly got to work breaking the thin plastic band. With just a bit of leverage, it broke easily enough. Daisy had already gotten the old couple's bindings off.

I nervously looked around at the six Rockets on this floor. They hadn't noticed us yet, but the longer we looked suspicious, the more likely it was that one of them would realize how suspicious we looked.

This needed to happen soon.

As if on cue, a loud ting! echoed across the first floor, drawing every eye to the largest exhibit on the first floor.

The legends fucking hate me... I thought, heart sinking as I realized what Misdreavus had decided to break.

The Rockets had started with the medium to small-sized exhibits of fossils, raiding as many as they could in case the authorities arrived. This was a solid plan, because it guaranteed the highest quantity of fossils would be removed if they needed to escape quickly.

It also left the exposed skeleton of an Aerodactyl hanging above their entire working area.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Multiple bolts snapped off of their supports, glowing with blue psychic energy. Metal and stone began to creak and shake as the four meters of fossils started separating from the wall.

"Run!" I yelled, throwing the security guard's arm over my shoulder and making a mad dash for the door.

Daisy and the elderly couple were hot on our heels as the receptionist and I dragged the security guard across the room.

The Rockets definitely noticed us, and a few even started to issue commands to their Pokemon, but they were rightfully distracted as chunks of stone thousands of years old started crashing down upon them.

The skull went first, as it had been suspended away from the wall. It came crashing down on a glass display of a plastic Lileep, crushing the fake grass Pokemon and sending deadly chunks of stone flying.

The Rockets dove for cover, but not all of them were lucky. The grunt who originally stopped us turned to run but was taken out by a stone Aerodactyl molar that had separated from the skull, slamming him in the back and rolling him across the ground.

Chunks of spine came next, crashing into the ground in a dozen different places. Some still had large pieces of wire holding them together, but without their supports that just made them all the more deadly. A pair of stones connected by a support wire came down hard on a Weezing, clothes-lining the purple Pokemon into the ground.

We made it to the door first. I slammed Daisy's security badge into the sensor, and the door clicked open. I helped push the receptionist through as she took the burden of the guard so I could hold the door for everyone else.

Daisy guided the old couple through before us. She was practically carrying the elderly woman, and the old man had been reduced to coughing fits again from sudden dash.

She pushed both of them through, grasping my forearm to make sure I went through too.

Rather than arguing, I yelled "Misdreavus!", calling to the ghost, and pulled Daisy inside the narrow doorway, slamming to door shut behind us.

I caught my breath. The anxiety and adrenaline of the escape were vibrating through my bones. My face was numb. I shook my head and went to help the others. There would be time for me later.

Though it was muffled, I could still hear the crashing of stone on concrete and glass as the Aerodactyl skeleton continued to collapse. A rapid series of bursts echoed through the hallway.

I winced. That was probably the wings. Legends, I hope they don't make me pay for that.

Daisy was already helping situate the security guard onto the shoulders of the elderly couple and the receptionist. Between the three of them, they managed an awkward carry that would let them move quickly.

We were standing in a very tight passage, maybe two meters at its widest point, that continued and branched several times in just the area that I could see. The walls and ceiling were covered in pipes and electrical, but nothing was marked in a way that my untrained eye could understand it.

"Go down that hallway," she told them. "Make two rights, and go down until you find a yellow door. I you hit a room with a fridge, you've gone too far."

"Please," the old man wheezed. "Come with us, you do not need to stay. You should be safe, not running back into danger."

Daisy's face went blank, and I could see she was trying the best way to verbalize her thoughts.

I stepped up behind her. "Sorry, we need to help the other people in the building." I put a hand on Daisy's shoulder, and she gave me a grateful look. "Trust in her, she's pretty amazing. She already saved my life once."

The old woman smiled. "Then you stay safe as well, young man. We are grateful to the two of you."

"I'll keep him safe," Daisy promised her.

A familiar cold chill entered the hallway and I turned to see Misdreavous phase through the locked door. The ghost was giggling to herself, and she gave me a wide grin.

All three of the other hostage's eyes went wide, and the old woman began to mutter fervently in a language that I didn't recognize.

"It's okay, she's with us," I reassured them. "She's only going to scare the bad guys."

"Dreavus!" Misdreavus cheered helpfully. I couldn't help but notice that her eyes became just a bit more vibrant and violent, though, as the other still looked at her in fear. She was enjoying the reaction a little bit too much.

The rest of the group said their quick goodbyes, leaving with the directions Daisy had given them. I couldn't help but think Misdreavus' appearance had made them run faster than they would have otherwise.

Daisy grabbed my hand. "Are you ready to go?" Her green eyes burned with determination and anger.

I nodded, and she led me by the hand, both of us jogging through the narrow maintenance hallways. We went through a labyrinth of access halls that led to too many unmarked rooms, the width barely enough to walk through without bumping yourself on an errant tube or piece of plumbing.

Eventually, Daisy slowed our pace, pulling us toward a small door labeled 'MAINTENANCE STEPS'.

"You just need to go through here," she said. "It should be up two flights because of the ceiling height-"

"Wait," I interrupted her. "You're not coming?"

Daisy bit her lip, and she glanced past me, towards another hallway.

"Fuck," I breathed. "You're going after the research lab."

She nodded. "I need to make sure Dr. Spinel is okay. And the grunt with our Pokemon is there. If I can get Seych and Luna back, I can handle basically anything they'll have."

Daisy's reasoning was sound, but I hated the idea. It must have been clear on my face, because Daisy squeezed the hand that I hadn't realized she'd still been holding.

"It's going to be okay," She said, smiling softly through the fear. "Like you said, I'm pretty amazing."

She was. I couldn't argue with that.

"Fine," I relented, cursing the Rockets under my breath. "Just be safe, don't take dumb risks. I'll make my way to you once I've hit the alarm."

Daisy smiled fully, and she pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back, feeling her warm breath on my neck. She smelled like summer.

I pulled back. "Be safe," I said again.

"I will," Daisy agreed. "Remember, two flights up, across the hall. Once you're in the booth, it's the button under the desk."

I nodded, finally letting go of her hand. Say what you will about trauma bonding, but letting go of her was hard. This was the second time I'd ever spent time with her, but it felt like I was leaving a lifelong friend.

I turned and ran up the stairs.

---

As we'd heard the grunts say earlier, they'd left one of their own in the security booth. The door leading in was thick black metal with a small glass window letting me peak inside. A cursory pull on the handle told me it was unlocked.

I turned toward Misdreavus, the ghost floating a few inches from my head.

"Okay," I said in a whisper. "There's a Rocket in there."

Misdreavus floated gently, slowly flipping upside down, confusion clear on her face.

"The bad guys."

Misdreavus spun right side up. "Drea, drea!" She chirped in understanding.

"You know how you used that move on me the other night, Mean Look?"

She drifted backward into the shadow of the wall, conjuring an illusion that exaggerated the size of her eyes and teeth. Even knowing that it was a demonstration, I felt static tingles up my neck from the malice in the move.

I shuddered.

"Yes, that one. Do you think you could use it on the Rocket in there?"

Misdreavus emerged from the shadows, dismissing her illusion. She grinned evilly and vigorously shook her head yes.

"Good, but we're not going in yet." I glanced down the way to the New Horizons exhibit. "I have to grab something first."

Misdreavous looked up at me in confusion.

---

A few minutes later, a Team Rocket grunt named Kevin heard a slight knock on door to the security booth.

He looked around confused, tearing his attention from the wall of monitors that showed every security feed in the building, and stood up to the small window of the door. When he looked out, he saw and empty hallway, no one standing at the window.

He shook his head, turning back to look at the screens, but stopped in horror.

Two glowing red and yellow eyes stared back at him, affixed to a shadowy void that filled the room.

Slowly, the shadowy lips of the face opened, revealing sharpened and malicious white teeth behind them.

He stood in terror, unable to move or speak as the Mean Look took hold.

The door behind him opened and I stepped through, hefting my makeshift club.

"You poor motherfucker," I said in fake pity. "This 'bout to hurt."

I swung with all my might, whipping the metal flagpole like a baseball bat across the back of Kevin's head. There was a muffled thump! as I struck his cap-covered scalp, and he went down like a sack of rocks.

As I stood over him, I unfurled the flag I'd grabbed from the astronaut display. On it was a flag of Hoenn, the first region to make it to the moon. Even though it was definitely a replica, and had never been to the moon, seeing my home region's colours made me feel a lot more confident.

Once I was sure he was properly out, I turned to Misdreavus. "Good job! You're so good at scoring people!"

"Misdravus!" She responded happily. The red jewels of her necklace started to glow red, and Kevin's body started to wisp light of the same color. The light drifted upward, being slowly absorbed into her necklace. The Rocket's hair seemed a little less blonde, and his skin seemed just a touch paler.

I felt a pit in my stomach, the Pokemon giving me a swift reminder that she was dangerous.

She'd just eaten his fear.

And, in doing so, she'd siphoned off a bit of his life force.

"So that's what that looks like," I murmured. "I don't need to see that again."

I walked over the complex control mixer, covered in dozens and dozens of keys, and slipped my hand onto its underside.

Just like Daisy had said, I felt the blemish of a tactile key underneath.

I pressed it.

There was no big alarm or notification, but a previous unmarked and unlit spot on the keyboard began to glow.

I didn't let myself relax, though. I looked up toward the dozen monitors, glancing through them to see what had been happening in the rest of the building.

The first thing I could tell was that the maintenance halls didn't show on the monitor, so I had no way to see where Daisy was, or how close she was to getting to the lab.

Speaking of the lab, I could see that the majority of the Rockets had converged there. Instead of gathering the research aides into a group, like they'd done with us, each of the researchers was standing at a digital workstation. They all had Rocket chaperones looking over their shoulders, and it was clear that they were being forced to go through their research for the Rockets.

Dr. Spinel was there. He looked unharmed other than a light cut above his eyebrow. He was also standing at a workstation.

Though there were many grunts there, I didn't see their leader, Aestus, there.

Instead, I found the red-haired Rocket back in the main showroom of floor one. The dust had settled from Misdreavus' 'prank', and the Rockets had started recovering the broken fossils and artifacts.

Aestus stood over them, angrily shouting orders. His men worked quickly, but I could see two of them laid out on the floor, hopefully unconscious.

I sighed. The monitors were helpful, but not too helpful. Basically, they'd just let me know that I would avoid the boss by helping Daisy and Dr. Spinel.

As I turned to leave, however, I saw movement that I hadn't expected on one of the monitors.

Strolling through the front door was another person in a Rocket uniform. Theirs was different than Aestus'; it had long white sleeves and boots with a red decorative strap around each one, rather than the black with a white strip. Based on that, they were probably a higher rank than Aestus.

The person themselves was about as tall as I was, with a youthful face but still older than even Daisy, probably in their mid-twenties. They had hair the color of turquoise, and their eyebrows were narrowed in a mean kind of way. The way they walked betrayed arrogance or confidence, and they kept an easygoing but malicious smirk on their face.

Behind them, there was a group of another dozen grunts. The group walked straight through the reception, back towards the broken Ancient World exhibit.

Aestus angrily turned when he heard them approaching, but hesitated when he saw the newcomer.

The newcomer said something, but I didn't have any audio. Aestus looked angry and upset, and began speaking in measured words.

I glanced around at the keyboard, desperate to know what they were saying. Within moments, I found a small dial marked the same number as the monitor.

The museum security suite was old and low quality, so the speakers crackled as noise started to pour through them.

I caught onto the conversation midway through Aestus speaking. "-Ariana gave me command of this mission. I don't understand what the reasoning for additional forces could have been."

The newcomer cackled, a shrill arrogant sound. "That's the thing, kiddo. Ariana doesn't outrank me. And I wanted to tag along on the little small-time robbery. It's a good thing I did, too. Somebody broke the big dino."

Aestus winced like he'd been slapped. He looked back at the shattered Aerodactyl skeleton. "This is still salvageable. The mission command is still mine, Proton. I will not be usurped from it, not even by an Executive."

I gulped. That title implied that the newcomer, Proton, was a top dog for the Rockets.

This was going much worse than I thought it would go.

Notes:

Thank you guys for reading! I hope you're enjoying the Pewter Museum arc! Next time, we'll be getting into what happens when Derek is able to cause some chaos among the Rockets.

Anyway, I'm excited to see you guys next time! Don't forget to comment/review if you like the story!

Chapter 12: Rioting Against Rockets

Notes:

Once again, if you're uncomfortable with terrorism and life or death situations, this chapter is NOT for you.

The Team Rocket Executive laughed at the Team Rocket Officer, cackling in the way that you might laugh at a kid for saying something stupid. The security room speakers crackling made the sound even more shrill, and even more insulting.

"Oh, look who's getting too big for his diapers!" Proton jeered. "Somebody thinks he's all grown up because his mommy gave him a job."

The Rocket grunts that had accompanied Proton all began to laugh at Aestus as well, acting as the world's worst entourage.

Even through the low-quality camera, I could see Aestus go pink as a vein began to pulse in his forehead.

"No worries, kiddo," Proton continued as he finally stopped laughing. "I'm not here to stop your 'wittle misswon'," he said in mocking, child-like voice. "Uncle's just here to pick something up for himself."

The executive walked just past Aestus, getting up and close to the younger Rocket. Even on the speakers, I couldn't hear what was said.

Aestus' shoulders slumped, and he gritted his teeth.

He nodded.

Proton patted him on the shoulder. "Good boy." He said, still half laughing. "Now keep looking over the rocks. My men will join you."

There was a collective groan from Proton's grunts, a display of unwillingness that I hadn't seen at all from Aestus's Rockets. Clearly, there was a very different vibe between the factions of the Rockets. They got to work anyway, assisting the injured grunts with packaging the fossils.

Proton walked away from Aestus, headed toward a different exhibit and leaving the younger man staring into the mid-distance.

My legs were tensed and I was ready to sprint for the lab, but I just couldn't leave yet. I stood glued to the screens, something Proton had said was echoing in my mind.

"Uncle's just here to pick something up for himself."

Like Daisy had told me on my tour, Pewter Museum was known for its extensive collection of stones, including fossils and evolution stones. I ran through the list of things that I'd seen as we walked, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what would be so important that a high-ranking member of Team Rocket would want it for themselves. It couldn't be a fossil, because Aestus and his men were already rounding all of them up. While the museum had almost every evolution stone known to man, they could be found cheaper and easier in a ton of other places.

Another thing that bothered me was the clear contempt that Proton and Aestus had for each other. Every organization was bound to have factions, but this seemed outright malicious. Proton was obviously here against the wishes or planning of whoever this 'Ariana' person was.

The Rocket Executive made their way to a large exhibit labeled Riches and Rarities, a collection of miscellaneous artifacts that had been found among the ancient dig sites that the museum had access to. He walked up to a wall that was angled against the camera in that area, leaving me unable to see what he was looking at.

I turned the volume dial for that camera up, but with no one in his immediate vicinity, the Executive was surprisingly silent. He glanced around, confirming he was alone, before reaching up onto the shelf. He slipped something off of a pedestal, quickly depositing it into his pocket.

The Rocket turned from the display, returning to his men and tormenting Aestus.

I sighed in frustration.

Of course it wasn't going to be that easy, I thought. I looked through the cameras one more time before I left. I saw motion on two separate exterior cameras. Oh, shit.

The first camera showed the back entrance to the museum, some form of loading dock near the lab. Two separate white trucks had been parked in it, and the Rockets were loading them with crates full of fossils. If someone didn't interfere soon, they would be fully loaded.

The other camera that showed was the front exterior camera of the building.

Walking up the set of steps to the building were two people, and my heart jumped into my throat as I realized that I knew both men by appearance alone.

One was Yuji's favorite member of Kanto's Elite Four, someone he had mentioned multiple times in our training sessions.

The other person I recognized from not only my own research, but from an eighteen-page spreadsheet that Hana had been working on since we got to Pewter.

Bruno of the Elite Four was a mountain of a man, big in every meaning of the word and rippling with strength. His lack of a shirt showed off his shredded body and vascular muscles. His wild mane of dark blue hair was barely contained by a single red tie, holding it into a Ponyta-tail.

Brock was closer to my age, maybe in his early twenties, but he cut no less of an intimidating figure. The Pewter City Gym Leader was stern and serious, and his dark features had a slate-sharp jawline that could cut rocks. He wore his battling outfit, a brown and green utility outfit that I'd seen in his challenge match videos.

Both men pulled out a Pokeball as they approached the front door to the museum. They looked back at some unseen party, before nodding to each other and both pulling their arms back.

Oh, shit! My eyes shot open wide. I grabbed onto the counter to steady myself.

A flash of light blinded the camera, but when their Pokemon hit the front door, the entire building shook. Even on the second floor, it felt like a bomb had just gone off.

My teeth rattled against the impact, and a muffled crash! echoed through the halls. Misdreavus even snapped to attention, instinctively summoning her illusions to make herself look bigger.

The lights all flickered out, including the security cameras, leaving me in complete darkness.

In the distance, I could hear a Pokemon roar.

"Steeeeeeeelix!"

---

Misdreavus and I sprinted down the stairs, away from the security and toward the lab. Stopping the Rockets was never my job, but now it wasn't even my priority.

Brock and Bruno were here now. No matter how strong the Rockets might be, they were a Gym Leader and a member of the Elite Four. Proton had no chance against one of the five strongest people in the region.

I was a no-badge trainer without my Pokemon. Even if I had a ghost following me, I had no business trying to take on a criminal organization. Not that I didn't want to beat every one of them into the ground, but my flagpole would only do so much against their Pokemon.

No, my priority was what it should be: Daisy.

Well, it was Daisy and Artis

And Dr. Spinel.

And the rest of the research team.

And I wanted to make sure the group of hostages had made it out-

"Aggggghh!" I yelled as I ran, shaking my head. "Why is this so freaking hard!"

I knew I couldn't save everyone, but I wanted to. And even though I shouldn't be the one fighting, because my rational brain definitely knew that, I could still do something.

I winced as I shoulder-checked a metal pipe. The electricity had entirely gone out when Brock and Bruno had begun their attack, and now my only light in the maintenance ways came from a small flashlight that Kevin the Rocket Grunt had carried on his belt.

I shivered as I thought about the Pokemon cry I'd heard earlier. Brock had pulled out a Steelix, one of the biggest, meanest and heaviest Pokemon around. Every once in a while, a tremor would run through the ground, almost forcing me off my feet. Even though I hadn't seen it, I knew that meant that the steel serpent was in battling mode.

My anxiety wasn't helped in that I had no idea where I was going. Well, that wasn't exactly true, I knew the general direction, but the maintenance tunnels were complex and confusing. They looped in odd ways and ended in a fair amount of dead ends.

"Drea, drea!" Misdreavous urgently called from ahead of me, beckoning me down a hallway.

I turned, following her voice, and finally I saw light at the end of the hallway, natural light. A few more feet and I'd be back in the main building-

The hallway to my left exploded.

Shrapnel and chunks of the wall went flying everywhere. The force of it pushed me away it, back toward the way I'd come.

I landed on my ass, hard. The air was driven from my lungs as I hit the ground, and my lip bled as I bit into it.

I wasn't the only one knocked on my ass, though.

As I blinked my eyes, trying to see what had happened, I scrambled away in panic.

Lying half imbedded in the wall in front of me, directly across from the hole it had created, was a hulking Pokemon. Its skin was formed of hardened purple armor, and a massive horn jutted from its triangular head.

The Nidoking looked dazed, and from the gap in the wall, I could hear the shifting and sounds of battle. Some thing had thrown the Pokemon through the wall, and if I had to guess I'd say it was that Steelix I'd heard earlier.

I pushed myself to my feet and looked towards the sunlight that Misdreavus had led me to. It was so close, but the doorway was maybe a meter passed a hundred kilos of armored poison type.

I cursed under my breath, taking a step forward.

The noise alerted the Nidoking, giving it something to focus on. Its bleary eyes turned to me, and the concrete of the wall began to crackle as it pressed against it, trying to break free.

"Misdreavus! Get me through!" I yelled, not looking back at my ghost as I sprinted through the rubble.

"Dreavus!" She cheered, and a ray of multicolored light shot from her jeweled necklace, striking at the Nidoking.

Confuse Ray... I vaguely recognized as I scrambled across the opening, passing a few feet in front of the armored Pokemon.

The Nidoking shook its head, the ghostly energy keeping it disoriented and confused.

"Nido!" It roared, pushing itself fully out of the wall. Bits of stone and dust showered me.

The Nidoking took a swipe at me, its claws passing by my face as I ducked, sprinting past it. The miss caused it to stumble, and I heard a clang! as the Nidoking's armor impacted a chunk of rebar in the rubble.

I made it to the doorway, blinding natural light blocking my vision. I didn't stop running, through. There was no reason to taunt Nidoking into coming after me.

I ran and ran as my vision returned, sprinting through hallways marked by doors. Doors with plaques! I was back in the administrative part of the building!

I read the signs as I sprinted, desperately looking for one of the names Daisy had pointed out to get my bearings.

There!

Dr. Euclase! Daisy had said something about him being very stern.

And since I had an idea of where I was, I knew where I was headed. I made a left toward the Fossil Lab.

---

Daisy had already made it to the Rockets by the time I got there. The hallways were dented and broken, entire chunks of walls and doors missing.

I stumbled up an active battle, two Rockets standing in a hallway between me and Daisy. Their Pokemon were in front of them, a Raticate and an Arbok each.

Beyond them, Daisy looked more disheveled than she had before, her hair unkempt and messy from the battle, but she had confidence plastered on her face.

She must have reclaimed her bag, because at her sides were two different pink Pokemon, a Clefairy and a Chansey. Each one had taken a defensive stance on either side of her.

All the way past her, there were two more Rockets, equipped with a Golbat and a Grimer. They'd surrounded her.

Daisy saw me before the Rockets did.

"Derek!" She shouted, elation clear in her voice.

Without another word, she snatched something from her bag and chucked it down the hallway to me. A red and white ball spiraled through the air.

The throw was good, but it wasn't going to make it all the way. I sprinted forward, catching the Pokeball with one hand.

Instead of losing my momentum or crashing into the Rockets who were turning to look at me, I hit the ground and slid through the legs of a Rocket grunt.

I'm not normally one to fight dirty, but the Rockets deserved it. I brought my flagpole upwards as I did my baseball slide, striking the grunt where their legs met. They went down like a sack of potatoes.

I rolled out of my slide, clicked my Pokeball and sprinting to Daisy's side. Artis popped into existence between me and the Rockets. Daisy's Pokemon initially stepped in front of me, but stood aside when they saw I wasn't a Rocket.

Daisy and I didn't have time to catch up. I'd only bought a moment of hesitation with my entrance, and it had been spent. Three of the four Rockets yelled attacks to their Pokemon, with the fourth one making a noise closer to a light squeal.

"Hyper Fang!"

"Wing Attack!"

"Acid Spray!"

Daisy and I went back to back, each of our Pokemon now covering the barrage from each direction.

"Powder Snow!" I shouted to Artis.

For his part, the tiny Spheal hadn't missed a beat when I dropped him into an unfamiliar situation against unknown foes.

Artis released a wave of white snow, blasting it into the Raticate's face as it charged us. It hadn't been expecting it and took the attack squarely in the mouth.

The Raticate rolled backward, fangs leaking cold mist as they froze together from the attack.

The Arbok, having abandoned waiting for its Trainer's orders, smashed through the fog. Its fangs were bared towards Artis.

It struck the wall, missing him by multiple feet. Misdreavous drifted out of the shadows, silently cheering at her successful Confuse Ray.

She drifted next to Artis in front of me, and both Pokemon glanced at each other before nodding and facing the enemy.

The Raticate struggled on the ground, scratching its frozen teeth with its back claws. Chunks of ice went flying, and it clicked its teeth together. The rat Pokemon scrambled to its feet, and its eyes narrowed with rage.

The Arbok slithered away from the wall, a large bump on its head from its impact.

The standing Rocket grunt helped the one I'd struck totheir feet, and both Rockets glared at me.

All Pokemon stood, ready to battle.

Behind me, I could hear Daisy calling orders to her Pokemon, battling the Rockets, but I couldn't look back.

I was staring down both grunts, eyes flicking between the two of them.

We were in a Paldean Stand-off.

I broke the silence first, shouting orders to my team.

"Misdreavus, run inference, keep 'em distracted," I barked. "Artis, charge up a Snowout!"

"Raticate, stop him!"

"Arbok, gobble that ghost!"

Both enemy Pokemon charged us. They were both fast physical fighters, meant to hit quick and hard.

Too bad for them I'd just spent the last weak training against Yuji. His Rattata was way faster.

"Dreavus, Confuse Ray, stay distant!"

The Arbok leaped into the air, fangs shining with Dark energy. Misdreavus faded from existence, forming again behind the snake, and released a prismatic Confuse Ray into the snake's back.

Arbok's eyes unfocused as the attack hit home, and the dazed snake started striking out in random directions.

The Raticate dashed for Artis, but my boy had listened when I'd asked him to charge up. Layers of white ice blasted forward from his Powder Snow, and his blue fur shined silver as his Defence Curl completed. We'd perfected this technique and it showed.

Like a cannon, Artis blasted from the ground, Rollout taking over and carrying him forward. He narrowly missed the Raticate, but it forced the Pokemon to leap out of the way. Misdreavus turned, sending a stray Confuse Ray at the rat that hit it squarely in the back. It came up just as dazed as its ally.

Arbok's maw snapped closed as it tried to strike Misdreavus again, but the ghost was too sneaky. She phased in and out of existence, too quick for the poison type.

Artis took a wide turn, bringing his icy Rollout back around to attack the Raticate.

I saw an opening. "Misdreavus, force it backward!"

Both Rockets saw what I was planning.

"Arbok, stop attacking the ghost. Get the blue one!"

"Raticate, Sucker Punch the ghost!"

Their orders almost came in time.

Misdreavus giggled as she reappeared at the edge of Arbok's vision, purposefully drawing the snake's attention to her. It took the bait, coating its fangs in dark type energy and snapping forward.

The Raticate turned to blindly follow its trainer's orders, coating one claw in the same energy as Arbok, and turned to punch Misdreavus. That would have been successful, had the two dark-type moves not hit each other. Arbok's Bite and Raticates Sucker Punch both connected where Misdravus had been moments before, causing both Pokemon to reel in pain and confusion.

Crack, crack!

Artis connected first with the Raticate, slamming it forward into the Arbok and throwing both back against the wall. The impact stole his momentum, but he used the stop to roll into a standing position, releasing another Powder Snow.

Misdrevaus reappeared above him, a blue halo of energy bursting into existence around her as she activated her Confusion.

The wave of white hit the laid-out pair of Pokemon, covering them in snow. The Arbok started to slither forward, the lesser affected of the two, but a blue halo formed around it and it began to writhe in pain as the Confusion took effect.

"Keep it up, guys!" I screamed, feeling my voice go hoarse. We had them in a corner.

"Arbok! Plan Guts!" The Rocket ordered, desperation in their voice.

"Raticate, Endure!" The other grunt followed up.

"Shit!" I cursed, recognizing what they were planning. "Stop them!"

My Pokemon were too busy keeping up their attacks and didn't move in time.

The Arbok, whipped its head around, deadly poison dripping from its fangs, the liquid freezing in the Powder Snow before it hit the ground.

Its fangs sunk into the Raticate, who tensed every one of its muscles. A grimace passed between both Pokemon as the snake's poison glands pulsed, sending veins of venom into the rat's body.

Arbok succumbed to Confusion and Powder Snow, fainting with its fangs still in its ally.

My Pokemon struggled to keep their continuous assault up, and both moves ended.

The Raticate's muscles tensed and grew, and its eyes went bloodshot as poison pumped through its veins.

'Guts' was an ability that some Pokemon had. It incredibly boosted their power as long as they were being affected by a status condition.

With how hurt the rat was, it had only a few seconds before it fainted, but that could be enough.

"Get away from it!" I yelled. We didn't need to beat it anymore, we just needed to outlast it.

Raticate moved faster than I could keep up with, Quick Attack making it move faster than either of my Pokemon. The Arbok trailed behind it, and it moved as though it couldn't feel the ten-centimeter blades lodged in its shoulder.

It slammed into Artis, and my boy squealed in pain. Misdravus phased behind the Raticate, releasing a Confuse Ray into it.

It shrugged it off, not even turning to face her and instead just rearing up on its back two claws.

"Artis!" I panicked.

The Raticate's claws lit up in dark type energy, two Sucker Punches ready to be brought down.

My boy's eyes glowed pink, and closed with serene grace.

Both strikes came down on him, making full contact. His blubber rippled with the impact, and the concrete cracked around him.

The Raticate collapsed on top of him, the poison taking its toll.

Misdreavus glowed blue, tossing the Raticate's form aside with Confusion and worriedly looking over Artis.

I sprinted forward, ignoring the Rockets as they returned their Pokemon and started sprinting away.

I only had eyes for my starter.

He was eagle-spread in a concrete crater, flippers spread in all directions.

I scooped him up from the ground, not caring as my muscles protested. I held his chest up against my face, panic clawing its way up my throat.

Ba-bump.

I fell to my knees with relief.

He was alive. The Sucker Punch/Guts combo had hit hard, and he was just unconscious.

"Spheal, pheal, pheal, pheal, pheal...." Artis breathed out.

Wait.

I looked down at my Pokemon, mind racing. His body was fine. Even the two spots where he'd been hit looked like minor bruises.

He wasn't unconscious, he was snoring!

"You motherfucker!" I grinned, tears in the corners of my eyes. "You used Rest!"

The pink glow I'd seen in his eyes as Artis was getting ready to get hit. He'd pulled off a new move in the nick of time, letting it resolve right after he'd been hit to heal himself.

Artis stirred, groggily opening his eyes. I laughed as I pulled him tight into a hug.

"You're the best, bud," I whispered to him.

"Spheal!" He barked happily.

I stood, returning Artis. He might've staved off a bad injury with his Rest, but I didn't want him to get hurt anymore.

I turned to Misdreavus, who was once again smiling now that she'd seen that Artis was okay.

"Thank you so much," I said, so grateful to her. "Are you okay with helping me some more?"

"Drea, drea!" The ghost chirped, spinning in a circle above my head. She rubbed her cheek against mine.

I chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

I looked back to Daisy's fight, realizing that I had lost track of her battle during my own.

She stood with one of her heels planted in the back of one of the Rocket grunts, with the other splayed unconscious on the ground.

Daisy was leaning down threateningly over him, both her Clefairy and Chancey looming with her.

"And that's it? Only sixteen of you?" Daisy said sternly, pressing down with her foot.

"Ye- yes!" The grunt grimaced in pain. "Just Officer Aestus and his brigade. It was supposed to be a smooth mission. We weren't supposed to still be around when the League showed up."

"That's not right," I stepped forward. "Your guy, Proton, showed up with a dozen guys. What's with that?"

Daisy looked up at me, shooting me a relieved smile when she saw that I was still alive. She narrowed her eyes and looked back down at the grunt, pressing harder.

"Does he need to repeat himself?" She said with the same angry cadence as a disappointed teacher.

Mrs. Oak? That be kinda- Nope. File that away for later.

"Ow, ow, ow! I'm sorry, I didn't know Proton was coming. He really hates Ariana, our boss lady, and he must be here to piss her off."

I grunted. "That's about what I figured." I looked up at Daisy. "Where's Dr. Spinel and the rest of the researchers?"

Daisy stepped off of the grunt, walking a few feet away with me. Both of her Pokemon stayed looming over him, and he cowered there in the hallway.

She pushed her hair back behind her ears. "They're still in the lab. After I removed the grunts that had held them hostage, they got to work removing their research from the Rocket computers."

I nodded. "Good, I'm glad they didn't get hurt."

"Me too," Daisy said with a smile, but winced when her eyes flicked over my appearance. "Are you okay, though?"

I looked down, finally letting the adrenaline stop beating through my body.

I felt a wave of exhaustion and nausea come over me. The world was so much quieter without blood rushing through my ears.

My new outfit was littered with holes and tears and thoroughly coated in cement dust. I had bloody scrapes across my knuckles, elbows, and knees, tokens from Nidoking's unexpected entrance.

My mouth was coppery, and I realized my lip was still split from when I'd bit it during the explosion earlier. I still gripped the flagpole in my left hand, and my fingers physically hurt as I unclenched them.

I looked like shit.

"Feeling like a million bucks," I grinned instead of saying the truth. I was scared, angry, and exhausted.

Daisy reached into her handbag and pulled out a handkerchief. She smiled at me, raising it to my mouth and starting to wipe away some of the blood.

It stung, but just this little bit of human contact pushed back a lot of the fear I'd been feeling.

As she finished, she pressed her handkerchief into my hand. "Hold onto that, you're probably going to need that again."

Her hand was warm in mine, and both of us let the contact linger.

An electrical voice buzzed. "All units, calling all units."

Daisy and I jerked in surprise, looking around the hallway. A walkie-talkie on the unconscious grunt's utility belt was going off.

Daisy shot a look toward the conscious one, who ripped his off of his belt. He slid it across the ground to us, immediately raising both of his hands above his head to satiate the Pokemon watching him.

Clefairy punched her fist into her palm threateningly. The grunt blanched.

Daisy nodded in satisfaction, leaning down and grabbing the device. She held it up so that we could both hear it.

It was Aestus speaking. "All units, retreat. We are evacuating. Get to the dock or the lobby. There are Leaguers on site."

I looked up at Daisy, and her summer green eyes met mine. She sighed.

"Do you want the loading docks or the lobby?" I asked.

She raised her eyebrow. "I highly doubt you know how to get to the docks."

I clicked my tongue. "Guess I'm taking the lobby."

Daisy laughed softly, squeezing my hand. "Stay safe. No unnecessary risks."

"Hey!" I protested. "That's my line!"

"Yet you're the one who looks like he's been through a blender." She let go of my hand, taking steps down the hallway.

Daisy looked down at the Rocket. "You. Tie yourself up. I'll be back if you don't."

Without a word, the Rocket ripped a set of plastic ties off his belt and bound his hands and legs.

As she sprinted down the hallway, her two Pokemon in tow, I took a moment to really appreciate her.

What a woman...

---

The halls deposited me right next to the receptionist's desk, where I'd met Daisy hours ago.

Of course, the desk was actually nonexistent now.

There was a massive hole in the front of the building where Brock's Steelix had impacted it. Glass, concrete, and steel all littered the ground, and the cool Kanto chill drifted through the opening.

The damage continued past what was left of the foyer, giving me a clear look into the show floor of the museum.

A battle was still raging on the first floor of the Pewter Museum.

Brock and Bruno, both incredibly powerful trainers if their positions were anything to go by, were less than fifty meters from me. Both stood with their backs to the entrance, the wall between the Rockets and their escape.

Beyond them, I could barely even track what was happening. Between the two League officials, there were maybe seven Pokemon, and I recognized all of them. Bruno was simultaneously commanding four different humanoid Pokemon, fighting types through and through. I recognized a Machamp, a beast with four arms and more than enough strength to boot. He also had out all three evolutions of the fighting type, Tyrogue. Hitmonchan, the boxing glove-wearing battler, Hitmonlee, the kickboxing master, and Hitmontop, the spinning martial arts Pokemon, all swept through the room.

Brock's Steelix took up most of the room, its massive body nearly scraping the ceiling as it maneuvered. Nearer to him, Brock had out a compacted boulder with arms, also known as a Golem, and his final Pokemon was one I'd seen as a fossil just hours before. With scythe-like arms and a flat stone head, Kabutops weaved through the battlefield.

On the other side of the battle were almost all of Proton's Rockets, of course, led by the Executive himself, their strength bolstered by Aestus's men. Half a dozen Arbok, Golbat, and Weezing covered the field, orders being shouted in chaotic waves from the Rocket trainers.

The small fry were almost a non-issue for Brock and Bruno's Pokemon. Kabutops whirled through the enemy, slashing in wide arcs and leaving fainted Pokemon in its wake. Steelix slammed its tail into the ground, creating tremors that rocked the room. The Tyrogue evolutions were actually going after the Rockets, striking them with non-lethal but brutal force. Hitmonchan rocketed toward one of Aestus's men, slamming their fist into his gut and crumpling him to the ground.

The real danger in the room came from, unsurprisingly, Proton's team. The Rocket Executive had four separate Pokemon battling on different fronts. The Nidoking I'd seen earlier was still up, grappling Bruno's Machamp and keeping it occupied all on its own. A massive fanged purple bat with four vibrating wings, a Crobat, zoomed between the fighting types, striking with venom-drenched fangs whenever it saw an opening. A massive Weezing spewed black smoke, fogging up the room and indiscriminately poisoning people.

Proton's final Pokemon was one I didn't recognize. It was a purple bipedal lizard with yellow lightning stripes running across its body. It brought a three-fingered hand up to its chest, and I shit you not, the sounds of a guitar strumming blasted forward from its body, carrying waves of electricity with the noise explosion.

Two of Bruno's Pokemon, Hitmonlee and Hitmontop, both took the brunt of the blast, yellowing lightning sparking up their bodies and causing their muscles to seize.

Proton's Crobat saw an opening, swooping down to sink its fangs into the paralyzed Pokemon, but Golem lumbered with unexpected speed forward, coating its arm in the ghostly energy of Sucker Punch to strike the bat. The two clashed, pushing off each other and returning to the fray.

The battle was raging, and one thing was clear.

This isn't nearly as one-sided as I'd thought it would be, I thought. Proton's not winning, but the sheer amount of Pokemon that the Rockets have is ridiculous.

I'd discounted them earlier, but the grunt's Pokemon were serving a different role than I'd realized. They were distracting the big hitters, tanking hits and attention so that Proton's powerhouses could get more damage in.

Even now, four Arbok slithered up around Brock's Steelix, working together to try and bind the massive monster. Kabutops left its position fighting Proton's Weezing to rush to its ally. The fossil Pokemon gracefully leaped up the Steelix's back, swiping at the snake's. The Weezing, now free from its fight, turned on the Nidoking-Machamp battle, blasting toxic sludge across both Pokemon.

Nidoking, a poison-ground type, barely felt the poison as it touched it, but Machamp took a full blast to the face. The fighting type faltered, releasing its grapple enough for Nidoking to grab it under the arms, bringing it above its head and slamming it down into the ground. The Nidoking's horn glowed green, and it slammed a Megahorn down into the fighting type.

I flinched as the Machamp took Nidoking's full-powered signature move. It didn't go down, but it had been horribly injured, a massive gash torn into its side from the impact.

I pushed forward, legs finally moving.

I wasn't sure what I could do, if I could do anything, but I needed to help.

Misdreavus moved with me. The normally cheerful ghost was silent, in awe of the massive battle we were seeing.

We sprinted to the edges of the room, trying to stay out of the fray as much as possible. There was nothing I could do to affect the big hitters, but maybe I could help against the trainers themselves.

Chunks of rubble sprayed in every direction as the fight continued. A stray hit from Steelix's tail showered me in glass, and I flinched as I skulked around the battle.

I snuck behind a set of display cases that hadn't been destroyed yet, crossing the battlefield quickly enough that I didn't think I'd been seen. I was even with the Rockets now, and could more clearly hear them speaking.

"Toxtricity, Discharge!" Proton ordered. He turned to one of his grunts. "We're going to need an escape soon. Have Quark send in the Alakazam. We're taking what we can."

Aestus's frustrated voice came next. "That would be a mission failure. At least let us retreat to my men in the dock. With all of us together-"

The sound of flesh smacking flesh echoed across this side of the field, and the sound of a person dropping to the floor followed.

"Ariana might let you talk back to her, kid, but don't you dare question me. If I wasn't here you'd already be under the jail," Proton spat. "You're pathetic."

Aestus didn't respond.

"Good. Get up and get the men as close to me as you can. I've got one last trick left."

People shuffled around on the other side of the display, and I could hear the men gathering. The fighting continued, but now I could hear the occasional sound of Pokemon being returned to their balls.

Team Rocket was getting ready to escape.

I turned to Misdreavus. "When they're getting ready to leave," I whispered. "You're going to Mean Look the guy in charge. Do you understand?"

The Misdrevous furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought. Eventually, she nodded.

"Okay, wait for my call."

On the other side of the fight, the battle was getting more and more one-sided. Brock and Bruno shouted their orders to their Pokemon. They'd successfully removed most of the small fry, and together their power-houses started targeting Proton's beasts. Within seconds, Nidoking finally fell to a well-placed Ice Punch from Hitmonchan.

Proton returned Nidoking, shouting over the sounds of battle. "Now!" He shouted, causing the battle to pause as every eye in the room turned to him.

As one, the Rockets returned every single one of their Pokemon, with the exception of Proton's Toxtricity.

The purple and yellow lizard took that signal to instead release a move.

The air shifted around the electric type.

A massive sonic explosion moved forward with enough speed that I could see the shockwave.

The explosion rocked the entire room, hitting everyone and everything. Even behind the display top, I felt the wave pick me up and throw me across the room.

The sound was more than deafening. My bones shook, my teeth clattered, and a low thrum and a light pop noise pulsed through my ears, followed by a low ringing.

I hit the ground for what must've been my second or third time today.

I groaned, feeling pain lance through my body, and a deep tiredness overtake my sense. My vision started to tunnel, and I desperately wanted to let unconsciousness take me.

I pushed my hand underneath me, shoving off the floor.

Everyone had been thrown back by the attack. Rockets, Pokemon, and Leaguers, everyone was groggily pulling themselves off the ground.

Proton returned his Pokemon as he stood. I frowned, realizing I couldn't hear the sound of the Pokeball.

All I could hear was ringing.

I shook my head, now wasn't the time.

The air behind Proton warped, suddenly accommodating a gold and brown-shelled humanoid Pokemon. Alakazam were renowned for their teleporting abilities, and Proton must have called in a powerful one to move this many people.

Bruno's fighting types sprinted across the room, charging the Rockets, but there was no way they were going to make it in time.

Proton nodded to the Alakazam.

"Now!" I shouted, startling both the Rockets and the Leaguers. Neither had noticed I was there. My voice sounded wrong in my ears.

Misdreavus reappeared, but in front of the wrong person.

Her eyes went violent and huge, and her phantom teeth appeared in an illusion in front of Aestus.

His body went still, locked into place by the Mean Look.

Proton, Alakazam, and every other grunt disappeared.

I stumbled, falling to one knee.

Aestus broke free of Misdreavus' Mean Look, and his expression melted into one of raw horror.

Though I couldn't hear it, I knew his cry echoed throughout the Pewter Museum.

Team Rocket was gone, and I'd grabbed the wrong guy.

Notes:

Oh boy, that was a crazy chapter! Clearly, there was a ton of battles, and I have a few notes on them.

First, there Derek might think of himself as a zero-badge trainer, but you guys have to remember that he only narrowly lost to Giovanni. Given the training he's been putting in since then, I'd say he's about on par with most second-badge trainers. In my notes, I have Artis around level 20, though he'd not learned dRest yet because Derek had him focusing on his Ice and Water-type moves.

For the big group battle, BOY was it hard to track the like twenty relevant Pokemon in that thing. I tried to give an idea of the scale, but I have the utmost respect to fic writers who can keep a massive battle straight. 

Chapter 13: Stretched Thin

Brock was the first one to walk up to me when the Rockets left.

Bruno's Pokemon apprehended Aestus, dragging the shell-shocked Rocket away with him as he called in the Ace Trainers and the police. Within minutes, dozens of emergency workers and law officers had entered the building, searching for wounded or leftover Rockets. Cleaning crews streamed in behind them, clearing away rumble for the other workers to be able to move safely and efficiently through the building.

It was Brock, the Gym Leader of the Pewter City Gym, who first came to check on me, the guy who was still kneeling in the rubble trying to catch his breath. He walked to me, placing his hand on my shoulder and saying something to me.

I vaguely shook my head, staring past him into the mid-distance.

I couldn't hear him. The world was muffled, distant. Other than the high pitch whine in the background, that was constant.

I knew my hearing was blown out, taken by the explosive move that Toxtricity had let off.

I just couldn't find it in myself to care.

I was so tired. I wanted to curl up into the rubble, climb under a rock, and fall asleep. I couldn't feel the panic or the anxiety that should be there.

I just felt numb.

Brock gently grabbed my forearm, waving down a medical worker. They took me from him, leading me past the broken foyer and back into the buildings. The emergency workers had already taken over conference rooms and empty spaces, transforming them into emergency medical rooms and holding areas. I was ushered into one such room, sat in an uncomfortable chair, and poked and prodded by the medical worker's tools.

When I didn't respond to their questions, the worker pulled out the Pokegear and typed down their questions for me. I nodded at every one of them.

You want to take my blood pressure? Sure. You want to examine my ears? Go ahead. You want to stick a ten-centimeter metal tube into my ear canal? Why not-

My eyes shot open, the cold sensation of metal on the sensitive skin of my inner ear bringing me back to attention. I wanted to turn, to panic, but instead I tensed myself, anticipating the rest of the procedure.

The tube released a cold liquid, something antiseptic because it burned. It splashed along my inner ear, and I could feel tiny bubbles forming on my skin.

And then something magical happened.

I could hear.

It was only in the one ear, but the sounds of the world returned. I could hear the squeaking of the chair under me, the breathing of the nurse doing the procedure, and the sound of footsteps walking past our room. It was all loud, maybe even too loud.

I winced as something heavy was sat down near our room, creating a harsh echo on the linoleum floor.

The nurse gave me a patient look. "You could hear that?" Their voice was soft and reassuring.

"Yeah, and it was loud," I complained. "What the heck is that stuff?"

"Hyper potion," the nurse held up the small pink bottle so that I could see it. "It's good that you can hear again. The solution does wonders at fixing up cuts and breakages, but it won't restore anything that's not already there. Your eardrums must have just been ruptured, leaving most of the membrane together."

I gawked at the tiny bottle in their hands. For trainers, just one of those little vials was worth over a thousand pokedollars. As they started pouring a second one into their applicator tube, I couldn't help but feel just a bit of jealousy at the amount of money being so casually used.

"May you please turn your head? I can do your other ear now."

I did so, and one unpleasant procedure later, hearing had returned in both of my ears.

The nurse ran me through the guidelines for my newly healed ears as they applied more potion to my split lip, bandaging my more minor scrapes rather than wasting money on them.

"Your ears will be extremely sensitive for at least a few days while they're healing," they said. "No wearing headphones or listening to loud music. Honestly, you should probably avoid everything over eighty decibels for the next week or so. That means anything louder than a washing machine or a hair dryer."

I nodded. "Thanks, doc. Did you need anything else from me?"

They shook their head. "You should get another check-up done at the end of the week, but you seem to be in better health now. If you have no more pain or nausea, I'll need you to sit in the hall. The Ace Trainers should be calling in witnesses to get their statements."

I left their office, passing by a researcher as they were herded in after me. Along the opposite side of the hallway, someone had carried a bench in from outside. It had probably been the heavy slam that I'd heard. It was empty.

I sat down alone, tucking my knees close to me whenever a firefighter or policeman walked by. Eventually, a few other researchers and museum employees joined me on the bench. I saw no sign of Daisy, or Dr. Spinel, or any of the hostages we'd hopefully saved.

After waiting on that bench for what might've been a few minutes or over an hour, the door to the conference room across the hall opened.

A femme person with long silver hair and a red Ace Trainer uniform led a stranger from the room, giving them instructions on how to leave the building. After a moment, they turned to me and gestured me into the room.

Inside, the conference table had been dressed up with a small camcorder and a pile of papers, as well as a table on the interviewer's side of the camera. I sat down in the chair facing the camcorder, and the Ace Trainer sat across from me.

Now that I was focusing on them more, I could see that they were in their mid-twenties, with tan skin and an athlete's physique. They frowned as they adjusted their pile of papers, muttering under their breath. They were frustrated about something.

Their eyes flicked up to mine, and I averted my gaze. They were intense.

"So," their words were sharp and quick. "Before we get started, I should let you know that my name is Ace Trainer Karen, and I'll be conducting your statement collection and testimony. You should be aware that you are not currently under suspicion of any crime by the League, and are entitled to any rights granted to you by the League. If you wish to end your testimony, you may do so at any time."

Karen sighed. "Basically, I'm the lady in charge. You can tell me as much or as little as you want. As long as it's all true, you can go as soon as you want."

I nodded. "Sounds good to me," I gave her a tired smile. "Honestly, I can't wait to sleep after this. Beating up Rockets sure takes it out of you."

She raised an eyebrow. "I definitely want to hear about that while the camera is rolling. You look like a trainer, any chance you have your trainer card on you?"

I nodded, sliding the piece of plastic out of my pocket and across the table to her.

Karen snatched it up, scanning it with her tablet. "Thank the legends. This is going to save me so much time on the paperwork."

After writing a few things down, she leaned over and clicked the 'record' button on the camcorder.

"Please state your name for the record, and then go ahead and start by letting us know why you were at the museum today," she said.

I cleared my throat, deciding to look at Karen rather than the camcorder. "My name is Derek Tracy, and I actually came here today on a date..."

 

---

 

I spent the next hour telling Karen about everything that had happened today. I left nothing out that I could remember. I even admitted to allowing a wild ghost type to follow me around; something that Karen shot me a curious look for.

After I finished my story, I sat back in my chair, winded.

Talking for that long was hard.

Karen reach behind her and grabbed a disposable water, passing it to me. I greedily drank the entire thing in one go.

She looked down at her notes and let out a low whistle.

"That's a hell of a day," she said. "Rescued six hostages, took out two Rocket grunts, and helped capture an Officer? If all of this checks out, the League's gonna owe you a hefty chunk of change."

I absentmindedly nodded, eyes unfocused. I hadn't thought about it before she'd said it, but a lot of what I'd done today would fall under the League's rules for crime prevention and bounties. It was basically just a way for the League to pay back trainers who did acts of service for the region.

It didn't make me feel better. As I'd been telling my story, I'd realized all the things I'd done wrong, the places where I could have done better. I'd almost gotten myself killed multiple times today, let alone Daisy or the other hostages.

Karen bringing up Aestus didn't help either. Proton only got away because I hadn't communicated properly. Of course Misdreavus was going to go after Aestus. She'd been around when he'd taken control early on, and obviously hadn't picked up the context of Proton being higher ranked from the security booth that I had.

If I had just described who I wanted her to hit, there would be a much scarier person in custody.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

"Is there anything else you needed?" I asked Karen.

"Just some follow-up questions, and then you should be free to go."

"Alright, shoot."

"Earlier, you said that after you set off the silent alarm in the security booth, you were supposed to meet up with Daisy Oak at the fossil lab. Instead, you decided to stay watching the monitors. Why was that?"

I suddenly stood up from my chair, startling Karen and slamming my knees into the wooden conference table.

"Shit!" I cursed from both the pain and the realization that I'd forgotten something so big. I rubbed my knee, then planted both hands on the table and looked Karne in the eyes. "Proton stole something! I'd forgotten because Bruno and Brock showed up right after, but he took something that he said was important."

Karen frowned at me, furiously starting to write things down. "And you said you didn't see what he stole?"

I shook my head. "No, the display was angled away from the camera. It was in the... ...ah, shit. I don't remember the name of the exhibit. The one that had a bunch of miscellaneous artifacts in it. If you check the security feed, you should see at least where it was."

Karen nodded, taking down all the details I could offer her. She asked a few more follow-up questions but didn't have too many more places where she wanted me to elaborate.

After she finished, Karen reached over and clicked off the camcorder. I laid my head on the table in exhaustion.

I stiffened as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Karen was standing over me, doing her best to give me a reassuring look. With her icy demeanor, it came out more as a grimace.

"Look," she said. "Today sounds like it was long as hell. Do yourself a favor and find somewhere to bed down for the night. You got any friends in town?"

I sighed, dropping my head back to the table. "Yeah, and they're probably worried out of their minds. I lost my Pokenav+ though, so I can't even tell them I'm okay."

Karen raised an eyebrow. "I, uh, actually think I can help with that one."

She grabbed her tablet, flipping through a series of files. Eventually, she turned it back to me.

"This it?" She said.

On her screen was a photo of my orange Pokenav+ sitting on a desk, probably in the fossil lab if the still-air box next to it was any indication.

I smiled softly. "Yeah, that one's mine."

"I figured. You don't see a lot of those here. It was logged in evidence, but since you're claiming it I can check it out. Give me a minute."

Karen walked out of the room, returning a few minutes later with my Pokenav+ in a clear plastic bag. As she walked up, she stopped before she handed it to me.

"There's a lot of messages on this thing," she said. "I know today's been a lot, but you might want to tell your folks and your friends that you're okay."

At my grimace, she frowned. "Tell ya what, I didn't see anybody else who needed to get their statement taken outside. Since somebody else probably already got to them, I'll let you have the conference room. Take your time before you head out. That sound fair to you?"

I nodded gratefully. "Thanks, a lot," I said. "I think a little time alone would go a long way."

Karen nodded, grabbing up her papers, tablet, and camcorder. As she started to leave, she turned back to me

"Hey, kid," she said to get my attention. "You did a lot of good today. Don't let everything else get you down."

"Yeah, you're probably right," I sighed, not believing my own words but grateful for the vote of confidence.

She frowned, recognizing that I didn't believe her, but she shrugged. "Stick around town for a few days, in case I need to check up on anything in your testimony," Karen pondered for a moment before continuing. "And catch that ghost. She obviously wants to be your Pokemon."

I smiled. Misdreavus was probably in my shadow right now anyway.

"Will do," I said.

Karen nodded once more and headed through the door.

I collapsed backward into my chair.

I groaned, desperately wanting to sleep.

Instead, I pulled my Pokenav+ from the evidence bag and got to work.

Karen had been right, I had dozens of messages from the last few hours. They mostly came from my parents and my friends, but I raised an eyebrow as I saw a number I didn't recognize.

Before I opened it, I sent Mom and Dad a group text that said I was safe, and that I would call them tomorrow when I was rested up. They deserved to hear the whole story, even if it was exhausting to tell.

Next on the list was Daisy. She'd texted me over an hour ago, and again maybe fifteen minutes ago. The first was letting me know that she was safe, and that she was having her testimony taken in a room by the docks. The second message said that she'd finished up and that if I'd gotten her message, she'd be waiting for me by the front of the museum.

I smiled, now knowing she was safe. I had assumed she'd be fine, but seeing the text made me relax with relief. I texted her back that I'd be finished up soon, and that I'd meet her at the front.

Hana, Yuji, and Amy had all sent a myriad of messages, both in our group text and individually. Scrolling through them, I found that they had posted up outside of the museum after they heard the news, and would be sitting there until they heard from me.

That one actually made my eyes water. My friends had come as soon as they'd known I was in trouble and were refusing to leave without me. I texted them that I'd be outside within the hour and that I was safe.

My Pokenav+ immediately began to explode with responses, but I decided to silence them for now and instead look at the message from thr unknown number.

My eyes widened as I read it.

[[16:52, 8820-12-345]] Hello, Derek. This is Professor Oak. I received this number after I spoke with my granddaughter a short while ago, and I was hoping to arrange a call with you so that I may express my gratitude. You have done myself and my family a great service. Please, when you are rested and available, I would appreciate if you could reach me at this number. I am available all days of the week during normal business hours.

Truly, thank you,

Samuel Oak.

Professor of Pokemon.

I stared at the message.

Holy shit.

In my brain, I knew that Daisy was Oak's granddaughter, but really it didn't come up a lot when I thought about her. She was her own person, so I didn't think about her in that context. Daisy's relation to him had literally no bearing on my opinions of her. And in all honesty, she probably would've been fine without me. She was the one with the plan, the one who knew the layout, and the one who defeated the most Rockets.

But she was Professor Oak's granddaughter. And even if I had a tiny part in it, he thought she was safer now because of me.

There was a nagging voice at the back of my head.

You didn't earn that. At most, you asked a Pokemon to cut some plastic ties and scare some people.

I frowned, biting my lip as the doubt spoke up, but it couldn't change what I was looking at.

One of the most respected men in the world was grateful to me, an absolute nobody of a zero-badge trainer.

That almost made today worth it.

 

---

 

Daisy pulled me into a hug before I even saw her.

She walked out from a small alcove near the front of the building, mostly out of the way of the emergency workers, and tossed her arms around me.

I squeezed her back without even thinking about it.

We stayed there for a while. It was comfortable and we were finally safe. Honestly, it didn't even have anything to do with whatever this relationship was.

We just needed comfort. We'd both been through something terrifying and hadn't even had the opportunity to decompress afterward. Instead, We'd been shunted into rooms and immediately asked to relive all the crap we'd just seen.

We didn't end our embrace until an emergency worker cleared their throat, needing to get by. We let go of each other and pulled off into the main entrance haul where workers were still clearing away rubble.

I looked Daisy over, inspecting her for injuries as we started to leave the museum.

Daisy was in a better spot than me, both physically and emotionally. In fact, besides the bruise on her cheek from the grunt's gun, she was fine. Obviously exhausted and shaken, but she didn't have the same gloom about her that I knew I was exuding.

She leaned her head on my shoulder. "I'm glad we made it out safely," she said softly.

"It's all I could ask for," I agreed. "I really thought things would get way worse after we split up."

"It did, a bit," Daisy admitted, looking up at me. "I made it to the trucks and stopped one of them, but one did get away."

"Yeah, and I let an Executive get away, so let's call it even."

Daisy stopped, looking at me with worry. It was already night outside, and her eyes glimmered in the spotlights that the workers had put up.

"There was an Executive here? At the museum?" She narrowed her eyes with frustration. "And you didn't run away? Derek, they're dangerous. I-"

When she saw my grimace, she interrupted herself. Daisy bowed her head in shame.

"You don't want to hear this, you obviously know that," she apologized. "I just didn't realize how much more dangerous your day was than mine. That's terrifying."

I nodded. "It's been a really long day," my voice was scratchy with exhaustion. "It's okay to be upset."

Daisy shook her head. "No, that one's on me. We can obviously wait to swap stories. I'll have the time for it at the very least."

I raised an eyebrow, and she continued. "Between the Ace Trainers asking me to stay in town for a few days, and Grandpa ordering me to rest, I'm going to be staying in Pewter for the next week or two."

I smiled, happy at the good news even if it came from the worst possible circumstance.

"Ya know, he texted me?" I said.

"Yeah, I figured that he would. I let it slip that I was with you when I called him earlier and he wanted to check in on you himself."

"And did you tell him about...?" I gestured between the two of us. "Whatever this is?"

Daisy smiled softly and pink dusted her cheeks.

"I mean, I didn't say anything, but I'm sure he assumed a fair amount. I didn't really want to tell him until, well, I guess until I knew what this was?"

I nodded, feeling my own cheeks heat up. I'd been through so much today, and I was ready to collapse at any second, but the idea being suggested still put a spring in my step.

"Uh-I, uh," I stuttered. "I hoped I did okay enough before everything went down to warrant a second date?"

Daisy interlocked our fingers. "More than enough," she agreed. "Though, you're picking the location for the next one. I, obviously, can't be trusted."

"The museum was great, but I agree that I want to do the next one without nearly dying."

We kept walking down the long path of stairs from the museum to the street, enjoying the silence and the comfort of each other's company.

It was a nice moment, a happy moment.

And the sight of the dozens of reporters outside the police barricades made that moment slightly more sour.

I groaned. "I just want to go to sleep!" I whined.

Daisy's eyes hardened with determination. "Follow my lead," she said.

I nodded, letting her guide me by the arm.

As we approached the police barricade, camera flashes began to pop off and already the reporters started to yell questions toward us. They were obviously desperate for a story.

"You there, is it true that this attack was perpetrated by Team Rocket?"

"Did you see the rumored rare Pokemon that the Rocket Executive used to fight against the Elite Four's Bruno?"

"Just how many fossils did Team Rocket get away with?"

"Do you think this attack is a symbol of our larger regional protection being flawed?"

I shrunk as we got closer and closer. The reporters were almost feral, and more and more questions just kept coming. I honestly couldn't keep track of them all and they blended into a dull roar.

A policeman ran up to us, opening a metal gate in the barricade to let us leave. I gave them a grateful smile and they nodded back.

Before we stepped through, Daisy loudly cleared her throat.

All the questions stopped. Every camera turned to her.

"You all want to know our perspectives on the day's events," she started, voice calm, collected, and clear. "And unfortunately, you will have to wait for the League's official statement. Due to the nature of the ongoing investigation, we will not be answering your questions."

Several reporters groaned, complaining about the cold and their lack of details.

One particularly pushy reporter raised their hand. "Lisa Lapelle, Celadon Daily," they announced. Their voice was high and commanding. "You can't share details of the day, but could you at least tell us your opinions, Ms. Oak?"

There was a low murmur among the rest of the reporters as they realized who they were talking to. I was reminded for the umpteenth time that day how famous Daisy and her family were.

Daisy's lower jaw twitched slightly as she kept herself from clenching it. I could see it from next to her, but apparently, the reporter could see it too.

Lisa's face split into a triumphant grin, and they brushed their shoulder-length purple hair behind their ear, getting ready to write down whatever Daisy responded with.

"Ms. Lapelle, was it?" Daisy asked. "I am not at liberty to share my own personal experiences of the day, but I can assure you that the League has taken care of the situation with efficiency, grace, and humility."

The reporter's face fell at the neutral answer. She opened her mouth to ask a follow-up, but Daisy interrupted her.

"Those are all the questions we'll be answering today," Daisy declared. "Thank you for giving us the grace to rest from the day's events."

After a statement like that, not even Lisa Lapelle could argue with Daisy. The reporters didn't want to become the bad guys by harassing Daisy Oak after she lived through a terrorist attack. As we were walking through the crowd, though, I saw Lisa giving me a sharp look. I gulped and looked away.

We walked until we were out of earshot, and I turned to Daisy. "That was great!" I said. "When did the League tell you that we couldn't talk about the day, though? 'Cause I definitely missed that."

"Did I say that?" Daisy feigned innocence. "I think you'll recall that I said we wouldn't be answering questions, not that we couldn't."

"You're amazing," I said in awe.

Daisy tapped her nose, smiling. "Being who I am has its perks. Becoming a Grand Festival champion gave me plenty of practice talking to nosey reporters."

"Derek!" A familiar voice called in the distance.

I turned, recognizing the voice, breaking into a wide grin. Not even the weight of today could make me any less excited to see Yuji, Hana, and Amy sprinting down the street to meet me.

Amy was the one in the lead. They were surprisingly quick when they wanted to be, and they slammed into me. Their shoulder dug into my ribs as they started squeezing me in a tight hug.

Instead of hugging them back, I opened my arms, letting Hana and Yuji join in as they reached me and the four of us held a group hug.

Tears formed in my eyes and I got the closest to really crying that I'd been all day. I'd seen them just this morning, but it felt like a lifetime had passed since I'd been around my friends.

The comfortable hug ended, though, when Amy released their arms and started hitting me.

"Stop! Almost! Dying!" They yelled, punctuating each word with a punch.

"Ow ow ow!" I couldn't help but chuckling even if I was in pain. "I'm already bruised as it is!"

Yuji put his hand on my shoulder, making sure I was

looking him in the eye. "Are you alright, my friend?"

I nodded and shook my head at the same time. "Nothing's broken that won't heal."

He smiled, gripping my shoulder tightly before releasing it.

It was Hana's turn to worry as she pushed to the front and started picking at my clothes. "Oh, Derek," she teared up. "You look awful!"

"Guys, I swear, I'm fine!" I held up my arms to show them that, but hid my wince when my shoulders twinged.

Maybe the explosion was a touch too far, I thought, rubbing my shoulder.

Hana didn't seem satisfied. "But you are okay? And Artis, is he okay?"

I nodded. "He's safe, and he actually learned a new move. Maybe he just needed some danger to get his training going."

I cracked a grin, but no one laughed at my joke.

I sighed. "Guys, I promise, we're okay. We got out of there with just a couple of scratches. And I'd really like to knock out before I tell the story again."

Hana hesitantly nodded and Amy stopped punching me. Yuji was the only one to embrace my words.

"If Derek says that he is fine, he has earned our trust enough to believe him," he said resolutely.

He stepped forward, patting me on the back. I glanced at him, knowing that he was hiding his own fear. I'd never gotten this much physical contact from him.

"Before we leave though, guys," I said. "I actually was wanting to introduce you to someone."

All three of my friends turned to Daisy, eyes widening as though they had just realized she existed.

"Hello," she waved. "I'm Daisy."

My friends waved back, and as one, they pulled me into a huddle.

"Derek!" Hana angrily whispered. "Why didn't you tell us she was here!"

"You were a bit distracted by his wounds," Yuji said regretfully.

"Nah, loverboy's embarrassed of us," Amy cackled, giving me a mischievous look.

The other two turned to me and I felt blood rush to my face.

"Well, I wasn't until you pulled this!" I gestured to the huddle.

They went silent and began to introspect. Yuji nodded. "He does raise a valid point," he agreed. "I don't believe that this complies with social conventions."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you're no fun. If we wanted, we could milk this for at least another five minutes."

I panicked. "Guys, I love you all dearly, but can we please do this another night?"

Amy abashedly nodded, looking a little embarrassed and put out as she remember just what I'd been through today.

The other two agreed and we broke the huddle. Daisy was standing there patiently, both pretending that she hadn't heard anything and making it very clear that she had heard everything.

"Anyway," I said, my voice higher than normal. "Daisy, this is Yuji, Hana, and Amy."

I gestured to each of my friends as I introduced them, and they each waved and nodded as their names were called.

Daisy smiled. "Actually, I'm familiar with all of you, at least by name. When Derek let me know about your plan in Viridian, I watched each of your matches against Giovanni."

My friends all showed varying levels of embarrassment, but Hana stiffened when Daisy turned to her in particular.

"Hana Kaneal, right?" Daisy said. "Derek has told me a lot about your analytical approach to battle preparation, and I'd love to hear more about it."

Hana stuttered a response, both a little star-struck and embarrassed at having her spreadsheets praised. I didn't catch what she said, though, because I caught Amy giving Daisy an odd look.

I furrowed my eyebrows, but I didn't have time to ask about it.

"Derek?" Daisy called me back to the conversation. "Could I talk to you for a moment before I head out?"

"Uh, yeah!" I turned to the others. "Catch up with you guys in a second?"

Amy wiggled their eyebrows at me, but other than that my friends were respectful and gave their goodbyes to Daisy.

"It's been nice to meet you," Daisy said to them.

We stepped a few meters away, just out of earshot.

"I know they're a lot," I started. "But really, they're good people-"

"They're lovely," Daisy interrupted me with a smile. "They seem like a great match for you."

I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "Oh, thank the legends. I really thought they were going to do something to embarrass me."

"Oh, no," she chuckled. "They did, but I found it very endearing."

My cheeks went red.

"And that's actually what I wanted to talk about," Daisy said softly. She wiped something off of the bandage on my lip. "I know that you're going to be very busy this week, but I'd like to see you again?"

"I'd like that too," I said. My voice was shaky and rambling. "Do you want to join us, maybe tomorrow? We're probably not going to be doing anything date worthy, but that I could tell you what happened when I tell them, so I then I could tell all of you at once-"

Daisy giggled, grasping my hand. "That sounds wonderful. Text me when you want me to join you?"

I squeezed her hand, grateful for the interruption. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Good," she nodded. "It's getting late, and you and I desperately need sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, Derek."

Daisy leaned forward, pressing her lips to my cheek.

She was so soft, and the moment ended far too quickly.

"Goodnight, Daisy," I stuttered out.

She smiled, turned, and walked off into the streets of Pewter.

I stood there for a long while.

My heart soared.

Sleep? Who needs sleep? I thought. I could fight Proton and Aestus right now, two v one!

I punched the air, stopping just short of cheering out loud.

I only stopped when I heard snickering behind me. Amy had come back to check on me, leaving the other two waiting farther up the road.

"You saw nothing," I threatened, my face going bright red.

"Sure, sure," they laughed. "You keep telling yourself that."

We started walking toward the others, but I slowed my pace when I thought about what I'd seen just a few minutes before.

"Hey, Ames?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"What was that look you were giving Daisy earlier? Anything I should be worried about?"

Amy stopped walking, looking up at me with an eyebrow raised. "You don't see it?" They asked.

I frowned in confusion. "See what?"

Amy genuinely thought about it for almost a minute. "Nope," they finally said, shaking their head. "I'm not jumping into that Diglett hole. If you don't see it, then you shouldn't worry about it."

"You sure?"

Amy tucked their hands into the pockets of their sweater. "Yup. Just focus on the happy thing you got going. You both seem like you really like each other."

Amy, of all people, saying that gave me a real sense of comfort.

"Thanks, Ames."

"No problem."

We joined the others and walked back to the Pokemon Center in comfort.

 

---

 

I was so excited to sleep, the Pokemon Center was right there, but I knew there was something I had to do first.

"Hold up, guys," I said to the others.

They stopped and looked to me. "What's wrong, Derek?" Hana gave me a worried look. She hadn't stopped analyzing me or my injuries the whole walk home.

"Nothing's wrong," I reassured her. "I just need to talk to someone before we go to bed. If you want you can come with me, but it'll be quick."

They all exchanged looks, but it was Yuji who summed it up for me.

"My friend," he said. "After a day like today, there is very little chance that we would leave you unattended at night."

I shrugged. "Fair enough."

I stepped toward the alley that I'd been using for the last few nights. My friends followed me, confused but not questioning.

I whispered out to the shadows. "It's okay, you can come out now."

The familiar, and now comforting, sound of a little girl giggling echoed through the alley. My friends all stiffened, but I held up a hand to try and calm them.

Misdreavus didn't take advantage of the atmosphere and try any pranks, instead simply drifting out of my shadow.

"Dreavus!" She chirped, giving me a happy smile.

I smiled. It felt like so long ago that this Pokemon had tried to kill me, even if it was only a little over a week ago. Now, she had saved me more times than I could count.

I gently laid my hand on her head and she pushed up into it, rubbing her ghostly head against my fingers. She started purring.

"You did a lot of great work today," I said, praising her. "And I can't thank you enough for it."

Misdreavus opened her red and yellow eyes, meeting my gaze with a smile. She was very cute.

"And I know that I already promised you a whole cake. I will deliver on that," I said quickly as her eyes looked a little distrustful. She relaxed. "But I also wanted to offer for you to come permanently become a member of my team. You would live with us, get stronger with us, eat with us, and play with us. Does that sound good to you?"

Misdreavus didn't miss a beat before she started nodding, making it obvious that this what she had wanted the entire time.

"Drea, drea, drea!" Misdreavus chirped in excitement. She did a small loop in the air.

I smiled, pulling a Pokeball of my belt. "Good. If you're serious, you just have to get into this-"

"Misdreavus!" The ghost flew into the Pokeball before I could finish my sentence, forcing it open with a flash of red light.

It rumbled twice, clicking on the third beat.

A successful catch.

I grinned at the Pokeball. I'd caught my first ever Pokemon.

I released her from her ball, and Misdreavus reappeared in front of me.

She looked around, a little confused to be still in the alley, but happily floated about.

"Calm down," I chuckled. "There's no need to rush this. I just wanted to know if you wanted a name before we all went to sleep?"

Misdreavus' eyes went wide as saucers. She couldn't make it more clear that she desperately wanted a nickname.

I nodded at her, glad. I'd already picked her name hours ago, before I'd even decided that I was going to catch her.

It had been in the fight with the Arbok and Raticate, watching her appear and disappear in a wisp of black vapor.

"Is it okay if I call you Wisp?"

"Dreavus!" She furiously nodded, taking to her name immediately.

Wisp floated into the sky, doing a victory lap of the alley. She cheered the whole time, and honestly, I started looking around to make sure other people wouldn't come to inspect the alley.

I turned to see all three of my friend's slackjawed faces.

After a moment, Yuji broke the silence.

"So, Derek," he said slowly. "I assume you've solved your haunting problem?"

I laughed at all of them. I didn't often get to see them all shocked, and it was a good feeling that ended my bad day on a good note.

That night, I slept with Artis and Wisp both cuddled into my bed.

My two Pokemon kept any lurking nightmares away.

Notes:

Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I have just a few notes about some of Derek's thought process and mental health.

So I'm hoping that with this chapter you can tell that Derek is very overly critical of himself and that he holds himself to a much higher standard than other people do. In all reality, he did amazing by helping in the ways that he did. He'll get recognition for it later, but the League was first alerted to the break-in from the silent alarm. If it had just been Daisy, she would've prioritized the researchers first, and Brock and Bruno would not have been present to battle Proton.

He doesn't see that, though, even with the people around him telling him others. Speaking of, we got to meet Karen in this chapter! She'll be a bit more important later, but I really want to ease into her as a character. For now, she's a senior Ace Trainer working for the League.

Anyway, I think that's all the notes I have, so thank you for reading!

Chapter 14: On The Table

Notes:

One last chapter of winding down things from the museum arc, then we'll get into the Pewter Arc proper! I'm so excited for you guys to see some of the chapters I have in the backlog! (P.S. I finally have a backlog!)

It was mid-morning before I woke up the next day.

I was a little too warm between Artis and the covers, and I kicked the bedding down to cool off. Both of my Pokemon murmured at the disturbance but neither one woke up.

I glanced around. Everyone else had left the room, leaving me alone with my Pokemon.

There was a sticky note attached to the bunk bed support near my head. I pulled it down and read it with bleary eyes.

We're lounging downstairs when you're awake.
No rush,
Hana.

I groaned, pushing myself out of bed. All of my muscles complained. My scrapes and bruises from the day before made me feel stiff and dry.

Artis stayed asleep, but Wisp slowly blinked her eyes open.

"Dreavus," she chirped quietly, giving me a wide smile.

"Good morning," I smiled. My voice was hoarse. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Mis drea!" The ghost nodded.

"Good," I got up and stretched, wincing as my body groaned and creaked. "I have stuff to do today, so we can't stay in bed all day."

I took a warm shower, loosening my sore muscles and cleaning the grime from my bones. I hadn't showered after yesterday due to sheer exhaustion, so I rinsed concrete dust out of my hair and cleaned dry blood off of my scrapes. I made a note to clean my bedding before tonight.

When I came back, Wisp had started waking Artis, and my Spheal was grumbling into the covers. He'd had a hard battle yesterday and had learned a new move. I didn't blame him for still being tired.

I returned him to his ball, letting him rest some more. I turned to Wisp.

"I have a bunch of conversations I need to have today. Do you want to go in your ball, or can I trust you to hang out in my shadow?"

Wisp tilted her little purple head from side to side. She debated the options before nodding twice.

The second one.

I nodded. "Good, and we can get your cake while we're out. Don't think I forgot."

"Midreavus!" Wisp cheered, vanishing into my shadow.

I smiled at the ground. Just a week ago I'd been terrified at the thought, but after yesterday I couldn't be happier to have Wisp around me at all times.

I grabbed my things and headed downstairs.

 

---

 

The lobby was surprisingly light on trainers when I went downstairs. There were still dozens of people walking around, but there was enough room that I found my friends lounging on a couch in one of the recreation areas all by themselves.

As I approached, my friends all noticed me and smiled, gesturing for me to join them in front of one of the large televisions.

"Good morning," Hana gave me a two-fingered wave, which I returned.

"Hey, Derek!" Amy exclaimed. They hugged me, but I saw an odd look flash across their face. It disappeared as soon as I saw it, so I didn't bring it up.

Yuji just offered me a handshake, gesturing to the television.

"We were unsure as to when you wanted to awaken, so we decided to watch some of the day's matches to pass the time," said Yuji.

I nodded, squeezing between Yuji and Hana. "Anybody good?"

Amy snorted, and Hana gave an agreeing look. "There are a few up-and-comers challenging today and tomorrow, though they are also just rookie trainers," Hana said. "Some of them did draw a crowd, though."

The Pewter Gym was packed. It was easy to see where all the trainers from the Center had gone to. I wasn't used to seeing a sold-out gym for a first-badge challenge, not even with all the battles I'd watched at home in Hoenn.

The display showed that the current battle was a 'Portia Cervelo', a trainer from Cerulean. She was tall and wispy, with blonde locks and dark skin. Portia wore an athlete wear outfit, complete with nylon pants and a riding jacket.

I only gave her a cursory glance, though, because her Pokemon had my attention. I didn't recognize the green quadripedal creature at first, but as it fired a series of Razor Leaf attacks, something started to worm at my brain.

"Isn't that..." I gestured to the TV.

Hana nodded. "Chikorita, normally given out as the grass-type sponsor Pokemon for the Johto region. She received hers from her family, and they must be loaded to afford one."

I raised an eyebrow at Hana's intensive knowledge of this girl.

She shrugged. "They had a pregame interview. It was a grass type, so I paid attention. I still think Bulbasaur is the better regional starter, though."

I glanced over at Yuji and Amy for their takes, but both were looking intently at the screen.

Not at the screen, I realized. They're just not looking at me.

No one in the group really seemed to care about the match, as when Portia's Chikorita took a really hard hit, none of them really reacted.

They were staring forward, and occasionally I'd see one of them glance at me out of the corner of their eye, looking away when they saw me looking.

They're trying to act natural.

My friends obviously didn't care about some other trainer's battle, at least not as much as they cared about me. They were keeping up appearances to let me have a normal day after the hell I'd had yesterday.

I inwardly sighed. I appreciated the gesture, but I didn't want my friends to go out of their way for me. It was best to resolve this soon, and I could do so by just giving them the whole story of what happened yesterday.

"Hey guys, I'm starving. Anybody want to get something to eat?"

 

---

 

I texted Daisy on our way to lunch and she met us at the restaurant. She was dressed much more casually today, but still in greens and browns. Thanks to the sheer amount of options Hana had gotten me for the date, we ended up matching again.

Daisy waved as she saw us, giving me a quick hug. She turned to the rest of the group.

"Hello, Hana, Yuji, and Amy," Daisy said, nodding to each one as she listed their names. All of them brightened that she'd remembered them.

I watched Amy as they exchanged greetings with Daisy. Not once did I see a trace of whatever they'd been bothered about last night.

I left it alone. I trusted Amy, and if they said that I didn't need to worry about it, then I didn't even want to think about it.

We all walked into the restaurant. We had decided against our normal pizza joint, with the others being insistent on finding a nicer place after I'd told them Daisy would be joining us. Instead, we'd found a place that Amy had tried on their day off, a little more of an upscale diner. It was clean and a little pricier, but it was still casual and comfortable.

We piled into a round booth, with me in the middle, Daisy and Hana on either side of me, and Amy and Yuji on the ends. Everyone sat facing me, and to a lesser extent Daisy, so that we could swap stories about what had happened yesterday.

"So," I cleared my throat. I looked towards my three friends. "I know you guys want to hear the whole story," I turned to Daisy, "and you want to know what happened after we split up."

They all nodded, though Yuji sent me an alarmed glance. He hadn't realized that I'd been alone at all during the attack.

"I think the best thing that I can do, is that I can just start from the beginning. If I miss anything, you can help me fill in where you remember. Right, Daisy?"

Daisy agreed, slipping her hand into mine under the table. I squeezed it.

Over the next hour, I told my story exactly as I'd told it to Ace Trainer Karen yesterday. Daisy occasionally chimed in, reminding me of things I'd forgotten. She was actually amazing at giving context to the gaps in my knowledge, like the layout of the museum or where she thought the Rockets had entered the building from.

Yuji, Hana, and Amy were mostly wordless throughout all of this, with the exception of Yuji occasionally scolding me for running into danger. It wasn't only them listening, either. Though they tried to be subtle about it, I noticed the waitstaff occasionally hovering by our table.

I didn't blame them for it. This was their hometown, and very few outlets had been able to get enough details to report exactly what had happened. This morning, Leader Brock had issued a statement, but it was mostly what you'd expect of a vague update given during an ongoing investigation.

When I finally got to the bit where I'd spilt up with Daisy, I hesitated.

I already told the League about everything that happened, but that was to help them hopefully track down some Rockets. Will it actually help my friends if they know how much danger I was in?

I pondered that for a long moment.

All of my friends, even Daisy, only knew so much about the day. Everything I'd told them about so far had been beyond the expectation of any trainer, but it was a necessity brought on by the danger I'd been facing.

The moment Daisy and I had split up and I'd gone after Rockets after I was safe? That was stupidity.

I'd walked straight into a fight between a Gym Leader, a member of the Elite Four, and someone who could simultaneously fight a Gym Leader and a member of the Elite Four.

It made sense for Daisy to fight the Rockets. She'd had two of her Pokemon with her, two Pokemon that had been trained to battle at the highest tiers of Contest battling. Even if it wasn't as intensive or brutal as gym battling, but it still put her on another level.

On the other hand, I'd been a zero-badge trainer with a half-fainted Pokemon and a ghost that I hadn't caught, walking into a fight that I knew professionals were already taking care of.

Those two things weren't quite like each other.

And yeah, I was embarrassed and ashamed that I'd done what I did, but that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was that I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I couldn't tell them that, not when I'd seen already how much they worried about me.

So instead, I played it down. I said this:

"After I left Daisy, I headed up towards the front of the museum," I glanced around, and everyone was following my words. Even the waitstaff had stopped being subtle. "Brock and Bruno were already there, and they were taking on the Rockets. The main guy, Proton, let slip that they were going to teleport out."

I felt Wisp shift out of my shadow under the table, rubbing her head against my leg in comfort. It made selling the lie a little easier.

"I stayed out of it, for the most part," I lied. "There was a big explosion from one of Proton's Pokemon, and in the confusion, Wisp used Mean Look on one of the guys."

When Daisy shot me a look of confusion, I explained. "I caught the," I glanced at the waitstaff, who went back to work when they realized I was aware of their presence. "friend from yesterday. I named her Wisp."

"That's good," Daisy nodded, though I could see she was still uncomfortable with the idea. "She really got us through the day."

I nodded, clearing my throat. "Anyway, I got injured in the explosion and had to get treated before I gave my testimony. That's why I finished up later than you did."

I didn't say things that I knew I should have said. Since I was already downplaying the danger, I left a lot of my injuries unspoken. They could see the obvious scrapes and bruises, but they didn't need to know about my hearing.

"And that's everything," I finally said. "Did you guys want to know anything else?"

Hana and Yuji shook their heads, looking mollified with what I'd given them, but Amy gave me a suspicious look.

I felt vulnerable under their gaze. I might've appeased the others and Daisy, but I physically couldn't lie to Amy. Their emotional senses were too good, and I knew that they could feel how conflicted I was about my own retelling.

Amy didn't speak up, and instead slowly nodded.

That nod carried with it an understanding. We would be talking about it later, and they would be getting the whole story.

Daisy must've sensed the tension in the air, because she was a saint and tried to throw me a bone.

"Now that that's out of the way," Daisy said, drawing the attention of the others to her. "I'm familiar with what Derek's told me, but I would love to hear more about each of you. For instance, where in Kanto are you from?"

Daisy had posed it as a question to the table but looked to Hana first. It made sense, given that she was the only one that Daisy had exchanged more than greetings with.

Hana wilted under the attention. "Oh, uh, okay," She stuttered. I hadn't missed it yesterday, Hana was starstruck by Daisy. "I'm from the Sevii Islands, down south."

"Oh! What island?" Daisy asked, genuinely seeming interested. "I did a tour of them after my contest season, and they were beautiful!"

Hana blushed. "I'm originally from One Island, but I did live on Three Island for a while."

"One Island was my favorite! The research going on there is impeccable, and I have a friend of a friend that is working on some exciting technology regarding inter-regional communication there!" Daisy fawned, "And Mt. Ember is a beautiful sight to see."

Hana nodded, excitedly telling Daisy about some of her favorite memories of the volcano on One Island. I leaned back, letting the two talk across me. It was nice to see Hana making a new friend, especially when that friend was Daisy.

My Pokenav+ vibrated.

I looked down at a text from Yuji.

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged, giving a slight upturn of a grin.

[[12:52, Yuji]] Daisy seems nice. Were you going to invite her to come to see our match or train with us?

I typed back.

[[12:52, me]] That couldnt hurt. Ill probs invite her to the battle, but shes supposed to be resting this week. btw, did you still want to do that today?

[[12:53, Yuji]] Only if you are feeling up to it, my friend. I am more than happy to push it by several days to give you a chance to recover. You are going to need it, after all.

I scoffed, looking up at Yuji. He had a smug look on his face.

Hana and Daisy didn't seem bothered by my outburst, but Amy shot us both a look. I quickly set up a group text for the three of us, sending Amy a screenshot of what Yuji had just said. They immediately started giggling.

I winced at Amy's all-caps response. It always looked like they were shouting when they texted.

[[12:54, Ames]] OOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!! YUJI CALLING YOU OUT DEREK! XD

[[12:45, me]] I think ill be okay. Im rested enough to wipe your sorry butt off the field. Dont forget who won the last battle.

[[12:45, Yuji]] That may be true, but I seem to recall the overall score being 4-1 in my favor. A betting trainer would put their money on my team.

[[12:46, Ames]] THE CLAP BACK!!!!

[[12:47, me]] Ya know, fair enough. Ive got some calls I need to make first, but we can one v one tonight.

[[12:47, me]] Does like 5 work for you?

[[12:47, Yuji]] I will look forward to it, my friend.

[[12:48, Ames]] Two rivals, meeting at sunset. Some people would call that ROMANTIC!

I sighed, looking at Amy. They were not-so-silently cackling into their Pokegear. Yuji gave me an unimpressed look. I nodded.

He leaned across the table, flicking Amy on the forehead.

"Ow!" They complained, rubbing their head.

Hana and Daisy snapped out of their conversation, obviously confused at what had happened. Hana giggled, but Daisy gave me a concerned look.

I shook my head while chuckling. "It's fine," I whispered to her. "Amy deserved it."

She seemed no less concerned but gave me an unsure smile.

I turned to address the group as a whole. "Now that I've finally eaten, I have some phone calls I need to make back at the Center. Me and Yuji's battle is still going to happen today, and we decided to do it around five."

Yuji nodded. "Did you want to meet at the waterwheel, or would you prefer just to battle at the Center? The field should be empty of the masses as the challenges at the Gym won't end until late this evening."

"The Center works. There's no reason to walk all the way out there for a quick battle."

I turned to offer for Daisy to join us, but Hana beat me to the punch. "Daisy, I don't know if you're busy or anything, but I'd love to show you more of my battle research at the Center?" Hana hesitated. "Or not, if that seems like it would be too much...?"

Daisy beamed at her. "No, that sounds lovely. I'd be happy to come with you," She turned to me. "Are you sure you should be battling, though? I know that you said that you're fine, but Artis took a big hit yesterday."

I winked at her. "It'll be okay. I've got some plans that have been percolating since last night."

She caught what I was hinting at, summer green eyes gleaming with amusement.

We settled our bill, heading outside into the cool Kanto weather. Yuji decided not to join us in returning to the Pokemon Center, instead heading off with his team to do some last-minute training. Hana excitedly took to walking ahead of us with Daisy in tow, the two discussing different methods of analyzing opponents and their Pokemon.

Amy and I trailed behind them. Instead of broaching the subject of what I'd left out of my story, Amy settled next to me in a comfortable silence. It was nice to just walk around Pewter, letting the wind ruffle our clothes and the sounds of the city settle over us.

I let my mind wander. I'd been through a lot yesterday, but all my friends my life easier. Yuji was nothing if not supportive, and Amy was an emotional rock that I could rely on in the best and worst of times. Hana was like me in a lot of ways, driven in her goal, but also different in ways that complimented me. Her analysis had been key to settling me into the region and making me feel at home here.

Daisy was... well, she was Daisy. Even though she hadn't been traveling with me, her texts had been some of the strongest moral support I'd had since getting here. Not even counting the multiple times she'd actively saved my life. Daisy was smart, analytical, and kind. She had an energy about her that just made people like her, which was probably why Hana had taken to her so quickly.

I glanced up at the two of them, smiling at their involved conversation. It made sense that they would be friends. They both loved researching Pokemon in their own ways, and both had amazingly intelligent minds. They both had little polite mannerisms and were inviting and fun. Even though Daisy was a little older, they were two Seedot in a pod together.

Honestly, they could be sisters...

I stopped walking.

Legends damn it, Amy.

I'd never seen Daisy and Hana side by side before, so I'd never put two and two together. Where Daisy was dark blonde nearing brown hair, Hana had light brown hair edging on blonde. Hana had lime green eyes whereas Daisy's were the color of summer. They both were tall, willowy, and graceful.

With the bright sunlight of the city making their features glow, they were almost identical.

Well, that wasn't true. Daisy's features were more delicate and rounded, and Hana's face was more angular and sharp. One was tanned from years spent on the islands, while the other had a light complexion from days spent in a research lab. One of them loves contests and the other loved battling. Hana wanted nothing more than to make it all the way to the Elite Four, and Daisy was still deciding what field of research she wanted to specialize in. Daisy focused on beautiful Pokemon that could create graceful performances, and Hana wanted hardy and strong grass types who could survive any amount of punishment.

They were very different people.

But at a glance? Even I'd struggle to tell them apart.

Someone tugged on my elbow, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked down, and Amy was giving me a grin that was somewhere between smug, abashed, and understanding.

"You just saw it, huh?" They said.

I sighed. "Yeah..."

Amy shrugged. "It's not like it means anything, but like, you gotta admit it's a little weird. At least, it shows you have a type."

My posture sunk even lower. "Ames, I'd have to be into Hana for that to work. And you have to stop shipping me with our friends."

"Nope," they clicked their tongue. "This is the closest I get to reality TV on the routes. I'm milking this for all its worth."

I went to speak, but they kept talking. "And at the end of the day, you and Daisy like each other. So it's not like it'll change anything."

"I'll pay you ten bucks to never bring this up again."

"Deal," they held out their hand and nodded when I handed them a bill. "After we get back to the Center. Imagine what would happen if you won a big battle, like at a Gym, and then you messed up and kissed the wrong one! The drama!"

"Amy!" I groaned.

 

---

 

When we got to the Center, I basically fled the rest of the group. Amy wouldn't just drop it, and I was not in the right headspace for thinking about any of that. Hana led Daisy and Amy up to the room to grab her laptop while I left for the computer lab.

It was weird walking around the Pewter Center with so few people around. It felt empty, even though this was probably the level most Centers operated at. The crowd those other rookies had claimed at the Gym was kind of unsettling.

I settled into the same stall I'd used last time, booting up the computer and pulling in my Pokenav+. I had two calls to make today and dialed my home number first. Mom and Dad deserved to hear everything first.

The phone rang for a moment before it picked up. The screen flickered on, revealing my dad's worried face. He was a little out of breath, like he'd come running when he'd hear the phone ring.

"Hey, Dad," I said, giving him an awkward wave.

"'Hey', yourself," He grumbled, settling into his chair. "This is the second time in a week that you're calling home to tell me you almost died."

I looked down at the desk, feeling shame in my chest. "Yeah..."

"And to be fair to you," he said in a flippant tone. I looked up in confusion. He was no less worried, but he was giving me a joking smile. "I did tell you that I almost died twice in my first month as a rookie. You didn't need to try and even the score, son."

I gave him a soft smile. "I just wanted to outdo you, ya know? I already have plans for near-death-experience number three."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Your mom would be so mad to hear us joking about this."

"Where is she? I thought she'd be home?"

He tilted his head, trying to decide how much he could say. I was used to it. With both of my parents having pretty important jobs, there were times when neither could talk about their jobs in their full contexts.

"She's dealing with some stuff going on at Evergrande. Nothing crazy, but she's spending a few days on the island rather than taking Bishop back and forth."

I nodded. Bishop was Mom's Gardevoir, given to her by the League to get to and from the island in emergencies. Teleporting sucked, though, so it always took a lot out of her to do more than a trip every few days.

Thinking about teleporting made me think about yesterday: the Alakazam vanishing with Proton and the rest of the grunts, failing to communicate with Wisp and grabbing the wrong guy-

"Der?" Dad asked.

I glanced up from my thoughts. I'd been zoning out.

"Sorry, Dad, I was just thinking about yesterday."

He nodded, his braid slipping down his shoulders to his back. My dad was dressed in a casual outfit today, a graphic t-shirt with a Gliscor on the front. That meant he hadn't gone on a patrol today.

"You know, Der," he said. "If you want to talk about it..."

I nodded. "I know, Dad. And I was actually calling to fill you guys in on what happened, so I could let you know that I was okay."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I was actually going to say I might be one of the worst people to talk to about it," my dad leaned forward and grabbed a stack of papers off the desk, holding them up for me to see. "I pulled some strings with the Kanto office. I know what happened already."

"Oh."

I sat back, thinking about it. If Dad had access to the whole file, he'd already read my testimony. I'd told Karen everything, so there wasn't much more to share.

"What do you mean you'd be a bad person to talk to about it?" I finally asked.

He cleared his throat. "I'm your dad, but I'm also a career Ace Trainer. I'm proud of you as both of those people. That's not what you should be hearing right now. You need people who are going to set you straight and remind you that you're still a newbie."

I sighed. "Trust me, I know that I could've done better."

"That's not what I mean, Der!" My dad scolded. "You did better than half of my recruits in that situation. What I mean is that you should be talking with people who can help with the leftover jitters. You're still a rookie, and you don't have the mental facilities yet to deal with the doubt that always comes after missions like that. Honestly, you should be seeing a therapist."

My eyes snapped up to him. "A therapist? Dad, I might be rattled, but I'm not that bad."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter if you think that. You went through two traumatic experiences in less than a month. I've benched trainers for less than that," his gaze softened. "And it's not like there's anything wrong with talking to someone. You know your Uncle Enrique?"

I nodded. He was one of my dad's friends, someone I'd known all my life. If I remember correctly, he also worked at the League with Dad.

"Yeah, he's been coming to family barbeques since I was like, six."

Dad smiled. "He's my therapist."

I gaped at him. I had no idea Dad was going to therapy.

"Yeah," he continued. "I started seeing him after I ran too many missions too close together. It was affecting my calls and my decisions. I wasn't getting enough sleep, and I just felt numb sometimes. I spent more time staring off into the distance than actually thinking about my life."

I swallowed. Some of those things felt really familiar.

"I got into contact with Enrique through the League as part of my medical package. After talking to him for a few months, he helped me unwind the knot in my chest. I could finally sleep better. I'm not saying you'll have the same experience, but just talking to somebody who's trained could probably help a whole lot."

I nodded, admitting that he was probably right.

My dad was right about most things.

"Okay, Dad," I said. "I'll give it some thought."

He smiled. "Good, that's all I'm asking," he readjusted in his seat. "Now, tell me about this ghost type. Have you caught it yet?"

I let out a breath, happy that we'd moved on to something that I was actually excited about.

"Yeah, Dad, and she's amazing. Her name is Wisp..."

 

---

 

I sat back against the computer lab chair, Wisp sitting happily in my lap. I'd talked to my dad for over an hour. Once he met Wisp, he demanded that I recite everything I knew about training ghosts, especially the dangers for inexperienced trainers. After that, he couldn't stop crooning over how cute she was and had her do all sorts of flips and twirls for him.

I looked at the clock.

14:31.

I still had a few hours before my battle with Yuji, but I wanted to relax a bit first. I wanted to make the next call quick, but a weight settled in my stomach as I thought about dialing the number. I was more nervous about this call than I had been about calling my parents.

Before I started the call, I sent a message to my friend in Hoenn. She'd want to know that I'd caught Wisp, the ghost nut that she was. After I finished I wrung my hands, knowing that I couldn't procrastinate anymore.

I dialed the number for the Oak Pokemon Laboratory.

The call immediately picked up, showing me a person about my age with dark hair and circular glasses sitting in the center of the Oak Lab's research floor. They had a traveled look to them, like they spent a lot of time outside, but were extremely professional in their posture and words.

"Professor Oak's Laboratory, this is Kyle. How can I help you?" they said.

"Uh, hi. I'm Derek Tracy, and I was calling to return a message from Professor Oak?"

Kyle smiled, clicking on their computer a few times. "Yes, Derek Tracy. Ah, it says here that the Professor is expecting your call, and to forward you through to his office. I'll move you through right now."

"Thanks, Kyle," I said.

"No problem! The Professor will see you now."

The screen flickered and Kyle disappeared. The camera now showed a private lab where Professor Oak was scrawling some notes on a board. The old man was wearing his bright white researcher's coat over a red polo and a set of khaki shorts. He smiled at the screen when he saw me and stepped forward, smile-line wrinkles showing proudly.

"Hello, Mr. Tracy," Professor Oak said. "Thank you for returning my call."

"It's no problem, sir. I was honored to get a message from you."

The old man's grin widened, and he waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense, I am just an old man with some titles under my belt, nothing more."

I chuckled at that. I was talking to a living legend and he was being humble.

"I don't think so, sir. You're one of the most respected people on the planet."

"Hmm," he mused. "You may be right, but I am also still just a man. A man who has a debt to settle."

I frowned. "I wouldn't go that far, sir. I just ended up at the right place and at the wrong time. You don't owe me anything."

"I disagree," Professor Oak said flatly. "And I would be lying if I did not say that I also see you as a promising young trainer that I was interested in helping develop further."

I sucked in a breath. I really hoped he wasn't trying to give me anything too crazy.

"Mr. Tracy, I'll admit I was curious about your decision to join us in the Kanto region," he continued. "But as I said before, your business is your business. However, you left quite an impression on me when I finally met you. A brilliant young man with the heart of a trainer, traveling the unknown of another region as his first foray away from home. And imagine my surprise when, the very next day, my own granddaughter and research aide arrives with a story of such a young man already having gone off-route, witnessing a spectacular Pokemon migration event."

I blushed, rubbing the back of my neck. "Professor, everybody sounds impressive when you describe them like that-"

"But I have not finished," the Professor chastised me as if I had interrupted him mid-lecture. "That same young trainer then travels to Viridian City and challenges the gym there, taking on what most consider to be the most difficult gym challenge as his first official League battle. While he did not achieve victory, his battle left a statement that he would be a powerful trainer to watch over the coming season. And just three weeks later, on an extracurricular trip with my research aid," I scrunched down in my chair, feeling his gaze on me. "He manages to successfully free himself and other hostages with an untrained ghost type Pokemon, eventually aiding in the capture of an officer of a criminal organization."

I was stunned. I hadn't realized that the Professor had been paying that close attention to my journey. The weight he said it all with, too, made it seem like so much more than it was. I'd just been doing my own thing on my journey, trying to do my best.

There was also a little bit of embarrassment there, too. Professor Oak definitely knew that Daisy and I had been on a date.

"I think that," he said. "That trainer deserves to be thanked by an old man who has precious little family left in this world."

I dipped my head. Professor Oak had laid out his arguments in a way that felt like I'd be disrespecting him if I said anything against them.

"Thank you, sir."

"It is I who thanks you, Mr. Tracy."

I look up and gave a small gasp. The former champion of the Kanto region and the face of Pokemon research was bowing to me.

I stood up, quickly bowing back to him.

"And with that, Mr. Tracy, I would like to offer you two things," Professor Oak leaned forward and clicked a key on his computer. A file attachment blinked in my inbox. "The first is access to the stables of the Oak Pokemon Laboratory. If you sign the document I have forwarded you, you will be able to store your Pokemon here for long periods of time. This would give you the freedom to catch additional team members outside of your training limit, giving you more variety in your team. They would be fed and cared for with the most cutting-edge resources that science can offer."

I opened the file, gawking at the sheer generosity of what the Professor was offering. My plan had been to send any extra Pokemon home to live with Dad's team, but that could only work with maybe one or two Pokemon. Professor Oak was offering to hold up to fifteen different Pokemon indefinitely, giving them access to all of the other inhabitants of his ranch to train against. Just leaving them in his hands would mean that they would continue to get stronger.

I hadn't taken up Professor Oak's sponsorship offer when I'd first met him because I couldn't stomach the thought of catching hundreds of different Pokemon. This, however, was very different. Any trainer worth their salt had a dozen different battlers that they could pull their team from. My dad, as a lead Ace Trainer, had twelve of his own Pokemon at home. While it wouldn't come in handy for a long time, Professor Oak was offering me security as a career trainer.

It was honestly priceless.

"Professor Oak, this is way too much," I protested.

"Nonsense. I place the value of my granddaughter's safety much higher."

I couldn't argue with that. And I couldn't argue when he kept talking, either.

"The second thing I would like to offer," the Professor said seriously, "Is a Pokemon."

I gulped. Professor Oak had access to almost any Pokemon that science knew about. If he was trying to add to my team, it could be literally anything.

"Uh- Uh, what Pokemon would that be, sir?" I stuttered.

He blinked. After a second, his grin returned. "Young man, I believe that you don't understand. I am offering you a Pokemon of your choice."

Oh.

Oh!

"Oh, shit!" I accidentally said aloud. I blushed, covering my mouth. The Professor gave me a reproachful look for my use of profanity but chose not to scold me.

I stared at the screen, waiting for him to tell me it was a joke, that he'd said the wrong thing.

He never did.

"You're serious?" I whispered.

"Quite so," the Professor nodded. "I know that this seems like too much for you, but you simply must understand, Mr. Tracy. I am old and I am well-connected. Obtaining almost any Pokemon is as easy a task as calling one of my many colleagues and requesting it. You nearly perished while assisting my granddaughter in escaping criminals. This is as small an offer as I am willing to make. It took Daisy's direct intervention to not offer you more, as she said it would make you too uncomfortable."

I was uncomfortable now.

I didn't say that, though. This was one of those offers that you couldn't refuse. If I did, I would not only be insulting the professor but I'd be throwing away something that secured my future as a trainer.

"I'll sign the stable document," I finally said. "But as for the Pokemon... ...could I have a while to think about it? Deciding about a whole new team member is going to require a lot of thought."

"I wouldn't have you do anything less," the Professor said proudly, obviously ecstatic that I was taking up on his offer. "I will be awaiting your decision, young man."

"Thank you, sir."

"With that, Mr. Tracy, I have several experiments that require my attention. Please do think on my offer, I hope that I can offer you even a fraction of what you have given me."

I looked up at Professor Oak. He was giving me a look of utter gratitude, and I could see the weight of the last few days on him. His granddaughter being in danger had really worn on him. He genuinely looked like an old man at that moment.

"You have. Have a good day, Professor."

He nodded, disconnecting the call.

I sat there for a long while, staring at the blank monitor. It had turned black after the call, giving me a mirror to look myself in the eyes.

Holy shit...

I absentmindedly stroked Wisp's head. She'd fallen asleep during the call and was now mumbling herself awake as I rubbed her head.

I looked down at her, smiling as her eyes fluttered open. "Hey, Wisp, we need to wake up now. Let's go get your cake. Then, we have a battle to win."

"Misdeavus!" she cheered, floating down into my shadow.

I shakily stood up, my legs feeling a little weak. I didn't know if it was for sitting for as long as I had, or if I was still in shock from Professor Oak's offer.

It was probably both.

 

---

 

I took a long walk around the block before getting to the bakery. I needed it after... ...well, after everything. I had thought the craziness was done after yesterday, but today I was being hit by revelation after revelation.

Wisp took her time picking out her cake, tapping my leg whenever we got to one that she wanted. I'd decided to have her stay as hidden as possible so that we didn't upset the other customers. It didn't stop people from getting a deep phantom chill, though, when she came out.

She decided on a tiramisu. I paid for the cake, wincing at how far it bit into my funds. I hoped the money from the League would come in soon, because I was down to three digits in my cash supply.

It was all worth it, though, when Wisp squealed upon seeing her cake. I pulled out a slice, letting her devour it before we walked back to the center. She could have the rest after the battle with Yuji. I didn't want her too full for fighting.

He might've seen me catch her, but he would not be expecting me to use her in a battle this soon. Normally, I'd be of the same sentiment, but after seeing her stare down a fully-grown Nidoking, I had full confidence in her abilities.

Speaking of, I pulled out my Pokedex and scanned Wisp as she ate. It would be valuable to see exactly what she could do before the battle. I grinned at the entry. She hadn't used up all of her tricks yesterday.

When we made it back to the Center, the others had all already gathered outside at the training fields. Like Yuji had predicted, they were nearly empty. Only one other battlefield was in use, and the rookies there were having their Geodude and Pidgey do move-repetition rather than actually spar.

I nodded to Yuji, and he inclined his head forward in return. He took his place at the end of the battlefield, his figure cutting an intimidating shape as the sun set behind him.

I stopped by Daisy and Amy, who were both sitting on the bleachers nearest the Center. I left Wisp's cake with them. Hana took up a spot on the center sideline of the battlefield; she'd be acting as our referee.

Yuji stared me down, excitement clear on his face. He tossed a Pokeball into the air, releasing his Pokemon in a flash of red light.

Achilles the Heracross slammed into the ground, releasing a bone-shaking roar. His armor glinted in the setting sun, and his massive horn gleamed with strength.

The two other trainers stopped their training, going slackjawed at Yuji's Pokemon. They returned their Pokemon, wandering over to the bleachers. Several other trainers wandered outside from the Center, pulling out phones and cameras.

We were gathering a little crowd.

I couldn't leave them disappointed. The familiar rush I'd gotten standing in the Viridian Gym started to thrum in my ears. My heartbeat sped up.

I called for Wisp, and the crowd looked around in confusion as no Pokemon immediately appeared. The first trainer to notice screamed, causing the rest of the crowd to look where she was pointing.

My shadow extended forward, encapsulating the ground in from of me. Two bright yellow and red eyes appeared in it, and her giggles echoed across the battlefield.

Yuji, Hana, Amy, and even Daisy, who'd seen this before, all grimaced uncomfortably as the temperature outside dropped another five degrees.

Wisp floated up, leaving my shadow.

Instead of pulling back like everyone else, Achilles leaned forward. The Heracross was excited to duke it out.

Honestly, I was right there with him. I'd fought Yuji several times but this was our first battle that felt like it had real stakes, even if it was only for who would go at Brock first.

This was my first battle against another trainer that I was willing to give my all.

"Trainers!" Hana announced, grabbing the attention of everyone present. "This match will be Yuji Amano against Derek Tracy, both competing for their right to challenge the Pewter Gym first. It will be a one-on-one Pokemon battle, using standard League challenge rules. Are both trainers ready?"

Yuji inclined his head, and I gave her a thumbs up.

Hana nodded to each of us, holding her hands above her head. She brought both of them down at once.

"Begin!"

Notes:

And there we go! I hope you guys are excited for the first real and full battle that Derek and any of the group have had. There have been the obligatory sparring battles in the background, but this is the first one where everyone is going for the win!

Anyway, if you like this story, please don't forget to comment and leave some kudos!

Chapter 15: Sparring in Social Spaces

"Begin!"
 
Hana's shout echoed across the battlefield, and the crowd of trainers we'd gathered cheered.
 
Yuji and I yelled our orders at the same time, but I beat him by a hair.
 
"Wisp, disappear!"
 
"Aerial Ace!"
 
My eyes widened in shock as Yuji called out his Pokemon's attack. I knew he was going to be packing some surprises, but I thought I'd emptied his toolbox by putting a ghost up against his fighter.
 
Achilles' wings glowed with brilliant white light, and suddenly he was just across the battlefield, bearing down on Wisp.
Wisp vanished in a 'wisp' of smoke, disappearing right before he made it there. Aerial Ace always hit, but you couldn't hit what you couldn't see.
 
The Aerial Ace slashed through where she'd been, sending a gale of wind forward and buffeting the crowd.
 
The Heracross stopped on a dime, turning with his heel dug into the ground. He searched around, looking for where Wisp could have gone.
 
"Growl!" I called.
 
All across the battlefield, echoing as though it was playing from some omnipotent presence, a low rumbling growl sounded. Trainers all around us shifted uncomfortably, and even I felt goosebumps form across the back of my neck. Achilles shifted nervously, the instinctive reaction to a Growl. The technique forced enemy Pokemons' fighting drive and attack power to lessen the more they heard it.
 
"Achilles, find her!" Yuji called, knowing he needed to end this before Achilles had his attack reduced by too much. "Bug Buzz!"
 
The Heracross opened the back of his blue shell, letting his transparent beetle wings unfurl. They began to vibrate, faster and faster, a sonic droning noise flooding off of them.
 
I winced as the noise hit me. Between that and the Growl, the noise was deafening.
 
I suddenly thought of the emergency worker's words.
 
Honestly, you should probably avoid everything over eighty decibels for the next week or so, they'd said.
 
Welp.
 
"Wisp!" I tried to yell over the noise.
 
Yuji still couldn't see her, but I saw my ghost struggling. She was lodged in Achilles' shadow, directly behind him in his blind spot. The sonic noise was impacting her, and I could see her writhing in pain.
 
She couldn't hear me.
 
With no direction and only pain, Wisp tumbled out of Achilles' shadow. She went flying, carried by the ultrasonic waves.
 
I bit my lip as she stabilized, tiny bruises appearing on her ghostly skin.
 
I hadn't actually seen her get hit by anything before.
 
"Vanish again!" I yelled. "Then put him under!"
 
She heard me this time, unfortunately, so did Yuji.
 
"Achilles! Don't let her get close!"
 
Wisp extended her shadow forward, trying to interlock it with Achilles', but the Heracross lept away, ending his Bug Buzz. She couldn't keep up with his speed, so instead of trying to do my first order, she went for my second.
 
"Dreavus!" She cried. Her eyes went bright pink, becoming lulling and comforting.
 
Yuji cursed when he saw the Hypnosis. Wisp didn't need to be close to Achilles to put him to sleep.
 
Achilles had other plans, though. The bug took a full-force hit from the Hypnosis, and his eyelids started to dip, but he shook his head, pressing forward. I wasn't going to get him that easily.
 
"Aerial Ace!" Yuji ordered.
 
Achilles once again activated the white glowing of his wings. Because Wisp was still mid-Hypnosis, she didn't have time to disappear.
 
Slam!
 
Achilles zoomed across the field, smashing his wing to Wisp, she went tumbling again but kept hovering.
 
She wasn't done yet.
 
"He's close, Shadow Sneak!"
 
Wisp heard me this time. She took advantage of Achilles' close combat style and wrapped her shadow around his own. She vanished.
 
Unlike last time when we were trying to be sneaky, Wisp made full use of her Shadow Sneak, reappearing directly behind Achilles and striking him with ghost type energy.
 
The beetle tried to roll with the blow, but faltered as he couldn't shrug off the damage with his thick shell. Ghost moves attacked the mind and the spirit, not the body.
 
"Good girl! Now hit him again, Hypnosis!"
 
"Achilles, Bug Buzz!"
 
Achilles flared his wings again, trying to shut his eyes as Wisp maneuvered around him, crawling through the shadows of his armor to climb on him. The ultrasonic waves started again, forcing me to clutch my hands over my ears from the volume.
 
Wisp found her way in front of Achilles' face, widening her eyes as they took on the pink glow again. The beetle tried to resist, but his wings slowed. The volume of his Bug Buzz lowered.
 
Ka-link!
 
The ground vibrated as the Heracross' armor impacted the ground.
 
He was asleep.
 
I almost called the battle there, but I saw Yuji murmuring under his breath, willing Achilles to get up. He hadn't given up on his Pokemon.
 
Yuji was right.
 
The battle wasn't over yet.
 
I thrust my hand forward. "End this! Hex!"
 
Wisp began to glow with purple energy and it fell off of her like waves of smoke. It whirled and twisted along the ground as it found Achilles. He began to writhe in pain, even while he was asleep.
 
Hex was a ghost type move that inflicted massive damage upon incapacitated Pokemon. Like those that were asleep, for example.
 
Yuji slammed his foot into the ground. "Achilles! You've trained harder than this, get up!"
 
Hearing his trainer's orders, something in the realm of sleep let go of Achilles. The beetle's eyes fluttered open.
 
Oh, shit.
 
"Hit him again!"
 
Wisp redoubled her purple smoke, forcing out another Hex. Achilles still clenched in pain, but he rolled with the attack, forcing himself to stand. The beetle planted both of his clawed feet into the ground, and his body began to swell and grow. His muscles flexed with humungous power, boosted by his Swarm ability. Now that Achilles was close to fainting, his bug type moves would be ridiculously empowered.
 
I had a sudden flashback to a Raticate the previous day.
 
That's not going to happen again.
 
"Wisp, get out of there! Fly up!" I commanded my Pokemon to leave Bug Buzz range. If I was right, Yuji only had two moves that actually worked against Wisp.
 
We were going to force him to use one of them.
 
As if on cue, Yuji yelled. "Follow her! Aerial Ace!"
 
Achilles slammed both of his feet into the ground and squatted, jumping with more power than he had any right to. His wings caught the wind with a flash of white light and he followed Wisp into the air.
 
I grinned.
 
Yuji fucked up. We still have our trump card.
 
Wisp only needed to take one more hit, and we'd guaranteed it wouldn't be powered up by Swarm.
 
The Aerial Ace connected and I winced at the impact. Wisp began to wobble in her hovering. She was on her last legs.
 
"It's time! Throw him to the ground, Confusion!" I yelled.
 
Yuji cursed. He hadn't known that we had a psychic type move in our arsenal, and there was nothing he could do about it now.
 
Wisp released an aura of blue light that coated her and Achilles. The Heracross writhed in pain as it was struck by a super-effective move. Even his wings stopped flapping. He was only supported by Wisp's psychic power.
 
Not for long.
 
My Pokemon grabbed Achilles with her power, swinging him around her like a shotput thrower, and slammed him back down into the ground.
 
Crash!
 
A brown cloud of dust covered the field.
 
I was reminded of my battle with Giovanni, waiting for the smoke to clear only to see that I had lost.
 
The entire crowd went silent.
 
The wind shifted and the dust settled.
 
Achilles was sitting in a crater from the fall, unconscious.
 
The crowd erupted into cheers. Amy and Daisy yelled my name, cheering for me. Hana stepped up to the sidelines again.
 
"Trainer Yuji's Pokemon is unable to battle!" She yelled. "The winner is Derek Tracy!"
 
Yuji returned Achilles to his ball. He looked down at it and softly smiled. "You had a fair showing today, my friend."
 
I stepped onto the field, doing my best to keep my legs steady.
 
I won.
 
My victory the other day felt nothing like this. The crowd cheering, the dust in the air, the feeling of exhilarating exhaustion pumping through my body, all of it felt so good.
 
I could live for this feeling.
 
Wisp floated down to me, wobbling the whole way. I let her rest in my arms. "You did a great job, girl," I smiled at her. "Let's get you checked up, and then you can finish your dessert."
 
"Drea drea," she said, exhausted. I returned her.
 
I walked up to Yuji, and he met me halfway onto the field. We shook hands.
 
"That was an awesome battle, man!" I grinned at him.
 
"I agree, my friend," Yuji gave me a challenging smile. "You have won against me twice now in a row. There will not be a third."
 
I laughed. "You're so on!"
 
Hana, Amy, and Daisy ran up to us. The crowd around us was still talking about the match, and I could see a few people snapping photos. Hana and Amy both first when to Yuji, congratulating him on a good match. It made sense, given that they'd been watching him train longer. Daisy walked up to me.
 
She was grinning, her summer green eyes alight with excitement and her hair flowing in the wind. In the setting sun, Daisy was up there with Miltoic in terms of beauty.
 
She slipped her hand into mine. "You did amazing," she said. "It's been a long time since I've seen a rookie battle that I was that invested in."
 
I couldn't stop smiling. "Just you wait, I'll be at your level before you can say 'Rattata'."
 
Daisy shook her head. "You'll be better than me. I just know it."
 
The thought gave me pause. That really was the goal, wasn't it?
 
I nodded at her, squeezing her hand.
 
To be the very best.
 
I wouldn't settle for anything less.
 

---

 
We all stayed up late that night.
 
Between the excitement of the battle and the novelty of Daisy joining us, we decided to go out for some fun and some drinks. While we all fell within the legal ability to drink, we tried not to go too crazy, though we weren't always the most successful at that. We had fun sitting back and telling jokes, enjoying the music and each other's company. Eventually, it came time for Daisy to leave us and head back to her hotel room. Even though I was sad, I think Hana was actually the most disappointed to see her go.
 
It wasn't long after that we returned to the Pokemon Center. I picked up Wisp and Artis from the nurse's station, and we stumbled into the elevator and each into our individual beds. Sleep came to all of us quickly.
 
Unsurprisingly, it was in the morning that we regretted our decisions. No one, not even Yuji, wanted to get up when an alarm started to play in our room. It was seven in the morning, and at least one of us needed to head to the Pewter Gym to sign up for our gym challenges.
 
"Guys," I groaned at the repetitive beeping. "Can somebody please take care of that?"
 
"Ugh," Hana mumbled. "Somebody needs to leave for the gym."
 
"I vote Yuji," I said without missing a beat. "He's normally up at this time anyway."
 
"I- huk, I disagree," he hiccuped. "As the person who has the honor of first challenge- huk, I think Derek should go."
 
"I don't care!" Amy whined. "Somebody go."
 
Hana threw her trainer card at me. "Two to one. Derek, you're outvoted. Go."
 
I whimpered as I opened my eyes. The light stung.
 
"E tu, Hana? How long until I get to play the 'I lived through a Rocket attack' card?"
 
"You only get one of those, my friend," Yuji sounded green. "Use it well."
 
I debated it. I honestly, truly, did.
 
I groaned, leaning over and turning off the alarm on Hana's Pokegear.
 
"Fine! But I'm not getting anybody else breakfast."
 
Amy made a gagging noise. "I don't think I could eat."
 
I got dressed in a comfortable outfit, shoved on a pair of sunglasses, and collected everyone's trainer cards.
 
I turned on the light switch as I stepped out the door, and inside I heard a collective groan.
 
I smiled before wincing at my headache.
 
Maybe Wisp was rubbing off on me more than I thought.
 

---

 
I made it to the Pewter Gym fifteen minutes before it was supposed to open and there was already a line out of the front door of the building. It took over an hour for me to get up to the front of the line and get us signed up.
 
The process literally took five minutes. I handed our trainer cards to the attendant, they swiped them, and then I selected from the time slots available. We were signed up for back-to-back challenges against gym trainers in six days, and if we succeeded in those we'd be up against Brock the day after that.
 
As I went to leave though, the attendant stopped me. "Mr. Tracy?" They said. "You actually have a notice on your account."
 
"Uh- is it something bad...?"
 
The attendant gave a corporate laugh. "No, I apologize. We are just supposed to inform you that Leader Brock would like to speak to you if you are willing to arrive early on the day of your match."
 
I raised an eyebrow. Brock wanted to talk to me?
 
"Sure? I mean, yeah, I guess that works. What time should I be here?"
 
"Given that you're scheduled for our opening challenge at nine in the morning, you should already be arriving at eight forty-five. Fifteen minutes before that should suffice."
 
"And this is on the day of the gym trainer challenge, or...?"
 
"No, this would be on the day of your battle with the leader himself," the attendant smiled. "He is very confident that you will pass your gym trainer battle."
 
"Okay, yeah. I'll be there."
 
I left the front desk and headed outside. I winced as the sun streamed in, even with my thick sunglasses.
 
We really did have too much fun last night, I thought.
 
I looked around. Besides the still growing line out of the front of the gym, the area was quiet and peaceful. The only other group of people was a small crowd of trainers surrounding a reporter who was interviewing someone.
 
I was hungry, but I decided to sate my curiosity and swing by the crowd.
 
The interviewee was a rookie, based on their age and the Pokeballs on their waist. They were a masc person with a thin jaw and curly blonde hair, and they were athletic but wiry. I snorted when I saw their outfit.
 
Aviators and a button-up shirt that was way too open?
 
At nine in the morning?
 
Oh yeah, this person is a douchebag.
 
I frowned when I noticed who was interviewing them.
 
"-So, Mick, you're up for a second-badge challenge just one month into the season," Lisa Lapelle from Celadon Daily asked. "If you win, you'll be the fifth rookie this season to earn your second badge. What kind of pressure does that bring to a new trainer?"
 
"Well, Lisa," Mick answered, taking their aviators off and giving a smile directly into the camera. I groaned at their perfect white teeth. "I actually don't feel any pressure at all. I feel like I've already proved myself to be a man of means and ability, and I don't think Brock's second-badge team will pose any kind of threat to me."
 
I frowned, feeling just a little sick listening to him talk. It wasn't that the guy was traditionally unattractive, but he radiated 'asshole-energy'. The sheer skeeziness coming off of him was palpable. Every word he spoke was like he was trying to seduce the camera, and even Lisa looked a little grossed out.
 
"And how does it feel that two of your traveling companions, Portia Cervelo and Daniel Sukizo, are the third and fourth rookies to receive their second badge?" Lisa smirked as she asked that one.
 
I smirked as I saw Mick clench his cheek ever so slightly.
 
That must be a sore spot, I thought. And, I think I remember somebody named 'Portia'...
 
I snapped my fingers. The challenge yesterday! I saw her battling on TV, she's the one with the Chikorita. He must belong to that group of trainers that's got everybody riled up.
 
Mick flashed his teeth again, ignoring the pointed nature of the question. "It's great. Porty and Dan are strong trainers and we drew lots for who would go first. After I go, we only have two more companions who need to take a crack at their second badge. Speaking of that," he turned his attention back to the camera. "If your viewers want to keep up with some of the top rookies in Kanto right now, you can follow my socials on Pokegram, @MickToTheStars!"
 
Lisa rolled her eyes and I couldn't help but agree.
 
"While we're on the subject of your second badge," she pulled the attention of the camera back to her. "what makes you so confident that you'll be able to succeed against Brock? Plenty of rookies this season have been struggling against him at the first badge level, and you'll be only the fifth person to face this team."
 
"Well, it's easy, Lisa," Mick put both his hands on his hips. "I'm a shoo-in for one of the top rookies this year. I deserve this win, so I'll-"
 
I snorted a little louder than I wanted to. I snapped my hand to my face, but it was too late.
 
Mick, Lisa, and most of the crowd turned to me.
 
"I'm sorry," Mick said through clenched teeth. "Do you have a problem, guy?"
 
My eyes flicked over to Lisa, but she didn't do anything the turn the interview back to Mick. Instead, she turned the camera person to face me, giving me an intense look. She almost definitely recognized me from the other night in front of the museum.
 
"Uh," I stumbled. I took a deep breath, collected my thoughts and pulled off my sunglasses. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt the interview. I just-"
 
"No, please, go on," Lisa encourage with a smirk. "Our audience would love to have the opinion of another trainer here on the ground. How do you feel about Mick's chances?"
 
Mick glared at me. I shrugged.
 
Might as well speak my mind.
 
"Well, I can't speak to his actual skill, 'cause the first time I heard about him was when I walked up to this interview," a couple of people in the crowd did a quick inhale, as if I'd just insulted the guy to his face. I shook my head. "Not as like an insult to you, I'm sure you're alright as a trainer, I just don't keep up with social media."
 
People continued to whisper to each other as I talked, and I winced when I heard some of the things being said. Lisa was grinning, extremely excited at the drama.
 
I didn't look at Mick, but I could hear his foot tapping angrily on the ground.
 
"I just mean, to say you deserve a win, that's kinda nonsense, right? Like, I'm not crazy," I turned to the crowd and some of them started to nod along. "I just think it's a little entitled to announce on... TV?"
 
Lisa shrugged as I looked to her. "Multimedia news," she murmured.
 
"Yeah, whatever that is. Anyway, to announce to everybody that you deserve a win because you're better than people? That's not champion behavior. I was always taught that victories are earned, not given. So with that logic, how could anybody deserve a win?"
 
Lisa nodded and the camera person turned back to her. "Wise words coming from the local trainers here at Pewter Gym. How do you respond to that question, Mick?"
 
In the space between Lisa finishing her sentence and the camera swinging back to look at him, Mick almost completely masked his rage. His face was still a deeper red than it had been before I interrupted, but he plastered back on his overly white smile.
 
"I guess I could see the wisdom in that," he said directly into the camera. "At the end of the day, though, I am going to win. You should honestly check back in later today, as my battle will not only be streamed on the official Pewter Gym channel, but I'll be posting an alternate angle on my own channel with full commentary."
 
"Thank you so much for your time, Mick," Lisa made it very clear that his interview was ending. I froze as she turned back to me. "And quickly, Mr. Mystery Trainer, what was your name for our viewers back at home?"
 
Mick stared daggers at me, but I did my best to ignore him. He probably thought that I'd interrupt to take over his moment in front of the camera. Honestly, I was feeling more and more like watching his interview had been a mistake.
 
When the hell did this become about me?
 
"Uh, I'm Derek Tracy," I said. "I don't really have any socials, but I'll be challenging Brock in a week."
 
"Derek Tracy..." Lisa trailed on her sentence purposefully.
 
I tensed, knowing she was about to say something that was going to upset me. Her smile was too self-satisfied not to.
 
"Ah, yes! You're the same Derek Tracy that was spotted leaving the Pewter Museum after the incident a few days ago!" I mentally face-palmed. She'd definitely recognized me when I walked up. "And you happened to be leaving with none other than Kanto's own Daisy Oak! Would you want to share any comments about that?"
 
I sighed. Daisy had gotten me out of this once by taking all the heat off of me when the reporters were around. I couldn't rely on her now, though, and I'd have to learn how to talk to the media eventually if I wanted to be a career trainer. The best I could do was learn from Daisy's example.
 
"If you'll remember, we had said that we wouldn't answer any questions having to do with an ongoing League investigation-"
 
"Actually, Derek," Lisa interrupted me, giving me a wide smirk. "One of our reporters got in touch with the Ace Trainers responsible for the investigation, and they've cleared up that bit of confusion. You're absolutely allowed to share your own personal experiences of the event."
 
On the legends, I silently swore.
 
"Well, be that as it may, I still think I'll be avoiding any questions regarding Team Rocket and the museum," I said firmly.
 
Lisa didn't miss a beat. "Then we'll move on. As I said earlier, you were there with famed Grand Festival winner Daisy Oak. Did you want to say anything about that?"
 
She gave me a reporter's grin, raising one eyebrow and implying a whole lot. People in the crowd murmured more, though they were saying things that made my ears red just thinking about it.
 
"No comment."
 
Lisa frowned a stage frown. She knew I wasn't going to talk about Daisy. She just used it as a primer for her next question, because I'd be the difficult one if I gave no comment to three questions in a row.
 
"You have to give me something! How about this, there's a video going around on Pokegram from a battle last night where one of the two rookies used a ghost type Pokemon. Can you confirm that you were that trainer?"
 
My eyes almost popped out of my skull. I'd seen people taking videos during the battle, but I'd had no idea it had been shared or was in any way popular. I winced as soon as Lisa saw my expression because she knew she'd been right.
 
Well, it's not the worst thing to talk about. I just wish I could've given Wisp a bigger debut.
 
I sighed, nodding. "Yeah, she's mine."
 
"I thought she might be!" Lisa said triumphantly. "And I don't believe you've landed a successful badge challenge yet, so that makes you the only zero-badge trainer in the last two seasons to have a ghost on their roster!"
 
If the crowd was murmuring before, they were fully talking now. People were pulling out their phones, and I could hear multiple instances of my battle against Yuji playing. My cheeks heated up at the attention.
 
"Yeah, I guess that's right?" I rubbed the back of my neck.
 
"I'm sure these trainers and our viewers at home would love to hear more about her!" Lisa raised her microphone to the crowd and they gave her a decent cheer. "What sponsor did you receive your Misdreavus from?"
 
I mumbled my answer at first, so Lisa had to ask me to repeat myself.
 
"I, uh, didn't get Wisp from a sponsor. I found her in the Viridian Forest."
 
There was a collective exclamation from the crowd, including from Lisa herself. Apparently, I'd also caught her off guard with that.
 
"So you're saying you went out of your way to catch a ghost, even with the guidelines from the Rangers warning off four-badge and below trainers?" Lisa sounded like she was describing something scandalous.
 
I shook my head, I wanted this point to be clear. "I didn't seek her out. My group and I went through some extenuating circumstances and Wisp ended up in my care."
 
Lisa actually looked impressed. "Well then, you're obviously an accomplished trainer for taming a rare Pokemon so quickly, especially a type with so many negative connotations attached to it. I'm sure plenty of people will be looking forward to your upcoming gym challenge!"
 
I didn't know what to say to that, so I just nodded.
 
Ugh, I need to get better at this part of the gig.
 
Lisa apparently thought so too. She turned directly to the camera, giving the controller the sign to pull to a tighter shot of her.
 
"Thank you for joining us today on Celadon Daily! This has been Lisa Lapelle, we'll see you tomorrow!"
 
Lisa released a breath, going lax now that the camera was off. She turned to me and Mick, who I still hadn't looked at. "Thanks for the interview, boys. I wish you the best with your gym challenges!" She flicked her purple hair, turning to the camera person. "Come on, Gian. We should get back to Celadon."
 
Without another word to either of us, Lisa and her camera person walked off. With them gone, most of the crowd started to scatter too.
 
I held my breath, glancing to the side to see if Mick was still there.
 
The other trainer still had a fake smile on his face, but he was fuming. I could see a vein pulsing in his forehead.
 
"Look, I'm sorry if-" I started.
 
"Look, pal," Mick turned to me, pointing at me and shoving his finger into my chest. "I don't know what your problem is, but walking up and stealing the spotlight is a dick move!"
 
My expression tightened. I was trying to be polite earlier, and I didn't want someone to think the wrong thing, but if this guy wanted to be an asshole I wasn't going to hold back.
 
"I wasn't here to steal anything," I said angrily. "I was just correcting your bad take. It's not my fault you have as much charisma as a skeezy stepdad and the mindset of an entitled asshole."
 
"My bad take?" Mick scoffed, ignoring my actual insults. "I'm better than them, and better than you. Just because you caught some ghost, you're still a nothing, zero-badge piece of-"
 
"I'm sorry," said a deep but vaguely familiar voice. "I'm trying to livestream over here, could you keep the cursing down, brothers?"
 
I turned and exhaled as I saw who it was. Terry Parkers, the guy Amy and I had run into in the Pokemon Center, was standing behind me. His unreasonable height had him standing more than a head taller than both me and Mick. Today he'd swept back his green hair and was wearing bright colors to contrast his dark skin. In one hand he had a Pokegear with an external microphone attached, and in the other, he held a small streaming camera attached to an extendable grip.
 
Mick paused, looking at Terry's camera like it was radioactive. His face went sheet white.
 
I smirked as I put it together. During his entire interview, he'd been obsessed with getting people to follow his socials. If Terry had any amount of an audience, getting caught arguing with another trainer, especially when I was in the right, would be social suicide.
 
Mick withdrew his finger, stepping back and clearing his throat. "Yeah, that's fine. We were just having a bit of a heated discussion. I actually have a battle to get to, so I'll be seeing you."
 
Mick turned and walked away, heading back toward the gym. He didn't even look in my direction the entire time.
 
Terry sighed. "Man, that guy is a dickhead."
 
I snorted. "Weren't you trying to keep the cursing to a minimum?"
 
Terry sniggered, tilting the phone screen to me. It wasn't live, it wasn't even on.
 
"I just had the equipment in my bag, brother," he chuckled as he explained. "I caught the end of that interview, and I figured you could use a bail-out."
 
I grinned, holding up my hand for a fist bump. "Thanks, man. You did me a real favor."
 
His chuckle evolved to full belly laughing, and he returned my fist bump. "As long as you promise to do the same, I'll consider us even."
 
"Anytime," I glanced around at the growing activity of trainers in front of the gym, people showing up to watch some of the better matches of the day. "You here for a challenge?"
 
"Nah, brother. I'm just signing my group up for our challenges."
 
My expression brightened in surprise. "No way! Me too. What a coincidence!"
 
Terry shook his head. "I don't believe in coincidences. If it's turnin' out that way, that's how it's meant to be."
 
I nodded, put at ease by his serene expression.
 
"You headed back to the Pokemon Center?" I asked him.
 
To my regret, he shook his head. "I am actually planning on getting some streaming done before heading back. Swipetide and I are going to show off some of our progress!"
 
"I wish you the best with that! Maybe one of these days I'll sign up for one of those apps."
 
Terry raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Brother, you're trying to be a trainer and you're not marketing yourself? These days you've got to be gathering a following to get some sponsors."
 
"Yeah," I shrugged. "It's just not my thing. I guess I should give it a try, I just don't want to come across as an attention hog like that guy."
 
"Well," Terry shrugged, "It seems to work out for him."
 
I raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
 
When he saw my confused expression, Terry burst into laughter again.
 
"Oh, do you not know how many followers he has, brother?"
 

---

 
"What did you do?" Hana seethed, looking down at her Pokegear.
 
I winced, standing in the doorway of our room holding a set of coffees and pastries for everyone else.
 
"So I may have gotten into a slight disagreement with-"
 
"With a guy who has two hundred thousand Pokegram followers!" Hana sat down on her bed, burying her head in her hands.
 
"Yeah, his name is Mick. He's an asshole."
 
Yuji winced as Hana fell backward onto her bed. He grabbed a scone from my hands and retreated to his bunk.
 
"Derek," he said, "I know that you typically recuse yourself from online spaces, but you have made a grave tactical error. By angering this person while not having an online presence of your own, you have allowed him to craft the narrative around your interaction."
 
Amy hiccuped, still feeling sick from last night. They held up their Pokegear. "Yeah, this dude is flaming you online. He keeps posting that you barged into his pregame interview and made it about yourself." They laid back on their bed. "Oh look, he started a hashtag. It's pretty creative, #TrashTracey."
 
I groaned. "That's not even what happened! That stupid Lisa Lapelle from Celadon Daily recognized me from the museum incident and basically pulled me into it. I bet she even did it just to stir up drama."
 
"I worked so hard to make you look good for your battles," Hana whined. "And then you flushed your reputation away like a rotten berry. You'll never get sponsors now."
 
Yuji sighed, nodding his head. "And without sponsors, it will be unlikely that you'll be able to afford the high expenses of a fully trained team."
 
I handed the others their breakfasts, contemplating the problem. I hadn't told them yet about Oak's sponsorship offer, so I always had that to fall back on, but I really didn't want to. It would be better to find a way to solve this now.
 
I looked down at my Pokenav+ as it buzzed. I had a text from Daisy.
 
[[10:15, Daisy]] Hey, you did an interview this morning? I'm getting sent clips.
[[10:15, Daisy]] No problem if you did, just checking in.
 
I felt my face heat up with embarrassment as I remembered that Lisa Lapelle had basically outed Daisy and I for going on a date. Even if we hadn't decided to label anything yet, this was going to impact her.
 
I texted her a brief summary of what happened, flushing when I described how Lisa had called us out.
 
"Ugh..." I sunk down on my bed, leaving all four of us staring at the ceiling as we thought about my situation.
 
"Derek?" Yuji called.
 
"Hmm?"
 
"I believe you have a decision to make. If you do not act soon, you should refrain from entering the social space anytime in the future. It may be hard to gain traction if this falsity continues to multiply. Online spaces are echo chambers, so if they are left on their own with only one perspective, they'll be resistant to change later.
 
"I guess I can figure this out after the Pewter challenge..."
 
"That would be waiting too long," Yuji disagreed. "If you wanted to enter the space, it would be as soon as possible"
 
"He's right, Derek," Hana mumbled.
 
"Fine, what should I do if I wanted to act soon?"
 
Hana groaned. "We have to make you an entire online presence, all at once and quickly. We introduce you to people on social media as you, and not what Mick Starsky is portraying you as. Trust me, if I get you in front of a camera, you'll get followers in no time."
 
I frowned. I didn't want to parade around in front of a camera. The crowd was great when it came to battling, but I really didn't want to be putting my whole life online.
 
"Aren't there, like, different kinds of social media presences? Maybe I just pick one and stick to that. Then I don't have to put everything online, but I can still respond to crap like this."
 
"You could be a vlogger?" Amy suggested. "Like, you could carry a camera whenever we go on the routes or get to a new city and upload those. It'll give people a good idea of who you are."
 
I grunted. "That sounds like a lot of hours being uploaded. I don't know if I want strangers to be that involved with my life."
 
Hana stretched in her bed, yawning. "IRL streamers are basically the same thing, but they do it live, so that's probably out."
 
"There's always being an aesthetic trainer?" Yuji said. "They mostly post outfits and scenery that are themed toward their Pokemon."
 
"But that wouldn't really help people get a handle on who Derek is," Hana replied. "He needs to talk. As much as I hate to admit it, that's where he excels."
 
"Awww."
 
"I'm going to take it back," she threatened.
 
Amy sat up in their bed. "We're stupid."
 
"What?" The rest of us replied.
 
"Why don't we just have Derek do what Mick does? Doesn't he just record his battle footage and then do an analysis on them?"
 
"That would keep adversaries and strangers out of his personal life," Yuji conceded. "Though, only as much as you can while having a social media presence."
 
"And it would let Derek talk directly to an audience, which will let them see he's not what Mick is telling them he is," Hana finished. "Amy, you might be right."
 
I nodded, responding when I realized that nobody was looking at me. "That sounds great guys. There's just one problem."
 
All three of my friends sat up, looking over at me.
 
"I have no idea how any of that works."
 
They groaned as one, laying back in their beds.

Notes:

And there we go! The first chapter of the actual Pewter City Arc is up! With all the lead-up to his actual Gym challenge, we're going to see how Derek and Co. deal with his ongoing social media struggles while still finding the time to actually train!

If you guys like the story, please comment and leave some kudos! It would really help a ton!

Chapter 16: Solving Problems!

Notes:

GUYS! We hit 100k words! I can't believe I've gotten this far! You guys are honestly the best, and I can't believe you've helped me get this far.

I just wanted to thank you guys so much, and I truly appreciate you!

"Sure, brother, I could help you pick out a camera!" Terry's eyes lit up as I asked him for a favor.
 
I'd gotten his Pokegear number when we'd crossed paths outside of the Pewter Gym yesterday, and he'd been more than happy to have lunch with me.
 
"I'm not just going to need a camera. Apparently, I'll need a camera, a microphone, and something that I can edit on." I groaned, looking at my tiny cash reserve. I really wanted that League money to come in soon, or I'd have to start grinding through trainer battles for cash.
 
"That's a hefty order," Terry frowned. "I also don't think you'll need all of that to get started. Your Pokenav+ mic should be good enough for starting voiceover, and the computers at the Center have enough power to do some basic editing."
 
"Really?" I felt some pressure leave my shoulders.
 
"Yes, though I don't yet understand why the rush to get into being an influencer after our discussion yesterday?"
 
"Well, his name rhymes with dick and since we ran into him yesterday, he's been talking shit online."
 
"Ah, yes," Terry grinned. "#TrashTracey! I saw that going around."
 
"Yeah, my friends think that it's a good idea for me to start posting stuff to RoTube and Pokegram to stop the hate early."
 
Terry rubbed his chin with one of his massive hands. "That makes sense... To be honest, the best thing for growing an audience would be to record something impressive, like maybe your first badge victory?"
 
"That's the plan eventually, but they were pretty determined to have me get something up this week."
 
"Well, a repost of your battle from a few days ago has almost eighty thousand views. Maybe focus on turning that into content before you worry yourself about tracking down recording equipment."
 
I thought about it. "Yeah, that could work. It's already something people have seen, and it'll let me get a handle on what I'm actually supposed to be doing. I don't know how any of this social media stuff works."
 
Terry patted my shoulder. "And here, brother, is where I offer a trade."
 
I raised an eyebrow at him.
 
What the heck do I have that he wants?
 
"I would be willing to help you get some of the basic skills, editing and posting and such, if..." Terry trailed off, looking slightly abashed. "...if maybe you were able to put in a good word with your friend, Amy."
 
Oh.
 
I did my best not to chuckle remembering Amy and Terry's last interaction. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy, and I didn't want to hurt his feelings by laughing at him.
 
Instead, I took his request at face value.
 
"I'll be honest with you, Terry," I said "Ames is a very antisocial person for some personal reasons. They're a big fan of watching other people's drama, but they have a hard time interacting with other people. I'll do my best to put in a good word for you, but if I do I'm going to be honest with your intentions."
 
And it's not like they don't already know them, I added silently. I can't exactly talk about their powers, but they definitely know that Terry's into them.
 
Terry nodded his head, deep in thought.
 
"I think I would still like to try," he decided. "If nothing else, I can always attempt a more direct path later."
 
"Alright," I grinned, holding out a hand. "You've got yourself a deal. I'll put in a good word with Ames, and you'll teach me how this video editing stuff works!"
 
Terry shook my hand. "Welcome to the hell that is content creation," he said solemnly.
 
"It can't be that bad, can it?"
 

 
"I don't know what everyone is complaining about, this is awesome!" I said excitedly, looking up from my computer to my friends.
 
