《These Silver Eyes (Pokemon SI)》


 Silver

    I have no idea what the hell is going on right now.


    To be completely honest, I''m not sure ofanythingat the moment.


    After all, I had just been lying down in bed, getting ready to enjoy my sleep after making a fantastic late night egg sandwich¡­ when I had an out of body experience.


    Literally.


    One second, I was getting ready to sleep. The next, I felt my whole world turning upside down in a vertigo inducing display.


    I was so stunned by the sudden shift, that I couldn''t even struggle properly?


    The weirdest thing about this entire event, was the speed at which it happened! If I was being kidnapped, clearly they had given up on pretending to be normal.


    By the time I even opened my mouth to scream in a panic, the entire thing was already over...


    That didn''t stop me from screaming though. I let out a bellow of shock that stretched out for a few seconds, before dwindling into a confused noise instead.


    "Huh?"


    ¡­


    Wait a second.


    Who the hell just screamed? I didn''t scream alot, but the few times I was tortured into watching horror movies... that wasn''t the noise I made.


    That''s when the paranoia began seeping into my bones and taking root there.


    My voice hadn''t been this high pitched since before puberty. It wasn''t the deepest around, but it was still respectably deep and this voice was not deepat all.


    That was the first sign that something was very wrong. The second, was the fact that my body felt completely different.


    I was light, with the exception of a strange weight near my waist that I ignored for the time being.


    I wasn''t talking about my weight here (I was pretty healthy thank you!)... my body just felt light... like gravity decided to lessen its force onto me.


    Don''t ask me how I knew that I was too light, I justdid.My body never felt this light, period. Not even when I was a kid!


    What was... I felt a wave of dizziness hit me as I began to steadily realize thateverythingabout my body felt wrong.


    It felt like everything had been moved just slightly enough for me to realize things were amiss.


    If someone moved everything in your house by one inch, you would probably notice that something wasn''t right with your home but you wouldn''t be able to pinpoint just what it was.


    If a person moved it by one inch every single day, you''d probably be driven to insanity without knowing the reason why. It was a nagging feeling in the back of your mind, letting you know something waswrong.


    Well, it currently felt like that was happening to me... except it was mybodyin place of the furniture.


    Nothing felt right. It felt like all my organs had been slightly misplaced. It wasn''t enough for me to think I was dying, but it was enough for me to notice that it wasn''t right and it was driving meinsane.


    And now I was noticing that everything was wrong. Just the way the freezing air brushed against some of my exposed skin (why was I so heavily layered in clothing?!) was wrong.


    What was happening?!


    I couldn''t... hell even my thoughts felt different! They felt... faster? More focused?


    This was... I don''t know what this was. I would never be able to properly explain what I was going through right now but it was making me freak out.


    It felt like I was about to throw up from sheer disorientation. Was this what body dysmorphia felt like?


    I was stuck in this limbo of panic and confusion, as my body defied everything I thought I knew about it before.


    The sensation of everything about your body being wrong, was so jarring that I had curled into myself, unsteady breaths leaving me-


    Before everything suddenly clicked into place.


    At once, it felt as if my body realized that it was my body... and stopped giving me grief.


    I shakily stood up, looking ahead with a confused gaze that was far clearer than my vision used to be.


    Had I been drugged? Did it wear off...? What type of drug was that?


    Did it really wear off?


    It couldn''t have. I had to have still been drugged because right now, Iwasn''t in my room.


    My house was a humble little thing, great for one person and easily able to accommodate a second or third if I wanted company.


    I wasn''t one for decoration. I''m fairly pragmatic and don''t really need a lot of things to be satisfied.


    That didn''t mean I lived in a completely barren home, but it wasn''t full of many luxury items that I bought just to buy or because it looked pretty.


    No, I had all the essentials necessary to survive and gifts that I had gotten over the years from the more extravagant of friends and family who thought my house was too boring.


    Despite how annoying they were, the gifts were nice and I appreciated them. So even with my pretty bad memory, I wouldn''t just forget the gifts they gave me.


    But I couldn''t recognize asingleobject in the room I was currently in. Hell, I was hard pressed to even call this a home.


    Panic began seeping into my body once more, as I confusedly glanced around the room I was in.


    "Where the hell am I?"I thought wildly.


    Who was arrogant enough to kidnap a 6 ft, 180 pound guy andnottie them up?


    Was it because they knew I was stuck in here? Could I not make it out of this place?


    Was I trapped?


    But that didn''t make any sense¡­ whoever "kidnapped" me, had to have been some type of professional super assassin or God themself.


    I didn''t really believe the second one but seriously, I wasn''t making much headway here.


    For one, I had been movedwaytoo fast. Seriously, I didn''t even get to fall into a deep asleep before this clusterfuck of events began happening to me!


    No one had touched me but considering the state I had been in earlier, I was probably drugged by my kidnappers and could no longer reliably process how much time had passed.


    That would explain why my body was so light and I wasn''t deemed worthy enough to tie up¡­ but the drugs didn''t hamper me nearly as much as they probably thought because after that rather traumatic moment, I could move just fine enough to kick every single one of their asses before they gunned me down for good.


    Where did they move me?


    Some type of lab? That''s what it looked like to me¡­ There were a bunch of weird devices and objects that were too advanced for me to identify and I scratched my head, brows furrowing at the feeling of fabric meeting hair.


    Before I could dwell on the strange thought of my hands, horror suddenly filled my body.


    "Why the hell am I in a lab?!"I thought in disbelief.


    Were they¡­ planning on experimenting on my body?! Wait... had they already done so? Was that why I was so disoriented?!


    What the hell did I do to deserve this?! Did I accidentally piss off the wrong person¡­? Was it really so severe that they''d kidnap and attempt to traumatize me with that out of body experience?!


    By now, I had sufficiently began freaking out and was currently looking in every single direction to find a way out of here.


    There was no way I did something deserving of being experimented on.


    I was a normal guy, living a normal life, who stayed out of all sort of troubles because it was too much to deal with¡­


    Drama was only funny when you weren''t apart of it, so I stayed out of it.


    What could I have possibly done to deserve this?! This had to have been some sort of mistake. They had the wrong guy!


    Even if they assumed that no one would notice I''m missing, that was wrong. I had a good relationship with my family and my friends were the type to barge in unannounced whenever they felt like it to make sure I had my human interactions for the day.


    They would notice I''m gone before the next day ended.


    Why not just grab a homeless guy off the street? No offense, but I don''t think anyone would notice they were missing.


    Whyme?


    It was while frantically glancing around for an escape, did I see something that made my blood run cold.


    I was currently looking at some metallic lab equipment that worked very well as a makeshift mirror¡­ and in that mirror wasnotsomeone I was immediately familiar with.


    After all, I didn''t look anything like thisat all.


    Looking back at me, was a red haired, pale skinned boy with a vivid shade of silver eyes that didnotlook natural whatsoever.


    "What the fuck?" I said intelligently, blinking in confusion at seeing the reflection say that in a voice that I really didn''t recognize.


    Who the hell was this looking at me? WHO WAS THIS?!


    I had a shaggy head of brown hair that barely reached my chin¡­ not a head of red hair that went a bit past my back! Not to mention, my eyes were a very natural shade of blue! They weren''t this peculiar color of silver!


    Did people even have eyes this color?!


    Not naturally¡­ there were gray eyes but this shade of silver? No way¡­ You''d have to have contacts to get this color. Same as the hair¡­ Red this shade wasn''t natural in the slightest¡­


    Had I actually been experimented on? What the hell¡­? Where was my body? Who was this? WhowasI? WHAT DID THEY DO TO ME?!


    "Hello? Is anyone there? I heard a scream!"


    I stilled at the sound of a door opening up, letting a beam of light shine through and felt a well of horror fill me, at the sound of my captor entering my temporary prison to continue whatever the hell they were doing to me.


    "I need to hide,"I hissed, straightening up as I heard the footsteps slowly approach me.


    Moving on instinct, my body managed to miraculously find a perfect spot to hide meandsee just who the perpetrator was.


    From this angle, I could see that it was a middle aged man with a short brown hair, a white lab coat and a pair of glasses.


    Typical scientist look...


    Oh God. This was the asshole that experimented on me.


    Instead of fear, I felt my blood boiling at the sight of person who caused all my problems, begin the process of searching for me to continue their sick and twisted experimentation.


    "I could have sworn I heard someone scream¡­" He muttered to himself glancing around and missing piercing silver eyes glaring at him in hot rage.


    "This bastard is the one who kidnapped me!"I snarled to myself, skin prickling as I ignored his musings.


    He even had the typical scumbag scientist look! It was pissing me off just looking at him!


    How the hell did he manage to transport me so easily? Did he have any friends?


    He had to¡­ this scrawny guy wouldn''t be able to move me so easily¡­


    No doubt, if he didn''t find me, he''d go get his friends.


    I gnawed on my lip.


    On one hand, I wanted answers. I had no clue where I was and I had no clue what happened to my body... If it even still existed.


    Who was that staring at me in the reflection?


    ...That couldn''t be me, right? Why did I look like some kid? How was that evenpossible?!


    How did I get my original body back...? Could I evenget it back?


    Was I stuck like this forever?


    "I guess no one''s here¡­" the man muttered to himself, looking puzzled as he prepared to walk away.


    "No!"I thought in horror.


    If he left, he''d probably come back with backup and my chances of getting out of here would go completely down the drain.


    That couldn''t happen. I wasn''t going to die here!


    A surge of adrenaline coursed through my body, as I burst out of my hiding spot and charged the man before he could leave my line of sight.


    Mustering up the necessary strength, I didn''t even give the guy time to turn around and delivered a heavy blow to the side of his head with this weird body.


    My jaw slackened, as the man''s body soared and crashed into a heavy bookcase, sending everything crashing with a thunderous noise that would almost certainly alert this dudes buddies to what was happening in here.


    "What did I just do¡­?" I gaped in confusion, glancing at my gloved fist (that''s why it felt so weird to scratch my hair).


    Now, I wasn''t weak by any means (in my original body at least)¡­ but I was not strong enough to hit someone with that amount of force and send themflyingas a result.


    I had put enough power in that hit to knock him unconscious so I could get a feel for the area around me before taking what I could and escaping from this damned place.


    Judging by the blood leaking on the floor, I did a little more then that.


    "Shit! Shit! Shit! Did I kill him?!" I cursed, looking at the pool of blood forming with panicked eyes.


    The man''s body was hidden underneath the wreckage and the amount of time it would take to move everything out of the way, was not worth it to check if I killed this guy.


    But I just¡­ Did I justkillhim?!


    I never killed someone before and even though this guy kidnapped me, I at least wanted to get some answers out of him before calling the authorities to deal with this.


    I didn''t intend to kill him with these freakishly strong fists!


    "What the hell¡­ Oh man what the hell?! What do I do?" I muttered, backing away from the body with wide eyes.


    I¡­ could plead self defense, right? This guykidnappedme. There was no way I was going to jail for attacking my kidnappers¡­ but would I go for committing murder?


    Well, maybe he wasn''t dea-


    My momentary lapse of freaking out, paused as something around my waist began shaking rapidly and I glanced down at my violet pants, under my navy coat, to see what the hell that was.


    My jaw dropped in pure disbelief, at seeing a red and white sphere be the source of all that shaking.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Was that what I thought it was?


    ¡­


    Nah. No way. There''s no way.


    Nope.


    I refused to believe it.


    There was no way I had an honest to god Pokeball on my waist that was currently shaking with enough force to make me instinctively grab at it.


    Without really thinking about it, my body pressed the button and watched as a red beam shot out of it, forming into a small shape that filled me with more dread that I hadn''t felt since I broke my leg chasing my older brother in the forest for stealing my Gameboy.


    As I stared at the small creature, the pit in my stomach finally managed to pierce through my body and I could only helplessly say -


    "What the actual fuck?"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    So I was in the Pokemon world¡­ Such a revelation didn''t really confuse me more than I already was. In fact, it actually cleared up a lot of the questions I had!


    1. I really did get kidnapped by a God. That had been mostly a joke but only some higher being could pull off such a dick move without a hint of remorse.


    2. I finally recognized who''s body this was after a second look. It was the main rival of the Johto games, Silver. The red hair, silver eyes, violet pants and navy coat, all belonged to the rival with a bad temper who only cared about getting stronger, until he got his ass kicked enough by the player or something.


    3. That man under the bookcase who I just knocked out and potentially killed? Yeah, I had a sinking feeling that was the professor of the region. What was his name again¡­ Elk?


    I had just attacked Professor Elk inhislab after thinking he was my captor and that same professor was currently a bleeding mess.


    On the floor.


    Inhislab.


    "Fuck me," I moaned in horror, holding my face with both hands.


    Turns out,Iwas the criminal and I was definitely going to end up in prison once they found out who did this.


    "Zor?"


    I glanced down at that noise and gazed at the source with a blank expression.


    A slate gray fox with red and black accents looked up at me with a tilted head. Those large, forward facing green eyes looked at me with a curious expression and I nearly yelled in frustration.


    It was honestly adorable as hell, but I couldn''t really bask it all in considering my current situation.


    If my memory served correct (My knowledge for Pokemon went up to Gen 6 with some Gen 7 knowledge), this was a Zorua, the illusion fox from the Unova region.


    What the hell was Silver doing with a pokemon from Unova? Weren''t these things super rare too? I was almost certainly in the Johto region so how did I have one?


    Was I the version of Silver from Pokemon Adventures¡­? But no, his first pokemon was a Sneasel... I think?


    Why didn''t I have a Sneasel?


    GAH! Now was not the time to be thinking about this! I needed to get the hell outta here and do some deep pondering later!


    I chanced a glance at Professor Elk (was that seriously his name? Weren''t they based on trees?) and regretfully decided that it was in my best interest to not be here when someone discovered the body of the man I might have killed.


    It must have been Silver''s half (I wasn''t a great person myself but hey I was no murderer)¡­ but I really didn''t feel all that bad for what I just did to the poor guy.


    It was probably because I had been intending on robbing this dude anyways-


    Wait a minute.


    I was just put in Silver''s body, in the middle of Professor Elk''s lab. Doesn''t that mean this is the moment Silver steals himself a starter from the man?


    ...


    Who''s the funny guy that put me in a thief''s body in the middle of a heist? Couldn''t you at least do itafterhe finished the job?


    I sighed, prompting Zorua to glance up at me a little fearfully.


    It seems I was completely done freaking out so that meant I could think a little logically now.


    I don''t really know how I feel about being in the Pokemon world. If this wasn''t some wild dream, then I was in a world that a lot of people dreamed and fantasized about being in.


    Except I wasn''t one of those people.


    Living in a world where you''re the weakest creature on it but instead of normal animals, you get super powered world ending threats instead, was really not my preferred way of living.


    Oh well, seems like I didn''t have much say in the matter. It is what it is.


    But why Silver? He''s never been shown in the anime (as far as I know. I hardly watched it past Kanto), has a pretty good role in the video games and has the most character in the manga¡­


    Could be worse, they could have put me in Wally or Barry¡­


    God, if they put me in Barry''s body, I might have contemplated ending it all.


    Honestly, Silver was probably one of the best choices of a body (I was trying my best to rationalize this). He was cool, with a cool personality and besides the hair style, he wasn''t a complete dork like the other rivals.


    If I had a choice of rivals, I''d probably have picked Blue (Gary? I dunno) to abuse that sweet Oak money and then Silver... and then no one else because they were all lame.


    What version of Silver was I even? Logically speaking, I should be the one from the manga considering my first pokemon isn''t one of the starters¡­ and I have those unnatural silver hues.


    But my first pokemon isn''t a Sneasel.


    Wait¡­ was his first even a Sneasel? It''s been alot of... years since I last read that manga. All I know is that it wasn''t a Zorua because Zorua didn''t even exist at the time.


    Ugh, too many questions. I just remembered that the manga Pokeballs were see through as well and these didn''t look it at all.


    So no clue what world I''m in. Another question that I needed answers to and right now was not the time to dwell on it.


    My main goal was to survive. To survive in the pokemon world meant one thing.


    Become strong. To become strong, I needed to give myself any advantage possible.


    Considering I had already committed such a serious crime, I might as well commit another one and complete Silver''s original mission.


    "Sorry Elk but it is what it is. I''ll be taking some stuff to help myself out."


    "C''mon Zorua," I said gruffly, heading to the back of the giant lab to begin pillaging.


    "Rua!" The fox yipped, trotting after him and completely ignoring the body under the casing.


    I had to admit, it was kinda cool to have an actual pokemon obeying and following me. I mean, who didn''t dream of this at least once?


    I never really cared for the Zorua line. Unova had a stacked array of dark types and I much preferred Hydreigon, Krookodile or Bisharp.


    Not to mention, the foxes were insanely rare too. I don''t think I ever actually used one.


    Hell, Weavile was my favorite Ice type so I find it pretty funny that I didn''t get the Dark/Ice type.


    But, that didn''t mean I hated Zoroark¡­ I just didn''t really think about them at all.


    In fact, weren''t these things really good at illusions? Was that why a thief like Silver had it? These things had incredible criminal potential.


    How did Silver manage to secure one¡­? I don''t think luck has a part to play here¡­ You didn''t just luck your way into getting a Unova pokemon while in Johto.


    Yet another question that wasn''t going to be answered yet. I nearly sighed again at the terribly confusing situation and just decided to focus on the mission at hand.


    Securing things to survive.


    It seems Silver choosing the lab, wasn''t a bad idea at all. Unlike the video games, Elk''s lab was massive and full of tons of provisions!


    Not to mention Silver actually owned a bag too! After checking inside of it, I confirmed that he seemed to have the same type of bag we got in the game and balked at the contents inside of it.


    What the hell? Silver was loaded! Why the hell was he even here? Did he want one of the starters that badly?


    "Maybe his favorite pokemon is Totodile,"I mused.


    Whatever the case, I had no clue if Silver stole all these things but if he did, he was even better at his craft than I thought.


    This bag didn''t look cheap at all either so the fact he managed to get it¡­


    Then again, you''d think a lab was heavily guarded and I was just inside of here, getting ready to steal one of the heavily prized starters that some poor kid was supposed to get in the near future.


    Speaking of which, almost like they were being presented, 3 Pokeballs, shined to perfection, were resting inside of an advanced incubator-like machine. Nothing on the ball indicated which was what starter and I gazed at the Balls with a hint of awe.


    I didn''t fancy the Johto starters. I wish I had woken up in Hoenn or Kanto or Sinnoh or SOMETHING because I at least had a starter from the other regions that I preferred.


    But Johto? I didn''t really care for any of them. They were cool with incredible designs, but compared to the other starters I just found them lackluster¡­


    Just like the region. I did not like Johto. Loved Soul Silver and Heart Gold despite that.


    I''d never say no to one of the starters . It was still a pokemon and I was admittedly excited to have a starter mon.


    But before I picked out one or two or three¡­ I needed something else that was just as important.


    I began rummaging through drawer after drawer, idly stuffing my bag with anything that I recognized (A lot of potions, empty Pokeballs, I even got some revives, a few great balls and anultra ball!) before I finally found what I was looking for.


    With a triumphant grunt, I pulled out the object of my desires and felt a small grin form on my face.


    "Gotcha!"


    Sleek, advanced and rectangular in design, the Pokedex shone in a way that showed it was brand new and I pocketed the encyclopedia without an ounce of hesitation in my body.


    This was the most valuable thing I could have picked up from this lab. If I did happen to be in the Manga world, the Pokedex was so rare, those who had them were called Dex Holders.


    And if I wasn''t? Who cares! The Pokedex was still insanely valuable for anyone to have and I probably would never get one through conventional means anyways.


    I''d be a fool to go into this world blind. Even with my helpful knowledge of Pokemon, that was still years ago and I''d be stupid to rely solely on that, when I didn''t even know which version of Pokemon I was in.


    The Pokedex would help me in my very confusing adventures.


    With that settled, I slowly stood back up and made my way over to the main attraction of the lab.


    The starters.


    Now, if this were the Hoenn, Sinnoh or Kanto region, I would have taken all three without an ounce of hesitation in my body.


    But this was Johto.


    Should I take all three regardless? I''m sure they would fetch a hefty price if I ever went the sell them route¡­


    But if I wasn''t going to take all three, which would I even choose?


    Cyndaquil, Chikorita or Totodile?


    Totodile seemed like the most logical choice. The crocodile was a water type and it was aggressive and strong. Not to mention, it was Silver''s signature starter and the one he was depicted with most often, so clearly the two had inherent synergy.


    They seemed a bit rebellious by nature and if this guy figured out I kidnapped him, who knows what would happen?


    Would I have to discipline it like Silver likely did? I wasn''t really into animal abuse¡­


    Alright, then what about Chikorita-


    I snorted at the thought.


    Yeah right.


    What about Cyndaquil?


    The fire type started off pretty meek by nature so getting it to listen would be easier then Totodile but once it evolved into a Typhlosion¡­


    Personally, I would have chosen Cyndaquil as well. He was my favorite of the Johto starters, though that didn''t really say much and I normally picked him when playing the games.


    That reminds me¡­ does Gold exist in this world? Most likely¡­ isn''t his main starter Cyndaquil?


    Wait, why do I give a shit? If I wanted Cyndaquil, I''ll take Cyndaquil.


    For my own sake, it would probably be best if I took only one starter though. If some trainer was seen walking around with all three missing starters, I''d be in prison faster then I could properly learn this world¡­


    Besides, why take all 3 starters when I could go and catch Pokemon I actually wanted? If this was a dream, might as well enjoy myself.


    One was still suspicious, but with what I had started planning¡­ it wouldn''t be all that bad.


    I nodded to myself and decided on my choice right there.


    I''d take Cyndaquil. I had no plans for any immediate fire types but I already had a plan for a water type that overlapped with two other goals of mine.


    It was perfect! This adapting to a new body thing was pretty easy-


    "PROFESSOR ELM?! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" A male voice screamed in the distance, distraught in their tone.


    Zorua, who had just been silently observing his trainer with a confused expression, and I both jumped high at that loud scream and I wildly whirled around.


    "WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! T-THERE''S SO MUCH BLOOD!" A teary female voice screeched in horror.


    "Fuck," I hissed in disbelief. I was really not cut out for this criminal stuff, especially with all this confusion going on right now.


    Seriously, why was I dropped in the middle of a heist?


    Those two voices sounded fairly young. I''d take a guess and say they''re Silver''s age¡­ which meant they could only be two people...


    Gold and Crystal... or whatever the hell their game names were. Ethan and Lyra?


    I needed to get outta here. Especially if they both had their own first pokemon too.


    "Zorua, it''s time to go," I hissed to my pokemon, eyes darting left and right to look for an exit.


    My eyes landed on a window and I nodded to myself.


    "We''re going through the windows," I barked. I grabbed the Pokeball on the left without hesitation, in my haste and rushed off to the window, blood pounding in my ears as I heard footsteps.


    "Be careful Gold, w-we have no idea who could be here. I already called an Officer Jenny, she''ll be on the way soon¡­" a fearful voice said as two sets of footsteps approached my location.


    "We need to catch whoever did this, Crys!" An angry and brash male voice declared. "Who would hurt Professor Elm like that?! When I get my hands on them, there won''t be anything for the Jenny!"


    I cursed to myself and fruitlessly tried to get the window open as quietly as possible, nearly slamming my head into a wall at how little progress I was making.


    Well this wasn''t good at all. I don''t think these windows opened.


    Zorua at this point, was looking at his trainer like he couldn''t even recognize him and glanced back at the noise of the voices getting steadily louder.


    They weren''t going to get out the window in time before being spotted at this rate¡­


    "What the fuck is this window made out of? Why is it so hard to open?!"I thought in disbelief. By now I was growing more and more desperate as the footsteps got closer to my location.


    A tugging at my legs, made me stop my fruitless attempts and I glanced down to see Zorua staring up at me.


    "What? You have a plan?" I hissed quietly and the little guy nodded.


    It waited for something and I blinked in confusion.


    What was it doing? Why didn''t it enact its plan yet-


    Ah. Right, Silver was a dick to everyone.


    "You have my permission to do your plan!" I urged the little guy as quietly as possible.


    Zorua nodded and closed his eyes.


    My eyes couldn''t help but widen in interest, as the creature grunted and black energy began pouring off of it.


    The haze of energy began increasing in frequency, before surging forward and wrapping around both Zorua and I.


    I resisted the urge to struggle at the strange move and stilled my body and mind completely.


    Despite standing in the middle of the room, when Crystal and Gold both walked in, they didn''t seem to realize I was there at all and continued to search the area.


    "Zorua put an illusion over me,"I thought calmly, realizing they couldn''t see me.


    Much like me, Gold and Crystal looked exactly like their counterparts but I noted that Crystalwasn''tthe one from Heart Gold and Soul Silver.


    No, she had blue hair and crystal blue eyes¡­ much different from the brown hair that she has in the games¡­


    Were they both also the manga versions? It had to be because Gold had a brilliant set of golden eyes, glaring piercingly into the room with a righteous anger befitting someone with main character syndrome.


    They both looked about 14 and Silver should be about the same age as them¡­ so was I 14?


    Goddamnit, I had to go through puberty again.


    A nudge brought me out of my musings and I saw that it was my slightly panting Zorua urging me to move.


    I wasn''t sure how long it could maintain the illusion and didn''t want to really find out so I hoisted the little guy up and secured him to my person, much to its surprise.


    Then, I took a deep breath and focused.


    That''s when the instincts (that I didn''t notice were helping me so much this entire time) took over.


    My body began moving on its own, quickly and without a sound as I deftly avoided the exploring Crystal and Gold.


    "Should I ambush them? No, it''s best if I just focus on escaping. I got what I''m here for so it''s time to go,"thoughts that were not my own, began pervading me.


    "Gold look!" Crystal gasped in horror, pointing at the incubator machine.


    The sudden movement, revealed the single Pokeball on her waist and considering Pokemon had a streak of releasing themselves... Yeah it was time to go.


    "One of the Pokemon are gone!"


    That caught Gold''s attention and the main male of the Johto region, looked over to see what she was talking about.


    His eyes went wide at seeing only two of the starter pokemon there and the two wasted no time rushing over to inspect the spot.


    I watched the two give me the opening I needed and wasted no time rushing out of the back of the laboratory and into the room I "woke" up in.


    There was a woman crying over Elm''s (I knew his name wasn''t Elk) body, steadying the bleeding man and I took a wild guess and assumed that was his wife.


    He didn''t look too good. I stared at the unconscious man with a frown and shook my head.


    It was a terrible misunderstanding, but I refused to take blame for it. What type of person even puts someone in a situation like this? I refuse to think anyone else would have acted differently to beingkidnappedand dropped in a lab!


    Sure it might not have been him, but I was still kidnapped by something and put in the middle of a terrible situation so whoever did this to me, was to blame.


    I shook my head. It was unfortunate but there wasn''t much I could do about it. Revealing myself after attempted murder, would be bad for me no matter what.


    I don''t know the laws of this world, but I had to imagine nearly killing someone was still frowned upon.


    My eyes caught an open window and I realized this must have been the one Silver used to break in, in the first place.


    Good thing he didn''t try with the ones in the back¡­ real killers those windows are.


    My body swiftly made its way over to the open window and I wasted no time sneaking through it.


    By now, there was a small commotion outside that had me cursing to myself and rummaging through my bag.


    I pulled out a hoodie and threw it on, making sure to hide my most prominent features and I dashed out into the forests of Route 29, making sure to avoid the eyes of everyone there.


    "Good job, Zorua. You saved my ass," I praised the little guy as I sprinted at amazing speeds.


    Silver''s body was impressive as hell. I was sprinting at full speed and it was more then I would ever have gotten in real life.


    Must have been fictional genetics at play. It was brutal knowing that a 14 year old was this much more athletic than me.


    "Zor?!" The dark type gasped in surprise at his praise, looking at his trainer with a startled expression.


    The trees outside of New Bark Town were as dense and heavy as the game made them out to be but even then there was just somuch.


    They littered the ground as far as my eyes could see and I even noted flying types nesting in the branches I could see!


    It was surreal seeing a massive Pidgeotto tending to a tiny Pidgey and I paused as the evolved bird stared me down, looking more like a Pidgeot than the middle evolution, before taking its attention off me and fussing over its child again.


    I shrugged, before continuing my pace, taking note of all the pokemon but not really paying attention to any of them.


    You couldn''t traverse this forest in a matter of minutes and just end up in a new area. No, the world was so far more vast then a video game would ever be able to encompass and I began growing tired from the running first, before seeing anything besides forest.


    I huffed as I stopped and caught my breath, deciding I had run far enough.


    "Think we made enough distance?" I asked Zorua idly, putting them down and wiping the sweat off my head.


    Zorua pondered the question before nodding slowly.


    "Dammit Silver,"I cursed the original inhabitant of this body.


    A resounding theme in Pokemon, was that treating your Mons well, was the way to go if you wanted to be a truly elite trainer.


    Clearly Silver didn''t get the memo until he got beat down enough times.


    Well, time for a good old head start in the right direction.


    I don''t know how long I had this Zorua for, but I guess now it was time to make it up to the adorable lil guy.


    "You did good in there," I praised, rubbing the little red tuft on its head. "I got a bit nervous after I hurt that guy but you kept my head on straight. Thanks Zorua."


    Clearly this guy had never been thanked, much less praised before because it looked at me like I had just given it the world.


    "Zor!" He barked, nodding vigorously with sparkling eyes.


    I wasn''t the most affectionate around but I wouldn''t complain if it helped me in the long run... the little fox was also kinda adorable.


    "Alright, let''s let this guy out," I muttered, grabbing the Pokeball I stole with a contemplative expression.


    It looked smooth to the touch and when I took my glove off to verify that detail, I was proven right.


    I marveled at the coolness of it. I couldn''t quite describe the sensation of it but¡­ it was almost like I were holding a metal but not exactly. Maybe porcelain was a more accurate description?


    A mix of glass, metal and plastic. That was best way to explain the sensation.


    "Be ready, Zorua. If it puts up a fight, I''m counting on you to deal with it," I instructed the fox.


    Zorua nodded and got ready for action.


    I was a little nervous at the upcoming prospect. Hopefully Zorua didn''t need me to order it around too much. I had no idea how I would even begin to act in a pokemon battle.


    Maybe I just take a backseat and let the instincts take over¡­ this body appeared to act on what Silver himself knew when I did that... and the kid was clearly way more talented then I currently was.


    Damn, it was a good thing Gold and Crystal didn''t find me. If they were anything like their important counterparts, I''d have to fight two genius battlers as a complete novice who was still a bit disoriented from the current circumstances of beingshovedinto a body that wasn''t mine.


    Well, it was time to meet Cyndaquil. Hopefully he didn''t cause me too much grief.


    I''d hate being mean to these little guys but I had no qualms against doing it if I had to.


    I wouldn''t really consider myself a good person after all.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "You have got to be fucking kidding me."


    Despite my neutral expression, on the inside I was a fuming and embarrassed mess.


    In my haste to get out of Elm''s lab, I forgot a key detail.


    That being, I didn''t know which starter was in which ball.


    No. In my genius, I had grabbed a random ball without really thinking about it and had taken off without a second thought.


    I should have known my luck was once again going to bite me in the ass. I literally got transported into a body in the middle of a heist. Why did I think otherwise?


    "Chikorita?" Chikorita tilted its head up at me with curious eyes.


    I stared down at it with a blank expression. Zorua was in front of me in case it proved aggressive but the grass type was content to just observe me.


    "Okay just be cool. It''s not like you liked any of the Johto starters anyways!"I thought optimistically.


    I was not optimistic but for this moment, I would be.


    Sure, Chikorita was a pokemon I''d never in a million years use¡­ but I could work with this!


    It could be worse. I could have been dropped in Unova, who had my least favorite starters period. Chikorita instead of Cyndaquil or Totodile, wasn''t nearly as bad.


    Yes, I could work with this.


    Nodding to myself a little unsuccessfully, I planted my piercing silver eyes on the Chikorita.


    "Hey Chikorita. I''m your new trainer. I took you from the lab so you listen to me now," I said bluntly as an introduction.


    Chikorita tilted its head at that before nodding enthusiastically with a "Rita!" of excitement.


    My blank expression melted away in favor of confusion.


    "Huh?" I said a little dumbly.


    Was it not gonna put up a fight?


    "You aren''t upset? Not planning on rebelling?" I asked in disbelief, scratching my hooded head in a puzzled manner.


    Even Zorua looked puzzled, stance loosening just a bit at the confusing acts of the grass type pokemon.


    Chikorita shook its head at my questions and trotted up to me with an eager gleam.


    I was properly stumped. Why was this Chikorita being so friendly with me?


    Not just that¡­ it seemed to recognize me too but Ijustreleased it out of the ball.


    Why didn''t it have a problem with the information I just revealed to it -


    "Didn''t Zorua want out of the ball when I started freaking out after hurting Elm?"I suddenly thought.


    Could¡­ pokemon tell what was going on in the outside world even while in the ball? Is that why Chikorita didn''t seem all that shocked?


    Huh¡­ didn''t that mean Totodile and Cyndaquil knew how I looked? That''s not very good at all, especially considering their trainers were my in game rivals.


    But that still doesn''t explain why Chikorita would be happy that I picked it.


    "Why aren''t you more upset?" I asked bluntly, silver eyes burning in curiosity.


    To my surprise, the cheerful Chikorita''s expression turned bitter.


    "Chiko chik rita!" It ranted in its tongue, a severe frown on its face as two little vines began waving angrily.


    Then, it looked up at me and beamed, pointing one of its vines. "Chik Chikorita!" It exclaimed happily.


    "I can''t understand you at all,"I thought with a sweatdrop, watching as it poured its heart out to someone who had no clue what it was saying.


    Zorua nodded along with Chikorita''s words, a hint of sympathy on its features, as it heard the story and he looked at his puzzled trainer.


    Clearly he could not understand.


    The dark type supposed it could help his trainer understand the grass types plight.


    My eyes roved over to Zorua, as it began weaving an illusion and I couldn''t help but marvel at how useful the ability of his was.


    A picture of a Totodile and Cyndaquil showed up next to the huffing Chikorita and I watched as two figures showed up to pick up both the water and fire type, before the final person, reluctantly picked Chikorita.


    Then, the illusion shifted over to me, in front of all three of the starters, picking up Chikorita first.


    "Ohhhh,"I thought in realization.


    "You''re tired of Chikoritas being overlooked in favor of Cyndaquil and Totodile," I guessed. "Those two tend to always get picked before you so you''re glad that I chose you over them?"


    Chikorita nodded vigorously, gazing up at me with admiring eyes as the illusion melted away.


    Now I understood. Chikorita wasn''t just one of the most unpopular starters in my original world¡­ it must have been unpopular in this world too.


    It made sense. When your competition was a fierce crocodile and a fiery badger with fire coming out of its back... it was hard to compete as a gentle grass Dinosaur.


    Typhlosion and Feraligatr looked badass and would surely net far more popularity points then Meganium.


    If the professors of each region continuously handed out the same starters, surely the pokemon themselves would notice a pattern.


    Didn''t Chikorita get picked last in the manga too? I''m pretty sure Crystal didn''t even want it or something like that.


    Huh, kind of a dick move Crystal.


    Even after being a new batch, after so much time, Chikorita must have known that it was going to be the last one selected and probably by a person that got unlucky with their pick.


    Getting chosen by a trainer who didn''t want you... Damn, I couldn''t be that cruel to the little fella.


    My accident turned into a blessing for this little guy. I''d be an even bigger dick if I just pretended like Chikorita didn''t exist.


    I kinda felt bad now for being so upset... Chikorita didn''t deserve that.


    Well, guess no one ever needed to find out the truth. This was what you called a white lie.


    I pat the grass type on the head and offered it a small smile. "They don''t wanna pick you? I say fuck em. It doesn''t matter anymore becauseIpicked you and now that I''m your trainer, I''m the only one who matters now. If you follow me, I''ll make everyone respect the Chikorita line by turning you into the greatest Meganium out there."


    "Who is this person?"Zorua thought in disbelief, gazing at his trainer with wide eyes.


    Silver was cold and calculating on the best of days. His trainer was belligerent and ruthless and wanted nothing but strong pokemon.


    He was a person of few words and never offered praise, no matter how well Zorua did.


    Everything was expendable to him, a tool for achieving whatever his goals may be.


    Not only that, Silver was incredibly skilled. He would never have needed Zorua''s help for the lab invasion but not only did he compromise the mission, he nearly got caught too.


    What happened to his trainer? Did striking that human change him?


    Well¡­ Zorua wasn''t complaining. He may have been less skilled, but he was nicer and he patted him and complimented him too.