Yuji, Hana, Terry, and I had all gathered in the Pokemon Center computer lab to work on various projects. Since Yuji and Hana had started working on getting me online with some basic accounts, they decided to look over their own socials and use me as an excuse to revamp themselves online. After Terry had helped me with the basics, he'd retreated to his own stall to edit some of his streams into clips.
 
Terry and the others had actually melded pretty easily. He was such a calm and easy-going guy that Yuji had immediately taken to him, and his expertise in online content and willingness to help me had endeared him to Hana.
 
Yuji sighed, bowing his head. "I don't understand your proclivity for editing at all. Even for a patient mind, it is grueling work."
 
"Nah, this is great! This is just like when me and my dad used to go over tourney matches after school, except I get to control the remote. Plus, I get to see Wisp slam Achilles into the ground over and over again!" I laughed at Yuji when he tossed me a challenging smile.
 
Terry had helped me message one of the trainers who had recorded my battle with Yuji, and with their permission, I'd downloaded a copy so that I could create what the others called a 'breakdown video'. Now it was just a matter of cutting out a lot of the pauses, adding text and indicators to things I wanted to be emphasized, and writing notes to do a voiceover piece for it. It was honestly pretty simple once I started looking at it like a training exercise.
 
The footage also helped me do what I already did in my mind; I got to go over every second of the battle at whatever speed I needed to. It helped show me a lot of little mistakes I hadn't even realized after the fact, like how I could've had Wisp avoid Achilles' last attack if I'd had her move a second quicker.
 
I honestly wish I could have done this with the museum stuff...
 
I sobered at the thought.
 
I glanced down at Wisp, who was napping in my lap. It was slowly becoming a habit for her. She was the newest member of my team, but I'd only really had the chance to train her during my battle with Yuji. If I had access to the videos from the museum, I'd be able to jumpstart her training even more.
 
We only have five days 'till we fight our first gym trainer, and six until we battle Brock. She's plenty strong already, but if I knew that if I had her moves down as well as I had Artis', she'd be an absolute monster.
 
I got lost in my thoughts, only coming out of them when the intercom for the Pokemon Center sounded.
 
"Trainer Derek Tracy," the Pewter Nurse Joy's voice sounded through the speakers. "I repeat, trainer Derek Tracy, please make your way to the front desk if you are present in the building. Thank you."
 
I threw a look to Yuji and Hana, who both looked confused. Artis and Wisp were both with me, so I couldn't think of another reason that Nurse Joy would need to see me.
 
"I guess I'll be back?" I said. "I'll have to finish this later."
 
Terry glanced at my screen. "Nah, brother. You have the basic cut done, I'll finish it up for you. It should be ready to go whenever you're ready to do your voice-over."
 
"Aww, thanks man," I said, feeling legitimately touched. "I've got you back if you need any help with your stuff."
 
"Actually, brother," he grinned. "I already finished all my clips. I'm just looking for something to do."
 
I laughed. "Show-off."
 
I gathered my things, letting Wisp melt into my shadow, and said goodbye to Yuji and Hana. I made my way to the front desk where Nurse Joy was sitting.
 
She smiled as she saw me. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Mr. Tracy."
 
"No problem, doc. What's up?"
 
Nurse Joy opened a drawer on the side of her desk, pulling out two sheets of paper and a small envelope. "These were dropped off for you this morning, and I need you to sign for them before I can release them to you."
 
I felt my heart start beating fast as I looked at the envelope. It was about twenty by ten centimeters, the perfect size for paper money. Excitement pooled in my chest.
 
Is this my disbursement from the League?
 
I digitally signed Nurse Joy's tablet, and she handed over both sheets of paper and the envelope.
 
Nurse Joy looked me in the eyes before she released the paper package. "I would wait until you've left the public areas to open this," she said seriously. "Just make sure you're being careful."
 
I bowed my head to her. "Yes, ma'am, I'll keep that in mind."
 
She smiled, releasing my mail. I gave her a quick goodbye and walked off toward our room. There were still people in the computer lab other than my friends, and I wanted to take Nurse Joy's advice to heart.
 
I made my way to our room where Amy was laying facedown in their bed, swiping on their Pokegear.
 
"Sup," they said. "You already finish editing?"
 
"Mostly. Terry is actually finishing up my video," I wiggled my eyebrows. "You remember him from the other day, right?"
 
I could see a small amount of red rush up their neck, and they put their face down into their pillow.
 
"Nope," they said in a muffled voice.
 
"Oh, that's too bad. He actually asked me to put in a good word for him-"
 
Amy sat up in their bed, eyes wide with accusation. "You didn't!"
 
I laughed. "No, I didn't promise him anything other than I would talk him up to you. And honestly, he does seem really nice and genuine. And he definitely has a crush on you..."
 
Amy laid back, clutching a pillow against their chest. "Ugh," they groaned. "He doesn't even know me. Like, he literally just saw me in an elevator, once. How the heck did that make him feel so..." Amy trailed off, speaking quieter than I could hear.
 
I didn't press the subject. I had already fulfilled my end of the bargain with Terry, and as much as they enjoyed teasing me, I didn't get nearly the same enjoyment out of doing it to them.
 
Instead, I held up my envelope.
 
"I'm pretty sure the League just paid me, by the way."
 
Amy put down their pillow. "For the museum stuff?"
 
"Yeah, wanna open it with me?"
 
They nodded, hopping down from their bunk. We both sat on mine as I opened up the first piece of paper. It was a breakdown of dues that the League owed me, showing each individual statute and instance of service I had done for the region. Next to each one was a figure in pokédollars.
 
I gasped when I saw the final amount, and Amy inhaled so hard that they started choking. I patted them on the back, trying to help them breathe.
 
"Holy- cough -shit!" They said, struggling to form words. They took a deep breath before turning to me. "That's gotta be wrong, right?"
 
I was in shock. I stared blankly at the little envelope.
 
They definitely missed a zero, right? If that's right, then... That would be triple what I started with.
 
I fumbled with the paper package, fingers struggling to pull the little perforated tab. I grunted, tearing at it with both hands. With a rip! the cardboard tore, letting a small pile of notes plop onto the Center room floor.
 
We both stared at the pile of bills, gawking at the thousand-poké notes. There were thirty of them in total.
 
I'd started with ten thousand poké to my name, a decent little sum that I'd saved up for most of my life. It had gone pretty quickly, but it had been enough to afford food and training for over a month for myself and Artis, and it probably would have lasted longer if I'd been more careful with it.
 
In just one day of danger, I'd earned thirty thousand pokédollars from the League.
 

 
With Amy successfully bribed into silence with a promise of an outing to a bakery, I quickly ran the money to an ATM and deposited it into my account. This changed everything. I'd been contemplating taking up more battles against other low-badge trainers to earn some money, which I really didn't want to do because I felt like I did my best work with drills and repetition. Now, with just Artis and Wisp on my team, this money could successfully fund the rest of our stay in Pewter as well as the travel through Mt. Moon. It could even cover a decent camera for recording my fight with Brock!
 
After I left the bank station, I actually headed to the Pewter Museum rather than back to the Pokemon Center.
 
The second sheet of paper I'd received was a message from Dr. Spinel, the researcher that Daisy had introduced me to on our date.
 
It said:
 
Hello, Derek,
 
I hope this message finds you well. I was relieved to hear that you and Daisy had both safely escaped the attack on our museum, and I wanted to take the time to thank you for your involvement in helping rescue a large portion of our fossil collection. Though there were some unfortunate sacrifices (we've been mostly able to reconstruct the Aeordactly exhibit), the two of you helped protect my life's work. If there's anything that you need in the future that the Pewter Museum of Science can assist you with, please don't hesitate to ask.
 
Dr. Hank Spinel,
Doctor of Paleontology and Geology,
Pewter Museum of Science.
 
P.S. If you manage to visit before leaving Pewter, I have a small token of my appreciation waiting for you.
 
I decided to walk over immediately to get it out of the way. I was planning on training for the rest of the week, and the waterwheel was on the other side of town from the museum. I'd sent a text to the others that I'd be out for a while and was on my way.
 
The museum itself hadn't been fixed too much in the three days I'd been gone, obviously. The front entrance had clear tarping and scaffolding covering the large hole that Brock's Steelix made.
 
When I walked up to the front, a security guard asked me to show my trainer card before letting me through. The indoors had most of the rubble already cleared, with crews of Pokemon like Machoke and Aipom working to clean the large showroom.
 
I walked through the unlocked doors to the administrative wing, through the winding hallways of labeled offices, and up to the front door of the fossil lab.
 
The door was open, and only Dr. Spinel was present in the lab. He had both of his arms in a still-air box, just like the first time I had visited him. Honestly, besides the lack of other researchers and the bandage on his forehead, Dr. Spinel looked exactly as he had three days ago.
 
I cleared my throat, knocking on the door frame. "Dr. Spinel?"
 
He looked up, and a wide grin split his face. "Mr. Tracy! I didn't expect you so soon."
 
He stood up, wiping his hand on his pant leg and shaking my hand. I don't know what it was with tall people, but Dr. Spinel and Terry both made me feel small. I wasn't short in any meaning of the word, but he was a giant.
 
"I figured I'd swing by while I had the time," I said. "I'm planning on being pretty busy this week with my upcoming challenge against Brock, so I wanted to make sure I didn't accidentally forget."
 
"Oho, you're battling Brock soon?" Dr. Spinel raised his eyebrows like he couldn't decide which way the battle would go. "What badge will this be for you?"
 
I cleared my throat. "My, uh, my first..."
 
Dr. Spinel burst into full-bellied laughter, going as far to actually shed a tear before he realized I wasn't laughing with him. "You're serious?"
 
I shrugged. "I failed my battle against Giovanni, so Brock is going to be my first badge if I win against him."
 
"Well, then, you are obviously going to come out on top!" He declared. "I know Brock quite well, he actually worked here for a time, and from what I saw of your ghost, she's a tricky little gal. She'll be more than enough to deal with his low-level team."
 
"Thanks, but I actually don't know if I'm going to use Wisp. I just caught her and I want some time to properly train her. It'll probably be my starter, Artis, who's going to fight him."
 
I hesitated as I thought about what he said. "Wait, sir, how did you know I had a ghost type?"
 
"Ah," he looked a little abashed. "I don't normally mention this, but I happened to be on the board of directors for the museum. We were given access to the security camera footage from the day of the event, including your rather ingenious use of the Mean Look technique."
 
I exhaled. I'd known that footage might exist somewhere out there, but I didn't think that it would be around outside of the Ace Trainers.
 
Dr. Spinel looked at me with concern. "I apologize, my boy, if I've brought up some unpleasant memories of the event-
 
"No, that's okay," I stopped him. "I just didn't realize that other people had seen what actually happened. Well, people who aren't working the case, I mean."
 
He nodded. "Yes, there has been a fair amount of us that have seen it. In fact, that reminds me of why I called you down here in the first place."
 
Dr. Spinel walked to the back of the lab, beckoning me to follow. He came to a tall metal box, like a locker, and popped it open. After fiddling around inside for a few minutes, he emerged with a long cylindrical package in a cloth bag. It was maybe a meter long and four centimeters in diameter.
 
"It was one of my aide's ideas, actually, and we all found it quite humorous upon reviewing the footage. Of course, when we were petitioning the insurance, we decided just to replace it and get a new one-"
 
"Sir?" I politely interrupted his rambling. "You haven't actually said what it is?"
 
"Ah, yes, of course," Dr. Spinel handed me the object.
 
The weight was familiar in my hand, and I had an inkling as soon as I grabbed it. I opened the cloth cover, revealing the extending flagpole that I'd used in the Rocket attack. I'd taken it from the New Horizons exhibit to protect myself from the Rockets, and I'd lost track of it somewhere in the attack. It had the Hoenn flag bound using rubber bands to keep it from unfurling.
 
I smiled as I looked at it. It was a replica of the one they'd planted on the moon, though it had a nice little dent in it from where I'd whacked Rocket Grunt Kyle with it.
 
"Thank you, sir."
 
"It's no problem, my boy. It was recovered from the main hall where, well, let's just say we had to remove a fair amount of rubble. We just thought we'd offer it as a reminder of the moment you 'planted your flag', so to speak, in our gratitude."
 
I grasped the flagpole in my hand, letting it extend to the ground. Fully extended, it stood over two meters tall.
 
"I appreciate it, sir. I'll have to plant this in the tallest place I can find, maybe Mt. Moon?" I joked.
 
He laughed with me before turning deathly serious. "In all reality, Mt. Moon is a protected environment. Please don't litter on the mountain."
 
"I won't, I won't," I promised. I grinned as I thought of an idea. I collapsed the flagpole, sliding it back into its bag and tossing it over my shoulder.
 
"Of course, that's just a token of our gratitude," Dr. Spinel said. "While I can't offer you anything as grand as a fossil, we've lost too much of our collection as it is, I would like you to know that the Pewter Museum of Science stands firmly behind you. If we can ever offer you anything that will help in your journey, please don't hesitate to ask."
 
I rubbed my chin with my hand, thinking about something we'd spoken about earlier. "Actually, sir, I think there may be something you can help me with..."
 

 
"I did it!" I said groggily, stumbling into the Pokemon Center room at almost midnight.
 
Amy snored through my announcement, but Yuji and Hana both looked up from their beds. They were all wearing their night clothes and were settled into bed.
 
"You've done what, exactly?" Yuji gave me a puzzled look from his bunk.
 
"I've solved my social media problem," I said, smiling. I could barely keep my eyes open. As much as I enjoyed this new editing hobby, I'd just spent the last three hours staring at a screen in the computer lab.
 
Hana looked at me like I might be radioactive. "Derek," she said cautiously, "If I look up your name right now, am I going to see something good, or bad?"
 
"You're only going to see something that has..." I looked down at my Pokenav+. "Forty-five thousand shares in ten minutes."
 
Hana and Yuji both bolted to their Pokegear, both plugged into our shared outlet. Yuji actually lept off the top bunk. They both searched up my account, and Hana stared my profile.
 
"You changed your username," Hana said slowly, slowly ramping how incredulous she sounded. "To that?"
 
I shrugged, but I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "I figured that if people already know the hashtag..."
 
Yuji pushed past it, looking at the second video on my account after my voiceover of our fight. He choked.
 
"Wait, Derek, this is... Where did you get this footage? Is this even legal for you to share?"
 
I nodded. After getting her contact details from Dr. Spinel, I'd gotten permission from Ace Trainer Karen. In fact, she'd laughed out loud when I told her the idea. The League had to authorize which fight I wanted to show, as the conflict with Proton was still under wraps.
 
I wouldn't have wanted to post that anyway.
 
If I had it my way, no one that cared about me and didn't already know would ever see the footage of me risking my life as stupidly as I had.
 
The League had cleared my post fifteen minutes ago. They just wanted to make sure that there were no classified details of the case on it, like Proton's rare Pokemon.
 
Two Team Rocket grunts getting beaten by a no-badge trainer?
 
That was fine.
 
Yuji held up his Pokegear to Hana, showing the edited footage of Artis and Wisp beating both an Arbok and a Raticate in defense of the Pewter Museum. I'd specifically cut together angles from multiple security cameras to keep Daisy and her Pokemon out of the fight, more for her privacy than anything else.
 
The best part was that the video on my account was a repost. Dr. Spinel had agreed to get a museum intern to share the video on the museum's accounts first. It lent a ton of credibility to the video and nobody could argue that I was 'clout chasing' by releasing this footage.
 
I refreshed my browser.
 
User @TrashTracey had two videos on his page. One was doing okay for a first post, according to Terry, with just under ten thousand shares. It was your run-of-the-mill battle analysis, so that was to be expected.
 
The other, a repost of the Pewter Museum battle, had more than doubled its shares in the time it had taken to show Yuji and Hana. It had almost a hundred thousand shares and was still growing.
 
I had been warned by Karen when I'd come up with the idea that this footage might backfire on me. Team Rocket might see it as mocking them, and they might choose to send people to attack me or my team.
 
I didn't mind. From what everyone had told me and from what I'd experienced so far, Team Rocket was a danger no matter where I went. I couldn't live in fear of criminals because they might be slightly more likely to attack me than the next innocent trainer.
 
If anything, I was hoping that this would send a message. This is what I could do now. What could I achieve once I had more badges under my belt?
 
"So, Hana," I said. She looked up from where she had been transfixed on my video. "Did I do a good job?"
 
Hana smiled, looking as exasperated as she did proud.
 
"Yeah, Derek," she said. "You did a good job."
 

 
When we tried to leave the Pokemon Center the next morning, there was almost a stampede.
 
As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I was bombarded with voices.
 
"Tracey, battle me!"
 
"Let me get a crack at that ghost! I'm sure I could take her!"
 
"Tell me where you got that water type! I need something like him for Brock's gym!"
 
"Bro, how did you end up fighting Rockets?"
 
Dozens of trainers crowded the hallway, pushing and prodding like I'd become some sort of celebrity overnight.
 
It wasn't as nice as I'd thought it would be. People did not respect my personal space. Trainers got right up in my face, challenging me to battles or asking about my team. Other people shoved in behind me, pushing past me to talk to my friends.
 
If it had just been me being inconvenienced, I could've handled it. The moment I saw Amy's face lose its color from being around too many people, though, it was on.
 
"Everybody, quiet!" I yelled over the crowd.
 
It took a second, but everyone stopped talking. I had all eyes on me.
 
"Alright, thank you," I growled. I pushed past a few trainers, making my way to a stool so I could step above the crowd.
 
Once I was up top, I had to admit that I was a little bit intimidated. There were easily forty trainers blocking the Pokemon Center walkway, and all of them were staring at me.
 
"First things first," I said, projecting to the back of the crowd. I spoke with the same cadence that my dad used on disobedient Pokemon. "You're going to clear a walkway from the front door to the elevator. Let my friends through, and stop making yourselves into public nuisances! You're better than this, people!"
 
More than half of them had the self-awareness to look ashamed. The crowd parted, and Hana and Yuji helped Amy out the door. We were all headed to the waterwheel anyway, so I'd catch up with them later.
 
"Thank you! Now, to answer some of the questions I heard, I'm just gonna talk for a minute. Don't interrupt me. I'll answer a question or two after. Does that sound fair?"
 
A general murmur of agreement went through the crowd.
 
"Good. So, to answer what I could catch before you mobbed me, I will not be taking any challenges before my Pewter Gym challenge."
 
A groan went through the crowd, but I yelled at them to get their attention again.
 
"Hey! We said we're not going to interrupt me," I waited for them to quiet back down. "It's not that I won't be battling, I just want to focus on training this week. Once I beat Brock, I'll be happy to answer any challenges from people who ask in a polite and civil way."
 
Several trainers left after I said that, unwilling to stick around once they knew they wouldn't get a battle. The majority stayed, though. They were invested enough to see this through.
 
"As for another question that I heard, Artis is a Spheal. He's native to the same place I am, Hoenn. I looked it up, and if you're interested you can get your own from some Hoenn breeding houses, but unfortunately they're only found in the deep ocean around these parts."
 
There were some groans, but a few trainers pulled out their Pokegear and notepads, taking notes. I could help but smile in self-satisfaction at how popular my boy was.
 
"For the last thing that I heard, I'll tell all of you what I told Lisa-what's-her-face from Celadon Daily, I'm not going to be talking about the Rocket attack on the museum. That's the League's job. The most I'll say is that I was in the right place at the wrong time. Now, I'll answer two questions, and then you'll all leave me alone. Is that clear?"
 
There was a wave of nods. I had maybe half of the initial crowd left. A few people started raising their hands.
 
"You, there, in the overalls."
 
The person had curly red hair and freckles, with a small demure vibe. They stepped up, asking their questions a bit nervously. "So, uh, I first heard about you the other day from one of Mick Starsky's videos," there was a mix of cheers and groans. Unsurprisingly, Mick was pretty divisive. "Why did you barge in on his pregame interview like that?"
 
I sighed. A few people took out their Pokegear to start recording my response. I was wary of them after my battle with Yuji went viral. I didn't know what might accidentally get seen by the wrong people.
 
"Did you actually watch the interview?"
 
They blushed, shaking their head. "Only the clips posted online."
 
"Well, if you look up the whole thing, you'll see that I actually just disagreed with something Mick said and got pulled into the conversation. I didn't get into that with any ill will toward him. Because we disagreed, the conversation got a little heated afterward. I promise that I'm not somebody to step in front of somebody else's spotlight."
 
The trainer looked convinced, and they nodded back to me. They stepped back into the crowd.
 
I looked around for another hand, but before I could, somebody shouted from the back.
 
"What's up with you and Daisy Oak?" They shouted. "You tapping that?"
 
The crowd went silent.
 
I narrowed my eyes and turned, looking through the trainers that were left.
 
"Who said that?" My voice came out as a whisper.
 
The crowd parted, leading me to a panicked-looking trainer who stood very short, maybe a meter and a half tall. They had big bushy purple hair and and extremely punchable face.
 
I walked up them, slowly.
 
More phones popped out, all pointed at me. I clenched my jaw as I was reminded to keep my cool.
 
I stood right in front of them, easily a head and shoulders taller than them. They looked around at of the rest of the trainers, but when no one spoke up, they turned back to me.
 
"What's your name?" I asked, staring them in the eyes.
 
"S-Sonny," he stuttered, glancing away as I spoke to them quietly.
 
"Hey, Sonny. Did that make you feel powerful?" I asked quietly. I knew the camera could still hear me, but I didn't care.
 
"Wh-what?"
 
"Did that make you feel powerful? To objectify somebody like that, if I didn't make myself clear," when they didn't answer, I raised my voice to a normal speaking level. "Sonny, I'm asking if it made you feel good to put down someone like that-"
 
"No!" They squeaked. They reddened with shame, returning their voice to a quiet volume. "No, that didn't feel good."
 
I nodded. "Alright, then. I suggest you apologize. Not to me!" I snapped when Sonny opened their mouth again. "I suggest you take the time to write a heartfelt apology to Daisy Oak and send it online. Do I make myself clear?"
 
Sonny nodded, looking down in shame.
 
I turned my back to them, looking at the rest of the trainers in the room. Most were slackjawed, but several had smiles on their faces, excited at what I'd done.
 
"Let me clear," I projected my voice again so that the room could hear me. "Daisy Oak is not up for discussion. If someone wants their private life to stay private, I suggest you respect that."
 
There were a few nods, a few whoops, and a general mumbling of acceptance.
 
Good.
 
"Now, that was two questions. I'm not answering anymore until I have a Boulder Badge."
 
The crowd dispersed, Sonny being the first one out of the room. I wasn't normally somebody to get mad, but boy that question had pissed me off, especially with how it had been asked.
 
I sighed, letting my body unclench.
 
How the hell did people deal with putting their whole lives online? This sucks.
 
I collected my bag and started to walk when the front door when I heard Nurse Joy call for me.
 
"Mr. Tracy?" She called. "Could you come here for a moment?"
 
I nodded, jogging back to the counter. "What's up Nurse Joy, did you have another payment for me?" I joked.
 
Nurse Joy politely chuckled. "No, nothing like that. I just wanted to commend you for how you handled that crowd. I was moments away from intervening, but you spoke to them directly and honestly."
 
I rubbed the back of my neck, flushing slightly. "Thanks, Nurse Joy. I just figured that everything I do now kinda sets a precedent, and I don't want that to be happening any time news around me flares up."
 
She nodded. "A wise decision. And remember, if things ever get to be a bit too much, the employees of the Pokemon Center are here to keep you healthy. If you ever need to speak with someone, the we can get you in contact with verified professionals."
 
I looked at her genuine smile, considering her words and thinking back to what my dad had told me a few days ago. I was just a few days into being in the limelight and it was already this stressful.
 
"You know what, Nurse Joy?" I finally said. "I'll take you up on that. When I get back from training today, do you think we could look at some therapists?"
 
Nurse Joy smiled proudly. "I can have a list waiting for you when you get back."
 
"Thanks, Nurse Joy."
 
"It's no problem at all."
 
I bowed my head to her before heading out the front door. It was nice to feel like somebody really had my back.
 
I pulled out my Pokenav+, dialing a number as I started walking to the waterwheel.
 
"Hello?" Came a staticky voice from my phone.
 
"Hey, Daisy," I said, her voice bringing a smile to my face. "I was calling to see if you wanted to come hang out while I trained for my badge challenge?"
 
She giggled and it made me smile even more. "Yeah, sure. Are you swinging by to pick me up?"
 
"Absolutely," I said, turning to start walking in the opposite direction. "And we can grab some coffee on the way there."
 
"I thought you hated coffee?"
 
"I do, but I also know that you can't live without it," I chuckled. "I figure I'll just carry your refill until you finish your first one."
 
"Ah, yes, that's why I keep you around," she laughed. "You're spoiling me. You didn't do any more interviews, did you?"
 
I stopped walking, looking directly at my Pokenav+ as she called me out.
 
She just no-scoped that? I thought incredulously.
 
"So, uh, funny story...."
 
"Derek!"
 
"So, what had happened was..."
 
 

Notes:

And that's a wrap on the chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and seeing Derek's problem-solving process.

Just a note as well about the technology of the world in case you've noticed me using certain words interchangeably. The different devices (Pokegear, Pokenav, Xtransiever, etc.) I do refers to as phones as a colloquial term. It's just easier to do for writing, so that's what I've adopted. In my mind, it's basically like the difference between a Galaxy, an Iphone, and a Google phone.

Remember, if you have any questions or you just like this story, please comment and leave some kudos! It helps me so much!

Chapter 17: Battles of the Heart, Body, and Mind

Notes:

Pre-Author's Note:
This one is a bit of a longer chapter, but I felt like it all needed to be together to close us out through the last day before Derek's challenge against Brock! I hope you guys enjoy it!

TW: Mild Panic Attacks, Trauma Responses, and Therapy Conversation. Slight Xenophobia.

My week of training for the Pewter Gym challenge was the most fruitful I'd had yet.
 
Artis and Wisp made real progress in their training. We started with drills for every single one of their moves, getting them used to using their techniques in a ton of varying situations. It was just like Dad had taught me: repetition, repetition, repetition.
 
Artis got to the point where he was able to use Rest properly, giving him a hell of a fallback plan if he took too much damage. It still put him out cold for thirty seconds at a minimum, so I consulted my old notes once again.
 
I picked up a strategy I'd initially ignored and got to work teaching Artis to Snore. This technique let him have an attack that he could use while sleeping, so we had a backup plan for our backup plan. Since he was my only tank, this let him stay on the field for way longer than he had any right to.
 
To be fair, if we were ever at the point where I was relying on Snore, something had gone terribly wrong.
 
Wisp, instead of learning new moves, was focused on getting used to her current move pool. I'd seen from our battle footage from the museum that she heavily preferred dodging and using Confuse Ray, which needed to change. It wasn't that it couldn't be an effective strategy, it just wasn't consistent.
 
We'd unlocked a few of her potential strategies against Yuji and Achilles, and I wanted to train that to be so much more. We focused on Shadow Sneak, Hypnosis, and Hex the most. Using the three of them in quick succession against an unwitting opponent could be devastating.
 
Yuji did challenge me to another spar over the week, which he kept to his promise and won. It had been a single battle with both of us using both of our Pokemon. The pairings had even landed in my favor, with both Artis and Despereaux coming out first. Yuji was clued into my strategies now, though, and had worked on getting past them.
 
Artis was almost knocked out by Despereaux when the Rattata followed up a Quick Attack with an Assurance, a combo that dealt an unreasonable amount of damage when done in a chain. We'd had to rely on Snore because something had gone terribly wrong.
 
Achilles came in and easily finished off Artis. With Wisp, I'd hoped to repeat some of what I'd done in our earlier battle, but Yuji had been training far too hard for that.
 
When Achilles pulled out Pin Missile, a ranged bug type attack, I knew that the battle was over.
 
Daisy had actually taken to joining us for our training sessions. While she and her Pokemon didn't actually fight anymore, she would happily run through her research notes on her computer while letting Seych and Luna, her Chansey and Clefairy, join in on the fun. Having Seych around made things way more convenient because we didn't have to go all the way back to the Center to heal our Pokemon.
 
Hana and Amy actually took a much more aggressive role in our battle training, something they'd been reticent to do in the past. When I questioned them about it, they both responded that Yuji and I's battles had riled them up for the competition.
 
Amy focused on Pennywise's utility attacks, trying to get the mime more familiar with more status moves. Even though Amy was still the only member of the group who was still uncomfortable around Wisp, they'd let me borrow Pennywise to help teach him Hypnosis. My Misdreavus' mastery of the move had the Mime Jr. pick it up pretty quickly, and now he could protect himself with yet another move.
 
Hana went in the complete opposite direction. She focused only on increasing Paige's attack power. She made use of the stand I'd made to teach Artis how to use Water Gun, running drill after drill until the Bellsprout learned and was able to use Razor Leaf and Bullet Seed in quick succession.
 
Paige was the Pokemon that powered up the most that week, as shown by a bright white glow that took over the training ground on our final day of training.
 
The white light was blinding, but even at that moment I couldn't help but look right at it. Just being the veil of light, Paige was changing, growing into her next stage.
 
It was beautiful.
 
The light vanished, leaving behind a yellow, bell-shaped plant that was thirty centimeters taller than it had been before.
 
"Weepinbell!" The newly evolved Paige cheered.
 
Hana screeched with happiness, running to her Pokemon and picking her up to twirl her around. Daisy cheered from her lawn chair, and Amy walked over to hug their friend.
 
"That's awesome, Hana!" I yelled from across the training field.
 
Yuji nodded, continuing to oil Achilles' chitinous armor. "The first evolution of our entire group, it feels like we're passing a milestone."
 
"Took us long enough," I smiled. I cupped my hands around my mouth to yell to the others. "How about we call it for the night and get a fancy dinner to celebrate?"
 

 
We split up to take showers and get into nicer clothes before heading to dinner. It was nothing too fancy, but celebrating Hana's first evolution felt like it deserved some pomp and pizzazz.
 
Amy, Yuji, and I all put on button-downs and slacks, adding our own flair where we wanted to. I personally wrapped the handkerchief Daisy had given me around my wrist and left half my shirt untucked. I was going for more of a 'messily polished' kind of look.
 
Hana took the opportunity to wear a dress, something that I hadn't seen her do the entire time we'd been traveling together. It turned out that it wasn't that she didn't like them, it was that she hadn't felt like she'd had the opportunity yet. The summer dress was floor length and green, with light purple vine designs running up the length and asymmetrically across her torso. She looked like a million bucks.
 
However good Hana looked, though, Daisy stole the show for me. She wore a set of black heels and a flowing green skirt with a creme-colored blouse with a wide neckline, leaving her shoulders exposed. Daisy's pale skin reflected the moonlight, reminding me of just how much she loved the stars. Her dark blonde hair was left down to flow around her shoulders, and I was mesmerized.
 
Walking through town in our semi-formal attire was embarrassing at first, but honestly felt good after a while. I was turning heads for a different reason than being internet famous, which was alright by me.
 
And when Daisy looped her arm into mine, I felt like I could fly.
 
Dinner was at an upscale place on the other side of town from the Pokemon Center. It managed to be nice and fancy without being overly expensive, which were both wins in my book.
 
We ate a delicious dinner and were stuffed afterward. Though, none of us said no when Amy ordered a whole cake for the table. I got as far into my slice as I could before sneaking it under the table where Wisp was eagerly waiting in my shadow.
 
Daisy said nothing when she noticed, but she smiled and her summer green eyes sparkled with amusement.
 
When we finished, Yuji and Amy really wanted to go do karaoke, but Daisy and I declined. She wanted to walk around town a bit, and I there was no way I was turning down one on one time with her. The other three left to do their singing and debauchery while we started walking around Pewter.
 
Daisy and I passed by the restaurants, clubs, and bars, enjoying the vibe of the nightlife. It wasn't long, though, until people started coming out en masse. The streets got crowded quickly, forcing us off the walking paths and into the street.
 
"I think I see a park over there," Daisy said wistfully.
 
"Do you want to go?" I asked her.
 
"It might be nice to sit for a while, I didn't realize how much I'd gotten used to sneakers," Daisy laughed as she looked down at her heels.
 
"Well, how often do you have the need to wear heels to the lab?" I joked back.
 
She laughed, intertwining our fingers. Daisy pulled me along, leading me to the park she'd seen at the end of the street.
 
Once the path turned to dirt, Daisy slipped her heels off, carrying them in one hand.
 
"That's so much better," she sighed in relief. She glanced back at me and flushed. "This is okay, right?"
 
"Yeah, it's fine. Whatever makes you comfortable."
 
Daisy nodded, grateful, and we started walking the park trails.
 
The park itself was an open lawn, surrounded by a dirt path that was lined with trees. Half a dozen other groups of people were scattered about, enjoying the ambiance that the string lights in the trees provided.
 
We found a park bench, one of several littered across the trail, and sat down. Daisy took my arm into my lap, holding my hand in both of hers.
 
When she looked down, she chuckled softly. "I thought I recognized this," she said, rubbing the end of the handkerchief tied to my wrist. "I didn't realize you still had it."
 
It was the handkerchief that she'd used to dab my wounds during the museum attack. She'd left it with me when we split up to go take on the Rockets, just in case I ran into more trouble.
 
"I forgot I had it until after you went to your hotel," I admitted. "It took a while to get the blood out, but the Pokemon Center pays for the good stuff when it comes to laundry supplies. Now it's just a good luck charm."
 
"That's sweet," she said, leaning her head against my shoulder. "I'm glad you got some use out of it."
 
We drifted into silence. Daisy absentmindedly played with my fingers, and I made a game of flipping my palm the wrong way so she'd have to readjust her hand to keep our fingers interlocked.
 
She did, every time.
 
Eventually, my wandering mind broke the silence.
 
"What was it, when we met, that made you like me?" I asked simply.
 
Daisy flushed, pausing her game, but not denying what I said.
 
"You were honest," she admitted. "And kind, and seeking out knowledge."
 
"That's it?" I was surprised that it was something so simple.
 
She shook her head. "Kanto's very different than Hoenn. The people here are prideful. To admit that you were wrong within minutes of meeting a stranger? That takes guts here," she blushed a little deeper. "And it helped that you had no idea who I was."
 
"Is it that big of a problem for you?"
 
"Derek, my grandpa is Professor Oak," Daisy said with a laugh. "I've been on national TV since I was five. I've never dated anyone that didn't know who I was."
 
"Fair point," I admitted. "I've never dated anyone,"
 
Daisy looked at me and smiled shyly. "I think this counts?" She said, her voice nervous.
 
My breath caught.
 
We'd been dancing around it for the last week, but she'd said it. One of the reasons I kept panicking when other people asked what we were was that I didn't know. We'd only been on one date before this, and it had gotten horribly interrupted.
 
Did that count?
 
I liked her a whole lot, but there was still so much that I didn't know about her.
 
I liked to hold her hand, but I didn't know her birthday.
 
I liked the way she smiled, but I didn't know if she had siblings.
 
I liked the way she laughed, but I didn't know-
 
"Hey...!" A stumbling voice interrupted my thoughts. "I know that guy!"
 
Daisy and I looked up, and a group of drunken clubgoers were passing by the park. One of them, a tall and overly muscular guy who was wearing sunglasses at night, had stumbled away from the group. He was leaning against a tree, pointing at me.
 
"You're- huck -that asshole who was hogging the TV!" He hiccuped. "I saw you on Poge- Pony- Pokegram!"
 
Even from here, I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He was severely intoxicated.
 
I sighed, standing up. Daisy quickly got up too, stepping protectively in front of me.
 
"I'm sorry, sir," she said bluntly, "but we don't know you. We're trying to enjoy our evening, so please be on your way."
 
He stepped forward, sticking out a finger and pointing it past Daisy at me.
 
"Shud up," he said, slurring his words. "I don't care about you, bish- bitch. This guy is an asshole detention-hog! Go back to your own region, dickhead!"
 
To show his point, he flipped me off.
 
I sighed, putting out a hand but careful not to touch him. "Look, I'm sorry if I've offended you, sir, but that's actually really offensive. If you could please just go back to your group-"
 
The man lurched forward, brushing past Daisy and grabbing me by my shirt. I winced as I smelt his breath.
 
"Lookey here, you fuggin- huck -foreigner," he hiccuped directly in my face. "You go home, or I'm gonna make you go home."
 
To show what he was saying, the guy stood to his full height and flexed his muscles, showing off what was clearly the only thing he cared about.
 
My breath caught in my throat, though, as he tugged on my shirt.
 
I wasn't scared of bullies. I hadn't been scared of Mick, and I wasn't intimidated by this drunken bigot, but something about when he shoved me around triggered something.
 
My vision bled color, everything tinted a little more grey, and his voice dulled to a blur.
 
I was suddenly back in the museum, right after the sonic explosion. Everything felt distant, empty, like I'd just lost my hearing again.
 
My fight or flight was turning on, and I wasn't in the habit of running away.
 
This guy needed to let go of me, now, or I was going to do something that I regretted.
 
"Sir," I mumbled. "I need you to let go of me-"
 
He pushed me.
 
I stumbled back, losing my footing. I clenched my fist, but everything still felt distant.
 
I turned to get up, getting ready to punch him, but I didn't have to.
 
Wisp flew out of my shadow, getting between me and him. She used her illusions to appear bigger, causing her yellow and red eyes to pop and her teeth to sharpen to unnatural points. A low rumbling echoed from her as she used Growl.
 
The guy blanched, turning tail and running back to his group. He didn't even stop to pick up the sunglasses that went flying from his face.
 
I sat down, feeling the world echo around me.
 
Daisy said something, but I didn't hear it. She fumbled around, patting my pockets until she found what she was looking for.
 
There was a flash of red light, and I felt something warm rest against my hand.
 
The color bled back into the world, and the sound around me evened out.
 
I looked over and I saw Artis resting his chin in my palm, looking at me with worry. I rubbed the top of his head.
 
"Hey, bud," I said, evening out my breathing. I hadn't even noticed the labored breaths.
 
"Sphea!" He barked.
 
"I know, I'm sorry bud. Thank you, though." I kept my hand on him, petting his head and feeling the texture of his fur on my palm.
 
I looked around. Daisy and Wisp were both standing over me, watching me with as much worry as Artis had.
 
"Hey," I said simply.
 
"Hey, yourself," Daisy said back. She slowly lowered herself onto the bench next to me. "What was that?"
 
Wisp nuzzled the underside of my chin with her head before melting back into my shadow.
 
"I, uh, I'm not sure?" I answered her honestly. "Maybe a panic attack?"
 
Daisy grabbed my other hand, the one not petting Artis, and nodded. "That would make sense, you've been through a lot lately. Have you been talking to anyone about it?"
 
I nodded, then shook my head. "I have a, uh, meeting with a therapist, after the match tomorrow. I'm supposed to start then."
 
"That's good, and that's a great idea," she encouraged, clutching my hand. She started massaging the joints, running her thumbs along my knuckles. I felt my entire body start relaxing.
 
When I didn't speak up, Daisy kept talking. "You know, I used to see a therapist, actually. After I decided to leave the gym circuit on my journey. Seych, my starter, was injured on the road. She was hurt really bad, enough that she couldn't heal herself, and she still has a scar from it..."
 
Daisy continued that for I didn't know how long, massaging my hand and telling me about her experience in quitting being a trainer.
 
It helped a lot.
 
Right before her third badge match, Seych had taken a wound from an Axe Kick from a fighting type. The wound had been so bad that Seych had been unconscious for over a month. During that time, Daisy had to do her first gym challenge without her starter, and it was a struggle all the way through. She'd eventually won, but it had taken all of her mental fortitude. After Seych healed up and Daisy discovered how much more she liked Contests, it hadn't even been a choice. She'd quit on the spot.
 
"And that's why I like Contests so much more." She said. "I think normal battling is all about aggression and wanting to take down your foe, while contest battling has the true goal of being beautiful."
 
I nodded. "You are beautiful," I mumbled absentmindedly.
 
Normally, I'd be embarrassed to say something so outwardly affectionate like that, but I couldn't think of anything else.
 
Daisy was more than just pretty, she was beautiful. And that meant in every sense of the word. She was kind and honest and intelligent.
 
I scratched Artis' head one more time before returning him. The red flash of light wasn't enough to hide Daisy's blush, though.
 
In the silence, I nodded. "I think I'd like it to"
 
"Hmm?" Daisy was stuck somewhere between embarrassed and puzzled.
 
"When you asked earlier if you thought this counted as dating," I explained. "I think I'd like it to."
 
Daisy smiled. "Me too." She said.
 
I grinned, feeling heat bloom in my chest and a bit of normalcy return to my bones.
 
"Then I guess you should make it official,' I said expectantly.
 
"Me?" Daisy giggled.
 
"You asked me out, both times. If anyone should ask it, then it should be you!"
 
She bobbed her head, thinking it through. "I accept that logic," she said with a grin.
 
Daisy scooted in front of me, taking both of my hands into hers.
 
"Derek Tracy," Daisy said in a fake pompous voice, trying to keep from giggling the whole time. "Will you do me the honor of officially setting our relationship status to 'dating'?" She couldn't get through the last word without laughing.
 
I nodded in my best impression of a nobleman. "I shall!" I declared.
 
We burst into giggles, and she curled up against me on the bench. It was getting cold out.
 
I went to stand, but Daisy held my arm in place. I turned to her to see what was wrong, but I barely had time to blink before she pressed her lips to mine.
 
It was soft and warm, and I felt tingles go through my whole body, it started in my toes and crinkled my nose.
 
I'd never kissed anyone before, and it was everything anyone said it would be, and more.
 
When we finally separated, we were both out of breath.
 
The second, third, and fourth ones were even better.
 
It was a while before we headed back.
 

 
The next day, Yuji, Amy, Hana, and I all gathered our things and headed to the Pewter Gym. Unlike the Viridian City Gym, there were so many prospective trainers here that they herded us into a locker room to prepare ourselves. Three trainers would go out at a time to use three of the four fields in battles against gym trainers. The last field was reserved for Brock, who would be doing the actual gym challenges for whoever had succeeded in the matches the previous day.
 
As we all started getting into our gym outfits, Hana tossed a glance my way. "You're all smiles today, Derek."
 
I grinned even bigger. "Yeah, I guess I'm just feeling myself today. It's gonna be a great day!"
 
Yuji and Hana tossed each other a look.
 
Amy groaned, tugging their beanie over their eyes. "Guys, it's friggin' obvious. They made out last night. Nothing else would make him so... giddy."
 
Amy sounded like they wanted to throw up.
 
"Amy Parish Regina Mañana the Fourth!" I said with mock offense. "A gentleman does not kiss and tell. And I'm doing a whole lot of not telling right now!" I wiggled my eyebrows.
 
Amy gagged. "Literally none of that was my name," they turned to Yuji and Hana. "I'm going to go find somewhere else before he bursts into song."
 
Hana gave me a grin and high-fived me, which I heartily returned. Yuji gave me a hesitant thumbs up, and I shook my head and fist-bumped him.
 
"So," Hana said, changing subjects. "Are you ready for your battles?"
 
I nodded, holding up a printout from a stack that Hana had handed me earlier. She'd taken the time to print out copies of her notes for us, and once we'd checked in for the day we were given the names of our opponents.
 
I was up against Gym Trainer Liam. According to Hana's handout, his first-badge challenge only included a single Geodude. The rock Pokemon focused on setting up Defense Curl and Rock Polish, increasing its defense and mobility before moving into a familiar Rollout strategy. It was basically as if I was fighting a rock type version of Artis.
 
I wouldn't be setting up a mirror match, though. Wisp was strong enough to use here, and I wanted to show her off a bit before the match tomorrow. I was planning on using Artis as much as possible against Brock, so I was giving Wisp her time to shine here.
 
"Thanks again for this, Hana," I said.
 
Yuji nodded. "Your information is invaluable for the upcoming conflict."
 
Hana wiggled her shoulders, obviously satisfied with herself. "I told you that my notes were necessary! Now we're prepared for any possible outcome."
 
"Twenty-four pages later..." I coughed under my breath.
 
"What was that?" She snapped.
 
"I said we should get lunch later!" I grinned.
 
Yuji chuckled, having heard the whole interaction. "I am confident in all of us today. The trainers today should all be of lesser power than Giovanni, and we have trained much since him."
 
Hana nodded. "This isn't the real challenge, though. That comes tomorrow."
 
I shook out my body, dissipating the nervousness in my bones. "Guys, come on! Lighten up!" I said with a grin. "We get to go battle in a stadium. Isn't that the best part?"
 
Yuji grunted, giving me a first bump. Hana nodded, her eyes lighting up with determination.
 
This was what we trained for.
 
We were coming in ahead of the curve for the other first-badge challengers, but we were so far behind the people who were challenging for their second badge.
 
I'd talked to the others, and they had the same mindset that I had. We'd spent too long in Pewter already, and we needed to move on. Once we all had our Boulder Badges, we were leaving the day after, two at the max.
 
Even though I had signed up to battle Brock first, we were called to these battles as the gym trainers cleared through their challenges.
 
Amy was the first person called. The three of us huddled together around one of the TVs in the locker room to watch their challenge.
 
Their battle outfit consisted of a robe-like shirt with oversized long sleeves that flowed over their hands. Amy's beanie had been replaced with an even larger pom pom hat, its tail going all the way past their mid-back.
 
Amy strolled out of the challenger tunnel, entering the stadium to the bright lights and sounds of the crowd.
 
I winced when I saw their face pale. Most people would've assumed that they were nervous, but we knew that they were being overwhelmed by the minds and emotions of the crowd. The Pewter Gym wasn't close to being at capacity, but there were easily a few hundred people scattered among the stadium seating.
 
"Come on, Ames," I murmured, cheering for them. "You've got this."
 
Yuji clenched his hands, worry obvious on his face. Hana looked fully confident, though.
 
Amy walked up to their podium, and the gym trainer there bowed to them. They returned the bow, and both trainers took their positions as the referee announced to rules.
 
At the signal, Amy released Pennywise and the gym trainer released a tiny steel-grey Pokemon that stood on four little legs. I raised my eyebrows at the rock-steel type from my home region.
 
Amy smirked as they saw the Aron on the field. Hana's confidence suddenly made sense. Aron had very few ranged options and it was a slow Pokemon. If Pennywise could avoid the first few barrages of rocks, Amy had this fight in the bag.
 
Both trainers gave their opening moves, Aron beginning to shimmer with a silvery sheen and Pennywise laying an invisible labyrinth of Barriers across the field. The audience murmured as it looked like Amy hadn't had him do anything.
 
I knew better than that. There was a tell-tale latticework of dust ripples on the ground where moving air had gotten trapped between the layers of his psychic power. They were faint, but you could easily see them if you knew to look for them.
 
The gym trainer was smarter than the audience. They commanded Aron to start kicking up dirt, causing little particles in the air to start to outline the Barriers.
 
Amy wasn't sitting back doing nothing, though. They commanded Pennywise to move, shifting between invisible barriers and causing more to appear as he ran. The tiny mime hopped onto a horizontal platform, getting above the battlefield.
 
Aron slammed its feet into the ground, cracking the field to make a series of fist-sized boulders. Its eyes glowed brown as it channeled rock type energy.
 
The stones started to float, individual ones launching themselves across the battlefield toward Pennywise. They exploded against the planes of force that he quickly materialized in front of him.
 
"Derek Tracy, please report to Field 3."
 
I cursed at the intercom. Amy's fight was just getting good.
 
Hana and Yuji both sent me looks of encouragement. I high-fived them both before heading to the challenger tunnel.
 
Today, I wore a variation of the outfit Hana had picked for my challenge against Giovanni. The three-quarter sleeve jacket and beige v-neck still represented my connection to Artis, but I had a few more accessories now.
 
Around my neck, I had a silver chain with a large chunk of amethyst hanging from it, something Hana had said reminded her of Wisp. My ghost had quickly agreed, resulting in me spending too much money to make them both happy. Tied to my wrist, I still had Daisy's green bandana. I'd been serious when I told her it was a good luck charm.
 
I took a deep breath as I stood in the dark entranceway to the tunnel. Ahead of me, the white light of the stadium lights blew out my vision of the pitch. All I could hear was the sound of battling and the cheer of the crowd.
 
Excitement flared in my chest. This feeling was intoxicating.
 
I walked forward, one step after the other.
 
I reached the end of the tunnel and the sounds and lights flowed over my senses. Was it possible to be overwhelmed when I loved them so much?
 
As I walked onto the pitch, three other battles were still ongoing. Brock himself was in the field farthest from mine, battling a challenger for their actual gym battle. Amy's fight was also still going, though it looked like they'd be ending it quickly. The Aron was on its last legs, and Pennywise was charging up a hell of a Confusion.
 
The stands weren't nearly full, but compared to the dozen trainers at Viridian it felt like the opening day of the Ever Grande conference. People cheered for their own favorites as they battled the trainers of Pewter Gym.
 
There was actually a crowd for me, even if they weren't necessarily there to support me. Several trainers yelled boos as I walked on the pitch, shouting to the tune of Mick's call-out videos. Someone even brought a sign that said: '#TrashTracey sucks! Justice for Mick!'
 
I giggled when I saw that. I definitely wasn't going to be doing pregame interviews tomorrow, there was way too high of a chance that one of them would try something.
 
I also had a less vocal but far larger crowd of people that were actually there to support me, though. I saw several signs that said: '@TrashTracey is our treasure!' and 'Thank you! You're a hero Derek!'
 
Those ones actually made me less comfortable. I didn't know how I felt about being called someone's hero.
 
Daisy wasn't in the crowd. She was taking the day to get caught up with some paperwork for her next expedition, which I actually didn't know where she'd be going. She had promised to be here for the real challenge tomorrow, and that was fine with me.
 
Terry was in the stands, though, and his big grin brought one out in me. He was sitting with two other trainers, the blonde one in a vest that I'd seen with the Vulpix, and the curly red-haired trainer that had been in the crowd the other day. They must've been his traveling companions.
 
Their challenges would be later in the day, and Terry had agreed to record my battle with the simple camera that I'd spent a little chunk of change on. He waved at me, showing me that my camera was rolling.
 
I nodded to him and turned to my opponent. Gym Trainer Liam was a short guy with brown hair and a green uniform. He stood waiting at his end of our battlefield.
 
I slowed my breath and focused on Liam, letting the sights and sounds of the stadium fade into the background.
 
I stepped up to the challenger podium.
 
Liam pulled out a Pokeball, releasing his Geodude in a flash of red light. The rock Pokemon was exactly that, a football-sized Boulder with two spindly arms that ended in fists. It floated a few inches above the ground.
 
I called for Wisp, and she repeated the same entrance she had for her battle against Yuji. Several people who had seen the video cheered as my shadow extended in front of me, while I got a few shrieks from people who hadn't known she was coming.
 
"This match will be Challenger Derek Tracy against Gym Trainer Liam Wright for his right to battle Gym Leader Brock," called the referee. "It will be a one-on-one Pokemon battle, using standard League challenge rules. Are both trainers ready?"
 
I gave a thumbs up and Liam nodded to the referee.
 
"Begin!"
 

 
The battle was disappointingly short.
 
Wisp tore through the Geodude in two moves, only not one-hitting it due to its Sturdy ability. She completely disabled it by lifting it with Confusion, and the Geodude was unable to build up any speed for its Rollout.
 
It was to be expected, because we had trained far more than most people challenging for their first badge, and this was a gym trainer, someone who was supposed to be weaker than the gym challenge.
 
That didn't mean that it wasn't heartbreaking to win so quickly.
 
Nurse Joy smiled as I handed her Wisp's Pokeball. I'd left the gym quickly after my battle, rushing to the Pokemon Center for my meeting with the therapist.
 
"Hello, Mr. Tracy," she said. "Congratulations on your win!"
 
I glanced at the corner of the room where a TV had the Pewter Gym's live stream up. I smiled.
 
Nurse Joy really watches the challenges of all of the trainers under her care.
 
"Thanks, Nurse Joy," I glanced at my Pokenav+. "Do you think I have enough time to shower before I meet him?"
 
Nurse Joy looked at the clock on her computer and nodded. "If you make it a quick one," she said quietly, giving me a comfortable smile. "Dr. Delkins will be in Officer 1-B at two o'clock."
 
I thanked her and ran up to the room. I took a quick shower and changed into a less expressive outfit, settling for a pair of loose pants and a sweater. I wanted to be comfortable for whatever happened in this meeting.
 
Dr. Delkins, the man Nurse Joy and I had picked out for me to speak to, wasn't actually a therapist. He was a psychologist.
 
Nurse Joy had recommended meeting with him for a mental evaluation, to get a base-level understanding of my mental state for other medical professionals to work with.
 
I made my way down to the first floor again, walking down a rarely used hallway past the computer lab. It led to the spare offices and conference rooms that trainers could rent from the Pokemon Center.
 
The door to Office 1-B was cracked open when I approached. I knocked on the doorframe.
 
"Come on in," a gruff and professional voice said from inside.
 
I pushed the door open. Inside the room was at its barest essentials with four plush embroidered chairs, a small coffee table, and a lamp being the only furniture.
 
Seated in one of the chairs was a bearded man with wavy, carefully kept hair. He wore a button-down shirt and blue slacks, and had a set of reading glasses hanging from a chair on his neck.
 
He gave me a small smile, leaning up from his chair to shake my hand as I walked in. "I assume, you're young Mr. Tracy?"
 
"Yeah, that's me."
 
I closed the door after I shook his hand, and took a seat across from him.
 
"As I'm sure you already know," he said, sitting his reading glasses on the edge of his nose. "I'm Dr. Barrim Delkins, and I'm going to be giving you a quick evaluation on some troubling symptoms you've been having lately."
 
I nodded. After last night, I'd told Nurse Joy about the weird lapse I'd had in the park. She'd promised to forward the information to Dr. Delkins so he'd be prepared for our meeting.
 
"Well, I find this works best if I know a bit more about you before we get started," he said. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? Give me a few sentences about Derek Tracy."
 
"Yeah, uh, okay," I agreed, feeling hesitant. "I'm sixteen years old, seventeen in about a month. I'm from Lilycove, Hoenn. I like battling, books, and movies, and I recently started learning how to edit RoTube videos. I've been here in Kanto for about a month now... I guess that kinda sums me up?"
 
Dr. Delkins nodded. He'd pulled out an old-fashioned yellow notepad while I'd been talking, and he was taking notes with an expensive fountain pen.
 
"Thank you. Now, I see in your medical history that you were put through a pretty intense situation with the League? There's a conflict report listed here. Do you want to tell me anything about that?"
 
I felt my shoulders tense.
 
If he had access to the League's report on the museum, then he could read everything that I'd already told Karen.
 
I shook my head. "I don't have a ton to add. I said pretty much all of it to the Ace Trainer who interviewed me."
 
He raised an eyebrow. "Mhmm."
 
Dr. Delkins immediately started writing more extensive notes, much to my chagrin.
 
"And this attack that you had yesterday night? Can you tell me more about that?"
 
I shifted in my seat. "Okay, yeah. Everything kind of went grey? I don't know if that makes sense, but it felt like I saw less color. My hearing got worse, too. Like I was listening to things in slow motion. I was there, but I also wasn't."
 
I stopped there, feeling uncomfortable describing all my symptoms so quickly into this. I hadn't realized how much I was hoping for a slower start.
 
Dr. Delkins looked at me, giving me a once over. His eyes stopped at my tense shoulders and my hands, which I immediately stopped fiddling with.
 
"Here, let's try a different approach. Why don't we start with what's on your mind?" He said. "Tell me about what you think about first when you think about the phrase 'upcoming'."
 
I nodded, furrowing my brows in concentration.
 
"Derek?" Dr. Delkins called. "It might be best if you close your eyes and try to relax while you think."
 
I breathed a deep breath, exhaling it to let my shoulders go slack. I leaned against the back of the chair, feeling the texture of the embroidered cloth under my fingers. It felt nice, like when Daisy had me rub Artis' snout in the park.
 
I closed my eyes, staring off into the darkness as I thought.
 
"Uh, when I think about 'upcoming'," I swallowed, my mouth feeling dry. "I mean, it'd be weird if I didn't say my battle with Brock tomorrow, right? Like, it's kind of a big deal."
 
I heard the scratching of Dr. Delkins' pen on paper. He grunted understandingly.
 
"That would make sense. You're a trainer, and I hear that gym battles are quite important. What else comes to mind? Just keep listing things until you feel like you've run out of upcoming events."
 
"Oh, okay. After the battle, we're leaving for Mt. Moon. Not right away, but a day or two later. Which means that I should put 'saying goodbye to Daisy' on that list, too. She's my- I mean- we're dating," I grunted, uncomfortable that he didn't respond. I continued. "Since she's got her own job and life, she's basically just been on vacation with us here in Pewter. She can't travel with us, so I'll have to say goodbye for a while."
 
"And that must be difficult," he said. "Knowing that someone that you care for will be away from you soon?"
 
"Yeah, definitely. Especially because I don't know when she'll have time off again. But after that, we're going to Mt. Moon. While we're there, I have my eye on a Pokemon that I want to catch. And then we get to Cerulean, where a couple more members of my group want to catch some Pokemon and we need to challenge the gym there. Once we get that out of the way, we only have a week or two before we need to move on again. We'll probably head to Saffron because then we can go to a few other gyms in nearby cities."
 
"In between all of that, though," I continued. "I need to find time to work on some more videos for my channel because everybody keeps telling me that I need to be making content to get sponsors for my journey. I also need to go shopping for the trip, and I need to call home before I leave, because my parents get worried while I'm on the trails. I also wanted to see if I could help get two of my friends to talk to each other before we leave, because one likes the other and I kinda promised to help him out-"
 
"I think I'm starting to see some things coming together here," Dr. Delkins spoke up when I took a breath. "You've got an awful lot on your plate for a rookie."
 
I sighed, opening my eyes and thinking about everything I'd just listed. I actually had another ten to fifteen things I was going to say, but even without them, it was a lot.
 
"And to top it off, you have several expectations that you've put on yourself for others. You seemed resistant to speaking on the intense trauma you went through recently when I broached the subject earlier," he said. "This tells me a few things about you, Derek. You are happy to ignore your own needs, especially when there are needs of others that you want to attend to."
 
I was confused. "But isn't that normal? Like, 'love your common man' and all that?"
 
"To an extent, self-sacrifice is a valued quality in people that we trust, but that can get out of hand very quickly," Dr. Delkins pulled off his glasses, letting them hang on the chain around his neck. "The symptoms you described earlier are in line with Acute Stress Disorder, or ASD, something that normally occurs up to twenty-eight days after a traumatic event."
 
"I personally believe, though it is far too early to give this as a proper diagnosis, that if you do have ASD, it is being caused by your lack of resolving the intense trauma you've been through recently. You've described yourself as someone who overburdens themselves with their loved one's problems to ignore their own."
 
I felt a tight pressure in my chest as he spoke, and my eyes felt a little wet.
 
As blunt as he was being, I couldn't argue with his logic.
 
Have I really been putting it off?
 
I knew I had. I'd reveled in my social media problems because of how quickly they'd come up after the museum. It had just been easier to focus on solving problems than trying to figure out how I felt about the whole Rocket attack.
 
And then there was the Beedrill raid. Nobody, not even my friends, knew everything that had happened there. I hadn't told anyone about thinking that I was actually going to die.
 
That was less than a month ago.
 
I nodded, wiping my eyes. "So, uh, Dr. Delkins, assuming you're right, what would be my next steps?"
 
He smiled, looking heartened that I was immediately taking to his advice. "The first thing that we'll do is run you through a few more questions regarding your mental health, just to verify the diagnosis. Assuming we decide that's what you're suffering from, you have a few paths ahead of you."
 
Dr. Delkins reach to his side and pulled out a few separate pieces of paper, including a brochure.
 
"As a psychologist, I cannot legally prescribe you anything to deal with your mental health problems. However, I can recommend you to a psychiatrist colleague of mine who will first verify my diagnosis and then prescribe you some form of anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication at their discretion," He shifted in his seat. "Or, if you prefer, I can recommend you to a qualified therapist who will take my diagnosis and perform a few exercises of their own. You'd then meet with them regularly for as long as you felt comfortable working through your problems. Some combination of the two is also possible."
 
He held out two pieces of paper, one that contained the contact information of a doctor and the other that advertised the offices of a therapist.
 
I looked between them uncomfortably.
 
This felt like a huge decision.
 
I couldn't rely on anyone else to make it for me, and it was scary.
 
I took the brochure from Dr. Delkins.
 
The therapist felt like the less extreme option. I resolved to try it for a few months and if I didn't feel better, I'd make the call to see a psychiatrist.
 
Dr. Delkins nodded. "Getting to this point is often the hardest part, Derek. You've done well by making it this far."
 
He pulled a small manilla folder from his briefcase.
 
"Now, let's get started on the rest of the evaluation..."
 
I sat with Dr. Delkins for another hour. It was hard, but it was worth it.
 

Notes:

Author's Note:
Oh boy, we covered a lot of stuff today! There are a few things going on in this chapter that I want to address, so I figure I'll talk about them here:

The Xenophobic Drunk - When Daisy and Derek are interrupted on their impromptu date, the drunk makes a few comments that have themes of casual racism toward Derek for not being from Kanto. This 'nationalistic pride' is a theme that will be reappearing in the story in the future, even if it was quite mild here. Neither Daisy nor Derek really spent too much time on it because there was the more pressing manner of his depersonalization, but unfortunately, it's not going to be a one-off interaction.

Since the public didn't really know about Derek as a whole before a few chapters ago, it hadn't really been an issue. Now that he's going a place in the spotlight, however, it means that less-than-savory individuals and their ideology will be coming out of the woodwork. It's something that you see quite a bit when athletes from other nations are moved to national teams in the real world, and as a PoC, I find it to be an important part of telling the migrant athlete story.

Derek's Therapy - With Derek having gone through quite a few traumatic events so quickly, I wanted to write scenes that would reflect a healthy and humanizing series of steps toward coping and recovering. Unfortunately, due to the timing of his travel plans, he most probably won't be able to do real work on his mental health until the group has made it to Cerulean City. We'll definitely be exploring this plotline more there.

The Gym Trainer Challenge - I actually had a version of this chapter written that was almost 8.5k words that included Derek's battle against Liam, but I decided to delete it and exclude the actual battle. Unfortunately, thanks to being held back by the loss to Giovanni, Derek and Co. are far too strong to really be challenged by this level of combat, and I couldn't find a way to write the battle that was more satisfying than the two sentences I wrote on it. Luckily, we have the actual fight against Brock coming up for those of you who like the battle scenes!

And there we go! I think that's everything I wanted to mention, so I hope you guys have read this far and that you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you so much for reading!

If you like this story, don't forget to comment and review it, it helps me a ton!

Chapter 18: Battle Against Brock

Daisy met us at the Pokemon Center the next morning. She stood outside the front door, holding a cardboard drink holder. Her smile lit up the moment we all stepped out of the Center.
 
"Hey, guys!" Daisy said, waving to us.
 
We all waved back, saying our good mornings. We were all wearing some portion of our battle outfits and had brought along our bags to carry the rest of them. I had two bags over my shoulder, one much thinner than the other.
 
When I stepped up to her, Daisy leaned forward and gave me a small peck on the cheek.
 
I flushed. I wasn't used to PDA at all yet, even though it had never bothered me when others took part.
 
Amy let out a gagging noise.
 
"Gross," they said, sticking out their tongue. The mischievous smirk they flashed showed that they were just teasing me, though.
 
"Come on, Ames," I chuckled. "You can't handle a little peck on the cheek? What are you going to do when Daisy and I-"
 
Daisy grunted loudly, going bright pink. "That's enough of that!" She said.
 
"I was just going to say," I was almost fully laughing now. "When we hug, like two good Legends-fearing young adults. What else would I have meant?"
 
Yuji, Hana, and Amy all started full-belly laughing at Daisy's embarrassed face.
 
"That's not what you meant and you know it," Daisy grumbled, lightly bumping me with her elbow in mock annoyance.
 
I grinned, winking at her. Daisy and I were new to a lot of this, but playful ribbing came easy to me, and she seemed to enjoy it.
 
Daisy started handing out the hot drinks she'd gotten for everyone, pulling out a small selection of pastries from another package in her bag. Amy almost melted when they were handed a big sugary donut.
 
I took a sip of my drink, raising my eyebrow when I got tea instead of coffee like everyone else had.
 
"Awww, Daisy," I crooned. "You remembered?"
 
"That you are an insane person who doesn't like coffee? Yes," Daisy reached into her bag, pulling a third package from within. "And there's an orange juice for after you finish your match."
 
I almost shed a tear. "Thank you," I gave her with real, genuine gratitude. "You really didn't have to do this."
 
Daisy shook her head. "I wanted to," she turned to the whole group. "This is a big deal for you guys, and I wanted to make sure you were taken care of for it."
 
Yuji nodded his thanks. "I appreciate the sentiment, Ms. Oak. I hope that one day we are able to return the favor."
 
"Seriously, Daisy," Hana said, taking a grateful sip of her coffee. "You're the best. If we can help with anything at all, let us know."
 
"Not at all," Daisy looked embarrassed at all the praise. "You were all very accepting of Derek moving up your schedule to get you here in time for our date. Think of this as my thanks for getting him to me."
 
Amy chomped on their donut. "Derek, your girlfriend needs to come to all of our gym challenges."
 
It was my turn to blush, and Daisy and I shared a look. Though we'd agreed we were dating, neither of us had said words like 'girlfriend' or 'boyfriend' yet.
 
I didn't mind it, and based on the smile on her face, neither did Daisy.
 
"Well, Amy," Daisy nodded. "I'll do what I can."
 
Amy looked satisfied. "Hell yeah! We should probably start headed over, though- hey, hey, hey!"
 
I looked over with worry, sighing when I saw what was going on.
 
"Wisp!" I called sternly.
 
Amy's donut had started missing chunks that looked suspiciously like bite marks for a significantly smaller creature than Amy. With a giggle, my Misdreavus reappeared. She took one last bite from the donut before quickly flying back into my shadow.
 
"Derek!" Amy whined, picking off pieces of their desecrated food. "Control your dumb ghost!"
 
I shrugged. "I think this is revenge for when you stole a piece of her cake, so it's kinda warranted."
 
Amy grumbled under their breath, not speaking up in their own defense. They knew they'd messed up when I'd released Wisp after our battle with Yuji and she'd been devastated to find an extra slice of her cake missing.
 
"However," I projected my voice behind me in the direction of my shadow. "She won't be doing it again. Turnabout is fair play, but you're even now."
 
Little girl giggles echoed from all around us, and the rest of the group shivered. They didn't find it nearly as comforting as I did.
 
We walked down the street, headed in the direction of the Pewter Gym. It was still early in the day, but there were noticeably more people moving in our general direction than there had been for the last few days.
 
Most of the people looked to be trainers, but there were a few civilians in the mix. Everyone was headed to the Pewter Gym.
 
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion when I caught a couple of people watching our group and whispering. I even saw a few people pulling out phones to take photos of us.
 
More specifically, of me and Daisy.
 
I tossed Daisy a questioning look. Was she okay with this?
 
She nodded, subtle enough that the onlookers wouldn't notice. Daisy slipped her arm into the crook of my elbow and we kept walking.
 
Yuji leaned over to us about halfway there. He was holding his Pokegear, and his brow was furrowed in frustration.
 
He was bothered about something.
 
"Derek," he said under his breath. "You wouldn't have recently checked the Pewter Gym Pokegram page, would you?"
 
I shook my head, raising an eyebrow at him. Yuji wasn't upset often, and whatever was there had him clutching his Pokegear hard.
 
He tilted the screen to show me.
 
There was a single post from today. It was what you'd normally expect, with a roster of the challengers battling Leader Brock today. It included eight challengers, accounting for my group, Terry's group, and one other.
 
The thing that stuck out, though, was that even though they were all marked for a first badge challenge, my name had an asterisk next to it.
 
*Challenge difficulty elevated to Second Badge team.
 
I nearly stopped walking, but Daisy kept me moving.
 
Gym Leaders had the ability to raise the difficulty of the challenge battle for certain trainers. This mostly happened when a trainer who'd already competed in a circuit came to challenge a gym, giving the Gym Leader the ability to fight at the level of their discretion. It was almost never used on rookies, though.
 
It explained why people were taking notice of me as we walked. I'd attributed it to Daisy being around but it was my fault that lines of people were pouring into the Pewter Gym, the same as they had for Mick's challenge.
 
I looked at the crowd with my jaw clenched.
 
Why the hell does Brock want to battle me with a stronger team?

---

 
When we made it to the Gym, my friends departed for the stands. Because we were actually battling the Gym Leader today, there was no need for the battlers to go to the locker room immediately. Only the person actually on deck needed to be ready to fight.
 
I headed up to the receptionist's desk.
 
"Hi, I'm-"
 
"Ah, Mr. Tracy," the receptionist interrupted me with a smile. "We've been expecting you! You're here for your meeting with Leader Brock, correct?"
 
"Uh, yes," I was unnerved by how they'd recognized me on site. "But I was also hoping to ask about why my gym challenge had been elevated to second-badge level?"
 
The receptionist smiled. "Leader Brock will be able to explain that to you. If you're ready, he'll see you now?"
 
"I- sure?" I looked up at the clock. I'd gotten there ten minutes before we were supposed to meet.
 
A different assistant led me around the counter, through a restricted hallway, and into the belly of the Pewter Gym.
 
While the inner halls were mostly what I expected in terms of the high industrial ceilings and white walls, there were also things I wasn't expecting to see. As we walked, I saw a set of crayons scribbles littering the walls, like what you'd see in a daycare. Near the end of the hall, the doors stopped being boring industrial doors and changed to traditional Kantonian sliding wood doors.
 
This part of the gym felt much more like a family home than a stadium.
 
Does Brock live here? And, more importantly, does he have kids?
 
He'd looked a little young to be a dad, but I wasn't going to judge. There were a lot of situations where someone could end up as a young parent.
 
The assistant stopped in front of a closed wooden door. "He should be right through here," they said to me.
 
"And I just walk in?"
 
They nodded. "I'll be waiting out here for when your conversation has finished to lead you back to the locker room."
 
I gave them a polite bow, which they returned, and slid the door open.
 
I was not ready for what was inside.
 
Brock, the stoic Gym Leader who I'd last seen fighting actual terrorists, was standing at a stove wearing a bright pink apron.
 
There were one, two, three.... at least nine different kids of various ages sitting at countertops or around a table, eating what looked like five different meals.
 
"Suzie! Eat your cereal!" He called to them "Yolanda, can you take Billy, Tilly, and Tommy to school? And I'm leaving the rest with you Forrest, I have a challenger who's supposed to be on his way."
 
I stood open-mouthed in shock as I looked at Brock's family. The oldest of the kids was maybe ten to twelve years old.
 
I know I said I wasn't going to judge, but he would've been like ten- Wait. Is that...?
 
"Harrison?" I said aloud.
 
All ten heads turned to look at me, including Brock.
 
"Yes?" The kids asked.
 
I shook my head. "No, sorry, I meant that Harrison. Wait, is that a last name?"
 
Brock sighed as all nine kids started talking at once, including the one that I knew as Harrison, who Brock had just called Forrest. I hadn't seen the kid since before the Team Rocket attack, mostly due to us skipping a few days at the waterwheel. I'd assumed he'd just gotten tired of waiting for us and had stopped coming.
 
Brock took off his apron, handing it to the second oldest child, and walked up to me. He extended his hand in greeting.
 
"Hell, Derek," he said with a smile. "It's nice to properly meet you."
 
"Yeah, same," I said lamely, still dumbstruck at the sheer amount of children here.
 
Brock glanced back at them and gave a sigh of understanding. "My siblings can be a lot. I have a few things I wanted to talk with you about. Would you mind if we moved this to the sitting room?"
 
Siblings.
 
These weren't Brock's kids, even if they were his family. That made a lot more sense.
 
So, wait, I slowly put things together. When Harrison- Forrest said his brother was a trainer, he'd been talking about Brock?
 
I nodded.
 
Brock walked back into the room, leading me through the room full of eating children to another quieter room. Inside was a couch and a set of chairs, and in the corner there was a little play area full of chests of toys.
 
Brock took a seat in one of the chairs, and I sat across from him on the couch. I left my bags on the cushion next to me, propping them up against the armrest.
 
"So, Derek," he started, "I'm sure you have a few questions, including why I've asked you here this morning."
 
"Yeah, something like that," I agreed. "But if I'm being honest I'm mostly worried about our battle later. Was there a reason you elevated my challenge?"
 
The Gym Leader nodded, removing a small toy pony from his seat cushion. "I have a few. First, though, I wanted to ask, how are you feeling?"
 
I frowned in confusion. It took Brock's concerned look to realize what he was referring to. The last time he'd seen me, I'd been deaf and in shock from Proton's final attack.
 
"Oh, uh, much better now. The emergency workers fixed up my ears pretty quickly and I've been doing some work to see a therapist."
 
Brock nodded. "That's good. I'd asked Nurse Joy but she hadn't mentioned you going in for a check-up afterward, so I couldn't be sure."
 
I raised my eyebrow at that.
 
Gym Leader Brock checked in on me?
 
We'd exchanged maybe a handful of sentences so far but I felt like I was already getting a handle on Brock's character. The guy was a caretaker, either by nature or necessity, and he seemed to genuinely care if some trainer he didn't know was actually okay.
 
"Thank you, sir," I said. "I actually had forgotten because of some other things that had come up."
 
And that was true. I probably should have gone the day Paige evolved, but I'd got caught up in our celebration.
 
Brock shook his head dismissively. "Brock is fine. And you should get your ears checked again, just in case."
 
"I will, sir- Brock, I mean. I'll get a look over from Nurse Joy tomorrow."
 
He nodded, seeming satisfied. There was a slight dip in the conversation, and I took the opportunity to ask about some things that had been bothering me.
 
"Brock, I- uh, I wasn't sure if it would be okay for me to ask..." I trailed off.
 
The Rock Gym Leader shook his head understandingly. "You want to know about the Rockets?"
 
I nodded. "Yeah. I know you probably can't tell me a lot, but I was wondering if any of the stolen fossils had been recovered yet, or if Aestus had said anything helpful?"
 
Brock picked up a tablet off of the table, clearing a few toys off of it first. "I can't say too much, as the League has strict protocols for information sharing, but I do believe that you deserve some broad strokes."
 
He flipped the tablet around, showing me mugshots of the Rocket that had been captured. Other than Aestus, no Rockets had been recovered at the battle on floor one. Two of the ones we'd fought outside the fossil lab had been captured, and Daisy had detained another four of them when she stopped the second truck from getting away. I did chuckle when I saw the last Rocket to be picked up was Kevin, the one I had knocked out in the security booth.
 
"We've received precious little information from them," Brock said. "Mostly only confirming that the fossils had been their main goal. They had very little to say about what they planned to do with them, and there's been no chatter about Team Rocket attempting to sell them, so that leaves us working with the worst possible scenario. They most likely have access to a Fossil Rejuvenation machine."
 
My heart plummeted. The League hadn't gotten anything of use out of the Rockets I'd helped capture, and the fossils we let get away would be used to become ridiculously strong battlers for a criminal organization.
 
"That's not to say that we haven't received anything valuable from them," Brock said, noting my demeanor shift. "Aestus in particular was able to give us specific information regarding how Proton acquired a Pokemon like Toxtricity, one that is rare in this part of the world. I can't say too much, but there's a Pokemon poaching ring in Saffron that's being hunted right now because of it."
 
I nodded to Brock, feeling a little bit better. He hadn't needed to tell me that, but he did.
 
Brock obviously felt that was enough information because he sat his tablet to the side.
 
"Now, about your challenge," he said. "I'll start by asking you a few questions."
 
I leaned forward, curious about where he was going with this.
 
"Derek, do you know what percentage of rookies drop off after failing to get their first badge?"
 
I lit up. One of the perks of my dad being who he was, I knew everything about the gym circuit.
 
"Fifty percent of all trainers fail to receive their first badge," I recited. "About ten percent of the remaining ones drop off before the second badge, and then ten percent again for the third badge."
 
Brock looked impressed. "That's right. And do you understand why the dropout rate is so much higher for the first badge?"
 
I hesitated. There were a lot of reasons that people stopped traveling so early, like a lack of experience or succumbing to frustration, but I was sure that Brock was asking for a more difficult answer.
 
"I guess," I slowly thought out, "That the first badge is kind of a marker to see if people are cut out for training at all?"
 
He nodded. "That's not exactly how I would have said it, but it's in the spirit of what I was asking. Each gym badge proves to both the Leaders and the League that a trainer is ready for the next set of commitments and challenges that we can throw at them. The first badge is simply a baseline test, the most basic challenge we can give."
 
I winced. Giovanni had kicked my ass.
 
Brock smiled apologetically. "Some Leaders choose to define 'baseline' a bit more harshly than others, but at the end of the day, getting that first badge only proves that you are able to take the most basic steps toward becoming a trainer. You have already proven that to me."
 
I sat back into the couch. Brock's simple affirmation left me feeling validated and warm. I got the feeling that Brock was kind, but he didn't offer out compliments freely.
 
"Honestly, if I didn't feel like it would be an insult to you and your training, I would have offered you the badge off of your actions in the museum alone," Brock laughed when my eyes widened in alarm. "Don't worry, that's not up for discussion."
 
"Good," I sighed with relief. I did not want to be handed a badge. It would feel less than earned that way.
 
"No, I will still battle you for your badge, but I will be treating you as though you already have it."
 
That made sense. In Brock's eyes, I'd already earned my first badge so of course he'd elevate the difficulty of my challenge.
 
That left me with only one thing leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
 
"Elevate my friend's challenges too, then."
 
Brock seemed startled at my request at first but quickly took on an inquisitive look. I met his eyes.
 
I'd seen Yuji's face this morning when he saw that I'd had an elevated challenge and he hadn't. He hadn't been worried about my chances of winning or confused about why it had happened.
 
He'd been upset.
 
I'd realized as we were walking in that I had never actually seen Yuji really frustrated before. But that look on his face when he'd been studying the challenge roster had been real.
 
Brock shook his head. "Your friends haven't proved to me what you have."
 
I did my best not to let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, sir- I mean, Brock. I know that I've been receiving a lot of praise for how I acted in the Rocket attack, but honestly, I was the least qualified of all of my friends to be there. Hana would have had a better plan, Amy would have helped the hostages more, and Yuji would've gotten the right guy. Of all of my friends, Yuji is the one that I know, above all else, is a better trainer than me. Just because he didn't get the opportunity to prove himself doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve this more than I do."
 
I continued on, telling the Gym Leader about each of my friends and how they'd helped me in my journey. I even tossed a kind word in for Terry, though I didn't have the knowledge of his actual battle skills to give him too much of a shout-out.
 
The Gym Leader actually listened when I spoke. He followed my words, considering while I continued to describe my friends.
 
I could see why people respected Brock so much. He was a lot like the rock types that he trained, stoic and sturdy. He seemed like someone that wouldn't be swayed easily but could be moved an inch at a time.
 
I saw the rock shifting as I started talking about Yuji's impressive improvements with Achilles, and how he'd gotten the fighting type to successfully beat a ghost type in a manner of days.
 
Brock held up a hand, quieting me down. He glanced at the clock on the wall. We had maybe fifteen minutes until we were supposed to be at the battlefield.
 
"I'll tell you what," he said, and I felt excitement surge in my gut. "If you defeat me in your challenge, I will give the next challenger the option to elevate their battle. If that person wins, then I will give the offer to the next person, and so on. Does that seem fair to you?"
 
I couldn't help myself from pumping my fist but quickly put it away in embarrassment. "Yes s-, Brock. I think that sounds more than fair. My friends won't disappoint you."
 
"Good," Brock said, standing. "I'll be holding them to the same standard that I'm holding you to."
 
"That's all I ask, sir," I bowed to him, face red when I realized I'd called him 'sir' again.
 
Brock shook his head, chuckling at my mistake. "I'll see you out on the field."
 
I grabbed both of my bags off of the couch and Brock led me to the front door where the assistant was still waiting. They brought me to the locker room so I could get ready with my team.
 
Several other trainers were there, getting ready for their gym trainer battles, so I tucked myself into a corner stall to get some privacy. I sent a quick group text to the others, including Terry, about the option I'd talked Brock into giving them. Responses and questions immediately started buzzing back, but I silenced my Pokenav+.
 
I need to focus on the upcoming battle.
 
I released both members of my team.
 
"Alright, guys," I said to both of them, kneeling to be at their height. "It's finally time for us to fight him."
 
Artis barked in excitement Wisp started twirling in circles. Both of my Pokemon knew how important this was, and they were excited to see the results of all of our training.
 
"We do have a problem, but I think we can handle it. Brock is going to use different Pokemon than we thought, and I'm not sure what his strategy is going to be. We're going to have to work on the fly, coming up with plans as we go. That means you especially, Artis. Keep an ear out for me."
 
"Pheal phe!" he said in agreement. He wagged his flipper, slapping the ground with anticipation.
 
"That's my boy," I smiled. "Now, we can't plan for exactly what he's going to do, but we can start getting a basic strategy down. Artis, I'm thinking we should make an entrance..."

---

 
The crowd roared when I stepped out from the challenger's tunnel.
 
The stadium wasn't full by any meaning of the word, but a few thousand people had shown up for my match today, some rooting for me to succeed and others for me to fail. Like yesterday, there were Mick fans in the crowd, and I could hear them booing me as I stepped out. Some people held mean signs, and I winced at ones that definitely couldn't be shown on TV.
 
There were even more people cheering for me. As soon as I stepped out, I searched for my friends. Amy, Yuji, Hana, and Daisy all sat as close to the front as they could, and they were my loudest supporters. A row behind them, Terry was clapping along with the crowd, hyping his companions up to cheer for me too. In the higher boxes of the stadium, I could see an entire swatch of the audience dressed in white. It took me a second to put it together, but a massive grin split my face as I saw a balding ginger giant among them. The Pewter Museum paleontology department had made a field trip to the gym for my match.
 
Outside of even the people I knew, though, there were so many that I didn't. My online handle was plastered on signs and shouted by other trainers and fans. It was honestly unnerving how many people seemed drawn by my short appearance on social media. What made me smile, though, was the number of signs that were giving thanks. The museum or 'Rockets' were mentioned on at least two-thirds of all the signs in my crowd.
 
The people of Pewter were grateful, and that meant a lot.
 
And though I still felt like I had done very little to actually earn that, I couldn't help but feel a little pride in myself. At the very least, their cheers were infectious.
 
I smiled as I walked forward, taking the tiny trek through the pitch with a spring in my step. I tightened my grip on the skinny bag slung over my shoulder. I'd left the other one in the locker room.
 
Just like yesterday, there were still other battles going on as people used the other three fields to do their gym trainer challenges, and the sounds of battle flooded my senses with anticipation.
 
That was going to be me in a few minutes, and I couldn't wait.
 
I stepped up to the challenger's podium, and Brock stood at the other end of the battlefield with his arms stoically crossed. He looked different than the caretaker that I'd just seen a few minutes ago. Instead, he radiated an aura of stability and durability. If a Proton's Toxtricity let off another sonic explosion, I doubted this man would be moved by an inch.
 
This was Gym Leader Brock. the same man who'd rocked up to a fight with dozens of Rockets with only one person to help him out.
 
He tilted his head forward as I stepped up, giving me that barest hint of a smile. He was putting it on for the audience.
 
I grinned back.
 
"Trainers!" the referee spoke, their voice being attached to the stadium's loudspeakers. "Release your Pokemon!"
 
I went first, releasing Artis from his ball. As we'd talked about, we wanted to make an entrance. As he hit the ground, Artis released a massive blast of powder snow underneath him. The attack was at a tenth of its power, at most, so all it did was send into the air a sparkling cloud of ice and snow that glittered under the stadium lights. It dissipated quickly, but the crowd roared at the beauty of his move.
 
Brock reached to his side and pulled out a grey Pokeball with baby blue spots, a Heavy Ball. Even his stoic facade couldn't hide his smirk as he released his first Pokemon.
 
Slamming into the ground with more than twice the weight of Artis was a purple monster of stone. It had a massive pointed red nose attached to its face, and it stood on two short rocky legs.
 
"Nosepass!" it shouted in an echoey metallic voice.
 
I gawked in excitement at the Pokemon from Hoenn. Brock had pulled out a Pokemon from my home region, just for me?
 
I bowed my head to him in appreciation, and he nodded back.
 
"Trainer Tracy!" the referee called to give the opening rules. "This will be a two-on-two single battle challenge against the Pewter City Gym Leader, Brock, for your first badge. Standard League challenge rules apply, and you are granted a single swap of your Pokemon. Are you ready?"
 
I took a deep breath, letting the sounds of the crowd rumble into the background.
 
It was time to battle.
 
I gave him a thumbs up, never letting my gaze leave Brock.
 
"Begin!"
 
Artis knew what he had to do, immediately tensing his whole body to set up a Defence Curl while I racked my brain for what Nosepass could do. Roxanne, the rock type leader from Hoenn, also used a Nosepass. I'd watch countless battles of her fighting off trainers with it. I grimaced as I thought about some moves it had access to that could spell bad news for my water type.
 
Nosepass stood stoically on the field, a shortened mirror of Brock himself, while a familiar sand vortex swirling around his feet.
 
Shit! I realized. I thought I was done with Sandstorm shenanigans after Giovanni!
 
Luckily, it didn't seem like Nosepass had the same mastery of the move that Sandshrew had because even though it was still going to be devastating against Artis in the long term, it was nowhere near as concentrated.
 
"Artis, Rollout!" I yelled when I saw he'd completed his Defence Curl. I normally would have called for a Snowout, but when I didn't already have one of the two moves for it already going, the charge-up was way too long.
 
Plus, I hoped the rock type energy would help with moves I suspected Nosepass had.
 
Artis zoomed forward like he'd done hundreds of times, propelled into action by his round and springloaded body. He barely winced at the damage from sand cutting into his fur.
 
"Nosepass, Thunderwave!" Brock called his first order.
 
The rock type began to glow with yellow electricity as it charged up the move.
 
I knew it!
 
Nosepass were magnetic rock types, some of the few that had electric type moves. Big area effects were bad because Artis couldn't really avoid them.
 
Unless...
 
"Artis, pull a Cubone!" I yelled, thinking of our first loss.
 
"Spheal!" he barked in understanding.
 
Artis slammed his spinning body into the ground, sending waves of dirt and gravel into the air.
 
Nosepass released the electrical energy with a Pass! and a swirling pulse of weak lightning weaving through the sandstorm. Thunderwave was meant to incapacitate, not harm.
 
When the wave reached Artis, it flowed over the channel he'd scraped into the ground with his body and kept going, dissipating a few feet later.
 
Brock wasn't going to let us have that victory.
 
"Nosepass, bury him! Rock Slide!"
 
I swore as Nosepass slammed his foot into the ground, cracking it in a wave. The shockwave rolled forward, carrying a tumbling avalanche of rocks and dirt with it.
 
"Get out of there!"
 
Artis blasted the ground with a high-power Water Gun, spraying the water with enough force to propel himself backward out of his own hole. The avalanche hit seconds later. The ground cracked and shattered, chunks of the field rolling to fill the gap he'd left behind. A spray of rocks shot up from the attack, striking Artis across his flank. He cried out in pain from the super effective move.
 
"Snowout into it!"
 
Brock raised an eyebrow at my order, not sure what to anticipate. He commanded Nosepass to use Iron Defense, which was basically Defence Curl on steroids.
 
Artis started his Powder Snow before he hit the ground and he flew into action as soon as he landed. He spun out with snow flaring behind him like tire smoke. Artis bounded across the field to where Nosepass was waiting, shimmering with his increased defenses. The two slammed into each other, shaking the rocky field around them.
 
Nosepass creaked under Artis' assault, stone arms flared forward as my Pokemon just kept spinning. His concentration was so intense that the Sandstorm dropped around them. Artis didn't let up in his Rollout, and it became a battle of wills between the Pokemon. They were both taking damage and if it continued at this pace, Artis actually stood a chance.
 
"Come on, Artis! You got this!" I yelled in encouragement.
 
"Pull!" Brock ordered.
 
Nosepass' hands snapped into position around Artis, grabbing him into a grapple. He spun around once, twice, three times before throwing Artis into the air.
 
I winced, but I wasn't too worried. Artis spent enough time in the air from all of his movement-based moves and oriented himself quickly.
 
No, I needed to focus on what was coming. This was going to require timing.
 
Sure enough, Nosepass slammed his foot into the ground, breaking off a basketball-sized chunk of rock and tossing it after Artis.
 
"Send it back!" I yelled. "Water Gun!"
 
My timing hit just right. Artis leveled out in the air, canceling his Rollout and releasing another burst of water. It hit the projectile at just the right angle and stopped it in mid-air. As they fell, the water stream spun over the surface of the boulder, sending it spinning back in the opposite direction and directly toward its sender.
 
"Hold!" Brock yelled.
 
Nosepass crossed its arms in front of it, the heavy stone slamming into its frame and pushing it back several feet. The rock type struggled to hold back the boulder, and I could see its arms vibrating with effort to hold it back. Water sprayed in every direction from the blast, drenching the field in mud.
 
"Don't let up!"
 
Artis braced his tail against the ground, pushing the water out of his snout faster than I'd ever seen him do in our training.
 
There was a loud crack! as the boulder shook from the hydraulic pressure of the attack, splitting right down the middle. The Water Gun blasted through the shattered rubble, striking Nosepass and pushing the rock type backward. It flipped through the air, slamming against the ground three separate times before rolling to a stop. It struggled to get to its feet.
 
Excitement pounded through my chest. It was on its last legs.
 
"Hit it one more time," I shouted. "Then take a breather for the next one!"
 
Nosepass struggle floundered under the constant water pressure, and both Brock and I could see that it wasn't going to last much longer. That didn't mean that Brock was going to let it go down without a fight.
 
"Nosepass!" Brock called. "Let loose! Spark!"
 
I cursed under my breath as the rock Pokemon started to glow with yellow light, but I didn't give a counter strategy. As long as Artis stayed up through this, it wouldn't matter anyway. He just needed to faint Nosepass.
 
The water pushing back Nosepass sparked and flashed with bright yellow and white electric light. It traveled up the Water Gun, making Artis strain as he kept his muscles from convulsing. Pride surged in my chest as I saw how well he was holding his ground.
 
There was the sound of crumbling rocks as Nosepass' legs finally gave out.
 
The rock type's knees buckled, letting the force from the Water Gun carry it up and away. It slammed into the far wall behind the battlefield, leaving cracks in the concrete barrier and causing a crash to echo through the arena.
 
The entire stadium went silent. Even the trainers on the other battlefields stopped to look at what had happened. Thousands of eyes turned to see Brock's first Pokemon fainted against the wall.
 
The crowd erupted.
 
The battle wasn't even decided yet, but cheers quickly overtook the silence. Brock returned his Pokemon, giving me a small nod as he did so. The referee waited for the crowd to quiet before speaking.
 
"Gym Leader Brock's first Pokemon is unable to battle!" they called. "Please send out your second Pokemon!"
 
Brock pulled a second Heavy Ball off of his belt, clutching it tight.
 
He smiled at me, calling loud enough that the crowd could hear him. "You've trained your Spheal well!" he said. "I rarely see a Pokemon with his body type be trained to have such mobility!"
 
I grinned. "Thanks! That's not all he has, though!"
 
Brock glanced back at the field and smirked. After he'd fainted the Nosepass, Artiss had immediately started on the last order I'd given him. 'Take a breather' was our code for him to use Rest. He was snoozing in the center of the field, his bruises and electrical burns already starting to fade as he healed himself. Based on what we'd gotten done in his training, he wasn't going to be able to do this again, but having him at full strength was going to be invaluable for whatever Brock tossed at us next.
 
"Well, Challenger Tracy" Brock hefted his Heavy Ball, "I've honored you with a Pokemon from your home region. Here's a token from mine!"
 
The Heavy Ball popped open and released a creature much bigger than Nosepass had been.
 
The ground shook as a creature that stood almost ten meters tall slammed into the ground. The serpentine body of the Pokemon unfurled itself, flexing its porous stone skin under the stadium lights. The Pokemon was easily a meter thick, and its every move cracked the dirt underneath it.
 
I grimaced as I recognized the Onix. On one hand, we'd been expecting a weaker one of these when we'd thought I would be fighting Brock at the first badge level. On the other hand, I'd seen firsthand what Brock's Steelix could do. The idea that this Pokemon could ever be that strong was terrifying.
 
The referee nodded, raising both hands above their head. "Leader Brock has released his Onix! Trainers! Prepare for the battle to resume!"
 
Brock crossed his arms once more, and I tensed in anticipation.
 
The real battle began now.
 
When the order was called, Brock lept into action.
 
"Onix! Bind!"
 
The serpentine boulder reached forward with its stony tail, wrapping it around Artis' sleeping form. I smirked. Because he was asleep, they'd assumed we were out of tricks.
 
"Buddy! It's time to Snore!" I yelled, covering my ears.
 
Artis' body trembled as it released a shockwave of noise. It echoed across the battle, shaking and cracking against Onix's rock form. Members of the audience cried out at the noise, Brock even wincing at how loud it was. Onix flinched at the unexpected attack, quickly dropping Artis and recoiling in pain. He flopped to the ground, waking up from the impact. Without waiting for orders from me, Artis immediately started to retreat using his Rollout, just like we'd planned. The 'shock-and-awe' was only going to work once, so he needed to make up ground in the confusion. As he spun away, a tiny ring of water floated into the air around him. A little insurance policy.
 
Brock recovered quickly, shouting "Onix, don't let him get away!"
 
The rock serpent pulsed once, letting shimmering energy coat its entire body. In its wake, Onix started to glimmer and shine. The Pokemon moved with increased speed from the Rock Polish, lifting its tail and slamming it into the ground around Artis. He managed to avoid it, but just barely. Dust and rubble showed the rest of the battlefield as Onix brought his tail down over and over again.
 
We couldn't just sit around and wait for Onix to hit. "Artis! Ramp up time!"
 
"Spheal!" I heard an affirmative squeak from inside the dust cloud.
 
Because we'd anticipated an Onix, we already had a plan for how to beat it. It was far too sturdy to try and outlast by taking potshots at its body, so we needed to hit it a few times, hard, in specific and planned places. One such location was its head, but therein was the challenge.
 
How do we get to a head that's ten meters off the ground?
 
Easy. You use the very natural ramp that's attached to it.
 
As Onix brought its tail down again, Artis let it get a glancing blow. He groaned in pain, but we both knew he needed to be close enough to the point of contact to take advantage of the attack. Artis never actually stopped his Rollout, spinning through the pain and continuing up Onix's tail, using the Pokemon itself as a road to victory.
 
"Snowout!" I yelled.
 
Brock realized what we were doing. "Onix, he's going for your head! Let him have it, Headsmash!"
 
Artis burst into white snow, cloaking himself and leaving a layer of frost on the lower half of Onix's tail. The rock type's head pulled back like a pitcher winding up, and it smashed its head into the part of its body where Artis rode. There was a collective groan from the audience, but I wasn't worried, even if the super effective attack left a pang of danger in my heart.
 
We'd planned for this, too.
 
Hana had pointed out that the Onix that Brock trained tended to have the Rock Head ability, which protected them from damage that their moves would deal to themselves. This made them reckless when they took dangerous strikes because they really couldn't hurt themselves. We took advantage of this. As soon as Onix had gone to slam into Artis, he'd been waiting to grab on.
 
An explosion of white snow blasted into the underside of Onix's jaw. It recoiled backward, but the source of its pain went with it. Artis was hanging from the bottom of its face, teeth and flippers grabbing on for dear life. He was bruised and battered, but the Aqua Ring we'd sneakily put up earlier was going to work. His smaller wounds were already healing as he struggled to climb onto Onix's head.
 
Once he got up top, Artis switched from ice to water. He gripped onto Onix's head and released the biggest Water Gun he could muster, even bigger than the one that he'd done against Nosepass just minutes before. Onix trembled from the water pressure, but the rock snake was proving more resilient than the one-badge one we'd planned for.
 
"You're tougher!" Brock called to his Pokemon. "Charge up before your next Headsmash!"
 
Onix heard him, ceasing shaking its head and instead just trying to endure the pain from the attack. I started sweating as I saw Artis struggling to keep up the high-powered Water Gun. Onix let a purple pulse of energy overcome its body, leaving smoke-like trails up and down the rock skin of the Pokemon.
 
I groaned as I recognized Curse, a ghost type move that would boost Onix's power and hardiness by dropping its speed. It was still faster than normal from the Rock Polish, so it could afford the trade-off. With the boosted attack, I wasn't sure that Artis could take another direct hit.
 
"Artis, we gotta end this now, bud!" I urged him. There wasn't much that I could do, though. He was already using one of the better attacks that he knew, and we couldn't afford to give up this positioning.
 
Artis shut his eyes tight, and I felt a glimmer of hope as he barked through his teeth. The water he was releasing shifted suddenly, ceasing to be fresh water and instead filling the air with the smell of salty seawater.
 
I didn't have time to celebrate Artis's use of Brine, as Onix realized that it couldn't afford to charge up anymore. The rock type lifted its entire body from the ground, leaping three meters into the air, and swan-diving into the ground. The battlefield split under its weight, crashing and shaking from the sheer amount of mass that had just been dropped on it. Artis disappeared under the avalanche that was Onix's collapsing form.
 
Everything was still.
 
Onix didn't get back up.
 
When the rubble settled we could all see that Artis' Brine had hit too hard for the young Onix. Its snake form was unfurled and messily stretched across the battlefield. The entire audience held their breath.
 
A portion of Onix's tail shifted and moved, and I almost beckoned for Wisp. I broke into a grin, though, when Artis's blue blubbery form pushed out from underneath it. He rolled forward, letting the tail slam into the ground from its weight alone.
 
"Sph- spheal!" he cried weakly, pushing his nose into the air and raising one flipper.
 
If the crowd had been loud when Artis had defeated Nosepass, it was on deafening when my Pokemon declared his overall victory. Hana, Amy, and Daisy all stood and shouted at the top of their lungs. The rest of the crowd followed behind them. Dr. Spinel led the paleontology department in a massive cry. Terry pumped his hand into the air, being careful to keep my camera steady.
 
I wanted to laugh, cry, throw up, or do something, but instead, I raised one fist high above my head, just like Artis had done. As the referee stepped forward to announce the results of the battle, I tightened my grip on the skinny bag I'd carried this entire time.
 
"Leader Brock's Pokemon is unable to battle," the referee declared. "The winner is Challenger Derek Tracy!"
 
Once the referee had called the match, I withdrew the package from within my bag. In one smooth motion, I extended the flagpole to its full height, burying it in the dirt of the battlefield. I looked toward the small camera setup to the side of the field, spiking the lens and looking directly at any audience at home.
 
The flag of Hoenn flapped proudly above my head.
 
There was a collective gasp from the crowd.
 
I felt heat start rising up my cheeks, but I pushed it down. I'd been planning this since the moment that Dr. Spinel had gifted me the flag in his office a week ago. It had only been reinforced by both positive and negative experiences since then. Daisy had told me that the people of Kanto were proud, sometimes to their own detriment, and they'd proven it to me when the xenophobic drunk had interrupted my date and told me to 'go home'.
 
I'd come to Kanto to prove things to both myself and my region. I could take on a region without the training and help of my family, without the crutches of my home. While I was at it, why couldn't I prove something to the people of Kanto as well?
 
This was my declaration. I wasn't going anywhere. On multiple fronts, and for multiple reasons, this was the first real step I was taking in Kanto. Giovanni had kicked my ass, but he'd really just been training for this moment. I was here as a real contender, and I was going to go all the way to the top.
 
And I'd just proven that by not only taking on a Gym Leader fighting a step above the power level I should have been on, but I'd won with one Pokemon.
 
Take that, Giovanni.
 
The stunned silence was broken by the sound of cheering. All the way up in the top seats, a person in a red uniform had started clapping. I smiled when I realized that it was Ace Trainer Karen. I hadn't even seen her watching.
 
The floodgates broke. My friends took up the cheer in seconds, and the rest of the crowd followed. Rounds of applause rumbled through the arena.
 
I took a bow.
 
Brock and I returned our Pokemon and we met in the center of the arena, as was customary. He had a small but worried grin on his face.
 
"That was a bold move," he warned as he shook my hand. "I hope you're ready to accept the attention that'll be coming for you after this."
 
I nodded. There was a weight in my stomach, but I was sure I'd done the right thing.
 
"Yeah, I figure it'll at least tell people what I'm about. Just a little message to the good people of Kanto. I have my first badge, and I'm coming for the rest of them."
 
Brock's worry melted from his face, and his grin solidified. "That's good. That's the kind of attitude that will take you far here."
 
The referee walked up to us and handed Brock a microphone. He cleared his throat, and the crowd quieted.
 
"Derek Tracy," his voice echoed in the stadium loudspeakers. "You have successfully defeated the Pewter City Gym Challenge. It is my honor to present you with the Boulder Badge."
 
The crowd roared in response to that, cheering so loud that I flinched a little, even all the way down on the pitch.
 
Brock pressed a small seven-sided sliver of metal into my hands and I couldn't help but grin like an idiot.
 
One down, seven to go. 

Notes:

I hope you guys liked the fight! Between some last minute traveling due to a family emergency, and honestly a little trepidation at writing a longer battle, this chapter took me a bit longer than normal. That also ended up being the reason for a longer chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it.

Don't forget to comment and review to tell me what you thought! Every bit of feedback helps!

Chapter 19: Resolute Rivals

Yuji went next.
 
He was standing at the edge of the tunnel as I walked back with my flag over my shoulder, still preening from my win.
 
"Hey, man," I half-shouted with happiness. "I did it!"
 
Yuji didn't look up at me, instead nodding to the ground.
 
"Yes, you did," he said.
 
He sounded distracted.
 
I frowned, taking a closer look at my friend. He was normally pretty pale, but his face was almost sheet white. His knuckles were white from how hard he was clenching his hands.
 
"Are you okay, bud?" I glanced over at him, thinking about what could be causing this. He'd never been nervous before, and the vibes were wrong for anxiety. it was almost more... frustrated?
 
He gave me a tired smile. "Yes, Derek. I'm feeling all right. Just some nerves before the battle begins."
 
I gave him an understanding smile, though I didn't quite believe him. "You got this, man," I put a hand on his shoulder, and he leaned into my palm. "You're my rival, dude. If I kicked his ass, so can you."
 
Yuji's eyes went wide, and his lips upturned into a vicious grin.
 
While it had been a slow onset, I meant what I said. Yuji had become my rival since we decided to fight for who would battle Brock first. When I thought about improving to overcome others, his face was the first one I thought of. There was a reason I'd argued so hard to get him the same challenge as me.
 
Yuji nodded, turning his eyes out of the tunnel and toward the stadium. He let out a deep breath, but he never released the tension in his hands. Instead, he held them tighter.
 
"They're waiting for you," I said, releasing his shoulder. "You got this."
 
As he walked out into the spotlights, I got to see his full battle outfit for the first time.
 
Yuji wore a traditional white gi, like one would wear when practicing martial arts, but he'd covered his shoulders with a wispy black shawl that flowed over his body like silk. His hair was let down, letting his white hair streak contrast across the black of his cloak. The front of his gi was left open, showing off his toned chest and pectoral scars.
 
The man radiated martial prowess, and I smirked as I thought about the team that he had behind him.
 
I almost stood there and watched the entire battle from the tunnel, but I desperately wanted to celebrate with the rest of my friends and my... ...girlfriend?
 
Weird.

---

 
I quickly changed out of my battle outfit, slipping on a set of sweatpants and a comfortable hoodie, and took a moment to congratulate Artis in the locker room. I kneeled down to his height before I released him. Wisp slipped out of my shadow and nuzzled the side of my head before taking her spot by my shoulder.
 
A flash of red light and my first Pokemon materialized in front of me. He still had bruises from his fight, but that didn't impact his energy at all.
 
"Spheal Pheal!" he barked as he jumped into my arms, licking my face with his wide tongue.
 
"pfft! Bud!" I spat, giggling like a kid. "You gotta stop kissing me like that, Daisy's gonna get jealous."
 
I hugged him anyway. We'd just done something that I'd been dreaming about my whole life, I wasn't gonna let a little Spheal spit get in the way of us celebrating. Wisp slipped into the hug, and I held both of my Pokemon.
 
"We did it, guys."
 
All three of us sat in that sentiment for a bit. We weren't anywhere near our actual goal, but we'd taken a huge step today.
 
It was a moment that deserved to be lived in.
 
After we separated, I gave them both treats that I'd picked up a few days ago on a shopping trip. Wisp even got one, even though she hadn't taken part in the actual battle. That had been my intention the whole time. Even though she would've had an easy time against Brock's physical moves, Artis had been working toward our first badge for over a month. Between his training and the trauma he'd been put through, he'd earned today's win all on his own. Wisp would get her time to shine in the future, so it wasn't her fault she hadn't been in the battle.
 
Today had been about Artis.
 
We hugged a little bit more, and then I returned Artis and headed up into the stands. I flipped my hood up so that most onlookers wouldn't be able to tell that it was me. I didn't want to distract from the ongoing fight.
 
Yuji was still going strong in his battle. Brock was pulling no punches, just like he'd promised, and had out an actual fossil Pokemon in the form of an Omanyte. The shelled squid-like creature was facing down Despereaux, and the Rattata was winning. He was weaving around the water/rock type using his far superior speed, striking quickly and retreating with every move. Despereaux canceled out his ineffective normal typing by relying on his dark type moves, like Bite and Assurance.
 
I shuffled through the bleachers, making my way to my friends. Amy looked green from the sheer amount of people in the crowd, but they gave me a smile and a hug as I passed by. Hana squealed in excitement, hugging me but never tearing her eyes from Yuji's battle. In her lap was her laptop, Brock's second badge roster pulled up on the screen. Daisy scooted over to make room for me, and I happily sat down between her and Hana. She immediately intertwined our fingers, and I squeezed her hand.
 
"You did amazing," Daisy said, leaning into my ear so I could hear her. "Artis is really coming along, and your entrance was almost Contest-worthy."
 
I grinned, genuinely feeling touched. From a former-Grand Festival champion, that was high praise. I leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek, the same she'd done to me this morning. She smiled even wider.
 
"Thanks, Daisy," I said, "That means a lot. I only hope Terry got it all on video."
 
We both glanced up a few rows deeper into the stands. Terry was still wielding my camera with the enthusiasm of an independent journalist.
 
"Is that..." Daisy asked slowly, looking at his other hand.
 
"Yeah..." I laughed. "That's his streaming phone."
 
Terry had a second device in his other hand. It looked like a giant fork holding both a second camera and an extra Pokegear, mounted so that he could see both at the same time. I could see a wire snaking up his sleeve to a lapel microphone on his shirt. The guy was streaming the entire battle, with commentary, while recording all the matches.
 
I shook my head while Daisy giggled at his antics. That guy has more talent and commitment to content than I will ever have.
 
We turned back to the fight.
 
Despereaux had struck the Omanyte several times now and you'd think that he'd still have the advantage, but I winced when I saw what was actually happening. The shellfish's shell had cracked in several places, and that seemed to have freed up more of its legs for movement. It zoomed around the field with almost as much speed as Despereaux, matching the Rattata hit-for-hit.
 
"Weak Armor," Daisy confirmed my suspicions when I glanced her way. "Admittedly a rare ability for Omanyte, but it's raising its speed every time it takes a physical hit."
 
"But it's got the trade-off of weaker defense, right?"
 
She nodded but also shrugged. "It's still going to be hardier than Despereaux, no matter how much Yuji has been training him. He needs to pull out a singular powerful hit before this gets too bad."
 
I frowned.
 
Despereaux didn't have a single big hit, at least that I knew of. Yuji had focused him on skirmish-style tactics and left the big hits to Achilles.
 
He was apparently thinking along the same lines. Yuji announced his only swap of the match, letting him return Despereaux and send out his Heracross. I grinned when Achilles slammed his fist into the ground upon release, arriving in a superhero three-point landing.
 
While I cheered at that, I was upset to find that most people were watching the battle with middling interest. Several rows of people who had come to watch my match were starting to clear out of the arena, and almost all of the signs had come down. Even though his increased challenge still had people in their seats, they hadn't come to see him.
 
"This isn't gonna work for me," I muttered.
 
"Hmm," Daisy said, looking around. "Oh..."
 
I stood up from my seat, pulling my hood back so that people could see it was me. I took a deep breath, pushing down the second-hand embarrassment for what I was about to do.
 
"Oh, my legends!" I yelled, projecting my voice to the people around me. "That's my rival! He's using the Heracross that beat me in a battle?"
 
My words had the intended effect. People in my immediate vicinity perked up, and a few people started to shuffle in their seats toward me. I shooed them away but grinned as they started whispering among themselves. Pokegear and other phones started popping up around the crowd, and the crowd took a lot more of an active interest in the fight. I heard a pair of trainers whispering near me.
 
"Oh wow," one said. "That's the Heracross from the battle vid with Wisp!"
 
"Yeah!" the other whispered back. "And Tracy's saying it beat him? They must've had a rematch."
 
As I sat down, Daisy laughed into her palm at how red my face was. Hana leaned over and patted my forearm, giving me a grateful look. The wave of interest was spreading from our immediate area and a wave of murmurs was overtaking the crowd. When Achilles rushed in with an Aerial Ace, slamming his wing into the Omanyte's shattered shell, there was a collective impressed groan from the crowd.
 
I'd given Yuji the crowd, and he had their full and undivided attention.
 
Achilles followed up his Aerial Ace with a Brick Break, dealing super effective fighting type damage with a flat palm strike to Omanyte's side. The crowd cheered as the water/rock type went down, fainted.
 
Brock released his next Pokemon, and I felt a chill go up my spine with excitement. When he'd promised not to go easy on my friends, he'd decided to pull out all the stops.
 
Standing there on the field was another fossil Pokemon, one that Wisp had made me get intimately familiar with. Standing almost two meters tall, with rough slatelike skin and a wide draconic snout, was an Aerodactyl. It spread its purple wings and took to the skies, filling the stadium with this presence that I could only explain because I'd felt it before.
 
My dad had an extremely rare Pokemon on his team, one that was feared in our homeland as the 'Disaster Pokemon'. Brimscythe the Absol had the same ability as this Aerodactyl, one that put a weight on the shoulders of the Pokemon that face it in battle, that drove the air from your lungs and made it just that much harder to breathe.
 
"Pressure," I choked out. Daisy nodded while Hana's eyes widened in panic.
 
Pressure was an extremely rare and powerful ability that exerted the user's enemies, forcing them to use twice as much energy in their moves as they normally would. For example, if Achilles could normally Brick Break four times before he had to rest, he'd only be able to use it twice before being exhausted against a Pokemon with Pressure.
 
Brock must have realized that Achilles was one step above the rest of the Pokemon in our group. I'd had to surprise Yuji with a Pokemon that was immune to most of Achilles' attacks to scrape by with a win.
 
The referee called for the battle to resume, and the crowd stiffened with anticipation.
 
Achilles rose into the air, matching Aerodactyl's height, and a battle in the skies began.
 
Aerodactyl was faster, dropping through the air like a bullet and reopening its wings just centimeters from the ground, skimming the surface of the dirt and leaving a cloud behind it. A purple glow emanated from its head, and small chunks of stone and boulders from my earlier fight responded in kind, floating off the ground and following behind Aerodactyl. The ancient flier swooped back into the sky, a flying battalion of boulders trailing behind it. His control over Ancient Power was insane.
 
Achilles dropped into an evasive pattern as Aerodactyl blasted by. He weaved between boulders, wincing when one would skim his wings or bounce off his armor. He avoided the large ones on the first pass, but Aerodactyl looped around for another pass. As he dodged this time, Achilles started to vibrate his wings to activate his Bug Buzz. My hands snapped to my ears when I recognized the move, and I beat the deafening sound by half a second.
 
The vibrations cracked and shattered the boulders as they flew by. The lack of actual mass ripped them away from Aerodactyl's control and they floated harmlessly by as a cloud of dust. The fossil wasn't done, though. It circled the cloud, shaping it with the air from its wings into a whirling Sandstorm. The razor-sharp sand clacked against Achilles' armor, stinging the fighting type's exposed eyes and wings.
 
Achilles took advantage of Aerodactyl's distracted flying, dropping like a stone from above and landing a strike with the flat of his palm.
 
Crack!
 
A massive impact rippled through the sandstorm as the Aerodactyl took the first real blow of the fight. It didn't let it go unpunished. The fossil Pokemon whipped its head around, gripping its jagged teeth around Achilles' leg and crunching downward. The shattering of his exoskeleton following the crack of Aerodactyl's own injury.
 
"Hera!" Achilles yelled in pain.
 
He ripped his leg away from the fossil, separating the two and letting them split off in the air. It was going to have to stay an aerial battle, as Achilles' leg hung limply and trailed behind him. He was panting hard, too. The Pressure was already exhausting him.
 
I glanced at Yuji in worry, but I grinned when I saw his face.
 
Aerodactyl was relentless, diving back toward the Heracross, not letting him have a moment's peace. Both its wings glowed with white light, and several of the trainers in the crowd cried out in recognition. It was charging a Wing Attack, a move that was super effective against both of Achilles' types. It was going to be devastating if it hit.
 
It is going to be devastating. I smirked
 
Right before the Aerodactyl hit, I saw Achilles tense in a way that Despereaux had done against Artis dozens of times.
 
The attack slammed into Achilles, striking him directly across the midriff and cracking his armor all across that chest piece with a critical hit. The impact was so strong that it dissipated the Sandstorm around them, leaving both Pokemon floating in the air.
 
Achilles grunted, his Endure having successfully allowed him to tank the hit on the edges of unconsciousness. He twisted in the air, performing a practiced technique that I knew Yuji had been drilling into him all week. The Heracross used Counter, a move that returned a hit with double the force that the user had just been struck with.
 
It sent to ancient flier plummeting straight down into the battlefield, cratering the stone and dirt floor with its fainted body.
 
We had to wait ten minutes for the gym trainers to dig Aerodactyl out enough for Brock to return his Pokemon.

---

 
I went with Amy to the locker room so that I could congratulate Yuji. We met him right inside the tunnel.
 
I ran up to him, tossing him over my shoulder and chanting "Yuji fucking did it! Yuji fucking did it!"
 
Amy cackled, still sweating from their exertion from being in the crowd. They cheered when Yuji laughed from over my shoulder. I spun him in a circle once more before putting him down. He scooped up Amy in a hug before they started getting ready for their own fight.
 
I kneeled down next to Amy as they started pulling on their costume. I was excited about Yuji's win, but I'd talk to him in a second. I needed to make sure all my friends got a pep-talk, after all.
 
"Hey, Ames," I said. "How are we feeling about our chances?"
 
They shoved their oversized sock hat over their hair, letting out a deep breath.
 
"I'm gonna be honest, Derek," Amy said. "I feel way more nervous now that I've seen what Brock is willing to use against us."
 
"The Aerodactyl?" I asked. When they nodded, I shook my head. "Nah, that's not going to happen. This is going to be tough, but Brock has been entirely fair in his choices. Since you're only signed up to use one Pokemon, he's definitely not bringing out a beast like that."
 
"I believe it was even above the challenge we were supposed to be fighting at, even after the battle elevation," Yuji chimed up from behind me. "The Leader must have recognized Achilles' natural strength."
 
Amy didn't seem quite convinced, but they nodded anyway.
 
I took them by the arm, and Yuji grabbed them by the other. We brought them to the tunnel. Amy gulped as they looked out at the crowd. The majority of people had stayed after Yuji's fight. Now that they'd had two amazing matches, they weren't leaving without seeing what the rest of the elevated challenges would look like.
 
I patted Amy on the back, pushing them forward. They glared at me but gave me a determined nod. Amy picked up one foot and took a stiff step forward. And that's how they walked, one foot in front of the other every step of the way. Amy physically recoiled when the energy of the crowd hit them.
 
I had an idea.
 
"Wisp," I said quietly. Yuji's head glanced over at me, and I knew that he could hear. "Can you go hide in Amy's shadow and try to dampen their powers a bit? No pranks or anything. If you're nice to them like this, I'll make them buy you some sweets."
 
I should've led with the first bit. Before you could say 'Misdreavous', Wisp had stretched my shadow forward, barely connecting it to Amy's before they were out of range of each other. She vanished without another trace.
 
If it had been any other psychic, I would've worried about Amy's telepathic communication with their Pokemon being interfered with by Wisp's presence, but Amy wasn't your normal psychic. Because they didn't have enough control yet to speak with their mind, it just meant that the emotions they were getting were just noise. Since Wisp was just a ghost, and not something like a dark type, her presence should just quiet that noise a bit instead of shutting it off. Sure enough, the moment Wisp entered Amy's shadow, I saw them straighten their shoulders and even out their gait.
 
"That was nice of you," Yuji said. "It's something I wouldn't even have considered."
 
"Yeah, I wish I'd thought of it earlier. It would've saved them so many headaches at the Center."
 
Yuji grunted in agreement. We both watched Amy walk up to the podium but glanced at each other as the referee started the opening spiel.
 
I grinned at him, unable to contain my excitement now that Amy had been taken care of. "Dude, you fucking did it."
 
Yuji smiled back, unable to keep the self-satisfaction off his face. As much as he would loathe to admit it, Yuji was just as prideful as the rest of us. Even if he was quiet about it, he was practically preening.
 
"I did," he agreed.
 
We both started laughing, and I pulled him into a big hug. He squeezed me tight, letting me go with a pat on the back. For someone who didn't normally like physical contact, this was downright giddy for him.
 
He did look abashed when he pulled back. "Derek, there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about," he said. "In the tunnel earlier-"
 
I held up my hand. "The whole thing about the challenges? Dude, that's fine."
 
Yuji turned bright red. "Was I that obvious about it?"
 
"I never seen you upset like that. I figured it could only be one thing."
 
He nodded, but he looked unsatisfied. "Actually, it's not just one thing," Yuji hesitated. When I nodded for him to go on, he continued. "I just- Given everything you've gone through- I mean-"
 
Yuji closed his eyes, taking a moment to collect himself. He started again. "I felt as though, perhaps, with all of the success you've garnered recently, that I, and by extension the rest of the group, were falling behind."
 
I wanted to immediately shoot it down, but I had to remind myself to actually listen to what my friend was saying. In the last week, I'd survived an unreasonable task, defeated Yuji to a crowd of thousands of digital viewers, and gotten more social media attention than the rest of the group combined. When you took into account the fact that Amy, Hana, and Yuji had helped train me, it was really obvious where Yuji's feelings were coming from.
 
"And Brock's challenge," I said aloud. "Was just the final straw?"
 
He nodded, looking at the ground. "When I saw that, it felt like the League themselves were saying that we weren't as competent as you were."
 
I put my hand on his shoulder, and he stiffened. It was almost like he was waiting for me to tell him he was right.
 
"You're a fucking idiot."
 
Yuji sputtered at my response, staring at me in confusion. I laughed, shaking my head at him.
 
I don't know who beat this guy down, but he was way too ready to be put down.
 
"Yuji, you just fought a better battle than I could have dreamed of. People are going to be playing clips of Achilles beating Aerodactyl for the rest of your career. There's no way that the guy who soundly beat my ass and then rocked up to take on Brock is even a single step behind me."
 
Yuji didn't look up. "But- I-," he stuttered. "Brock only wanted to fight you-"
 
"And I set him straight," I said firmly. "Even he had to admit that you guys were ready for the challenge when I laid it all out for him. I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier, but do you know what actually convinced him?"
 
He met my gaze, but he shook his head.
 
"It was when I talked about how well you were training Achilles. You got a fighting type ready to easily take down a ghost in less than a week. That's not nothing, bud."
 
Yuji's gaze softened, and I thought I saw a glimmer in the corner of his stoic eye. "You really said that?"
 
"Yeah, bud," I held out my hand to him. "I meant it earlier when I called you my rival. That's not going to change just because I quadrupled your Pokegram followers."
 
He laughed, grasping my hand. Yuji shook it, looking a lot more satisfied with his win. I pulled him behind me and started heading back to the stands. We wanted to see Amy's fight from a good spot, after all.
 
Yuji frowned as we were walking. "You haven't quadrupled my followers."
 
"No, you're right," I glanced at my Pokenav+. "I just didn't know the word for multiplying something by six."
 
He laughed, socking me in the arm.
 
I did have an extra digit on my followers over him. I might fully believe in my friend's capabilities, but somebody had to keep 'em humble.

---

 
Mine and Yuji's promise to Amy had held true. Brock hadn't pulled out another beast like Aerodactyl against them, but he had released a beast into the arena.
 
Pennywise the Mime Jr. was up against a Rhyhorn.
 
The tiny psychic raised both of his hands, creating a bright pink shield of transparent energy just in time to stop the stone rhino's rampaging charge. It slammed into the Barrier, bouncing off like a bullet deflecting off a brick wall. Pennywise grit his teeth, barely able to hold it back. He dropped the Barrier, pulling back his head and flaring his eyes pink.
 
The Rhyhorn shook its head, completely ignoring the Hypnosis. Even though it was a rhino, it was acting like a rampaging bull with Pennywise as the matador. It looped around the arena, gathering momentum to attack again. It was everything Pennywise could do to get his Barrier back up.
 
Yuji winced. He had taken Amy's seat on the other side of Hana.
 
"This is a 'hammer and anvil' situation," he said. "I only hope that Pennywise can last longer than the Rhyhorn's boosted attacks."
 
"Boosted?" I frowned at that word.
 
Hana nodded while writing new notes on her laptop. "Look at how the Rhyhorn is using Take Down over and over again? It's super aggressive which is a big indicator of the Reckless ability. It's hitting those self-damaging attacks way harder than other Pokemon would."
 
"I hope Mime Jr. can pull through," Daisy said, frowning with worry. "My friend's Mom has a Mr. Mime and he's an absolute sweetheart."
 
Pennywise deflected another Take Down, and the Rhyhorn bounced off again like clockwork. I happened to glance over at Brock, and my eyes widened with realization.
 
"He's doing it on purpose..." I mumbled.
 
When none of my friends heard me over the crowd, I let it go. I kind of wanted to see if anyone else was going to pick up on it.
 
Brock was standing with his arms crossed in his default pose, not giving Rhyhorn orders. He wasn't even watching his Pokemon.
 
He was watching Amy.
 
Brock was doing the 'Gym' part of being a Gym Leader. He was testing their boundaries, showing them the extent of what Pennywise could do. He had actually left an opening in his strategy with Rhyhorn, but you'd only see it if you stopped focusing on defending.
 
Anybody watching this fight would see Pennywise on the defensive, with an angry quarter-ton rock monster barring down on him. That was because Amy wasn't attacking. I might've missed it in our walk up to the bleachers, but Amy hadn't had Pennywise throw a single offensive move yet. They'd been focusing on their Barrier control and status moves, exactly what they'd shown off in their trainer battle yesterday.
 
Whenever Rhyhorn looped around to get momentum, that was the perfect time to strike. If Amy chose to hit there, though, they'd be unable to command Pennywise to get his Barrier back up.
 
They needed to risk it, to stop playing safely, and to actually get a hit in. Brock was purposefully letting his Pokemon wear itself out. It was hurting itself every time it used Take Down. If Amy just chose to call for an attack, they'd win this fight.
 
"Come on, Ames," I whispered under my breath. "Look past it. You'll see it."
 
Amy winced as Pennywise's Barrier finally cracked under another hit from Rhyhorn. Shards of pink energy went spinning off into the air before dissipating. Pennywise squealed under the strain, crying out.
 
"Oh!" Hana exclaimed next to me. I met her eyes and she nodded. She'd figured it out too.
 
The Barrier cracked and flickered. It shrunk from the size of a door to maybe that of a bin lid. Amy was running out of time. Their eyes were wide with fear.
 
Another hit.
 
It shrunk again.
 
Hit. Again.
 
Again.
 
The Barrier was on its last legs, looking pathetic. It was barely enough to cover Pennywise's tiny frame. The tiny psychic was exhausted.
 
What Amy couldn't see was that Rhyhorn didn't look any better. When you were just looking down at its charging horn, you couldn't see that its legs were trembling and its eyes were clenched in pain. Both Pokemon were on the end of their ropes.
 
I saw the moment Amy snapped into recognition. Their brow furrowed, and they stomped their foot.
 
I don't know what had given it away, but Amy had figured out what Brock was doing.
 
I grinned, and Hana sat back in relief.
 
"I should go get ready for my match," said Hana, closing her laptop.
 
Yuji didn't take his eyes off the field. "The fights not over yet?"
 
I shook my head. "Yes, it is."
 
I pointed at Amy as they rose their hand, calling out for Pennywise to drop his Barrier and put everything he had into a Confusion.
 
The match was called seconds later.
 
I cackled at Yuji's face as Hana left for her match.

---

 
Amy came back to us right before Hana's fight. They were flushed and out of breath, but smiling wide.
 
Wisp slyly slid from Amy's shadow into mine. I wasn't sure if Amy would be super okay with Wisp being in their shadow, so I left it on the down low for now. I saw the moment the overwhelming emotions hit them again, but even the rush of new information couldn't stop their smile.
 
"Ha!" They cheered when they plopped down between me and Yuji. "I won!"
 
I grinned at them. "Never had any doubt. Pennywise was pretty badass out there."
 
Yuji nodded. "I'm glad you were able to spot the Rhyhorn's vulnerability. It would have been very unfortunate if you'd been defeated by it."
 
Amy preened under my praise but puffed up their cheeks when Yuj gave his opinion. "I wouldn't have lost. I just... ...maybe just not won on my first try," They groaned, putting their head in their hands as they started whining. "Ugh, Yuji! I was so close to losing for the second time in a row."
 
I gave Yuji a pointed look, which he looked confused by. I hoped he understood that maybe right after that close of a call wasn't the best time to point out the flaws in somebody's battle. We had training time for that.
 
I rubbed Amy's head. "It's okay, Ames. You got through it. We'll just have to train you a bunch before Cerulean."
 
The tiny psychic pressed their head into my palm gratefully before sitting back. "Yeah, I guess. Well, we just need Hana to sweep Brock and then all four of us will at least have a badge."
 
We all nodded, even Daisy. As much as I considered Yuji to be my rival, there was no question as to who the smartest battler in our group was. Now that Hana had an evolution and a week of power training under her belt, and her type advantage over Brock, she was a shoo-in to win this fight. The cards had all lined up to give her an easy win.
 
When she stepped out of the tunnel, you could feel her confidence. Hana had been researching and researching for weeks for this fight. Even if I'd thrown her exact strategy down the drain by elevating her challenge, it was obvious that she'd built something from her leftover plans and whatever research she could do in the last hour.
 
Hana had exchanged her battle outfit from Viridian City. Instead of her jean jacket and pants, she'd taken to a loose and billowy green cotton dress that flowed like leaves. It was reminiscent of her dress from the dinner the other night, but much more comfortable and far less formal. The straps of the dress were fashioned to look like vines and hung off her shoulders. Around her neck, she had the scarf I'd bought for her loosely draped over her.
 
She walked up to the challenger podium with analytical confidence. Brock nodded to her, and Hana responded in kind.
 
The referee called for them to release their Pokemon and, as was customary, Hana tossed out Paige first. The Weepinbell emerged in a flash of red light, spreading her vines outward to make herself as big as possible.
 
Brock glanced at the Pokemon, raising an eyebrow at the second stage evolution. He then nodded, pulling a Great Ball from his belt and releasing a Pokemon that I didn't recognize. Hana did though, because she smirked. She'd been expecting it.
 
"What the hell?" I mumbled. "Why's he using a grass type?"
 
Daisy shook her head. "That's a rock type," She corrected me.
 
I narrowed my eyebrows and looked back at the Pokemon. It was about a meter twenty tall, with a willowy brown body and two branch-like hands.
 
That's definitely a grass type.
 
I pulled my Pokedex out of my pocket as the referee started announcing the battle rules. I scanned the Pokemon, and my little blue box identified it.
 
"Sudowoodo," it said. "The Imitation Pokemon. Though it pretends to be a tree, it fails to fool even children. To the touch, its body feels more like rock than tree bark. Sudowoodo’s extreme aversion to water merits special note."
 
I frowned, not feeling very amused. The 'fails to fool children' part felt really personal.
 
I clicked my tongue. "I guess it is a rock type."
 
Daisy gave me a self-satisfied look but said nothing. I stuck my tongue out at her, and she giggled. She leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek.
 
"Gross," Amy said, bumping my elbow. "Get a room or watch Hana's fight."
 
I flushed, realizing how caught up in each other we'd been. Daisy was blushing too, and we wordlessly agreed to just watch the match. She did hold my hand again, though.
 
To be fair to Hana, her battle was worth watching. In the few seconds since the beginning of the fight, she had Paige coat the field in poisonous Acid, cutting off the Sudowoodo from moving closer to her without taking passive damage. The Weepinbell had already Ingrained herself into the dirt field. Because of Paige's increased range from her evolution giving her significantly longer vines, Hana didn't have to worry about enemy Pokemon ever getting out of her range. She had a complete lockdown on the battlefield.
 
Brock smirked, looking much more excited at the prospect of a challenge. "Sudowoodo! Flip the field!"
 
The Sudowoodo pressed both of its hands into the ground, eyes alight with brown energy. There was an echoing crack! and the field itself split, pushing spires of earth upward from the ground. Puddles of acid sizzled and crackled as they were disturbed, flowing away from Sudowoodo as the Stone Edge pushed the Pokemon into the air.
 
In one move, Brock had removed all of Hana's preparation and was presenting an immediate threat, but she was quick on the draw to respond.
 
"He can't dodge! Stun Spore!" She commanded. "Then Bullet Seed barrage!"
 
Sudowoodo panicked as it flew through the air. It flailed its arms, trying to avoid the yellow cloud of spores that Weepinbell puffed outward toward him. Hana was right, though, he had no way of controlling himself off the ground.
 
The fake grass type hurtled directly into the Stun Spore. Its muscles locked up, and it hit the ground in an uncontrolled roll. Paige drew back her pear-shaped body, hurling a barrage of walnut-shaped sized seeds that blasted into Sudowoodo's curled-up form. It pushed itself to its feet and held a branch-shaped hand up in front of its face. The seeds echoed like stone hitting stone across Sudowoodo's body.
 
Sudowoodo whimpered under the barrage, and it started to tear up. I felt a little bad for it. It looked pretty pathetic against Paige.
 
Hana had no such feelings.
 
"Ignore it. It's using Tearful Look!" Hana barked. "Hit it again!"
 
I was taken aback when Sudowoodo grinned darkly, its ruse now discovered. The little bastard really had been faking it. I felt a little betrayed by the deception.
 
"Tomb protection and switch!" Brock said, crossing his arms into his default pose.
 
Paige released another wave of Bullet Seeds as Sudowoodo crossed its arms and glowed blue. Large boulders rose out from the ground behind Sudowoodo, slamming into place around it and embedding themselves deep into the ground. The seeds impacted the boulders instead of Sudowoodo, cracking deep into them. The Rock Tomb wall completely protected Sudowoodo from both Paige's assault and our view.
 
I mentally took notes. That was the second time Brock had used a normally offensive move as utility to disrupt an opponent's strategy.
 
Hana commanded Paige to blast through the boulders. but looked suspicious of Brock's motives and his second order. I found myself wondering what 'switch' had meant. Paige's high-powered Bullet Seeds took care of the boulders in moments, sending up a cloud of dirt and dust. Sudowoodo's form was vaguely visible in the smoke.
 
Hana almost called for another attack, but she hesitated. Her eyes went wide with understanding and she jumped into action.
 
"He's below you! It's a Substitute!" Hana yelled.
 
My eyes shot open and I sat up in my seat. The Sudowoodo in the smoke got a lot clearer, and I could see it was a hastily made recreation of the Pokemon out of dirt and stone. At its feet, there was a deep and narrow hole where it had dug underground.
 
How the hell had Hana seen that so quickly?
 
True to form, Sudowoodo burst upward from the ground behind Paige. What he wasn't expecting, though, was Hana's quick reaction time. Paige slammed her vines into the rock type's head, bringing it back down to the ground. Its muscles spasmed from the Stun Spores that still clung to it.
 
"Su-" Sudowoodo croaked out, all of the air driven from its lungs.
 
"Iron Defense!" Brock ordered.
 
Paige wasn't ready to leave it at one hit. The Weepinbell was relentless, bringing her Vine Whip down over and over again on the paralyzed and winded Pokemon. Though Sudowoodo's skin shimmered silver from the Iron Defense, it wasn't more than a few seconds before it limply collapsed on the ground.
 
"Yes!" I shouted, standing up from my seat to cheer. All of my friends joined me as we shouted for Hana.
 
Brock smiled and inclined his head to Hana. She beamed back at him as the referee called the match.
 
With that, all four of us had cleared our first Gym Battle, even at an elevated challenge level.
 
Just like I'd told Brock we would.
 
Hana bowed to the audience, departing for the challenger tunnel, and I felt a tap on my arm. I glanced back and Terry was standing there with my camera.
 
I grinned at him. "Thanks, man! I really appreciate you videoing our battles!"
 
He nodded giving me a wide and nervous grin. "Yeah, brother. It was no trouble at all. It's my turn now, though. Do the same for me?"
 
I took back my camera and gave him a grin. "Anytime, bud. I've been waiting to see what your three Pokemon are. I already know about your Totodile, but I'm excited to see your whole team fight."
 
Terry shook his head. "Only two today. One's not quite battle ready yet, so I decided to not register him for the fight. Thank you, brother."
 
I gave him a forearm handshake over a row of bleacher seats and he took off for the tunnel. While it was kind of a bummer that Terry's third Pokemon wouldn't be taking part today, I was excited to see what he was like as a trainer.
 
Hana passed Terry on her way up the stand. She'd removed her scarf and tossed her jean jacket over her dress. Yuji and Amy both rushed her, congratulating her before she could sit down. I waited, there'd be plenty of time to tell her she'd done a great job.
 
When they'd all exchanged excitement and hugs, Hana plopped down on the other side of Daisy, the only place where there was a spare spot. She genuinely looked exhausted, but there was a prideful smirk plastered to her face.
 
I leaned over Daisy and gave Hana a fist bump. She gave me a soft smile and returned it.
 
"Not bad," I grinned.
 
Hana's smile told me that she knew I meant so much more than that. After our heart-to-hearts in the Viridian Forest, I knew how important not only winning but dominating this battle had been for her. People were going to underestimate her because she was from the Sevii Islands for the same reason people would look down on me for being from Hoenn. Based on everything she'd said, Kanto people just weren't welcoming to outsiders.
 
Hana'd had total control for the far majority of the battle, and there was no question that she'd taken down Brock's Pokemon with the most ease of us all.
 
"Not bad," she agreed. "For an island girl."
 
We sat back into our seats and Daisy pressed a little tighter into my shoulder. I looked over and she was grinning. I raised an eyebrow, and she leaned in.
 
"That was really sweet," she whispered. "I'm glad you let me meet your friends."
 
I nodded to her, squeezing her hand. She'd picked up on my relationships with each member of our group, and Daisy really seemed to get how we meshed.
 
I was really grateful for my people, and I was so damn proud of everything we'd accomplished. We all had badges now, and we'd earned them more than most people who had them now.
 
Our journey had taken its first real step forward.

---

 
Terry and his crew all succeeded in their battles, though only Terry took Brock up on his offer to elevate his challenge. The other two both declined and took normal one-badge challenges.
 
Terry himself had led with a Diglett named Stoneclaw, a tiny mole that I'd first seen its species in Giovanni's gym. It had gone up against a Graveler and handily defeated it by crisscrossing tunnels underneath the battlefield and trapping the unwieldy rock type with sinkholes. Terry immediately switched his Pokemon for his Totodile, Swipetide. The blue crocodile was a violent little guy, and his jaws were powerful. He fainted Brock's Shuckle in just a few hefty Bites.
 
I finally had time to learn the names and Pokemon of Terry's two companions, both of whom I'd seen at some point in my time in Pewter.
 
The blonde boy I'd seen Terry spar against in the park was Jack Faring, a short guy from Viridian City. He wore a linen white button-up under a blue vest, and his blonde hair was wavy like a surfer's. His only Pokemon was the Vulpix that I'd been admiring in his park battle. Her name was Coranna and she had a gentle temperament.
 
I could immediately tell why Jack had taken the one-badge-level challenge. Not only did he have a major type disadvantage against Brock, but his Pokemon was reticent to actually be aggressive in battle. While she was easily on Pennywise's level in terms of special move control, Coranna really didn't seem like a battler. She did handily beat a Geodude, though.
 
The third member of Terry's group was a young lady named Cindy Brandt. She was the person who'd asked me about interrupting Mick's interview during my mobbing at the Pokemon Center. While that interaction had rubbed me just a bit the wrong way, she seemed like a nice enough person. She had curly red hair and a mousy smile, wearing big-rimmed glasses and a set of overalls.
 
Cindy had a Magnemite named Zappers and had been put up against a Corsola, a small pink coral water and rock type. Even with the type advantage, I was surprised at how quickly Cindy removed Corsola from the field. She was a lot more aggressive than her demure expression would suggest.
 
After Terry's group finished, we all met up in the lobby instead of staying for the last battle of the day. It was getting late and some of us wanted to celebrate. Terry walked up flanked by his two friends. I gave him a shoulder clasp and he responded in kind, though his strength almost toppled me to the ground from the sheer size difference.
 
"Whoa, brother," Terry chuckled. He caught me, looking just a bit embarrassed. "Sorry for that."
 
I waved him off, steadying on my feet. "It's fine. I'm just happy that we all passed our challenges, man." I looked back at my friends, most of whom had at least met Terry by this point. Daisy was off making a call so that just left my trio. Yuji and Hana were both comfortable and smiling, but Amy was noticeably hidden behind Hana's dress. Glancing over at Terry's friends, both of them seemed just as reticent as my trio to initiate actual conversation.
 
Terry and I are the most social people in either group, I mentally sighed. Looks like it's up to me.
 
"Cindy, right?" I asked the small ginger-haired lady. "You had a great match! Zappers seems like a really well-trained battler."
 
She looked surprised that I'd remembered her name, let alone her Pokemon's name. Cindy blushed and shrank a little, hiding behind her oversized glasses.
 
"Uh- thanks," Cindy stuttered. "Yours was good too?"
 
"Thanks! We've been training for weeks, and I can tell you guys did too." In an attempt to bring everybody into the conversation, I turned to the last member of Terry's trio. "And you're Jack? Your Vulpix is gorgeous."
 
The trainer ran his hand through his hair and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that's my Coranna. She's definitely something..."
 
Jack trailed off, but Terry pulled both Cindy and him forward by slinging his arms over their shoulders. "Thank you, brother, for trying to talk them up, but both of my friends are pretty shy. They could stand to talk to more people."
 
Both Cindy and Jack went red, stuttering out their own explanations.
 
I laughed and shook my head. "It's no problem at all, my group is pretty similar." I turned to the other three, plus Daisy, who had walked back up at this point. "This is Hana, Yuji, Amy, and Daisy. You'll recognize three of them from their battles today and Daisy from her work at the Pallet Pokemon Lab."
 
Daisy bumped me with her elbow, obviously amused at what I had chosen to introduce her as. Cindy and Jack introduced themselves to my group and everyone shook hands and exchanged greetings. Even Amy stepped up to say hi to them, though they did keep out of Terry's direct line of sight. When I gave him a glance, it seemed like he was totally okay to keep up with their charade. Terry just gave me a gentle smile when he saw me looking.
 
Good, he seems like he's keeping to what he said. He's not trying to make it weird or anything.
 
"If it's agreeable with everyone," Yuji surprisingly spoke up. "We're planning on heading out for drinks to celebrate our wins after we refresh ourselves. Would you all like to join us?"
 
Hana, Amy, and I all stared at Yuji. He was by far the least social of the group, so his inviting other people to join us was completely alien to his nature.
 
Or was it?
 
Yuji was the biggest fan of karaoke in the group, being the one to have now pulled the group there in two separate cities. Maybe he just needed a social event to bond with new people.
 
Regardless, I wasn't going to stop him.
 
"Yeah, are you guys free to come hang in a bit?" I followed up.
 
Terry almost immediately agreed, but stopped himself and gave the other two a glance. Cindy was gripping her overall straps nervously and Jack was playing with his hair, but both gave him a tentative nod.
 
"Sure, brother, we'd love to," said Terry, giving me a big grin.
 
"Sweet!" I pumped my fist, getting a chuckle out of Jack. I like the guy already because he looked like he liked to laugh. "We're all headed to the Center anyway, so we might as well go over together."
 