    Chikorita gazed up at her new trainer with pure adoration and nodded furiously at his words. The grass type hugged his legs and purred happily at his touch.


    I looked at the grass type and sighed.


    Well, it wasn''t what I wanted but it actually wasn''t all bad. After getting a better grasp of my new situation, I could figure out my plans for the future and whether I had Chikorita, Totodile or Cyndaquil, didn''t change it too much.


    Besides, I kinda wanted to see Chikorita succeed just as a massive middle finger to the people who doubted her.


    People doubting her, now meant people were doubting me and I just wouldn''t have that now would I?


    "Alright, let''s get you two checked out, then we can continue walking," I ordered, offering a shoulder for each of them to jump on.


    Chikorita took the offer with no hesitation and happily jumped on his shoulder.


    Zorua was far more hesitant but tentatively followed suit after I sent it a disarming smile.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Zorua:Male


    Ability:Illusion


    Moves:Leer, Scratch, Torment, Hone Claws, Extrasensory


    Chikorita:Female


    Ability:Overgrow


    Moves:Growl, Tackle, Heal Pulse, Vine Whip


    I hummed in contemplation at the information the Pokedex was giving me.


    This wasn''t bad. Actually, this was really good. I wasn''t expecting them to have some of these moves.


    I could work with this. Zorua and Chikorita were both promising and once I figured everything out, I could get started on them¡­


    That''s if I even decided to become a battler.


    After fiddling with this thing for way too long and getting it properly setup, I finished scanning both Zorua and Chikorita and received a general rundown on my new pokemon.


    The Pokedex was even more useful then I thought. It gave me the weight, height, diet and more of what I scanned!


    The only problem¡­ was that I wasn''t too sure if this thing was tracking my location. After doing a quick check of the thing, I didn''t see anything too obvious and considering the lab had been dreadfully easy to break into¡­ I was going to assume the people in this world were all stupid and didn''t think to add a tracker onto it.


    I did see quite a few Pokedex in the cabinet where I got mine, so they didn''t seem extremely rare. Them being so common, might work in my favor because that meant more trainers should have one.


    No use dwelling on it. I wasn''t throwing this thing away for the life of me.


    Night had settled into the forest of Route 29 by now and after eating something quick, while feeding Zorua and Chikorita, I decided to call it a night.


    Thankfully, Silver had sleep gear in this extremely convenient bag.


    Making sure I was in a secured and hidden area, I setup my expensive tent (seriously, why was this guy so loaded?!) and beckoned both Zorua and Chikorita inside.


    Chikorita took the invitation once more without any hesitation and easily snuggled into me with a happy sigh, while Zorua slowly trotted over with an unsure expression, yelping as I rolled my eyes and brought him closer.


    As the three of us settled down, I finally decided to get my thoughts on the entire events of today, situated.


    I took a deep breath and recalled everything that had happened to me.


    While sleeping, I had been dragged, through unknown means, from the comfort of my home and was deposited in the body of a person who shouldn''t exist, in one of the worst situations I could be put in.


    In my mass confusion, I had wrongfully judged one of the most important figures in the Johto region as my captor and assaulted him with no hesitation, doing far more damage to him then he probably would have sustained if I were actually Silver.


    I had no clue which version of the Pokemon world I was in and I didn''t really know how I was going to find out either. There was so many different depictions of the game, anime, manga, that I could be in one that I hadn''t evenheardof yet.


    It''s not like I was an avid Pokemon fan either. I used to be really into it when I was younger but the last game I had really put a lot of effort into, was Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire because that was the last time I had fun playing the games.


    Ultra Sun and Moon was played for a little but I didn''t put much effort into it (I don''t think I even beat the Elite 4) and I don''t even know the name of the games afterwards¡­


    Don''t even get me started on the anime. I spent even less time watching that, though I did used to watch it as a kid.


    The manga was probably what I was a bit more comfortable with, but it had also been years since I picked up Pokemon Adventures. I could only recall key details and maybe plot points?


    I sighed.


    This was ridiculous. I didn''t even know how to process all of this but at the very least, I was done freaking out it looked like. I had plenty reason to panic and curse.


    Especially considering I was a criminal, but right now, my mind was in a thoughtful lull. Maybe I wasn''t freaking out because I used up all my freaking out with that earlier experience of me not feeling comfortable in my body.


    Speaking of which, what was that? I felt completely fine now but earlier, I really thought I was going insane with how out of sorts my body felt.


    I noticed the differences in this body but now... it wasn''t negatively affecting me whatsoever.


    But it was still so strange. Even the fundamental way I thought, felt different.


    Maybe that''s why I wasn''t freaking out anymore.


    Well, it wasn''t the end of the world. At least I hadn''t gotten caught yet and I intended to keep it that way.


    No one wanted to get arrested. Losing my freedom was the worst case scenario. Even if I was in the wrong, I refused to accept that it was truly my fault and if that meant avoiding justice, so be it.


    It was time to adjust and plan.


    I wasn''t going to waste time trying to find a way out of this world. If a God put me in it, chances are I wasn''t getting out unless that God wanted me out.


    Thankfully in this timeline, Gold hadn''t caught sight of me yet but that didn''t change the fact that anyone with a brain would be able to make some connections to my Chikorita¡­


    Well, anyone in the Johto region at least.


    It wasn''t obvious, but Silver was way too arrogant.


    This guy robbed a regional professor with hisnormal clothesand waltzed around the Johto region while under fire from the cops and a rival who would grow to become the strongest trainer in the region... that never turned him in.


    Maybe Silver''s arrogance, was circumvented by the fact that everyone else were idiots.


    I didn''t feel like going through all of that trouble of avoiding detection while in the Johto region. I wasn''t some prodigy like Silver and I didn''t want to rely on this bodies muscle memory for everything, no matter how useful it may be.


    Thankfully, I had no qualms never stepping foot in the Johto region again.


    No¡­ I had a plan.


    Despite not having his skill, I had to admit... the thrill of committing that heist was kind of intoxicating. The adrenaline rushing through my body, at the idea that I could get caught¡­ I didn''t hate that feeling.


    This lifestyle was certainly more exciting¡­ but I wouldn''t push it. When I became confident in my skills, I''d consider coming back to this region but for now¡­ I needed to leave.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    I already knew where I was going too.


    A greedy gleam appeared in my eyes.


    Since I was in this world now, I might as well make the most of it and what was the best way of doing that?


    Hunting down and catching my favorite Pokemon of course.


    There was no point freaking out about this abnormal situation. That wasn''t my style. I preferred keeping a cool head and going with the flow.


    "It is what it is," as I would so often say.


    So I''d take advantage of the fact that I was put in such a talented person''s body and capture a team thatIwanted.


    I don''t know what Silver''s original team is, but it''s predominantly Johto pokemon and I didn''t want a Johto team.


    No, the only Johto pokemon I''d prefer to have on my team is a Tyranitar and I had no interest in hunting one down in Mt. Silver because I''d die and I hated the cold.


    So what did I plan on doing?


    Travel to the Hoenn Region.


    I would need to head to Olivine City (I''m pretty sure that was the region with the ships) while honing not only my espionage skills, but Zorua''s and Chikorita''s power too.


    They''d be my only pokemon for a while so I needed them to be formidable enough to help me accomplish my goals.


    I didn''t plan on staying in the Hoenn Region though¡­ No, as much as I wanted to explore the region, it wouldn''t help me out right now. I needed a region that would help me gather solid information about what world I was in.


    Hoenn was just the region I planned on mostly filling out my team with. Afterwards, I''d head to Kanto and travel through the region like normal.


    What? I wanted to go through them in order and get a feel for the world I now resided in. The first region of the Pokemon world was basic enough and didn''t have the shenanigans that the Hoenn region would have.


    Kanto was the region I knew like the back of my hand and though Hoenn was the same, I''d be able to spot more changes with the very first region of Pokemon.


    If anything, I could use my time in Hoenn to see if anything particular is happening. I hoped their story hadn''t started yet (if it even planned on happening in this world). That would be very inconvenient for me, a new trainer.


    Once I landed in Hoenn¡­ I could enact my plans and start catching my future team hopefully... all while letting the heat for Chikorita die down.


    Right after I trained up myself and not just my Pokemon.


    After the events of New Bark¡­ I was admittedly very embarrassed by my abysmal performance and vowed to become even better then Silver at his own craft because if there was one thing I hated, it was being embarrassed.


    Was I cheating by using his body? Who cared about little details like that. He should be thankful that I was planning on making this body better than anything he could achieve.


    My goal for this world, was to build a strong enough team to become Champion level, so that on the chance my criminal actions caught up to me, I''d be able to properly defend myself.


    With the team I was planning on having¡­ it was plausible.


    Should I go for gym badges? Hm¡­


    Sure, why not. By the time I started getting badges, I should have my team and at that point, it would be difficult to make connections¡­ especially in the Kanto region. I don''t know how closely related Kanto and Johto were but I was sure Hoenn at the very least, couldn''t have had that much connection.


    It would be a great way to gauge how strong I was getting as well, if I captured Gym Badges... and a childish part of me must have wanted them as well.


    Alright. I had a goal set. Now I should make sure I know what I''m doing and that meant sacrificing sleep to do some research.


    I didn''t know how I felt about being dropped in this world¡­ but I''d roll with the punches and take advantage of what I had and what I knew.


    Nothing else mattered to me but my own comfort and survival. If I had to make some enemies along the way, so be it.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    It was as I was rummaging through my bag the next day, did I see a device that had me thinking.


    It was an advanced looking device and looked a bit like a wristwatch with a logo on it.


    It was black and when I flipped it open, the time (7 am) flashed on the screen.


    "A... Pokegear?"I thought to myself, navigating the device and having my eyes light up at seeing the map feature.


    This was great! It had the full map of the Johto region and even had my location on it in the form of a red dot flashing periodically over Route 29.


    "Olivine is so far,"I thought with a frown, inspecting the distance I''d have to traverse.


    Despite looking disturbingly similar to the map in game, the estimated distance (it told me once I clicked the city!) from Newbark to Olivine wasmonths.


    Looks like I''d be staying in this region for a little while longer. I would need to travel quite the distance to make it to the lighthouse city¡­


    Lame.


    As I got ready to pocket my Pokegear so I could begin the trek, a thought occurred to me.


    "Doesn''t the Pokegear have a phone feature?"


    I could gather a lot of information with just that.


    It took me a bit to find my contacts and I stared dumbly at seeingnot a single name there.


    "Why the hell do I even have this thing?"I thought with a blank expression.


    There was literally not a single contact on the Pokegear. There had been no calls made, no calls received¡­


    Did I steal this? No, according to the Pokegear, this was mine and I had it for quite a while too.


    I also had an ID. Turns out I was 12 and was born in Viridian City of Kanto.


    Awesome. At least I was learning things about myself...


    I have no idea where Silver got so many expensive things, but I certainly wasn''t complaining.


    Did Green not exist in this timeline then? I remember that her and Silver were quite close in the manga and made calls to each other rather frequently.


    Hm¡­ wait, did the internet exist in this world?


    Turns out, it did! It was in the Pokedex and I once again praised myself for having the insight to snatch one of these things.


    I winced at seeing news of Professor Elm being attacked almost immediately, but at least I didn''t kill him. He was currently hospitalized and there was a warning to be on the lookout for a Chikorita, though it expressly stated not to report just any trainer who owned one.


    Chikorita frowned deeply once I told her that. She really was hellbent on staying with me and I appreciated that.


    Thankfully, it seems Chikorita wasn''t as rare as in the video games. In the anime, there was quite a bit of them weren''t there?


    At the very least, if I didn''t reveal my Chikorita until I left this region, I should generally be in the clear.


    I hummed a tune of a song whose name I didn''t know of, as I scoured the net. Using the internet for information, proved to be a great decision.


    It helped clear up a lot of questions I had (It didn''t make a dent to my list of questions... but it helped).


    In particular, reading that Lance''s years of dominance as the KantoandJohto Champion, were being put into question due to the rampant growth of Team Rocket, answered a lot. Team Rocket was actually running amuck in both regions, though they dominantly operated in Kanto...


    Red and Blue probably didn''t exist in this timeline. Not only was Team Rocket (wow, Silver really hated Team Rocket. My body instinctively convulsed in anger every time I read their name) still at large in the regions but Lance wasstillchampion and there was no mention of him having lost a match, besides exhibitions against other champions, since his reign started.


    Hm...


    Was this the games? Team Rocket didn''t feel like a threat in the anime but they were quite prominent in Kanto... I think?


    I don''t remember anyone besides Jesse, James and Meowth. But in this world, one of the more wanted and known members of Team Rocket, was someone by the name of Executive Proton.


    He was from the Johto games wasn''t he? Hm...


    Regardless, if Team Rocket really was running rampant, that was more reason for me to slink over to Kanto. They were painting a bigger target on their backs so they''d be under heavy scrutiny, giving me time to train up and get sufficiently strong.


    Sounded like a plan. I also did some research on Hoenn and didn''t see anything regarding Magma or Aqua, but I''d do some deeper research later to see if they currently existed, previously existed, or didn''t exist at all.


    "Alright, our goal is to head to Olivine City," I informed Zorua and Chikorita. "I don''t plan on staying in the Johto region so we''re going to take a boat to Hoenn first and then travel through the Kanto region," I explained.


    Zorua nodded without hesitation at my orders and Chikorita followed suit.


    "We''ll need to train more. I don''t plan on catching any pokemon until we land in Hoenn so I''ll be focusing on getting you two strong. We''ll need to get you guys impressive for what I plan on doing," I explained calmly, despite my excitement at the idea of training actual Pokemon.


    "Zor!" Zorua barked in affirmation.


    "Chiko!" Chikorita exclaimed.


    Now how do I even start training them? I wasn''t a pokemon trainer¡­ where should I even begin?


    "Alright, let''s run through all your moves," I decided, not seeming to sure of myself.


    If Zorua or Chikorita picked up on it, they made no move to mention it and my first pokemon stepped up.


    "Leer," I began easily enough.


    Zorua growled cutely and bared his fangs, glaring at me with venom in his gaze.


    "That''s adorable,"I thought offhandedly.


    I don''t know how such a cute move would affect other pokemon, but I didn''t comment on it, just nodding in approval.


    "Scratch on the tree," I commanded.


    The little fox took off at impressive speeds and raked glowing white claws against the tree, gouging it nicely.


    "Torment," I said as soon as he finished.


    Zorua growled and stamped its feet, shouting mockingly in his tongue as a dark energy roiled off him. I wasn''t sure if it worked but he seemed fairly confident in it so I''d write it off as good for now.


    "Hone Claws."


    Zorua''s claws began glowing orange as they extended in length. The dark type growled and rushed another tree, scratching into it with expert precision.


    My eyes widened at how deep the gouges were in comparison to his first scratch attack.


    "Alright, now for the most interesting¡­ Extrasensory," I ordered.


    The dark typed set his stance and focused. It didn''t come out very quick but I attributed it to him being a dark type using the opposite type.


    Gold energy began pouring off of Zorua, before he fired a rainbow-colored beam at the tree, blowing it off its roots and sending it crashing on the floor.


    It made a thunderous noise and I jumped at the volume.


    My mouth opened in shock at that, eyes bugged in disbelief as I gauged the state of the tree.


    You know¡­ seeing an actual pokemon move, really put it into perspective that I was in a brand new world with its own rules that differed from my old one.


    I could die to an angry Rattata if I wasn''t careful. Wasn''t that just so surreal? An abnormal sized rat, mauling me to death with its gigantic teeth.


    This was why I wasn''t stoked to be in this world. Too many threats to my life. It was a marvel humans managed to tame Pokemon to this degree.


    "Cool," I praised, rubbing the head of Zorua. "Well done."


    He barked happily and accepted my pat, before settling next to me.


    "You''re up next Chikorita," I called.


    Chikorita perked up excitedly and got into a ready position. A look of determination was set on her features and I smiled in amusement.


    "Growl," I began, running through the moves once more. This was for my sake too. I seemed to have already memorized them (nice memory Silver) but who knows what would happen in the heat of battle?


    Chikorita set her stance and narrowed her eyes, before letting out a cute growl that once again made me wonder how this would affect anyone.


    "Tackle."


    My grass type took off at a slower speed than Zorua before crashing its full body into a tree, jostling it from the impact.


    "Vine Whip."


    Two vines snaked out the buds around her neck and they extended before slapping harshly at the same tree.


    "Heal pulse."


    Chikorita opened her mouth and formed a pink ball of energy, before firing it at Zorua and I''s direction.


    I stiffened at that, but relaxed as the tension of my body left me. I let out a sigh of relief at the sensation and nodded in approval.


    Heal Pulse was pretty cool.


    "Perfect. Good job both of you," I praised with a small smile that naturally looked like a smirk on Silver''s face.


    Based on what I saw, Zorua was a fair bit stronger than Chikorita. It made sense considering I had presumably owned him for longer and just got Chikorita yesterday.


    Just how long did I have Zorua? I was still stuck on the fact that I had a Unova pokemon on my team while in the Johto region¡­


    Not only that, I was very clearly well off. Just who the hell were Silver''s parents? Did they give me Zorua? Did they give me money?


    I dunno. Since I had no contacts, I couldn''t really figure out either. Clearly Silver wanted nothing to do with whoever his mom or dad was.


    Eh, it was inevitable that I''d go to Viridian City one day. It did have a gym after all and if the games were indiciation, the strongest of the region.


    Was Giovanni still the Gym Leader or was it Blue?


    If it was Giovanni, I wonder if me revealing he was the boss of Team Rocket, would change anything. Does he ever actually pay for his crimes?


    Judging by the way my body recoiled in disgust, I wasn''t a fan of the Earth Gym Leader either.


    Guess that answered that. Giovanni was probably the leader of Team Rocket and the Gym Leader... considering I was also born in Viridian, I wonder if I had personal issues with him.


    I''d probably avoid visiting Viridian for the time being if so. Strongest Gym Leader of Kanto and all that.


    Ah well. That was months away. The official Kanto gym circuit had started just a little over 2 weeks ago (it was January 17th) along with the Johto circuit but it lasted an entire year so if I wanted to tackle it, I had more then enough time to accomplish my goals before slinking away to my birth region.


    "I''ll cook up some training for you guys soon, let''s keep traveling for now," I ordered.


    They nodded in affirmation and we continued our journey to Cherrygrove City.


    According to the Pokegear, it would take me 2 hours to make it to the City and maybe less if I upped my pace into a fast walk.


    Perfect. I wanted to make it in and out of the city as soon as possible. I didn''t need to stock up on anything and I didn''t plan on starting training until I made it far away from New Bark.


    As we traversed this dense forest, I took the chance to navigate my Pokedex more (I think it was the national variant) and see if it was really as useful as I thought it was.


    Hint: It was.


    The device was telling me all the moves the Zorua and Chikorita family could learn right now and thank God for that because I would have had no idea how to approach training without it.


    Extrasensory and Heal Pulse were also egg moves, so that explained why they had them.


    Fascinating.


    I wanted Zorua to learn a dark move but that wouldn''t be easy while it was still so young. Once it got closer to becoming a Zoroark, it should be able to learn the more difficult dark moves but for now, I had to settle for Pursuit and Feint Attack.


    My goal for Zorua and then Zoroark was easy. Abuse its abilities to use illusions, confuse and eventually overwhelm opponents with trickery, speed and power.


    Agility, Nasty Plot, Dark Pulse, Night Daze¡­ I''d like to have it master Extrasensory too as if it were a psychic type. These were all moves I would eventually work on in the future.


    As for Chikorita, I didn''t have a set goal but I liked the idea of a control tank that controlled the pace of the battle.


    She would dish out a lot of damage, and weather a bunch more, all while setting up the field in her favor. The Meganium family already had an easy time learning such moves like Synthesis, Reflect, Leech Seed and Light Screen so I wanted to take advantage of that.


    Then I''d supplement her offense with moves like Giga Drain, Solar Beam and Petal Dance.


    She''d be a drain tank. Someone who managed to keep herself in the battle by draining her opponents and healing it all back up.


    Meganium would be unkillable! My opponents would need to expend a ton of energy to take her out and that frustration would make things even easier for me.


    The idea that I could potentially have that, had me brainstorming a lot of ideas and I felt a sly grin forming on my face at how annoying I might end up becoming in the future.


    There didn''t seem to be a four move limit or levels either so that was nice. Though... that might likely mean I wasn''t in either the game or the manga, since levels were confirmed there.


    Honestly, I think I was probably in some weird amalgamation of all three. At the very least, this had to have been a mix of the games and the manga.


    I had no idea what impact the anime had, if it had any.


    That might have the potential to be the most nightmarish situation on the planet. A weird mash of all three worlds...


    I sighed tiredly.


    Man, I hope this training thing wasn''t too hard. I needed to get strong fast.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "I challenge you to a pokemon battle!"


    I let out a deep sigh of aggravation, that mostly stemmed from the fact I had only pulled a few hours of sleep last night.


    Man, what the hell? I barely even got to take in the scenery of something besides the forest, before being bombarded.


    Not even two seconds after finally stepping out of the forests of Route 29, I was instantly approached by some kid who seemed eager to battle.


    They were literal NPCs. Who even camped out over here? What an inconvenient spot to choose as your base...


    It was a bland kid with a pair of shorts, a white tee and a reverse hat on. He looked to be a few years younger than me, but I was clearly not good at identifying ages so I wouldn''t make an actual guess.


    Despite him camping my location (did multiple people come out of the forests?!) like he was a sniper, I couldn''t stop the well of excitement from coursing through my body.


    That intoxicating rush that I felt while robbing Elm, surged up at the prospect of my very first pokemon battle.


    Sure I had barely even done any training, but that would just make this all the more interesting. The best way to learn, was to actually practice so this battle would be a great learning experience.


    I had returned Zorua and Chikorita by now for obvious reasons and for even more obvious reasons, I wouldn''t be using my grass type for this battle.


    Logically speaking, battling right now wasn''t the wisest of decisions... but I wouldn''t be battling trainers for quite a bit. I would prefer to remain as anonymous as possible...


    I''d be handicapping myself in my mission by not gaining the comfort of battling trainers... so I''d accept just this battle and then continue on my path.


    "Alright. 1 on 1," I said shortly, running through plans and the battles I had seen in the anime from years ago.


    Surprisingly, it came rather easy to me and I pursed my lips at that.


    My memory was excellent now, a far cry from my forgetfulness in my old body.


    The youngster grinned at me and pulled out a shiny red Pokeball before lobbing it.


    "Sentret, let''s go!" He shouted eagerly.


    I gazed at the brown mammal with a searching gaze, not quite sure what I was looking for but shrugging all the same.


    In terms of Pokemon, it looked rather basic and actually looked like it could fit in with the animals on Earth.


    A Sentret...


    I didn''t say a word as I calmly released Zorua.


    The fox materialized, just as silent as me and perked up slightly at seeing the Sentret across from it.


    "Woah?! What''s that?!" The kid asked in awe, eyes sparkling at my first pokemon.


    I ignored him, too deep in my own thoughts to acknowledge him.


    I wasn''t sure if Silver and Zorua had battled before, but this wasmyfirst battle and losing to a youngster would be a blow to my confidence that my ego would want fixed as soon as possible.


    Aka, training until I could crush all 8 gym leaders. I still planned on doing that but if I lost... I''d do that more.


    There was a real chance, my inexperience with actual pokemon battles could make me lose this match.


    Sure, Silver was absolutely a prodigy, but I wasn''t really Silver¡­


    ...What am I thinking? I didn''t have to be Silver. Silver was content to be second fiddle to Gold or Crystal. He was content to be a loser at the end of the day.


    I didn''t want to be second fiddle to anyone. Who the hell was content to be in second place when you had the skills to go higher?


    Since I knew Silver was a prodigy, I''d exploit his talent and become something he couldn''t.


    Yeah... I''d be better than Gold and Crystal in any timeline. And if I were better than them, that meant I was better than Silver.


    Scratch that. They weren''t even on my radar. I had no intention of staying in Johto and meeting up with those two repeatedly, but if we did ever meet, I''d crush either one for my own satisfaction to prove to myself that I am better than Gold, CrystalandSilver.


    A cocky smirk made its way onto my face, as my blood began pulsing.


    Yeah that''s right. I was going to take this body to places it had never seen before.


    No losing every single battle to my rival. Just for you Silver, I''d show you how it felt to be the main star of the show. I''d show you what it felt like being chased instead of chasing people.


    I''d gather and create my own army and I''d take out anyone who thought they could beat me.


    Resolve set, I glared challengingly at the kid who was soon to become my first victim.


    "Sentret, use scratch!" The kid shouted, snapping me out of my musings.


    There wasnoway I was losing this battle.


    "Zorua, dodge then test it with scratch," I said after a short while.


    Credits to Zorua for not even hesitating to follow my orders. The little guy was a real soldier, deftly leaping to the left before lunging in like an assassin, landing sharp white claws directly on Sentret''s midsection.


    Red claw marks appeared on the normal types skin and it squealed as it flew back, collapsing on the floor.


    ¡­


    Should I push my advantage?


    ¡­


    Why wasn''t the Sentret moving?


    "Aw man you''re so strong!" The kid said, returning his unconscious Sentret with a downtrodden expression.


    ¡­


    "What?" I said dumbly, exchanging a confused glance with Zorua. "That''s it?"


    "Zor," he shrugged helplessly, making his way to my side.


    I got myself that psyched up¡­ for that? That whole speech earlier... about becoming the star and getting chased by people I''d normally be chasing... for this?


    A one-shot¡­ with my weakest attack move? No buffs or nothing¡­ just a regular scratch¡­


    And it was down for the count?


    "Are you serious?" I said incredulously, gazing at the kid in confusion.


    Was this kid taking me for a fool? Did he think he needed to go easy on me? Did I look like that much of a noob?


    "You should have used your strongest pokemon, kid. Not some freshly caught one. At least get to know it better before challenging someone," I advised, looking a little annoyed.


    What a waste. Getting myself hyped up for no reason. My excitement had been stopped cold at this disappointment of a battle and I couldn''t stop the scowl from forming on my face.


    "Huh?" The kid blinked, looking a little shocked at my words. "I-I didn''t just catch Sentret! He''s my first pokemon! I had him for 3 months now!"


    ¡­


    What.


    "You had that Sentret for 3 months?" I asked in disbelief, feeling a surging annoyance rise in me. "What the hell have you even been doing? Do you train at all? Are you just camped out in this spot for no other reason than to lose battles?"


    The kid flinched back at my harsh tone, eyes wide in confusion at my annoyance.


    "I took out your Sentret inoneattack," I stressed, brows furrowed. I could practically feel the frustration pulsing through my body.


    "How can you be so satisfied being so weak? That''s just so damn embarrassing..."


    I scoffed, snatched my prize money out of his hand (I read up on some rules last night about Pokemon battles!) and walked past the teary eyed kid.


    "Waste of a battle. Waste of my time. C''mon Zorua, let''s go," I muttered.


    Stupid. Why did I expect a youngster to be worth anything? I bet the kid still wore diapers. Calling them actual trainers would be a disgrace-


    "Hey."


    I paused and if possible, my annoyance managed togrow.


    I knew that voice. Wasting my time on this stupid youngster, put me in a terrible situation and I grit my teeth to avoid cursing everything around me.


    Unfortunately for them, this first battle experience of mine had completely soured my mood.


    "Fuck off," I said harshly, continuing my gait with Zorua by my side.


    A hand on my shoulder, stopped me in my tracks and I slowly turned to face the idiot, murder in my eyes.


    Silver eyes, as pale as the moon, clashed with gold eyes, as bright as the sun, both burning with a different type of anger.


    Righteous for one.


    Cold for the other.


    "Stop being a dick first!" Gold snarled angrily, looking dearly like he wanted to punch me.


    Seems like he and Crystal were traveling together because the girl was currently consoling the crying kid while glaring at me.


    Surprisingly, I didn''t even feel a little bad. I was justreallyannoyed because one choice by me, made things very quickly spiral out of control.


    "Get your hands off me," I warned calmly, eyes narrowed as I stared at the slightly shorter boy.


    "Not until you apologize to Jimmy for being completely out of line dude," the main character of the Johto region demanded.


    I sighed and lunged, gripping his arm and bodily flipping him over me with startling ease.


    "Anime strength is bullshit,"I thought to myself as he landed back first on the floor from my effortless throw.


    "!" Gold gasped, eyes going wide as the wind was knocked out of him.


    I sneered down at the coughing trainer, a cold satisfaction filling my body at my actions.


    "Gold!" Crystal shouted with a look of concern, rushing over to him and hoisting him up with a worried look.


    At the same time one of his Pokeballs rustled furiously, before a Cyndaquil burst out, glaring at me with a surprising amount of fury.


    Crystal''s own Pokeball shook and a Totodile released itself. It snarled at me in some recognition and it basically confirmed my thoughts that like Chikorita, the starters knew who I was.


    I gazed at them coolly, watching them growl threateningly at me but making no move to attack me yet.


    I snorted, lab raised mons sure were gentle.


    "What is your problem?!" Crystal asked me, eyes narrowed in fury as she pushed herself up and jabbed a finger to my chest.


    She was also shorter than me, blue hair rustling as those crystalline blue eyes gazed up at me with a stern disappointment.


    Yeah, no.


    I easily grabbed her hand mid poke and squeezed with some force.


    "Myproblem, is that you and your boyfriend keep touching me, after I just saiddon''ttouch me. Are you an idiot?" I stressed, squeezing tighter and tighter until she winced from the pressure.


    I was already cursing myself for somehow running into these two without my hoodie on, thinking it would be suspicious to just walk around with it in a populated area.


    Not doing that again. This hoodie was staying on regardless of what anyone else thought.


    What were the odds that they were even in the area?! Was it that damn God making sure I run into my "rivals"? What type of heartless kids go on a journey one day after hearing their professor got sent to the hospital,withthe starters!


    This was way too convenient¡­ I couldn''t believe this terrible luck.


    Well, whatever. After this meeting, I''d be moving at a pace that made sure we''d likely never see each other again.


    This would be our first and last encounter¡­ so I might as well make it one to remember.


    I was still super annoyed at that first battle so -


    "Battle me asshole," Gold demanded with a deep glare, as he snatched Crystal away from me.


    A battle between Gold and I. An actual prodigy in battling if he was similar to any version of himself that was important.


    Might as well see how I shape up to the real geniuses of the world. I planned on being better than all of them after all.


    Also, I''ll give Silver his first and only win against Gold. Least I could do for hijacking his body.


    I rolled my eyes. "Up for another, Zorua?" I asked my first pokemon.


    The fox''s eyes lit up at the fact I was consulting with him and he nodded vigorously, barking as he got into ready position.


    "Alright Cyndaquil, let''s teach him a lesson!" Gold barked, glaring at me with a cocky smirk. "Once I win, I''ll get you to apologize to Jimmy and Crystal."


    I shrugged, mind running through how I planned on winning this.


    Like it or not, this was the guy that had the potential to be a champion level trainer. It didn''t matter if he just became a trainer, you either had the spark or you didn''t...


    But Gold was underestimating Zorua''s strength.


    "Zorua, leer," I began, testing the waters.


    "Cyndaquil, leer!" Gold retorted.


    At the same time, both pokemon began growling at each other and I had no interest in having this cute little stare off continue.


    "Hone in," I said easily, eyes narrowed.


    We hadn''t trained much, but I did explain my goals for each of them.


    My main goal, was for Zorua to become a master of his ability, Illusion, to the point no one could tell if he had them up or not. We were already practicing some keywords that let him know I wanted him to throw up illusions.


    Hell we could even condition them into thinking we were using illusions and fake em out.


    It was genius!


    "Cyndaquil, Ember don''t let him get close!" Gold ordered.


    Cyndaquil opened his mouth and fired out some pellets of fire at Zorua that the fox dodged.


    The fire type continued to fire at the fox, ensuing a chase of sorts that lasted up until the fire mouse let out a victorious growl at landing a successful hit.


    That growl, turned into one of confusion as the fire flew right through my pokemon.


    "Scratch," I smirked.


    Gold''s confusion turned into horror, as Zorua burst from the shadows and clawed Cyndaquil''s back with ruthless precision.


    "CYNDAQUIL!" Gold shouted in horror, watching the mouse tumble across the ground.


    "Again. Make sure it doesn''t get up," I said ruthlessly, pushing the advantage.


    Zorua let out a disturbingly similar smirk to mine (I kinda liked it) and dashed off to finish his target.


    "Cyndaquil let out a widespread smokescreen!" Gold ordered with narrowed eyes.


    My eyes widened at the order. "Zorua back off!" I barked.


    Turns out, Zorua and I were both pretty arrogant. We thought the match was as good as over.


    The big fog of smoke said otherwise.


    Zorua tried to pull back but the momentum carried him too far and he got a lung full of smoke in response.


    "Zor!" He gagged, coughing harshly from the oily air.


    "Tackle!"


    "Cynda!" The mouse growled fiercely as it rushed and slammed its full weight into Zorua.


    "Zorua!" I couldn''t help but yell in slight concern as he was sent tumbling across the ground.


    "You''ve got Cyndaquil all fired up! Let''s finish this! Use Double Kick!" Gold barked, flashing a victorious grin as Cyndaquil began glowing with fighting energy.


    "Double kick?!"I thought in disbelief. What the hell were these starters being fed?!


    If that hit it was as good as over¡­


    Not a chance in hell.


    I paused as I noticed the prone Zorua and I felt my eyes widen.


    "Zorua, hang in there! Move and use Extrasensory!" I barked out.


    Nothing, all he did was twitch as Cyndaquil rushed him.


    As the iron mouse got closer and closer, my face got more and more concerned¡­


    Until it melted away in favor of a smug smirk.


    Gold actually caught the shift in expression and his eyes widened. "Wait! Cyndaquil back off! It''s a trick!" He shouted but it was too late.


    "Zorua, Extrasensory!" I barked victoriously.


    My little fox wasn''t just a fair bit stronger than Chikorita, naturally he was stronger than all three of the starters. He oversold that Tackle on purpose like the little genius he was!


    Zorua''s play dead scheme worked perfectly and my dark type shot up with a vicious gleam, eyes glowing before he opened his mouth and fired a rainbow colored beam that hit the jumping Cyndaquil right in the gut.


    "Quil!" Cyndaquil wheezed, getting sent flying back to Gold''s side of the field like a deflated balloon. It crashed into the ground with athudand laid there.


    "No way¡­ I lost?" Gold thought in shock, watching Cyndaquil not even let out a twitch.


    My body stopped pulsing as the sweet feeling of victory coursed through me and I smirked a violent smirk.


    "Nice, Zorua!" I praised, picking the dark type up and settling him on my shoulders. "You did fantastic playing dead there. That win felt good didn''t it? Let''s keep it up."


    Zorua puffed his chest proudly and accepted my praise with a pleased grin.


    Yes, this wasn''t his old trainer¡­ but he liked this version of him much more so he wouldn''t complain.


    "Gold lost?" Crystal said in shock, gazing at the cruel redhead with wide eyes. "But he''s the best battler in New Bark!"


    The gold eyed teen was looking at Cyndaquil in shock, not quite believing he had actually lost and considering who he was, he probably hadn''t lost to anyone but Crystal back home.


    That made me feel even better.


    This battling thing would surely get harder but right now, I was on the same playing field. I had a bunch of time to improve and I''d use everything at my disposal to do that.


    Now if only I watched the anime more¡­ that was the source of pokemon content with the most creative methods of battling. I could have stole some stuff there.


    I pulled out a potion from the medicine section of my bag and sprayed Zorua with it, noting that I didn''t have to use the whole thing before he was fully healed.


    "Neat,"I thought in fascination, watching his wounds close up.


    Still, if I''m right. That''s the Cyndaquil that was just in the lab and already he and Gold were doing work.


    If I used Chikorita to fight him¡­ the type advantage might have made it a one-sided slaughter.


    I scowled. I needed to get better. Winning felt good and winning convincingly, would feel even better.


    "Give me my money," I demanded harshly.


    Gold flinched at that and mindlessly rustled around for the amount, handing it off to me and not reacting as I rudely snatched it out of his hand.


    Without so much a word, I began my trek towards Cherrygrove, glancing at a sign that confirmed that I was heading in the right direction.


    That snapped Gold out of his daze and he glanced up at the one who defeated him.


    "Wait! You still haven''t apologized to Jimmy," Gold exclaimed, shaking off his loss and glaring at me.


    I glanced in disinterest at him. "I have nothing to apologize for. He should apologize for ambushing me and then wasting my time," I said coolly.


    As I was about to take another step, snarling interrupted me and Totodile stepped directly in front of me.


    I stared at the pokemon that should have been my starter and noted the clear recognition in its furious eyes.