Everyone agreed, and our group of eight headed out of the Pewter Gym. Everyone in the group who'd battled today had won their badges. We were exhausted, but there was a general sense of contentment among the party.
 
Until we stepped outside of the gym.
 
Lights flashed and camera lenses clicked, bombarding us with visual and auditory stimuli as soon as we stepped out of the front doors. A crowd had formed in front of the Pewter Gym, a mix of fellow trainers, interested citizens, and reporters. The last one of those groups made up the majority of the crowd, and there were easily half a dozen news cameras rolling on us immediately. People shouted questions at us, asking us anything and everything.
 
"Mr. Tracy, what do you have to say about your unexpected challenge elevation today?"
 
"What do you kids think about Pewter City's Leader Brock? Would you say he's lost his touch after so many losses today?"
 
"Mr. Amano! Are the rumors true that you are being provided a powerful Heracross from your family's dojo?"
 
"Daisy! Ms. Oak! Is Oak Lab going to be sponsoring Trainer Tracy due to your relationship?"
 
There were too many questions to keep up with, but a myriad of emotions passed through at each one. I wanted to ask Yuji what they meant about a dojo, but I had to turn my attention to the reporter bombarding Daisy about us.
 
Legends be damned, I mentally sighed. Today is going to be a long day. 

Notes:

There we go! We've wrapped up the meat of the Pewter City Arc! We'll have an interlude next chapter and then a small epilogue and transition chapter after that before fully moving into the journey of Route 03 and Mt. Moon!

For those of you who were hoping to see Terry properly battle: don't worry, there will be plenty of time for that in the future. I actually had also wanted to put in his battle here, but since we were already at 7k words and I didn't want to stretch this for another chapter, I decided to save his first real on-screen battle for the future.

Anyway, I hope you guys liked all the stuff that happened at the Pewter Gym, and I hope you enjoy the story! If you do, don't forget to comment and leave some kudos! They help out this story a ton!

Chapter 20: Interlude 01 - Yuji

Notes:

We're doing something a little different this chapter! With the Pewter Arc officially coming to a close, I decided to give us a different PoV for our interlude, letting Yuji take the stage. I hope you all enjoy!

Yuji panted as he ran alongside his team.
 
The endurance he'd built up normally let him run for another mile before he was exhausted, but the last week had slowly chipped away at his stamina. His training for the Pewter Gym battle had been too intense, he'd pushed himself too far.
 
Like he was doing now.
 
His currently running trail encircled the entirety of Pewter City, running up and down the stone cliffs that surrounded three-quarters of the city. Right now, he was on an incline that had his lungs burning and his legs protesting.
 
Yuji knew that the group had a rule against training the day after a major achievement, but he'd never actually stuck to it. He just moved his workouts earlier in the morning.
 
Logically, he knew that what he'd told Derek all the way back in Viridian was true. "If you go as hard as you have been forever, you're going to burn out sooner rather than later."
 
But that wasn't what it felt like for him. Every step that he took when training felt like one forward. The burns in his muscles were proof of progress and they felt good. Hana and Amy had been the ones to push for their agreement, and he'd relented because they'd been speaking from a place of both logic and care.
 
If he'd had it his way, though, he'd never stop feeling the cold morning air scrape his lungs. The period after night but before dawn was his domain. The world was asleep, and only he and his Pokemon existed. There was a quiet to the world that made pushing himself so much more personal.
 
He'd started this style of training back in Saffron. Getting up early was the only way to get any amount of quiet in the city, even on the grounds of the dojo. Despereaux and then Achilles had both taken it in stride when they'd joined the team.
 
Yuji stifled a smile as he glanced behind him at the martial bug, who waved at his trainer when he noticed. Achilles had performed above all expectations yesterday. He was a fighter through and through, just like any other member of the Fighting Dojo.
 
The others all thought that Achilles was just a mild-mannered bug type, and that was partially true, but Yuji knew otherwise. During the battle with the Pinsir, Yuji had seen the ferocity that the Heracross held in him, and it had taken a heart-to-heart between the two of them to focus that ferocity toward Yuji's goals. He'd pulled Achilles away from the group when they had been desperate to find Derek in the Viridian Forest.
 
He'd had to tell Achilles everything, laying his whole plan on the table, before the Heracross had even bothered to look him in the eye. Yuji had promised that the two of them would prove themselves as some of the strongest fighters this region had ever seen. They needed to. There was no other way for Yuji to go home. Once that pact had been made, Achilles had proven to be one of the strongest and most unwavering allies that Yuji could have hoped for, and he'd even taken to his nickname.
 
Yuji looked down at Despereaux. The little Rattata had taken to running at his side, just like he had every single day for the last six months. Even though he'd been Yuji's only option, and the only Pokemon he could afford when he'd found himself on his own, he couldn't have asked for a more determined starter. The trainer he'd bought Despereaux from had undervalued just what a Pokemon with Guts could do.
 
Rattata weren't a popular Pokemon among career trainers in Kanto, or really anywhere at all. They were the epitome of common route fodder, more often given as pets to small children than actually ever trained for battle. For that reason, the Pokeball that Yuji had bought had cost more than what Desperaux's first trainer had charged for him. After the inane trainer had left, Yuji had immediately given the option to the Rattata to either be released back into the wild, or to join his team as his first Pokemon and train himself to be the strongest Rattata alive.
 
Despereaux had started training that day.
 
And that's why it frustrated Yuji so much that his starter had still found no success in professional battles. Despereaux had lost his battle to Giovanni and had been recalled against Brock. Even in their training battles, he couldn't hold up against any of the other Pokemon in their group, other than Pennywise. It wasn't his fault, either. Yuji was falling behind as his trainer.
 
Derek's words had helped a bit yesterday, but Yuji knew he wasn't getting the results he wanted or needed. Right now, he was able to rely on Achilles' raw strength to get them through battles, but the point of being a trainer was to have a competitive team. He had his promise to his Pokemon to keep, and he wasn't sure how to help his starter get stronger. That was the first step toward getting strong enough to go home.
 
Yuji, shook his head, clearing his thoughts as a stitch formed in his side. He groaned in pain, letting his lungs fill as they needed to get oxygen to the rest of his body. He motioned for the others to pause so that he could catch his breath properly.
 
He hated how he was feeling now. Even his morning run, the most peaceful part of his day, was bowing to the weight of the expectations he was putting on himself. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a set of earbuds and sticking one in each ear.
 
Maybe a morning show would help clear his thoughts. He clicked play as they resumed their run.
 
"Yo yo yo!" an excitable and vaguely masculine voice announced. "Welcome everybody to C&TJ In the Mornings, bringing you the greatest and latest in the Indigo Circuit radio. You're listening to me, Connor Rafferty, and my boy, TJ Jones, here on 106.7 KRF, by way of the Vermillion Radio Station. Bring it in for the listeners, TJ!"
 
A second, significantly more laid-back, voice spoke up. "Ah ha, sup my Cleffa-Cuties," he said in a 'pick-up-line' tone. "Thanks for tunin' in for another one of our shows."
 
Yuji enjoyed listening to Connor and TJ whenever he needed something to occupy his thoughts during a workout. They had a show every weekday early in the AM, so it was perfect for his schedule. Both were semi-retired trainers and they offered decent insight into the current goings-on in the circuit. That, and their friendship felt real enough that he'd found solace in them when he was living on his own in Saffron.
 
"We're here today on April 17th," said Connor. "Bringing you news on all the major happenings in this year's Indigo Circuit. Before we hop into the headlines, I think we have a sponsor for today?"
 
"Yeah, man," TJ said. There was a slight pause and a shuffling of papers before he started speaking again. "Today's episode of C&TJ In the Mornings is brought to you by Bruno-Bran, the all-in-one protein and fiber breakfast. To hear more about this totally tight breakfast option, stick around for our midtime break."
 
Yuji snorted. As much as he looked up to Bruno, much to his father's chagrin, the man had absolutely no taste when it came to protein-minded food. It was possible for a food to be low calorie, high protein, and still have more flavor than a dried apricorn.
 
"Thanks, TJ! Now, there's a bunch of headlines coming off of yesterday, but we have to talk about the unprecedented day at Pewter Gym"
 
The smile fell from Yuji's face.
 
"Bruh!" TJ agreed. "There were five different challenge elevations in just one day. Brock was handin' 'em out like Potion samples."
 
Connor grunted in agreement. "As of yesterday, the highest number of elevated challenges seen in a single day was set by the Elite Four's own Bruno back when he was still Leader of the Saffron Dojo. He allowed three challenge elevations, though two of those trainers went on to lose their battles."
 
Yuji stopped jogging, slowing to a walk.
 
"But, like, yesterday, every single one of them won their challenges! Talk about some righteous challengers!"
 
"You couldn't be more right. Now, a lot of you might want us to start by talking about rising star Derek Tracy of Lilycove, but we're actually going to hold off for a bit because we have a special guest calling in later to talk about the controversial new trainer."
 
Of course, they were going to talk about Derek. Yuji let out a breath as he smiled. Where others would be may be jealous, he was just proud.
 
Derek was just that amazing.
 
His friend was a complete anomaly on every level to Yuji. Derek had just appeared one day, knowing everything about battling and nothing about Kanto, and ready to take on the world. Derek had set out to learn from each member of the group but had ended up pushing each of them to be better. He was someone who survived the unsurvivable and battled terrorists, but he still needed help setting up a Pokegram page.
 
And he'd recognized Yuji as a rival. The admission put a fire in Yuji's chest. No one had ever done that for him before.
 
"-and, bro," Yuji tuned back in as TJ's voice got wistful. "We had some dope matches in those fights. Especially that Hana girl."
 
"For the audio listeners," Connor chuckled. "I wish you could see TJ's face. I think my playboy co-host might be falling in love!"
 
TJ clicked his tongue. "Nah, bro, I couldn't do that to all my Cleffa-Cuties. TJ stays untied." There was a slight pause, and Yuji could hear him mutter under his breath. "But if it was anybody..."
 
Yuji rolled his eyes. The worst part about this show was how often TJ pined after just about every woman in the Indigo Circuit. It honestly didn't surprise Yuji that he'd be at least a little interested in his friend. Hana had really put time into her appearance for the battle, and it had shown. TJ was a good battler, but he was also a dog who'd asked out one of the Cerulean Sisters in the middle of his gym challenge. Connor was the one who kept the two of them on message.
 
"Anyway," Conner cleared his throat. "Hana Kanael did have a great showing in her single battle against Brock's Sudowoodo. For anyone who hasn't yet had the opportunity to watch the challenges yesterday, of the eight total rookies that were challenging for their first badge yesterday, five of them were allowed by Pewter Leader Brock Harrison to challenge at the second-badge level. This is something that's done fairly often for experienced trainers, but almost never for rookies. Along with the reputation gains, this upgraded challenge offers a much higher financial gain in their winnings."
 
"They gotta be rolling in it after their wins," TJ helpfully added.
 
Yuji couldn't disagree. The winnings from his victory had come in last night, and he now had more to his name than he had before the season started. That included what he'd spent on his ticket to Cinnabar to meet up with Hana and Amy, which had eaten most of his savings. It would go a long way toward the next member of his team. It wasn't quite enough yet, though. The prices of importing a Pokemon all the way from Kalos were steep.
 
"Now, TJ, we put up a poll yesterday on our Pokegram account, asking the audience about which of yesterday's elevated challenges was their favorite. How do you think that went?"
 
TJ gave another slow laugh. "Bruh, if I was gonna put my answer it would be Hana, Hana, then Hana again, then Derek Tracy. Nah, but seriously, we had five different elevations? I'm gonna say that Derek was in the lead, but it's probably gonna be a close tie between Hana and, uh, what was his name again? Yuji?"
 
"Yuji Amano," Connor supplied his name.
 
"Yeah, that guy. Hana is way cuter, but that Aerodactyl battle was epic! Bro, nobody ever gets to fight Aerodactly at second-badge level! The fact that Brock whipped that out for not even a normal second-badge fight, but for an elevated first-badge one? That dude must be one bad mother- well I can't actually say that on air, but he must be hella strong."
 
Yuji fully stopped walking. He stepped off to the side of the trail, leaning against a large stone outcropping. He put his hand against it to steady himself from the numb shock spreading through his chest.
 
These guys, Connor and TJ, trainers whom he'd been listening to for years, were talking about him? That was almost unthinkable. A smile ghosted his lips as he thought about everyone else at the Fighting Dojo listening to this. Perhaps someone would tell his father. It would at the very least make him regret telling Yuji to leave.
 
"You're actually right, TJ," said Connor. "Of the 12,437 votes on our Pokegram poll, 4,432 went to Derek Tracy, of course, and then 2,942 went to Yuji Amano, and 2,784 went to Hana Kanael. Terry Parkers took fourth place with 1,302 votes, and Amy Turuant brought up the rear with 977 votes."
 
"Of course, I'm right! These polls ain't never caught me lacking. I'm too in touch with the audience."
 
"I wouldn't expect anything less out of you. Now, we don't have time to cover all of the fights that happened yesterday, but we can quickly go through each of the matchups and how they went..."
 
Yuji let Connor's voice fade as he thought on what he'd just heard.
 
Derek was right. People had noticed his battle, and he was... ...popular? At the very least, his challenge was fresh in people's minds. He absentmindedly swiped over to his Pokegram app, which he'd had muted since last night.
 
He almost dropped his Pokegear.
 
Even before he'd actually started battling in an official sense, Yuji had tried to get a headstart on his social media following. Though he was anything other than socially savvy, he knew from his many hours spent in the Kanto forums that being a career trainer meant you needed an online presence. He'd said as much to Derek. Yuji had started early by just posting clips of him training Despereaux, sharing them on servers and forums that he'd used to moderate. Via some word of mouth and favorable reposting from some friends, he'd gotten up to just under ten thousand followers. It was a modest but respectable amount for a new trainer, but it paled in comparison to the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, that a career trainer could get.
 
After their stunt against Giovanni, especially with Derek's near victory, he'd bumped up all the way up to sixteen thousand followers. It was a noticeable leap, one earned from spending the first crucial few weeks of their season attempting a near-impossible goal. To this point, Giovanni still hadn't had any rookies succeed against him this season.
 
Yuji had expected a similar follower bump from beating Brock, if not a little more, which would put him around twenty to twenty-five thousand followers.
 
He was sitting at sixty thousand Pokegram followers.
 
TJ's voice faded back in. "...and then he was like 'boom'! For real, for real? That Heracross is a nasty piece of work on the battlefield. I actually looked him up, and peeps were saying that Yuji got it from the Fighting Dojo in Saffron? Nah, there's no way. The bug has some technique, yeah, but it's still got that feral edge from being wild."
 
"I would tend to agree," said Connor. "I was also curious about how a rookie trainer would gain such a powerful Pokemon, so I reached out to an unnamed source in the Pokemon Center network to see if I could get a comment. The best that I could get was that the catch location marked on Amano's record is geo-stamped to the Viridian Forest. It looks like he actually caught it on his own. I am curious though, TJ, why was the online chatter about the FIghting Dojo? Did I miss that Amano was sponsored by the dojo?"
 
Yuji sucked in his breath.
 
"Nah, it's not like that. I couldn't find a ton, but some people on the Kanto forums mentioned that he used to train there a bunch. People figured he probably knows somebody there, plus his whole aesthetic is, like, on point for a kung-fu dude. What do they call those pajamas again?"
 
"It's called a gi, TJ. I apologize to any martial artists in the audience who were offended by my co-host's lack of a way with words."
 
Yuji let out a shaky breath. While everybody at the Fighting Dojo knew who he was, he wasn't sure that he wanted to be associated with them yet as part of his career image. It helped that there was no world in which his father would give an official comment on their family situation to the media. The rest of the dojo would follow suit.
 
"Uh, yeah, sorry peeps. I just mean to dude's whole outfit basically matched the Fighting Dojo's paja- gi outfit thingies. Anyway, that's the best I could do last night, but if anybody wants to reach out to us with more info, we'd be down to hear it."
 
Connor cleared his throat. "Yes, remember that you can reach out to us on any of our socials under the handle @CTJmornings. If you have your own opinions on how yesterday's challenges went, we'd love to hear from you. Speaking of, how about we talk about the challengers who didn't do quite as much to distinguish themselves yesterday? "
 
"Bro, honestly, only one trainer didn't do all that hot yesterday. Like, Derek, Hana, and Yuji all had real good battles, and even that uh-," there was the shuffling of papers. "Terry Parkers guy did real good, though he wasn't as impressive as the other three rookies. The real stinker was Amy Turaunt. She... ..uh, is that right?"
 
"Our information says they go by they or her," supplied Connor.
 
"Word. They did end up passing their challenge, but like, Brock was basically giving it away at that point. Anybody watching could see the huge friggin' hole he was leaving in his defenses. Honestly, I was bummed out by that whole battle."
 
Though he felt a surge of protectiveness for his friend, Yuji really couldn't disagree with TJ's analysis. Amy was already being very self-critical of the entire fight, so Yuji didn't feel the need to point that out to them, but they needed to train before Cerulean.
"That Mime Jr., though," Connor played as Amy's advocate. "Did show off an impressive set of skills. I didn't see any actually collide, but I did notice it throw off at least one Hypnosis. Considering that Mime Jr. is not only a fairy type, but it's also quite hard to teach that particular move to that particular line, you have to admit that they've done a decent job at least expanding their Pokemon's move pool."
 
"Credit where credit is due," TJ conceded. "Fairys are hard 'af' to train. But seriously, they weren't ready for a second badge elevation at all, and they're probably the only one who got one yesterday that shouldn't have. I don't know who talked him into it, but peeps online have been pretty clear that Brock should've left them at the first badge level."
 
"Well," Connor changed the subject. "It's hitting close to time, so I think it's time we introduce our special guest for today's episode. TJ, take it away!"
 
"Bars! Callin' in all the way from Route 03's lonely Pokemon Center, we've got the number three-ranked rookie for this season on the line. She's rocking her own pretty Pokemon and a sponsorship from the one and only Miracle Cycle, it's the baddie boss lady from Cerulean, Portia Cervelo!"
 
Tiny bells and whistles played as soundboard effects to announce the guest to the podcast. Yuji clicked the volume higher on his Pokegear as he and his Pokemon crested the last hill of their trail. The sun was starting to rise now, and he needed to start making his way back to the Center.
 
"Hello, Connor and TJ," a new voice joined the morning show. Portia's voice was deep and powerful, but smooth, reserved, and stiff. Speaking from his own experience, Yuji could immediately sympathize with her stiffness in talking in a public forum. "It's a pleasure to be invited onto your show."
 
"Thank you so much for joining us, Portia," said Connor. "I know that you're taking valuable time this early in the season to come and speak with us, so we appreciate your insight into your fellow rookies. Specifically, we're here to discuss the up-in-comer Derek Tracy, who won his first badge yesterday at Pewter Gym. A Gym that you just recently won your second badge from."
 
"Yeah," TJ continued for him. "We know now from our time on the circuit that the best people to ask about rookies are the other rookies. So, what're your first thoughts on this Derek Tracy guy?"
 
Yuji clicked his headphones even louder, grunting in frustration when he reached the volume ceiling. Portia Cervelo was a shoo-in for top rookie of the year. Though she was trailing behind two of Professor Oak's sponsored trainers, she had the resources of her family business, Miracle Cycle, backing her.
 
Miracle Cycle was basically the only name in Kanto when it came to bikes. Given that trainers couldn't really drive from town to town, and flying was reserved for people with a flight license, bikes were the fastest way through the routes and an indispensable part of trainer life. Thus, the company that sold them could charge basically whatever they wanted.
 
With all those resources, a traveling group of similarly ranked and provided-for trainers, a rare starter, and her impressively high test scores, Portia was all but guaranteed to become a household name by the season. Yuji wanted to hear everything she had to say about Derek.
 
"Well," Portia started, already sounding hesitant. "I know that there have been several unsavory rumors regarding Tracy due to his unfortunate interaction with one of my traveling companions, but I personally find very little weight to those complaints. Mick himself can be... ...confrontational at times. Having seen the entire interview, I would put more stock in Derek Tracy's words than my companion's."
 
She let out a sigh, using the same exasperated tone to talk about Mick that Yuji had found himself using about Derek. Listening to her talk was oddly relatable. Not that Derek was ever rude or disrespectful like Mick had been, but that his hot-headedness gave Yuji similar exasperations.
 
"That's, um," Conner seemed to be at a loss for words. "Wow, thank you for immediately addressing one of the more major topics we had listed for the day. The Pokegram feud between the two trainers has been something of a hot topic on social media for the past week, so it's interesting to get a close point of view on the subject."
 
"Yeah, it's actually kind of a vibe that you immediately outed Mick," even TJ sounded a little taken aback. He regained his energy quickly. "Never let nobody say that Porita Cervelo doesn't immediately bring the heat! Any other big bombs you wanna drop on us?"
 
"Oh- um, I'm sorry," Portia apologized. "I had thought you meant in a personal sense when you asked about my opinions on Tracy. Should I have-?"
 
"No, not at all!" Connor reassured her. "Please go on, we'd love to hear more, and then maybe we'll transition to talking about him as a battler afterward."
 
Portia cleared her throat. "Well then, I suppose that's actually the majority of what I have to say, actually, on Tracy as a person. I've not personally met him, though he's obviously making a name for himself with his elevated challenge yesterday and the attack on the Pewter Museum the week before."
 
"True that," said TJ. "Derek came on the scene making waves with that Pewter Museum vid! What did you think of that?"
 
There was a beat of silence before Portia spoke again, like she was thinking hard about what to say. When she did proceed, she spoke quickly and with confidence, like she was afraid someone would stop her.
 
"While I, and I would hope most other trainers, would do the same in his situation, I think that Tracy's battle was hasty, ill-thought-out, irresponsible, and dangerous. Putting out footage of it was even more so.
 
Yuji stiffened with interest, and both hosts went to spur Portia on but she continued without their help.
 
"Trainers, um, especially low-badge trainers, are not equipped to deal with criminals and thugs on our own. Though I'm sure that Virdania and I could have defeated those same grunts, there was no guarantee that the criminals would have been as low level as they were. Sensationalizing a, uh, a video of a zero-badge trainer not only fighting against, but winning against criminals is only going to embolden others," Portia took a long breath before seeming to realize how harshly she'd spoken. "To be clear, I don't believe that Tracy intentionally did anything wrong in his situation, and there's no way I could understand all of the circumstances he was facing, but I found his zealous approach to taking on two Rockets to be troubling."
 
TJ let out a low whistle, and Connor grunted in agreement before speaking. "Portia, that's... quite the statement. You are aware that many others, including Leaguers like both Gym Leader Brock and Ace Trainer Karen, have given positive statements towards Tracy's actions that day?"
 
"Um, I am. And for the most part, I agree that he performed admirably under pressure. I only mean to say that, um, based on the few facts available and the footage released, Tracy seems to have sought out the Rockets. Having seen both the viral training video that he released and his elevated challenge against Brock yesterday, Derek Tracy seems like the kind of trainer who takes risks and gets very lucky with how they turn out, or relies on others when they don't."
 
"Look at how his career has gone so far," she continued. "His first fight against Giovanni showed skill, yes, but it ultimately ended in a loss because he pushed his Pokemon before it was ready and was unable to get in a 'lucky shot'. His fight against the Rockets was his next notable event, but when covering the story, I've noticed that people seem to omit that he was in the company of a career contest champion. Though she did not complete her Circuit, Daisy Oak is an accomplished battler in her own right. If you watch the museum video carefully, she can be seen several times battling an unknown amount of Rockets in the background. It is only his third major battle, his Pewter Gym challenge, that I can confidently say that Derek Tracy did not rely overly on luck or others to get through."
 
"So then," Connor said hesitantly, giving Portia more time if she wanted to keep speaking. "You do agree that Derek Tracy is a decent trainer, but you think he takes too many risks?"
 
"Once again, I'm sorry. I think I spoke very harshly very quickly. I'm not calling into question that Tracy is a good trainer. More than that, I honestly think that if he had waited another week to fight Giovanni, he'd currently also be in the ranks of top rookies this season. I just, um, I just think that people shouldn't look to him and try to emulate his actions because one day he's going to get very unlucky."
 
Connor and TJ both followed up with questions and comments on Portia's statement, but Yuji found himself clicking off the podcast.
 
Yuji wanted to disagree with Portia, to say that she was wrong.
 
He couldn't.
 
Knowing Derek for even the short month that he had, Yuji knew the metal that made up his friend. Derek was one of the most proactive and confrontational people that Yuji knew, and he couldn't just leave something alone. There was even so much more that people outside of their group didn't know about that would bolster Portia's opinion of Derek. Portia didn't know about when Derek had gotten unlucky, like when he'd been captured by Beedrill in the Viridian Forest, or how he succeeded at things that he shouldn't reasonably do, like taming a ghost for the Legend's sake.
 
He'd also seen the looks between Amy and Derek on the day that Derek had told them about the events of the museum. Derek had kept something from them, something outside of the one battle he'd mentioned, and Amy had picked up on it with their powers. Given that neither had mentioned it since, Yuji had put it out of his mind, but he couldn't help but think back to it at this moment.
 
Had Derek taken another risk then? One that hadn't worked out?
 
Yuji finished the jog without putting his headphones back in. The thoughts in his mind were enough.
 

 
He returned Despereaux and Achilles before reentering the Pokemon Center. Though trainers were encouraged to keep their Pokemon out, it was considered good manners to keep the larger Pokemon in their Pokeballs. Despereaux was returned to his ball mostly so that the numerous other trainers wouldn't accidentally trample him underfoot. Even as early in the morning as it was, the sheer number of other trainers in the Pewter Center meant that dozens of people were already milling about the lobby and lounges.
 
As Yuji went to take the elevator up to the room, he was so in his own thoughts that he almost bumped into another trainer leaving the elevator.
 
"Sorry," he mumbled, though he stopped when the other trainer waved at him. Being this early, it actually took Yuji a moment to realize just who was in front of him.
 
"Oh, hey Yuji!" Derek smiled wide.
 
"Good morning, Derek."
 
Yuji smiled at his friend, genuinely pleased to have run into him. Derek wasn't one to get up early, so it wasn't often that they met without the others around. He was dressed in a comfortable blue hoodie and loose pants, the perfect lounging outfit. Derek must have been planning to take his day off seriously.
 
Derek gave him a once over, looking him up and down, and gave him a concerned smile. "Did you already work out today? It's gotta be like," he checked his Pokenav+. "It's barely six in the morning. That's early, even for you."
 
Yuji shrugged, doing his best to give a reassuring smile. He didn't quite have Derek's way with communication, though, and Derek's concern deepened. Yuji felt Derek's hand land on his shoulder.
 
"Hey, bud," he said. "If you need to talk about anything, I'm here. You know that, right?"
 
Yuji nodded, letting a genuine smile brush his lips. Derek's concern was truly touching.
 
"It's not like that, Derek. I just wanted to go for a run on a day off, so I chose to get up a bit early," Yuji widened his smile. "The others can only stop me from exercising if they get up early enough to stop me."
 
Derek didn't look convinced, but he dropped the subject. "Fair enough," he yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "I'm still exhausted from karaoke last night. We only got in, what, like five hours ago?"
 
"That sounds correct. I am surprised to see you up this early. I would have thought that you would be sleeping in after the last few weeks."
 
Derek shrugged. "Normally, I would be sleeping in until tomorrow morning, but I have stuff to get done today. Since we're taking off tomorrow, I need to call my parents, do some research for Oak, resupply my stuff, and maybe pick up some TMs, and I have a date with Daisy later. So, I'm pretty much booked."
 
One of those things caught Yuji's attention more than the others.
 
He frowned in confusion. "Research for Oak? Did you take a sponsorship?"
 
Derek stopped scratching the back of his head, looking at Yuji with wide eyes. "Dang it!" he said, looking annoyed at himself. "Can you keep a secret?"
 
Yuji wasn't comfortable keeping large secrets from his friends, but the look on Derek's face made it seem more superficial than serious. Yuji nodded.
 
Derek sighed. "I wasn't going to say anything, but I was given an offer from Professor Oak after the museum stuff. Not a sponsorship, but he offered to give me a Pokemon."
 
Yuji's breath stopped.
 
"What do you mean?"
 
Derek rubbed his head, looking sheepish. "I guess he was grateful for me watching Daisy's back at the museum, so he offered to let me pick a Pokemon, and he'd help me get it. I wanted to turn him down, but, like, how? You know what I mean?"
 
Portia's interview played back in Yuji's mind, and he couldn't help but think about what she'd said about Derek's luck.
 
Yuji was not a jealous man. He was often told he was humble and kind, and he knew that he could be very happy with very little. Though he'd had no options when it came to Despereaux as his starter, he'd never regretted his friend once.
 
But all of that was true to a point.
 
Despereaux's Pokeball felt heavy on his hip.
 
Derek already had two rare Pokemon to his name, and now he was just being given a third?
 
Yuji wanted to yell. He'd scraped together just enough Poké to buy a Rattata all on his own after he'd been pushed out of his home, and he'd only managed to get his second Pokemon by relying on his entire team to help him.
 
To hear that the most famous name in Pokemon research wanted to gift Derek a Pokemon after an event that had been fully out of his control? The same event that had caused Brock himself to believe that Derek was truly at a higher level than the rest of them?
 
The same event that made Yuji feel like he was falling behind his friend?
 
He had to quash his rage as he looked at his friend. Derek's concerned smile did that.
 
Derek hadn't asked for any of this. He'd even gone out of his way to advocate for them when he'd talked to Brock. Like he'd just said, Derek had wanted to turn down the Pokemon when he was offered it. And Yuji fully believed him when he'd said that.
 
Derek was genuine enough to always take his words at face value.
 
Yuji placed his hand on Derek's shoulder, the same way that Derek had done for him. He gave him the advice that he knew a good friend would give.
 
"My friend," Yuji said, catching Derek by surprise with the physical contact. "Professor Oak is giving you a great gift. Cherish it as much as you can. If you need any help at all picking a Pokemon, my ear is always available."
 
Derek smiled. "Thanks, bud. I really think I'll take you up on that."
 
Yuji nodded, patting his friend twice on the shoulder. He removed his hand and pressed the button for the elevator. "I wish you the best of luck with today's endeavors. However," he wrinkled his nose. "I stink. I'll be off to the room."
 
His friend laughed, it was a charming and friendly sound. "I get that. I'll see you later. Love you, man."
 
Yuji tripped as he stepped by Derek, though he covered his shock by disguising it as him catching the doors quickly. He looked back at Derek who was already walking down the hallway like he hadn't said anything at all.
 
The doors started closing, and Yuji found himself murmuring, "Love you too, friend."
 
He shook his head, smiling to himself. Damn that man for being so impossible to hate. Yuji's anger had already dissipated from his heart, replaced only by the excitement of getting to battle with Derek again.
 
Yuji found himself planning more training for the day before he ever made it to the shower. He needed some way to keep up with Derek, after all.
 

Notes:

So there we go! I hope that the change in writing style and perspective wasn't too jarring, and I know that I need to practice more with it in the future. I tried to be in Yuji's head and reference things that are known information to him, but not necessarily to you, the audience.

It's definitely not my best work, but I'm proud of what I made when I was so far out of my comfort zone.

Anyway, thank you for reading! If you like this story, don't forget to leave some kudos and comments, it helps me a ton!

Chapter 21: The Quiet Days Are Over

"Oh my legends..." I groaned. "How the hell are these not alphabetical?"

I plopped another stack of Technical Machines down on the plastic display shelf, having now gone through the fifth stack. The tiny compact disks, TMs as they were commonly known, were actually digitized memories of Pokemon that held enough data to implant a move into the mind of Pokemon. I'd been looking for almost half an hour already for a specific TM for Wisp.

TM numbering was confusing and outdated, and not at all well organized. They weren't sorted by alphabetical order, move type, move category, or even release date. Instead, SilphCo. seemed to randomly release waves of fifty to a hundred moves all at once, arbitrarily numbering them with no regard for people who want to easily find something while shopping.

Generally speaking, TMs were a great tool for trainers, especially when getting Pokemon used to moves that they may not normally be able to learn, but they were disliked for two major reasons. One, they were expensive. The cheapest TMs cost at least a thousand Poké, with the most expensive and limited-run TMs being so rare that they were auctioned for tens of thousands of Poké. Even now, I knew that the one I was looking for was going to cost me at least two thousand, and I was in the clearance aisle.

The second reason was a little more complex, but it had to do with the way TMs are made. Basically, the way I understood it, the company recorded the memories of a test group of Pokemon using the move over and over again. Once they acquired enough raw data, they would use complex algorithms to find the key markers in a move, and then took that data and imprinted it onto a disk. Then, when the trainer wanted to 'upload' the move to their Pokemon, a special machine would essentially repeat the data over and over again to the Pokemon while it was in its Pokeball.

The reason career trainers weren't the biggest fan of using TMs was because of the way that they gathered data for a move. It essentially took the average ability of all the Pokemon recorded and set that as the baseline. Since your Pokemon didn't develop the move on its own, it would use it exactly as it recalled it from the TM. Technical Moves were predictable and easily read, and they often didn't mesh with a Pokemon's natural movement and flow.

What I wanted it for, though, was the main reason people used TMs outside of ridiculously powerful ones like Hyper Beam and Giga Impact. TMs could be used to get your Pokemon ready for move types that they wouldn't normally use, one that my dad had clued me into this morning.

The TM I was looking for had been printed a few times, thus the clearance aisle, and it contained the move Charge Beam. It was an electric type move that had a Pokemon focus electrical energy inside their own body before releasing it in a mildly powered laser beam. Misdreavus couldn't generally learn electric type attacks, but there were a few that they could develop once they had access to electric type energy, including Thunderbolt, Thunderwave, and, of course, Thunder. My hope was that Charge Beam would be a good enough jumping-off point for Wisp to be able to teach herself the rest of her electric type moves.

Not only would it be devastating in my upcoming challenge for the Cerulean Gym, but combining moves like Thunderwave with Wisp's natural sneakiness and proclivity for Hex could make her a real powerhouse.

I didn't have any TMs in mind for Artis, but that was because I wanted to iron out a few other moves in his training. It was beyond past the time to stop relying on the clumsy Snowout technique that I'd Frankenstein-ed together and actually shape it into Ice Ball.

That thought evaporated, though, when I saw the price tag on an Iron Tail TM.

"That can't be right?" I mused, the disk to the side. I perked up when I saw what was under it. "Fucking finally!"

A few trainers near me jumped at the sound, and I had the presence of mind to look ashamed. At eight in the morning, it was way too early to be that loud at a PokeMart.

"Sorry, sorry," I murmured.

I put back the rest of the TMs, sliding the Charge Beam and Iron Tail disks into a picnic basket that I'd grabbed from the camping aisle, along with a machine-washable camping blanket and a collapsable personal canopy. I was splurging a little bit after my win at Pewter Gym. While it hadn't been as ridiculous as the thirty thousand from the League, the extra ten thousand in my pocket made for amazing spending money. And I had a picnic date, so there was no way that I wasn't grabbing the proper equipment.

As I walked through the mart, I glanced over at the few evolution stones they had on display. I immediately looked away with a grimace. A mid-quality Fire Stone was running five thousand Poké, and Dusk Stones were way rarer. Whenever I wanted to evolve Wisp, it was going to cost me a pretty penny.

I glanced at the Moon Stone and debated picking it up. I decided against it. It was seven thousand Poké, and there was no guarantee I was going to catch what I was looking for in Mt. Moon.

I did, however, pick up a Berry Pot, a device that would let me grow berries in a climate-controlled expandable space. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I really think it was a good investment. Berries could save your life given that most Pokemon, aside from the obviously humungous ones, could survive off of a berry a day. They also had a myriad of powerful healing qualities that could be really important. I made to sure to pick up a handful of different types of berries, including oran, pecha, cherri, and chesto berries.

I also made a mental note to figure out which berry was Artis' favorite. I was sure that Wisp would be fine with the sweetest of the bunch, the pecha berry, from not only her history of being a sweet-lover, but from the audible groan that she made from my shadow when I picked them up. I had no idea what Artis' favorite flavor was, though. He just kind of seemed to enjoy whatever I sat in front fo him.

"Excuse me," I said to the cashier as I walked up. "Do PokeMarts still have that policy where you sell things at their marked price?"

The underpaid worker groaned. "Yes. What did they mark down?"

I grinned, sliding my copy of Iron Tail across the counter. "Somebody missed a zero."

"Whoa, good find. Five hundred for Iron Tail?" They glanced around to see if anyone else had heard that. When they didn't, they turned back to me. "Between you and me, did you happen to see anything else marked down like this?"

"I would've bought it if I did," I shrugged.

Their shoulders sagged a bit, but they got to scanning my stuff. I checked out and headed to the park. I'd gone through shopping and research a bit quicker than I'd budgeted my time for, so I still had about half an hour before Daisy was supposed to arrive.

I was not excited for my date, because I really didn't want my time with Daisy in Pewter to be over. We were leaving tomorrow, so Daisy had chosen to head back to Pallet as well. She was healed from the trauma of the museum and had been for a few days. Since I was leaving, she had not more excuses to stay here. Today was going to be our last day together for a long time, and we hadn't talked about when we would see each other again.

The whole idea had me in a sour mood, but luckily I had someone to take it out on.

"Tracy! Battle me!"

"No! Hey- I saw him first!"

"Nuh-uh! He's gonna fight me!"

"Ignore these losers! Let me go a round with you!"

After my battle yesterday, my popularity had skyrocketed. I'd been just over a hundred thousand followers on Pokegram after the museum video went live, but with our challenge elevation, I was sitting at just under a hundred and fifty thousand. Plus, since the video of my battle against Brock wasn't on grainy security footage, a lot more people were learning to recognize me on sight. It hadn't quite got annoying yet, but I wanted to start setting precedents as I had at the Pokemon Center.

"Alright," I growled. I glanced at my Pokenav+. "I have time to battle one of you. Decide among yourselves within the next minute, or I leave and don't battle anybody. Then, win or lose, you all have to leave me alone until this afternoon. Today's my day off."

The four of them looked mollified and turned to huddle with each other. After literally pulling straws, they thrust forward a member of their group that I actually took the time to look over. They were obviously a rookie, just like me, but they were on the younger side. The had a young and masculine form, wearing a blue t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts.

"Derek Tracy!" they yelled. "I'm Calvin, and I challenge you to a Pokemon battle! One v one!"

I wanted to crack a joke at how loud they were being, but honestly? I was already feeling the warm excitement of a battle building in my chest. It was my favorite feeling, depending on if Daisy was within fifty feet of me.

"Alright, Calvin. Let's take this to the park, and I'll take you on."

---

I called Wisp out of my shadow, and all four of the trainers 'ooed' and 'ahhed' over my Pokemon as she entered our makeshift battlefield. I wanted to genuinely give Artis the day off, considering he'd taken on two Pokemon of comparable strength yesterday.

Calvin released a small bird Pokemon that I'd actually considered catching, one with a tiny body and a big attitude.

"Spearow!" it squawked.

"Come on, Goldenwing! It's you and me!" Calvin called.

Their friends were not kind to Calvin.

"What a stupid name!"

"You only brought a Spearow?

"Crush him, Tracy!"

Calvin noticeably deflated, and even his Spearow looked a little embarrassed.

I held up my hand, turning to the three of them. "Hey, peanut gallery! We weren't asking for commentary. Keep your opinions to yourself."

They shut up quickly. I nodded, satisfied with my work, and turned back to the battle. "I don't feel like taking my Pokemon all the way back to the Center today, so do you want to go until surrender? That way nobody has to faint today?"

Calvin nodded, eyes shining that I was taking him seriously. "Yeah, that works for me! I'll beat you even quicker that way!"

I chuckled to myself. I had to give this guy points for confidence. Plus, if I remembered correctly, Spearow had a normal typing, so Wisp's ghost type moves weren't going to work on it.

One of the other trainers took their spot as the referee and called a start to the match.

Calvin shot out the gate. "Goldenwing! Get in there and Peck!"

"Get close," I called quietly. Given that the most that Calvin's Goldenwing could hit us with was a flying type move, I wasn't too worried. "Then hit hard."

Wisp vanished into the shadows of the trees around us, disappearing from sight. Goldenwing charged at where she'd been, but stayed vigilant in all directions. I raised an eyebrow, mentally reminding myself that they'd seen this tactic play out at least once against Yuji. I needed new tricks.

Wisp reappeared a bit farther away from Goldenwing than I'd wanted, unable to sneak up on the bird. Her eyes glowed blue with psychic energy, and she enshrouded the Spearow with a Confusion. It squawked in alarm, but Calvin grinned.

"Assurance!" he shouted.

My eyes widened. Oh, shit.

Very few things actually hurt ghosts in a major way. In fact, there were two. The first was energy from other ghosts, which made some amount of sense. You needed the incorporeal to damage the incorporeal.

The other was dark type energy. Something about the void made ghost energy go haywire, and in completely cancelled out psychic energy.

Wisp's Confusion vanished as Goldenwing's wings radiated black energy. The psychic energy just disappeared, leaving no trace.

Our number of usable move types against this bird just went to zero.

Goldenwing surged forward, but Wisp was just a bit faster. She narrowly managed to dodge the black-cloaked wing. The Spearow rushed again, though, unwilling to give up after just one try. It was only a matter of time before Wisp got hit.

"Get out of there! Shadow Sneak away!" I called. My mind raced as I tried to come up with a strategy.

Wisp vanished again, though I could follow her path by watching the shadows on the ground. Calin didn't seem to be clued into that trick yet, so he nervously glanced around the battlefield, trying to find my Pokemon. His anticipation didn't stop a satisfied grin from popping up on his face.

"Ha, we got you Tracy!" he jeered. "Your ghost is on the run now!"

I forced a smirk. "Nah, you got a gimmick. We're not out of tricks yet."

I'd said that, but I honestly wasn't sure where to go from here. Confusion could get an initial burst of damage on Goldenwing, but once he activated Assurance, it was going to get dispelled. Hex and Shadow Sneak were out of the question, same with Confuse Ray and Hypnosis. I needed another option.

Options.

Brock had used his moves yesterday in ways that I hadn't expected, he'd given himself options. What would Brock do?

I glanced at the battlefield, trying to find anything I could, and my eyes settled on the park grounds. A brilliant little bit of word association sparked an idea in my brain.

"Wisp!" I called. "You don't have to hit him! Use the battlefield! Confusion on that rock!"

Calvin's smirk vanished like psychic energy at my orders. Wisp reappeared on my side of the battlefield, carefully keeping her distance now. Her eyes once again burst into blue light, but this time it was a boulder on the other side of the field that glowed in response.

The dirt around it cracked and ground, grass tearing and roots snapping from around it. The boulder lifted into the air, easily dwarfing the tiny bird Pokemon in front of it. Goldenwing stared at it in shock, beak half open as it looked up.

Calvin was just as shocked as his Pokemon, but managed to get himself together enough to call for an order. "Get out of there!"

Goldewing hopped to move, rushing away from Wisp's new toy. It flapped it's wings, taking off into the sky. Wisp drifted upward, the range on her Confusion only lifting the boulder so far. It turned into a game of cat and mouse, completely flipping the power dynamic of the fight. Wisp was just a bit faster than the Spearow, and it made all the difference.

The boulder slammed into the underside fo Goldenwing, causing one of his wings to go limp and the bird to spiral towards the ground. Wisp released her hold on the rock, and Goldenwing's falling form immediately lit up with blue energy.

Calvin was about to call for another attack, but hesitated when he saw that Goldenwing wasn't in pain. Wisp had heard the terms of the battle, after all, and wasn't trying to faint him. Instead, she gently placed the Spearow on the ground, letting it cradle it's hurt wing.

"Spearrr-oww!" Goldenwing cried, tiny tears forming in its eyes as it held up its wing for Calvin.

"Oh, I'm sorry buddy, that looks like it hurts." Calvin kneeled down to pick up his Pokemon and nodded up to me. "I forfeit."

I nodded, giving him an apologetic look. I looked over at Wisp. She was now amusing herself by picking up the boulder again and rolling it in the air, flexing her psychic powers. It was like it had never occurred to her to really try and fight with objects rather than just using her attacks on other Pokemon. To be fair, it hadn't occurred to me, either.

She picked up a smaller second and third rock off the ground, moving them all in sync. She almost looked like she was... juggling?

"Showoff," I quietly said to her, cracking a grin. "You know, you can't keep them."

Wisp looked at me with big eyes. "Mis drea?"

"No, we can always get new rocks. Leave it."

"Dreeaa," she complained, sitting the rock back in the hole in the ground where she'd unearthed it from.

I glanced over to where Cavlin was talking to the other three challengers, and they were giving him a hard time. Not in a mean way, but like friends joshing each other to cheer each other up. I started grabbing up my picnic basket, but stopped when I heard one of the other trainers say something to Calvin.

"Don't worry," they said. "That guy's just crazy strong for somebody from Hoenn. You'll get him next time."

For somebody from Hoenn.

I frowned at the casual insult. I'd only seen it a few times, but people from Kanto really did think that people from other regions had a lower bar to pass than themselves. When I'd glanced through my comment section this morning, I'd seen more than a few much more pointed examples of Kantonian xenophobia, but it bothered me how much it was not-so-subtley engrained in their mindsets.

Mick had been active again on social media this morning, complaining at my challenge elevation and making an entire video breakdown of the mistakes I'd made in my battle. And honestly? He'd been pretty spot-on with most of it. What I did notice, though, was that his comment sections had been angrier at my planting of the Hoenn flag than anything I'd actually done in my battle. Though he hadn't said anything about it, his fan base was more than happy to carry the 'anti-foreign-born banner'.

I didn't want to think about it anymore, so I glanced around the park. Around us, we'd garnered the attention of a few other people in the park, though most of them were dispersing now that the battle was over. What did catch my attention, though, was a pretty lady wearing a white sun dress with both her hands clasped behind her back.

I sauntered up to Daisy. She glanced at the basket and smiled.

"Excuse me, miss," I said, pretending like I didn't know her. "I'm actually supposed to be on a date soon, but I couldn't help but how notice how stunning you were. I'm actually going to need to ask you to leave before my girlfriend gets here. This park isn't big enough for two beautiful women, after all."

Daisy's summer green eyes glimmered with amusement. "Oh, really? And why would I let this girl come and take you when I could have you all to myself?"

I put my wrist to my forehead, fake swooning. "Alas, we could never be together. My Daisy is as intelligent as she is beautiful, and she would hunt us to the ends of the earth if she found that I had absconded with you."

She couldn't stop the laugh that burst from her lips, breaking character. "Really? Abscond?"

I shrugged, walking up to her with a grin. I took both of her hands into mine. "What? I thought I'd get extra points for using big words."

Daisy leaned in, getting close. "Oh, trust me, you did."

I felt like a million Poké when she gave me a peck on the nose. "So, I have a blanket and canopy all ready for today, and I picked up lunch stuff. I just need to set up whenever you pick a spot."

"You're really spoiling me today," Daisy smiled. She glanced over my shoulder at Calvin and the other trainers. "Aren't you going to go get your prize money?"

I shrugged, slipping one hand into hers and letting her lead the way. "Meh, I don't need it right now. We also didn't fight a full battle anyway, so I figure it's fine."

Daisy gave me a curious look. I flushed, but after a moment she dropped it and pulled me along.

"Extra points for big words, preparing everything for our date, and being humble?" Daisy mused under her breath, just loud enough so only I could hear. "Somebody's really going for an +A today."

I grinned. "Don't worry, we have the whole day to ourselves. I'm sure I'll mess it up somewhere."

---

Daisy and I settled for a spot in the park that was surrounded by wildflowers. Nearby, there was a gardener caring for the fields, and he'd made us promise to be careful on his precious poppies. We'd agreed and laid out my picnic blanket, setting up the canopy to block out the worst of the sun and putting the picnic basket off to the side.

I laid out on the blanket and Daisy lay with the back of her head on my side, looking out into the park and enjoying nature. It was peaceful and calm, a real break from the pace of the last few... well actually I hadn't really rested since our break day in Viridian, almost a month ago.

It was crazy that so much had happened in the time that I'd been in Kanto. I'd gotten my first Pokemon, caught another, met new friends and even a girlfriend, gotten attacked by terrorists and wild Pokemon, and even gained my first Gym badge. It had all been a lot, but I was slowly getting comfortable. There was still a lingering pressure in the back of my mind, a fear that would only go away with work, but I knew that I'd have time for it soon. Once I got to Cerulean, I'd start my therapy sessions and start working on getting rid of that knot in my chest.

Life was good.

The cool breeze felt amazing on my skin, and the light of the sun was just enough to keep us warm, but not hot. The wild flowers smelt great and weren't too pungent. Daisy lazily pressed into my side, comfortable enjoying the close contact. In the distance, someone else was having a barbeque, playing great classic rock like Bon Jolteon and Aerodactylsmith.

My Pokenav+ buzzed as I started to doze off.

I sighed, but I reached over to look it over. The list of people who had my number was still small enough that any message could be important. I did smile, though, when I saw who it was from.

"Oh, I got a message from Peabody," I murmured.

Daisy rolled over, raising an eyebrow at me. "Peabody? You're email buddies with a talking Smeargle cartoon?"

"No," I laughed. "But that is where the name comes from. She's a friend from when I was a kid. I couldn't say her name right, so I called her Peabody because it was the closest I could get. She's a bonified expert on ghost types, and I figure she probably just saw my message that I'd captured Wisp."

Daisy continued to look confused, trying to analyze what I'd said. "Just now? But you caught her over a week ago."

I shrugged. "Peabody... let's just say she's kind of important. She was probably too busy to check her email."

She kept smiling but narrowed her eyes like she was pulling secrets out of my brain. I kept her gaze, running my fingers through her hair.

"You're being very secretive about this friend," Daisy said suspiciously. "Is this someone that I need to be worried about?"

"Eww, not at all," I gagged. "She was like a sister to me, so that'd be gross. Nah, she's just somebody who I didn't really keep up with for a while, so I don't feel really comfortable talking about her yet."

Daisy stopped staring and nodded her head, resting it back on my stomach. "Okay."

"Okay?"

Daisy smiled, not bothering to look up at me. "Derek, I think that at this point you've earned some trust. If you say I don't need to worry, then I don't need to worry."

I reached down next to Daisy and grabbed a healthy bit of my side between two fingers and pinched.

"Okay, what are you doing?" she laughed, giving me an exasperated sigh.

"I'm trying to wake myself up. There's no way that a relationship this amazing just fell into my lap. It has to be a dream."

Daisy stopped laughing, instead giving me an incredulous look. After a moment, she groaned putting her forehead back on my stomach.

"It's like you're trying to out-cheese yourself," she said through muffled groans.

I brushed some of her hair away from her face, and she looked up at me with her summer-green eyes. I leaned down like I was going to give her a kiss, but stopped a few centimeters away.

"I hope you took your lactose medicine, 'cause I will happily cheese it up," I whispered, letting my smirk take over my face.

Daisy looked like she genuinely took psychic damage from that joke, but she smiled anyway. Instead of complaining more, she leaned in the rest of the distance, giving me a small kiss.

"You're a dork," she whispered back.

"I know."

Daisy crawled the rest of the way, putting her ear to my chest and listening to my heartbeat. We laid there for a while longer, just enjoying each other.

I felt a small pit open in my stomach when I thought about how much I liked this, though. It wasn't going to last forever.

"How is this going to work?" I mumbled.

Daisy rolled over off of me, looking away. She obviously knew what I meant.

"I know we've had a great time this week," I slowly continued. "but with you working and me on the road?"

"I'll see you in Cerulean?" she suggested, fiddling with her nails. "I could always take some time to visit once you've made it there."

I shook my head. "I don't want you to take time off of research for me. Weren't you going to do another research trip soon?"

"Yeah, but..."

I sat up, pushing myself to a sitting position. Daisy looked up at me, still not meeting my eyes, and did the same.

"Daisy, I really like you," I said. "And I think you really like me, but from everything you've said you're so close to getting your specialization. I shouldn't be a reason to delay it."

"Yes, I am. I'm one research proof away," she sighed, conceding the point. Daisy finally met my eyes, taking my hands into hers.

"So, wouldn't it make sense to finish that-"

Daisy gave me a warning look, though a small smile graced her lips. "Derek, I'm the researcher here. Use logic on me and you risk bodily injury."

I held up both my hands in defeat and then mimed zipping my mouth shut. I hesitated halfway through, though, and mimed unzipping it.

"So do you mean that in like a hot way, or-"

"Derek!" Daisy slapped my arm, chuckling at my joke.

We shared a laugh, letting our tension on the subject start to release. I could tell that Daisy had been worrying about it too.

"I guess you're right," she said. "We'll have to wait to organize my next visit until after I get back from Johto."

"Johto? You're headed to the Sprout Tower?" I said, remembering our first-ever conversation.

Daisy shook her head. Not yet. I'm piggybacking off of another research team headed over Mt. Silver. I'll be tracking migration data over the course of at least a month. The expedition is set to head out next week."

I know I was the one to suggest this, but when she said that my heart plummeted.

Could I go a whole month with Daisy off the grid?

I shook my head. I have to. She's out there earning her future while I was working on mine. Just because we liked each other, it didn't mean we should put our lives on hold for each other.

"Derek? Are you okay?"

I took her hand into my own, bringing it up to my lips and kissing her knuckles. I nodded.

"Yeah, Daisy. I'm just going to miss you."

She let out a shaky sigh, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"I know."

She gave me a hug. Just a hug. Nothing truly romantic about it, but a real intimate and comforting hug.

"You know," Daisy said one we let go of each other. "If my math on your travel is correct, I should be back in time for your third gym challenge."

"Fourth," I sighed. "I technically have to count the loss to Giovanni. But yeah, you should be back around the time I hit Saffron."

Daisy nodded. "Maybe you'll meet up with my brother around there. From last I heard, he's spending a few extra weeks in Cerulean to stay with a family friend."

I gaped at her. "I'm sorry- You have a brother?"

She frowned. "Yes? Is something wrong?"

"No," I shook my head. "I just- I guess I hadn't actually asked. What's he like? Is he a rookie too?"

Daisy gave me a long look, like she was recounting information I should have already known. "Derek," she said in a 'teacher' voice. "Have you not checked this year's rookie standings?"

I sighed. "Daisy. Are you about to tell me he's an unreasonably highly ranked trainer and I'm going to have to defeat your brother to take my place at the top of Indigo this year?"

"No, I won't tell you that," she said in a rare bout of sarcasm. "But you might want to search for this year's rankings. You'll find Blue somewhere on that list."

"Blue? "I asked incredulously, picking up my Pokenav+. "Did your parents just pick the first color they saw when they were naming him?"

"Don't be unreasonable. It's a long story, but it's a nickname. He'll be listed under Gary Oak."

I scrolled through my Pokenav, stopping when I got to the first page of the trainer rankings website. I tossed my phone in the grass, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"No more battle talk," I declared. "No more siblings, I quit. I'm going to lay here and enjoy laying with my girlfriend until the Sky Dragon blots out the sun."

When Daisy gave me a weird look, I explained. "Sorry, old Hoenn expression."

Her expression turned flat. "You're a dork," she repeated.

"So you've said," I agreed.

She snuggled into my side. In the distance, the music from the barbeque echoed the sounds of Led Zubat across the park.

We'd gotten through our first difficult conversation, and at least we had some semblance of a plan. We spent the rest of the day lounging, chatting with each other, and generally enjoying the little time we had left together.

At one point in the day, though, I did glance back down at the rookie rankings for this your's Indigo Circuit.

Specifically, the number one ranked spot, currently holding two badges.

Gary Oak.

---

It wasn't until much later that I packed up and headed back to the Pokemon Center. Daisy chose to head back to her hotel rather than join me. We agreed that we say goodbye tomorrow before I left town, and we parted ways.

On my way there, I got a text from Hana.

[[18:36, Hana]] Hey, Derek. Once you're back, meet me and the others at the training fields in the back of the Center. I have something to show you all.

I texted her that I was, in fact, already on my way back and that I would be heading right there.

I had an inkling about what this could be. Before we'd entered the Viridian Forest, both Yuji and Hana had said that they were looking to get their second team members there. Obviously, only Yuji had found his. Since we were still near the forest and now Hana had a bit of extra money to burn, I assumed she'd put out a listing for her next teammate.

I was glad the rest of my friends were filling out their teams. Honestly, it had been weighing on me how easily my team was coming together. Between Artis and Wisp, I hadn't actually had to seek out a Pokemon yet. And even in the future, I was reliably going to receive a Pokemon from both Professor Oak and my father within the next few months, plus the one I was planning on catching in Mt. Moon. That was five of my six battlers right there.

Now, I could always catch beyond my main six and send them to Oak's Lab, and I fully intended to give myself as many options as possible, but I really wanted to pair down on six Pokemon for now. Given that it was my first circuit, I really didn't have time to fully train more than that before the Indigo Conference in a little less than a year.

Speaking of Professor Oak, I'd gotten my choices for his Pokemon down to just a few options this morning. I hadn't decided anything definitive yet, but I was learning toward a dragon type.

Dragons were just the strongest Pokemon out there, and they were some of the rarest to run into in the wilds. People generally tended to avoid them because of how notoriously hard they were to train, right up there with ghost and fairy types, but I was already training a ghost. Wisp had been downright easy to train thus far, so I figured that I could probably handle a fairy or dragon type.

I just hoped they would be as easy to bribe as Wisp was.

I walked around the side of the Pokemon Center, walking through the entranceway to the training fields. It was just as busy as ever. Unfortunately, given my rising popularity, I was facing a similar situation to what I had with Calvin earlier.

"Yo, Tracy! Wanna battle?"

"Hey, lemme fight you so I can get a challenge elevation too!"

"You and me, right now!"

A few trainers started calling out challenges to me, and within minutes the lines on either side of the battlefield had turned to me. If I didn't address it quickly, I was going to have a line.

I waved them off. "Sorry, guys, I already battled today. Try and catch me on the routes."

I technically didn't lie, because Wisp and Artis could definitely still battle, and that answer seemed to mollify most of them. I ignored the ones that it didn't, instead choosing to look for my friends. I spotted Yuji's head above the crowd and made my way to behind the bleachers where my friends had gathered. Yuji and Amy were standing opposite Hana, who was clutching a Pokeball in her hands. Notably, it was not Paige's Pokeball, which was still clipped to her waist.

Called it.

I walked up to them. "Sup, guys!"

"Hey, Derek!"

"Hello, friend."

"Sup, loverboy."

I gave Amy a flat stare, but I didn't correct them. I had just come off of an eight-hour date, after all.

I turned to Hana. "So! Is that your new Pokemon?"

Hana gave me a deflated look, like I'd just ruined a surprise, but she couldn't contain her excitement. Hana grinned from ear to ear.

"Yes!" She said excitedly. "I had wanted to catch on in the Viridian Forest, but I think my expectations were just a bit too high because of how rare they are. I've wanted one of these since I was a kid, but I knew that I was never going to get into Professor Oak's sponsorship program since I lived on the Sevii Islands. Honestly, it's a miracle that I could find anyone selling one."

Her words narrowed down the list of possible Pokemon from dozens of different choices down to one. Professor Oak only gave out three different Pokemon to his trainers, and Hana was a grass type specialist through and through.

Hana was shaking with excitement. "All right, everyone. Help me welcome the newest member of my team, Rafflesia!"

She released her Pokemon, clicking the button. A flash of red light solidified into a small green Pokemon, short and squat like a frog or a lizard, with a massive green plant bulb on its back. It looked at each of us with curious red eyes, giving Hana a wide smile. She'd obviously already introduced herself to her Pokemon before showing them to us.

"Bulba!" the Rafflesia the Bulbasaur croaked.

"Gah!" Hana squealed in excitement. "Isn't she so cute!"

I grinned, Hana's good mood being infectious. "Yeah, Hana, she's adorable."

Yuji nodded. "Quite cute," he said quietly.

Amy tilted their head to the side. "I don't know. I think she's kinda funky looking."

Hana and Rafflesia both crumpled in place like deflated balloons. "No, don't listen to them!" Hana cried, holding her sad Pokemon. "You're so cute, don't worry about the creepy psychic person."

Amy knew what they were doing, and quickly followed it up by making another comment about Rafflesia's appearance. Pretty quickly, Hana and Amy were going back and forth.

Yuji and I shared a glance, chuckling to ourselves at our friend's hijinks.

---

Later that night, after we'd all settled down into our room for the last time, I remembered that I'd received a message from Peabody. I chuckled as I opened her message, thinking back on her nickname. I genuinely hadn't thought about it in years, so when it popped out of my mouth earlier I'd surprised myself.

Once my eyes adjusted to her... ...aggressive use of capitalization, I gave the message a read.

Hey Derek,

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CAUGHT HER, SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL!

I'm sorry that it's taken a week to get back to you, but there was this WHOLE thing on Mt. Pyre and none of the teleporters were around, so I had to fly all the way there from Ever Grande. It sucked. But OML, DEREK! Between the Team Rocket stuff (please don't hesitate to ask if you need to talk about that btw), your Misdreavous' debut battle, and your gym trainer battle, you have such a great handle on her early training! Obviously, there's always stuff you can do better, but I guess my ranting when we were kids paid off!

Now, I've attached a list of stuff that I do with my own ghosts (though they all act a little differently) because I wanted to keep this actual message short and sweet, but I actually have something I wanted to offer you.

Since, as you probably figure, I'm pretty well connected in the spiritual and supernatural communities, I figured I'd reach out to some people by you to see if they could help with training up Wisp. (Adorbs name btw, it suits her so much) Luckily my grandma got me in touch with one of her buddies (who happens to be one of the E4) over there and she has ties to the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town, which is basically just like our Mt. Pyre. I put in a really good word for you if you decide you want to take some time to train Wisp over there and get in touch with the ghostly side of Pokemon training.

The training should help you take Wisp to the next level, but remember, it's gonna be TOUGH. Training ghosts isn't that hard when they're small, but I wouldn't be surprised if she gets a little more aggressive when she gets strong. Also, there are some side-effects to getting too in touch with ghosts, but I'm sure they'll tell you all about it when you get there.

On kind of a serious note, I just wanted to really check in with you. Are you okay? I know we haven't talked a lot recently, but I do care about you. If you need anything, literally anything at all, I'm here to talk. Other than some big stuff, I shouldn't be, like, at all busy until the EG conference starts. Even if its as simple as girl problems (I saw that you were dating Daisy Oak? HOW? But also, NICE!), I really do want to hear from you.

Anyway, I hope you're feeling okay and I miss you, friend,

P.

I smiled as I finished reading her message. Peabody was really looking out for me, and I couldn't help but feel a wave of gratitude. I did, however, feel a pang of guilt go through my heart for a few reasons.

The first was obvious. It had been my fault that we'd stopped talking in the first place, my fault that the friendship had petered out. She definitely still saw me as a close friend, though I don't know if that said more about her or me, but it did make me feel a little guiltier. I needed to make sure to always respond to her messages, and always try and check-in. Peabody deserved it.

The second reason was something that had been eating at me since Oak had given the offer of a Pokemon. I'd come to Kanto to avoid having people help me out. I know that I'd made a promise to myself and Artis that I'd start accepting help from people more, but between Dad sending me another Pokemon, Oak 'rewarding' me with another one, and Peabody pulling strings to help me train, it was too much.

I really didn't deserve any of it.

I was just a guy who was trying to do his best in his Pokemon journey. I wasn't the smartest, strongest, or most innately talented trainer that I knew. Legends, I wasn't even any of those things in my group. It didn't help that I knew that my friends weren't being given those opportunities. Hana had been saving up for who-knows-how-long to buy a Bulbasaur, and I'd seen Yuji's eyes this morning when I'd opened up about Oak's offer. Even my wonderful, humble friend had been upset about how easily I was being handed things.

I hadn't done anything to earn all of the goodwill and help I was receiving.

No, I was just benefiting from pure luck.

I was lucky to be born the son of an Ace Trainer. I was lucky that a girl liked me, and her grandfather just happened to be Professor Oak. I was lucky to have an extremely important and influential ghost trainer as my friend. I was lucky that I'd been followed by a ghost. I was lucky that I hadn't died to Rockets half a dozen times over. I could go on and on and on with how lucky I'd been.

One day they'd see that I didn't deserve it. Hopefully, I'd earn everything they'd given me before that happened.

I sent Peabody back a 'thank you' text and rolled over.

I didn't sleep much that night.

---

The next morning we all gathered outside of town before dawn.

We wanted to get out onto Route 03 early, enough to maybe get a third of the way there in a day. It normally took four days to get to the Pokemon Center at the base of Mt. Moon, but if you did big days you could do it in three. We'd all agreed that we wanted to get to Cerulean as soon as possible, as we'd spent a long time in Pewter. I was also the only one that wanted to catch a Pokemon in Mt. Moon, so that would help our time considerably.

Daisy and Terry both came to see us off. Daisy and I had really said our goodbyes yesterday, but she had grown close to my little friend group and wanted to say goodbye. Terry's group would be leaving a day or two after ours, but apparently, he had a few more things he wanted to get done in Pewter.

I gave Terry a handshake, but he pulled me into a massive half-hug with one arm. "You're not getting off that easy, brother," he chuckled as I struggled to breathe. "It's been nice to have more family around, yeah? I'll be seeing you in Cerulean soon."

I pulled out of his hug, greedily taking in a lungful of air before grinning. "Yeah, man, I'll see you there! You and me, we gotta battle one of these days."

Terry nodded. "I'll look forward to it, brother. Now, be on your way. The day waits for no man."

I chuckled, giving him one last nod before turning to Daisy. She'd just said goodbye to the rest of my friends, and it was affecting them more than I'd thought. Amy looked legitimately glum, though I did spot a going-away present from Daisy in the form of a snack bag in their hand, and Hana was genuinely tearing up.

Daisy pulled her into a hug. "You'll have to send me your notes on Mt. Moon when you reach the other side," she said. "I'm excited to see what you think of it."

Hana nodded into her shoulder, doing her best to not smear her mascara. "Yeah, I can do that."

I'd known that Hana and Daisy had immediately clicked, but I hadn't realized quite how close they'd gotten. I made a mental note to update Hana whenever Daisy and I planned her next visit.

Daisy patted Hana on the back and they released their hug. She turned to me, giving me a small smile. I smiled back. Daisy gave me a small peck on the nose but didn't say anything as she took me by the hand and led me to the rest of my group. We'd had all of yesterday for that.

What I wasn't expecting, though, was what Daisy said next.

"All right, before you all leave, I want to get a photo of you together!" she said, smiling as she held up her Pokegear.

Yuji shot me a look. He was not a picture guy, but I shrugged and gave him an apologetic look. There was no way I was going to veto a group photo. Instead, I gestured with my head toward Amy and made a picking-up motion to him. He grinned.

With no words exchanged, Yuji and I both grabbed Amy under the arms, hefting them over our shoulders so that they were held above our heads.

"Hey!" Amy protested. "Just because I'm small doesn't mean you can just pick me up! This is discrimination!"

"Save it for your blog, tiny," I chuckled.

Hana and Daisy giggled at our antics, though Terry tossed me a half-amused half-worried look. Behind me, just loud enough that only I could hear it, Wisp giggled from my shadow.

Yuji and I maneuvered to each kneel on one knee as Hana stood behind us, head-height even with Amy, all of us with our backs to Route 03. With the sun just coming up, the lighting was perfect. Daisy snapped a quick photo of the four of us, giving us a thumbs-up when she was done.

"I'll send this to Derek, and he'll make sure to get it to each of you," Daisy promised, giving me a look that I would be doing so.

"Yeah, I got it," I agreed.

I gave Daisy one last kiss, and we lingered for just a moment. This was really it. I didn't know when I was going to see her again, and by the time I got to Cerulean, she'd already be off the grid.

I looked into her summer green eyes, and I could see that she was just as sad as I was.

"Derek, come on," Amy complained. "We don't have all day!"

Daisy giggled, not taking her eyes off me.

I sighed, pecking her on the forehead. "I'll be back," I promised.

"I know," she said simply.

I turned back to my group, hiking my bag over my shoulder. We headed out onto Route 03, leaving Daisy and Terry.

Back into the wilds, we went.

Notes:

And with that small transitory chapter out of the way, we have officially completed our time in Pewter City! With this chapter, we were 3k words away from having spent 100k words there. That's absolutely insane to me. I genuinely think that Pewter City has been the most important part of my journey of writing this fiction.

Small note on that, actually. I think that I have really improved, if not as a writer, then as the person driving the core of this story over the last several months. As a few different reviews have pointed out, and I myself personally believe, the pacing on everything pre-Chapter 10 is pretty garbage, and it's only the sinkhole that is a re-write that's keeping me from fixing it. I now have a clear idea of my characters and where I want this story to go, and I think that if you're looking for a story that reflects what I've been giving you, I hope you'll stick around.

Anyway, all this to say that I've been introspecting a lot as a writer, and I hope you'll all join me for wherever this story takes us. Thank you guys for getting me through my first major arc!

Chapter 22: Other People's Battles

I'd forgotten just how invigorating walking on the routes was.

It was probably because the far majority of our travel time had been spent in a deadly and inhospitable forest that it had been pushed from my mind. Call me boring, though, because the moment that you took the threat of death out of the equation, the routes became downright pleasant.

Route 03 was the point where the forests around Pewter fully transformed into the Silver Mountain range, the same range to which both Mt. Silver and Mt. Moon belonged. The trail followed a natural valley that had been carved by glaciers thousands of years ago, leaving sheer rock walls on either side of the route. It made it particularly safe for new trainers, as there was almost no way for extremely strong Pokemon to enter the route without falling down hundreds of feet of cliffs.

Almost.

It did happen every once in a while, apparently.

The air was cold, and the trail itself was shaded from both the trees and the high mountain walls around us. The valley only realy got sunlight around midday, so it never truly warmed up. Tall evergreens like pines and firs lined the valley, often in thick bunches and groves. The trail wound through tall grasses and up and down a series of ridges, giving us a run for our money with both the increased elevation and incline.

The natural beauty helped, I think. I was still feeling the pang of leaving Daisy at the edge of Pewter. I know that our relationship is very new, but it already felt like I was leaving someone I'd known all my life. I'd been able to see her every day for close to two weeks, and now I wouldn't see her again for almost a month.

It sucked.

I had developed a healthy coping mechanism, though. Every time I let my mind wander to Daisy, I'd find a new joke to tell Amy.

Misery loved company, after all.

"Hey, Ames?"

They sighed. "If this is another stupid pun-"

"What Pokemon could be a pirate?"

Hana giggled from the front of the trail. She obviously knew the answer to this one. Our current hiking order had Hana in front with Paige on her backpack, followed by Yuji, then Amy, and me bringing up the rear. Since I had Wisp in my shadow, Hana thought I'd serve as the best rear guard if Pokemon snuck up on us.

"I'm not answering," Amy said defiantly, huffing as we started climbing another ridge. "I'm not doing it. You killed my sense of humor with the one about the Abra."

I ignored them. "It's an Arrrrr-bok," I rolled my 'r' like a pirate, closing one eye and making a hook with my finger.

Amy gagged, faking throwing up. I did, however, get two laughs from the front of the party. Two out of three was a decent crowd.

"Okay, one more," I chuckled. "A Hypno, An Arcanine, and a Slowpoke walk into a bar-"

"Derek, be quiet for a moment," Hana called.

"This one's not that bad-"

"No, I mean that I think Paige hears something."

I stopped, taking my eyes off the trail where I'd been watching my step to see that Hana and Yuji had both stopped ahead of me. Amy took another few steps to catch up to Yuji's long gait before crouching to the side of the trail. I did the same, and all of us watched the woods ahead of intently.

After a few moments, I heard footsteps, followed by talking. I let out a sigh of relief as the other three relaxed. We were just coming up on other travelers, which was totally normal for this route as the only one connecting east and west Kanto. Looking at how we'd reacted, I guess the Viridian Forest had affected all of us more than we'd thought.

I, for one, didn't want to be kidnapped by Pokemon again.

Our unexpected passers-by made themselves known as they crested the ridge. Three trainers, all dressed in hiking clothes, made their way through the path. They were chatting about something but stopped when they saw the rest of us.

"Hey, over there!" one near the back of their group called, giving us a friendly wave.

We waved back. Instead of climbing down the ridge, the other group waited up top for us to finish climbing up. It was a pretty normal thing to do, all things considered, especially because the meeting of groups of trainers often led to at least one battle.

Yuji tossed a look back at me as we climbed, giving me a small smirk. He was thinking the same thing.

When we got to the top, the one who'd waved stood in front to greet us. They were short, almost Amy-level short, with wavy auburn hair and russet skin. There were three Pokeballs clipped to their waist.

Instead of saying 'hello', the trainer let out a low whistle.

"Holy shit," they said to their friends. "Guys, it's that challenge elevation group. They had some crazy battles at the Pewter Gym."

I smiled politely but let one of the others take over the talking. I was excited to battle, but leaving Daisy earlier was still weighing on my energy levels.

"Thanks," Hana said simply. "We trained hard for it."

"Oh, I'm sure," the trainer nodded to her before turning sharply to Hana's left. "You're Yuji Amano, right?" They stuck their hand out to Yuji.

I glanced over at Yuji and saw Hana and Amy do the same. As much as I was an advocate of Yuji's fame, it was a little weird to single somebody out like that, especially when they'd just admitted to having seen all of our battles.

Yuji looked similarly unnerved. He stepped forward and hesitantly shook Baird's hand. "That is my name, yes. I apologize, but I find myself at a loss for your name?"

The trainer chuckled. "Sorry about that, I'm an excitable kind of guy. Anyway, I'm Baird, she's Myriel and he's Darien. I'm just a big fan that Heracross of yours. He absolutely smoked Brock's Aerodactyl."

Upon being introduced, I gave Baird's two companions a glance over. Darien was as big as a Slaking, with shoulders and muscles to match. He wore a tight blue athletic-wear shirt that left nothing to the imagination. His skin was so pale that he looked like he was actually made of marble, from which he embodied the term 'chiseled'. He only had a single Pokeball on his right hip.

Myriel was about average height, slight and slender with a tawny complexion and black-to-purple umbra hair. She wore a zipped vest that displayed three Pokeballs.

They seem relaxed enough, both holding the posture of people who had spent the morning climbing and were happy for a break. Neither had reached toward any pockets nor were any Pokeballs in anyone's hands. Wisp was still in my shadow, which would give us time if-

I stopped, realizing what I'd been doing.

Legends, we can't get to Cerulean quickly enough.

I knew the Rockets and the Beedrill had really screwed me up, but I hadn't felt unsafe the whole time I was in Pewter, other than my one panic attack. Now, the first day I was on the routes again, I was mentally breaking down what other trainers were doing, trying to... ..what? Threat-assess them? That was stupid on so many levels. I didn't have any training for that, anything other than what I'd seen people do on T.V. shows.

I shook my head, being pulled back into the conversation at a crucial point.

"-and then I traded that dumb Spearow in for a Meowth, then a Nidoran, and then finally I ended up with my Tyrogue. I'm always looking for an upgrade, so you should definitely trade me that Heracross! I can make it worth your while!"

What the fuck did he just say?

My eyes snapped to Baird, who was looking at Yuji expectantly. He was standing with both hands presented to either side in a 'ta-da' motion like he'd just given Yuji the best idea ever.

I stepped forward without thinking about it to tell the guy off, but I encountered resistance. Amy had stepped back into me, gripping my wrist with their hand. They squeezed, hard. I looked down at them, and they were seething. Amy's entire face had gone red, and they were staring daggers at Baird-

They weren't looking at Baird, they were looking at Yuji.

Yuji was standing completely still, completely stoic. His face didn't betray a single emotion, but I didn't need him to express a single thing.

Amy was feeling Yuji's rage.

Hana stepped next to Yuji. "That's kind of a rude request for having just met someone," she reprimanded Baird. "He shouldn't even honor that with a response."

"Whoa, what's the issue?" Baird asked. "I was just tossing an offer out to him. He can always say no. If anything I definitely want to battle him."

Hana made to respond, but Yuji spoke up. His face was still impassive. Amy did, however, squeeze my wrist just a bit tighter.

"I will battle you," he spoke very softly. "But I will not be trading you my Pokemon.

"Hell yeah!" Baird smiled, seemingly uncaring that Yuji had turned him down. "There's a clearing not too far back down the trail that we passed earlier! I'd love to get in a one-on-one."

Yuji nodded and started walking up the trail, following where Myriel and Darien were already heading.

I moved to catch up to Yuji, but it was Hana who stopped me this time. She gave me a warning look and shook her head.

"What?" I whispered to her. "I just wanted to-"

"No," Hana shook her head again. "He needs to deal with this on his own. I know he probably hasn't mentioned it to you yet, but that guy just said some really triggering stuff to Yuji. He's going to be better after he takes care of this."

I let out a sigh of impatience, but I relented. Hana nodded, rubbing my shoulder absentmindedly before continuing on.

Two of my friends had stopped me now. It was frustrating, but they'd known Yuji for longer than I had. I needed to let it be.

Even if I really didn't want to.

We made our way slightly down the ridge to the clearing that Baird had told us about. Yuji stepped to one side of the clearing and Baird to the other. Myriel immediately stepped up to referee the match, leaving Darien standing near us on the sidelines.

I glanced up at him, absentmindedly wondering who was taller; Terry or Darien? They were close to be sure, but I think Terry was still an inch or two taller. Darien did have an easy fifty more pounds on him, though.

"Trainers!" Myriel called. Her voice was raspier than I'd expected, like the sound of a knife being pulled from a sheath. It wasn't unpleasant at all, but it still surprised me. "Release your Pokemon!"

Baird went first, casually pulling the first of his three Pokeballs off of his belt and releasing his Pokemon. In front of him formed the small and purple boney-humanoid Pokemon that he'd been talking about earlier, a Tyrogue. It was the Pokemon that evolved into basically all of Bruno's Pokemon that I'd seen at the museum. The little guy immediately started shadowboxing, throwing punches in the air at a phantom enemy.

Yuji pulled his first Pokeball from his belt as well, and I felt a tiny smirk form on my face.

As much as Baird was talking about Achilles, he wasn't going to get the chance to fight him.

Despereaux the Rattata materialized when Yuji released his Pokeball.

Baird's reaction was immediate. The short trainer frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. "Wait, I wanted to fight that monster Heracross of yours, not this route fodder. No offense."

I clenched my teeth. This guy was being an asshole for absolutely no reason. If I hadn't gotten another warning glance from Hana, I might've sicced Wisp on the guy.

To her credit, it was Myriel who spoke next. "Baird, you're being insufferable again. You asked him for a battle, he's giving you one. If you don't want to battle him, ask one of the others or we'll move on."

"Which one of the others?" Baird asked, rolling his eyes. "Besides Kanael, I'd be stuck with a one-trick pony or a foreigner, and there's no way I'd battle her. She's too smart."

Alright, that's it.

I'd been stopping myself from saying something this whole time because they'd asked me to and because it was personal to Yuji. Now, he was insulting all of us.

"Hey, buddy, go fuck-"

"Derek!" Yuji barked.

I shut my mouth and stopped in place, and looked over at Yuji.

I no longer needed Amy to see Yuji's rage. He could barely keep it contained himself. His pale face had gone red and his neck muscles were strained to their absolute maximum.

My brain was stuttering trying to take in what I'd just heard. I'd never heard him shout before. He'd never even raised his voice, not once.

I stepped back in line. Hana gave me a disapproving look but said nothing.

Yuji spoke again, this time directed to Baird and at a deathly quiet volume. He raised three fingers.

"One," he said, putting down a finger for each point. "There is no other way to interpret that insult than with offense. Two, Despereaux shall be more than enough to defeat you. Three, upon my winning this match, you will apologize to my friends, my Pokemon, and myself for your absolute lack of sportsmanship and respect. Am I clear?"

Baird scoffed, not even trying to mask his annoyance. "Whatever, dude. You're still boned. I'll agree to that if you agree to trade me your Heracross if I win."

Myriel looked like she was going to say something again, but instead, she rolled her eyes. Apparently, this wasn't unusual behavior for him.

I shook my head. There was no way that Yuji was going to agree to that. He loved Achilles, and there was no way he'd ever risk him-

"I agree to those terms."

If I was a cartoon character, my eyes would have popped out of my skull and down a three-sixty around my head before slamming back in.

What the hell did he mean, 'I agree to those terms'? I thought incredulously. That's the kind of back-alley shit that you walk away from.

Regardless of my disbelief, Yuji stood resolute in his declaration. It dawned on me then why he'd agreed to this.

He's not planning on losing. It doesn't matter what the stakes are if you're never going to have to pay them.

I crossed my arms, silently watching my friend and trying to channel some of his confidence. Hana and Amy were right, and he'd basically said as much himself. He wanted to take care of this guy. I needed to shut up and stay back.

"Trainers," Myriel started again, looking significantly more exasperated. "This will be a one-on-one battle using modified League challenge rules. Both trainers have agreed to a non-standard ante. Are both trainers ready to begin?"

Yuji nodded coldly, and Baird smirked.

"Begin!"

"Get him, Tyrogue!" Baird called. "Mach Punch!"

"Despereaux, focus and avoid," Yuji all but whispered. "Find your time to strike."

Tyrogue release a burst of speed, shooting forward like he'd been shot out of a cannon. His fist glowed bright white as he thrust it forward. I winced as the attack flew, knowing that fighting type energy was doubly as powerful against normal types like Despereaux.

Despereaux dodged, easily.

The tiny Rattata's eyes were narrowed and focused, Yuji having secretly called for his unique combination of Lazer Focus and Focus Energy. It was like he'd distilled the mental state that was often called 'The Zone' into a single technique.

Tyrogue fired off two more jabs with his opposite first, followed by an uppercut. Despereaux was faster, weaving back and forth by juking to Tyrogue's sides. He gave Tyrogue the run-around, never giving up any ground and only dodging sideways.

"Hit him!" Baird shouted impatiently. "Toss in some Vacuum Waves! Just get him!"

His Pokemon thrust his fist forward, sending out a horizontal ripple across the air in the battlefield. His fist moved so quickly that it parted the air.

It didn't matter. To Despereaux, he might as well have been punching through molasses. The Rattata's eyes narrowed as he completed another round of focusing. Whenever he decided to hit, it was going to be punishing.

I also noticed something that I hadn't seen in all of my battles against Yuji. Despereaux's breathing was getting heavier and heavier, but he didn't actually look any more tired. If anything, his muscles were bulging. He must have been using a third move, something he hadn't shown off to me yet, to increase Despereaux's attack power.

Baird went to yell at his Pokemon again, and Despereuax chose that moment to strike.

In the quarter of a second that Tyrogue turned his head to listen to his trainer, Despereaux sprung off the ground, launching himself into the air the same way he'd done in the Viridian Forest against the Beedrill.

He somersaulted over Tyrogue's head, and slammed his body weight down on the gangly fighting type. The Take Down took Tyrogue to the ground, impacting the dirt with an unhealthy crack! and leaving the Pokemon sprawled out on the ground.

Tyrogue's eyes closed, and he didn't get back up.

The battlefield went quiet.

"Trainer Baird's Pokemon is unable to battle," Myriel spoke, taking her job as the referee seriously. "Yuji Amano is the winner!"

Hana and Amy both cheered loudly, and I grinned when I saw that Hana had been recording the whole time.

That'll be fun to loop on social media.

I stifled a proud smirk as Baird stared disbelievingly at the battlefield in front of him. His precious Pokemon had gone down in a single move to a Rattata, a Pokemon that he'd referred to as 'route fodder'.

I stiffened as a loud thumping noise sounded next to me. I shot a look over.

It was Darien.

The giant guy who'd been entirely silent through the whole battle was laughing. And it wasn't a subtle laugh, either. Darien was double over, red-in-the-face laughing. The thumping I'd heard was him slapping his knee.

I stared at him in shock. I'd always thought that 'knee-slapping' was a thing done by old people and cartoon characters.

I glanced over at Amy and Hana to see if they were also seeing this, but I happened to catch Myriel's eye. She was smirking.

Did this guy's friends let him fight Yuji just so he could get pummeled? I mean, he deserves it, but... ...damn. That's cold.

Yuji stepped forward, proudly kneeling down to Despereaux and patting him on the head. He murmured something that I couldn't hear, but Despereaux looked pleased. He made to return his Pokemon, but stopped. Yuji looked across the battlefield at Baird expectantly.

When Baird didn't immediately respond, Darien spoke up.

"Baird," he called. Darien's voice sounded like it was echoing in his own chest. "You've been humbled, feel poorly about it later. Apologize to this man and his friends for your conduct."

That snapped him out of it. The short trainer looked up from his defeated Tyrogue and over at Yuji. I could see his blood pressure spike as his face started to go red.

"Fu-" he started, but a glare from Darien shut his mouth. He stared daggers at Yuji, but bowed all the same. He spoke through gritted teeth. "I am sorry for how I acted."

Yuji nodded but did not stop staring.

Baird grumbled, acting more like an eight-year-old than an eighteen-year-old. He turned to us an bowed again.

"I apologize to you as well," he said.

Yuji kept staring.

"For fucks-" he looked down at Desperaux. "I'm sorry for calling you route fodder."

The Rattata sniffed, pointing his nose into the air. He obviously was not forgiven.

Yuji nodded once again, returning Despereaux. Without another word, he walked past Baird and headed down the path in the direction we were supposed to be headed.

Baird mumbled something under his breath before returning his Tyrogue. Once he'd packed his Pokeball, he did the same as Yuji, only in the opposite direction.

The five of us remaining in the clearing looked at each other.

"That guy's a fucking dick," Amy said finally.

Myriel and Darien both laughed, though they had the presence of mind to look ashamed.

"We agree," Darien said.

Myriel nodded. "We didn't choose him. His mother pays us to watch after him, covering most of our travel expenses. For what it's worth, we don't agree with him at all. He's just a paycheck."

That caught my interest. "Are you guys not rookies?"

Darien shook his head, but Myriel nodded. They spoke at the same time.

"He isn't."

"She is."

They glanced at each other but nodded. They'd said basically the same thing, just in different words.

"Huh," I said. "Well, I can't say it's been a pleasure, but I hope that you guys are as agreeable the next time we beat the shit out of him. Yuji had his turn, but I think he called me a foreigner? That's like the fourth time this week. Man... ...this region is racist."

Darien laughed once again. I got the feeling that he was normally a pretty pleasant guy. "You should try being from Johto," he said. "It's ten times worse when they colonized you."

Hana nodded. "He's right," she agreed. "It's just as bad for the Sevii Islands."

They shared a look of solidarity, and suddenly I remembered that I didn't have it that bad.

I inclined my head to Myriel and Darien. "No offense, but I hope we don't see you again for a long, long time."

"None taken," they once again said in sync. They definitely had to do this often.

Without another word, the two groups split to follow after their respective trainers.

---

When we caught up to Yuji, he was just as chatty as when he'd left.

We didn't push too much, but any time we tried to initiate conversation, his responses were a maximum of one word and a minimum of outright silence. We continued on for the rest of the day in mostly silence.

The valley around the trail shrank as we got closer to Mt. Moon. The trees became spotty as they were limited by space, leaving us in something resembling a winding canyon full of tall grass rather than the forested valley we'd spent the morning in. We also ran into a few more trainer groups passing through the trail, and they gave both pleasant conversation and decent battles.

Yuji didn't take part in any more battles for that day, but he didn't complain when we decided to. Hana and I both tried to give as many battles as possible to Amy, given their need to get stronger before Cerulean. I did manage to score a pretty fun battle against a girl with a Jigglypuff, which Artis handily won.

Even with the battles, we ended up making our fifteen-mile goal by the end of the day. We pulled off of the side of the trail and set up camp in a previously used clearing that still had tent marks and trash in it from the last campers. Hana made us clean it all before we set up camp.

Amy and I took the first watch. Even though this route had almost none of the danger of the Viridian Forest, we'd gotten used to taking watches there. We sat on rocks that Wisp had been kind enough to move to the campfire for us.

Amy released Pennywise, taking him onto their lap and stroking his head. The guy had gotten pretty banged up today in his battles, having only won about half of them. He fell asleep in seconds.

I studied Amy and Pennywise as the fire crackled, trying to figure out where they were falling behind the rest of us. Amy was doing a great job training him, and Pennywise had been taking on learning new moves and techniques fairly well. He just lacked that bit of power that other Pokemon in our group had. He was still baby Pokemon, though, so there wasn't much we could do.

"Hey Ames," I asked absentmindedly. "Do you think, maybe, you should look at getting a second Pokemon? Something to fill the spaces?"

Amy shrugged, continuing to pet Pennywise. "There's no good psychic types around here."

"Does it have to be a psychic type?"

"I mean, I feel like having psychic Pokemon is the first step to starting to understand my powers," they reminded me. "I need to train as a psychic type specialist because once I have my powers somewhat in check, I want to go to the Saffron Gym. I want to study with Sabrina."

"Huh," I stroked my chin. "I guess I'd figured that was the case, but I just realized you've never told me that before. The part about Saffron Gym, not the other thing."

Amy nodded. "Yeah, I figure that being at a psychic gym is the best place for a psychic."

I frowned and started counting on my fingers.

"What?" Amy glanced over at me.

"I just thought about it. Half of our group are type specialists. That's weird, right?"

They shook their head. "Three out of four."

"But, Despereaux-"

"Wasn't Yuji's first choice. He ended up picking him because that's what he could afford, to be honest," Amy explained. "He wants to be a really strong fighting type master."

"Huh."

I thought back to what Baird had been saying before he'd asked about trading for Achilles. He'd been... ...gloating, right? He'd been telling Yuji how he'd 'traded up' from a Spearow to his Tyrogue.

Spearow are basically considered Rattata with wings. If somebody was talking about tossing Despereaux aside, I could totally see that being another reason Yuji would get pissed.

Now knowing that Yuji hadn't had a lot of choices when it came to his starter, it certainly explained a lot about why Hana had said he'd been triggered by Baird's words.

It also explains why he'd been so upset about Oak's offer, I realized glumly. He wasn't just upset about me getting lucky, he was seeing yet another person get handed an opportunity that he hadn't been given.

"Honestly, it's weirder that you're a generalist in your first circuit," Amy continued. "It just kind of makes sense for people to at least gravitate toward a type, even if they don't end up fully specializing. Not only does it make it easier to train a whole team, but it cuts down on things like food and TM costs by letting you use the same ones between Pokemon. You end up getting a couple of weaknesses, yeah, but you can pretty easily figure out counters."

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

That makes a lot of sense. My exposure to Pokemon teams has always been my father and his friends, who are Ace Trainers and can afford to have a bunch of different styles of Pokemon, and competitive battlers, who often needed to be able to answer a dozen different strategies to win. If you didn't already have an established career or somebody to help you out, it just made sense to specialize.

"Why didn't Yuji's family help him?" I asked. "They're still around, right?"

Amy looked taken aback. They glanced over at the tent, but no one stirred from it. They turned back to me, leaning in.

"I'm not going to go too much into it," they whispered. "Because I figure Yuji will get around to telling you eventually, but he got kicked out of his house, like, a year ago. He's had to earn all of his own money to even get to come on this journey, let alone get a starter."

I felt anger seep into my heart as my brows furrowed. "Why would anyone- It wasn't because...?"

Amy shook their head and I relaxed a little. "No, his dad was okay with him being trans. I don't actually know the real reason, and Yuji's... Well, he's Yuji. Not exactly an open book. I just know that he spent, like, all of his money to come and start his journey with me and Hana."

I sat back, frustrated.

Now I felt even worse about telling him about Oak's offer. I already had my dad going out of his way to buy me a starter from a breeder, and I was flaunting a brand-new Pokemon of my choice in front of Yuji.

I shook my head. Not again.

I made a decision regarding Oak's offer right then and there.

I was going to find a way to use it to help someone else.

Sure, it would be nice to have a shortcut to a rare Pokemon, but I didn't need it. I already had Artis and Wisp and whatever Pokemon Dad was planning on sending me. I didn't want to be handed my future when everyone else, especially my close friends, was working so hard for theirs. I was going to reject the Pokemon or find another trainer to give it to. I was conflicted because I wanted to offer it to Yuji, but knowing how prideful he was, I was scared that he'd take it as an insult, or worse, pity.

"Derek?" Amy's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, Ames?"

"You know, you never told me what you were hiding from us at the museum."

I flinched as they cold-clocked me with that statement. I'd been so in my own thoughts that I hadn't expected the conversation to take a turn.

I really didn't want to admit to how dumb I'd been, but I'd basically promised to tell them in all but words.

"Um, yeah, I guess you're right."

They let the silence hang for a moment before prompting me. "Well?"

I sighed. This was Amy. There was no way they were letting me off the hook that easily. I had no real reason to keep procrastinating.

I coughed into my hand. "So, uh, I guess I should get it the big thing out of the way," I took a deep breath. "I went after a Rocket Admin at the museum."

"What?"

Fear.

I flinched as something in my mind recoiled, feeling like it had just taken a physical lashing. I fell backward off my rock, looking around wildly to see what had hurt me.

My eyes settled on Amy, whose eyes were wide with panic. Pennywise had woken up and was holding Amy's hand between his tiny ones.

"Did I...?" they asked.

I rubbed my temple and stood, feeling the pain subside. It had only really hurt for a moment, but the shock left a phantom ringing in my ears.

"Yeah, I think you did."

"Oh..." Amy looked down at the ground, pulling Pennywise close.

I glanced over at the tent, and still, neither of our companions had stirred. Whatever Amy's powers had done, the range either wasn't very good, or they'd just been focused on me. Both options were up in the air right now.

I walked over to Amy, placing my hand on their shoulder. They recoiled at first but nodded gratefully and settled after a moment.

"Has that never happened before?" I asked.

Amy shook their head. "No, not once."

I let out a breath. "Well," I said. "I think that means you're getting stronger, at the very least."

They shook their head, looking troubled. "And I guess that's what happens when someone scares the shit out of me."

"Hey!" I chuckled, trying to bring some levity to the situation. "You asked. I could've just kept it to myself."

Amy didn't smile, but a bit of color returned to their face. "I was worried about my friend, and it turns out I was right to worry," they shifted to look up at me with upset eyes. "What the hell were you thinking, going after a Rocket Admin? The Executives are the bogeymen. Parents literally tell their kids bedtime stories about them. They're supposed to be as strong as the Elite Four, and you went after them with a Spheal."

"That's rude. I had Wisp too."

Amy stared daggers at me, and I withered under their gaze. For a tiny person, they could scary sometimes.

"You at least went with Daisy, right?"

"No...?"

They punched me in the arm. "You're a stupid, dumb, idiotic, bull-headed, dumb, dumbass!"

"I think we covered it. I'm dumb!" I pulled back out of Amy's reach, and they took one more swing before settling back down. "I didn't go in to fight him. Brock and Bruno were battling Proton and his men, and I just figured that maybe a wild card could help capture one of them? Anyway, I ended up finding out that they were going to teleport, so I asked Wisp to use Mean Look on the leader. I was a 'dumb idiot', though, because I gave Wisp unclear orders and she ended up hitting an Officer instead."

Amy looked at the campfire angrily, as if willing it to burn hotter. Given what had just happened, I was surprised when it didn't explode.

"At least I can see you're being honest," they muttered at last.

"I wouldn't lie."

"But you'd not tell us everything."

I sighed. "Fair."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Derek. That was the dumbest thing I've ever heard anyone say. I get it now, why everybody started giving you rewards after the museum, though. Brock probably elevated our challenges just because of that."

"Well, that's why he did mine," I admitted. "I talked him into doing everyone else's."

Amy nodded. "Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem."

Amy and I sat in silence for a while, letting the fire crackle. They never let go of Pennywise, and the Mime Jr. snuggled to sleep again eventually. The quiet was only interrupted when my Pokenav+ alarm went off, letting us know that it was time to swap off watches.

We both got up, but Amy stopped me before I could go wake Yuji.

Amy hesitated for a moment before putting the arm that wasn't holding Pennywise around my waist and squeezing tight.

"I'm glad you're not dead," they said in a muffled voice, pressing their face into my side. "Asshole."

"Thanks, Ames." I smiled. "Love you, too."

I returned their hug, ignoring the gentle pain I felt in my shin when they kicked me.

Notes:

Thank you for reading today's chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Today, Derek got to have a little bit of insight that we as the audience had already picked up on from the Yuji Interlude. This is obviously going to change his perspective on a few things, and I hope you all enjoy the journey that we're going on!

Don't forget to comment on this story and leave some kudos! It helps me out a ton!

Chapter 23: Small Steps

I groaned as my Pokenav+ started buzzing, sending tiny vibrations through my pillow.

I pulled the device out from under my pillow and clicked it off, glaring at the too-bright display in disdain.

I'd specifically set the volume to zero so as to not wake up Amy and Hana because no one should be forced to wake up at six in the morning.

I went to roll out of my sleeping bag but hesitated as the cold mountainous air of Route 03 flowed in, disrupting my perfectly warm cocoon. Shivers took me and I almost curled back to sleep. I really didn't have to get up this early to train...

I shook my head. I had another reason for getting up before the others.

Yuji was already up.

I already wanted to start matching the amount of time that he spent training but yesterday's encounter gave me another reason to want to talk to him without the other two there. I figured that he was a pretty private guy by nature, so maybe asking him some difficult questions would be better if we were alone.

I grabbed my thickest hoodie and set of pants out of my backpack, changed inside my sleeping bag, grabbed Artis and Wisp's Pokeballs, and quietly slipped out of the tent.

The sun still wasn't up yet, and it wouldn't be for easily another half an hour or so. The edges of the horizon that I could see from within the canyon were barely starting to approach a blue color. The stars were still visible, though the moon had long left the sky.

I felt a pang of disappointment flash through my chest. Ever since our conversation in the museum, the moon reminded me of Daisy.

I looked around for Yuji, easily finding him slightly down the trail. Since the trees had basically disappeared once the route had narrowed, there weren't a lot of places to hide. He was out training both Achilles and Despereaux, running them both through similar repetition drills to what he'd seen me doing with Artis. I couldn't help but crack a smile at that. It looked like we were learning from each other.

Instead of his normal regiment of working out with his Pokemon, Yuji still had his jacket pulled closed and sleep in his eyes, resting on a rock overlooking his little training yard.

It seemed that even our most unflappable teammate could still be affected by the cold early morning.

I considered sending Artis and Wisp out to train but decided against it when I glanced at the TM readers attached to their Pokeballs. I'd set them up to start learning their respective TM moves last night, and it was suggested to closely watch over your Pokemon when learning a new move this way. Since I wanted to talk to Yuji for a while, I figured I'd let them sleep a little longer.

Instead, I stepped over Yuji's rock, slipping down and sitting next to him. He glanced over, inclining his head when he saw me. He still looked a little more irate than normal, but he at least seemed happy to see me.

"Morning," he grunted.

"Morning to you too, man," I replied, voice cracking from drowsiness.

We both sat there, letting the quiet of the morning overtake us as we watched Achilles practice his punches and Desperaux do dodging exercises. It was peaceful. Nice, even.

The calm morning seemed almost too serene to break up, but I'd gotten up this early with a goal.

"Hey man, I just wanted to make sure you were feeling okay after yesterday?" I finally asked.

Yuji started at my sudden question but didn't look upset at it. Instead, he nodded.

"I am," he said. "I apologize for my solemnness, I reacted... ...poorly to Baird's philosophy of Pokemon training."

"No yeah," I agreed, shaking my head. "I totally get that, man. I don't know how I'd react if somebody asked me to trade Wisp or Artis out of the blue. Like, I get that trading is a totally normal thing, but it's kinda wild to me that people can let go of their teams."

He shrugged. "For those wishing to compete at the highest level, it can be necessary to trade away members of your team to complete a competitive team or strategy, but normally it is done with respect and understanding. Not his flippancy toward bonds with Pokemon."

"Yeah, but still... ...That hit kinda close to home, right? From what Ames said-" I paused at Yuji glanced up at me, wincing that I'd immediately outed Amy for talking about Yuji's life. The damage was done, though. "You had a hard time even getting Despereaux, right?"

Yuji inclined his head, though his jaw clenched. "My circumstances were not ideal for beginning my journey, that is true. However, I don't blame anyone else for that," Yuji sighed, releasing the tenseness from his body. He pulled his feet up onto the rock, folding his legs in front of him. "To be honest, my anger yesterday had very little to do with Baird's treatment of his own Pokemon and more with his perception of mine."

I frowned, shuffling on the boulder to turn to face him. "What's that mean?"

"Though I admit that I am sensitive regarding my circumstances, and Baird's request did anger me, it was his disregard for Despereaux that caused me to lose my temper," Yuji said regretfully. He reached up, pulling out his hairband and running his fingers through his hair. "I was just so frustrated already with mine and Despereaux's progress that allowed myself more spite than necessary. I should not have, in any circumstance, agreed to his ante. It was foolish, prideful, and wrong of me to risk Achilles the way I did."

"I was a bit surprised you did, but it turned out okay. You took a risk, but I would have-"

Yuji shook his head before I could finish.

"I cannot take risks, Derek," he said resolutely. "I am not you."

I furrowed my brow, biting my lip as we fell back into silence.

It was very obvious I was missing a lot of context for whatever Yuji was feeling. What he'd said about Despereaux's progress and taking risks? There was something deep-seated in those cryptic words. I could piece some of it together from what he'd described and what Amy had told me, but I couldn't guess at the whole swaths of his life that I didn't know.

I did know a few things, though.

This isn't something that just sprung up after yesterday, I thought. He's felt this way for a long time, or at least everything that's happened recently has exacerbated that. He's only ever let his frustrated side show a few times that I can remember: the challenge elevation, Oak's offer, and yesterday. What's the link there?

The challenge elevation had been a pretty obvious reason to be upset: Brock had chosen to challenge me at a higher level than any of them. Yeah, I'd been able to talk him into elevating everyone's challenges, but the initial statement had been there. Brock had even said as much to me.

'Your friends haven't proved to me what you have.' he'd said.

As for Oak's offer, I figured out that one from Amy last night. Yuji hadn't had any options with his own Pokemon, and it made it hard to see someone else be given a rare Pokemon.

Then, after yesterday, Yuji had said that he'd been frustrated with Baird's perception-

Wait. My eyes opened wide. I'm an idiot.

I'd assumed that Yuji had been jealous regarding Oak's offer, but he'd told me that hadn't been the case. He'd even offered to help me make a decision about what Pokemon I wanted to pick. It wasn't about the Pokemon.

It was about perception.

We'd only been on our journey for a little over a month, but I could already rattle off a list of times that Yuji had felt like he was falling behind. He'd said as much to me after our battles with Brock, and then I'd gone and told him about my situation with Oak. That's what I had seen on his face: the thought that he'd fallen behind me.

Yuji worked incredibly hard, so seeing the one-two-punch of one of his best friends getting offered what was basically a sponsorship and the next day getting talked down to by a spoiled kid must've ground his gears. I also couldn't think of the last time that Despereaux had actually won a match. He was way stronger than most Ratatta, but I had strategies against him for both Artis and Wisp, and he'd had to be switched out in the Pewter Gym match.

I glanced over at Yuji. He was still staring at the ground, his brow furrowed. He wasn't angry, but more frustrated and heavy in thought. He gave me no hints as to what I could do to help.

Fuck. I have no idea how to fix this.

I knew that I wasn't the problem, but I also wasn't helping the situation. I'd tried my best at the Pewter Gym to settle his mind, but my fumbling with Oak's offer had started him spiraling into self-doubt. There were also definitely much deeper personal issues at play on his part, but I had no idea how to account for those. I'd never really had friends before, so I really didn't have a basis on how to deal with insecurities like this.

Yuji needed a win, that much was clear. The problem was, I didn't know how to give that to him. I couldn't give him anything less than my best in a battle, because he knew me too well and would immediately recognize me throwing the fight. I also respected him too much for that, but the thought did cross my mind.

I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with Oak's Pokemon, but it was clear at this point that giving it to Yuji would be the same as when I'd gotten Brock to elevate his challenge. It wouldn't erase the statement that the offer had initially made.

I had no idea how to help him outside of those two things. He was better than me at training, and there weren't a lot of opportunities on the routes to accomplish anything that didn't have to do with Pokemon training.

Pokemon training... I mused. There's gotta be something there...

I glanced down at my belt, an idea clicking into my head when the rising sun reflected off of a gray mechanism attached to Artis's ball. I pulled both of my Pokeballs off of my belt and held them up.

"Hey, Yuji," I said, nudging him and pulling him back into the conversation. "Have you ever trained a Pokemon using a TM reader?"

He looked up, frustrated eyes now curious at the question. "No, I haven't personally done so, though I've seen the process done several times," he said, looking over the two gray boxes affixed to the front of my Pokeballs. "I wasn't aware you'd picked any up in Pewter."

"Yeah, since we had a little more spending cash after the elevation, I figured I'd try and expand our move pool a bit."

Yuji nodded, looking at both Pokeballs with interest. "That logic is sound. I admit, I hadn't even considered spending money on TMs yet. Why do you ask?"

"Well, now that they've spent the needed amount of time with their TM readers, I need to actually get them used to using their moves. I figured that I could probably turn it into my first on-route video, but I was hoping that I could get some help? You're a lot more familiar with the content side of stuff, after all."

I inwardly grinned as Yuji started contemplating my question. Was it a little ham-fisted and played up? Yes. But, I wasn't lying. Yuji did have a lot more experience with the online stuff than I did, and more importantly, he was confident in this area. I really hoped that this would go well because maybe it would be a step toward proving to him that he wasn't falling behind.

"What would you need me to do?" Yuji asked, seeming genuinely interested in the project.

Yes! I mentally cheered.

I pulled my camcorder out of my bag, handing it over to him. "Outside of needing someone who actually knows what a video looks like, because I really don't, I could definitely use some pointers on pacing and shooting. If you could, like, direct me, that would be awesome."

Yuji nodded, taking the camcorder. He flipped out the display, checking my video settings and adjusting my light exposure. Like a switch had gone off in his mind, I could see the stress start to fall from his shoulders as he threw himself into the task.

"Given who you are, I think a candid pacing would work best..." he mused. "Besides a short introduction to the video and an outro, it might be best to just shoot the video as though you weren't being observed."

I considered it before nodding along. "I could make that work. Though, I do want to make sure I'm not taking too much time out of your own training session," I said, nodding back to where Despereaux and Achilles were still running their drills.

"It shouldn't be an issue," he said. "I'll give them a few new orders before we begin, but I've structured their training so that they can do it without me observing."

"Still... ...I don't want you to take all this time and help me out for free," I said, pretending to think of a way I could pay him back. In reality, I'd already decided when I come up with this idea a few seconds ago. "Oh! I know!"

I clicked a small button on the front of Artis's TM reader, causing it to eject the gun-metal grey compact disk, before doing the same to Wisp's. Her disk was colored bright yellow. I held out both disks to Yuji.

"Rattata can learn both Iron Tail and Charge Beam, right?" I asked, grinning. "For helping me out, you can use both of my TMs."

I knew that this wouldn't fix what he was feeling. The only thing that would really help would be people giving him the actual respect that he deserved, and I hoped that by doing my part to make Despereaux the baddest guy on the block, Yuji would get more chances to show him off. Maybe, just maybe, if people would just notice that Yuji could train a Ratatta into a beast, they'd stop discounting him.

Yuji's eyes stared at the TMs before flicking up to meet mine. I knew I was giving away the ruse by smiling like a maniac, but I didn't want to try and help him by being entirely dishonest. I respected him too much for that.

His eyes softened and the edges of his face upturned into a grin. He knew what I was trying to do. Yuji reached forward, gently plucking both discs from my hand. He looked down at them, turning them over in his hands like they were precious jewels.

"Yes, they can," he finally said softly. He nodded, tucking both into the TM case section of his belt. "Thank you, Derek."

"No problem, man. You're earning them, after all," I chuckled.

Yuji laughed with me. "Yes, I guess I am."

---

It took an embarrassingly long amount of time to film the video intro.

"Hey, guys," I said, forcing a grin at the camera. "Today we're- I'm- I mean- fuck, I messed that one up so early!"

Yuji sighed from behind the camera, letting out a small chuckle. He gave me a thumbs up when he set a new recording, telling me to go again. We'd already gone about ten times and had a 'usable' one, but Yuji had made several very convincing points about the opening of the video being the most important part.

So, again we tried.

I cleared my throat, putting on a smile again. My cheeks were seriously starting to hurt at this point, and I had a serious case of cottonmouth. How the hell did Terry do this every single day?

"Hey, guys," I tried again. "Today, I'm out on Route 03 training up my team with some TMs I picked up in Pewter! We're gonna be helping Artis learn Iron Tail and Wisp learn Charge Beam! Let's get to it!"

I let the recording go on for a second longer to give a clean cut before pumping my fist in victory. "Finally!" I cheered, letting a real grin replace the fake one. "That took so long!"

Yuji grinned back at me. "Yes, I'll admit that I thought you would take to this much more quickly. I'm actually surprised that it took as many tries as it did."

I shrugged. "I'm not good at the fake presentation stuff. I can memorize any ability or move, but two speaking lines? Nuh-uh."

I let out a sigh of relief before looking around our little clearing. "How do you think I should do the actual training bit? Is this angle okay?"

He glanced around before giving a small nod. "Be natural about it. I'll act as a roaming camera for the most part, so don't concentrate on me."

I inclined my head, pulling Artis and Wisp's Pokeballs from my belt. This was the fun part, the part where I could actually do what I was good at. I waited for Yuji's cue before releasing both of my Pokemon.

"Morning, guys," I said to the both, speaking a bit louder than normal for the camera. "Time for training!"

Artis could not look less impressed. He immediately rolled onto his back, trying to get comfortable on the ground. Wisp chuckled at him, using her Confusion to flip him back over. He groaned, rolling over again. I glanced over at Yuji with worry, hoping this wouldn't make a bad start to the video, but he'd already stepped closer and cut me out of frame. He was watching my Pokemon with a big grin on his face.

A little relief went through me. I wasn't used to doing content yet, so every step was new, but my Pokemon were pretty cute. They repeated the cycle a few times before I stepped in.

"Come on, guys," I said. "Nobody gets breakfast until after we finish training, and I bought you both special berries."

That got both of their attention. Wisp knew that they'd be sweet and Artis just liked eating anything. He needed to put on some weight before he'd have enough blubber to evolve, after all. They snapped up, straightening themselves and getting ready to receive orders. Yuji turned the camera to look at all three of us.

"Very good!" I chuckled. "Now, I set you guys both up with these things called TMs yesterday. It's a little complicated to understand, so I'll just say this: you both should basically know how to use a new move, even though I never taught it to you. Can you both think about it for a sec and see if you can properly use them? It might be hard because neither of you has ever used the type energy of your new moves before."

Wisp went first. She clenched her little eyes tight and shouted in concentration."Drea!" she yelled.

I held my breath in anticipation and smirked when a tiny glimmer of yellow electricity started to arc across her red gemstone beads. She concentrated for a few more seconds, and slowly each of her gemstones started to fill with yellow energy. It was like watching the gauge on a battery charge, the more she concentrated the fuller it got.

I did start to panic, though, when she got to the last gemstone and I realized that she was looking directly at me.

"Uh, oh shit," I mumbled. "Quick, try and release it over at the rock wall!"

Wisp did as I said, turning her whole body not a moment too soon before a thin beam of yellow energy split the morning air, maybe as thick as a pencil.

Bzzzzzn!

I wasn't expecting the beam to let off so much heat. The Charge Beam impacted the far wall of the canyon, carving into it with extreme precision and pressure. Parts of the wall started to crackle and pop, heating up and shattering when the laser toasted it. The path left in its direct wake, though, was glowing molten hot and starting to drip down the wall. Wisp had maybe three seconds of energy stored within her, but it left a permanent burn scar across the cliffside.

Wisp and I stood completely stiff. My shoulders were clenched as hard as my teeth. That had been loud.

A quiet chuckle spread into full-bellied laughter behind us, and I felt mortified.

In getting excited to start training, I'd completely forgotten we were being recorded.

I turned back to look at Yuji, and he had the biggest grin on his face. Even worse, the noise had been loud enough to pull Hana and Amy out of the tent. Obviously, neither one knew exactly what had just happened, but I saw Hana take in Yuji's laughter, the camera in his hands, my expression, and the sizzling cliffside. She quickly put together a basic sense of what was going on and stopped Amy from loudly complaining about being woken up. The two of them started going about their normal morning business but made it clear they were watching.

I gave her a grateful nod turning back to Wisp. The best thing I could do right now was just keep going.

"Note to us,' I said in a shaky voice. "Don't let it charge for that long. I mean, we won't ever get that much time in a fight, but still."

"Mis-drea!" Wisp nodded, staring at what she'd done. She looked more than a little in awe of her own power.

I looked down at Artis. He'd been respectfully quiet while Wisp tried out her move but was now looking at me with big eyes. He was really excited about his new move.

"Okay, your go, bud," I said, gesturing to him. "I don't think we have to worry about the same thing for yours."

"Pheal," He barked, though he looked a little saddened when I implied his move wouldn't be as powerful.

"Mis mis mis," Wisp chuckled at him to the tune of a small child teasing another.

"Spheal-pheal!"Artis said defiantly, turning up his snout to ignore Wisp.

I sighed. "Wisp, that's not helpful. You guys are just training for very different fighting styles. You get to give out a bunch of damage, yeah, but Artis can actually take a punch."

It was Artis' turn to laugh as Wisp went red in the face. She pouted before going invisible.

"Alright, buddy, your turn," I chuckled. "Go ahead and focus on striking the ground with yours. That way we probably won't break anything. Hopefully."

Artis nodded, looking determined. He tensed his body like he was getting ready for a Rollout but stayed in place closing his eyes to concentrate. Unlike Wisp, the move seemed to come to him instantly. His tiny tail glowed bright white before turning a brilliant silver color.

He opened his eyes, barking in excitement when he saw his success. Artis hopped once into the air, doing a full forward spin and slapping his tail down hard on the ground. The impact left a heavy crater on the ground with an exact imprint of his tail.

Artis rolled back over to me, stopping quickly and letting his tongue loll out of his mouth in contentment.

I leaned down and scratched him under the chin. "Good job, bud. You're nailing this."

A quick whistle for Wisp made her reappear, though she still looked miffed about my comment. I rubbed the top of her head.

"You're both doing great," I said. "Now that we know you can both use your moves, I want to make sure we're actually learning how to control them and use them regularly. Artis, I want to work on launching Iron Tail from the middle of a Rollout, so you need to learn how to stop your movement and transfer that momentum into a hit. Go ahead and keep trying until you can do that. Once you've done it successfully ten times in a row, come back to me."

He barked in compliance. Artis rolled away from me, getting to work on my orders. Wisp floated in front of me and quietly waited for her orders.

"Well, girl, you're going to be doing something a bit different. While Iron Tail is going to be a regular part of Artis' kit, Charge Beam is actually just a stepping stone for you."

Wisp brightened up at that. "Drea mis!" she cheered.

"I thought you'd like that," I smiled. "So what I'm going to have you do is focus on the charging part of your move as much as possible so that you're more familiar with electric type energy. Specifically, I want you to focus on filling your beads as quickly as you can, and then you can go ahead and release your beam into the cliff, okay? It should be fine since we already messed it up. Once you can fill all your beads in less than a second, come back to me."

My Misdreavus floated up to my face, cuddling into the side of my cheek before taking off to practice her own move.

I watched them both for a few seconds before I moved on. They were both so intent on getting better that I couldn't help but feel a flash of pride. We weren't powerful yet, but we were hitting the stepping stones that we needed to make something really special.

A shifting of weight in the grass turned my attention to my side, where Yuji was waiting with my camcorder. He was following Artis for now, carefully keeping his leaps and spins and tail slaps in frame. His face was a mask of concentration, none of the stress lines from his brooding were present.

I held in my smile. This may not have counted as a real win for him yet, but he had something to keep his mind off of it, for now.

Now I just needed to find Yuji a real win.

---

"I still can't believe you melted a cliff!" Amy cackled as we hiked through Route 03. "And the look on your face! Priceless!"

I sighed. Having Yuji as my director and cameraman had some upsides, but the downsides were also apparent. Especially when they came in the form of clipping embarrassing moments from my training video and sending them to the group chat. Every few hours since we'd packed up camp yesterday, Amy had pulled up the video to entertain themself.

"You know," Hana mused. "I'd think about that melted cliff the next time you steal some of Wisp's cake, Amy."

A tiny snicker emanating from my shadow mirrored my own when Amy's face went a little pale as they got flustered. Hana gave me a knowing smirk as she helped me up a set of rocks. She'd heard Wisp too.

"It was one time," they complained. "And I bet that laser wouldn't even pierce Pennywise's Barrier. He's really been working on it, ya know?"

I inclined my head like I agreed, but I wasn't so sure. Amy had taken most of the battles on Route 03 when we ran into the odd trainer, but Pennywise hadn't really shown leaps or bounds of improvement. He was still struggling with being the only member of Amy's team, and he still had zero good offensive options.

Though I'd been preoccupied with Yuji's issues the last few days, I hadn't stopped thinking about the rest of the group. Actually, Hana was doing just fine, so I actually hadn't been thinking about her too much. She had been steadily improving Raffelasia's vine control on the slower parts of the route, letting the tiny Bulbasaur walk alongside us. She'd won all the battles that had come her way so far with just Paige, and as far as I was aware, Hana wasn't currently having any existential crises.

Given that I'd done what I could for Yuji, for now, my mind had started to wander toward Amy's predicament.

With their insistence that they'd only train psychic types, there really weren't any options for them in this neck of the proverbial woods. I'd been listening to the audio logs on my Pokedex, and the closest set of psychic species were on the other side of Mt. Moon, given that Abra and Slowpoke could be found around Cerulean. Well, the closest native psychic Pokemon.

There were rumored sightings of several non-native species of Pokemon within Mt. Moon itself, and I'd caught a line on a few different psychics, including Bronzong, Baltoy, and Chingling. The problem was, though, that all of those rumors had been on the lower floors of Mt. Moon, and given that we were planning on taking the quickest route through the mountain, we'd ideally only be dipping down to the second floor of the mountain.

To be clear, Mt. Moon was organized into natural subterranean layers that were colloquially known as 'floors', given that they kind of worked like the floors of a humungous building. Each numbered floor was deeper than the last, so bigger numbers meant deeper underground. There was a really common pathway through Floor One and Floor Two that most people used to get from Cerulean to Pewter and vice versa, which is what we'd be traveling through, but the general rule of thumb was that the lower the floor meant the rarer the Pokemon.

The Pokemon I had my eye on could be found on Floor Two, but was more common on Floor Three. Any of the psychics, though, weren't going to be seen any higher than Floor Four. It was said that Mt. Moon had five publically accessible floors and you needed a special pass to get deeper, but most people generally didn't need to go that deep.

Legends, I thought, glancing down at my Pokedex which still playing information about Mt. Moon into my headphone. I love this thing so much.

In just a couple of days of walking, I'd gone from a complete dunce about the Kanto region to having a working knowledge of the complete structure of a complex mountain route. Having a device like this was indispensable, and I couldn't imagine trying to gather all of this info on my own. I'd already started planning a mental route through the mountain with the maps available on the device.

Maybe, if I act quickly, I could get from Floor Two to-

"I think we're almost there," Yuji called from the front of the pack. "Isn't that the Pokemon Center?"

We all gathered around him, stepping up onto a rocky ridge. As we'd traveled for the last few days, the narrow valley of Route 03 had twisted northward and widened again, becoming a rocky and desolate wasteland. The soil was too dense and craggy for plants to really grow, so it left us with a long corridor of boulders and empty space in front of us.

Mt. Moon loomed over us in the near distance. It was the biggest thing I'd ever seen, to be honest, bigger than both Mt. Pyre and Mt. Chimney. I couldn't even see the distance white peak above the circle of clouds at the top. Steep slopes and terrifying topography were the natural 'no passage' signs that this mountain threatened us with. I couldn't spot a single tree on the massively wide structure, and as we'd gotten closer, it had taken up more and more of the sky.

The vantage point that Yuji had pointed out, though, showed off a shining white and red building at the base of the mountain.

"That's not all," Hana murmured, pointing past the Pokemon Center. "There's the entrance to the mountain."

I followed her finger line, confused. There was nothing where she was pointing, just more cliff cloaked in shadow from the setting sun-

Oh, holy shit.

That wasn't cliff covered in shadow. That was a yawning mouth of darkness and solitude that cut a hole in the side of an already indescribable mountain.

I could use big words when I want to, and the cavern leading into Mt. Moon deserved it. Judging distance and perspective without landmarks like trees was hard up here, but the cavern was bigger than the Pokemon Center in front of it. At its very base, I could see tiny squiggles of color and movement that I assumed were other trainers coming out of the mountain. You could stack ten of those squiggles atop of one another and you wouldn't equal the height or breadth of the cave entrance.

Amy let out a low whistle of appreciation, and I couldn't help but nod along.

"That's a big cave," I said dumbly.

Even Yuji was taken aback. "Yeah," he breathed. "I'd known that it was huge, but..."

"...that's unreal," Hana finished.

The four of us stood on that ridge, staring at the location pulled right out of a fantasy book. Where the Viridian Forst had felt old and malicious, Mt. Moon was just too ancient and massive to care. It stood larger than life, and seeing just how big the cavern entrance was, I now had more than a little trepidation about the creatures that could live there.

---

We reached the Pokemon Center just after dusk.

It wasn't nearly as crowded as Pewter City, though there were at least a few dozen other trainers milling about the common areas when we arrived. As always, there was a trusty Nurse Joy at the counter.

"Good evening," she said cheerfully. "Four trainers for check-in?"

Hana took the lead. "Yes, ma'am. And we each have a few Pokemon that need check-ups too."

Nurse Joy nodded, typing on her computer. "Easily done, though I'm afraid that we have a bit of a queue, so you won't receive them back until tomorrow morning. Is that okay?" When we all murmured in agreement, she continued. "Now, I have a single, a few four-person rooms, and some doubles left. Do you have a preference?"

We all shared a glance in distaste at the idea of another four-person room. I loved these guys, but I was missing my privacy. To take the single, though, felt like a dick move. It looked like everyone else was having the same thought, so we agreed to two doubles. What I wasn't expecting though, was the immediate disagreement between two of us.

"I'm rooming with Amy," Yuji and Hana spoke at once.

I gave the other two a surprised look, but they were giving each other competitive glances.

"Awww," Amy cooed. "Guys!"

Yuji shrugged. "Amy has the least stuff and takes up the least room."

Hana nodded in agreement. "And they pack the best snacks."

What the hell?

We hadn't been in the position yet where we'd had to choose to stay in double rooms before, so I hadn't realized the clear preference that Yuji and Hana had, but honestly, it made sense. Now that I thought about it, I'd be happy in a room with any one of us, but Amy was the clear choice. In the tiny Pokemon Center dorms, being a pocket-sized person with a sweet tooth made you a great roomie.

"Wait," I sputtered. "Now I want to room with Amy."

Amy mock swooned. "Three friends turned rivals at the thought of sharing a lonely room with me. I've never felt more loved," they said sarcastically, absolutely eating this up.

In the end, we decided to draw straws for roommates. Yuji held out three tiny straws that had been hastily grabbed from the cafeteria coffee cart. We'd snipped one of them to be slightly shorter than the others.

"One, two," we counted. "Pull!"

Yuji couldn't keep the self-satisfied smirk off of his face when he dragged Amy off to their room. Hana and I watched them go with a wistful look.

"Next time," I vowed. "Yuji doesn't get to hold the straws."

Hana nodded. "I don't think he should even be in the drawing."

"Agreed," I huffed.

Hana and I smiled, both knowing that this was all still in good spirits. It wasn't like any one of us was a bad roommate, so this was still fine. We headed up to our room and started pulling out all of our stuff. It was basically the standard room Pokemon Center room, so we fell into a familiar quiet habit.

As we were unpacking, though, Hana surprised me by asking a question that I wasn't expecting.

"Hey," she said, uncurling the wires of her hair dryer. "What's been bothering you?"

"Huh?" I looked up from my toiletries. "What do you mean?"

Hana sighed, sitting down on her bed. "I might be wrong, but you've been overthinking something the last few days, right?"

That took me aback. I hadn't thought that I'd done anything noticeable, but apparently, Hana had seen something. At the very least, her eyes were full of concern. I sat down on my bed across from her.

"Yeah, I guess I have. A few things, actually. How'd you know?"

Hana pulled her hair to the side, tapping her ear with her finger. "I hear you on your Pokedex every night. And then, on the trails, you've started hiking with one headphone in, concentrating like you're listening for something. Pairing that with the worried looks you keep throwing the others, I assumed you were trying to figure something out."

Trust Hana to be observant, she was the strategist of the group, after all. Of course she'd picked up my weird vibes.

I sighed. "You're not wrong," I admitted. I put both of my hands on my knees, breaking eye contact to look at the ground. "I don't know, I guess I just... ...I just want to help the others, ya know? They're both in their own kinds of ruts, so I've just been trying to think of ways to get them out of it."

Hana paused. "Is that it?" She asked carefully.

"I mean, yeah... ...basically," I added lamely.

The resulting pause made it clear that we both knew I wasn't saying the whole truth, but how the heck was I supposed to explain the whole Oak thing, Yuji's inferiority, or my plans for Mt. Moon? That was all without the fact that I missed my girlfriend or the fact that therapy was still on the horizon and I definitely hadn't emotionally worked through the stuff with the Rockets yet.

All the little things that were going through my mind were stacked on top of each other, and it felt impossible to even start sharing without dumping over the whole pile. I really didn't know how to tell her what we really going on.

I looked up when I felt a weight settle down next to me. Hana gave me a soft smile, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm not going to push you on it, but you don't have to be Amy to see that someone is struggling," Hana said. "If you ever need to talk or vent, or even need help figuring something out, I'm here."

I nodded, the comfort genuinely appreciated. Hana was just doing to me now what I had tried to do for Yuji yesterday. I felt an emptiness on my hip as I thought about the promise I'd made to Artis in the forest weeks ago.

Hana went to go and brush her teeth, but I spoke up.

"Actually, there is something that I need help figuring out," I said, letting out a tired sigh. "I kind of have a decision that I don't know how to make."

Hana turned back to me and smiled. She sat back down on her bed, giving me her full attention. She didn't say another word, instead choosing to be an active listener.

I grunted, sitting up straight. "So, a few days ago, I got an offer from Professor Oak..."

Notes:

A/N: Aha! Finally! Derek chooses to listen to his own advice and get some help!

I know that a bunch of you have been frustrated with Derek's decisions regarding the Oak stuff and, as I've been promising in the author's notes and comments sections, this entire... ...arc (?) is supposed to be Derek coming to grips with his two main flaws: asking for help and his imposter syndrome. By now talking to Hana, that's him actively attempting to work on the former, and maybe she'll be able to help with the latter.

Regardless, please let me know what you thought of this chapter (for better or for worse), and thank you so much for reading!

Chapter 24: Friends Helping Friends

Hana let out a breath as she absorbed everything I'd told her.

We were still sitting across from each other in our room at the Mt. Moon Pokemon Center, both slumped on our respective beds. While I'd talked, Hana hadn't moved other than to grab her water bottle. She'd just listened.

I'd vented to her about everything. I'd talked about my insecurity over my background, my struggling relationship with Yuji, my mental health regarding the Rockets, trying to help Amy, everything.

Now I sat catching my breath, throat dry from speaking. I glanced over at the clock on the tiny nightstand between our beds.

10:56 PM

Damn. I'd really just vented for close to three hours.

Hana sat up in her bed, clasping her hands together. Her lime-colored eyes were serious, but caring.

"Derek," she said carefully. "Before I say anything, I need you to know that I now understand a lot more about you as my friend and that I care about you dearly. You have a lot of valid reasons to feel the way you feel about a lot of things."

"Okay...?"

Hana nodded, taking that as an admission of understanding. "Okay, then, starting with the stuff that I feel qualified to give you feedback on, let's talk about Professor Oak's offer."

When I nodded in agreement, Hana spoke bluntly.

"You're being an idiot."

I blinked.

"While I am being serious that most trainers would die for an opportunity like yours," she continued, face impassive and analytical. "You are so wrong that you think that you have any reason to feel guilty about that."

Hana arched an eyebrow, daring me to say otherwise. When I didn't, she kept speaking. I hadn't seen her like this outside of battle before, but her posture, her voice, her eyes; they were all so focused. She had absorbed all the factors I'd given her and formulated her response with the same care as one of her battle strategies.

"At its heart, Pokemon training and battling is unfair. Certain people are just in better positions to be trainers and have better backgrounds and resources than other people. Once you meet one of the real privileged kids, I believe you'll understand that. The real thing to focus on, though, is that with that inequality comes the mindset of taking advantage of every opportunity presented to you in order to overcome the circumstances you were born with. The rest of us have that mindset. Yuji, Amy, and I are constantly trying to improve in every possible way, turning every stone and taking every possible advantage we can. At the end of the day, if you choose to squander a major opportunity that is presented to you, not only are you holding yourself back when there are others who are so much more privileged than you, you're insulting the rest of us who haven't received those opportunities."

Hana inhaled a deep breath, having emptied her lungs to deliver her final point. Once she'd caught her breath, though, her expression softened.

"Derek, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be mindful of your luck or privilege, but you really shouldn't feel guilty about them."

I really struggled to come up with a response.

I'm insulting everyone else...? I thought, feeling a pit open in my stomach. I guess I'd already had that same thought when I decided not to give Yuji the Pokemon. There's a pride that comes with being a Pokemon trainer, and by pushing this off I'm trampling on that for everybody else. Is that how they felt when I got their challenges elevated? Or would that have been taken at face value? Have I been messing up my perception this whole time? Am I even meant to be a trainer if I don't have that same mentality?

I stiffened as Hana rested her hand on my shoulder. She'd stood after finishing her speech and was now giving me a look of knowing concern.

"And we're working through your misplaced guilt," Hana said in a reassuring tone. "There's no reason to go feeling more."

I let out a shaky breath, nodding.

She's right. It's not going to do us any good if I keep making problems for others to fix. I need to focus on the now.

"Yeah," I finally said. "I see what you mean, even if it's going to take a while to actually convince myself."

Hana shook her head, smiling a little brighter. "And there's no need to rush any of this. As long as you actually listened to what I said, and you're not internalizing it too much, you're already doing better. Right?"

"In a sense, yeah," I agreed, though I did pause. "You're sure though? Nobody's going to get upset that I got lucky like this?"

Her frown and look of disappointment told me 'no'.

"First off," Hana said, cadence quickly rising back to lecture mode. "You did not 'get lucky'. That's already the wrong stance to take. Professor Oak, from what you said, seems to have made it clear that he feels like you've earned this. And yes, there are going to be people who find this unfair and are going to get upset. The point is that those people aren't real trainers. If they're spending their time worrying about your advantages, then they're clearly not using theirs enough. You just need to know that your friends, who all happen to be real trainers, understand you and who you are, and what your intentions and circumstances are."

Hana's words hit like a gut punch.

I'd never had friends before, at least not to the level of my little trio. I'd never taken into account that the people who had singled me out all my life, the people who were jealous about my dad, they hadn't been my friends. They didn't really know me.

These guys, they were different. My group was ride-or-die.

Hana stiffened in surprise when I pulled her into a hug, but she quickly relaxed and wrapped her arms around my back.

"Thanks," I mumbled into her shoulder. "I needed that."

"You're welcome," she giggled. "What else are friends for?"

I released the hug, but Hana surprised me by giving me one more big squeeze, her willowy arms during their best impression of one of my big hugs. She sat back down on her bed afterward, seeming satisfied that she'd gotten through to me.

I cleared my throat, not sure where to go next. I was normally the most physically affectionate member of the friend group, so Hana being so open was a nice but confusing surprise.

"So," said Hana. "We've talked about what I think is the most pressing thing, but I know you still have a bunch of stuff on your mind. Do you want to talk through any of that? I know it's late, but you're not going to have this kind of privacy on the route."

I nodded. "I think I'm okay now for most of it, but actually... ...I could use some help figuring out how to help Amy? I know that I want to help them catch a psychic in Mt. Moon, but I'm struggling with how to get to the lower floors without delaying our trip through the mountain."

Hana nodded, brow narrowing with thought. She reached down into her bag and pulled out her laptop.

"You only mentioned it lightly earlier, but you had a few different spots picked out, right?" She said, clicking through her data. "Could you point them out here?"

When she flipped around her laptop, she already had a crude 3D map of the caves pulled up. There were obvious blank spots on it where people hadn't taken the time to properly map it out, but it was so much more put together than the twenty tabs I had open on my PokeNav+ and Pokedex.

"Uh, yeah," I said. I leaned forward, pointing at a couple of different spots but being careful not to touch the screen. "I was thinking here and here might make quick down and up again spots. They aren't too far off the trail, so I was thinking I could maybe try them once we'd stopped to camp."

Hana frowned once more, pulling her laptop back. "Derek, you weren't planning on going alone, were you?"

I paused, taking in her expression and body language. Hana looked like a Skitty that had just had its tail stepped on, like she was about to pounce.

"No?" I said dumbly.

Hana glared at me before lowering her laptop. "Hmm."

There was another pause before she turned back to her screen, actually studying the two places I'd suggested.

To get between the floors of Mt. Moon, there were all sorts of natural and man-made caverns and pathways that interlaced with each other, making the inside of the mountain look like an ant hill. Some were huge sloping ramps that could fit dozens of people at a time, while others were narrow spots that you would shimmy thirty feet straight up or down on a ladder. Both of the locations on Floor 2 that I'd suggested were the latter, mostly because the small entrances and exits often covered the most vertical ground and gave the most direct routes between floors.

My first option would deposit me- us on Floor 4, which would put us in range of some of the psychics that I'd read rumors about within the mountain. The problem was, though, that Floor 4 was where the minority of the rumors had come from. Far more rumors had been on Floor 5, where my second option would take us. We'd be way more likely to run into a Chimeco or Bronzong on the fifth floor, but that came with the risk that Pokemon were generally stronger the deeper into the mountain that you went.

If we ended up doing this trip and didn't run into anything, that was a huge waste of time and effort. And it put us in more danger than if we'd just stayed on Floor 2.

"I see the problem," Hana mused. "If you're serious about this, though, I'd say we should go straight for Floor 5. We do a quick search, and if we find nothing we leave. We should keep the exit in line of sight at all times."

I nodded. "That's what I was thinking, but it's really dangerous. Plus, we could just make it through the mountain and help Amy get an easier-to-catch psychic, like an Abra or a Slopoke."

Hana smiled and shook her head. "I can't speak for them, but that's not how real trainers do it. We always take the road less traveled, Derek."

I grinned back, feeling a little fire ignite in my chest. It was different but so similar to the feeling I got when I stepped out into the arena. The idea of going into a dangerous place, of doing the thing that I knew that others couldn't, excited me.

"Alright, I'll run it by Ames in the morning."

Hana gave me a long look, one that was kind, caring, and still ever so slightly worried. "You're sure that was all you wanted to talk about?"

I gave her a soft nod. "I think that's all the emotional growing I can handle for the night," I joked. "Hit me up again in three to five business days."

She laughed, nodding back. We entered a comfortable silence, grabbing our toiletry bags and washing up before heading to bed. It was past midnight by the time we flipped the light switch off for the night.

We didn't sleep, though. After a few minutes of silence, I heard Hana shuffle in her bed.

"Derek?" She asked quietly into the darkness, as if being careful in case I'd already fallen asleep.

"Yeah, Hana?"

"I was just curious... ...since you seem like you're a bit more accepting of the idea, have you thought about what Pokemon you're going to ask the Professor for?"

I snorted. "I've done a lot of thinking."

"And?"

"And I'm not at all closer to figuring out what I should ask for."

Hana laughed, her quiet chuckles filling the room with a comforting warmth. "I guess it is a big decision," she agreed.

"Yeah, one that I'm probably not going to get to make a second time. I'd told Yuji that I had it down to a few choices but... ...I don't know. There's so much about the world that I don't know, and my scope of what Pokemon I could get is so big. I almost wish there were more limitations."

Hana pondered for a moment before responding. "Then why don't you add them? Limitations, I mean. It might help you narrow it down."

I blinked, though of course it made no difference in the darkness.

"You're so friggin' smart."

Hana laughed again. "Thanks, I try," she chuckled. "Let's start here: what do you need for your team?"

"Well," I mused. "I guess that's a good place to start. I don't really need anything too bulky right now, because Artis is going to handle that for a while. Wisp of course is going to end up as my main energy-based sweeper, so I guess I'm covered on that front. I guess, since I'm going for a bit more of a well-rounded team, I need something fast, something physically strong, or something that could really support my team."

"Derek," Hana scoffed. "That sounded an awful lot like a jab at strategy specialists. Is there something wrong with how Yuji and I are building our teams?"

"No, not at all!" I insisted, raising my hands as though she could see me. "I just meant that I wasn't as focused on that style of training. You guys are totally valid."

"Mm-hmm."

She clearly wasn't convinced.

"Anyway, I was thinking about asking for a dragon, but I'm not sure."

"Oh? This would be the perfect opportunity to ask for one, and you've brought them up in the past. Why not?"

"Well, it's kind of silly, but... ...when I was a kid, I dreamed of owning a Flygon."

I waited for her to respond with disbelief, but when she didn't immediately laugh I was worried.

After a moment, she said, "I'm sorry, I don't actually know what that is?"

My facepalm was audible throughout our whole room.

"Duh, Derek," I muttered to myself. "Sorry, that means a lot more to people from Hoenn. I guess I should explain. Flygon is a dragon type from back home, but it's not really rare. Sure, it takes a lot of work to raise one and tame it, because obviously it's a dragon, but its pre-evolution is really common. To say that I dreamed of having one is kinda like saying 'I really want a Steelix' here. Technically, once they figure out how to evolve it, anybody can get one."

"Oh, I get it now," Hana said. "And since it's common where you're from, you don't want to waste your one Pokemon from the Professor on it?"

"Yeah, though I think 'waste' is a big word. I just figure that, with everything you guys said on Route 02, I'm probably going to have to import a dragon type anyway, so why not make it one that I've wanted for a while? It won't be cheap, but it's on the more attainable side of things."

Hana took a long minute to think about that. "I actually can't find fault in your reasoning. Okay then, you won't ask for a dragon type from the Professor. What about something else that's rare, like a fairy type?"

"Well..."

"Don't tell me you already have one picked out?" Hana sounded exasperated now. "You're really already trying for the ghost, dragon, fairy trifecta? You do know we're supposed to avoid those, right?"

"Wasn't it you who said to take the road less traveled?"

"...touché."

We both laughed. I shifted to pull one of my pillows under me, turning in my bed so that I could hear her more easily.

"I can see why you're having such a hard time," Hana admitted. "You really do seem to have a lot of your team figured out."

"Don't you?"

"Yes, I do," I could hear the smile in her voice. "Ever since I could imagine having a team, I've had mine picked out."

"There ya go. It's harder than it sounds to suddenly have the whole wide world of Pokemon opened up to you. Like, objectively, I should be looking at the rarest possible Pokemon. Like a pseudo-legend from another region, something that I would have no chance of getting."

"Most of those are dragons," Hana pointed out.

"I know!" I groaned.

"What about fossil Pokemon?"

"What?"

"Fossil Pokemon?" She yawned. "You know, the things that you literally risked your life to save? There are some very rare ones that are only found in other regions. Maybe look into one of those?"

"That's not a bad idea. I'll have to look at those in the morning. Thanks, Hana."

"You're welcome, Derek," she said drowsily. It sounded like the long day was finally catching up to her. "Though, maybe look into those other pseudos? If you can fit one into your team comp...

Hana stopped talking slowly, replacing her words with soft breathing. She was falling asleep.

"Good night," I called softly, letting her nod off.

"Night..." Hana didn't even finish the word before I heard her drift.

I rolled back over, thinking about everything we'd talked about.

It was really nice to have gotten everything off of my chest. Hana was an amazing listener. She was just so friggin' smart that she made the solutions seem easy. And even now, when we'd been drifting off, she'd really helped narrow down what I did and didn't want on my future team. She really was the best.

I made a mental note to pick her up a gift when we made it to Cerulean, but before I let sleep take me too, another thought intruded on my thoughts.

Images of a purple and yellow Pokemon flashed through my memories, the sound of electricity and explosions playing in the distance. The Pokemon I'd seen in the Rocket attack, the one Proton had used to disable two Leaguers in a single attack, I needed something like that. I needed a Pokemon that was powerful but also relatively unknown to the people of Kanto.

I drifted off to dreams of rare Pokemon, feeling unburdened for the first time in a long time.

---

Knock, knock, knock.

"Mmmm," I grumbled, pushing my face into my pillow. "Go away..."

Knock, knock knock knock, knock. Knock knock.

Hana let out a groan, but I heard her roll out of bed. She shuffled to our door and popped it open. The sudden influx of light made me flinch, and I pulled my covers over my head.

"You guys still aren't dressed yet?" Amy whined. "It's already breakfast time!"

"Sorry," Hana yawned. "We'll be out in a few minutes. I think Derek still needs to wake up, so we'll just meet you down there."

"Ya know, it's not like you guys to be late," they said, a teasing quality slowly entering Amy's voice. "Sounds like you were up late-"

The door closed shut with a resounding and satisfying thunk.

A few seconds later, a hesitant hand rested on my back.

"Derek?" Hana asked as she nudged me. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah..." I said regretfully. I pulled my covers off, wincing as I realized that Hana had turned on the lights. "What time is it?"

She checked her phone. "Oh wow, we really did sleep in. It's almost ten."

I groaned. We'd already decided that we were going to take the morning to recover and use the facilities here at the Center before heading into the mountain around noon. That only gave me a couple of hours to eat, upload my video, send my messages, and shower.

Especially shower. Three days on the trail were not kind to hygiene.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "I honestly didn't think we'd talk for that long last night."

Hana made a non-commital noise from the bathroom, giving me a small smile as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. "Don't be sorry, Derek," she chided. "It was good for you to get that off of your chest."

I nodded. She was totally right. I felt calm and light and rested in a way that I hadn't since we'd left Pewter. Just talking to her had really helped. I got up and started to gather my things for the day.

"Ugh," I wrinkled my nose.

"What's wrong?" Hana poked her head back into the room.

I sighed. "I'm gonna skip breakfast and have a shower. I smell awful."

Hana laughed. "That's why I showered last night. I wasn't going to say anything, but..." When I tossed her a glare, Hana chuckled again. "Anyway, how about this: I'll head down and do breakfast with the others, and I'll bring you back something. In return, you'll owe me... ...let's say a few of those oran berries you picked up?

"Deal."

"Yay!" Hana winked at me. "Paige loves them and I accidentally left them off the shopping list in Pewter."

Hana gathered her stuff for the morning and stepped toward the door. Before she opened it, though, she turned back to me. Her expression was soft, concerned even.

"Seriously, Derek," Hana said. "If you ever need to talk some more, I'm here. That's the kind of stuff you go to your friends for."

Warmth bloomed in my chest when she said that. I hadn't had a lot of people do that for me before. I nodded to her.

"This whole... ...reliability thing? It's new to me. I'll give it my best shot, though," I promised.

Hana's lime-green eyes glimmered with amusement.

"You better," she said, stepping through the doorway.

I smiled as she left. I really didn't deserve-

No. I interrupted that thought. That's the kind of thing that got me in trouble with her in the first place. I don't want Hana to barge back in here and get mad that I'm already putting myself down.

I chuckled at the thought, taking my toiletries into the bathroom.

Legends bless the Pokemon Center, the shower was hot.

---

"Oh, the two of you got some late-night conversing done?" Amy wiggled their eyebrows.

The two of us were wrapping things up in the computer lab as the other two were grabbing their things from upstairs. I'd had an excellent shower and eaten a couple of muffins that Hana had brought me, and I'd already gotten my Pokegram video uploaded and messages sent to my parents and Daisy saying that I was heading into Mt. Moon.

It had been a productive morning.

I sighed. "You promised to never bring that up again."

"Nuh-uh. I promised to never compare Hana and your girlfriend again. I said nothing about making completely independent innuendos."

I gave them a flat stare. "I will sic Wisp on you."

Amy tried to hold my stare, but they saw the conviction in my eyes and crumbled. "Fiiiine. But this is so boring. You need to let me ship you with somebody."

"Absolutely, I happen to have a girlfriend that you could do that to."

"Blegh."

I held my stare longer. "Did you want to see how you could get your next psychic type, or should I put that on hold?"

Now I had Amy's attention. I'd texted them to come down to the computer lab, but I hadn't actually told them what we were doing. Hana had taken the liberty of bringing up the idea of Floor 5 to Yuji, and she'd already texted me that he'd agreed.

"What did you have in mind, chief?" Amy gave me a mock salute, but I could tell that they were genuinely interested.

"Well, you know how you were kind of waiting until Cerulean to get your next teammate because of your specialization?"

Amy nodded, looking a little downcast. It wasn't lost on them that the sentence 'wait until Cerulean' meant that the Pokemon would be unusable in their gym challenge. There just wouldn't be enough time to train it.

"Well, I did some looking into it, and I think we might be able to find some psychics in Mt. Moon," I said, clicking a button on my computer to show them my notes. On the screen was the map that Hana had supplied last night along with all of the markings and sources I'd gotten for the psychic type rumors.

"What?" Amy's eyes went wide as they glanced between me and the computer. They pushed in past me, wedging their chair up against the desk to get as close as possible.

I slid back, a tiny smile forming on my face as they read. Amy pulled their beanie off of their head, clutching it as they scrolled.

"Derek...?" Their voice quivered a little.

"Yeah, Ames?"

I almost cracked when Amy turned back to me. They had tiny tears in the corners of their eyes and, for once, there wasn't a trace of sarcasm on their face.

"You did all this for me?" Amy looked like they were going to cry.

Ah shit, I panicked, feeling my sympathetic crying reflex start to rear its head.

"Well..." I said, choking it down and keeping my voice steady. "It was mostly me. Hana gave final approval."

Amy shocked me by basically leaping out of their chair to give me a hug. I didn't hesitate to return it. I could tell from their reaction that a lot of the doubts that I'd had regarding their training were thoughts that they'd had too. It wasn't hard to tell that this was giving Amy a lot of hope that they hadn't had. Getting another Pokemon before we got to Cerulean could be crucial for them.

Amy stood up, wiping their eyes. "Alright," they said. "Twenty-four hours."

"What?" I asked in confusion.

They gave me a soft punch in the shoulder, none of their normal mischievous energy in it. "You get twenty-four hours of no teasing, for you to cash in whenever you want."

It took a second to sink in.

Amy jumped back when I burst out laughing.

"That's awesome!" I howled. "Yeah, okay bean. Twenty-four hours seems fair."

"Bean?" It was Amy's turn to be confused.

"Enby bean, that's what you called yourself, right? In Pewter?"

They took a second to recall our conversation at the Pewter market, but they took on a gentle smile once they did.

"Yeah, I did. I just didn't realize you'd remember that."

"That's my job, Ames," I stood, chuckling still as I closed out my computer. I found myself echoing Hana. "That's the kind of thing you go to your friends for."

Amy bumped their head into my shoulder. "Thanks, Derek."

I grinned. "You're welcome, bean." I grabbed up the rest of my things. "Now, let's go conquer a mountain."

---

We met up with Hana and Yuji by the front desk and checked out of the Mt. Moon Pokemon Center. It felt weird to be leaving, we hadn't even been there a full twenty-four hours.

The weather outside was beautiful. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, showing off the majesty of the towering Mt. Moon. Today you could actually see its peak, as impossibly high as it was. Jagged rocks and sharp ridges covered its outside, intimidating enough to almost make me grateful we were going through and not over Mt. Moon.

And then I looked at the cave, and that relief vanished.

The Pokemon Center was less than half a kilometer from Floor 1's entrance, and the massive cavern was even more terrifying in person. The jagged stone walls stretched over forty meters into the air before coming to a structurally ambiguous arch. The light from the noon sun only did so much to illuminate the cavern, so the view disappeared into a deep darkness after only a few hundred meters of the path were revealed. Every once in a while, there would be the flash of flapping Zubat wings with the cavern as they were disturbed by passing trainers.

Outside, there was a healthy trickle of trainers coming to and from the mountain, maybe two or three every fifteen minutes.

There were several established paths through the mountain that allowed for easy travel between the floors, but the one we were taking was quicker and harder than most, so I wasn't expecting to see this much traffic inside the cave itself.

Even though it was only mildly cold today, all of us had slipped on our thickest coats and put on extra layers. The temperature was supposed to drop dramatically once you entered Floor 1, so we were already prepared.

I looked over at the other three. "You guys ready for this?"

Their expressions told me that no, they were as intimidated as I was, but all of them nodded in spite of that.

"A thought occurred to me," Yuji spoke up. "And it's done wonders this morning to motivate me."

"Oh? Share with the class?"

He nodded, stoically looking into the yawning cavern before us. "If we do manage to find these rumored Bronzong or Chingling, they would fetch a high enough price to allow us to dramatically improve our teams."

I shot him a surprised look, but it melted away immediately. I wasn't used to Yuji being the one to bring up money, but now knowing his situation, it made a lot of sense.

"That's an idea," Amy murmured. "I get a Pokemon, and we all get that bag."

"I could use some funds for evolution stones and importing Pokemon," Hana admitted. "And clothes. And maybe a new laptop."

I nodded. "Alright. Catch Pokemon, train your team, profit. I could get behind that."

We all stared at the cavern for another moment, none of us ready to take the first step. I ran my hand over Daisy's handkerchief, still tied to my wrist.

"Well," I sighed, biting my lip. "Fuck it, we ball."

Three murmurs of agreement later, we left for Mt. Moon.

Notes:

a/n: So, there we go! Derek has officially sat down and had a singularly healthy conversation with one of his friends! It only took... checks notes ...over 150k words... ...damn.

Well, he's trying! XD

If you enjoy this story, make sure to tell me about it in the comments! Thank you so much for reading!

Chapter 25: Darkness Delving

Entering Mt. Moon was everything I had imagined and more.

We waited for the last of the trainers that we could see to leave the entrance because Yuji had the great idea to film us entering it for the first time. He'd held onto my camcorder and was taking the rear position on the group to get the footage.

Was I afraid this was going to end in a Flareon Witch Project-style shakey cam movie? Not really, but the thought was present.

Since I was the one with the PokeNav+ and a planned route, I was actually in the front of the group today. It definitely didn't add to my stress at all.

I approached the front of the cave following the beaten path, but every step made me feel smaller and smaller. The walls of Floor One stretched far above my head and the dark cavern disappeared into an impossibly far vortex of darkness.

What they don't tell you about Mt. Moon in the articles is the wind. I'd found a few mentions of it in some first-person accounts, but it was way more intimidating in person. Since the caverns of Mt. Moon were all interconnected, that included all of the entrances across the top side of the mountain where there was constant wind pressure. With the wind being pushed into the mountain at the top, it had to end up somewhere, so it got pushed out down at the bottom.

The resulting gusts had been chilled and dampened by the stony interior of the mountain, blasting the poor unfortunates who deigned to attempt to cross the caverns with near-frozen wind. Every step forward felt like walking into the mouth of a cold-blooded monster.

I took my first real steps under the entrance arch, holding my breath as I crossed the threshold.

And just like that, we were in Mt. Moon.

I turned to look back at the others. "That wasn't so bad."

Schreeeeee!

All four of us jumped out of our skins, eyes locking up above us where tiny leathery purple forms were bickering and arguing and screeching.

Zubats.

Just tiny Zubats.

"Fuck me..." I swore. "I'm already tired of this mountain's cinematic timing."

"You did tempt it," Amy pointed out. "Stop saying jumpscare-worthy lines and just get in there."

"Yeah, yeah..." I murmured. I didn't go further yet, though. We were at the point where the light from the sun was starting to dissipate, so the wide cavern around us was dimly lit at best.

I felt a pressure on my hand and looked down to see another glove gripping my own. I turned back and Hana was giving me a confident look. All four of us had linked hands.

The message was clear: We're in this together.

I nodded to them, reaching up and clicking the flashlight hooked to my shoulder strap. They all did so in kind, and we descended into the mountain.

Four little lights, walking through the darkness.

---

Traveling by flashlight was harder than you'd think. Yes, we suffered from low visibility, but that actually wasn't the main issue. The real problem was depth perception.

The human eye is designed to work by natural light. I didn't know the science of it, but basically your depth perception gets thrown off when you only have access to artificial light. That made judging how far away or even how big things were almost impossible for us.

For instance, when we stepped into Mt. Moon proper, the path immediately slipped down and the ceiling arched upward to create a massive cathedral of a cavern. If I didn't have the comparison of the hundreds of Zubat clinging to the cavern ceiling, I would've thought the distance was comparable to the cave opening, maybe forty meters.

Nope.

The Zubats were tiny dots.

It was two hundred meters to the ceiling, easy.

Alright, we're not allowed to look up.

Looking down the slope was an exercise in unfocusing your eyes because the darkness was so intense that there was nothing to focus on.

And we don't look forward, either. Let's just look at our feet. Nothing dangerous at our feet.

So that became the rhythm. Step, step, look at the PokeNav+. Step, step, avoid the Zubat droppings. Step, step, hold still to resist the cold gusts of wind.

I even found myself murmuring it like a mantra to keep going. Not loud enough that Amy or Yuji heard me, but I occasionally heard Hana repeating it back to me. She stood right behind me, and that was a real and genuine comfort. I knew she had my back.

We left the main trail that would've continued through Floor One fairly early in the hike. Instead of turning off and going the most well-traveled way, we kept following the downward slope. This way was deeper, but it was also supposed to be quicker.

And it wasn't like it was an easy-to-miss exit, either. Someone, probably the Rangers, had strung up a set of glow-in-the-dark lights around the split in the path. I wasn't the only member of the group that gave it a longing glance as we passed by.

It wasn't until what was easily two or three hours into the hike that we encountered our first real obstacle.

"Stop," Amy whispered urgently and just loud enough to be heard over the wind.

I dug in my heels, catching Hana off-guard. She bumped into my back, forcing me to take another step forward.

I turned back and her eyes were big with concern. 'I'm sorry!' She mouthed to me.

We both looked back to Amy, who had their eyes shut in concentration.

The struggle in their expression could only mean that they were using their psychic powers.

Yuji put his hand on Amy's shoulder, offering them moral support. They nodded, putting out a hand in front of themself like they were feeling for something.

"There's something ahead of us," they whispered. "Multiple somethings. They feel... ...excited? I think we're walking into a trap."

Ice shot through my veins.

A trap?

The three of us whipped our heads around, looking forward in the cavern to see if we could find any evidence of the 'somethings'. It was Hana, of course, who saw it first.

"There!" She pointed with her flashlight. "Those stones!"

I would never have seen them without my friend's interventions. High above us at the cave ceiling and maybe thirty more meters down the trail, the stalactites were slightly the wrong shape. They were round instead of pointed. The shining of the light forced one of the stalactites to move its hand to cover its eyes.

Geodudes.

Living rocks hung above the trail to drop their many many kilograms directly onto our heads.

"Dude, fuck this mountain," I murmured to my companion's agreement.

"Do you want to send Wisp up-?" Hana started to ask.

"Nah," I said to the distant and disappointed whine of my shadow. "We should show these Geodude that trainers aren't easy hits to take down. We should do something flashy."

Yuji narrowed his eyes. "I concur."

Amy waved their hand. "They feel apprehensive now. I don't think it'll take a lot to scare them off."

I turned to Yuji. "Would our forest bouncer like the honor of dispatching the riffraff?"

He smiled. "I think he would."

The cavern flashed red, briefly illuminating for hundreds of meters as Yuji released Achilles.

The great thing about having a badass escort is that nobody wants to mess with him. The Heracross tha-dunked his massive weight onto the cavern floor, the planting of his feet causing rumbling echoes to sound over the wind all down the cavern. He barely had to start buzzing his wings before:

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Rooooooollll!

Three Geodude dropped straight from the ceiling, cracking the ground on impact, and curled their arms onto their sides to use the slope to roll away. I knew that Geodude could float off the ground using their magnetic cores but apparently gravity was a better option for them here.

Achilles looked disappointed to see them go, so he pulled his head back and roared. "Heraaaaa!"

I'd been impressed before, but now even I was a little scared. I didn't see this part of Achilles often, so it was easy to forget the bloodthirsty fighting type that had brutally brawled with that Pincir.

At his heart, no matter how polite he was to us, Achilles was a warrior.

Yuji patted his companion on the shoulder and Achilles gave a big goofy grin.

There he is. I smiled. That's the bug that I know.

I turned back to Hana. "You got dibs on the next one that comes up? Or is that one mine?"

She smiled a fierce smile. "Paige hasn't let loose for a long while. She'll take the next one."

I nodded. "So, Ames, what tipped you off about the Geodude?"

Amy was still concentrating, but they lowered their hand and opened their eyes. "I don't know... ...I guess since there's not a lot of interference down here, like plants or people, it's easier to feel when something is coming up."

I blinked. Huh, good to know.

"That's good to know," Hana said, beating me by half a second. "We won't only rely on your skills entirely, but that's a valuable ability. Do you think you'd be able to do that for the whole trip?"

Amy looked nervous. "I mean, it's pretty passive, so I can try. The problem is, though, it's not going to help if we spook a Pokemon that's not expecting us. The only reason I knew the Geodude were coming is 'cause they got excited about their trap."

"It's as Hana said," Yuji reassured them. "The pressure will not be on you to provide, but if you feel something, say something. Nothing more, nothing less."

They looked a little less nervous, but I could tell this was a lot. It wasn't pressure from us messing them up. It was pressure from themself to be better.

I knew the feeling.

From then on we continued at a steady rate, though my 'step, step' mantra had to be abandoned.

There had been too many falling Geodudes for me to be comfortable looking down.

Instead, Amy regularly stopped us from having to deal with Pokemon. We took turns clearing them out, but they were easy to scare off for the most part. I did notice that the use of their powers so consistently was tiring Amy out, but they refused most of the breaks we offered and chose to keep soldiering on.

Eventually, we left the main slope of the trail to head forward on a steady and even surface. We were solidly on Floor Two, so there was no need to keep going down. It was also important that we stick to the trail we'd decided as closely as possible because as we crossed into Floor Two proper, my Pokenav+ gave me a 'No Signal' notification. It was just the pre-downloaded maps and our wits now.

We were officially on our own.

It wasn't until a beeping from Hana's phone told us that we'd been traveling for six hours went off that we thought about resting.

Time was weird down here. The constant darkness was too... ...consistent.

There was no sun to give us an idea of what time it was supposed to be. Without it, everything was based on how long your perception of each task was. Sometimes I would look at my phone after hundreds of steps and see that it had only been ten minutes, and other times I'd trip and an hour would have passed.

When it came time to set up camp, we found a section of cave wall that curved inward which Achilles was nice enough to widen for us. Instead of setting up the tents, we piled our sleeping rolls into a circle at the center of our little room. We couldn't build a fire down here, so Yuji supplied a tiny flameless heater to keep us warm at night. This left us with a warm shelter with only one direction that attackers could come from, which was a big comfort to me.

I really didn't want to get kidnapped by Pokemon again.

We took staggered watches, just like the Viridian Forest, and I offered to take the first watch. I'd be alone for the first hour, but then Hana would come in the second hour and keep me company until I went to sleep and Yuji would wake up.

I chose to use my hour of solitude to my advantage.

"So, buddy," I said quietly to Artis. "You get it now, right? Don't be covered in ice. Be ice."

"Phe spheal?"

"I don't think I mean literally? It's more like you should harden yourself like you do when you Defence Curl, but it should be... ...cold?"

"Pheal sphea."

"Well of course I want this to succeed! I think you just gotta keep trying, bud."

Even with the whole of Mt. Moon still open to us, I'd decided to continue training with Artis. We'd scouted the immediate area around our little alcove and couldn't find any entrances or connecting caverns that big Pokemon could fit through, so we figured it'd be safe to train for at least a little bit before bed.

Artis and I were having trouble with the main goal I had for him for now: turning Snowout into Ice Ball. We'd been getting by with my bastardized version of the move, but it was time to do it right. Combining Powder Snow and Rollout was just so slow. Once we could get it into a solid technique he'd improve his speed by leaps and bounds.

I had very specifically returned Wisp to her ball for this training. There was no way Artis would be able to handle this with her making fun of him the whole time.

"It's okay, bud. We got this. Let's give it one more try."

"Spheal..." He mumbled, unsure. Artis had already tried Ice Ball at least seven times today with very little success. I was going to give him one more shot and then end it for the day. It couldn't be good for him to feel this down for long periods of time.

Artis stood still, concentrating with all of his mind. Like we'd tried before, instead of breathing his snow out, he inhaled while channeling ice energy.

This had already proved to be the right direction from the previous attempts. His fur took on a glossy sheen to it, like black ice on asphalt. He then tensed up and tightened his muscles the way he did when he used Rollout.

I could see the struggle on his face, though, when he started this part. This is the farthest we'd ever taken it because the strain got hard for him to hold here. It made no sense to me. He'd been using Rollout for as long as I'd had him, and this was basically the same move. The sight of him bursting forward was burnt into my mind-

And then it clicked.

"Bud!" I said excitedly. "You're not moving! That's what we're doing wrong! Try holding it while you roll!"

I felt like an idiot now. Rollout always used the inertia of an initial burst of speed to get going. It was like pulling the ripcord on an engine to get the flywheel spinning. Artis had never had to learn Rollout, so he hadn't ever tried using it while standing still. Standing still, instead of helping him learn, left him spinning his wheels. Letting him sit there without moving was basically turning on the gas without pulling the cord. Of course nothing was going to happen.

"Sphe!" He exclaimed, clenching his teeth. Artis ducked his head down, getting that initial push that he needed.

Like letting go of the kink in a hose, ice energy flooded outward from him. His fur took on an icy blue sheen and he burst across the ground, leaving a shimmering frozen trail in the air behind him.

He made it maybe four meters before the frictionless ice beneath him caused him to spin out and slam into a wall.

"Oof," I groaned. "You okay, bud?"

"Pheal!" He called, holding up a flipper. He was fine.

"Good job, bud!" I ran over and started congratulating him. He rolled over and was very accepting of his neck pats. "You did such a great job. Give that a few more days of training and it'll be ready for battles."

Artis happily mumbled into my palm.

I fed him a few sweet berries as a treat before returning him. While it was exciting that we'd gotten the move to work, the boy needed his rest. Plus, the loud noise he'd made against the wall had startled me more than I'd like to admit. I didn't want any big Pokemon getting curious and coming after us.

I turned to head back into the camping alcove, but instead, I paused, listening.

Talking to Daisy all those weeks ago in the Pewter Museum had rekindled a love in me that I hadn't known I'd lost. Space and the stars used to be my obsession when I was a kid, but as Pokemon battling had become my foremost hobby, I'd lost touch with it.

Since I'd known I was coming to Mt. Moon, I'd flipped back through entries for the iconic space Pokemon. I'd been surprised to discover multiple logs about a phenomenon that occurred here at night. Once the moon rose, the caves would carry the faraway sounds of the mountain Pokemon to anyone who listened.

Sure enough, I heard a distant sound on the wind.

"Fairy... ...Cle cle... ...fairy...."

A mystical chant echoed ever so slightly throughout the cavern. Just like the rumors had said, if you weren't listening specifically for it, you would miss it completely.

A smile plastered itself on my face.

I wasn't going to see one tonight, but just knowing that the Clefairy were that close made my heart race.

I wasn't leaving this mountain without one.

---

Our second day in Mt. Moon was more of the same. We woke up sore from the bone-chilling underground cold, cooked a quick breakfast over Yuji's heat source, and headed through the mountain.

As much as the others were trying to seem comfortable and nonchalant, I could tell that the constant darkness was getting to them. Hana was paying attention less, bumping into me more and more as we traveled through tight spaces and long corridors, and Yuji was downright irritable on the rare occasion that he spoke up from the back of the pack. I could feel it getting to me too, but Amy had it by far the worst out of all of us.

The tiny psychic was straining themself too hard to help us avoid the more dangerous Pokemon of Mt. Moon. Every once in a while, I would hear them stumble across the rocky cave or slip down the side of a boulder, and their breathing was ever so slightly labored. The few glances I caught of them as we walked showed that they'd lost what little color they had in their face.

The constant drain of using their powers down here was wearing them down and, even worse, it was getting results. We were avoiding Pokemon left and right because of the forewarning that they were giving us.

"Ten meters, tucked into the cave wall," Amy would say. We'd stop and recalculate the route, find an alternate path, or send one of the stronger Pokemon out to scare off the weaker Pokemon.

I couldn't help but feel more than a bit uneasy with the whole situation. Was it helping us travel at a pace we could have only dreamed of when we were planning the route? Yes, absolutely. But did it also feel a lot like taking advantage of a friend? Even more so.

After the fifth hour of traveling this way, I turned my head. "Hey Ames, why don't we take a break? We've been going at it for a while."

"And we still have a few more hours left," Hana tacked on, obviously also concerned about her friend. "It would help if we conserved our energy."

"It's chill." Their voice was faint and breathy. "All the more reason to keep going. The sooner we get through today, the sooner we rest for the night."

Yuji made a noise from the back of the group. "Even so, we should rest-"

"Twenty meters," Amy interrupted, dropping their voice to a whisper. "It's big and frustrated."

The four of us pulled to an immediate stop, pressing ourselves against the cavern wall. The cavern we were in now was narrow and short, barely two meters tall at its highest point. If I wanted to, I could reach the cavern ceiling with my hands. Far ahead of us the narrow hallway opened into a larger cavern, one that the Pokenav+ had marked as being larger than a city block.

If Amy was sensing something up ahead, then it could be any size. There weren't a lot of Pokemon that were too big for that large of a room.

Hana put her hand on my shoulder, a signal that we'd fallen into that told me she was keeping watch ahead while I was able to devote my attention to the Pokenav+.

I clicked through the map, trying to find an alternate path. We did not want to get caught up in a battle with something potentially bigger than us while we were days away from a Pokemon Center.

"Fuck," I cursed. I turned back to the group. "The quickest re-route puts us back four hours."

All of their faces fell. Four hours was basically our entire travel day. The problem was, the cavern up ahead was a connecting point for a ton of caverns on Floors Two, Three, and Four. Getting around it meant heading to a bypass on Floor One or Five, which was not near where we were now. If we backtracked, we will have made no progress for the day.

There was no way we were doing that.

Amy put their hand up again, a habit that had continued since our encounter with the Geodude. Their face morphed into a tight expression frown of concentration.

"It's... ...definitely angry, and it's in a prideful kind of way," Amy said. "Whatever it is, it wants to kick the butt of something weaker than it. And it's big. At least taller than Yuji."

Hana gave them a troubled frown. "You can tell that much?"

Amy shrugged, wiping their nose with their sleeve.

"It seems we have little choice," Yuji murmured. "The best course of action would be to lure it away and try to travel through. Derek-"

I nodded immediately. "Wisp can be on distraction duty."

The Pokemon in question peeked out from my shadow, her yellow and red eyes full of excitement. "Mis mis!" she added cheerfully.

Hana still looked unsure. "We should try and scout the type of Pokemon that it is," she suggested. "We could come up with a better plan then."

"We are unable to look at it without it seeing us," Yuji disagreed, pointing to his flashlight. "If anything, we are fortunate that it hasn't spotted our lights yet."

I glanced down, trying to think of a better solution than 'distract it and run' when I saw something that made my heart freeze up.

"Hey guys," I said quickly. "If we're going to try and avoid it, let's backtrack a little to rest? That way we can be prepared to run if we need to."

Yuji and Hana nodded, though Amy gave me a tired and suspicious look. They knew I'd seen it.

We found our way back to a slightly more open area on the path, and Yuji and Hana began to rifle through our supplies to pull out our food. While they did, I grabbed Amy by the hand and pulled them aside.

"Derek-," they protested.

I held Amy's sleeve up. "What the hell is this?"

There, glimmering in the dim light of our flashlights, was a shiny red smear across Amy's sleeve where they'd wiped their bloody nose away.

Amy looked pointedly at the ground, slowly pulling their arm away. They didn't answer my question.

I sighed.

Amy was obviously pushing their abilities too far. They'd been exhausted all day, straining and tripping constantly, and now they were suffering from nosebleeds. And now, instead of worrying for themself, they looked upset that someone had noticed.

"Amy..." I grumbled. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Amy shifted their feet, lightly scrapping their shoes against the stone. "I guess," they mumbled under their breath. "I just wanted to keep us all safe, since... ...ya know, you guys are going so far to help me out."

My heart melted.

Without another thought, I scooped them up into a hug. They stiffened up at first, but quickly returned the gesture. They didn't even complain about being picked up.

"Ames," I said quietly. "That's not the move. This whole friendship thing works only if we're all being upfront with each other. It also not, uh... ..what's the word? Transactional. We don't trade favors for favors. Especially not when it puts one of us in pain."

Amy sniffled again, and I was worried that they'd gotten another nosebleed, but looking down I saw that they were crying. Their nose was running and big teardrops were running down their cheeks.

"I know," they blubbered. "It's just, you guys are going out of your way to help me get my new Pokemon and I realized that I could help you too. I knew that you guys would make me stop if you knew how much it hurts my brain to do it. I just- I just-"

I patted Amy's back as they devolved from words into tiny sobs. From across our clearing, I could see Yuji and Hana both send me worried looks, but I have them a reassuring nod. That mollified them, and they went back to preparing lunch and pretending that nothing was wrong.

Legends damn it, I thought, thinking back to how we'd reacted to Amy's power. While we'd tried to impress that they didn't need to strain themself and that pressure should be on them, of course they were going to put that on themself. That combined with my surprise had really built a stress machine for them. I was just glad I'd caught this before we'd ended up in a dangerous situation and Amy wasn't at one-hundred percent.

Amy wiped their eyes and nose, pressing their forehead against my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I nudged them.

They nodded. "I think I'm done. Thank you."

"No problem, bean. We all need a good cry every once in a while," I sighed. "You're not going to keep pushing yourself, right? We can get by with other strats. We have Wisp and Pennywise and so many other options."

Amy looked like they wanted to protest, but I gave them a stern look.

"Yeah...," they finally said. Amy stepped back. "I'm not going to stop using my powers, but I can stop using them as much."

"And not at all when you're in pain."

"...and not at all when it hurts."

"Good." I nodded to them. "Let's get some lunch, regroup, and get past whatever's waiting for us up ahead."

Amy bobbed their head, stepping into the light of a small lantern that Yuji had set up. Yuji handed us both sandwiches and Amy immediately started cutting their crust off.

As I went to go eat, Hana gently tapped my wrist. I looked over and her eyes were full of concern.

"Did you talk to them?" Hana mouthed, careful to not signal Amy.

I nodded. "They just needed to let some stuff out," I mouthed back. "They're okay now."

Hana smiled and nodded. She sat down next to me, offering me a chip from her bag. I took one and popped it in my mouth before gagging.

"Are those onion flavored?" I said aloud. "Gross."

"Hey!" Hana laughed, shoving me with her shoulder. "These are from home! I think they're really good."

"Yeah, if I was a Shroomish, maybe. Yuji, toss me the salt and vinegar ones."

My only sane friend gave me a grunt of agreement, handing over the good flavor.

"Vinegar?" Hana wrinkled her nose. "And you called my chips gross?"

"They are," I said flatly. "In fact, I bet Amy agrees with me too."

The psychic in question stopped eating like a Deerling in headlights. "Uh, what?"

Hana scooted over to them. "Sweet Onion or Salt and Vinegar? Which chip is better?"

Amy was not ready to be confronted with this after our discussion. "Uh- I mean- I guess... ...neither?" They shrugged. "I like the cheddar ones."

"Nothing wrong with cheddar," I said smugly. Even if I hadn't won, neither had Hana's bad taste. "Anyway, team, let's huddle up. We've gotta figure out what we're going to do about the big guy in the cavern."

The other three gave varying nods or grunts of approval. Regardless of the conversation I'd had with Amy, we still needed to get past what they had alerted us to.

"Alright, while I'm partial to feeding Hana's chips to it," I paused to let her give an indignant noise. "I think we should look through our options in case Wisp can't distract it."

Yuji nodded. "It would behoove us to know the route, as well."

"That's a great point." I pulled out the Pokenav+, turning the display to the rest of the group. "There are actually two different routes that we can take out of the big cavern up ahead. We have the one that I'd planned on, which would get us about two hours away from the next campsite, or..."

Hana let out a breath of excitement as she read ahead on the map. "Or we could sleep outside tonight!"

Yuji gave me a confused look.

"There's a camping ground listed that's on the surface," I explained. "One of the other caverns takes us past Floor One to a small canyon on the outside of the mountain. The ranger manifest has it as a safe location for trainers with at least one badge, so it shouldn't be dangerous, and the walls keep it protected from the elements. The only problem is that because it's out of our way, it's gonna add an hour or two of travel to tomorrow."

Yuji studied the map, slowly nodding. Amy put up a hand like we were in a classroom.

"I don't want to sleep underground tonight," they said. "I vote extra walking tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'm tired of the dark." Hana put her head on her knees. "I never realized how much I would miss the Sevii sun. This region is so cold."

"I fully agree with that." Even though Hoenn was on the same continent as Kanto, it was at about the same latitude as the Sevii Islands.

Yuji made an indecisive noise. "Though I am less inclined to make more work for us later, I will not hold back the group."

"Alright then, votes in favor of heading up have it. So, since we're headed that way, we basically need to hug the right wall of the big cavern and make a ninety-degree turn once we get in there. That actually is going to make it easier to get around whatever Pokemon is in there."

It was Yuji's turn to raise his hand. "Something I would mention again is that our flashlights make it hard to move unnoticed in these caverns. We have no Pokemon that are able to echolocate or guide us without light."

I sighed. He was right. Wisp could see in the dark, but our current plan had her distracting the Pokemon and joining us later.

"What if... ...we didn't have to sneak?" Hana asked slowly.

"Hmm?"

Hana grabbed her backpack and started to rummage through it. "Well, you know how I bought the safety supplies for this trip? One of the things that the ranger's manifest had warned about was pockets of unbreathable gases in the caverns. So, I ended up buying these."

Hana pulled four black plastic shapes from her bag, along with a silver pressurized gas container for each of them.

"Gas masks?" Yuji asked. "I'm afraid I don't follow."

"I do," I said excitedly. "Hana, you're an evil genius."

Hana's cheeks went a little red. "I wouldn't say evil, but I appreciate it. Essentially, since I've had both Paige and Rafflesia practicing their Stun Spore, we could pump the cavern full of it and run through with our masks on. That should slow down or stop anything from running after us."

Amy's pale face split into a mischievous smile. "Wicked."

Yuji nodded. "That would work. Even if the paralysis doesn't fully take, it should slow most things down. Do we know of any Pokemon in Mt. Moon that are particularly fast?"

Hana shook her head. "If Amy's right about it being taller than you, Yuji, then all the species of that size found in this mountain are pretty slow. Graveler and Golem can both get that tall if they get old enough, and the rare Rhydon is pretty tall. We'd definitely know already if it was an Onix."

I absentmindedly nodded as I thought back to Brock's Steelix. The thought of facing something that big sent shivers down my spine.

"Then that's the plan," I said. "Everybody good on plan Stun Spore?"

Yuji and Amy nodded, but Hana did hesitate. "I will say, though, that this won't last forever. If it's a strong Pokemon, we might only have a few minutes."

"Then we'll be fast. Let's do this, team."

---

We finished cleaning up after our meal and made our way back down the narrow tunnel.

Given Hana's plan, we decided it would still be best to send Wisp off to find whatever was lurking in the connecting cavern and draw it away from the tunnel mouth. We'd then funnel the Stun Spore away from the right-hand tunnel using Pennywise's Barriers, giving us a decent cloud of paralyzing spores between us and whatever the major threat was.

I rubbed Wisp's head. "Remember, don't attack it for real. Just annoy it. We don't know what things down here know dark type moves. I'll whistle when we get into the tunnel we need to get to. Come back when you hear that, okay?"

Instead of responding, she purred into my palm, forcing me to smile.

She left a few moments later, melting into the darkness with an evil chuckle. I nodded to Hana and Amy.

Amy murmured to Pennywise, tucking him into their coat and wrapping a damp rag around his mouth. Even if he should be mostly protected from the spores with his own Barriers, we didn't want him accidentally inhaling enough to lock up. The Mime Jr. hummed, creating a slightly glowing pink set of Barriers that extended far into the cave in front of us.

With that, Hana gave the order to both of her Pokemon. The Weepinbell and Bulbasaur both began to release a cloud of powdery yellow dust that floated forward, guided by both their will and Pennywise's pink Barriers.

All four of us donned our masks and I slipped the Pokenav+ onto my belt. Since we were hugging the right wall anyway, I wanted to have both hands available to catch me if I tripped.

The signal we were waiting for came in the sound of a mighty roar.

"Rhyyyyyyyyyydon!"

The cry echoed in the enclosed cavern, making it impossible to judge just how far away to monster was, it might as well have been right next to us. The ground trembled and shook as its feet pounded upon the stone.

Hana cursed as we registered what name the Pokemon had yelled. Rhydon was a massively strong Pokemon, and extremely rare in this particular set of caverns. The base amount of power that Rhyorn needed to evolve into Rhydon put it outside of our ability to fight it. It was a good thing we'd come at this with a plan because this kind of threat would have seriously injured us otherwise.

Honestly, it still could.

"Go!" I gave the call for us to move forward, taking off into the darkness of the city-block-sized cave.

In an instant, Hana returned both of her Pokemon, and all four of us made the dash forward.

We burst out of the narrow tunnel, emerging into a massive void in the mountain. The air was cold as it rushed past our masks, fogging up the visors. Between that and the thin layer of spore powder in the air, it took everything just to keep the wall on our right.

The floor was unreasonable smooth in the cavern, and my feet almost slid out from under me. I glanced down, and the stone on the floor had been worn smooth from some sort of constant grinding-

"Derek! Pay attention!" Hana yelled, grabbing me by my hoodie and yanking me back.

Whoosh! Shatter! Crash!

A rock the size of my head had flown out of the darkness, punctured Pennywise's Barrier, and crashed into the cavern wall. It shattered, showing us with shards of stone that had bounced off of our masks and clothes.

Oh, shit...

We'd made an obvious miscalculation when planning our run.

Given the Stun Spore, we knew that whatever Pokemon had been here, we could outrun them. What we hadn't considered is that Wisp might not be able to keep its attention on her. Or that it could still throw long-range attacks faster than we could run.

Yuji turned his flashlight in the direction that the stone had come from.

Standing shrouded in the darkness, shaking from the effects of the Stun Spore, was a massive, towering Pokemon of stone. Though it was almost an entire battle pitch away, it cut an intimidating figure. The Rhydon stood at almost two meters tall, not counting the spiral drill horn that jutted forward from its face, adding an additional twenty centimeters. The Pokemon's shoulders were as wide as a sedan, and its hulking form easily weighed over a hundred kilograms.

"Mis!" Wisp shouted as she hit the creature with a Confuse Ray.

The Rhydon didn't budge as it shrugged off the ghostly purple bolt of energy. Instead, it reached down to the ground with one of its clawed hands, sinking it deep into the stone like butter.

A cold weight dropped in my stomach. "Run!" I shouted, taking off down the trail. That thing was loading its next shot.

I sprinted with all my might, running even with the lowered visibility and slippery surface. Of course, I did slip and fall on my ass, and it came at just the right moment.

Crash!

Another rock missed me by just a few feet as the Rock Throw hit where I would have been. Hana screamed at the sound.

I pushed off the ground, grabbing Hana's hand and pulling her along with me. We couldn't stop moving. I didn't turn back, but I hear Yuji grunt as he hefted Amy over his shoulder.

"Drea drea drea!" Wisp angrily shouted at the Rhydon. It couldn't care less about her, instead picking up two more chunks out of the ground. It paused as it tried to throw them, the paralysis fully immobilizing it for a moment and giving us a real chance to move.

I kept running, Hana in tow. We just need to find the exit.

The cavern started to illuminate with yellow light.

Bzzzzzzzn!

The familiar sound of Wisp letting off a Charge Beam crackled through the air, and for a second fear clumped in my gut as I thought Wisp had actually attacked the Rhydon. When a narrow beam of light slammed into the opposite wall, though, I saw what she was really doing.

She was showing us the way.

There! Between two divots in the rock wall, a shadow didn't light up when Wisp used her charge beam. It meant that there was nothing there to light up, that there was a void there. Wisp had used her ability to see in the dark to show us the exit.

"We're close! Almost there!" I yelled as loud as I could to make sure that the others heard.

Crash! Crash!

The first rock missed entirely, going wide. The second rock only missed me by centimeters. It exploded next to my head, shattering and sending shrapnel across my face and neck. A bigger chunk clipped my gas mask, sending me reeling to the ground.

My vision flashed white and I got dizzy. Nausea pushed its way up my throat. I definitely had a head injury. I pressed my hand against my mask, feeling for cracks. It was still secure, albeit with a healthy dent in the visor where I'd been struck.

Hana said something, but I didn't catch it as another rock crashed into the rock wall. She shoved her shoulder under mine, getting me to my feet. Once I was up, I started stumbling forward, building up momentum with her. In the time we'd been down, Yuji had passed us. Like I'd thought, he was carrying Amy and they were both almost at the exit.

I looked back at Wisp and she was fully trying to kite the Rhydon now. She'd started sending out Charge Beams at the lowest possible power to get its attention. Pride surged through me when I realized she was still listening to her orders. I didn't want her to accidentally escalate the Rhydon to use big moves and hurt her or us.

I let go of Hana, standing on my own two feet with renewed vigor. My Pokemon was stalling for us, and I wasn't going to waste that time.

Yuji and Amy cross the threshold into the exit cave with Hana and I following right behind them. We didn't stop running when we got in, but I ripped my mask off and whistled as loud as I could.

I knew Wisp would hear me.

We ran and ran and ran. The tunnel sloped upward and Yuji let Amy drop to their own feet, but we didn't stop. We kept the pace for nearly half a kilometer. I pulled the Pokenav+ out and when I couldn't read it without wincing I passed it to Hana. She led us through forked tunnels and twisting paths, up and over boulders and underneath narrow tunnels.

I nearly yelled when a dim light appeared from around the curve.

We made it to the mouth of the cave, a warm breeze flowing in from the outside of Mt. Moon. Light flooded in and it took a moment for our eyes to adjust. Longer for me than the others, at the very least.

Outside of the cave entrance, there was a box canyon with a floor of dense scrubland waiting for us. Another tent was already pitched there. The breeze was so much warmer than the stone-chilled air we'd experienced for the last two days. The sun, the glorious legends-blessed sun, was warm on our faces and so bright.

While the others basked and caught their breath, though, I turned back to the cave.

I waited, watching for my Pokemon.

And waited.

There was an uncomfortably long moment of silence, and two campers came out from the tent to see the other campers that had arrived. Yuji walked down to talk to them.

I waited.

Hana tried to come over to bandage my head wound, but I waved her off. Instead, I whistled into the cavern once again.

And finally, after almost half an hour of waiting, two tiny yellow and red eyes popped out of the darkness.

"There she is!" I shouted, running back into the cavern.

"Drea Vous!" Wisp cheered happily, though her voice was tired and faint. She popped out of the shadows and I scooped her up, giving her a big hug. She was tired and warm, and as I looked at her I could see little parts of her ghost body that were faded and bruised. She'd ended up taking damage after all.

"Oh, poor baby," I cooed as I hugged her. "I'm so proud of you for getting us out of there! Let's get you healed up and then you can rest."

Wisp fell limp in my arms, letting me carry her. She was incredibly light, on account of her being a ghost. I walked back out of the cave to see that Yuji and Amy had already started setting up camp with the help of the other two campers. Hana was ready and waiting for me and Wisp with two potions and a medkit already set out.

As I walked my Pokemon down to the camp, I glanced back at the entrance to Mt. Moon.

I was happy to be out, but we needed to go back in there to get to Cerulean. I only hoped it would go better than today.

 

 

Notes:

a/n: Man, I was a fool to think that I'd get through Mt. Moon quickly.

Though I'm definitely suffering from word-count hubris, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I did recently realize that I'm averaging an existential crisis about once every chapter and a half, so I thought about lightening that up...     ...and then remembered that I just sent four mentally-ill teenagers through an oppressively dark cave system.

*face palm*

Also, small disclaimer on the chips discussion: I like all of the chips listed. In fact, if I was to rank them from most to least favorite, it would be Sweet Onion, then Cheddar, and then Salt/Vinegar. All are good, but some don't leave cuts and acid burns in the mouth.

Also, also, the Rhydon was at least level 43 (because it had evolved) so that put it, like, twenty levels higher than most of the team's Pokemon. Basically, the best they could do in a feel fight would be to have Achilles tank two or three hits while everybody else ganged up on it. It would one-shot basically any other Pokemon. That's why they ran away.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading! Don't forget to drop some interaction if you liked it!

Chapter 26: Under the Night Sky

Notes:

Hi hi! It's so nice to see you all again! Quick shoutout to LadyLilac and raptorwastaken for hounding me to get this chapter done. Given that this version was the fifth rewrite, it might never have been released without them. 

Wisp let out a tiny noise of discontent as Hana sprayed her wounds with a potion, recoiling away from the medicine. Her head pressed back into my stomach as she tensed up and she whined into my jacket.

I sighed, running my fingers through her ghostly hair. "I'm sorry, Wisp, we're almost done. It's just a little bit more."

I looked up at Hana to confirm that I was not, in fact, lying to my Pokemon. Hana grimaced and gave me a 'fifty-fifty' hand gesture. She then discarded the empty container and reached into the bag for another potion.

We had found a spot atop some rocks nearby to where Yuji and Amy were setting up camp in the tiny box canyon. They'd elected to put the tents next to the other trainer's camp and were over getting acquainted with them. Hana had offered to help bandage both me and Wisp since the damage had been so intense.

A pang went through my heart as I looked down at my ghost. The wounds she'd sustained to keep Rhydon busy were way worse than anything I'd seen her take to this point. They were lingering more than they should have. The scratches, gouges, and bruises across her body seemed to be keeping her corporeal, which was something I'd never seen in person.

Dark type energy was one of two weaknesses for ghost types, and the only one that truly upset their phantasmal forms. Rhydon must have been packing a dark type move to force Wisp to stay corporeal. Instead of fading into the shadows to recover like she normally would, Wisp was being forced to be healed through the slow, medical process of potion application.

Hana interrupted my brooding, quietly grabbing something else out of her bag and pushing it into my hand.

It was a small blue fruit, one of the oran berries I'd given her at the Pokemon Center. I looked up at her and she gave me a small smile, gesturing to Wisp with her head before going back to applying the potion.

A tired grin found its way onto my face. Oran berries weren't nearly as effective as actual modern medicine, but they did have healing qualities to them.

More importantly, they were at least a little bit sweet, and I was holding one of the the biggest sweets fanatics I'd ever met.

"Here, girl," I murmured to Wisp, bringing the berry in front of her face. "Snack on that."

Wisp's went as wide as saucers. She lunged for it before I could blink.

The berry did its job cheering her up. "Drea!" my Pokemon mumbled happily as she chewed on her snack.

I caught Hana's eye and gave her a grateful look. She simply hummed in satisfaction as she started applying bandages to my Pokemon.

We continued on for a few more moments before Hana stood up, brushing the dirt from her pants.

"Well, that's as good as it's going to get for now," she sighed, looking into her bag regretfully. "I have to keep a few potions in the case of another emergency, so that's all we can spare right now."

I shrugged, pulling Wisp into my arms like the baby she was and standing up. "It is what it is. I can't thank you enough for what you've already done."

Hana smiled. "Derek, she saved our lives. The least I could do is help out," she said. Hana reached out and rubbed Wisp's head and my ghost nuzzled her palm.

I frowned a bit, not sure if what I was saying was getting across. "Still though, thanks," I tried again.

Hana met my gaze and paused. It clicked for her. I wasn't just thanking her for helping with Wisp.

Even within the oppressive darkness and cold of Mt. Moon, and the hard day that today had been, it had been a long time since I'd felt this mentally... healthy? Our conversation in the Pokemon Center, letting everything off my chest, had really helped. Having a friend like Hana had been really important, especially since I didn't have Daisy to talk to.

I loved Yuji and Amy, and I would always consider them my best friends, but with them I couldn't help try and solve the intense problems they were going through. It wasn't like that with Hana. She was the rock of the group, a solid and stable person who you could rely on.

Hana gave me a warm grin and nodded. "Sure, Derek. No problem."

I made a mental note to get Hana a present when we got to Cerulean. She definitely deserved it.

I looked around the box canyon, spotting where Yuji and Amy were sitting by a fire with the two other trainers who'd already been here. All four of them were comfortably lounging on small stumps and rocks and, to my surprise, a steady stream of conversation could be heard from both of my introverted companions.

I tilted my head that way. "Ready to meet the neighbors?" I asked Hana.

Her smile dimmed a little. "I would rather nap, but I suppose we should be polite. They did help the others set up our stuff."

"Oh, really?" I gave them another glance, though we were a little too far away to really make out a lot of detail, especially in the setting sun's dim light.

She nodded. "Yuji explained what had happened when we arrived, and one of them offered to help if we needed to go back down into the caves to find Wisp. From what little of them that I saw, they seem to be good guys."

That'd be a nice change of pace after Baird, I thought with a smile.

I tucked a now-napping Wisp inside my jacket, and Hana and I walked down to camp to meet our new friends.

---

Yuji and Amy stood to greet us when we got to the fire pit, eyes full of worry. "Derek, Hana," Yuji murmured. "Did everything turn out alright? How's Wisp?"

I summoned a reassuring smile and patted him on the shoulder before slightly unzipping my jacket. Wisp was comfortably slumbering there, snoring softly.

Even with their dislike of ghost types, Amy made a noise at how cute she looked.

"It's okay. Wisp is just a little banged up and she won't be able to go ghost for a while. Nothing that time won't heal."

Yuji gave me a hesitant look before slowly smiling. Stress melted from his shoulders like snow from a sunny mountain.

"Good," he sighed. He then glanced around the fire, gesturing to our new camping companions. "These are Ambrose and Lester, the trainers who had already happened to be camping here. We were just having a discussion about evolution methods."

I turned to smile and say 'hi' to the two of them, when I was taken aback by the two male models sitting in front of me.

The first was a platinum-blonde Superman. He was tall, buff, and cut, and there was something just naturally charming about his blue-eyed gaze as he waited for me to finish speaking. He had a presence about him, the kind of vibe that celebrities and public speakers gave off. His nearly white hair was slicked back and shaved down on the sides, showing off a silver ear clasp on the top of his left ear. It had a small chain dangling from it, ending in a silver moon medallion. He was dressed in a white and yellow sleeveless jacket that showed off his shoulders and form fit to his figure.

The one lounging next to him, on the other hand, was closer to my build. He was of middling height while being wirey and lean. His thinner frame was accentuated by baggy dark clothing and his paper-pale skin. His dark hair was left long and shaggy, covering one of his eyes and cascading down his back. Either he hadn't slept recently, or he'd intentionally given himself dark bags with a dark purple eyeshadow, I couldn't tell at this distance. Dangling from his right ear was a thin golden chain with a sun pendant on it.

Superman leaned forward and offered me an outstretched hand and a radiant smile, reminding me that I had stopped speaking. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Ambrose. I'm glad that everything worked out with your Pokemon."

I snapped out of my funk and leaned forward, shaking the guy's hand. It was just as powerful as I'd expected, but surprisingly gentle and in control. He made no move to give any more pressure than necessary for a firm handshake.

"I appreciate that, it was close. I'm Derek Tracy, by the way," I said, grateful the my back was to the fire. They probably couldn't see the heat that was working its way up my throat.

This dude is uncomfortably hot, was my only thought.

I turned to the other one, who I assumed was Lester, and I offered my hand to him as well. He leaned forward slightly and shook it, though he said nothing. His hand was slender and cold, and our handshake was short.

I cleared my throat and stepped to the side, pulling up a stump and attempting to draw Ambrose's gaze away from me. "This is, uh, Hana."

Hana stepped forward and greeted both of them as well, and Ambrose's smile looked just as genuine meeting her.

"So, evolution methods?" Hana asked as she sat down on a rock between Amy and I.

I chuckled under my breath. Leave it to her to focus on the academic conversation.

Ambrose smiled once again, leaning back on the rock that he and Lester shared. "Yes," he said passionately. "Yuji was just telling us about his specialization in fighting types, so I brought up that Lester and I have both specialized in 'time evolutions'."

"Which basically meant that we just kinda talked about all the weird evolutions we knew about," Amy piped up. "Like how Pennywise isn't gonna evolve till he learns Mimic."

"Time evolutions," I murmured, the phrase proccing something I'd read recently. "Like, uh, Chingling? Doesn't it only evolve at night?"

Ambrose's eyes lit up. "Yes, exactly! That's actually why we're here, we'd heard that there might be Chingling on the lower floors, so I was on my way to come catch one. Well, that and Lester also wanted to catch a Pokemon here."

As one, my friends and I shared a glance.

Based on the looks on their faces, this was the first time that Ambrose had mentioned Chingling by name. With that being the case there was a silent question in the air, and for some reason, my friends looked at me to answer it.

I shrugged.

Amy face-palmed.

Hana sighed and turned back to the other trainers. "That's actually why we're here as well," she admitted. "At least, one of our goals was to catch one of the psychic types on the lower floors."

I saw Ambrose's eyes glance at Amy for a moment before taking the information in stride. He'd already seemed to have figured out who the psychic specialist among us was.

"That's great! If there are other trainers on the search, that means those rumors a probably true," he said, seeming genuinely reassured that we were following the same trail. "I'll admit, I was curious as to what caused you all to come through this route. It's supposed to be much harder than the established one, though with your Pokenav+ it must have been a lot easier. I don't see those in Kanto very often."

Once again, all four of us shared a look before glancing at Hana's waist, where my Pokenav+ was currently clipped.

I was a little intimidated. Ambrose is really observant. He nailed that Amy was the one looking for a psychic type and spotted my Pokenav+. He's smart and good-looking? That's kinda unfair.

Hana smiled politely. "Yes, well, it has been really helpful. It's actually not mine, Derek's just letting me hold onto it."

Ambrose made to make more conversation, but his voice faded into the background as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I looked around before my eyes settled on Lester. He was staring back at me. His dark eyes were unreadable, but they were concentrated on me. When he saw me looking, he didn't back down, instead holding my gaze.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lester's hand slowly drift forward, grasping Ambrose's. Almost unconsciously, Ambrose interlocked their fingers as he kept talking, stroking his thumb over Lester's hand.

The ghost of a smile found its way onto Lester's face, and I suddenly understood what this was.

He's marking his territory, I almost chuckled when I realized, though a blush started working its way back up my throat. He totally caught me ogling his boyfriend. The matching earrings suddenly make a lot more sense.

I gave Lester a little nod and raised my wrist slightly, showing off the handkerchief that Daisy had given me. I tried to make my meaning clear. I gotcha, and it's not an issue. I'm already taken.

Lester nodded back, catching my drift, and he seemed to actually relax.

"Right, Derek?" Hana's question pulled me back into the conversation as she gently placed a hand on my forearm to get my attention.

I blinked. "Sorry, what?"

She gave me an amused look as she glanced between Lester and me, very obviously picking up on what had happened. I sheepishly grinned back at her.

"What we had been saying," Yuji spoke up, "was that perhaps it would be best if we continued as a group down to the lower floors, given that they are so much more dangerous."

"Oh," I debated it for only a moment. While it might lower the amount of money we might make from catching Pokemon like Bronzor, it would help to have more people on the lower floors. Since Ambrose and Lester were both camping at this site, it meant that they both had at least a single badge. "Yeah, I think that sounds like a great idea. As long as everybody is okay with that?"

Hana, Yuji, Ambrose, and Lester all nodded almost immediately, but I did spot a little bit of hesitation from Amy. The tiny psychic eventually agreed, though.

I made a note to ask about that later.

"Okay, sweet. What time are we thinking we want to head back in?"

For the first time, Lester spoke up. "Not until at least nine. I would prefer to see the sun again before we go back down."

I raised an eyebrow when he spoke. Lester, despite his thin frame, had the deepest voice of the group by far. It genuinely sent chills down my back.

Yuji nodded. "I too would prefer to get some training done while it's warm."

Amy shrugged. "I'm not gonna be really awake at any point before noon anyway, so it doesn't make any difference to me."

I stood, stretching my sore muscles. "Cool, sounds like we'll be packed up and out of here at nine," I said with a yawn. "Alright, I'm going to hit the hay. It's been too long of a day."

"Oh, I'll go with you," Hana said, standing herself. "I need to set up the map for tomorrow's route, so I'll need the Pokenav+ charger."

That caught my attention. "We have signal?"

"Yeah, you actually get more than a couple bars at the end of the canyon," Ambrose spoke up. "It's not enough for streaming or anything, but definitely texts and maybe a phone call."

Today's date was suddenly at the forefront of my mind, and I gave Hana an urgent look. "Do you mind if I make a call first?"

A few different emotions that I couldn't keep track of passed through her face, but she settled on understanding. She nodded, unhooking it and passing it over. I rushed through a quick goodnight to everyone else and made my way to the end of the canyon. The night was cold and dark, but it didn't even come close to the inside of Mt. Moon. Wisp complained when I started moveing, so I returned her to her ball where she could sleep peacefully. I flicked through my contacts and found the number I wanted number at the top, dialing as soon as I'd reached more than a single bar of signal.

It had been five days since I'd left Pewter City. That meant that Daisy left for Johto tomorrow. Given that she'd be going into the wilds for weeks to follow the Bellsprout migration, this might be my last opportunity to call her for weeks.

The call rang four times before she picked up.

"Derek?" Her voice was staticky and broken, but there. She sounded shocked. "How are you call- ... -ight now?"

"Oh, it's so good to hear your voice," I let out a breath. "I'm at a campsite on the outside of the mountain. Don't worry, it's safe. I just realized that we had signal, and I really wanted to call you before you left."

There was a moment's pause before she answered. "... -m glad you did. I know it's only been- ... -ays but I've really missed you. How is everyone?"

I smiled, feeling a well of emotion in my chest that I hadn't realized that I'd been holding. I had really missed her too.

"Everyone is great. We met some other trainers today on the road and we're going to try hunting some rare psychic types tomorrow..."

I would eventually tell her about the Rhydon and Wisp's injuries, but I didn't want to worry her right now. Not when she wouldn't be able to check in on me for weeks.

No, instead I chose to tell her about the research I'd done trying to find a psychic for Amy, the progress Artis and I had made with Ice Ball, and my conversation with Hana.

She did have a comment when I mentioned my decision regarding her grandfather's offer.

"I'm glad Hana talked you into it. She's right, Pokemon training is extrem- ... -ompetitive. If you really see yourself at the top, you need to work every advantage that you have."

"I know," I sighed. "I guess- I mean, it just felt weird to get something so valuable from my girlfriend's family."

The was a light chuckle across the call. "... -erek, you do know that my brother is one of Grandpa's sponsored trainers this year, right? And that eight out of te- ... -the top rookies this year have some super privileged group or family supporting them?"

"Yes! I know..." I said with an amused tone. "Hana already said all that, and for the most part, I've made my peace with it. I swear, between the two of you it's like there's an echo sometimes-"

"Good!" Daisy laughed. "You should listen to her more often. She's a good influence on you."

Even though we lost signal a few times, Daisy and I talked for over an hour. She was really excited to hear about my week, especially because not a lot had happened for her. She'd taken a teleporting Pokemon back to Pallet Town and had met the expedition leader, but mostly it had just been a series of days spent packing for the trip.

Eventually, though, we did have to end our call. The Pokenav+ was dying and Daisy was leaving early the next morning.

"Goodnight, Daisy," I said wistfully, looking at the dying battery with regret.

She didn't sound much happier with the situation than I did. "Goodnight, Derek. I'll keep in touch as soon as I can."

Even though this call had been something completely unexpected, I couldn't help but feel cheated by the circumstances. We'd been able to steal this hour away, but it was going to be weeks before we could call again, let alone see each other. I frowned at the call, staring at the image of her that I'd set as her contact photo. It was from our night celebrating Paige's evolution. She was wearing her green dress and she looked absolutely radiant.

My thumb hovered over the disconnect button when I realized something.

She hadn't hung up yet either.

"Daisy?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

I frowned when there was something different about her voice. It was tight, strained even. When my sympathetic crying reflex started to activate, I realized what was happening.

"Oh no," I mumbled, eyes feeling hot. "You're not allowed to cry, cause then I'll cry! We already said goodbye like a week ago and it went fine!"

"I know!" Daisy choked out. "And it's stupid, but we spent a whole day preparing for that! I just- I wasn't ready to say goodbye again already."

Panic set in as my body unwillingly followed Daisy's lead, and tears started streaming down my face. "You gotta stop. You're gonna make me wake up the others!"

The call cut out again for a moment, but when it came back Daisy had reduced her crying to light snifles. "Is that better?" She asked quietly. "I'm sorry for crying, I just-

"You don't need to apologize at all, Dais," I interrupted her. "I get it, I'm having a hard time too. To be honest, I've never been this invested in someone else and..."

"... it's hard."

Daisy had finished my sentence in a perfect and simple way.

I had never really dated anyone seriously before, and even then, I'd never been drawn to someone the way that I was drawn to Daisy. All of this was new, especially given the weird circumstances that seemed to follow every time saw each other. I'd steeled myself well enough when I'd had a deadline and time to prepare, but hanging up on this coincidental call felt like an impossible task.

My Pokenav+ beeped twice. It wasn't going to give me a choice.

"I actually have to go now, Dais," I said, toughening up for just a moment. "The Pokenav+ is dying. I just want you to know that I'll miss you and that I'm counting the days to Saffron. Okay?"

"Okay," Daisy had steeled herself too. She was one of the strongest people I knew for a reason. "I'm going-"

The call dropped.

I looked down at the screen. It was black.

"Damn it."

---

I trudged back to the camp in a thoroughly bad mood.

"Stupid battery, stupid signal, stupid feelings..." I mumbled angrily, kicking a rock as I walked.

"Whoa, there," A familiar masculine voice chuckled. "Your call went that bad?"

I looked up from the trail and met Ambrose's amused gaze. He was comfortably lounging at the fire on the same rock I'd left him at. Everyone else was absent, so I assumed they'd already all headed to bed. He must've been the one to take the first watch over the camp.

"No. Yes. Ugh, not really," I shrugged. "Battery died."

Ambrose nodded knowingly and turned his gaze back to the fire. "It happens. Did you get to say everything you needed to say?"

I grimaced, thinking back to the end of the call. While I had given Daisy my final goodbye, I hadn't gotten to hear hers.

"I guess," I sighed. I sat down on the stump I'd been on earlier.

Ambrose didn't press me with more questions. Instead, he leaned back on his rock, laying out and looking up into the night sky. I followed his gaze, looking up at the constellations.

Years of thinking about rocketships and looking at the sky had hammered the name of every constellation in the sky into my mind. Ursaring Major, Cyndaquarius, Oricorian, all of them. The last time I'd thought about them was on Daisy and I's first proper date. She'd accidentally brought me to an entire exhibit about my favorite thing in the world. I think that was the first time I'd realized just how seriously I liked her.

Even though it had been interrupted by literal terrorists, that had been a pretty great date. Finding out Daisy was also a huge space nerd was one of my favorite things about her. She'd even talked about us coming here, to Mt. Moon, together one day.

In spite of my bad mood, a small smile found its way onto my face.

"You know," Ambrose mused from his rock without looking over at me. "When I've had a long day, nothing makes me feel better than looking at the sky."

I chuckled. "Yeah, it helps." I stared at the sky for a little bit longer before shifting to another rock. Maybe I would just sleep under the sky tonight. "I'm assuming that's why you decided to specialize in time evolutions?"

The adonis nodded. "I figure if I'm such a night owl, I might as well as well find some like-minded Pokemon for my team. Lester feels the same way, just about the sun. We're good like that."

"Huh," I grunted. A few moments later I let out a chuckle.

"Let me guess," Ambrose said. "You're thinking about how we look like we'd go for the opposite?"

"Yeah."

I could hear the smile in his voice as he started talking again. "I think that's why we work. I love the night, and he loves the day. We might give off the vibe of our opposite, but that just makes us like each other more."

I nodded along. It as much sense as anything else. "Hey, Ambrose?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to come off as, well, like I don't care-"

"But why am I telling this to somebody I met like two hours ago?"

"Yeah." I was getting unnerved by how well he could guess what I was going to say next.

He chuckled. "I actually don't know. You guys seem like good people. Lester likes you, at the very least."

I sat up, giving him a surprised look. "But-"

"You've exchanged all of two sentences and a handshake? Yeah, that's just how he works. Lester decides whether or not he likes somebody within about five minutes of meeting them. It helps that our first impression of you was somebody who was ready to run back into danger for their Pokemon. Honestly, if your ghost hadn't shown up when she did, Lester was about ready to go in on his own."

I thought about that for a long second.

It hadn't occurred to me that they'd been present while I was waiting for Wisp. I'd been so preoccupied with waiting for her that I'd disregarded anything else. From their perspective, though, I guess I saw why that would help their opinion of me. It did surprise me that Lester was the one who'd offered to help find Wisp. For some reason, I'd assumed it was Ambrose.

"Alright, then," I finally said. "I guess I can get behind that."

Ambrose grunted non-committedly, a lazy smile still on his face as he looked up at the sky.

We sat out there for another hour before Yuji made his way out of the tent to take over watch. I did eventually make my way into the tent. I set up the Pokenav+'s charger and waited for it to charge before going to update all the maps that Hana had wanted to do.

When I did get the Nav on again, there was a message waiting for me from Daisy.

[[20:31, Daisy 3]] I'm sorry that the call cut out. I just wanted you to know that I'll be missing you too, and that I hope you do so amazing against the Cerulean Gym. I can't wait to get through this expedition, and I'm waiting for Saffron. Goodnight, Derek.3

I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

---

The next morning came too fast and left just as quickly.

I really didn't want to go back underground. Between the experiences we'd had over the last few days and my newly rediscovered love of the sky, I was not excited to be spending another two to four days underneath a mountain.

We all woke early, most of us taking the morning to train and prepare for the potential danger in front of us. Even Amy joined Yuji and I for our morning training, a fire lit under them since our discussion yesterday about their limits. By nine, we'd packed our tents and had a proper breakfast cooked over a real fire.

The six of us assembled in front of the cavern with our gear strapped and our Pokeballs ready. I handed off the Nav back to Hana, trusting her to get us through the tunnels more efficiently than I could. She gave me a little grin as she checked that I had updated our route, remembering what she'd mentioned before my call.

"Well, everyone," Hana gathered everyone's attention and presented the Nav's screen to us all. "The route today should get us to the fifth floor, assuming that all of the tunnels are still intact and properly marked. We don't have any particularly difficult paths for the first few hours, though it's going to be a difficult climb down the shaft ladder to the bottom."

Yuji, Amy, and I all murmured in sarcastic enthusiasm, but unsurprisingly Ambrose pumped his fist.

"Sounds like a great time!" He exclaimed. "Maybe, if there's room, we could even repel down!"

I glanced at Lester right as he rolled his eyes. This was pretty normal for Ambrose, then. As I went to give my attention back to Hana, Lester caught my age and we shared an amused look.

"With Wisp still injured," Hana continued, "the best Pokemon for traveling with us are probably Pennywise and Despereaux. Actually, do either of you have Pokemon that can travel quickly or be carried?" She turned to our two guests.

Ambrose and Lester both nodded, withdrawing their Pokeballs. I did a double-take as I realized that they only had one Pokemon each. Even if they both already had a badge, that wasn't an enviable position.

Two bursts of red light materialized their Pokemon, and I fully reversed my opinion.

Scratch that, they're doing just fine.

Standing in front of Ambrose and Lester were two feline forms, both about a meter long from their nose to the tips of their tails. The one sitting in front of Lester was the more lithe of the two, its lavender fur shimmering in the early sunlight. Its eyes shined like intelligent amethysts, quickly glancing over the group with caution. The Pokemon also had a shining smooth ruby gemstone in the center of its forehead, which glimmered with power.

The other form, the one in front of Ambrose, was dark as pitch, its fur almost fully absorbing the light around it. Only the shining bands of golden fur around its ears, tail, and limbs gave it definition. Otherwise, it would simply be a black void with two crimson eyes.

"Holy..." I murmured.

"...shit," Amy finished for me.

"Indeed..." Yuji agreed.

Espeon and Umbreon, respectively. Two evolutions of one of the most expensive Pokemon in the world. Eevee, the base form of both creatures, was the Pokemon that held the record for the highest number of possible evolutions. It gave powerful, versatile, and unique options to any trainer lucky enough to get their hands on one and could slot into any team. Even watching premiere league battling, it was rare to see more than one evolution of Eevee at a time.

Hana, to give her all possible credit, seemed close to unfazed at the revelation. If you didn't know her as well as I did, you think she'd just been presented with a couple of Spearow. Internally, though, I could tell that she was freaking out.

"Well, that answers that question," she said. "So, if that's the case, I suggest that the two of you cover the rear while we focus on navigating us to the fifth floor."

Lester nodded. "It's a solid plan."

I gave him a startled look. His voice was somehow even deeper in the morning. I felt it reverberate in my gut when he spoke.

"Alright, team!" Ambrose stepped closer to the cavern entrance. His Umbreon hopped onto his shoulders, draping itself around his neck. "Let's get this show on the road and capture some Pokemon!"

There was a less-than-enthusiastic response, but the rallying cry got us moving.

---

"Next season, I'm either going back to Hoenn or I'm doing fucking Alola," I cursed.

Hana grunted above me. "Alola doesn't even have a Gym Circuit, Derek."

"But it's warm, and I guarantee I won't have to free climb down thirty meters of frozen rock," I snarked back.

"Actually-"

"Hana! Now is not the time for facts!"

"Too bad! Facts help me focus!" Hana slid another half a meter down the rock shaft. "Alola has one of the largest island mountains in the world, and it's notoriously frozen over. It's called Mount Lanakil-aaahhhhhh!"

Hana slipped another two meters, losing her composure and putting her only tens of centimeters away from my climbing position. Her rope caught, though, and far above us I heard the sounds of Yuji and Ambrose grunting.

"You okay down there?" Ambrose's voice echoed down the stone shaft.

"Just fucking peachy!" I shouted back. "Almost halfway down."

We'd traveled through Mt. Moon without incident for most of the morning, which was probably just karma winding up her arm for the big middle finger she gave us later in the day. The vertical tunnel that had been marked as having a ladder? It was empty when we arrived. Not only that, but the upward gusts and natural moisture of the tunnel had left the sides of the tunnel slick with ice and water, making an actual climb down almost impossible.

Given that we'd based our entire route on this tunnel, we didn't have much choice in giving Ambrose what he'd wanted earlier.

Thus, Hana and I were shimmying down a slick rock face with only Yuji and Ambrose, respectively, as counter-weights. Since they were the two strongest, they would help the two of us get to the bottom, where we would then belay for them, Amy, and Lester.

Hana caught her breath, glancing over her shoulder down at me. The glow of the lantern hooked to my waist illuminated her normally tanned face, showing just how pale with fear she was.

"Also," she huffed. "This technically isn't free climbing. It's just repelling. Stupid, dangerous, and awful, but still just repelling."

"If we get through this," I grunted, "You're buying me lunch. And dinner. Twice."

Her lime-green eyes glinted with amusement, even given our current situation. "You know, that only incentivizes me to-"

"I realize that!" I barked, finally dropping the anger for a moment of brevity. We both laughed nervously, venting our fear.

"I don't mean to be rude, my friends," Yuji called down. "But you are quite hea-"

"If you call me heavy, Yuji, I can promise you that your gi is getting mixed with the reds the time I do the laundry," Hana said viciously.

We didn't receive a response.

"Good."

Hana and I got back to work, sliding ourselves down the icy tunnel with as much speed as we could muster. The tunnel widened out, meaning that instead of pressing my back against an icy-cold rock wall, I was dangling over an open abyss with only my feet giving me solid contact against the cliff face.

Fun.

After about five minutes of this, though, I felt a sudden pressure against my waist.

"What the...?" I looked down and saw that my line had gone taught. "Hey guys! Give me some more slack!"

Distantly, I could hear Amy call out. "That's as long as it goes! Aren't you at the bottom yet?"

I bit back every sarcastic retort clawing its way out of my throat. Instead, I turned my head and looked down below me. Amy was right, we should have already hit the bottom. The shaft was only supposed to be thirty meters deep, but we'd allotted forty-five meters of rope to each of us.

When I looked down, though, I saw the problem.

"Uh, Hana?" I called, my heart sinking.

"Yeah, Derek?" She grunted as she stepped down, almost even with me.

"Go ahead and tell me if I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing."

Hana gave me a confused look before glancing over her shoulder.

"Oh, no," she said softly.

"So, it's what I think it is?"

"Yes, Derek. You're seeing it right."

"Gotchya."

We both stared down, far below us at the crumbling rubble of the floor of the cavern, large chunks of rock and stone scattered across an impossibly vast abyss. We weren't looking at Floor Five. The tunnel to Floor Five that connected to our rocky shaft had collapsed downward at some point, leaving a yawning portal to the floors below.

This way was completely impassable for single-badge trainers.

We were literally and figuratively out of our depth.

Keeping a completely neutral face and my voice as level as possible, I called up to the group. "Alright, guys, go ahead and pull us up. We can't go this way."

There was no answer.

I looked at Hana. She stared back at me. Both of us had fully masked our emotions, trying our absolute best to keep the panic from overwhelming us. We were suspended ten meters above a place that was literally classified as too dangerous for the public.

The emotional masking was only doing so much.

"Guys!" Hana yelled, her voice several octaves higher than normal.

"Give us a minute!" Amy yelled. "We tied you off because we think there's a wild Pokemon up here!"

I couldn't help myself. "What in the hell do you mean, you think?" I was fully panicking. "You're a- Check!"

I stopped myself before I accidentally outed Amy's psychic status to our new companions, but I couldn't help but feel urgent frustration. Did I believe that overall using their abilities was bad for them? Yes. Did I care for that particular policy in our current situation? Hell no.

"Derek, that is precisely why this is an argument," Yuji said urgently. "Amy claims they don't feel any presences near us, but our companion says that he definitely saw a Pokemon."

"I did," Lester said helpfully, his deep voice reverberating off the rocks. "I hadn't seen it's species before, but I very much saw a Pokemon. It was white."

Hana cursed under her breath. "Amy, a dark type would be invisible to you, right?"

I don't know why, but something about that sentence put a different kind of uneasiness in my gut. It didn't quite dwarf the fear of dangling above a deadly void, but it was distinct enough to be present.

There was silence from above as I assumed the others went back to discussing the Pokemon.

Something, unbeknownst to me, compelled me to ask a question.

"Lester," I yelled. "What did it look like?"

"I only caught a small glance," he said. "It was white, with four legs. Maybe a head taller than my Espeon."

That pit in my stomach opened wider and deeper than it ever had before. I grabbed the rope, my fingers shaking as I grabbed my rope for stability. My mind was racing and my cheeks went numb.

No, no, no, no, no...

"It's head," I kept speaking, though my voice cracked a few times. "It had a single black horn, right?"

"Yes."

No, no, no...

Hana narrowed her eyes, staring at me with confusion. "Derek, what's wrong? You know that Pokemon?"

I nodded to her, but didn't verbally answer yet. I had one more question and it could make all the difference in the coming disaster.

"When you saw it, did it point its horn? A nod, a tilt, anything at all?"

There was a beat of silence. "If I had to say, it tilted it forward, towards us."

I looked down at the cavern far below us. It was Floor Six, maybe Seven? Going down there meant we were going past where we were supposed to go, and we'd be entirely on our own. We didn't even have maps of those floors.

But if it had told us to go down there, then it was safer than whatever was coming.

"Hana," I spoke urgently, turning my back as much to her as I could. "There's another thing of rope in my bag. You need to pull it out and tie it to your line so we can go down."

She looked at me like I was insane.

"Derek, we can't go down there!" Hana hissed as she gestured to the lower floors.

I was already working on tying myself off to her rope. "Guys!" I shouted up the cavern. "You just need to trust me right now! I'm going to move to Hana's line and we're going to keep going down. You need to send down another rope and get down here. You have maybe three minutes! Something bad is about to happen!"

To their credit, I didn't immediately get a response. Instead, the sounds of rustled movement and grunting sounded from above.

"Seriously, Derek- This is so dangerous," Hana protested, even while she was digging through my bag. "Why does that Pokemon mean something bad is coming? Is it dangerous? Is it more danger-"

I interrupted her as I started fumbling with our lines. These ropes were rated for a few hundred kilos, so they'd definitely hold two of us. We just needed to tie them off properly.

"That Pokemon," I muttered as I worked, "is called an Absol. It's native to Hoenn, we have a nursery rhyme for it. Its nickname is the 'Disaster Pokemon' and it warns people when big natural disasters are coming. It tries to tell you how to get to safety." I tilted my head down.

Hana's breath caught. She cursed. She knew as well as I did that, while wild Pokemon were deadly and terrifying, any sort of cavern collapse or flood would be lethal to all of us in a small tunnel.

Slender hands slapped mine away from our ropes as Hana took over. She deftly transferred our loops over, securing our two makeshift harnesses to each other. She looped in the rope I'd been carrying, tossing the slack down into the void. Unlike our initial climb, where we had been lowered down, we were going to be sliding down the rope. Now we were only suspended by my original line, Hana's rope acting more like a guideline for our rapid descent. The moment I let go, we would start moving again.

With our ropes secured, Hana looked me in the eye. Her gaze was full of fear. "You're sure?"

I looked down and gulped. I nodded. "Five minutes. That's about how long you have, normally."

Two lines fell past us, the rest of the rope we'd bought for the trip, and far above us we could see our four friends all push themselves over the edge of the cliff. Yuji had Amy strapped to his back while Lester and Ambrose were helping each other down. They were moving a lot faster than Hana and I had and would catch up with us within a minute.

Hana looked up at them and back down at the cavern floor. She looked like she was doing quick math in her head. Hana nodded. "Everybody should make it down in time."

"Then let's hope we have enough time to be prepared," I said under my breath, hyping myself up for what we were about to do. "You ready?"

Hana shut her eyes, gripping the base of her harness tight. "No."

"Too bad." I released my line.

My stomach fell out from under me as we started to rapidly descend. It wasn't quite a free fall, but it was close. The line sliding past us helped keep us from plummeting, but it didn't mean that the landing wasn't going to hurt.

We fell for seconds. Cold wind rushed past us, tearing at our faces and exposed skin. I wrapped my hands in my sleeve, hoping the cloth would be enough to protect me, and grabbed the line. All of that force and weight hit my shoulders first, wrenching my arms upward. Even with the line taking some of the burden, I was suddenly supporting most of the weight of the two of us. Heat bloomed from the friction of the two cloths, but it had the desired effect.

Our descent slowed.

We skidded down the rope for another moment before our feet touched down with a heavy thud! The floors was rough and uneven, further evidence that the tunnel had recently suffered a major collapse.

Pain lanced up my joints, but I didn't let it distract me. I moved to untie us only to find Hana was already getting to work. Within a few seconds, she had us free.

Thud, thud, thud!

Our companions landed next to us. Hana and I rushed to them, helping them undo their own harnesses.

"Hey, man," Ambrose said. "What's the emergency? Also, this looks a lot deeper than-"

"It is," I said urgently, unloading Amy off of Yuji's back. "Worry about that in a minute. Get ready for whatever's coming. You're going to want your Pokemon out if they can protect us."

Ambrose gave me a hard look before nodding. He turned to Lester, making sure his boyfriend had extracted himself from the ropes.

Six Pokeballs popped open, illuminating the large cavern around us in red light. Wisp, Pennywise, Achilles, Paige, Umbreon, and Espeon all materialized, taking up defensive stances around their trainers. We grouped together, back to back, the same way we had when the Beedrill attacked us in the Viridian Forest. Lester and Ambrose fell in seamlessly, sliding between me and Yuji.

We hadn't been on the lower floors for longer than forty-five seconds before the disaster made itself known.

A tremor reverberated across the cavern, accompanied by the sound of shifting of stone and rock.

"An earthquake?" Amy whispered.

Hana shook her head. "Earthquakes don't happen underground. At least, they wouldn't feel the same. This is..."

Craaaack!

An intense cracking noise sounded far above us. Fissures and pressure lines appeared across the ceiling of the cave, almost a hundred meters above our heads. It suddenly made sense. The initial collapse that had locked us off from Floor Five had only been the beginning.

That entire tunnel was about to give out. We were directly underneath it.

"Cave collapse!" I yelled. "Get to the walls!"

As one, we sprinted to the wall of the cavern farthest from the collapsing tunnel. Dust and dirt fell first, small rocks bouncing off of us as we ran. My eyes stung from the debris, so I smashed them closed. My legs were still sore from our landing and they protested as I made them move. Wisp pressed her head into my back, willing me to move faster.

Crack! Crack! Keruk!

Larger pieces of stone started to fall from the ceiling. They hadn't hit the ground yet, but they would soon.

My hand touched smooth stone. We'd reached the wall.

"Barrier!" Amy yelled, their voice cracking,

In response, both Ambrose and Lester yelled back in sync with each other. "Mimic!"

The familiar light of Pennywise's pink barriers materialized around us, a protective hemispherical dome of psychic energy. What baffled me, though, were the dark purple and silver copies of his move that appeared around it. Espeon and Umbreon strained in front of us, glowing with light from the activation of their moves. Like a three-layered onion, Lester and Ambrose had tripled our defenses by having them mimic Pennywise.

I hoped it would be enough.

Crash! Crack! Thud! Boom! Boom!

The heavier chunks of stone had started to hit the ground. Boulders the size of refrigerators hit the ground and shattered, sending fist-sized rocks scattering across our Barrier. More shockwaves and tremors echoed through the cavern and the noise was deafening. Yuji clasped his hands over Amy's ears, and Hana and I followed suit.

Among the noises of breaking rock, my heart jumped when I heard a noise like the breaking of glass. Up and to the right of us, a rock larger than my head had punctured Umbreon's barrier, though it bounced off of Espeon's. Our first layer of defense was starting to fail.

Another volley of boulders fell, this set impacting against the growing pile of rubble in the middle of the room and scattering even farther. The rocks hitting the barriers were getting bigger and more frequent. More holes started to appear in Umbreon's barrier. The dark type strained under the pressure and Ambrose leaned down to support his Pokemon.

Tiny cracks started to appear in Espeon's barrier.

Something shifted in the air, as full of dust and debris as it was, made us look up.

A shadow descended on the cavern.

BOOOM!

A single massive chunk of stone had fallen from above. It was as large as a car, and it struck the ground with more energy than the rest of the collapse combined. The shockwave ripped through the cavern, dropping all of us to our knees.

Umbreon and Espeon's barriers both shattered, leaving only Pennywise to carry the burden of our protection.

The big boulder cracked on impact, breaking into several huge pieces that each cascaded outward. One of those pieces tumbled down the rubble pile, directly toward us.

"Dreavous!" Wisp, still injured and tired from yesterday, floated to the front of the group. Her eyes shone blue with psychic power.

The piece of rock began to glow blue as Wisp used her Confusion. It wasn't nearly enough to stop the momentum and it barreled toward our group. We couldn't move out of the way, either, because the barrier that was protecting us was also keeping us in.

Once again, purple and silver light flickered into existence.

Umbreon and Espeon had added their strength to the mix again, using their Mimic move to copy Wisp's Confusion. The boulder, which now glowed three separate colors, still didn't stop. However, it did start to tilt and warble on its axis. It's path was only altered by only a few degrees, but it was enough.

Slam!

The boulder rammed into the cavern wall, shattering into hundreds of shards. Bits of rock showered Pennywise's barrier, and the tiny psychic cried out under the pressure. Cracks webbed their way across the translucent forcefield, signaling the end of our psychic protection.

Achilles shoved his hulking frame between us and the rest of the cavern, extending his wings and arms like a shield. The moment the barrier shattered out of existence, the giant beetle took its place. The rest of us huddled together, listening to the sounds of rocky pebbles and chips dink off of his armor.

After a moment, the sounds of falling rocks subsided.

The cavern collapse had finished.

The silence that followed was incredibly heavy. None of us immediately let go of each other. Yuji and Ambrose formed the outermost layer of our huddle, followed by myself, Lester, and Hana. In the center was Amy and the rest of our Pokemon. We did a quick visual check over each member of the group. No one looked very injured, only scared and exhausted.

The air was thick with dust, almost unbreathably so. All of us had a hand or cloth of some kind over our mouths, and every few seconds one of us would cough or gag.

It was Lester who spoke first.

"So, what do we do now?"

I looked back toward the ceiling, slowly letting my hands unclench from around Wisp and Hana. The air was too thick to see anything, but I knew that we couldn't go back the way we came. Even if we had a way to secure the ropes up above, that tunnel was definitely impassable. Chunks of it made up a ten-meter-tall pile in front of us.

No, instead I turned my gaze to the rest of the cavern around us. This room was actually closer to a long corridor, with wide cavern mouths on either side of it. We had braced ourselves against one of the two walls, but if we'd gone in a slightly different direction we could've kept running for longer than I could currently see.

That tunnel collapse had been intense, and as loud as it had been it was sure to attract the attention of whatever monsters lived down here. A shiver went down my spine as I thought about the Rhyhorn from yesterday.

That had been on a higher floor than we were on now.

We didn't have a chance if we stayed down here. We needed to find a way to an upper floor, situate ourselves on the map, and navigate out of the mountain.

There was only one thing we could do right now.

"We keep moving."

Notes:

Thank you for reading! I'm so happy to finally get another chapter up! This one went through so many revisions. Like, this chapter ended up being my longest one yet at 8.8k, but across all versions I'd written almost 30k trying to get it where I wanted it.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to comment, follow, and kudos if you did!

Chapter 27: Below the Depths

Even with as much bravado I'd put into saying that we would keep moving, I had a hard time forcing my feet to move.

The situation hadn't quite set in yet, though I could feel it at the edge of my current numbness. The moment that I really stopped to think, though, I knew that the dam would break.

I took a shaky step forward, pulling Daisy's handkerchief from my wrist and using it to wipe my eyes and face. With how thick the dust was in the air, all of us had a heavy layer of grey on our faces. It made it even harder to breathe and pretty soon it would seep into our eyes. Even if that collapse hadn't been loud enough to alert the entire floor, it definitely wasn't healthy to stay in the rubble cloud. Wisp coughed as she pushed her way into my jacket, retreating there to hide from the exposure.

I took another mental stock of our situation. Ambrose and Lester were helping each other over a larger piece of rubble, trying to get up above the circle of wreckage around us. The barriers had kept the rubble off of us, but their displacement had left a stone wall around us that was almost two meters tall. The two of them both had their Pokemon slung around their shoulders like cats.

Yuji had kneeled to murmur something to Amy. It must've been comforting because the little psychic steeled themself, putting on a brave face. Pennywise was clutched to their side, completely passed out from exhaustion, and Achilles was vigilantly keeping watch of us. His carapace was scuffed and scratched in places where he'd taken impacts from the collapse. Injuries he'd taken guarding us.

With Paige wrapped around her backpack, Hana was standing with my Pokenav+ out. She wiped the screen with her shirt before she started clicking through the maps.

Hana shook her head, covering her mouth with her scarf before speaking. "We don't have any data on what's down here. I know what direction we could go, but I don't know which one has tunnels that will loop back, or if they actually lead out-"

Yuji placed his hand on her shoulder, using his stoic energy to try and calm her. "Slow down," he said soothingly, using his shirt as a mask. "You are the smartest among us, give us your best guess."

I shot Yuji a grateful look. I couldn't have said it better myself. He nodded back to me.

The building manic energy left Hana's body, replaced instead by hopeless resignation. She shrugged. "I- I don't know. That way," she said, pointing toward one of the two tunnels, "might get us closer to the edge of the mountain, but that doesn't guarantee that we'll go up."

I pushed myself to contribute. "That's good enough for me," I said with a nod. "We aren't going to get a better argument than that, and we need to move. Let's get out of here, then we'll take stock from there."

The others nodded and murmured agreement, sending looks out into the smoke. The light from our flashlights and lanterns bloomed in the dust cloud, making it almost impossible to see farther than a few feet away.

The four of us and our Pokemon made our way up to Lester and Ambrose, both of whom helped us up on top of their boulder. I told them of our decision, and both of them hastily agreed.

"We were keeping lookout," Lester started, speaking quietly so as to not startle the others of the group. It was clear that Hana was on the verge of a panic attack, and Amy's brave face was only doing so much. Even Yuji, on closer inspection, looked a little green around the gills.

"And we heard something down that tunnel," Ambrose finished, pointing in the opposite direction of where we were heading. "We couldn't tell much about it, other than it was something heavy."

"So, Hana's path it is," I agreed. I'd been right, the collapse had brought something our way. I turned back to the others, speaking quietly. "Let's move quickly."

The cavern was unrecognizable from when we'd rappeled down here, not that we'd had a long time to study it. The rubble was concentrated at the center of the tunnel, but there had been so much of it that there had been nowhere for it to go but up. Heavy stones and thick chunks of sediment were stacked multiple meters high, making it hard to extract ourselves from our space by the wall.

We skirted around the edge for the most part, helping each other over the gaps we couldn't bridge on our own. Our Pokemon stayed out of their balls. Nobody said it, but we didn't want to be caught unawares again.

We eventually made it out of the rubble, finding our way to a wide tunnel that stretched a few meters past the end of the chamber that we stood in. The tunnel was at least five meters in diameter, meant to accommodate creatures much larger than us. Farther down the tunnel, sections of the grey-brown walls darkened, showing spots where other tunnels connect to it. They were densely populated, making the tunnel look like something more akin to a giant labyrinth than anything else.

We all gave pause at that.

In a maze like that, not only would we be likely to get lost, but we would have more than two directions to worry about wild Pokemon attacking us from. Going in there would be a practice of constant vigilance. From the looks on everyone's faces, it was clear that was what we were all thinking.

"...Maybe I should-" Amy broke the silence, but I pulled their beanie down on their head, interrupting them. Just like we could tell that we were all having a hard time deciding to go in there, it was pretty obvious what they had been thinking.

When they pulled it back up, I gave Amy a hard look. "Mm-mmm," I shook my head.

They went to argue with me, but Hana agreed with me. "Not then, not now," she said. "And we can't afford for you to exhaust yourself right now."

Amy's face dropped as they considered her words. Eventually, they shrugged and gave a sad sigh. I felt a pang in my chest as they did.

This isn't going to help their guilt over 'not helping out', I thought, feeling some guilt. But if they pushed themselves like that again, that would put them in even more danger, especially if we ran into something big.

I glanced at the rest of the group, and Yuji nodded at our decision. He hadn't wanted Amy to overuse their powers either. That kind of reliance wasn't worth it, at least in our eyes.

Interestingly, neither Ambrose nor Lester looked even slightly curious. Thinking back, they'd probably figured out what was up with Amy back when they'd been 'searching' for Absol. We hadn't exactly been subtle.

Instead, Lester shot me a look, tilting his head back in the direction we'd come from. As far as we knew, there was still something occupying the other tunnel. A potential danger was definitely better than one we knew was there.

"It can't be helped," I grimaced. "We still need to get moving. We'll just have to be extra careful."

"Then we should try to move quickly and stealthily," Yuji said. "Move with minimal Pokemon out, try to avoid as much attention as possible. Lights should be set to low."

Hana shook her head. "We're not supposed to be here. We know it, but the Pokemon that live here know it too. It's not like the upper floors where there are a ton of trainers and they might let us go if they hear us go by. We're more likely to avoid trouble if we make hunting us not worth the effort. We should keep our Pokemon out and take things slowly."

"We don't want to overwork ourselves," I agreed. "Slow and steady is the only way we conserve energy and make it to the higher floors."

No one looked particularly comfortable with keeping their Pokemon out in such a dangerous environment, but we didn't have much of a choice. The few Pokemon that remained in their balls were released. Between the six of us trainers, we had access to a decent little horde. Our numbers included Artis, Wisp, Despereaux, Achilles, Paige, Rafflesia, Pennywise, Umbreon, and Espeon.

Though the stone labyrinth in front of us was a lot thinner than the cave we'd come from, it was still wide enough for us to walk shoulder-to-shoulder in groups of three with our Pokemon out. We arranged ourselves to try and even out the strength of the Pokemon both in front and behind us. Hana, Amy, and I took the front row with our Pokemon in front of us while Yuji, Ambrose, and Lester brought up the rear. Their Pokemon would serve as a sort of 'rear guard' in case something big came chasing after us.

Before we got moving again, Amy rummaged through their bag. They pulled out a set of colored pencils that I'd honestly forgotten they had. I hadn't seen them doodle since Viridian City.

They pulled out a few of the brighter ones (white, yellow, etc.) and handed them off to us. I ended up with the baby blue one.

"To mark where we've been," they explained at our quizzical looks. "Since it's like a maze, we can see if we double back."

Hana smacked her forehead, making me jump. "Amy, that's a great idea! Honestly, I should have-," she paused, recollecting herself before starting again. "This is great. You did great."

I noted what Hana had stopped herself from saying, but I wanted to give Amy their dues first.

I gave them a grin that passed for warm, ruffling their beanie. "Good job, bean. Now we won't get lost."

Amy looked genuinely relieved. They had found their way to contribute after all.

I was also glad that Hana had stopped herself before saying what she'd been about to say. 'I should have thought of that earlier' was definitely the vibe she was giving off. I could tell that she was struggling with not having a plan or access to knowledge, but if a comment like that had been said flippantly, it could've really hurt Amy's feelings. Right now, with our morale at an all-time low, was not the time to hold yourself to a higher standard than everyone else.

Kettle, meet pot, I dryly chuckled to myself. There was a reason that this group got along so well, after all.

Instead of commenting on it, because the moment had passed, I turned to our back row. "Everybody ready?"

Yuji nodded, standing from where he'd been giving Desperoux orders. He stood closely to his starter but had let Achilles drift more toward the center of the formation. If something big showed up, it was clear that he wanted the Heracross to be able to intervene immediately. Ambrose and Lester both had their Pokemon jump down from their shoulder perches, letting them walk side by side with them.

"Ready to get through this," Ambrose inclined his head. "Let's beat this mountain."

"I couldn't agree more," I summoned another forced smile. They were getting closer and closer to genuine. I gave Hana a tilt of the head. "You ready, fearless navigator?"

There was apprehension and self-doubt in her eyes, but she nodded. Without another word, Hana strode into the tunnel. We took our first steps into the real depths of Mt. Moon.

---

Just like we'd assumed from the entrance, the tunnel was a labyrinth. The structure randomly forked and turned, or created odd dead ends. Amy's colored pencils quickly became invaluable as we doubled back on ourselves twice in the first ten minutes.

Even though it was slow, we did make progress. The tunnel didn't have much of an incline, but we could tell that we were heading in a consistent direction. What we also found, though, was more evidence of strong Pokemon. There were multiple sets of scrape marks larger than my hands in the softer dirt, often in groups of two to four. Probably from bigger rock types, like Onix and Rhydon. There was also... ...evidence... ...of larger members of the Zubat line littering the floor in places, leaving behind a foul acidic smell and crusted dry piles.

We did our best to avoid those. Our shoes were not always spared the trip through them.

About a half an hour into our walk, something set off alarm bells in my head.

I paused, holding up a hand to stop the group, and listened intently.

There was a faint warbling sound in the air, something that I couldn't put my finger on. I gave Hana a look.

She listened, too, also catching the sound. An analytical expression crossed her face.

Hana gave me a slight nod.

I turned to the rest of the group, raising a finger to my lips and motioning us forward. Even if we'd agreed that the stealthy approach may not work down here, it couldn't hurt to try and catch whatever this was off guard.

The six of us continued forward, keeping low and breathing carefully.

It wasn't another twenty meters before the source of the noise made itself known. Even with the hell that we'd been through today, I couldn't help but smile. Even better, this one was genuine.

Three metal disks absentmindedly floated about the cavern in front of us. They were only about half a meter in diameter and their metal was an oxidized blue-green color. Each disk had sculpted and intelligent yellow eyes.

Amy squealed in excitement.

Bronzor.

We'd finally found the Pokemon that we'd come down here for in the first place. And, front what we could tell, they hadn't noticed us yet. The six of us shared a look and a silent plan formed. The trainers of the group stepped aside and let our Pokemon move forward.

This is almost unfair, I thought.

When nine separate Pokemon descended on the three unsuspecting psychics, I murmured a silent thanks to the legends. Not every encounter down here had to be a deadly one, apparently. It wasn't a bad foot to start on.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

The three disks hit the ground, still slightly smoking from the onslaught. It was a long moment before anyone took the initiative, so I stepped up.

"Well, Ames?" I said, gesturing with a smile.

Amy turned to the group and their eyes widened. They glanced from person to person, even our two new companions, silently asking permission. As one, we nodded.

Yuji gave them a tough but loving shove.

They stumbled but caught themselves quickly. From inside their bag, they pulled out a basic red Pokeball. I smiled as I saw their oversized beanie shaking with anticipation.

Amy gulped. They held the ball forward and clicked the button on the front.

In a flash of red the largest of the three Bronzor vanished.

The ball in Amy's hand clicked once. Twice. Three times.

Ding!

It had been caught.

"Guys...," Amy whispered, excitement slowly raising their volume. "Guys. I just caught a Pokemon!"

I chuckled. "Good job, bean!"

Hana ran up and gave Amy a big hug, which the little psychic was too stunned to really react to. Yuji gave them applause, Ambrose enthusiastically joined while Lester gave a few polite golf claps.

Amy held their Pokeball close to their chest, and I saw a glimmer of a tear in the corner of their eye. As Hana gave them a hug, I could see the stress and worry of reaching Cerulean with only a single Pokemon melt from them.

It was a really nice moment.

I traded looks with Yuji and Hana. They were both beaming. All of us were proud of the little bean getting their first real catch.

After a moment of letting Amy celebrate, Yuji and I tossed Pokeballs at the two remaining Bronzor. It wouldn't do to let our catch get away, after all.

Amy's smile as they crooned over their new Pokemon almost made today worth it. One of the Pokemon we'd come down here for had been found and captured.

One down, two to go, I thought, feeling a weight off my back. Honestly, Amy has their Pokemon. If we just make it out of here alive now, I'll be happy. I can always find a Clefairy later. And I'm sure the money we're going to get from the other two helps, I smiled as I tucked the Pokeball into my backpack.

I was so distracted by my thoughts that I almost didn't notice when Hana drifted away from the group. She'd walked over to one of the cavern walls and kneeled down on one knee.

"Hang on guys," she muttered, brushing her hand against the stone. "Can someone bring me a better light?"

Yuji offered his before I could, holding his lantern up by Hana's hands.

It took Hana brushing away a bit more dirt before I saw what she'd noticed, but when I did I let out an audible gasp. It was matched by the rest of the group quickly after.

The striations in the rock were twisted and miscolored compared to the rest of the rock around it. Where the wall was rough and the color of a light brown stone, the spiraling rock was smooth and coffee-colored. It made the most beautiful design on the rock wall, like the side of a conch shell. It was big, too, almost as tall as my waist.

It was a fossil, plain as day, sitting exposed on the rock wall. It even happened to be one I recognized from a brief interaction at Pewter Museum.

"It's an Omastar Fossil," I breathed.

A million thoughts passed through my head, like how with no one coming this deep, they must not have mined this part of the mountain, or how absolutely rare it was to find a fossil even half this large in the wild. Ambrose summed them all up pretty well, though.

"Whoa," he said.

Yeah, that.

We all stared at the fossil, taking in it's presence. After another moment, Hana spoke again.

"Do you think..." Hana tilted her head, almost embarrassed to be having the thought. "Maybe we should take it?"

The six of us glanced at each other. Fossils were worth a lot of money. Even if we didn't revive it, selling it to an experienced trainer could net us each more than our winnings from Pewter combined. The Bronzor would be small pickings, comparatively.

As exciting as it was, though, something I'd been told back in Pewter ran through my mind.

I shook my head. "Sorry guys, Mt. Moon is a protected site. The League has it under a set of 'no mining fossils, specifically' rules."

Dr. Spinel had been pretty clear when we'd spoken before. Mt. Moon and a place called 'Grandpa Canyon', wherever that was, had been listed as protected sites by the League. It was part of the whole reason fossils were so rare in Kanto to begin with. Taking this fossil with us would be basically breaking the law.

Hana immediately took on a shade of embarrassment. "I knew that," she said under her breath, shaking her head. "It must have slipped my mind in the excitement. Specifically, it's a class C protected site, the same as Mt. Ember back home."

Just like when she'd almost misspoken in front of Amy, I could see Hana's internal struggle. Today's events had her working at a less than optimal compacity, obviously, but she was beating herself up about it. I kept note of it but still chose to wait to say anything. Hana had lectured me enough about asking for help, so for now I would wait for her to ask. If she chose to come to me, great, but she might as easily talk to Yuji or Amy about it.

There was a disappointed release of breath among the group at her words, but nobody suggested anything further. We were all good, law-abiding trainers like that.

"We probably couldn't even carry it..." Amy murmured, sounding like they were trying to convince themselves more than anything else.

I tilted my head, conceding the point. It would've been a bad idea to try and take it even without the dubious legal circumstances.

Hana frowned as she looked to the fossil and then to the Pokeball that Amy was carrying. It was clear that her academic brain was thinking in double time.

"Do you think it was a coincidence that we found the Bronzor in the same room as an exposed fossil?" Hana finally asked.

"Oh! I know this!" I said, letting my excitement that I'd done my research get ahead of me. "From what I've read, Bronzor are found pretty often in old tombs and ruins. This is probably the closest thing to a tomb around here."

There was a pause as what I said sunk in. Ambrose was the one to ask the question this time.

"Would that mean... ...that there are probably more fossils around here?"

Without meaning to, all of our eyes slowly drifted to the walls of the cave.

From some far-off point in the caverns, multiple something roared. It was distorted by the tunnel echo, but it was thick and gargled. Those weren't qualities associated with nice Pokemon.

We all quickly stood up, shaking off our greed and grouping together. The sound was back the way we'd come, but in the echoey caves, it was almost impossible to judge distance.

"Time to go," Lester said quietly.

"Yup," Ambrose and I agreed.

Even with our incredibly good fortune so far, it was hard to forget that we were not supposed to be here. There were Pokemon down here that even eight-badge trainers didn't want to face. We weren't going to stay this lucky forever.

Before we left, though, I reached a hand out to Yuji.

"Hey, bud. Can I have my camera?"

He gave me a confused look but did as I asked, handing it over. I checked it over and, luckily, it hadn't taken any damage in the fall. And, upon further inspection, it still had a full battery.

"We can't take this fossil," I explained to him, mounting the camera on my shoulder as I did so. "But I'm going to get some footage of it, then I'm going to leave the camera recording so somebody at the Pewter Museum can try to maybe make their way down here one day."

Yuji gave me an odd look, one that was a little amused.

"What?" I asked him, feeling self-conscious.

"I apologize, I'm just not used to you acting with such foresight," Yuji said, smiling wider.

I shot him an offended look before slugging him in the shoulder. "You're a dick."

He chuckled, falling a step behind me to get back in the loose formation we'd entered. "One with keen observation skills," Yuji snuck in one last verbal jab.

Hana giggled to my left. I didn't even look her way, instead giving her a playful shove with my shoulder. "Quiet, you."

"I didn't say anything," she mumbled, masking her laughter.

Deep under the earth, it felt good to have something to laugh about. Even if it was at my expense, I couldn't help but smile again. The little barrier my brain had put up to keep going after the collapse was wavering, but this was keeping the edge off. I had to laugh. If I didn't, I'd cry.

I didn't slow down the group's progress too much by snagging some videos of the fossil for Dr. Spinel. We high-tailed it out of the Bronzor room in seconds, pushing ourselves to keep up the pace. It wasn't long before I had a stitch in my side from the cold air, and my throat was still raw from inhaling so much dust.

Behind me, the others kept looking back to keep tabs on whatever we'd heard. After a moment, Lester spoke in an urgent tone.

"Guys!" He called.

I turned back to see that Lester had stopped a few paces back and was kneeling by his Espeon. He was staring at her intently, and both of their heads moved at slight intervals.

They're having a psychic conversation, I realized. Pennywise wasn't strong enough to do that yet, so I had yet to actually see it in person before.

"Espi says that something is following us," Lester mumbled, glancing back down the tunnel. "Four or five of them, and their minds are odd. Probably a bug type."

"Parasect," several of us sighed at once. We'd all done our homework before coming into the mountain.

Paras and its evolution, Parasect, were the only grass or bug types that could be found in Mt. Moon, and that wasn't an accident. Parasect were horrendous parasites that fed on vegetation and weak Pokemon, draining them of their strength and nutrients until all that was left were husks. On their own, they weren't too scary, but more than a few of them together could paralyze large Pokemon, making themselves a meal of living flesh.

"Can anyone use fire type energy?" I rubbed my hands over my eyes. I already knew the answer to the question, but it never hurt to ask.

Everyone shook their heads.

Six trainers and not a single fire type. If those Parasect caught up to us, only Hana, Yuji, or I would have any moves that would deal any decent amount of damage. Yuji actually had the best shot, though, because at the very least Achilles knew Aeriel Ace.

"We need to keep moving," Ambrose said. "Umber and Espi can work defense pretty well, so we'll keep them off of us if they start to catch up. It's like you guys said earlier, though. We need to keep our pace steady."

We didn't waste any time agreeing with him. We kept our jog steady, moving with far less caution than we normally would have. I still had a stitch in my side, but self-preservation was a good motivator to ignore the pain.

It was only a few minutes before I could hear the Parasect.

Tiny little noises echoed from the caverns behind us, like the sound of a dozen needles striking stone at random intervals. It was subtle and awful in the way it set my hair on edge. It sounded the way that biting aluminium foil felt.

With everything that I'd read from my Pokedex, I could just imagine the hard orange claws of the Parasect rapping against the rock of the tunnels, scraping away our pencil marks and crawling over the fossils in the walls. They would have beady white eyes and bodies made of rubbery mushrooms. I shivered at the thought.

"They're catching up!" Came Yuji's voice from behind us. "Despereaux, Crunch!"

Right after that came Ambrose and Lester's calls.

"Swift!"

"Psybeam!"

The sounds of multiple Pokemon moves being used pierced through the air, but I didn't dare turn around. My job was to protect our front. They could handle the rear.

Unlike most Pokemon, who spoke in some variation of their name, the Parasect had their own way of communicating. The massive orange mushroom caps that covered their bodies when they evolved actually wrecked their vocal cords, leaving them capable of only one noise when they were injured.

They screamed. It was high-pitched and gargled like they were speaking through dish soap, but it was a scream nonetheless. The amount told me that Espi had been on the money. Five awful screams echoed through the cavern.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Multiple spore attacks of some kind went off behind us, I could smell it in the air, but we were moving too quickly for them to fully take effect.

More attacks were called from our rear flank, and Yuji chose to finally bring Achilles into the fight.

"Charge Beam and Bug Buzz!"

"Mimic!"

"Copycat!"

Achilles' move sounded like a jet engine turning on in the tunnel, and the cavern glowed as three yellow beams of electricity illuminated it, all only possible from the TM I'd let Yuji borrow. I couldn't help but feel a hint of pride among all the fear as I realized that Despereaux had actually learned the move.

That pride was swallowed by fear as a tall figure appeared from the darkness in front of us.

Facing away from us was a massive, towering Pokemon of stone. It was almost two meters tall, not counting the spiral drill horn that jutted forward from its face...

My heart fell when my brain kicked in, recognition flooding my mind. This was the second time in as many days that we'd run into one of these.

"Shit!" I yelled, coming to a dead stop. "Rhydon!"

There was something else to the towering rock type's expression when he turned. There was a glint of familiarity to his gaze. He narrowed his eyes, bringing all four of his stone claws to the ground, crouching for a charge.

Wisp whined in my arms, wriggling out of my grasp.

That mental wall that kept me going shook at its very core. My eyes felt hot. "No fucking way..."

It's the same one from yesterday.

Hana cursed more than I'd ever heard her curse before. Amy burst out into tears.

I desperately looked behind us, hoping that Achilles could take on the monster ahead of us. He was too busy holding off the Parasect. I could see them now, meter-tall crabs made of chitinous carapaces and spongy mushrooms. They were just as horrifying as I'd imagined.

Achilles was running point on that fight, his Bug Buzz successfully holding back the Parasect while Despereaux, Umber, and Espi released multiple volleys of distance moves. Their fight was promising, they'd already almost fainted one of the mushroom Pokemon, but it wasn't going fast enough.

They wouldn't be able to help us.

I looked back at the monster that we'd run from yesterday. Rhydon scrapped its front claw against the ground and tensed the muscles across its body. Its horn began to twist like a drill.

I planted my foot against the foundations of my mental wall, holding it strong. This was my job. I needed to do this.

"Get ready to hold it off!" I yelled, startling Hana, Amy, and myself. "We just need to keep it busy till we can all team up. Amy, I need you on defense. Pennywise keeps it off of us. Hana, you need to hit it with paralysis, poison, anything you have. We can't fight it at full strength."

My tone must've been enough. Given a direction, both battlers shouted commands to their Pokemon.

"Barrier and Light Screen!"

"Rafflesia, Poison Powder! Paige, powder barrage and root tactics!"

All three Pokemon leaped into action. Pennywise was still exhausted from the collapse, but the tiny mime raised his signature pink barriers around us, this time with a strange golden glimmer to them. Rafflesia's core bulb puffed! out a blast of purple dust while the Weepinbell took on a strategy that she'd used in our first-ever battle. Clouds of multi-colored pollen spewed forth from her mouth while her vines slammed into the dirt below her. Paige started to swell as she used Growth to increase her own power.

"Buddy, we're distraction defense!" I called to Artis. "Ice Ball, but don't let him hit you! Brine where you can!"

Artis picked up speed, his tiny blue body zooming forward as it burst into ice, sending frozen fractals spiraling in all directions. Rhydon finished spinning up its horn and charged forward but was caught in the side of the head by a blast of cold seawater. His momentum stuttered, driving his Drill Run into the cavern wall. Shrapnel and clouds of dust were sent spinning in all directions. The water type move was effective against both rock and ground type, so Rhydon was really vulnerable to it.

"Good hit!" I yelled. "Keep it up!"

A purple form drifted over my shoulder, but I put my hand out in front of her. She was still corporeal, so I was able to stop Wisp from flying into battle. She turned her yellow-red eyes toward me, letting out a noise of confusion as I stopped her from helping the team.

"Keep back, girl," I told her. "He can hurt you, remember? Play distance. Charge up!"

My ghost gave me a sullen look, but her necklace started to glow a familiar yellow.

The fact that Wisp still couldn't go ghost wasn't lost on me. I couldn't let Rhydon get too close to her, not when he was packing an unseen dark type move.

The monster in question ripped his horn free from the wall. Rhydon turned to strike Artis, raising a fist high above his head, but a pink shield appeared between the two of them and held back the attack for a split second. It shattered under the impact, but it was enough for Artis to get away. The rock type was obscured behind two more clouds of spores.

Rhydon roared again. This time, it trailed the war cry with the faintest cough.

"There!" Hana called. "It's poisoned! Rafflesia, Leech Seed!"

The Bulbasaur swapped gears, spraying tiny green seed pods into the spore cloud. I couldn't tell if they landed, not with how obscured the tunnel was. Paige steadily grew in size as she continued to bulk herself with Growth. Wisp's necklace radiated power.

"Brine, buddy!" I yelled. "Keep it in the smoke! Give Wisp and Paige time to charge!"

Artis launched himself into the air blasted seawater from his snout, his tiny frame struggling under the pressure of his own move. The pressure hose pierced into the purple and yellow cloud, impacting the monster within.

A heavy shape flew at Artis.

Slam!

A boulder bigger than my head smacked Artis out of the air. He went flying backward, slamming into the cavern wall and cracking the stone behind.

"Artis!" I cried out.

Rhydon emerged from the spore cloud, charging at us at full speed. He was covered in spores and wrathful vines that wrapped around his body, but he hadn't slowed at all. He'd be on us in seconds.

"Now!" Hana commanded.

Bzzzzzzn! Whack-whack!

Paige and Wisp released their attacks at the same time. A fully powered Charge Beam, far stronger than what the others had put off earlier, cut through the air. It left the air hot in its wake, sizzling when it impacted the Rhydon's thick hide. Two massive tendril vines smack froth from Paige's frame, both heavily empowered by the multiple Growths she'd managed to charge over the battle. Both hit home at the same time as Wisp's attack, giving what should have been a battle ending combo.

They did damage, leaving deep marks and cracks across Rhydon's stoney flesh, but it did not slow the beast.

"Light screen!" Amy gave a desperate order to Pennywise.

The tiny mime raised his little fists, moving all of the Barriers and Light Screens he'd created in front of us. It was a protective wall six panels thick.

"Miiiiiiiiime!" Pennywise yelled, exerting the last of his energy on the move.

The Rhydon opened his maw and his teeth cloaked themselves in black energy. The dark type move I'd been watching for revealed itself.

Rhydon Crunched downward on the psychic shield, shattering through the Barrier, Pennywise's psychic energy not slowing it in the slightest. Shards of pink light scattered in every direction, our last line of protection gone.

My knees went weak. We didn't have any tricks left.

"Achilles!" Yuji roared from behind us.

The Heracross hurtled through the air. He'd left two fainted Parasect behind him and he moved too quickly for the remaining three to touch him, lowering his massive horn into a Horn Attack and charging the Rhydon.

Crash!

The two charging Pokemon slammed into each other. Achille's horn impacted directly into Rhydon's chest, but the rock type had both outstretched arms grasping onto his shoulders. The shockwave echoed across the cave, both Pokemon putting their all into the struggle for dominance. Achilles brought his arm up, slamming it into the side of Rhydon's rib cage with an Arm Thrust.

Rhydon grunted in pain, still struggling against the supereffective assault. The balance of the charge shifted in the favor of Achilles. He got off two more good hits before Rhydon twisted his body, opening his jaw like he was about to bite down. His teeth burst into flame.

Legends damn it, I screamed internally. He gets a fire type move, too?

Those fangs came down and Achilles cried out. There was a sizzling noise as the Rhydon crunched down on the Heracross's neck, teeth puncturing his exoskeleton. Between the strain of holding back a stronger Pokemon and the sudden influx of burning fire damage, our strongest Pokemon fainted.

Rhydon stepped back, removing Achilles from his jaw and clutching the bug type in one hand. Victoriously, raised his fallen foe's form above his head.

"Rhhhhyyyyyyyy!"

Yuji returned his Pokemon, his face pale and fallen. He looked as lost as I felt.

Thwak!

Paige slammed her vines into Rhyhorn's side, taking advantage of its victory posing. The Weepinbell actually managed to move Rhydon back several feet with the hit. Just like earlier, her vines left cracks along its hide in their wake.

Rhydon gave the grass type a stunned look, confusion evident on its face. It opened its mouth to roar again, but another wave of green seed pods sprayed forward from Rafflesia. It closed its maw before it accidentally ingested them, but vines quickly sprouted from them, continuing to wrap around the rock type. Rhydon made quick work of them with its claws but now gave us a cautious look.

Hana gritted her teeth, the edges of a vicious smirk curling the sides of her mouth. "Keep going, girls! Razor Leaf, Vine Whip!"

Her actions pushed me into movement. "Wisp, help them out! It's poisoned, so Hex him!"

Wisp's responding squeak was violent and full of bloodlust. She glowed with purple ghost-type energy. The three Pokemon unleashed a volley of attacks that pushed the Rhyhorn back another ten feet. It didn't look like he was going to give up anytime soon, but the injuries were starting to accumulate on his body.

We were starting to make progress against this thing.

I glanced over at Artis, but he still hadn't moved from the cavern wall. He might've been down for the count. Pennywise was definitely out, he didn't have anything left in him.

"Rattat! Rata!" Despereaux called from behind us. The Rattata was still battling alongside Umber and Espi. The three of them had lost their tank and were struggling.

Yuji didn't seem to notice. He just stared down at Achilles' Pokeball.

"Yuji!" Amy yelled, shoving him back. "Despereaux needs orders!"

"Yeah, we could use some help!" There was an edge of panic to Ambrose's voice as a Parasect got a solid hit in on Umber. It didn't go down, but the dark type was favoring its left side.

The fighting specialist shook himself out of his funk, stepping past me. I caught a look of steel determination on his face.

"Paige!" Hana's outcry pulled me away from my distraction. "Get away from her!"

Rhydon was done taking hits from Paige. He'd wrapped his claws around her tendrils, pulling on her vines with all his strength. The Weepinbell was struggling, her roots half exposed to the air as Rhydon slowly ripped her from the ground. Wisp and Rafflesia kept attacking but they just didn't have the fire power they needed. Rhydon strugged off their attacks.

I felt powerless. Wisp was my only battler right now. I desperately searched for something, anything that could turn the tide.

The rear guard was doing better with Yuji back, but they'd only fainted one more Parasect. The two remaining ones were weakened, yes, but they were still very much a threat.

Pennywise was out cold, and the Bronzor were all still damaged from their capture. Artis wasn't at the wall anymore-

Where'd he go?

The crater where he'd hit was still there, but my boy was missing.

A blue blur rocketed past me.

Slam!

A full force Ice Ball attack hit Rhydon harder than I'd ever seen Artis hit before. His expression was fierce and scared, but brimming with energy. He didn't have a mark on him.

Rhydon stumbled, releasing his grasp on Paige.

"Yes!" The word ripped itself from my lips. "That's my boy!"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what he'd done. Artis had played dead after being hit, knowing that he needed to use Rest before coming back. He'd basically done the same thing at the Pewter Museum.

After the initial hit, Artis rolled back off Rhydon. Ice Ball was at its strongest after it had time to build up speed.

Rhydon pushed himself up, huffing after taking the surprise hit. Pride soared in my heart as I saw his legs wobble just a little bit.

Achilles, Wisp, and Paige had all hit this guy hard already, and he was still suffering from the Poison Powder. It didn't matter how strong you were in the face of overwhelming forces and consistent damage.

We might actually have a shot!

"He's almost down!" I called, hoping it would help. "Artis, hit a couple more times and then put it all into a Brine!"

"Pheal!" He barked, eyes blazing.

Artis zagged down the tunnel, keeping Rhydon's attention as he rolled up and across the round cavern walls like skateboarder in a pipe. The rock type answered his call, keeping his enraged and exhausted gaze on my boy.

Wisp took this opportunity to glow blue, using her Confusion to gently pick up Paige. She drifted the grass type back to Hana, who gratefully took her into her arms. The Weepinbell wasn't entirely fainted yet, but she did not look good. Her vines were torn and fraying, and her flower-like body had deflated like a wet balloon.

Rafflesia was trying to stay strong, but the baby Bulbasaur was trembling with fear. I shot Hana a look, and she shook her head. Amy was holding a fainted Pennywise in their arms, frantically looking between Rhydon and the rear guard, looking as hopeless as I'd felt a few moments ago.

If we were going to win this fight, it was down to Artis and Wisp now.

"Keep Rhydon off Artis," I ordered Wisp. "Stay far off, but be persistent. We almost have this."

"Drea!" Artis's determination had ignited something in her. Wisp launched herself forward, tendrils of purple energy flowing off of her.

Slam! Slam!

Artis impacted Rhydon twice more, his frozen-silver fur gleaming in the lantern light, and dashed away before the slowing rock type could strike back. Rhydon shook his head angrily and slammed his claw into the cave wall, tearing a chunk of stone away from it. He pulled his claw back, determined to take Artis out the same way he had before, when the rock suddenly glowed blue and wrenched itself from his hand.

Wisp's giggles echoed through the cave.

Crack!

Rhydon reeled as the boulder smashed itself down on his head, shattering into hundreds of shards.

"Now!" I gave the signal.

Artis took that vital opportunity to brace himself to a stop, swelling with power as he charged the most important Brine he'd ever used.

And that's when the change occured.

My starter shined a brilliant white, opalescent energy pouring off of him in waves. His form grew to over a meter tall, his spherical body widening and forming into a more natural shape. Two brilliant whiskers sprouted forward from his face, branching out into heavy white hair. When the light faded, his fur was shimmering a deeper blue color, more healthy and powerful than I'd ever seen him.

"Sealeo!" Artis roared, a torrent of green sea water spraying from from his maw. Fresh off of his evolution, he hit with more than twice the power of the move we'd practiced before.

A pillar of water twice as thick as my forearm smashed through the air, striking Rhydon directly in the chest, right between the injuries left from Achilles and Paige.

The Rhydon was knocked off his feet from the attack and hit the cavern wall so hard that he was embedded two feet into the stone. Stone cracked and shook and shattered. Hairline fractures radiated out from that point, spreading with such speed that I almost panicked over another cavern collapse.

Then, the cave went quiet.

All went still.

Too still, I thought after a moment, fear lancing its way through my heart. My head whipped around back to the rear guard, and I let out an audible and shaky sigh of relief.

The three of them and their Pokemon stood with their jaws on the floor. They'd finished taking out the Parasect, and from the look of them, they'd been about to intervene with our fight.

Our fight...

I turned back to my Pokemon, both of them standing on high alert in front of Rhydon's embedded form. Wisp floated menacingly in front of of him, angry purple energy still lashing outward from her tired ghost body, and Artis stood strong with his jaw still open, ready to blast Rhydon again if needed.

I tried to take a step forward, just to make sure that we had won, but my knees went weak. I stumbled forward, but a pair of hands grabbed me under the arm.

"It's okay," Hana breathed. "Rest. I'll go check."

I wanted to argue, but I couldn't find it in me. Hana handed me off to Amy, who helped me to the ground.

Hana took a tentative step forward. When nothing stirred from the cave wall, she took a few more. My Pokemon hesitantly parted for her, careful to be able to protect her if need be.

It was Hana's turn to stumble. She tilted as a relived cry wrenched itself from her. Wisp glowed blue to help her to the ground where Artis was waiting.

Once she'd stabilized herself, Hana turned to the rest of us, exhaustion and just so much relief clear in her voice. "We did it. He's down. We won."

The magnitude and weight of the burden that shed itself from my shoulders was undescribable. The wall that I'd been shakily holding up all day crumbled.

I started crying.

Sobs racked my body. They were full of fear, anger, regret, joy, victory, almost every emotion I could feel, I was feeling right now. The tension had been bottled and building all day, all week, all month.

I wasn't the only one. Amy collapsed next to me, holding Pennywise tight. Yuji slumped down next to them, putting an arm over their shoulders and letting tears free fall down his own face. Despereaux placed his head in his trainer's lap, immediately closing his eyes. Ambrose and Lester held each other and their Pokemon, settling down near the rest of us.

Artis and Wisp helped Hana back to us, and I pulled all three of them close. I was so exhausted with the day, fearful or what had been and what was to come, prideful in my boy for evolving, grateful for my training companions and best friends, and disappointed that I hadn't been able to keep us all out of danger.

Rafflesia wiggled her way into the hug, and she was the first in all of our groups coming together. Amy, Yuji, and Despereux, then Ambrose, Lester, Umber, and Espi. It didn't matter that we'd known some of them all of a day. We'd just gone through the most difficult thing we'd ever gone through, and it wasn't over yet.

I couldn't find it in myself to focus on that yet, though. Instead, I put my head against Artis's, resting against his newly evolved form, feeling his warm fur against my face.

"I'm so proud of you," I whispered to him, mumbling into his fur.

He whined, pressing against me even tighter.

We held each other for a long while, letting the emotions pour out, taking in a moment of peace deep below Mt. Moon.

Notes:

Hi hi! I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! It definitely took a lot out of me to write!

One of the descriptors I've seen people use for this story is that it does not focus on battles all that much, but instead focuses on the interpersonal relationships between characters. This is definitely true. I adore a well-written battle sequence, but I do think I've noticed that mine don't always meet the standard for battles that I necessarily want from a PokeFic. Because of that, I think I tend to shy away from them a bit, making them kind of big deals when they actually do happen. I'm really hoping that y'all will give me a lot of feedback on this one, telling me what worked and what didn't about it so that I can challenge myself and do better on them in the future.

Anyway, if you did enjoy today's chapter, please remember to leave some kudos and comments! I'll see you again soon!

Chapter 28: Moonlit Searching

Notes:

Hi hi! Fair warning, this is the longest chapter so far. I don't know if that speaks to its quality, but it comes in almost 2k words longer than the previous record-holder (Chapter 26). This is hopefully not a trend toward longer chapters, cause I was struggle-bugging to get it done this week.

Anyway, thanks for hearing me out! Please enjoy today's chapter!

We didn't try to catch Rhydon.

The idea was fielded to the group, of course, but ultimately none of us had anything stronger than a basic Pokeball on us. Given that Pokemon could break out of their Pokeballs once they hit a certain strength level, we did not want to risk fighting it for a third time. Just like with the fossil, choosing to be greedy would be dangerous for us.

No, instead we dried our tears, collected the forms of the five Parasect, and got a move on. We'd given up on finding a way out right now. Too many of our Pokemon were too injured to get into another fight like that again. Artis was basically the only one still at one hundred percent. Wisp was still injured from yesterday, and Pennywise, the Bronzor, Achilles, and Paige were all fully fainted. Umber, Espi, and Despereaux had each taken some nasty hits from the Parasect but were still battle-ready, and Rafflesia was uninjured but entirely too inexperienced to rely on yet.

Because of the state of our party, Artis, Wisp, and I took the lead while the remaining battlers circled everyone else.

With a little bit of brilliance from Hana, we also had a trail to follow.

"Rhydon's tail," Hana mumbled in exhaustion, leaning on my shoulder. "It dragged behind it, right?"

I nodded, keeping my eyes on the tunnel in front of us. "Yeah. What are you thinking?"

"If it's the same one from yesterday," she reasoned, "then we can assume it walked down here from Floor Two. There won't be footsteps or anything on the rock, but a heavy object like the tail would leave scratches. It might not get us all the way there, but if the tail left a trail..."

My eyes flicked to her, finding the energy to go wide. "Then we have a path to the upper floors."

Hana gave me a weak smile. She held her lantern out, and both of us started to study the ground.

"There," she pointed. Sure enough, there was the tell-tale sign of thin white scratch lines across the brown and grey stone of the cave. The scratches led into the darkness, far beyond what we could see from the light of our lanterns. We pointed it out to the others and it made all of our footsteps a little lighter and a little quicker. A possible way up was a big motivator.

We walked another hour or so before that third wave started to flag. Rhydon had wandered a long way in the last day. I took the Pokenav+ back from Hana, if for nothing else than to give her a break. While we didn't have any map data for the lower floors, we were hoping that we'd be able to connect the dots if we ran into any landmarks on our map. Doing all of that helped pass the time as we searched for our real goal: a safe cavern to sleep in. We settled for searching for a place to rest, where we could lick our wounds and try again tomorrow. We could survive down here for another few days with the supplies we had, so we decided that it was more important to gather our strength back.

We found something that fit our needs after about an hour of walking. It was a narrow gash in the side of the tunnel that opened up into another cavern. It was pretty clearly a dead end, which was exactly what we were looking for. Yuji inspected the cave, running his hand against the stone that made up the narrow entrance. He gently scratched at it with a nail, nodding when no material came away.

"This should do," he said. "It's strong and defensible. As good as we're going to get, considering the circumstances."

An audible sigh of relief made its way across the group. One by one, we stepped across the threshold and filed into the cave. It was about four meters across and vaguely cylindrical, just about the right size for both of our tents and a small area to sit Yuji's camping heater. Once we got everything set up, I offered to take the first watch. No one argued with me.

As everyone else bedded down, I slumped my backpack against the cave wall, making a nice little seat for myself between it and the heater. I went to sit, but a blinking red light gave me pause.

Oh, shit. My camera is still going.

I'd forgotten entirely about my half-baked plan to log our path out, understandable given the crazy circumstances that we'd faced after running across the fossil. I pulled the camcorder off of the backpack strap, clicking off the recording. Before I packed it away, though, a stray thought crossed my mind.

I pulled up my footage of the Rhydon fight. I fast-forwarded through the part where we had run from the Parasect (I did not want to listen to their awful noises again), and paused right as Rhydon appeared in our lantern light. It still shocked me that we'd managed to take down that beast of a Pokemon.

I wonder if it's woken up yet? I zoomed in on its face. The light from the lantern hadn't reached its eyes, leaving them shrouded and black on the video. It was spooky, but I almost preferred it to how viciously it had looked at us during the fight. I shivered as I thought about it waking up in the cave, beaten and looking for vengeance. I pressed play.

I cringed as it took us almost five whole seconds to actually react to Rhydon's appearance. It was obvious now that Rhydon had only waited as long as it had to attack us because it had been grandstanding. It was almost physcially painful to hear my recording give Hana and Amy orders before focusing on my own Pokemon. In retrospect, I hadn't told them anything that was useful beyond their established fighting styles. Even when I did get to give my Pokemon orders, they hadn't been the right calls. I knew that Rhydon was going to be the most dangerous up close, but I'd ordered Artis into melee and Wisp to use Charge Beam, an electric-type move. I wasn't sure which one was more egregious. Ice Ball put Artis right in the frey as the only Pokemon in hitting range of Rhydon, but I was lucky Charge Beam had done anything. For the most part, ground types like Rhydon were entirely immune to the effects of electric type attacks, but if you could pump enough energy into one, it would at least drop a ton of heat as the electricity dissipated. If Wisp had actually had to use that move at its normal power level, Rhydon would've been able to entirely shrug it off.

I paused the video, sighing as Rhydon held Achilles up over his head. Over the last few weeks, I'd been trying to imitate Yuji's training style. It wasn't a purposeful thing, I'd just really been leaning into him as my rival, so I'd been trying to match him in every one of our training sequence. There were a lot of problems with that, but none nearly as bad as the gaping hole that now existed in both of our training styles.

Yuji was a fighting type trainer through and through, so he often substituted tactics for pure power. His Pokemon were trained in a series of singularly powerful moves and worked hard to be able to brute force their way through any problem. He did have other moves, like the buffs he had Despereaux run in most of his battles, but even those only served to create stronger hits. What this style didn't take into account was what would happen if those hits couldn't deal with an enemy that was overwhelmingly powerful. Achilles had tried to match Rhydon blow for blow and had been taken down in a test of strength. Since Achilles was his strongest Pokemon, Yuji's ability to fight back had folded the moment his ace had been overpowered.

It had been the same for me when I'd attacked with Artis. I hadn't really set up any other options, even though I knew that my partner had Aqua Ring and Defense Curl, two moves that would've helped him tank earlier in the fight. Instead, I'd purely focused on using his 'strongest' attack, having no backup plan when Rhydon had almost one-shot him. That had left Hana as the only real battler for a pivotal point of the fight.

Honestly, Hana had carried that battle. Her style of battling was based around disadvantaging the enemy, creating opportunities where there were none, and locking down the field to the best of her ability. Yuji and I had gotten in some good hits, but poisoning Rhydon and getting off multiple buffed-up grass type moves were the only reasons we'd actually won. I hadn't gone in with any actual strategies. It was pure luck that Artis hadn't actually fainted with that first hit and chance that our most powerful water type move had been Brine, a move that got more powerful if the target was already hurt.

I thought back to Hana's battle against Brock. During that battle, I'd noticed that Brock had employed actual strategy against her, even if he hadn't pulled out a singularly powerful Pokemon like his Aerodactyl. His Sudowoodo had used two separate attacking moves, Stone Edge and Rock Tomb, in unique ways to create opportunities against her lock-down style. If I'd had some other tool like that, maybe I would've been more effective in that fight.

I frowned, finally letting the last of the fight play out. The worst part of it all was that it hadn't always been this way. In the lead-up to Brock's fight, I'd at least strategized our plan to take down Onix, and against Giovanni, I'd done so much research. Hell, in my first ever battle I'd had Artis use his Aqua Ring to attack. None of those really counted as consistent strategies like what I now knew I wanted, but they were better than picking strong moves and hoping for the best.

I absentmindedly went to wipe a dot of water off the screen, frowning deeper when it didn't come off. I must've gotten some moisture on the lens during the fight.

Wait...

It wasn't water. There was a tiny speck of ice that had landed on my lens and was now baked into the footage. Something about it scratched my brain, so I started rewinding the footage to find when it had landed. It was maybe thirty seconds before the end of the fight, during Artis's Ice Ball run at Rhydon. Right as my newly evolved Sealeo rolled forward, mixed with the spray of dust and dirt, a glimmer of ice appeared on the camera lens.

I squinted my eyes, rewinding it and playing it again. The Ice Ball had definitely caused it, but it didn't make sense to me. The move had never made anything more than frost appear before, and Artis definitely hadn't used any other ice type moves in that battle. It took rewinding the fight another thirty seconds before I actually understood what had happened.

It was Brine, I realized. Artis dropped one before Rhydon took him out and it left the floor soaking wet. I hadn't noticed because I'd been so focused on the fight, but there was like an inch of standing water on the floor. The moment he rolled over it with Ice Ball, bam, frozen floor.

It was a pretty obvious realization to make, but I felt like a genius in the wake of my own self-doubt. Water created by Artis's attacks didn't just dissipate. If I could use that for something, like freezing it over with an ice type move, I could potentially make an environment that would work in my favor.

I could see it now. If I'd opened up the battle with Artis soaking the floor and freezing it with, hypothetically, a Powder Snow or something similar, Rhydon would've had a hell of a time actually getting to us. Hana would've been free and clear to attack from a range and Amy could've used Pennywise to help with the Parasect. It might take a little practice, but I also knew that Artis was made to move on ice. We would've locked down Rhydon and increased our own mobility and defense.

I put the camera away, new ideas and plans running through my mind. It was a good start. At the very least, it made me feel better that I was turning this near-loss into a learning opportunity. I shifted uncomfortably against the cavern wall. I was pretty warm from the heater but the stone floors hadn't gotten any softer over our journey. I had the instinct to release Artis, to tell him about our new strategies and snuggle into his blubber, but I knew that he needed as much rest as possible after today.

Instead, my eyes found their way to the end of the cave. Even outside of the sitting conditions, I was having trouble getting comfortable but I couldn't put my finger on why. There was just something different about tonight that I couldn't place.

Tiny hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I felt uneasy.

Gravel shifted behind me and I jumped into a standing position, hand grasped around Artis' ball.

"Easy," sounded Lester's deep voice. The goth trainer stepped into the light from his tent holding his hands up. "It's me."

I let out a breath, my heart beating marginally slower. "Damn, man. You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry."

There was an awkward moment where we both just stood there. I lamely placed Artis's ball back onto my belt and sat back down on my bag, holding my hands over Yuji's stove to keep them warm. Lester pulled a sleeping bag behind him, wrapping it over his shoulders like a cape. He sat down on the ground, sliding the end of it under him like a picnic blanket.

The two of us sat in silence for a little while.

Eventually, my eyes drifted over to my new traveling companion. Lester was dressed in a set of black pajama bottoms and a Metagrossica t-shirt. The old band tee was faded and had strategic tears in it, ones that had been repaired by tying strips of the shirt into knots. He was quietly staring off into the mid-distance and rubbing his hands together to keep warm.

I grinned at the band merch, given that I was a fan myself. I still didn't know a whole lot about Lester or Ambrose. Granted, I had met them yesterday, but their vibe was just hard to nail down. They were two trainers with incredibly niche specializations that mirrored each other perfectly. They both had access to members of an outrageously rare and expensive Pokemon evolutionary line, which already made them stand out so much.

And then there was what Ambrose had said yesterday night. 'If your ghost hadn't shown up when she did, Lester was about ready to go in on his own.'

Hana had said as much as well. The impulse told me a lot about his character, but I was still having trouble pairing that with the person I'd had only a handful of interactions with so far. He'd been territorial about Ambrose, but that was totally appropriate given that I'd been... ...distracted by his boyfriend. Other than his specialization, his boyfriend, and the off-comment Ambrose had made about him wanting to find a Pokemon in Mt. Moon, I didn't know anything about this guy.

I wanted to ask so many questions, but I was nervous about how withdrawn Lester had presented himself as so far. I didn't want to be overbearing with somebody who was kind of stuck with me until we got back to civilization.

"Congratulations."

Twice in ten minutes, Lester had startled me. "Uh, sorry?"

The goth didn't pull himself from his thousand-yard stare. "Your Pokemon evolved. Congratulations."

"Oh. Thank you."

We went silent again.

I cleared my throat, internally screaming. He talked first, that was the perfect opprotunity to ask him more questions. Just say anything!

"Um," I was off to a stellar start. "What about you? How long has Espi been evolved?"

"Long time," said Lester, gravelly voice actually warm for once. "We've had Umber and Espi since we were kids, so they evolved a few years in. All it took was lots of love and some luck."

"That's awesome," I said, and I meant it. "I've actually been looking into friendship evolutions a lot lately, and I know that they take a lot of work. To succeed with one before you even started your season is really impressive."

Lester's eyes flicked to me, pulling out of their stare. His black-stained lips curled in a little grin. "Thanks." He subtly tilted his head from side to side for a moment, debating his words before he spoke again. "The secret was hair brushing. Espi didn't start really warming up to me until I got a grooming kit. It had a brush and conditioner and stuff in it."

"Huh," I thought about it, eyes flicking to the cave mouth before turning back to Lester. "Wisp would probably love that. She already swoons over desserts, so that would be the cherry on top."

"Yeah, probably. I haven't met a Pokemon yet that didn't. What kinds of desserts do you feed her?"

I smiled. "Anything sugary and sweet. She especially loves cake, but she'll take it in donut or pie form. When I took her to the bakery a few weeks ago, so picked out her a whole tiramisu." A little breeze caused me to rub my hands over my arms. Since she still couldn't go incorporeal, Wisp was resting in her ball right now. It felt lonely, not having her little quips pop out of my shadow.

"Espi hates when things are too sweet," Lester chuckled. The sound was like a bass drop in his throat. "She prefers light desserts like matcha."

"Then she and Wisp should be friends. They're not going to compete over each other's treats." I joined Lester in chuckling.

I glanced out into the darkness again.

Lester frowned. "Did you hear something?"

"Huh?" I looked back at him in confusion.

"You keep looking out into the tunnel. I was asking if you heard something. Or does today just have you on edge?"

The fact that he pointed it out meant that I hadn't been imagining it. Something about today had me on high alert, and it wasn't just the traumatic day. I hadn't even been close to this bad yesterday. There was really still no reason for it, either. No dangerous Pokemon or loud noises had come through-

"What time is it?" My gaze snapped to the front of the cave and realization came to me.

Lester lost his smile, fumbling with his phone. "Almost nine, why?"

"It's after moonrise, that's what's wrong." I stood up from my bag, pulling it over my shoulder. I took a few steps toward the cave entrance, listening intently. "I haven't heard the Clefairy at all today. Have you?"

Lester stood, wrapping his blanket tightly around him and looking as troubled as I felt. "No, I haven't. Was I supposed to?"

"On every piece of research I've done about Mt. Moon, you're always supposed to hear the Clefairy after moonrise. They only do their big dance on the nights of a full moon, but they always sing otherwise. If it's almost nine, the moon rose an hour ago."

"And we still haven't heard them." Lester arched his neck, trying to listen for them. "And there's no chance we're just in a really remote part of the mountain?"

I shook my head. "Clefairy is the reason I wanted to go down to the lower floors. The plan was always to help Amy, but they're one of my favorite Pokemon, so I chose locations where we could find both them and a psychic type. We might be deeper than we wanted, but we should definitely still be able to hear the Clefairy."

We both listened for another minute, searching for evidence of the tiny fairy types. It was incredibly frustrating, because I knew there had to be something wrong, but there was no way I was headed back cave right now. My friends weren't awake and my Pokemon were some of the few that could still battle. Lester gave me a sympathetic look and turned to return to the tent, but he stiffened.

"Did you hear that?" He spoke in a hushed tone, eyes sliding back to the cavern entrance. I hadn't, but another moment of listening made the sound apparent.

Kruuuuuuuuuk...

The sound was low and slow, definitely made from rock scraping rock. It sounded distant, but not very. After a few more seconds, it happened again. It didn't sound like it was getting closer or farther away, just staying in place. It was quiet enough that if we hadn't been listening as hard as we had, we wouldn't have noticed it.

Lester gave me a look as the noise continued. It was something between worry and curiosity. I couldn't deny that my expression was probably the same. We both realized the problem with that at the same time, speaking in hushed tones.