    So I played the ignorant card.


    "I''m not accepting anymore battles," I said, glaring at Crystal now. "Get it out of my way."


    I idly noted that the little kid was gone now, probably running off to go heal that Sentret of his.


    The girl jumped at that, not knowing how to react to someone so callous and rude before she hesitantly returned Totodile despite his protests.


    Huh, that was surprisingly effective. This rude bit was a great way to avoid conversation and Silver had a natural resting bitch face.


    Gold glared at me, fury filling him in a way that he probably couldn''t explain.


    "What is your deal?" He snarled, closing the distance again and threatening to butt heads with me again.


    I noted with an amused smirk, that he wasn''t making contact with me this time.


    Despite feeling good about winning that battle. I didn''t want to stay here any longer than I needed to.


    The only reason I left the forest, was because I noticed that there was a constructed road and man made guides that led you to the next town in a faster route then trudging through all those trees.


    I had actually seen quite a bit of pokemon while traversing through the forests and I noted that some of them weren''t native to the Johto region!


    It was rather fascinating seeing them mingling about and minding their own business. It was a type of immersion that was impossible to experience unless you were actually there.


    Starly, Wurmple, Budew¡­ I even saw a family of Pansage, led by an intimidating Simisage.


    None were keen on attacking me, but I wouldn''t test my luck or risk antagonizing them.


    Of course the moment I leave, I run into Gold and Crystal¡­ though I suppose they did take a shorter route so it made sense.


    Not to mention they had the other two starters¡­ did that mean Elm was well enough to give them out?


    This world probably had really good healing¡­


    He didn''t see me at all so I should be good for a bit longer.


    I shoved past Gold with a sneer and said, "Losers should know how to accept their losses quietly. I''m done wasting my time here so fuck off beforeIget violent."


    Props to Gold for not stepping down for a second.


    "You wanna go? Let''s go then!" The Johto native growled.


    He missed the way I clenched my fist at my side but before I could raise it to slam into his temple, a hand pushed both of us back.


    "That''s enough!" Crystal said loudly. "Gold, don''t stoop to his level! You''re better than that!" She chided.


    I scoffed as the boy loosened his stance and that prompted her to round on me.


    "I don''t know who hurt you but you shouldn''t act so nasty to people!" She frowned deeply, glaring at me.


    My pale silver eyes glared coldly into her crystalline blue and I was satisfied to see her flinch.


    "What? Do you want to battle too?" I asked warningly, taking a step forward and watching her instinctively take a step back. "You aren''t a loser yet but if you''re anything like your boyfriend, save yourself the trouble."


    Zorua peered at her on my shoulder, a look of disinterest in his gaze.


    "He''s not my..." Crystal shook her head rapidly and glared at me, refusing to allow herself to be bullied any further.


    Kudos to her... but I still wasn''t in the mood.


    "I don''t want to battle you... you''ll just win. Totodile isn''t strong enough and Misdreavus has a type weakness," she frowned.


    I rolled my eyes and turned away. "So you''re a loser but at least you''re a smart one I guess. Congratulations,Crys,"I said condescendingly.


    It was far easier to pick on Crystal than Gold. Gold was the type of guy to stoop to my level, but Crystal tried to remain levelheaded.


    Too bad for her. I wasn''t from this gentle and soft world.


    "Y-You are so terrible!" Crystal scowled finally, fed up with my tone. "What is wrong with you?! You do not get to call me that! Only my friends do!"


    "And what are you gonna do about it, Crys?" I questioned challengingly, perking a brow.


    She opened her mouth and shut it, at my questioning tone, at a loss for words. She had no clue how to deal with someone as foul as me.


    Awesome.


    "See? Nothing. You''re a coward. If you aren''t actually going to do something, you can fuck off too. I''ve been trying to leave for the longest time now. I don''t get how you keep mentioning my mood, but refuse to let me go," I sighed.


    Gold looked at our interaction, stunned into silence. He must have been the typical whipped character that always listened to the smarter and more assertive friend. Did he think Crystal couldn''t be talked back to?


    Pathetic. These were my rivals?


    I''m no hero and I was especially not interested in being as righteous as these two right here.


    My goal was entirely self serving and that wouldn''t change. I wasn''t here to save the world. I don''t know what was even the reason for bringing me here but whoever did it, was in for a big surprise.


    "See ya losers, hopefully we never meet again," I snorted, marching past the two.


    That seemed to snap them out of their daze.


    "Next time we battle, I''ll win," Gold declared with narrowed eyes, staring at my retreating back.


    "Doubt it. There''s a reason I said hopefully we never meet again. We aren''t gonna meet again," I assured, most of my interest lost in my would be rivals.


    With that, Zorua and I left their company and continued our trek to Cherrygrove.


    Maybe I''d go back in the forest. I felt bad for confining Chikorita to her ball but we had to avoid suspicion.


    She''d understand. Instead, I''d speed up the pace and put as much distance between me and those two.


    Gold watched the mysterious redhead go and clenched his jaw in frustration.


    "I can''t believe I lost to an asshole like that. If I had used Aipom, it would have been a different story," he growled, nursing Cyndaquil and getting an apologetic whine out of the fire type.


    The gold eyed teen sighed and assured Cyndaquil he did nothing wrong.


    "Language, Gold," Crystal sighed, watching the back of the redhead disappear into the distance.


    She had never met someone so¡­ harsh.


    "Why did you let him talk to you like that, Crys?" Gold asked suddenly, turning towards the girl with a concerned frown.


    The girl frowned deeply. "...I don''t really know. His words were getting under my skin, but I couldn''t think of anything to say. When he called me a coward, I just froze up inside," she admitted.


    Gold scowled. "You should have let me kick his ass then. He''s just a bully!"


    Crystal shook her head at Gold. She didn''t want her best friend to stoop to that guys level.


    Besides, despite being a bully... the Zorua looked like he was being treated well. Was he really as terrible as he made himself out to be?


    "I hope we really don''t meet him again. He rubs me the wrong way," she said with a frown.


    "No way, Crys!" Gold denied instantly, fierce glare on his face. "I need to get payback and make him apologize to Jimmy. Next time we meet, I''ll blow him away!" He promised.


    Crystal rolled her eyes. "Gold¡­ I''m pretty sure he''s leaving Johto. We''re all trainers so that means we''re bound to meet again if we just keep traveling but he was sure we weren''t. He looks like he''s from Kanto with those clothes and he has a Kantonian dialect too, so he''ll probably head back eventually," she explained.


    Gold frowned deeply at that.


    That sucked. He wanted to battle him again.


    A sudden flash of light, revealed itself to be Totodile who had forcefully released himself from the Pokeball.


    The little crocodile was growling and snarling, stamping his feet as he made gestures.


    "What''s the matter Totodile?" Crystal asked in concern, looking at her water type with furrowed brows.


    Totodile pointed at the spot Silver had just been at.


    "That mean boy?" She asked, furrowing her brows as he nodded his head in confirmation. "I know you wanted to battle him, but we can''t just force him. He already fought and beat Gold and he fought Jimmy right before... and we aren''t strong enough to beat him yet."


    Totodile gained a look of frustration and stamped his feet, shaking his head repeatedly.


    The crocodile thought about how to explain it and nodded to himself.


    Crystal watched in confusion as Totodile pointed at itself and then her, before repeating the process with Cyndaquil and Gold.


    Was he saying that he was her pokemon and Cyndaquil was Gold''s?


    That confusion turned into horror, as he pointed at the spot the redhead had been at and then he grabbed the grass and viciously yanked it out before pointing at it.


    "What?!" Crystal hissed in shock, wide eyes jolting towards the spot where Silver had just been.


    Gold looked on in confusion. "What happened, Crys?" He asked in confusion.


    His best friend shook with wide eyes and turned a startled gaze towards where the redhead had been.


    "Totodile¡­ are you saying he''s the one who stole Chikorita?" She asked in a near whisper.


    Gold''s eyes widened at seeing the crocodile nod.


    "Him?!" He hissed, pushing himself up to go give chase.


    Crystal''s eyes widened at that and she grabbed Gold to stop him.


    "Are you insane?!" She asked. "We can''t do this! You saw how he acted! He won''t think twice about hurting us!"


    Gold shook his head furiously. "So we just leave it to the Police? After what happened to Elm, I won''t feel good unless I''m the one who catches him," He said firmly.


    Crystal stared at Gold like he were insane. The two made eye contact and her argument died on her lips, as she saw his resolve.


    Gold was hell bent on chasing down that redhead by himself...


    "Well, we are Professor Elm''s chosen trainers for this year. It would only be right if we bring him in ourselves," she sighed.


    To be fair, she did want to battle him as well after what he said. The thief looked to be the same age as them and Crystal had to wonder... what caused him to be so violent?


    He spoke to Zorua so kindly... but it was a different story when speaking to them. Crystal couldn''t help but wonder if this was really his character... or if he had been raised to act like this.


    Gold grinned. "You''re the best, Crys!" He praised.


    She blushed at his praise and smiled. "We need to be careful about this Gold. No recklessly charging him¡­ and remember that he''s probably not staying in Johto¡­ No, he definitely won''t."


    Gold''s brows furrowed at that. He still wanted to complete the gym circuit¡­ but he wanted to catch that redhead too.


    His gold eyes glittered and he stared at the crystalline blue of his best friend.


    "I''ve got an idea," he said with a cocky grin.


    "...I hate when you have ideas. They always turn out to be insane," Crystal sighed.


    She had known Gold for years. She already knew what he was planning.


    A motivated Gold was the scariest person to deal with.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "They probably know who I am by now,"I thought to myself, glancing behind me to see if they would pursue.


    Maybe I should have battled Crystal. Dwindling down their numbers to two, would allow me to 2v2 with Chikorita and Zorua, against probably Misdreavus and whatever Gold''s second pokemon was.


    But now I risked a 2v3 with presumably, Gold''s stronger Pokemon and both of Crystals...


    But they never showed up.


    Strange.


    I was back in Silver''s default outfit¡­ but that would probably be the last time I wore it.


    No skin off my back. I had other choices and the all purple pants... was certainly a choice I made that I wouldn''t be making again.


    I''d probably restyle my hair too...


    No sooner did I think the idea, did a strong negative feeling course through my body that was almost certainly not me.


    Guess no changing the hair? Whatever.


    As for my silver eyes¡­


    Yeah, nothing to do about that but hide them as often as possible. Here''s to hoping a lot of people had unnatural silver hues, combined with peculiar red hair, like mine.


    It was later in the morning and it would take about 30 more minutes for me to make it to Cherrygrove.


    Not gonna lie, I was kind of enjoying the route. I never really appreciated nature back home but here, you could see that the people of this world didn''t dare tamper with it too much.


    Offending the Pokemon, was probably a fast ticket to a far more difficult life I imagine.


    Trees were littered everywhere, the grass was low cut on the path for humans, but tall on the sides and the breeze was nice and warm. I marveled at the sight of two Sentret scampering around in the grass and peered at them with curious eyes as they played with each other.


    They perked up as they saw Zorua and I but only warily watched as I walked past them, seeming to sense the difference in level or just not wanting to fight at all.


    That was another pleasant thing, you wouldn''t get jumped by any random Pokemon just for existing in the grass. Pokemon wereincrediblyintelligent, to a degree that media didn''t portray well.


    It seemed like more often than not, the normal ones just wanted to chill.


    I snorted. As if I wanted a Sentret. I didn''t think I was actually going to be catching another pokemon in Johto for the time being.


    Sure there were plenty of choices like Scizor or Mamoswine but they weren''t high priority and would only delay me from my real goals... Maybe in the future once I figured out more things...


    Like the 6 limit rule. Was that still a thing here?


    "We aren''t gonna stay in Cherrygrove for long. We need to make a lot of distance. We don''t have to stock up either since we got so much stuff from the lab," I muttered to Zorua.


    Silver was also an overprepaper. It was clear he didn''t like stopping to go shopping and I seemed to have inherited.


    "Zo!" Zorua barked on my shoulder in agreement.


    "Your work with Illusion is awesome by the way," I praised genuinely. "I want you to practice it in your free time. We''re gonna need it for the future and if you can master it, you''ll be real annoying to face."


    Zorua looked excited at my praise and nodded eagerly.


    I snorted. Zorua looked ready to give me the world and all I did was praise him¡­ I wonder just what life he had to have had before I showed up.


    Must have been trash. Zorua was a cool pokemon, I''d treat him how he deserved to be treated.


    A thought occurred to me.


    This was my first pokemon. Technically he was second in charge¡­ I should set him up for the leader role shouldn''t I?


    In the long run, I don''t think he was going to be my most powerful Pokemon but he was still my first and so, I''d make sure he got the respect he earned.


    With the pokemon I was planning on getting, he''d need to be more assertive I imagine.


    "What do you think of Chikorita?" I asked in a low mutter. "Think she''s a good addition?"


    Zorua was caught off guard by me deciding to converse with him but clearly, he was getting used to this personality shift and had no intentions of questioning it.


    "Zor," the dark type nodded eventually.


    Zorua liked Chikorita. They talked for a bit and he explained what she should expect traveling with them.


    They weren''t normal after all. Chikorita should know that they did¡­ questionable activities.


    She didn''t seem to mind at all, just pleased that Silver was their trainer so that was a plus.


    I nodded thoughtfully at his approval. "Between you and me, I didn''t actually plan on getting her¡­ but I''m kind of glad for my mistake. She''s very agreeable," I admitted in a low whisper.


    I had no idea how Silver managed to tame that feisty Totodile, but I probably would have been far less successful.


    Zorua nodded in agreement with my assessment and I found myself gazing curiously at the dark type.


    Any issues I had with Zorua being my first pokemon and not Sneasel, had been thrown out of the window by the little guys impressive display.


    He saved my ass after all. I would be an ungrateful prick if I had a problem with it.


    Zorua was useful. Incredibly so¡­ Silver lucked out getting a pokemon like this.


    I had a pet dog before when I was younger. He was awesome but his intelligence didn''t even come close to Zorua''s. The dark type understood everything I said and was able to respond in a way that made sure I could understand.


    That illusion translating Chikorita''s problems to me, was absolutely genius of him. Illusion was way more incredible then the games made it out to be.


    I was looking forward to learning the limitations and abusing it religiously. He seemed to expend almost no energy when using it on himself, but a lot of energy using it on someone else.


    As we headed to Cherrygrove, I decided to walk through the tall grass in hopes of finding something to do and got into a battle with a violent Rattata that scurried away after one hit from Zorua.


    Boring. Nevermind.


    "I feel a little bad for keeping Chikorita in the ball¡­" I muttered, idly palming her ball.


    Something I should do, was invest in a way to differentiate my Pokeballs. Though I seemed to innately know who was in which one, it never hurt to double down.


    I should also think of nicknames to differentiate my pokemon... but that would take a while. I wasn''t good with names so I''d have to dwell on it for a while.


    "Zor," Zorua assured me hesitantly and I nodded.


    "Yeah, once I get the chance, I''ll let her get some air," I agreed.


    It would probably be after I left Cherrygrove. I wasn''t planning on staying there very long because that was still too close to New Bark. Gold and Crystal could catch up to me at any point if I idled around.


    No, I couldn''t fully relax until I was out of this region¡­


    And I was one step closer.


    Cherrygrove, much like Route 29 and New Bark, was a town dominated by nature. Besides the buildings, and some few sandy roads, the area looked almost untouched by mankind. Grass was maintained at a reasonable level but dominated the area, the paved road lacked stone and concrete, using sand instead and the people bustled about with Pokemon of all kinds mingling with them.


    It was¡­ nice.


    Back home, I lived in the city so I didn''t get to appreciate sights like this very much.


    Still, I do miss my friends and family back at -


    Back at -


    I paused in confusion.


    ...Where did I live again?


    I tried to recall information about my home and while I had general knowledge¡­ the moment I tried to recall anything specific, my mind blanked completely. I only knew vague information. I knew I had a family, I knew I had friends... but if I tried to pry deeper...


    Huh?


    "Zor?" Zorua called in confusion, noticing my discomfort that was slowly increasing in levels.


    Why couldn''t I remember anything? Where did I live? What was the name of the city I lived in? Hell, what state did I live in? Was it New York? Utah? Texas?


    I don''t know.


    Who were my parents? I had both a mother and a father¡­ but that''s all Iknew.I distantly remember having siblings... right? Didn''t I mention an older sister yesterday?


    Or was it an older brother?


    ...I don''t know.


    Why?I remembered all of this yesterday¡­ didn''t I?


    ...No. I was now beginning to realize¡­ that I never even once mentioned my old name.


    What was my name again?


    Oh that''s right. My name''s Silver-


    I let out raspy breath and stumbled backwards, holding my head in confusion.


    What was going on? The deeper I tried to peer into my memories, the more hazy they became.


    What the hell? Was I¡­ overlapping with Silver? Did I not completely take over?


    When left to my unconscious thoughts... Ionlyreferred to myself as Silver as if I had always been Silver.


    I felt a headache blooming and huffed.


    I''m not too sure about anything anymore. I thought it was just muscle memory carrying me earlier¡­ but clearly that wasn''t the whole story.


    The fact that I identified myself as Silver proved so.


    Right now, I can''t even fathom the idea of having had another name. In my head, I''ve always been Silver. But at the same time, I knew I wasn''tthatSilver.


    This was so weird. At the very least, it did seem like I had full control. I just had to deal with mind shenanigans.


    I would hate to share a body with someone. I was beginning to think my mind merged with Silver''s somehow but it was dominantly in my favor for the time being.


    What was the end result going to be?


    Would I progressively lose memories of my old world? If that''s the case, why don''t I have any memories that belong to Silver? Why did I remember the Pokemon related things from my old world so easily, but nothing else?


    Did it have to do with that earlier experience where I was freaking out in my own skin before everything clicked into place?


    ...How old was I?


    "Just turned 12,"I thought instantly before shutting my eyes in annoyance.


    Fuck. Things just got a lot more complicated for me.


    "Sorry about that, just got a headache," I explained to the worried Zorua. "Let''s not waste anymore time. We won''t be staying here long. I''m gonna return you for now, don''t need connections yet."


    Zorua looked very concerned but nodded and I stepped into Cherrygrove City with a pondering frown.


    Unlike in the video games, there was way more than a few houses and the stores. The city itself was massive in comparison and various buildings, both business related and just homes, dotted the area.


    There were stores besides the Pokemart too. A clothing shop that I considered entering but discarded, a food stand, hell there was a market for just Pokemon related cosmetics too¡­ It was way more alive than the games.


    More authentic.


    As I traversed the town. I decided to ask around for some directions.


    At first, the plan was for me to leave this place immediately but this was clearly a bigger world than the one in the games so I needed to plan a bit more.


    There might be places I never even heard about. I couldn''t rely solely on my memories when it came to the map.


    For instance, there was a town called Whitestone that was between Ecruteak City and Olivine City.


    That was as clear a sign as any that this trip could take way longer then I thought¡­


    But I was in luck.


    This wasn''t the game world. There weren''t random landmarks blocking areas, that the devs didn''t want us going to, and that helped me notice something.


    Cherrygrove City had a large body of water that was blocked off in the games, leaving only a small area to traverse around.


    That block did not exist here.


    And the best part? If navigated correctly, the water would take you directly to Olivine City, allowing you to skip a bunch of cities in the process.


    I just needed to find a way to get water transportation and if I could, I would cut down months of journey, to just a few days.


    That''s why I was asking around for directions despite desiring anonymity. This was incredibly important to saving time and accomplishing my missions as quickly as possible.


    The faster I made it to Hoenn, the quicker I''d get someone off my trail and the more smooth my sailing would go.


    Plastering the most fake and polite smile on my face, I approached a middle aged woman who seemed to be shopping for a Furret and she perked up at hearing my footsteps.


    The woman looked up in clear curiosity, a friendly demeanor radiating off of her.


    "Hello! Sorry to bother, but I''d like to ask a question," I greeted with a short wave.


    "Oh aren''t you just the cutest little thing!" She gushed, holding her cheeks at how polite I was. "Please, don''t be shy dear! Ask away!"


    I continued to smile. "I''m new to the Johto region so I''m not quite sure how things work around here¡­ I wanted to go to Olivine City from here and I noticed the body of water that connected the two. Is there a way I can sail there?" I asked easily.


    "So well articulated¡­ why yes there is!" The woman nodded at my question. "Near the shore there''s a building and a small port. It heads to Goldenrod, Cianwood and of course, Olivine. I''m sure if you speak to someone there, they''ll be sure to tell you when the next ship set sails," she explained politely.


    I nodded at the information and felt a small grin forming.


    Perfect! This would speed things up by a whole lot. I could take a ship to Olivine then from there, I''d look to see if there was anything headed to the Hoenn region.


    I''m not sure how good regional relationships were between the regions in this world¡­ but Ash was able to travel to new regions with effortless ease and I did do some research.


    If I wanted to get to Hoenn, my best bet was Olivine.


    "Thank you! I appreciate that," I said, bowing slightly.


    She waved me off frantically. "Oh no need to bow, darling! You''re too kind!" she sighed.


    "If you just follow this road and head south, you''ll find the building. It''s hard to miss!"


    I nodded, red hair jostling a bit at the movement and I idly brushed the bangs that nearly covered one of my eyes aside, scowling as it popped right back into place.


    How did hair even naturally get like this? My hair was a mix of smooth at the top and spiky at the bottom near my neck. To top it all off, I had a slight cowlick sticking out at the very top of my red hair that I already tried pushing down to no avail.


    What a horror. The only thing more horrifying, is my body''s staunch refusal to actually change the style.


    I followed the directions the lady left me, all while contemplating the wonders of anime hair, until I finally arrived at the building she mentioned.


    It was large, with a blue roof that had a Poliwag embedded into it and I wasted no time entering it.


    A gruff man with a sailor outfit gazed at me with bored eyes behind a counter as I calmly approached him.


    "When''s the next ship to Olivine?" I asked bluntly. I didn''t feel like doing anymore small talk.


    Clearly this guy appreciated that.


    "Tomorrow," he answered just as bluntly. "If you want a ticket pay here. These are the prices."


    Nice. Straight to the point.


    One ticket to Olivine costed about 300 Poke (that was so cheap what the hell?) and I had more than enough.


    Seriously, just how talented was Silver? All of this didn''t seem easy to steal. I seemed to have not only an account to my name with Poke Dollars, but actual cash besides the amount I won from Gold and that kid.


    Who set up an account for me? Did I do it myself? It made sense that banks were a thing in this world... but it was strange all the same.


    I forked the money over and watched the older man count it, before nodding in satisfaction.


    "Be here before 2pm or get left behind. No refunds," he added.


    I nodded, accepted the ticket and left without another word.


    Good to know not everyone in this world was a happy go lucky idiot.


    That would have gotten tiring real fast.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Route 30 was fairly simple like its counterpart in the games.


    It was a straight path ahead but it was of course, far bigger than the games could probably scale.


    Seriously, if all the games were to scale, it would take months to beat a single Pokemon game.


    If I kept at the same pace I took for Route 29 and used the designated roads this time, I''d make it to Route 31 in about 3 hours¡­


    I nodded to myself.


    I had time to spare. It was currently 12pm and there was something I wanted to do.


    Without any hesitation, I dipped into the forests of the route and released both Chikorita and Zorua out of their balls.


    "Rita!" Chikorita trilled and rushed me, jumping into my midsection with a happy squeal.


    I rushed to put up my hands before she could drop and deftly caught her.


    "Someone''s happy to see me," I couldn''t help but smile at the grass type. "Sorry about keeping you trapped for so long. I''ll let you out as long as possible once we leave the region."


    She nodded furiously and took her place atop my shoulder without any hesitation.


    "Alright, we leave for Olivine tomorrow and hopefully, we get to Hoenn by the end of the week," I explained to the two of them.


    They both nodded, interest clear on their faces.


    "Since we''ve got time to kill¡­ there''s something I want to do," I explained. "But first, training."


    They perked up at that.


    "Chikorita, I want to get you started on three moves. Razor Leaf, Poison Powder and Synthesis. For now, work on Razor Leaf so we can give you more offense," I muttered, showing her the video of all three moves being performed by a Venusaur on the Pokedex.


    Razor Leaf and Poison Powder were self explanatory, but learning that the Chikorita family had an easier time than most pokemon learning Synthesis, had me grinning like a lunatic.


    Poison Powder was to give Chikorita an easier time learning Toxic in the future. I wanted her and Zorua to be very frustrating to battle.


    Chikorita nodded eagerly and trotted off to get started after a few more instructions from me.


    "As for you, Zorua¡­" I muttered, flipping to the information on him.


    This Pokedex wasn''t Johto exclusive. It was the national variant and it seemed to have information on Pokemon I didn''t even know about.


    The ones I didn''t know about seemed to be from regions I never heard of, named Galar and Paldea and I garnered a guess that those might have been the two games that dropped.


    Some of these looked pretty cool.


    Interesting¡­ Maybe in my spare time, I''d do some more research but for now, I had no further interest in the later regions.


    It was just something I discovered while researching the moves my team could learn.


    Somethingreallyinteresting though, was Technical Machines.


    With enough practice, Pokemon could actually learn TM moves without the use of the disk. TMs just made them far easier to learn by implanting the memories of the move directly into their mind.


    While that was infinitely more useful, you could still learn the moves without them. It wouldn''t make much sense if a disk was the only way you could learn something now would it?


    "I want you to learn Pursuit, Taunt and finally Snarl," I told the attentive Dark type.


    Pursuit was the easiest offensive Dark move that the Zorua line could learn. It would give him a good grounds to offensively harness his dark type energy and that would help in learning even more in the future.


    Apparently, since Zorua was born with Extrasensory, he had latent psychic abilities as well. Not all Zorua''s had the capabilities to harness psychic moves, but it should help him learn the few he could faster.


    Neat. But that came with the caveat of having a very difficult time learning fighting moves other Zorua''s could be born with.


    Well that was fine. I''d focus on the dark type moves for now.


    Snarl was to give him range, and Taunt was to supplement Torment and limit the Pokemon he was up against even more. All to irritate them even further.


    Until he became a Zoroark, he wouldn''t quite have the power output it looked like. So I''d need to fight smart with him.


    He was already a tricky guy, we could do it.


    "Rua!" Zorua nodded in confirmation, gazing at the moves with intent, before nodding confidently to himself.


    I gazed at the two throwing themselves into training and felt pretty awkward for just standing there.


    Well, no better time then now to start honing my craft.


    ...How the hell did I hone becoming a better thief?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Turns out, this body was capable of a lot of things when I was relying on muscle memories and not my own skill.


    I couldn''t understate how good of a thief Silver was. He was silent, quick and efficient. It was no wonder he was confident enough to waltz around without any disguise¡­


    Didn''t make him any less of an idiot for doing so. Didn''t the dumbass encounter Lance and they battled?


    How irresponsible was the champ? Or was everyone just that incompetent.


    I don''t think there was much Silver needed to do to improve his craft besides learning entirely new things.


    That''s where I came in.


    I couldn''t consciously utilize Silver''s skills. I didn''t spend years practicing the art of espionage like he had and it showed in my attempts to practice it.


    I was clumsier, louder and not remotely as talented like he was.


    It was like night and day, Silver''s skills and mine. The kid was really good at what he did.


    At least I could fight¡­ that''s what I brought to the table.


    Bullshit... That''s what this was.


    My best bet, was observing just how my body acted on autopilot, and try to consciously do the same things.


    It was exceedingly difficult but I was getting there. I at least was able to walk quietly now so that was a small win I''d take.


    Slowly but surely, I''d reach those skills. It would be a waste to let them vanish into nothing.


    I leapt off the tree I was on and wiped the sweat off my brow. The afternoon heat was killer and I had long removed that coat Silver always wore.


    Currently, I had a normal black tee on that was matted to my skin from all the sweating.


    Silver was also pretty damn athletic for his age. I already knew from earlier, but this guy put his body through quite the regimen. I don''t know how much of that was his hard work and how much was the physiology of fictional characters evolving next to land destroying monsters... but I''d chalk it up to both.


    Might as well keep him in shape. It was fairly easy to go through a steady routine so I''d keep it up along with my other training.


    Not gonna lie, this physical state of this12year old was kinda nuts. I don''t know if this was how top athletes felt, but running through a workout and not being on the floor exhausted, was a pretty addicting feeling.


    I''m pretty sure in my old body I went to the gym a fair bit, but I wasn''t a dedicated bodybuilder or anything like that.


    Silver felt like his body was at its peak. That was insane, I was12!


    To think I''d be getting older... I didn''t even hit puberty yet.


    ...How bizarre.


    We had been training for about two hours, before I called it quits and decided to go find some lake to bathe in because I smelt terrible.


    Zorua panted and nodded, banishing the dark type energy around him with a satisfied glimmer.


    He had gotten Pursuit down fairly easily and was working on increasing its power output because it wasn''t quite strong enough yet.


    Pursuit in this world was strange. It''s power didn''t increase as you were recalling a Pokemon. The move increased in strength when striking from behind.


    Pretty perfect for an assassin like Zorua. I''d have to make sure he didn''t forget about this move. It had potential.


    As for Chikorita, the little Grass type managed to surprise me by throwing out some fierce Razor Leafs. She mastered it way quicker then I expected of her and I was pretty damn proud.


    I was impressed by how quickly the both of them got their respective skills down and while they weren''t difficult moves, I would still give them the praise they deserve.


    I returned them temporarily and headed to the water source I saw earlier, looking at the crystalline clear water with a whistle.


    That water looked so damn clear and healthy. The vitality of this world was amazing and I found myself once more basking in it.


    ...Did my pokemon bathe with water? I''m not sure. I guess I could just find out.


    I released both of them and made sure there was no one else in the area before I rummaged through my bag and grabbed some necessary essentials.


    I began stripping my clothes off and reluctantly got in the lake only for all the hesitation to melt away as I felt the cool water hit me.


    An unintentional sigh of bless left my body at the feeling and I glanced back at Zorua and Chikorita for a moment.


    "Feel free to join if you guys want," I offered, before turning towards the Wooper staring at me with a dumb smile.


    Zorua watched Chikorita happily accept the offer, by jumping right next to his trainer and sighed before following suit, shaking his head at seeing his trainer have a stare off with the strange Water type.


    "Rita!" Chikorita demanded, causing me to take my eyes off the Wooper.


    "Want me to wash you?" I asked in amusement.


    She nodded happily.


    "I''m getting good at understanding what they''re conveying,"I thought, grabbing the Grass type and scrubbing her scaled hide down.


    "Sure thing lil princess," I agreed easily and I proceeded to clean her to the best of my ability.


    I marvelled at the scales of the grass type as I cleaned her. It was hard to imagine that Chikorita was a reptile with scales. Thought she was made of leaves and all that but nope, she was actually a little dinosaur who I could hold like a doll... who could kill me without much effort.


    What a thought.


    Chikorita closed her eyes and sighed in bliss.


    My two current pokemon were pretty different in terms of personality.


    Chikorita acted very much like a princess. She readily accepted all my affections and offers and sought them out just as much.


    It¡­ was kind of adorable. I had a tiny little dinosaur that wanted me to spoil her and it was working out very well for her.


    Zorua was a lot more serious in nature. He was sensible and reliable with a good head on his shoulders and a crafty nature too.


    He also liked my affections as much as Chikorita but was more reluctant to accept them¡­


    I''d fix that eventually. I liked the little guy.


    It was surreal to see such personality in these little animals.


    I wonder what my next members would be like... What would they be like? Would their personalities fit up with what I imagined they''d be like?


    Would personalities clash? Would they get along? Hate each other?


    It was interesting to think about.


    Team building was a little more difficult in this world, I imagine¡­ in games you could say, put Zangoose and Seviper on the same team with no issues but here, they would probably try and kill each other.


    Huh¡­ well, at the very least I didn''t think the next ones I planned on catching had any beef with each other.


    And if they did, I''d make them get along.


    I didn''t wanna give any of them up after all. They wouldn''t be easy to obtain in the first place.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Alright, we''ve got time to kill before tomorrow hits so it''s time to do another heist."


    Zorua looked up at me curiously at that before nodding.


    Chikorita was back in her ball and I was proud that she didn''t fuss about it. She understood that if anyone spotted her with me, we''d probably get hunted and separated.


    "Last time I¡­ kinda messed up and you saved my ass so let''s try to avoid that this time," I informed him with a sheepish smile.


    I needed to get better and experience was the best way. So I''d commit little acts of robbery until I was even better than Silver had been.


    Getting to his original skill level then surpassing it would be a goal of mine, even if I stopped my criminal acts. It was a pride thing now.


    "We''re headed to a house near the end of the Route. It should be owned by some guy named Mr. Pokemon and he might have something useful for us," I began.


    Zorua nodded thoughtfully, expression shifting into something fitting for a Dark type.


    "In case we''re being tracked, we''ll head up and make sure no one sees us come back, alright?" I said, storming for ideas.


    I had no idea if Gold and Crystal reported me yet but I could throw them off my trail by having them think I continued through Violet City or even the Dark Cave on Route 31.


    Little did they know, I''d be headed to Hoenn.


    "I have a little challenge for you," I said suddenly, gazing at my first pokemon with a glint.


    "Zor?" Zorua repeated curiously.


    "Yup. I don''t wanna return you, but I don''t want everyone knowing I have a Zorua just yet. So, I want you to transform into another pokemon with an illusion and maintain it."


    The Dark type nodded at my logic, green-blue eyes glinting with intelligence.


    After some thinking, I watched in fascination as the air distorted around him for a bit before suddenly stopping.


    Zorua was gone, replaced by a Wooper that looked strangely like the one I was having a stare off with earlier.


    It jumped on my shoulder and I nodded in approval.


    "How tiring is it to use?" I asked curiously. Illusion was insanely useful. The games did it no justice at all.


    The possibilities for this technique were endless!


    "Zor," Wooper said with a shrug.


    "Ah. It''s not a big illusion so not much," I nodded.


    Wooper looked surprised that I was able to tell what he was saying and I flashed a cocky smirk.


    "I''m getting there," I bragged.


    I had taken my unruly hair and threw it in a messy ponytail for the time being because it was getting in the way too much and I threw my hoodie up.


    I should get a mask or half mask. Would be useful.


    Zorua and I walked at a brisk pace through Route 30 and I foul personality to ward off any potential challengers.


    Anyone dumb enough to approach me, quickly realized it was not for show as I rudely told them off.


    At our pace, we had managed to make it to the location in about an hour and 30 minutes and I had slunk back into the large trees to remain hidden from anyone that could potentially be in the area.


    "How''re you holding up?" I asked Zorua, ensuring that none of my crimson red hair was visible.


    This little challenge of his, also doubled as training. I wanted him to completely perfect Illusion.


    Zorua, still disguised as a Wooper, was sweating a bit but didn''t look utterly exhausted. He barked quietly to let me know that he was fine and I patted his head in approval.


    Good to know Illusion wasn''t super taxing at this level. Considering it was every Zorua''s innate ability, that made sense...


    I took a deep breath and began scaling one of the giant trees, glaring at a lone Pidgey that quickly flew off before turning towards the house to inspect it.


    Much like the games, Mr. Pokemon''s house was the only one in the area. Not many people wanted houses built in a route. A stray Pokemon attack could send it all crashing and overall, it was an unwise investment for all but trainers.


    There was a small garden of apricots outside and a fence guarded the entire thing, though if a Pokemon wanted to get in, they would not be stopped.


    It was the the same for me but going that way defeated the purpose of what I wanted to achieve.


    His house wasn''t huge, but it was bigger then the one I saw earlier in the route full of a garden of apricots. It looked to be two stories and it rested near the large trees I resided in.


    I smiled at that.


    Getting in wouldn''t be hard at least.


    I stealthily moved from tree to tree (I told you I learned a thing or two from observing Silver''s body movements!) until I was on the one directly next to the house and took a deep breath.


    Securing Zorua to myself, I took a deep breath and jumped.


    I winced at the slight noise of landing on the roof and immediately ducked low, utilizing my dark outfit to sort of blend in with the roof.


    A glance around, showed that no one was outside at least so I moved quietly to a window source, peaking my head over the roof to make sure I actually saw one.


    "Bingo,"I said.


    Palming the Pokeball in my gloved hand, I released Chikorita from the ball.


    I put a finger to my lips and she nodded immediately.


    "Chikorita, I need you to use your vines to put Zorua right in front of the window," I whispered to her. "Then, Zorua I want you to use a weak version of Extrasensory. Don''t break it completely, just make a bunch of cracks appear."


    My two pokemon let out quiet noises of affirmation and I nodded, pleased at them.


    Two vines appeared from Chikorita and she carefully lifted Zorua, who had dropped his illusion, before slowly dropping him right in front of the window.