"We can't-"

"We shouldn't-"

We paused, a silent conversation passing between us, ensuring that we were on the same page. There was absolutely zero guarantee that the strange noise and the lack of Clefariy were related. Today was not the day to take stupid risks, and investigating a noise in the darkness of the lower floors definitely qualified as a stupid risk. On the other hand, if we woke someone to keep watch, and both of us went... ...it was still a dumb decision.

"But," I mumbled, looking back at the cave. Worry bubbled in my chest when I still didn't hear the song of the Clefairy. I turned back to Lester, who had stepped away from the mouth of the cave. He was pulling on his jacket.

"We're not waking up Ambrose," Lester whispered. "He'll say no and then go instead."

"Same for Hana and Amy," I said. "Though just on the saying 'no' part."

Immediately, my brain flagged that I was doing something that I was probably going to regret later. Hana had made it clear at the Pokemon Center that she'd prefer if I came to her any time I needed help with anything. The problem was I knew that we were making a mistake by going out. I was choosing to do the dangerous thing, which she would definitely be against. As much as I wanted to go to her, I knew she would stop me if she heard our plan.

"So, we're in agreement?" Lester asked.

I nodded, a twinge of guilt already forming in my chest.

---

Yuji took kindly to neither being awoken nor being told our hair-brained plan. He leaned groggily against the cavern wall, a cup of coffee I'd decided to make for him in one hand and Despereaux's Pokeball in the other.

"I'm not going to say no," he said carefully. "But I must say, my friend, that you shouldn't-"

I sighed, "I know, Yuji. I don't even want to go. It's more like-"

"A need," Lester completed my sentence. "It's a long shot, but if that noise means a Pokemon is in trouble, then we have to go."

That instinct that Ambrose and Hana had told me about was showing itself in Lester. The moment I'd drawn a line of logic that the noise we'd heard could even be slightly linked to the Clefairy, he'd been on board with checking it out. The guy couldn't let it lie. It gave me instant respect for him, even if I still didn't know all that much about him.

Yuji looked at both of us carefully. He glanced back at the tents. "Lester, I know we've just met," he sighed, "so my words cannot sway you, but I hope that you have thought through what your companion would say. And Derek, you know what Hana would say."

"Yeah," I glanced at the ground, not meeting his eyes. There was the unspoken implication of why we'd woke up who we did, and Yuji knew that. He sipped his coffee like a disappointed father.

Lester shook his head. "But you are going to keep watch, right?"

Yuji stared at him for a long moment, thoughts flickering past his eyes. Instead, he turned to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. "I will keep watch, though I ask that you send Wisp if anything at all goes awry. I only do this because you allowed me to do the same in the Viridian Forest."

I'd forgotten about that. When we'd first met Achilles, the smart thing would've been to run, but Yuji had made it clear he really wanted to catch a Heracross. It had taken me deciding to rally everyone to help him to actually complete the catch. It had probably been dumb and dangerous, but it had ended in the catch of Yuji's ace.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about that, man. This isn't transactional."

Yuji looked taken aback, but a tired smile did finally come up on his face. "Regardless," he nodded. "I will do this for you."

"Thanks, bud." Warmth bloomed in my chest. Yuji understood that I needed to do this.

Lester and I had already put on our backpacks and jackets and had only been waiting for Yuji to agree before we left. I did turn my camera back on and attached it to my shoulder, given how invaluable it had been earlier. Lester released Espi and I did the same with Wisp, both electing to let our respective Pokemon ride on our shoulders, and we stepped through the narrow cave opening. We kept our lights on a low setting, relying on Espeon's psychic senses and Wisp's ability to see in the dark to warn us of oncoming danger.

The grinding noise took us in the direction that we'd been traveling toward earlier, and every once in a while, I would spot the Rhydon tracks that we'd been following. They were almost comforting, as crazy as it sounded. I don't know if it was because our friends would eventually come this way if anything bad happened, or if I was getting some sort of false confidence from having beaten Rhydon, but it was a little easier to walk in the darkness knowing that they were there.

It only took about twenty minutes of walking before we got close to the noise. The sound got louder as we turned a corner, clear enough to tell that the source of it was a straight shot down the tunnel. It was still too far away to be seen by our light, but both Wisp and Espi made low noises to tell us that they could see something. Lester shot me a look and we slowed our steps.

Krrruuuuuuuuuk... kruuuuuuuuuuuk...

It was definitely the sound of rock on rock. Now that we were closer, I could also hear the sounds of tiny gusts of wind farther down the tunnel. I frowned. That wasn't what I'd been expecting. The tunnel we were in wasn't particularly windy, so I wasn't sure where that was coming from.

I nudged Lester. "You hear that?"

He listened intently. Instead of immediately answering me, he looked to Espi. A slight phantom glow emanated from the Espeon's red gem and Lester reacted with understanding. Having a Pokemon that could actually talk to you was proving to be ridiculously useful.

Lester nodded to his Pokemon when the glow disappeared. "Epsi says the Pokemon is floating, but not like the Bronzor were. It's small, too, maybe as half as tall as Wisp. She says it's up ahead, using a move to rub a rock along the cave wall."

My frown deepened. I had done a lot of research on Mt. Moon, especially on the rare and weird Pokemon that could be found here, and that didn't sound like anything I'd even remotely heard of. Bronzor and Chingling could both levitate and were the right size, but Espi had specifically said that it wasn't the same. The only other Pokemon here that could fly were from the Zubat line, and we would definitely have figured out if it was one of those already. I had no idea what this could be.

I turned to Wisp. She had tucked herself inside my jacket's hood and was leaning over my shoulder, yellow eyes looking forward intently. She was watching the Pokemon through the darkness.

"Hey," I rubbed her head. "Wanna try something?"

Wisp tilted her head, a tiny grin appearing on her face. "Dreavus!"

Two minutes later, Wisp floated down the cavern with my camera in tow. It faintly glowed with blue light as she held it aloft with her Confusion. Like a lot of cameras, my camcorder had a really basic 'night mode' on it that I hoped would at least vaguely show us what Pokemon we were dealing with. I was also hoping that Wisp's natural sneakiness, even without her incorporeal form, would keep her from drawing too much attention to herself.

"You're sure this is a good idea?" Lester asked doubtfully. "We could always just go ourselves."

I watched Wisp and my camera disappear into the darkness. I shook my head. "Not at all."

"..."

"But," I defended myself against Lester's very loud silence. "I don't want to go into anything half-cocked, especially not with how today went. I trust Wisp to at least try and be sneaky enough to get some information for us."

"Drea, drea, vus!" Wisp's cheerful chirps echoed down the hallway. The scraping noise paused, followed by a muffled noise that was unmistakably coming from another Pokemon.

The red gem on Espi's head glowed again, and Lester sighed. "Espi says that Wisp is talking to it."

"Legends damn it," I facepalmed. "There goes a perfectly good plan."

Lester shrugged, stepping past me. "It was like a six out of ten at best."

"Yeah, probably."

The two of us took careful steps down the tunnel, slowly raising the levels on our lanterns. With the increase in light, I could barely see Wisp and the floating form that was past her. The Pokemon was incredibly hard to see. Its rocky exterior was an almost perfect match for the cavern wall behind it. It was about a third of a meter tall and completely spherical if you discounted the five tiny white nubs that protruded from its light brown shell. Darker triangular marks ran across its body and around two black eye-like spots on its shell, giving it something of a drawn-on face. The Pokemon floated back and forth in an agitated pattern, spinning and rotating which of its nubs were highest in the air. Tiny near-invisible cyclones of air held the Pokemon aloft, explaining the noise I'd heard earlier. Its shape reminded me of something, but I couldn't think of what it was.

A rock about as large as my fist floated near the Pokemon, held aloft by the dark brown energy of a rock type move. It was smooth on one side, obviously having been ground down against the cave wall. Actually, looking at it now, the section of wall the Pokemon had been attacking looked like it was another connecting tunnel that had been blocked off by a large boulder.

"Drea, mismis!" Wisp said to the creature. Her attitude was very much friendly toward this Pokemon and tinged with worry. She drifted the camera back into my hands but didn't otherwise acknowledge our presence. "Misdreavus, vus."

The Pokemon's little rock body shuttered, and when it spoke its voice sounded like a high-pitched radio signal muffled behind layers of rock. "Inio! Nior, min?"

My eyes flicked to Lester. He was already waiting on a translation from Espi. "This Pokemon's friends are apparently trapped behind the wall," Lester explained quietly. "It's asking if Wisp can help them move the boulder so they can get through."

Wisp heartily shook her head. She turned her head to look back at me, eyes wide and pleading. Apparently, she'd already made friends with the mystery Pokemon.

"Ugh, are we sure you don't know Baby-Doll Eyes?" I muttered, turning my attention to the new Pokemon. It twirled in the air, using one of its little nubs as a pivot point on the winds. It turned its darker eyespots in my direction, giving me the impression it was looking at me. "Your friends, they won't be dangerous for us, right?"

"Minior!" The tiny Pokemon shook its body the same way someone would say no.

Getting visual permission from Lester in the form of a nod, I did the same to the rocky little guy. "Alright, we'll help you out."

Wisp chirped a happy little chirp, doing a small flip in the air. The two of them moved out of the way so that Lester and I could look over the boulder. Even without the gash that the Pokemon had been slowly wearing into it, it stood out against the rest of the gray-brown cavern wall, very much of a different composition to everything else. It had wide bands of silver sedimentary dust across its middle, obviously laced with a different mineral than the rest of the stone. I actually recognized it, mostly because I'd been debating buying the pure version just over a week ago at the PokeMart in Pewter.

"That's moonstone," I breathed, taking a step closer to the boulder.

"Oh, shit," Lester joined me, going as far as to run his fingers across the silvery bands. "Like, the rock that evolves Clefairy?"

"Yeah, though it's not refined enough here. Too much of it has mixed with the rest of the rock to be potent enough for an evolution stone. But," I paused, looking back at the floating Pokemon. Even though it didn't have a face, it was still very obviously stressed. "I think that this is related to the Clefairy. Can Espi ask it?"

Lester nodded, tilting his head to his Pokemon. The two Pokemon exchanged quick words and after a brief mental conversation, Lester's face grew worried. "We were right, this is one of the Clefairy's caverns," Lester spoke. "And this Pokemon is one of their friends. It's worried about them because it heard noises yesterday night, but it hasn't been able to get in. Obviously, this isn't normally here."

My gut had been right. The news didn't make me feel any better, it just confirmed that the Clefairy were possibly in danger or worse. My sense of urgency ratcheted up a few notches.

"It's too big for Wisp to move on her own," I said, glancing it up and down. "Probably two or three tons, if I had to guess. She's close, but that's still too much."

Wisp pouted, not denying the comment. Her progress with Confusion had been amazing after we'd started training her with boulders, but she could only get so strong so quickly. Right now she was able to lift just over a ton, as long as it was all in one piece.

"Neither can Espi," Lester said regretfully. "She knows Confusion, but she's focused more on the telepathic side of things than anything else. She could maybe do a third on her own."

"Well, it looks like we're doing this old-fashioned way. All four of us together should be enough." I rolled up my sleeves, placing my hands against the cold stone. I looked Lester up and down. "Damn, I didn't grab the buff boyfriend."

Lester didn't even look offended. "Nope," he said, lifting his scrawny arms. Regardless of his lack of conditioning, Lester braced his shoulder against the boulder.

I looked to our Pokemon, both of whom adopted stances for their moves, and counted us down. "Alright, guys. Three, two, one!"

I dug the balls of my feet into the earth, hefting my weight into the stone. The coarse rock bit into my palms and was harshly cold against my chest. Lester grunted as his feet scrambled against the ground. He finally found solid footing and pushed harder. The surface of it, centimeters from my face, glowed blue and pink as both of our Pokemon used their psychic powers to push as hard as they could.

The weight of the boulder resisted our combined efforts. The cavern echoed with our grunts and strained noises, and little white spots started to appear at the edge of my vision. I was just about to call it off when the little rock Pokemon thudded into the boulder, throwing its weight in with us. All five of us redoubled our efforts.

The boulder shifted. It was only the tiniest amount, but the laws of physics said that was enough. As soon as it gave us the smallest purchase, it started to build momentum. bits of dust and gravel rained down from the roof of the cavern, slowly being scraped away as we shifted the earth itself. I closed my eyes, exhaling the last of my breath in a final heave.

I was blinded by the light that poured into the tunnel as the boulder shifted away. Silver-blue light reflected from within, stopping both Lester and I cold in our tracks. When my vision cleared, I couldn't help but stare forward, transfixed by the room in front of us.

The cavern was huge. It was like the inside of a massive pot, flat on the bottom with rounded cylindrical walls that rose at least two dozen meters into the air. The ceiling was a towering natural dome with a central vertical tunnel shaft at its highest point. Silver moonlight flooded through the skylight, bouncing off of the blue-grey walls of this chamber and reflecting in every direction. The stone of the cavern itself was wrapped in bands of moonstone dust, the same as the boulder had been, and it made for a magical sight. It was like a natural cathedral the size of a battle pitch.

"Fuck..." Lester breathed, still gasping for air. He pointed at the ground.

As beautiful as the room was, its floor was trashed. Dozens of small stone nests littered the ground, broken apart by a skirmish. Claw marks marred the ground, ripping through where the stone was still smooth. Burn marks and acid pits dotted the center of the room. There were two boulders identical to the one we had just moved at other points at on the wall. I assumed there were more connecting tunnels behind those. All across the rest of the lower parts of the walls, there were huge recesses in the stone, like something big had pulled the rock out. Some big-scale battling had happened here.

The rocky Pokemon zoomed past us, floating toward the center of the room. It anxiously looked around, desperately searching for any signs of its friends. When it didn't immediately find anything, it whined softly.

Wisp gave me a hopeless look. Her expression told me that she wanted me to fix this. I shook my head, placing a hand on her head. I wasn't sure what to do next. I looked around the room again to try and find any answers. My face had already fallen, but suspicion started to eat away at my frown, turning it to anger. I stepped closer to one of the alcoves that had been dug deep into the cavern wall.

"Hey," I said to Lester, my voice tight. "You see this?"

It took him a second to focus on me. When he did, though, his eyes went wide. "There's no way a Pokemon did that."

"Nope." I ran my finger along the edge of the recess. It was an almost sharp ninety-degree angle. "That's machine cut. People did this."

I don't know how the hell they made it down here, but someone had taken the time to cut twenty or thirty square holes into this cavern. Each one was about as tall as my waist and maybe half as deep. Looking around, it was easy to tell they weren't quite in a regular pattern, so they must have been picked out for a specific reason. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. Lester and I put it together at the same time.

"So somebody came down here to mine the moonstone?" Lester said.

It was on the right track, but it didn't feel right. I shook my head, tilting it from side to side. "Maybe, but I don't think so. They mined something, but it's like I said, you'd need to refine what's in the walls a lot to get any meaningful amount. There are easier ways to illegally get moonstones." Lester gave me an odd look, making me feel self-conscious. "Uh, my dad is an Ace trainer," I admitted. "He talks about work sometimes."

"Huh," he didn't ask for further elaboration. "So what would they have been mining?"

I had a sneaking suspicion, but I wasn't sure. I shook my head, looking around the room again. Now that I knew that people were involved, I looked at the room in a whole new way. They hadn't come in through the tunnels like we had. Based on the concentration of the damage and the faint scrape marks left by the cutout stones that led to the center of the room, they must have come in through the ceiling. The vertical tunnel had definitely already been there, making it an easy way in and out if you had a flying Pokemon or some rope. The damage types on the ground were so varied that at least half a dozen different Pokemon must have been battling. The three tunnels leading out of the cavern all had large boulders blocking them off, something that had obviously been done on purpose.

"Fuck..." I couldn't find a better way to describe it, Lester had nailed it earlier. "I think we split up for now. Help the Pokemon see if we can find any clues about where the Clefairy went. Hopefully, they didn't all get captured."

Lester looked like he was going to comment but chose to keep it to himself. He and Espi wandered away, sifting through the rubble as they walked.

I pulled out Artis's ball and released him. I quickly filled him in on everything that had happened. Wisp interjected every once in a while, and the two of them took on a look of fierce determination and mild rage.

"Spread out," I said to my Pokemon. "Keep an eye out for where they could have gone."

We all scattered to separate corners of the cavern. I started with the closest nests, using my light to make sure that they really were empty. Almost immediately, I found further evidence that the Clefairy had been attacked. A few of the nests were entirely torn apart, bits of shrub and stone scattered in all directions. In the center of one of them, a shiny glimmer caught my eye. I bent down to pick it up. It was hard, purple, and shaped like a half-moon.

"A scale," I murmured under my breath, grimacing as I recognized the Pokemon it was probably from. "Friggin' Arbok."

I pocketed the scale, shivering as I thought back to the attack on the Pewter City Museum. I didn't want it to be the case, because there was no way I was that unlucky, but a line of logic started to play through my brain. I had helped stop Team Rocket from stealing fossils from the museum. We had already seen evidence of fossils down here in the tunnels. There were giant pits in the walls of the cave where something had been mined. We were in a restricted area, where very few people would be patrolling or taking notice of illicit activities. Whoever had attacked had used a lot of Pokemon, one of which was an Arbok.

I shook my head at the last one. The Rockets don't have a monopoly on one kind of Pokemon. Anybody could have an Arbok.

The thought didn't comfort me, nor did it make me think the rest of my logic was wrong.

I sighed, looking up from the search. The tiny rock Pokemon was still floating around, searching for his friends. I pulled out my Pokedex, finally realizing that I might have a way to identify this mystery Pokemon. Lining up the camera, I activated the 'scan' function.

"Pokemon not recognized. Please download additional region drivers," my Pokedex said in a robotic voice.

I frowned at it. Whatever this little guy was, it was not normally found in Kanto-Johto. If it'd ever been recorded before, it certainly hadn't been documented by Professor Oak. I turned my camcorder on it, getting a little bit more footage of the mystery Pokemon.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

I looked around at the sudden noise. It took a second to realize that it was coming from my pocket. Lester looked over at me, putting it together before I did.

"Holy shit," I said out loud. "I have a signal."

I pulled out my Pokenav+, silencing it before my notification sound could go off again. While searching, I had wandered directly underneath the vertical tunnel in the ceiling and could see the sky above me. It was only two bars, but the skylight was giving me enough signal to connect to the internet.

I looked at Lester, but he impatiently motioned for me to continue. I fumbled with the Pokenav+, immediately bringing up its map function. A loading bar popped up as it started searching for location data.

"Come on, come on..." I muttered, holding it up to the skylight. "I just need a location..."

The bar filled frustratingly slowly, but after almost a minute, it dinged again. An updated map of Mt. Moon appeared, complete with a little dot that showed my location. It was only a top-down view of the route, but it was enough.

"Holy shit," I said again. "Holy shit! Lester!"

The goth sprinted back to me, quickly looking over my shoulder. It felt wrong to grin down here, and neither of us did, but it was impossible to quash the hope that sputtered to life in our chests. Lester and I looked up at the skylight.

"If we can get up there..." he said.

"...It's a straight shot down the mountain to Route Four," I finished.

We were ridiculously close to Route Four, the route that connected the east side of Mt. Moon to Cerulean City. The location of the skylight, regardless of the challenges of actually climbing it, was in a less-than-ideal spot relative to the route. We were farther north than the normal exit to Mt. Moon, so we'd have to hike down a few miles of steep hills and cliffs, but it was far more attainable than continuing to wander around the lower floors.

Lester let out a breath, sitting down on the stone floor. He sat with his head in his hands. My first thought was that he was overwhelmed, but I quickly dismissed that as he looked back up at me. His expression was deep in thought.

"We have a way out. At least, assuming we can get up there. Which means," he glanced over at the mystery Pokemon. "That once we help them out we can finally try and get out of here."

I nodded, following his gaze. The little guy was still floating around the room. Our Pokemon had almost finished sweeping the room, and it was stooping lower and lower in the air. The lack of results was weighing down on the Pokemon.

"And I have a signal now," I reminded Lester. "So, once we find the Clefariy, I can send out a call for help from the Rangers. We can report all of this and they'll help us get back to the Route."

Just like back at the camp, we were both in agreement. We weren't pulling the ripcord out of here until we'd figured out exactly what had happened to the Clefairy. The little rock Pokemon had asked us for help and we'd said yes. I helped Lester to his feet and we rejoined our Pokemon.

The atmosphere had worsened for them over our conversation, and it wasn't hard to see why.

Almost all of our Pokemon had come back empty-handed. Artis and Espi gave woeful looks to the tiny rock Pokemon, both having found no evidence of any remaining Clefairy. Wisp crooned mournfully. She grasped an object with her Confusion behind her, having pulled it from one of the nests. It was an oval shape that was about half of her height. My heart dropped when I realized what it was.

"Oh no," Lester whispered.

I waved her over to me, gently taking the object into my grip. My eyes watered as I felt its icy smooth surface under my hands. Eggs were never supposed to be cold.

I looked down at Espeon, holding it out to her. "Is it...?"

The psychic type stepped forward, red gem gleaming. All five of us held our collective breaths as Espi inspected the egg, feeling for any mental presence still there. It only took a moment before she stepped back, eyes wide.

"Esp!" Espi quickly shook her head. "Esp, esp!"

I almost cried from relief. Before the conversation could continue, I slipped the egg under my jacket and against my skin. Espi had confirmed that it wasn't dead, but it could not be healthy for it to have been abandoned for any amount of time.

I turned to Lester. "You don't have an incubator, do you?"

He shook his head. "I didn't think I'd need one."

"Me neither," I said regretfully. Pokemon eggs were rarely seen unattended in the wild, and there was almost no chance that a wild Pokemon would give away their young. Most trainers would never need an egg incubator unless they specifically bought or bred an egg out of a breeding house.

The mystery Pokemon didn't look comforted by the discovery of the egg. If anything, it looked even more down. Behind its rocky shell, the Pokemon let out a muffled whining sound. It rocked in the air and it became clear that the Pokemon was crying.

"Min, min, minior," its mournful cries echoed in the cavern. The rest of us looked uncomfortably at each other, the sadness of this Pokemon making us feel worse.

Lester turned, stomping with enough force to cause echoes in the cavern. I jumped at his first few steps, but all of us turned to watch him. Even Minior (I had heard enough of its cries to assume that was its name) stopped its cries to look at Lester. The goth stomped past dozens of broken nests, right up to one of the boulders that blocked off another tunnel. He placed his shoulder against it the same way he had earlier, grunting as he tried to shove it all on his own.

"What are you doing?" I said. "You can't move that by yourself."

Lester didn't stop. "I refuse to believe," he strained, inhaling after every word. "That whoever did this got all of them. There have to be more, we just need to get to them."

I slowly walked to Lester. I didn't know how to deal with this. He was obviously mourning what had happened here in his own way, but I didn't want him to hurt himself. I gripped the egg with one hand, placing the other on his shoulder. He continued to struggle but was careful not to bump me.

"Hey, man," I said. "Give it a minute. Let us help you."

Lester's nostrils flared as he inhaled, and he gave another solid press against the boulder. Predictably, it didn't move. He finally collapsed next to it, letting himself slide to the ground. He cradled his head in his hands again and this time I could tell that he was overwhelmed.

I left my hand on his shoulder, doing my best to give him support. I'd had ample practice over the last few months.

"Do you think, maybe," I said carefully, "that Minior might have to search a bit on its own? We can help it get through this tunnel, obviously, but we might not be able to help as much as we want to."

It killed me to say that. Hana had nailed it the other night, I needed to help people wherever I could, and pulling away from this was completely counter to my nature. If I had it my way, I would go back to the camp to wake everyone up and have them help us track down every Clefairy left in Mt. Moon in the hopes that we could reunite Minior with its friends. There were just three things that kept me from that path of action.

One, I now had something far more vulnerable and precious in my care. 'The Clefairy' was a nebulous concept of Pokemon that might still be in danger, but the egg was a real and tangible life that needed help. Neither of my Pokemon were suited to hold onto it and care for it like it needed, and Minior definitely couldn't keep it warm. It was up to me to take care of this egg. Even if its parents miraculously reappeared, it needed to be seen by a real medical professional.

Two, Lester's breakdown had been a reality check on just how powerless we were down here. We needed basically all of our Pokemon to move a single boulder out of the way. What were we going to do when we cracked open a tunnel and another Rhydon was sitting there? We didn't have the man or Pokemon power to carry out an extensive search.

Three, we had other people relying on us. Our friends were mostly safe in the campaign cavern we'd set up, but once we started moving we made up about half of the battle-ready Pokemon in the group. We were the only two who knew that there was a phone signal in this cave. If we didn't make it back, our friends would almost definitely never discover this cave, and they might never make it out of the tunnels.

To his credit, Lester let my words really sink in. He sighed, leaning forward on his knees.

"You're right. I'm just-" Lester sat up, stiffening. His next words were deathly quiet, spoken in a whisper. "The Clefairy got out."

"I agree," I said. "I doubt that all of them were captured-"

"No, Derek," he interrupted me, pointing at the ground. "Look! They got out. Look at the footprints!"

I narrowed my eyes, searching for what he was talking about. On the floor in front of us were dozens of tiny footprints left in the dust, just the right size for Clefairy and Clefable. They moved in a straight line, all overlapping to show that they had been walking in the same direction and that many of them had been moving at the same time. The tracks ended at the boulder, some of them half-covered by the chunk of rock.

Half-covered, I thought.

"Holy shit, you're right!"

If the footprint was covered by the boulder, that meant that it had been there before the boulder had fallen. Whoever had raided this cave had buried the tunnels after the Clefairy had already left, probably to keep the rest of the scary Pokemon down here out of the cave.

Lester started laughing, tears rolling down his face. His eye shadow was running. "They did it! They really got away!"

I joined him, letting my own tears really fall. I'd cried four or five times today, but I didn't mind adding another one. Today had been one of the longest days I'd ever experienced, and the egg scare had really shaken me. Knowing the Clefairy of Mt. Moon had safely evacuated into the tunnels left me feeling numb and overwhelmed.

I turned back to the Pokemon, all of whom had gathered near us. Espi had already run up to Lester, pressing her face against his and licking away his tears. Artis and Wisp were waiting anxiously for me to explain what we had found, and Minior was just floating nearby, obviously confused.

"Minior," I said between heavy breaths. "Your friends are okay! They got out through this tunnel!"

The rock Pokemon came to a stop. It floated in the air without twirling or shifting, something that we hadn't seen it do yet. It slowly began to vibrate, its entire shell buzzing with energy.

"Minior! Min min min!" Its cheers were barely muffled behind its heavy shell. Wisp whooped in response, joining Minior in twirling around the air. Artis clapped his heavy flippers in excitement.

We all took another few moments to celebrate before dusting off and getting to work. With Artis helping us, we managed to shift the boulder with far less effort this time. The tunnel behind it was just as dark as our own had been, but this one had dozens of Clefairy tracks running down it.

Minior almost zoomed off without another word, but it turned at the last minute. It floated up to myself, then Wisp, then Espi, then Artis, and finally Lester. It tilted its body in front of each of us, giving the closest thing to a bow of thanks that it could manage. When it was in front of Lester, and only Lester, it quietly murmured its own name.

Espi's gem glowing let me know that she'd translated Minior's words for him. Lester nodded to the Pokemon, his eyes wet again. He sniffled, brushing his hair over his eyes.

"Min min!" Minior gave us one last grateful goodbye. It twirled in the air and shot off into the darkness. As it flew away, I finally put together what Minior had reminded me of. It looked like a shooting star, taking off into the night.

I turned to Lester, feeling weary in my bones. "You ready to go back?"

He nodded, eyes still hidden behind his dark hair. "Yeah." His already deep voice was stuffy and heavy.

The two of us limped back to camp with our Pokemon. I'd never seen Wisp in a better mood, and she wouldn't stop snuggling against the side of my neck. Espi's red gem didn't stop glowing the entire way back.

---

When we got back, Yuji wasn't the only one awake. Sitting around the heater were three of our friends.

"Derek Tracy," Hana fumed, speaking dangerously low. Her hair was loosely put up in a ponyta-tail and she was still dressed in her pajamas. "What in the hell were you thinking?"

I wanted to find the energy to feel guilty, but I was just so drained that I couldn't give her more than a shameful expression. Hana's frustration did not lessen.

"Yeah, Lester," said Ambrose, looking genuinely bothered. "What the hell?"

Lester and I shared a drowsy look. "Do you want to-" I started to ask him.

"Go ahead," Lester shook his head, stepping next to Ambrose. Without another word, Ambrose pulled his boyfriend into a hug. Lester buried his face into his boyfriend's shoulder, holding him tight. Ambrose's arms found their way around Lester's shoulders and the two of them gently swayed with each other. I could see the frustration melting from Ambrose's face.

It felt actually unfair with how easily he got off, considering Hana was still sending me looks. Her expression flicked with anger and betrayal, but disappointment was far and away her primary emotion. Hana stepped toward me, her lime-green eyes were furious and waiting for my response.

"Long story short," I mumbled, both completely spent and self-conscious under Hana's intense stare. "We found out there were Pokemon in danger, so we stepped out to check on them. While we were helping, we found a way out."

That stopped Hana in her tracks. She, Yuji, and Ambrose all went deathly still, staring at the two of us like we'd just announced that we were aliens. If I'd had a pen to drop, it would've been the only noise in the cave.

Amy yawned from the corner. I hadn't even them sitting there. "Good enough for me," they said, pulling their sleeping bag around them. "I vote Derek gets a pass on this one."

Hana looked at Yuji. The two of them had a silent conversation that I couldn't read, only getting a few brief beats out of it. Hana had definitely been rehearsing what she'd tell me when I got back, and I'd taken the winds out of her sails pretty thoroughly. I was too tired for my filter to kick in, so I took it one step further.

I pulled the egg out from under my shirt. It had gotten warm to the touch on the way back, and I felt a lot better about its condition. All four of our companion's jaws dropped, even Amy's. Lester didn't bother looking up from his boyfriend's neck.

"Does anyone have an incubator for this thing?" I asked, holding it carefully with two hands. "It was left alone in a cave, so I'm trying to make sure it stays warm."

Hana silently reached into her bag, pulling out a collapsable glass and metal container. I'd known that if any one of us would have over-prepared, it was going to be her. I reached for it, but she pulled it back from my grip.

"No," Hana asserted, giving me a hard look. "You get this after you tell us exactly what happened. Then, you're going to sleep. After you've gotten eight hours, and not a second less, we will look at escaping this awful place. Am I clear?"

I wanted to pout, but I couldn't argue with her. I'd demand the same if it had been any of the others, after all. Instead, I pulled up a spot at the heater, wrapping my arms around the egg.

I nodded to Hana. "Okay."

The fire burned out of her eyes. Hana looked almost confused that I'd agreed so easily. "Okay?"

"Okay," I said again.

Hana glared at me one more time before letting the expression permanently melt off of her face. It was clear that the few hours of sleep that she'd gotten hadn't been nearly enough. I had no idea how long she'd been awake, but we hadn't even been here an hour before I'd left again. After our conversation at the Center, it was pretty clear that I'd disappointed her by not asking her for help. I hadn't had the time yet to really figure out her feelings past that, but I knew that I'd broken her trust. I'd known it the moment I'd made the decision.

Hana shifted around her bag and sleeping bag, making a spot for her to sit across from me at the heater. Yuji also pulled up a spot, though the other three all elected to return to their tents. Both tent flaps were left undone to listen to the retelling of the night's events.

I shifted in my seat, getting comfortable. "I guess I should start with me and Lester noticing that we hadn't heard the songs of the Clefairy yet..."

Notes:

Thank you guys for reading! I don't have a ton of notes for this chapter, so I hope you'll leave me all your thoughts and feedback in the comments. I appreciate you all!

Chapter 29: Rescue Rangers

Notes:

Hi hi everyone! I hope you enjoy today's chapter!

I woke up warm, comfortable, and alone. My sleeping bag was unzipped, probably something I'd done in my sleep, and I was stretched across the four sleeping pads we'd crammed into a three-person tent. It really wasn't possible to do that when all four of us were in here, so I hoped that I hadn't driven anyone else out by spreading out too much.

I stretched, feeling my bones and tendons pop. Dull lances of pain snaked across my whole body, but they didn't outweigh the satisfaction of stretching a stiff body after a long night's rest. I did do a mental inventory, though, of all of my pain points. My ankles had the worst of it, swollen and hot from the abuse they'd suffered on the hard stone floor, and flexing them sounded like someone popping a fistful of glowsticks. My shoulders were tight from the amount of adrenaline I'd gone through. Every time something had scared the crap out of me, I'd had the very human instinct to pull in my head and shoulders, which was the cause of that pain. The side of my head hadn't healed from our first Rhydon encounter, either, but that was more bruised than a consistent pain. My arms and back had small spots of numbness across them from pushing, not one, but two boulders yesterday.

I let out a long breath. Overall, I was feeling pretty good.

At least, I'm not dead yet.

It was a comforting thought. My dad had said that the average trainer has two near-death experiences on average during their rookie season. Even if I counted everything that had happened in Mt. Moon as a single incident, I was at three: The Viridian Forest, the Pewter Museum, and now Mt. Moon. I was just happy to be alive.

I glanced over to my bag. A pang went through my chest as I found what I was looking for, the thoughts of death reminding me of my current situation. The egg was safe in Hana's incubator. I turned over on the sleeping pad and pulled my pillow under my chest, getting up close to it. It was a rosy pink with white spots that looked vaguely like stars. There was no mistaking it, this was obviously going to hatch a Cleffa one day.

I didn't know how to feel about this egg. It had been abandoned, almost certainly not on purpose, and left to die in a cold cave. I had no idea if its parents were still alive, or if they would even want it now that it had been carried by a human. I'd heard stories of Pokemon abandoning their young after strangers had handled their eggs, though they might've been apocryphal.

I'd come into Mt. Moon with the goal of catching a Clefairy. I'd wanted to meet one and convince it to come with me on a journey, the same way I'd been duressed into asking Wisp. It would've been an excited little battler who was eager to join my team, the first catch that I'd made that had been entirely my choice. This egg was not that. In fact, it was an incredible responsibility that wouldn't result in a battler for weeks after it hatched.

I wasn't ungrateful, not at all. The egg still represented the opportunity to have one of my favorite Pokemon, and I would happily take on the responsibility of raising and caring for it. It just wasn't what I'd been expecting. I also couldn't look at it without images of broken nests and carved walls running through my mind. Lester and I celebrated finding out that the Clefairy colony had escaped whoever had attacked them, but I could almost guarantee that hadn't been all of them. Anyone who was going to illegally mine in Mt. Moon almost certainly saw the value in catching as many Clefairy as possible; just a few of them would sell for a fortune.

I frowned, picking up the incubator and pulling it against me. Even through the glass case, I could feel the warmth of the egg.

"I'm sorry, little guy," I whispered. "I wish I could've done more. I promise I'll take care of you, though."

It didn't answer me, thank the legends. It just continued to be. Just like I was grateful for my own life, I was doubly so that the egg had managed to survive on its own for as long as it had. The people that had attacked its home had drastically changed its life and I was going to do my best to make sure that it was for the better.

My eyebrows furrowed as I thought about those criminals. Even though I had zero actual proof, I knew in my gut that it had been Team Rocket. It just felt too right, the thought that they would turn to illegal mining after we'd mostly stopped them in Pewter City. On the list of illegal ways to get fossils, it was only marginally harder than robbing a museum.

I didn't know why they wanted so many fossil Pokemon, other than the obvious reasons, and I definitely wasn't going to speculate. That was the Ace Trainer's job. In fact, if it was up to me, I would never think about or cross paths with the Rockets ever again. At least, that was what I told myself.

But you don't mean it, a tiny rebellious voice said in the back of my mind. You were mad before, you're furious now. They took a swing at your girlfriend and a bunch of innocent people, and now they're actively hurting Pokemon.

The thought soured my mood. There wasn't a thing I could do about it. There were people bigger and smarter than me, using more resources than me to do their actual jobs and take down Team Rocket. As much as it pissed me off, the most I could do was report the Clefairy nest to the rangers.

I pushed myself up, climbing out of the messy bedding. If I was going to do that, then we needed to get out of here first.

A few minutes later I was dressed and packed, the egg incubator clipped securely to my belt. I stepped out of the tent and was greeted by my five companions and the smell of cooking food.

"Derek!" Amy said happily, munching on their meal. "You're awake!"

"Just in time for lunch," Ambrose chuckled. "I didn't expect you to sleep more than Lester."

The goth shrugged. He was lounging comfortably against Ambrose's side and hadn't changed out of his pajama bottoms.

"It's good to see you rested," Yuji smiled. He offered me a small plate with a hot sandwich on it. I took it gratefully.

"It feels good to have actually gotten some sleep," I admitted, taking a quick bite of my sandwich. It was ham and melted cheese. "I'm still not back to a hundred percent, but I'm good enough to get out of here."

I went to sit but hesitated on where I should actually go. The only open spot by the heater was between Yuji and Hana. The brunette hadn't acknowledged my presence yet, but she gave me a frosty look when I stepped forward.

I elected to stand.

Hana had listened to my entire story last night, even asking clarifying questions when the details got messy, but she hadn't yet directly talked to me about how I'd broken her trust. We both knew that I had, but it hadn't felt right to talk about it yet. Based on what she'd said at the Center, Hana preferred to handle personal conversations privately, and our little cavern alcove was anything but. I definitely couldn't fault her feelings. At the end of the day, I had purposefully left her in the dark about something I knew was going to be dangerous.

Our interaction did not go unnoticed, though. Yuji shifted to the side, filling the gap between himself and Hana, freeing up room on his other side for me. He shot me a knowing look, silently reminding me that he had in fact 'told me so'. Amy coughed loudly, excusing themself from lunch to go start packing. Lester did the same.

Ambrose leaned forward, blue eyes flicking between us before settling on me. "So, what's the plan for today? I heard some of your story last night, but I just want to make sure I have it right. We have a way out, right?"

I finished off my sandwich, nodding. "We can follow the Rhydon tracks back to the cave. Once we're there, we'll make our way up the vertical shaft and call the rangers to hopefully get us back to the route."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Okay, that makes sense. And how high was it to the top? I don't know if you guys have any left, but I used up my rope getting down here."

I tilted my head to the side, giving it some thought. "I hadn't gotten that far yet. I don't think we have any left-"

Yuji coughed, nudging me in the ribs with his elbow. He inclined his head toward Hana. I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Amy, Lester, and now Yuji. All of my companions were as subtle as a train whistle. I leaned back, taking a clear look at Hana. Though she still didn't look me in the eye, she slid a coil of rope past Yuji. It was way thicker than anything we had brought with us and had a few stray leaves sprouting from it at random intervals.

"Is that...?"

Hana nodded. "You mentioned a climb yesterday, and I'm the one who keeps inventory. When I realized we didn't have any more rope, I had Paige and Rafflesia work on some this morning. It might not be as strong, but it'll hold our weight."

"Thanks," I said simply. I didn't try to take it further than that, especially when she gave me a non-committal shrug. I turned back to Ambrose, hefting the heavy vine-rope over my shoulder. "So, yeah, I figure we'll have Wisp fly it up to the top and we'll climb out."

The sun trainer seemed satisfied with that. "Alright, that works for me. It's gonna be a rough climb, but I'm just jazzed to get out of here. Chingling or not, I could go the rest of my life without ever going underground ever again."

From within our tent, Amy's voice chimed in. "Here here!"

Ambrose and I started laughing, and Yuji chuckled. I even spotted a small grin on Hana's face. Things were looking up for us.

---

We had camp packed within the hour. Over last night's rest, a few of the injured Pokemon had improved enough to walk with us, even if they weren't quite in fighting shape yet. Pennywise and Paige had both recovered, though Achilles was still out cold. Based on Yuji's fallen face, he would be staying that way until we got him to a Pokemon Center. Artis, Wisp, and I still took the front of the formation, given that both of my Pokemon were almost back to top shape. Wisp was even on the cusp of being able to go incorporeal again.

Unlike yesterday, Hana did not walk in the front with me. Instead, she stayed in the middle of the pack with Amy. The two of them spoke in whispers, having a private conversation. I'd expected it, but it was still lonely up front. Since Yuji was also engaged in conversation with Lester and Ambrose, I just talked to my Pokemon. Artis was excited when I told him about my change to our training style, and Wisp seemed eager to start planning her own tricks. I'd been thinking more about it while we packed, and I had some big ideas for the Cerulean Gym, especially if their battlefield was designed the way I suspected it would be.

Now that we knew the way, what had taken us twenty minutes yesterday was closer to fifteen today. The tunnel was still unblocked, so we saw the literal light at the end of the tunnel well before we actually got there. I turned to look at my companions as we approached, grinning as I saw the excitement on their faces. All of us had been prepared for our escape to take multiple days, so sunlight after only twenty-four hours down here was a blessing beyond anything we'd hoped for.

I didn't relish when those smiles went away upon entering the Clefairy's ruined cavern. Shock and solemn looks dominated the group. Amy and Ambrose both gravitated toward the broken nests while Yuji and Hana inspected the cut alcoves. There was no evidence that any other Pokemon had come through here in the night.

I sighed, putting my hand on the egg incubator. Lester shot me a commiserate look. We'd gotten our fill of this yesterday, and I'd already collected the footage I needed to report this to the rangers.

I looked up through the skylight. Far above our heads, I could see the bright blue sky. The mid-day sun was only barely past the lip of the cave, so it was nice and bright down here. We only had one more obstacle between us and safety.

"Here, girl," I spoke softly to Wisp, handing her one end of Hana's rope. "Go ahead and fly this up to the top. See if you can find a place to tie it off. If you can't, make one."

She giggled at my orders, excited to get to move heavy rocks again. Wisp took the rope in her mouth, quickly taking off toward the portal in the domed ceiling. It wasn't long before she disappeared up the vertical tunnel. I watched it anyway, imagining Wisp trying to find the biggest boulder that she could.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my wrist.

"Legends, Amy," I scolded them. "You scared the crap out of me."

The tiny psychic gave me an unimpressed look, but their own face was flushed from their empathetic powers. "Yeah, no duh," Amy said, keeping their voice hushed. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to talk to you real quick."

Amy threw a glance toward Hana and I got the memo real quick. I frowned.

"Hey, I appreciate it, but I don't think-"

"It's not like that," Amy said quickly. "I'm not stepping in to, like, interfere in your guys' business. I mean, I am, but not how you think. I just wanted to let you know that she's barely mad at you. Well, no, she's really mad at you, but there's other stuff that's going on."

I stared at them. "Um, uh, what does that mean?"

Amy tossed another look over their shoulder, making sure Hana wasn't watching. "I didn't tell you this," Amy declared under their breath. "But something's been off with her emotions since the canyon the other night. I don't know what caused if you were planning on talking to her-"

"I was going to wait-"

"But you should do it as soon as we get some privacy," Amy ignored my interruption, the tiny enby rushing out their words. "Hana talks a big game about asking for help, but does not follow through on her own. I talked to her a little bit, but knowing that I already know how she's feeling actually makes her less likely to open up to me. And I would ask Yuji, but..."

"He's Yuji," I finished, frowning at the floor. "He's hardly somebody who's good at talking about emotions."

Amy nodded. Their eyes were worried and obviously more than a little concerned. "I just- I really wanted to bring it up because of the other day, ya know? We said we were gonna be upfront with each other."

It wasn't lost on me that Amy was putting themself in a really uncomfortable place right now. They had gone from hiding their own pain a few days ago to already reaching out to try and help their friend. They were actively communicating a problem, which was leaps and bounds better than Hana or I had been doing today. The least I could do was try out their advice.

I nodded, leaning down and ruffling their hair. "Alright, bean. I'll give it a try once we get out of this. Thank you for not telling me." I gave them a wink.

Amy sighed with relief, not even getting mad when messed up their hair. They nodded softly, pulling their jacket tighter. "Cool," they said. "Thanks, Derek."

I put on a smile, but I let my thoughts drift. Amy's insight troubled me in a lot of ways, especially because, with this knew context, I had noticed Hana acting weird. I'd noticed her slip-up twice yesterday. She'd been distracted and off her game. Even though I'd attributed it to the fall and the stress of everything, Amy was saying that they'd noticed her feelings were weird as far back as the canyon? That didn't make sense. I shook my head, refusing to even guess atwhat could be going on with her.

I'm a new, 'competent at talking to my friends', Derek, I thought. There's no point in guessing when I don't have all the facts. I'm going to take Hana's own advice and reach out once we get to safety. For now, we just need to get out of here.

My new resolution didn't stop me from sending Hana a worried glance. Other than being a bit distant, she seemed pretty normal today. She'd pulled a tape measure from somewhere and was measuring the dimensions of one of the cut alcoves, speaking into her phone like a tape recorder.

Thud!

A coil of rope landed a few feet away from me. It extended all the way past the ceiling and out of the hole above us. Wisp poked her head over the side, smiling down at us. She'd stretched her ghostly form again to make her sharp teeth look cartoonishly big.

"Mis drea!" Wisp chirped down the tunnel, obviously very proud of herself.

With our rope secured, we started the extremely arduous task of getting all six of us up fifteen meters of open cavern and another twenty meters of vertical cave shaft. Ambrose and Yuji went first, as they were the only two of us with decent enough upper body strength to make the climb unassisted. I did my best not to grimace when I admitted that I couldn't do it.

I have a sprinter's build, I mentally consoled myself. They're just setting an unrealistic standard for athleticism.

My excuses did not soothe my wounded ego.

The rest of us waited for the two of them to be at the top so that they could help pull us up. We didn't have them do all the work, of course, since we had a perfectly good ghost to help out. Wisp was more than happy to assist by grabbing us with Confusion and lifting at the same time as our bodybuilders. Honestly, if she didn't have a harder time lifting living creatures than objects, she probably could have carried us unassisted. The only person who refused help from Wisp was Amy, for obvious reasons. Also for obvious reasons, Yuji and Ambrose did not need the help with Amy in particular.

The cavern exit deposited us on a flat section of rock that was maybe twenty meters across, right between a cliff wall and a drop-off to a series of steppes on the side of Mt. Moon. Harsh winds blew upward off of the rocks below us, cooling as they rose across the rocks and blasting us with frigid air. If it wasn't for the sheer joy of having the sun on our skin again, the cold would've been unbearable. I glanced over the edge of the cliff. Far below was a sharp incline that would eventually end in a rocky valley. We had plenty of room to move around, but we definitely weren't getting down on our own. Luckily, being on the surface meant that I had a signal again.

The Nav didn't even ring twice before the dispatcher picked up. "Mt. Moon Ranger's Dispatch," the dispatcher said. "State your name and emergency."

"I'm Derek Tracy. My friends and I experienced a cave collapse within Mt. Moon," I said as directly as I could, cupping my hand over the microphone to try and keep the wind quiet. I didn't know if I'd keep a signal out here, so efficiency was key. "We managed to escape the tunnels, but we're now trapped on the mountain's surface. We're located three miles north of route marker one-forty-seven."

"Are there any injured?" The dispatcher asked. "And how many trainers are present?"

"Nothing more than bruises and scrapes," I answered. "There are six of us here."

"Standby." The dispatcher's audio cut for a few seconds. "There are two rangers en route to your position. Do not move to another location. If possible, make yourselves visible to the sky. They are going to evacuate you to the nearest Ranger Outpost. Did you understand all of that?"

"Yes. I also need to say, we've seen evidence of mining up here that looks illegal." I glanced down the cave shaft, far down to the Clefairy cave below. Anger shifted in my heart. "There might have also been some poaching done. I have footage of the cave and everything, but it's accessible from where we are."

It was another few seconds before the dispatcher answered me, though their professional voice had taken an urgent edge. "Remain at a distance from that cave if possible. I have alerted the Ace Trainers to your notice. Our rangers will mark the location before you are evacuated, but they have standing orders to prioritize you. Once you've been taken to the outpost, they will gather your additional information there."

I let out a deep, tired sigh of relief. "Cool, uh, I mean- Thank you."

"You're welcome. The rangers will arrive in ten to fifteen minutes. Please call again if they have not located you within that time." The ranger dispatcher ended the call.

I pocket the Nav, turning back to my friends. All of them were watching me with bated breath. I gave them a thumbs-up, and there was a collective sigh of relief from the group. Ambrose pumped his fist into the air, and Yuji sat down on a rock, palming his temples into his hands. Amy was positively ecstatic, jumping for joy at the news. Lester was obviously much more subdued in his reaction, but even he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. Hana chuckled, letting her shoulders rise and fall without the weight of trying to escape. She pulled Amy into a hug. Wisp nuzzled into my side, excited for all of us.

Over the next few minutes, we pulled out our brightest and largest pieces of cloth, sleeping bags, tent covers, and the like, and spread them out as much as we could. Yuji and I had opened the top of our red tent between the two of us. The wind rushed underneath it, inflating it like one of those parachute games you would play with in school. It looked a little goofy, but we were doing our best to follow the ranger's orders. I returned Wisp, assuming it would be easier than having her try and evacuate with us.

We all kept our eyes locked in different directions, desperately checking for evidence of our saviors. Of course, as it always seemed to be, Lester noticed them first.

He stiffened, outstretching his arm toward the horizon. "There," Lester pointed.

All of us turned to follow his gaze. It took seconds of searching, but there were eight tiny dots gaining altitude over a nearby ridge. The shapes grew in size dramatically as we watched. Two of them were larger than the others from the combined silhouette of the Pokemon and their riders. Of the flying shapes, seven of them were Pidgeot, with the leader of the formation being a flying type that I didn't recognize. It was a dark brown color, slightly larger than any of the Pidgeot with a horned crown of feathers running the length of its browline.

We backed up, hugging the rock wall to give them as large a landing zone as possible. The eight birds circled in formation above us, their massive wings gliding on the updrafts from the cliffs and slowly letting them descend. In the mid-day sun, the feathers of the Pidgeot were back-lit for us, and the light that shone through them revealed the red undertones to their beige and brown feathers. The lead Pokemon, which Yuji was nice enough to call a Noctowl when I nudged him, cut through the air like a knife through butter. It brought the spiraling group down around the edge of the pit. The sound of their landing was quieter than the rushing wind, so it was almost ethereal when eight fully evolved Pokemon silently landed in front of us.

Off of the back of the Noctowl and one of the Pidgeot, two figures dressed in red hopped down in front of us. Noctowl's ranger was a tall figure with slim shoulders and wiry muscles. She was older than us, maybe in her late twenties, with lavender hair and a fierce gaze. The left-side skin of her face was pock-marked with a spray of tiny white scars, like someone had applied them with an aerosol can. The other ranger was much younger, only a year or two older than us, and they were of average height, but their muscles made them easily twice as wide as the average person. They had black hair and dark eyes, though they only seemed to be filled with concern. Both rangers wore the red jacket and black pants that made up the ranger uniform and, more importantly, were wielding a unique piece of technology called a capture styler. The little round machine allowed them to easily befriend wild Pokemon and temporarily order them around like they had been captured. I assumed that was what they had done with the Pidgeot.

The older ranger surveyed the area and did a quick headcount, holding her fingers to a small microphone on her throat. "Dispatch, we've located the distress call," her voice was low and gruff, but warm. "All six are accounted for."

While she spoke, the other ranger walked up to us holding up a medkit. "You mentioned bruises and scrapes," they said, eyes doing a scan of each of us. "Is there anything that should be addressed now, or can everything wait until we've arrived at the outpost?"

Hana stepped forward first, shaking her head. "We've patched everything up, and we seem okay for now."

"Okay, good," the ranger said. "I'm Ranger Casey, and this is Senior Ranger Tarina. I'm going to go ahead and start helping you onto the Pidgeot. Don't worry, they're friendly. Can I have one of you run Ranger Tarina through what you've found regarding mining and poaching while I do so?"

Hana nodded, giving me a cold glance but inclined her head. I got the message. "I'll do it," I offered, stepping toward the more experienced ranger.

Ranger Tarina had already begun to kneel by the hole, looking down into the darkness of the cave. Now that the sun had shifted slightly, you couldn't clearly see the bottom anymore. Even though I knew what was down there, I got a sense of vertigo looking into the darkness.

"Talk me through this," Ranger Tarina said. She was poised and decisive in her words and body language. "What did you find, what was the scope, how deep is it?"

"Uh, yeah," I sputtered, unprepared for the rapid-fire questions. I used my fingers to keep track of her questions as I answered them. "Well, that's a tunnel down to a lower floor. We're not sure which one, but it's definitely lower than Floor Five. At the bottom is a cave that used to belong to some Clefiary, though we found tracks showing that they abandoned it after being attacked." I grimaced as both of our eyes looked at the egg on my belt. "This was the only one left when we got there. In the walls are a bunch of rectangular holes, which were really straight and had to have been manmade. Since we found evidence of fossils in the walls of an earlier cave, we assumed that's what they were mining for. We used, um, I think forty meters of rope to get up?"

She nodded as I spoke, making small notes on a notepad. Ranger Tarina inclined her head thoughtfully at our vine-rope, it still being bound to a nearby boulder and disappearing down the hole.

"And you saw no further evidence of any Pokemon in danger?" she asked. "Or of any current criminal occupation down there?"

I hesitated. I pulled the Arbok scale out of my pocket and handed it to her. "There was evidence of a big battle down there, and I found this in one of the ruined nests. Whoever was down there brought a lot of Pokemon before they cleared out. I have some footage of the cave, and the dispatcher told me I could give it to you when we got back. It's not pretty, but you should be able to see a lot of the details."

Ranger Tarina's face was impassive as she absorbed that knowledge. She took the scale and slid it into a small plastic bag. She placed that bag into one of her belt pouches, replacing a small white disk about the size of my thumb. The ranger placed the disk in the dirt, covering it with a thin layer of sediment, and turned back to me. Her face softened from its assertive expression to something more heartening.

"You and your friends have done a good job getting this far, kid," the Senior Ranger encouraged. When she smiled, the left side of her face drooped a little around the scars. "Let's get you to the outpost. I'm sure you're all ready to be warm and safe for a while."

Hearing those words made my chest ache. "I'd like that a lot," I agreed.

---

My father had only ever taken me flying twice in my life. Both times had been on the back of his Tropius, Sailback, and we'd been strapped into his saddle at the time. He'd wanted to show me what flight was like from the back of a Pokemon, and it had been one of the most magical experiences of my life. Having my father there had made me feel safe, and I had complete faith in Sailback because I'd known him my entire life. We had done a quick flight from Lilycove to the Safari Zone and back. The weather had been calm and mild, and we'd mostly glided on the warm thermals from the jungle below.

This was nothing like that. Riding a Pidgeot solo among the intense icy winds of a rocky mountain while bareback was insane. Every gust of wind came from a different direction; updrafts, downdrafts, headwinds, and tailwinds all tried to knock us off course. I was already sore, but now I was freezing. Each gale was like a slap in the face from a sheet of sharpened icicles. Far below was a maze of valleys and canyons that I knew were impassable on foot, and if I were to fall off, I wouldn't survive it. The horizon extended in every direction, making me feel minuscule in the face of Mt. Moon.

I loved every second of it.

My Pidgeot was a master of riding the winds. Every time a gust almost blew us off course, they would correct themself by spreading their massive wings, flexing their feathers in just the right way to catch the wings. Even though I knew that bird Pokemon were extremely light, I could feel Pidgeot's dense musculature before me every time they flapped their powerful wings. Pidgeot's yellow and red feathered crest flowed behind me, making me feel like a king of the world.

I glanced around at my friends, and some of them were having as good as time as I was. Ambrose, of course, was loving this. He had his arms spread out, not even holding onto his Pidgeot as he felt the wind across his face. Yuji was serene on his mount, more happy at the feeling of freedom rather than anything else, if I had to guess. Surprisingly, Amy was among the most excited about this. The tiny psychic let out a whoop as their Pidgeot banked, giving them that feeling of resisting inertia that you could only really find on rollercoasters. The other two didn't look upset at flying, but it was clear that Lester and Hana weren't nearly as comfortable in the air.

The flight ended far too soon. Within ten minutes, we had passed over miles of mountain, finding our way south of Route Four and toward the Mt. Moon Ranger's Outpost. As we passed over the route, I saw upwards of a dozen tiny dots on the ground, other trainers that had successfully navigated Mt. Moon on their own. Eventually, we came to a large facility nestled between two foothills. It was long and winding, curving with the hills, and had thin sections connecting larger node buildings. Ranger Tarina circled on her Noctowl and the Pidgeot fell into line. Just as silently as they'd landed earlier, we all gently touched down. After we climbed down, all the Pidgeot except for Ranger Casey's took off.

"This way," Ranger Tarina said, gesturing for us to follow. She led us across a large courtyard and up to a metal exterior door. Swiping her card, the ranger stepped aside to let all of us in. We filed through, finding ourselves in a circular room that resembled some kind of lounge. There was a big couch that took up the middle of the room, as well as an entertainment area and billiards table. There were five hallways branching off of the room, all heading in different directions.

"Welcome to Ranger Outpost Four. First thing's first," Casey gestured toward one of the hallways. "If you are in need of medical attention, and I think you all are, you can line up here. Nurse Joy is in the office at the end and she's expecting you. She'll be able to apply some potion to your cuts and bruises, and she can take your Pokemon for their own medical attention. Once you finished up there, find your way back here. We'll go ahead and collect statements from all of you then."

All of us nodded, grateful for the straightforward instructions removing the burden of choice from us. Our week had not lent itself to decision-making. We lined up single file, depositing our bags in the central room first. As much as I wanted to step aside for the others to go first, I was pushed to the front of the line. When I tried to protest, Yuji simply pressed on the bruise I'd gotten from Rhydon's first attack.

"Ow!" I yelped, cradling my temple. "Motherfu-"

"You shouldn't have argued," Yuji shrugged. "Just do what we say next time."

I turned away from the menace, not having the presence of mind to come up with a clever comeback. I stepped up to the door at the end of the hall; it opened before I could knock.

"Oh, hello there," the Nurse Joy inside greeted. Unlike the two I had met so far, this Nurse Joy had kept her pink hair cropped short, and she was wearing something closer to what a casual mountaineer would wear, rather than the standard nurse's outfit. "You are in poor shape, indeed," she mused. "Are you hurt anywhere other than your head?"

It took all of ten minutes for Nurse Joy to treat my scratches and bruises. She didn't use anything more potent than a basic potion, so I was still left with some pain in the more intense areas, like my ankles and temple, but it did wonders for my aching body. I handed over Wisp and Artis's Pokeballs, though my hip immediately felt empty without them, and made my way back to the central room. There, Rangers Casey and Tarina were waiting for us. A small metal Pokemon that I recognized as a Magenemite floated about the room, carrying a pocket-sized camera and microphone with it. The tiny steel type was like a single metal eyeball, floating from the magnetic forces emitted from its two horseshoe magnet limbs.

"Since you're up first," Ranger Tarina's gruff voice got my attention. "You can go ahead and hand your camera over to Casey. They'll take any footage you think will be relevant."

I handed my camcorder to Casey. It was a little dinged up after all I'd been through lately, but it had already proved to be more than worth what I'd paid for it. The muscular ranger took my tech with surprising gentleness and grace. I pointed out the relevant folders, mostly the footage of the Clefairy den but I did also hand over footage of Rhydon, Parasect, Bronzor, and Minior. I wanted to show that our captures had been totally legal, given that we planned on selling the extra Bronzor and Parasect.

The rangers asked me to run through the events following our fall all the way to our escape. I did the best I could, leaving nothing out but my suspicions about Team Rocket. I figured that trained professionals didn't need me to speculate for them. Occasionally, one of the others would step into the room from Nurse Joy's office and Tarina would have them confirm something I'd said or clarify one of my statements. After a while, it became a group interview, with the others interjecting their own answers when questions were asked. The vibe was very much that the rangers just wanted a complete record of what had happened and weren't as worried about interviewing us separately as the Ace Trainers had after the museum.

It also turned out that I'd been right when I'd seen Hana taking measurements of alcoves in the Clefairy cave. Without being prompted, she supplied the rangers with recordings of her own observations about the mining and much more precise information about their specifications. Hana had even taken photos with her phone, holding up a potion bottle as a size reference for scale.

After about forty-five minutes of questioning, Ranger Casey closed their laptop. "Well," they said. "That should be everything we need."

They turned to Senior Ranger Tarina, but she was deep in thought. She turned her gaze to me. The ranger didn't say anything, but I felt a little vulnerable under their gaze. After a moment, they answered Casey. "Yes, that should be all. You can lead them to the guest rooms. Though," she looked back at the group. "Tracy, Hidaka, I would like to speak with you first."

I didn't immediately know who she was talking about, but Lester's shoulders dropped. I very quickly got an inkling of what that was about. Ranger Casey led the other four away down the hallway opposite Nurse Joy's while Lester and I stayed on the couch.

It was a long moment before anyone spoke. Out of the three of us, the person I thought was least likely to initiate conversation surprised me.

"Well?" Lester asked, his face unimpressed. "Are you going to tell us that we shouldn't have done what we did?"

I widened my eyes, surprised that Lester had been that rude. Though, I guess I should have expected a disdain for authority from his... ...everything. The man was a goth, after all, distrust of power structures came with the territory.

Ranger Tarina looked at him. Though she showed no real emotion, the weight of her stare was worse than a glare. Instead of rebuking him, she sighed, letting out a deep breath.

"Look, boys," she said, her low voice softer than I would have thought possible. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that what you did was a bad idea. From what your friends said, they've already made that clear."

I grunted, thinking about the many, many, icy looks I'd gotten today. I nodded and Lester begrudgingly did the same.

"So, that's not what this is about," Tarina said. "You did actually do some good, even if it was very possible that things could have gone the other way. As a Ranger, my duty is to the Pokemon of this world rather than its trainers, and for that I find myself grateful that you were able to do what you did. However, you also need to be aware that there could have been another Rhydon behind that boulder, or something much worse. What I'm saying is, if you are going to do something like this again, you need to make sure that you understand the risk before you undertake the task."

As she spoke, Ranger Tarina's hand drifted to the left side of her face. Her pockmarked scars were very visible in the outpost's lighting, and they shimmered like balls of melted wax on her skin. It would've taken an idiot to not understand what she was implying, and neither of us was an idiot. Lester's disdain evaporated, and he looked down at the hardwood flooring.

I nodded, feeling a little green in the gills. Even though I'd almost been hit by them, I'd never really considered what would happen if a person was hit by a Pokemon's move. In the competitive circuit, it didn't really happen. Sure, I academically knew that three percent of trainers each season sustained a life-threatening wound from a Pokemon, but that was just a statistic. No one that I'd ever known had ever been permanently damaged from an attack. Legends, even I had been lucky enough to have my injuries treated immediately after Toxtricity's attack. I hadn't had to live with it, not like Ranger Tarina had.

"We understand," I said, Lester quickly echoing me.

Ranger Tarina smiled another droopy smile. "Good, that clears that up, then. Let's find you boys some rooms," she said as she stood.

She led Lester and me down the same hallway that Casey had taken the others. The hallway contained ten doors, each of which led to its own small room with an ensuite bath. Ranger Tarina explained that this wing of the outpost was reserved for guests, whether they be additional Ranger units, research groups stopping off in the mountains, or stranded Pokemon trainers. She pointed out where each of our friends had been assigned and granted us two more at the end of the hall. Each room was small, smaller even than the Pokemon Center rooms had been. The twin-sized bed was bolted into the wall and formed an L-shape with an even smaller desk at the back of the room. After showing us to our temporary quarters, Ranger Tarina left us to our own devices.

After I nodded goodbye to Lester, I closed the door to my room and slumped my bag onto the bed. Instead of checking my messages or taking a nap, I made a beeline for the bathroom. Though it was small, there was a full-sized shower and bath there. I had the hot water running before I even undressed. I don't know if it was the high altitude or some special mountain mechanism, but the water pressure was divine.

I accidentally took a nap in the shower.

---

After I finished my shower, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, Senior Ranger Tarina was standing there. She had four Pokeballs in her hand. Specifically, they were my Pokeballs.

"They're all healed up," Tarina said with an encouraging smile, her gruff voice light and celebratory. "They were the least injured, so our Joy was able to give them a quick trip to the healing cradle to get them back to top shape."

I gratefully accepted all four Pokeballs. "Thank you for bringing them to me. You really didn't have to do that."

The Senior Ranger shrugged. "I was actually already headed here to inform you and your friends that you're cleared to return to the routes as soon as your Pokemon have recovered. Nurse Joy has given your group an all-clear for physical wellness, and the Ace Trainers I contacted don't think we need anything else for their report. You're free to stay for another few days if you'd like, but I get the feeling you kids want to get on your way."

A tired grin of relief found its way onto my face. Before everything had gone down, we'd been in a rush to get to Cerulean. It felt like it had been ages since I'd thought about our timeline. We still wanted to make up progress after our loss to Giovanni and extended stay in Pewter.

"Yeah, we do," I said. "I'll check in with everybody, but my guess is that we'll be ready to go by morning."

"I'll inform the quartermaster to expect you for breakfast," Ranger Tarina nodded. She turned to leave but stopped. Her scarred expression softened. "You know, I gave that footage a look. For what it's worth, you kids did a bang-up job. A bit too many risks for my taste, but you did what you felt you needed to."

The senior ranger didn't wait for me to respond before walking down the hallway. I stood there for a little while, letting her words wash over me. Eventually, I closed the door and retreated to my desk chair. I put away Bronzor and Parasect's Pokeballs, and popped both of my teammates' to let them out into the room.

"Sealeo!"

"Mis-drea!"

Artis and Wisp let out their cries, tackling me onto the tiny bed. Wisp had almost no impact, given that she was a ghost, but Artis's newfound weight brought me down in a single fell swoop.

"Oof," was the sound I let out when the air left my lungs. I chuckled in pain; Artis weighed more than I did now. "Buddy, you've gotta be careful now!"

"Seal," he apologized, rubbing his snout against my face. He had the longest whiskers now and they tickled my nose. "Leo, sealeo."

Wisp wasn't one to be ignored. She nuzzled her head into my neck on the other side. I smiled, bringing my arms up to wrap around them both. They'd been upbeat in the caves, but seeing them act like this now told me just how much worry they'd been holding back for my sake. I ran my fingers through Artis's fur and Wisp's ghostly hair, letting them cuddle into my sides. As we lay there, I thought more about what Ranger Tarina had said. My smile slowly fell.

My chest felt heavy, thinking about the side quest that Lester and I had done. It was stupid, but I felt guilty that I didn't feel guilty. Everyone, even me, had said that our Clefairy mission had been a totally unnecessary risk based on middling logic at best. I'd even gone out of my way to exclude my voice of reason, Hana, and I'd done something that I would've been pissed if any of my companions had done. All of that said, I wouldn't change anything that I'd done. I wasn't a fan of the ends justifying the means, but we'd helped a lost Pokemon and rescued an egg. That counted as a win in my book.

That didn't erase the icy looks I'd been getting all day.

I'd compartmentalized it while we'd been escaping the cave, but I needed to talk to Hana. I wasn't sure what the outcome of that was going to be, but it needed to happen. Since I'd already ignored one friend's advice, I wasn't going to do it again. Amy had gone out of their way to ask me to check in on Hana as soon as possible, and we were here until at least tomorrow morning.

"Hey, guys," I said, getting my Pokemon's attention. They both looked up at me. "I have to go talk to the others. Do you think you could do me a favor?"

Artis barked in excitement, but Wisp butted his head away. She giggled, putting herself squarely in my vision. Artis grumbled at her, but didn't retaliate.

"Wisp," I scolded her. "That wasn't very nice. I think I'm going to leave him in charge if that's the kind of behavior I can expect from you."

Wisp's face fell. She looked down, shame in her big yellow-red eyes. "Mis mis..."

"Ah-ah, don't apologize to me."

A flicker of a glare shot out of the corner of Wisp's gaze, and I hid a smile. She'd been putting on at least a little bit of an act to make me feel bad. I'd learned better than that, so I kept my disapproving stare steady.

"Drea vis!" She complained, but she relented. Wisp turned to Artis, who had gained the smugest expression that I'd ever seen on him. She spoke in barely higher than a whisper. "Mis drea drea..."

Artis happily barked, giving her a big lick up the side of her face. Wisp's expression turned to one of disgust. I sighed, chuckling as used my towel from earlier to wipe her face. My two Pokemon now having momentarily suspended their rivalry, I reached over the edge of the bed and picked the incubator up from next to my bag. Both of their eyes went wide as I reminded them of the egg's existence. Wisp, in particular, had a sort of forlorn look on her face. I felt a pang as I remembered that she'd been the one to find it, and the first one to assume that it had passed after being abandoned.

I gently sat the egg incubator between them on the bed. "As a favor, could the two of you keep them company? My dad always had his Pokemon talk to eggs, so I figured that they might get bored in there. I'm not sure when this little guy's going to hatch, and this might give you guys the opportunity to bond."

Wisp nodded, her eyes big and mesmerized by the egg. Artis didn't even wait to give me an answer, instead immediately sideling his blubbery side up against the incubator, the universal sign for keeping something warm from body heat. He rested his head on its top, and tony grumbling noises sounded from his throat. He wasn't speaking as much as he was subvocalizing, letting the vibrations carry through the incubator. Wisp quickly joined him, sitting on his side and pressing her cheek against the glass.

I didn't draw their attention back to me, nor did I think that I could if I wanted to. Both of my Pokemon had immediately taken to the egg. I stood up, tossing on a pair of shoes and whispering under my breath before I stepped out. "Thanks, guys."

I closed my door and walked down the hall. I'd asked Ranger Tarina which rooms my friends had been put in, so it didn't take long to find the door I wanted. I took a second, hyping myself up. This was going to be a hard conversation, and I had no idea how it was going to end. I had faith that we would get through it, but the butterflies in my stomach and the blood pumping in my ears said otherwise.

I took a breath, and I knocked on Hana's door.

Notes:

So, uh, yeah. There's gonna be a tough conversation next chapter. As a little tease, the title of next chapter is Chapter 30: Interlude 02 - Hana

Thank you guys so much for reading today's chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to comment/follow/favorite/review if you enjoy this story!

Chapter 30: Interlude 02 - Hana

Notes:

Hi hi everybody! Quick primer, this is our next 'Interlude' chapter, but its format is a little different. For this chapter, which, is from Han's perspective, focuses on Derek a lot more than Yuji's did. I'll explain exactly why in the post-chapter a/n, but it was deliberate. Anyway, I hope you're all ready for a discussion that's a long time coming! <3

Hana let out a satisfied sigh as she soaked in the bath's warm waters. The bathrooms at the Ranger Outpost weren't huge, but they were just large enough for a small tub. She'd already taken the time to rid herself of the dirt from Mt. Moon, so this was purely to try and release some of her tension. It wasn't quite Ember Spa, but it would do.

She thought back to the events over the last few days. It had been complete chaos, getting through Mt. Moon. Her adventure had been so much scarier than she'd ever expected. Statistically, it was unreasonable to imagine that her group would have gone through everything that they had.

And they still only had a single badge.

Hana wanted to cry as she thought about how much more they'd have to deal with in the future. Being a low-badge trainer was supposed to be relatively safe, giving you breathing room before you started dealing with truly dangerous threats. You weren't supposed to fall in a hole filled with scarier Pokemon than you'd ever seen before, and you certainly weren't supposed to go running after every stray sound you heard in the night-

She grimaced. Hana had come into the bath to avoid thinking about that.

Hana reached out of the tub and grabbed her phone. She was careful to wipe her hand on her towel so she didn't get the screen wet. Quickly flipping to her podcast app, she checked her queue and found one dated from yesterday. If a bath wasn't going to do the job, this would have to do.

Slow lo-fi music echoed in the bathroom. After a few seconds, the host of the show began speaking. "Hello, listeners. Welcome to KPR's Up Next. I'm Rella Wilhems, bringing you today's top stories in the greater Kanto region. Today we'll be covering unusual Pokemon sightings in southern Kanto, an increased Ace Trainer presence along our northern border, and a look at the first talks between Champions Lance Blackthorn and Steven Stone for an upcoming show battle."

Hana hummed in satisfaction, settling deep into the tub and letting the water come up to just under her nose. KPR, or Kanto Public Radio, was one of the view radio stations that had been available for free in the Sevii Islands, so she'd grown up listening to publically funded podcasts and news coverage. Now, far past the need for actual radios, she still listened to a few of their news and education podcasts when she had the time.

Rella Wilhems was actually one of Hana's favorite hosts. She was another native of the Sevii Islands, so her topics tended to be more varied than the average host's. It was easy to fall into 'Kanto-centric' entertainment on KPR, so Hana was grateful for Up Next as a program.

"Our first story today surrounds troubling reports of non-native Pokemon being spotted in southern Kanto, near both Cinnabar Island and Pallet Town," Rella continued. "Among these sightings include Pokemon native to a myriad of regions, some as far away as Galar and Unova. Authorities suspect that these Pokemon have been purposefully relocated by poachers to the Kanto region to attempt to cultivate rare evolutionary lines as invasive species. Local representatives of the League and the Rangers are currently investigating the origin of these exotic Pokemon, including the world-renowned Professor Samuel Oak. He had this to say about the sightings:"

Rella's voice was replaced by that of an elderly man. Hana knew what Professor Oak sounded like, of course. She'd listened to every lecture of his that had ever been put online. Twice.

"The introduction of non-native Pokémon species can have serious ecological consequences," he warned. "We need to monitor these developments closely to ensure the balance of the local ecosystem is maintained."

The host spoke again. "Notable Pokemon among the sightings include such lines as the Liligant, Grookey, and Litleo in northern Route 22 outside of Pallet Town. Farther south, the Piplup, Clauncher, and even Goomy lines have been spotted in the waters around Cinnabar Island. Rangers encourage trainers to catch these Pokemon before they disrupt local ecosystems, though they warn that trainers should not disrupt the environment themselves in pursuit of these exotic Pokemon."

Hana perked up at the mention of Grookey and Goomy. She'd been considering attempting to import a Grookey herself, so the news that she could potentially catch one in Kanto was great news. Goomy, though, was a dragon type that belonged to a select group of Pokemon called 'pseudo-legendaries'. There tended to be one or two in every region, and they just happened to be some of the naturally strongest Pokemon around. She'd have to mention it to Derek later-

She frowned, sinking back into the tub.

Hana reached her arm out, skipping past the rest of the exotic Pokemon story. She could read the reports later.

"-story has to do with a tightening down of Kanto's northern border by the Ace Trainers," Rella's voice kicked back in after Hana finished hitting her fast-forward button. "In response to a state of emergency being declared by Champion Lance regarding the attack on the Pewter City Museum of Science two weeks ago-"

Hana turned off Up Next.

Two weeks ago, she would've thought her friend being involved in a terrorist attack would be the scariest thing she would ever have to live through. It had been insane, finding out that Derek had just happened to be there on the day of Team Rocket's attack. She, Yuji, and Amy had dropped everything immediately. They'd sprinted almost ten blocks only to find that they couldn't do anything to help. They'd waited for almost four hours to hear anything about their friend, and she'd hated every single moment of it.

That feeling of helplessness and the fear she'd felt for her friend outside of the museum was supposed to be the worst of it, the scariest thing she'd see in her rookie year. Less than a month later, she was trapped deeper under Mt. Moon than eight-badge trainers were even allowed to go. They'd been extremely lucky to have run into as weak Pokemon as they had. Every single choice they'd made had compounded into them getting out alive and it was eating at her that she'd had no control in that situation.

Well, that wasn't all true. There had been one moment when she'd felt like she was in control. Hana thought back to the Rhyhorn fight, feeling sick inside. There had been a moment, right after Paige had made her first big hit on Rhyhon, that she'd felt a surge of confidence. Paige and Rafflesia had fought off Rhyhorn, keeping it on the ropes for more than a minute. There was a vicious satisfaction that had risen in her chest. At that moment, Hana had felt that maybe all of her planning had put her on another level, like she could take on the entire world. Legends, she'd smiled.

And then she was shown just how weak she was. Rhyhorn found its footing and brute forced its way through her Pokemon with as little effort as she'd use to fight a Pidgey. Paige had almost been torn apart. Rafflesia had been scared so badly that Hana wasn't sure if her fighting spirit would recover. That false confidence had been a wake-up call on how badly they needed to get stronger. Their badges were more than just trophies, they were a real indicator of the threats that they could handle.

And then, after all that Derek had-

"Damn it," Hana swore. It felt foreign in her mouth.

She leaned forward, unplugging the drain stopper. Not even a hot bath would make her feel better, it seemed. She quickly dried off and found her way to her bag. It might've only been mid-afternoon, but she grabbed out her pajamas. Today warranted cuddling into bed and forgetting about everything until she woke up the next morning. The mood was for something without lyrics, maybe some lo-fi. She just wanted to sleep.

Right as Hana finished putting her hair up in a towel, there was a knock at the door.

That's probably Nurse Joy, Hana thought. Maybe Rafflesia is ready for me.

Hana opened the door. It took a lot of willpower to keep her face steady as she saw a familiar tuft of dark hair and a russet pair of heartfelt eyes. She stared at the space above his nose, determined to not make eye contact with him.

"Hey," Derek said. He was nervous, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Just like her, he wasn't making an attempt to make eye contact, instead staring at the ground. His hand found its way to the back of his neck. "I wanted to talk. Is that okay?"

There were so many emotions bubbling in her chest that she decided to ignore all of them. Instead, she nodded once and stepped to the side, opening the door for him. He tilted his head in thanks, slipping past her like he was afraid she'd hit him. Satisfaction poked its way through her barricades before she pushed it back. The intrusive thought that he was right to be scared of her was a difficult one to suppress.

Hana took a deep breath before closing the door. She purposefully prolonged the process to give herself a few extra seconds. She was glad that he'd come to talk to her first, but it didn't meaningfully impact the conversation that was coming. The other emotions stewing in her chest, like rage, misery, determination, disappointment, and something else, were clawing their way through her walls, and she wasn't sure how long she had before they broke out. Hana was honestly impressed with herself that she'd kept them contained seeing him alone.

Standing awkwardly in her room, Derek looked like he was just as much of a mess as she was. He glanced between the chair and the bed but ultimately decided to stand. She was grateful because she wasn't sure if she'd be able to sit for this either. Her chest felt like a baking soda volcano: messy and unpredictable and full of pressure. Every time Derek's eyes glanced at her, at least a small amount of guilt present in them, she felt like her top was going to blow. There were so many things that she wanted to say, and almost all of them would be completely justified.

As she crossed her arms in front of her, Derek decided to start the conversation. He took a deep breath. "Hana-"

She put up a hand, silencing him. The motion had been entirely involuntary, but her arm had shot itself into the air. He'd gotten less than one word out, but his tone alone had emboldened her rage enough to crumble her walls. He hadn't sounded apologetic, only guilty. It was a fine distinction, but it was one that made something clear: Derek wasn't here because he felt that his actions were wrong.

He hadn't learned his lesson. Hana fumed. She'd been sitting here, brooding over his choices, and he hadn't even come here to apologize. Even as truly angry as she was, Hana focused all of her energy on channeling her indignation. She couldn't keep it in, but she could change how she presented it. She wanted Derek to be sorry, to care that he had done wrong, but that didn't mean that she wanted to hurt him. Legends, she was only this angry because of how much she valued him.

Hana brought her glare down, eviscerating the carpet with her eyes. She kept her breathing steady and cold. It was still obviously full of hurt and anger, but she would not let herself lash out. She was better than that. Hana's carefully organized thoughts began to file their way into an organized argument. She would structure these negative feelings into a presentation of succinct points, undeniable and ironclad, to make her thoughts clear.

She started small and spoke quietly. "You chose not to trust me."

There, that was the thesis. That was what Hana was truly mad about. She was angry about so many other things, and she would touch on them in her supporting arguments, but that was the meat of the issue.

Hana smothered the victory in her chest when Derek grimaced. He still hadn't met her eyes, but embracing her feelings had let hers bore into him.

"You chose not to trust me," Hana repeated herself. With each sentence, she raised a finger up to represent one of her points. "You chose not to communicate. You risked your life, Lester's life, Artis's life, Wisp's life, and all of our lives. You deprived yourself of the support the rest of us could have provided. You knew your judgment was lacking and went anyway. You knowingly placed a strain on our relationship on a whim."

Though she was making the greatest effort to remain analytical, each of her verbal blows shook her self-control. Derek physically recoiled at each point, and that emboldened her, but it also made her feel all the more helpless. Her friend, someone whom she felt closer to than many people in her life, was making it clear that none of her statements were new information to him. He had known what was coming and was rolling with her punches, which hurt worse than negligence. It was almost like he was willfully trying to avoid acknowledging that he, at the very least, shouldn't do anything like Mt. Moon ever again.

By the end of her reasons, Hana had run out of fingers on her hand and instead clenched her fist. Though her reasons had run out, Hana found that she couldn't stop the flow of words from her mouth. "You knew how I feel about not communicating," she continued, her voice having lost all attempt at coldness. Hana felt hot moisture in the corners of her eyes. "'That's what friends are for', we'd said. But apparently, that doesn't count if you hear a weird noise. You didn't know that any Pokemon were actually in danger. And even if you did, if you'd seen what was going on, you still chose them over us. We could have done it as a team."

Hana stepped back, eyes hard. "And worst of all, you didn't apologize."

While it had enraged her here, in this conversation, Hana had been prickling over that tiny fact since he'd told his story last night. Not once, across the entirety of the rest of Mt. Moon, had Derek said he was sorry. He hadn't mentioned it off-hand when he and Lester had appeared out of the darkness, he hadn't said it when he'd given her a half-hour tale of his encounter with a mysterious Pokemon, and his reaction when she said it made it clear that he hadn't been planning on doing it here.

His apology wouldn't have fixed him risking his own life or breaking her trust, but it would've meant that he wasn't going to do it again.

Since she had silenced him, Derek hadn't attempted to speak. He'd stood there, visibly pained by every word she'd said, and had respected her nonverbal request to let her speak her mind. It was so frustrating. This was how he got when an emotional conversation came up. He was attentive and emotionally available, and it really made her feel like he would learn his lesson and finally ask her for help. But he hadn't. He wouldn't. Hana had tried to get Derek to come to her when he needed help twice, once in the Viridian Forest and once in the Pokemon Center, and he'd made it seem like she'd gotten through to him both times.

After he'd been kidnapped in the Viridian Forest, Hana hadn't even brought up his willingness to sacrifice himself. His Pokemon had been in danger, after all, and it had been a split-second decision. It hadn't proven to be a pattern of behavior until the Pewter City museum. Hana wasn't an idiot, she knew there was something that he was keeping from them about the attack. He'd done something that they wouldn't approve of, and Amy knew what it was. She'd overheard the two of them on Route Three, and she'd let her psychic friend try and handle it. Hana had only taken the opportunity to talk to him at the Pokemon Center because of the circumstances.

And then there was the text she'd gotten. That had been eating at her for two days, and she didn't know how to unpack it yet.

After her small speech, Hana felt drained. She sighed, unclenching her fist, and inclined her head to Derek. He'd been respectful enough to let her get it all out, so the least she could do was the same.

Derek looked down at his hands. Hana grimaced when she realized that they were trembling. Guilt and shame smothering the embers of her anger. She really hadn't wanted to hurt him; she'd just wanted him to understand. Hana almost apologized right then and there, but Derek pressed both of his hands into his hoodie pocket and steeled himself. His inhale straightened his back, bringing his height to just over hers. His brown eyes were wet, but he blinked them clear.

"Hana," Derek said, his voice thick and full of emotions. "You're right. I'm sorry."

The release of tension across her entire body almost brought Hana to her knees. She'd wound herself up, all the emotions she'd repressed since last night had stressed her into a rigid structure, but Derek's unexpected admission unfurled that tension. She didn't retreat to the chair or the bed, but leaned back against the wall.

Unlike Hana, Derek wasn't able to gather his thoughts into any kind of organization. The boy from Hoenn looked genuinely lost and confused. After he'd said his apology, Derek had retreated into himself. He finally sat, gently putting his weight onto the desk chair, like he was afraid the world had suddenly gone fragile. Hana had only seen him like this once, the evening after he'd come back from his mental evaluation, and even then it hadn't been this bad. Something she'd said had truly shaken him.

Derek rested his head in his palm. "I-," he tried. When the words didn't come, he took a deep and shaky breath. "I, um, I came here to tell you that I knew what I did was wrong, but I would've done it again if I had to. I knew that it hurt you, but I really thought that it was the right thing."

Hana didn't have the energy to tense up again. It was clear that wasn't the end of his story. Instead, she moved away from the wall and sat on the end of her bed. He was working his way through a revelation and she would find common ground with him.

"I get it now that I shouldn't think like that. And, I- I guess I'm an idiot," Derek said. "And I do a lot of stupid stuff, and it's not okay. People have told me that, lots of people. My dad, my mom, you, Daisy, Amy, Yuji, Professor Oak, Karen, Tarina..." The boy drifted off on his list, slumping his shoulders when he realized there were a lot more to count. "Dr. Delkins pointed this out, ya know? He said it to me weeks ago. I don't take care of myself, I make other people's problems my own. And that worked for me. I was okay with that. It just- it really hadn't hit me how bad not focusing on myself was hurting other people."

"When I went to go find the Clefairy, I guess that- I mean- I thought that since somebody else was in trouble, and I had a chance to help them, I could just forget how much trouble I was in. We were in," he corrected himself, rubbing his eyes. "And I didn't think about it twice. No, actually, when I did think about it later, I was so on my own side that I was actually feeling bad that I didn't feel bad. I mean, we saved an egg, so I had to be right, right?" Derek's fake laugh was dry and lacked life. "I wanted to write it off as a win, a bet that had worked out."

When he paused, Derek finally met her eyes. His gaze was unfocused and exhausted, but it was clear that he needed her to say the next part. He was coming leaps and bounds in understanding, but sometimes it took more than your own energy to make a real change.

"But it wasn't," Hana murmured. "It was an excuse. You going off like that worked out way better than it had any right to. You should have died. It was a miracle that you didn't. You put all of our lives on the line, and you hurt me because you didn't trust me to help you."

Derek nodded, his gaze focusing. He was still lost, but her reinforcement had helped him confirm the logic. He stared at the floor, thoughts racing through his mind. When his expression got darker, Hana stepped in again. She wasn't going to do the work for him, but she knew that having a goal drove this boy like nothing else. Hana just had to ask.

"So, what is your plan?"

"What?" Derek self-spiraling aborted itself and he looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Hana took a breath. She repeated herself. "What is your plan? You've realized the problem. What are you going to do about it?"

The gears in Derek's mind began to visibly whir. His expression went blank, and Hana felt a sense of satisfaction bring her a second wave of energy. She'd really done it. Her tirade hadn't been a useless rant. She hadn't forgiven him yet, not by a long shot, but Hana knew that this was a real step of progress forward for Derek. The Pokemon Center had been the first, but this one was so much bigger. Derek wasn't thinking in terms of a competition or Pokemon training. He was thinking about himself and his relationships with his friends, which Hana knew was so much more important.

Derek started slowly. "I need to be better. I need to start thinking about myself in a lot of different ways. I'll need help to get there, so I need to make good on Dr. Delkin's offer when we get to Cerulean, and-" Derek's voice wavered. "I need to apologize to my friends. I know that my actions hurt you all, and I want to earn back your trust."

Hana nodded, His plan was starting, but she did have to clarify something. "The others aren't angry," Hana's voice dropped to a whisper. "Amy looks up to you too much. Yuji was basically an accomplice. So, no, they aren't angry."

Derek understood what she had said between the lines and recognition flashed on his face. The others weren't angry. She still was. Hana had drawn a clear line in the sand, one that was respectful, but made it clear to him that it would be a while before her negative feelings went away.

He took it in stride. "Okay, I will earn it back," Derek said with determined seriousness. "And even if they aren't mad, they deserve one. It's been hypocritical of me to try and help them with their problems without working on my own. After I apologize to my friends, I'll make some new rules about my decision-making skills. If something comes up that doesn't work within those, I'll do everything in my power to stop it."

Hana felt some pride as she watched Derek's directionless sense of loss disappear as he spoke. Giving him an actionable way to work on himself and improve his relationships had really kept him from spiraling. His hands had stopped trembling and he talked with confidence. Hana stood up, only slightly interrupting his planning. After a moment of confusion, he stood with her. Hana guided him to the door.

"I'm glad that you have a plan," she said carefully. "And I really hope you stick to it."

Derek looked from her to the door, and it clicked for him. "But you need me to go," he spoke softly, understanding.

Hana nodded. "I'm tired, and I've said everything I needed to say."

"You've done more than that," Derek said, opening her door. "You made me see what I hadn't understood before. You told me to my face what I was missing, and it helped. Thank you, Hana. You're really one of my best friends."

She smiled at him, gently putting a hand on your shoulder. "And you're one of mine. Now, let me rest before I get angry again. I might actually have to kill you at that point."

Derek gave her a look, one that was somewhere between grateful, exhausted, and amused, before leaning down and giving her a hug. She squeezed him back. As upset with him as she was, and as much of a rift as there was between them right now, Hana still wanted him to know that she cared about him. She rested her head against his collarbone. He was warm, but she could feel the exhaustion in how weak his grip was.

They both ended the hug sooner than they normally would. Derek left without another word. Hana shut her door. She slumped onto her bed, letting the weariness and emotional drain flow through her.

Did I do the right thing? Hana thought. She didn't have doubts in her methods, she'd spoken straight from the heart, but there wasn't a single person on this planet who could confidently say they were right in tearing down their best friend. At least, if there was, Hana didn't want to know that person.

Hana wriggled into her covers, pulling them close to her chest. Her hand drifted to her phone, fully on autopilot as she clicked through her text messages. It landed on a contact that she'd only had for a few weeks, but it already felt like one of her most important ones. The text was dated to the night of the canyon, about an hour after they'd found out that they had a signal. It was already marked 'read', but she'd never replied.

[[Daisy Oak, 20:32]] Hey Hana! This is kind of out of the blue, but I just got off a call with Derek and he was feeling a bit down. I know he's not feeling the same since everything happened at the museum. I know you probably are already, but could you please keep an eye on him? I don't want him to get hurt because he's not feeling 100%. I know you care about him as much as I do, and I trust you.

Hana pressed the Pokegear against her forehead, palming her temples.

Daisy was someone Hana really looked up to, and someone whom she already saw as a close friend, but Hana wanted to throttle her right now. After having talked to Derek at the Pokemon Center two nights prior, Hana had already been doubting her friend's mental health. When she received that text, the personal pressure that she'd been feeling to help her friend had suddenly morphed into a sense of responsibility to help her other friend's significant other. It was an incredibly heavy responsibility, and Hana had been distracted since she'd gotten the text. She was only just now able to look at it without feeling a rush of anxiety.

Things had been so much easier on the islands. In Sevii, there wasn't the same taboo on mental health that there was on the mainland. Everybody looked out for everybody else because they all belonged to the same community. The responsibility never fell to a single person, and it was weighing on Hana that she seemed to be the only healthy person in her group. Derek had been a breath of fresh air when it came to dealing with the two Kantoan members of their party, but even he had been repressing his feelings and falling into unhealthy coping tactics.

There was a small part of Hana that missed Sevii, but she knew she was happier here than she would've ever been trapped on the islands, mentally ill friends and all. By design, Kanto had something that her home didn't: a Pokemon League. Kantoans respected strength, and the only way to prove that she was strong was to compete in one. Hana hadn't had a specific goal for what she would do when she did prove herself, that would come with time, but the thought of winning the Indigo Conference out of spite had almost been too good on its own. Now that she'd seen the toxic effect that Kanto's policy toward strength had on her friends, though, Hana wanted to win for an entirely new reason. Maybe having some pull in this region would help her fix the nation that was poisoning her friends.

Hana gripped her phone in both hands and typed out a response to Daisy.

[[me, 18:12]] Hey Daisy! I'm sorry that it took me so long to respond; we were dealing with a lot getting out of Mt. Moon. I've definitely seen what you mentioned in your text, and I agree that Derek's not all there right now. We had a long talk, and I think he's on his way to being better, though. I'm not sure when you'll get this, but I hope your trip is going great. I'm excited to read your research paper when it's finished.

Hana huffed, tossing her phone away from her. She'd decided not to go into detail on her conversation with Derek. It was too new and it would be too long before Daisy would be brought up to speed. It was best to leave that to Derek to tell her once he'd had time to work on himself. Instead, she just told the truth. Not the whole truth, but enough that she had a clear conscience.

She curled herself into her blankets, creating a fluffy burrito. As much as Hana missed the islands, you couldn't cuddle into a comforter like this there; It was too hot. This was the singular upside to how cold Kanto was. She rolled over, determined to fall asleep and forget about everything that had happened today.

A few minutes later, she cursed again.

Hana was too worked up for sleep. She pulled out her laptop to start studying.

Notes:

Ahhhhhhhhhh! I was so nervous for this chapter! I'm gonna be honest, I still am. The decision to go to Hana's perspective for this chapter, which I hope comes through, was for a few different reasons. Hana is pretty much the only person who's kind of objective when it comes to Derek, and she's been the one observing all the poor decisions he's made across the story. I thought it would be important to see one of these emotional talks through the lens of somebody who isn't Derek. For people who wanted Hana to have more of her own chapter, don't worry. This will not be her only perspective chapter. I've actually been toying with the idea of doing a few more chapters, outside of the 'end of arc' chapters, from other character's perspectives, but I haven't decided one way or another yet.

I think another reason that I struggled with this chapter is that it's 5k words, which puts it in a really weird length for this story. On one hand, 5k for a single scene is really really long, and I could even feel myself getting tired by the end (which is on purpose, I wanted the reader to feel similar to Derek and Hana in this scene). On the other hand, 5k is on the shorter end of things for the average of the last ten or so chapters, so it was weird to end it. I do think, narratively, I ended the chapter at the right time, but I do want to hear lots of feedback in the comments for this!

Anyway, thank you guys for read, please tell me what you thought! 

Chapter 31: Affirmations

"Derek, I don't want to be mean, but you look like shit."

"Hmm?" I pulled my eyes away from my PokeNav+ and slowly looked over at Amy, bringing a spoonful of scrambled eggs to my mouth in the process. "Oh, thanks."

"Seriously," Amy frowned as they puzzled over me. "Even your Presence doesn't look good. What happened? Did you even sleep?"

I slowly chewed my eggs, appreciating my first home-cooked meal in days. I didn't immediately answer them, but a word they used caught my attention. "Presence?" I mumbled with a full mouth.

"It's just what I call how I see people's emotions," Amy waved me off. "It's not that deep. Really though, what's wrong?"

I shrugged, not bothering to glance at Hana. She was sitting next to me now. Our talk yesterday had mended some fences, even if I still needed to earn back her trust. Instead, I glanced back at the Nav. On it was the list that I'd obsessed over making last night.

"Nothing," I lied, knowing that they would know. "I'm just tired. And I did sleep, just not the best."

Amy furrowed their eyebrows in frustration but didn't keep asking. They didn't take their eyes off me, but they respected my right to lie. Amy was good like that.

I wanted to apologize to both Amy and Yuji, and to Hana again, eventually, but right now I was focused on my list. I wanted to actually improve before I started making grand gestures and potentially empty promises. I'd been serious when I spoke to Hana yesterday. I needed help. I needed to retrain how I thought about risk, and how I evaluated my own problems. I couldn't throw myself on the grenade for somebody else, not anymore. Not when it would hurt them so much more if I actually got killed, or worse.

Yesterday, Hana had done something that no one else had. She'd scared me. She'd broken down every single thing I'd done wrong, and she'd made it clear through her words and emotions just how much I'd hurt her. That had cut deeper than any other failure I'd had to this point. I'd felt small and powerless and guilty, and I never wanted to feel that way again. So, instead of going to sleep, I'd stayed up for hours to come up with a list of rules to make better decisions. They weren't perfect, and I was sure that I would struggle against them at some point, but that was kind of the goal. They were a new code that I was going to stick to.

I looked back at the Nav, where I had the rules open on my notes app. The entire document was only a few hundred words long, but it had taken me almost eight hours to write seven rules. I had written and deleted almost twenty iterations of it, always feeling like I was missing something, or wording something wrong. Even now, it didn't feel refined or complete, but I was satisfied with where I'd left it.

"All right, kids," Ranger Tarina said from the end of the table. "Which of you are we dropping off on Route Three?"

The Rangers had let us join them in their small cafeteria for the morning before we headed out. Technically, we could have waited another day or two, but a quick group text had confirmed that we all felt a sense of urgency to get to our destinations. Our separate destinations. There was a pang in my chest as Lester and Ambrose raised their hands. They'd traveled with us into Mt. Moon to check out Floor Five, but their goal had apparently always been to go to Pewter. They'd only ended up on Route Four because of the cavern collapse, and the Rangers had offered to fly them to the Route Three Pokemon Center in light of everything we'd been through.

"Yeah, that's us," Ambrose said. His normally upbeat voice was a little down, and he tossed the rest of us a regretful look. It didn't look like they wanted to leave any more than we wanted them to.

Ranger Tarina nodded. "Okay, we'll head out in thirty. Make sure to be in the courtyard with your bags." She turned to the rest of us. "And you're leaving for Cerulean?"

Yuji spoke up. "Yes, and we plan to depart when Ambrose and Lester do." Yuji shot me a look, and I nodded back to him. Outside of mine and Hana's drama, our group chat had been active last night. The four of us had decided on something once we'd found out that Lester and Ambrose weren't coming with us.

Tarina stood, gesturing to a regional map of Kanto on the wall. "It should be a straight shot down through the hills. If you walk at a decent pace, it shouldn't take you longer than a couple of hours to get there."

We gave her some nods of acknowledgment and finished our breakfast. Before they left for their rooms, I helped Yuji corner Lester and Ambrose. Hana and Amy walked up behind us, just as involved as we were.

"Hmm?" Lester grunted. "What's up?"

"Well, friends," Yuji started. He glanced to me, obviously unsure how to start a conversation.

Never change, Yuji, I cracked a tired smile. The man regularly stared down the baddest threats around, but he still had a hard time starting a conversation.

"So, we've been texting," I picked up for him, and I gestured to my core group. "And basically, we all agree that we wouldn't have gotten out of Mt. Moon alive if you hadn't come with us."

It was true. Lester and Ambrose had been indispensable in the tunnels. Our encounter with both the Parasect and Rhyhorn would've gone very differently if they hadn't been there. Yuji wouldn't have been able to haul us out of the tunnel on his own. Even though I now had mixed feelings about it, I wouldn't have been able to help Minior or my egg without Lester.

"And," I gestured to Yuji. It was his turn now.

Yuji pulled three Pokeballs from under his jacket, the metal spheres clinking against his pin collection, and presented them to our new friends. Both of their faces went slack, though Ambrose was more pleasantly surprised while Lester gave Yuji a long look.

"We wanted you to have these," Yuji said. "Half of the Pokemon we caught to sell. A Bronzor and two Parasect. We know you both wished to catch Pokemon in Mt. Moon, so we hope that these can get you closer to your goals."

Amy piped up, squeezing their head under my arm and into the conversation. "Plus, you did so much work anyway! Like, honestly, we wouldn't have got them without you."

Hana nodded. "It's only right."

Ambrose smiled brightly, but before he spoke Lester frowned. "Half? That's not even close to an even split. You guys are giving us too much."

"If you were trying to split it six ways, yeah, but that's not the point," I added. "You guys did the Pyroar's share of the work, and we're grateful. It just makes sense."

Ambrose intertwined his fingers into his boyfriend's and gave us a nod. "Sounds good to me," he said. Ambrose leaned his head against Lester's. "Right, bubba? You're not gonna turn them down after all that?"

Lester debated it for a moment and was all waited with bated breath. Eventually, he sighed and took all three Pokeballs. "Thanks," he said.

"No," Yuji shook his head. "Thank you."

Yuji extended his hand forward, and Ambrose and Lester both took turns giving him a manly handshake. I knew how important this was to Yuji. Even though I'd gone on my own little adventure with Lester, Yuji had done bonding with these two that I just hadn't been present for. From spending hours at the campfire on our first night, to Yuji and Ambrose getting lumped in to do all the physical work, to the three of them having each other's backs in the rear guard, a strong bond had formed between the three of them.

It wasn't long after that before we all found ourselves in the outpost's courtyard. Ranger Tarina whistled, and her Noctowl and two Pidgeot descended from the cliffs above. She gestured to us, and it was time to say goodbye. Yuji went first, obviously, but I soon found myself in front of two companions who were going to be gone in minutes.

"So, Pewter?" I asked lamely. I didn't know what else to say.

Ambrose grinned. "Yup! Kicking Brock's ass, then down to Viridian."

I nodded, Ambrose's infectious energy bringing a smile to my face. "Hell yeah, I'm sure you guys'll crush it over there. You and me'll have to battle when I see you again."

"You're on!" Ambrose thrust his arm out for a forearm clasp and I didn't let him down. He pulled me into a half hug before letting go.

Lester stepped forward, a small grin on his face. "Actually," the goth said. "I'll be taking that first battle. I feel like I've earned it."

"Deal." Against my better wisdom, I pulled Lester into a full hug. The goth barely protested. "I'll be keeping my eyes on you guys, and I'll be seeing you in the Indigo Conference."

Lester and Ambrose got the same kind of fire in their eyes. They both nodded to me, a new pact forming then and there. My group had just acquired two new rivals.

Hana and Amy said goodbye to our friends, and then it was time for them to leave. Ambrose helped Lester up onto his Pidgeot, and then hopped onto his own. Ranger Tarina waved at us, though she shot me a look. It was soft and comforting, like she was reinforcing what she'd said yesterday. I nodded back, and she understood that she'd been heard. The Senior Ranger took off into the air, her Noctowl silent as a gust of wind, and the other two followed. Ambrose let out a whoop as he took off and Lester hunkered down into the Pokemon's feathers. Within seconds, they were gone.

We watched into the sky for a few seconds after they disappeared, but it was surprisingly Amy who got us on track.

"Alright, guys!" They barked at us. "Time to go! I want to nap today, and I'm not doing it on the routes. Let's get going!"

We all chuckled. Shouldering our bags, we turned and walked down the trail to Route Four. This route, now that I had the time to really inspect it, was so much more beautiful than Route Three had been. The eastern side of the mountain was less constricted by sharp canyons, though there were still distant rocky faces surrounding us, and instead opened up into a lush temperate forest. Massive trees flanked the sides of the trail. They were naturally spaced to allow small rocky crags and wirey mountain brush to interweave between them, which meant that I never felt confined like I had in the Viridian Forest.

The sheer incline of the hills meant we lost sight of the Ranger Outpost pretty quickly. The trail was well-maintained, probably a duty of one of the Rangers, and allowed for quick travel. It took everything we had not to stop and enjoy the scenery, though I did catch more than one of us tilting our heads up to feel the sun on our faces. After four days underground and way too many close calls, it felt too good to not enjoy the warmth.

One holdover from our time in the tunnels was our need for security. No one mentioned it, but each of us had at least one Pokemon out as we traveled. It only marginally slowed us down, but I could feel all of us, people and Pokemon alike, relax in each other's company. Wisp stayed in my shadow, but I actually let Artis join me out of his Pokeball for once. He hadn't traveled on any of the routes since Route One, and it was for good reason. His tiny spherical body hadn't been built for moving long distances over land. His new Sealeo body still wasn't, but his bulk and added muscle mass more than made up for it. Now he was able to shuffle down the road at roughly the pace of the average walk, which was a huge improvement for him. Artis happily barked at little bugs and stopped to sniff the wildflowers as we passed by. He was really enjoying himself, which made my heart hurt to think that he'd been missing out on all of this the entire time.

He wasn't the only new addition to the traveling party. Amy had spoken to their Bronzor last night after they'd gotten it back from Nurse Joy, and the steel type was now floating above Amy's head as we traveled. Every once in a while, the little metal disk would vibrate at different frequencies, its tones obviously showing different emotions, though I couldn't understand them yet. Amy was over the moon with them, though, and would audibly speak to it whenever it voiced its opinions. Apparently, it was pretty talkative.

As for the other two, they carried the usual suspects. Paige had intertwined her vines around Hana's backpack straps, positioning herself like a little shoulder-mounted spore cannon. The grass type had been fully healed from her dangerous encounter with Rhyhorn, though I could still see patches of bright green and yellow where her plant body had been hastily regrown. Yuji and Despereaux, like always, were an inseparable pair. There was something different about their dynamic, though. Normally, Despereaux would act like a scout for us, running ahead on the trail and warning us of upcoming danger and Pokemon. He wasn't doing that anymore. Instead, the purple-furred mouse was anchored firmly to his trainer's side and pushed against Yuji's ankle with his shoulder every few steps.

I didn't miss the way Yuji's hand would hover over Achilles' ball, only for a shadow to fall over his features and for him to drop his hand. I felt really bad for the guy. His relationship with his own skill level hadn't been great before Mt. Moon, but he'd seen his ace get demolished in just a few moves. It was going to be a while before his confidence recovered, and even then, he needed to find ways to cover the gaps in his training style. I was already working on changing mine, but he'd need to find his own solutions.

"Rule number seven," I found myself muttering under my breath. 'Let problems be problems' was one of my new mantras. Even if I wanted to help Yuji, I needed to let him try and solve things on his own first.

Pokemon were abundant on the route, and, unlike inside Mt. Moon, they didn't seem to wish us any ill will. Flocks of Spearow and Pidgey flapped through the air and took to resting in the tall trees, and we passed dozens of Rattata skittering between the rocks and trees. Hana took the time to point out the harder-to-spot Pokemon to me, and I was able to scan Pineco and Hoothoot with my Pokedex. Much to my chagrin, we even spotted an Ekans warming itself in the sun. I'd had two too many bad experiences with its evolution to be comfortable.

The winding trail joined the main row after about an hour of downhill walking. It wasn't long before we were joined on the road by dozens of trainers headed both to and from Cerulean City. It was actually a pretty wild experience, all things considered. None of the routes that I'd traveled so far had really been all that populated. I'd run into exactly one trainer between Pallet and Pewter, and the few groups we'd run into on Route Three had been scatted along a winding canyon road. Since this area was way flatter, we were constantly within the eye line of a dozen other travelers at any given time. We didn't stop to battle them, and, for the most part, none of them seemed particularly interested. I noticed a lot of strained and rushed expressions among the trainers we passed, and I quickly realized the situation that they were facing. Brock had mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, but a statistic that I'd 'known' for a while was coming to mind: half of all trainers dropped out of the League without receiving their first badge. We were a month and a half into a nine-month season. Anyone who didn't have a badge yet was not on track to complete eight gym challenges before Indigo, and I was seeing the stress of that on a lot of the trainers we were passing.

It gave me perspective on my group. Even though we'd lost to Giovanni, it was pretty clear that we would've won at any other Gym for our first badge. Strength-wise, we were at least competent enough to have gotten two badges, even though we still only had one. If somebody had been trying and failing in that time to earn a single badge, it put us head and shoulders above the majority of trainers. Hopefully, that trend would continue. According to most studies, only about fifteen rookie trainers actually completed eight gyms in their first year, leaving most of the spots in their regional conference for returning and veteran challengers.

"Actually," I thought aloud as we passed another group of trainers our age. "I haven't seen almost anybody older than us yet. What's up with that? Where are all the non-rookies?"

It really hadn't been something I'd noticed until just now. I went through the mental checklist of every place we'd been to. The only people I'd run into in Viridian had been my group, who were, of course, rookies. In Pewter, Terry and Mick's groups had both been rookie-only, as had everybody except Darien on Route Three. And even then, Darien hadn't actually battled, he'd really just been more of a babysitter.

"Hmm?" Hana pulled out a headphone, and I could vaguely hear the podcast she was listening to. It was something news-based. "Oh, I think we still have about a month till Triumph Day, so I wouldn't expect to see any veterans yet."

I frowned at her. "What?"

Hana gave me a concerned look and pulled out her other earbud. "Triumph Day?"

"Nope," I shook my head. "No idea what that is."

Yuji fell back a few steps to walk next to me. He looked puzzled. "That's so strange," he said. "You don't have a Triumph Day in Hoenn? How is that fair?"

"It isn't," Hana said with a frown. "The skill gap would make the beginning of the season far too competitive."

"Okay," I furrowed my eyebrows, feeling a little frustration seep in. "Can someone please, for one moment, assume that I don't know what this is? Please explain: what is a 'Triumph Day'?"

"It's the day that veterans are allowed to join the season," Yuji said. "Since the first three months are reserved for rookies only."

Hana nodded. "It gives the rookies time to travel and train, gathering new Pokemon and experiencing gyms among their peers. It sets the baseline for Pokemon training and is one of the oldest traditions here in Kanto. Do you guys really not have that in Hoenn?"

I shook my head, satiated at the answer, though a little pit formed in my stomach. "No, we don't. Everybody starts at the same time."

"That doesn't make any sense," Amy piped up. "How the heck are you supposed to compete with veteran trainers on your first day?"

"I don't think that's... ...yeah, no, I don't think I've ever heard of that being a problem." I thought about it for a moment. "I mean, only a dickhead would battle a newbie, right? So, like, veteran trainers tend to battle among themselves, and rookies stick with rookies. They don't really compete with each other until later in the season, so everybody can coexist."

Hana snapped her fingers, reaching some invisible epiphany. She almost immediately looked annoyed. "I get it," she said. "It's a Kanto thing because of how they value strength. The League probably realized that you can't trust the strong not to pick on the weak here."

There was a round of downcast looks as we realized she was right. Yuji and Amy both looked particularly crestfallen, as they were our two Kanto natives. I felt kind of bad, exposing something that was obviously an exciting event for their League as being probably rooted in a need to curb bullying. It did make me feel a little better about my home region, though, so that was a plus. I asked a few more questions about 'Triumph Day', and the answers left me pondering.

Finding out about Triumph Day made me realize that, while it didn't directly affect me, there was sort of a time limit on the learning curve of being a rookie here. In a month and a half, Kanto's experienced trainers would be allowed to train on the routes and apply for Gym Challenges. That had all sorts of immediate implications, as well as ones that I probably would never realize. These experienced trainers would not only have their own powerfully trained Pokemon, but would be able to catch, trade, and sell more powerful and rarer Pokemon than we would. Their stronger teams would also let them clear the eight gyms sooner, so they'd be able to apply to travel through the Victory Road sooner, further widening the gap between them and any new rookies.

"Ya know," I muttered. "Triumph Day is sounding like a better and better idea."

The breakdown of the future of the season made the time pass quickly. The long road evened out, cresting one final low hill before flattening. It gave us a view of the city to the east, and it was breathtaking. Cerulean City was one of the coastal cities here in Kanto, and seeing an expanse of blue ocean in the distance made my heart hurt. I hadn't seen the sea since I'd left home.

Cerulean was a little bigger than Pewter City, though that was probably because it wasn't boxed in by cliff walls. Instead, a single river wrapped around the city, headed north before it finally found an outlet in the sea. The buildings were low and beautiful, and they glimmered with white and blue tiled patterns. The greenery was abundant and lush around the city; trees and bushes crowded major pathways and the spaces between homes. In the center of the city, I could see the Cerulean Gym. It was a massive half-domed building with a red and yellow spiraled roof. Even at this distance, I could see the crowd of people gathered at its front entrance. It looked like Cerulean was going to be just as crowded as Pewter.

Unlike in Pewter, we didn't have to rely on the Nav to get us from place to place. As soon as we entered town, Amy took the lead.

"Come on guys!" Amy was a bit impatient with us. "There's a better Pokemon Center this way!"

The tiny psychic looked absolutely ecstatic to be somewhere familiar. I hadn't forgotten one of the first real conversations we'd had where Amy had mentioned that they'd grown up in Cerulean, even if they'd moved around a lot as a kid. Instead of following the foot traffic toward the center of town, where I'm sure there was a Pokemon Center placed strategically near the gym, Amy led us to the north side of town.

The footpaths of northern Cerulean were like walking through the world's biggest garden. The river came right up to the edge of the city where the bank met a smooth waist-high wall that kept people from falling in. Up against the river were patches of open parks and dozens of planters that were full of flowers. I would have been surprised that anything had bloomed this early in the summer, but I was dumbfounded that the planters were full. A heavy breeze came off the water and I was immediately hit with the floral scent of the park that ever so slightly carried a tinge of the sea.

"Alright, Amy," I said with a smile as we walked. "This place is pretty awesome."

They rolled their eyes, a grin on their face. "I told you guys! Cerulean is the best! Plus, even though it's a little farther away from anything, I know that the Pokemon Center up here almost never fills up with people! We might actually get our own rooms!"

Yuji and Hana both shot them a look before picking up the pace. "You should have led with that," Yuji muttered.

"Seriously," Hana agreed. "Barring last night, I haven't had my own room since Viridian City."

"Why do you think I made us walk so far?" Amy almost looked like they were offended. "I don't like walking, guys, but this little bean is ready for some alone time. And just imagine it, getting to sleep without hearing Derek snore!"

I whipped my head around, "What?"

Amy stopped like a Stantler in headlights. "Uh, never mind."

"No, wait, guys," I turned to the other two, who both averted their eyes. "I don't- I don't snore. Do I?"

I was met with a deafening silence.

"Really?" I whined, feeling more than a little betrayed. "Nobody thought to mention this to me?"

Yuji put his hand on my shoulder. "You are a good roommate in other ways, my friend. Don't let it eat at you."

Hana mirrored him, resting her hand on the opposite shoulder. "And it's barely noticeable when we're in an actual room. It's just... ...we were in a cave."

"It echoes," Amy added helpfully. "Like, a lot."

I sulked the rest of the way to the Pokemon Center.

---

Since we had gotten to Cerulean so quickly, we unanimously decided to spend the rest of today as our rest day. It wasn't even noon yet, so was had almost an entire day to kill. Instead of heading to train with Yuji, going to the shops with Hana, or taking a nap like Amy, I decided to spend my day upkeeping all of my responsibilities. At least, the things that I held myself responsible for.

Just like Amy had thought, we'd managed to all get private rooms. After we checked in, I left my Pokemon and the egg with Nurse Joy before unloading my stuff into my room. While the Joy at the outpost had given Arits and Wisp an all-clear on any obvious injuries, I wanted to make sure they got an in-depth check-up, since Artis had just evolved and Wisp had been put through the wringer. The egg, for even more obvious reasons, also needed a full medical scan.

After I'd unloaded my stuff, I washed the route off of me and headed up to the computer lab. Unlike the ones in Viridian and PEwter, this one was on the top floor of the Center. The room was set up like a little cafe, complete with a snack and coffee bar, and all of the windows extended from floor to ceiling. Since this Center was set up on the banks of the river, people using the computer room could watch as it glimmered under the sunlight.

I plopped into a little cubicle and got to work. I had a lot of catching up to do. There was contacting my parents, sending my footage to the museum, messaging Professor Oak, sending Daisy an update, editing and uploading my RoTube and Pokegram posts, and starting to research Cerulean's gym leader. And all of that came after the most important thing, which I'd promised Hana and myself that I'd do as soon as possible.

Dear Dr. Delkins, I started my email, taking the time to format it professionally. I was emailing to let you know that I'd made it to Cerulean City. Given what we talked about in my assessment, and some other things that have come up, I wanted to see about reaching out to a therapist here in Cerulean as quickly as possible...

My email went on for another few lines, but that was the bulk of it. 'Derek 2.0' was going to take a while to figure out, but I needed to make this first step while I had the motivation. If I just let myself move on, I wasn't going to try again until something else bad happened. I gave a quick proofread to the email before I hit 'send'.

I felt a physical burden lift from my shoulders as I sent the message on its way. I hadn't realized how badly I'd tensed up while typing it out, but the release of that stress left me feeling exhausted and strangely giddy.

Now that I'd done the most stressful thing, I glanced over my list. Not the list, the one of all my new resolutions, but the list of crap I had to get done today. My email to the museum would have to wait until I'd pulled the footage off of my camera with everything I was going to use for my Mt. Moon video.

Legends, I mentally sighed. I didn't even think about that. There's no way in hell I'm putting what happened on the internet.

Rhyhorn and the cavern collapse were too personal, and I wasn't going to put out the footage of Clefairy's cavern without explicit permission from the League. I knew that it was probably a good idea to try and cut something together out of the footage, but I honestly couldn't think of anything that I wanted to relive from Mt. Moon. Walking in with my friends had been cool, but that didn't really create a good video narrative.

I shrugged. The influencer thing had mostly been to counteract the bad press I had been getting from Mick's interview. I wasn't opposed to doing more things with it in the future, but I wasn't bothered about just not putting out a video. On that thought, I clicked over to my Pokegram webpage, which I hadn't really checked since Pewter. Sure, I'd uploaded a video on Route Three, but I hadn't really had time to look through my notifications.

Luckily, I'd only been tagged in a few dozen posts over the last week. More than half were just reuploads of either the museum or my Pewter challenge, but I did see some stuff regarding a radio show? I clicked around and it was just a couple of guys talking about the challenge elevations, so I didn't sit through the whole thing. From the comments that people had tagged me with, it didn't seem like their reviews were going to be overly friendly, anyway. There was a single mention of me on one of Mick's recent videos, but it didn't have any likes or replies. I grinned as I realized that the 'drama' between us was dying down.

I spent the next hour going through my list. I sent Daisy and my parents texts instead of videos, or even calling them in the case of Mom and Dad. I didn't really want to talk to them until I heard back from Dr. Delkins and managed to get through a therapy session or two. After my messages were sent, I finally took the time to pull my footage of Mt. Moon off my camcorder. Since I'd already gone through it all with the Rangers, I had a pretty good idea of where all my timestamps were.

I split the footage into three main categories: what I needed to analyze for battle, what I needed to send to the museum, and what I needed to send Professor Oak. Watching the Rhyhorn footage in the caves had been a big eye-opener for me, and I was sure that I could learn even more by studying it as much as possible, so that was necessary.

Once I had my footage separated, I made the first of my two calls that I'd be making today. I assumed it would be the longer and more intense one, so I wanted to get it out of the way. It went into the territory of rules number four and five, so I was sure that I was going to be exhausted by the end of it.

The phone only rang for a few seconds before the Professor picked up.

"Mr. Tracy?" Professor Oak asked with a surprised smile on his face. He was standing in the workroom in his laboratory. "It's pleasant to hear from you, young man! I must say, I wasn't expecting for you to have reached Cerulean so soon."

"It's good to see you too, Professor. And, uh, ha, yeah," I mumbled, scratching my neck. "That's actually a really long story."

The professor nodded, taking my words with their intended meaning. "I see," he said. He reached to the side of the camera for something that I couldn't see before pulling back with a desk chair in hand. Professor Oak plopped himself down. "Then I suppose I should get comfortable! Please, tell me about your experiences. I'm quite intrigued by your tone."

I shouldn't have been surprised, but I still found it genuinely touching that this titan of the scientific community would take the time out of his day to sit and talk with me. Doubt that my story was important enough to warrant taking up the Professor's time started to close in, but I pushed back on it.

Believe in the people who believe in me, I reminded myself. I'd written rule number five last night, so it wouldn't do for me to immediately ignore it.

"Well, Professor," I started. "Me and my friends ran into some trouble when a cave collapsed..."

I spent the next fifteen minutes giving Professor Oak an extremely truncated version of what had happened in Mt. Moon. While I held back on some of the more dangerous details, mostly because I didn't want to relive them, I was pretty forthcoming with everything else that had happened. He perked up when I mentioned Minior, and I chose that time to hit 'send' on the footage that I'd prepared.

"This is what I was able to record with my camcorder," I said as he opened it. "It's a little dark, but I tried to boost the exposure in post. You should be able to see it pretty okay. I don't know, it's not something from around here, right?"

Though his brow had been furrowed through most of my story, Professor Oak's face split into a smile of curiosity as he watched Minior float around the screen. The old man's scientist side was on full display, and he immediately started to jot down notes as he studied the footage.

"You're correct," Professor Oak said. "I haven't seen any Pokemon like this before, and it is marvelous!"

"Sweet," I breathed out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad something good came of all of that."

Professor Oak vigorously nodded, his eyes finally flicking back to me. "My boy, you've done a very good job, especially given the circumstances that you faced. Did you take undo risks? Yes. Would I have advised against them? Absolutely. But in the retelling of this story, I can already tell that you will not be repeating this pattern of behavior again."

"I won't be," I promised. "I'm working on me."

Oak smiled warmly. "Good. Then, overall, I must say that this discovery is quite extraordinary. Honestly, this is exactly the sort of task that my aides and sponsored trainers carry out. I assume that your feelings toward that path have not changed?" The professor raised a teasing eyebrow at me, but his expression turned contemplative when I didn't immediately respond.

"Uh, actually," I dropped my gaze from the call. Having Professor Oak's full attention was a lot. "Professor, I was actually hoping- maybe- if it was still available-"

I took a breath and steeled myself. Seek out advice. Believe in the people who believe in me.

"Professor, I know that I turned you down before," I said, meeting his eyes. "But I was hoping that you would consider sponsoring me this season?"

This had been a long time coming. When I had first come to this region, I'd assumed that Professor Oak had only offered me a sponsorship because of who my dad was, and I'd made up some bull about not wanting to catch a bunch of Pokemon for his lab. In reality, that had been my first self-sabotage in Kanto. Professor Oak had made it clear, multiple times, that he was interested in sponsoring me for reasons that were entirely because of who I was, not my dad. Daisy spent weeks trying to get me to ask her grandfather for help. Hana had convinced me that I needed to grasp every opportunity that was offered to me.

And while I was doing it for all of them, more importantly, I was doing this for myself. This was the ultimate and immediate test of the moral code that I'd spent the night designing. If I accepted the support of the Oak Lab, I would be giving myself access to resources that would keep me safe, would help me learn better and faster, and would make me a part of something that would build me up. I had a lot of soul-searching to do and this kind of pushed on my sixth rule, but I knew that this was the right choice. The ball had started rolling a while ago and I felt secure in this decision.

Professor Oak's contemplative look didn't let up. "If you are serious about this, you need to know that this will not be easy" he warned. "You would be signing on to complete tasks given to you by both myself and my research aides, and you would be representing the Oak Research Laboratory in all professional and personal settings. While you will have access to many privileges, you will also have many responsibilities, Mr. Tracy."

"I know, sir," I answered immediately. "And I think I can do it- No, I know I can. Also, I mean, I'm already getting a lot of the benefits you give your sponsees, right? I might as well take on the responsibilities too."

It was true. Professor Oak had let me keep the Pokedex on day one, even though I'd turned him down, and was both giving me a new Pokemon and letting me store my Pokemon at his ranch. I'd accepted them under momentary duress before, but this meant that I could both feel comfortable receiving those benefits and grasp new opportunities.

Professor Oak's manic side slipped from under his professional mask and he smiled wide. "That was a good answer, Mr. Tracy. I'll send over the paperwork in a few minutes. I've had it drawn up for quite a while, after all."

I let out a sound that was somewhere between a nervous chuckle and a sigh of relief. Of course he had. From his perspective, this had probably always been a foregone conclusion.

"On that note," Professor Oak continued. "Have you decided on what Pokemon you would like to receive? I know that you had asked for time to think, but three weeks is quite a large time for contemplation."

Professor Oak didn't say it with any sense of urgency or impatience, nor did it feel like he was trying to push me to actually make up my mind, but his words did make me feel embarrassed.

"Uh, actually, that was another reason I wanted to call you," I admitted. "I've been having some choice paralysis, and I realized that, well, I should probably ask your opinion."

Professor Oak looked genuinely touched and surprised. I didn't know how he was surprised, considering his past. The man was a current super-professor and former champion of Kanto, of course he would have some good ideas for what Pokemon I should pick. Since I had already narrowed it down, I let Professor Oak know everything that I had already considered.

"So, you are making the correct decision to choose a rare Pokemon," he mused. "I was fearful that your humility would have you ask for a partner that was easily attainable, so it is heartening to hear that you taking full advantage of my offer."

"Thanks, I guess?" I didn't want to agree with him, but I could totally see the Derek of three weeks ago going for a cop-out with a Pokemon that I'd already planned on catching.

"And you've narrowed the choices to a fossil Pokemon or a pseudo-legendary..." Professor Oak pulled a battered Pokedex from his pocket. He absentmindedly began to scroll through them. "Your current team is comprised of a Sealeo and a Misdreavus. You also have a Cleffa egg which will hatch sometime in the future. You already plan to receive or import a dragon type in the future, which would eliminate most pseudo-legendaries and several fossil Pokemon."

I nodded. "I did some research on Route Three around foreign Pokemon, but I couldn't find a lot on Pokemon from Galar or Paldea. Kalos and Unova had some interesting options, plus my home region has some really good ones."

The professor inclined his head. "Hoenn, in fact, has one of two non-dragon pseudo-legendaries that I'm aware of. And, since you already are taking a generalist approach to your team, we can also eliminate several well-known fossils from their typing alone. That would leave you with," the professor debated his answer in his head for a moment. "Eight options."

My eyes bulged a little. Professor Oak had narrowed the list of Pokemon to a number that was both way higher and way lower than what I'd been expecting. I still hadn't narrowed my own list to lower than fifteen Pokemon, but the way he'd broken it down made it clear to me that he was also pulling from a larger pool of Pokemon than I was aware of.

"If it helps," I said. "I was hoping to raise a Pokemon that wasn't from here. Kanto-Johto, I mean. There was a Pokemon- I mean, I saw a Pokemon from a region that I didn't recognize, and it left an impression."

I hadn't forgotten about Toxtricity. The sheer power that Proton's exotic Pokemon had put off was reason enough to want something on that level, but the fact that I'd had no idea what it was made it so much scarier. I was going to tone down the behavior I'd displayed with my flag after the Pewter Gym, but the idea of having a Pokemon foreign to Kanto was one that stuck in my head.

He nodded, taking my statement in stride. "And do you have an idea of what role this Pokemon is going to play? From what you'd said, you're planning on changing how you train your Pokemon for battle, is that correct?"

After the conversation we'd been having and the myriad of emotions that Professor Oak had displayed over it, it was finally my turn to let out a manic smile. "Oh, yeah," I said with a smirk. "Let me tell you all about that, actually..."

---

My conversation with Professor Oak ended after almost an hour of debating the build of my team and what Pokemon would work with some of the strategies I was working on. I left the call feeling like I'd made real progress on a lot of different fronts. We hadn't made a decision yet, but I now had narrowed it down to three options. In no particular order, they were:

Metagross, the Iron Leg Pokemon. I'd grown up in the shadow of Metagross my entire life, as it was the ace of Steven Stone, the champion of the Hoenn region. There wasn't a single trainer in Hoenn who wasn't intimately familiar with the sheer power and efficiency that the steel type could deliver to a battle. While it wasn't quite undefeated, Champion Stone's Metagross had been considered one of the strongest Pokemon in my home region for almost as long as I'd been alive. Outside of its reputation, it would also be an absolute beast of a physical hitter, something that my team was currently lacking.

Cradily, the Barnacle Pokemon. This one was the two fossil Pokemon on the list, and was also native to my home region, just like Metagross. This ancient grass type was ridiculously hard to deal with since it had a ton of natural regeneration moves that would let it regrow itself from pretty bad conditions. One of its abilities, Storm Drain, would also work insanely well with Artis' water type moves in the case of double battles or encounters like the one we'd had with Rhydon. Professor Oak had also pointed out that it had access to a ton of passive damage moves, like Toxic and Stealth Rock, which would let us outlast a lot of teams if I could get set up.

Rampardos, the Head Butt Pokemon. This guy was the only one who didn't come from Hoenn, and I didn't know if that made me more or less likely to pick it. In a similar role to Metagross, Rampardos would be the spear to Artis' shield. It was made for one thing: attacking. Even though it wasn't the fastest or the bulkiest, Rampardos was a weapon of indiscriminate destruction due to his natural aggression and ability to break down stone walls with just its head. Having such a heavy hitter would give me a pretty good edge in any battle. It was also the only Pokemon that I didn't have a ton of ways to pair with Artis, Wisp, or the Cleffa egg, but I knew that synergy would come with time and practice.

I spent the rest of the afternoon filling out Professor Oak's paperwork for my sponsorship, though I did take a break to call the Pewter Museum. They were ecstatic to receive the footage, though the Rangers had already contacted them regarding the illegal mining. Dr. Spinel had thanked me multiple times, and I couldn't help but feel like the paleontology department was slowly starting to become my biggest fan club.

I also heard back from Dr. Delkins. He hadn't sent a long email, just an address with a time and date fro two days from now. At the bottom he'd only written: You're making the right choice. Good luck.

After a few hours of sitting, Nurse Joy's voice came over the intercom. "Will Derek Tracy please make their way to the front desk? Your Pokemon are ready for pick up."

I stretched, feeling my spine crackle and pop, and let out a yawn. A big grin found its way onto my face. It had been a long day, so I was ready to curl up with my Pokemon and knock out. Scratch that, it had been a long month. Hell, in the last thirty days, I'd: gotten a girlfriend, survived a terrorist attack, had a challenge elevated gym battle, made half a dozen new rivals, started a short-lived influencer career, suffered a cavern collapse, barely defeated a too-powerful enemy, strengthened and weakened my relationships, discovered an unseen Pokemon, rescued an abandoned egg, and had accepted a sponsorship from a world-renowned lab. Oh, and I'd been diagnosed as mentally ill, obviously.

Despite all that, I felt good. I had a plan. I had a structure for good decision-making. I was working on my flaws. My Pokemon were healthy. I had two new team members lined up in Oak's Pokemon and the Egg. I had a date scheduled for therapy.

Things were looking up. It was the beginning of a new chapter for me.

---

Derek's List:

For those of you who are interested, this is Derek's list of 'rules'. He will be making reference to this in the future, though you won't need to retain the exact information of each point, he will remind the reader of each point when it is relevant to the decisions that he makes. When this changes (and that's a 'when', not an 'if'), I'll include the updated version at the end of the chapter that it's updated in.

#1 - Prioritize Personal Safety

Outside of times when it would cause someone I care about to get hurt, I need to make sure I make it through whatever happens. That means no extra risks. No Rocket Admins or Clefairy Caves. Get out when you can.

#2 - Reflect And Adapt

I keep making the same mistakes over and over again. When it becomes clear that I've done something wrong, I need to figure out how to avoid that in the future. If I'm going to make mistakes, they might as well be new ones.

#3 - Teamwork Before Self-Reliance

If there is a situation that I'm even slightly unsure about, I need to reach out to others before I try to figure out how to do it myself. I am capable, but I am also fallible. Take help when it is offered, too. Somebody who's not me might be able to see I need help before I do.

#4 - Seek Out Advice

It doesn't matter if it's my feelings or my battles, there are always people who are going to be able to help. When I don't know, ask. When I'm not sure, confirm. When I'm confident, tread with caution.

#5 - Believe In People Who Believe In Me

I don't get to decide what I've earned. If someone thinks that I'm good enough, I should trust them. I am worthy of support.

#6 - No Sudden Declarative Statements

I've made a lot of resolutions recently, only to see them undone by new information. When I feel like I believe something, I need to seek out new information and consider all angles before making new life-changing decisions.

#7 - Let Problems Be Problems

I keep pushing into other people's issues, and that hasn't helped a single person. If something is wrong, unless I urgently need to intervene, I should let it breathe first. Other people are capable and strong; they are also able to ask for help. Let them.

Notes:

a/n:
Hi hi! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! For me, it was the culmination of a lot of storylines that I'd been developing in both the foreground and background coming together. Derek has started his 'character development era', and I'm excited for you to come on this journey with us!

Also, since it came up this chapter, I wanted to ask which Pokemon you guys think he's going to choose? I've had it picked out for a while now, but I'd be interested to hear what you guys think of his and Oak's thought processes.

Anyway, please comment, review, and favorite if you enjoy this story! I'm excited for you to join us for Chapter 32: A New Way Of Training!

Chapter 32: A New Way of Training

Notes:

Heyo! Quick note: I'm going to be a little looser with my updates over the month of November, because I'm actually taking part in the Writathon over on RoyalRoad! If you're interested, it's going to be the first original work I've ever put out.

I'm going to attempt to keep up with maybe updating a time or two over this month, but don't be surprised if you don't see another chapter until December. Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

"I didn't realize there'd be this much paperwork," I moaned, filling out my fifth form in twice as many minutes.

Hana shrugged. "It's part of the process, Derek. Would you rather have there be fewer restrictions?"

I frown, feeling a little guilty. "No, I guess not."

Now that we'd made it to Cerulean, the time had come to sell off the Bronzor and Parasect from Mt. Moon. Over breakfast, Hana had let us know what the process was like, given that she'd already gone through it with Pinsir. Whichever one of us decided to put the Pokemon on the market, the Global Trade System, had to go through a vigorous background check and fill out almost a dozen different disclaimers. Once our paperwork went through, we were allowed to sell up to two Pokemon every thirty days, though we would have to re-apply every year. It was a huge pain, but it actually made a lot of sense. Since we wanted to sell three Pokemon, somebody other than Hana would need to go through the process, and I'd volunteered. Well, Yuji had disappeared into the woods to train and Amy didn't want to do it, so I was 'volun-told'. We were now at the lobby counter of the Center so I could get everything done and registered.

"Ms. Kanael is correct," Nurse Joy chuckled. "This is all necessary to make sure that our system stays as secure as possible."

"No, yeah, that makes sense," I agreed, flicking my pen as I signed my name for the thirtieth time. "And honestly, this isn't that bad. I'm getting in some autograph practicing time, and it only took like fifteen minutes."

Nurse Joy shook her head sheepishly, and Hana let out a little sigh. "Derek," Hana said, "that was the privacy release. You haven't even started the real paperwork."

Ignoring the fear that inspired in me, I spoke words that no man should ever utter. "I'm sure it's not that bad."

Thud!

Nurse Joy placed a stack of paper larger than my forearm onto the counter, causing it to shake a little. Multiple heads turned our way at the noise, and even strangers balked at the pile. I leaned over the pile with wide eyes, almost pulled in by the paper's dense gravitational field. I reached under the counter and slid out a stool, getting comfortable.

"Welp," I dramatically cracked my fingers and neck. "I'm too far into this to quit now."

Nurse Joy smiled, though she shook her head at my antics. "I'll leave you to it. Once you're done, ring the bell. Blissey or I will make sure to get it faxed to the right office."

"Faxed?" Hana looked green at the thought, and she gripped her laptop a little tighter. "It's archaic and draconian to force someone to use one of those!"

"Hana." I looked her dead in the eye. "I'm sure their fax machine doesn't use dragons. The papers would get all messed up."

To her credit, Hana didn't blink or groan or make any reference to my terrible joke. Instead, she gave me a blank stare and pulled out her phone.

"I'm going shopping," she declared, pulling up her list. "Do you need anything while I'm out?"

"Yeah, actually," I said as I started on the top of the paper pile. "Can you pick me up a couple of grooming kits? I can send some money with you."

Though I'd been exhausted during it, I hadn't forgotten Lester's advice about caring for his Pokemon. I wanted to reward my team for all the hard work they'd put in during Mt. Moon, and for the work they'd be doing later while we trained, and this felt like the perfect way to do that.

Hana nodded, looking thoughtful. "That's a good idea. I'm assuming you want a ghost and fairy one, but do you want ice or water type for Artis?"

"Ice," I said without hesitation. It wouldn't really make a difference, but each kit was made with specialized tools, treats, and ointments for Pokemon of each type. They didn't boost a Pokemon's power, but the brief research I'd done on them mentioned that they could potentially get a Pokemon in the right mindset to use moves of the designated type. Given the research I'd done on the Cerulean Gym yesterday, Artis and I were going to be training his ice type side hard.

Hana jotted it down and waved her goodbye, and I felt a tiny pang as she left. In Pewter, I probably would have gotten a side hug or a teasing joke before she departed. While a lot of things were starting to go back to normal, that wasn't yet.

I attacked the paperwork with renewed vigor. It gave me something else to think about, and it would do anyone any favors to dwell on something outside of my control. I was already seeking out help, and I had my first therapy session tomorrow. I could analyze all of that there.

Once I popped in a headphone, the work went quickly. Honestly, after a month of non-stop action, doing something as mundane as signing my name eighty-thousand times was pretty relaxing. Trainers would come and go from the Center, but the vibes remained immaculate. The lobby was well-lit from the sunny day outside, and whoever was in charge of the thermostat had it at the perfect temp between twenty-two and twenty-three degrees. Nurse Joy's Blissey even went out of her way to bring me a cup of tea, which was a genuinely kind and gratefully received gesture.

It took me a little over an hour to finish. As I started to wrap it up, I popped out my headphones and got ready to ring the bell, but I tilted my head toward a conversation being whispered a few meters away. I wasn't sure if I'd heard them right, so listened carefully before making any decisions. Rules number one and two both rang in my head.

"...yeah, that's definitely him," a dark-haired trainer whispered to their friend at the end of the counter. "That's Tracy."

"We should challenge him, then," the brown-haired friend whispered back. "Bring him down a few notches. Maybe he'll skip town before he starts any trouble."

The first trainer shook their head. "Nah, he's not worth it. If he goes around waving any flags, then somebody'll deal with him. He should know better than to pull that in this town, anyway."

I kept my expression neutral, but a lot was going on in that quick exchange. These guys were obviously trainers who didn't like me, and probably because of the stunt I'd pulled at the Pewter Gym. I'd invited this kind of behavior when I'd decided that I was going to make a 'statement' to Kanto.

Legends, I don't even know what that means, I thought regretfully. I did something loud and stupid when I hadn't even fully thought out my goals. I mean, these guys are at least a little nationalistic, so I was probably going to piss them off somehow anyway, but I gotta take at least a bit of the blame for them considering jumping me.

I shrugged off the comments, pretending like I couldn't still feel them still watching me from across the room. I rang the bell and Blissey took the papers off of me, waddling them into one of the back offices. I collected my stuff and headed out of the Center, sending Amy a text that I would meet them out by the river. I needed their help with a training thing that I wanted to try.

As I walked, I contemplated my actions in Pewter and online. In what I had to now admit was a tantrum, I'd decided that I was going to play some kind of villain to the people of Kanto. I'd taken on the name ' TrashTracy', and I'd taken my time in the spotlight to distance myself by waving my regional flag. I didn't really regret either of those actions, but I did regret that they hadn't been done with a bigger purpose. As of last night, I was officially signed on as a sponsored trainer of the Oak Lab, so I needed to be more thoughtful with my actions. Since he hadn't mentioned anything about it yet, I figured that Professor Oak was at least not opposed to my current public persona. I still didn't want to accidentally embarrass him or his lab, though. If I was going to do something disruptive, it needed to be with a clear goal in mind.

I wasn't going to decide on that goal right now for a few reasons, the main one being that I'd included 'No sudden declarative statements' on my list. I needed to take the next few weeks to grow without trying to define myself so tightly. Once I had an idea of where I was, I could start deciding where I was going.

I met Amy not too far from the Pokemon Center at a spot by the river. While it was technically on Route Twenty-Five, the park clearing was too close to the city to actually be dangerous. Amy had suggested it as a place to train because they'd used to go on picnics there with their moms. Since it was downriver, there was no clean wall dividing the river from the shore. Instead, the waves gently lapped at a muddy sandbar, little grasses and roots sticking out of the water.

As I approached, Amy waved. "Sup," they said casually, yawning at the end of the word. The discarded blanket nearby told me they'd been having a nap when I'd texted. "How'd the mountain of paperwork- I'm not even going to ask. Your Presence looks terrible."

"There's that word again," I pointed out. "You mentioned it at the outpost. What exactly is a 'presence'?"

Amy's face had an odd look on it, like they were pleasantly surprised that I'd asked. "Oh, uh," they scratched their head. "I was doing some research on some psychic stuff, ya know, since I've been using it a bit more lately."

"But not too much," I reminded them.

"Not too much," they agreed. "But when I did start using it too much, down in the caves, I noticed some stuff was changing. Like, I've always been able to feel other people's stuff, all their emotions and everything, but I hadn't been able to see them. Somewhere around the canyon, I realized that everybody was starting to have this outline, like they were glowing. It would change colors and stuff when people started getting worked up, or when they got angry..."

"Or when they when getting anxious," I finished for them. "And that's how you've had such an easy time seeing what's going on with me and Hana, our Presences."

Amy nodded, looking both a little proud and a little sheepish. "Yeah. It's not really that different from when I could just feel it, but now I know exactly where the emotions are coming from, which is new. I used to have to guess."

"That's awesome, bean," I said, fully meaning it. Being friends with a psychic in training meant that there was always going to be at least a little bit of a lack of privacy, but I'd gotten over that a while ago. Amy was at least respectful enough to not pry when they knew you needed space. "I'm glad it's all coming together for you."

Now that I'd shown interest, Amy brimmed with excitement. Their grin grew. "Yeah, and actually, Gong, my Bronzor's name is Gong, by the way, has been a huge source of inspo! Like, you know how he vibrates to make noise when he's happy, or whatever? Well, I noticed that his vibrations are, like, one-to-one with his Presence, so it's been helping me figure out how to read little shifts and stuff. After my nap yesterday, we just spent the whole day playing with it!"

I sat down on a root while Amy talked. It was really nice to listen to them ramble about their hyperfixation. They'd lived their whole life without anyone really guiding them, and they'd made almost no progress on understanding themselves in that time. Just a few weeks of traveling, practicing, and interacting with psychic types had them discovering new abilities and embracing themself. It was really awe-inspiring.

I let Amy tell me all about the colors that they saw in a Presence (apparently I'd been hovering over a light brown lately), and what the different frequencies of Gong's emotions looked like in their Presence. Amy and Pennywise had both taken to the new team member instantly, and Amy was excited about everything they'd be able to do together. They tugged at their beanie, twisting the end whenever they got really excited. Not once did Amy mention their Cerulean gym challenge, which really made me happy. They'd been agonizing over it for weeks, and now it was the least of their worries.

"-and I noticed Hana was feeling purple, but I don't know what that means- oh," Amy stopped, blinking like an owl. Their face flushed in embarrassment. "You came here for help, right?"

I chuckled at them. "Yeah, but I was enjoying this. It can wait."

"Nuh-uh," Amy disagreed, hopping to their feet. "What's up?"

I laughed again, shaking my head. "Well, if you're ready," I said as I got up. I brushed myself off. "I was hoping that I could get Pennywise to use his Barrier for an experiment."

"Oh, yeah sure. That's an easy one." Amy released the psychic type in question, who waved when he saw me. I waved back.

I leaned down to the Mime Jr. "Hey, dude," I said. "When you make your Barriers, are they water-tight? Like, could you keep water from flowing between them?"

He didn't even contemplate the answer before he vigorously nodded his head. "Mime mime!"

"Dope!" I flipped through the Nav, pulling up a screencap I'd grabbed from my research yesterday. "This is the Cerulean Gym," I explained, pointing at the image. "See how the field is just a big pool? I want to re-create that here in the river. I have an idea for how Artis can win our battle, but I don't want to accidentally break something expensive. Do you think you could try that?"

This time, Pennywise stared at the photo for a long time. He studied it, even holding up his tiny pink hands to get an idea of the space. Finally, Pennywise nodded.

"Hell yeah," I gave him a tiny fist bump. I glanced back up at Amy. "Is it okay if I borrow him for an hour or two?"

The enby gave me a grin. "Sure, sure," they waved me off. "I can get some training in with Gong in the meantime. We haven't actually tested their battle abilities," they added sheepishly.

Amy moved to the other end of the clearing and released Gong. The Bronzor buzzed in contentment when they saw their trainer, and the two of them got started on some light conversation before training. I turned back to Pennywise and the Mime Jr. was already standing at the edge of the river. He closed his eyes and pressed his tiny hands together, and a light pink light started to emanate from him.

Starting about fifteen meters into the river, I saw the telltale glow of Pennywise's psychic energy flicker into existence below the surface of the water. Like a knife through butter, the edge of a psychic barrier slid a few centimeters out of the water. It was quickly joined on either side by another pair, and another, and then another until the barrier panels had created a rectangular shape that was almost the exact dimensions of a battlefield. The water within didn't stop moving immediately, but you could tell that there wasn't a current there anymore; it had been fully cut off from the rest of the river. The tiny impurities and floating leaves on its surface swirled in a spiral within the bounds of the barrier.

"Alright, that's pretty sick," I murmured in amazement. "And it's not too much?"

"Mi mime!" Pennywise shook his head, though his arms did wobble under the strain. It was easy to forget just how powerful this guy's Barrier move was, given that it was the thing he'd trained the most. Even if the Cerulean River was moving slowly, he was still diverting hundreds of gallons of water around this part of the bank so that we could train.

"I'll try and make it quick," I promised him. I pulled Artis's ball from my belt, releasing him. My Sealeo hit the ground with a loud thud, his tongue lolling in excitement when he saw where we were. I laughed and pulled up the timer on my phone. "That's right bud, we're going to test out that thing that we talked about! Let's see how quickly you can freeze it!"

Artis got to work immediately. He rolled forward, blasting a Powder Snow from his snout. The white explosion of icy snowflakes was beautiful and way denser than when we'd first learned the move, brilliant and shining under the afternoon sun. Within seconds, the snow had covered the surface of the pool. Most of it melted on first contact, but every flake cooled the surface a fraction of a degree, and there were hundreds of thousands of flakes in each breath. It wasn't long before they held their form as they hit the water. Artis redoubled his efforts, inhaling through his nose to keep his move as consistent as possible. Chunks of snow compounded in the water and froze the moisture in their immediate vicinity, creating sheets of wavy and unclear ice that slowly pieced themselves together. When we could no longer see liquid water, Artis stopped and I clicked the timer.

48.12 seconds. I didn't feel let down by the timer. I'd known right away that Powder Snow wasn't going to do what we were looking for, not in the amount of time it would take, but this gave us a benchmark for what we needed to hit. We'd need to get it down to less than five seconds for the plan to be viable.

"Alright, bud," I said to Artis. "Jump test."

"Leo!" He barked, backing a few steps up the bank. Once he was about even with me, he tucked his big blubbery tail under his chest and pulled his body into a ball. He didn't activate Ice Ball or Rollout, but Artis was used to moving like this. He built up a bit of speed, rolling down the slope of the shore, and propelled himself into the air as he hit the edge of the pool.

Crack! Sploooosh!

Artis had only risen a few centimeters over the ice before gravity brought him back down, but the impact was enough to shatter the ice layer we'd built and send Artis tumbling into the river. Given that he was a water type, the sudden rush of water around him didn't seem to bother him, but he did let out a tiny noise of disappointment. I nodded to Pennywise, and he let the Barrier go. The current slowly started to pull the remnants of our experiment downriver.

I walked up to him, petting his snout and pulling a chunk of ice out of the water. "That's okay, bud," I comforted him. "We knew we weren't going to get it on the first try."

"Seal leo," he whined.

As I rubbed his snout, I inspected the ice that I'd pulled out of the river. It was heavy and cloudy, and I could see the individual layers that had been built up by his Powder Snow. It was maybe three centimeters thick, which we'd want to double if we wanted the surface to be able to handle Artis rolling on top of it. The layers made it brittle, and it crumbled under just a bit of pressure from my thumb. If we wanted our plan to work, we were going to have to get Artis started on his next ice type move.

The realization I'd had after the Rhydon battle had inspired a plan for dealing with Cerulean's Sensational Sisters. Unlike most gyms, Cerulean had a trio of sisters who all took turns battling gym challengers as the Leader, and all of them were water type specialists. While I felt pretty confident in Wisp's ability to overpower most of their Pokemon with a Charge Beam, I didn't want to leave it all on that. So, I created an idea to give my team an edge. Even though Artis was a water type, he just wasn't going to be as fast or as nimble as other water types in the Cerulean Gym's specialized battlefield. He'd spent his entire life on land and his main mode of transportation was Rollout, which wouldn't work underwater. That was where step one of the plan came in: freezing the surface of the pool. We'd be simultaneously disrupting the Leader's familiar territory while setting up Artis to be able to take advantage of the ice, since he was already used to skating around on slick ice from Ice Ball.

I also had a plan to involve Wisp with this training, once I'd gotten Artis started, but the ice needed to come first.

"Alright, bud," I said, dropping the ice chunk. "I'm going to have Pennywise set up a smaller pool for you, and I want you to start training to use Aurora Beam. It's going to be your first ice type move that works a little differently than the others, so don't be surprised if it takes us a while to get it down. You're going to focus on just cold. Not ice, not snow, just cold. You shouldn't be creating anything physical with this move, just manifesting a beam of ice type energy. Once you can start getting solid layers of ice, I want you to practice breaking it with your Iron Tail. If you get it thick enough that you can't break it with one swing, we'll know it's strong enough to support you."

I'd lost Artis somewhere around 'differently', but he tried his best to follow what I was saying. Without me directly asking him, Pennywise waved his hand had created a meter-by-meter section of river behind Artis that he could practice on. Having still water for this was important, because freezing moving water was going to be unrealistic compared to what we wanted to accomplish with the gym pool. We wanted to sign up as soon as possible, after all, so we couldn't spend too long training.

Artis nuzzled my face and yipped with determination before turning back to the river. This was the most important step of the plan, and he knew it.

After I got Artis started with his training, I released Wisp from her ball. From across the field, I could see Amy's head whip around at the sudden ghostly presence. Wisp turned, and the two of them stared each other down. After a moment, they both begrudgingly accepted the other's existence and huffed as they turned their backs on each other.

I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head. These two were never going to be friends, but the fact that they weren't actively arguing was a big step up.

"Hey, training time," I said to Wisp, and her dour expression disappeared. She glanced at my hands in excitement, looking for something, but I shook my head. "No, no new TMs," I laughed. "We have to practice your natural moves before we even look at another one of those."

Given that the last time I'd let her use a TM, Wisp had gotten access to a type of power she'd never had before, I could see why she'd be excited to try another one. The problem was, though, that I'd only taught her Charge Beam as a bridge to get her used to electric type moves. Now that she has that, she might be able to learn some new ones without the use of a TM.

"I actually have two moves that I want you to work on today, as well as a new way of fighting," I said. "It's up to you which one we do first, though. Do you want to try and learn another electric type move, or do you want to focus on something sneaky?"

Wisp's face took on a dark amusement, and she giggled. "Mis mis!"

"Number two? I thought so!" I grinned. We'd be saving Thunder Wave for later, then. "Okay, let's get started."

When I told Wisp what move she was going to be learning, she giggled so loudly and manically that it bordered on a villain laugh. Amy looked over at us again, and I gave them a thumbs up. That didn't seem to placate them.

---

By the end of our first day of training in Cerulean, Artis hadn't fully cracked Aurora Beam, but he was getting close, and Wisp had almost instantly picked up her super secret new move. Honestly, it wasn't surprising to me that my Pokemon were making quick progress. Both of them had gone above and beyond in the caves, and Artis had technically been in the headspace to learn Aurora Beam as far back as our training in Pewter. Now that they had a direction for their training, my team was thriving.

And soon they won't be the only ones, I thought as I walked back to the Center, feeling the egg incubator against my hip. I'd taken to carrying it on me at all times, if for no other reason than it being close made me feel better. Nurse Joy had given it a clean bill of health, though its time spent in the cold had disrupted its normal egg cycle. That just meant that Nurse Joy wasn't sure if it would hatch next week or next month. The longest she could see could see it staying an egg for was six weeks, though, given its current growth.

I got back to the Pokemon Center in time to catch another one of my companions coming back from his own training. Yuji was dressed casually today, in a dark compression shirt and leggings underneath a set of basketball shorts, and he'd left his hair in a Ponyta-tail. He didn't notice me wave as he walked by, too distracted by a video that was playing on his phone. His face was furrowed in concentration. Yuji absentmindedly hit the button for the elevator and, since I didn't want to interrupt him, I casually stole a glance at his screen as I waiting behind him.

Yuji was watching a battle recording. Not his own, but a professionally filmed and commentated one. There was a tiny chyron at the bottom of the screen that I could barely make out, but my glance was enough to realize that it was someone challenging a figure that was familiar to me. I'd seen him battle in person. Elite Four Bruno's Machamp was duking it out with the challenger's red-gloved Hitmonchan, and it was not a close fight. Hitmonchan's face was purple and swollen, and they were cradling their left arm. Machamp went for a four-armed volley of punches and it wasn't long until I could hear the referee's whistle echo from Yuji's headphones.

Yuji grimaced at the result, which confused me. As far as I was aware, Bruno was Yuji's favorite battler. It was the second or third thing I'd ever learned about him, after his love of martial arts movies and karaoke. Maybe he'd been trying to learn something from the footage, or he maybe knew the challenger personally, but Yuji sighed as he pulled his earbuds out and stowed his phone. The elevator arrived, and I made my presence known as I stepped in behind him.

"Sup, Yuji!"

To his credit, Yuji only gave the barest hint of surprise when he turned to see me standing next to him. "Hello, Derek," Yuji said with a pleasant smile. All hints of his previous disappointment were gone. He clicked the button for our floor. "How was your training today?"

"Honestly, we're kind of killing it," I grinned. "I've got Artis going on a battle plan for the Cerulean Sisters, and Wisp learned a brand new move, so she's getting set up to learn another one this week. What about you?"

I was genuinely curious about Yuji's training, especially with how hard Achilles getting rocked by Rhydon had shaken him. I couldn't help but wonder if he'd found any solution for the holes in his strategy. Maybe that was why he'd been so mesmerized by the battle footage.

Like always, Yuji's expression was almost unreadable beyond his calm demeanor. "I think we're doing well. Achilles has fully recovered, and his loss has driven him to train harder. We've moved to a new training regimen to get around some walls that we've run into. Despereaux-" Yuji stopped, considering his words. "He is doing his best."

That was a measured sentence if I'd ever heard one, and it was hard to hear from Yuji. He'd always been Despereaux's number-one supporter, and that meant that the Rattata wasn't making progress. Yuji wasn't someone who held his Pokemon to unreasonable standards; he was more likely to let them create their own goals and just helped with their drive and training. If the little guy wasn't getting stronger, I couldn't imagine how either of them must be feeling.

Oof, I thought.

Yuji frowned, giving me a look.

"Oh no," I muttered, realizing what had just happened. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"You did," he confirmed, looking straight ahead.

The elevator dinged, the doors opening to our floor. Yuji stepped out, and I followed behind him. We walked without another word, and the awkward energy in the air was palpable. I didn't know what to say without rolling back what I'd already accidentally let out, because honestly, 'oof' was a pretty accurate response to how I felt about the situation. Despereaux was hitting the upper limits of what a Rattata could do without serious experience or monetary intervention. Every Pokemon had a limit, and a first-stage Pokemon like Despereaux was going to hit that earlier than a lot of other Pokemon. There were definitely still techniques and moves Yuji could teach him, like he'd done with my TMs, but Despereaux was only going to get so strong and so fast.

I'd never asked why Despereax hadn't evolved yet. I'd wondered a few times, especially once we'd beat Brock, but Yuji had never brought it up or made it seem like it was something that he was interested in. It was a little weird, considering that Despereaux had definitely been stronger than Paige and Artis earlier in our journey, and had been almost guaranteed to evolve first. Since it was something Yuji had never brought up, I decided to keep leaving it alone. It wasn't just rule seven that kept me from asking questions, but the fact that I respected Yuji too much to question how he was training his Pokemon.

Instead, as we got closer to our rooms, I put a hand on Yuji's shoulder. "Hey, man," I started. "I was thinking. We haven't gotten the chance to just hang, you and me, in a while. After we get cleaned up, you wanna head down to the rec room and commandeer the TV? I'm sure there's gonna be a martial arts movie or two that we can stream."

Confusion bloomed on Yuji's face, followed quickly by a curious grin. "That sounds-" Just like earlier, Yuji hesitated. His hand drifted toward his pocket where his phone was, and his expression sobered a bit. "I think I should stay in tonight. We want to sign up for our badge challenges tomorrow, right? That only gives us a week to prepare for the Sensational Sisters."

I gave him an understanding nod, though I could feel my face fall a little. "Yeah, that makes sense. You do what you need to do." I let go of his shoulder and turned to head to my room. "Let me know if you change your mind, though."

Before I got more than a few steps, Yuji called out to me. "Derek?"

"Yeah, man?" I turned, hoping he'd changed his mind.

Yuji held up his phone, stepping just far enough forward to let me see it. "Saw this today. I thought you might want to know about it."

While I was let down that Yuji still seemed like he was going to turn down my offer, the forum post on his phone was enough to distract me for a moment. It was a link to a news post that read 'CHAMPIONS COLLIDE: BATTLE BETWEEN LANCE AND STEVEN CONFIRMED'.

"No friggin' way..." My jaw genuinely dropped, and Yuji was nice enough to let me hold his phone to read it. Lance, Kanto's Champion, and Steven Stone, my champion, had sat down this morning to talk about doing a show battle this season. According to the article, they'd come out of talks with an agreement that they would be battling in two months at Indigo. The battle was going to be a full-on feature match, with both champions using their strongest six Pokemon in a no-holds-barred match. Tickets for the match would be going on sale in two weeks, and it was going to be televised. The article speculated on the cause of their show battle, but nothing had been confirmed yet.

It was crazy to know that Steven Stone was following me to Kanto. I mean, obviously I wasn't the reason that he was coming, but it was cool to know that my champion was going to be here at the same time as me. Steven was the strongest guy in Hoenn and I'd looked up to him for a long time. I still remembered his battle against our former champion, since my dad and I had watched it together at the big TV in the Ace Trainer station. We gone all out, buying t-shirts and cheering for him to win even though a lot of the Ace Trainers there had pegged him to fail. If I had decided to stay in Hoenn, he'd have been my final obstacle in the Ever Grande Conference.

"This was not on my bingo card for this year," was the first thing that I could force out. "They've never..."

Yuji nodded, showing some excitement himself. "The two of them have never battled," he confirmed. "This will be the first time we've seen two champions battle since Sinnoh and Unova's champions a few years ago."

"That's so fucking cool! I wonder if- Legends, I can't even imagine Metagross going up against Dragonite." I was almost foaming at the mouth at the thought. "I mean, Steven's going to win, but that match is going to be insane!"

I was hoping that Yuji would rise to the bait of my implication that Steven was stronger than Lance, but he just shrugged. Instead of jumping into speculation with me, Yuji stepped back toward his door.

"Anyway," he said, turning away from me. "I just thought that you would want to know."

There was a click, and Yuji was through the door without another word.

"Yeah, man. Thanks." The words felt a little hollow since he wasn't there to hear them.

I was left standing in the hallway, feeling down and confused. My rival was somebody who was normally full of fire. Even though most people would see him as calm and mild-mannered, Yuji had an unbreakable spirit and the indescribable drive of a fighter. I'd seen it from him time and time again, and I didn't know what was going on that had left him so subdued. With both the movies and the champion battle, he was holding himself back from getting fired up. It was weird.

I so badly wanted to knock on his door, but I knew that I wasn't the person who was going to fix anything here, not unless Yuji asked me for help. Instead, I sent a brief text to Hana and Amy. I didn't mention any details or what I'd been observing, but I did tell them that I thought Yuji was acting weird. They'd been his friends longer, and if there was something that could be done, they were more qualified to give advice and help. It was a hard game, walking the lines between respecting his privacy, keeping my involvement to a minimum, and caring about my friend, but this was the best I could think of.

I walked the rest of my way to my room, releasing my Pokemon before I got cleaned up. Yuji's subtle rejections stuck in my head the entire time. This was one of those moments. Three days into my list, and I was already being faced with a test. The Derek of three weeks ago wouldn't have been able to let the matter lie, so the fact that I was sitting on my bed staring at my list was showing growth. Rule seven glared at my from the Pokenav+.

#7 - Let Problems Be Problems

I frowned at it, trying to find a mental justification for why this particular situation should be an exception. I was both frustrated and grateful that I'd written my reasoning right below it, because moments like this were the exact reasons that I'd written the list.

I growled, slumping onto my bed. I felt something wet and warm nuzzle my palm, and I knew that Artis was pressing his snout against me. I glanced over the edge of the bed, and Artis looked up at me. His big brown eyes were concerned.

"I have to let it go, huh?" I asked him. "I don't want to, though."

Artis stared at me. He tilted his head.

"I know..." I mumbled, turning over to be able to scratch his head. "It's just- I'm just having a harder time with this than I thought."

"Sealeoooo..." Artis yawn, pressing his hand against my nails. He was still a little damp from the river, and he was exhausted after the amount of training we'd done. My Sealeo rolling onto his side, grateful for the scratches and unconcerned now that I'd started to justify my decision.

I wasn't the only one to giggle. I looked over at Wisp, who was sitting against the egg's incubator on the desk, and she too was smiling. "Mis mis," she said.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "There's not a thought behind those eyes."

Wisp nodded, and Artis barely grumbled in disagreement.

We all took a little nap after that. We would have to leave other people's problems to themselves. At least, until they asked for our help.

Chapter 33: Coloring Within The Lines

Notes:

HI hi! Nice to see you all again after a long time! Here's the next chapter!

" Drea drea, " Wisp chirped, nuzzling her head into my lap. The brush from her grooming kit passed through her ghostly hair with minimal friction, though it seemed to be doing the job.

I smiled, rubbing her tiny back. "I'm glad you like it. I assume that's a go-ahead to pick up more in the future?"

The ghost type grooming kit that Hana had picked up for me was doing work . It had come with a package of special Pokemon biscuits, a reusable brush, a moisturizing spray, a tiny trimmer, a bottle of conditioner, and a piece of adhesive paper that I hadn't yet figured out what it was for. I had very smartly hidden the biscuits from Wisp before she could devour the entire package, though she'd still gotten more than enough to make her happy.

"Dreaaaaaa…..," my ghost murmured happily. The moisturizing spray had settled into her hair, leaving her soft and smelling like incense.

She wasn't the only Pokemon having a great time. "Bulba bul, " Rafflesia sounded off from Hana's lap.

Hana couldn't hide her smile. "Yeah, these weren't the worst idea."

After my talk (or lack thereof) with Yuji yesterday, I'd passed out from all the training and ended up missing dinner. Since I hadn't caught back up with Hana before she went to bed, we were using the morning to test out the grooming kits that I'd had Hana pick up.

It was still early enough in the day that the sun was not fully over the horizon, leaving streaks of orange and purple across the blue-grey sky. We had situated ourselves at a pair of benches outside the Pokemon Center and across from the riverbanks. It was pretty cold out, but we were both wearing our thick jackets from Mt. Moon. The Pidgey were still waking up in the trees and every once in a while we would hear their chirping. Our two small Pokemon were in our laps while Paige and Artis played down by the river. It was peaceful, if a bit chilly.

"Well, thank Lester," I murmured absentmindedly. "He put me onto them after I asked how he got Espi to evolve so quickly."

"I'll have to do that." Hana's hesitant words made me pause my brushing to steal a glance. Her lips were pursed in a slight frown.

Oh.

It hadn't occurred to me until this moment, but I was just realizing that Hana might not be Lester's biggest fan. After all, even though it was really on me, he had been my accomplice in going behind her back. Sure, they'd gotten off on the right foot in the canyon, but at no point did either of them really interact in Mt. Moon.

With how strained the vibes had been with Hana lately, I decided to change the subject. "Oh hey, did we decide who's going to sign us up for the gym? I have ther-" I stopped to correct myself. "I mean, I have to go see somebody on that side of town later anyway."

Hana raised her eyebrow, giving me a careful glance. Her brain was parsing what I had meant to say, and understanding quickly bloomed on her face. Her frown softened. "No, I don't think we did. Though-"

"That would not be the best idea," a quiet voice approached us from behind.

Both Hana and I jumped in our seats, much to the chagrin of our pampered Pokemon. Wisp angrily nibbled on my finger so that I would start brushing again. Standing behind us was Yuji, dressed in his exercise clothes, with Despereaux faithfully at his heel. He chuckled slightly at our reactions.

I couldn't help but feel weird. The vibes after he'd left me hanging in the hallway yesterday were off. I'd texted Hana and Amy about it, but neither were sure what was up with him, or at least they hadn't elected to share that information with me.

"Whoa," I breathed out. "Damn, Yuji, I didn't see you there."

"I apologize, I had only just arrived," he said, inclining his head. "I was seeking you both out for that purpose." Yuji held up his trainer card, as well as a familiar one that belonged to Amy. "And, as I was saying, I don't believe you should wander on your own too much in this city."

Hana nodded. "Yeah, I meant to mention this after I went shopping yesterday, but, yeah. People here are still pissed about what you did in Pewter."

I took a second, but even I wasn't dense enough to miss her meaning. "The flag thing…," I muttered. I tilted my head in confusion. "But, like, people haven't been mad about that online for a while."

Yuji sighed. "I suspect that Cerulean in particular carries a grudge for other reasons. Both Mick Starsky and Portia Cervelo are from here. Given your… …history, their fan bases are not likely to react well to your presence.”

"As we've mentioned a lot , Kanto is really big on tribalism and local pride," Hana elaborated. "Given that they’re two of the highest-ranked rookies this year, it makes sense that their hometown wouldn’t like you."

"Oh." I couldn't help but feel a weight in my stomach, and some words that I'd heard yesterday started to make sense.

'We should challenge him, then. Bring him down a few notches.' The words of those guys from the Pokemon Center played in my head again. ' He should know better than to pull that in this town.'

I'd assumed then what I'd been assuming just moments before, that they were just mad about the Pewter Gym, but it made a lot more sense if they felt personally attacked by how I’d acted at and after Mick’s interview. It was kind of stupid, but I kind of understood it.

"I guess that explains what I overheard yesterday." I shrugged. When both Hana and Yuji's eyes went wide, I quickly elaborated. "It's nothing too bad, I promise. It was just some guys who were pretty aggressively talking about me. I didn't do anything about it, but- hey, wait." My understanding very quickly morphed into irate confusion. "What the heck did I do to piss off Portia? I've never even met her. Also, how do you guys know this, but I don't?"

Hana and Yuji exchanged looks and simultaneously held up their phones. Yuji let out a breath. "Derek, I thought you were keeping up with your social media now?"

"Yeah, and I've heard like nothing about Portia having beef with me."

"Really?" Yuji deeply frowned. "It's all over the Cerulean forums. Especially since she did that interview on Conner and TJ . Well, I wouldn’t say the interview was ill-intentioned, but it did not paint you in a favorable light."

My friend started flipping through his phone to find it, but the sinking feeling in my gut returned. "So uh, these forums… …you guys have mentioned them in the past…"

It was Hana's turn to sigh. "Yes, they're one of the most important tools for trainers out there. There are forums for everything from route info to a trainer's battle history. And you were supposed to be checking yours more often."

"Hey!" I said indignantly. "I've been checking my @s like you guys told me to. I didn't see anything about Portia or a Conner and TJ…" My shoulders fell and my hand snaked its way up to my forehead. "Wait. Conner and TJ wouldn't happen to be a radio show, would it?"

Hana and Yuji exchanged looks, again , and this time they both sighed. "Yes," they said simultaneously.

Yuji held up his phone, showing the episode in question. "Portia was on it before we went into Mt. Moon. She gives quite an unfavorable review about you in the second half."

"Ah." Heat flushed my neck and cheeks as I realized where I'd messed up. "I, uh, I kinda skimmed the first few minutes the other day." And it was true. I'd been sitting in the Pokemon Center going through all my messages and I'd disregarded the talk show without thinking about it twice.

At this point, Yuji and Hana were saying more words in their side eyes and glances at each other than had been in the contract I'd had to fill out yesterday. It didn't feel great, but I had no legs to stand on here. They'd both tried to impress the importance of social media onto me multiple times and I hadn't given it the time it deserved. Before I started feeling too guilty, I reminded myself of my second rule.

#2 - Reflect and Adapt

I needed to take this to heart and genuinely fix my behavior. It wouldn't do to just feel bad.

I sat up attentively, causing Wisp to groan again. "Okay, yeah," I said, "thanks for the info. Cerulean City is not full of Derek fans. I will keep that in mind."

Yuji's pondering face shifted to one of surprise. "Well," he said quickly and taken aback, "as I mentioned before, just try not to wander around on your own too often, at least not near the gym. I would say that it shouldn’t go farther than a battle or two, but…"

"Heard," I nodded. "I'll take the long way around to get to my thing, then. And I'll try and stick around the Pokemon Center and my training area when I'm by myself."

As much as I was talking a big game, there was a little ball of frustration in my stomach. Not at my friends, but at myself for getting into this situation. I wanted so badly to head to the center of town and figure something out, maybe find a way to resolve this weird relationship that I was developing with this town, but I couldn’t pursue that line of thought without ignoring my friends.

"Good," he said hesitantly. Yuji looked at me like I'd stepped out of the Twilight Zone . I couldn't blame him for that, either. I wasn’t acting like myself. "I appreciate you accepting my advice."

"Yeah, no problem man. At the end of the day, you're just looking out for me."

Yuji's confusion didn't go away, but he gave me a different kind of smile than he'd been giving lately. Even before Mt. Moon- Honestly, ever since our talk at the Pewter Gym, Yuji and I had been getting more and more distant. It wasn't singularly on either of us, but I could feel my part in it, especially since Hana had helped me self-reflect. I was bad at the little things, like listening when he tried to give me advice.

That needed to change. I wasn't going to make any of my friends feel the way I'd made Hana feel again. Last night especially had shaken me, and even though I couldn't do anything about all of the problems he was dealing with, I could do the little things better.

I did my best to return Yuji's smile as I handed him my trainer card. He took it and Hana's and nodded gratefully.

"Well, I'll be off," he said. "After we get our challenges figured out, Despereaux and I are going to go see someone and then train a bit more. If you need us we'll be on Route 24."

“Oh, hey,” I paused him before he was able to take off. Yuji gave me a concerned look, but I waved it off. “I was just wondering, who’s going first this time?”

Yuji’s eyes flicked between me and Hana before a small flicker of his old competitive smirk crossed his face. “Well, you’ve both challenged gyms first before, so I imagine it would be myself or Amy.”

Hana grinned at him. “And you’re the one making the schedule,” she pointed out.

“That I am.” Yuji turned and took off at a steady rate down the road without another word, Despereaux trailing behind him. They were gone pretty quickly.

I started brushing Wisp again. I didn't look up at Hana, but I could feel her giving me a long look. She'd gone quiet for the last part of the conversation and had taken to just watching.

I felt a bit like one of her spreadsheets from the way she was studying me. I hadn't consciously acted the way I had because she was watching, but I hoped that this was at least a step forward in showing her that I'd taken our talk to heart.

She went back to grooming Rafflesia, and the two of us continued in relative silence. It was only after the sun had completely risen and our Pokemon were thoroughly pampered that Hana spoke.

"Did you want someone to walk with you to your… …meeting?" Hana asked. The word 'meeting' implied that she'd understood what I was referring to earlier: today was my first therapy session.

I shrugged, giving her a soft grin. "Nah, that's okay. You were gonna get some training in, right?"

"I was…" Hana admitted. "But-"

"It's chill. Everything is part of the plan, and I'm trying to stick to it." I echoed words we'd said at the Ranger Outpost. "And I will do what I said to Yuji. I'll be careful and I won't wander."

Hana debated my words before nodding. "I'm glad you're taking it seriously."

It was my turn to hesitate. I couldn't immediately tell if she was referring to Yuji's advice, our talk, therapy, or any other number of things. I mentally shrugged, scooping Wisp into my arms, and got up to return Artis. At the end of the day, it didn't really matter which one she was talking about specifically, because I was taking them all seriously.

"I'm doing what I can," I answered simply, offering her a hand. "Where are you headed for your training?"

Hana took my help and stood, returning a sleeping Rafflesia to her ball. She grinned. "I'm also headed to Route 24. There's a bridge there that people have been using to set up gauntlet battles."

"Nice!" I was genuinely excited for her. As much as Yuji and I got fired up about battles, Hana was just as passionate. "Looks like we've both got challenges today."

"Very different types of challenges," Hana chuckled. "But yes. Let's both do our best."

---

"Come in!" The voice that called from the other side of the doors was soft and elderly, which immediately put me at ease. Something about old people made me feel comfortable. It did a lot to cut at the knot of anxiety that had started building on my walk across town to the private practice.

I opened the door, stepping into the room at the same time. The office wasn't quite as small as the one where I'd met Dr. Delkins in the Pewter Pokemon Center, though it was still cozy. Shelves full of books and knick-knacks lined the walls, and a soft rug decorated the floor. In the corner was a desk and a filing cabinet that looked out to the Cerulean City streets below. In the center of the room were a pair of comfy chairs that flanked a wooden coffee table. Someone had taken the time to light an incense burner on the table.

The room was warm and dry, which was awesome compared to the chill of the outside air. It had been almost an entire hour since the sun had risen, but the coastal town had been slow to warm up. April was proving to be a cold month in Kanto, which was something that I was not used to.

I rubbed my hands together to warm them up before offering one of them to the person occupying one of the two chairs. "Hello," I said, politely bowing my head. "I'm Derek Tracy, thank you for seeing me today."

A soft and weathered hand grasped mine. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tracy," the elderly therapist smiled as she spoke. "I am Mrs. Kannagi, or Clara if that is too formal for you. Please feel free to shed your coat; there's a hook on the door."

Mrs. Kannagi was older than I'd expected, maybe in her late seventies, and she looked every bit the part. Silver hair that was pulled into a refined bun on her head, a white blouse and blue shawl that were both in pristine condition and a sort of knowing look that old people had. It was one of those expressions that made you feel like they knew something hilarious and that you were too young to understand the punchline. I found myself smiling back in response.

I did as she asked and hung my jacket on the hook. "Mrs. Kannagi is fine," I answered, hesitantly taking the seat opposite her. "My mom would be furious if she caught me being impolite."

As I said it, I felt a tiny lurch of nervousness in my stomach. Being directly opposite this new person made me super self-conscious, and I couldn't help but feel like every interaction was already being used to give Mrs. Kannagi an idea of who I was. I wasn't sure what I wanted this person's first impression of me to be, but just realizing that she was building one put me back on edge.

To her credit, Mrs. Kannagi didn't skip a beat. Instead, she smiled a bit wider and inclined her head. "It is nice to hear that young people are still being raised with manners," she said. "Though, this is meant to be a comfortable place. If it would help you in any way, know that I am happy with either of my names."

I considered it, genuinely taking her words at face value. "All right, then. Would it be okay if I call you Mrs. Clara?"

"Absolutely," she said. "And is it acceptable for me to call you Derek?"

"Yes ma'am," I chuckled. "In fact, I'd prefer it."

Mrs. Clara nodded, and we drifted off into a moment of silence. Even though I was nervous, she seemed content to let the moment last. I glanced around the room, noting that there wasn't a clock in sight. I'd signed on for an hour-long session, so I didn't want to waste it.

"Um," I hesitated. "How are we supposed to start? I mean- I guess- I've never really done this before."

"No, I don't expect you would have," she agreed. "Well, Derek, there are a few questions we'll need to talk about today, including how long you expect your care to go on for, as well as what kind of approach you'd like to take toward your therapy. However, it would do us both some good to know more about the other before we begin that in earnest."

That kind of took me aback. "Oh, I had thought- Didn't Dr. Delkins send my file through?"

Mrs. Clara nodded. "He did, as well as his very well-annotated profile on you. He even listed out several of his recommendations for your care." She patted a small file that sat wedged next to her in her chair. "While his insight was very valuable, I would still like to get to know you on my own. Very little of my training will matter without a bond of mutual trust between us, and it can be very unnerving to have someone only know you from another's file."

I couldn't disagree with her. Between my dad, Professor Oak, and Dr. Delkins, I was getting used to people just having read my file and understanding everything that had happened. It was always a little weird to hear them talking about things I hadn't told them.

"Okay then, that works. What do you want to know?" I could feel more apprehension bubbling in my chest. Anything that would get us there was okay in my books, but I wasn't sure about her methods yet. Dr. Delkins had done the same thing, but he'd been quick and efficient about it. This was anything but that.

Mrs. Clara nodded. “Let us begin with something simple, then. How has your preparation for your gym challenge gone so far?”

That caught me off guard. “Uh- I- I’m, sorry?” I sputtered at the question. “What?”

The elderly woman smiled, no small amount amused at my reaction. “You came to this city to challenge our gym leaders, I simply wished to hear how you’ve prepared your Pokemon to battle them.” Though she was asking something insane for a therapy session, Mrs. Clara spoke with the same energy of someone ordering tea to a waiter who was just a little slow.

“I…” I took a big gulp, not sure where the conversation was going. I decided to answer honestly. “I’ve been training Artis, my Sealeo to do some field control- that’s when you use strategies and moves to make the battlefield work toward your advantage- and, uh, yeah, it’s going pretty good.”

Mrs. Clara nodded her head as I spoke, maintaining eye contact and ignoring the notepad on her lap, and gave me a polite smile. “And this field control strategy, have you been focusing on Artis’ Ice or Water typing?”

What the hell…?

I was shocked, dumbfounded, and maybe, just maybe, gobsmacked. “Ice…” I muttered, glancing around the room one more time.

It was here, on my second inspection of the room, that I found what I should have seen on my first pass. On the central shelf of one of the bookcases behind Mrs. Clara was a framed photo of a much younger woman posing with a Lapras. Sat beside that photo was a well-cared-for bronze trophy in the shape of a Pokeball.

When my eyes flicked back to my therapist, I saw her knowing grin in a whole new light. She nodded once more at my answer, though instead of speaking, she gently motioned for me to keep going.

Knowing that I was dealing with a fellow trainer, however long ago that had been, I elaborated. “I figured that even though ice and water type Pokemon are pretty closely associated, and the Sensational Sisters do have some ice types, they’re probably way more accustomed to fighting in the water than on land. Artis has been working on his Aurora Beam to be able to freeze over the surface of the pool so we can put them on the back foot. He’s basically lived his whole life on land, after all.”

“And your other Pokemon?” Mrs. Clara prompted. “How do they interact with this strategy?”

“I’ve actually thought about this!” Excitement crept its way into my voice. “So, Wisp, my Misdreavous, is a non-corporeal ghost. She doesn’t need to breathe and isn’t really impacted by physical barriers, so she actually makes a really good pivot on a frozen pool. I figure I’ll set the stage and wear them down as long as I can with Artis, and then sweep them up with Wisp! I’ve been studying the Pokemon that the Sisters normally use at this level, and I think I have a strategy for if they pull out one of their big stallers like Starmie because Wisp..”

I stopped, looking up at Mrs. Clara. The older woman was beaming, but I glanced at the window and felt my own smile dip when I saw it was noticeably brighter outside than when I’d gotten here.

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to be polite. “I don’t want to be rude, but what does this have to do with my therapy?”

Mrs. Clara straightened in her chair. “Well, it is as I said earlier: there is very little that our sessions will do if we are not comfortable with each other. I find that one of the simplest ways to connect with my clients, almost all of whom are trainers, is to discuss what they love most, Pokemon battling.”

I considered her words. “I… I guess that makes sense. I just- well…”

“You are eager to work on yourself,” Mrs. Clara said. “And that is very understandable. I just ask that you trust that there is a method to this process.”

Trust in the people who believe in me…

It wasn’t quite a direct translation of my fifth rule, but I couldn’t help but draw parallels to it. It wasn’t just Mrs. Clara who I was trusting here, after all. Dr. Delkins had recommended her to me, and even one step removed, Nurse Joy recommended him to me. I trusted both of them, and Mrs. Clara had given me no reason to mistrust her.

I nodded.

“That’s the spirit,” she said encouragingly. “Now, you were telling me about your tactic to deal with a possible Starmie?”

I took a breath before going back into it. “Yeah, um, there’s a pretty advanced move that Wisp can learn, and even though I’m not sure if she’s strong enough to pull it off yet…”

---

The hour passed by quickly, but Mrs. Clara had been right: spending that much time talking about my Pokemon had put me in a comfortable headspace with her. It was almost impossible not to get excited when I was talking about my team, and it hadn’t been long before she’d started sliding little questions into the conversation. I almost hadn’t noticed them until she’d gotten me talking about Mt. Moon. We didn’t go too deep into it, but I could tell that my new therapist was more than happy with our progress.

When we got close to the end, Mrs. Clara recommended that while we wanted to make the most of my time in Cerulean, we shouldn't push too hard too quickly. Instead, we scheduled an hour every other day until the day of my gym battle, and then one final session before I headed out of town.

Then, life settled into a new normal over the next few days.

With my therapy finally figured out and my promise to Yuji to avoid the actual city center, my days became training, training, and more training. Yuji had done as we'd planned and signed us up to battle the Sensational Sisters in one week, so we had seven days to get our strategy online.

Artis was working hard on his Aurora Beam and he was able to summon small ribbons of rainbow light from his mouth now. It was getting closer to the real thing, but we probably wouldn’t have a whole lot of time to train on the actual ice field. I was going to have to hope that his practice with Ice Ball had prepared him enough for our battle.

Wisp, on the other hand, was thriving in her training. After the excitement of the first day, I’d decided to focus on her control with electric type moves. We focused more on the ‘charge’ part of Charge Beam, getting her used to handling smaller amounts of energy than the laser she’d been using before. The goal was ultimately to get her to learn Thunder Wave, which would be indispensable in restricting the Sister’s movement during battle. Pairing it with her Confuse Ray and Hex was going to be a nasty combination.

It was hard to try and plan for exactly what was going to happen during my gym battle, since Cerulean Gym was weird in that it had three separate Gym Leaders. I couldn’t make heads or tails of any sort of pattern as to which ones handled which challenges. They also all seemed to interchangeably use the different Pokemon at the gym, so it wasn’t like I could plan for specific team combinations, either.

I really hoped I would be up against Violet or Lily, mostly because the third one’s name was Daisy, and it felt kind of weird to be up against someone with the same name as my girlfriend. It added a whole other level to how much I was missing her.

Since I couldn’t know which one I was up against, nor what Pokemon they would be using, I did my best to memorize the overall strategies of their most frequently used Pokemon and brute force that information into my frozen pool strategy. It was exhausting, but I was doing my best to channel my inner Hana.

I wasn’t the only one training hard, either. I basically only saw my friends at breakfast and dinner, since we’d all thrown ourselves into our training. While it would have been nice to train together, we were all implementing very different styles in our training. Hana had taken to traveling north of the city, all the way to Route 25, and was taking advantage of the local water type population to train her team. Amy was starting from scratch with Gong and drilling the fundamentals over and over again since they had a ton of catching up to do. Yuji just kind of disappeared during the day, though I knew he was probably training harder than all of us. I tried not to interact too much with the local trainers, given Yuji's advice, but I did occasionally overhear people talking about his battles in town.

It really felt like Viridian City all over again.

I hoped I would perform better here.

After my conversation with Yuji and Hana, I took the time to listen to Portia’s interview where she mentioned me. It wasn’t as bad as I’d been expecting, but man, she really nailed her observations of me. I was already working on a lot of what she’d called me out on, but I couldn’t help but replay one of her statements in my head.

“I honestly think that if he had waited another week to fight Giovanni,” she’d said, “he'd currently also be in the ranks of top rookies this season.”

I didn’t know how I felt about that. I certainly didn’t feel like some sort of elite rookie; I hadn’t been acting like it, either. I didn’t have a whole lot of experience interacting with my peers, funnily enough. My only standard for the other rookies this season had been my friends, which I felt like I was about at par with, and the few battles I’d had on the way to Mt. Moon.

Maybe it was just because I’d been working on myself so much lately, but I didn’t feel like I was making a lot of progress as a trainer, yet. While there was no arguing that I’d gotten stronger over the last two months, I was feeling the pressure to get even better, and it wasn’t just the other rookies pushing me to feel this way. With everything that had been said about Triumph Day, that felt like another clicking time-bomb on the horizon, and then there was the fact that I kept getting my ass kicked by the routes. Between the Viridian Forest and Mt. Moon, I was not excited to be on the road again.

At least I wasn’t struggling with money anymore. I wasn’t well-off by any means, since most of my winnings from Pewter Gym had gone into prepping for Mt. Moon, but Bronzor and Parasect had sold a couple of days after we’d put them up for auction, leaving each of us with a few thousand Poke in our pockets. It wasn’t nearly enough to start looking at Dusk Stones, but I was able to get all of my basics taken care of. Hana was kind enough to pick up potions and Pokeballs from the shops for me, given that I’d been avoiding people for the last few days.

The isolation training with my Pokemon was peaceful, but it was getting lonely fast. It wasn’t in vain, though. Now that I was looking for it, I could see the frosty looks from other trainers in the Center whenever I came in from training, and there were more than a few that I caught whispering the way I had a few days ago. Nobody had outright challenged me yet, mostly because I’d been quick to disappear when I noticed those signs, but I figured it was just a matter of time. It was weird, honestly, to be avoiding them as much as I was. It wasn’t that I was afraid of a few battles or anything, but it had been made clear to me that the problem would just continue to proliferate the problem.

It was a little frustrating to not have a plan to deal with that. Just a month ago I would have pulled up to the front of the Cerulean Gym and let anybody who wanted to challenge me, but Yuji and Hana had been more than clear that was the wrong approach. I had already been stoking the tempers of the locals and doing something that flagrant was just inviting something bad to happen.

So, for now, I was persona-non-grata in Cerulean City. The best approach was to keep my head down, do my battle, and head out of town when it was done.

---

“ Bah, ” I scoffed, skipping a rock across the Cerulean River. “Keeping my head down sucks .”

It was my third day of independent training and I was struggling. I’d spent the morning on the far side of town talking to Mrs. Clara and we’d gone over most of what had happened in Pewter Museum. That had left me in an unpleasant mood. Talking things through with my therapist was hard work, I’d come to find out. She never offered any judgment, but it was just hard to relive some of that stuff, especially with it being so recent.

“ Sea, sealeo,” Artis said sagely, nodding his head.

“Yeah, you said it, buddy.” I picked up another rock, inspecting its worthiness as a skipping stone. “We need to get you a water type to train against.”

Another reason for my frustration was that Artis’ progress had stalled, and it wasn’t his fault. His Aurora Beam was just barely almost there, but he hadn’t quite nailed it yet. He had a consistent beam of cold energy that just couldn’t accomplish what we wanted, and deep down I knew that it was because he was doing it on his own.

Pokemon, by and large, were meant to learn from battle. I’d learned from my experience back in Pewter that drills were only going to get us so far since we’d only started improving when we were doing regular battles with Yuji and Hana. Given that both of them were doing their own training, we couldn’t rely on them as a crutch this time.

We’d tried to battle against some of the wild Pokemon in the river, but the ones that were this far upstream were pretty weak, so they didn’t do much to push Artis. After the first two Krabby had gone down, the rest of the Pokemon had started avoiding the areas where we trained.

Wisp had even deigned to battle against Artis, putting aside her normal sibling rivalry with him to try and help, but it wasn’t the real competition that we needed. Ironically, the strong bond between my Pokemon kept them from getting too competitive with each other, so those mock battles had mostly been a waste of time.

There were a few options to solve our problem, and I wasn’t sure I was happy with any of them.

First, we could keep doing what we were doing and hope that Artis would have a spontaneous breakthrough as we got closer to the day of our challenge. It wasn’t likely, but it could happen.

Second, we could go downstream toward the ocean and try and find stronger water types to fight. We’d get the battles we wanted, though they would end up being something closer to tests of strength than the testing of our strategy that we wanted to do. The biggest downside was that we’d have to pass over the bridge Hana had told us about to get there, which was currently swarming with trainers. Given Yuji’s prescient advice about avoiding the local trainers, that sounded like a bad idea.

Third, we could go somewhere where we could battle other trainers, like the gym or the bridge. Not only would we be actively inviting negative attention onto ourselves, but we’d be fully ignoring our friend’s advice and disregarding my list.

Fourth, we could pull one of our friends away from their own very important training to come and battle us. It wasn’t the worst idea but given my strained relationship with Yuji and Hana, and the fact that Amy needed to train Gong up from scratch, this was my least favorite idea.

“What do you think, bud? One, two, three, or four?” I held up my fingers in front of Artis’s snout, which he sniffed and then disregarded with a sneeze. “Yeah, that’s where I’m at. They all suck.”

I glanced at the Nav. It was already almost three, so we wouldn’t have too many more hours of sunlight today.

“ Mis drea,” Wisp stated. She hovered near my hand as I scrolled through my battle notes. I gently scratched her head, but she pushed against my knuckles.

“Yeah, I don’t have any ideas…” I kept muttering. “Maybe I could text Terry, he’ll probably roll into town soon- Ow! Wisp! ”

My ghost had clamped her little teeth down on my thumb, tugging at it with more force than she needed to. It didn’t really hurt, but the sudden sting had pulled me out of my thoughts.

“What the heck was that for?” I rubbed my thumb, pulling it away from her evil little grasp.

Wisp gave me a dry look. “ Drea drea, mis. ”

I returned her stare. “Look, I know I’m pretty good at guessing what you guys are saying, but I don’t actually speak Pokemon. You’re gonna have to spell out what you want.”

Wisp’s eyes glowed blue and I stood up quickly. Before I could panic, though, I felt a gentle tug on the same hand she’d bitten. The blue glow of her Confusion illuminated four of my fingers, straightening and spreading them like I was holding the number four. After a moment that same light flickered into existence around my thumb.

“ Mis!” Wisp said urgently, using her psychic power to move my thumb back and forth the way a child would.

I was suddenly very intrigued. “Wait, you’re saying you have a fifth option?”

“ Drea!” Wisp exclaimed and released a sigh of relief.

“Oh. You should’ve said so earlier.”

Wisp stared at me with an utter lack of amusement in her red and yellow eyes. The psychic force on my fingers tightened like a vice.

“ Ow, ow, ow! You’ve made your point! What’s this idea?”

She turned to float away, pulling me along by the hand with her Confusion. I fished Artis’ Pokeball out of my pocket and recalled him before we got too far.

I wasn’t sure where Wisp was taking me, but she pulled me back across the trail to the opposite side of the little peninsula that made up the south side of Route 24. If I squinted while we were on the trail itself, I could see the bridge that Hana had told me about way at the end of the peninsula.

On this side of the trail, the trees had successfully hidden an open beach that led out to sea. It wasn’t as flat as the west side, since there were a fair amount of craggy rocks that jutted out into the ocean, but the salty sea air was all the more fragrant out here. I immediately felt a pang of homesickness for Lilycove.

We walked for almost five minutes before Wisp brought me to the base of one of those craggy rocks. It was almost three meters tall and extended like a pier into the water, and the base of it was softly inclined. The wear, tear, and graffiti on the rock told me that it was no stranger to people climbing it.

Wisp suddenly stopped, turning back to me. “ Mis mis, ” she chirped cheerfully. When I didn’t immediately understand what she was saying, she folded all of my fingers over my palm other than my index finger, using that one to point at the end of the rock.

“What are you- oh…” I stooped down when I saw what, or more who , Wisp was pointing out.

At the end of the rock, a lone figure was sitting with their feet dangling over the ocean and they were holding a massive fishing pole in front of them. From behind, I could tell that they were shorter than me and had shoulder-length orange hair, but little else. The most important thing, though, was that even from here I could see the bright red glimmer of three Pokeballs on her waist.

I looked back at my Pokemon. “You brought me out here to find a trainer?” I was genuinely surprised. It was weird to see trainers off the beaten path around here since most would do their training farther down the route. That was the exact reason I’d decided to train here. “How did you even know she was out here?”

Wisp grinned, her eyes flashing a bright purple for a moment. While it didn’t fully answer my question, and I wasn’t sure I would ever get a real answer, she’d made it clear that she had some way of sensing this other trainer.

I frowned. This was a fifth option from what we’d talked about before. I hadn’t thought about finding a random trainer to fight, mostly because I didn’t think we’d run into one without either crossing the bridge or heading back into town. And, since that fishing rod was definitely graded for catching Pokemon, this person probably had a water type or two on them.

I let out a breath and nodded my head. “Alright, yeah. This works.” I pressed my palm against Wisp’s head, scratching her temple in approval. “You did a good job.”

“ Misdrea vus,” Wisp said as she pushed her head against my hand like a cat. When she went to move forward, though, I felt a little bit of panic.

“Wait,” I paused Wisp before she could reveal us. “What if she’s a Mick fan like those other trainers? Chances are that she’s probably a local, and I don’t know if she’ll be chill.”

She gave me a droll stare and, without shoulders or arms, Wisp somehow managed to shrug . She drifted off in the direction of the trainer.

“Welp… …I guess this worked out with Minior.” I shrugged and took off after my Pokemon. I took wide steps up the rock, using my hands to balance myself until I got to the top.

The trainer hadn’t turned around while I’d climbed, so I assumed that they hadn’t heard me, and Wisp was patiently drifting to my side. There was maybe four or five meters of space between me and the trainer, and I opened my mouth to talk to them.

I suddenly felt very awkward very quickly. It was only now occurring to me that I had never actually challenged a complete stranger to a Pokemon battle before. The closest I’d come to that was back in Viridian when I’d barely met my trio, and even then I’d already gotten to know them a bit before challenging them. All of my battles after that had been spars with one of my friends, gym battles, or challenges against other people on the routes who were actively also looking for a battle.

It was a little embarrassing, actually. That was kind of the whole schtick of being a trainer, and I had no idea how to do it.

How does somebody do this? Do I just, like, yell?

I opted for a gentler approach. “Uh, excuse me?” I projected my voice to be heard over the waves, but I tried not to be too loud. I didn’t want to scare her, after all.

The trainer jolted in their seat, quickly turning their head to see who had called out to them. She had green eyes and a kind face with a mischievous, tomboy-esque upturned nose. The girl quickly stood up, setting her fishing rod into a little holder that had been attached to the rock. She removed a pair of earbuds from her ears, which answered why she hadn’t heard me before.

“Sorry about that,” I apologize. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I was just- well, I was hoping…”

The girl’s eyes quickly glanced between my face to Wisp’s drifting form and a flicker of understanding moved across her face.

“Oh, you were looking for a battle?”

I let out a sigh of relief and nodded. “Yeah, that. If that’s okay?”

“Well…” The girl’s tone turned uncertain and she glanced back toward the ocean and her fishing pole. “I don’t normally accept battle requests while I’m out fishing, sorry about that.”

“Oh.”

There was a small beat of silence. If I had been unsure of how to challenge someone to a battle, I was completely out of my depth when then being rejected from said challenge.

My eyes turned to the ground. “Um, yeah- okay- no, yeah, that makes sense. Sorry to bother you.” I turned to crawl back down the rock in shame.

“Wait!” While I was not looking for a pity-challenge to this admittedly embarrassing situation, I couldn’t stop the hope that jumped up in my chest when the girl called out for me to pause. She took a few steps forward and pointed in a vaguely northward direction. “I’m not sure if you know, but there’s a bridge full of trainers down that way who’ve been doing a bunch of different battles. Maybe you could head down there?”

I paused at how genuinely nice this girl was trying to be, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit exasperated by both the situation and my circumstances.

“Oh, yeah,” I mumbled intelligently. “I, uh, well it’s kind of a long story but I’m sort of avoiding big groups right now. But I do appreciate the advice, it’s just-”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” the girl interrupted me with a sympathetic head nod. “That’s why I’ve been fishing here lately rather than down at Cerulean Cape. It’s all way too crowded down there, and worse,” she paused to grimace, “there’s a bunch of bug catchers down there.”

Her expression when she talked about the bug Pokemon specialists was a cross between the one someone might make when looking at garbage and the one Amy made when they were asked to exercise.

“So I’m assuming you don’t like bugs?”

She shook her head, her orange hair fluttering in the breeze. “Nope. They’re one of the three,” the girl held up three fingers to emphasize her statement, “most disgusting things on the planet. I mean, every Pokemon can be cute, but as a rule, bugs are pretty awful.”

The intrusive thought of introducing this girl to Achilles crossed my mind and I couldn’t help but grin a little.

“Well, if we do end up battling sometime, I don’t have any bug types. Not that I mind most of the little guys, but Wisp here bugs me and Artis, my Sealeo, enough.” I jutted my thumb to where Wisp had been floating a moment before, but my statement made her turn away and sulk. “Plus, I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Beedrill or anything similar. Anyway, I’ll let you get back to fishing. Sorry again about interrupting.”

“Wait!” As I turned to crawl down the rock, the girl once again stopped me. This time, though, instead of a pitying smile, her eyes had grown as wide as saucers and she had a greedy smile on her face. “You have a Sealeo? Like, the big blubbery Pokemon from Hoenn?”

Oh, that’s interesting . The girl’s demeanor had changed at the drop of a hat. It was honestly boarding on creepy in a fun sort of way.

“Yeah…,” I said cautiously. “He’s my starter, and I was hoping to train him up before I challenged the Cerulean Gym later this week. We’ve been out looking for water types to train against, since he’s hit a brick wall trying to train up his Aurora Beam. That’s actually one of the reasons we challenged you, given you had the fishing equipment and everything.”

The girl’s face contorted between a few different expressions, most of which I didn’t get the context for or catch what they properly were. There was some excitement, maybe some trepidation, a flash of something I didn’t catch, but ultimately she seemed like she was making a decision. I didn’t say anything more as I waited for her to do so.

Her indecisiveness vanished in a moment and she shrugged. “Oh well, I’ll help you out!” The girl spoke with a crooked grin and punctuated her statement with a cocky swipe of her thumb across her nose. “You’re in luck! Not only do I really want to see your Pokemon, but I’m also a water type specialist!”

I glanced Wisp’s way and she paused her sulking to give me the biggest ‘I told you so’ grin that I’ve ever seen. I gave her a grateful grin and pulled myself all the way back up onto the rock.

“Heck yeah! I really appreciate this!” I offered my hand out. “Artis really needs a good challenge, so you sound like what we’re looking for. My name’s Derek, by the way.”

The girl shook my hand, eyes glinting toward my belt and bag, probably looking for Artis’ Pokeball. “Nice to meet you, Derek! I’ve never seen a Sealeo before and I adore water types, obviously, so honestly I’m doing this more for me than for you. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, it works for me.” I meant that, too. This person was exactly the kind of trainer I’d been looking for, and I was finally having a lucky break in that she either didn’t know or didn’t care who I was. “Oh, I don’t think I caught you name?”

She grinned. “That’s okay, there’s no way you’re gonna forget it once you lose. I’m Misty.”

“We’ll see about that,” I smirked. “Misty, let’s battle.”

---

Notes:

Thank you guys so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Next Chapter: Tuesday, April 30th.

Chapter 34: Correcting Course

“Oh my legends, you’re so cute!” Misty took Artis’ face into both of her hands and squished his big blubbery cheeks.

Seeing someone else fawn over my Pokemon this much was kind of a lot, and there was a small but vocal part of me that wanted him to get annoyed. Instead, Artis rumbled out a noise of contentment, melting into Misty’s hands.

Wisp and I shared a look. With a nod, we agreed. Artis was a traitor.

“Anyways, Misty, did you want to start the battle?” The girl had seemed all fired up to battle me just moments ago, but that thin veneer had vanished the moment that Artis had been released. We both stood in ankle-deep ocean water, our pants rolled up to our knees and shoes left on the beach so that we could stand in a proper training field for the Cerulean Gym.

“Oh,” Misty looked up at me, having genuinely forgotten about me. “Yeah, we can do that! Actually, since you’re trying to train him, do you have a kind of strategy that you want to focus on? I don’t mean to toot my own Horsea, but I’ve got some options.”

I rolled my eyes when Misty flexed a nonexistent bicep. “If that’s the case, I was actually hoping to focus on water types that attack from underwater, like Dewgong, Goldeen, or Starmie if you have something similar. From what I’ve seen, that’s the kind of Pokemon they use at Cerulean Gym.”

Misty’s face twisted with amusement, though I wasn’t sure why. She considered something before she spoke next. “Yeah…” she said with a sly grin. “That sounds like them. Lucky for you, I have just the Pokemon this that needs their own training!”

She stepped back and ripped one of the Pokeballs off of her belt, brandishing it high in the air. “Come on out, Staryu!”

The ball popped open with a flash of red light and a brown creature materialized in the water in from of Misty. It stood on two of its five star-like appendages at just under a meter tall. The creature had no face, only a bright red gemstone where each of its appendages met that glowed and flicked with light.

“Hiyah!” Staryu resolutely shouted, its voice coming from… …somewhere. The Pokemon posed with two of its appendages like they were arms, hitting a stance similar to an old sentai hero. The water behind it exploded into a miny vapor cloud, completing the look.

A grin split my face. I couldn’t have picked a better trainer to battle with. Staryu was the first form of Starmie, the Pokemon that I’d seen the Sensational Sisters using the most this season to knock out first and second badge challenges.

“You’re right, that’s the perfect Pokemon!” I gave Misty a competitive thumbs up. “You ready?”

“Always!” Misty’s smirk took on a fierce edge. “I’ll count us in!”

Misty and I took our spaces about thirty meters apart, wading out to be about waist-deep in the ocean and leaving only water between our Pokemon. It was cold, but something about the chilly burn of the sea added to my excitement. I couldn’t think of the last time I was this excited to battle a stranger.

“Three!” Misty shouted. Her voice echoed over the waves. Artis paddled with his flippers underneath him, drifting out from in front of me like a big blue mini-fridge. I had been a little worried about Artis, since I wasn’t sure he’d ever swam somewhere with even moderate waves, but he was doing okay so far.

“Two!” Artis and Staryu pushed their way to the water’s surface, taking their spots at the normal starting positions. Since both were shorter than us, what was only waist level for us had them both treading water.

“One!” Both of our Pokemon tensed up in the water. Artis swirled his flippers, and I got the feeling he knew what my first order would be. On the other hand, Staryu was swirling its body slowly, rotating its appendages like a fidget spinner. Its little red gem was glimmering in the sunlight and I couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the light or not, but I could have sworn the glow was moving like a pupil of an eye.

“Go!” Misty yelled, not missing a beat before following it up with “Staryu, Rapid Spin!”

“Glacier up, bud!” My voice competed with Misty’s, but I winced as I was just a second slower.

Artis knew the plan and had readied his best attempt at an Aurora Beam below him, but with Misty’s faster call and Staryu’s better speed, it was a forgone conclusion who was going to hit first. Staryu’s limbs picked up even more speed in the water, cutting through it like a ship’s propeller and spraying water in every direction. That force pushed them forward and slammed them into Artis.

Artis snarled in pain, and I saw him rear back to rear back to retaliate. “Stay on target!” I called urgently. “You know the plan!”

He whined as he missed his chance to strike at Staryu, the starfish disappearing under the waves. Artis opened his maw, pushing his body to the surface of the water and pointing his head underneath himself. A swirling ray of purple and blue light fell from his mouth, freezing the water on contact. It was sloppy and incomplete, not even the best we’d been able to manage these last few days, but it still caused the surface of the water to crystalize and condense. In less than a moment, a chunk of ice that was slightly larger than him popped into existence underneath him, giving him a semi-stable platform that lifted him out of the water. It wasn’t at all what we wanted the final product to look like, but it was a start.

I spared a glance at Misty, who was watching our movements carefully. Instead of immediately calling for Staryu to continue their assault, she nodded her head.

“I see what you mean,” Misty said with sage-like confidence. She brought her hand to her chin as if she was thinking hard before her next move. “Staryu, Swift!”

Meters away from Artis’ ice, the surface of the water burst open again, this time revealing a dozen twinkling bursts of light that condensed into tiny stars. They swirled in the air for a moment before dashing toward their target like heat-seeking missiles. That moment’s pause gave Artis enough time to rear back his head, though I frowned when I saw the cerulean glow of a water type move in his throat.

“Aurora Beam only for attacks!” My yell was insistent. That was what we were here to train, after all. “Shoot ‘em down!”

Artis swapped mid-move, the deep blue transforming to a bright baby blue light that once again spiraled into a purple-blue swirl. The swap had cost him, though, and the beam was only able to stop the first few stars. Staryu’s Swift exploded into showers of gold against the false Aurora Beam, but seven of the remaining stars sped through the small explosion, impacting against Artis and shattering into fragments of light. They left behind tiny burns across his fur and blubber that didn’t do too much damage on their own but would take him out if this kept up.

“Keep it up, Staryu! Then disappear!”

“You can tank ‘em! It’s a waiting game!”

Staryu released another volley of stars, this time from a completely different spot under the water, and Artis didn’t take the time to shoot them down. Instead, he’d heard the trigger phrase that I’d given him. The water just underneath the ice began to swirl every so subtly into a ring, ideally out of sight enough not to tip off our opponent. Even as more gold sparks shattered off his fur, the pink patches of burns slowly started to disappear.

Rather than let Misty notice, I called to Artis again. “Try the beam again, bud! Cut off its movement!”

The cold colors appeared in his mouth again, but I couldn’t miss the small noise of confusion as he looked around for Staryu. I couldn’t blame him, because the creature’s brown form had completely disappeared, even in the mostly transparent water.

Part of my brain buzzed, kicking my research back into my head. “Damn! It’s Camouflaged! Shoot toward the right, cut off its movement!”

Across the battlefield, Misty chuckled. “Wow, you did do research for this gym! Staryu, Bubble Beam barrage!”

Artis’ Aurora Beam cut across the waves, forging a solid path of ice between himself and the beach. Since we were in shallower waters than the gym’s battlefield, I knew that ice would be thick enough to completely block that section of the water. If Staryu wanted to maneuver around Artis, it was either going to have to hop the gap and expose itself, or swim all the way around him and give him more of a shot at spotting it.

Staryu took the first option. Its five-legged body was still almost invisible as it propelled itself above the water. The Camouflage move that it had used was functionally useless for its intended effect, changing the typing of the user to the current environment, but it had a particular upside when used in water: Camouflaged Pokemon were almost impossible to see since their bodies took on the transparent and liquidy composition of their surroundings.

The clear star’s limbs burst into action as they crossed over Artis’ barrier, each of their tips expanding to release a torrent of shimmering baseball-size bubbles in strong beams. They rippled across Artis’ body with a ton of force, but his natural type resistance and constant unseen healing helped him shrug it off.

Artis bellowed his third attempt at an Aurora Beam, still lacking in power and direction, and it sprayed across the transparent Pokemon while it was still inches from the surface of the water. It knicked one of Staryu’s limbs, leaving a chunk of ice stuck to the Pokemon and sending it reeling into the water.

I grinned as I saw the chunk of ice drifting through the water, letting us see where Staryu was swimming. It was moving more sluggishly than before. “Great job, boy!”

Misty grinned too, though it flickered when her Pokemon took a hit. “Not bad,” she said approvingly.

Our excitement came from that chunk of ice, as small as it was. Aurora Beam’s secondary effect often impeded the target’s ability to physically attack, since it seized up the Pokemon’s muscles with ice. It wouldn’t do us almost any good against Staryu’s energy-based attacks, but it did mean that his move was resembling the real thing.

“Follow it up! Wall off the left!”

Just because we’d had a minor step forward, I wasn’t going to let it go to our heads. Artis conjured his fourth swirling beam of blue and purple energy and released it to the opposite side of his first wall, sending it off into the sea. The edge of it was a few dozen meters away, so far that Staryu would have to travel farther than any formal battlefield would allow it to. We’d effectively limited it to the half of the battlefield that was closest to me.

A small glint of red light flashed from under the water and Misty beamed. “He’s analyzed! Staryu, Psywave!”

“Damn! Lo-” Before I could call out to Artis, only now realizing what ability the Pokemon had, the transparent star reappeared as its brown self in the water before my Pokemon. Staryu flung itself forward, shaking off our ice chunk and the facade of slowness that it had put on, and released a wave of psychic energy in Artis’ face. The air between them rippled like a heat mirage and Artis groaned in pain, his eyes squeezing tight from the impact.

Analytic was a tricky ability that allowed a Pokemon to break down all of the physical characteristics of their opponent and determine the best possible strategy to harm them, but all that computing took a lot of power and time. Staryu had pretended to be weighed down by our attack to give itself to use its Analytic ability, figuring out the exact moment, power, and positioning that would deal the most damage to Artis.

I grimaced. I should have seen it coming.

Artis’ head reared back and I saw the deep blue of a Brine appear, but it changed to a baby blue before I could correct him. The only downside of Staryu using a psychic move with such a short range was that it put them right in front of Artis, and my boy was getting faster at his Aurora Beam.

The ripple of blue and purple erupted across the front of Staryu’s gem, leaving a shell of frost in its wake and blasting it backward. The water type skipped across the surface of the ocean like the stones I’d been throwing earlier. Even from ten meters away, I could feel the drop in the temperature of the ocean around my legs.

“Hell yeah!” I shouted. In that last blast, I’d seen little flecks of green and pink, which were two colors that had been noticeably absent from his version of the move. “Keep it up!”

“Don’t let him, Staryu!” Misty was looking a little worried, though she still wore a mostly confidant grin. “Disappear and Recover!”

“Ugh,” I sighed. That was the technique I was dreading from the potential Starmie in my gym battle. Artis could outlast most Pokemon at his level in an endurance fight, but a Pokemon that could heal was a problem, especially since Artis didn’t have any singularly powerful moves that would take out a water type. It was more than likely I would have to rely on Wisp in the gym for that, but I didn’t have that option here.

Luckily, I had a plan.

“Swap to Rest, bud! Heal up first!” Artis grumbled as he canceled his Aurora Beam, flecks of blue, purple, and green leaving his cheeks as he snapped his mouth closed. His eyes grew pink for half a second before he fell to his side and slumped onto his glacier.

I couldn’t see Staryu since it had Camouflaged again, but I knew that it was hurt. Even in the best-case scenarios that I’d watched online, Recover couldn’t quite heal a Pokemon from that level of injury in one go, unlike Rest, which always fully recovered a Pokemon. Under normal circumstances, Misty wouldn’t have to worry about that since Rest would keep Artis out for longer than it would take Staryu to Recover multiple times. Normally, there would be no way for us to interrupt Staryu’s healing.

Normally.

It was a little against the spirit of our training, but Artis was already impressing me with his growth, so I was okay showing off a little in front of our new friend.

“Artis, Snore!” I yelled, my grin splitting wide as Misty’s face dropped. Our same trick that we’d used against Brock was coming in handy again.

A unique quirk of Snore was that its user would always understand an order to use it, even while asleep. Moving purely off of unconscious instinct, Artis’ sleeping form rolled over, placing his face directly into the water, and he Snored.

Fun fact about sound: it moves better moving through a liquid than it does moving through a gas, so it didn’t much matter that Artis had no idea where Staryu was given that, you know, he was asleep. A visible wave of sound rippled through the ocean waves, muffled to our ears through the medium transfer. My leg bones chattered at the feeling, though, and I immediately felt like I’d done a dozen squats.

As bad as I was faring, Staryu was doing worse. The shock of the sudden damage caused it to reappear underwater, its red gem flickering in urgent flashes. It looked less injured than it should have, but definitely not as healed as Misty wanted it to be.

“Get out of there Staryu! Onto the ice wall!” Misty called to her Pokemon. “Recover once you get up there!”

“Hiyah!” Staryu glowed with red light and it pushed itself into the air from below the water. Its Recover was faster now that it wasn’t also focusing on Camouflage.

“Snore!” I cackled as Artis pulled his head from water and honk-shooed another blast of sonic energy. With Staryu now aware of the Snore and no longer underwater, it wasn’t doing nearly as much damage. The water type weathered the attack and clung to Artis’ ice wall, its wounds slowly disappearing.

Artis’ eyes cracked open at the end of his second Snore and I could not suppress my smile. Our secret Aqua Ring had sped up his healing, just like I’d hoped. When he stretched his neck forward, I could tell that he was feeling a little cocky too.

“Go for it bud, the big one!”

Artis knew what I meant, because how could he not? It didn’t matter that Staryu was finished recovering because we’d earned ourselves our own full reset on the match, and my Pokemon now had confidence in his new technique.

“Back in the water!” Misty ordered Staryu after she heard my order, and I couldn’t blame her.

In a motion that he’d practiced a thousand times, Artis pulled his body into a sphere and began to spin. Unlike all those times, though, his open mouth wasn’t releasing a wave of powdered snow. No, this time a solid, albeit sloppy, beam of blue, green, purple, and pink energy was spraying from his open maw. It was a bonified Aurora Beam, not the weak thing that we’d been using all battle.

This is where we put our plan and technique to the test. Using his natural spinning motion, Artis swirled the Aurora Beam around himself in massive sweeping arcs with very little overlap, freezing large swaths of the water in his immediate area. Unlike what we’d been doing early, it was only enough to freeze the surface of the water, but it was enough. It was a solid sheet of ice, completely seamless other than a purposeful opening in the center that was about half a meter wide. I couldn’t stop myself from counting under my breath as I watched him successfully cover more than enough area for the Cerulean Gym pool to ice over.

4 seconds. Take that ‘48 seconds’!

“Holy shit…,” I couldn’t stop myself from swearing. Our idea was viable. We could make this work!

Misty’s clapping pulled me from my amazement. “Wow!” She exclaimed. “This is crazy! My- The Sensational Sisters definitely aren’t going to expect this. Not during a second badge challenge.”

I’d smiled a lot during this battle, but my grin softened as I felt genuinely touched. “Thanks, Misty. I really appreciate you letting us practice against you.”

“No problem! This has been really cool!” Misty laughed. When she stopped, though, her grin morphed back into a cocky smirk. “And while I’m glad Artis has his move down, it’s time for you guys to lose.”

Her words triggered half a second of panic in my chest as I remembered that we were still battling, but I knew what was coming next. She’d telegraphed the attack. Her Pokemon did surprise me, though. Artis had set up his ice the way he would during the gym battle, with a single exit in the center of the sheet, forcing any Pokemon that wanted to attack him to either pop out in front of him or force their way through his ice. Staryu did neither of those things, taking advantage of our informal battlefield and its lack of clear boundaries, and they burst out of the water at the edge of the ice.

“Psywave!” Misty confidently shouted. They’d had even more time for Staryu to function under its Analytic ability, so this move was going to hurt way more than it had before.

The air warped around Artis once again, rippling and shaking with the force of the psionic wave that blasted through it. The power was enough to physically force Artis backward, causing him to almost buckle under the pressure. Staryu kept the move up for almost a whole second, way longer than it had before, and it dropped to the ice as it finished.

Misty didn’t give Staryu another order, instead looking confidently at me like she’d just won the battle. Her brow furrowed when I started laughing.

“That was awesome! Seriously, you’ve been a really great opponent, Misty.” I reigned in my laughter to pick up the cocky grin that she’d dropped. “And that was a really cold line. The problem is, Artis isn’t limited to ranged attacks anymore.”

Misty blanched, quickly looking back at Artis. My Sealeo was picking himself up off the ice, his Aqua Ring slowly patching the bleeding nose and ears that he’d gained from Staryu’s Psywave. His expression mirrored my own. He’d had the time to heal himself up to full, and he was a Pokemon that had taken a full-on hit from a Rhydon before.

There was no way Artis was going down in one hit to Staryu.

Artis tucked his flippers under his body, already knowing what I was about to ask him to do, and he started rolling forward. Staryu’s red gem blinked and it turned to hop back into the water, but Artis was faster on land than they were.

“You got this! Wombo Combo time!” I pumped my fist at what would be my final order of that battle.

“Seal-Eo!” Artis grunted in response, spinning out on the ice with an Ice Ball. He hit Staryu at full force, launching the little water type almost three meters into the air, and he didn’t stop there. Artis kept rolling forward to hit the spot where he’d frozen his initial glacier, bouncing off the raised slope on the ice to launch himself into the air. Staryu hadn’t finished falling yet, and Artis wasn’t going to let them. His flying body slammed into the brown star again, launching it further into the air. As they both began to fall, I saw Staryu’s red light flickering and I knew that Artis was about to finish up. My Pokemon turned in the air, flipping out his body and encasing his tail in brilliant silvery energy.

Artis’ Iron Tail knocked Staryu out of the sky.

The little water type impacted the ice sheet with a heavy boom, barely causing it to crack and sending a cloud of ice crystals and mist into the air. Artis hit the ice less than a second later, but his blubber absorbed the hit better than Staryu’s muscley appendages could ever hope to. Artis released a trumpeting bellow of victory. Wisp cheered from the sidelines.

I beamed, smiling across the way at Misty’s outraged face. I found myself inclining my head to her. “Thank you for the battle!”

---

“And she was so pissed!” I exclaimed with a laugh. “Misty basically demanded that we would have a rematch before I left town! To be fair to her, though, she did say that her Staryu was still below the power of her other two Pokemon.”

Mrs. Clara smiled at my story. She had an amused expression on her face, like I was telling the most hilarious joke that she’d heard before, but I didn’t get what it was about.

It was two days later and I couldn’t wait to tell my therapist about my run-in with a local trainer. Misty and I had exchanged numbers after that battle, though she’d said she would be too busy with work or something to battle me again until after my gym battle. It was okay, though, because Artis had taken his breakthrough and ran with it. Now that we could consistently use Aurora Beam, it was all about getting our fine control down and practicing our combos off of our battlefield control. Wisp had even gotten involved with the training, practicing her spectral motion through water and her two new moves.

“Well,” Mrs. Clara said. “I am glad that you have had a positive experience with one of our local trainers. I’m even more glad that you’ve made another friend. To be quite honest, I was worried that your ‘isolation training’ would only lead to social isolation, so this has been wonderful to hear.”

My smile faltered. “Oh, uh, yeah, I guess.”

Mrs. Clara and I hadn’t really talked a whole lot about the current stuff in Cerulean City. Our previous sessions had been spent mostly talking through the events of Pewter and Mt. Moon, and, I had to be honest, it felt completely different than when I’d talked to anyone else about it. When I’d talked to my dad or the Professor, I’d been recounting the events to let them know what had happened. This was more like… well, it was more like I was telling myself about what I’d experienced.

It was weird how many details I just seemed to gloss over when thinking about everything I’d been through, and Mrs. Clara mostly took a back seat while I spoke. She asked little prompting questions and statements that guided me to parts of my own story that I’d forgotten or overlooked. It didn’t make me feel good about anything that had happened, but the fact that I was given a space to just exist lightened the load, I think.

One of the things that I’d picked up on was that Mrs. Clara would never directly ask me to elaborate on a topic that she felt was important to discuss. She wasn’t afraid to let a comfortable silence settle over us when I held back information or didn’t answer in a satisfactory way.

Like she was doing now, actually. Mrs. Clara gave me a kind half-smile and placed her wrinkled hands on her lap.

I nodded, resting my chin on my palm and thinking about her statement again. How was my training going, really? Well, no, how was I feeling about my solitary training?

I’d started training on my own because all of my friends had split up when we’d gotten to Cerulean and I hadn’t wanted to pull them away from their own battles and growth. We had trained together constantly for almost two months now, so it didn’t feel great to ask them to battle me because I had put the limitation on myself of avoiding all the other groups of trainers in the city. My goal had been to keep my distance and fly under the radar here, hopefully letting people cool off toward me in the meantime, while I trained for my gym battle.

It was hard to objectively say that I’d actually gotten anything done in the time I’d spent training alone. While Wisp had no problem picking up her moves, Artis’ struggles had meant that the real meat of our progress had come after I’d gotten to spar with Misty. I doubted that we’d have Aurora Beam by now if we hadn’t.

As for flying under the radar? It had kind of worked. Not in the sense that I didn’t still get side comments and frosty glances in the Center, but in the way that people seemed content to leave me at arm’s length. I’d absentmindedly taken the route through the town center to get here today and most of the trainers I passed just gave me a wide berth. I didn’t catch anybody even really thinking about challenging me, at least not visibly.

So, was my approach working?

I wasn’t sure.

I opened my mouth, then closed it again, debating what I would say next. “Mrs. Clara,” I asked, “Do you think I’m doing the right thing here? Ya know, avoiding the trainers and everything?”

My therapist soflty sat back in her chair, giving me a serene look that I couldn’t place. “It is not my place, I think, to determine what is right and what is wrong. What I am here to do is to make sure that you are taking actions and forming thoughts that are healthy and constructive to you. So, I will answer you this: Do you think that your isolation has been constructive toward your mental heath?”

I debated it for a long second before I answered. “I’m, well- I think that I’m glad that I made a plan.” When she once again didn’t answer, I elaborated. “I wasn’t in a good place, when we got here a week ago, and I think I needed to pick a strategy and stick to it. So far, while I don’t think things have gone exactly how I imagined them, I have been doing better with making decisions, right? I mean, I figured out my whole sponsorship thing with the Oak Lab, I started seeing you, and I’ve changed how I approach my training. Those are all things I think I needed to do, and I don’t know that they would have gone as well if I was out pissing off the locals.”

Mrs. Clara nodded along as I spoke, making it clear that she was absorbing each point as I listed it off. She was careful to wait to make sure that I had finished speaking before following up with her question. “And your isolation from your friends?”

I grimaced at her question. The thought had occurred to me on the second day of training by myself. I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t come up here because I didn’t have any great answers.

“I mean, I didn’t want-” I sighed, glancing down at my hands. I’d started fiddling with my thumb without noticing. “Things are kind of weird there. You know everything that’s been going on with Hana, and I know she’d said that the other two weren’t mad at me for what I did in Mt. Moon, but stuff has been off with Yuji for other reasons. And Amy, well-”

I paused without saying the next bit, instead shrugging my shoulders. The reason I hadn’t been challenging Amy was because they weren’t on the same level as the rest of us. It wasn’t a great feeling to have about your friend, but battling against Amy wasn’t going to help me prepare for stronger fights. They were still at the point where drilling the fundamentals would actually help them train, unlike where me and Artis were at.

Mrs. Clara’s smile drifted into a more neutral expression. “Your relationship with your friends is complex,” she admitted, “but do you believe that these feelings outweigh what would be their want to help you? I seem to recall several times when your friends chose to take measures to ensure you would achieve a goal of yours, including choosing to cross the Viridian Forest several days early so that they might travel with you.”

I shook my head. “That’s the problem, I know that they would help me if I asked. I just- I don’t-,” I sighed again, letting my forehead rest in my hands. “One of the fundamentals of Pokemon training is to battle as many different trainers and Pokemon and strategies as you can, because that’s the only way to prepare for anything that can get thrown your way. It’s not good to battle the same people over and over, because you build terrible habits. When we choose to train against each other when we have access to all the different trainers of a town, we’re limiting our experiences and how much we learn and how much we get stronger. That’s just the truth.”

I wasn’t looking at Mrs. Clara, so I could only hear as she shifted in her chair. “And you believe,” she said in a measured voice, “that because of your circumstances, you are disadvantaging your friends by spending time with them?”

I shrugged. “How am I not? And I could normally work myself up to do that- I mean, that’s basically all we did in Viridian and Pewter. But now, with everything how it is, the fact that I put them in danger without thinking about it-”

I paused and glanced up as I felt a small movement in front of me. Mrs. Clara was holding a small box of tissues out to me. I hadn’t even realized I was tearing up. My eyes felt hot.

“Thanks,” I said in a small voice, to which Mrs. Clara nodded. I took one and wiped my eyes. The tissue smelled like lavender.

Mrs. Clara gave me a minute to collect myself but surprised me by speaking first. “If I may, I’m going to attempt to summarize the situation as I understand it.” When I gave her a tiny nod, she continued. “You have decided that, while there was some initial success, your plan to avoid Cerulean’s trainer scene has not been successful and needs to be amended. You feel as though you are disadvantaging your friends by monopolizing their time, a feeling that you have been given no reason to believe is mutual, and that has been exacerbated by your internalized guilt over your actions within Mt. Moon and has meant that you have chosen to avoid asking them for help.”

I chuckled, though it felt a little hollow. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Kind of stupid when you lay it out like that, right?”

Mrs. Clara smiled but shook her head. “Not at all.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her, feeling the stiffness on my cheek from where my tear had dried. “No? But, it’s like you said, I know that my relationships with my friends are okay, but I don’t want to reach out.”

“And rationally knowing something is not the same as believing it,” Mrs. Clara explained. “You simply are not ready to have those conversations with either Yuji or Hana, and that is fine, dear. You are not going to solve something as deep-seated as interpersonal guilt in a single week.”

Mrs. Clara let that statement sit.

I let out a long breath, sinking into the comfy lounge chair. I didn’t let my gaze focus on anything in particular, instead I let it drift into the distance. Absorbing that information felt like a big pill to swallow.

Damn.

On one hand, that sucked. On the other hand, it made feeling bad suck a little less. I didn’t like that I couldn’t just go to my friends when I needed help. I’d spent three days wasting training time rather than asking Yuji or Hana for, like, two battles. It had been frustrating and boring and awful, but now that a professional was telling me that it was okay? It meant that my problem, even if it was just in my head, was a real problem.

Without focusing my vision back in, I felt some hoarse words tumble out of my mouth. “So, what do I do now, then?”

I could feel Mrs. Clara giving me that same look that she gave me when she wanted me to talk something through, even if I wasn’t looking directly at her.

“Well, I need to keep battling somebody,” I said slowly. “And it’s not Yuji, Hana, Amy, or Misty. I can’t talk to two of them, not right now, and Misty’s too busy. I don’t know anyone else in the city, either. I should battle some of the randos around town.”

“But…” Mrs. Clara prompted me.

“But that needs to come with some caveats,” I agreed. “My first instinct was right, I shouldn’t just walk up to the town square and let people challenge me. That might just cause me more problems. I should do something more controlled.” A thought occurred to me. “That bridge- the one that Hana goes to. That should work.”

“But…” Mrs. Clara said again.

“But I do need to tell at least one of my friends. Hana was mad that I didn’t come to her back in Mt. Moon and Yuji went out of his way to give me a heads-up about the angry trainers, so I wouldn’t be respecting their wishes if I went without telling anyone. I need to tell one of my friends, maybe even take them with me, before I go. That way if something bad happens I have someone in my corner.”

“And…”

“And I have a friend who needs more training than I do, one who would also benefit from battling, and I haven’t argued with them almost ever, so that gets rid of my two biggest problems with reaching out to my friends.” As I put the pieces together, a small grin slowly started to drift across my face, tightening the spots where I’d let my tears dry. “Dang, Mrs. Clara, you’re really good at this.”

My therapist gave me a satisfied smile, one that had a little bit of pride in it. “It helps to be old, dear. Therapy is just like Pokemon training; I have seen more than a few different situations, and that has helped me prepare for most things that my clients could face.”

I nodded. “Thank you, though, for all this.” I glanced at the table where my Nav was sitting. Even the display was off, the image of my calendar crossed my mind. “I know we only have two more sessions before I have to travel, but this has been really helpful.”

“It will continue to be helpful,” she corrected me. “Our sessions will be continuing online, though at less regular intervals if my experience with Pokemon journeys is anything to go by. For today, though, Derek, we are over time. I have another client who is waiting for me. Think on what we’ve said today, as I expect you’ll act on our conversation before long.”

I looked up from where I’d already picked up the Nav and sent a text message. “Oh, yeah,” I said with a small laugh. “I’ll have something to report in two days. I mean, that’s the day of my gym battle, after all.”

As I stood to leave, Mrs. Clara held her hand out to me. “Good luck, Derek. You are doing good work here, and I am sure that your training is going at least as well. Things will get better as long as you keep at them.”

I gingerly shook her soft and wrinkled hand. “Thanks, Mrs. Clara. I really hope so.

 

---

 

“Duh! I have been waiting for you to ask, like, all week!” Amy rolled their eyes when I finished speaking. “Yes, of course I want to come help you kick some butt!”

After I’d sent them a text from Mrs. Clara’s, I’d returned to Route 24 where I’d found Amy waiting for me. They’d appeared with Gong floating over one shoulder a big sack that they had yet to explain slung over the other. Well, it was big for them. Amy looked happy and comfortable, probably because I’d decided that today was one of the few occasions that warranted putting Wisp in her Pokeball. I’d already bought her some treats to make up for it later.

I shrugged, nodding. It would take a lot for me to explain everything that Mrs. Clara and I had talked about, so I settled for just accepting that Amy had been waiting for me to come talk to them.

“Sorry about that,” I sighed, mourning lost time. “I had to figure some stuff out first.”

Amy gave me a sly grin before exchanging looks with Gong. “Yeah, we figured. I’m just giving you a hard time, Derek! We could tell that everything wasn’t right -not that we were looking on purpose- but I figured something was up. I’m just glad that you finally come around.” Amy tilted their head happily, their oversized beanie flopping to the side as they did.

“I am too.” I meant that. I hadn’t realized how quiet my days had gotten without them.

Amy gave me another big grin and hummed. “Alright, let’s not get too sappy! Gong and Pennywise have been working all week and they’re rearing to go!”

Their Pokemon vibrated above them, matching their hum with the same exact frequency of sound. The little metal disk was already rubbing off on them, it seemed.

The two of us walked the rest of Route 24, finally going further than I had dared to go this past week, and made our way to the bridge that crossed the Cerulean River and into Route 25. As we got closer to the end of the peninsula, the trees started thinning out, revealing pockmarked fields and hills beyond them that surrounded the entrance to the bridge. People had been battling here almost every day of the season so far, and it had left its mark.

As the dots in the distance grew into a crowd of trainers, I couldn’t help but feel a little sick. After a whole week of this, it had become second nature to avoid people, and now I was actively walking into a crowd and, if things went how I wanted them to, would be battling soon.

I felt something gently grab my hand and I jerked a little to the side before looking. Amy was giving me a reassuring smile and they’d wrapped their hand around two of my fingers. An image of the scared little psychic in Mt. Moon flashed before my eyes before being quickly dispelled by their confident grin.

I let out a long breath. If Amy had grown that much, there was almost nothing that I couldn’t do. I nodded my head and we approached the crowd.

Very few people paid us any mind as we walked up. There were almost thirty trainers here, and they’d started crowding around a table where a guy a few years older than me was writing down names and taking entrance fees. From what I’d heard from Hana, people would pay a small sum of money, maybe a hundred Poke, and take a crack at five battles against other trainers in a row. If they won that ‘gauntlet’, they’d get a prize that was often worth way more than fee, like a nugget of gold.

For that reason, the sign on the table read: Nugget Bridge Sign-Ups: 150p

I felt it when the first person noticed me, though maybe it was because Amy’s grip on my hand tightened. They’d be sensitive to negative emotions, after all. It was a guy at the back of the crowd, somebody who’d probably already signed up because they were glancing through their phone with a bored expression. He glanced up at me and his face fell. Moments later it tightened and his eyes narrowed.

Another step forward, and another person noticed me. This time it was a girl near the front who’d just managed to look up at the right time. Her jaw tightened and she nudged the girl next to her.

And just like that, it was like a wave of displeasure had rippled outward from me. Heads turned and people stared. A few of them even whispered, and a couple had hands go to their Pokeballs.

My grip on Amy’s hand tightened and I ignored them. I’d intended on waiting my turn in line, but as I stepped up people seemed determined to keep their distance from me. Amy and I got all the way up to the guy at the table, who seemed to be the only one not mildly displeased at my existence. Instead, he had an interested look in his eye, like he was amused at whoever energy I’d brought and wanted to see where it went.

I placed 150p onto that table and did my best not to clear my throat before speaking, not wanting to show how much the thirty pairs of eyes were getting to me. “One sign-up for Derek Tracy, please.”

 

 

Notes:

a/n: Thank you everyone so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the battle and the chapter!

Next Chapter: Tuesday, April 7th

ALSO: As I was uploading, my friend Setsu sent us the first-ever art of Derek and his team from this fic and it's FANTASTIC! If you wanna see it, hop over to the Royal Road or Spacebattles version of this fic!

Chapter 35: Building Bridges

“Okay,” the guy nodded, still giving me that amused look. “One entrance for Derek Tracy.”

When he said it, there was a small tilt back of his head and he raised his voice just a little bit. He was announcing it to anyone who hadn’t somehow noticed me walking up. Apparently, whether he knew who I was or not, he thought that my participation in today’s battles were going to be at least entertaining.

He handed me a small piece of paper with five little boxes, each numbered one through five, and then he looked past me at Amy, as if I’d stopped existing. That was a way more comforting treatment than the looks that were still staring daggers into my back. As soon as Amy was signed up, I led them back through the crowd and a ways away until the challenges started. We shared a glance of mutual understanding but chose to remain in silence for the time being.

After everyone else finished signing up, the guy who seemed to be in charge of everything got everyone’s attention. “Alright, everybody!” He held up his piece of paper. “I’m Casey, and I’ll be running the Nugget Bridge challenge today. If you’re not familiar with how this works, I’m going to call out the first series of battles that are going to take place and you’ll all spread out, and do a one-on-one with whoever I pair you up with using standard challenge rules. No swapping partners or complaining, and if you get caught cheating, you will be D.Q.’d and I’ll report you to the authorities. Got it? Good. Once you finish your battle, both trainers need to come and report the match results. I’ll assign you as quickly as I can to the next available trainer. We’re a little weird on our numbers today, so if you get out in the first round we might have you stick around as the final battle in another person’s gauntlet. You will be compensated if you do so. Any questions?”

A couple of hands went up, but the questions were pretty mundane, like asking about item use or moves that the League limited. As Casey spoke, I actually found myself getting a little hyped up for this. The initial wave of negative emotions pointed at me had faded, mostly, and people started to focus in as Casey read off his list of names. Not only were we all here to train, but there were more stakes than normal to these battles. We would be running a marathon of battles with our Pokemon, all to win a prize that would potentially multiply the funds we put in.

Amy’s name was called and they gave me an eager little nod. I rubbed the top of their head and they were off to battle. Gong paused in front of me, giving me a little buzz of sound like they were wishing me luck, before also departing.

Finally, my name was called. “Derek Tracy,” Casey read out, “you’re with Ethan Bryce.”

I paused, glancing around to look for whoever had reacted to that callout as well. A hand went up from across the crowd and I saw another young guy dressed in green giving me an unpleasant look. He jerked his head toward an unoccupied field and we were off. The guy didn’t say anything to me on our walk over, so I respected that and kept my mouth shut. That didn’t stop him from shooting me annoyed glances, his brows furrowed underneath the brim of a green flat cap that he had pulled down over his head.

I took the initiative and walked to the farther spot in the field. At some point a long time ago, someone had taken the time to mark the boundaries of a clear battlefield with paint, but that had since been permanently etched into the hillside by the raw dirt and mud that made a vaguely rectangular shape within its bounds. Both of the trainer’s boxes had also drawn in by the stomped flat squares of grass on either end of the pitch, no doubt caused by trainers getting stressed while making callouts.

Ethan lifted the edge of his jacket, pulling his only Pokeball from his waist and presenting it in front of him: the standard sign of a Pokemon challenge. He did so without so much as a whisper in my direction.

Frustration, tempered by the expectations that I’d already had, bubbled in my chest and I was mostly able to ignore it. He might’ve been giving me the silent treatment, but I was here to show that I didn’t need to return that aggression, as much as I wanted to.

“I accept your challenge,” I said, keeping my voice level. “Good luck, and have fun.”

If anything, Ethan’s dour expression tightened a little more after that. He tossed his Pokeball with a grunt and I did the same without as much fanfare. Artis burst onto the field, his expression quickly swapping from tongue-lolling happiness to an excited fierceness as he noticed that we were in a battle. A Mankey flashed into existence across the field, raising two tiny balled fists in front of its pig nose in a fighting stance. The round little monkey looked incredibly aggressive, as you’d expect from a Pokemon of its line.

Since we had no ref, Ethan did what challenge rules technically require you to do, which was toss a coin. The winner would count us in, which disadvantaged some and helped out others. I won the coin flip.

As I counted us in, I gave Ethan’s Mankey an honest look over. After observing the master of fighting types himself, Yuji, I knew that this little guy was nothing compared to Achilles, and Artis could go toe-to-toe with him on a good day. I wouldn’t need to use any of our complex strategies to win this, just to be wary of any hidden techniques and to end this quickly.

“Three, two, one, start!” Unlike what Misty had done yesterday, I gave half a second’s breath before shouting my order to Artis. When I won this fight, I didn’t want to give this trainer any reason to cry foul over an unexpected start.

“Mankey,” Ethan shouted aggressively, “Low Kick, go!”

“Artis, get moving then AB! Use your best instincts!” I gave him general orders instead of making callouts move-for-move. I hoped this would help him learn what he should do on the battlefield, not just follow orders.

Artis rolled forward, bringing his shoulders to the ground and flipping into the same motion of a Rollout as Mankey sped across the field, barely tapping its three-toed feet across the ground as it struck forward and glided with the strength behind each step. It was nimble, but Artis had been almost exclusively training his Aurora Beam for speed. The multi-colored beam of cold-toned light that burst forward from his mouth was way more concentrated and defined than it had been against Misty.

“Dodge it!” Ethan yelled. My endeavor to be respectful was the only reason I didn’t make a face when he said it. Even though I’d also been at that point once, it felt so obvious now that Pokemon didn’t want to get hit by stuff and would try not to get hit on their own.

Unfortunately, even with Ethan’s best efforts, Manky wasn’t able to completely dodge the hit. Aurora Beam grazed against the fighting type’s leg, leaving a jagged chunk of ice and frost to seize up the muscles. To its credit, Mankey continued through with its original order and brought that leg up into Artis’ rolling form. Low Kick was basically designed to be used against Pokemon like Artis, given that his ice typing made him weak to fighting moves and his weight was actively used against him. Mankey’s foot skidded underneath of him, managing to pop him into the air for almost a whole second before gravity caught up to him. Artis hit the ground still spinning, so his energy sent him flying out of Mankey’s melee range within seconds.

“Follow him, then Low Kick again!” Ethan grunted, face contorted with concentration.

Artis didn’t deviate from the instructions I’d given him. He continued to build up speed and focus on just using his Aurora Beams at a distance from Mankey. The monkey had no chance at matching us in for speed, not now that Artis had built up his momentum. Chunks of ice started coating Mankey’s limbs in different patches where Artis hit him, weakening any power that he would have had if he’d even managed to get close to Artis. Ethan didn’t do much to change up his strategy, other than calling out a few other melee attacks, like Fury Swipes and Seismic Toss. Neither were shown off as Mankey would’ve had to catch up to my Pokemon. It was a shame, too, since I could see a bruise on Artis’ left shoulder where that first Low Kick had hit him.

For the first time in my life, I found myself bored during a Pokemon battle. It wasn’t a great feeling to have, and I did my best to mask it with a false expression of strained concentration, but this battle wasn’t fun. Mankey and Ethan weren’t as fast as Yuji, as strategic as Hana, or as experienced as Misty. I didn’t want that to come across to the guy, because that would have obliterated my self-confidence if an opponent did that to me, but I did hope that he could at least tell that there was a gap between us. Maybe that would inspire him to train harder, like Rhydon had done to me.

As Artis hit Mankey with his fourth Aurora Beam, the little monkey finally succumbed to the cold. The beam caught him in his left leg, sending him tumbling forth as his foot was encased in ice. He didn’t get back up.

I returned Artis and Ethan did the same to Mankey. He stared down at his Pokeball. From across the field, the strain of his shoulders and the shamed tilt of his head were unmistakable. This Ethan guy was more than embarrassed with his showing.

I stepped across the field, careful to avoid the patches of ice where Artis had frozen it over, and made my way to my opponent. Ethan flinched when I entered his line of sight, drawn away from his brooding. He gave me a scathing look but still didn’t say anything to me. There was a small tremor in his eyebrow, and I had the awful feeling that he was waiting for me to insult him.

Instead, I bowed my head in respect. “Your Mankey’s Low Kick was very powerful,” I selectively said. It was true, given that it had been used on its ideal opponent. It would be mean to say that part, though. “Thank you for the battle.”

Ethan’s angry expression faltered, stopping somewhere between confused and taken aback. He stared at me, waiting for me to admit that I was pranking him or to just leave. When I did neither, he showed more irritation before turning contemplative.

“Tsk,” he finally said, speaking directly to me for the first time. “Whatever, let’s just go report the match results.”

As he walked away, I felt a small surge of… something. I wasn’t sure if it was pride in myself or what, but it wasn’t unpleasant. I’d handily won my first match and hadn’t outright failed at my secondary goal. I’d talked to a Cerulean trainer without getting into a fight, after all.

Well, I’d avoided an unsanctioned fight, for what it was worth.

---

My next two opponents were almost as bad as Ethan. Okay, ‘bad’ was a mean word, but they didn’t ignite the spark in my chest that battling rivals or stronger opponents did. I was able to keep Artis to his strategy of using almost only Aurora Beam, which did give him some solid practice with his fine control and aim. I tried not to be disrespectful to my opponents, but anytime he did end up getting hit by a stray shot I would draw out the match a bit to let him heal up with Aqua Ring so he would be good for my next match. It went unnoticed as far as I could tell.

After each match, I reenacted the actions that I’d given Ethan for each of my other opponents, pointing out what I thought their best action or move had been and thanking them for the battle. Neither of them reacted more positively than Ethan had, but it didn’t look like my words were going entirely unappreciated.

From what Casey had said earlier, I’d thought that it would be normal for trainers who had lost their matches to clear out, but that wasn’t the case today. More and more trainers seemed to find their way to my battlefields, often just to cheer on my opponents. The only observers who didn’t do that happened to be my three former opponents, which made me feel a bit better.

My fourth challenge set herself apart from the other three, not only by her more advanced techniques but also by the strength of her Pokemon.

“Cut him off, Toxic Spikes!” Reli Jones called, her reddish-brown hair flaring behind her. “Then Double Kick!”

Her Nidorina’s baby-blue spines glowed a bright purple color, exploding outward into tiny little spikes that covered large swaths of the battlefield and forced Artis to reroute his spinning. They oozed a sickly poison, and we both knew that it would spell disaster for Artis to roll over them. Nidorina's attack left an open corridor of mud between the two of them, leaving my Pokemon only one direction to keep moving, and she lifted her two front legs in obvious preparation for a Double Kick. Artis had to either stop and lose his momentum, roll off into the Toxic Spikes, or take a fighting type move to the face.

The crowd around us cheered at the play, yelling their support for Nidorina and Reli with gusto. I couldn’t blame them, it was really good positioning.

Taking inspiration from Misty’s Staryu, I let a grin cross my face as I had Artis make a fourth option. “AB the floor to the left! Make a ramp around!”

Artis bounced to the left of Nidorina, spraying his iridescent icy beam out in front of him. The resulting frost that coated the floor was just a bit thicker than the Toxic Spikes were tall, so it trapped them underneath a protective layer of slick ice. Artis twisted his neck forward at the apex of his jump, spraying his Aurora Beam into the air and sculpting a slab of ice off of the ground that curved back toward Nidorina.

Reli reacted quicker than I’d expected her to. “Kick the ground, Celeste!”

Celeste, her Nidorina, turned the move that she’d prepared toward the ground, slamming her two front legs into the hardpacked soil underneath her. The force propelled her up, and it was strong enough to get her two meters off of the ground, more than enough to avoid Artis’ rocketing form coming off of his ramp and blasting underneath her. It was a fantastic dodge, way better than what Ethan had been trying earlier.

Luckily, Artis was getting pretty good at dealing with enemies in the air. Without my intervention, Artis opened his jaw and blasted as strong of an Aurora Beam as I’ve seen come out of him so far at Celeste. The blue, green, purple, and pink energy all slammed into the Nidorina and carried her farther into the air. Icy frost coated her as she struggled, unable to force her way downward until enough ice had accumulated on her to weigh her down and gravity took over.

The crowd groaned as Celeste landed on the ground with a heavy thud. The Nidorina had fainted somewhere between the Aurora Beam and her impact, so Reli and I both recalled our Pokemon.

As I had with the others, I walked up to Reli after the battle. “That battle was awesome!” I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face. “Celeste was fantastic at maneuvering, that last dodge was incredible- and her field control was pretty great-”

My face fell when Reli glanced my way. I’d forgotten for a second what the crowd’s general opinion of me was. Reli’s gaze was scathing. She flipped her hair over one shoulder, walking to the edge of the battlefield where Casey was standing. She handed him her ticket and turned back to give me a pointed look.

I sighed internally, putting on a straight face. The crowd, or what was left of it after people had quickly gone to watch the only other battle that was still going, was watching me carefully and I was all too aware that I needed to stay cool.

I walked up to Casey and held out my punch ticket to him. He took it with an amused smirk and pulled out a silver hole-punch. After he marked my fourth win, he held it above his head. “Derek Tracy wins against Reli Jones!” Casey declared the results loudly across the field before lowering his voice and handing the ticket back to me. “You’re up against whoever wins that match over there,” he said with a wink.

I nodded but didn’t otherwise answer him. Instead, I turned to where Reli was still staring holes into me and bowed my head. “Thank you for the match,” I said. “It was the most enjoyable I’ve had all day. Your Celeste is really something.”

I didn’t look up to see how she reacted. Based on the fact that there had been no one cheering for me in the crowd, I knew who at least one of those two battlers was, and I was dying to see my friend battle.

Amy’s match was in full swing when I jogged up, and Pennywise was putting on a full display of his power. Vertical Barriers encased the entire battlefield, creating an airtight pink labyrinth that glowed with psychic energy. The panels shifted and moved like a living machine, drifting back and forth as Pennywise mimed with his little hands. The tiny psychic type was hovering in the center of it all, encased in a smaller version of his own Barriers. At first, I couldn’t tell what he was doing, but I quickly realized that the airtight nature of his shields was by design, as the movement of the vertical panels with the enclosed space trapped the air within, shifting and moving it in a familiar way. Through the pink glow, I could barely see the tiny purple particulates of a Poison Powder being trapped the same way he’d done it to Stun Spore within Mt. Moon.

With a flick of his wrist, Pennywise expelled the malignant powder into the air past the battlefield, careful to avoid any onlookers. It was an awe-inspiring display, once again proving that Pennywise’s control had never been the part of his battling strength in question.

I spared a thought for Gong, because Amy must have decided to use Pennywise to let them rest, and I felt a pang of regret that I hadn’t been able to see them battle. The little disk had been training hard lately, after all.

Amy’s opponent, a tall person with verdant green hair and a skin-tight white long-sleeve, swept their arm to the side. “Enough playing around, finish this!”

It was only now that I realized that I hadn’t yet seen the Pokemon fighting Pennywise. I looked battlefield, but I couldn’t see a single other Pokemon out there. The knee-high grass hadn’t been disturbed, and no Pokemon were flying in the sky above the arena.

Grass- I realized right as a large patch of it shifted in the corner of the battlefield, revealing a shape low to the ground. How the hell did they end up on grass?

All four of my battles had been on mud battlefields that had seen more than their fair share of wear and tear. This battlefield was pristine, a basically untouched piece of hill that the trainers using it would have had to have gone out of their way to find. I couldn’t think of a single reason for Amy to go through that effort, so the only answer could be that their opponent had chosen the battlefield.

Pennywise didn’t care about the state of the field at all. “Miiiime!” He shouted in concentration, pink patches of energy appearing across the ground on his battlefield. Chunks of dirt and small rocks were pulled from the ground by his Confusion attack, showing an incredible amount of control as he simultaneously guided over a dozen objects while only dropping a few of his Barriers. Observers crowded forward in appreciation of his technique as he maneuvered his weapons around his Barriers and slammed them all into the spot of grass that had shifted. The way that the debris tore through the plants and dirt looked like a shotgun, sending up a spray of even more debris that clattered against the Barriers.

I was stunned. I’d never seen that amount of power out of Pennywise, and I couldn’t help but look at Amy in amazement. They were too engrossed in their battle to notice me, but their features were tight with concentration and excitement. They looked like, well… they finally wore the same face that the rest of us wore when we battled. Amy was ready to take on the world.

I revoked the thought that I’d had at Mrs. Clara’s this morning. Amy was just as much of a battler as the rest of us.

There was a beat of anticipation as the dust cleared and everyone waited to see what had happened to the Pokemon hit by that. There was a murmur of surprise as the smoke revealed nothing other than a vague mound of dirt, dead grass, and loose purple hair that had been wrecked by Pennywise’s attack. It was startlingly similar to what I’d seen in Hana’s battle against Brock.

Amy and I recognized it as a Substitute at the same time, but they were the one battling. “Pennywise!” Their yell was uncharacteristic since they’d been trying to fight entirely by their pseudo-telepathy these days, but the worry that bled through their voice told me that they’d been shaken by the ruse. “Double panes, reinforce your defenses-”

“It’s too late for that!” Amy’s opponent yelled, a grin splitting across their face. “Venoshock!”

A bullet of purple energy shot through the air, originating at the opposite side of the field from where the Substitute had been. The attack was so concentrated and fast that I had trouble tracking it with my eyes. What I didn’t miss, though, was that it was incredibly accurate, passing between Pennywise’s Barriers in a gap that was millimeters wide, only opened because he’d focused his attention on the opposite side of the field. The shot struck him in the back, throwing him forward into his Barriers and leaving a noxious green fluid where it struck.

Across the field, a purple-haired bulb with tiny white antennae popped its head from the grass, revealing two focused red compound eyes. It zig-zagged through the tall meadow as quickly as it could, focused on getting another shot in.

Pennywise was not looking good. While didn’t look like he was ‘poisoned’, that glob of poison from the Venoshock had been devastating to him. As a fairy type, he was particularly vulnerable to poison, and the pale color he’d taken on showed that he was struggling. The Mime Jr. pushed himself to his feet, stumbling as he used a tiny Barrier to prop himself up. Amy didn’t yell another order at him, so I assume they were back to using their psychic link.

“Venonat, powder-shock cycle!” The opponent called, their green hair flaring as they swiped their hand. “He’s weak!”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the opponent’s words meant as Venonat’s purple hair exploded with purple dust, the Poison Powder instantly filling the Barrier-covered field. Pennywise threw his hands forward, attempting to recreate his previous feat, but he’d been weakened too much to pull it off in time. The purple powder drifted between his psychic shields and Pennywise doubled over, a wracking cough bringing him back to his knees. Purple veins appeared across his skin, originating from his throat, as he was poisoned.

Every pink Barrier on the field flickered for just a moment, and that was when Venonat struck again. Another concentrated bullet of poison blasted from Venonat’s mouth, shattering the weakened Barrier in front of Pennywise and striking him just under his chin. This time the green poison that Venoshock produced seemed to bond to Pennywise, sinking into the purple veins caused by his poisoning.

The little Mime Jr. didn’t stay up after that. The Barriers vanished and Pennywise dropped to the ground, having fainted.

The crowd erupted into cheers. It caught me off guard, given that all four of my battles had ended in either silence or scattered booing. I shouldn’t have been surprised, though. This had been an exciting battle between two trainers that didn’t have negative connotations associated with them, as far as I was aware.

I stepped up next to Amy as they returned Pennywise and I placed a hand on their shoulder. They looked a little downcast, but they had a satisfied look on their face as they whispered something to Pennywise’s Pokeball. Amy turned and gave me a grin.

“Alright, everybody!” Casey called from the opposite side of the field, raising the winner’s ticket above his head. “Elsie Hartley defeats Amy Turant! That leaves us with two trainers left!”

I frowned, feeling that the name was familiar. A memory presented itself of me and Daisy lying in the park in Pewter City. I pushed down the melancholy that the thought of my girlfriend brought and focused on what we’d been talking about. Neither of us had said it, but I’d seen the name-

The rankings! That’s where I’d seen their name, when Daisy had told me to look up her brother in the rookie rankings. At the time, Elsie Hartley had been listed in the top ten for the season. I wasn’t sure where they ranked now, but that alone meant they were an opponent at least in the same tier as Mick and Portia.

“Whoa,” I said to Amy under my breath, “you did a good job there, bean. Do you know what they’re ranked?”

Amy shook their head, but their smile grew a little wider. “No, but your Presence tells me it’s pretty high.”

“Number nine,” I said, patting them on the head. “Or at least they were the last time I checked. You and Pennywise gave an awesome showing.”

Amy’s eyes went wide. “Whoa,” they echoed my realization. The grin that took their face was comically large. “Derek, I think I might be ready for the Cerulean Gym.”

I nodded. “I think so too, bean.” I stepped up in front of them, noticing that people were clearing the field and Elsie was already heading back to their trainer’s box. “It’s my turn to give it a shot, though. Wish me luck.”

Amy shook their head twice. “You don’t need it!” They quickly skipped out of the trainer’s box, popping Gong’s Pokeball so the psychic disk could join them on the sidelines.

I turned down the pitch to look over my opponent. Elsie was around my height, maybe a few centimeters shorter, and their long verdant green hair fell loosely around their shoulders. Their white long sleeve was pretty tight, showing off Elsie’s lithe build. They were kneeling next to their Venonat, talking to the small Pokemon with a grin, very obviously proud of their win. Elsie’s eyes flicked over to me and our eyes made contact.

Instead of narrowing their gaze or glaring the way Reli had, Elsie gave me a wide smirk that lacked humor, instead relying on a sarcastic battle-readiness. They stood up and Venonat scampered onto the field. Elsie sent me a little wave that was less friendly and more predatory.

I waved back, though I kept my face accurate to how I was feeling, unlike my opponent. Even with the obvious malintent of my opponent, I couldn’t deny the competitiveness racing through my chest. Elsie had handily dispatched Amy right after I’d put them on my level, and their rank was the highest that I was aware of in any of my opponents so far.

Casey held his fingers to his lips and whistled to get the crowd’s attention. Even though many of the onlookers had lost their battles over an hour ago, almost the entire starting bracket had stuck around to watch the finals. My former opponents, including Ethan and Reli, were scattered among the crowd.

“Here we go, people!” Casey called out. “For the final battle of the day, we have Elsie Hartley,” he paused, giving the crowd of trainers enough time to cheer, “against Derek Tracy!”

There were a few scattered boos, which I had come to expect, and a single cheer from Amy and Gong. Surprisingly, there was far more silence than I’d thought there would be. I glanced at the crowd, and several trainers just looked uncomfortable or unsure. All of my former opponents were among them.

I smiled internally. Maybe my post-battle had done some good after all.

I tossed out Artis’ ball, letting the blubbery boy materialize onto the field. He flopped out, putting on his ‘battle face’ and letting out a fearsome growl. All things considered, he looked pretty good after four battles. Since we’d been healing during the three most recent ones, he only had a few wounds left over from his fight against Celeste. He’d used a lot of Aurora Beams today, though, and I could see him already huffing a bit. Physical wellness was great, but Pokemon couldn’t just keep using their abilities forever, they’d have to stop eventually.

Venonat’s insect form was a little too alien for me to tell if it was as tired as Artis was. Those big red compound eyes glistened like raspberry jam, and they were already carefully watching Artis; every move. Both Pokemon only barely stood taller than the grass surrounding them, and I did regret that I hadn’t had the opportunity to change battlefields as I remembered how easily Venonat had hidden among the grasses earlier.

This was not going to be a training battle like the others had been. Not with the opponent, not with this field. I made the conscious shift in my mind to pursue this as seriously as I would a gym battle. Artis was going to be doing more than shooting off Aurora Beams here.

“Three!” Casey counted us in. “Two! One! Begin!”

For once in my life, I snapped to my orders before my opponent could. “Artis, get close!” From what I’d seen, Venonat was deadly at a distance. I hoped that our speed and physical ability would be enough to take it out quickly.

Artis tucked his head down to Rollout, and-

He bellyflopped at the last moment, flattening the dirt in front of him. What the hell?

Elsie cackled and their laugh echoed from across the field. “Having a hard time there?”

Artis stood up easily enough, though he looked as baffled as I did. He made to Rollout again, Venonat clear in his sights, but he just couldn’t seem to find the right way to tuck his body and he flopped over again.

Venonat’s antennae glowed white and I realised what was happening. Venonat had done something to mess with Artis’ head. He wasn’t obviously Confused, nor did he seem to be having issues actually moving any part of his body. It was more like watching someone try to ride a bicycle for the first time, he was awkward and his weight didn’t flow naturally. He’d just forgotten how to use Rollout.

“Venonat, Poison Powder this guy. His Pokemon can’t even use his own moves,” Elsie jeered.

They were trying to get under my skin, but they weren’t wrong. Artis was a sitting duck without his ability to get around the field. His walking pace was slow at best and immobile at worst on land.

Calm down, I forced myself to start planning as a wave of purple powder began to emit from Venonat’s immobile form. How is this any different from my battle against Misty?

It wasn’t. Artis had trained for this just a few days before when he’d been forced to stay immobile on his glacier. We just needed to use some of those same strategies

“Artis! Build a wall! AB into waiting game!” I hoped that, while we couldn’t avoid the Poison Powder at this point, we could at least remove Venonat’s line of sight and do something to negate the poisoning.

It would at least buy us time to think.

Artis didn’t miss a beat; an iridescent beam of blues, greens, and pinks flew from his mouth, blasting the dirt in front of him and conjuring a wall of dirty white-brown ice that was almost twice his height. A thick purple cloud of noxious pollen slammed into it and flowed around it, covering Artis from head to tail. The air smelled acrid and metallic. He began to hack and cough as those same purple veins appeared around his throat, but a collar of lightly glowing blue water materialized around him and their progress slowed. For now, Aqua Ring would slow down the poison, but it wouldn’t last forever.

“Get around it!” Elsie called. “Venoshock on sight!”

I couldn’t see Venonat, but it couldn’t see Artis either. I had to make a judgment call based on what I thought Elsie would do. I remembered the patch of the field that Pennywise had laid bare earlier and guessed that it would stick to the grasses as much as possible.

“Powder Snow to your left!” It was a weaker move, but its cone shape was more likely to hit a Pokemon that we couldn’t see.

Venonat’s purple body hopped out of the grass to Artis’ left just in time to be blasted with a bright white cloud of snowflakes that frosted it and obscured its vision. I’d underestimated its abilities, though, as it managed to spit that same purple bullet of poison at Artis in the less than a second it had before being hit by Powder Snow.

Both Pokemon reeled from the hits that they had taken, but Artis groaned louder as Venoshock’s secondary ability took effect, binding to the poisons that were already in his system and dealing more damage to him. He flopped backward, keeping his ice wall between himself and his opponent. Venonat shook itself free of the Powder Snow and disappeared back into the grass.

“Wow, this was worth a challenge elevation from Brock?” Elsie asked loudly, pride evident on their face.

It was a struggle to keep my face even relatively impassive. I’d never had an opponent shit-talk me like this before in a battle. I wasn’t going to let it get to me, not with this crowd watching, not with all the work I’d done this week.

Artis wasn’t looking great, but he wasn’t out for the count. We needed a new strategy. Rollout was gone, at least for now, so we needed to play this smart.

“Ice wall, bud!” I called to him, ignoring Elsie’s comment. “Just like with Staryu!”

Artis groaned, but another Aurora Beam appeared in his mouth. Before he could get it off, though, Venonat appeared again on top of his initial wall.

“We’re not going to let you do that!” Elsie said with glee. “Venoshock!”

“Yes, you are!” The words ripped themselves from my mouth with a snarl. “Artis, point it up and force through!”

Venonat’s purple bullet blasted downward and I was once again baffled at that thing’s aim. Artis took the poison attack like a champ and exhaled all of the icy power he’d been building directly up at his opponent. Since he’d already had it ready, it made solid contact. The prismatic beam crashed into Venonat, sending it reeling back over the wall with a new addition of an ice chunk melding into its hair.

Artis finished his move hacking and coughing. He wasn’t doing great, not after two direct hits and the consistent damage from the poison, even if Aqua Ring was doing its best to slow it down.

“Rest, bud! While you can!” It was a bit of a gamble here, especially because I wasn’t sure what Elsie’s next play would be, nor did I know how hurt Venonat was.

Artis’ eyes flashed a familiar pink and he slumped to the ground with a grateful groan. The green patches of poison had progressed down his back and flippers, extending the purple lines the Poison Powder had infected him with. This slowly began to fade as the Rest took effect.

I paused for a moment, waiting for Elsie’s next order. We had our secret weapon Snore in our back pocket, so I was ready to use it if Venonat tried to attack us again. Elsie flashed me an amused smile and I felt my frown intensify. They were up to something.

I was nervous and I was struggling to take control of this fight. This opponent wasn’t like any I’d had before. I was sweating and it was so damn hot out here-

My eyes snapped to the air above the battlefield. It was still the middle of the day, so I hadn’t noticed when the sunlight around the battlefield had intensified because a second, tinier sun had appeared. It glowed at about half the brightness as the real thing and it was only about as large as a football.

Sunny Day, I groaned mentally. If I wasn’t already limited on options, I was now. The field-altering move could increase the power of fire type attacks and lower the effectiveness of water type attacks. It also had some weird interactions with a handful of moves and abilities, and I had no idea why Elsie was using it since I wasn’t at all familiar with Venonat as a Pokemon.

“Finally noticed, huh?” Elsie said smugly, tossing their green hair over their shoulder. They weren’t immune to the heat either. “You’re not the only one who gets to take breaks, Tracy.”

That clued me into at least the basics of Elsie’s strategy, and I groaned again. How in the hell did I manage to find two separate trainers with healing moves in three days? They’re supposed to be rare!

Whatever move Venonat was using the sun for, it was healing it. Elsie had no reason to push Artis, since they were going to get a full reset as well. It was the exact reversal of my fight against Misty. Since Venonat was off healing, it definitely wasn’t in range for Snore, so I couldn’t do much as both of our Pokemon healed up.

What options did I have? Water Gun and Brine were both out because Sunny Day made them unreasonably weak, Aqua Ring was already in use and just barely holding back Venonat’s poison, and Rollout was straight up gone. Since Artis hadn’t switched to Ice Ball on his second attempt, I figured that whatever Venonat had done was affecting it, too. That left Aurora Beam, Powder Snow, Iron Tail, and not much else in our arsenal.

We didn’t have a lot of options here.

I glanced back across the way to Elsie and their smug look fueled a fire in my stomach. I needed to find something, anything, that would turn the tide. I searched the field for options. Venonat was going to reappear any second now, fully healed and ready to go, and I couldn’t guarantee a hit on them, not with the tall grasses and their access to Substitute.

My eyes caught on a member of the audience. Reli, the girl I’d battled last, and her tactics came to mind. Only a meter to her right was Amy, and something in my brain connected the two of them.

Artis’ snoring grumbles ceased, and the battle shifted back on.

“Artis, Iron Tail your wall!” I yelled, hoping he’d pull it off like I was imagining. “Spray it as far and as hard as you can!”

Artis’ groggy form burst into action, using his sudden abundance of energy to his benefit. Barring the poison, he was probably feeling better now than he had at the start of the fight. His tail glowed a silvery color before slamming into his ice wall with as much force as he could put behind it. Given that he weighed a tenth of a ton and his tail was as hard as steel, it was a lot of force.

The ice cracked and blasted forward like a claymore, tiny ice crystals slicing through the air at unreal speeds. It scattered in all directions away from Artis, obliterating the knee-high vegetation on Elsie’s side of the field and opening up my vision to her side of the field. Those chunks of ice were jagged and sharp, and they covered the field like glittering jewels.

Venonat’s form appeared in the center of the clearing, squeaking as it was struck with dozens of tiny ice crystals. They bounced off having not done too much damage, but that wasn’t our goal.

I’d made a mistake by blocking off our vision with the wall. Venonat might have been a sniper of a Pokemon, but blow-for-blow Artis could take and deal more damage than it could, he just wasn’t as accurate. It was better to not only be able to see Venonat but to force it to be exactly where I wanted it to be.

The call had worked almost exactly how I wanted it to, removing Venonat’s hiding places the same way Pennywise had with his Confusion shotgun, and leaving a massive swath of the field hard to walk on, the same way Reli’s Nidorina had with Toxic Spikes.

“Tsk,” Elsie’s jibes were notably absent. “Venonat, get to the other side of the field! Substitute and hide again!”

“Keep it over there, Artis!” I wasn’t going to let them go back into hiding. “Wall it off!”

Our Pokemon leaped to action. Venonat’s run was clumsy and slow as it tripped over the chunks of ice we’d spread. Its hair grew and drifted as it ran forward, grabbing clods of dirt and attaching patches of its hair to it. At a glance, Venonat had made a convincing dummy of itself, but now there was nowhere to make the bait and switch happen. It threw the dummy one way and sprinted the other, trying to get around my boy, but he had a grudge to hold and was locked in.

Artis blasted his Aurora Beam between Venonat and the wall of grass on our side of the field. The resulting wall was only barely shorter than the one that we’d initially made, and it was enough. Venonat skidded to a stop before it slammed into the wall, but we’d successfully trapped it.

“Get out of there!”

“Get it!”

Elsie and I yelled our orders at the same time, and it was my turn to be the smug one. Artis reared his head back and opted to repeat what we’d done earlier. Venonat had nowhere to go as a cone of Powder Snow barreled toward it. Our move connected at full power, coating the entire far side of the battlefield in white.

Though that move wasn’t strong enough to knock out Venonat in a single hit, I couldn’t help but grin as luck finally came through on our side. When the snow cleared, Venonat’s form was completely immobile and encased in ice, a potential side-effect of Powder Snow that we’d never successfully done before.

“Shit!”

“Hell yeah!”

Once again, Elsie and I yelled in sync with one another. I had the perfect opportunity here to win this match with a swift Iron Tail. Artis was rearing and ready to go, joy evident in his face as he barked at Venonat’s frozen form.

Instead of going for the knockout, I forced myself to take a breath. The tension from the fight bled out of me.

Forcing a neutral expression onto my face, I gave Elsie a look and our eyes met. I was giving them an opportunity here, doing what a respectful opponent would do. There was never any need for a Pokemon to suffer more than it needed to.

Elsie’s eyes narrowed. They understood what I was trying to get across, and they looked to their Pokemon, then to Artis, then back to me. I could tell that they were genuinely struggling with what their choice should be.

A beat passed.

“Fine,” Elsie sighed, pulling out their Pokeball. “Venonat, return. I forfeit.”

The crowd went silent.

The only noises to be heard were the rolling ocean waves in the distance, the gentle motion of the breeze, and the sound of Elsie’s Pokeball admitting their defeat.

“Woooooooooot!” Amy yelled, startling the trainers around them. “Yay, Derek!” Gong vibrated with the same energy, ecstatic that I’d won.

A murmur passed through the crowd and a few scattered boos echoed just as they had at the start of the match, but there was also a sound I hadn’t been expecting: clapping. It was slow, unsure, few, and far between, but there was no mistaking the motion that all four of my former opponents were making, joined by both Amy and Casey.

Speaking of, our organizer and amateur referee stepped onto the battlefield. “That’s a wrap, everybody!” He spoke loudly for everyone to hear. “Derek Tracy is our winner for today’s Nugget Bridge challenge! If you’re feeling unsatisfied with today’s performance, we’ll be running it back tomorrow at noon!”

Most of the crowd scattered immediately, especially those who were vocally upset by the ending of the battle. Before they left, though, Reli caught my eye. She glanced at the battlefield, eyeing the shards of ice that I’d left everywhere, and gave me a little nod. She walked away before I could grin back, but that didn’t stop the smile from splitting my face.

Amy slammed into my side, giving me a huge hug. “You did it, Derek! That’s so exciting!”

I chuckled. “I know, right? I was on the back foot for most of that fight, I really didn’t think I was going to win.”

“Well, you did,” Casey said, pulling two objects from his pocket. “Ticket, please?”

I handed it over and Casey clipped the final slot on my punch ticket, showing that I had won five battles in a row. “This and this,” Casey emphasized, sliding my ticket and the other object he’d pulled from his pocket into my hand. “Are both for your win. Feel free to post photos of the ticket on socials, because it’s kind of a big deal for a first-time challenger to win, and go ahead and sell the nugget if you want to. It’s not good for much else.”

My prize was a tiny sphere of gold, maybe half as large as my thumbnail. It glittered in the sun and was incredibly heavy for its size. I sucked in a breath as I thought about how much it was worth. These tiny prizes were standard fair as tournament winnings, as they were regulated and held a price. This was worth five thousand Poke, more money than I’d had to my name in the Viridian Forest.

“Actually, Derek-” Casey started, but my jolt of remembrance stopped him.

“Sorry, Casey,” I apologize, looking around the battlefield. “Give me just a second!”

I turned and found who I was looking for. Taking big steps, I made my way over to Elsie. They hadn’t left their trainer’s box yet, but they had stowed Venonat’s Pokeball and looked like they were contemplating leaving.

“Elsie,” I called softly, trying not to spook them. They glanced my way with a dry stare. Now that I was closer, I could see that their eyes matched their hair and were the same sort of verdant green.

They sighed. “What do want, Tracy?”

“Well,” I scratched the back of my head. This was harder than it had been with my other opponents. “I just wanted to say thank you?”

Elsie’s dry stare incorporated a look of disbelief. “The fuck did you want to do that for?”

I sputtered out a laugh at their tone. I don’t think I would’ve gotten more shock if I’d said that I was a Ditto in disguise. “That battle was awesome,” I admitted. “Probably the most challenging one I’ve had since Brock.”

Their green eyebrows furrowed as they looked me up and down distrustfully. “But…?”

I shook my head. “No ‘buts’, I just wanted to say thank you and ask if you wanted to split the winnings? I got really lucky in that battle and it could have gone either way, so I figured you kind of earned it too.”

Elsie’s eyebrows rose enough that I was afraid they’d escape their forehead. The disdain that had marked their face since the end of the battle didn’t fully disappear, but it took a backseat to the distrust and disbelief that I’d inspired in them. When I opened my palm and showed off the nugget, their face turned contemplative.

Elsie stared at me for a long moment.

Eventually, the edges of their mouth upturned back into the smug grin they’d worn for most of the battle. “I acted like an ass that whole time,” Elsie said.

“You did,” I confirmed.

“And now you want to share your winnings with me?”

“Uh-huh.”

The staring resumed, but this time it was more amused than anything else. Elsie inspected me for any sign of betrayal or trickery for several seconds, but I knew they wouldn’t find anything.

I was being honest here. Part of this, of learning how to mend the bridges I’d already burnt in Kanto, was trying to live with the fact that Kantoans were a wild and ruthless bunch. I didn’t have to like it, but it wouldn’t kill me to recognize that they were going to take any edge that they could get in a fight. Elsie obviously had talent in taunting their opponents, so for them, it was a valid strategy.

I was taken aback when Elsie started laughing. “Ha! That’s pretty good,” they chuckled “Nah, Tracy, I don’t need your pity gifts.”

I frowned. “It wasn’t because of pity-”

“Doesn’t matter,” they shrugged with a grin. “That’s what I’d feel like it was, so I’m good. I appreciate the sentiment, though.”

I went to argue but closed my mouth. Instead, I nodded and turned to walk away.

“Hey, Tracy,” Elsie’s outstretched hand stopped me. “Good battle.”

Oh, holy shit.

I hadn’t been expecting that positive of an outcome. I numbly reached out and shook Elsie’s hand. “Yeah,” I said. “Can’t wait for the next one.”

“Me neither,” Elsie said, turning their back after a second. “Don’t hesitate to reach out if you end up in the same city as me again. I’ll have to kick your ass next time.”

Without another word, Elsie walked away.

Amy stepped up next to me, putting their head on my arm. “That was nice of you,” they said.

I shrugged. “It felt like the right thing to do.” I glanced down at them. “You tired, bean?”

“I’m exhausted,” they whined. “I want to heal Pennywise, eat, nap, and eat again. In that order.”

“Well,” I gave them a wide grin and held up the nugget. “Dinner’s on me tonight.”

Amy pumped their fist into the air, instantly recovering all of their energy. “We’re ordering dessert!”

“I’ll spring for a piece of cake,” I promised them. “I already have some sweets picked out for Wisp, anyway.”

“Oh, uh,” Amy glanced around, only just now realizing that Wisp was in her ball. “Good call on keeping her put away. She would not have stood for the Tauros-shit they were slinging at you.”

“Nope.” I popped the word with my mouth, only distantly thinking about how Wisp had reacted to the guy in the Pewter City park.

Amy and I started walking off when I heard a voice behind us.

“Yo! Tracy!” I glanced back, seeing Casey casually strolling up to us. He’d tossed a black coat on and had the foldable table he’d been using earlier under one arm. “I didn’t finish talking to you after that match!”

“Oh, shoot! Sorry, man. What’s up?” I felt a pang of guilt realizing that I’d totally forgotten about him in less than five minutes. To be honest, I hadn’t enjoyed the way he’d been looking at me like a piece of entertainment all day, so I wasn’t exactly positively inclined toward him.

“It’s all good,” he said smoothly. “I just don’t often see trainers putting up with the amount of crap that you dealt with today. What’s up with that?”

“Uh,” I was a little taken aback. I wasn’t used to that. “That’s kind of a long story.”

I glanced to my side to see Amy urgently squeezing my hand. They’d grabbed the one on the opposite side of Casey, just out of his eyeline.

My levels of mistrust in this man rose drastically. Amy must’ve seen something that they didn’t like in this guy. Whether he was lying about knowing what was up with me or something else, it couldn’t be good.

“That’s totally fine, we don’t have to get into it.” Casey didn’t miss a beat and I genuinely couldn’t read any issues on his face. “I just figured that has to be super frustrating, ya know? To have to deal with that kind of crap.”

“Yeah… …super frustrating,” I echoed.

Something in my gut didn’t feel right, but not because of Amy’s distress. The line of questioning that Casey was going down felt oddly familiar, and I couldn’t help but think about a warning my dad had given me about avoiding the bad sides of the internet when I was a kid.

“Well, you definitely showed them today. I honestly think you have a lot of talent, so if you applied yourself right, you could probably avoid getting treated like that again. Heck, I doubt anybody would talk shit to you if you learned the right way of training.”

My morbid curiosity and sneaking suspicions forced me to nod along, listening intently. I was not nearly interested in Casey’s ‘solution’, but I did want to know what he was going to say, because I fear that I already knew what it was.

“Have you ever heard of Team Rocket?”

Notes:

A/N: Hi hi! Thank you all for reading! I hope you guys had a good time with all the battles! I wasn't sure about doing so many in a single chapter, especially with the gym coming up, but I've been wanting to get better at writing them and I figured that the only way to do that was to write more of them.

Also, for anyone who is curious, this Venonat had the Compound Eyes ability, which increases its accuracy, and the two mystery moves it used were Disable and Morning Sun. Since I'd linked the fact that Artis heavily relied on his mindset of using Rollout to form his Ice Ball, I played around with the ability to shut off that specific motion in his brian, even though that's a bit outside of the scope of what Disable can normally do. It was a fun little bit of a writing challenge to write, thank you badboysbreadbridge and Tempera for the character inspo!

Next Chapter: Tuesday, May 21st.

Chapter 36: To The Test

“Have you ever heard of Team Rocket?”

It took every ounce of restraint in my body to not react to Casey’s question with immediate revulsion and violence. Even though I’d had an inkling that the conversation was being steered this way, it was very different to hear someone causally bring up a terrorist group like he was talking about a sports team.

Instead of ripping Wisp’s ball off of my waist, I clenched my fist behind my back. It was the only outlet I had that Casey couldn’t see.

Fuck. I didn’t know what to do.

There were a couple of ways to play this, and the longer I took to decide the more I was likely to put this guy on edge. My eyes flicked to his belt. He had two Pokeballs, though he hadn’t reached for either. He was giving me an expectant grin, though it did have an edge of worry to it.

Images flashed across my vision. Aestus kicking an old man, Proton’s Toxtricity destroying the museum, square holes cut into Clefairy’s nest-

A hand clenched down on my elbow. I almost whipped around, but logic kicked in before I did. Amy was clutching my arm. My memories of Team Rocket were replaced with a list that I’d spent an entire night working on, and a week of progress that I’d been making in keeping to it.

I stepped in front of Amy, almost fully obscuring Casey’s view of them, and tried to put on a kind face. “I mean, I have, but-” I gave my best apologetic shrug. “Only bad things. They’re that gang, right?”

In my split second of decision-making, I’d chosen to go the civil and dumb route. If I could keep this guy focused on me, either I could talk him into backing off or Amy could text someone for help. It was a decision made off a few different gut instinct things that I knew:

One, I needed to get Amy and myself out of here without setting this guy off. If he was trying to recruit us for Team Rocket and he got mad, there wasn’t a lot we could do. Three of our Pokemon had already battled a bunch today, two of them still actively poisoned, and I wasn’t sure if Wisp would be able to handle whatever was in Casey’s two Pokeballs on her own.

Two, I now knew that there was no way that Casey had connected me to the Pewter Museum. I don’t know what rock he’d been living under, but if he knew what my experience with them had been, he’d know not to bring them up around me. That gave me a lot of leeway to keep this civil.

Three, he was reaching out to me purely because of how the other trainers had treated me during the Nugget Bridge. Sure, I’d won, but he’d been interested in me the moment that the crowd had noticed me. That meant that he assumed that my frustrations would make me more likely to hear him out, which it was probably best that I didn’t correct him.

Casey shook his head. “Nah, that’s just what the Kanto government wants you to hear about them,” he said dismissively. Casey leaned in like he was sharing the world’s biggest secret with me. “Team Rocket isn’t actually that bad. They just want to put everyone on the same playing field, literally. They focus on distributing Pokemon to their members based on their merits, instead of all the privileged assholes who end up getting rare Pokemon from one sponsor or another.”

I hid the vehement grimace that threatened to endanger me. Not only did that not address where Team Rocket stole their rare Pokemon from, but this guy didn’t know that I was one of those ‘privileged assholes’.

“Oh, really?” A small part of my soul died as I stalled for time. I specifically hadn’t looked back at Amy, mostly because I wanted Casey to forget that they were there, but that also meant that I didn’t know what they were doing. “That’s actually pretty sensible. So they focus on making trainers strong, then?”

If Casey caught that I was laying it on thick, he didn’t let it show. Instead, his worry morphed into a self-satisfied grin. “Yes, exactly! It’s an organization that focuses on training trainers up and giving them the tools they need! The only reason people have been giving them bad press is because they either just don’t get how training is supposed to work, or they're too scared of letting any group get stronger than our weak and biased government. The Indigo League doesn’t want people to know that there’s an alternative. I mean, you’ve seen how stubborn Kanto trainers are when it comes to anything that threatens them.”

The blow to my self-worth from pretending to agree with a terrorist was nothing compared to the hollow feeling of resonating with that same terrorist’s words. The culture of Kanto was stubborn to its core, and though I hadn’t had almost any dealings with the League itself, the local trainers weren’t the best example of acceptance.

But what about the change you saw today? I reminded myself. What about your friends, Daisy, Brock, or Professor Oak?

You had to be a pretty narrow-minded person to paint an entire region with a single brush, and I’d already seen that Kanto wasn’t a monolith. These were just the talking points of a terrorist group, not words that I should take to heart.

It was hard not to think about how much I’d struggled with Kanto’s attitude toward privilege, but I pushed those thoughts aside.

“Man, that does make sense,” I lied. “It’s exhausting trying to deal with people being so arrogant all the time, and the Indigo Conference isn’t really a bastion of fairness and acceptance.”

“Exactly!” Casey’s grin got even wider. “You get it! I figured you would, but it’s nice to hear someone so like-minded these days.”

“Well,” I shrugged, “it’s not like I can’t see exactly where you’re coming from. Aren’t most of the top ten rookies this season sponsored by some big company or research lab?”

I pulled that little tidbit of information from the conversations I’d had with Daisy and Hana before Mt. Moon. Of the top ten, three of them were sponsored by Oak Lab, and another five of them had at least one big-name sponsor each. Portia, for example, I remembered being sponsored by her family business, Miracle Cycle, here in Cerulean City. Elsie had been one of the few that I couldn’t recall having a corporate sponsorship.

“Yeah, and none of ‘em deserve it,” Casey spat. His face took on a look of disgust for a moment. “They’re elitists, the lot of them. Honestly, those Pokemon should be taken and given to trainers who deserve them.”

I let out a long breath. It was really, really, hard to ignore just how open Casey was being with his Zubat-shit-crazy ideas. From the grin that returned to his face, though, he took my silence as a form of agreement.

“You know,” he dropped his volume to a low tone and glanced around suspiciously. The closest trainer had long since walked away, as much as I wished we weren’t alone. “If you’re that interested, I’m sure I could hook you up with a good recommendation?”

I froze. I don’t know why I did, but we were passing my threshold on being able to play this straight.

Memories and emotions I’d been able to keep down from Amy’s intervention rushed back to the surface. A Rocket grunt striking Daisy in the face, Proton and his men walking through the museum entrance, my hearing being ripped away by Toxtricity.

My hand fell to Wisp’s ball.

“Hey, Derek! Amy!” A voice echoed across the field, causing myself and Casey alike to snap to attention. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Are you guys ready for dinner?”

Jogging from the direction of Nugget Bridge was our savior, Hana. She’d pulled her hair back in a ponytail and was wearing a green tracksuit. Even if she was acting nonchalant, I could tell that she was huffing and out of breath. She’d run here.

Amy’s hand squeezed mine. I squeezed back, knowing they could feel my thanks.

“Yeah, we were just heading back!” Amy called, trying for jovial but the tremor in their voice gave them away, at least to me. “Derek was just chatting with a friend.”

“Oh, nice,” Hana said, walking up to my side opposite Amy. We made a united little front with our backs to Cerulean City.

“Yeah, we were just wrapping up.” I turned back to Casey, though I’d never let him leave my line of sight. “Anyway, thanks for the talk, dude.”