    Zorua gazed at the window with a look of concentration and fired a weak Extrasensory at it, making the window crack and stopping right before it succumbed under the intense pressure.


    "Chikorita, bring him back up and use your vines to gently push the glass. Avoid making noise," I instructed.


    The sauropod did just that, placing Zorua gently on the roof before using her vines to gently nudge and push the glass.


    It took a bit, but eventually they began falling piece by piece without making nearly as much noise as if I had smashed through with brute force.


    Eventually she made more than enough headway for a body to fit through and I returned them both and snuck through the opening.


    I leapt from the railing to avoid the discarded glass, glancing around in the interior of the man''s house.


    The smell of pine brushed against my nose as I inspected the nice furniture and I nodded appreciatively at it all.


    It was a nice home. I was currently in a furnished room that let me know the person had money to spend because said room didn''t look like it had anyone who slept in here.


    Perfect.


    This was the home of Mr. Pokemon a friend of Oak in the games. In Soul Silver and Heart Gold, this guy gave you a lot of useful items when you spoke to him.


    The most ludicrous, were the Red and Blue orb. Now I didn''t expect him to have the two orbs of Kyogre and Groudon just resting in his home, but I imagine he''d have something of value.


    It was clearly not in this room.


    I closed the last cabinet in here and slowly stood up, making my way to the sole door of the room and quietly opening it.


    Before I took another step, I released Zorua and began inspecting the new area.


    It was a hallway, with a staircase leading downstairs to the left and two more rooms to the right.


    "Zor," Zorua suddenly said, nudging his head towards the staircase.


    I raised a brow at that and walked closer to the stairs.


    It was clear what Zorua was alerting me to, because I could hear the voice of a man down there.


    By the sounds of it, he was talking to someone over the phone or he was senile and having a conversation with himself.


    "When do you think Elm will be able to accept visitors?" The voice asked, making me perk up.


    I leaned a bit closer to listen in on the conversation.


    "That''s good to hear¡­ I hear his wife went ahead and distributed the two final starters to the designated trainers. Thankfully, they were the only ones qualified to receive the starters. It would be a shame if a child didn''t receive their starter because it was stolen."


    I frowned at that. So Gold and Crystal were the only trainers capable enough to receive a starter in New Bark. Regardless of if I stole it or not, one of the Pokemon would have been left behind.


    I wonder if it would have been Chikorita no matter what. Gold seemed attached to Cyndaquil in every single iteration that existed and I didn''t know enough about Crystal.


    Wasn''t she affiliated with Chikorita? Maybe Totodile would have been the one left behind this time.


    I snorted to myself. Guess we''d never find out. Chikorita was mine and I had no intention of giving her up.


    "Still no idea who the thief is? Not to worry, it won''t be hard to identify a Chikorita that doesn''t wish to travel with its trainer. Signs of abuse should be even easier... Arceus, I hope it hasn''t come to that."


    That''s how they planned on figuring out who stole the Chikorita? God this world was so hopelessly naive.


    I guess I didn''t have much to worry about if they were going to judge it like that. Chikorita adored me and I had no intentions of abusing her.


    But still, I was surprised. Gold and Crystal didn''t report me yet? Did they even know I was the criminal?


    No, they had to. I wasn''t gonna underestimate the intelligence of Pokemon and Totodile looked like he wanted to bite my face off.


    So why didn''t they report me¡­


    Hm¡­ Crystal seemed smart and she was a coward. She would instantly report me if it was up to her.


    But she also deferred to Gold based on what little interactions I saw and my would be rival seemed reckless enough.


    Yeah, it was Gold''s decision to not report me for sure. Did he want payback?


    Idiot, I already said we weren''t meeting again.


    I grew tired of the conversation downstairs and headed to the two rooms still up here.


    The first door was just a bathroom that offered nothing important and the second, was a room full of papers and documents.


    A quick search showed nothing that I could really use. Though, this guy really traveled around the world based on the documents I caught glimpses of.


    Kanto, Johto... Orre (what region was that?), etc. Hell he had even been to a region called Galar.


    What the hell region was Galar? Was that the region with the fire bunny or the fire alligator?


    Well whatever it was, it seemed to utilize a phenomena exclusive to their lands named Dynamax.


    My interest piqued at that and I grabbed some documents to read over in hopes of learning more about this world.


    As long as it was interesting, I had no problem reading on my own accord. But once you forced me? Ugh, just sap the energy out of me while you''re at it.


    Stuffing a bunch of documents in my bag, I glanced around a bit more and didn''t find anything else of not.


    I frowned in annoyance.


    Downstairs it was.


    "We''re gonna knock that guy out so we can explore downstairs," I muttered to Zorua.


    Zorua gazed at me and nodded, glowing with the power of his ability and wrapping us both in an illusion.


    I smiled at him.


    Yeah, I liked Zorua very much. He was quick on the uptake of things.


    Not a sound was made, as I quietly walked downstairs to assess Mr. Pokemon''s situation.


    He was an old man, wearing a suit inside his own home (What the fuck was wrong with him?) and he seemed to have finished up his conversation on the phone while I was searching his other rooms.


    I didn''t see any Pokeballs near him, so I decided to act quick while the illusion was still on me.


    We stealthily snuck up on the man and noticed that he was reading a document on something, muttering to himself in visible excitement.


    "What a most interesting read! To think I was able to procure myself one. I know I don''t have the full thing but just the opportunity to study it..." he muttered aloud.


    I couldn''t see it from this distance but that was fine. Once I knocked him out, I''d see why he was so excited and take whatever he procured for himself, for myself.


    Mr. Pokemon never saw me coming. I tensed my muscles and lunged, hitting him directly on the temple with much less force then I used on Elm.


    He didn''t even react. The old man was instantly knocked unconscious from the gloved punch and I smiled in satisfaction.


    "Nothing personal, old man," I shrugged, nudging him to the side.


    Alright, now that that was settled¡­ I could explore this area of the house in earnest.


    I wasn''t sure what I was here for. This was mostly to put my skills to the test again and so far, it was going exceedingly well.


    Zorua dropped the illusion, conserving his energy for later and I idly rubbed his ear. Out of curiosity, I picked up the document the unconscious had been reading.


    Theory on Mega Evolution by Augustine Sycamore.


    My eyes widened in clear interest.


    Wait a minute¡­ was the reason he sounded so excited, what I thought it was?


    Didn''t he say he managed to procure one?


    With renewed vigor, I began rummaging through the entire house of Mr. Pokemon with no more pretenses, all while Zorua and Chikorita (who I had released after knocking Mr. Pokemon out) confusedly followed me.


    It was like a hurricane was currently mowing through the house, as I searched for something.


    Clothes and papers were thrown around, as I ransacked Mr. Pokemon''s house without any hesitation.


    There was an almost manic gleam in my eyes as I entered yet another room.


    "Zor," Zorua called me.


    "Chiko!" Chikorita said as well.


    "One second guys, I''m looking for something," I muttered, pushing through useless document after useless document.


    Was this guy a researcher? He had so many goddamn documents!


    "Zor," Zorua repeated calmly.


    "Chiko!" Chikorita followed suit.


    "Hold on guys! I''m almost done with this room," I whispered, gazing at the Elixir with a scowl before stuffing it in my bag.


    "Zor!" Zorua finally raised his voice.


    "Chiko!" Chikorita shouted at me.


    I whirled around like I were being harassed by 2 of my children and resisted the urge to glare.


    "What is so important that you keep calling me?!" I hissed at the kids.


    I blinked slowly at the sight I was seeing.


    Chikorita was looking at me with an annoyed expression. In her vines, she was holding an incubator with an actual Pokemon Egg dotted with blue and red marks all over.


    As for Zorua, there was a small rainbowish orb directly in front of him with a symbol inside of it.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    I stared blankly at my two pokemon, who stared smugly at me in return.


    "...Good job," I said gruffly as I played it cool.


    They snorted at me and I completely ignored it.


    I totally forgot that Mr. Pokemon was the one with the Egg of Togepi and Chikorita managed to find it.


    Would I keep it? I didn''t really plan on adding the egg to my team but it wasn''t a bad addition¡­ It was a fairy type after all and that type was really strong too.


    Togekiss was a good addition, but not one I had thought of really.


    But... this was a Pokemon that Gold got and that caused a smug smirk to appear on my face.


    Alright, it was mine now. Payback for not getting Cyndaquil and pissing me off.


    "I''ll probably add it to the team when they hatch. Any problems with that?" I asked curiously.


    Both shook their head and I accepted the incubator, before stuffing it in my bag.


    What type of technology did this world have? This bag was ridiculous. What was the limit?


    I shrugged and focused on the item in front of Zorua, eyes lighting up in clear recognition.


    This was what had me in a frenzy and I grinned eagerly as I accepted it.


    An actual Keystone. The same Keystone that allowed you to Mega Evolve a Pokemon.


    If this was the replacement for the Red and Blue Orb, I wouldgladlytake it. The idea of Mega Evolution seemed so far away from me that I never even considered it!


    Hell, I wasn''t even sure this world had it! It wasn''t one of those things you thought of, until it hit you right in the face.


    Sure, I was going to the Hoenn region, but I still had no idea what world I was in.


    To be honest, the more I learned, the more I got confused. Maybe this was like what Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire mentioned and I was in a completely different timeline, separate from all pieces of Pokemon that we were aware of.


    That was the scariest timeline. It means I had no idea what to expect.


    But I digress, a Keystone was one half of the phenomenon known as Mega Evolution. It was introduced in the Kalos region which was why I never thought about it... because I never thought about the Kalos region.


    But this changed everything.


    It would be unreasonably difficult, but if I managed to find a Mega Stone in the future, I could use it!


    "Where did you find the Keystone?" I asked curiously.


    Zorua blinked, before nudging his snout in my pocket.


    Mr. Pokemon''s... pocket?


    "I''m not even going to sayanything," I thought with a scowl before it was wiped off my face in favor of fondness.


    "Seriously, great job guys," I praised, patting them both with a small grin on my face.


    They beamed at my affections and readily accepted it.


    Honestly, just these two were awesome. I never thought I''d find myself appreciating Zorua or Chikorita but my only Pokemon were doing a great job proving me wrong.


    I was fully on board with keeping them with me and just the thought of putting them in a box for all eternity, sent a flash of displeasure through me.


    I needed to do research on the 6 Pokemon rules. These little guys weren''t pixels on my screen anymore. They were living beings now so I didn''t want them to be confined.


    It was a good thing I wasn''t a Pokedex completionist kinda guy. I just caught my favorites and used them.


    The Keystone glowed with an unnatural light as I gazed at it, before I stuffed it in the spot of my bag I designated the "Important Items" section.


    Who knows when I''d use it, but it certainly wasn''t anytime soon. I had no interest in hunting down Mega Stones at the moment until I was strong enough to do it in a quick manner.


    Now, I needed to get a custom accessory to embed it into like all the other trainers. I didn''t want something basic like a Mega Ring or Bracelet.


    Maybe a glove, earring or necklace¡­ yeah that seemed pretty good.


    "Alright, let''s head out. We got what we wanted," I whispered.


    Zorua and Chikorita both nodded in approval, both pleased by the successful heist.


    We peaked out of the door and made sure the old man was still unconscious, before heading upstairs and climbing out of the broken window we created.


    I landed on the floor and didn''t waste anytime vanishing back into the forest.


    "7 pm,"I thought to myself, glancing at the time. The heat of the sun was gone and a cool breeze had replaced it, brushing against me as night threatened to fully take over.


    Not bad. I could probably make it to the outskirts of Cherrygrove by 8:30pm and then I''d get some sleep, train some, and be outta here by 2.


    "Let''s head out. Chikorita, you can stay out if you want since we''re staying outta sight," I informed her.


    Chikorita cheered at that and used her vines to hoist herself up on my shoulder without any hesitation.


    Zorua followed suit and deftly leapt up with only a slight amount of hesitation this time.


    I gazed flatly at the two of them. They were just using me as their own personal taxi now.


    "Enjoy it while it lasts. Once you become a Meganium, you''ll become my taxi," I promised the Grass type.


    At least Chikorita''s spoiled nature, was making Zorua relax easier around me. Seeing how I hardly reacted negatively from her actions, let him see that I wasn''t a dick anymore.


    Good. He deserved to get spoiled for being so useful.


    Chikorita''s eyes glittered in excitement at hearing me mention she was going to become a Meganium and she nodded rapidly.


    "Ru," Zorua reminded me, nudging me forward so that I could begin the trek back to Cherrygrove.


    "Fine, fine. We''ll do some more training tomorrow morning before we head out so I''ll let you guys be lazy for now," I conceded fully, even though I didn''t plan on resisting.


    "By the way, the egg is a Pokemon called Togepi," I decided to tell them, while walking through the forest. "They''re a fairy type that evolves and gains a flying type, so it''ll be strong against the both of you type-wise."


    Both my Pokemon scoffed at that.


    "Rua."


    "Rita!"


    They refused to accept the fact that they could possibly lose to a Pokemon that hadn''t even hatched yet and I thought that was hilarious.


    I snorted in turn.


    Their confidence in their strengths, pleased me. It made me confident in my next few captures and it made me confident that I could actually survive in this world despite the weird start.


    Still though, it was good to know I wasn''t the only one with an ego here. Maybe they just picked up on it, but Zorua and Chikorita had quite a bit of pride themselves.


    We were perfect for each other then.


    I was in a weird situation, with weird shenanigans and some mind tampering but despite that, I was pretty pleased with the plans I had mapped out.


    I couldn''t help but also be pleased by my on the spot planning too. I never expected to take a boat to Olivine, or add a Togepi to the team but both were decisions I didn''t hate at all.


    Togekiss would be a strong addition. I''m not sure what role I''d assign for it yet, but I''d figure something out after yet another late night of studying this new world.


    I sighed to myself.


    Why did they pick such a weird place to put me in? Didn''t most stories at least kind of cater to the person on the receiving end of this?


    At the very least, why didn''t they put me in his bodybeforehe broke in. At least give me more control of my life!


    But nope. I get put in a criminal''s body, where his rival constantly kicks his ass but doesn''t turn him in for some reason.


    At least I beat Gold in our one and only fight.


    If I ever saw him again, I would know for sure that whoever did this to me, has it out for me.


    <hr>


    Authors Note: Hey there. Pokemon story here! Hope you enjoy... gotta few chapters for this one so I''ll upload them when I get the chance.


    If you''re interested in the story and wanna chat you can always join my discord :) Code is: discord.gg/BFFtXAXFU7

 Knowledge is Power

    "Why do I have so many of the same outfits?" I thought in annoyance, stifling a yawn as the morning sun attempted to blind me.


    It was about 7 in the morning and the only reason I knew that, was because I had pulled an all nighter doing some studying.


    I was expecting to be more tired, but I was doing fairly well for myself.


    Currently, I was rummaging through my bag and trying to get a feel for things in there. Not only that, I was sorting all the items as well in this technologically impossible bag.


    While sorting everything out, I came to some pretty logical conclusions.


    A lot of these things I owned, were not stolen by Silver. Based on my account, I was just really well off for the time being.


    Based on my heavy amounts of research last night, many many notable trainers had a sponsor. Whether it be a clan, like Lance or a professor, like Gold and Crystal, exceptional trainers were normally being supported by someone that saw their potential.


    Naturally, there were exceptions. Pokemon Trainers were not a dying breed. Almost everyone became a trainer because quite frankly, it was the dream career.


    But not everyone had the talent for it. Those who didn''t, could still go on journeys of course but they very likely didn''t get sponsored and had to rely on their own resources to make do.


    Now the differences between being sponsored and not being sponsored weren''t that big¡­ the gap just widened depending on what your benefactor chose to do for you.


    If you were born into a wealthy family, you were practically sponsored from birth. They''d get you just about any pokemon you wanted, fund all your travels, make sure you''re always stocked up¡­


    It was pampering. Too pampering. Trainers born into wealth, typically became strong but they never became exceptional.


    The money would help them reach a high level, but they often lacked natural talent.


    Rich kids didn''t have much respect around here¡­ it was kinda funny.


    There were exceptions but this tended to be the norm.


    Some people got sponsored by gym leaders. This was typically preparing them for joining the Pokemon League as Ace Trainers or becoming a Gym Trainer for them.


    Hell, some were even outright planned to be successors for the Gym. It was mostly aspiring specialists who got sponsored by Gym Leaders and truly exceptional ones, even got scouted by the Elite 4.


    Professors like Oak and Elm, gave their sponsors one of the vaulted starter pokemon and some provisions to get started off, then took a largely offhand approach.


    From what I gathered, you could find the starters in the wild but they were fairly rare and tended to prefer specific areas.


    Not to mention, the starters given out were specifically bred for trainers. They were often better than their wild counterparts and raised in an ideal environment to boot.


    Finally, there were cases like Champion Lance Wataru and Steven Stone. The two strongest trainers governing the regions I was currently interested in.


    Kanto and Johto were actually heavily into clans. It wasn''t as common as back in the days but I didn''t really care about the past to search that up and just knew that it simply died out as time passed.


    Something about a war. Maybe I''d look into that¡­ but probably not. I didn''t have time to search up history when I barely knew what was happening in the present.


    But I digress, Lance was still apart of a rather prominent clan called the Wataru Clan, that resided in Blackthorn City, and had a good relationship with most dragons, the most prominent being of course, Dratini.


    When you had rule over dragons, it made sense that they were still a clan.


    Naturally, Lance had been sponsored by his clan and as the most promising trainer of his generation, it was natural they gave him one of their prized Dratini.


    Cue, dominance.


    Not only was Lance given one of the best starts a trainer could ask for, he was genuinely a talented trainer so it was natural he took over the region with nary a problem.


    Steven Stone wasn''t apart of a clan, but he may as well have been. He was born under the biggest corporation in Hoenn and Devon Corps practically ruled the region on the business side.


    Not to mention¡­ just like how the Wataru Clan had quite the stranglehold on most Dratini¡­ the Stone Family practically had a monopoly on the Beldum line.


    That must have been the reason why you couldn''t find any Beldums in the wild when playing the Hoenn games.


    The only one you get, is because of Steven himself handing it over.


    Steven was sponsored by Devon Corps and his father ran the corporation too. I didn''t need to say anymore.


    Cynthia Shirona, was one of the trainers who hadn''t gotten sponsored by anyone of note. She had an average start and clawed her way to the top of the world with sheer skill alone and a hungry little Gible.


    Fitting for the boogeyman of most Pokemon players life.


    Now why did I explain all of that?


    Because I''m pretty sure Silver was sponsored at some point by someone of note. I''m not sure what the story behind it was, but I was almost certainly sponsored by a person and for reasons I didn''t know, I abandoned that position.


    I didn''t know who it was¡­ but I was way to well off in a way that thievery just wouldn''t solve.


    Hell, the reason I came to that conclusion was because I had a portable stove! I was currently munching on a breakfast burrito and the heat was doing a great job of burning my tongue and keeping me awake.


    Off to the side, Chikorita and Zorua were chowing on their own food I had prepared for them.


    I stared at them in contemplation.


    Looking at it from the perspective of my revelations, it made sense that I had Zorua now and he was so talented. My sponsor must have given him to me but Silver was a greedy bastard and wanted more.


    Respectable. If he had the skills, might as well abuse em.


    That begged another question. Did my sponsor not know who I was? Why did they become my benefactor? Was Silver even good at pretending to be in a person''s good grace?


    I doubted it. I was barely able to hold a civil conversation with that middle aged woman yesterday. Trying to do it for a prolonged period was hell.


    So my sponsor was likely someone who knew and cultivated my bad habits and if they did that, it made sense that I eventually decided to escape from them.


    Was it that masked man from the mangas? The one who kidnapped Silver and Green?


    No... I don''t think so. Whenever I thought of someone, my body would instinctively react if I knew them and thoughts of the Masked Man brought up nothing.


    That must have meant it was Giovanni and Team Rocket...


    I would have only thought it was just Team Rocket but I harbored a hate (and fear) for Giovanni too so he was involved in some way.


    So Giovanni himself took a vested interest in me and became my sponsor? That had to have been the only explanation.


    It would explain everything but it made me feel kind of bad for Silver if it was true. He does become a better person later on in media, so maybe he had always been a good person but got turned into a piece of shit.


    But why Silver? Was it because I was born in Viridian?


    I was missing something important here... But Silver was gifted so it''s not that surprising that people were interested in him.


    Hmm. I didn''t have anything cluing me in except for emotions but surely there was some information somewhere? With this knowledge, it would probably be wise for me to avoid Kanto... but I wanted some answers because I was tired of being confused.


    Well, I''d dwell on it later. The only reason I had even started this train of thought, was because of how many convenient items I had in my bag that improved my livelihood.


    Food, a tent, clothes¡­ Hell I even had things for bathing¡­ though unfortunately, a portable shower did not exist.


    Still, Silver was very prepared.


    I couldn''t get over how this bag just defied the laws of physics with how many things were stored in here. The most egregious thing about it, was the fact that the weight didn''t even register on my back.


    It was pretty neat. It even had a compartment for storing Pokemon Eggs.


    Thanks whoever dunked me into this world. I had no interest in walking around 24/7 holding an incubator.


    "Zorua, Chikorita. Let''s train until it''s time to go. We won''t be able to for a bit until we''ve gotten to Olivine so let''s put some effort into this one."


    My two pokemon barked affirmatively and got to work, while I cleaned up our temporary base.


    No news of Mr. Pokemon had gotten out yet, which led me to believe that he was still unconscious but that wouldn''t be for long.


    With any luck, if they made the connection with Elm''s lab, they''d suspect that I was heading through a pretty linear route through the Johto region.


    It would give me more then enough time, considering Olivine was so far away.


    Gold and Crystal still hadn''t reported me and I was beginning to think they wanted a crack at me themselves so they could bring me to justice or whatever nonsense.


    I frowned at that as I slipped into my workout routine.


    The fact of the matter was, Gold, Crystal and I were the trio of the Johto Region that started their journeys at the same time.


    That meant we''d always be relative in skill. Not only that, Silver was on the back foot because unlike Blue, he didn''t become Champion before his rival.


    I don''t even know if Silver competed against the Elite 4.


    Sure, Silver and Gold were far more relative in the Manga but I was beginning to think the only thing Manga related, were the characters we were.


    Coupled with the fact the both of them seemed competent? This wasn''t the Johto games, where the main character is a prodigy of a trainer, while the other gender is largely useless.


    No, in this one Gold and Crystal seemed like they knew their stuff. I don''t know which of them is in the position of main character status but knowing my luck, I was in a nightmare scenario where both of them were relatively equal.


    Two future champion level trainers hunting me down¡­ it didn''t matter if I became a champion level trainer, 2 on 1 was still 2 on 1.


    Leaving Johto was for the best. I may have gotten my win against Gold now, but who knows what could change.


    The only thing somewhat reassuring, was the presence Team Rocket had in the Johto region. It was a fair amount but the criminals operated in mostly Kanto.


    What did this mean for me? We probably weren''t in the video game timeline.


    At the time of Gold and Crystal''s journey, Team Rocket should have no influence at all in Kanto, while operating dominantly in Johto due to being disbanded.


    No Team Rocket meant I was probably dealing with a version of those two that weren''t directly ripped from the video games which was especially ideal.


    Game version of Gold and Crystal = Instant game over for me if we ever meet again.


    That''s why I was so set on leaving Johto. I don''t know which universe of this world I''m in but I''m beginning to think it''s some weird mash of various forms of the media.


    I saw some things that supported this being the game world, saw even more things supporting this being manga. Hell, maybe those new locations I learned about came from the anime.


    I froze completely.


    Oh no¡­ The anime.


    Was the reason that Red did not exist in this world¡­ because of the actual existence of Ash Ketchum?!


    Oh no no no. Personal grievances for that dumbass aside, Ash Ketchum''s world was horrific.


    This world already proved to me that it had no qualms showing me the darker side of Pokemon that only the manga deigned to show. If they applied that to the anime, everyone was in for a lot of trouble.


    After all, Ash Ketchum was a legendary magnet and I for one, did not want the thread of life and death, being decided by some idiot.


    Chosen one my ass. If I was hesitant to go to Kanto before, it was gone. If Ash Ketchum existed, I needed to monitor and make sure my goals of staying alive, were maintained.


    Maybe I wasn''t in a world with him. Maybe Ash Ketchum doesn''t exist and in this timeline, Red is just starting his journey at the same time as me for whatever reason.


    I''m 12 in this timeline instead of 10 like in the games¡­ maybe he really didn''t exist.


    I let out a suffering sigh.


    Oh who am I kidding? Ash Ketchum totally exists in this world doesn''t he?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    After brooding for a while with the knowledge that I probably existed in a world with both Ash and Gold (I don''t even know where my hate for Gold came from, I actually thought he was fairly cool back in my own world but now I can''t stand him¡­ somewhat), I decided to stop being emo and got back to work.


    I didn''t really fancy meeting Legendary Pokemon, but if I wanted to decide my own life, I probably needed to make sure whatever life ending event Ash causes, doesn''t affect me.


    Besides, a Legendary probably dropped me in this world. The most logical guess would be some twisted teamwork between all of the Sinnoh legends for some reason.


    How would I even garner an audience with Arceus? What would I even learn? Would I even want to go back?


    No point thinking about it right now. Maybe far into the future but by then, I imagine most of what I knew about my old world would be gone, considering I was assimilating with Silver.


    Legends were a trip and now I was in a situation where I probably knew what disasters they''d cause, so I''d have to try and stop them.


    I couldn''t help the small shudder when I thought about the calamities known as Groudon and Kyogre.


    Hopefully, the timeline was kind to me and Hoenn''s catastrophe was not about to start anytime soon. That one was probably the one I wanted to happen the least.


    At the very least, in this world¡­ Legendaries were just that, legends.


    There was no recorded trainer with a Legendary Pokemon. I didn''t know if that was true, but I imagine a trainer holding a legendary, would make waves around the world.


    For now at least, no trainers like Tobias or the Pyramid King, Brandon, who still existed in this world mind you, were waltzing around with legendaries.


    Good. Normal Pokemon were already dangerous. I had no clue how powerful legendaries were, but something told me the gap between them and a normal pokemon, was a lot larger than the games or anime made them out to be.


    I was currently camped out in the forests like usual. People didn''t go off route, like at all. I assumed it was because of the more dangerous Pokemon that hid in here, but besides that grumpy Victreebel (that had given me a scare of my life), the stronger Pokemon were content to leave me alone.


    I doubted they''d be as friendly to me, if I were in a forest that wasn''t right outside a human settlement.


    But this was good. It was building experience. I was already getting used to camping out and I imagine it was something I was going to have to get increasingly familiar with.


    I sighed. My life really wasn''t easy right now. I''m just glad I actually had preexisting knowledge on this world. I had been quite the fan as a kid.


    Hell, the reason I wanted to go to Kanto was because I played those games enough times to wear out the cartridges.


    If either Kanto or Hoenn of all regions confused me, I was doomed to navigate this world with misinformation that could screw me harder than not knowing anything.


    But if they didn''t, I could give myself quite the advantage.


    I huffed and wiped the sweat off my forehead, checking the time in the process and seeing that it was 9.


    I still had a good bit of time to kill and I wasn''t really interested in going into Cherrygrove, so I might as well go even harder with training.


    "Chikorita, Zorua. Spar with each other," I decided. "Try to utilize your new moves. Afterwards, let''s talk tactics and plans moving forward."


    My two pokemon looked a bit surprised by that but recovered admirably, stopping their respective training in order to prepare.


    "It''s a friendly spar and don''t worry, I have potions. Since Chikorita won''t be battling another trainer for a while, she should get experience with you," I explained to the two.


    Zorua and Chikorita both o''d in realization, before nodding to me and getting in their stances.


    "I''m not giving out orders. I don''t want you guys to solely rely on my orders. Especially you, Zorua. Since you''ll be all about trickery, having me announce all your moves would be stupid. In the future, your judgement will be just as important as mine."


    It was gonna take a lot of work, but it could be amazing if it worked like I wanted it too. Mixing in fake orders with real ones, raising paranoia¡­ based on what I was catching, Zorua was probably not going to be my strongest Pokemon but damn it if I don''t make him one of the scariest to face.


    Zorua and Chikorita squared off with competitive gazes. They assessed the others and no doubt, were running through plans on how to best approach this.


    I watched with clear interest. Zorua and Chikorita got along pretty well with each other.


    Chikorita was indirectly encouraging the dark type to be more relaxed around me and she also respected that he was my first Pokemon too.


    It was odd to see them glaring challengingly at each other.


    "Begin," I said calmly, narrowings my eyes in preparation to analyze the battle.


    Chikorita wasted no time summoning razor sharp leaves that she launched at her opponent.


    Zorua''s eyes narrowed slightly and he deftly moved to the right to avoid the Razor Leaf, before shrouding himself in dark energy and lunging forward at incredible speeds.


    Chikorita had no time to react to the attack and she let out a squeal of surprise as Zorua bashed into her with Pursuit.


    The few seconds it took her to recover, let Zorua leap back and he dodged a wild swipe of her vines.


    He began dancing around the vines attempting to grab him with surprising dexterity.


    "Zor, zor," Zorua said mockingly to her, causing Chikorita to growl in annoyance.


    Without even realizing she had been caught in the rudimentary Taunt, Chikorita began shooting out an admirable amount of Razor Leafs that Zorua deftly dodged.


    So caught up in her annoyance, Chikorita didn''t notice that Zorua got clipped by a Razor Leaf without any reaction.


    She soon found out why, as the dark type banished his illusion from his position behind her and leapt with that familiar black energy.


    The pursuit slammed into Chikorita once more and she yelped, tumbling across the ground before getting up and growling.


    "That''s enough," I said, pondering the rather one-sided affair with a thoughtful expression.


    I could already see how that was going to turn out. Zorua was much faster than Chikorita was and she could barely react to him. He was just going to keep repeating that until Chikorita couldn''t keep up anymore and fainted.


    It would have worked too. Chikorita didn''t have the answers yet to deal with a style like that but she would have it eventually.


    Chikorita looked a little put out that I called the match but I put a hand on her head reassuringly.


    "Don''t worry. What I saw was enough for me to help you guys improve," I muttered with a contemplative expression.


    She nodded hesitantly and I decided to show her what I meant by pointing out her issues first.


    "Chikorita, you''re too slow," I said bluntly. "You react slowly, you move slowly and Zorua took advantage of that. On the bright side, you can take a hit but fast opponents will eat you alive if we don''t work on that now."


    She flinched back at my assessment and I felt a little bad for her.


    "Hey, don''t worry. We probably won''t be able to make you really fast, but if we can improve your reaction time and the speed of your vines, you can slow them down. In the first place, I want you to control the pace of the fight so their speed won''t matter when I get you where I want you," I reassured.


    The Meganium line weren''t know for their speed and were rather slow up until they actually reached their final evolution and even then, it wasn''t super impressive.


    I didn''t want to focus on her speed though. I just needed to make sure she could react to opponents that did focus on speed and then neutralize them while weathering all the blows in the process.


    It didn''t matter how fast you were when there was nowhere to maneuver or no way to hit their opponent.


    "I want you and Zorua to train together sometimes. Just try and catch him while he''s running full speed, alright?" I asked.


    This would incentivize Zorua to get even faster as well and then Chikorita would want to capture that faster version. It was a win-win that would help them continuously grow with each other.


    Chikorita pondered that, before nodding in determination.


    Satisfied, I turned towards Zorua. "You did good," I praised the dark type with a contemplative expression.


    "We need to work on your power output because its lacking. Just waiting for evolution isn''t satisfying enough. I want you to be strong before it, so that evolution enhances that."


    I have no idea when Zorua was going to evolve but I believe that I would begin to see signs when the time was coming.


    But that didn''t mean I couldn''t get started early. If Zorua got strong as a Zorua, he''d be ridiculous as a Zoroark.


    Simple maths.


    Now the best way to increase his power output, was to increase how much dark type energy he could use.


    How to increase his storage? It was like training muscles. Wear it out completely and let it rebuild!


    That was the same with all Pokemon actually. It was actually pretty fascinating and I vowed to research some more later.


    "Alright you two, I want you to use your moves until you can''t anymore. While you do that, we can start talking boring stuff," I decided.


    We still had about 4 hours and 30 minutes left, best to make it worth it.


    "Alright, let''s talk about you twos roles on the team first," I muttered.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    At about 12, we bathed, cleaned up camp and I returned the exhausted Zorua and Chikorita to their balls.


    I yawned tiredly, as I made the trek to Cherrygrove. Not even bathing in that cool water had much effect besides a temporary shock.


    Seems like the effects of pulling that all nighter, were catching up to me and I slowly trudged back to the town with a lazy expression.


    I scratched the visible parts of my red hair (the rest was stuffed under a hat right now) and marveled at the unique color.


    I still didn''t understand the specifics of this body takeover, but I was beginning to suspect that it wasn''t a full takeover like I had initially thought.


    To be frank, I was too comfortable with everything Pokemon related in a way that didn''t fit how long I''ve been in this world.


    Not to mention that stunt from yesterday, the one where I realized I subconsciously saw myself as Silver and it had leaked into my actual thoughts.


    I was beginning to think I was some weird mix of whoever I was before and Silver. It was getting increasingly easier to apply the things I could do in muscle memory the more I practiced.


    It almost felt like I was relearning skills that I forgot. A slow process but much easier than I was expecting.


    As I walked into Cherrygrove, I headed straight to the small dock of the city.


    Chatter and people filled the entire town, afternoon heat being amplified by just how many individuals were bustling about.


    I scowled as someone bumped into me and shot them a ferocious glare.


    The annoyed person, who looked like they had been about to say something, shut their mouth and briskly walked away, getting a scoff out of me.


    Good to know that I wasn''t the only one who thought these silver eyes could be unsettling. Silver had a great set of features for intimidating people, that would only get better with age.


    At my pace, I made it to my destination in around 10 minutes and couldn''t help but sigh at the salty breeze. It wasn''t one I was used to but nice all the same.


    Though, I would probably get tired of it real fast.


    I approached the burly sailor there and flashed my ticket without any hesitation.


    He grabbed it out my hands and inspected it before nodding.


    "Room 302. It''ll take half a day to make it to Olivine," he said simply, beckoning me forward.


    I nodded and walked past him. Stifling another yawn, I gazed at the ship I''d be boarding with an impressed expression.


    It was big. Much bigger than I was expecting it to be too be honest but I supposed most things were bigger to accommodate Pokemon and what not.


    The white ship with a flexing Poliwrath designed on it, might have been one of the corniest things I''d ever seen but I wasn''t going to judge... more than I already had.


    The main deck was nice and spacious, but I didn''t take long to admire it, opting to head straight to my room instead.


    "300¡­ 301¡­" I muttered, barely sparing the people on the ship a glance.


    I nearly let out an audible sigh of relief as I saw my room and wasted no time entering it.


    The room was very spacious, able to probably house a team of 6 as long as multiple were not above human size.


    I took my sneakers off and placed them to the side, before leaping on the comfortable bed without any hesitation.


    Before the lull of sleep could claim me, I let out the worn out Zorua and Chikorita and they blinked at the feeling of being on top of a mattress.


    "Make yourselves comfortable," I muttered, yawning and shutting my eyes. "I''m going to sleep. If you aren''t sleeping and I am when we arrive to Olivine, wake me up."


    Zorua nodded after a bit, while Chikorita squealed and leapt into me, getting comfortable herself.


    The dark type watched the two with an exasperated expression, before trotting along the bed and joining them.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "What do you think of Silver?"


    Chikorita perked up at that question and regarded Zorua with a tilted head.


    They were both laying next to the slumbering body of their trainer, when Zorua had randomly sprung that question to her.


    She liked Zorua. He was playful but had enough sense to be serious and he was nice to her too.


    "Silver''s awesome!" Chikorita gushed eventually. "He''s nice to me and he actually picked me before Toto and Cynd! I never thought that would happen!"


    Zorua wasn''t so sure it was intentional that Silver picked her, but after seeing the other two¡­ he also agreed with his trainer that Chikorita was for the best.


    "What about what we do?" He asked curiously. "You really don''t have a problem with it?"


    "I don''t really care," she admitted. "Silver''s nice to me so I''m satisfied! If he wants me to do something, I''ll do it!"


    Zorua pondered her response.


    Yes, Silver was nice to her. Silver was nice to the both of them¡­ but that wasn''t how Silver used to act.


    His trainer was cold, cruel and didn''t show 20% of the things his current Silver did.


    Current Silver was far more open with his emotions and while he was still cold and rude, that didn''t apply to Zorua and Chikorita anymore¡­


    It was strange. His personality hadn''t done a complete 180, but it had done enough for Zorua to understand something had changed within his trainer.