Casey’s eyes were trained on Hana and I could feel his frustration at being interrupted. His gaze fell to her waist and I had to physically stop myself from smiling when he turned a few shades paler. Hana had adjusted her Pokeball belt to be visible at a glance, and she had six balls attached to it.

His jaw tightened, but Casey kept up his grin as he turned back to me. “Yeah, man. If you ever want to take me up on that offer, ask around. I run the challenge here some days, but I’m also around town.”

“Sure thing.” I wasn’t going to do that. The only time I would be saying this guy’s name again is when I told it to the police. “You have a good night,” in hell, I silently added.

Hana, Amy, and I took off back to Cerulean. We didn’t talk or stop glancing behind us until Casey’s dark figure had been out of sight for a long time. As we got closer to town, we let out a collective breath.

“That was so scary!” Amy was the first person to let out a whine, tears forming in the corner of their eyes. “Holy crap, I didn’t know what to do!”

Hana took Amy’s head into her arms, pulling them into a hug. “You did the right thing,” she assured them. She turned her lime green eyes to me and gave me a nod. “You both did.”

“It was all I could think of,” I admitted. “Keep him talking ‘till help came. It was Amy who did the most important bit: getting you.” I reached for the Nav on my waist, but I had trouble grasping it. My hands were still shaking. “Nice touch, by the way. The belt.”

Hana nodded absentmindedly, staring back down the trail. “I figured that it would help if they thought they were outnumbered. What do we do now?”

I clenched my fists. I concentrated on my breathing and closed my eyes. It was a few seconds before my heart stopped pounding and I could hold the Nav straight. I clicked through it looking for a name that I’d put into it after the museum.

“I need to make a phone call,” I answered her.

---

“-and you said his name was ‘Casey’? You didn’t catch a last name?” Ace Trainer Karen’s voice came over the speakerphone function of the Nav.

“No, I didn’t.” I glanced at Amy, who was curled on the couch next to me, meekly chewing on a spring roll. “Did you, Ames?”

“Mm-mm,” they shook their head. “He only introduced himself once, and he only ever said his first name. I didn’t sense a lie, though, when he said it.”

When I’d suggested calling Karen, Hana had steered us back to the Pokemon Center rather than staying out in the open. Amy and I had turned over our Pokemon to Nurse Joy for healing and we’d commandeered an isolated corner with a pair of couches that faced each other and a small table. Hana had then called Yuji and let him know what had happened. He’d arrived fifteen minutes later clutching a bag of food and covered in sweat, having sprinted all the way here.

“And your psychic powers are reliable enough for that?” Karen’s voice wasn’t judging, just confirming a fact.

Amy nodded before remembering that Karen couldn’t see them. “Um, yes. I mean, unless someone is concentrating on lying to just me, I can pretty much tell. So, his name at least has Casey in it.”

“And he has two Pokemon,” I added. “Two on his belt, though I don’t know if he had more stored somewhere else. I also highly doubt he acquired them legally.”

“Okay,” there was a pause and the sound of typing. “I have your report filed and I’ve sent it to the local police department, they should look into it right away. For now, you should avoid traveling that way again, and stick to Pokemon Centers and Gyms. I’ll let you know if they make any arrests.”

We let out a collective sigh of relief. Amy collapsed backward into the sofa cushions and Yuji grunted in approval.

“I appreciate this so much, Karen,” I said. “I know that this isn’t normally what you do, but-”

“This was the right call,” she interrupted me. “I doubt you know this, but I’m one of two leads on the Team Rocket investigation right now. You’ve just skipped a chain of communication that would’ve ended with me anyway.”

“…oh,” was all that came out of my mouth. I suddenly felt a lot more self-conscious. I’d only ever thought of Karen as another Ace Trainer but if she was leading the Rocket investigation, I was dealing with someone a lot more important than I’d realized, somebody closer to my dad's level.

Hana and Yuji shot me similar looks. It was clear on all of our faces that none of us had quite realized Karen’s rank.

“Now that we’ve got this lead, I’ll make sure it gets followed,” she promised. “Honestly, you’d be surprised how few reports there have been about Rocket recruiters. They know their stuff, so they’re normally not as brazen as this.”

“Yeah, I guess I was… kind of a special circumstance,” I grimaced, thinking back to the crowd’s reaction when I’d walked up. “Since he didn’t seem to connect me to the museum, I must’ve looked like the perfect recruit.”

“Unhappy and strong,” Karen agreed. “That’s their M.O., they find trainers who show promise and push them to get stronger in less than legal ways, often to get back at people who’ve wronged them.”

There was a small pause in the conversation. I didn’t know how to respond to that, and the sinking feeling in my chest hadn’t really left from my conversation with Casey. Even seeing things slightly from his point of view had shaken me.

“Actually,” Karen’s voice was hesitant. “Would you mind if we had a word in private?”

I frowned, meeting my eyes with Yuji. His expression mirrored my own. “Um, I’m not going to up and join Team Rocket-”

“That’s not what this is about.” Ace Trainer Karen sighed over the line. “I saw you after the museum, kiddo. Nobody who walks out of that is going to drink the punch.”

I cleared my throat. “Uh,” I wasn't sure how to respond to that. She wasn't wrong. “I guess, then, sure.”

I picked up the Nav and switched off the speaker, going to leave the room, when a hand landed on my shoulder. Yuji had stopped me. His eyes were worried, and his black and white hair was just disheveled enough to make him look a little manic.

‘Do you want company?’ He mouthed.

The corners of my mouth upturned. Even with all of the weird stuff that had been going on with us, he had my back one hundred percent. Mrs. Clara had been right, like always.

I smiled and shook my head softly, patting his hand. ‘I'm okay,’ I mouthed back.

Yuji looked unsure, but he let me go.

I found a spot a ways away from everyone else and sat down. “Okay, I'm alone. What's up?”

“I've been meaning to check in on you for a while,” said Karen, “but I just hadn't found the time yet. How would you say you're doing right now?”

I paused, genuinely taking her words at face value. “Not as bad as I was doing after the museum,” I finally said. “I've been working with a therapist lately, and we've mostly been going over that stuff.”

“That's good.” Karen’s voice was stilted and I got the feeling she didn't do small talk very often. “Just, given the report that came in after Mt. Moon, I wanted to make sure.”

Ah, that was it. Karen had said she was the lead on the Team Rocket case, so our report would have gone straight to her. “Yeah, that was rough,” I admitted. “But it’s been okay since then.”

“That’s good,” she repeated.

There was a long pause in the conversation. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to keep going, but Karen started speaking again right as I opened my mouth. “Listen, Derek, I’m not sure if this is going to help where you’re at right now, but I feel like there’s something to be said about your current situation.”

When I didn’t immediately reply, she elaborated. “Kanto is going through a hard time right now with this stuff with the Rockets, obviously, and I’m worried that you might be in danger.”

My throat tightened. “Wha- What? Like, from the Rockets or-”

“Not necessarily them, exactly, but you do seem to be a magnet for criminal activity. Your name showing up in three of my reports in less than a month is going to put you in somebody’s crosshairs eventually. But no, I’m more worried about the low-level thugs than anything else.” Karen paused and I heard the tapping of her nails on a screen. “You’re not a ranking rookie, not yet anyway, but you’ve made a name for yourself already and you’ve just accepted a big sponsorship from the Oak Lab. That doesn’t go unnoticed. You do know about his normal three-trainer limit, right?”

“Yeah.” My voice was hoarse. “My- um, somebody told me about it.”

I had a feeling about what point Karen was getting at and I didn’t want to think about Daisy right now. Professor Oak normally only sponsored three rookies each year, and he’d been pretty strict about it for a long time. He’d mentioned it offhand in our first conversation, but I’d been too busy turning him down to notice.

“Well, the old man bent his rule for you, someone who has a lot of resentment built up among the public and isn’t afraid to be known as an outsider. Even if the Rockets themselves don’t go after you, you’re marking a lot of boxes for their recruits who are looking for ways to prove themselves. You’re turning into the kind of guy that’s an easy target to make an example of. I saw that you have a gym battle in two days? That’s going to put you in the limelight again when you win.”

I rested my forehead against my temple, frustration pulsing through me again. If I’d just laid low, or if I’d just not acted like an ass hat-

“You’re right,” I felt helpless. “This is going to keep being a problem. How do I stop it?”

“That depends. Best I can see it, there are two ways that you can stay off the Rocket’s radar other than me assigning a permanent Ace to keep an eye on you and your friends. The first one is that you can stay out of sight as much as possible. Avoid sticking out and avoid strangers. Be as unassuming as possible. If you want, I could even make a request with a few of the Gym Leaders to let you do your gym battles in private-”

“No.” The rejection was out of my mouth before my brain could catch up to my words. If this week had been a tiny glimpse of doing that for my entire season, I wasn’t going to do that to myself. I’d rather fly home right now than keep avoiding everyone. “That’s not going to work. What’s the other option?”

Karen chuckled over the line. “That’s why you’re going to be okay, kid. It’s also why I think the other route is going to work better for you. These low-level guys, they want to get stronger because they’re weak. It sounds pretty simple, but it’s the truth. If you really want them not to mess with you, get ranked. If you can get yourself up to the top, you won’t look like an easy target anymore. You’re a rookie, so you’re not going to get strong enough to fight an Executive or anything anytime soon, but you won’t have to worry about the Caseys of the world anymore.”

Once again, Karen was right on the money. My memory flashed back to Casey’s face when he’d thought that Hana was packing an entire team. Just that had been enough to ward him away. The grunts that I’d fought at the museum wouldn’t be easy to fight, but I was sure that Artis, Wisp, and I could beat them now.

“Okay, I need to get stronger, then. I can do that.”

“It’s not going to be easy, but I think you can pull it off,” Karen agreed. “Not a lot of people do what you and your girlfriend did at the museum. It takes a special kind of grit to act out that way.”

I gave her a dry chuckle. “Thanks, but I’ve been actively trying to avoid risking my life lately. My friends think it’s bad for my health.”

“Everything in moderation. As long as you stick to the approved routes for your badge level, you should be okay.”

My shoulders rolled at the jab and I laughed a bit more. I wouldn’t be ending up off route again, even if Mt. Moon hadn’t been on purpose.

“And here’s a suggestion: If you don’t think you can sweep another gym right now, find somewhere to train up for a few weeks. You’re right next to Rock Tunnel, right? That’s not a bad place to visit if you want to lay low ‘till you’re strong enough. It doesn’t get a huge amount of visitors this early in the season and it doesn’t go as deep as Mt. Moon.”

As she talked, I pulled out my map. If I traveled east from Cerulean, I would hit Rock Tunnel. It would then take me south to-

“Oh, shit, I forgot about that.”

“Hmm?”

“Lavender Town. A friend of mine offered to pull some strings to let me train with some of the ghost specialists there.”

Karen went silent for a moment. When she resumed speaking her voice was several tones lower and almost traumatized. “I don’t know who this friend of yours is, kid, but the ladies there are no joke.” I could hear Karen shiver. “If you’re seeking them out, make sure you know what you’re doing. That little ghost of yours would grow pretty quick there, though.”

I stared at the map, slowly taking in the route we’d just laid out. The Nav told me that it would take about a week and a half to get from Cerulean to Lavender, assuming I went through Rock Tunnel. It would be another four days of travel between Lavender and Saffron, which is where I’d been hoping to meet up with Daisy when she got back from her expedition. She’d left for that on the twenty-first of April…

I started counting the days on my fingers.

Assuming that I won my battle against the Cerulean Gym, I’d leave here a day or two later, depending on how hurt my Pokemon got. With two weeks of travel accounted for, that only left me five or six days to train at the Pokemon Tower.

My stomach sank. That wasn’t a meaningful amount of time to train Wisp up, especially when she was going to be my lynchpin in Saffron City. Its gym was full of psychic specialists, so Wisp was going to be invaluable there as a ghost type. If I went this route, I probably wasn’t going to meet up with Daisy when I wanted to, and then there were my friends to consider. I didn’t want them to be dragged along with me.

“Thanks for the advice, Karen,” I finally said. “I’ll make sure I let you know when I make my decisions.”

“Make sure you do,” the Ace Trainer said quietly, having let me introspect during the call. “You’re a good kid, Derek. I just want to make sure you stay safe.”

“You, me, and everyone else,” I agreed.

---

When I finally came back to the table, the others had gathered what was left of the takeout in my empty spot and were a little too fast to quiet down when I approached.

Yuji was the first to welcome me back. “How did it go?” His gaze was still worried, but given that I didn’t seem too affected by my call he calmed considerably.

“Well, Karen just- um, she wanted to make sure I was staying safe, given everything.” I wasn’t sure how to start this conversation with my friends. “She gave me some pointers on avoiding the Rockets.”

Hana nodded. “That makes sense. I’m sure that you’re sticking out for a variety of reasons, so she’d want to make sure that you weren’t putting yourself in undue danger.”

“…yeah, that, basically.” Hana’s deductive powers never failed to surprise me. Nor did the suspicious glance that Amy sent my way. Now that they could actively see my feelings, it was a lot more obvious when they knew that everything wasn’t right.

As I sat down, Amy poked me in the ribs. “Was that everything?”

“No, but I don’t want to talk about it yet.” I didn’t feel the need to lie. Not to this group of people.

Yuji cleared his throat. “That’s understandable. If anything, I have something to bring up that may prove a decent buffer between conversations.” Yuji spoke hesitantly, like he wasn’t sure this was the time or place. “Would you mind if we spoke about something that I have been thinking about for some time?”

Hana, Amy, and I shot each other looks. Now that we’d had the time to absorb what had happened at the Nugget Bridge and it was being taken care of, it was almost nice to hear about something more mundane, like what had been going on with our friend. Yuji had been acting weird since Pewter, so we’d been waiting for this conversation.

The three of us shifted in our seats, giving our friend our full attention. Hana answered first. “Of course. You know that we’re here for you.”

“Yeah!” Amy said, slowly grabbing for the uneaten food in front of me. “What’s up?”

Yuji nodded gratefully to both of them, but his eyes looked up to meet mine from his bowed head. He was watching me carefully, waiting for my answer. I gave him the most reassuring grin that I could, and I nodded for him to continue.

Yuji accepted that answer, letting out a long sigh. He kept his gaze on the table after that. “As you may be aware, I have not been achieving the standards that I have set out for myself as a Pokemon trainer. While I have managed to capture a very powerful teammate and have secured myself a badge, I feel as though my actual training has been lacking.”

I sucked in a breath. It wasn’t that I didn’t agree with what he was saying, but it was hard to hear him sum it up like that.

Hana frown. “I disagree, but please continue.”

Yuji’s eyebrows tightened, but he did not dispute her. “Regardless, I have been feeling as though I lack some fundamentals regarding my training, and because of that, Despereaux has not received the attention or growth that he deserves. For that matter, I do not believe that Achilles has grown in strength since I captured him. I have been looking for a way to remedy that.”

This time, Hana and I both went to disagree with him, but Amy’s hand on our arms stopped us. The little shake of their head made it clear that this wasn’t the time for speaking.

“I do not believe any of you follow the world of martial arts, but there is a place in Saffron City, the Fighting Dojo. I trained there for many years and I have a… …I have a complicated relationship with the former owners. For that reason, I stopped training there almost a year before I began my journey. However, there has recently been a change in ownership over the Dojo.”

Yuji pulled his phone out of his pocket and started playing a video. It was of a Pokemon battle, the same one I’d seen him watching in the elevator the other day. The Machamp still brutally beat down on the Hitmonchan, just like I remembered.

“Bruno of the Elite Four, founder of the Fighting Dojo, recently returned from one of his training hiatuses and has reclaimed ownership of the Dojo. Because of that, I would like to travel to Saffron and learn from him before I challenge my next gym.”

Amy let go of both of our arms, letting us know that Yuji was ready for our responses. Now that he’d laid out the whole thing, though, the wind was taken out of my sails. Knowing this information put a couple of things into place, like the fact that Yuji was definitely related to those former owners. Now that I was looking at for it, I could see the resemblance between Hitmonchan’s trainer and Yuji. They had the same eyes and curved noses, though the trainers face was far more severe.

The family aspect put a whole different spin on the situation. The family that had kicked him out were the same people whose hometurf he’d be going to.

“Damn, dude. That’s hardcore,” I grimaced as I watched Hitmonchan go down. “Well, weren’t we already planning on heading to Saffron next anyway?”

Hana answered for him, her voice was severe. “Yuji is saying that he wants to travel there on his own.”

“Oh.”

The man in question tensed his shoulders. “It isn’t that I don’t love every moment that I spend with you all,” Yuji said, “and I know that we’ve had a series of very serious situations recently, so it would make sense that you would feel uncomfortable with me going off on my own. To be honest, I wouldn’t blame you for denying me this. I simply am attempting to remedy where I have been going wrong in my training. I also think I would get a more accurate understanding of my current skills if I traveled alone after my gym battle.”

That was a gut punch and a half. I hadn’t even mentioned the passing plan that I’d had to go to Rock Tunnel, so Yuji was asking this of us while thinking that we were all traveling in the same direction anyway.

“Damn, dude…” I said again. I let out a long breath.

For the first time since we’d started the conversation, Amy spoke up. “Actually, I don’t know that it’s the worst idea…”

Three pairs of eyes snapped to them and Amy shrank in their chair. Hana beckoned them to keep going, so they sat up.

“Well, what I meant was, today showed me that I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was,” Amy said slowly, a small smile coming over their face. “And I got there by training in the way that worked for me. If Yuji needs some time to be on his own, maybe that’s just what works for him?”

I couldn’t disagree that Amy had gotten a lot stronger very quickly. Pennywise had dropped my jaw today, and I doubt that would’ve happened without Gong helping Amy get more in tune with their psychic abilities.

Hana didn’t seem as convinced. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for any of us to travel by ourselves yet. Maybe if we were closer to Triumph Day when the routes would be a bit safer, but Yuji, even if this is going to help you get stronger, what’s going to happen if you run into someone like we did today?”

Yuji glanced my way and grimaced. There was something he wanted to say but chose not to, though I think we all understood his meaning.

Yuji wasn’t the one who needed to be chaperoned. He wasn’t the trouble magnet.

Hana didn’t have an immediate retort for that. All three of them looked my way. I got very self-conscious as I realized that I was the tiebreaker. Amy supported Yuji’s plan, Hana wasn’t for it.

My eyes fell to my Nav. Even though the screen was off, I knew that the route I’d programmed in was still the most recent application.

“Yuji,” I said slowly, “how long would you want to train by yourself?”

His eyes tightened, somewhere between caution and hope. “No more than a few weeks, and if the group wanted to move on before I was ready, I would be willing to catch up with you all.”

“That’s not exactly what I had in mind,” I sighed. “I wasn’t sure how to talk about this, but it’s as good a time as any, I guess.”

I clicked on the Nav, displaying the route through Rock Tunnel and Lavender Town. I explained what Karen had told me about staying out of sight and rising to be a ranked trainer. I didn’t hold any part of our conversation back, since all of the others were putting their cards on the table too. It was the least I could do after Yuji had finally opened up to us.

“…so basically,” I summed up, “I was kind of thinking of going my own way too, though this only just came up. If Yuji was planning on doing his own thing, I already didn’t want to drag you guys along with me.”

It hurt me to suggest this. It was the exact scenario that Mrs. Clara and I had just talked about. I was proposing that I step away from my friends so that I wouldn’t waste their time. Yuji looked so set on going to Saffron, though. Not only had it been our original plan, which I would be altering if we went my route, but he had some real personal skin in the game with going to the Dojo.

“If you guys wanted to come, I wouldn’t stop you,” I added quickly. “This just would be a good way for me to get stronger quicker. And, if all goes well, I would meet up with Yuji in Saffron in a few weeks and we could meet up with you two after that.”

Hana looked like she was ready to tear her hair out. She looked from Yuji to me to her phone, though I wasn’t sure why on that last one. I was aware that this conversation didn’t look great in the context of our ongoing talks about my risk management, but I’d done a good job at laying out all of Karen’s reasons for suggesting it.

Amy, on the other hand, looked contemplative. “I mean, if Yuji and Derek are both trying to go train with people…” Amy leaned across the table and squeezed Hana’s arm. “…maybe we go try and find mentors of our own? Saffron has psychics in it, obvi, so I could probably learn a bunch at the gym. Celadon is right next door, right?”

Hana’s head crumpled into her hands. She sat there for a long moment. None of us broke that silence, instead letting her absorb what we were trying to say. I couldn’t blame her. In the span of a few hours, all of our plans had changed. Not only was Hana the biggest worrier of the group, but she was the planner. This was totally counter to her nature.

She took a deep breath and lifted her head. “I don’t know, guys,” Hana admitted. “I really don’t know if it’s a good idea to split up. I can see the logic in trying to train with specialists, I even think this would probably be the best time in the season for it since this victory will put us back on track to get all of our badges, but I can’t find myself feeling comfortable with all three of you going off on your own.”

Hana turned to me. “And you definitely can’t be left alone. I can’t leave you be for a week without something disastrous happening.” She tried to inject some humor into the situation, but there was real fear in her voice.

Yuji blinked. “Well, wait.” He looked between the four of us. “If you go with Derek, none of us will be alone. The Dojo is right across the street from the Saffron Gym. Even if Amy and I choose to travel separately, then we would be within a block of each other for almost all of our training, assuming our respective institutions take us in.”

Before Hana could respond, I cut in. “No,” I said with a frown. “That means that Hana is the only one getting a raw deal here. We all get to train with specialists for our Pokemon and she has to get dragged along behind me? That’s not cool.”

Yuji pulled back, looking a little guilty. The thought hadn’t occurred to him, it seemed.

“Well…” Hana’s expression drifted to the one she used when she was studying. “Actually, if I was to go all the way to that side of Kanto…”

The three of us watched as Hana slipped her laptop out of her bag and she began to type away. After a moment, she paused and collected herself, fully slipping into her planner mode.

“Alright, I have a proposal,” Hana said. “I will agree to this on several conditions.”

Yuji and I nodded, while Amy tapped their palm on the table, visibly looking better now that a compromise was being made. “Name ‘em!”

“One,” Hana looked at Amy and Yuji. “Even if you two spend the days apart while traveling, I want you to camp together. I know that you can probably handle yourselves, but it would make me feel better.”

“Done.” Yuji was the first to agree, though Amy’s vigorous nod was right behind it.

“Two, we will all give regular check-ins to each other. This is less important for the two of you, but with Derek and I going through another cave,” the collective table shivered, “I want you to know where we are at all times.”

We all agreed to that one. It wasn’t hard and was probably going to happen anyway.

“Three,” it was my turn to receive Hana’s gaze. “because we’re traveling all the way to Lavender Town, I want to capture my next Pokemon there. You don’t have to help me catch it, but I’d like it if you could ask for both of us to be trained with the ghost specialists there. I’ll understand if they say no, but I’d like to try.”

“I’ll reach out to my friend tonight,” I promised. “And of course, I’ll help you catch your Pokemon. Only idiots try and catch ghosts before having four badges, after all.”

Yuji and Amy both smiled at my joke, but we quickly pulled it back when Hana’s face didn’t break. “Four,” she said. “if anything at all comes up while we’re apart, and I mean anything, I want you all to run. I don’t want to regret this, guys. We’ve been a statistical anomaly of near-death experiences, and this is a big risk, all of us splitting up.”

Those words sobered us up. Even if Yuji had been right before when he’d pointed me out at the trouble-magnet, this was going to be the first time our groups had ever been this small, not counting the two days I’d been alone on Route 01. Any number of crazy things could happen in a month, which is what the time frame looked like.

All of us mumbled our agreements. Hana had made some good points. She nodded her head when we did, and it was done.

The table collectively sunk into our seats.

It quickly sunk in that we had picked our next plan of action, starting right after we each beat the Cerulean Gym. If things went according to plan, we would go our separate ways in three or four days at most.

“Oof,” Amy groaned. “Guys, we can’t all get sad at once. I get headaches when that happens.”

“I apologize,” Yuji said with a chuckle. “It just hadn’t occurred to me that you would agree to my request. Now that you have…”

“…it feels final,” I said with a nod. “I’m not gonna see the two of you for a whole month.”

Hana nodded, though she didn’t say anything else. She’d already made her case to us.

I stared at the tabletop, letting my mind wallow in our feelings. I was glad I was going to still be traveling with one of my friends, but there was a lot of this conversation that I’d need to unpack with Mrs. Clara. Things had evolved and changed really quickly, and I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it all.

Amy leaned against my shoulder, letting their hat flop against me. Their presence was warm and familiar, and it made me smile.

I was going to miss having them around all the time, but they wouldn’t be gone forever. We’d already been traveling together for almost two months, there was no way that the next one would be nearly as crazy.

We’d be back together in no time.

Notes:

Thank you guys so much for reading!

Next Chapter: Tuesday, June 4th

Chapter 37: Cerulean Gym, Despereaux's Duel!

“Well, Derek, you certainly hold to your promises,” Mrs. Clara said with a sigh, slowly removing her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose. “You did indeed have things to report in only two days.”

“I know it doesn’t help,” I said with a grim smile, “but really all of this went down on the same day as our last session. I’ve been good for the last two days.”

I’d just spent the morning filling Mrs. Clara in on all of the happenings and decisions that my group had gone through since I’d last seen her. It was my second to last session in Cerulean City and the day of our gym battles, so I’d scheduled my meeting with her much earlier in the day than I normally did.

Mrs. Clara smiled softly, placing her glasses beside her on the arm of her chair. “I suppose you have been. And nothing else of importance happened yesterday?”

“Not really,” I shrugged. “Since the police didn’t make any arrests, we stuck to Karen’s advice and hung around the Center. It was kind of nice, to be honest. We spent the day recouping for the gym, so it was light practice and relaxation, mostly.”

“That does sound nice,” Mrs. Clara agreed. “I know that you’ve been struggling in your isolation, so it must have done you good to see them.”

“It was.”

My mind wandered to the last day’s worth of events. It had been wonderful to spend time with my friends again. Now that we knew we were splitting up, it was almost like we were trying to milk this time for all it was worth. We’d ordered food to the Center and just spent the day in each other’s company.

“Now, if I understood you correctly, your group isn’t entirely going their own ways, correct? You and Ms. Kanael will be traveling together still?”

I nodded, taking a sip from the orange juice that I’d brought with me. “I sent a text to my friend Peabody, and she made sure that both of us could train at the Pokemon Tower. We’re gonna go through the Rocky Tunnel while Yuji and Amy head to Saffron.”

“Hmm,” Mrs. Clara’s face took on a thoughtful look. She paused, though not in the way she normally did for me to elaborate. Her next words were hesitant. “And you feel comfortable with the compromises that were made for this plan?”

I sighed. “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “It all kind of happened really quickly, and I hadn’t even decided if I was actually going. I mean, I said what I said last time about us getting experience from different places, and I think the idea of everybody having mentors is a really good one…”

“But?”

“But I don’t want to let everybody split up,” I tried my best not to whine. “I mean, I just had my breakthrough with Amy, and I’ve been trying really hard to work my courage up and fix my relationships with the other two. And then there’s the fact that even if I get over people splitting up, it doesn’t feel fair that Hana is babysitting me. Do I get where she’s coming from? Absolutely. Even with her getting to come train at the tower, though… …I don’t know, it feels off.”

Mrs. Clara thought for a few moments, but she ultimately nodded. “I agree,” she said simply.

I frowned. “Wait, what? You agree?”

The older woman cocked an eyebrow at me. “I am allowed to agree with my clients. The purpose of these exercises is to create a healthy and introspective thought process, Derek. I agree with the thoughts that you’ve laid out, and I think the feelings you are having are valid given the information that you have.”

“Oh.”

Mrs. Clara didn’t stop looking at me, and I realized that I was supposed to respond further. I sat up in my chair, thinking on what she’d said.

“‘Given the information that I have,’” I murmured. “So you think that there’s something that I don’t know?”

“I would not claim to be an expert in the minds of your companions, but the young woman that you’ve described to me in these sessions has always been very practical and rational. She can be protective, yes, but her objections toward you traveling alone seem a bit extreme. Perhaps she was in a heightened state after the situation that you encountered, but it seems to me that there may be something else going on in her world.”

I placed my hand on my chin, really thinking about what had happened yesterday. There’d been a motion that she’d made right after I’d suggested traveling to Saffron, something that I’d barely noticed.

“She checked her phone,” I realized. “I didn’t think about it at the time, but yeah, I think you’re right, Hana took something into account that I don’t know about.”

“And this is not necessarily information that you are entitled to,” Mrs. Clara reminded me, “but it would not hurt to speak about this with your friend. Perhaps, once you have settled on the road and you have all been given a few days to recover from your gym challenges, you might bring it up with her.”

“I will,” I promised. Given that Mrs. Clara had just said that it wasn’t really my business, I tried my best to put what this mystery reason could have been out of my mind. Instead, I chose to focus on something else that Mrs. Clara had brought up. “And speaking of, today’s the day of my gym challenge.”

“I know,” Mrs. Clara said with a smile. “I hadn’t gotten into it yet, given that there were more pressing things to see to, but how are you feeling? This will be your first challenge since your actions at Pewter.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I don’t think it’ll go badly, though. I’m confident I’m going to win, so as long as I don’t do anything stupid at the end I should be able to count it as a success.”

When Mrs. Clara cocked an eyebrow this time, there was an amused look on her face. “You’re confident that you’re going to win, but as far as I’m aware, you have yet to visit this gym, correct? Have you done the necessary research?”

I nodded. “Yeah- well, yeah. I mean, I’ve studied the gym leaders, as much as I can online, anyway. And Artis and I have a strategy, plus Wisp has been working hard on her own secret move… …so, yeah?”

“Mmhmm,” Mrs. Clara nodded, her amused grin growing. “And you studied all of the gym leaders?”

“Yup, it was so much harder than the other two gyms, since I had to adapt to three separate trainers. And to make matters even worse, they all share Pokemon, which is super lame cause it makes it hard to plan for specific trainers. I’m hoping that I get Daisy, though, because she’s definitely stronger than both Lily and Violet.”

It was weird to say my girlfriend’s name not in reference to her, but I’d mostly gotten over it this week while I’d been studying. If I did end up getting placed against her, I’d just have to ignore it and focus on battling her.

When I noticed Mrs. Clara still grinning, I frowned. “What’s up? Did I say something dumb?”

“No, not at all,” Mrs. Clara said, suppressing her smile. “I just hope that your battles today go as smoothly as possible.”

“Oh, please,” I scoffed, feeling confident. “Trust me, Mrs. Clara, I’m going to breeze through my gym trainer battle, and then the Sensational Sisters are toast.”

---

“Guys, I did not breeze through that battle,” I sighed, slowly stepping off of the challenger podium.

“Mis drea,” Wisp hung her head, just as put out by how our gym trainer battle had gone. There was a wound spilling inky blackness over her left eye, leaving her unable to fully see.

Amy sucked in air through their teeth and patted me on the elbow. “Yeah, that wasn’t very cash money. Night Slash on a Kingler? Who would’ve thought?”

Hana tilted her head thoughtfully. “The chances of that particular Pokemon having that particular egg move are unlikely at best. Perhaps they trained for it, but that’s even more unlikely.”

“Yeah, that sucked.” My hand absentmindedly scratched the top of Wisp’s head as she nuzzled my palm. “And since I haven’t unveiled any of Wisp’s new moves yet, that spiraled pretty quickly. It’s a good thing you got that Confuse Ray off, otherwise we might have had to start blastin’ beams.”

The three of us were quickly shepherded away from the challenger podium and back to the audience area. Because the Cerulean Gym only had a few battlefields on account of them all being Olympic-sized swimming pools, they had to have an incredibly fast turnaround when it came to getting them ready for the next person.

“Has Yuji’s battle started yet?” Amy stood on their tippy toes to look at Hana’s phone.

She shook her head. “No, though the current challenger is going to lose. Her fundamentals are alright, but the Toxic Spikes are not working as well as she’d hoped in a pool.”

“Yeah, they’d probably sink to the bottom, right?” I pulled a potion from my bag and sprayed the area where Kingler had Night Slashed Wisp. It didn’t fully let her reform her forehead, but she was able to blink her bright yellow eye now. “Wait, who are they battling? Is it Lily?”

Since the Sensational Sisters took turns battling in a cycle each day, you could figure out who a given trainer was going to battle based on who had already gone up. When I’d started my gym trainer battle, Violet had been battling, so there were only two possibilities as to who Yuji would be up against.

Because of the order Yuji had signed us up in, I was the last to complete my gym trainer battle and would be the last one to face the gym leaders, and that also meant that Yuji and I would be battling the same person. All of my friends had successfully completed their gym trainer battles, all of which had gone better than mine.

Hana gave me a smug look. “It’s Daisy,” she said, holding up her phone to show the blonde sister. “Looks like I get to take on the strongest one.”

“Dang it,” I sighed again, though Wisp didn’t look nearly as upset. As much as Daisy was considered the strongest, they were all gym leaders, so there weren’t exactly going to be any easy matches.

Amy held up their fingers. “Okay, so that means that Yuji is up against Lily,” they counted off. “I’m going to fight Violet, then Hana is up against Daisy-” Amy shot me a teasing grin, which I pointedly ignored. “And Derek ends with Lily again. That’s right, right?”

“Should be,” Hana agreed, stowing her phone as we turned the corner out of Hall 03. “Though, they have been known to switch it up in the past.”

I shrugged. “After getting blindsided by a dark type move on a crab, I highly doubt anything else is going to surprise me today.”

As we walked to the hall where we’d be battling the gym leaders, I couldn’t help but marvel at the design of the Cerulean Gym. It was based around three massive battle halls, of which Hall 1 was the largest, that were separated by beautifully tiled walls that had lapping waves built into the design. In the hallways surrounding the battlefields, the tile walls had been replaced with colossal aquarium tanks that were stocked full of water type Pokemon. Goldeen and Seaking swam in schools and dozens of Krabby scuttled along the sand bottoms of the tanks. Blubbery Seel and Dewgong would do small flips and tricks for trainers as they passed by, and plenty of Shellder had latched themselves to the glass walls with their clamshells open to filter-feed.

It was the most beautiful gym that I’d seen so far. Both the Pewter and Viridian Gyms had been built primarily as stadiums, so there was far less adornment and personality on the inside, but the Cerulean Gym was first and foremost an aquarium.

Hall 01 itself was about three-quarters the size of the Viridian Gym’s arena, though they had rows and rows of benches rather than individual seats. The pool in the center was the size of a standard battlefield, but the sidelines had been adorned with theater curtains and scaffolding. On the weekends the Sensational Sister would host choreographed water shows, and that showed in the hall’s design.

We arrive just in time for the current challenger to be declared the loser of the match, something that garnered a small wave of respectful clapping from the audience. I did a quick double-take as I recognized the person stepping down. I went to wave at Reli, the Nidorina trainer from the Nugget Bridge, but I quickly realized that I was just another face in the crowd for her right now. It also didn’t help that she kept her eyes on the ground after her loss. Reli quickly retreated out of the other entrance of the hall.

Knowing that she’d lost made me a little sad. We hadn’t gotten close or anything, but I’d really liked battling against her Nidorina and she’d shown me a modicum of respect after I’d beaten her. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for her name in the future. Something told me she wasn’t going to stay down after this loss.

Amy split off to head to the locker room, so Hana and I found seats relatively near the exit and settled in for Yuji’s battle. It was less than five minutes before the gym lights dimmed, leaving a spotlight on the doors behind the two podiums on either side of the pool. Two curtains at the back of the stage parted, revealing a massive screen that glowed in the dark lighting. For now, it simply read ‘Attention Please”.

“Ladies and gentlepeople,” a giggly feminine voice spoke over the loudspeakers. “Welcome to the third gym leader challenge of the day here at the Cerulean Gym! If you would please turn your attention to the challenger’s podium, our brave challenger enters the stage! Please welcome Yuji Amano, here to fight for his second badge!”

The set of double doors opened slowly and cinematically, obviously controlled by automatic pneumatics, and a familiar shape came into view. Yuji strode toward the pool, confidence and power radiating from the way that he carried himself. He’d gone for his iconic black gi and loose hairstyle, giving him the two-toned look of a powerful hermit monk. He stepped up to his trainer box and glanced out toward the crowd. The two of us cheered louder than anyone else in our section. His grin grew and I knew that he’d at least heard us.

“And representing our gym at the leader’s podium,” the voice continued, “you have the most fabulous of the Sensational Sisters, the one and only Lily Williams!”

From the other side of the gym, another set of doors opened. Unlike Yuji’s entrance, a drumroll accompanied their slow opening and the spotlight took on a pink tint. The woman who stepped through was only a few years older than us, but she had the stage presence of someone who’d been performing her entire life. She had shoulder-length pink-red hair that glimmered in the spotlight and perfectly framed her face with its middle part. She wore an orange swimming gown that only came halfway down her thigh with a big blue ribbon that covered her chest. While I wouldn’t normally be able to tell her hair color at this distance, the screen at the back of the room flickered to a close-up of her face, showing off her bright blue eyes and cherub-like features.

Lily the Sensation Sister stepped up to her challenger podium and gave Yuji a single look up and down before a flirty smirk flittered across her features.

“Hi there!” She winked at him. “It’s always nice to start my day with a cute challenger!”

Yuji’s face took on a noticeably red sheen. “W- Well…” He shook his head and adjusted his gi, clearing his mind. “Thank you, I hope that this battle is exciting for the both of us.”

The gym leader winked again. She turned to the audience and raised her hands, striking a cute pose with her hip pointed out. They roared in approval, and I instantly became aware of how much their demographic skewed male. Boys near me clutched foam fingers and posterboards with the Sensational Sisters’ faces plastered across them. They clapped and whistled and waved glowsticks in anticipation. Lily’s fans stood, rumbling the stands as they stomped their feet.

Ah, I get what kind of place this is now… I sighed, only just now realizing that the gym’s cameras didn’t face the audience, so I’d never seen this reaction before. As Lily was handed a Pokeball by one of her assistants, I found myself comparing the scene to the image of an idol picking up a microphone.

Yuji’s head tilted forward as he locked in. “Despereaux!” Yuji’s voice echoed in the pool chamber. “Time to strike!”

Lily’s giggle sounded as she followed suit. “Time to shine, Goldie!”

Despereaux landed on the floating platform closest to Yuji, baring his fangs and letting his deep purple fur bristle in anticipation. Across from him, a white and gold koi fish materialized into existence in the water. There was a singular pointed horn sprouting from the center of its head, it gleamed with a pearlescent shine.

“Goldeen!” Its cry was battle-ready but also… …oddly seductive? I did a double-take as the fish pouted its lips toward the audience. They roared in response, eating up the performance.

Hana clicked her tongue. “Dang…”

“Hmm? What’s up?”

Hana stared down her nose at the Goldeen as the referee gave the opening speech. “You know that Charge Beam TM that you lent Yuji? He was hoping to keep that under his sleeve as a secret weapon.”

My brain filed through the notes that I’d compiled all week for less than a second before I found the issue. “Oh, oof.”

“That Goldeen has Lightning Rod,” Hana nodded. “There’s no way she would’ve known or cared about his strategy. It’s just a bad match-up for his secret move. He’ll just have to muscle through.”

I tilted my head, thinking back to where I had ranked the power levels of the Sisters’ different Pokemon. “He should be okay. That thing’s weaker than Brock’s Omanyte.”

“Yes, I just hope that his training has helped Despereaux since then. Remember, he had to switch to Achilles to win that fight.”

I couldn’t disagree with Hana’s assessment, and that left a lump of anxiety gnawing in my gut. Other than the TMs I’d given them, Yuji had made it clear he’d hit a brick wall in getting his Ratatta to the next level. I hoped that their technique and bond would be enough.

I settled into my seat, forcing myself to be content to just watch. Yuji had been training hard for this, so I could only trust in him that it would go well.

“Begin!” The referee’s shout was broadcast over the speakers, and the battle was on.

“Focus!” Yuji was the first to yell his orders. “Avoid as much as you can, but Focus!”

“Keep him on his toes with a song, Goldie!” Lily giggled with her order. “Supersonic!”

Despereaux’s muscles bulged underneath his pelt, they swelled and tightened as his pupils contracted into the barest of dots. When Goldie opened her mouth, a ripple of kinetic energy pulsed through the air, carrying with it a shrill high-pitched noise that was more akin to audio feedback than a song. Despereaux and Yuji alike bared their teeth in pain as they were blasted by the sonic assault, but then Despereaux disappeared.

There was a gasp from the audience as all that was left in his place was a gouge in the platform and a flurry of foam chunks. In a blur of motion, his form reappeared on the opposite platform closest to Lily. The Rattata stumbled as he landed, thrown off by either the intense power of his jump or the confusion inflicted on him by the Supersonic. He rolled twice, hitting the ground with a wince-inducing slap that caused my back to ache.

Despereaux wasted no time before rolling to his feet and baring back down on his concentration, working himself up even further as his muscles continued to bulge and his breathing quickened.

Lily’s cutesy smile faltered. “Behind you! Agility into Horn Attack!”

Goldie slapped the water with her tail fin, flipping to face her opponent and boosting her speed as she dove deep into the water. Her form disappeared under the waves until it exploded out to the surface with the extra propulsion from her buoyancy. Her golden form shot forward toward Despereaux with her horn pointed toward his unprotected back.

“Sucker Punch!”

Despereaux whipped around, tightening his claw into a fist that glowed an awful black color, and struck Goldie directly under the jaw. The force of the blow sent a click noise echoing throughout the stadium and Goldie went skipping back across the water. The Goldeen stopped herself just before hitting the opposite platform, but she was not looking good. A nasty purple welt was already forming where she’d been hit.

For his part, Despereaux wasn’t looking too hot either. He’d been confused by the Supersonic earlier and whatever move he’d been using to boost himself had made it even more punishing when he’d hit the platform. His eyes still spun slightly as he tried to look at his opponent.

Lily’s eyes flicked between the two Pokemon before shouting, “Show them your moves, Hail!”

Hana recoiled next to me at the order. “What?” She frowned. “Lily must be setting up for her next Pokemon.”

I nodded, not taking my eyes off the battle. “Yeah, it doesn’t have a whole lot of ways of taking advantage of the Hail on its own. Lily must know Goldie is toast.”

Yuji must have thought the same thing. “Despereaux, one final Work Up, then dispatch your opponent!”

Goldie twirled her head weakly, wincing under the pain of her welt, and her horn glowed blue. A dense ceiling of grey fog condensed over top of the pool, a singular dense cloud that immediately began to drizzle coin-sized chunks of ice onto the water’s surface. The pelting ice stuck to and weighed down Despereaux’s fur, giving the Rattata a feral, drowned look under the confusion. He ignored it, instead electing to close his eyes and concentrate. His muscles tightened and bulged once more.

“Super Fang!”

“Horn Attack!”

Both Pokemon hurled themselves forward, Goldie in a single fluid jump and Despereaux in a bursting release of power from his coiled muscles. In the air above the pool, streaming through the Hail, neither Pokemon had superiority. It came down to reaction time and strength, plain and simple.

Despereaux twisted his form as Goldie approached with her horn set on impaling him. The opalescent tip grazed past him, barely kicking his shoulder and opening a small cut. He opened his jaw and his powerful incisor gleamed in the reflected light of the pool. Despereaux’s jaw closed around the base of her horn and wrenched it downward. That motion alone was enough to hurt Goldie, but his superior momentum overcame hers and the two of them went tumbling into the pool.

A moment later, Despereaux’s head emerged from the water, still gripping an unconscious Goldie by the horn. His eyes had cleared up from the confusion, though his muscles still boasted an enhanced state from whatever buff move that Yuji had him use.

The crowd cheered as the referee called that fight for Despereaux, though I did hear a few ‘boos’ from unhappy Lily fans. Lily recalled Goldie, not seeming put out at all by the defeat of her Pokemon. Instead, she put on a wide grin and flipped her pink hair for the audience.

“Okay, then!” Lily’s voice was cheerful, but there was an edge to it. She held her hand out and was given another Dive Ball. “Look’s like you’re a real challenger, so we’re going to make sure to be great dance partners! Come on out, Dewey!”

As a white blubbery form hit the stage, the use of Hail made a lot more sense. Lily’s next Pokemon was similar to Artis in a lot of ways, covered in fur and a thick layer of fat that equipped the Pokemon for dealing with the extreme cold of the ocean. Where the differences started though, was instead of Sealeo’s blue and beige beautiful coat, this Pokemon’s fur was as white as fresh snow. His button-black eyes sparkled with eternal amusement and a small white horn jutted from his forehead.

“Dewgong!” Dewey the Dewgong cried, slapping the foam platform with his flippers.

Like Goldie, I had a pretty good idea of what this Pokemon was capable of. I’d rated it as one of the higher tiers of their second-badge teams, mostly because it had all of Artis’ stall tactics, plus an additional one. The hail was still falling and I could already see Dewey’s fur greedily melting and absorbing the hailstones with his Ice Body ability, which would heal him over time as needed.

Just like against Omanyte, Despereaux was going to need to deal one big hit against his enemy. His skirmish tactics were not going to work against a healing wall like Dewgong.

The ref made a call, and the battle resumed.

“Dewey, the stage is set! Aqua Ring and then Whirlpool!” Lily flared her hands in the air.

Yuji clenched his jaw. “Despereaux, charge them! Iron Tail!”

Dewey whipped his head in a circle, the tip of his horn glowing bright blue as the still water trembled with the motion. Riveulates of pool water pushed up from the surface, floating under the influence of Dewey’s move. As the tendrils moved, they gathered water from both the hailstones and the pool below them, growing in size and number. While a single ring of water began to surround Dewey, the rest started the pool water turning. The two floating platforms began to rotate around each other.

Despereaux clenched his claws into the foam and steadied himself. His pupils were still narrowed under his Focus Energy and Work Up, and they darted between every piece of hail and floating tendril. He was searching for his opening. After only a moment, he found it.

He disappeared again, though this time he left a trail of exploding water droplets and ice behind him, sending a splash through the air as he pushed through liters of floating water that continued to spin in a building maelstrom. Despereaux reappeared above Dewey, held aloft by his momentary equilibrium with gravity, and his tail glowed bright silver. He brought it down like an axe and struck Dewey across the back. The resounding slap of metal on blubbery was enough to cause the Dewgong to stumble forward.

“Dew Gong!” Dewey barked, whipping his head around once again. A tendril of water separated from the surrounding whirlpool and enveloped Desereaux, dragging him into the water. Dewey’s move had garnered momentum now. The waves swirled and slammed into the sides of the pool, dragging and drowning Despereaux between swells. Even from here, I could already see the bruise from the Iron Tail beginning to disappear under the Hail.

“Again!” Yuji barked his order over the roar of the water. “Find your footing and strike again!”

Despereaux writhed in the water, twisting as he was pummeled with wave after wave. He shot through the water, kicking and clawing at the waves, and forced himself to the edge of the pool. His feet barely tapped the edge before he rocketed out of the water and back toward Dewey.

“Keep him away!” Lily ordered. “Ice Shard!”

“Break through! You will strike true!”

Dewey reared his head back and roared, a chunk of ice the size of a football appearing at the tip of his horn. It blasted forward in a spinning spiral, each revolution sending chunks of ice and snow flying into the air.

Despereaux twisted in the air, his tail once again alight with silver light, and the two attacks collided like two bullets. The Ice Shard shattered into countless pieces under the impact and Despereaux’s momentum carried him through. His tail completed one full rotation around his body before slamming into Dewey once again, this time striking him across the face.

“Rude!” Lily yelled, her flirty facade lifting for a moment. “Get rid of him! Ice Beam!

My eyes widened at the advanced ice type move, but Yuji’s face was clenched with concentration. He yelled only one order.

“Again!”

Despereaux flattened himself against the floating platform, ready for the next whirlpool wave that barely passed him by, and brought his tail up in an uppercut. Dewey took another hit on the chin before snarling and opening his mouth to release a brilliant icy blue beam of light. It went wide and impacted the side of the pool, instantly freezing the water there. It was Aurora Beam on steroids, leaving a car-sized chunk of ice affixed to the pool wall.

“Again!”

Despereaux kicked off of Dewey’s horn, striking him across the tail. Dewey roared again, this time trying to slap Despereaux down with his tail before summoning his Ice Beam. The Rattata rolled out of the way at the last moment and slid between the Dewgong’s flippers, giving him cover from the fading hailstorm.

“Again!”

Despereaux lunged forward, gripping Dewey’s fur in his claws and flipping himself over his shoulder. His fifth strike hit Dewey clear between the shoulder blades, right on top of where his first injury had just finished healing.

“That’s enough!” Lily's eyes were narrowed in annoyance. “Aqua Jet him off the platform, then Ice Beam!”

“Despereaux!” Yuji’s voice was urgent.

Though he’d pulled off four frame-perfect dodges, he wasn’t lucky enough for a fifth. The fading remnants of the whirlpool surged upward, surrounding Dewey and propelling him forward like a torpedo. His massive blubbery back slammed into Despereaux’s still air-borne form. The Rattata went flying backward into the water with a violent splash. Before Yuji could shout his next order, Dewey followed it up with a perfect midair twist and sank another beam of blue light into the water.

The water surrounding Despereaux crystallized almost instantly, taking on a crystal-clear sheen that perfectly displayed a purple lump of fur held within it. The glacier bobbed in the water, and the battlefield went silent.

“He’s frozen!” Lily was elated at the development. She smoothed her hair and raised a hand for her next order. “Beauty sleep time! Get ready for his next Pokemon!”

Dewey’s eyes flashed pink as he used Rest. He slumped to the side, and the bruises from each of Despereaux’s hard-won hits began to shrink.

I winced and turned my gaze to Yuji. That was a lot of work that was going to be gone soon. Unlike what I’d expected, though, Yuji’s face was the picture of perfect focus and concentration. Only his clenched jaw betrayed the stress he was feeling now. He took one set forward on his podium.

“Focus, Despereaux!” Yuji shouted, staring at the immobile ice statue. “You vowed to become the strongest. Is this where you let your bond fail? Is this where you choose to give up?”

The glacier did not answer him.

Lily clicked her tongue with a grin. “It’s okay, you, like, totally don’t have to do all that. He’s frozen solid, so you might as well send out your next Pokemon!”

Hana leaned forward in her seat, nudging me with her arm. I spotted what she was looking at and grinned.

“I will not. This is his battle,” Yuji said resolutely. He smirked. “You see, we are not unfamiliar with the cold. A friend of mine has defeated us with it many times before…”

Though his eyes didn’t look at me, I knew that the grin on his face was for me and only me. It finally occurred to me that Yuji had been waiting for a moment like this, a moment where Despereaux would be given a few seconds to build a charge. I slid to the edge of my seat, staring at the faint yellow glow that had started to emanate from Despereaux’s ice prison.

“And his ice is stronger!” Yuji flared his hand to the side, now speaking to his Pokemon. “Despereaux, Charge Beam!”

“Rat-ta-ta!” Despereaux’s chitter was decisive and quick, and every hair on my arms stood tall.

The sound of ice shattering echoed throughout the hall and a brilliant yellow laser of electricity scorched through the air. The wet atmosphere of the gym buzzed with the smell of petrichor, and what had been a mostly black room became alight with the power of a bolt of lighting for just a moment.

The beam cut through the ice and caught Dewey’s sleeping form just under the collarbone. The force of an electric type attack that had been boosted several times over by Despereaux’s Work Up was enough to physically push the Dewgong backward and flip him onto his back. It scorched Dewey’s perfect white fur across the chest, leaving a blackened stripe in its place, and filled the air with smoke and the smell of burning hair.

Dewey’s bruises stopped shrinking. He was no longer resting.

He had fainted.

The audience started to cheer, to release the breath of tension that we’d been holding, but Yuji held up a single hand, as did Lily. The two of them were still fixated on the glacier that had released the Charge Beam.

Despereaux had pulled himself out of the glacier, shivering and soaked and bloodied. His whiskers on his left side had been sheered off by the ice, and his right eye was swollen over. His shoulder still oozed blood from where Goldie had cut him earlier, and he had small welts across him from the hailstones. He gripped his claws into the ice to steady himself, and then he began to climb.

The entire arena was silent as the Rattata clawed his way to the top of the ice chunk. We watched in anticipation as he turned toward Lily. Her eyes went wide as they met his tiny determined gaze. Despereaux nodded his head forward, reaching a deep bow.

Behind him, Yuji placed his hands together and did the same.

“Thank you for the battle,” he said, a serene smile taking over his features. “You have been a worthy opponent.”

The crowd roared and I couldn’t hold back the smile on my face.

Not only had the first of our group won his second badge, but Yuji and Despereaux had gotten their first real win.

Notes:

While today's chapter was slightly late, I'm actually quite proud of myself! An unexpected nine-hour drive, and I still managed to get it in within an hour of when I wanted.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed Yuji's gym battle! It's been a long time coming, but just to explain really quick, here's the baseline logic of why Charge Beam knocked out Dewey, even though it's technically a weaker move than Iron Tail, and it's a special move, which Dewgong are better at tanking. One, Iron Tail had been doing a lot of work, but as a neutral non-stab move, it basically was just the highest attack power move that Yuji had at his disposal, so that's why he relied on it so heavily to do the initial damage. It was also boosted by four Work Ups, which is what Yuji's secret buff move has been this whole time.

The interesting thing about Charge Beam (which is also affected by Work Up) is that it was a x2 effectiveness move, but it was a crit from not only Focus Energy, but also from the in-universe fact of Dewey being asleep during it. Now, this only did marginally more damage than the buffed up Iron Tail, but it was enough.

Now, as you might guess, I'm giving Yuji and Amy's battles their own chapters because of the upcoming group split-up, which means the next chapter will be a little shorter than normal because it's just going to be one battle. To compensate for that, I've decided to give you guys the chapter a week earlier than I normally would on our bi-weekly schedule!

Next Chapter: Tuesday, June 11th.

Chapter 38: Cerulean Gym, A New And Improved Amy

“You did it, bro!” I pulled Yuji into a tight hug as he approached the stands from the locker room. He was still dressed in his gi, though he’d put on a loose t-shirt underneath his top and left it untied. “Despereaux did such an awesome friggin’ job!”

“Thank you, my friend.” Yuji gave me a soft smile. “I admit, I myself was unsure he’d be able to recover from being fully frozen. For all my bluster, you’ve never actually managed that feat against us.”

Hana nudged his shoulder. “The two of you always had it, Yuji. Take this as what it is: a win.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it and smiled instead. “I suppose that this is what we’ve been working so hard for,” he admitted. “I wish you both the same victories in your own matches.”

Hana and I locked eyes and the corners of her mouth slid up in a sly smirk. In unison, we nodded. She was up before me, after all.

“Thanks, man,” I patted him on the shoulder. “You made Lily look easy, though. Hana’s the one who’s going to need all the support.”

“Well,” Hana shrugged self-confidently, “I don’t know that I’ll need it. I think I have Daisy’s strategies figured out.” She glanced up at the battlefield where they were preparing it for the next match. “Speaking of, I need to head to the locker room to get ready. Cheer Amy on for me, okay?”

“It will be done.”

“We got this.”

Hana gathered her things and made for the exit. As she was leaving, I couldn’t help but notice her glancing over a spreadsheet on her phone. The corners of my mouth twitched. She was still studying up to the last moment.

Yuji and I settled into our seats. He pulled Despereaux’s Pokeball from his pocket and released his partner. Even though he’d been beaten to hell after the fight, he looked remarkably better. Most of his welts had faded or even disappeared, and the cut on his shoulder was closed. Despereaux crawled into Yuji’s lap and watched the battlefield intently.

Yuji noticed when I sent him a questioning glance. “He wanted to watch Amy’s match,” he explained. “It might seem like a gap in my budget, but he has more than earned the potions.”

I shook my head with a smile. “You guys are wild, but that makes sense to me. He’s a hell of a fighter, and he deserves to watch his friends fight.”

Though he didn’t look away from the pool, Despereaux inclined his head toward me. Yuji smiled at him. The two of them were the perfect model of trainer and Pokemon partner, and they’d worked really hard for their victory today.

I had an intrusive thought that I almost spoke aloud, but I kept it to myself.

As much as didn’t want to split up with my friends, and as much as I knew that Yuji could accomplish even more without forcing himself to go to Saffron, it felt wrong to suggest that he didn’t have to go. Instead, I beckoned Wisp out of my shadow and bumped Yuji’s shoulder as the lights began to dim. The four of us all waited in suspense for Amy’s battle to begin.

“Hello, hello, hello!” A different feminine voice from the previous one spoke over the loudspeaker. “Our fourth battle for the day is now beginning! Joining us at the challenger’s podium is one Amy Turaunt! They are challenging for their second badge!”

Yuji and I both cheered as loudly as we could when Amy’s silhouette emerged from the challenger’s doors. Amy’s stride wasn’t nearly as confident as Yuji’s, but there was something there that I hadn’t seen out of them at either of their previous gym battles. Amy was smiling. It was a little forced and it wavered when the crowd cheered for them, but Amy managed to keep a fierce grin for their entire walk up to the trainer’s box. They flipped the edge of their sock hat to the side and waved to me and Yuji. We cheered even louder.

“And back for her second battle today, representing the Cerulean Gym, is the most glamourous of the Sensational Sisters: Violet Williams!”

A lavender blue spotlight shined on the challenger’s podium and the next of Cerulean’s gym leaders appeared. She was about the same height and stature as Lily, if not a little shorter, and her blue hair cascaded around her in waves. She was wearing a matching swimming gown, though hers was a brilliant sea green.

Like with Lily, Violet’s fans made themselves known. Signs and posters with her face and name on them were thrust into the air. Audience members shouted her name and clapped so hard that their hands must have been numb.

“Welcome, challenger!” Violet’s grin was sweet, but it was a little too vicious to be in the same cutesy league as Lily. “I hope you’re ready for a fight!”

Amy said nothing, but they vigorously nodded in excitement. They withdrew a Pokeball from their belt. Violet inclined her head back at Amy and was handed a Dive Ball. The two of them released their Pokemon. Pennywise appeared on Amy’s side of the battlefield, and a Pokemon that was barely taller than him appeared on Violet’s field. Her Psyduck was a stout duck-like Pokemon that brandished tiny claws on the ends of its webbed hands.

While the few Psyduck I’d seen around the gym had been pretty docile and harmless, this one had an eager glint in his eye that made me shift uncomfortably. He was more than ready for battle.

The referee gave the rules speech and held his hand high over his head. He brought it down in a fluid motion and shouted a singular word.

“Begin!”

“Get close, Psyduck!”

“Cut them off, use Barrier!”

I cocked an eyebrow at Amy’s verbal order. They’d taken to speaking to their Pokemon through their pseudo-telepathy, not words. This was different.

Psyduck sprinted forward and dove headfirst into the water. He didn’t make a splash as the water flowed around him like… well, like water off a duck’s back. His hydrophobic feathers let him cut through the water with ease, and he was almost halfway across before Pennywise raised his hands in concentration and a familiar series of pink Barriers materialized across the battlefield.

Pennywises’ Barriers rose only inches out of the water, the same way they had when he’d helped Artis train in the river. They extended all the way to the pool bottom and split the battlefield in half. Pennywise moved his hands in another quick movement and a horizontal sheet of Barriers appeared over the water’s surface like a lid.

Psyduck’s charge didn’t slow as he approached the barrier. Instead, his claws glittered with light and he pushed his momentum into a vicious strike. It bounced off the Barrier, but he followed it up with a second, and then a third. The Barrier would flash each time, but from the way Violet carefully inspected it, it was clear she knew that this wasn’t the correct approach.

“Those Barriers aren’t soundproof!” Violet held up hands in a cutesy air-guitar pose, though her smirk was downright malicious. “Hit him with a glam-rock Screech, Psyduck!”

Psyduck reared his head back. “Psyyyyyy!” The sound that ripped from his throat was closer to audio feedback than a rock n’ roll shout. It tore through the water and the air, and nearly every person in the audience covered their ears.

Pennywise faltered, his teeth clenching as the vibration shook him on an internal level. Screech was known for stripping away a Pokemon’s ability to physically defend themselves, and it still seemed to work on the little mime. He broke out in a cold sweat and his arms trembled at the elbows. His Barriers momentarily disappeared.

Amy’s eyebrows scrunched and by their stance, I knew that they were giving Pennywise a mental order. He moved in kind, bringing his hands together. The Barriers reappeared in the water and began to move closer together, shifting hundreds of liters of water around them to box Psyduck in. The sudden displacement of water caused turbulent currents that pushed and pulled against Psyduck, forcing the Pokemon to end his attack under the assault.

“Break through! Zen Headbutt!”

“Calm Mind and keep concentration, Pennywise!”

Violet’s order stoked Psyduck into action. The duck flipped in the water and punched off of the bottom of the pool, blasting itself to the surface. His eyes glowed a dim blue and the outline of a pink dome flickered into existence around his head.

Psyduck slammed into the Barrier at full speed. The impact caused a brilliant crackle of pink light as the two psychic forces collided. Psyduck’s momentum struggled against Pennywise’s shields and, for just a moment, the two were at a violent equilibrium.

“Disable!”

Psyduck’s helmet dropped just in time for his eyes to flash white, and Pennywise’s Barrier disappeared. His remaining momentum and quick kicks carried him out of the water and into Pennywise’s melee. I cringed as Psyduck grasped Pennywise’s shoulders and pulled his head back. His psychic helmet reappeared.

The duck’s head swung forward and brutally bounced off of a white hexagonal panel of light that had sprung up in front of Pennywise’s face. Psyduck’s head whipped backward from the hit, sending him sprawling to the ground.

My jaw dropped. All eyes were on Amy and Pennywise. They both wore the same mischievous smirk and, in sync, they swiped their noses with cocky confidence.

“Derek,” Yuji’s voice was breathless. “Did Amy tell you they’d figured out Protect?”

I shook my head, not taking my eyes off the field. “Nope…”

“Me neither.”

Psyduck rolled back to his feet, uninjured but just as surprised as the audience had been. Violet, to her credit, still wore her performer’s smile. If she’d been thrown off seeing Protect in a second-badge match, she didn’t show it.

“Their Barrier is still gone,” Violet said fiercely. “Aqua Tail!”

Psyduck leapt forward and swiped his rear forward, his tiny tail glowing blue as water enshrouded it. Pennywise wobbled on his feet, clumsily dancing to the side and underneath Psyduck’s swing. The attack just barely missed him, scattering a trail of water behind him. Psyduck didn’t let up, bringing his claws around for another series of swipes.

“Confusion!” Amy yelled. “Push them back!”

Pennywise’s eyes flashed pink, but he didn’t get the chance to concentrate. Psyduck’s claws batted him across the temple, sending him sprawling back to the edge of the platform. The mime wasn’t used to being physically pushed like this, and without his Barriers, he was very vulnerable.

Psyduck dove at Pennywise with his claws held high over his head. The mime pushed himself to the side and rolled away. Psyduck’s claws gouged the foam where Pennywise had been. He ripped them out of the platform and swung at Pennywise again, but they bounced off of another flash of white from Pennywise’s Protect. The mime used that time to get to his feet and sprint away from Psyduck. He didn’t get far before he had to roll away from another Fury Swipe. There was only so much room on the platform and Pennywise would not do well in the water with Psyduck, so this was his only option. With Protect being a powerful but inconsistent technique, since it was hard to pull off twice in a row, Pennywise couldn’t get the breathing room that he normally got from Barrier-

I suddenly understood what Amy was doing. Disable had taken away Barrier, which was obviously necessary to Pennywise’s fighting style, so Amy was doing everything they could to stall out the ability. Even the best Pokemon could only keep Disable up for a few minutes at this level, so it would only be a matter of time.

Amy’s mouth twitched.

“Barrier!”

Pennywise flared his hands forward and a bright pink shield burst into existence between the two Pokemon. Psyduck’s claws caught on the translucent pink wall and barely scraped through to deliver a hairline scratch to Pennywise’s chest. The tiny mime was out of breath and there was a welt on his temple, but he’d held out. The only problem was that it could be taken away again.

“Psyduck, Disable!”

“Into the water, then Calm Mind again!”

Psyduck’s eyes flashed white, but the Barrier did not disappear. Instead, there was a splash as Pennywise dove backward into the pool and underneath the platform, effectively removing Psyduck’s line of sight on him. The water type’s face contorted in an angry expression and it turned to dive off of the other side, but a second set of Barriers emerged around the edges of the pool. Psyduck was effectively boxed in.

Violet’s eyes narrowed, but she nodded her head. “Whoa, that’s, like, a pretty glam move, but, uh, how are you planning on beating us if you’re hiding the whole time? It’s not like your Pokemon can breathe down there.”

For the first time that battle, Amy’s smile lost its forced nature. They grinned from ear to ear.

“Because,” they said excitedly. “Pennywise isn’t going to be the one to kick your butt! Now, Baton Pass!”

Violet’s expression was a mirror of both mine and Yuji’s as the area underneath the floating platform glowed white. Pennywise’s Pokeball opened and a beam of red light returned him without Amy ever touching the button, and the ball in their hand burst open. A floating bronze-green disk materialized in the air above the battlefield as Gong joined the frey. The Barriers that had been trapping Psyduck didn’t disappear as they normally would when Pennywise left the field, instead, they drifted through the air to Gong, encircling them like vigilant sentries.

“Legends,” I breathed out. “Where are all these ass-pull moves coming from?”

Yuji shook his head. “No, this one they had. They’ve just never had a team to use it on before. What was the count on the moves used?”

“Two Barriers, and I think there have been two Calm Minds?” I shook my head at the implications.

Baton Pass was a very unique move that allowed the user to swap out of battle and transfer all their buffs to one of their teammates. It was no wonder that Amy had wanted to wait as long as possible before swapping Gong in. The steel type was coming into this battle with a series of advantages that it never normally would have had, and Pennywise was getting a second to catch his breath if he was needed.

Violet’s Psyduck frowned at the loss of its opponent and stared at Gong’s floating form with an adamant glare. Gong simply vibrated in response.

“Alright, Psyduck,” Violet called. “Water Pulse!”

Psyduck reared his head back and used his bill as a spout to stray a high-pressure beam of water at Gong. It zipped past the two Barriers and struck the steel type square in the center of their disk. It resonated like rain on a tin roof, but Gong didn’t seem particularly bothered. They spun in place and their eyes took on a blue sheen.

The air around Psyduck warped as the Confusion hit him. He cried out as his body was wrenched in several different directions, twisting and moving in unnatural ways. He retaliated by launching another Water Pulse, but it might as well have been a squirt gun. Without a single word from Amy, Gong’s eyes glowed blue twice more, and Psyduck’s vicious control of this battle was reduced to a fainted pile of yellow feathers.

The crowd was baffled by this sudden shift in power, but they were entertained. They roared in approval as Violet returned her Pokemon, and I could tell their emotions were starting to get to Amy. The tiny psychic grimaced and forced themself to concentrate

Violet was given another Dive Ball. She threw it forward and her Pokemon appeared. Politoed, a pretty rare evolution of Poliwhirl, was a bright green toad, as its name suggested, and it had a distinctive brilliant yellow swirl on its stomach in a similar pattern to the rest of its line.

Politoed clapped her hands twice and gave the crowd a bright smile. They cheered, though not nearly as hard as they had for Psyduck. Amy had won over this crowd, and it was going to be hard for Violet to get them back.

When the battle began again, Violet was the first to give an order.

“Glam time! Let’s start with some drums!”

“Hypnosis!”

Gong’s entire being began to vibrate an immensely deep note that I could feel deep in my gut, but it wasn’t active for a second before Politoed’s move drowned it out. The toad’s belly rippled as she struck herself in the core with the flats of her hands, over and over again in a rhythmic beating. Her muscles bulged and popped at an insane rate from the rhythm, strengthening more from the single use of Belly Drum than Despereaux after all of his Work Ups.

Amy’s confidence flickered. “Gong, Confusion again. Keep your distance!”

Violet shook her head. “Don’t let them! Bounce!”

Gong circled the platform, spinning like a gear through the air, and their eyes glowed blue once more. Where this differed from the last fight, though, is that there was no longer a Pokemon there when the air began to distort. Politoad’s muscular legs launched her into the sky, far higher than even Gong had levitated, and she completely avoided the attack.

“Confusion!”

Gong’s attack twisted and warped the air, but Politoed was still in motion. She arced through the Confusion and fell back toward the pool, but her target was more specific than that. Politoed outstretched her leg and brought her heel down hard against Gong’s top edge. The blow was mostly absorbed by the Barriers, but there was a small dent left in Gong’s silhouette as she pushed off of them. Politoed flipped backward, landing in the water.

“Follow them! Hypnosis!”

Gong dropped like a stone, letting gravity do the work for him. There was a monumental splash as he struck the water, but Violet used that time to let out an order.

“Do the same! Hypnosis!”

Amy’s eyes widened and they smiled through their pain. “Imprison!”

Hypnosis manifested slightly differently between the two Pokemon, but the base notes were the same. Gong’s low vibrations shook through the water as they resonated their entire body to the correct frequency, whereas Politoed’s throat rumbled a hypnotic series of tones that were far more melodic in nature. Sonic waves emanated across the water’s surface from the origins of the sound, creating chaotic ripples that spiked and peaked in odd places.

One source of the move vanished as Gong’s eyes flashed pink and Politoed went suddenly silent.

Politoed had lost the ability to use any moves that Gong also knew, and that meant that only Gong had been able to successfully use Hypnosis. Gong had Imprisoned the knowledge for the move within Politoed’s mind.

Amy cackled when Politoed’s sleeping form floated to the surface and Gong breached the air, completely unaffected. “I really never thought I’d get the chance to use that!”

Violet frowned. “I didn’t expect it, to be honest.” She looked from Gong to her own Pokemon and sighed. “It’s not very glam, but I withdraw Politoed from the match. She’s just going to get hurt, and you can obviously battle at this level just fine.”

My friend stopped mid-laugh. Their eyes widened like a Deerling in headlights as the gym leader made her declaration. They looked to the referee, who nodded his head and raised a checkered flag.

“Match, over!” The refereed called the battle. “Winner, Challenger Amy Turaunt!”

Yuji and I were just as stunned as the rest of the crowd, but we were the first to recover. We pushed to our feet, ignoring the complaints of the Pokemon on our laps, and roared in celebration. I don’t think either of us was actually capable of using words. We shouted at the top of our lungs, pumping our fists into the air.

Amy was the last person in the gym to understand what was happening. It took Gong floating back to them and happily vibrating against them for Amy to slowly blink. The tiny psychic looked at the gym leader, who had approached with her hand outstretched, and slowly took the blue teardrop-shaped badge from them.

When it became clear that the enby was too stunned to speak, Yuji and I quickly made our way to the battlefield and helped guide them away so that the gym trainers could prepare the field for Hana’s battle.

“You did it, bean!” I pulled Amy into the tightest hug. “And you were so confident! I’m so proud of you!”

Yuji was grinning even brighter than he had after his win. “You seemed barely phased by the emotions of the crowd, and you very obviously had a plan the entire time. You were the picture of a fantastic trainer out there.”

Amy slowly shook their head, still staring at the badge in their hand.

“Nuh-uh,” they said softly. “I was totally winging it out there.”

Yuji and I stopped in our tracks. I looked at him, and he mirrored my disbelief. He tilted his head like words were supposed to come out of his mouth, but none did. I tried to speak, but I also found myself at a loss for words. After a moment, we both lost it.

We started laughing.

Amy glanced up from their badge, initially confused at our reaction, but it wasn’t long before the shoulders began to rise and fall too. They reached their tiny arms around the both of us and pulled us into a hug. The three of us laughed at the absurdity of Amy’s win, but when the lights flashed to tell the audience that another battle was coming, I was forced to sober up.

“Alright guys, I have to go get ready.” I patted Amy on the head and gripped Yuji’s shoulder tight. “I’m so proud of both of you, though.”

“You’ll soon be among our ranks,” Yuji said softly. “Good luck, my friend.”

“Yeah,” Amy agreed. “We’re all going to celebrate after this. Hana’s going to kick Daisy’s butt, then you clean up with Lily.”

“That’s the plan.” I released my friends and headed toward the locker rooms. Wisp drifted back to my shoulder since she’d backed off to keep Amy comfortable.

Leaving Hall 01 for the locker rooms left the air oddly lonely. It was too quiet here, since they were rarely occupied by more than one person at a time. Hana was already gone, and a TV mounted to the wall showed me that she’d already been introduced by the announcer. She was wearing the same ivy-green dress that she’d worn at Pewter Gym, and she had the scarf that I’d gifted her months ago draped around her neck.

I stood at the TV and watched for a minute. I just needed to change and give my Pokemon a pep talk, so I had a little bit of time to spare for the start of the battle.

Even though I’d seen plenty of battles online from the Cerulean Gym, it was still weird to hear the announcer call out the name Daisy, and for that person to be a green-eyed blonde woman who wasn’t my girlfriend. I was a little relieved that Hana had gotten her, even though I’d wanted the most challenging battle possible. It would’ve been weird.

Both trainers tossed out their Pokemon and if I’d had water in my mouth I would’ve done a spit take.

“That jerk!” I said out loud. “She didn’t tell us that Rafflesia had evolved!”

Her Pokemon appeared and was several inches taller than I remembered her being. The bulb on her back had sprouted several wide leaves and turned a bright red-pink color. Rafflesia the Ivysaur grinned happily at Daisy’s Marill.

“Rafflesia, light it up!” Hana’s voice echoed from the TV as the battle began. There was a bright flash of light that the cameras had trouble adjusting to. When they adjusted the exposure, I could see a familiar ball of fire in the air over the pool. The Sunny Day radiated flickering light that was just like the real sun.

I was gobsmacked.

Not only had Hana not told us about an evolution on her team, but she’d also figured out a potent technique that would set the strategy for her entire team.

Hana was an incredibly talented person and an even more cunning trainer.

I found myself grinning as Rafflesia dashed forward on her platform, her speed heavily increased by her Chlorophyll ability in the Sunny Day’s presence. It was a cool reveal. I could forgive Hana just this once.

It was only when Wisp nudged my side that I remembered that I was supposed to actually use this time for something. I quickly tugged off my athleticwear and started getting changed into my battle outfit. I slipped into the beige pants and white dress shirt, then I carefully slid into the blue blazer so that I wouldn’t crease it. Last to go on were the accessories: my amethyst necklace slipped over my head and Daisy’s green handkerchief around my wrist.

Wisp floated toward me, nuzzling against the silver chain of my necklace. “Drea drea,” she said happily.

I smiled. “Yeah, I like it too. I like having something to represent you guys in my outfit. In fact, I should probably get something for Cleffa too, for when they hatch.”

I’d left the egg with Nurse Joy today, so it was just me and my two battlers. I released Artis from his ball, and he barked. A big grin stretched over his chubby face.

“Yeah, buddy, it’s time.” I leaned down and scratched him under the whiskers. “We’re almost up to battle.”

Wisp and Artis exchanged a look. Both of their eyes narrowed in excitement, and they nodded to each other.

“We’ve worked really hard for this,” I sighed. “And today is the day it all comes to a head. We’ve completely overhauled our strategy and we’ve figured out some really challenging moves. We are going to win this.”

Artis lifted his head and stretched his neck, and a sound came out of him that I didn’t know that he could make. He howled. My eyes opened wide. The sound was actually pretty inspiring.

I turned to Wisp. She grinned a toothy grin and she lifted her head in response. She did her own best attempt at a howl.

“You guys are the best,” I laughed. I patted them both on the head before I returned them to their Pokeballs. As much as I would’ve liked to make an entrance with Wisp coming from my shadow, I had promised multiple people that I’d keep this gym battle as low-profile as possible.

I sat down to watch the rest of Hana’s battle, but the Nav buzzed.

I frowned, glancing over at it. My parents had already called me this morning, and Professor Oak had sent his best wishes. Unless Daisy had suddenly gotten a signal in the Johtan wilderness, I didn’t know who this was going to be.

When I checked the notification, though I felt a small smile crack my face. It was two texts from Misty. One was a message, and the other was a link.

[[10:23, Misty]] Hey! Good luck with your gym battle, I hope you’re ready for a fight!

I’d forgotten to tell her that I was challenging today, but I figured that she must’ve heard from social media. I clicked the link that she sent.

“What the hell?” Confusion bloomed on my face as I looked at the video feed. “Did she accidentally send me a link to my own match?”

It was a live feed of Hall 01, a mirror of what was on the TV. I must’ve missed Hana winning her match because she was just stepping off to the side to receive her gym badge. While I was disappointed that I hadn’t been able to see the full thing live, there was always going to be a VoD of it.

What made me frown, though, was that Daisy hadn’t stepped away like the other two Gym leaders had. Instead, she stepped to the center of the battlefield, between the audience and the pool. Lily and Violet took the stage next to Daisy. The camera zoomed in on the three of them as they turned to directly address both the digital and in-person audiences.

“Hello, everyone!” Daisy spoke with a happy lilt to her voice. “As you know, we are the three gym leaders of the Cerulean Gym, the Sensational Sisters!”

Through the microphones, I could hear the sound of the audience losing their minds. All three of the Sisters were on stage, so every fanboy had their favorite performer in front of them.

Lily stepped up to speak next. “And while have always loved being the three Sensational Sisters, there has always been a small part of us that has been missing.”

“The number ‘three’ has never been quite right,” Violet continued. “As you may or may not be aware, we have a fourth sister, a member of our family who has always been a bit too young to take up her part of the mantle.”

The cheering took a hesitant dip, but the entire audience seemed to be holding their breath in anticipation.

I looked back at the notification on my phone, and I rested my face on my palm. “Oh, legends damn it…”

“So, since we have finally decided that she’s ready,” Daisy stepped to the side so that a fourth person could join them on stage. “Please welcome Cerulean City’s fourth gym leader and Sensational Sister, Misty!”

There was a fanboy uproar. The audience stamped their feet in unison, clapping and shouting to the best of their ability. As one, their voices joined in a chant. “Misty! Misty! Misty!”

Misty Williams, my newfound training buddy and gym leader opponent, stepped forward. Her hair was curled like a princess, and she was dressed in a baby-blue one-piece swimsuit with a dark blue windbreaker draped over her shoulders.

She turned her gaze to the camera and spiked the lens. Misty winked at me.

I sighed, so many things becoming clear to me at once. Everything from Misty’s cryptic responses when I’d met her to Mrs. Clara’s amusement regarding my knowledge of the Sensational Sisters. Embarrassment dusted my cheeks and ears, and even though I knew she wouldn’t see the text until after our match, I sent Misty a response.

[[10:27, me]] You’re hilarious.

Notes:

a/n:
And people that I forgot about Misty XD

Well, that leaves us with just one more battle in Cerulean Gym and only two more chapters in Cerulean itself. I hope you guys enjoyed those battles, because they’re the last time that we’re going to get to see Yuji and Amy battle for a while :(

As for something that I feel like might be brought up about Amy’s battle, I am totally aware that neither Psyduck nor Politoed are intended to be physical attackers. However, this is only a second badge challenge, so I decided that the gym leaders would use strategies that might be less than optimal for the species of their Pokemon. It stands to reason that not every Politoed is going to want to stand back and spam Scald, nor is every Psyduck going to want to rely on Confusion to battle. These lower-level battles let those Pokemon get to battle the way that they want.

Regardless, thank you so much for reading!

Next chapter: Tuesday, June 25th

Chapter 39: Cerulean Gym, Vs. Misty

I took a deep breath in. My hands drifted over my face and through my hair. They still smelled like salt water from my gym challenge earlier. Through the set of doors in front of me, I could still distantly hear Misty introducing herself to Hall 01’s crowd and the rest of the world as Cerulean’s fourth gym leader. The cheering they gave her in return caused the air the thrum.

I grinned again. I could hardly be blamed for not realizing that there would be another Sensational Sister, but it had been telegraphed to me that she was a local water specialist. It should’ve at least occurred to me that she’d work here.

She’d even slipped once, back when we’d met, and I hadn’t realized it at the time. She’d almost referred to the Sensational Sisters as ‘my’ sisters, her sisters.

Well, regardless of how I got here, the fact that I was battling someone familiar actually added to the fire that was building in my gut. I hadn’t gotten used to the feeling of walking out into a gym challenge yet, but this one had new and different stakes associated with it. It wasn’t just a battle against an acquaintance, but it would be a gym leader’s first battle, ever. It would also be my first battle since pissing off half of Kanto, but that barely registered in my mind. It wasn’t important right now.

I just wanted to give Misty a good match.

“Trainer Tracy,” a small intercom buzzed by the door, “we’re ready for you to enter in three, two, one. Please enter the battle area.”

I opened my eyes and exhaled. I pushed through the set of double doors and the spotlight from beyond was almost blinding. The smell of salt water intensified and I could feel the rumble of the crowd in my bones.

My eyes adjusted, and I could see that the senior Sensational Sisters had already left the battlefield. Only Misty remained, and she was already staring me down with a fierce and mischievous grin. She nodded to me and I did so in return, but before I stepped forward, I waved once at the crowd with an open palm. It was something that I’d decided to do before, a signal to the crowd that showed that I wasn’t carrying any flags this time.

Their response was less than it had been for any of my friends, and there were stills scattered ‘boos’ from the audience, but most still seemed to be riding the high of receiving a new gym leader. Their claps and cheers echoed on the tiled walls. Among them, I could clearly hear the shouts from Amy, Yuji, and Hana. Though I couldn’t see them from under the harsh spotlight, I flashed a grin in their direction.

I closed the distance to the battlefield and took my spot at the trainer’s podium. I looked to the referee, who had taken care of the pre-battle officiating so far, but he nudged his head toward Misty. My opponent smirked and flipped down the microphone on a small headset, the kind they used for plays and performances.

“Challenger Tracy of Hoenn!” Misty’s voice echoed through the gym speakers. “You are challenging for your second gym badge of the season. We will be using standard League Challenge rules. This will be a two-on-two battle with no swaps. Do you accept these conditions?”

Misty tapped the side of her head once, flipping off the microphone. “And are you ready for me to kick your butt this time?”

I grinned from ear to ear. That little jibe was just for me. “Yeah, I accept those conditions!” I winked at Misty and lowered my voice. “But this is pretty much going to be a repeat of last time.”

She shook her head and smiled. Misty clicked her microphone again. “Then I accept your challenge! Please, release your Pokemon!”

I grabbed Artis’ ball off of my belt and tossed it toward our floating platform. He materialized just above it, his weight slapping into it and sending ripples across the pool. Artis arched his back raising his head high into the sky, and roared as loudly as he could.

I didn’t miss how Misty’s gaze softened when Artis appeared, though she masked it quickly and reared back to release her own Pokemon. Unlike her sisters, Misty wasn’t handed a Dive Ball. Instead, she pulled a standard Pokeball from her jacket and tossed it into the pool. The Pokemon from within it was bright blue and covered in hard scales, and its trumpet-like face poked out of the pool with an angry expression. Artis growled at it.

My brain blanked up seeing the Seadra. It hadn’t occurred to me that Misty wouldn’t be pulling from the same pool of Pokemon as her sisters. Since none of the Sensational Sisters had used one for second badge challenges so far, I hadn’t prepared for this particular Pokemon.

Misty raised an eyebrow at me, smug.

I see.

I let out a breath, letting the nervousness and anxiety leave my body. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t studied for this particular battle. Our strategy was still solid. I shook my head at her and stood tall.

“Let’s begin!” Misty declared, leaning forward in anticipation. “Referee, please count us in!”

The referee stepped forward and held his hand high. As he counted down from three, the crowd began to chant and cheer.

“Three!”

“Misty! Misty! Misty!” Their shouts reverberated across the chamber, but I didn’t take my gaze off my opponent. Misty did the same, keeping her bright blue eyes trained on me.

“Two!”

“Misty! Misty! M- Derek!” My head cocked to the side, the interruption in the pattern almost distracting me. Heat blossomed in my chest as all three of my friend’s voices overcame the crowd for just a moment. The real kicker, though, was that there were voices that I didn’t recognize synced up with them.

“One!”

“Misty! Derek! Misty! Derek!” Either through volume or sheer willpower, my few supporters and friends drove my name home as powerfully as the Sensational Sister’s fans yelled Misty’s. If I wasn’t aware of my standing, I could almost trick myself into thinking that the crowd was split.

I pulled in a soft breath. The cheers became a dull white tone in the background.

“Begin!”

“Aurora Beam the field!”

“Dive down and Focus Energy! Then attack!”

Artis drove his tail into the platform, launched himself above the water, and tucked himself into a spinning dive. A smooth beam of prismatic color warbled through the air in all directions, transforming the surface into a smooth sheet of ice as it hit. The blues, greens, purples, and pinks all refracted off of the ice, causing a light that was almost more blinding than the spotlight above me. My Sealeo had his body tucked into a Rollout before he hit the surface and rolled through the landing.

I couldn’t see Seadra under the ice, but from her expression Misty had accounted for our plan. We’d straight up told her what we’d be trying to do here, after all. Her eyes tracked a shape under the ice, and I suddenly felt like a genius.

“Artis, left!”

A torrent of bubbles rocketed through the ice, each as hard and fast as a baseball, and sent a cascade of salt water geysering into the air where Artis had been. Misty’s face scrunched in disappointment at the miss, but she waved her hand to the side.

“Repeat fire! Bubble Beam!” Misty yelled.

Artis swerved in response to her call, and three more pillars of bubbles speared through our ice in his wake. They didn’t do a lot of damage to the ice itself, since they had a tight grouping to pierce through it, but they were violently spraying water in every direction, making the ice slick and taking away his traction. Artis’ Rollout wobbled as he skidded on a puddle, and a fifth Bubble Beam rocketed into his side.

Misty grinned. Our tactics were obviously going to be harder to get off without the element of surprise.

Shit. I needed to adapt the plan.

“Aqua Ring, Powder Snow the floor, then build up speed!”

Artis barked. A thin tendril of water wrapped around him, glowing faintly. He dodged once more to the left as another geyser of bubbles sprayed past him, but he wasn’t able to fully get out of the way. The bubbles split like jagged water when they hit him, popping with more force than a punch. I grimaced as one exploded right against his ear, almost knocking him off course. That Focus Energy hadn’t been for nothing and this Pokemon was an expert sniper.

The air glowed white as Artis released a gale of snowflakes behind him. His powder snow filled the air like fog but gathered in clumps and fell to the floor. This wasn’t a traditional use of the move, but I was hoping the loose snow would do something for this traction on the ice. The snow turned into a wet slurry as it started siphoning the water.

Artis picked up speed.

“That’s it! Keep going! Follow the pattern!” I pointed to the far side of the ice where I could almost make out Seadra’s form. The water type hadn’t moved much under the water. We were almost up to speed. If we could nail it with a full power Rollout-

Misty cut her hand through the air. “Seadra, time to get serious, Dragon Breath!”

There was a flash of light under the ice and a brilliant bout of purple flame roared to life from Misty’s side of the field. It was almost triple Seadra’s width and concentrated like a welder’s torch, searing through the ice in a straight line toward Artis.

I made a split-second call. “Tank it! Use the momentum you have now!”

“Leo!” Artis roared, pushing through the purple fire and into the water below. The resulting smack was so loud that I could feel it in my bones. The fire stopped on impact, but two blue shapes drifted apart under the water. I couldn’t see how damaged it was, but Seadra was still in this fight. We hadn’t been able to build up enough speed.

Artis flopped out of the water, pushing back onto his ice. It was peppered full of holes, but still solid, and Artis was in the same shape. His blue and white fur was now charred black in places, and his large whiskers had lost a few inches on either side, but my boy still looked pretty good. His wounds were already fading from his Aqua Ring.

“Now!”

A second bout of flame enveloped Artis from below, and I cursed at myself. I’d spent too much time checking Artis for damage when of course Seadra was going to recover in the water first. Misty’s smirk was evidence of that.

“Artis, Brine!”

Artis warbled in pain, but he heard my order. His throat glowed with deep blue light and he tucked his head down. The water that poured forward was salty to almost acidic levels, and the pressure behind it was enough to put the Bubble Beams to shame. His torrent instantly ate away at the ice under his feet, pushing with enough force to roll Artis backward into the water. The water and draconic flames of Dragon Breath exploded into a cloud of steam, creating a thick, acrid scent and covering the battlefield.

When the attacks ended, neither trainer spoke. Neither of us knew the state of our Pokemon.

There was a loud splash from within the acidic fog, and I felt a smile creep up my lips. I didn’t want to celebrate too early, but only one of our Pokemon had a reason to get up onto the ice.

“Sealeo!” Artis barked, breathing out a cloud of powdered ice and clearing away the fog. He looked ragged, the second direct hit from Dragon Breath having critically injured him, but he was still standing.

At his feet was a crumpled and battered blue form.

My grin didn’t contain itself when I saw the state that Seadra was in. Our Rollout must have done enough damage to severely injure Seadra, because Brine only bruised a Pokemon that badly when it was already hurt pretty badly.

“Seadra is unable to battle!” The referee raised a hand. “Leader Misty, please return your Pokemon!”

Misty sighed, but she gave me a satisfied look. She returned Seadra to their Pokeball. Misty clicked off her mic one more time.

“Alright, I figured you’d probably chew through Seadra, but he still gave Artis a run for his money. Plus, I’m not the only one who wanted a rematch,” Misty said. She held up another Pokeball and activated her microphone. “Starmie, come on out!”

My shoulders unclenched ever so slightly. I’d prepared for this one.

Misty’s next Pokemon was just over a meter in height, with ten muscular purple appendages attached to a gold core. In the center of the core was a cut ruby gem that glittered and glowed with an inner light.

“Hyahh!” Starmie took up a fighting stance, flexing all of its arms at once. The water behind it exploded into a tiny backdrop of vapor.

While posing wasn’t uncommon among Starmie, this stance was a little too familiar. The meaning of Misty’s words finally hit me. “Oh! Freshly evolved? That’s awesome!”

Misty nodded and a proud glimmer reflected in her eyes. If I remembered correctly, Staryu required a water stone to evolve, so she must’ve been jazzed that her Pokemon was finally ready to receive one. Starmie’s back half rotated in response, showing off a whole new range of motion for the starfish.

“Leader Misty has sent out Starmie,” the referee called. “We will now resume the match! Begin!”

“Buy time! Build back up!” I yelled to Artis to run. His Aqua Ring had only been given a few moments to heal him, and he definitely wasn’t back up to fighting strength yet.

Artis threw his weight backward, rolling around the massive gaps in the ice left by Dragon Breath and Brine. His Rollout was hesitant and uneven as he rolled over his burns and bruises.

“Nope! They’ve had enough fun, Starmie, take back our pool!” Misty clapped her hands together. “Rapid Spin!”

Starmie’s back arms rotated like blender blades, spinning so fast that I couldn’t make out individual arms. It tilted its body on a side axis, let one arm cut into the ice, and inertia took over. Starmie’s body flew across the ice, each arm smashing into the ice sheet and propelling it forward like an errant tire on the highway. In its wake, chunks of crystalline slush flew backward and meter-long cracks appeared in the ice.

I tensed as it approached Artis at high speed, but Starmie jetted past Sealeo toward my end of the pool. It caught its arms on an upturned platform and flew into the air. Its arms never stopped spinning, only adjusting its angle to slam back down toward the pool surface. Our icy field offered it no resistance as it hit like a shuriken, slicing through the ice and into the water below.

A low rumble echoed across the battlefield.

As one, every crack that Starmie had left in its wake widened, shattering through the ice sheet and colliding at specific breaking points. Points that had been left behind by Seadra’s Bubble Beam.

“To the edge, now!” I panicked, realizing that Misty had been playing a long game with her shot placements earlier.

Artis barked, guiding his exhausted Rollout to the pool’s edge, where the holes were the fewest. He made it just in time. The cracks reached their apex all at once, and the entire center of the battlefield collapsed. Ice chunks careened away from their original spots, flipping and spinning in the water and sending waves spraying in every direction. Now that I could see through the ice, Starmie was clearly visible underneath the surface spinning and swimming in a clockwise direction to create a current that stirred up the ice even further. The two floating platforms were upturned and buried under the water and ice.

Artis was going to have to re-solidify the surface to get anywhere-

“Water Pulse!” Misty grinned. “Apply pressure, don’t let them catch their breath!”

“Shit,” I said under my breath. Louder, I yelled, “Artis, intercept with Aurora Beam!”

Starmie released three rings of water from within the pool depths. They were soundless coils of laminar flow that didn’t lose a drop as they careened toward Artis. My Sealeo whipped his head forward and unhinged his jaw, his signature rainbow beam spraying forward. It was sloppy and jagged, but he managed to catch the front ring with it. On impact, it solidified into ice and slowed from Aurora Beam’s power. The second and third rings slammed into the first, sending chunks of ice and briney water spraying in every direction.

When three more rings emerged from the water, I didn’t have to command Artis to defend again. He slapped down his flippers for sturdier footing and shot the rings out of the air. Starmie kept up the pressure, and I very quickly realized that Starmie could do this all day.

My eyes flicked from Artis to Starmie to Misty. In less than a week, she’d taken her Staryu and given it an entirely new fighting style, adapting it to our plan and evolving it. She still had tricks up her sleeve that she hadn’t pulled out yet, either, like Recovery and Analytic. Artis was strong, but we didn’t have the advantage of surprise like we’d had before. His Aqua Ring was doing work healing him up, but his damage output was below Starmie’s, and both of them could heal. This was going to be a long fight and Artis probably wasn’t going to come out on top.

My gaze turned to the crowd.

I made a decision.

“I return my Pokemon!” I called out, raising one hand into the air.

“Challenger Tracy has chosen to recall his Sealeo!” The referee announced, raising a flag. “Sealeo is no longer able to battle. Challenger, please send out your next Pokemon!”

Misty shot me a look as I returned Artis. She wasn’t upset. In fact, she gave me a small smile and a nod, and I knew that she was thinking the same thing that I was.

Even though this battle was between the two of us, we couldn’t forget that eyes were on us both. A boring stall match wasn’t how Misty wanted to debut as a gym leader, and it wouldn’t do me any favors in the eyes of Kanto.

Luckily, I had an anti-Starmie machine that was going to speed up this battle.

“Wisp!” I yelled, tossing my second Pokeball. “It’s your turn, take the stage!”

Even though my Pokeball released a burst of light, no Pokemon immediately appeared. At least, not to the audience. To my trained eyes, I could see the density of shadows on the water’s surface changing and the way that small chunks of ice would drift and move in the water. Whispers echoed through the hall, though they didn’t bounce off the tiles the way that all of the other sounds had. It originated from within the shadows, sending tiny shivers down each audience member’s spine. The whispers caused goosebumps to appear on even my arms.

Wisp solidified from the hair up, slowly drifting out of the shadow of a small glacier and into view. Above her eyes, she still sported a gash in her shadowy form from our earlier battle. Misty involuntarily shivered, but she gave Wisp a wink.

The referee dropped his hand again. “Challenger Tracy has sent out Misdreavus, we will now resume the match! Begin!”

“Disappear, Starmie! Camoflague!”

I cracked a grin. “That won’t work! Wisp, Thunder Wave!”

Starmie vanished in the water, becoming essentially invisible, but Wisp mirrored my grin. Her red beads glowed yellow, and a tiny wave of electricity fled from her in every direction. The salty smell of the pool took on the sharp tang of ozone as it rolled through the water. Deep below the surface, Starmie flickered in and out of existence. The starfish seized and struggled as the weak pulse of electricity contracted its muscles.

Thunder Wave was Wisp’s first successful attempt at learning an electric type move on her own, and one of two secret moves that she’d been training for this battle. Pride coursed through me as she successfully pulled it off in battle.

Misty frowned and kept herself from grinding her jaw. “Work around it, Water Pulse!”

As much as Starmie was inconvenienced by the paralysis, it wasn’t out of the fight. Three more rings of smooth water rocketed toward Wisp from Starmie’s spinning form. They broke the surface and Wisp pushed off to the side with a cackle. She drifted through a chunk of ice, temporarily becoming incorporeal and allowing the attack to smash into her cover. Without an order from me, Wisp’s necklace began to glow bright yellow, and a thin beam of electricity seared through the water. The air smelled of petrichor as the water around Starmie electrolyzed.

Starmie’s back legs revved faster than I would’ve thought possible, pushing it out of the way of the brunt of the Charge Beam. Their red gem glowed bright pink for a moment, and a blue-purple counterpart to Barrier appeared around it.

I grimaced at the Light Screen. It wasn’t going to make winning impossible, but it was going to be more annoying.

“Give them a taste of their own medicine,” I called. “Quick bursts, Charge Beam again!”

“Avoid and Analysis, Starmie,” Misty responded. “Recover when you need to!”

Wisp was faster on the draw, since Starmie’s partial paralysis was still slowing it down. Wisp’s bead glowed yellow in sequence, each one only partially charging before releasing its electrical contents in a beam that was narrower than any of our practice attempts. With each beam, Wisp’s face grew more energetic and excited, like she was bursting with power.

Starmie used its legs like a rudder, chewing through the water and icy slush with speed, even when slowed. It was able to avoid the majority of Wisps attacks by keeping its movement pattern erratic, but we still landed a few hits on its limbs, scorching and swelling them with electricity on each hit. Almost as soon as they appeared, though, the wounds would disappear as Starmie’s gem pulsed with pink energy. The Light Screen was halving their damage, so Recover was more than enough to keep them from doing any lasting damage to Starmie.

Starmie’s gem flickered a familiar red, and Misty grinned. “That’s it, Water Pulse!”

“Shadow Sneak!”

Wisp vanished from sight, the only trace of her existence being a thin tendril of shadow that connected her to Starmie’s shadow. The starfish spun in the water, gem flashing red again, and it flipped its face side behind it. Wisp reappeared just in time for three rings of water to slam into her with consecutive concussive blasts. Each one sent her spinning through the water, but I couldn’t keep myself from grinning.

“Now!”

WIsp’s eyes flared open under the water, going wide, far wider than naturally possible. Her incorporeal form expanded and grew bloated, reaching almost triple her normal size, and her eyes flickered between red and yellow like a demented cartoon character. She opened her ghostly mouth wide and bit down on Starmie’s spinning form.

Starmie deflated like a water balloon. The limb that Wisp was clamped onto withered into a far darker purple, shrinking and growing wrinkly over just a few seconds. The bruises on Wisp’s body from the point-blank Analytic-fueled Water Pulse began to fade, and the shadowy gash on her forehead disappeared entirely.

Pain Split was the second of Wisp’s secret moves, and our answer to our opponents’ healing. It would take the injuries of two Pokemon and redistribute them to be equal between the two, meaning that any healing our opponents did would end up helping us, too.

The impressed but frustrated look on Misty’s face told me that we’d gotten our point across. If she wanted to keep avoiding a stall match, she’d have to stop herself from healing.

“Starmie, get away and Psywave!”

“Not going to happen!” I yelled as the shimmer of Light Screen disappeared. We’d waited it out. “Hex!”

“Drea drea!” Wisp cackled as she let go of Starmie’s arm and tendrils of shadowy purple flames extended off of her body. They wrapped around the paralyzed starfish before it had the chance to escape. Where they touched, the tendrils burnt and withered the flesh far worse than pain split had. Starmie convulsed in the water, its red gem frantically flickering red. The residual energy from our paralysis echoed with the ghostly nature of Hex, rebounding it through Starmie with twice the intensity that it would normally have. Several Charge Beam had power Wisp up, which meant that she packed a punch.

Starmie’s gem ceased glowing.

The referee raised his hand.

"Leader Misty's Pokemon is unable to battle," he called. "The winner is Challenger Derek Tracy!"

The cheers of the crowd slammed back into my attention, no longer relegated to a dull background noise. My friends shouted at the top of their lungs, and as the gym trainers brought the house lights up, I could see that a good third of the crowd was cheering my name.

“Tracy, Tracy, Tracy!” They yelled.

Another third of the crowd gave polite claps and cheers that mirrored the sportsmanship of cheering on a decent opponent, and it was only the last third that actively booed my down and frowned.

I ripped my eyes away from the crowd and back to Misty, who had recalled Starmie and was standing next to the referee. She waved me over. I beckoned Wisp into my shadow and stepped around the side of the pool. It was still slick with ice from Artis’ attacks, so I was careful not to slip. Gym trainers were already hard at work melting the ice we’d left behind.

The referee stepped back to allow Misty to reach a hand out to me, and I took it. She wasn’t giving me a real look, yet, instead pouting toward me with big blue eyes, though I could tell she was mostly being sarcastic.

Misty’s hand was soft but her grip was tough. A big satisfied grin pushed its way through her pout. “Good win,” she said.

“Great battle,” I replied, the tension in my body slowly fading. In its place came pride and excitement. My face tingled. “I can’t wait to battle you again.”

Misty’s grin shifted to a small bemused smile. She looked a little taken aback, but not in a bad way. “That’s good to hear,” she said. “I’d have thought that after two wins you’d be done with my team. I’d have to use my sister’s Pokemon if I wanted to fight you with anything stronger right now. Daisy might even be the better option if you want a challenge.”

“Are you crazy? Misty, you completely upped that Staryu in a week! Imagine what your Pokemon are going to look like by the end of the season! I don’t care about facing your sisters or their Pokemon, I’m going to come back after we’ve both gotten stronger.”

Her bemused look slowly shrank into one of disbelief before flitting into genuine beaming. Misty shook my hand again, grasping it tight.

“I’m going hold you to that,” she said.

“Bet,” I spoke without hesitation. “I’m coming back after my eight badge, and I’ll give you another rematch.”

She nodded and then gestured toward where the camera was still rolling. Misty tilted her head forward, motioning to me what she intended, and I nodded back.

We both bowed to the camera, and the crowd went wild.

---

Four plastic poppers exploded in unison and all four of us cheered. Achilles warbled happily as he snapped a paper hat onto Paige’s head while Gong floated above them. Pennywise and Rafflesia played in the confetti that had scattered onto the floor from our poppers. Artis laid out on his back with Despereaux resting on his belly, both happily resting after their tough battles. Wisp was nowhere to be seen, but I was seated strategically next to the box that contained our cake, so I was sure she was nearby and watching. My egg incubator was perched next to me on the table.

After all four of us had gotten successful wins, we’d decided to retire to the Pokemon Center for the night. Even though we would normally hit up a karaoke club or something similar after a win, it had felt right to do a private celebration since it was our last day together. Nurse Joy had offered us one of the upstairs conference rooms for our party, and Hana and I had taken care of the shopping. We’d all changed into as casual as clothes as possible, and it honestly felt like a pajama party.

I distributed sodas to my fellow trainers and Hana pulled out a box of sandwiches. They were both the fancy kinds, with the soda bottles being heavy glass and the sandwiches coming in a deluxe box with a ribbon. Yuji took to the task of setting out the extra berries that we’d picked up for our Pokemon, which they all cheerfully accepted.

“Man, those look so tasty…” Amy practically drooled as a plate was slid over to them. They admired their sandwich, eating it with their eyes first.

“Dig in,” Hana smiled softly, pushing a stack of napkins over as well. “We all did a great job today.”

“Yes, we did,” Yuji tucked a loose strand of black and white hair behind his ear. He nodded his head to both of us in thanks and took his own plate. “And hopefully this is the second in a string of eight victories for each of us.”

“You can say that again,” I grinned. “Since we have two badges now, that puts us… What was it? Half drop out before one, then a tenth more before two, so that puts us-”

Hana held up her hands with her fingers out. “In the fifty-fifth percentile. Just by making it here, we’ve accomplished more than fifty-five percent of rookie trainers.”

“Mprf-” Amy choked, their mouth already full of sandwich as they squeaked in surprise. They swallowed. “What, really?”

I reached over the table and tousled their hair. “Feels good, right?”

Amy sat down their sandwich in shock, a feat I didn’t think they were capable of. They looked at all three of us with wide eyes, daring us to say it was a prank.

“That sounds correct to me,” Yuji affirmed. “We are proveably stronger than more than half of the other rookies.”

Amy leaned back in their chair. “Whoa….”

The three of us chuckled at their reality check. We really were that strong, at least, compared to the average rookie. We were probably a bit stronger than that, actually, given that I had won against the ninth-ranked rookie, and Yuji and Hana were at least as strong as me. Amy was getting up there, too.

I felt my smile dim, though, when a stray thought crossed my mind.

We were still nothing compared to any of the Pokemon that I’d seen at the Pewter Museum.

Any one of Proton’s Pokemon could obliterate our teams on its own, let alone any of the Pokemon that Bruno or Brock had thrown out. I was confident that with both Wisp and Artis, I could take out the Rhydon that we’d fought in Mt. Moon, but if it came to a one-on-one for either of them, I wasn’t so sure I would win. That didn’t include other dangerous wild Pokemon, though, or even when the experienced trainers joined the season on Triumph Day-

Yuji, perhaps sensing my distress, put his hand on my shoulder.

“And now we enter the most intense training of our season,” he said fiercely. “We are going to emerge from this even stronger and sweep the remaining gyms.”

“Yeah,” I said softly, letting myself relax. “You’re right about that one. Two down, six to go.”

“Yup!” Amy jumped in, having finished her sandwich already. “Next up is Saffron! Then we’ll probably kick Erika’s butt in Celadon, then Surge, then Koga and Blaine, then Giovanni is gonna get a Barrier straight up the a-”

“Alright!” Hana chuckled, shushing Amy’s tirade before it got too out of control. “First things first, we have to get through the next few weeks. That’s going to mean lots of hard training and planning.”

“That’s no problem,” Yuji shrugged, his grin growing fierce. “I am hoping that my team and I will be able to revisit our fundamentals at the Dojo, and I have a few plans for some future members that I would like to look out for.”

“Oh boy, me too!” Amy pumped their fist in the air. “Since we’re heading south, there’s all kinds of cool psychics that I can find, like Hypno and Alakazam! I even heard about this place in Celadon where people can win rare Pokemon by playing games…”

As Amy and Yuji talked about their ideas for team members, my eyes drifted over to Hana. She was watching them carefully and calmly, her expression posed in a perfect mask that didn’t betray any discomfort or sadness.

The slight picking at the edge of her phone case and the way her eyes would flick back and forth between the two of them, though? Hana was worried about something. I could feel it.

I took a moment to consider my list. It was easy to let this fall into ‘Let problems be problems’, but I wasn’t so sure that it applied. I didn’t know whether or not this was something to be solved, or just nervousness that Hana was feeling. If anything, I felt more like this fell under ‘Teamwork before self-reliance’.

Instead of interrupting Yuji and Amy’s very animated talk, I pulled the Nav from my pocket and typed a quick text under the table.

[[19:06, me]] Hey, do you want to talk about whatever’s bothering you?

Hana stiffened as her phone lit up under her fingers. She slid the screen open and read the message. She relaxed, though, when she saw who it was from and she shot me a quick look. I smiled and shrugged.

Hana read my message slowly. Her shoulders lowered slightly and she didn’t look me in the eye. Instead, she typed out a message back.

[[19:07, Hana]] That obvious?

I smiled into my hand. Nailed it.

[[19:07, me]] Not that bad. I mean, Amy hasn’t noticed, and that’s saying a lot.
[[19:07, me]] No pressure, though. If you want to keep it to yourself, that’s totally okay.

Both in person and in the app, I could see Hana typing. She deleted it, though, and looked up at me. She looked a little embarrassed, and her green eyes wouldn’t quite meet mine. Instead, she nodded softly.

I took my cue.

“Oh, dang,” I said at an appropriate volume to both be heard by the others but not interrupt their conversation. “Hana, did you ever end up picking up that fairy type grooming kit for me? I’d meant to get it off you in case Cleffa evolved.”

Hana paused for only a moment. “Yes, I did. It’s actually up in my room if you want to go grab it.”

In reality, said grooming kit was in my bag, which was leaned against the bench next to me.

“Yeah, sounds good!”

We both stood up, but neither Yuji nor Amy paid us too much mind. Yuji gave me a slight wave, but continued to talk shop. Of our Pokemon, only Despereaux opened an eye as we left, though he closed it and went back to sleeping on Artis’ belly.

Hana stepped out into the hallway and I followed. We were up on the tallest floor of the Pokemon Center and it was dinner time downstairs, so it was a ghost town up here. We didn’t walk further than a few steps before Hana stopped and turned back to me. She was still keeping up her mask, but her shoulders drooped in a deeply somber way.

Neither of us spoke immediately, and I quickly realized that I was going to have to initiate if I wanted Hana to feel comfortable enough to share. “Um, well,” I said hesitantly. “What’s up?”

My internal sigh barely kept me from face-palming. Tact or sympathy? I was a master of neither, apparently.

Hana’s green eyes stared at the ground and she shifted in place. “I-” Hana started and immediately stopped. She paused and took a breath. “I’m just struggling, I think, with a few different things. I don’t know, I mean…”

I sighed as Hana trailed off. Whatever she was struggling with, it was a lot. We’d been through emergency after emergency, and I’d only seen her like this after Mt. Moon. She was normally the only sane one in our group, and her being the only one out of it was a lot.

I did my best to channel Mrs. Clara and didn’t immediately speak. I let her statement hang in the air, only giving her a look that I hoped was gentle and beckoning when she glanced up at me.

Hana did start talking again, after a few seconds. “I think a lot of this comes from us splitting up,” she admitted. “It just happened really suddenly, and I don’t know that I’m ready to be apart from everyone.”

I nodded slowly. “And that’s because…?”

“Where do I even start?” Hana chuckled, her voice tense. She was getting choked up. “I said a lot of it during our talk the other day, and I feel awful that I’m even still feeling this way because I agreed to everything that you guys proposed. It’s just- When I made the choice to come here, to the mainland, Yuji and Amy came all the way to Cinnabar to start their journeys with me. I didn’t imagine that I’d be leaving them for an entire month so early in the journey.”

I made a mental shout-out to Mrs. Clara for her methods working, but I really considered what Hana was saying. I’d been worried that Hana was anxious because she had some sort of self-imposed obligation to come travel with me, but in reality, this had to do with the fact that Yuji and Amy weren’t going to be around. Even if she went with them to Saffron, the two of them would still be training in different places.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s valid as hell, Hana.”

Hana pulled a piece of cloth out of her back pocket, a green scarf, and wiped her eyes with it. She paused and looked up at me with red eyes and confusion. “It is…?” The way she said it wasn’t like she was questioning the fact, more that she was confused as to who it was coming from.

I shrugged. “These are your two best friends, and they both have clear goals that have a good reason to split up your group. There is no logical reason for you to stay with them. If anything, it all lines up a little too well, so your reason-bound brain is struggling with the fact that you really love your friends and don’t want to leave them. Even worse, if you asked them not to go, they wouldn’t.”

Hana’s confused expression increased.

I sighed. “Therapy works, Hana.”

“Apparently,” she said, rubbing her face, “though I didn’t think a week there would turn you into a self-expression guru.”

“It didn’t,” I promised. “I just went through a lot of similar stuff, so I’m mostly regurgitating what my therapist said.”

“That makes more sense,” Hana sighed. “So, what do you think?”

“Oh, uh, no.” I shook my head. “Therapy didn’t teach me how to make decisions for other people. I’m still pretty bad at doing it for myself.”

Hana gave me a knowing look. “Based on this week, I’m not so sure about that. Anyway, think of this as me just gathering data points, not necessarily looking for an answer. Do you have any suggestions?”

I thought about it for a long moment. “Well, it won’t solve your problem, but you could always just go to Celadon, like we’d suggested before. You’ll still have to split up with the others, but it’s like four days to get to Saffron from here, so you’d have a bit more time to spend with them.”

Hana immediately shook her head. “No, I can’t do that,” she said vehemently.

I didn’t miss the way she clenched her phone at the thought.

“Damn it,” I muttered. Louder, I said, “Look, I’m kind of going against my therapist’s advice here, but I was going to ask you about it in a couple of days anyway. What’s the deal with your phone? You look at it every time you talk about coming with me, and I feel like it’s the reason you’re so bent on going to Lavender Town.” My brain caught up to my words right at the very end and I clenched my hand. “Actually, no- Damn it. Feel free to ignore that. I’m not entitled to that information, I just noticed it when we talked about this the first time, and I was worried about you, but I don’t want to intrude…”

Hana put her arm on my forearm, cutting off my ramblings. Her mask vanished, letting her body droop and her expression fall even further than she’d allowed before.

“No,” Hana said softly, “It makes sense.”

Hana lifted her phone up and unlocked it. She scrolled past a few numbers and opened a text exchange, then handed the phone to me. I read the most recent message sent to her. It was dated to the day we’d met Lester and Ambrose, the day before we’d fallen into Mt. Moon.

[[Daisy Oak, 20:32]] Hey Hana! This is kind of out of the blue, but I just got off a call with Derek and he was feeling a bit down. I know he's not feeling the same since everything happened at the museum. I know you probably are already, but could you please keep an eye on him? I don't want him to get hurt because he's not feeling 100%. I know you care about him as much as I do, and I trust you.

That hit me harder than Achilles ever could. A lot of things started making sense almost immediately. Hana had gone out of her way to protect me, not just because she cared about me, but because she’d gotten a request from someone she really respected and looked up to. It explained why she’d been acting so off in Mt. Moon, why she’d taken it so personally when I’d endangered myself in Clefariy’s cave, and why she’d been so invested in guiding me through Rock Tunnel.

“Oh,” I said simply. “Damn.”

Hana nodded softly and her hand drifted off my forearm and back to her side.

A beat of silence passed between us. I looked at Hana with real understanding for the first time in a long time. She was tired. Hana had gone through everything in and after Mt. Moon for me, and when she finally left me on my own for a few days, I ended up running into a Rocket.

And even though she would’ve been worried for me as my friend, normally, she’d been carrying the weight of being my chaperone at my girlfriend’s request.

“Hana, I-” I cleared my throat. “I can’t imagine how I’d feel in your shoes, to be honest, and I’m going to be really honest for a minute. Are you ready?”

Hana slowly cocked an eyebrow, but she nodded.

“Good. Well, first off,” I raised my hand over her head like some kind of priest. “I release you from your charge. You do not need to be my babysitter. Not because I’m promising to be one hundred percent safe all the time, because nobody can promise that, but because you saw me through Mt. Moon and your actions have genuinely caused me to work on myself. Your job is done, it’s on me from here on out. Also, you deserve to live your best adventure. If that means that you go to Saffron and then to Celadon so that you can spend a few more days with our friends and then train with Erika, that’s what you should do. I fully support any decision you make.”

Hana was stunned. Her green eyes took on a silvery glimmer and she tilted her head down.

“Well,- Wait,” she said with a tight voice. “Just because I’m going to miss our friends doesn’t mean I want to leave. Even without what Daisy asked, you’re going to train at the Pokemon Tower, and then there’s that grass/ghost type rumor I was looking at-”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “And I support that decision, too. I just don’t want whatever you choose to be because you feel responsible for me, whatever your reasons for that are. And hey, if you do decide not to go with me, I can always catch that ghost type for you and teach you whatever I learn at the Tower.”

“Dhelmise,” Hana said quickly. “The Pokemon is Dhelmise.”

“Ah, okay, I could always catch Dhelmise for you, whatever that is.”

Hana didn’t look up. Instead, her head leaned forward, landing right in the middle of my chest. I hesitated before hugging her, but she nodded her permission. Hana lifted her arms and hugged me back. It was the first one we’d had since the ranger outpost.

“Thanks, Derek,” her voice was muffled by my hoodie. “I don’t know where I’m going yet, but I promise I’ll decide by tomorrow morning.”

“You’d better,” I chuckled. “Or else they’ll leave without you and you’ll have to run to catch up.”

I patted Hana on the back and she stepped back, wiping her eyes with her scarf again. I gave her a minute to collect herself before suggesting that we head back in. I didn’t trust a cake in a room with both Wisp and Amy in it for too long.

Amy and Yuji laughing about something caught my ear. Hana and I turned to look back into the room, and both of them were cackling at Wisp, who was floating in the center of the room near the cake. It was weird to see Amy so enthused about anything regarding my ghost, so I couldn’t stop myself from stepping back into the room.

“Guys,” Hana asked, her brow furrowed. “What is it that Wisp has there?”

Amy was the first to turn around and answer. “A knife!”

“No!” I lunged for the black shape that I hadn’t noticed in Wisp’s mouth, but she deftly dodged out of the way.

“Guys,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “Who gave my Pokemon a knife?”

Yuji chuckled. “Relax, my friend, it’s a bread knife. As a show of goodwill, Amy offered for Wisp to cut the cake.”

I rolled my eyes. “I know it’s a bread knife, but now she’s going to want her own knife and there’s no way I can explain that to a challenging trainer, or worse, a gym leader.” I glanced over at Amy. “You’re going to let her cut the cake?”

Amy smirked, puffing out their chest. “Yup! I’m doing a thing that my moms taught me. Wisp gets to cut two slices. I get to pick one and she gets the other one, so she’s incentivized to make them as even as possible.”

I looked back at my ghost with disbelief. “And you agreed to this?”

Wisp rearranged the knife in her teeth so that she was holding the plastic handle at the very end. “Drea dreavus!”

I shrugged. “Alright then, let’s get to it. Somebody cut the cake!”

All of our Pokemon cheered, as did all of the humans in the room. We enjoyed our little party as best we could, because it was the last time we’d be spending with each other for a long time.

Notes:

There we go! We have one more chapter in Cerulean (I promise, we're almost done!) and then we're off back on the road Pokemon adventuring! I hope you all enjoyed the battle against Misty!

Next Chapter: Tuesday, July 2nd

Chapter 40: Goodbye and Hello

The morning was cold. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but I wanted to believe that the world was just as somber about my friends leaving as I was. Route 05 stretched in front of us, tiny grey clouds scattered over a long and grassy road.

I slipped my arm around Yuji and Amy’s shoulders, pulling them both in tight. “I’m gonna miss you guys. You better text me. I want to see those Saffron gains!”

Yuji rested his head on my shoulder. “We shall, my friend. I believe we’ve already agreed to daily messaging?”

“Yeah, Derek, we’ll be fine!” Amy struggled as I squeezed them tighter.

I nodded, putting my chin on their head, feeling the fleece of their beanie under me. “I know, bean. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to miss you guys.”

A slender set of arms wrapped around Amy from the other side. Hana looked profoundly sad as she reached over and grabbed Yuji as well, but she still kept a small smile on her face. She’d wrapped her scarf tight around her neck and tucked her chin into it. It didn’t do much to hide her expression, but none of us chose to mention it.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Hana mumbled.

Yuji and Amy pushed themselves further into the group hug. I squeezed them all once and extracted myself. I stepped back, looking at their little trio with a soft smile on my face. As much as I was a part of this group and they were all my friends, these three had started their journey together. I wanted their goodbye to be just for them.

It was Amy who broke the hug first. “Guys,” they complained, wiping their eyes. “Why am I the only one crying when we’re all this sad? Show some emotion, people!”

Yuji chuckled, shaking his head. “We don’t need to shed tears, Amy. We’re sad now, but we’ll be together again soon. This is just a momentary gap in our journey together.”

“It’s okay, Amy,” Hana said with a strained voice. “I’ll cry enough for both me and this stone wall.”

“Rude, but not wrong,” Yuji laughed.

The three of them hugged again, but it only lasted a moment. Without another word, Yuji and Amy stepped away from us. Yuji wavered at me as he passed, and I high-fived his hand. He chuckled again and kept walking. Amy waddled by and gave me a big-eyed sad look. I tousled their hair and leaned down to give them a peck on the forehead. They grinned and waved goodbye, then ran after Yuji.

Hana and I watched our friends leave down Route 05. We didn’t move from our spots until they’d disappeared over a hill.

A weight appeared on my arm as Hana leaned on me. I ignored her sniffles, even though I could feel my sleeve go damp. I patted her on the head, like I would do for Amy. Hana didn’t reference it, but she did squeeze tighter.

After a while, I hooked my arm under Hana’s and gently turned us back toward Cerulean. We both still had things to do in the city before we left today, and there would be plenty of time for missing our friends later.

---

I left Hana at the Pokemon Center to get cleaned up and start packing her stuff. I had one more therapy session in Cerulean, so she’d decided to do the last of our shopping during that time. With our winnings from Cerulean, we had a decent chunk of change to spend, so she was making sure we were more than prepared for anything that could happen on our journey.

As I walked through Cerulean, I found myself getting sad at the idea of leaving this town so soon. We’d spent weeks in Pewter, learning the streets and the sights, but all told we had spent eleven days in Cerulean. A lot had happened, but I’d seen very little of the city itself. It was beautiful, with its white-stone paved streets and vaguely Kalosian architecture and scattered fields.

I made my way across town, past the gym, and to Mrs. Clara’s office. I walked up the stone step onto the sidewalk and toward the front door, but it popped open before I could reach it. A person stepped out.

I paused, recognizing the blonde locs, dark skin, and overall aloof demeanor of the person in front of me. She recognized me, too, if the tightening of her eyebrows and downward lilt of her lips into a frown was anything to go by. We’d never actually met, but I’d seen videos of her battling and she’d definitely made her opinions of me known on public radio.

“Hm.” Portia Cervelo made a noise of disapproval and judgment. “It’s you.”

I glanced from Portia to the door behind her. This was definitely Mrs. Clara’s office. It shouldn’t have surprised me that she also came here, given that I knew my therapist specialized in trainers and Portia was from here. I hadn’t thought she was in the city anymore, though, so this was out of nowhere.

I stepped to the side, making room for the third-ranked rookie of the season to walk through. “Sorry,” I muttered with a neutral smile. “Didn’t mean to get in your way there.”

“It’s no problem,” Portia said automatically. She stepped past me and down onto the sidewalk, where she pulled a Pokeball out of a small bag on her hip. She hesitated, looking back at me and then to Mrs. Clara’s office. “I assume you have a session soon?

I nodded.

Portia mentally debated something. “Well, then I shall leave it at this,” she declared in a quiet voice. “I did not like how you handled your interactions with my friend, even if he was in the wrong.”

I found myself nodding again. I hadn’t handled things with Mick well, all things considered. I had been in the wrong for most of that.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. “I plan on talking to him, trainer to trainer, the next time I see him.”

Portia gave me a long look. Her eyes were a light color, I couldn’t tell if they were pale brown or an off-green from this distance. She studied me longer than was comfortable, but eventually, she gave me a single nod.

“See that you do,” she said. Portia turned to leave, but once again, she hesitated. She looked at me one more time. “Congratulations on your second badge,” she added quietly.

Portia released her Pokeball, letting the Pokemon within materialize onto her hand. It was a small spherical green bird, with yellow and pink feathered wings and two tiny pink feet. Its eyes were wide and unblinking, though they also seemed oddly detached from the current moment.

“Chiffon, back to Vermillion,” Portia mumbled.

The bird looked past Portia and up at me. It hopped off of Portia’s hand and to the ground, propelling itself with its tiny legs and flapping its wings to slow its descent. Chiffon wandered up the stone step, hopping over each one, and found its way to my feet. The bird pecked at my shoe and then looked up at me expectantly.

Portia had the piece of mind to look embarrassed. “I apologize for her,” she said, her normally aloof face actually flushing. “Chiffon, get back here-”

“It’s okay,” I chuckled. I leaned down, offering my palm to the Pokemon. “Hi, Chiffon, how are you?”

“Oh, I really don’t recommend that-”

Chiffon hopped onto my palm, and her right eye glowed bright blue.

The world went black. I was no longer in front of Mrs. Clara’s office, nor was I even in Cerulean City. Portia had disappeared, and only Chiffon remained.

“What the hell-” I started, my voice sounding distorted and off.

“Natu,” came a small voice, and I looked down at Chiffon. The Pokemon’s eye continued to glow.

Suddenly, I was standing in an arena. The world around me was out of focus and blurry, and I couldn’t make out any real detail. In front of me, a silvery blue-grey form battled a ghostly purple-tan bipedal figure. My opponent was dressed in black and white, and furiously calling to their Pokemon.

The world shifted, and I was in an office. Two people were in the room with me. The one behind the desk reached forward and held out a ring box to me like they were proposing.

Reality warped and I was standing on top of a volcano. A large chunk of the rock below me had fallen away to reveal a metal structure underneath it. Lava spewed out around me, and something stirred in the smoke cloud around me.

Everything moved again and I was deep underground. I was surrounded by tunnels, and dozens of footsteps were running for me. I’d upset something, and it was angry.

I was underwater, grasped by a thick chain that pulled me deep down under the water. The steel crushed my throat, forcing salty brine to stay trapped in my lungs. It was dark and cold and I’d long since lost my breath, I’d be dead in seconds-

“Gah!” I choked and coughed, falling backward onto Mrs. Clara’s steps. “Fuck- What- I can’t…”

Portia stood over me, brown eyes wide with worry. She’d taken Chiffon from me and held the bird aloft. Wisp was between the two of us, floating half out of my shadow with her teeth bared. Her eyes had gone entirely red.

“I am so so sorry,” she apologized profusely. “I don’t know why she did that, it’s my fault for not controlling her. Please don’t think too harshly about what you saw, her futures are often nonsense or outright wrong-”

“Wisp, down,” I said hoarsely. My Pokemon glanced back at me, almost refusing before I sent her a look. I shook my head, a shiver going down my spine as I still felt the cold of the ocean around me and the pressure of a chain against my throat. Wisp floated to my side, though she sent another glare at Chiffon.

“Hold on,” I held my hands in front of me, quieting Portia’s apologies. My throat was raw. “That was the future?”

Portia frowned at her bird. “A possible one, yes. Though, whatever scenes you saw will probably not come to pass, or if they do, they’ll be different. I’ve not seen anyone have that adverse of a reaction to her before, but I can only assume that… ..well, that you saw something negative in your future?”

I still had trouble wrapping my brain around what Portia was saying. “I mean, yeah, that sucked- wait, your Pokemon showed me my future?”

The high-ranking rookie cast her eyes to the ground. “Yes, to an extent. Natu aren’t very good at seeing the future, unlike their evolution, but Chiffon is particularly good at visualizing things that she can’t see. That’s why I took her on as my teleporter.”

I sat up, leaning my elbows on my knees and massaging my throat. The heat felt good and helped the feeling of cold steel fade. I looked up at Chiffon. The bird was staring at me, its tiny head-body tilted to the side.

I sighed. “Well, there’s not a lot to be done, then.”

Portia’s worried face morphed into one of confusion. “What?”

“Whether or not that future happens, there’s not a lot I can do about it, at least not without unpacking a lot. And, as for your Pokemon, it’s not like you ordered Chiffon to do that. As long as you promise not to do that again,” I shivered at the thought, “I think I can forgive and forget.”

Portia looked genuinely taken aback. She looked like she wanted to say something, but her watch beeped. She cursed quietly, silencing the notification.

“You’re sure?” Portia asked, glancing over to where Wisp was protectively hovering near me.

I nodded. “Just, uh, next time you do a radio show, maybe take it easy on me?” I gave her a grin, despite how deeply uncomfortable I still felt.

Portia, for all her emotional distance and worry, actually cracked a smile. It was gone within a second, but I wasn’t hallucinating anymore. She’d definitely smiled. Portia rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper and a pen. She quickly wrote something down and passed the paper to me.

“Even if you are willing to forgive, I owe you now,” Portia said resolutely. “If you need a meal or a small favor in the future, we will be there.”

I slipped it into my hoodie without looking at it. “Heard, chef,” I grinned. “I’ll make sure to pick the most expensive burger joint I can find.”

Portia didn’t smile at that joke. Instead, she looked at the Pokemon on her wrist. “Chiffon, take us to Vermillion,” she repeated slowly, chastising the Pokemon.

The bird blinked at me, and Portia and Chiffon disappeared like they were never there.

The door behind me opened.

“She’s a complex young lady,” Mrs. Clara spoke casually, leaning on her doorway.

“No, yeah, I got that,” I agreed. I pushed myself to my feet, scratching Wisp under the jaw and pushing her into my shadow. “I’d ask if stuff like that had happened before, but I figure that’s probably all part of your privacy agreement?”

Mrs. Clara nodded, stepping to the side to let me in. “It is. I’m sure that young Ms. Cervelo would be happy to speak to you about it, though, should you ask. She really is such a sweet girl.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” I led the way up to the actual office and opened the door for Mrs. Clara. She nodded gratefully and we took our seats.

“So, Derek, I’m assuming that since a day has passed, you’ll have gotten into some amount of trouble?” Mrs. Clara smiled softly at her comment.

“Actually, no,” I said, surprised at myself. “The battle went fantastic, I got this sweet new badge,” I opened the side of my hoodie, revealing the blue tear-drop shape of the Cascade Badge next to my Boulder Badge, “and Misty even gave me a TM. Which, by the way, great looking out for me by warning me my new friend was going to end up being a gym leader.”

Mrs. Clara laughed. “As you just said, I have a confidentiality clause for all of my clients. This one just happened to work out humorously.”

I blinked, not missing what Mrs. Clara was insinuating about Misty being her client, but I shook my head. It wasn’t any of my business. “Anyway, some stuff came up with Hana yesterday, but I genuinely think I handled it well, and we’re going to head out right after this. The only unexpected thing was Portia and-” I swallowed, pushing away the visions that Chiffon the Natu had made me see. “Chiffon. Other than that, life is peachy.”

“Well, that’s quite impressive, Derek,” Mrs. Clara nodded softly. “I’m happy that you’re feeling confident in your decisions, especially those regarding your friends. As for Chiffon, please don’t hesitate to talk about the visions that you experienced. People often hyper-fixate on their futures, and members of the Xatu line have been known to cause people to repeat their visions in their dreams.”

I furrowed my brow. “Nah, it’s okay, I don’t dream all that much and I don’t know that it’s healthy to focus on that, especially because some of them are so crazy. I’m pretty sure I got proposed to in one of them.”

Mrs. Clara shared my odd expression. “Well, best to disregard that one then. You’re far too young for that. If anything, please don’t hesitate to schedule one of our online appointments if you run into anything concerning.”

“Oh, I will,” I promised. “You’re probably only going to be hearing from me once a week or so, but I’m really happy with the work we’ve been doing here.”

“I’m proud to hear you say that,” Mrs. Clara grinned from ear to ear. She settled deep into her chair and placed her hands on her lap. “Now, if you’re comfortable discussing it, I’d love to hear more about this conversation with Hana?”

“Oh, yeah, okay,” I said, leaning back. “Well, remember when we talked about how we knew something was bothering her…”

---

Hana picked me up from Mrs. Clara’s after an hour. She had half a dozen paper bags hanging from her hands and looked like she’d cheered up considerably. Her eyes still betrayed a deep sense of tiredness, but she at least was able to keep a smile on her face.

“Retail therapy working out for you?” I grinned as I stepped down Mrs. Clara’s stairs.

“Yes, absolutely,” Hana let out a sigh of relief. “And I wasn’t just shopping for myself. I have a few pieces for you, too.”

“Oh, goodie,” I rolled my eyes with mock distaste. In reality, Hana hadn’t steered me wrong yet when it came to fashion. “Did they have those items that I wanted?”

Hana smiled. “Not only did they have them, but I got the first one at a decent price! The second one, though, I couldn’t get for under market price. The damage wasn’t too bad, we still have more than half our winnings left, and I grabbed more than enough food to go to Lavender Town, twice.”

She handed me one of her bags and I folded my hands like I was praying. “You are a goddess among women, Hana Kanael. Thank you for blessing me with these sweet deals-”

“Alright, alright!” Hana chuckled, pushing lightly against my arm. “If that’s everything, though, we should probably head out soon. It’s already almost noon and I want to be well into the canyons before dark.”

“Yessir,” I agreed, grabbing a few more of her bags. I glanced down into the first bag and my grin got even wider. Inside was a paper package that I assumed contained a grey stone and a black collar with a small pouch on its side. I’d asked Hana to get a moonstone while we were here because they were probably going to be cheaper near Mt. Moon, which I’d been right about. Cleffa still hadn’t hatched yet, though they were due any time, but I knew that I’d need a moonstone somewhere down the line to evolve them.

The collar was a battle item for Artis. After seeing Lily’s Dewgong in action and battling against Starmie, I figured that we needed to start looking at options to increase our recovery, since we really only had Rest and Aqua Ring to rely on. This item was called the Leftovers, and the pouch on the collar super condensed food into nutrient-rich blocks that would boost a Pokemon’s natural recovery and stamina during battle. It was a pretty popular item among anybody who wanted their Pokemon to last a bit longer on the field, so it had been expensive with a capital ‘E’. It was worth it, though, to give my buddy a chance to turn into an even stronger wall than he already was.

We found a nearby table and distributed the weight as evenly as we could. The most annoying bit was working around the cylindrical tube that stuck out of the top of my bag. The Hoenn flag from the Pewter Museum was by far the biggest thing that we owned, but it felt wrong to get rid of it. I ended up strapping it to the top of my pack, lashed against the frame with a scrap of rope.

After we had our things situated, there was no real reason for us to stick around in Cerulean City. Hana and I found ourselves on the east side of Cerulean walking up hilly roads and ledges that got more common as we made our way out of town. Unlike the well-worn trail that our friends had taken, the trailhead to Route 09 was rough and overgrown. Weeds choked the path and thick brambles curled and twisted into spools of natural barbed wire. The path continued like that for at least a quarter of a mile, where it turned down a winding canyon and disappeared out of sight.

Hana and I shared a look. “Ugh, we need a fire type,” we said in sync. A beat of silence passed, and we both started laughing.

“It would be easier for you,” Hana reasoned. “You’re a generalist, nobody would even bat an eye at you getting a fire type.”

“You’re not wrong. I can’t even think of a fire/grass type. Does that even exist?”

“Not off the top of my head, but there has to be one out there somewhere. Actually, did you ever decide what Pokemon you were going to get from Professor Oak?”

I paused.

Hana raised an eyebrow at me.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu……”

“You might as well send the Professor an email,” Hana sighed. “You’re sponsored by him, did you not think to message him that you were leaving town?”

“I mean, I told him that I was leaving after my gym battle, and that was… …well, it was like a week ago.” I sheepishly pulled the Nav out of my pocket and started typing a message. “I did, by the way.”

“Oh!” Hana’s eyes lit up. “Don’t tell me, let me guess! Was it a pseudo or a fossil?”

“…I thought you didn’t want me to tell you?”

“Alright, so it’s a pseudo-legend, then.”

“Rude… …yeah, it is.”

Hana pumped her fist. “Given the parameters that you set when we talked on Route 03, I would guess… …well, you obviously aren’t going for a dragon type. If that’s the case, there are only two options, as far as I’m aware, and you’ll already have a ground type when you catch your Flygon, even though Tyranitar actually loses its ground typing, so it can only be-” Hana’s eyes turned into dinner plates. “You’re not serious? Didn’t you not want to lean on being from Hoenn that much?”

I shrugged, my lips drifting up at the corners. “Somebody told me I had to start taking every advantage I could. I watched Metagross battle every single day after school. I know how it moves, what it should look like when it fights. I still have a lot of hang-ups, but I thought about it and I think the first step is getting over myself. So, uh, yeah. I’ll be asking the Professor for a Beldum.”

“Wow,” Hana said breathlessly. She gave me a long look, really taking in what I’d just admitted to. “That person sounds pretty smart.”

“Shut up,” I nudged her with my shoulder and pressed send. “So, how are we going to get through all of… …this?” I gestured to the choked trail in front of us.

Hana frowned, studying the situation. “Neither of my Pokemon excel at cutting down plants. Rafflesia’s Razor Leaf can probably manage some, but neither of them have any claws.” Hana curled her fingers in front of her, emphasizing her point.

“Neither do mine.” I looked at the problem, considering our angles. “Wisp could probably burn some with Charge Beam, but it takes a lot out of her to channel so much electricity. Plus, it takes a lot of electricity to cause that much heat. We were barely able to manage one of those blasts against Rhydon.”

“Well,” Hana shook her head from side to side, “that was different. Rhydon is normally immune to electricity. Grass and wood are just sort of resistant. Your point still stands, though.”

“Pft, ‘Mrs. Semantics’ over here…,” I muttered. “This was easier when we had Achilles and Despereaux. If only there was a move that was, like, perfectly made for cutting down small trees. Even then, though, we don’t really have a Pokemon capable of using it- Wait!” I snapped my fingers, surprising Hana. “Embrittlement! Plants shatter pretty easily when they’re cold, right?”

She looked at me like I was stupid. “Yes, Derek. Very cold, like, liquid nitrogen cold. Artis can’t make things that cold.”

“Not with that attitude,” my under-breath muttering returned. “I think you doubt my boy and it’s worth a shot!”

I tossed out Artis’ Pokeball, and as much as Hana wanted to sigh, her face melted into a smile as he barked happily at her. She leaned down to pet him, but I squinted at her.

“Wha- I don’t get to pet him because I disagreed with you?” Hana said in disbelief. “Talk about petty…”

“Nah, go for it,” I grinned. “I couldn’t do that to him.”

Artis looked from me to Hana and back with a confused expression. He shuffled over to Hana and barked at her happily. She leaned down and rubbed right under his whiskers.

I gave them a moment to enjoy themselves, especially given the morning that Hana was having, and then I took a stance with my arm pointed out. “Alright, buddy,” I barked. “Let’s get to it! We’re going to freeze this whole trail, Aurora Beam!”

“Seal!” Artis hopped in place, his belly slapping against the ground. He reared his head back in what was now second nature and released his prismatic beam. The cool colors spread across the brambles in front of us, leaving a white sheen of frost across them. The plants crackled and groaned as the water inside of them froze and expanded. Some of the smaller ones in front of us exploded into tiny showers of wooden scraps, and I jumped back.

“Good job, bud!” I let out a nervous breath as I wiped tiny pieces of wood off of my shoulder. I turned to Hana. “Now who can’t freeze a-”

Hana glared at me, gaze narrowed and eyebrows scrunched. She, having been surprised by my callout, may not have had the same level of warning I did. Tiny bits of wood and dirt had showered her, leaving her covered in debris. Hana pointed at me, and then at her hair.

“Fix. This,” she growled.

A few seconds later, I was out of breath and Hana was spotless. I whistled at Artis, who got the point of what I was getting at and pulled himself into a ball. He circled next to us, building up speed with Rollout, and fired himself like a cannonball down the trail. Artis slammed into the brush, which shattered or blasted off in different directions instead of bending like it normally would. He cleared almost ten meters with the first hit.

I turned to Hana and raised an eyebrow.

Hana sighed, as she often did when I was right. “You had a hypothesis and tested it,” she admitted. “I don’t feel bad losing to the scientific method.”

“Science for the win!” I cheered and Artis barked in self-satisfaction.

---

Artis bouldered through about half a mile of thickets and brambles before the trail started to ascend a hill and we left the dry thorns behind.

I let him rest in his ball for a job well done.

With Wisp safely watching from my shadow and Paige clinging to Hana’s bag, we were relatively looked out for and could travel feeling pretty safe. This early in the season, it was guaranteed that pretty much no one else would be on Route 09. The trail took an uphill turn between two buttes, increasing in elevation and letting us see the entirety of Cerulean City behind us, as well as Mt. Moon in the distance. The view was gorgeous and uninterrupted, and if I squinted, I could almost make out Saffron City to the south.

Hana was more talkative than normal on our way up Route 09. I was enjoying the company, but I could feel in my gut that she was trying to make up for Yuji and Amy’s absence, to fill the silence that they’d left behind. We chatted about what my plans were for Beldum, or how long it would be until Cleffa hatched, or how Hana’s battle against Daisy had gone.

“Wait,” I paused, stepping up another rocky ledge. “Tentacool did what?”

“I know, right? It was the only part of that battle that tripped me up. Of course, I’d read the Pokedex entries online, but I’d never actually seen one shoot lasers out of its eyes.” Hana held her hands in front of her eyes like binoculars.

I sighed, stopping in place. “Well, I have to see this.”

We sat our packs down on the side of the road and took a seat on a ledge, letting our legs swing over the edge. It was till mid-afternoon. The sky was clear and the air was warm. The air smelled like dust and plants, interrupted only by the occasion gust of wind from the sea to the north.

Hana pulled out her phone and brought up a recording of her battle against Gym Leader Daisy. She scrolled through the timeline to maybe three minutes into her battle. Rafflesia had taken full advantage of the Sunny Day over the battlefield, using its light to quickly grow dozens of vines that had entrenched themselves into the foam platform and spread multiple meters into the pool water. She had a controlling field advantage, having forced Tentacool into a space that was less than a third of what it would normally have.

“Right here,” Hana pointed at the screen. “See how the crystals on its head are starting to glow?”

I squinted at the video. “Oh, yeah… Are they, like, absorbing the light from the Sunny Day?”