    There were many times when he could see glimpses of the former Silver¡­ but it was never directed towards them.


    He wasn''t as talented as the old Silver and he seemed to realize that too, working on reaching that similar level.


    Who was he?


    He smelled like Silver, he looked like Silver¡­ he acted like Silver, he was Silver¡­ but he wasn''t Silver.


    Zorua looked at the sleeping redhead with a confused expression.


    "What about you Zorua? You''ve been with him for a long time so what do you think of Silver?" Chikorita asked curiously, burrowing into his body and getting their trainer to grumble a bit, before he rested a hand on her.


    The grass typed sighed in bliss, preparing to fall asleep.


    What did he think?


    ¡­Truthfully, Zorua much preferred this version over the other Silver. He had a better personality and was improving in the skills he lost, quickly.


    Not to mention, when giving them advice and training them¡­ that was when he was most like Silver but it didn''t feel bad at all¡­


    "I think he''s a great trainer," Zorua said eventually, making his away atop the teen with a pleased expression. "With him, we''ll get really strong."


    "I think so too," Chikorita said sleepily. "Next time, I''ll beat you," she muttered, falling into slumber.


    Zorua snorted and closed his eyes too.


    If Silver remained like this, Zorua would have no complaints.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Olivine City looked far more like a port city then the games made it out to be.


    By that, I meant the port itself was gigantic. If someone told me it took up half the sizable city, I''d wholeheartedly believe them.


    My ship was just one of many coming in that day. Boats of all sizes were everywhere. Some went in, others went out and I couldn''t keep my awe down at seeing just how much there were.


    Some ships completely eclipsed the one I had rode here and I wasn''t even sure ships this size existed back in my old world!


    The trip from Cherrygrove to Olivine hadn''t really been eventful at all.


    I spent the majority of it sleeping and when I woke up, I grabbed food, headed back into my room and continued doing a lot of research on this world while Zorua and Chikorita lazed about.


    There was just so much foreign info about this world but at the same time, I couldn''t help but be fascinated by it all.


    After all, my world didn''t have supernatural creatures fighting each other as sport. Pokemon Battling was the most popular sport on this planet by a landslide and its only real competition were Contests.


    This world revolved around Pokemon and everything, and I mean everything, involved them in some way or another.


    It''s no wonder Silver was able to break into the lab. People relied so much on Pokemon simple little things like security cameras, were not the norm.


    Why use a camera when you could use a psychic type. Why Elm didn''t use one himself? I didn''t have the slightest of clues. Maybe it was the typical naivety and lack of common sense most fictional worlds had.


    I wouldn''t be surprised.


    Whenever I had free time, I usually spent it researching more on this world and honestly, I think my Silver half was playing a huge part here because I was understanding and retaining it all fairly easily.


    It felt like I was jogging my own memory and I was very thankful for that, else I''d have yet another difficulty in my already hectic life.


    I sighed as my ship docked into the city and wasted no time getting off. Scowling a bit at the annoyance of it all, I headed straight into the building that handled traveling and made my way to the counter.


    A pretty girl stared boredly as I approached. Her eyes perked up in interest and she stared at my face for a while, before coming to a realization and losing whatever interest she had.


    I paid it no mind. I knew I was good looking and that was that.


    "Are there any boats headed to the Hoenn region?" I asked bluntly.


    She blinked, either caught off guard by my straight to the point attitude, or the contents of my question.


    "One second¡­" she pondered, gazing at her computer. Her fingers deftly began moving across the keyboard and she pursed her lips.


    "There''s a ferry scheduled for Hoenn in 3 days time. That''s the closest we have," the lady informed me after a moment.


    3 days¡­ that wasn''t great but it was way better than I expected.


    "How much?" I asked.


    "5000 Poke," she smiled at me.


    I rummaged in my bag for the necessary amount and pulled out the funds, before handing it to her and accepting my ticket.


    The fantastic thing about this world, was that travel was fairly cheap. It wasn''t in high demand because any trainer worth their salt, could travel by flight or water with a Pokemon.


    If their prices were ludicrous, people would just stick to Pokemon. I read around that you could even pay some trainers to surf, fly or hell, even teleport, with their Pokemon.


    Though, teleporters were usually sanctioned by the Pokemon League. It probably didn''t stop illegal teleporters from running their business, but teleporting could be dangerous in the wrong hands.


    Ferries were pretty damn cheap and considering how far the trip was, 5000 Poke wasn''t bad at all.


    I didn''t really know the currency conversion, but I know for a fact 5000 Poke was not 5000 dollars. It was way less. Like 50 bucks?


    The girl typed some more on her computer before nodding.


    "Show up in 3 days before 11 am. You will be given the necessary lodgings on the day you''re boarding and the trip should take another 2 days," she informed me.


    So 5 days in total¡­ Great. Even more studying.


    I sighed. Time to use these 3 days to train since we''d be cooped up in our room the entire time.


    "Alright," I said, turning away and heading out the building.


    As I made it to the doors, I noticed a pile of maps, that highlighted the more notable places of Olivine and grabbed it.


    Smart. Put a map for anyone who lands here so that they could milk you of money.


    The salty breeze hit me as soon as I walked out, but I ignored it in favor of inspecting the map.


    "I should stock up on provisions."


    I had plenty of Potions and Poke Balls from my trip in Elm''s lab and considering I wasn''t comfortable enough to enter a Pokemon Center, it was a good thing I did.


    Pokemon Centers¡­ I had yet to actually step in the incredibly important building, huh. I hadn''t really battled anyone after my fight with Gold so I wasn''t pressed and entering a Center could be very risky.


    Not to mention if they saw Chikorita¡­ Yeah, it seems I''d be waiting until I landed in Hoenn to enter a Pokemon Center.


    Which meant taking it easy. We would focus on training up our fundamentals and current moves in the meantime.


    Learning all these new moves were cool¡­ but this wasn''t the games. I couldn''t just tack on a new, stronger move and life was sweet.


    No, this world wasn''t as static. Mastering the moves they knew, could allow them to get full value out of it and have an easier time learning new moves as well.


    So for now, I''d have Zorua and Chikorita learn the moves I designated for them, then they could work hard to master them.


    It would help with conserving and expanding their stores too. The more they mastered, the easier it would be to use, the less energy they would spend using it.


    Hopefully this was the way to go. I was just basing this on theory and that one quote about being more afraid to face that one guy who practiced one kick 10,000 times over the dude who practiced 10,000 kicks.


    Fundamentals were important in everything. I doubted it would be different here and training was actually really effective.


    So more training, more studying, more ships¡­ I found myself cringing in discontent.


    I needed to make it to Hoenn quickly so I could fill myself with some excitement.


    After all, my plans there were pretty crazy.


    But if it worked¡­ if it succeeded!


    On the topic of Hoenn¡­ I just realized I was in a port city and I''d definitely need something for one of my specific goals.


    Gazing at the map in renewed interest, I found the location of what I was probably looking for and headed there with renewed vigor, realizing I probably needed to buy even more stuff than my original goal.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    One thing I needed to get used to, were my capabilities.


    My mind was just not used to the skill I could exert at times and it showed while I was ransacking these stores.


    I was very cautious and paranoid, second guessing myself a lot...


    But the doubt was very much not needed. I possessed unreal athleticism and prodigious skills in espionage.


    After about the third store, I realized that they weren''t letting me get away with stealing... they just simply did not notice my efforts, even when I got particularly bold.


    It... was kind of ego boosting as hell... With the help of Zorua (who was hiding in my jacket), I was taking things almost effortlessly in their faces and I was steadily getting more and more confident as I built up my daylight robbing skills.


    My abilities were swiftly improving and I attributed that to the fact that my and Silver''s minds were steadily melding further and further.


    Despite the events of Newbark, I operated this body like it had always been mine. There was no discomfort at all and my skills had been picking up at speeds that indicated I simply forgot how to do things.


    Case in point, the fact that I was comfortably stealing from these places.


    The only problem was that, as mentioned before, part of my mind and body weren''t matching very well. The part that lacked the psychotic levels of confidence to steal a Pokemon from a well respected figure with no disguise on, then walk around the entire region without a care in the world.


    No, I was a lot more cautious then Silver had been and it must have reflected in the way we operated our more nefarious dealings.


    Silver wouldn''t have knocked out Mr. Pokemon was my bet. He would have slunk around the whole house arrogantly, while stealing right under the man''s nose.


    But I immediately went and knocked him unconscious, not willing to even risk his suspicion.


    I supposed as I reached the skills that this body used to have, I''d reach that level of arrogance... because Silver''s personality was seeping into my own without me even realizing.


    As time went by, it did seem as if I was becoming Silver himself and I wondered if there would be a day, where I fully acknowledged myself as the original of this body.


    It was strange. Despite still clearly being influenced by Silver, it wasn''t invasive or uncomfortable... half the time, I didn''t even notice my other halfs influence, but it was fairly prominent and seemed to only grow more prominent as time passed.


    Did my other half have an active thought like mine? Was I stifling him?


    ...I don''t think so. I don''t know what happened to Silver but if we truly did merge... he probably didn''t exist anymore.


    No... that probably wasn''t true.


    He was just probably me and I was him... I wonder if these thoughts weren''t just mine. Maybe they were ours.


    This was awkward to think about and a little strange too... I should go clear my mind.


    I had finished getting all the provisions I needed in preparation for Hoenn and the constant buzz and popularity of Olivine was a little insufferable so I was going to go find a spot to relax and train in.


    Hopefully something out of sight. I didn''t want to be bothered at all during my stay here.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Oh... I didn''t expect anyone to be here!"


    I wiped the sweat off my brow at that and stood up to inspect the person who said that.


    Chikorita and Zorua were a ways away to train without killing me unintentionally and I narrowed my eyes slightly, thankful that they weren''t in the immediate vicinity.


    Why?


    Because this goddamn person I was talking too, was probably able to very easily capture me if I raised even a little bit of suspicion.


    "Who the hell are you?" I said loudly, making sure my two companions could hear me.


    I said it mostly for them because I already knew who this was¡­ at least I think I did.


    Long brown hair, a teal dress and a large ribbon covering her chest¡­


    Wasn''t this the gym leader of Olivine? Probably one of the more forgettable gym leaders in the franchise.


    But I knew her though. This was Jasmine. Of course I knew her because she was the first steel type gym leader introduced and Steel happened to be one of my favorite types.


    "Oh, I''m sorry! I didn''t mean to be rude," Jasmine said with a flushed expression, bowing to me politely.


    Now you''re probably wondering why I was convinced she''d capture me in a split second¡­


    "I''m Jasmine, the Gym Leader of Olivine and this is Empy! It''s nice to meet you."


    ...The 6ft tall Penguin glaring down at me in a superior manner, was the reason.


    To make matters worse, 6 Poke Balls were nestled neatly on her waist and I imagined she was waltzing around with an Empoleon because Steelix was a bit too noticeable.


    ...What the hell was my luck? I wasn''t even in the city. Give me a break.


    I was in a secluded area of Route 40, just training up a bit before getting ambushed by the strongest person in Olivine.


    I resisted the urge to scowl and gazed at the teen (she didn''t look much older than me) with a raised brow.


    "Jasmine? The Gym Leader? What are you doing here?" I asked curiously, frowning at having my area invaded upon.


    She smiled at me, contrasting her Empoleon greatly and I eyed the thing with an unimpressed expression, refusing to allow myself to be intimidated.


    I had seen scarier.


    ...Wait, I had?


    For some reason, my lack of fear seemed to satisfy it and it''s glare lessened considerably.


    Guess it was a respect thing. Neat.


    "I have no challengers scheduled for today, so I decided to go for a walk. I like to come here because it gives a beautiful view of the sea and Empy really likes it," she explained politely.


    I pondered her response with a stern frown, mulling over it.


    "Don''t you normally hole yourself in the lighthouse? I heard you practically live there," I asked, beckoning Zorua to my position.


    Chikorita made sure to stay put but I needed to do this before she got curious and found my grass type.


    Jasmine nodded and gazed at Zorua with affectionate eyes, taken by the cute guy. "A lot of ships came in today¡­ and I don''t do good with crowds. Not many people know about this spot and I even made it a little harder to find, so I''m surprised to see someone else here."


    Not many people? This spot had been so easy to find and I had chosen it because of how it had no on here¡­ What was she talking about-


    Ah¡­ I get it now. This spot actually wasn''t easy to find was it... and my skills blinded me from that.


    Damn it all. I invited this didn''t I? Sure the timing was convenient, but it made perfect sense.


    "Ah so this is your special spot... my bad," I muttered, brows furrowed.


    Being somewhat courteous was probably the best course of action here. Wouldn''t be good to make a gym leader suspicious of me right before freedom.


    Jasmine waved her hands frantically. "Please don''t apologize! It''s my special spot but... I don''t mind company really!"


    "She''s way too nice," I thought. Maybe that''s why the Empoleon was with her, so no one could take advantage of this nice girl.


    "Don''t sweat it, I get needing to be alone for a bit," I grunted, raking a hand against Zorua''s tuft and placing him on the floor. "I''m just about done anyways so have at it recluse."


    Zorua trotted away and I idly watched him go, keeping my eyes on the gym leader all the while.


    Empoleon spared my dark type a single glance before rolling its eyes and heading to the source of water, deeming me a nonthreat.


    If only it knew¡­ I''m fairly sure I could strike and knock her unconscious before she could summon another Pokemon.


    But that was unnecessary. Gold still hadn''t reported me yet so she didn''t have a reason to be suspicious of me.


    Zorua had wrapped an illusion around the ball I had given him and now Chikorita was secured firmly in her ball.


    Now I just needed to get this conversation over with and go to an area that did not have a gym leader just randomly visiting it.


    "Wait!" Jasmine said rather frantically and I paused in confusion.


    She must have noticed the strange look I shot her, because a blush of embarrassment made its way to her face.


    "Sorry it''s just¡­ it''s not often that someone speaks so normally to me¡­ I didn''t want the conversation to end because it was a little pleasant," she explained.


    I blinked before understanding dawned on me.


    Right. Gym Leaders were actually massive celebrities in this world. In fact, they were probably the most popular group of people in each region, barring the Elite 4.


    Popularity surely varied but Jasmine was a cutesy girl with a sweet personality so she must have been quite popular with the people of this world.


    It was natural that Jasmine probably didn''t have normal conversations. She may have not been very popular in my world, but that probably didn''t translate very well here.


    Even now, I didn''t really feel that same awe. It was moreso the fact that this was a character that existed in fiction that I was able to see¡­


    But I wasn''t really the fanboy type. It was kind of annoying and embarrassing.


    "...What do you want to talk about?" I said after a short while, cursing myself for being friendlier than normal.


    I should have just been a dick as usual but I didn''t feel like getting assaulted by a giant steel penguin and the knowledge that I was leaving Johto soon, had eased me up a bit.


    Note to my future self, be an even bigger asshole than before. It had been working out pretty well for me before.


    "...I''m not sure. I don''t really have personal friends. I really only have my pokemon and Amphy," she admitted embarrassingly.


    "...I''d call you a loser but I don''t have any friends either," I snorted.


    That would explain why she was so awkward.


    The gym leader smiled shakily at that, still a bit at a loss on what to say.


    It was getting to the point where I was silently rooting for her to think of something because this was just bad.


    "Oh! Are you a new trainer?" Jasmine asked curiously.


    I resisted the urge to clap for the socially lacking girl and decided to throw her a bone instead.


    "Yeah, I recently started. It''s just me and Zorua," I replied easily, hoisting up the little guy and putting Chikorita''s invisible poke ball in my pocket at the same time in one smooth motion.


    "A Zorua¡­ I''ve never actually seen one before! They typically inhabit Unova but it''s so far off," Jasmine awed, gazing at the dark type with interested eyes. "I''ve always wanted to raise a Ferroseed from that region because they are rare anywhere¡­ maybe I should look around."


    I couldn''t resist the snort this time.


    "As soon as the topic became about Pokemon, all your awkwardness flew out the window. It''s actually pretty adorable how much of a dork you are," I pointed out with an amused smirk.


    She reminded me of a socially awkward little sibling.


    Jasmine''s eyes widened at that and she began stammering with a red flush.


    "U-Um¡­ what about you? Why are you in Olivine? Do you plan on challenging me?" she asked curiously.


    I shook my head in denial. "I''m going to leave in a few days."


    She looked a bit disappointed by that but nodded. Before she could ask another question, such as my where I''d be heading, I decided to speak up.


    "You got a little too comfortable with me don''t you think? Are you that desperate for a friend?" I asked.


    Her flinching was the only reason I realized my question was asked a bit harshly.


    "Well um¡­ how can I put this," Jasmine muttered. "It''s¡­ I''ve never really spoken to anyone who acts like you and it''s refreshing," she admitted.


    Zorua and I blinked owlishly.


    "What?" I said slowly.


    The gym leader was very clearly getting more and more embarrassed. She looked like she was going to die on the spot and it was such a surreal sight.


    I was too curious to tell her to stop explaining though... so if she died, oh well.


    "You''re¡­ really blunt and kind of rude too," she told me. "So far you haven''t really held back your words at all to not hurt my feelings¡­ It''s different. Everyone else is really nice to me but it''s like that because I''m the gentle gym leader and they don''t want to hurt me."


    "...It''s just nice being treated like I''m not made of glass... it makes the conversation feel more genuine," Jasmine finished, ducking her head low to hide her face.


    It''s a good thing she did that because I was looking at her like she was absolutely insane.


    Did this girl just open up to me 10 minutes after meeting?


    "I really am in some type of fictional world because this isn''t natural. Where did this trust come from?" I thought in disbelief.


    "So you want to be friends with me¡­ because I''m a dick?" I asked incredulously, raising a red brow. It was a little hard for me to digest her words because it wasn''t making any sense to me at all.


    What type of sheltered life did she live, where someone like me, was making this nice and reserved gym leader feel good? That wasn''t supposed to be how it worked. She was supposed to be wanting to get away from me at all costs.


    She flushed at my crude language and flushed deeper at my question. "Well, when you put it like that¡­ you make me sound really weird."


    "That''s because you''re really weird," I said bluntly, sighing at the trainer that was a dozen times stronger than me currently.


    It was odd that I was having a conversation with a gym leader. To be honest, I didn''t spare them a single thought because they weren''t on my radar at the moment until I got to Kanto.


    I especially didn''t think about the Johto Gym Leaders. All of them were lackluster except for that one girl with the Miltank.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    The crybaby. Wait, weren''t there two crybabies in this region? The dragon girl threw a tantrum when you beat her too didn''t she?


    Losers. I should come back just to put them in the dirt and see the tantrums live.


    Here I was, chatting it up with one of the strongest Gym Leaders of the region and she wanted to be my friend.


    If only she knew.


    "If you wanna be friends, sure I really don''t care¡­ but I''m not staying here and I''m not a good friend to have," I stressed with a shrug.


    I didn''t see the problem denying her request. I was leaving the region anyways so we probably would not see each other again. This friendship was just an honorary thing ¡ª


    "You have a Pokegear or Pokedex, right? Let''s exchange numbers!" Jasmine smiled at me.


    ¡­


    I seriously don''t even know what I expected. God was I a dumbass sometimes. I really needed to actually starting thinking more before coming to decisions.


    "Yeah yeah yeah," I sighed, rummaging through my pocket and pulling out my Pokegear.


    "I''m still a gym leader you know. You don''t have to look so disgusted¡­ I also like helping new trainers out so I can give you tips!" Jasmine said, pouting a bit at my grumpy look.


    "The thought of interacting with other people, naturally fills me with disgust. It''s nothing personal," I grunted, recording her number and glancing at her own Pokegear.


    We chatted for about another hour and Jasmine took the chance to show me her team.


    Magny, her Magnezone. Bronzy, her Bronzong. Fortry, her Forretress. Skarmy, her Skarmory¡­ and Rusty, her Steelix.


    I gazed at all the steel types with wide eyes, soaking in their appearances with hard to hide awe.


    The pokemon I''ve seen so far, looked relatively normal despite clearly not being normal.


    These Pokemon were anything but. They were so different from normal animals that I couldn''t help but stare.


    Skarmory was the only one that really looked like an animal but it was also fully decked out in steel armor that shone in the sun.


    They were honest to god monsters.


    "You''re naming scheme is very original," I commented idly, gazing at the gargantuan Steelix with a bit of trepidation.


    Yeah there was no way seeing this thing through a screen was enough to prepare you for actually looking at one.


    The Steelix peered down at me, before smiling in, what I imagined, must have been gentle in its eyes, but was actually very unsettling in reality.


    It was so massive, I had to stamp down the instinctive urge to shudder.


    Still looked cool as hell though. Steel types were awesome.


    "Please don''t make fun of me," Jasmine requested with an embarrassed expression.


    "Where''s the fun in that?" I retorted calmly, gazing at the Bronzong in particular.


    This was the pokemon that looked the most bizarre. The giant blue bell thing stared at me and it was impossible for me to tell what was going on through its head¡­ considering I couldn''t really make out its expression.


    It hadn''t taken its eyes off me yet and I stared back in clear interest, wondering just why it refused to take its eyes off me.


    It was surreal. These guys were a lot more enthralling now that they weren''t just pixels on the screen.


    "Is there any steel type you''re interested in?" Jasmine asked me curiously.


    Oh you bet there was.


    "I''m not sure. I don''t really know what I want to catch right now but a steel type would be nice," I lied through my teeth.


    I knew exactly which one I wanted¡­ but I wouldn''t reveal that to Jasmine because it would be incredibly incriminating.


    Jasmine beamed and nodded. "If you ever need help with one, you can just ask me! Steel types are what I specialize in."


    "I wouldn''t have been able to guess," I said sarcastically. Forretress was currently floating way too close to me and I inspected the bug type, idly noting that Bronzong was still staring.


    This whole thing was so surreal. I was just here to train and somehow, I made friends with someone who had Pokemon that could crush me by accident and not even realize it.


    Jasmine''s team was strong. There wasn''t a hair out of place (even though none of them had hair) on their bodies and their steel armor was practically glowing in the sun.


    As someone who hardly paid mind to the sixth gym leader of Johto, it was humbling to know that someone I ran through without fail every single time, was suddenly way stronger than I ever expected them to be.


    "This is my main team," Jasmine explained. "You probably already know, but I use different Pokemon depending on how many badges a person has¡­"


    They change teams depending on badges? That makes sense¡­ it''s not like everyone would start in the beginner town and make their way through the region exactly like the main character.


    I raked a hand through Zorua''s fur as the guy finally let his guard down and began dozing off in my hold.


    "So what''s the percentage like?" I asked curiously, watching as Empy finally decided he had enough of swimming to meet up with his team. "Do you get trainers with 5 badges the most?"


    Surprisingly, she shook her head no.


    "According to the League¡­ Claire and I have the highest percentage of trainers with 1 or no badges challenging us," she revealed.


    I blinked in confusion.


    "What?"


    Her and Claire? The sixth and eighth gym? They were challenged first?


    Jasmine sighed in slight disappointment. "Steel types are a difficult type to deal with. Even trainers that are just reinstating their badges to reenter the Silver League, find me troublesome to deal with. New trainers typically battle me as early as possible, to deal with my weaker teams."


    Her chocolate brown eyes peered at me curiously. "It''s why I was so surprised you didn''t want to battle me¡­ my eight badge team uses at least one member of my main team, I only tend to get battled by specialists that counter steel," she explained.


    I nodded my head at her explanation. "So are you the strongest gym leader in the region or is it Claire?"


    Jasmine waved her hands frantically. "I don''t think I''m anywhere near the strongest! Claire, Buggy, Whitney, Morty¡­ Pryce¡­ Chuck, Falkner¡­" she mumbled.


    My silver eyes glared unimpressed at her. "Stop being so damn humble, idiot," I scowled.


    She just listed all the gym leaders and she happened to have the type advantage over half of them!


    The gym leader flinched back with wide eyes and her Pokemon perked up, staring suspiciously at me.


    I rolled my eyes.


    "Grow some backbone. Who do you really think is stronger than you? Be honest."


    Jasmine stared at me for a while, clearly unsure if she should be saying this aloud and I sighed.


    Great, now I was trying to make a meek and timid girl a bit more confident.


    "We''re the only ones here. Don''t be so reluctant. Say what you really think," I pressed calmly, gently bullying her into doing it.


    She wilted a bit under my gaze and I was starkly reminded of my silver eyes. I thought they were pretty cool but they could definitely be intimidating.


    "I think¡­ I can beat them all¡­ though Claire would probably beat me more often then not¡­ Pryce''s Mamoswine is also a force to be reckoned with and gives me a lot of trouble, but I can beat his others fairly easily. Chuck has a type advantage and more experience¡­ but my pokemon are stronger than his¡­ and I fight smarter too so I think I can beat him... the others would rarely get a victory over me except for maybe Morty," she quietly revealed.


    My brow raised at that and I couldn''t help the small smirk. "Was that so hard?" I couldn''t help but ask.


    "Yes," she answered truthfully, staring hard at the floor.


    I sweat at that.


    "So you can confidently beat 6 of the other Gym Leaders¡­ that''s pretty impressive," I praised truthfully.


    So Jasmine was way stronger than I gave her credit for. Maybe she could give me good pointers in the future.


    But for her sake, I probably wouldn''t message her much. She was a nice but naive girl and she was also setting herself up unknowingly to be my accomplice.


    I was an asshole, but I wasn''t that big of one. I''m not the type to get such a naive person wrongly incriminated.


    "You should be a little more confident in yourself¡­ you''re doing your Pokemon a disservice by downplaying what you can do," I shrugged.


    Jasmine reeled back at my words, eyes wide in a bit of shock before she began nodding to herself.


    "...I wasn''t expecting to get advice from a new trainer¡­ but you''re right. I should try to be a bit more confident in myself," she nodded in determination.


    "Yeah, it''s more enjoyable when you''re not getting walked over," I told her.


    "I-I wouldn''t call it getting walked over¡­ but thank you¡­"


    The gym leader''s eyes furrowed in confusion, before going wide in horror.


    "I never asked for your name!" She gasped in genuine horror. "Oh I''m so sorry! That''s so rude of me!"


    I shrugged uncaringly. "Silver."


    Might have been a mistake to tell her my name... but oh well. Getting exposed by Gold and Crystal was already the end of my slightly normal life so it lay in their hand.


    "Okay, Silver! I have to go now¡­ I stayed way longer than I expected," the gym leader told me, looking a bit saddened at that.


    "Sure. See ya Ms. Seventh Strongest Gym Leader," I waved.


    She flushed at that. "You''re the one who told me to be more confident¡­ why are you also teasing me?"


    "Because it''s fun."


    Jasmine sighed in exasperation. "This is what I meant. You''re so rude."


    I smirked. "You''re the one who wants to be friends. Haven''t changed your mind yet?"


    She shook her head immediately in denial. "I''ll be busy these upcoming days and I imagine you''ll be gone soon¡­ so I''ll send you messages or just call you¡­ if that''s okay! I can give you pointers and tips on your journey if you want."


    I listened to her ramblings with a thoughtful expression.


    Eventually I nodded and said, "Do whatever you want. Maybe I''ll come visit one day when I get stronger and give you a good battle."


    She lit up at that and I sighed.


    I wonder if I had any younger siblings in either world because Jasmine very much gave me little sister vibes, which was probably why I felt the need to encourage her in my own ways.


    It was satisfying to see people come out of their shell. Maybe that''s why I had gone and messed up this badly.


    Jasmine waved at me and her team nodded their head in respect at me, before she walked off.


    "Ah... you have finally lowered your defenses slightly, Moon Eyes. You are truly strange but I thank you for assisting Jasmine all the same."


    I jumped at that and blinked in confusion, jostling Zorua in my grasp and making him jump awake.


    "Rua?!"


    What the hell was that...? What was that tiny and broken whisper in my ears?


    "It is nearly impossible for me to continue responding while you have your defenses up... but I am the one known as Bronzy."


    I peeked up at that, gazing at the Bronzong floating away with wide eyes.


    Defenses? What the hell was he talking about?


    "While I appreciate your assistance of Jasmine, I must wonder. Just what are you? I have spent this entire time trying to understand and prod you to very little success. Just this current connection we have is incredibly fragile and requires intense concentration on my part."


    What¡­ What did he mean by that? What was he talking about?


    "It would be ideal if you did not respond. You are not normal, Moon Eyes."


    I furrowed my brows. There''s no way I''d be unable to respond after being told I''m not normal.


    "What do you mean by that?" I replied back slowly.


    For a second, Bronzong completely froze up and shuddered, before it resumed its movements.


    "Just the action of me communicating with you, is utterly draining. You responding in turn, is even more detrimental. If you''d so please, allow me more access so that I may enlighten you on my inquiries as quickly as possible."


    More access? Was I¡­ blocking out psychics?


    ...How?


    I frowned and scratched my head.


    How could I even give it more access? What did I have to do? Did I even want to do it?


    "Try relaxing. I believe delving deeper into your mind would end up with me breaking and I do not desire such an outcome so remaining on the surface is fine with me."


    I grunted and let my guard down just a little.


    "That is sufficient. Now, Moon Eyes, you likely are not aware, but you are filled with otherworldly energies that makes gleaning into you, next to impossible."


    My eyes widened in disbelief. Huh?


    "Your mind is almost completely inaccessible. It feels as if I''m navigating through thick fog and it seems you are not even aware of the walls setup, Moon Eyes. Not only that, your voice is utterly unbearable for me and likely other psychics as well. I find it hard pressed to identify you in the same vein as Jasmine."


    "I can no longer maintain a stable connection. Goodbye."


    Without even letting me question it, Bronzong abruptly stopped speaking and Jasmine returned it to the ball with a somewhat confused look.


    I stared at the spot it was at in disbelief, unable to process what it had just told me.


    Otherworldly energies? Moon Eyes? Hard pressed to identify me in the same vein as its trainer? Was he saying I didn''t seem human?


    My mind had a wall that was preventing psychics from peering into it? I thought when Bronzong mentioned me not being normal, he saw glimpses of my mixed body¡­ not this.


    "What the fuck¡­" I muttered in concern.


    What legendary had tampered with me? That was the only explanation as to why my mind seemed to have a foggy fortress protecting it.


    Why couldn''t I just get straight answers? This was so stupid.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Welcome to the Politoed Express! Here is your room and if you have any questions, one of our staff will be pleased to help!"


    I grunted at the man and inspected my room with appraising eyes, nodding in satisfaction and throwing my bag on the bed.


    Shutting the door behind me, I released Zorua and Chikorita immediately and collapsed on my bed with a victorious sigh.


    I had finally escaped from Johto. Right now, I was headed straight to Lilycove City in the Hoenn region and I could finally begin my plans in earnest.


    Despite what she had said about being busy, Jasmine found excuses to visit me twice more before I had to actually go.


    Considering I had nothing better to do in Olivine, I accepted her offers to meet up and they weren''t... awful.


    I didn''t realize how deprived of human interactions I had been until we sat down and talked.


    I learned more about her and her Pokemon in the process and I actually thought she was pretty okay.


    All of her team (I couldn''t really tell with Bronzy, he completely stopped communicating with me) actually liked me, which was a little surprising. Empy especially, seemed to get along with me and my blunt attitude the most.


    They must have appreciated my attempts to make her more confident. Most of the time, I was telling her to stop being such a pushover and to stand up for herself.


    It was sort of working. She was at heart, just too nice of a person which made our friendship all the stranger, considering I was basically her opposite.


    Jasmine probably had no intention of cutting me off though, despite how belligerent I tended to be. She really appreciated the fact that we were having normal conversations without me gushing over her status as Gym Leader.


    That was never gonna happen. Not for anyone. I don''t care if Lance himself dropped by to greet me, I wouldn''t debase myself by doing something like fangirling.


    Have some respect.


    I found out that she was an only child who lived with her Grandfather and that her first pokemon was an honest to God Onix, followed by a Magnemite.


    She was 16 years old and became a trainer when she was 12, before becoming a gym leader at 14.


    Learning about the steel trainer put it into perspective, that these were real people now. Jasmine was not a fictional character anymore whose job was to throw out a mediocre team to get stomped by the people.


    No, she was a competent trainer who won the Silver League at 13 years old with a team of steel types.


    That increased my respect for her by quite a bit. Steel types were awesome.


    I sighed for the umpteenth time and glanced at my Poke Gear, seeing one new message.


    "I fought a trainer today with 4 badges! I was so surprised by that but he wasn''t very happy when I took out his Machoke with Magneton. I imagine he was expecting it to do all the heavy lifting because afterwards, I beat him with little issue."


    That was another thing. In this world, gym battles were a lot more challenging. Pokemon Battling was a competitive and extreme sport that very quickly weeded out people who were not skilled enough to be trainers.


    Anyone could be a trainer, but not everyone had what it took to remain a trainer.


    It was rather exciting to think about. I definitely wanted to try my hand against Gym Leaders so I''d keep up the training until then.


    Still though, if Jasmine wasn''t meeting up with me, she was texting me and it was a lot. It was hardly ever important and I tended to not send much replies¡­ but she appreciated it all the same.


    What a weird friend I made. Seems like she really needed this and this would help me not become a psycho who only speaks to his pokemon... so why not.


    "Nice. Did you tell him to get good?" I replied shortly.


    "No, of course not! Why would I say something so mean?!"


    "Because he''s trash?"


    "...You are a terribly rude person."


    I snorted and pocketed my Pokegear.


    Hopefully the poor girl didn''t realize I was a criminal. Her first friend being a thief and assaulter? Yeah she''d probably take some mental damage, especially considering her meek mindset.


    Maybe we both had bad luck.


    But hey, she chose this. It was on her. I doubted Gold would keep it secret forever. If he never found me, he''d probably report me.


    That didn''t matter to me anymore though. While Johto and Hoenn had good relations, there was no way they''d ever suspect me going there.


    When I went to Kanto is when I should be concerned, but this world was largely incompetent when it came to reigning in and figuring out criminals.


    It had been years and still no one knew who the leader of Team Rocket was. Not to mention, Magma and Aqua seemed to have just started up too but they weren''t being suspected as criminals. I just caught glimpses of them subtly promoting themselves through anonymous accounts.


    Right now, there were simply little innocent posts going around about how there''s not enough land or how we''re polluting the seas but nothing too radical or egregious.


    They were just testing the waters so to say.


    Good. I could ignore them for now. Once they became a threat, I hoped I was strong enough to deal with them. I didn''t really feel like being some hero, but these idiots were messing with my new livelihood.


    But I digress, I would have gone more incognito considering Gold knew who I was, but it was clear he''s the type of stubborn idiot who wants to bring me in himself.


    Crystal was the more worrying of the two but she did seem to defer to Gold. I doubted he would ever reveal me, but if she talked in his ear, it might make things difficult.


    Here''s to hoping they kept this info to themselves for the foreseeable future. I needed them to keep this up until I could defend myself.


    Which meant I needed to get strong as hell. Which meant¡­ it was time to get crazy.


    Wanting to travel Kanto first wasn''t the only reason I was opting to not stay in Hoenn. The reason I wasn''t just choosing to travel Hoenn right now¡­ was because the full effects of my insanity, was about to revealed.


    "Alright guys," I muttered.


    Chikorita and Zorua perked up.


    "I don''t know how long we''re staying in Hoenn for, but we''re catching three new teammates. Once we get them, we''re outta here to the Kanto region."


    "Rita!" Chikorita nodded in confirmation, pleased to go with whatever I said.


    I loved this little grass dinosaur. She was a gem.


    "Zor?" Zorua was a bit more questioning, proving his cautious state by wanting to glean into my head.


    "You wanna know more? Sure."


    I pulled out my Pokedex and showed them the three members I planned on catching. "First we''re headed straight to Fortree City from Lilycove. It won''t be long to reach there but our mission may take a bit. We''re gonna camp out in Route 119 until we complete our mission and then we''ll head down until we reach Mauville City, cut through Verdanturf and head to Rustboro from the Rusturf Tunnel. After Rustboro, we''re gonna head straight up to Meteor Falls and then we''re done. We''ll take the first boat back to Kanto after reaching Slateport."


    They both peered at my Pokedex with clear interest in my eyes, digesting my word vomit with more intelligence than some people I knew.


    Finally, Zorua nodded in satisfaction and I smirked at him.


    "You''re both gonna be important for this. We''ll be training the whole time, alright?" I informed them.


    The two barked in affirmation and I pat them both on their heads.


    Then, my expression turned tired.


    "Time¡­ for more studying," I sighed in despair, flipping to another page on my Pokedex.


    Thank god for this device. It made studying tolerable. It was practically a minicomputer.


    I knew I was right to steal one. It helped out so much.


    I didn''t really like studying but on the bright side, this was actually interesting information.


    The downside was that, I was randomly searching things up. I didn''t have a set guide on what to study so I just read popular documents or answers to questions that popped up in my mind.


    Currently, I was reading a document from the Pokemon League about the conduct of a trainer.


    In this world, age of requirement to become a trainer, had been increased to 12. It used to be 10 but that was quickly discarded due to the ramping criminal activities in certain regions and the age limit of 12 was widely accepted and changed for just about every region.


    There were naturally some different age limits. I read that in Orre (I have no idea what region this is but it did sound familiar), the ramping crime there was so bad, that you were encouraged to have a Pokemon from as early as 9.


    That region sounded like it sucked.


    But I digress, that means I just became a trainer. My birthday was December 24th and it was currently January 18th.


    I estimated that my trip would take about a month if I followed my plan to a T. I wouldn''t be enjoying the sights of my favorite region just yet, but I''d definitely go and explore it, when it was time for me to personally deal with Magma and Aqua.


    Yeah, there''s no way I could let Magma and Aqua thrive in the same world as me. I don''t know what the hell Ash did in Hoenn and I didn''t know if the main character of Ruby and Sapphire existed (they probably did... May was one of them right?)¡­ but there was no shot I was letting them go unchecked and I refused to put my faith in someone else.


    Their goals were the most dangerous to me because they actually succeeded and caused untold mayhem by summoning Groudon and Kyogre.


    And that was in the kid versions. I could only imagine what was going to happen in this world.


    After I dealt with that crisis in the future, I''d go deal with that Cyrus guy next... Though letting him succeed might be in my best interest because I would want an audience with those legendaries.


    Hopefully they didn''t smite me on the spot.


    A sigh left my lips as I thought about it all.


    I wasn''t a hero but these guys were threatening my life with their insane actions. I didn''t trust anyone to get the job done so I''d have to do it myself¡­


    I would just do things my way.


    But like I said, that was for later. The goal was still to head to Kanto and have a proper journey so I could get a feel for this world.


    Kanto was basic, simple and the region I knew most about. It would be smartest for me to glean the changes of Generation 1 and work from there, while getting stronger with limited problems... Though with my revelations about Team Rocket, I should be careful.


    I sighed again.


    So much to do. At least I had some prior information.


    "I''m bored. What are you up to?" I messaged Jasmine.


    It instantly went to read and I snorted.


    "I have another battle soon but she only has one badge so it will probably be done fast. What do you want to talk about?"


    "Dunno. Think of something."


    "...But you asked me to talk?"


    "Yeah. I did. Talk. Give me some tips on training or something."


    "...I''m beginning to think you are a terrible person, Silver."


    "You didn''t think that before? How sweet of you."


    Might as well get some pointers on training from an experienced trainer. This technically wasn''t even procrastination!


    I even got to torment her in the process.


    A complete win win for me.


    "Unbelievable¡­ I think it would be best if I called you for tips. It would be inconvenient if I typed it all."


    "...Do I have to answer?"


    "You''re completely unbelievable. I''m going to call you."


    I sighed as my gear began ringing immediately after.


    Look at her acting so assertive.


    I would almost be proud, if I wasn''t at the receiving end of it.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    It was honestly impressive, how I could stay rooted to one spot for so goddamn long.


    I had been cooped up in my room for practically the entire trip to Hoenn. The only time I left, was literally to get food.


    Zorua and Chikorita had been hard at work practicing molding the respective energies they could utilize, while I balanced working out, studying and replying to messages.


    On the bright side, I was actually beginning to appreciate the friendship I had with Jasmine because it allowed me to distract myself from the sheer amount of words I had digested.


    At least I basically had the full idea of how this world worked. I was confident that I learned most of the important things. Naturally, it wasn''t everything but I''d get more comfortable as time passed.


    "Good afternoon passengers! In approximately five minutes, we will be arriving in Lilycove City, the city where the land ends and the sea begins. We hope you enjoy this hot tourist spot!"


    "Shut up," I groused to the speaker, shutting my Pokedex and getting up.


    I yawned and stretched, letting out a groan of satisfaction at the popping noises.


    "Alright guys, we''re almost in Hoenn. To save time, I''m gonna put you guys in your balls," I called out to Zorua and Chikorita.


    The two of them glanced over at me. They had been having a little bit of fun with their training it looked like.


    Chikorita was summoning some sharp leaves and tossing them to Zorua, who used his shoddy psychic abilities Extrasensory granted him, to stop them. Then, he covered them in illusions and had tossed them at Chikorita randomly, helping her with her senses and speed.


    It was utterly genius. My Pokemon might have been smarter than me¡­


    They had been training religiously these past couple of days and I joined them whenever I wasn''t studying or sleeping.


    I like to think we were all making amazing progress. The two were using their moves far easier now and I was genuinely fascinated at watching them visibly improve.


    It seems like the perfecting foundations was rather smart. Zorua had demonstrated Snarl very easily and it had to have been because of how well he was molding his dark energy. He could use Pursuit on command now and it drained very little energy from him.


    Hell, I even had him begin practicing cloaking himself in the energies of Pursuit and just maintaining it until he couldn''t anymore.


    As for Chikorita, she had managed to unlock a watered down version of Synthesis at the moment and was struggling a bit with gathering the necessary poison energy for Poison Powder. Her Razor Leaf was looking deadly and she seemed to enjoy it to a rather malicious degree.


    I should get her started on Magical Leaf eventually¡­


    All things considered¡­ I hadn''t fought a trainer since Gold but my Pokemon were still improving by a lot because training was actually really effective and I just had them battle each other.


    Honestly, I don''t know if I''d be fighting a trainer in Hoenn either. I couldn''t waste time and the less people who knew me¡­ the better.


    That''s why the past few days at Olivine I went¡­ shopping.


    Hey, I didn''t steal everything I got. But I stole the things I didn''t feel like paying for.


    Like the foldable bike and the roller skates. Why the hell were they so damn expensive? There was no way I was going to pay for that but I needed to quickly travel through the Hoenn region and this was the easiest way.


    I was only going to steal the bike¡­ but I was curious about the skates and it got the best of me and I''m pretty sure I have unknowingly become a serial stealer.


    Look at it from my perspective... I could probably use them in more areas than the bike. It would be far more universal for me!


    Not only that, I stole a mask too (didn''t want it to be traced back to me on the off chance someone saw it) and bought a couple of disposable hoodies and hats with actual money.


    My red hair was tucked neatly away and I had on a black bucket hat, as I watched the boat dock.


    Not wasting any time, I waited for the ship to dock and merged with the crowd of excited people exiting the Politoed Express.


    As I departed, I took in the sights of Lilycove and resisted the urge to whistle.


    Tourist spot was accurate. Lilycove was stunning. The sun was gone, moon taking its spot and the lights of the city shone in a dazzling display.


    Tall buildings littered the city but I couldn''t specifically pinpoint what was what and I wasn''t waiting for the sun to come up to figure it out.


    I glanced at the downloaded Hoenn map and nodded to myself. 3 am was a good enough time to start the day.


    There were a bunch of areas and cities I didn''t know existed in Hoenn. The only place that had interested me, was this place called the Valley of Steel but it wouldn''t have what I wanted and the pokemon in there were known to be lethally aggressive.


    I wasn''t sure if they actually were mentioned in the media but I didn''t care to find out.


    No I had only one thing on my mind.


    Everyone has favorite Pokemon. I was no exception and it just so happened that 3 of my favorites, were in Hoenn.


    It was great. The only problem? Getting them was not so great.


    Landing in Lilycove was the best case scenario for me. Slateport wouldn''t have been bad either but this way, I could seamlessly move to my destinations without many detours.


    And it started first in Route 119. The route right next to Fortree.


    What was in Route 119? If this world was a little faithful to the game, Route 119 should be the home of Feebas.


    Yep. The first pokemon in Hoenn I wanted, was Milotic, my favorite water type followed by Swampert.


    I had to pick one and I liked Milotic more so that''s who I''d go for. Besides, if I wanted a Mudkip, I''d have to rob another lab again (and I imagine the starters were already distributed) or find a "beautiful beach".


    Swampert typically made their nests deep underwater near beaches and they were extremely territorial. If you tried to catch a Mudkip or Marshtomp, you''d run into mama Swampy and you would die if you weren''t prepared.


    I wasn''t keen on dying and I had no method to go underwater either.


    As for Feebas¡­ well, Feebas had no recorded locations in this world. To be completely honest, I wasn''t half sure if people knew how to actually evolve it into Milotic.


    I''m sure at the very least, Wallace knew. But according to an interview he said, "Only a trainer who understands true beauty, will be able to garner the notice of a Milotic."


    And that was that. He never revealed where he found one. Didn''t reveal a damn thing about it besides those cryptic words.


    What a gatekeeper.


    Apparently his words had resonated with Champion Cynthia and Tower Tycoon Palmer, two of the only other trainers with a Milotic, and they also kept hush hush about it.


    The amount of unity in this world was crazy. Anyone who knew about how to properly evolve Feebas, kept quiet about it. I''m sure more people knew how to evolve it but no one said a thing.


    Unluckily for the them all, I didn''t abide by those rules. I knew exactly how to get a Milotic so they could suck it.


    Feebas in this world, were treated even worse than Magikarps. Not only were they largely useless, they were exceedingly rare. You can imagine that combined with the fact that not many people knew how to naturally evolve them, people had no interest in torturing themselves trying to find the elusive water type when there were so many others.


    I was not as weak as those people. I was already going to do some pretty insane things in Hoenn¡­ looking for a Feebas and evolving it into Milotic was nothing.


    Milotic was a pokemon I wanted so I''d get it and that was that. But since this world didn''t have a documented location for it¡­ I''d rely on game knowledge and pray that it was in Route 119.


    Now, I wasn''t a person who wanted a lot of things, but when I did want something, I would stop at nothing to get it.


    But I digress, catching Feebas in the games was always a bitch and a half and the fact that they were exceedingly rare in this world too, gave me hope that they were in a similar area.


    After all, Wallace and Cynthia both had Milotics. It aligned well with Feebas having the same stupid method of fishing in a certain spot for both regions.


    I pursed my lips as I pulled out my bike and mounted it, before beginning the trek through Route 121.


    Fishing for Feebas was so annoying. They made it better in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but in the original games it was hair pulling.


    Knowing my luck, it''d take quite a bit but hopefully not too long. Littleroot was a little too far for me to commit a heist on the lab and it would completely derail my plans and increase that month long journey, into something excruciating.


    But I was still pretty shocked by the rarity of Milotic. Not many trainers at all had the beautiful pokemon so information on them was scarce.


    But they were insanely popular and well beloved by many people.


    No surprise. It was my favorite water type for a reason.


    I idly release Zorua after pausing for a bit and placed him in my black jacket, leaving his head poking out of top.


    Well, I''d focus on it more after I caught it. For now, I''d bike towards Fortree city.


    Route 121 was useless. The most notable thing about it, was the Safari Zone and while I was vaguely interested, I remember Hoenn''s Safari Zone being infamously bad.


    There was also the path that lead to Route 122 and Mt. Pyre... the location where the Red and Blue Orb were held, but I wasn''t interested in those yet and I doubted I could reach them anyways.


    A Ghost would have been pretty neat. Dusknoir was super cool but I needed to focus and it wasn''t high priority like my others.


    No detours. With this bike, I''d make record time to new areas. Whereas a walk would take me close to an hour to make it to Route 120, with this bike it was only 15 minutes.


    I thanked the people making the routes so trainer friendly. Even with the fact that it was night time, some Eco-friendly lights, helpfully kept me from staying blind, as well as the ever familiar paved roads.


    Route 120 was just as unnoteworthy¡­ is what I was about to say until I remembered a very, very startling detail.


    Remember how I said no detours? Well, this would be the only one. Promise. Maybe.


    My plans never perfectly worked out as you could tell.


    I gazed at my map with a furrowed brow and turned left at an intersection, heading up a flight of stairs and continuing to walk.


    Movement from the corner of my eyes stopped me and my silver eyes darted to the right as I heard Zorua growl. Despite the darkness, I could make out white fur and once my vision settled, I saw myself staring into the red eyes of a Pokemon.


    Was that... an Absol?


    The moment it caught my eye, the dark type seized up, before sprinting away from me with urgency.


    ¡­


    Weird... very weird. Why was there an Absol here?


    Ah shit. Weren''t those guys a sign that a disaster was happening? Was I the disaster?


    Well, who believed in shit like that. Not me, that''s for sure.


    Now as for why I was here¡­


    I glanced up at the giant rock with a curious expression.


    If anyone knew what resided in here, I doubt it''d be exposed so freely to the world. After all, one of the three golems of Hoenn, Registeel, was sleeping in here.


    I wonder if that stupid ass method of using a Relicanth and Wailord were still needed.


    ...Yeah, I wasn''t going to catch either of those Pokemon so Registeel could stay asleep for all I care.


    I don''t really like the Regis. The only one I really liked, was Regigigas because he was an awesome mon that got sabotaged by its ability.


    As for the others? Yeah nothing. Registeel was pretty decent though by virtue of being a steel type but I hated Regirock and despised Regice even more.


    Out of curiosity, I got closer to the tomb and placed a palm against the smooth rock.


    Did it really need a puzzle? Why not just break it ope ¡ª


    LONG DID WE LIVE HERE IN THIS CAVE.


    ALL THANKS TO THE POWERFUL POKEMON LIVING ALONGSIDE US.


    YET, WE SEALED THAT POKEMON AWAY, ALONE IN THE DARK.


    WE FEARED IT.


    IF YOU HAVE THE COURAGE, IF YOU STILL HOLD TO HOPE,


    OPEN THE DOOR. FOR BEYOND IT THE ETERNAL POKEMON WAITS.


    I shouted in distress, stepping back and holding my head as images began pouring into me.


    "Zor?!" Zorua barked in concern, jumping out of my jacket to regard me. He began nudging me but I barely registered it in wake of these sensations.


    What was that? What was that?! What was that voice? What was that sudden pressure emanating from the cave all of a sudden? What were these images?


    What was this pounding headache?!


    I backed far away from Registeel''s prison quickly due to the ominous weight on my shoulders and turned away, before collapsing after a few steps.


    UNBREAKABLE. HOLLOW. METAL. PRISON. SIBLINGS. CREATOR. STEEL.


    "We need to go," I hissed, unable to take this pressure anymore and trudging away with a concerned Zorua right on my heels.


    Finally, the pressure on my skull abated and I collapsed on the floor, sweat dripping from my features.


    I warily glanced back at the tomb housing Registeel and let out a shaky breath.


    What¡­ was that? Now that I didn''t have a mind splitting headache (why did it just vanish?), I could actually think about what just happened.


    Registeel had somehow imposed its presence onto me. That was the best way to explain it. I heard thoughts that weren''t my own, saw perspectives that weren''t mine¡­ felt sensations that I never felt.


    It was horrifying. Why the hell wasn''t this place sealed off?


    Wait a minute¡­ why wasn''t this place sealed off? Surely with what I just witnessed¡­ the league understood what this rock entailed right?


    ...Right?


    Oh god. Please don''t tell me that experience was exclusive to me. Please don''t tell me I was practically the only person that understood that there was a fucking Registeel just chilling in here.


    Please don''t tell me that for whatever reason, this Registeel guy decided to only mess with me.


    ...Damn it all, I was the only one that knew Registeel was here wasn''t I?


    What did this world want from me¡­


    "Zorua, you didn''t feel that?" I asked reluctantly, hoping that he said yes he did.


    But to no surprise at all, Zorua shook his head. He just kept looking at me with those big concerned eyes.


    I resisted the urge to scream in frustration and scowled instead.


    Great. Just fucking great.


    A psychic called me weird, I was trapped in a body that was not mine but was quickly becoming mine and now I got reached out to by a random goddamn legendary.


    I already reluctantly accepted the fact that I''d be getting rid of the world ending evil teams because I kinda had to¡­ Now an imprisoned legendary pokemon was flash banging me in my mind.


    If I didn''t have proof that I got tampered with by a legendary before, this was something impossible to ignore. I''m assuming whoever did this to me, made me more sensitive to them and wasn''t that just fantastic?


    "I''m fine Zorua, let''s go," I grunted, rubbing him on the head and placing him back in my jacket.


    Ugh, this was the worst. What was even worse, was the fact that even from this distance, I could feel the lingering presence of the titan.


    Curiosity killed the cat never felt more apt here.


    At least I was more confident on the routes having taken inspiration from the games¡­


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I don''t know the general consensus of wild Pokemon battles¡­ but I didn''t give a damn what they were.


    "Chikorita! Hold it down with Vine Whip! Zorua, Pursuit to get behind then on its back!"


    I was jumping if I saw it fit. No one on ones here.


    A Poochyena had decided to get funny with me and I decided to let Chikorita get some battle experience by wrecking the feisty guy with a nice Vine Whip.


    Unfortunately, Mama Mightyena didn''t appreciate that very much and made an attempt to tear me apart specifically.


    Needless to say, Chikorita had exploded in anger at seeing the Dark type nearly kill me and decided to pay it back in blood¡­


    Unfortunately, this Mightyena was actually quite strong.


    Turns out, I''m still a new trainer. Not even a single gym badge to my name¡­ so a fully evolved Pokemon, no matter how mediocre, would still prove challenging in the long run...


    If it were one on one.


    Cue, Zorua jumping in without hesitation as Chikorita took a particularly vicious bite.


    Now they were double teaming the furious mother to a very effective degree and I smiled at their teamwork.


    A battered Chikorita growled angrily and summoned two sets of vines, before having them lunge forward to hold down the dark type.


    At the same time, Zorua used the speed boost of Pursuit to lunge behind the Mightyena.


    The wolf pokemon tried to turn to react to Zorua, but found that it was impossible with the vines wrapping around its forelegs, bringing it down.


    Zorua, who had already channeled hone claws at the start of the battle rammed into Mightyena before jumping right on her back.


    "Scratch. Don''t stop," I commanded ruthlessly.


    He didn''t even hesitate. My first Pokemon''s claws elongated and he began battering the Mightyena with unrelenting force.


    Mightyena tried to fight back but the growls from Chikorita and the mounting tiredness, made it fruitless.


    Eventually the onslaught by Zorua proved to be too much and the wolf let out a defeated whine, collapsing on the floor with some blood.


    I sighed, clutching my bleeding arm with a frown.


    Those claws were sharp. I barely dodged the attack but it still drew quite a bit of blood.


    Pokemon were no joke, just a grazing hit managed to cause this much damage.


    "Good job guys," I called to my bruised teammates.


    "Chiko," Chikorita sighed, collapsing on the floor and nursing her wounds.


    "Rua," Zorua grunted, leaping off Mightyena''s back and approaching me with a look of concern. He had sustained the least injuries but the wolf managed to hit the fox with a fierce tackle.


    "I''ll be fine. I wasn''t planning on it, but guess we''ll make a stop at Fortree," I replied, rummaging through my bag for a gauze that I swore I saw.


    Chikorita looked up and trotted over to me with determination on her features.


    Then, she opened her mouth and released a Heal Pulse that hit both Zorua and I.


    I gazed in fascination, as the size of my wound diminished slightly. It was still bleeding, but the cut had gotten a bit smaller.


    The display completely rewired my interest in Heal Pulse and I gazed at my grass type in fascination.


    This move had the potential to be insanely good. If Chikorita got really proficient in it¡­


    Yeah, mastering Heal Pulse suddenly became a goal I eagerly awaited.


    "We''ll still head to the Pokemon Center for you both but thanks a ton girl," I smiled, hoisting up Chikorita and petting her leaf.


    I recently found out that she loved getting the leaf atop her head pat. My second pokemon immediately melted in my grasp and I snorted.


    Zorua glanced in appreciation at her, losing his slight limp and I returned the two of them.


    After my experience with Registeel, I focused solely on making it to Fortree and didn''t allow anything to distract me, up until that Poochyena.


    The city was no more than 5 minutes away after 20 minutes of peddling (I was so glad I stole this bike) and thankfully, there were no Kecleons blocking the path.


    Even if there were, the route was so wide it was impossible to get completely blocked off unless it was intentional.


    Hooray for no video game plot obstructions.


    The moon still shone above me, when I arrived to Fortree and I took in the sights city under the night light, in awe.


    It was amazing in a way different from Lilycove. Lilycove was a tourist spot and the few buildings I saw embraced that aspect. There were tall buildings everywhere, a museum, a contest hall, the dock¡­


    It was a city that I wouldn''t be surprised to see in my old world but it hit different because of the incorporation of pokemon.


    Fortree was nothing like that. No, they were complete opposites with the only similarities being how they embraced pokemon.


    There were trees everywhere and they were so tall. I actually wished it were day time, so I could really bask it all in.


    The buildings were incorporated into the trees and the homes of the people were made of wood too. They were connected by rope bridges and it allowed for ease of travel through the entire city.


    The way it was so immersed in its own nature, was rather mesmerizing. I don''t even know how they made it work but the fact that they did...


    It was beautiful in a way my previous world would never have been able to replicate.


    I nearly tripped over a snoozing Nuzleaf and barely managed to avoid waking it up, as I made my way to a set of wooden stairs and climbed it.


    No video game would ever be able to capture how captivating this city was and I found myself taking in everything, only visible with the night lights.


    It was such a shame I didn''t plan on staying here longer. This place was incredible¡­


    Ah screw it. I was feeling tired so let''s call it a night. It was about 4:50 am so I''d book a room (they were free!) and wake up in a few hours.


    Unlike the rest of the city, the Pokemon Center was almost as modern as the one I saw in Cherrygrove and Olivine, though it did incorporate Fortree''s aesthetic into its design.


    One thing I never mentioned, was just how the Pokemon Center looked and functioned.


    They did not all look the same. In major cities, the Pokemon Center''s looked more akin to hotels and Fortree was no exception.


    I had never been in a Pokemon Center and I idly shivered as the cool air conditioner, contrasted the hot weather of Hoenn (even at night, I could feel the heat).


    The lobby was largely bare with a lone Nurse Joy at the front desk. Her only company was a Blissey that gazed at me with a small smile.


    She was reading a magazine with a bored expression and I inspected her features.


    Pink hair, fair skin and blue eyes.


    Certainly fit the cutesy look. If they all looked like this one, it was no wonder Nurse Joys were popular.


    But did this world really have a family of people that just all looked identical and decided to be nurses? What would happen if a Joy was born a male? Were they like those Amazons in stories where male babies were either killed or enslaved?


    Did all Joy''s have a stranglehold on every Pokemon Center? Would I walk into a Pokemon Center and just see a Nurse Joy every single time?


    Talk about nepotism. Some things never change regardless of what world you''re in.


    As I contemplated the oddities of this world, I moved my body to the front of the desk and waited for the Nurse Joy to say something.


    Her eyes flickered over to me, before instantly honing in on the tear in my outfit and the red stained gauze covering my somewhat healed skin.


    "Were you traveling at night alone?" She asked bluntly, beckoning me to follow her.


    I raised a brow and did as told, trailing behind her quick steps. "Yeah. Got attacked by an angry Mightyena."


    Nurse Joy pursed her lips at that. "How many Pokemon do you have?"


    I pulled the two balls out and showed her. "Two. They got a little beat up but are in better shape than me."


    The nurse pushed open a door to a comfy looking medical room and handed Zorua and Chikorita''s balls over to Blissey, before sitting me down rather forcefully.


    "Rude," I thought idly, staring strangely at her.


    "You''re a new trainer traveling at night? You must have a death wish," she commented with an annoyed sigh.


    "Don''t you just have a sunny personality?" I remarked idly, watching her push the sleeve of my jacket back.


    "Night shift is for the nurses that don''t feel like smiling 24/7. I happen to be one of them. Why were you traveling at night? You should have at least had a guide," Joy chastised me.


    I shrugged, kinda digging the nurses rude personality and allowed her to peel the gauze off. "I didn''t get attacked by anything besides the Mightyena and that was because I beat up its kid."


    She hummed and gazed at my injury, before reaching for a bottle and summarily spraying my arm.


    I bit back the hiss at the stinging feeling¡­ before blinking as it quickly went away and the mark on my arm vanished.


    "You managed to beat a Mightyena with those two babies?" She asked, looking impressed. "Not bad. I guess with pokemon so competent, it makes up for your arrogance."


    "Fuck you," I replied instinctively, before realizing what I said and blinking. "Oh, my bad. Your shitty personality forced an instinctive response out of me."


    The Nurse Joy raised a brow, looking somewhat impressed by my statement. "You have a terrible personality yourself. You haven''t stopped scowling yet, even when you were checking me out."


    "That''s my resting bitch face," I replied easily.


    That made her snort. "Most of the kids would be freaking out over an injury like this but you''re not half bad¡­ maybe you aren''t as stupid as I thought," she complimented.


    "I think I know the reason you work night shift now," I fired back with a smirk. "If anyone spoke to you for more then a minute, this place would get shut down for bad reception."


    The pink haired woman shook her head and stood up to leave. "I''ve been speaking to you for 5. What does that say about your personality?"


    "I''m a ray of sunshine," I retorted dryly.


    "Bliss!" The round pink pokemon called out, trotting over with two balls and handing them to the Joy.


    "I can tell," she replied with an amused smile. "You want a room or are you hellbent on going back on your little suicide trip?"


    "Room. Is traveling at night that bad?" I asked curiously.


    "One of the highest mortality rates for trainers, is getting attacked at night by a ticked off Pokemon," Nurse Joy listed like she had done so a thousand times. "That''s why it''s so encouraged these days to travel in a pair or group if you plan on camping in the routes. Either that or invest in Repels to ward them off."


    "Huh, go figure," I said to myself. Was it really that bad? I even slept in the forests where all the stronger pokemon tended to reside in.


    Besides the Mightyena and the Absol stalking me, it really wasn''t terrible at all.


    Actually now that I thought about it, I didn''t get attacked very often.


    Hm¡­ a traveling partner¡­


    "I don''t suppose you wanna travel with me?" I asked the odd Nurse Joy.


    What? She was cool. I didn''t really want a travel companion at all but I could see the benefits of having one.


    Though¡­ there was no point getting one here. I wasn''t staying in Hoenn anyways.


    Nurse Joy burst out laughing at that. "Maybe if you asked a few years earlier, I''d say yes but I think I''ll pass kid. You''re not half bad but I actually like my job."


    I shrugged. "Sucks. That was your chance to prove the Joys aren''t a cult."


    She rolled her eyes, amused smile still there, and dropped a card in my hands. "The keys to your room. You and your pokemon should be fine. Try to avoid traveling at night unless you''re close to another city."


    "No promises."


    I heard her snort again and headed to my room.


    A traveling companion¡­ considering I was a criminal, the thought of having one never even once occurred to me.


    I couldn''t really go looking for one now. There were too many reasons finding one in Hoenn was a terrible idea but the main one, was that I planned on going to Kanto.


    So I should consider looking for one in Kanto¡­


    It wasn''t a terrible idea. I didn''t have any reason to commit criminal acts in Kanto so I may not be discovered¡­


    But I didn''t want to just travel with anyone. There was a 90% chance I''d hate them anyways.


    ...Should I attempt to travel with Ash if he really did exist?


    I snorted loudly.


    Not a chance in hell.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Fortree during the day was as gorgeous as I expected it to be. The way the trees glowed in the sun, how high they reached, the way they integrated themselves with the Pokemon in the area.


    Tailows, Swellows, Beautiflys, hell I even saw an Altaria. They mingled in Fortree and no one tried to bother them at all.


    It was pretty cool.


    Too bad I wasn''t planning on staying in the city for too long. I had already given my keycard to the kind Nurse Joy at the desk.


    Lame, I already missed the asshole Nurse Joy. She was cool. This one was almost sickeningly sweet.


    But that was already behind me.


    It was time for me to finally begin my goals in earnest and start hunting down a Feebas.


    Route 119 was sweltering hot, to the point that I immediately took my jacket off and remained in just a black tee.


    Hoenn in general had a sticky heat but this was unreal. The tropical rainforest of Route 119 tended to rain more often than not and I really wish this was one of those times.


    I huffed and swiped the sweat off my forehead, as I headed to a specific source of water with Chikorita happily following me.


    It didn''t take me long, considering the body of water stretched to practically the entirety of the massive route.


    That was another thing. This route was already pretty big in the games but here, it was gargantuan.


    Even with my bike, traveling from Fortree to the end of Route 119, 118 and Mauville, would take me about a 2 days if I didn''t stop at all. Throw in stopping for breaks, eating food, tending to Pokemon, potential battles... the days would quickly add up.


    That was insane and it didn''t take into account traversing through the muddy floor with a bike...


    At least the dense foliage and nature was a sight to behold. Looks like I''d be enjoying it for the upcoming days.


    The beautiful and natural sights were very much welcomed by me, as I took a seat and pulled out the star of the show.


    A Super Rod.


    Back at Olivine, I realized that since I was in a port city, they''d probably sell the rods and I wouldn''t have to rely on some freak of a fisherman resonating with me and giving me one for free.


    That''s not to say I didn''t get this one for free. I definitely did.


    What?! I was only going to use it once! Why would I spend 80,000 Poke on it?


    I wasn''t made of money here.


    I idly released Zorua and he immediately went over to Chikorita''s side so they could do light training.


    They made me so proud. Seriously, I didn''t deserve such great Pokemon.


    "Look alive. Take turns fighting whatever I fish out," I muttered to the two.


    They both nodded in affirmation and I smiled.


    Feebas was an annoying pokemon to encounter and I dearly hoped it was nothing like the games. If I had to fish in a specific spot to catch this thing, I was gonna lose my mind and my temper.


    But just in case, I was currently in a nice little spot, directly near a bridge and my line was resting under that bridge.


    In the Gen 3 games, you needed to find a specific tile that had taught me the definition of patience.


    In the Gen 6 ones, you just needed to fish under the bridge.


    Hopefully, I could catch this thing and be to Mauville quickly.


    My line twitched and I perked up, before an intense struggle began between the pokemon and I.


    Now, I had never gone fishing before. It wasn''t something that was readily available to me and I wasn''t going to go out of my way to do it¡­


    Maybe I should have tried it at least once.


    I watched in disbelief, as whatever I caught, escaped from the line and my Super Rod went limp in my grasp.


    "Chiko¡­" Chikorita snickered.


    "Zor, zorua," Zorua chastised her, failing to hide his smile.


    "Shut up," I demanded, slowly reeling the line back in and placing it next to me.


    How¡­ how embarrassing.


    Now I had to live with the knowledge that that very well could have been a Feebas on the line and it got away.


    Ah dammit.


    "Hey Jasmine, how do you fish? I have no idea how to use this thing."


    As expected, my message went to read immediately but I didn''t get a reply until a few minutes later.


    "I''m sorry. I was doing something¡­ Why exactly are you asking me how to fish?"


    "Because I don''t know how to fish and you were born in a city right by the sea."


    "It''s very impolite to place such stereotypes on people, Silver. Just because I was born in Olivine, does not mean I automatically know how to fish. I''m a steel type trainer."


    "So¡­ you don''t know how to fish?"


    "...Yes, I know how to fish. One second, I''ll call and explain it to you¡­ and please, wipe that smirk off your face. Your ignorance doesn''t deserve to be rewarded."


    I did not in fact wipe the smirk off my face. If I did, it''d be replaced by embarrassment because I actually lost a capture¡­


    And my Pokemon were commenting on it too.


    I sighed as my Pokegear began ringing.


    At least Jasmine was too nice to make fun of me for messing up.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Turns out, she was capable of making fun of me. Jasmine actually laughed at me when I explained what happened and tried to assure me that it was okay to mess up.


    I made sure to shut her up by swearing such a vicious storm, that she began stammering in disbelief and stopped speaking immediately.


    Good. I was proud that she was growing a spine and was so comfortable with me (honestly I thought it was too quick but hey) but I was still fuming over not knowing how to fish.


    "You''re terrible, Silver," she complained, face a bright red in horror.


    "I know, I''m the worst," I agreed, launching the line back in the water with a look of concentration.


    "Remember to set your hook after the Pokemon starts biting the bait. Don''t get too eager. That was my mistake when I was younger."


    I nodded my head.


    In the video games, you could fish up many water types with a Super Rod. Even the ones that should be impossible due to their weight, were nothing for game logic.


    It seems my world was doing its best to apply logic to things like that.


    The Super Rod was made with advanced technology, that gave it its own power when fishing. You, as the user, rarely had to expend any strength. The Rod was able to lift upwards to 500 pounds, before it began showing strain and it even showed you the weight of the Pokemon you were about to reel in.


    Most of the strain would come from the struggling pokemon, but the Super Rod helped heavily with the weight issue so I had to deal with the struggling.


    As I followed Jasmine''s instructions, I suddenly felt a tug on my line and narrowed my eyes as I locked in.


    This Feebas was mine.


    What followed, was a pretty intense struggle that lasted the better part of 30 seconds, before I came out the winner!


    "Get over here!" I shouted with a victorious grin.


    That grin was wiped off my face, as I saw the pokemon staring me down with a glare on its face.


    So earlier, I mentioned how the Super Rod registers the weight of whatever was on the line. It was to help you get a good idea of what you were catching.


    If I had checked the weight, I probably would have just let this capture go. I blamed my inexperience and never wielding a Super Rod.


    "Good job Silver!" Jasmine praised, face lighting up on the screen as she began clapping for me. "What is it? What did you find?"


    "Jasmine," I hissed. "I''ll call you back in a bit."


    That confused the gym leader before horror crossed her features. "Silver, are you using a Super Rod?!"


    "Yes," I replied without hesitation, backing away slowly. "Zorua, Chikorita. Get ready for battle. We''re jumping it. This is my spot and I''m not leaving until I get what I came here for."


    "Silver! Are you crazy?! You plan on fighting it?! What are you even fighting?! HOW DID YOU GET A SUPER ROD?!"


    "Now''s not the time to be asking me questions!" I replied, waving my hands at my two alert pokemon. "I''ll call you back!"


    "Wait! At least tell me what it is!" Jasmine requested frantically.


    "Oh¡­ it''s a Sharpedo," I informed her as casually as possible.


    "A WHAT?! SILVER YOU''RE A NEW TRAINER DO NOT FIGHT A SHARPE ¡ª"


    I hung up the phone and dashed backwards as swiftly as possible. "Chikorita, Growl! Zorua, Leer!"


    "Sharp!" Sharpedo snarled loudly and coated itself in water, before rocketing out the water at tremendous speeds.


    "Aqua Jet?" I thought in shock.


    The Shark Pokemon crashed into Chikorita with no hesitation, making the grass type yelp as she was launched through the air.


    I balked in concern, before watching her get up with a deep glare.


    Two vines snaked out of her and launched at the Sharpedo, wrapping around its fin with admirable accuracy that she did not have earlier this week.


    "Zorua, taunt and torment! Don''t let it use Aqua Jet again!" I barked, watching the water type heave Chikorita, who was still attached by vine, through the air.


    Zorua growled in affirmation and glowed with dark energy, before barking loudly.


    Sharpedo let out a noise of annoyance and gazed at Zorua with murderous intent, forgetting Chikorita for a moment and honing in on my starter.


    Perfect.


    "Chikorita, hang tight and get on its back then keep using Razor Leaf! Zorua, get tricky. Use Leer and Snarl whenever you get the chance," I ordered with narrowed eyes.


    They both barked in affirmation and got to work quickly.


    Sharpedo tried to close the distance with Aqua Jet, only to growl in confusion at being unable to, then it looked as if it tried to activate some stat move, before the dark energies of Taunt came into effect and prevented that too.


    Needless to say, that pissed it off something fierce.


    It didn''t help that Chikorita had followed my order to a T and landed on its back, before barraging it with a litany of wince inducing Razor Leafs.


    One thing I learned about the grass starter¡­ was that she had a mean streak.


    The water type howled at the super effective move slamming into him repeatedly, remembering about Chikorita finally and he began bucking with such force, that it was only a matter of time before he successfully dislodged her.


    I noticed Chikorita wincing before realization hit me.


    "Rough Skin," I frowned deeply.


    Zorua let loose a Snarl, that directly connected with the water type and only proved to further annoy it.


    "Chikorita, use Poison Powder then jump off of it. Zorua, don''t make direct contact with it if you can help it."


    Chikorita concentrated deeply and opened her mouth, before coating Sharpedo''s skin with the purple powder.


    Then she leapt off the shark and dashed away to the best of her ability.


    Sharpedo didn''t let her get away scot-free though.


    The bloodied shark snarled furiously, glowing with dark energy before it concentrated it on one of its pectoral fins.


    With dreadful speed, he slammed the Night Slash into Chikorita''s side and I balked in horror at the direct hit.