“That’s my best guess. The data entries say as much, at least.”

The red crystal containers that jutted from the blue jellyfish’s head were normally reflective, but here they glowed with an inner light. The light itself was tinged yellow-orange, the same color as Raffelsia’s Sunny Day. It grew in intensity as Tentacool dodged vine attacks from Rafflesia.

In one split second, the orange light flashed blue-white and Tentacool’s eyes blasted twin beams of light, both of which shimmered the blues, greens, and pinks of Aurora Beam. The ice attack seared across Rafflesia’s vines, freezing some of them in place and shattering others.

“Whoa!” I yelped. “That was so friggin’ cool!”

Hana nodded. “It surprised me. As far as I’d studied, I hadn’t seen any ice type attacks in Tentacool’s repertoire, so it led to me hesitating, which caused Rafflesia to get hurt more than I wanted. She still defeated both of Daisy’s Pokemon, but it was close.”

“Well, two things,” I said. “One, yeah, no duh. You’re a planner who works with very specific plans. If somebody tosses a variable that you didn’t account for at you, it’s going to trip you up. The fact that you recovered and finished your battle as fast as you did was awesome. Two, how are you out here neigh-saying Artis when you watched your own Pokemon’s vines get frozen?”

Hana rolled her eyes. “We’re on this again? Well, these were obviously different scenarios. The plants in the pool were brand new and supersaturated in water, which is obviously going to make them more susceptible to freezing. What you were talking about was creating stress in a mostly dry material via cooling it to its ductile-brittle transition temperature-”

“Alright, I get it,” I grumbled. “I was still right, though.”

Hana raised an eyebrow at me, giving me a smug look.

“Well, what was actually going on with Tentacool there?” I changed the subject, pointing at the screen. “As far as I know, it shouldn’t be getting any sort of benefit off of a Sunny Day.”

She accepted my loss and turned back to her phone. “If I play it back at half speed, you actually get a really cool look at what’s going on.”

Hana rewound the footage to right before Tentacool’s light had flared. the orange light warped within Tentacool, doubling over on itself and folding into an infinitely refracted prism of light. Once it reached a terminal amount, the light flared blue over the space of two frames. When it left Tentacool’s eyes, it almost looked like it was venting the Aurora Beam from a large reservoir of light.

“That’s crazy…,” I whispered. “That’s not like an ability or move or anything, right?”

Hana shook her head. “You can’t think of Pokemon so mechanically. This is just a part of Tentacool’s anatomy that works a specific way. If you think about it, you basically do the same thing when you have Wisp phase through solid objects. It might not be a proper ability, but having a huge amount of light around helped Tentacool use a move that would normally be very hard for it.”

“Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense…” Pokemon pulled off crazy stunts all the time that had nothing to do with their battle techniques, this wasn’t any different. There were pokemon that flew that weren’t flying types and Pokemon that weren’t immune to ground type-energy even though they could physically levitate.

There were Pokemon that could see the future even if they weren’t using a move.

I rubbed my throat, still feeling the cold steel that had been there in Chiffon’s vision. I opened my mouth, but I paused before I mentioned it to Hana. Portia had said that Chiffon’s visions were often outright wrong, and if they were true, they were often distorted or different from reality. Mrs. Clara had backed her up, warning me not to think too much on them at the risk of them consuming me.

They were nonsense. Probably.

I shook my head, pushing away those thoughts. “Well, with all this Pokemon talk, you should tell me about this Demise Pokemon that you want to catch.”

Hana gave me a blank look before the corner of her mouth turned up in an exasperated grin. “Dhelmise,” she corrected me. “And, actually, I don’t know a ton about it, other than it’s typing and where it’s rumored to be.”

“Oh? I would’ve thought that Mrs. Scienctist would have gathered everything to know about one of her future teammates?”

“I did,” Hana said with a sigh and a smile. “Dhelmise is a grass/ghost type that doesn’t naturally exist in Kanto, Johto, or anywhere on this continent. They come from the far away region of Galar, though some have been found near the Alolan islands.”

“Near Alola? I didn’t think there was anything near Alola.”

“Well, there’s no land near Alola. Luckily, Dhelmise is an oceanic Pokemon. It inhabits sunken ships, as far as the rumors have been able to tell me. Apparently, something resembling one was spotted south of Lavender by a fisherman who lives on Route 12. I wouldn’t actually have known what it was if there wasn’t an Alolan native on the grass type forums.”

I nodded along with her story. “Okay, that makes sense. So, I guess the goal is to get to Lavender Town, swing by and grab this ghostly barnacle really quick-”

“Barnacle?” Hana frowned at me. “Who said anything about a barnacle?”

“I don’t know, a piece of coral, then? You said the thing inhabited shipwrecks, so I was trying to think of stuff that lives on ships.”

“Oh! No, Derek, when I said that it inhabited ships, I meant that it makes itself part of the ship.” Hana clicked through her phone for a moment before showing me a photo.

On Hana’s phone was a piece of driftwood, probably what used to be the helm. A thick layer of green algae had spread across its surface like a new skin, somehow both deteriorating and reinforcing the flotsam. Where the algae was thickest was a clump in the center of the wheel. Dozens of small pieces of debris and tens of tendrils of seaweed had been pulled into it, creating a bulge of vegetation there. In that clump, there was a single amber eye that stared at the camera with a beaded vertical slit pupil.

My throat went cold as I saw what drifted behind the Dhelmise.

Connected to the helm’s base, a long interlocking tail of metal links extended almost four meters into the water. It glimmered and sparkled, even though it was covered in heavy red rust. The underwater Pokemon’s tail was a steel anchor chain.

It took me a moment to find my voice. “Holy shit…,” was all I could squeeze out.

Hana smiled. “I know, right? This Pokemon is such an amazing opportunity! If I manage to catch Dhelmise, I’ll be one of maybe five people in all of Kanto who have a grass/ghost type, and even then, I’ll be the only one who has this Pokemon as a team member. Now, obviously, we’ll have to be careful actually approaching it, because that chain looks like it packs a nasty punch…”

My attention drifted away as Hana continued to gush about her potential new Pokemon. Out of an ominous feeling in my gut, I slid the Nav out of my pocket and began to type. I listed off the visions that Chiffon had shown me. They were probably nothing, but I did have to clench my hand before starting to stop the tremor in my fingers. I wrote down every detail that I remembered.

Just in case.

Notes:

Yay! That's the end of Cerulean City! Thank you guys so much for joining me, and I hope you all have enjoyed the arc! Next week will be an interlude chapter, and then we're gonna get into travel with Derek and Hana for a little bit :)

Next Chapter: Tuesday, July 9th

Interlude - Mick

Chapter 41: Interlude - Mick

“Alright, thank you, Mick Starsky, for joining us on Celedon Daily’s Trainer Spotlight!” A voice came through Mick’s headphones, and he made sure to turn down his volume so it wouldn't be picked up on his mic. He wanted crystal-clear audio for this interview since he wouldn’t be seen on the audio-only podcast.

“Thank you for having me, Lisa. It’s an honor to be here.” Mick didn’t let his enunciation or energy fluctuate at all during his opening line. This was where he introduced himself to the audience, and he’d spent too long rehearsing it in the mirror to mess it up.

“It’s great to have you,” Lisa said quickly, though he knew that she had reached out to at least two trainers before reaching out to him. They were both in his group, after all. “Now, if members of our audience aren’t aware, Mick is currently ranked fifth overall in the rookie standings for this season, having three total badges. Let’s get straight into it, Mick, with such a series of victories under your belt, I have to ask, are you currently working with any major brands to announce a sponsorship anytime soon?”

Mick cringed immediately. Lisa hadn’t even gotten through introducing him without jumping into a sensitive subject. He’d come to expect this from the internet’s most antagonistic interviewer, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

“Not any that I can talk about,” Mick said smoothly. “If I go public with any of my offers, I’d love to talk about it on your show first, though.”

While that was technically true, it also implied a lot more than reality. Mick had received no sponsorship offers yet, even as the fifth-ranked rookie of the season. If he had, he would’ve taken it by now, as Lisa probably suspected.

“That is a shame, especially for such a well-known rookie. You’ve seen quite a bit of news over the last few months, yes?”

Mick rolled his eyes. Lisa had been almost two-thirds of his publicity. He was one of the few trainers desperate enough to talk to her, and she was one of the only media outlets offering to talk to him.

“Only for my badges so far,” Mick said, attempting to sound humble. “I’d love to spend some time doing a local tournament or something similar, but I’m on the road too often right now.”

“I’m not sure if that’s true,” Lisa was hiding a smile in her voice. “You went viral after our first interview for an interaction you had with fellow rookie Derek Tracy, is that correct?”

Mick’s facial muscles went tight as he forced himself to keep smiling. He only paused for a moment to carefully choose his response. “I would say that ‘viral’ is a big word, but yes, there was a bit of conversation about that, wasn’t there?”

“I would think that ‘viral’ is quite appropriate, given that you and Mr. Tracy garnered a combined eight-hundred-thousand views across your videos regarding each other, though fans of the show will note that most of those views did belong to your content.”

It was a classic back-handed compliment. By pointing that out, Lisa had made sure to mention that Mick had focused a lot of his content around Tracy, even if he had gotten a lot of views off of it.

Mick regretted almost all of that content now. It had felt right, at the time, to be that reactionary. The guy had walked up and started heckling during his interview. He’d talked down Mick, called him entitled, and then stolen his interview to talk about his new ghost type. That had been Mick’s first chance to show himself off to the world, to potentially draw in a sponsor, and Tracy had tanked it. Of course he was angry about it.

The problem with getting angry and chasing the drama, though, was that the drama decided when it was done with you, not the other way around. Mick couldn’t post any of his battle guides or training updates anymore without getting asked when he would finally get around to challenging Tracy. It didn’t seem to matter to anyone that, as far as Mick was aware, they were on different sides of the region.

He was just tired of it now. Derek Tracy had shown up out of nowhere one day, and Mick was hoping he would disappear the same way.

“There was definitely some content made,” Mick admitted, “but I would think most of that is water under the bridge, now. It’s been a month and so much has happened. I’ve even managed to earn my third badge against Lt. Surge, which is a hell of an accomplishment for my team!”

There was a slight pause, as though Lisa couldn’t decide on her next question. “Three badges is a very notable accomplishment,” she allowed the conversation about Tracy to pass. “You’ve managed to hold onto that title for three months, almost the entire season. Our fans want to know, are you planning on overtaking your traveling companions, Portia Cervelo and Daniel Suzuki, for their third or fourth-ranking spots?”

Mick's ears thrummed as his heart rate increased. Lisa was not letting him get away with an easy interview. She was stirring the pot on purpose. Again.

“Well-”

Mick stopped, forcing himself not to talk about how they decided their gym-challenging order. The audience didn’t need to know about his third loss to Daniel or his sixth loss against Porty. His fans didn’t need to know that he’d spent hours trying to think of ways to undermine a Larvitar or survive an onslaught from a Bayleef.

“When it comes to the lots that we draw for challenges, I haven’t yet ended up challenging a gym first,” Mick finally said in a neutral tone. “If I end up challenging Erika first, then I do not doubt that I’d come out of that battle successful.”

“Oh? Is that an official announcement of where the ‘Rising Five’ is going?”

Mick cringed for two reasons. One, the nickname given to his traveling companions was awful. Whatever forum had dug that out of the trash deserved to have their keyboards smashed and to be deleted from the internet entirely. The more important reason was that Daniel hadn’t permitted him to publicly discuss their journey yet. That information was private, since it directly affected the advertising and sponsorships of four of the five members of their groups. The companies liked to promote their trainers in specific ways and control the flow of information properly.

Mick wasn’t excited about whatever training his Pokemon were going to be subjected to after the interview went live. Daniel’s Larvitar was a brutal battler.

“Yes, that is,” Mick said confidently, covering his faux pas. “We’re going to be conquering Celadon’s gym next, so make sure to stay tuned into @MickToTheStars to stay up to date with our travels.”

Unlike in their in-person interview, Lisa actually supported Mick’s shameless plug. “For a quick link to Mick’s socials, as well as those of the rest of Rising Five, make sure to check out our link dump, where you’ll be able to find links related to everything we talk about in this episode.”

Lisa didn’t miss a beat coming back from her own plug. “So, since you’ve made your travel plans clear and you seem content with your number five ranking, can we get any insight into any future team members that you plan on acquiring? Some viewers with keen eyes noticed a fourth Pokeball on your belt for your battle against Surge, but we didn’t get a chance to actually see that Pokemon.”

Mick ignored the dig at his ranking, knowing that Lisa thrived on drama. “My new teammate is a Kanto classic and a Pokemon that’s going to help me succeed against the remaining gyms. I’ll go ahead and leave it there, Lisa. I can’t give away all of my team’s secrets before their time.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’ll have the forums guessing! That’s a spicy hint at a powerful new Pokemon.” Both people in the interview knew that it wasn’t. Mick hadn’t said anything at all about his new Pokemon. “And with that, though, we are going to have to wrap up our show. Thank you so much for joining us on today’s quick episode of Trainer Spotlight! Make sure to follow us, and Mick, over on our socials @CDTSpotlight.”

With that, a short whimsical tune played and then there was silence. Mick pulled away from his screen. Lisa had booked him for half an hour and their conversation had only been ten minutes. He almost opened his mouth to ask if they needed anything else from him, but Lisa’s voice came back over the call.

“Damn, kid,” Lisa’s voice had lost a lot of her peppy newscaster persona. This was the voice of a jaded professional who was on break. “You didn’t let me get anything on you there. I thought I almost had you with that rankings question.”

Mick would’ve chuckled if Lisa’s attempt at drama wasn’t so flagrant. “Yeah, I’m pretty good at this,” he tried not to brag. This lady didn’t deserve that, she was just a means to a media outlet. “I’m excited for when we do this again in a few weeks.”

“We might. Though, I have to say, once Triumph Day hits, we’re not going to be interviewing a fifth-place rookie. At least, you probably won’t be getting a whole episode. You might get a footnote on the website.”

He let his face fall into an unimpressed expression, letting his mask drift away now that they were no longer on air. “I’m not so sure about that. I’m going to make Indigo this year. Take it from me, you’re going to want to keep up with me. If you don’t, you’re costing your outlet coverage of the next great Pokemon Master in his rookie year.”

“Oho? Looks like you might have the bite you need to get noticed, kid. There’s a lot of kids every year that talk that big talk, though. Maybe if you would finally beat Cervelo or Suzuki, then maybe I would take you seriously. Nobody cares if you keep beating down on Morton or Yu, you’ve just solidified yourself as third-best in your little group.”

“It’s always lovely talking to you, Lisa,” Mick said in a flat voice. He hung up the call.

Mick sighed and closed his laptop. He leaned back in his chair, letting the blanket fort that he’d made around his desk collapse. Light and sound that had been blocked out for the interview flooded back in. He could hear people out in the hallway of the Vermillion City Pokemon Center, walking and chatting as they walked back and forth.

He stood up slowly, blinking his eyes as he adjusted to the midday light. Daniel had let him take the room until training, but the interview had gone by in a matter of minutes. He packed his laptop away, carefully wrapping the cords and his very expensive microphone in its carrying case. There was something therapeutic about having the morning to himself. His phone was still on silent and all but one of his Pokemon were recovering from the battle yesterday.

Mick glanced at his Pokeball belt, which hung from the edge of his bed frame. A single Pokeball remained there, holding his newest team member. Lisa had speculated that they hadn’t made an appearance during his battle with Surge because they were strong, but it was just the opposite.

“I hope I know what I’m doing,” he muttered, wrapping the power cord around his elbow. “I have to know.”

He slipped the carrying case into his brand-new and very expensive Silph Bag. The lightweight backpack used the same digitizing technology as Pokeballs, but on any everyday item that a trainer would need on the road. It had cost him almost an entire month’s profit from his RoTube ads, but it was worth it to no longer be the only member of the group carrying a full backpacking frame. Now he could walk the trails in relative comfort.

‘Relative’ was doing a lot of work in that sentence.

Mick sighed again, thinking about how much he wasn’t looking forward to letting the others know that he’d accidentally spoiled their next gym challenge location. If Daniel didn’t run his Pokemon into the ground, he was sure to get a lecture from Marcella. The fact that Connie probably wouldn’t understand why it was a bad thing was a rare blessing.

He slipped his bag onto his shoulder and equipped his belt. Even if training wasn’t going to start for a while, Daniel was already going to be in their training room. Mick’s hand brushed the cold metal of his only remaining Pokeball. Observing that monster training might give Mick ideas for strengthening his newest partner. He wished Porty was here, but she’d disappeared for the day, which she did pretty regularly. Though she hadn’t said what she was leaving for, Mick trusted that if he needed to know, she’d tell him about it.

He’d known her his whole life, so Porty always told him the important stuff.

Mick turned and looked at himself in the mirror before he left. He ran his fingers through his golden curls, removing the dent that the headphones had left. With that adjustment, his image was exactly what he needed it to be. His athletic wear was clean and form-fitting, and the lifted soles in his running shoes pushed him from above-average height to being fairly tall.

“Strong,” Mick spoke to himself under his breath. He slipped his sunglasses on. “Clean. Confident to the point of annoying. That’s the brand.”

Mick left his room and stopped by the front desk of the Pokemon Center to retrieve his three remaining team members. He was careful when surrounded by strangers and random trainers, especially the ones who lit up and recognized him from his gym matches and the internet. Mick kept his smile carefully at a pleasant level, keeping it on the aloof side of approachable.

After his interview, Mick couldn’t trust himself to keep his cool when talking to his fans or his critics, and he couldn’t afford to look like an ass after a bad interaction. Again.

A quick walk to the back of the Center brought him to one of four private training rooms that the Vermillion Center maintained. They were large enough to accommodate half of a faux-dirt battlefield, a channel of water for training water types, and a weight-training area with a small selection of machines and weights. These rooms were open, for a price, to wandering trainers who wanted to reserve private spaces to train during their stay in Vermillion.

With all four of his traveling companions being generously sponsored by massive corporations, they’d had no trouble paying for their own space.

Nearest Mick, two Pokemon circled each other in a mock battle on the battlefield. The first was a brown-furred quadruped that was unmistakable as an Eevee, and the other was a red-shelled lobster Pokemon with a dark glint in his eye, a Corphish. Daniel’s Pokemon each held colored ribbons, and the goal of their training seemed to be taking their opponent’s ribbon. Bonaparte, the Eevee, leaped backward and twisted his hips in the air to avoid Nelson the Corphish’s claw. The red claw snapped closed a fraction of a second too early, fraying the ribbon but not retrieving it.

Mick watched the two go back and forth for a moment, mentally keeping notes on the agility that the two Pokemon were having to display for the exercise. He glanced around the room, looking for their trainer.

A steady rhythm of impacts on padding sounded from the far side of the room, deep within the weight training area. Daniel was there, holding the weight bag for a scaled green Pokemon that stood at maybe half of his height, larger than the average version of his species. The trainer was average-height and lean, his slit-side tanktop showing off a defined physique. He had a ring of sweat down his back and chest that almost soaked the Silph Co. logo on both sides. His sharp features were pulled into a concentrated squint, but no particular emotion was on his face.

“Again,” Daniel said forcefully, his voice having the same timbre as choppy water. “From the heel. You’re not twisting your hips enough.”

“Tar,” Brutus grunted. The Larvitar turned his entire body with his next punch and the resulting thud echoed far louder than the others had. Daniel showed no discomfort, but his whole frame slid back a few inches from the force.

Brutus followed it up with two more punches in quick succession, both delivered to the middle of the bag. It pushed itself back again, but this time Daniel was able to strain and keep it in place. The trainer’s arms and side flexors clenched like iron and held firm.

Only when his Larvitar stepped back from the bag did Daniel glance Mick’s way. “Hey,” he grunted.

Mick inclined his head once, not bothering with any of his choreographed smiles. Daniel had made it clear that he was immune to Mick’s practiced charms early on in their travels. The higher-ranked trainer seemed to accept that response, and he went back to coaching his Pokemon. His basic courtesy done, Daniel no longer referenced Mick’s existence.

Wordlessly, Mick pulled one of his Pokeballs from his hip and released his starter. The flash of white light solidified into a two-legged pink-wooled creature that only stood as tall as his hip, though she’d had to practice for some time to get used to walking on only two legs when she’d evolved. The crystalline orb on the end of her tail glowed bright blue and the Flaaffy grinned wide upon seeing her trainer. She waddled up to Mick, wrapping both of her arms around his leg.

Mick couldn’t help the smile that pushed up on his face. Valkyrie always managed to lighten his mood with just her presence. He ran his fingers through the large floor of white wool that clouded around her head before tapping her twice on the head. Mick pointed across the way toward a standing machine that looked like a squat rack with two battery terminals attached to it. Valkyrie glanced across the way to the machine, then to Daniel, and back at him. She nodded once, raising her right hand in front of her mouth and grinning. His entire team had become accustomed to training in relative silence, since Daniel preferred a quiet gym. Valkyrie waddled over to the machine, resuming the same discharge exercises that she’d done before their gym battle.

Like clockwork, Mick pulled out his other two team members and assigned them to training machines. Tyrfing the Nidorino was assigned a striking pad to exercise ramming his horn into, and Beyla the Miltank was tasked with a leg press for stronger kicking power. Both of his other teammates were as happy to see him as Valkyrie, but both also respected the norm of silent training.

After setting up his teammates to train, Mick meandered to a machine of his own to work himself up. He pulled a few plates down, carefully sliding each one onto the pegs of his machine. Next to him, Daniel had moved on from personally training Brutus and instead was loading up a barbell.

Mick swallowed once and took a breath. If there was ever a time to mention it, it was before the others showed up.

“So,” he breathed up, staring at the third plate in his hands and keeping Daniel in his peripheral. “There was a mistake made in my interview today…”

Daniel didn’t look over. He didn’t even reference that Mick was speaking, instead laying down on his weight bench and gripping the barbell. He started his repetitions slowly, stretching on each one.

“I, well, I accidentally mentioned our next gym challenge,” Mick admitted, sitting down on the leg extension machine. “Where it would take place, I mean.”

Daniel’s reps paused with his weight near his chest. He resumed a moment later.

“I know that we hadn’t agreed to advertise our next stop yet, and I know that I messed up. If anything, though, since we’re heading out soon-”

The door to the training room opened, a boisterous ditz throwing it open with all of her weight. “Yoo-hoo! Boys! It’s training time!” Connie yelled in a sing-song voice, tossing her hands into the air in spontaneous jazz hands. She flicked her dark bob-cut back, showing off her bright white teeth in a grin.

Behind her, another girl walked in. She yawned, covering her mouth. Marcella’s hair was in its trademark chaotic frizz, held back by only a scrunchy that had survived for what must have been a decade there. Her glasses were askew, though only enough to mildly inconvenience her.

Daniel racked his weights. He stood and went to greet the girls, though he stopped by Mick’s machine for only a moment.

“Don’t let it happen again, Rank Five.”

Though there hadn’t been any real emotion behind his monotone words, Mick’s stomach sunk at the statement. He’d been ready to begin his leg extensions, but his muscles now felt weak, just like he was. Daniel stepped away from him, now having fully cemented the fact that Mick hadn’t won against him a single time in the last three months.

Mick leaned back in his seat. That hadn’t gone as poorly as he’d thought it would, but he still wished Porty was here. His eyes wandered to the trio of Connie, Marcella, and Daniel, frowning even more when Daniel began to speak candidly with the other two. If it was ever clear that Mick was the odd man out, it was now. Without Portia to bridge the gap between them, he might as well not have been here.

Connie was the daughter of the CEO of Ocean View LLC., the company that owned Acapulco Resorts in Porta Vista, and Marcella had several family members in both the administrative and engineering sections of Silph Co., she’d been essentially guaranteed a sponsorship when she’d applied. Daniel hadn’t been born with any huge connections, but his pre-season testing and interviews had gotten him scouted by Silph and given an incredibly powerful starter.

Mick didn’t have any of that. He’d gotten decent scores on his testing and came from a middle-class family, but decent didn’t get him sponsors and middle-class didn’t afford him supplements, Pokemon, or luxury. He was lucky that he’d made friends with Porty when he was young, but that had never had anything to do with her family business. When they’d met, he’d-

Mick heard his name being said and he tuned back into the conversation.

“-Oh, and Micky can come battle with me!” Connie said, her daft voice just slightly too high-pitched to not cause headaches. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to win this time! Daddy sent me a brand new Pokemon, and she’s so cute.”

Mick sighed, letting his weights fall. He didn’t have to do what Connie said, but she was helping cover the cost of the training room, something that Mick couldn’t afford to do.

“No.”

Connie and Mick both blinked, eyes flicking to Daniel. The solemn trainer had spoken firmly and quietly, but with enough force to stop even Connie in her tracks.

With eyes on him, Daniel elaborated. “Rank Five needs personal training. He’ll be battling Brutus with his new capture.”

“What? No, I won’t!” Mick stood up without thinking, jamming his ankle on the weight bar. He mentally cursed but forced himself to his feet. “Neptune isn’t ready.”

The training room went silent. Eevee and Corphish had stopped their battle to stare, and all of Mick’s team paused their exercises. Connie stepped back, looking more shocked that Mick had yelled than anything else. Marcella raised a tired eyebrow, her gaze deceptively awake and alert.

Daniel slowly turned toward Mick, his steel-grey eyes half-lidded in disinterest. He didn’t raise an eyebrow, shrug, or motion in any way, but his stare alone was enough to cause Mick to swallow.

“I mean- Well,” Mick’s voice was shaky. He clenched his fists. “It’s just that, Neptune can’t battle yet. We have a long way to go, and Brutus is- Brutus is too strong for him.”

Daniel gave him a dry look. “If something can’t contribute toward a victory, it’s not worth the time.”

Mick clenched his jaw. He glanced at the other two, but Connie didn’t meet his eyes and Marcella only watched carefully.

There it was. It sounded like Daniel was talking about Neptune, but that was the real reason that Daniel, and by extension the other two, didn’t respect Mick. He was strong, yes, but not in the overwhelming way that both Porty and Daniel were, nor did he have Marcella’s connections or Connie’s money. He hadn’t been scouted before the season, nor had anyone reached out to sponsor him since. Outside of being a pretty competent trainer, Mick’s main role in the group was being Portia’s tag-along.

Mick squeezed the muscles in his back, willing himself to stay calm. Daniel’s words were awful, but they weren’t without merit, were they? None of his statements had ever been rooted in anything but the practical truth.

“Be that as it may,” Mick said diplomatically, literally biting his tongue. “Neptune will not be battling today.”

Mick met Daniel’s gaze, keeping his own stare as steady as possible. It was like staring at a brick wall. Anxiety inflated in Mick’s chest. If he looked away or showed any weakness, Daniel would force him into a battle. This wouldn’t be the first time.

A pair of fingers snapped in front of his face, jolting him out of it.

“Break it up, you two,” Portia said sternly. She stood next to them, and none of the four of them had noticed her arrive. Chiffon the Natu sat on her arm, showing off exactly why the door hadn’t opened to notify them of her arrival. She must’ve teleported in.

Mick, Connie, and Marcella all jumped, and even Daniel flinched. Portia’s light brown eyes flickered between them, and both took a step back.

“What I said stands true,” Daniel spoke quietly. “He’s never going to improve if he doesn’t battle with it.”

Portia frowned. “Daniel, he’s had the Magikarp for less than a week. Even you wouldn’t have something like that in fighting shape yet, no offense,” she added quickly with a glance at Mick. “And you’ll need your team in full shape if you’re going to battle me.”

Daniel’s eyes widened, and a dark grin slowly slid to the corners of his mouth.

Mick cursed inside. Portia only ever seemed to agree to battle Daniel to protect him, and even though she won every time, he wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep it up forever. The dynamic of this awful group was semi-stable, but only because Portia was proveably the strongest. She’d been the one to seek each of them out, to have them use their connections and strength to become some of the top-ranked rookies around.

Portia glanced back at the rest of them. “Marcella, would you mind being Connie’s sparring partner today? I know she wants to try out her new team member.”

Marcella shrugged, glancing down at her phone. “Yeah, that’s fine. I can have Porygon run my morning analytics on their own. Though, I did want to mention a tip that I got from my Silph contact when you’ve got a sec.”

“Oh, yay!” Connie grinned, throwing her hands in the air. “I was worried I wouldn’t get to play with Cruella today!”

Marcella gave Connie side-eye. “You named it Cruella?”

“It’s so beautiful, isn’t it? A pretty name for a pretty girl!”

As the other two walked off and Daniel gathered his team to battle Portia, Mick let his shoulders fall. “Damn, I’m sorry Porty-”

“Don’t be sorry,” Portia cut him off. She’d turned his way, giving him her full attention. She had a smile on today, something that he wasn’t quite used to. Whatever she’d been up to, it had left her in a decent mood. “Just spend today working with Neptune. Once he evolves, he’ll be a powerhouse.”

Mick opened his mouth but quickly thought better of it. Instead, he nodded once.

Portia smiled. “Good, now stand back. I’ll try to make this quick.”

---

True to her word, Portia’s battle with Daniel went quickly. It wasn’t just that her Bayleef had an immense typal advantage over Brutus, but that the way that Portia battled was entirely counter to Daniel’s style of fighting. They were the unstoppable force and immovable object made reality. And, for the fifth time in a row, the immovable object won out.

Mick stood to the sidelines during their battle, as did Connie and Marcella, though Connie was more focused on chatting than studying the battle. Marcella had pulled a laptop and webcam from her bag, recording the fight and letting her Porygon analyze the matchups.

After it became clear that Portia would win again, Mick retreated to the narrow channel of water that took up the back wall of the training room. He released his final teammate there.

A red-scaled carp flopped into the water, flailing about with his fins before finding his buoyancy in the shallow and stagnant water. Neptune the Magikarp opened and closed his mouth aimlessly, staring up at Mick with unknowing eyes.

“Hey, buddy,” Mick said fondly, reaching over the water to rub Neptune’s scales. They had the consistency of tire rubber. “You ready to start training today?”

Neptune splashed slightly more than normal, probably indicating a ‘yes’.

Mick chose not to sigh. This was all a gambit, one that he would win if he put the time in. He had to. People didn’t just choose to train a Magikarp for competitive battling. It was the most common Pokemon in the world and it was incredibly weak, yet it also evolved into a monster of destruction that was known for swallowing whole schools of fish and erasing ships from existence. A Gyrados was not only dangerous, but it was expensive to own. All three of his captures so far were relatively tame, in terms of their diets, and that had been on purpose. With Mick’s tight budget, he definitely wouldn’t be able to afford this Pokemon’s diet. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to.

This was Mick’s key to getting a sponsorship. Just being a good trainer hadn’t done it yet, nor had regularly putting himself into the media or rubbing shoulders with other high-ranked rookies. With a behemoth on his team like a Gyrados, someone would have to sponsor him. Once he had real backing and support, as the others did, Mick would finally be able to go all out. He would be able to afford the supplements that the others used, import rare Pokemon like the others, and he’d be able to forge more and more important contacts.

Mick spent the rest of the training session running Neptune through drills. They weren’t focused on cultivating any sort of power from him yet, mostly because there wasn’t a whole lot to cultivate, but instead Mick chose to work on order response time and communication training.

The rest of his team would stop by to say ‘hello’ and take their breaks, and they all seemed very accepting of their newest teammate. Only Tyrfing hadn’t warmed up to the fish yet, though he was like that with everyone. Mick was able to put the sounds of Portia and Daniel sparring out of his mind, to ignore Connie’s endless meaningless chattering, to forget about Marcella’s constant watchful gaze. Mick simply enjoyed being around his Pokemon.

As pleasant as it was, he had to return to his reality when the others finished their training.

Connie was the one who came to get him. “Micky! It’s dinner time,” she called, leaning on his shoulder. “We’re totes going to that cafe by the shore again, it was so tasty! If you ask real nice-like, I’ll buy you an appetizer,” Connie said with a teasing grin.

Mick sighed. If it wasn't for her grating voice, lack of personal space, use of annoying nicknames, transactional attitude- If it wasn’t for a lot of things, Connie would be the most pleasant member of the group, besides Porty. While she insisted on eating at some of the most expensive restaurants that Mick had ever seen, she always offered to pay his bill. She treated it like a fun in-joke, which almost made up for the cringe in his stomach at how casually she treated the gap in wealth between them.

“Yeah, sure,” he said absentmindedly, scratching Neptune across the top of his head. The Magikarp was tired. Any amount of swimming outside of following a current drained him like a full-body workout.

Connie huffed. “I said ‘If you ask me real nice-like-’”

“Connie,” Mick said quietly. “Will you please not?”

The ditziest member of their group looked startled, and it only took Mick a moment to realize why. He’d never brushed her off like that before. The double team of Lisa’s interview and Daniel’s assholery had worn him out.

“Oh,” Connie said, her eyes looking downcast. “Well, I guess…”

Mick felt genuinely bad. She wasn’t a friend by any means, but Connie had never been mean to him. He sighed again and summoned a practiced smile from inside him, and after today, it was deep inside.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” he said. “Let’s go get dinner.”

That seemed to add some pep back to her step. Connie flipped her dark hair, offering him a hand to stand up. He returned Neptune and took her hand, though he quickly let go when he was on his feet. The two of them walked over to the others, who were in the middle of discussing something serious.

“-and they heard that through the executive V.P. of the Safety Commission, so it’s probably true,” Marcella said. “Basically, they’re upping the stadium for something major and it’s gonna be accompanied by a big rules change.”

When Connie and Mick walked up, Portia glanced their way and explained. “Marcella was just letting us know that Silph Co. is sponsoring the battle between the champions in two months. They’ve completely reworked Indigo’s stadium for it, and there are a lot of high-level executives being kept in the dark about a major announcement being made there.”

Daniel shrugged, not acknowledging Mick or Connie. “If we don’t know what the ruling is, there’s nothing for us to do. That information on its own isn’t valuable.”

Marcella wrinkled her nose at him. “I still don’t know how you received a Silph sponsorship,” she muttered. She turned her laptop around, showing them a long string of code that flickered pink and blue. “Obviously, that’s not all the information. Porygon managed to snag an email as it was transferring out-of-network from the Silph databases. It’s not completely decoded, the server’s Porygon saw to that, but I have enough to know that the rules adjustment is going to regard new held items in the Indigo tournament.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow at her words, but Portia stepped between them. “That’s very valuable information, Marcella. I’m not sure why a rule about items would require a stadium rework, but that gives us an idea to start with.”

Marcella shrugged, sending Daniel another glare. He didn’t return it, instead absentmindedly looking into the mid-distance.

Portia sighed, glancing back to Mick. He got her message. “Well,” he said, coughing into his sleeve. “Let’s get going. We’re going to that beach cafe again, right, Connie?”

Connie’s eyes lit up, having glazed over for the rules speculation. She squealed. “Yes! I’m going to get the caviar toast again!” Connie grabbed Marcella and Daniel’s wrists, both of whom resisted, and started dragging them away. “Come on! Tasty food and beautiful views call for us!”

Portia gave Mick a small smile. Her earlier good mood had slowly been dragged out of her over the day, he could see the stress on her shoulders again. Not for the first time, he thought about asking her to drop this group. He wouldn’t, because this was something that she believed in enough to maintain, but he thought about it.

Mick swiped his curls out of his eyes and put on his sunglasses. “So,” he nudged his shoulder into hers, “what had you in such a good mood earlier, Porty?”

Portia’s eyes widened at the edges, surprised that she’d been caught. “Good mood?” Her voice sounded exasperated. “That might be a stretch. I was more relieved that something that could have gone horribly turned out alright.”

“Oh? Was it Chiffon?” Portia’s abashed look told Mick everything he needed to know. “Again? That’s like the fourth time!”

Portia sighed. “I know, and this time it was a very rough vision. Tr- The trainer saw something very bad. I didn’t stick around long enough to know what it was, but it knocked him down.”

“That bad?” Mick’s eyes narrowed as he caught something in Portia’s words. “You almost said the name there. Who was it?”

She cringed, her shoulders pulling in. “Well…”

Mick’s stomach dropped for something like the sixth or seventh time that day. “Porty…”

“To be fair to Tracy,” Portia started. “He was really nice about the whole thing-”

“Why are we being fair to Tracy?” Mick’s eyebrows brought themselves into a deep furrow. “That asshole tanked my first real shot at getting a sponsorship and we’re giving him the benefit of the doubt and hanging out with him?”

Portia frowned. “First of all, was not ‘hanging out’ with him. I ran into him when I was visiting home. Second of all, he seemed to regret a lot of what happened between the two of you.”

That stopped Mick in his tracks. “Wait, what?”

“I only stopped to chew him out,” Portia fiddled with one of her locs, staring at the ground as they walked several steps behind the rest of their group. “But when I mentioned that I was upset about how he handled your situation, his face- I don’t know, he just looked sad. Then he mentioned that he was planning on talking to you about it when he saw you again.”

Mick didn’t know how to feel about that. Every interaction he’d had with the guy, Derek Tracy had come off as arrogant and preachy. He’d gone out of his way to trash Mick’s first major interview, his debut to the professional battling scene, while seemingly hungover, and he’d humiliated the Pewter Gym by raising a Hoenn flag after winning. Tracy was self-aggrandizing at best, narcissistic at worst.

“I don’t know about all that,” Mick held up both of his hands when Portia started to defend Tracy again, “but I’m glad that he didn’t overreact about Chiffon.”

Portia’s face lost its annoyance. “Yeah,” she sighed. “That could have been bad. If he’d decided that he wanted to talk about it publically, he could’ve made that a big deal.”

Mick nodded. “You said it knocked him on his ass?” A small smile drifted over his face. “I hope he saw an awful future.”

“Mick!” Portia shoved him with her shoulder. “Didn’t I just tell you that he felt bad about your interview?”

“I don’t mean, like, ‘family member dies’ bad,” he conceded. “I just mean, like, ‘is humiliated on public TV’ bad.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered. “I’m sure that’s what you meant.”

Mick walked with Porty in relative silence after that. It wasn’t an awkward or charged silence. The two of them were just comfortable being quiet with each other. With the other three several steps ahead, well out of earshot, Mick could almost imagine them as not friends, but maybe decent acquaintances. And walking with Porty and some acquaintances to a dinner he wouldn’t have to pay for? All while imagining the villain of his story getting an ending that he deserved?

Mick could live with that.

Notes:

#MyChapterIsOnlyFourHoursLate

Thank you guys for reading, I hope you enjoyed that chapter! It was definitely harder to write, given that Mick isn't a perspective I've written before, nor is he a character we've spent a lot of time with. I did enjoy, however, getting to explore the perspective of someone who isn't Derek or really in Derek's circle at all. It was definitely something that I'll probably do again in the future, but not for a while, because I have the next few interludes really locked in.

Anyway, thank you guys again!

Next Chapter: Tuesday, July 16th.

Chapter 42: Route 09

“Why did… Yuji… have to… leave?” I huffed, straining as Hana used my arm to help pull herself up the cliffside. She had both feet tapped into small crevices in the rock face, standing almost ten feet off the ground.

“If we were here later in the season,” Hana reasoned between heavy breaths, her mouth pouring out facts to help her body function. She reached up and gripped the ledge with her other arm. “Then the normal path would be cleared by the rangers, and we wouldn’t have to climb so many ledges.”

“Yeah… yeah… I’mgoingtopulluponthree,” I released my last sentence in a single breath. “One… two… three!”

I threw my body weight backward, lifting and pulling with all of my might. Hana’s feet scrambled against the rock as she pushed up at the same time. Our combined efforts launched her up, pulling her over the edge and flopping both of us backward onto the stone. Hana landed on my chest but had the presence of mind to roll to the side, hastily avoiding knocking the last of the wind from my lungs. She didn’t avoid crushing my arm, but it was better than the alternative.

We both laid there for a moment, catching our breaths. The stone was warm from the sun, which didn’t help the fatigue, but we were too tired to care. A fresh breeze carried the smell of fresh underbrush and soil from the canyon below us.

A shadow fell over my face as Wisp peeked over my head. She was upside down, relative to me, and her yellow-red eyes glittered in amusement. She chuckled at us.

“Uh-uh,” I shook my head before reaching for my water bottle. I’d tossed both of our bags up here first, so they were only a few feet away. “No smugness from you, little lady. It’s not my fault I can’t levitate.”

“That would be awesome, though,” Hana groaned. She sat up, cupping her temples between her hands. Her already tan face was dark across the nose and brow ridge from the constant sun. “Imagine just floating anywhere you wanted to. It would be amazing.”

“Mis,” Wisp said simply, bobbing her head from side to side. Obviously, she agreed that it was pretty awesome.

“Well, that’s the plan,” I handed my water bottle off to Hana, which she took gratefully. “That’s one of the reasons I want a Flygon so bad. People make saddles for them all the time back home.”

Hana chugged my water but still managed to roll her eyes while drinking. “That’s not what I’m talking about,” she said when she came back up for air. “Imagine getting to fly without relying on a Pokemon. I’ve heard that some of the very powerful psychics can accomplish that on their own, though that research is almost purely anecdotal.”

“Nah, that’s not for me,” I shook my head, feeling my hair sweep the gravel underneath it. I couldn’t find the strength to lift my head, so I just stared up at the clouds. The sky was so blue today. “Give me a partner in the sky any day of the week. If it was just me up there, I’d probably get hit by lightning or swallowed by a cloud or something.”

Hana shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up to the clouds. “Knowing you? That’s probably not far off.”

I sat up, giving her a playful shove. “You’re not supposed to agree with me!”

“We have empirical evidence to suggest that you can’t be trusted on your own,” Hana chuckled. “If it wasn’t for Wisp and I, well, it’s a good thing that we’re here to guide you.”

“Wisp!” I turned to my Pokemon. “Put this blaspheme in her place! Tell her that I’d be fine-”

“Drea mis,” Wisp shook her head, floating over to Hana’s shoulder. Both of them stuck their tongues out at me.

I scoffed in mock betrayal. “Fine then,” I stood up. “Both of you can go camp on your own, since I’m only around as a burden.” I scooped my pack and my egg incubator and started walking along the rocky ridge that we’d climbed up to. It would lead us further down Route 09 than the road could take us.

Hana shrugged again, not yet getting up. “Alright, send me a call when you get lost. We have enough food to last us several weeks out here.”

Wisp glanced between the two of us, not quite understanding that we were doing a bit. She mostly just looked confused. She stayed floating near Hana, though.

I smirked. “Food? Yes, we have food. But, if you remember who’s carrying the larger weight load, which just happens to include both the majority of the food and the tent, well, I think that I might be more than a burden out here. But, hey, have fun sleeping outside. I hear there are lots of Ekans on this route. They should keep you company.”

Hana gave me a dry side-eye. She cracked a grin, and I felt my smug expression waver to the chuckle that was behind it.

We both started laughing.

Travel had been hard the last two days. Route 09 was no joke. It was a curving series of cliffs and ravines that crisscrossed and collided in seemingly random intervals. The main road that crossed the bottom of the ravine was overgrown and blocked off from disuse, meaning that we had to take the road less traveled by climbing over the plateaus and ridges that dotted the route. The Nav was keeping us on track, but we were slow going. It was grueling work, so we needed these little morality breaks to keep us going.

I helped Hana to her feet and held up her pack to let her slide her arms in. Since we were now carrying the essentials for camping across two people rather than four, our packs were making full use of their backpacking frames.

“You know,” Hana muttered as she clipped her pack buckle across her chest. “One of these days, we need to invest in a digital compression bag. It would save us so much weight.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And how would we afford one of those magic bags of holding? Those things are, like, tens of thousands of Poke. Between the two of us, we probably didn’t even have that much after selling those Pokemon and winning the Cerulean badge.”

“If we budget properly and catch another rare Pokemon or two, we could probably afford one by Saffron.” Hana turned around and faced me, her lime green eyes giving me a curious look. “Also, aren’t you sponsored by the Oak Lab? Did they not offer you a stipend or anything for your supplies?”

I tilted my head to the side. “I don’t think so? I mean, the Professor and I never talked about anything like that. I guess I could look over my paperwork tonight when we camp…” I slid the Nav out from my belt holster on a whim. “Oh, sweet, I have a signal!”

Hana perked up. We hadn’t had one on the Nav for almost a day, and her phone had lost signal almost immediately after leaving Cerulean. “Check your messages! Is there anything from Amy and Yuji?”

“Yup! Nothing big, they just sent us an update saying that they got halfway there- Oh wait, it just refreshed. Holy crap!”

“What?” Hana craned her neck over my shoulder. “What happened?”

A wide smile split my face. “Yuji already caught another teammate,” I said quietly, turning the Nav to show Hana the photo they’d sent. Yuji stood proudly next to a small bipedal simian with a big pink nose. “His Mankey is named ‘Wukong’. Talk about basic,” I muttered with a chuckle.

“It’s on brand, though,” Hana said. Her smile was sweet and genuine, but it had become small and fragile. She gently took the Nav from me, staring down at our friend and his new Pokemon.

My own smile wavered. It was obviously hurting Hana to not be around the other two. The fact that she was missing out on celebrating a new teammate was hard on her.

I gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and Hana jumped a little. “We’ll have to go shopping before we meet back up with them,” I said.

That seemed to pull Hana out of her funk. Hana’s smile softened. “Yes, Yuji’s going to need a whole suite of accessories for his new teammate, as well as training supplies and supplements. Oh, and think of the outfits! Neither Despereaux or Achilles could fit into human clothing, but Mankey is almost human-shaped, kind of.”

It had taken me a while to figure out why Hana liked shopping so much, given that people who were more academically minded like her often didn’t have an affinity toward fashion, but it had long since started to make perfect sense to me. Shopping was problem-solving for Hana. She had set limitations, like cost and weight, and she had to work within a defined medium to achieve her goals. It was calming for her, the same way that spouting random facts during stressful situations was calming for her.

“-and, if we can get that bag- Oh!” Hana’s eyes widened and she shoved the Nav back into my hands. “The Professor sent you back a response, look at the subject line! It probably has to do with your Beldum.”

“Nice!” I grinned, flipping through the email. I very quickly realized that it was longer than I was used to getting from the Professor, so I slowed down to read the whole thing carefully.

[[08:01, Professor Oak]] - RE: Pokemon Sponsorship

Dear Derek,

I hope that I am among the first to congratulate you on your victory in the Cerulean Gym. Having given the match a view myself, I am quite proud to say that your progress as a trainer is progressing positively. I hope that your training in Lavender Town will be as fruitful as the training that you accomplished in Cerulean.

Now, as for your requested Pokemon, I have begun the paperwork and acquiring process for a Beldum from a colony in Hoenn. I must say, I was quite interested in your final choice, as it was counter to the issues that you’d raised previously in our discussions. It is an accomplishment that you were able to develop your feelings and make a truly inspirational choice. I will keep you updated on its progress as the colony caretaker becomes closer to having the Pokemon ready.

A small note and reminder from our previous discussions: I would remind you that Beldum is one of very few Pokemon that require others of its kind to merge with it in order to evolve. When you have completed the requisite training and bonding with your Beldum, I can connect you with the colony to attempt to earn more members of their brood, though that will be a long and expensive process.

As overjoyed as I am that your journey is continuing, I fear that I have a task to ask of you on your travels. Now that you have made me aware that you are traveling Route 09, I ask that you keep an eye out for another of our sponsored trainers in that part of the world. Red is a talented young man, though he often vanishes into the wilderness for weeks at a time. His most recent disappearance should put him somewhere in your path between Cerulean and Lavender. While I doubt he is in any danger, I ask that you attempt to find him and, if possible, get him to phone his home. His mother is extremely worried.

I trust that you will do your utmost to complete this task and treat it with the urgency and respect it deserves. You are a talented trainer in your own right, Derek, and you have the full support of the Oak Pokemon Research Laboratory behind you.

Thank you for your time and effort,
Samuel Oak,
PhD. in Pokezoology,
Professor of Pokemon.

“Oh, shit,” I muttered. I handed the Nav off to Hana, since her reading abilities far outstripped my talking speed. “I guess I have a new task?”

Hana squinted at the message, only taking a second to absorb it in its entirety. “I guess we do. Though, you’d think the Professor would send you an identifying photo or even a last name for this person? Also, what kind of name is ‘Red’?”

A memory scratched its way to the surface, a detail Daisy had given me about her family almost weeks ago.

“It’s a nickname. Daisy said her brother goes by Blue, so I figure this guy is probably the other half of that, right? And it’s not like we’re going to run into anybody else out here,” I gestured to the empty canyons around us, “Right? Like, I’m more surprised that somebody else is on the route than anything else.”

Hana conceded the point by bobbing her head, still looking through the Nav. “We’re about halfway done with Route 09, but there’s still two days of travel to get to Route 10, then another day to get to Rock Tunnel. Even assuming he’s not in the tunnel itself, which we can’t, that’s a lot of ground to cover if we’re trying to find one person.”

I looked east. The half of Route 09 that we hadn’t done yet was still stretched in front of us. The road was choked with trees and fallen boulders, and large swaths of the trail were masked in shadow from the narrow canyon walls that kept out the sun. Far above all the rocky structures were flying Pokemon, probably Fearow, that circled slowly, using the spinning thermals of hot air to take them farther into the sky.

My heart started beating a little faster. The route had already been difficult, but now it was a challenge. I grinned.

“Well, then. We better get started.”

---

From our vantage point on the cliffside, Hana and I mapped out a path that would give us the most view of the route with as little difficulty as possible, given that we had been locked out of using the main road. Even though Artis had been able to clear it for us to travel here initially, it just wasn’t a good use of his time or energy to keep breaking through. However, the same could be said about constantly climbing up and down each butte, cliff, and ridge on the route. Since we wanted to avoid the road and changes in elevation as much as possible, it led to some precarious situations.

“Look, I trust your math and I trust Paige and I trust Wisp, but I don’t trust that. I’m not climbing across it,” I made an X with my hands. “Nope, not doing it.”

Hana rolled her eyes. “Derek, those vines can hold four times your body weight and they’re tied off to a boulder bigger than a car. As long as we hook you in, even if you fall, nothing bad will happen.”

We’d managed to keep our altitude over the canyon by sticking to ledges and bouldering across the ridges between the plateaus, but that strategy had finally run its course. Between us and the other side of the route was a sheer cliff drop to the bottom of the canyon. Suspended across the forty-foot gap to the next plateau was a crisscrossing vine ladder that Paige had painstakingly crafted and Wisp had floated to the other side. Even with no slack, the line wobbled and flapped in the updraft from the bottom of the canyon, the hot air rising from the increasing sunlight. I glanced over the edge and, hundreds of feet below, I could see the intended road for the route. The choking thornbushes looked like grass from up here.

“Listen, I’m not scared of heights, but that’s crazy,” I said, feeling nauseous. “We don’t even have a flier to catch us.”

“Drea!” Wisp took offense to that comment. Even with no arms, she harrumphed her shoulders and turned away from me.

“Okay, yes, you can technically fly, but are you going to catch me if I fall? Using Confusion on living creatures is still hard for you, right?”

Wisp let her head sink, though she still didn’t turn around.

“Actually,” Hana rested her chin on her hand, looking over my Pokemon. “If that’s the issue, then I have a solution.”

Wisp and I both looked at her. Hana stepped forward, getting close to me, and then pulled on the shoulder strap of my pack, tightening it down. I winced in discomfort, but Hana ignored me and buckled the two buckles that connect the straps across my chest, then tightened both of those too. She pulled the incubator off of my hip, wrapping it in my sleeping bag and shoving it deep into my pack. When she was finished, she nodded and looked at Wisp.

“Wisp, can you grab his pack? I don’t know how good your control is,” she admitted.

My ghost type looked intrigued. Her yellow-red eyes glowed blue and I immediately felt an upward tug from my pack, like it was being yanked up by a stunt line.

My feet started leaving the ground. “Hey, hey, hey!” I kicked my legs, the nauseous feeling in my gut dropping through the soles of my feet. “This is not what I meant!”

Hana chuckled. “Alright, you can let him down now.”

The blue energy faded and my feet slowly touched back down on the ground. I let out a long breath, glancing between Hana and Wisp. Both of them looked amused, though Wisp was concerningly out of breath, which was funny when you factored in that she didn’t need to breathe. It was probably still hard to grab something in such close proximity to a living being, though this was a way better result than our previous tests.

I sighed. “Fuck it, I’ll climb across the death bridge.”

They cheered.

Hana looped a rope and a carabiner into one of the harnesses that we’d bought to cross Mt. Moon and tied me into her line. I didn’t have any gloves, but I wanted something to be able to protect my hands from the vine-rope cutting into them. I slid Daisy’s handkerchief from my wrist to cover one of my palms and pulled out a thin tank top to wrap around my other hand.

With my climbing equipment set up, I let out a long breath. This was hardly the most dangerous thing that I’d ever done- Well, no, actually. Most of the crazy crap that we’d done over the last month had been reactionary and stupid, but the threat of death was usually at least a few steps away. During the museum and Mt. Moon fights, I’d always had an opportunity to come out severely injured, not dead. If the safety steps here didn’t work, there was no living through this.

If.

I swallowed, the feeling of a cold chain around my throat. That phantom sensation made me feel a bit better. If I was going to drown, it probably wasn’t going to happen a thousand feet in the air.

I glanced back at Hana. She’d released both Paige and Rafflesia and all of them were clutching one end of the rope she’d connected to my harness. Hana looked up at me, her lime-green eyes shining. She didn’t look nervous at all. Hana smiled at me.

I took a step onto the vine-rope ladder. There was less give than I thought there would be, but it still bounced and wobbled under my weight, bucking against my foot.

“Okay, fuck that…”

I dropped down to my knees, grasping the ladder with both hands and shuffling one knee at a time onto the ladder. Even if it looked stupid, I could already feel the difference in my weight distribution.

I slid one knee forward and took a step.

Then I took another.

The wind from the gorge below was hot as it rose around me. It took my hair up and dried out my eyes. I had to squint to see the next rung of vines. Bits of rock and dust would occasionally pop up and flick across my face, and all I could smell was dry dirt and old vegetation.

I glanced off to the side as I crawled, desperate not to look past the ladder at the ground below. I could see those Fearow that I’d spotted earlier, still spiraling into the air with the same thermals that bounced me up and down on my ladder.

“It’s a damn shame that those aren’t Pidgeot,” I muttered, trying to distract myself. “Fearow are so violent that they’d peck my eyes out if I tried to bribe them. Not like a good Pidgeot. Pidgeot would fly me across. Then I wouldn’t have to walk on this stupid ladder over this stupid gorge.”

A stronger wind whipped up from below. It swept the bridge up, lifting the entire thing into an arc. The gust slammed into me from below, catching on my hoodie and pack. Feeling my entire body weight shift, I clamped down on the rope with both of my hands. My midsection started to lift from the rope ladder.

“Fuuuuuuuck….!” I turned my head over my shoulder to shout. “A little help here!”

A heavy weight pressed down on my back. The psychic force on my pack pushed me down, directly counter to the wind, and shoved the bridge back down into position. With the added weight, I scrabbled forward, hand over hand pulling myself across the gap. The rope bridge wiggled and swayed, but no more gusts as strong as that one came through.

Solid ground was under me in almost no time. My knees and palms scratched and scuffed on the rock, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. I laid out on the ground, letting the warmth from the solid surface soak into my limbs. My heartbeat was going a mile a minute. It only started to slow when I let my breath catch up.

The Nav started to buzz in my pocket.

I sighed, pushing myself into a sitting position. From here, I could see Hana and our Pokemon still on the other side. She had her phone against her ear.

I clicked the ‘accept call’ button.

“So….” Hana’s voice was a little echoey from the poor call quality. “You didn’t die.”

I glared at her across the ravine. The glint of her perfect white smile sparkled in the sun, and I could hear her stifling her giggles.

“Well, even if you’re not talking to me right now, could you do me a favor and tie off the safety line? I’m going to use it to cross.”

I flipped her off, but I stood up and unhooked the line from my belt. I looped it around the large boulder that Wisp and Paige had attached the vines to earlier, double-checking the knots. At some point in my tying process, Wisp drifted across the gap, though she gave me a wide berth when I sent her a long stare. When it was done, I gave Hana a thumbs up. She flashed one back to me.

Any slight glee I’d had in the name of her being just as humiliated disappeared when Hana didn’t get in the same crawling position that I’d taken. Instead, she leaned against the safety line, having clipped it into her harness, and she checked her weight. When it didn’t budge, she returned both of her Pokemon and dangled both of her legs over the cliff.

Then, she jumped.

“Holy shit!” I yelled, stepping forward, but my panic disappeared when Hana’s harness caught on the carabiner and started to slide across the gap.

Hana beamed as she slid across her homemade zipline. Since she wasn’t moving from an elevated position, she slowed down pretty quickly, but she would reach up and grab Paige’s vine-ladder to push herself along in a monkey-bar-like motion. When she finally reached the end, she caught he foot on a small ledge and hauled herself up onto the cliffside.

Hana stood up and dusted herself off. Even though she had a wide smile on her face, she’d gone sheet white. “See,” she said shakily. “That wasn’t so hard.”

I stared at her. She stared back at me.

“What the hell was that?”

Hana shrugged. “There was a ropes course that I used to go to with my dad on Three Island.”

“And I didn’t get to do that because…?”

“If you want total honesty, I didn’t think about it until you were halfway across,” Hana admitted, a bit of amused guilt crossing her face. “The math worked both ways, but I figured this would be faster.”

I didn’t have an answer for that. Instead, I sighed. “Well, I guess we didn’t die,” I finally conceded.

Hana grinned. “Not yet!”

“Drea!” Wisp picked that moment to chime in, cheering with Hana. I gave her a withering look, and she backed up with wide eyes.

I couldn’t keep up the angry face at Wisp. I sighed, reaching out my hand. “Thank you for not letting me die,” I said, petting Wisp’s head. “Even if you helped talk me into walking off a cliff.”

Wisp purred under my hand. It was markedly unfair that I had a Pokemon as cute as her because I couldn’t stay annoyed at her. To be fair, Artis was just as cute and I probably couldn’t stay mad at him, either. And then Hana had that mischievous glint in her eyes that I couldn’t be annoyed at for too long, so that was out the window. My shoulders fell as I realized that the egg in my pack was going to be just as cute when he hatched, so that just meant I was boned.

Hana glanced over from where she was wrapping up the safety line when she heard me sigh. “What’s up?”

“It’s nothing,” I shook my head. “Just thinking about stuff.”

Hana’s smile dipped for a moment, but when I didn’t seem actually upset about anything, it turned gentle with just a hint of sarcasm. “Well, don’t do that too hard. I wouldn’t want to bring Yuji and Amy back a vegetable.”

“Oh, hush,” I groaned, rolling my eyes. “When did this become ‘bully Derek’ day?”

“It isn’t,” Hana giggled. “No, I’m sorry, I guess I’ve just channeled all our normal smack-talk down to just being at you, since the others aren’t here. I’ll cool it.”

I was right. I could not stay mad at her. She sent me one side eye with her lime-green gaze and I instinctively cracked a grin. Hana grinned back at me. I rolled my eyes and kneeled to help her coil up our rope.

We worked in silence and had our stuff rearranged and packed within a few minutes. From the part of the plateau that we’d climbed across to, it was only a short climb up to the actual top of the plateau. When we crested the last ridge, the flat mountain opened up in front of us, showing off miles of walkable stone in our path. We weren’t going to have to cross and more gorge for a long time.

Hana inhaled quickly. “Do you see that?” She pointed in the direction that I’d been looking earlier.

“Yeah,” I frowned. “Those are just some Fearow, no big deal. They look like they’re a couple of miles off, at least.”

“No, not them,” Hana shook her head. She grabbed my hand, quickly pointing it where she’d been looking. “There, just due east of them.”

I squinted. I’d missed it on my first look, but one of the flying Pokemon was obviously a different shape and color than the others. Fearow’s brown feathers looked black at this distance, but this Pokemon was somewhere on the spectrum between yellow and red. Its blue wings were also a different shape than a bird’s, more draconic than avian.

My eyes widened. “Is that a Charizard… …or a Dragonite…?”

Either one would be an incredible sight to witness. Even if Dragonite was technically rarer as one of two dragon types in Kanto, Charizard was a fire type regional starter and was rarely seen in the wild. Both dragons had orange scales and blue wings, which made it hard to make out at this distance.

“I can’t tell,” Hana sounded breathless. “Both have been spotted on this route, though I didn’t think we’d see either one. We could get closer…?”

I nodded slowly. We’d been planning on putting down camp soon, but a Pokemon on either of their calibers was too tempting to pass it up. I wasn’t under any illusion that I’d be able to defeat a fully grown Dragonite or Charizard, but Pokemon were people too. They didn’t often live in isolation, and sometimes they chose to accompany trainers without being subdued. Even if I didn’t catch one, the idea of seeing one in person completely revitalized me.

I glanced over at Hana, and she was just as excited as I was. Her eyes were pulled into a fierce smile. She tilted her head toward the mystery Pokemon and I nodded back to her. She gripped my hand and started to run across the plateau, dragging me with her. She didn’t have to pull very hard, because I was in step with her in seconds.

There was no way we were letting this Pokemon get away.

---

“I can’t believe we let it get away,” I whined, flopping down on a rock. “That was like a once-in-a-lifetime shot.”

“I… …know…” Hana groaned in response, heaving for breath. She pulled out her water bottle and started to chug it. “But it’s dark now…”

“Yeah, we’ll have to look tomorrow,” I sighed, pulling our tent off of my pack. “Damn.”

Hana and I had run for almost an hour and a half across the top of the plateau, eyes intent on the horizon where we had spotted the orange-scaled dragon. It had been mostly east, which was good for our overall travel time, but the plateau itself was far larger than we thought it had been. Without easy reference points like trees, our brains had no ability to tell any kind of scale on the flat rocky terrain. We’d easily traveled several miles at this point, and we were only now getting close to the other edge of the plateau. Big rocky spires surrounded the plateau’s edges, creating a rocky ridge that kept us from seeing the rest of the horizon. We’d lost sight of the dragon behind that ridge, but given that the sun was quickly sinking in the sky, we’d decided to call it quits for the night. The clearing that we’d decided to stop at was right at the base of the largest of the stone spires.

While Hana got to work building us a fire pit, I laid out the tarp for our tent. Since we’d split up with the other two, the tent that I’d started my journey with came out of retirement for the first time since the Viridian Forest. It wasn’t going to be big enough for our Pokemon, since I’d bought it for me as a single traveler, but it was just big enough for two sleeping pads.

The both of us also went ahead and released our Pokemon, letting the majority of them out for the first time since we’d stopped for lunch. Since Wisp was pretty much the only Pokemon that could keep up with our walking pace and climbing, the others unfortunately had been relegated to digital travel. Artis happily rolled over to me, rubbing his whiskered face against my leg.

I scrunched the sides of his ears. “Yeah, I know, buddy,” I said, a small smile forming on my face. Having my lil’ guy out helped drain the disappointment out of me. “I missed you, too.”

“Seal leo,” he grumbled, nosing my thigh. He was not happy about being left in his ball all day.

“I know, bud. I know,” I slid the Nav off of my belt and flipped over to the regional map. “And it’s only going to be for another day or so. Once we get to Route 10, the road is on the bank of a river, so you’ll get to travel with us.”

Artis chuffed, excitement lighting up his face. “Leo!” He barked, slapping his flippers together.

I grinned and stretched him under his chin. Yeah, having this guy around really made me not care about seeing a dragon.

Hana sat up from the fire, having successfully started a small pot boiling on a flat rock that she’d leaned over the flames. She pulled a packet of dried soup and rice from her pouch and poured it in, then left it covered. Hana then turned, putting both her hands on her hips and giving me a look.

“Alright, scoot over,” she said, her voice playful, and shouldered her way onto my rock. A quick glance around showed that I had, in fact, taken the only good seat in our camp, so I couldn’t blame her. On her other side, Paige and Rafflesia curled into little balls by her feet. Hana let out a content breath and leaned back against the cliffside. “Today was a long day,” she said absentmindedly.

“Yeah, but hopefully that’s the worst of it.” I titled the Nav her direction. “We can spend a bit of the morning looking for Red and that dragon, but after that, it’s just scaling down the cliff and clearing out the last of the road to Route 10. We save a lot of time by bypassing the road.”

Hana glanced at the Nav and nodded. She slid her gaze back to the sky. The stars were out in full force tonight. This far east, we were probably as far from a city as you could get out here, so there was almost no light pollution. Hundreds of millions of white specks of light filled the sky, glittering and twinkling, and all of them surrounded the sliver of the moon that was shining almost as bright as a full moon in the city. With my friend against my shoulder and my starter nuzzling into my leg, even on the uncomfortable-ass rock, I couldn’t think of a much better way to spend my evening.

Wisp drifted into the firelight from the edge of camp. I hadn’t even noticed she’d wandered off. Her eyes glowed blue and floating behind her was the subject of her Confusion. My sleeping bag emanated a dim light that seemed like it was trying to unroll it, though Hana had tightly bound it earlier.

I smiled, realizing what she wanted. “Bring it here,” I said quietly, holding out my hands.

Wisp floated the parcel over to me, and I got to work untying Hana’s knots. When I couldn’t do it on the first try, Hana snorted and pushed my hands to the side. Within a few seconds, she had my bag open and had retrieved the incubator from within.

All of us let out a small gasp as the egg was unveiled. Under the bright moonlight, Cleffa’s pink and white egg was glowing. It had a pearlescent sheen to it, and the pink stars that decorated the sides almost looked metallic.

Wisp squealed, instantly forcing herself into my lap and nuzzling her face against the incubator. Artis, not to be outdone, slapped his heavy head onto my knee and pressed his own nose against the glass. Hana met my eyes and we both chuckled. If there was one thing that my Pokemon agreed on, they both loved this egg.

“So,” Hana said quietly, bringing her hand to the incubator’s glass. “When are they going to hatch?”

I shrugged, joining everyone else in putting my hand on the incubator. “A week ago, Nurse Joy said anywhere between now and six weeks, but she genuinely didn’t know. When we found him, well, he was cold to the touch. That completely messed up his egg cycle, according to her.”

Hana stared at the egg intently, as if she was trying to figure out a particularly tough puzzle. After a moment, she sighed, gently pulling her hand away.

It didn’t take a genius to know what she was thinking. “Hey,” I said softly, getting her attention without disturbing my Pokemon. “You know, even if you’re against how I got him, you don’t have to pull back. I promise.”

Hana tilted her head to the side. She didn’t look convinced. “Derek…” she started slowly.

“I’m serious,” I didn’t raise my voice, but I did put conviction into my words. “I think you were right. I shouldn’t have gone after the Clefairy. Sure, this little guy was a happy accident, but that doesn’t make you less right for thinking that it was dangerous. Don’t feel guilty for being right.”

Hana looked at me, really looked. Her lime-green eyes looked amber in the firelight. She searched for something in my gaze, so I didn’t let it waver. After a moment, she nodded.

“Okay,” Hana said simply. She brought her hand back to the glass. This time, she leaned her head on my shoulder, resting her chin against my collarbone.

Something passed between us after that. Whatever part of our friendship that had broken in Mt. Moon, it made a real step toward repair there. Hana and I hadn’t been this close since the night before the mountain, when she’d had a real heart-to-heart with me in our Pokemon Center room.

A distant boom echoed through the night.

All of us shot to our feet, eyes searching every direction for where that had come from. Every sound on this route echoed, so the direction was a hard thing to determine. My head whipped to the east while Hana checked the west. There was only a dark canyon gorge in that direction, and the moonlight didn’t betray any more motion than the Fearow that continued to fly through the night. I looked back at Hana and she shook her head. There was nothing to the west.

It was only when another boom echoed around us that I looked up. “Fuck,” I murmured, grabbing Hana’s hand and pointing toward the form that glowed orange above us.

Almost four stories above us, a distant orange-scaled form gripped the side of one of the stone pillars at the edge of the plateau. This wasn’t the dragon that we’d seen earlier, it was too short and lacked wings, but there was no mistaking that fiery orange tail as it lit up the night.

“Charmeleon…” Hana breathed. “It’s fighting something.”

“Dragons are territorial…”

Hana and I locked eyes. If that Charmeleon was fighting what we’d seen earlier, whether it was a Charizard or a Dragonite, things could get messy, especially for the trainers camped at the base of the mountain where they were fighting. Our best bet would be to tip the fight in one direction to make it end early.

The two of us snapped into motion. Hana flipped our dinner over, dousing the fire in a single motion, and quickly returned both of her Pokemon. I did the same for Artis, though I had the extra step of latching the incubator to my belt loop. Wisp disappeared into my shadow and Hana and I were sprinting out of camp in fewer than ten seconds. I spared a glance up the mountain to see Charmeleon’s flaming tail disappear over the edge of a ledge. Booms continued to echo through the night and yellow and red flashes of light streaked across the sky. The battle was getting nasty.

I paused, stopping for only a moment, but it was enough for Hana to look my way. She jolted to a stop, panic in her eyes. “Derek, what are you doing?”

“Should we be running away?” My question was blunt, but I needed to know. “Is this the Clefairy all over again?”

Hana’s eyes widened. She looked up at the battle, then down to our camp, and finally back at me. She hadn’t realized the parallels until I’d pointed them out. We had heard a sound in the night. We were running into a situation where we didn’t know all the variables. If we got injured, no help was coming anytime soon.

What made this different?

Hana clenched her jaw, her eyes narrowing into a determined look. She shook her head, forcing a smile to her lips. “No, this isn’t the same,” she said, yelling over the booms. “This time, we’re doing it as a group. This time, we’re doing it together.”

I couldn’t help it. Even with the seriousness of two dragons fighting above us, I cracked a grin. Of course that was her answer. What had her real issue been when I’d gone after the Clefairy with Lester?

“You chose not to trust me.”

Hana’s words echoed in my ears, even though it had been weeks since they’d been spoken. I nodded, accepting her answer. As many flaws as I could find nitpicking through her reasoning, it was good enough for me. We were a team. Everything was okay as long as we acted like we were a team.

Hana and I started sprinting up the side of the ridge, crawling and pushing as quickly as we could. There was a battle happening up there. Even if we couldn’t stop it, there was no way we were going to miss what happened.

---

I took one step onto the top of the mountain and realized that we’d been completely wrong. This wasn’t a territorial dispute between two dragons at all. Standing in the center of the mountain clearing was a bulky, two-meter-tall orange dragon with a rounded nose and large gut, but the Dragonite wasn’t just fighting against a Charmeleon.

In the light of the burning bushes that surrounded the edge of the rocky clearing, three Pokemon traded blows with the massive dragon. Thrusting its shining claws forward was the Charmeleon that we’d seen before. The claw attack glanced off of Dragonite’s shining chest scales, the rebound of the strike forcing Charmelon to step back with a resounding clang of metal on scales. It hissed as Dragonite’s tail swung over its head, narrowly missing the Charmeleon’s open maw.

A bright yellow tail slapped across Dragonite’s face, sparking with electricity. It didn’t succeed in even causing the hulking dragon to flinch, but Dragonite roared as the tendrils of yellow electricity arced across its facial scales and Pikachu leaped backward over its head. The yellow rat dashed away from the center of the fight, barely swerving under Dragonite’s massive muscled leg as it slammed down behind it.

Two heavy white fists delivered quick jabs to Dragonite’s back, striking it right around where the kidneys should be. That would have been a debilitating blow for most Pokemon, but Dragonite shrugged off the hits from the Poliwhirl that had delivered them. The spiral-stomached tadpole narrowed its eyes, anger seeping from its expression. It lifted both of its fists above its head, ready to slam them down with its full body weight, but Dragonite’s eyes glanced back, eyes glaring.

Dragonite’s tail whipped around in a circle. It first collided with Poliwhirl’s shoulder with a resounding slap, throwing the water type back almost five meters onto its back, but the swing continued through, carrying its momentum into Charmeleon. The fire lizard took the blow directly to the chest, but its form held firm. Charmeleon lashed its claws around the tail and muscled into the blow. Its claws dug into the stone ground, creating an awful screeching noise as it brought the hit to a stop.

Droplets of rain started to fall from a previously cloudless sky.

Charmeleon glared at Dragonite.

Dragonite growled at Chameleon.

Yellow lightning seared across Dragonite’s back as Pikachu interrupted the standoff. “Chu!” Pikachu yelled as it attacked, surprisingly, the yell was directed at Charmeleon, and it sounded like a scolding. The yellow mouse’s cheeks sparked and popped with electricity, and each of its steps was quicker than the last. It weaved around and over Charmeleon, leaping at Dragonite’s face.

Dragonite wiped its face with one hand and punched Pikachu out of the air with the other. The electric mouse took the hit head-on, bouncing backward and skipping across the stone floor. Charmeleon roared, tugging Dragonite’s tail with as much strength as it could muster. The dragon lurched, stumbling in surprise at its involuntary movement, but Dragonite planted its right foot back and held firm. It threw its weight backward, wrenching back its tail and throwing Charmeleon off balance.

Charmeleon stumbled. It looked like it was about to dive back in with another claw attack, but a “Whirl!” from behind it stopped Charmeleon in its tracks. The fire lizard leaped backward, leaped back, propelled by its strong legs to the edge of the clearing.

Poliwhirl took its spot with two fast uppercuts. Dragonite caught both hits in the flats of its palms. Water splattered in all directions, both from Poliwhirls already-soaked fists and the now downpouring rain. The impacts barely caused Dragonite to move. It clenched its claws down around Poliwhirl’s fists, anchoring it in place. The water type flinched in pain, but it bared its head down, waiting for something for only a split second.

Its stance was answered as a yellow form sprinted from behind, running up Poliwhirl’s back and launching itself into the air. Pikachu flipped through the sky above them, cheeks sparking. A burst of burning embers smacked into the side of Dragonite’s face from the retreated Charmeleon. The dragon blinked from the heat and that was enough for Poliwhirl to rip both of its fists from Dragonite’s grip.

“Pika!” Pikachu yelled. It was a warning.

Poliwhirl dropped to the ground and rolled forward, through Dragonite’s legs. The dragon glanced away from Pikachu for a brief second, distracted by the Poliwhirl jumping into a dead sprint to get away from it, but that was a second too late.

The air tasted like ozone.

The Rain-Danced clouds above the mountaintop split and electric light poured down, all channeled through the electric rat. Pikachu’s Thunder created a pillar of lightning that completely enveloped both it and the Dragonite. The heat seared across the clearing, instantly evaporating the accumulated rainwater and creating a dense layer of steam. The burning bushes that had provided much of the light to the clearing were already sputtering from the rain, but this massive attack extinguished them. The clearing was obscured by steam and could only be studied by the light of the moon.

Hana’s hand gripped my forearm. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the steam cloud to see her expression, but I knew that it mirrored my manic grin.

My heart thrummed with excitement. We’d only been here for a minute at most, and I already knew that my Pokemon wouldn’t have lasted thirty seconds in that intense of a fight.

A single wingbeat blasted hot air across the mountain, instantly clearing the steam and dispersing the rain. Moonlight spilled over the battlefield. Dragonite still stood in the center of the clearing, but it was now crusted in a thick layer of black soot. Its blue eyes glared out from their scum-darkened scales. The scorch mark around it stretched for almost two meters in every direction, and the stone under its feet had melted into a thick glassy slag.

Dragonite’s form jolted, moving fast enough that my eye couldn’t track it. It now stood in the same place that it had before, but the soot coating its body had almost all been thrown off of it in a single motion. Even now I could see chunks flying away from it, not yet having hit the ground by the time Dragonite had completed moving into a new stance. It stood with one hand outstretched, clutching a yellow form in its fist.

Pikachu, either from the Thunder or whatever Dragonite had just done, was unconscious. Its limp furry form dangled from Dragonite’s grip. The dragon lowered Pikachu to its eyeline. It huffed and tossed the electric rat to the edge of the clearing.

Then, it lowered its gaze to the other two.

Charmeleon and Poliwhirl lowered their stances, flexing their legs to sprint toward the dragon. All parties prepared to resume the bout-

A whistle rang out from the opposite side of the clearing.

All eyes present snapped to the source. Standing near the smoldering black bushes was a trainer. Under the moonlight, I could only make out his red cap, dark hair, and the Pokeball belt on his waist.

The trainer leaned down over Pikachu’s unconscious form, gently lifting the Pokemon with both hands, making sure to support its head. He glanced up at Charmeleon and Poliwhirl, who I presumed were his Pokemon, and shook his head.

Without missing a beat, both Pokemon dropped their stances. They walked away from Dragonite, returning to the trainer’s side with no more aggression, other than the quick glare that Charmeleon shot Dragonite.

Dragonite didn’t respond to the smaller dragon, and it made no move to stop them. The hulking orange monster instead crossed his arms, continuing to stand in the center of the clearing. It looked at the trainer expectantly.

The trainer stepped toward the dragon and I almost bolted forward.

From its power to its demeanor, this Dragonite was obviously a wild Pokemon, and since it was a fully evolved dragon type, it was the highest classification of ‘do not approach or it will maim and eat you’ that you could get. This trainer, whom there was no real question as to who he was, had dismissed both of his still-conscious Pokemon to the edge of the clearing, leaving no one to step between him and the Pokemon that had just obliterated his team.

One thing stopped me in my tracks.

The Dragonite’s shoulders had begun to move up and down, and a deep chuffing noise had started to emanate from the dragon.

It was laughing.

The anger in Dragonite’s gaze had vanished. Instead, with its powerful gut and generally round face, the dragon actually looked kind of goofy. It continued to chuckle as the trainer walked up to it, though it quieted itself when the trainer bowed his head in respect.

Dragonite inclined its head, bowing back to the trainer.

A small smile appeared on the trainer’s face. He held out his hand. In his palm were four Oran Berries. Dragonite gently raised his clawed hand and plucked them from the trainer’s hand, nodding once more in thanks. It then beat its wings one more time, and the dragon disappeared into the night sky.

I couldn’t help the words that tumbled from my mouth. “Holy shit…”

Three sets of eyes whipped around at the sound. Charmeleon’s tail flared with fresh fire and Poliwrath’s fist jolted into a fighting stance, but the trainer held up his hand to stop them from acting on their surprise. He tilted his head to the side and took a step forward.

With him now turned toward us, I could make out more of the trainer’s face in the moonlight. His dark hair was wild and spiky, and it framed an angular face that was about my age. He had pale skin and dark brown eyes that looked at the two of us with no suspicion, only curiosity. He wore a red vest that matched his hat over a dark t-shirt and a set of weathered jeans, and on his waist was a holster for a Pokedex next to his Pokeballs.

If his aesthetic hadn’t told me who he was, or the fact that he was the only other person on his route, then the newest model of Pokedex on his waist did. There were only four trainers in the region who had one of those right now, and I was one of them.

I stepped forward, gently pulling my forearm out of Hana’s grip. She was still staring transfixed at the sky, glancing around for any sign that Dragonite would come back. I raised my hand, waving at the trainer.

“So, uh,” I said slowly. “I guess, you’re Red, huh? Nice to meet you, I’m Derek Tracy.”

Notes:

Yay! The protagonist has finally made an appearance! Seriously, I hope I did Red even the slightest amount of justice in how much of a GOAT he is, even back when he was a rookie. As you might have noticed, I made some very specific choices with Red's team, so I'll go ahead and address them here:

Red's Charmeleon is his starter, first off. I know that a lot of people associate Red with his Pikachu, but I went with the most recurring version of Red across multiple adaptations of his story, which has him start with a Charmander and Blue begin with a Squirtle (spoilers).

Red then went on to catch his Pikachu in the Viridian Forest later on as his first capture, which combined with it having a better temperament than a famously violent Charmeleon makes Pikachu a sort of de facto leader for the team. It is also his current strongest, which is why he stopped the fight when Pikachu was knocked out.

As for Poliwhirl, that's actually a fun reference to the manga. If you're not aware, in the Pokemon Adventures manga, Red's starter is actually neither a Charmander or a Pikachu, it's Poli the Poliwag. So, in the interest of this being my story and me wanting things that I liked being represented, I gave him one in honor of Poli. (Oh, also, I'm only noting it here because it's easy to miss: Derek didn't notice it while it was happening, but Poliwhirl's fists were wet because it used Rain Dance while Charmeleon and Pikachu were distracting Dragonite.)

Um, let's see, other than that, I think I'll leave more information about Red for storytelling in an actual chapter, though if I see a comment that I particularly need to answer, I'll probably address it at the top of the next chapter.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Next Chapter: Tuesday, July 23rd

Chapter 43: Introducing Red

Red was the definition of quiet and reserved. He raised his hand hesitantly, giving me a shallow wave. His eyes very much conveyed the message of ‘go on…’.

I cleared my throat, glancing past him at Charmeleon and Poliwhirl. Neither of them had dropped their fighting stances and they both gave me cautious glares.

“Oh, uh,” I scratched my neck, realizing that I hadn’t actually explained anything. “I’m also one of Professor Oak’s sponsored trainers. Since I was already traveling this way, he asked me to keep an eye out for you to tell you to call home.”

Red’s face flashed through a few different emotions, though his confusion seemed to deepen. He looked skeptical at best, and he placed his hand on his chin, looking at me intently.

“Oh, Derek,” Hana whispered to me, exasperated. “If Red’s been out here for weeks, he probably doesn’t know that Professor Oak brought you on. It’s bizarre for the Lab to sponsor more than three people a season and all three were from Pallet Town this year.”

“Oh!” I scrambled to pull both my Pokedex and the Nav from my pocket. “Here, this should help!”

Red took a look at the blue Pokedex in my hand, a color-shifted version of his own, and squinted at the message that I’d received from Professor Oak on my Nav. I’d scrolled to only show the final paragraph since the beginning was about my future Beldum and I wanted to keep that to myself. As Red got near the end of the message, his dark eyes widened and looked more than a little guilty. He must’ve seen the bit about his mom being worried.

He took a step back from us and nodded, waving his Pokemon over. Charmeleon still looked skeptical, but Poliwhirl’s face lost all of its aggression immediately. It jaunted over to us, waving its large white hand happily. As he did, I caught the slightest motion out of the corner of my eye. Red’s hands had moved, subtly making a two-fisted motion at his sides. Charmeleon saw this as well, and the fire-lizard’s eyes lost their suspicious edge.

I crinkled my eyebrows. I recognized that motion from somewhere.

“Oh!” Several dots connected at once. Red hadn’t said anything to us during our interaction, yet, and I’d assumed that had been out of some sort of introverted instinct, but seeing him make that motion made me reconsider. Both of my fellow trainers gave an odd look to my outburst, but I took a chance.

I pushed both my wrists together and made loose fists. I pulled them apart in a slow motion while giving a small nod.

Red’s face lit up, but Hana continued to give me a confused stare. “Derek,” she murmured, though the clearing was a bit too quiet for her voice to not carry. “What are you doing?”

I shrugged, smiling as Red’s hands moved in front of him, forming a quick series of motions that I had to concentrate to track. I was a bit rusty, after all.

“It’s sign,” I said. “Red signed that we were ‘safe’. I was just confirming that we were.”

Hana’s eyes went wide, and she turned to look at the motions that Red was making. He was a lot faster than I’d ever been, since I’d only taken it for a year, but I was getting every other word and I could fill in the gaps with context clues.

“I. Can see. Why. The Professor. Sponsored you,” Red signed, a large grin forming on his face. “Very few. Trainers. Know. Sign language.”

I smiled, though I tilted my head to the side. I wasn’t sure that had actually ever come up in one of our discussions. It would have been listed in my transcripts, but he’d never brought it up.

“It counted toward my ‘foreign language’ requirement and it looked easier than Kalosian,” I admitted. “I’ve never had a reason to use it, though.”

Both Red and Hana gave me an odd look.

“Where. Are you. From?” Red looked genuinely curious. “We don’t. Have. That requirement. Here.”

“You had a foreign language requirement?” Hana said, not understanding that Red was asking a similar question. “We didn’t have that on the Sevii Islands.”

It was my turn to frown. “You didn’t? That’s, like, one of the big requirements you need to graduate-” I snapped my fingers. “Gotchya. This is Kanto. If there was any region that didn’t require its students to learn about other regions, it would be this one.”

All three of us nodded at once, firm in that logic, and then our expressions turned dour. That was an alarming thing to accept about a region that you lived in, especially because none of us doubted it.

Red gave me another look. “Where?” He made the same sign again, since I hadn’t answered his question yet.

“Ah, yeah, sorry.” I bowed my head in a semi-formal fashion. “As I said, my name is Derek Tracy and I come from Lilycove in the Hoenn region. I’m doing my rookie year over here and Professor Oak offered me a sponsorship. This is…” I held up my hand, letting Hana do her own introductions.

“I’m Hana Kanael, from One Island,” she said with her own bow.

Red nodded, seeming to accept our answers. He sent me another curious glance, but I wasn’t sure that it had to do with my qualifications.

“It is nice. To meet. You,” Red signed, with me quietly translating to Hana. “I would. Introduce. Myself. But. You. Already seem. To know. Me.” He then did a quick finger spelling of the letters ‘h’ and ‘a’ and I realized he was signing a chuckle.

That might have been the funniest thing that I’d ever heard- no, seen. This guy wasn’t quiet or reserved, at least not when he knew that I could understand him. Red’s face had completely shifted from a careful introvert to that of a cheerful and expressive person. He seemed like a great time.

“Well,” I sent Hana a glance. She seemed a little lost in Red’s signing, but she seemed comfortable now. That was pretty crazy, given that we’d walked up here minutes ago with the intention of fighting a dragon. I turned back to Red. “I don’t know if you have a camp already set up or anything, but our tent is pitched at the bottom of this-” I gestured to the rocky spire we were standing on, “thing.”

Hana nodded. “I'm also not sure if you’re worried about the wild Pokemon around here,” both of us glanced at the spot of formerly molten stone behind Red, “but it is always safer to camp in numbers. We’d be happy to let you set up in our campsite.”

Red followed our eyeline. A smug smile crept up on his face. “We. Didn’t. Win. That.” Red’s sign language had an almost sarcastic tone to it. “But. I. Appreciate. The confidence. I’d. Be happy. To stay. With you.”

“Sweet! Also though, like, what was that even about?” I glanced up at the sky, but there was no sign that Dragonite was coming back. “Did it attack you or something?”

Red vigorously shook his head. “I. Challenged. Him.”

My jaw dropped. When Hana nudged me, given that I was too shocked to translate, I stuttered. “H- he challenged that thing…”

“Why?” Hana’s shock was just as immediate as mine. “That’s the exact kind of Pokemon that rookies are told not to go near. Fairies, Ghosts, and Dragons.” Hana held up three fingers to emphasize her point. “Only an idiot-” Hana eye’s flicked to me and she stopped in her tracks with a sigh.

I chose not to react to that hurtful implication. Wisp snickered in my shadow.

Red shrugged. “My. Team. Trains. Through. Battle.”

His Charmeleon and Poliwhirl both let out confident breaths, almost posing behind him. The both of them had taken a few hard hits in that fight, but they didn’t look all that exhausted. I couldn’t knock what he was saying, not with the results that I’d seen during the actual fight. Red’s Pokemon had punched way above their weight in that fight, even if they had no real chance of winning. He didn’t battle like a rookie at all.

Hana also seemed to have a hard time refuting his methods. She’d already come around to my recklessness, so Red’s tactics couldn’t have seemed that farfetched. “Well,” Hana finally said, “I have some items at camp for your Pikachu, if you need them.”

Red’s expression sobered up. He looked down at his bag where he’d placed his Pikachu into its strap like a baby sling. He nodded, his fingers gently drifting over Pikachu’s head, brushing its fur.

I very much got the vibe that Pikachu going down was a rare occurrence. The little mouse had been in command during the battle, giving orders and timing to the other two. I didn’t think that was Red’s starter, since he was a sponsored trainer and they almost always got the regional starters, but Pikachu was definitely the leader of his team.

I pointed my head in the direction of the way we came. “Come on. We’ll get them patched up in no time.”

Red smiled softly, looking up from his Pokemon. He nodded.

 

---

After I remade our dinner and Hana handed over a few of our potions over to Red, which he immediately paid us back for, Hana retreated into our tent for the night.

When I asked Red if he needed help setting up his tent, he shook his head, instead pulling out an all-weather sleeping mat from his small bag. I noted, with a small amount of jealousy, that the bag was far too small to hold his mat under the rules of regular physics.

With a single flourish of his wrist, the mat unrolled itself onto a flat spot by our fire. Charmelon and Poliwrath both laid out on the mat, and Red sat down with Pikachu in his lap, leaning against Charmeleon.

I frowned. “So what do you do if it rains?”

Red shrugged. “Tarp,” he signed. “Not. A lot. Of issues. Charmeleon. Keeps. Me. Warm.”

Knowing that we were talking about him, and I had confirmed that all three of Red’s Pokemon were male, Charmeleon stretched out behind Red with a smug look. His tail flared with fresh flames, almost dwarfing our campfire.

“Yeah,” I nodded, feeling wistful. I couldn’t help but think about the trouble we’d had at the start of the route. “Fire types are useful like that.”

“Very. Useful.” Red glanced over at me. “What about. You? Do you. Have. Any Pokemon. Other than. Your ghost?”

My eyebrows shot up. “You noticed her?”

My shadow rippled, Wisp’s head poking out from it. Her eyes were wide with disbelief, like she also couldn’t accept that her presence had been noticed. She was baffled and almost a little offended. Wisp puffed her cheeks out and disappeared back into my shadow, pouting.

Red signed his chuckle again, his face curling into a smile. “She’s. Not quiet. I. Heard. Her laugh.”

“Even so,” I let out a breath. “That’s pretty impressive.”

Red shook his head, one of his eyebrows going up. “No. What’s impressive. Is owning. A ghost. Even I. Don’t think. I. Could. Tame. A ghost.”

I chuckled. “Nah, it’s not that impressive. Wisp sought me out after I made her a promise, and we’ve been together ever since.”

“A promise?” Red’s eyebrow went further, so far that I thought it might escape his forehead. “That’s dangerous. With. A ghost. What. was-” Red stopped signing, his fingers hesitating. He shook his head. “Sorry. That’s. Personal.”

“You’re good. And it’s not actually all that personal. I was kind of in a tough spot at the time, so I tossed out the idea of taking her to see the world. She seemed to like it, I guess, because she followed me to Pewter City.”

A pang of guilt went through my heart. I hadn’t thought that much about my promise to Wisp since I’d made it, and I realized that I wasn’t positive that I’d been keeping up my end of the bargain. Sure, I’d been traveling, but I hadn’t gone out of my way to see incredible sights like I’d promised. I’d even had the thought when we were leaving Cerulean that we hadn’t explored the city at all.

I silently promised that I was going to milk the rest of our detour through Lavender for as many touristy sites as I could find. Wisp had more than earned it.

Red was deep in thought when I glanced back up at him. The guy had a hell of a concentration face, silently staring into the mid-distance with a gaze that could sear through stone. I wasn’t sure how to break him out of it, or if I even wanted to, but I realized that I hadn’t answered his initial question.

I popped Artis’ ball off of my belt and released him. He materialized an inch above the ground, flopping down with a heavy thump that caused his blubber to vibrate. Artis took a deep sniff, his mustache vibrating with the motion, and his face broke out into a slow grin.

“Seaaaaleo,” he warbled, his dark eyes happily looking around the camp at our visitors. Charmeleon snorted at him but didn’t say anything, and Poliwhirl waved from his sitting position.

Red glanced up from his thoughts and his face lit up again. He leaned forward, offering his palm to my Sealeo. Artis wasted no time placing his chin on Red’s palm. Red scritched my boy at the edges of his jaw, with just the right pressure that Artis liked. He slumped to his side, his big flipper kicked out to the side as he enjoyed the attention.

Red looked up at me, his eyes asking an obvious question.

“His name is Artis,” I said with a smile. My respect for Red had just rocketed from seeing him interact with my boy. “He’s my starter and the only other current member of my team. I have my egg,” I gestured to where I’d set the incubator next to me, “but he’s not going to hatch for a while. Probably.”

Red nodded and happily went back to scratching Artis. My boy started to snore in seconds. Red sat back, pleased with his work. He glanced over at me and raised his hand to sign something, but he hesitated. I tilted my head questioningly and he shrugged.

Red only signed one word. “Thanks.”

I raised an eyebrow. “No problem, but… …what for?”

“I-” Red shifted his weight, glancing away from me. “I. Don’t often. Get to. Talk to people. Like this. Thank you. For your conversation.”

That genuine emotion took me aback. I thought about it for a moment, and my stomach plummeted.

“Oh,” I said quietly. “I guess there probably aren’t too many people who sign here, huh?”

Red shook his head.

I had been in Kanto for over two months and I hadn’t seen a single person use sign in that time, to the point where I hadn’t thought to use my skill in it at all. In fact, I hadn’t seen a whole lot of disability support anywhere in the region. It was painfully obvious that Kanto’s strength-first approach left a lot of people behind.

“I. Have. Some friends. I. Grew up with. They. Know.” Red’s face took on a nostalgic vibe. “The other. Sponsored. Rookies. Other than. Them. My mom. A family friend. And. The Professor…”

Red shrugged. It was a motion I’d seen him make several times now, and I realized that he was probably used to doing it a lot.

“Well,” I swallowed, carefully trying not to let the pity that I was feeling show. “If you ever want a conversation, I’m told that I talk too much.”

“He does!” Hana’s muffled voice came from inside the tent.

Red and I blinked, glancing at the tent and then back to each other. We both laughed, though his were signed.

“Tell me about your journey so far, then,” I said when I finally stopped laughing, wiping a tear from my eye. “You’re the number-two-ranked rookie, right?”

Red’s eyes went wide. “Still?” He considered it for a moment. “I didn’t. Realize that you. Knew.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “I mean, obviously your real name is on the listing, but all three of you are in the top ten. Since I know you’re not Blue and you’re not a girl, you had to be number two.”

I hadn’t spent too long thinking about it, but after seeing him battle his rank made a lot of sense. Red was listed as Satoshi Ketchum in the rookie rankings, second only to Gary Oak. He currently held the Boulder, Thunder, and Cascade badges, and even now the other top ten rankers were barely getting their third badges. He’d had his for weeks.

Red smiled. “My. Journey. Has been. Wild. It’s been. A lot.”

“Believe me, I get that,” I laughed. “Tell me about.”

The other trainer gave me a long look. Then, his hands started moving.

Red spent the next hour telling me about his journey. He had grown up in Pallet Town, which I’d known, but he also talked about the fact that his two fellow sponsored trainers were his lifelong friends Gary Oak and Carey Leaf. They’d spent all of their time as kids volunteering at Professor Oak’s lab, learning as much as they could about Pokemon. The three of them were thick as thieves, and they’d gone as far as giving each other color-coded nicknames that had just stuck, those being Red, Blue, and Green. When it had come time to get their starters, they'd decided who would get which one months in advance, and it had never been a question that Red would get Charmander.

The three of them had decided to travel separately for their journey. Red had gone north, skipping Giovanni in favor of challenging Brock. Once he arrived there, he captured a small Pikachu that was causing havoc in the local market. Red and Blue reunited in front of the Pewter Gym and did a rock-paper-scissors game to determine who would fight Brock first. Blue had won. They both succeeded on their first tries.

From there, they split ways again with Blue traveling through Mt. Moon and Red going through Diglett Cave to Vermillion City. Red had then challenged Lt. Surge to a battle, gaining his second badge only a day after Blue had challenged the Sensational Sisters. He’d gone on to travel past Saffron to Cerulean in an attempt to swap gym victories with Blue. He’d won almost three weeks ago before coming out here.

One of the things that Red was big on talking about was the difficult encounters that he sought out on each route. He seemed to believe in strengthening his Pokemon through battles, not drills or traditional training. He was quick to talk about the Pidgeot that Charmeleon had battled on Route 01 and the Heracross that he’d lost to in the Viridian Forest. That one gave me pause, but I chose not to say anything. The strongest Pokemon he’d fought so far were the Golduck on Route 07 and the Dragonite he’d fought today. Red talked about the routes more or less favorably based on how strong of a Pokemon he could match his team up against there.

Red’s signs came at a break-neck pace as he told me about his journey. It was like he hadn’t gotten to tell all of this to anyone, so he was finally venting months of travel to the first guy who could understand him in weeks. While Red could have used his text-to-speech function on his Pokedex, he thought it made the conversations more awkward and took longer than he wanted. He normally used nods and headshakes to get through everyday conversations, but you could only do so much with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ as your stock answers.

Eventually, though, as he was talking about scaling the Route 09 cliffs to find a Dragonite nest, Red’s signs finally slowed. His head drifted down, eyes lidding as his chin pressed against his chest. Red had fallen asleep halfway through a sentence.

I couldn’t stop the soft smile that took my face as I looked at the trainer on his pile of Pokemon. I’d known the guy for less than half an hour before he’d decided to spill his life story, all because my region was better about rounding out my education.

I stood up, feeling stiff and cold from the rock I’d been sitting on, and recalled a snoring Artis. I stepped through my tent flap to find Hana still awake. She was sitting cross-legged on her mat, casually typing away on her laptop.

Hana gave me a sleepy smile as I kicked off my boots and shuffled onto my own sleeping pad, only about half a foot away. “You guys talked for a while,” she said simply.

“Yeah. He had a long story to tell,” I said. After a moment, I bobbed my head sheepishly. “And he seemed a little lonely.”

Hana snickered. “And you were out collecting strays again?”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s hardly what I do. That happened one time with you guys-”

“And Terry and his group,” Hana pointed out. “And Daisy, and Lester and Ambrose, and somehow Gym Leader Misty.”

“Huh. That does happen more than I thought it did,” I admitted. “Though I hardly think that Daisy counts. She asked me out, not the other way around.”

Hana shifted in her seat. “Oh, hey,” she said quickly, sliding her laptop to the side and turning to face me. “Can I borrow the PokeNav?”

“Sure, were you wanting to double-check the route or something?”

Hana averted her eyes, looking oddly embarrassed. “No, that’s not it. My phone doesn’t have a signal right now and I…” She muttered the rest of her sentence so quietly that I couldn’t hear it. She held out her hand for the Nav, but I withdrew it, holding it away from her.

“What was that?” I said, a smirk creeping up my face. Anything that had Hana looking abashed was something I wanted to hear.

Hana rolled her eyes and straightened her back. In no world was she letting me get cocky, so she banished her shame. “I want to look up some beginner sign language,” Hana said with strength in her voice. She crossed her arms. “It’s a skill that seems useful, and you’re right that Kanto being in charge of my education robbed me of learning about groups outside of what they consider the norm.”

“Oh.” I was a little taken aback, but I could definitely see my knowledge-loving friend wanting to increase her skills. I didn’t hide my smirk when I raised an eyebrow to tease her, though. “And you’re feeling a little left out, right?”

“Yes.”

My eyebrows shot up at Hana’s straightforward answer. Heat dusted her cheeks, but she stared me down and held my gaze. She held out her hand for the Nav.

I offered her the Nav, but I didn’t relinquish it immediately. “You know, if you’re interested, I was actually planning on brushing up to talk to Red some more. I could just run you through some?”

It was Hana’s turn to look surprised. I could tell that the thought hadn’t even occurred to her. “Oh! Well, then. That would make more sense,” Hana nodded. She released her grip on the Nav, which I then set to the side. “What would you propose that we start with?”

I hesitated. I didn’t know why I’d suddenly offered to teach Hana sign language. I wasn’t the best teacher in the world, and Hana was one of the two smartest people I knew because it was normally her teaching me things. I definitely hadn’t expected her to agree so quickly. Hana was someone who spent all of her time gathering data on her own and making spreadsheets, so I hadn’t been present to watch her really learn anything before. It was weird.

“I- I guess we could start with fingerspelling?” I choked out. “That was kind of where they started in my class, and if you’re ever in a pinch when it comes to a complex word, you can just spell it out.”

Hana’s green-eyed gaze was attentive and intimidating. She nodded. “Okay, that sounds good to me.”

There was a pause as she continued to look at me expectantly.

“Oh! You meant right now?”

Hana shook her head as she smirked, exasperation clear on her face. “Yes, right now.”

“Okay, but I warn you, I only scored an A- in sign. I don’t know if that’s good enough for the great Hana.”

“It’ll have to do,” she rolled her eyes again.

“Okay, so the first letter we’re going to start with is this thing called an ‘A’. I know you might not be familiar with it-”

Hana leaned over and punched me in the arm. We both laughed.

---

When I woke up the next morning, I was not ready to be a person yet. I blinked my eyes multiple times, slowly ridding myself of the crustiness in the corners of my eyes. I went to move, but I found myself weighed down by a warm presence pushed up against my chest. Looking down to inspect the problem, I found only a tangled pile of golden-brown hair in the way. Hana had pushed her way half off of her sleeping mat and onto mine, hogging more than her fair share of my tent.

I chuckled to myself, stifling it a bit to not wake her up. She was always so demanding and in control when she was awake, but right now she was drooling. If I was a meaner friend, I would take a photo as later blackmail. We had been awake for an extra two hours at her demands, after all.

“Psst,” I said quietly. “Wisp! Help me without waking her up?”

Surprisingly, Wisp’s head didn’t pop out of my shadow. Her head instead peaked through from my tent flap, red-yellow eyes mischievous. Distantly, I could smell cooking food. That made my mission that much more urgent.

Between a subtle use of Confusion on Hana’s sleeping mat and a quick roll from me, I was able to sneak out of the tent without waking her. I slid out of my tent to find Red already awake. He, Charmeleon, and Poliwhirl all held metal roasting skewers with different bits of food on them. Our fire had gone out at some point in the night, but they’d solved this problem by roasting their food over Charmeleon’s tail.

I felt another twinge of jealousy at Red’s fire type.

“Good morning,” Red signed with one hand, giving me a sleepy grin. Apparently, he also wasn’t a morning person. “Did you sleep well?”

One of the upsides to watching Red sign for over an hour was that I could now read his signs pretty smoothly. It didn’t feel disjointed anymore, and I didn’t have to rely on context clues as much.

“I slept okay,” I said, still keeping my voice down. “What about you?”

He shrugged. “Not as bad as it’s been, but not as good as it could be. Do you want a breakfast sausage?”

I blinked, taking a deep inhale of the awesome fragrance of breakfast. “Oh, dude. If this is how you’re gonna greet me when I wake up, then we’re going to have to make this a regular thing.”

He signed a deep laugh, going as far as to slap his knee. “I’m not into that sort of thing, and you’re not single,” he joked.

I laughed at that, but I blinked. I didn’t think that I’d told him about Daisy, but I must’ve at some point.

“Speaking of that, though,” he continued, handing me a piece off of his breakfast skewer. “Are you headed toward Route 10? Pikachu was awake for a little bit earlier, thanks to your guys’ potions, but I want to get him checked out at the Pokemon Center. If you’re headed that way…” Red trailed off, trying to hide the hopefulness in his gaze.

I cracked him a smile. “Yeah, we’re heading that way. The goal is Lavender Town, so we’re heading through Rock Tunnel.”

Red’s eyes flickered with something, but it disappeared when his face broke into a smile. “Great! I took a trail up here from there. It’s not too difficult, and we should probably be able to make it in two-ish days, even if we take some breaks.”

I glanced back at my tent. “I’m not sure how long it’ll be till she wakes up, but I’m sure we can get out of here within the hour.”

Red nodded, sitting back against his Poliwhirl with a happy sigh. The two of us chewed through his food with gusto. It was kind of awesome, actually, how quickly this felt like a natural thing.

We ended up leaving right after breakfast, as it quickly became clear that Operation ‘Let Hana Sleep’ had been a failure. She’d emerged a few minutes after Red and I settled into our silence with a grumpy frown. Hana didn’t call me out for my load talking, though, since she’d only been up that late at her own request. We were able to coax some food into her and get the camp packed up in less than ten minutes.

The path down the plateau was exactly as Red had described it. We took a small trail around the edge of one of the stone pillars and hugged a ledge for half a mile, slowly winding our way down seventeen stories of stone. The cliffsides were cold and cloaked in shadow, since the sun wasn’t high enough yet to peek through them, but the cardio helped keep us warm. The trail deposited us at the end of Route 09 where it was clear that Red had already come through here, if the scorched bushes and thorns were anything to go by.

It was an hour later when I heard a sound that put a grin on my face.

“Artis!” I called, releasing him onto the path. “I hear a river!”

His eyes went wide. “Leo!” Artis barked, slumping forward into a roll. He quickly outpaced our entire group in favor of the rumble of white noise in front of us.

We sprinted over a ridge to find ourselves looking at the object of our interest. The cliffs of Route 09 widened out to reveal a flat grassland that stretched for almost a mile before hitting the banks of a narrow river that ribboned through another set of canyons. The air smelt fresh and cool, unlike the hot arid wasteland that we’d been hiking through. The grassland hugged the canyon wall to our right, eventually disappearing around a southern bend that carried it into Route 10 proper.

Artis could not be stopped when he saw the water. Our time in Cerulean had finally let his oceanic butt get regular access to swimming, and he’d been missing it. Artis tucked his head into a proper Rollout and zoomed across the grassland. I could see Rattata and Spearow scramble out of the way as my boy rocketed past. He left a trail of crushed grass and a spray of dirt in his wake, tearing up the surrounding area with almost gleeful disregard. Artis hit a ridge right before the river and ended up flying all the way over the beach, landing with one of the most disruptive splashes that I’d ever seen. River spray and several Magikarp went flying into the air.

Red and Hana both sent me disapproving looks, but I pushed back my sheepishness and cheered for my boy. “Let’s goooooo! Ten points!”

Artis popped his head from the river, barking in excitement. “Leo! Le!”

The rest of our party made our way to the beach and everyone else’s Pokemon were almost as shameless as Artis. Paige extended her vines onto Rafflesia’s back, catching a ride on the Ivysaur down to the water, and the two of them happily splashed in the current. Wisp drifted out of my shadow and into the water. Every once in a while, I would spot a red glow from her beads as she scared the crap out of a Magikarp or Goldeen. Poliwhirl also dove into the river, though he was significantly more refined than Artis’ big splash. Pikachu poked his head out of Red’s bag, wistfully watching the others while he rested. Charmeleon was the only one who seemed uninterested, for obvious reasons, and instead released a long Flamethrower into the beach sand, toasting himself a nice resting spot.

As for the trainers, we took after our Pokemon and enjoyed the water. Hana disappeared behind a rock and reappeared a few moments later in a bathing suit and a t-shirt, and Red and I followed suit and swapped into some swim trunks. Even though it was still mid-morning, the sun could actually get through to this area and the beach heated up pretty quickly, making the ice-cold river the best possible place to be. Rafflesia pulled off a neat trick and tightly wrapped some of the petals from her flower together, growing and releasing them into an airtight grassy ball. She slapped it over to Hana with one of her vines, but I was quick and jumped through to waves to intercept it.

And thus, ‘Beach Keep Away’ was born.

All of us, excluding Charmeleon, got into the game. We would select one member of the group, more often than not one of the trainers, and the rest of us would toss it from one to another to keep it out of their hands. Somewhere along the line, we added a rule about only using our heads or the backs of our hands to hit the ball and things got wild.

Maybe twenty minutes into this game, after I’d successfully hit the ball away from Artis and over to Poliwhirl, I paused, taking in what we were doing. All of our Pokemon were enjoying themselves and we were having fun. I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d just played, and honestly, I hadn’t. Not since I’d started my journey. I’d been ‘go-go-going’ since Viridian City. Now that Hana and I were back on track with our badge challenges, it was a weird experience to waste travel time on beach games.

As Wisp’s eyes glowed blue and she floated the ball to Hana, whose green eyes were glimmering like peridot in the sunlight and whose bright white teeth flashed a massive smile, I had to correct myself. This was not a waste of time.

I glanced around, suddenly realizing that I hadn’t seen Red in a few minutes. I suppressed my sudden panic, my intrusive thoughts pushing to my brain that he wouldn’t be able to yell at us if something had gone wrong, and I visually searched the beach.

I let out an audible sigh of relief as I spotted him. Red had walked downstream of us and had waded almost ten meters out into the center of the river. The water was only at chest height for him, so I assumed that this river didn’t get that deep.

I went to call out to Red, but I paused. He was standing with purpose. After a moment, he raised his hand above his head. In a single, solid motion, he brought his palm down flat onto the water's surface, creating a resounding slap. Red waited a second, then repeated the motion with his other hand.

I started walking toward him once he’d completed this cycle a few times. I wasn’t sure what his goal was, but he was going to end up upsetting something big-

When the water in front of him started to ripple, I realized that was his goal. Of course that was his goal. I’d seen what he’d done just yesterday. The sociopath was trying to wake something up.

He was more than trying. He’d succeeded.

The water ripples defined themselves as two teal-blue scaled bumps that drifted upward, poking themselves out of the water. The bumps grew and elongated into a pair of mighty horns, each thicker than my wrist and sharpened to deadly points. Those horns were connected to a massive spined blue head that was almost as large as Artis. A pair of red irate eyes stared across the water, flanking a jet-like snout that opened and contracted as the titanic creature breathed in and out.

A Kingra stared out of the river at Red. He’d awoken a sea dragon with his water slapping.

My mouth was agape. Dragonite was the rarest dragon in Kanto, but Kingdra wasn’t far behind because people still didn’t know how they evolved in the wild. Twice now, this guy had managed to summon a fully-evolved dragon to his side. It wasn’t realistic. It wasn’t statistically probable. It wasn’t human.

Kingdra snorted, a fine watery mist leaving its snout and drawing the attention of everyone at the beach. All play stopped, and we stood in silence as a creature stronger than all of our Pokemon combined sized us up.

Red looked back at me, a glint in his eye. He didn’t need to search for me, so he’d noticed when I’d started toward him. He had been aware that I was behind him the whole time.

Slowly, he raised a hand. “Derek,” Red signed. “Do you want to try and train the way that I do?”

Behind him, Kingdra let out a low growl. It lowered its head and spat out a spray of water. The air around it began to whistle and spin, a sizable vortex of air threatening to turn into a water spout.

It was challenging us.

Notes:

Thank you guys for reading this chapter! I really hope that you enjoyed my take on Red, because I had a lot of fun writing him. I've been thinking about how I wanted to handle him because obviously, Red is one of those characters who is very important to the franchise, but there's a lot of lore surrounding him to pick through. I know it's a bit overdone, but I've always liked the non-verbal take on Red, so I knew that I wanted to go that direction. I didn't, however, want reduce non-verbalism into someone's personality into being one-note, so I really wanted to inject some of the hyper-activeness and recklessness of the manga's version of Red into the character. This sort of led to a character who is reckless and excitable, but often can't communicate these things to those around him, which I got really excited to write.

Anyway, again, thank you for reading and I hope you'll stick around for the next update!

Next Chapter: n/a - I'm traveling soon and I'm not sure when I'll have time to update next. At the absolute latest, the next chapter will release on August 13th.

EDIT: I got Covid following my travels, I'm taking another week for myself. Next Chapter: August 20th

Chapter 44: Real Training

Kingdra's regal scales glinted from the light of the sun and the river water that coated them, shining in the bright canyon and making it physically hard to look at. Its aggressive scarlet eyes were even harder to meet, though, as it stared down every member of our group.

Red was grinning from ear to ear, and, even though I could feel panic rising in my chest, so was I. A numb feeling zig-zagged up my spine.

This was how Red trained?

This guy was insane.

I locked eyes with him, really considering what he was asking. Did I think that Artis and Wisp could last a minute against this thing? No, I did not. But did I think they would learn enough in that minute of battle to significantly push them ahead? Well, that remained to be seen.

Red subtly dipped his chin with a smirk. He thought it was worth it. Of course, he thought it was worth it. This psycho had fought a Dragonite yesterday.

I turned to look at my sane friend, and her eyes were full of fear. Hana had stepped back, letting her two Pokemon step in front of her in the water. She looked at me and shook her head, clearly telling me to run. She didn't have the context of knowing that Red had called for this thing, nor that he wanted me to train against it.

I let out a long breath.

“What do I do?” I said to Red calmly but loud enough for Hana to hear. “To spar against them safely?”

Kingdra's eyes narrowed onto me. It flexed its cannon-like snout, the swirling winds around it intensifying.

“That,” Red signed with a grin. He turned to the Kingra, stepping between me and it, bowed his head, and began to sign at the Pokemon. “My friend wishes to challenge you with his Pokemon so that they may learn. We do not wish to intrude on your time or grace without payment, and we would give you an offering of food, should you choose to allow us a spar.”

Kindgra’s scarlet eyes glanced at him, then back at me. The sea dragon inclined its head so slightly that I would have missed it if I wasn't locked in. It looked at me expectantly.

I was gobsmacked that had worked, but Red’s use of sign at a wild Pokemon slowly made sense to me. Pokemon didn't really understand our spoken language when we talked, but they understood our intentions. Pokemon were empathetic creatures with an almost supernatural ability to understand us and each other; it wasn't a stretch to imagine that they would be able to understand signs.

Something bumped my leg and I nearly jumped out of the water. Artis floated by my thigh, and he stared at Kingdra. His eyes were less vacant than normal, more focused than I'd ever seen him. He stole a small bite from the black box on his collar and his mustache tilted down as he snarled at the dragon.

On my other side, Wisp drifted out of the water. She'd enlarged her ghostly form to almost twice its normal size, and her eyes had gone blood red. Wisp's red beads glowed with yellow light, sparks jumping between each of the beads.

I glanced back at Hana again. Understanding now cloaked her face, but she still looked anxious. Her green eyes were locked on mine, silently asking if I was serious.

I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head, asking for her permission.

Hana looked away from me, but she took a strong step forward in the water. Her chin dipped forward. It was clear what she was saying. If I was serious, she'd have my back.

I turned back to Kingdra and bowed my head. “I would be honored to learn from you,” I said, steadying my voice.

Kingdra snorted.

The dragon reared its head back and shook its entire body in a rhythmic pattern. The vortex of winds that surrounded it intensified, grabbing gallons of water from the river and swirling into the air. A thick layer of fog folded around Kingdra’s form, obscuring its body as its head slowly began to rise above the water. The sea dragon rose and rose, and it became clear that the dance was doing more than covering Kingdra’s body in fog. Its movements were some altered version of Rain Dance that allowed this Pokemon to fly.

“Fuuu…” The beginning of a curse escaped my mouth as I watched Kingdra’s serpentine seahorse body unravel itself, supported by a roiling current of water vapor almost two feet above the surface of the river. The sea dragon was three meters in length, more than double the length of a freshly evolved member of its species. Artis’s growl choked off and Wisp’s body diminished to its normal size, both of them stepping back with me.

Kingdra leveled its scarlet eyes at me. Its expectant stare made it clear that it was waiting for us to make the first move.

Red moved to join Hana on the beach, but he stopped by my side first. His eyes were alight with excitement, but his gaze was serious and cautious.

“I know I fight without ordering my Pokemon,” he signed urgently, “but don't get caught up emulating me. You need real communication to fight her properly.”

I sighed, nodding. “Yeah.” My eyes flicked to Kingdra's serpentine body floating on its fog clouds. “That's a good call.”

Red patted me on the shoulder and left to watch the match. Wisp and Artis stood in front of me, ready to receive commands.

My mind raced. The beginnings of a plan were forming, but the best they could do was delay. I could stall until… well, I didn’t know. The dragon in front of me looked unbeatable.

Warmth filled my chest and the tip of my nose went numb. My blood was pumping already, before the battle had begun.

I was excited.

“Wisp,” I kept my voice low, “don’t attack until Artis has its attention.”

My ghost snickered at the order. She was more than okay with that. She slowly drifted toward the surface of the water.

I raised my voice, locking eyes with Kingdra. “Artis, Aqua Ring into Aurora Beam.”

Kingra’s eyes flashed with amusement, and all chaos broke loose.

Artis barked, his power tearing a line of water from the river and swirling it around him with a blue glow. Kingdra tore across the surface of the water. The fin-wing on its back acted like a sail, catching the mist around it and rocketing it faster than I could track. Kingdra closed the gap in seconds, leaving a trail of fog in its wake. Artis yelped in surprise, rolling backward in the water instead of firing an Aurora Beam. It was a miracle that he did, because the purple pulse of charging light that fired from Kingdra’s maw missed him by inches. It skipped across the water past me, shattering against the waves and knocking me forward. I scrambled in the water, barely catching my footing in the sand.

Kingdra followed up the first Dragon Pulse with another. The hiss of barely perceptible energy building preceded a second flash of purple light. Artis groaned as the point-blank attack rocketed water into the air and slammed into his stomach. He roared through the pain, prismatic light finally glowing. Artis’ Aurora Beam crackled into the river, building a wall of ice that gave him seconds of brevity before Kingdra blasted through it. He took a second Dragon Pulse to the gut.

“Shit!” I cursed as I stumbled backward again, chunks of ice raining down on me. The Pokemon was giving neither me nor Artis a moment to breathe. “Wisp, now!”

The smell of ozone pierced through the river fog as a beam of yellow light struck Kingdra in the back from across the river. The dragon whipped its head around, uninjured but angered. Its maw trumpeted in challenge, but only distant cackles answered it. Kingdra’s fog cloud had created large swaths of darkness on the river that Wisp had cloaked herself in. Kingdra’s eyes flared red at the attack, but it was our turn to push.

“Powder Snow!”

Kingdra spun on a dime to charge another Dragon Pulse, but Artis managed to blast his flurry of ice in time. A cloud of white snowflakes filled Kingdra’s mouth and eyes, completely covering the dragon as it turned. It was blinding and maddening, just as intended, and Kingdra roared in frustration. I had moments to rush backward before the white cloud was pierced four times by bright purple pulses. Kingdra slashed through the remaining snow, dispersing it to the hungry current below. The dragon’s eyes raked through the river, looking for either of my teammates.

Wisp was quick, subtle, and unseen. Artis was none of those things. He barked as he was spotted, another brilliant cloud of snow mixing with the fog that Kingdra was riding. Kingdra dashed through the air, easily avoiding the attack, and charged its Dragon Pulse again.

“Wisp!”

Another beam of lightning struck Kingdra in the side, this one leaving the smallest black mark where it hit. Kingdra ignored it. A blast of purple blasted across Artis’ chest, and I thanked the legends as he stayed awake. He rumbled in pain, but I could already see the sear marks from the first two attacks disappearing. His Aqua Ring and Leftovers were doing work healing him.

Kingdra was not going to let that happen. Three more Dragon Pulses joined the first, each leaving a sear mark greater than the last. Artis groaned under the water.

“Thunder Wave!” The order tore itself from my throat. “Artis, ice the surface and Rest!”

A wave of weak electricity rolled through the fog, this one forcing Kingdra’s attention. The attack would incapacitate the dragon, at least temporarily, and it couldn’t allow that. Kingdra soared high into the sky, a plume of fog flowing behind it. The Thunderwave rolled by where it had been harmlessly.

“Again! Then Charge Beam!”

Wisp cackled, reappearing just above the surface of the water. Her beads sparked with yellow energy as she unleashed another rolling wave of electricity. Kingdra, already enraged, roared again. It flipped through the air, dancing between electrical arcs with the grace of a dragon. It avoided the second Thunderwave entirely and was narrowly grazed by Wisp’s follow-up beam. Kingdra dropped to the surface of the water, skidded across the waves in a single-minded predator’s chase. It rocketed toward Wisp, right over a newly formed glacier.

“Snore!”

The glacier exploded from the sonic blast within. Chunks of ice shot like shrapnel into Kingdra’s exposed belly. The hit barely damaged the dragon, but it guided its attention back to the fully healed Artis. The seconds that Wisp had given him to Rest had worked. Artis’ throat glowed prismatic as a beam of icy energy followed up his Snore. Kingdra recovered faster than anticipated, whipping around and glancing the beam off its thick scales, but that left a hole in its attention.

Kingdra stiffened as a weak pulse of electricity rolled across its back. Tiny sparks arced across its scales, seizing Kingdra’s muscles as they traveled.

All eyes turned to Wisp. She chuckled nervously, her successful Thunder Wave drawing more attention than she wanted.

Rage flared across the dragon’s entire being. Kingdra’s frustration bordered on visible disbelief. The dragon couldn’t find it in itself to roar. Instead, the fog around it picked up speed, the imperceptible swirl becoming an overt current of raw air as Kingdra violently whipped its entire body back and forth.

Artis did not sit in place as the remnants of his glacier were ripped from underneath him. He swam, faster than I’ve ever seen him, as a current of water separated itself from the river and swirled into the growing maelstrom underneath Kingdra. Until now, it had limited its use of Rain Dance to flight, but we’d successfully antagonized the dragon into further action. Wisp fired two more Charge Beams into the growing storm, but they failed to pierce the veil of water and wind. The sheer power the Kingdra was gathering had a profound effect on the battlefield.

Kingdra reared its head from within the storm. Its bright blue horns glimmered in the afternoon sun, and its eyes glowed like rubies. This Pokemon was far stronger than us, stronger than I could probably hope to get any of my Pokemon by the end of the Conference. It had flown for the entire battle, not as an advantage, but as a handicap for itself. If this Pokemon had faced us in the water, we wouldn’t have lasted more than a few moments.

I found myself, amidst the chaos of the moment, flashing back to the excitement that Red had shown at the thought of challenging this monster. I understood it, fully.

This was amazing.

And the end was coming. We had one more shot before Kingdra’s final attack. I could feel it in my bones.

“Artis, Aurora Beam! Wisp, Hex!”

The prismatic beam shot into the clouds, solidifying and freezing the vapor into solid chunks of ice. It created a single moment of dead air, a gap only a foot wide in Kingdra’s storm.

Wisp took full advantage of her moment. Her necklace was bulging with energy gathered from her constant use of Charge Beam. The yellow glow disappeared as she poured it all into a tiny purple void in front of her. The orb of ghostly energy shot forward and cleared the storm, guided by Artis’ attack.

The Hex struck Kingdra square in the chest. Unlike the weaker Charge Beam, this technique used the ghostly energy that came naturally to Wisp. It burst on impact with Kingdra’s chest, wrapping like purple smoke around its body in an instant. The Hex flared with energy as it thrived on the paralysis we’d inflicted with our Thunder Wave. It dug into Kingdra’s scales, seeking more energy to feed off of.

Kingdra reeled back. A calm fell over the river.

I felt acceptance as the vortex that surrounded Kingdra collected into a swirling mass of water in front of it.

The dragon lined up the attack perfectly. The column of water created by its Hydro Pump was large enough to envelope both Artis and Wisp in a single beam. Even as the riptide of hundreds of gallons of water swept me off my feet and I couldn’t see my teammates, I knew they’d fainted. This was an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.

We’d never stood a chance at winning; we’d only had the privilege of seeing its strength.

---

“Holy shit, that was crazy!”

I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as we walked, even with the ice pack held against the purple spot on my jaw.

Kingdra’s Hydro Pump had been empowered by its Rain Dance and, given that it was a wild Pokemon who wasn’t overly concerned with things like ‘collateral damage’, I’d been taken out by the incredible waves that followed. It had taken Hana and Red nearly ten minutes to fish me and my Pokemon out of the river. I’d been battered around by the waves, and Artis and Wisp were unsurprisingly unconscious.

We returned both of my Pokemon to their balls and gave Kingdra its promised food before taking off down the route. Though Hana was relieved to see that it hadn’t killed me, she’d said that she couldn’t comfortably rest near the dragon’s home.

Red had shoved on his t-shirt, which was a good idea given how unbelievably pale he was. I decided against it and hiked with my shirt off. Being in and out of the water on a hot day reminded me of being home in Lilycove. Hana had slid on some shorts over her bathing suit, and she’d borrowed one of my dry shirts so it would hang loose on her frame. The strings of her top and one of her shoulders peeked out from the collar.

Red and I were trailing behind Hana, talking about the fight. Hana had rolled her eyes when we’d started and borrowed the Nav.

“All Pokemon want to get stronger,” Red signed, eyes serious but his face beaming. “That is a fact. Because they all want to get stronger, they respect others who follow that same path, even those who are weaker. The strongest wild Pokemon have a hard time getting stronger because they lack the main component that sets them apart from our Pokemon…”

It took me a second to get what he was saying, but it felt so simple when I realized it. “They don’t have us,” I breathed out. I chuckled, pushing back my hair. “They don’t have trainers.”

Red nodded vigorously, excited that his point was coming across. “You saw it today. Kingdra, while very strong, is a blunt instrument. While that Rain Dance move was crazy, it relied on just Dragon Pulse for the rest of the fight. Sure, it had Hydro Pump, but it didn’t have a ton of creative applications for its moves like what you did with Artis’ Aurora Beam.”

“Strong wild Pokemon will fight rookie trainers, when approached correctly, because they get to observe all of our strategies. It’s a win-win. Our Pokemon get the experience of fighting an opponent that has more power than any trainers on our level, and the wild Pokemon get to learn trained strategies and complex moves.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” I nodded. It did, but several dark memories surfaced and a deep frown found itself on my face. “But why risk it? What happens if a Pokemon decides that they don’t want to help you out and they decide to attack?”

Beedrill hadn’t wanted to learn from us. Parasect hadn’t wanted to learn from us. Rhydon hadn’t wanted to learn from us.

There must have been more than a frown on my face because Red’s smile disappeared. He turned his eyes to the ground and his hands moved slowly, sympathetically. “That’s why I said ‘when approached correctly’. Dragons like Dragonite and Kingdra are actually the easiest. They live in hierarchical family structures, so you can approach them, albeit respectfully. Other Pokemon…” Red grimaced, obviously thinking about his own experiences. “They can be touchy. Bugs are the worst at understanding because their minds can be pretty alien if they don’t already have a good temperament for training. Fairies are almost as bad, but they can be tenable to deals. Ghosts-”

Red stopped signing, glancing at Wisp’s Pokeball on my hip. He sighed. “Ghosts can be battled, but they don’t like sticking within the rules. They’ll agree to a deal and they’ll respect a spar, but they always go one hit too far. Most of them have a cruel streak.”

If I weren’t always watching Red’s hands, I wouldn’t have seen the way they drifted to his Pokeballs. Something had spooked him.

“You fought one.” It wasn’t a question, but I did leave enough curiosity in my voice to let him say more if he felt comfortable.

Red nodded, keeping his head down. “I did.” He glanced my way. “I’ve been meaning to mention it to you both, but it’s why I haven’t gone through Rock Tunnel yet. My first attempt didn’t go well. There's a fairly strong ghost camped out near the northern entrance.”

I stopped in my tracks, eyes going wide. “What?”

Hana glanced over her shoulder at my outburst, also stopping when she saw my reaction. Her eyes were full of concern and confusion, but she didn’t speak up yet. True to form, she waited to gather information before acting, and I was grateful for that.

Red nodded like he’d expected my reaction. “It’s probably the reason the Professor sent you to look for me. I thought that I’d be through to Lavender a week ago.”

“That’s… That's heavy, dude.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “And it beat you?”

Red shrugged. “It won the spar and just kept going after Poliwhirl had gotten knocked out. That thing was a piece of work, and it was cruel. I won't be giving it another one-on-one.”

Red’s eyes were resolute. He set his stare south, toward the tunnel that we couldn't see.

I turned to Hana and quickly relayed what Red had said to me. She looked worried, but when I mentioned that he'd be battling it no-holds-barred, her gaze hardened and she nodded.

“If he feels that strongly about it, I’m not going to stop him,” she murmured. “He’s empirically stronger than either of us, so if he thinks he can do it…”

I nodded. “He’ll have us there as back-up, at least.”

Hana gave me just a bit of amused side-eye. “You’ve really taken what I said on Route 04 to heart, huh?”

“I wrote it down,” I said, smiling at the thought of my list. “You were right, doing stupid shit is a lot more survivable when you trust your friends. And, it’s worked out so far, right?”

“It has,” she agreed.

I was happy to let the silence sit, warm and content with that bit of encouragement, but Hana bumped my shoulder as we walked.

“I’m proud of you,” she said quietly. “You’ve come a long way in a few weeks. You seem happier, too.”

I tilted my head at the comment. It made me feel really good, even more so when I realized that it was true.

I’d been running back and forth from one emergency to another since Viridian City, and even though I was sort of on a time limit with Lavender Town, it was just the normal kind of anxiety that came with the season. Things were getting to be normal. Both of my Pokemon had fainted in a battle today, and that was okay because the stakes weren’t life-or-death. My relationship with each of my friends was either fully-repaired or on its way there. I was on track to have the correct number of badges. No wild Pokemon or terrorist teams were actively trying to kill me.

Life was good.

---

We settled down for the night on Route 10, all three of us electing to sleep under the stars with the calm weather. The night was peaceful, and we rested enough for both of my Pokemon and for Red’s Pikachu to wake up with us the next morning. The little electric rat was still weak from its loss to Dragonite, but it was more than happy to devour the food that Red cooked for it. I could see the stress leave Red’s shoulders as he fed his Pokemon, though I pretended not to notice how worried he’d been.

The next day of travel went quickly. It was hot on Route 10, so we elected to stay in our bathing suits for most of the day, periodically joining Artis and Poliwhirl in the river to cool off. The occasional flock of Spearow or rolling pod of Voltorb would wander across the route, but they were more than happy to leave us alone with a threatening look from Wisp or Charmeleon.

It was mid-afternoon when we came across the only Pokemon that I found particularly interesting on the route.

“What… …is he?” My voice quivered with the cuteness overload that I desperately tried to contain. “He’s so beautiful and round…”

“Woopa!” The small two-legged amphibian croaked at me, swinging his bald blue little head.

Hana held back a snicker. “He’s a Wooper, Derek. Very cute, and” she lowered her voice, “very dim.”

“I know,” I sniffled. “There’s not a thought in those empty little eyes.”

The little water-type had stepped out of the river and was curiously checking out our shoes. He wagged a paddle-shaped tail, not having arms to keep his humongous head balanced.

He was perfect.

I slowly reached into my back pocket. “You know, I wouldn’t be against getting another Water-Type Poke-”

“Leo!” / “Mis!”

Wooper jumped, startled and afraid at the sudden noise. “Woop woop!” It sprinted away, plopping back into the river.

My head and heart both sank.

Hana couldn’t contain her explosion of laughter, and Red went as far as slapping his knee. I turned to the two traitors who had threatened the little guy. Both of my Pokemon were unashamed and unapologetic, noses held high.

“Yeah…” I couldn’t keep the defeat out of my voice. “Blue, cute, no arms. You guys have that covered between the two of you. Come on, guys, the Pokemon Center’s this way.”

I choked back a laugh as I turned away, noises of indignation coming from both of my Pokemon. It was rare to see them on the same page, so as much as I was devastated at the loss of Wooper, this wasn’t the worst outcome.

As much as I’d said it to punctuate a joke, we were close to Route 10’s Pokemon Center. We’d made good time today, and the cliffs that contained Rock Tunnel were getting clearer in the distance. It took only another 10 minutes of travel before a small, two-story building with a red roof came into view. The building was quaint compared to most other Pokemon Centers that I’d stayed at, and far smaller than the one outside Mt. Moon. We returned our Pokemon to their balls, besides Wisp and Pikachu, and stepped inside.

The lobby was dark, both from the high cliffs outside the Center blocking out most of the sun, and the fact that the lights were flipped off. The room was cool from air conditioning and the computer at the front desk hummed with power, but there was no one to greet us.

“Uh…” I hesitated.

Red shrugged. “She’s probably over here,” he signed. He walked through an exit door that led further into the building. We passed a small lounge area, a training room, and a set of bathrooms (all empty and dark) before arriving at the dining hall. The lights were on in the kitchen, and music quietly drifted from beyond the doorway.

Hana stepped forward. “Hello?”

The music paused. A familiar face peeked out from the doorway behind dining counter, pleasant surprise written across graceful features and her bright pink hair done up in a loose bun.

“Well, hello! I wasn’t expecting company anytime soon!” Nurse Joy smiled as she stepped into the hall, revealing a set of pink and white pajamas with Chanseys printed across them. There was a smear of blue across her jaw, and she had one of those bags used for cake frosting in her hand.

This Nurse Joy was older than most of the others that I’d met, with slight grey streaks visible among her pink hair and smile lines at the corners of her eyes. She glanced between us, brightening when they landed on Red. “Ah, you’re back! Wonderful! The Professor had asked me to contact him if you came back through here.”

She turned to me and Hana, and then she paused. Mild embarrassment flushed her cheeks as she remembered her appearance. “Ah, I apologize for, well…” she gestured to the frosting bag in her hand and then to the dark Center. “This is still considered the off-season for this area. I wasn’t expecting any trainers until Triumph Day, let alone three rookies.”

“That’s totally understandable,” I chuckled. I stepped forward and offered my hand. “I’m Derek, uh, Tracy, and this is…” I gestured to Hana.

“Hana Kanael,” she said quickly, shaking Nurse Joy’s hand after me. “We’re sorry for interrupting you and your… baking?”

Nurse Joy nodded happily. “It passes the time,” she admitted. She glanced at Red, who had taken on a pink sheen after Nurse Joy’s comment about the Professor. “I see! So Oak sent you to come out here and find him?”

I bobbed my head to the side a bit. “Not really. It was more that we were already headed this direction and he asked if we could keep an eye out on the way.”

“Oh, really? You both must be pretty determined if you’re in my neck of the woods this early in the season.” Nurse Joy gestured for us to follow her, stepping into the kitchen. “I normally don’t see anyone until Triumph Day, since you rookies tend to avoid Rock Tunnel.”

“That’s the plan. We’re on our way to Lavender Town and heard the tunnel would be a good place to train.”

Hana nodded as we followed. “We’re hoping we’re equipped after our experience in Mt. Moon, but would you have any advice for- whoa…”

Our eyes bulged as we turned the corner into the industrial kitchen that Nurse Joy had been working in. Instead of the standard cake that I’d imagined, there was a nearly four-foot-tall recreation of Gyarados in buttercream and white cake. She was on her second shade of blue, filling in Gyarados’ pointed skull crest. It was as photo-real as you could get, and that was both impressive and horrifying.

Before I could absorb anything else about the cake, I found myself clicking a Pokeball shut. Without thinking about tit, I'd pointed Wisp's ball at my shadow and returned her. She couldn't be trusted near anything that sweet or time-intensive.

I glanced around. No one had noticed my quick action.

“I have a lot of spare time,” Nurse Joy was saying. “Anyway, you had a question?”

Hana sputtered. “Uh, yes, um, we were wondering if you had any advice for traveling through Rock Tunnel?”

“Sure,” she chuckled, eyes concentrated on her work. “Stay on the main trail and try not to wander. Rock Tunnel’s not nearly as treacherous as Mt. Moon, but more than a few trainers have gotten lost after leaving the main path. Most of them made it back.”

There was a pause, Nurse Joy looking at each of us. Her smile lines crinkled as she gave a curious grin. “That normally scares off brand new trainers, or at least makes them flinch,” she chuckled. “You must not be like most rookies, then.”

Hana and I gave each other a look. After Mt. Moon, there wasn’t a lot that a cave could throw at us that we couldn’t face. We didn’t even bother glancing Red’s way. He was the right kind of crazy for dangerous locales.

“No, ma’am,” we said in unison.

“That’s good,” Nurse Joy smiled. “Rock Tunnel’s more dangerous during this time of year because so many rookies tend to avoid it. The Rangers do bi-weekly patrols, but it’s unlikely that anyone else will be able to bail you out if something goes wrong. If you’ve read up and brought the proper supplies, you should be fine, but there’s always the ‘x-factor’. As for any specifics, well, I assume you’ve told them about the ghost?”

Red nodded, his eyes taking on a determined edge.

“Good,” she repeated. She didn’t speak for a moment as she concentrated on finishing her cake sculpture. With a final flourish, she put the finishing details on Gyarados. Nurse Joy beamed at it, wiped some imaginary sweat from her brow, and turned to leave. “Follow me!”

I glanced at Hana. She looked just as cautiously amused as I felt. This Nurse Joy was different, but in a fun way.

We followed Nurse Joy back to the front desk, where she rifled through her desk drawers and unfurled a paper tri-fold pamphlet. Inside was a basic map of Rock Tunnel’s main path. She pulled out a red pen, using it to point and mark as she spoke. “Haunter has been active just within the north entrance on the first floor, here. It’s not far into the tunnel, so if you can’t fight your way past it or end up getting injured in that fight, it’s not the end of the world. You can always come back. Once you get past it, you can follow this ladder down to the second floor. Follow the trail from there, you shouldn’t run into anything too difficult until you get here. Ranger Florence reported that there was an Onix colony here that’s moved up from a hibernation cycle, so you’d do best to avoid it. If you take this side path, you should be able to move past them fine...”

We took in Nurse Joy’s advice for the next several minutes, listening as she gave a step-by-step layout of Rock Tunnel. Even Red, whom I’d assumed would have heard this when he attempted Rock Tunnel last time, was locked in. Hana went so far as to take out her phone and jot down notes. Nurse Joy spoke with a familiarity with Rock Tunnel that I don’t think a lot of people could’ve managed. She would pause every few sentences to let us process her words and confirm that we’d understood her meaning.

“-and if you make it here, there’s a colony of Machop and Machoke that are fairly friendly. If you ask them nicely, they’ll more than likely allow you to train with them. If that doesn’t sound like it’s your speed, you can bypass them here, and you should see the southern exit around this bend.” Nurse Joy capped her pen, slightly out of breath from how long she’d been talking. “And that’s Rock Tunnel. Depending on how quickly you move and how much you battle, it can be done in three to five days.”

“Wow,” I breathed. “Thank you.”

“Seriously,” Hana nodded gratefully, “this is way more information than what I’d been able to gather online.”

“It’s no problem, kids,” she laughed. “Honestly, not very many trainers ask for help before they go through, so it felt nice to be asked. You should be approaching a Joy if you ever don’t know the answer to something, we’re pretty wise.”

“Definitely,” we agreed. If we’d had this level of information before Mt. Moon, we probably wouldn’t have… no, my luck probably still would’ve had us getting into some sort of accident. We would’ve been more prepared, though.

“Now that that’s taken care of,” Nurse Joy sat down in her chair, “rooms.”

There was a collective sigh of agreement from Hana and me. Red didn’t look too bothered from the trail, but we were both desperately wanting a bed and a real shower. The river earlier hadn’t cut it in terms of cleanliness.

“You’re the only trainers here, so you have your run of the rooms, but make sure to let me know which ones you use. Besides the one that Red used, they’re all still in long-term vacancy mode, so you’re going to have to remove the plastic sheeting from them. If you swing by here after you unload your stuff and bathe, I’ll have new sets of sheets waiting for you.”

“Sounds great!” We turned to walk down the hall that Nurse Joy had indicated, but I paused and put my hand on Red’s shoulder. “Oh, is there a computer lab where we can make a few calls?”

Red’s shoulders slumped in guilt as Nurse Joy shot us both a knowing look. “Yes, though the reception can be a bit spotty. You’ll see an elevator at the end of the hall that can take you up to it.”

“Heck yeah,” I grinned. I sent a look toward Red. “Somebody has to call home.”

Red’s shoulders dropped, and he let out the loudest non-verbal sigh possible.

 

Notes:

Hello everyone! To be honest, I wasn't planning on writing an author's note to this chapter, given the year (almost to the day) that it's been since my last upload. But, after pasting the chapter into its box and almost pressing 'publish', I felt a mild explanation, especially given that I cannot guarantee the frequency of future uploads.
When I last uploaded, I was fresh off of graduating from university and hadn't yet settled into a new normal for my life, and right as I was beginning to figure out how to balance my priorities, I was hit by an almost month-long bout of Covid that kept me from getting almost anything done. By the time I'd recovered, I went from being a full-time student to being a full-time content creator and tabletop game developer. My new job is wonderful, exciting, stressful, and time-consuming. It is exactly what I want to be doing with my life. However, this meant that the two biggest resources needed for writing fanfiction (writing time and creative brain power) were both being put into my work, rather than ARNMO.
To be clear, it's always been my intention to return to this story. I have many plans for Derek and the others, plans that I do not plan on abandoning, but creative writing is a luxury right now. I have another 10k words already written after this chapter, but I will most probably be holding onto posting another chapter until I have a few more in the can.
Until then, I would encourage you to search out my work, as it's also Pokémon-focused. If you enjoy the idea of Pokemon Tabletop games, go ahead and look up UnbeatableCast on Youtube. That's where my creative energy goes right now.
Thank you so much for all the well-wishes that you've sent over the last year, I love and appreciate every kind word that's been given. I'm excited to, at least in some small way, be continuing this story. I look forward to the next chapter, thank you for your time.
Next Chapter: TBD