    A red line formed on her side and I watched her tumble to the side with a squeal.


    A surge of terror coursed through my body, as Sharpedo opened it''s maw, revealing serrated teeth that could probably carve through metal. Dark energy began coalescing around its mouth before it surged forward to clamp down on Chikorita.


    I was already reaching for the Poke Ball but I would be too slow and that thought chilled me.


    Zorua growled furiously and lunged forward with pursuit, slamming head first into the Sharpedo and knocking it off course enough to make it miss.


    I let out a sigh of relief and aimed the Poke Ball at my grass type, only to blink in confusion as Chikorita shakily got up and glared at me.


    "Chikorita?" I questioned in concern.


    "Chikorita!" She growled, fluorescent green aura beginning to surround her.


    "What is that? Synthesis?" I thought to myself.


    No, Synthesis used a different shade of green¡­ what was this?


    "Chiko! Chikorita!" The grass type demanded, glaring deeply at the Sharpedo.


    Her green aura only got more pronounced, as she saw Zorua take a harsh Aqua Jet to his side that sent him tumbling. He lay there limply and the vicious shark turned its focus onto Chikorita.


    Sharpedo had been slowing down tremendously from the poison in its bloodstream and it looked like the shark was getting desperate to end the fight and tend to its wounds.


    Chikorita was clearly desperate to inflict as much pain as possible on this troublesome thing.


    My mouth opened in surprise, as Chikorita began shooting out a massive barrage of Razor Leafs. The sharp leaves came out stronger than anything I saw her shoot yet and it had my brain wracking at what that green aura was.


    The poison was clearly doing wonders because our opponent had no time to react, as the sharp leaves began slamming into it over and over again.


    "SHAR!" It roared its pain to the world. It glared furiously at the glowing Chikorita but she was undeterred.


    She began glowing in a much more familiar green and I watched the red gash slowly close up from the effects of Synthesis.


    Sharpedo growled and charged the grass type, maw open wide to take a bite out of her¡­


    Only to let out a confused noise as he chomped on Chikorita and met nothing but air.


    Two giant vines slowly snaked out from the shrubbery and lunged forward, latching on the Sharpedo''s fin again.


    I watched in awe as the real Chikorita let out a mighty yell, before heaving the shark, that eclipsed her in size, into the air and slamming it down.


    "SHARPEDO!" The pokemon cried out, before it went limp on the floor.


    The limp body of Zorua faded away and my first Pokemon trotted out the giant shrubbery, panting in exhaustion as he threatened to fain. There was a nasty bruise on his side and he looked real beat up.


    Chikorita trotted out right after him, green aura still covering her body. The anger in her eyes had vanished, replaced by exhaustion even deeper than Zorua''s and she whined.


    "Holy shit," I muttered, relief flooding through my body at seeing them well. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a Super Potion, before tentatively spraying the both of them.


    They both let out sighs of relief as their injuries began healing, but it didn''t cure their exhaustion.


    "You guys did incredible," I praised genuinely, patting them both as I glanced over at Sharpedo''s prone body.


    Now that the adrenaline was gone, I could finally pinpoint what exactly Chikorita had done.


    Overgrow. Her ability. The grass type equivalent of Torrent and Blaze.


    It made the pokemon 50% stronger when low on health. On paper it was useful, but you didn''t utilize it often because you''d like never activate it before fainting and the starters tended to have more useful hidden abilities.


    But here? With the Chikorita I was planning on turning into a tank?


    Not to mention¡­ it didn''t vanish after she used Synthesis¡­


    I was already working on making Zorua master his ability¡­ why not do the same with Chikorita? If she could master Overgrow¡­ the potential was endless.


    So many ideas. It was actually really exciting thinking of what I could achieve.


    Things were so much more fun then learning a new move with levels or competitive breeding.


    It was more authentic this way.


    "That Sharpedo was nuts¡­ if we didn''t fight so smart, we would have gotten destroyed," I muttered with a sigh, warily glancing at the shark.


    First Mightyena, then Absol and now Sharpedo? Dark types needed to chill out. At least the Absol hadn''t attacked me. I periodically saw its white fur and I wasn''t sure if it was a different one, or the same one but none of them liked me at all.


    Well whatever it may be, it needed to keep its distance. I had no interest in catching Absol. There were at least 10 dark types I''d prefer over it and I already had one of them.


    "You guys alright? Need a trip to the center?" I muttered to the two.


    They pondered the question and shook their heads.


    A vine snaked out of Chikorita and she pointed at the water again, Zorua nodding next to her.


    "You want me to keep fishing?" I asked slowly.


    They nodded.


    I blinked.


    "Huh¡­ well, let''s take a break first," I said, not sounding too sure of myself.


    Were¡­ my pokemon as nuts as I currently was?


    Just how much did I show for them to get this influenced by me?


    ...It was kind of awesome. It made sense that the Pokemon you raised up would be partly influenced by you.


    The ringing of my Pokegear went off and I distantly realized it had been going off this whole time.


    Oops. Well, Jasmine was a nice girl, she''d understand.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I should stop jinxing things. She did in fact, not understand.


    "How could you be so stupid, Silver?! You used a Super Rod, fished up a Sharpedo and fought it? What are you thinking?!" Jasmine berated me, brows furrowed in concern.


    "A Super Rod''s technology is really advanced! When the line is put into the water, it emits a specialized smell far stronger than the Good and Old Rods! It''s why stronger pokemon tend to be attracted by it! You should have at least checked the weight of it!"


    I scratched my head (I scowled as I realized I still had the bucket hat on) and listened to her chew into me with a bewildered expression.


    "Where did you get this backbone from?" I asked in confusion.


    "Don''t you even think about changing the subject! You are a new trainer! You should have fled as soon as you saw what you were up against! No, scratch that. WHY ARE YOU USING A SUPER ROD?!"


    I winced at the volume she was taking. For someone who had become my friend about a week ago, Jasmine sure was concerned.


    "I wanted to use the best choice¡­ and I won," I retorted lamely.


    "You''re completely missing the point! You could have died!" The anger in her voice was gone, replaced by genuine worry.


    Story of my life. Maybe I should be a bit more careful then¡­


    After Hoenn.


    "My bad, Jas. Look on the bright side¡­ I probably won''t be using the Super Rod again for a long time," I assured her.


    "Oh thank goodness! You shouldn''t risk using it this early on! When you have more badges and a further fleshed out team you can use it but for now, please buy an Old Rod! I''ll even give you the money for it and you''re fishing right now aren''t you?"


    "...Since when do you know me so well?" I asked, eyes gleaming in joy as I gazed at my catch.


    Jasmine had been chewing me out for quite a while now and I got bored to the point where I just started fishing again.


    Luckily for me¡­ Sharpedo seemed to be the most problematic person in these parts of the water and whenever I did potentially get something that the weight checker warned me about, I just released it from the bait.


    I had fished up a Barboach, three Magikarp, and a Tentacool while she took the time to tear into me.


    None of the Magikarp wanted to fight so I let them go but I had Chikorita beat up the Barboach, while Tentacool was dealt with by Zorua.


    It was after I threw my line near a pretty huge boulder, did I finally reap the benefits of my completely reckless actions.


    "Silver, you are unbelievable. What is wrong with you? Why are you filling me with so much anxiety?" Jasmine asked in resignation.


    "One of my enjoyments in life is tormenting people and I find it especially fun to torment a person who can wipe me out as an afterthought," I replied in delight.


    Jasmine sighed in defeat."I worry for you Silver. Did you at least find what you want? Is that why you''re not going to use the Super Rod anymore?"


    "Yep," I popped the p, gazing at the Feebas on my line with a wild glint.


    It certainly was shabby like the Pokedex mentioned, but being largely ignored by everyone because of it, was just an over exaggeration.


    Sure its natural appearance made it look unhealthy but allegedly, Feebas had quite the vitality.


    "At least that issue is solved. I don''t know why you are so eager to put yourself in danger¡­ I have a meeting that I postponed because I thought my friend was being mauled by a Sharpedo. Now that I know you''re fine, I''ll call you later."


    I nodded and idly gazed at the face of the girl on my screen. "Sure. If those people ask why you''re late, say fuck you that''s why and then show them Empy."


    The instant swap from worry to horror was fascinating. I didn''t know someone''s expression could change so quickly. It was a good thing the Pokegear allowed video calls. I thought that was a Unova exclusive thing.


    "I''m not going to do that Silver! Empy! No! We are not doing that! You need to stop cursing so much," Jasmine complained, hanging up the phone as I heard the Empoleon snicker.


    Good to know Jasmine''s team still liked me.


    Now, to focus on my prize.


    Feebas was staring at me warily, eyes flickering between the alert Zorua and Chikorita. It was very quickly coming to the realization that it was in a terrible situation.


    "Hey there, Feebas," I greeted easily, catching its attention. "I''ve been looking for you."


    "Fee?" Feebas asked in confusion.


    "What? Surprised that someone was actually looking for you?" I asked, crouching in front of it with a smirk.


    It nodded slowly, content to just observe me once it realized I had no intention of destroying it in a battle.


    Good, I was glad I didn''t have to beat it up. Would have felt like bullying and I didn''t want to bully this weak little fella.


    "I want you to join my team," I said bluntly, gazing at it with clear interest. "I figured I''d give you the choice instead of forcefully catching you so that we can get along easier."


    If it said no I wasn''t gonna just catch it. It was imperative that at least one of the Pokemon I captured in Hoenn joined willingly because well¡­


    I wonder if I could get it to like I dunno, call one of its other siblings interested in traveling. Surely there had to be a bunch of Feebas down there, unless Sharpedo was snacking on them.


    I did not feel like fishing up another Sharpedo. I was suddenly glad that it wasn''t raining like it normally does in this route because that would be a nightmare.


    Feebas blinked in clear surprise at my words, not quite believing I wanted it on my team and I frowned at that.


    Just how harshly were Feebas treated in this world? Kind of unnecessary especially considering people knew it evolved into Milotic. No wonder not many people succeeded in evolving it, it didn''t suddenly become a whole new person once evolved.


    After a moment, the fish glanced over at Zorua and Chikorita.


    I watched the three begin conversing with each other, before Zorua glanced up at me.


    "Zor, Zor," he said to me.


    I blinked.


    "Why do I want Feebas?" I asked slowly.


    All 3 nodded.


    "Because I like you. I came here specifically for you and I think you''d be a great addition," I replied bluntly.


    I don''t know what was so profound about my statement, but Feebas'' eyes widened, before it looked at me and nodded vigorously.


    Huh, that was easy.


    "So you want to join me, right?" I asked in slight excitement, as I pulled out an empty pokeball.


    "Fee!" It replied, glancing at me in adoration.


    I smiled at that and tapped the water type with my ball.


    I had never actually caught a Pokemon before. I already had Zorua by the time I took over and I kidnapped Chikorita, so this was my first time seeing the process.


    I watched in fascination, as the pokeball opened up and a red light consumed Feebas, before dragging it inside the capsule.


    The ball shook once, before clinking shut, signifying a successful capture.


    Just like that, Feebas and my future Milotic were secured¡­ and it only took me getting taught how to fish, fighting a strong fish, nearly losing a Pokemon and getting chewed out by my only friend who reminded me of a little sister¡­


    Totally worth it.


    "Alright, let''s go get you guys healed up at the center. I''ve got a lot of ideas cooking and we can prepare to go to Mauville next," I grinned excitedly, extremely pleased by the events of today.


    In the grand scheme of my plans, Feebas was actually the easy part and it went relatively smoother than I expected. The hardest part of catching a Feebas was not knowing if it were actually here... and evolving it into Milotic in the future.


    Now¡­


    Well things were going to get a lot harder.


    After all if things went wrong on my end, then the crimes I committed in Johto would pale in comparison to the target on my back from what I planned on doing in Hoenn.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Ah? Is Ash not here yet?"


    Professor Oak glanced at the three aspiring trainers there and frowned at the lack of one.


    Of course the one year that more than three people qualify for a starter, one of them doesn''t show up.


    Gary Blue Oak snorted at that, rolling his blue eyes. "Idiot probably doesn''t even realize that today''s the day we get our official starters. Happens when you don''t even own a Pokemon before that."


    A tired sigh was let out almost as soon he finished speaking.


    "All these years and you two still have all this bad blood?" Leaf Green muttered, shaking her head. This was why she couldn''t hang out with them anymore. It was just too tiring dealing with all that arguing and it caused the childhood friends to fall out.


    "What?" Gary said defensively, holding his hands up. "Everyone''s here but him! He''s just wasting our time! I bet even you''re tired of waiting, Green!" the young Oak exclaimed.


    "Whatever you say, Gary," she muttered.


    Ash and Gary used to be such great friends when they were all younger but one pokeball managed to do this to them?


    Green couldn''t wait until their journey''s started. She couldn''t even peacefully speak to one of them without the other accusing her of picking sides.


    "Um professor, have you been alright?" Mason, the third trainer there, asked nervously. "Have you gotten attacked recently? I heard Elm was attacked just yesterday..."


    Professor Oak, who had just been observing the trainers with an amused expression, smiled politely at the boys concerns.


    Truthfully, Mason wasn''t going to make it very far as a trainer. He didn''t have the drive or the passion but he had scored enough to be qualified for a starter and perhaps Oak would be proven wrong.


    "I''m fine. Believe it or not, I was quite the formidable trainer back in the days so I doubt many people would be able to successfully attack me," Oak reassured.


    Nothing was known about Elm''s assaulter but they had taken a Chikorita for themselves. For reasons unknown, they had left the other two but in the long run that was a smart decision.


    Narrowing down a thief by a single Chikorita, was very difficult to achieve. The best way to pinpoint them, was by observing the state of the Chikorita for signs of abuse.


    But those were Johto affairs for the time being. Once he distributed the starters, he''d fly over to check on Elm himself.


    On that note...


    "I believe we''ve waited long enough," Oak said, gesturing to the pristine pokeballs being presented to them on the pedestal.


    "Before you are the three starters. Bulbasaur, the grass type. Squirtle, the water type. Charmander, the fire type."


    The three 12 year olds felt their eyes widen as they gazed at the balls in awe.


    "Seeing as two of you got perfect scores on the qualifying tests, Green and Gary can decide who would like to select their starter first," Oak stated, gazing at the two.


    Green smiled and beckoned for the eager Gary. "He can go first. I don''t mind waiting a little longer!" she beamed, just as excited to finally get started on her journey.


    It''s not like he was going to pick her choice. Gary made it very clear he was getting Squirtle no matter what.


    As expected, Gary swaggered right up to the pokeball of the water type and picked it up without any hesitation, smirking cockily as he released the water type to observe it.


    Green stared in slight interest at the Squirtle but wasted no time walking up to select her own starter.


    She grabbed the pokeball of Bulbasaur without any hesitation and grinned as she released it out of the ball.


    "So cute!" She gushed, gazing at the serious looking Bulbasaur with a bright smile.


    "Now normally, Ash would be next to select his starter, but seeing as he is not here, that leaves you, Mason," Oak announced, gazing at the final trainer.


    Oak had prepared a Pikachu for him but it appears Ash would have to accept it.


    He watched the trainer eye the final pokeball with wide eyes, before finally releasing the Charmander from the ball.


    "Now that that''s settled, here is a Pokedex for you all," the professor finished, handing it over to them. "They have a variety of functions but the most notable, is the ability to record and register pokemon you''ve encountered."


    They listened with rapt attention, gazing at the prized invention with fascinated eyes.


    "On your journey, you''ll discover many things about yourself and make many mistakes, but all of these are crucial in becoming a better trainer. Some of you may even discover a new passion along the way!" Oak informed them with a kind smile.


    Gary snorted at that, blue eyes condescending as he sneered at Mason, who could only flinch back.


    Green nodded happily, mischievous green eyes glowing in anticipation as she threatened to bolt out of the door.


    Oak decided against boring them with anymore talks and just waved them off.


    "Now, that''s all from me! Run along now!" Oak waved, before his expression turned serious for a moment. "And do be careful of Team Rocket."


    The three nodded, before finally departing from the lab, though at the last second, Oak did hear Gary shout about battling Green.


    Hopefully Gary matured in this journey. His grandson was rude and cocky but there was a good heart under there.


    And hopefully none of them encountered Team Rocket. Oak himself would show his former status as Champion, if anything happened to his selected trainers.


    Team Rocket... the criminal organization were surprisingly elusive. Grunts knew nothing about the higher ups besides names and even then, they were just tasked with doing their job.


    It was very likely that they had gone and attacked Elm as well... but why would they only take one Pokemon?


    Team Rocket were the type to take everything, not just one... but conveniently, only one had been taken which left two for Elm''s trainers to get their own starters.


    On that topic...


    Oak heard the sound of a phone ringing and went over to pick it up.


    "Ah Elm! I was just going to Teleport over on Alakazam to visit you! How are you?" The old man asked.


    "I''m recovering quickly. Thankfully, my life wasn''t in danger by the time I arrived to the hospital and I was quickly patched up..." Elm informed him, a sheepish smile on his face.


    Oak sighed in relief. "I''m glad to hear that. If you''re life had been in danger... thank goodness it hasn''t come to that."


    "I don''t believe the person who attacked me was attempting to kill me! I heard a child''s scream before entering the lab so they must have been panicked and lashed out."


    Panicked? Childish scream? But for what reason? Were they not the ones robbing Elm?


    ...


    "Are you certain? You don''t have any lingering head injuries?" Oak frowned in contemplation.


    "I''m sure of it. I remember hearing a child scream and when I went to investigate, they must have hid themselves right before I was struck on the side of my head."


    Oak''s frown deepened at that. So the person willingly struck Elm but besides that, didn''t lay another hand on them.


    Not to mention the blow hadn''t been fatal. Most of the damage Elm had taken, stemmed from all the objects falling atop him.


    How curious... a child had invaded the lab and stolen a pokeball... after screaming?


    "Do you think they were perhaps, forced to do such a thing?" Oak asked curiously.


    "...It might be strange to hear from me... but yes, I do. I think whoever did this, is in a situation where they are in urgent need of protection and likely didn''t want to do this," Elm replied with a deep frown of his own.


    "What makes you say that?" Oak asked curiously.


    Based on his own thoughts, it did seem likely that the one who had stolen Chikorita, had done so without much consent on their end... but this was all theory.


    "Well they only stole one of the Pokemon when they had ample opportunity to take all three... and it''s not as if they didn''t have time, because they also grabbed a Pokedex, pokeballs and many healing ailments... I didn''t lose any important documents, any lab equipment... they simply took everything necessary for becoming stronger."


    Oak''s expression turned contemplative as he heard that and the aged former champion began painting a story with that information.


    He did not like the picture.


    If what Elm was saying was true and the child truly was forced to do this... it was a terrifying scenario to think about.


    What would make a child risk robbing a renowned professor, for essentials? What had pushed them to this...


    Team Rocket most likely. This child was very likely being targeted to some degree by Team Rocket.


    What a terrifying prospect to stomach.


    "It seems you''ve come to the same conclusions as I have," Elm stated warily. "It may not be correct, but at the very least I''d like to meet the culprit and speak to them."


    Oak nodded along with him. "A child being targeted by Team Rocket... they might have gone to drastic measures to try and secure their safety. But why not ask for help?"


    "Perhaps they have no choice. We don''t have all the answers and I''d like to get them before something happens to them..."


    The professor of Kanto sighed at that. Elm was truly kind and even he found himself sympathizing.


    That''s if this was all true though.


    "If he is found and apprehended, I have enough influence to ask for an audience with them. If this truly is the story, I doubt they will be sent to prison," Oak said.


    It would be an insult to the league, to imprison a victim when they just needed to be helped from a terrible situation.


    "Thank you, Oak. Now, that''s not quite why I called you. I just wished to inform you of some things about my two trainers, Gold and Crystal."


    Oak blinked.


    Gold and Crystal? Weren''t those two also scheduled to get their starters today?


    They were both incredibly competent trainers. Crystal especially, had a good head on her shoulders that would do both her and the far more brash Gold, many favors.


    "What is it that you wanted to inform me of?" Oak asked curiously.


    "They want to travel through the Kanto region and complete the gym challenge there! I was hoping you could help them out sometimes," Elm explained with a sheepish smile.


    Oak blinked dumbly at that.


    "What?"

 Hubris I

    Feebas: Female


    Ability: Swift Swim


    Moves: Tackle, Hypnosis, Dragon Breath


    I perked a brow at the last two moves. Hypnosis and Dragon Breath? On a Feebas?


    Perhaps her parent had actually been a Milotic and not a Feebas, if she had both Hypnosis and Dragon Breath...


    I wouldn''t complain. At least I didn''t have to deal with a one move Feebas. I knew they were pretty weak but that might have been really hard on me in the long run.


    My newest pokemon looked up at me expectantly as I scanned her and I idly ran a hand against her scales.


    I had never pet a fish before. Feebas seemed naturally wet and the sensation was pretty strange¡­ but I''d get used to it.


    "Fee," she said happily, leaning into my touch.


    "Not bad, Feebas," I muttered, genuinely delighted at having somewhere to start.


    To be honest, I was expecting Feebas to be completely useless until evolution¡­ but this would help alleviate some issues.


    I''d have to make a Feebas impressive, so that my future Milotic would become a monster. The better a pokemon was in their first form, the more impressive it would be in its evolutions.


    This was especially the case with Pokemon that evolved with specific conditions, like stones or items... or beauty?


    That didn''t mean pokemon who evolved naturally didn''t benefit from it as well. Neither Chikorita, Zorua or Feebas were anywhere near close to evolution, so I''d put in as much work as possible with them to make them as impressive as I knew they''d become.


    ...Just as soon as I managed to get a proper plan going for Feebas.


    Milotic were incredible pokemon that warranted how rare they were. The sea serpents were known for having high durability, incredible regeneration and plenty of power to dish out devastating attacks¡­


    Wallace''s Milotic in particular, was known to be quite the force. It was the main reason the man was so heavily considered a candidate for future champion in the Hoenn region.


    But that was as Milotic. Feebas didn''t have any of the advantages Milotic had.


    No, the little fish was a rather frustrating pokemon to own.


    At least with Magikarp, they became a Gyarados with a moderate amount of training involved¡­ No one knew how to evolve Feebas except for a stark few trainers and all those gatekeepers were firm believers that Milotic was a pokemon that only few trainers deserved.


    Combined with how lackluster the first form of the incredibly rare water type was, the few trainers who did manage to catch Feebas, very quickly gave up on them.


    I guess Wallace and Cynthia had a point. If they didn''t wanna tough it out with Feebas, they didn''t deserve Milotic. It was a marathon, not a sprint.


    Though, I doubted they''d deem me worthy of it if they knew who I was.


    Worthy trainer this, worthy trainer that... they could both go fuck themselves. I already knew how to evolve Feebas into Milotic and no one was going to stop me.


    "Not bad girl," I praised with a gentle smile¡­ that probably still looked like a smirk on my face. "I''ll make you strong¡­ it might take a bit for you to catch up to Chikorita and Zorua but it''s a marathon, not a sprint."


    Feebas gazed up adoringly at me and nodded rapidly at my words.


    Adorable. People were way too rude, Feebas weren''t even that ugly.


    In the video games, the way to evolve Feebas into Milotic, was by increasing its beauty or trading it with a Prism Scale.


    You did the first method by feeding Pokeblocks that increased its beauty stat from contests¡­ The second was finding an item I wasn''t quite sure existed yet. Didn''t Feebas themselves grow Prism Scales? If that were the case, they might not exist...


    But things like beauty levels, stats, physical/special split, probably didn''t work like that in this world.


    This wasn''t a video game. This was real life now and stuffing my Feebas full of Poke Blocks until it evolved into a Milotic, was probably not the right way to go about things.


    No, the right way was to treat my shy, nervous Feebas like a queen of course until she thought she was a queen.


    Chikorita and Zorua were currently being treated by the Nurse Joy, which left me and Feebas and just off of our brief meeting I could tell a few things.


    Feebas had very little confidence in herself and because I showed so much interest in her, she absolutely loved me.


    No, seriously. I wasn''t exaggerating.


    She latched onto every single word I said, looked like I gave her the world on simple compliments and loved every single time I pet or just kept contact with her.


    It was admittedly, a little adorable that she adored me so much.


    I don''t know if all Feebas acted like this, but at the very least, I''d boost her confidence levels up and evolution would be my reward!


    A win-win in my books. I felt a personal kind of accomplishment making reserved people come out of their shell. I used to be rather reserved myself.


    Training would be hard but like I said, this was a marathon, not a sprint.


    I was playing the long game and I would reap my benefits later rather than sooner. The idea of my final team, was enough to motivate me to put up with this nonsense for now.


    Hm¡­ I suppose the best thing for me to do was just train up Feebas'' fundamentals, power output and sturdiness.


    Teaching her new moves would be difficult¡­ That''s why TMs were so useful.


    Hm¡­ TMs¡­ Yeah those were likely my best bet to helping Feebas out before evolution. She''d always be fairly weak in comparison to others, but you didn''t need to be strong to win.


    I could look into nabbing a few. It''s a shame I didn''t stay in Lilycove. I''m sure I coulda stole something from that tourist city because I was damn impressive.


    Slateport was another option... I would be headed there after my journey here so I guess I could...


    Didn''t Mauville have a game corner too? I was headed through that city so maybe I could look into seeing how guarded it was. Security in this world was very lax and I had no idea why.


    Man, I really was trying to become Hoenn public enemy #1¡­


    But what if I didn''t become their #1 enemy?


    My eyes glinted maliciously at the ideas I was brewing and I nodded to myself before focusing on Feebas again.


    ...I wonder if I should nickname my Pokemon. Jasmine''s entire team was nicknamed and I suppose maybe I could do the same?


    But I was terrible at naming things. I hardly ever nicknamed my Pokemon in games either¡­


    I''d have to consult my team later and see what they liked. I already had some ideas cooking if they agreed. I had things in my previous world that the people of this world probably had no clue existed, so I had practical exclusive naming rights!


    That could wait for later though. For now, I would continue my operations in this region.


    Since I captured Feebas, it was time for me to get out of Fortree. This mission was the most legal thing I was planning on doing here so disguises were now a must¡­


    And I knew just the thing. I can''t believe I didn''t think of it sooner actually.


    "Fee?" Feebas called me, snapping me out of my musings.


    I was currently in a booked room of the Center and Feebas wanted to spend time with me instead of in the fish tank, so I accommodated her.


    But it looked like she wanted back in for now.


    I lifted her up and placed her in the tank, much to her delight and even despite the glass acting as a barrier, she still remained as close to me as possible.


    This fish was winning me over already and I already wanted her.


    She reminded me of...


    "You ever considered catching a Feebas? They remind me of you," I messaged Jasmine.


    It didn''t take me long to get a message back and I snorted.


    "Silver, I really dislike opening my messages and seeing you insult me without reason... Are you implying that I look like a Feebas?"


    Oh, I could see how she took that the wrong way.


    I shrugged. "I was talking about personality¡­ but I kinda see it now."


    "You are a terrible person. Can''t you say something nice for once?"


    I blinked, before deciding to throw her a bone. "...Why do you want to hear something nice from me? Someone as cute and famous as you must always get compliments. You know damn well you don''t look like a Feebas."


    Despite the message being immediately read, Jasmine took a solid minute to respond and I snorted to myself.


    "N-Nevermind, please continue being mean instead."


    "How the hell are you stuttering over message?"


    "...Goodbye Silver. I need a break from you."


    I shrugged and didn''t respond.


    It was a legitimate question.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Are you actually planning on traveling out there alone at this time again?"


    I regarded the same Nurse Joy I spoke to the other day with a raised brow and pocketed the pokeballs she handed to me.


    "Is this your way of inviting me to your room?" I replied curiously.


    She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Nice try but I''m not a cradle robber, kid. I already warned you about the dangers of traveling at night."


    "¡­" I frowned at that and rolled my eyes as well.


    The Nurse Joy sighed. "Look. You''re very talented kid and I won''t knock that from you at all. You managed to beat a Sharpedo with a Zorua and a Chikorita and somehow you caught a Feebas of all pokemon. I''m no expert but I can tell you''ve got a bright future... But you are extremely reckless," she stressed with a deep frown.


    That was a nice way of putting it. If she had any idea what I planned on doing next, she''d have me put in a ward.


    "In the first place, you shouldn''t have fought that Sharpedo," she chastised me, glaring firmly at me. "Route 119 rains often, if it had been raining do you have any idea what would have happened to you? Your life is not a game."


    "This arrogance of yours isn''t necessary, dumbass. Are you trying to prove that you''re talented to someone? I get that you don''t care enough about your life, but don''t drag your team into it."


    A great burst of anger suddenly filled me and I scowled at the nurse who just raised a brow in return.


    "So Mr. Hardass actually does care about things to react like this? That''s good to know at least," she mocked.


    "Fuck off," I growled with narrowed eyes. "Don''t act like you know anything about me."


    Joy rolled her eyes at him. "I''ve been in this business for years and I''ve met all kinds of people, kid. Look at how defensive you just got¡­ someone''s got a chip on their shoulder and it''s causing you to be a complete fool."


    My brows furrowed in a bit of confusion, as my anger bated a bit.


    ...Why was I getting so defensive? I wasn''t the type to let anyone''s words get under my skin. I was very confident in my abilities and very nonchalant otherwise¡­ so just why were her words pissing me off?


    ...Because they struck a nerve with my other half of course. The original Silver. The half of me that was assimilating more and more into the one who hijacked his body.


    At this point, I was merely referring to him as my other half out of respect of who this body used to be.


    I schooled my expression and pondered.


    This nurse was worried in her own ways¡­ and well, since I was doing what I planned on doing, I guess I could relax for the night.


    She gazed at me with a satisfied smile and handed my key back to me.


    "I like you kid, that''s why I''m looking out for you. A talented kid like you should reach his peak without a tragedy happening," she said, sounding the kindest she''s ever been.


    So this was just the innate kindness all Nurse Joys seemed to have...


    "You''re way less of a bitch then my mom is so I''ll listen this once," I said offhandedly.


    A chill shot through my body as soon as those words left my mouth and I froze completely.


    Nurse Joy shot me a sympathetic smile that filled me with more irritation then I''d ever felt.


    Without saying another word, I stiffly walked away and headed to my room for the night.


    "Hey¡­ I didn''t know your family situation was rough. I wouldn''t change what I said, but I understand why you''re like this," Joy called out to me, catching a few more people''s attention (I didn''t realize people were watching us).


    "Stop talking," I scoffed, leaving the lobby fully.


    As I sat on my bed, I released my 3 pokemon and pursed my lips in confusion as I got ready for bed.


    ¡­I wasn''t the one who said that. The comment about the mom? That wasn''t me.


    I don''t remember her anymore, but my mother was a great woman. No nonsense but kind and caring. I''d never even imagine calling her a bitch.


    But when I thought of the word mom... I only saw the color red and felt disgust...


    Just who the hell were my parents in this world? Considering I didn''t have either of their contacts and never received a call from them as well¡­ it was very likely they didn''t even know my number.


    ¡­


    The longer I stayed in this world, the more I became Silver to the point that I was calling the other part of me my other half, instead of seeing it as his body. I don''t remember being older than 12, I don''t remember any other name¡­


    In fact, besides knowing that I wasn''t the original person in the body¡­ Everything else about me seemed Silver dominated.


    As time passed, it seemed like I was becoming more Silver than me¡­ At least subconsciously, I was positive Silver had more control.


    But as long as I kept my mind, I was fine with that. If I knew that at one point I wasn''t Silver, then that was fine with me¡­. But as long as I was in control and fully aware of it, I don''t care.


    I showed no sign of making it back to my world and I didn''t have time to focus on going back, so right now my loss of memories, while an issue, was not anywhere near my top priority.


    In fact, Silvers memories were probably more important now.


    Despite losing memories of the little details in my previous life, none of Silver''s memories became clearer to me in the process besides vague feelings and sensations. I wasn''t gaining anything from the loss¡­ just the memories I was currently in the process of forming.


    I sighed, prompting Zorua and Chikorita to crowd me in concern. Feebas gazed at me in her tank and I glanced at them rather fondly.


    "It''s fine guys, just a lot on my mind," I assured, shooting a smile at them.


    I don''t know what the end result of my memories were going to end up like¡­ but at the very least the ones I had since waking up in this world were completely intact.


    I needed to stop thinking about this. It was clear that I wasn''t one or the other so it was just best for me to treat myself like an entirely new person.


    Better than having an identity crisis nonstop. It was weird that I fully acknowledged that I was Silver, but I knew I that I wasn''t the Silver I used to be¡­


    In the end, I just needed to come to terms that I was both.


    ...Yeah, that train of thought spared me from the worst headache so I''d stick with it.


    "Let''s sleep. We''re heading out early tomorrow," I muttered, shutting my eyes as I forced myself to get some rest.


    I was hoping to cross a great amount of distance during nighttime but that idea was shelved, so I''d just go nonstop tomorrow morning.


    "Hmph, the Joy thinks me traveling at night is dangerous. Wonder how she''d react if she knew this wasn''t even close to the most dangerous thing I planned on doing."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Alright," I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I contemplated breaking my Poke Gear.


    Unfortunately, I was too coherent for that and instead, the alarm was shut off with just a press by a grumpy me.


    Slowly, I pushed myself up and glanced at Zorua, Chikorita and Feebas, who had also begun the process of waking up.


    Chikorita was terrible at waking up early. My grass type was practically dead on her feet and whined in annoyance, pleading for me to pick her up with her gaze alone.


    Feebas was still sleeping, somehow having not heard my very obnoxious alarm (that sounded suspiciously like the original Pokemon song) and remained so still in the tank, I feared for her life.


    Zorua woke up as easily as I did, gazing at the other two with amusement as he began stretching.


    I lifted Chikorita up with an amused smile and she began purring in my hold.


    "Let''s bathe and then eat¡­ then we can head out," I announced to them both.


    Zorua and Chikorita nodded, before the little fox began following after us.


    I rolled my eyes. I don''t know when it happened but I began bathing these two bums every time I bathed myself and it had become routine to start my day with them.


    I don''t know if this would remain routine when they evolved¡­ considering they''d be way bigger, but it wasn''t terrible at the moment so I wouldn''t say no to my spoiled team.


    "Fee!"


    ...


    Feebas was looking at me, wide awake with a pleading expression.


    "¡­"


    Are you kidding me?


    I went over to the tank and grabbed her out of it, grimacing at getting wet before my bath.


    "Fine, all 4 of us can bathe," I sighed, rolling my eyes and carrying the 3 to the bathroom.


    They were lucky I liked them.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Hey."


    My eyes narrowed slightly and I paused in my gait.


    After bathing and eating my breakfast for the day, I double checked all my provisions and decided it was time to vacate Fortree City.


    I already stayed here longer than I intended, I did not want to waste anymore time or god forbid, run into the Gym Leader.


    What was her name? Fiona? No... Winona that''s it. You would think the leader of Forttree was a Grass type but she instead uses Flying types.


    Running into another Gym Leader, was something I was very invested in avoiding. Considering I''d be going through about 2 other cities with them, it''s best if I make myself scarce.


    That was the reason why I was leaving a 7 am. No sane person woke up this early and cared about the people around them.


    "Shouldn''t you be sleeping?" I asked with a raised brow, adjusting my hoodie as the morning breeze carried the heat onto me.


    Ugh, Hoenn was so damn hot all the time. This was ridiculous.


    "I''m off duty," Joy said simply, dressed in a simple black top and jeans.


    I narrowed my eyes. The only reason I could tell this was the Joy that I spoke to at night, was because of her lazy expression and the fact she clearly sought me out.


    They seriously all looked too alike. Though Joy here did happen to be taller than her sisters... or cousins... or aunts... or nieces?


    "Figured you''d be leaving this early. You seemed eager to get outta here," she shrugged.


    My silver eyes stared into her soul without a hint of trust in them. "That''s impossible. Even with a hunch, you wouldn''t know exactly what time I left. Are you stalking me?" I asked dangerously.


    Did I slip up? It''s not like my misdeeds were only shown in Johto¡­ It''s just a region like Hoenn had literally no reason to pay too much attention to things like that.


    That wasn''t good. Would I have to cut my Hoenn journey short before catching my next two teammates?


    "Relax Silver. I''m not about to bite your head off," Joy said slowly, holding her hands up in a placating manner. She almost looked awkward and I furrowed my brows in confusion.


    Why the hell was she acting like this? I didn''t speak to her much but this was out of character of her.


    "I was just pulling your leg. I saw on the system that you turned your keys back in and decided to check up on you one last time before you vanished to who knows where," she informed me.


    ...Check up on me? Who did this lady think she was, my mother ¡ª


    Ah.


    Seeing as I wasn''t keen on saying anything, the Joy sighed.


    "Look, I don''t know much about you or what you''ve had to deal with¡­ but you''re not a bad kid. I won''t make any assumptions, but at the very least, I''d be worried if something bad happened to you¡­ so just be careful out there, alright?" She said gently, a hint of worry in her gaze.


    ¡­


    What was it with people opening up to me so easily? Everyone in this world needed to learn to be more guarded. Trust wasn''t something you should hand out so easily.


    I sighed.


    Maybe I needed to hear those words, considering my previous lifestyle but I wasn''t quite the same Silver anymore now was I?


    I may have been 12 but one half of me was already secured and assured. I knew what I wanted, I knew what I needed to do. I was not conflicted, I was merely confused about what the hell this world wanted from me.


    It was cute that she was trying to help what she thought was a troubled kid, but I knew full well what I was doing. Her words of reassurance weren''t going to change my plans.


    No doubt about it, I was definitely troubled... but my issues did not lie in something like family issues at the moment.


    My issues lie in something Joy probably would never understand... considering she wasn''t two people.


    But¡­ it was sweet of her to go out of her way to do this. She didn''t have to seek out an, in her eyes, troubled kid and I did appreciate that.


    Guess she really was a Nurse Joy at heart.


    "Thanks for that. I''ll try to be more careful¡­" I responded, just wanting to leave the city now.


    I did not need someone trying to take up a pseudo motherly role because of a single offhand comment.


    I don''t know either of my moms. I don''t know either of my dads and for the moment, I just didn''t care because it didn''t concern me yet.


    My parents weren''t a detail that was affecting me as much as she thought it must have been. She just happened to evoke a reaction out of me.


    It might have been before I got put in this body, but not anymore. I had more things to concern myself with¡­


    Like catching the next two members of my team.


    "I need to make sure you''re actually careful," Joy suddenly said, pulling out a Pokenav. "Your number. Give it to me. I''ll occasionally do a checkup on you and make sure you''re taking care of yourself."


    I scowled at her. "No way. I thought you weren''t a cradle robber. I''m not giving you my number."


    She let out a barking laughter, utterly nonplussed by my reaction. "You have a cute face so use it on someone your age. I can''t guarantee you''ll take care of yourself, so I''ll remind you."


    "...No," I said bluntly.


    I liked her but I had no interest in adding anyone else''s number to my pokegear.


    Joy''s eyes narrowed at that and I gazed back at her with a fearless expression.


    "Don''t be such a recluse. You''re too young for that. Your number, give it here. If you don''t, I''ll bother and hold you here even longer. I''m even capable of causing a scene if you''d like."


    How the hell did she know me this well? This was ridiculous. No one wanted me to be antisocial in peace.


    Couldn''t I just have Jasmine as my only friend?


    Apparently not.


    "Fucking fine," I scowled, snatching her Pokenav out of her hand. I gazed at the strange device and punched my number in.


    The Pokenav didn''t look much like a Pokegear but there were some similarities at least.


    She smirked at me and grabbed my Pokegear, easily putting her number on it. "For someone who had so much fun checking me out, you sure aren''t eager to write down my number. Nurse Joy''s don''t just hand out their numbers to people you know? Unprofessional."


    "I''m so honored but you should have kept the professionalism," I grunted sarcastically, pocketing my device. "I only checked you out once by the way. You were the first Nurse Joy I met so I took in your appearance. You just happen to be good looking so you took it as me checking you out."


    For a moment, Nurse Joy''s smirk vanished the moment I said she was the first Nurse Joy I ever saw, but it was back before I could properly register it.


    "Right." Her voice came out dry and amused.


    "I expect to hear about you in the future. I don''t know why you have no gym badges, but you''ve got potential to be a great trainer¡­ you already care more for your Pokemon than most trainers so that''s a step in the right direction."


    I smirked at her praise, pleased to hear that someone thought I could be strong, before a look of confusion crossed my features.


    "Is it a big deal that I''m caring for my Pokemon?" I asked curiously.


    Joy let out a barking laugh. "You''d be surprised how much the little things matter. Most kids aren''t into doing things like bathing their team or tending to them and making sure they''re completely healthy. It''s a thing mostly breeders and people who do contests focus on but the trainers? Good luck getting them to think of anything besides battling and eating," she snorted.


    I tilted my head at that.


    That, was oddly immature of them. Maybe it''s because I had a pet in my previous life, but tending to my Pokemon seemed like common sense¡­


    Wait, hold on. Why not care for them even more? These were my little soldiers. They should be in top condition!


    Yeah¡­ there was probably way better ways to care for Pokemon than what I was currently doing. Better food, quality of life for their bodies, hell maybe I could look into seeing if Luxury Balls and Pokeball transfers were a thing here¡­ there were levels to this and I must have been doing the bare minimum.


    I''d have to look into it later. Zorua and Chikorita ate their standardized Poke Food¡­ but there must have been something much healthier for them both.


    Yeah, there definitely was. Training Pokemon wasn''t just about teaching and honing moves. These were young monsters growing up under my care and there was a proper way to raise everything.


    I needed to make sure I was doing it right...


    "See? That''s why I think you have potential," Joy praised genuinely. "Look at that look in your eyes. You were already doing good but you still aren''t satisfied after what I just told you."


    She pat me on the head and ignored my glower. "A team is only as good as its leader and you''re shaping up to be a pretty damn good one."


    The off duty nurse began walking away. "Whatever you plan on doing, know you have a fan in me, Silver. So don''t go disappointing me by dying early."


    I watched her go and took in her words with a confused expression.


    I''m not sure what I did to impact her so much but cool I guess.


    What person didn''t want a cute girl rooting for them? I wasn''t going to complain.


    "And you say you aren''t like the other nurses. Coming all the way out here just to give me a pep talk¡­ that''s so sweet of you," I mocked.


    "I''m way too tired to banter with you right now and Blissey gets antsy when I''m gone for too long¡­ so shut the hell up and let me go home in peace. I''ll check up on you tonight to see if you''re dead," she retorted, not looking back at me.


    I snorted and turned away, walking off. "Sure whatever you say. Nice outfit by the way. Didn''t think you knew anything besides that nurse outfit."


    "Pervert. Stop staring at my ass."


    "That''s not what I meant. I''m genuinely impressed that you know another outfit."


    "Sure."


    I shrugged helplessly. I wasn''t gonna try to defend myself.


    There were bigger things to worry about and the biggest one was making it through this gigantic route at good speeds.


    Getting her number wasn''t what I wanted but at least she was cool.


    I wonder how embarrassed she''d be when I brought up the fact that she actually attempted to take a motherly role with me.


    A snort left my mouth.


    How ridiculous.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As I began placing my roller skates on my feet, the rustle of footsteps caught my attention and I went stiff, hand immediately dipping to release Zorua and Chikorita.


    I turned my head to the side and watched the Absol freeze up once more, poised to run off.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Why do you keep stalking me if you''re gonna run away the moment I notice you?" I asked in some frustration.


    The Absol gazed at me, red eyes wary as it saw something only it could see. This was how it always looked at me when I noticed it, before it turned tail and ran off.


    I scowled. This was insanity. Was it keen on stalking me the entire time?


    "Are you gonna attack me?" I asked after a deep breath.


    Almost like it had whiplash, the Absol shook its head in denial and I was stunned to see fear on its face.


    Fear? Zorua and Chikorita weren''t even out! What was it so afraid of? Was it afraid of me?


    Alright since it was actually answering my questions, I may as well try to dig deeper.


    I had been doing research on Absol since it was so keen on keeping an eye on me so I knew a thing or two.


    "...You can sense when a crisis is about to strike, right?" I continued, getting a slow nod out of it. "You''ve been following me for a few days now yet disaster never struck... what''s the deal with that? What are you trying to tell me?"


    The horn on its head, could allegedly sense disasters and Absols would warn people about it... but why was it approaching me? It had been days since my encounter with Registeel and Absol and nothing had happened to me barring the Sharpedo.


    Disaster never failed to strike the spots Absols showed up at, so why exactly had disaster not struck yet?


    What was it warning me of...


    "Absol," Absol said warily, pointing its disaster sensing horn at me.


    I pursed my lips at that.


    "Are you saying... I''m the crisis?" I asked slowly. "Am I the disaster? Is that what you''re trying to tell me?"


    Much to my dread, the Absol nodded without hesitation.


    I gazed at the dark type and mulled that over.


    "So it''s not about Kyogre and Groudon," I sighed in relief.


    That was good. I was getting worried that the plot really was moving without me being ready but I still think I had a lot of time.


    "Are you gonna kill me?" I asked curiously. "It''s your job to warn people about upcoming disasters, yet you''re telling me that I''m the disaster. So are you warning me about myself?"


    The wild pokemon actually pursed its lip at my question and I marveled at its intelligence.


    Pokemon were incredible, it was a wonder they hadn''t thought to overthrow us.


    I warily watched it approach me, for some reason able to tell it meant no harm, and watched as it placed a gentle palm on my chest.


    "Sol, Absol..." it said, stressing its palm.


    My chest...


    "What''s inside me?" I guessed with a frown.


    It nodded, pleased with my correct guess despite the fear I could see roiling off it.


    I was beginning to paint a picture and I had an inkling it had to do with that foggy fortress inside my head that Bronzong mentioned.


    "Are you saying it''s whatever is inside me that''s cause for a disaster?" I asked gently.


    Absol looked as if it were about to say yes to my response, before it paused.


    Taking a step back, I watched it draw one line... and then it drew another.


    ...What?


    The Disaster Pokemon sensed my confusion and approached me once more and placed its palm on my chest again, before tapping twice.


    Two lines... two taps to my chest...


    Two...


    Oh fuck off.


    "There''s two things inside of me? Not one?" I asked it just to confirm.


    Absol nodded solemnly, as if my existence was a tragedy and I scowled deeply.


    Was Absol even speaking about the foggy fortress? Bronzong didn''t mention a damn thing about some second energy. Was it residue from touching Registeel?


    Before I could further question it, Absol fully seized up and shuddered.


    It gazed at me... no that''s not quite right, it gazed through me and I realized it was looking at something only it could see.


    And whatever that something was, it scared Absol something fierce.


    The feline took a single step back before turning on a dime and dashing back into the forest.


    "Hey wai... never fucking mind," I sighed with a shake of my head.


    Absol was actually being helpful to me... such a shame that whatever my deal was, scared it shitless. I was getting the best answers of my life from something that couldn''t even properly communicate with me.


    Two things inside of me... I hazarded a guess that the foggy fortress protecting me was one of them but I couldn''t even begin to tell you what the second thing was. Bronzy made no mention of anything else besides the fortress so I didn''t really have a clue.


    Ah well. No point stressing about it. I had a strange feeling that whenever I got close to finding an answer, whatever scared the piss outta Absol would rear its head again.


    So I''d just let the answers come to me instead of seeking them out. They''d come in due time.


    For now, there were more important things to focus on.


    But still.


    "Whoever you are, whatever you are... you''re really annoying," I thought to myself.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The roller skates were very fun to use.


    No seriously, even though a bike would be objectively faster, skating through Route 119 was really fun.


    Besides, with all the foliage here, navigating with a bike would be annoying. I''d have to stop frequently and adjust my course.


    But with the skates, I was able to move way more flexibly.


    I couldn''t go as fast as I wanted though because of all this rain.


    From the moment I had stepped onto Route 119, a heavy downpour had befell the route that completely contrasted the scalding heat I fought Sharpedo in.


    I was beginning to realize that Hoenn was a very annoying region. If it wasn''t boiling hot, it was raining.


    Way to exert your presence Groudon and Kyogre. Really subtle.


    At the very least, it wasn''t that sticky heat like it normally was and I had on a hoodie that was doing a surprisingly good job at protecting me.


    That didn''t mean it was doing a great job. I was still soaked and grumpy and my hair was practically rooted to my skin and my blue hoodie was practically rooted to my hair and I was in a really pissy mood because I''m pretty sure I looked like a grumpy cat.


    Despite my mounting annoyance with Hoenn, I would never lie about how gorgeous the region was. The amount of foliage and nature dominating the region, made me regret not choosing this as the one I''d travel through first.


    Maybe second. I definitely planned on coming back here¡­ with less heat capturing clothing too... along with something to protect me from the rain.


    But the goal remained the same. Go to Kanto and verify where exactly I was, and journey through that region while letting the heat I was going to acquire in the Hoenn region, vanish.


    I wanted to battle trainers but walking around the region with a Zorua and Chikorita was just asking for unwanted attention, not to mention the incredibly rare Feebas too.


    I wasn''t sure about the rules of battling in this world but eye contact = battle, was definitely not the law around here.


    No, when making eye contact, it did seem to initiate a conversation between two trainers but you could always deny the chance for battle. You were not obligated to accept any battle and it was actually illegal to leave a trainer with all fainted pokemon in the middle of a route.


    Would lead to unfortunate things happening to a defenseless trainer. Like death. Death was very not cool so yeah, trainers needed to have at least one pokemon well rested.


    I was rather fortunate that so far, the trainers on Route 119 asked me how many badges I had and when I replied 0, lost interest in battling me.


    Perfectly fine by me. Incognito was my style at the moment.


    I could become a battle junkie in Kanto. I''d battle everyone there and get way stronger.


    For now, training and catching was my goal.


    Heh, battling my first badge with almost a full team of Pokemon not from Kanto, was funny.


    Was there even a Kanto pokemon I wanted to catch?


    Venusaur was my favorite pokemon from that region but I had Chikorita already and I loved the little dinosaur so I wouldn''t dream of replacing her.


    I was also a big fan of Eevee¡­ but Eevee''s were popular with everyone.


    Finding one in the wild was practically a pipe dream. They were seriously too popular and also insanely rare. If a wild Eevee was encountered, even if the trainer didn''t want one, it was getting caught.


    The best way to find an Eevee, was to get them from a breeder and that was that.


    If I really wanted an Eevee, I could really just steal an egg in the future. Buying one wasn''t cheap whatsoever. In fact, Eevee''s were one of the most expensive Pokemon sold in the Kanto region.


    Yeah, stealing was the way to go. It''d probably be as easy as breathing but that was for way later... I''d have to do some research probably.


    I wasn''t actually sure there was something in Kanto I wanted to really catch.


    Hm, I guess Togepi would fill out my sixth slot for now while I figured out who else would join the team.


    As for Kanto¡­ yeah, I don''t know if I''d be catching anything there but I''d definitely be on the lookout. I wasn''t expecting to love Chikorita or Zorua but here we were.


    Speaking of which, my Pokemon were in their respective balls while I traversed Route 119 but I had them in arm''s reach in case something tried to ambush me.


    It didn''t look very likely though. The Pokemon in this route were very relaxed.


    Hell, a giant and old looking Tropius, had caught me staring and offered me one of the bananas around its neck!


    The giant grass sauropod was just such a surreal sight that I couldn''t help but stare. Good thing it didn''t take offense to that and instead offered me the fruit! It was pretty damn delicious.


    I shoulda asked it to give me a ride to Mauville¡­ maybe it would have said yes.


    Alas, I just hesitantly pat it on the head, shuddering at the deep rumble of content it let out and continued my course.


    That was awesome. I never cared for Tropius before, but now I thought they were cool.


    But man, Route 119 was massive. I had been skating for the better part of an hour now and I was showing little signs of tiredness.


    At least skating wasn''t as exhausting as biking or running on foot. I could keep up this pace for a while.


    And that''s what I did. I followed the map I memorized and just continued skating through the route with a single-minded focus.


    Kudos to the like 3 trainers in this route that I encountered in the midst of my skating, who were just as miserable as I was.


    We just nodded to each other, finding kinship in the misery and headed our respective ways.


    I was as envious of their foresight to have umbrellas or rain coats, as they were of my owning of roller skates.


    "This sucks," I sighed, moving my matted hair out of my eyes and scowling as it plopped right back into place. "3 hours and the route looks the exact same."


    I looked at the time and frowned.


    10:13¡­ I wasn''t feeling very hungry and I could honestly keep going for way longer, but I should check up on my team and see how they were hanging in there.


    Alright, yeah I''d do that.


    I found a nice cover of trees and entered it to get some protection from the rain, before slowly blinking at seeing a Bellossom and Breloom in the spot I had just claimed as my own.


    We had a slight stare off, before I decided it was not worth causing an altercation with two fully evolved Pokemon.


    I had enough of battling fully evolved Pokemon with babies. I wasn''t that crazy to actively seek it out. I was just crazy enough to understand I might run into them in my shenanigans.


    "My bad," I apologized, turning on a heel and leaving the spot.


    I was not in the mood for that. I just wanted out of this route.


    "Bell!"


    I paused at that noise and turned around to regard the two grass types with a raised brow.


    The Bellossom was beckoning me over with a kind smile, patting the fairly dry floor with an inviting expression.


    The incredible display of intelligence was ignored by me (I was way too used to pokemon displaying human gestures) and I accepted the offer.


    I sat down and regarded the two pokemon with searching eyes, a disarming smirk on my face.


    Alright, I''d let out my Pokemon later. Letting them out now, wasn''t the smartest thing.


    Why?


    I''m fairly certain these two belonged to a trainer so I''d just play this break off as eating a quick snack and then skate some more until I reached Route 118¡­


    I should be there soon. It would take me maybe a few more hours at my pace if I just focused on it...


    "Oh! A trainer out in Route 119 is rare!"


    Yup. Damn I was getting good at this.


    "Ah so you''re their trainer," I said, rummaging in my bag and pulling out a sandwich.


    As I gazed at my sudden company, I tried to keep the annoyance off my face.


    Black attire from the neck to the legs, a red-orange jacket, boots and hat¡­ with a rope around their waist.


    A ranger. League sanctioned trainers that protected the environment.


    Not quite as dangerous as an Ace Trainer, the top brass of League foot soldiers, but still very annoying for a criminal like me to run into and disastrous, considering I was still new.


    "Yeah! I''ve had Bellossom and Breloom forever now," he grinned, holding out his hand. "I''m Jackson, a Pokemon Ranger. I was doing some rounds before coming back when I saw you!"


    I stared at the hand with a cool expression, chewing my sandwich in contemplation.


    After a few seconds, I grabbed the suddenly awkward guys hand for a brief moment before immediately releasing it.


    "I''m Aqua," I introduced, glad that my general appearance was mostly hidden. "Just wanted to grab a quick bite before heading off again," I said shortly.


    If Jackson was put off by my attitude, he didn''t show it. The black haired teen just laughed and sat next to his two grass types.


    "I get that a lot. Since I''m one of the few who doesn''t actually mind all the rain, I get stationed here often," he explained with a relaxed attitude.


    I raised a brow. "Must be nice."


    The cold ham sandwich didn''t take very long to finish and I immediately stood up to leave.


    "Nice talk but I''ll be heading out now," I said bluntly, turning on heel and getting ready to actually leave.


    "Already?" Jackson asked in confusion.


    "Yeah, I''m in a bit of a rush and I''m tired of getting wet," I grunted, making sure my skates were well enough to keep going.


    Shoutout to these skates. What a steal (heh). They were damn impressive, really durable and resistant to many of the bizarre things in the Pokemon World. Hell, it could even skate on the rocky floor of caves... or wet dirt and floor.


    In the 3 hours I had been skating, the rain had not let up once. It was making me miserable and this was from someone who enjoyed the rain because it helped me sleep easier.


    Clearly, Jackson wasn''t keen on letting me go just yet.


    "Wait kid, where are you headed? To Fortree?" He asked in curiosity.


    I looked at the slight worry on his face and contemplated lying but realized I could potentially get something out of this.


    "Mauville," I informed him. "And don''t call me kid. I already told you my name," I added harshly.


    His eyes widened at that and he completely ignored my biting tone.


    "You''re headed to Mauville? That''ll take another day or two at least and it''s gonna be raining the entire time!" he told me.


    "I''ll survive," I said with a roll of my eyes. "I''ve already been going for 3 hours and I only stopped for a quick snack. It''ll be easy enough."


    He really didn''t like what I was saying.


    God being a kid sucked. I don''t even remember how old I used to be anymore and I don''t actually remember being older than 12 but I had to have been because being treated like a child was insanely annoying.


    Or maybe this was a thing all kids hated.


    Wasn''t it weird knowing at one point you were older than 12¡­ but now you can''t remember being anything else but 12? What a conundrum.


    This body combination was so weird. No one told me it would be so difficult, most times it was rather seamless.


    "¡­" The ranger looked conflicted. "Alright, how about I let you ride my Tropius to Mauville? Free of charge. It wouldn''t sit right with me letting a kid who isn''t prepared for this route travel it."


    Oh I wanted to punch this asshole in the face so badly¡­ but I wouldn''t... yet. Jackson was his name right? Yeah if he was still alive by the time I came back here, I was going to remember him.


    Instead, I raised a brow. "I won''t say no to that¡­ but you don''t plan on coming?"


    Jackson shook his head. "I''m not on break for long. I had Breloom and Bellossom look for a decent spot for me to eat in peace before I scout out the area."


    I nodded in understanding.


    "Alright, I''ll accept that offer¡­ thanks," I said reluctantly.


    This was too perfect to let up. It would speed up my travels by a whole lot and I could skip Route 118 and the rest of this route.


    Jackson smiled at me good naturedly and I resisted the urge to scoff.


    I missed Joy, everyone in this world was too nice for their own good.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Alright, normally I should be with you, considering you''ve probably never flown before but Tropius is an expert. Never remove the harness until the flight''s over and you should be fine."


    I nodded, glancing at the harness like it were a strange entity.


    It never occurred to me that I''d need to use a harness to ride a flying Pokemon¡­ but it made sense. Someone probably fell off their own flying type and died like an idiot for not having a harness.


    Pft.


    Despite my neutral expression, I was excited to try this¡­ riding an actual flying type? What an exciting experience!


    Who knows when I''d get to experience something like this again. Probably not for a very long time.


    Hell yeah I was gonna enjoy it.


    I kept my grip firm on the hardy Tropius as it flapped it''s grassy wings once and took to the skies.


    I glanced down as the grass type began ascending off the muddy ground with wide eyes.


    "Tropius head straight to Mauville and drop him on the outskirts then come back, we''ll be doing routines as normal!" Jackson called out.


    "Trop!" Tropius nodded seriously.


    "Thanks for the help I guess," I said begrudgingly.


    Yeah, thanks for helping my terrible lifestyle easier. Great job accomplice. I''ll make you proud by completing both my remaining missions.


    "Don''t mention it, Aqua! It''s the least I could do," the ranger waved at me, as Tropius took off into the air.


    "!" My eyes widened as the rush of wind and rain hit me and my startled yell was drowned out by the downpour.


    Tropius wasn''t the fastest, but it still flew at enough speed to stun me!


    Holy shit! This¡­ was awesome!


    I didn''t even realize I was grinning wildly as Tropius soared over to Mauville City because the sensation of flying was one of the coolest things I ever experienced.


    For once, I felt like the giddy little kid I actually was and I felt a real grin form on my face as the rain vanished, making way for a warm breeze that would have messed up my red hair, if not for my blue hoodie being matted to my head.


    Flying like this, so freely with the air brushing against you¡­ a plane could never replicate a feeling like this.


    The ground beneath me shifted in a blur as I clutched the grass type and I marveled at how fast we were going, compared to the day and a half the original trip would have taken.


    I wonder how fun flying would be with a faster pokemon. Tropius weren''t well known for their speed¡­


    In fact, despite how exciting this was¡­ as I got used to the sensation, I realized that this was one I had felt before.


    ...I guess I had gone flying on a Pokemon before and it was yet another memory I couldn''t remember.


    Hm¡­ Ah well. I''d have my own Pokemon fly me around eventually. Not anytime soon, but eventually.


    After about 30 minutes, I began rummaging through my Pokedex again.


    Fun fact, you know how in the games, whenever you entered a new route there would be a little indicator at the top telling you what area you were in?


    Well, that was actually a feature of the Pokedex. It was a neat little thing that came with the map, as well as the option to download a map of the region you were in.


    I already had Kanto and Hoenn downloaded (Johto was the default download), so whenever I entered a new area, my Pokedex would vibrate and that same indicator would pop up.


    It was nice how this world was trying it''s best to logically translate the oddities of the video games to here.


    Like how there were no random giant boulders or trees that would block your route until you got an HM.


    HMs didn''t even exist in this world! The moves still did, but they weren''t gated by such things like unforgettable disks. That would just be stupid now wouldn''t it?


    But I digressed. Since I still had some time left, it was time to review my notes and improve on them for what I was doing in Hoenn.


    I caught Feebas, my shy and lacking in confidence fish and Zorua and Chikorita already got along well with her. She was going to be a great addition to the team and I grinned wildly at how¡­ somewhat smoothly that part of my plan went.


    Now¡­ I already mentioned how this wouldn''t really compare to my next two goals so I wouldn''t lie and say it got easier from here.


    First, I''d cut through Mauville City, head to Verdanturf and go through Rusturf Tunnel so that I could make it to Rustboro City where I could begin my first goal.


    What was that? Well, it was making an enemy of the Stone Family, of course.


    How? By getting myself a nice little Beldum.


    It was no secret that the Stone Family had a monopoly on the Beldum family. Why would it need to be secret?


    The Stones ran Hoenn. This was practically their region in terms of business because of how much the region benefited from their inventions. Even other regions benefited greatly from them.


    They were like the Silph Co. of Hoenn due to the massive success of Devon Corporations.


    Not to mention, they didn''t just run it business wise¡­ the heir to Devon Corporations, Steven Stone (apparently he was no longer heir), happened to be the strongest trainer in the region and was Hoenn''s champion to boot.


    Needless to say, the Stone family were not to be trifled with and no one even thought twice about outwardly messing with the business and battle savvy family¡­ until now at least.


    Where did all their success come from?


    The behemoth known as Metagross.


    The steel type pseudo, was clearly not given justice by the video games because in this world being better than a supercomputer, having ridiculous psychic powers and wielding incredible physical strength by virtue of being a steel type, was kind of a big deal.


    Metagross were titans and somehow, the Stone family had a majority of them. They offered the Steel types protection from people who would love to get their hands on them and they in turn offered the Stone''s their power.


    When you were formidable and being protected by someone just as formidable, poachers would find a hard time getting their hands on you so there we almost no attempts.


    I sighed.


    First time for everything. I was really trying to set a precedent.


    Why was I going through all this trouble to get Beldum? Potentially making an enemy of all of Hoenn?


    Well, I wasn''t a person who wanted a lot of things but when I wanted something, I''d do a lot of things to get it¡­


    And Metagross was my favorite Pokemon. There was no world, where I wasn''t going to attempt to get my favorite Pokemon of all time.


    So yeah, I''m not moving from this stance no matter what. I would be getting a Beldum one way or another¡­


    As for my final Pokemon¡­ let''s just say the reason I was potentially making an enemy of all of Hoenn wasn''t because of just Beldum.


    Heh, turns out in this world, there used to be people who ruled Hoenn way back in the past.


    Draconids were their names.


    Now, I didn''t know a damn thing about Draconids¡­ but apparently they were a fierce group of savages that loved Dragon types.


    Go figure.


    Wanna guess who their favorite dragon to use was?


    Yeah¡­ it was Salamence.


    Wanna guess what dragon type happened to be my favorite?


    ¡­


    Yeah¡­ it was Salamence.


    Metagross, Salamence and Milotic were my 3 favorite Pokemon from my favorite region. Pokemon Emerald was probably the game I loved the most growing up so it was only natural I''d love some of the main hitters¡­ but goddamn why did two of them have to be guarded by such important people?


    I actually contemplated capturing a Trapinch instead. Flygon was also very cool and it would be much easier to capture than a Bagon... but Silver, and by virtue me, really, really hated Flygon.


    Just the mere thought of catching the Ground type filled me with a nauseating amount of disgust.


    Actually, I didn''t seem to want a single ground type pokemon. I thought I liked em but guess not.


    Even Mamoswine who I had liked earlier, was suddenly not something I wanted.


    Guess it''s a good thing I caught Feebas, Swampert was part ground after all...


    I was getting off-track. Focus.


    As you can imagine, getting a Bagon wasn''t going to be a cakewalk either. After raiding the Stone residence for a Beldum, I''d immediately move North to Meteor Falls and set up camp there for a bit until I managed to snag a Bagon.


    If I managed to piss of some Draconids? Eh, who cares. Apparently they didn''t even have much of a standing in Hoenn anymore so their word would be empty nothing. They just skulked about in Meteor Falls, gate keeping Bagon and whatever other dragons they had their hands on.


    I sighed again at how protected some of these pokemon were.


    What this world just didn''t seem to get, was that I would be getting what I wanted. I refused to settle for anything else. Once I set my sights on something, I''ll do everything to get it.


    But it wasn''t all bad. If things went bad, I already had a plan to get myself out of it.


    ...After all, I already had the two perfect suspects to frame.


    I smirked wildly and glanced down at my all blue outfit.


    Poor Team Magma and Aqua, making an enemy of the Draconids and Stone Family before you could even debut. I bet they''d be real confused about this in the future.


    But what were they gonna do about it? I''d love to see the villains plead their cases about how they were being framed.


    This way, if they did plan on starting their scheme early when I wasn''t ready, people would be wary of them from the jump.


    A criminal org doesn''t just start from thin air after all.


    Now¡­ how I was possibly going to play off having a Beldum? It''s not like the Stone Family had a monopoly on all Beldums. They weren''t exclusive to the Hoenn region but this was their preferred region.


    Hm¡­ There were trainers out there with Metagross that they probably didn''t get from the Stone Family. They weren''t very common, but I could pass off as one.


    ...I pursed my lips and nodded to myself.


    I could throw people off my trail using the Magma/Aqua design long enough but to truly avoid getting exposed, I needed to remain completely anonymous.


    No face, no features, hell not even a Pokemon to trace back to me.


    I cursed myself for using the Pokemon Center in this region but it was fine. Kanto should be able to hide my steps well enough and the fact that Pokemon of all kinds could be in any region, worked out great for me.


    Well, I''d figure out the complicated details in the future after completing my goals. For now, I''d need to put 100% focus into actually getting them.


    No time for anything else.


    Beldum and Bagon would be mine no matter what.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Thanks Tropius," I said kindly to the Tropius, shooting it a thankful smirk as it dropped me off at the outskirts of Mauville.


    Hey, asshole I may be¡­ that was only to humans! Being unnecessarily dickish to Pokemon, was no better than hating a dog for no reason.


    Unless they deserved it of course. I wasn''t that nice now.


    Tropius rumbled deeply at me and nodded before wasting no time in heading back to his trainer.


    I watched it go into the air and vowed to fly way more when I got the opportunity to do it on the regular.


    The flight reduced the day walk, to just two hours and I grinned in satisfaction at how much time was saved.


    Maybe being nice to people would do me favors. If my less than stellar personality was giving me a Gym Leader and a Nurse as my only friend, along with a free ride to the city...


    ...But I didn''t want to be nice. It was annoying and a lot of these people were inherently annoying too. I had no intention of being nice to any of them.


    Yeah forget that noise, I''d reserve my pleasant side for my team. They could have all the niceness and that would allow me to be an unabashed asshole.


    Sounds like a good enough deal for me.


    The rainy weather of Route 119 was gone, replaced by the familiar heat and sea breeze that I was now associating with the Hoenn region.


    Honestly, it wasn''t even terrible, so long as I wasn''t dressed in my preferred long clothing.


    I sighed in suffering, as I completely hid my striking red hair and made my way to Mauville from Route 118.


    Unlike my previous thoughts from earlier, I wouldn''t stop at the Game Corner to steal some TMs. I had more things to focus on than unnecessarily risking myself.


    I was actually getting very confident in my talents that I lost and I was sure I could nab a TM and get away with it¡­ but I''ve had enough of unimportant detours.


    No more until I completed my mission. It was time for me to fully lock in.


    Mauville City completely dwarfed Fortree in terms of size. The area looked more akin to the Mauville in Generation 6, being an indoor city and it was very impressive how they managed to handle it.


    The two cities were complete opposites to each other. Whereas Fortree had fully immersed itself with the nature around it, Mauville fully embraced the technological aspect of humanity.


    Everywhere you looked, you''d see something powered by electricity. Hell, electric types lingered around the area as well. My eyes widened in visible interest at seeing a seasoned trainer walking around with an Eelektross of all things.


    What a cool pokemon. I wouldn''t have complaints if I ever caught the Electric eel.


    Too bad I wouldn''t even be staying even a day in the city but I already rationalized it with saying I''d fully explore Hoenn in the future.


    This was just a sneak peek for me.


    Every crevice of the city was packed to the brim with people and pokemon alike and I bit back my scowl of annoyance as I rudely pushed through the crowds.


    If Mauville was this bad, I''m glad I didn''t stay in Lilycove. This was aggravating.


    After pushing and shoving for what might have been 20 straight minutes, I let out a sigh of relief as I finally reached the corridor that would take me straight to Route 117.


    The Route connected Mauville and Verdanturf to each other. It wasn''t nearly as big as some other routes, so it wouldn''t take me long at all to reach the next city if I just ignored everyone and kept it pushing.


    117 was rather unassuming, with it''s most notable feature being a Pokemon Day Care that nursed Eggs into Pokemon or took in abandoned ones.


    It didn''t have the same features as the one from the games which made sense. Trainers just abandoning their Pokemon to a daycare sounded fairly inhumane and would probably get your trainer license revoked.


    There were also way more Daycares in general over in this world. It was a staple for Pokemon Breeders who made their living off selling young or abandoned Pokemon to a new home.


    Chikorita had actually been hatched in a Daycare. All Professors had a link to one that specialized in hatching the starters for their trainers.


    But I had no business with a Daycare at the moment. I already had an Egg anyways.


    The buzzing of Volbeat and Illumise dominated my hearing for a bit and I gazed at the swarm of them with uninterested eyes, making my way through the route.


    While not as much as Mauville, there were still a healthy amount of trainers out here.


    While the seasoned trainers understood my haste as me not wishing to battle¡­ Not everyone was as intelligent.


    "Hey! Wanna batt ¡ª"


    "Not. In. The. Mood," I said harshly, moving past the eager kid with a stern frown.


    That had been the fifth person to ask me and by now I was getting seriously fed up with it.


    While I did want to battle more to increase my experience, I simply had more things to prioritize at the moment and I did not need to reveal my team to random strangers just yet.


    I''d have to make do with battling wild Pokemon and training for now.


    I saw the person flinch, caught off guard by my tone but I ignored it completely and kept my pace.


    Verdanturf wasn''t too far. Another five minutes and I''d make it there, then I could head straight through Rusturf Tunnel before arriving to Route 116.


    Honestly, I could probably get a Beldum by the end of the night if I kept this pace¡­


    Yeah a night infiltration would be perfect for me. I worked best in the night.


    With that, I continued my quick pace to Verdanturf and continued the draining task of rejecting battles.


    Note to self, invest in headphones and find some type of music I could enjoy here. I hope it wouldn''t be too cringe inducing listening to what the people of this world made.


    Oh just wait until I became an active battler. I''d make people think twice about challenging me for the hell of it.


    But that was for later, for now it was time for me to briefly take in the views of Verdanturf and continue speedrunning Hoenn.


    Verdanturf was a quaint town, far smaller than both the cities of Fortree and Mauville which thankfully meant way less people.


    I sighed in relief at that.


    "Should I eat a quick snack? Nah¡­ I''m not that hungry," I thought to myself.


    One thing I noticed is that I could weather my hunger very well. Even if I was a bit hungry, it wasn''t really noticeable unless I went hours without eating.


    Why a 12 year old like me could weather his hunger so well? I wasn''t sure but I could hazard a few guesses.


    Weathering hunger was something you did when you were in college and struggling to get by.


    Silver was not in college.


    It was probably his upbringing.


    I''m beginning to think I had been attempting to get away from my abusive parents. It would explain why I had none of their contacts.


    I suppose it wasn''t too surprising. A kid attempting an act of thievery at 12 on something as important as a Pokemon Lab, couldn''t have possibly been raised right.


    But whoever did raise me gave me balls of steel. I had to salute myself for getting one of my very first Pokemon from a lab¡­


    Praising myself was weird but eh, someone had to do it. My skills from the first first heist to now, were night and day. I had been honing them since I landed here and it was paying off well.


    If I attempted the heist on Elm''s lab again, I''d be in and out without making a single noise. I''d probably be halfway to the next city before anyone realized anything went amiss.


    Hard work really did pay off. Helped that I was innately talented too.


    It was time to truly put my skills into action.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Rusturf Tunnel was the first cave I was entering since landing in this world and thankfully, it wasn''t as massive as caves like Mt. Coronet or, the soon to be entered, Meteor Falls.


    No it was a fairly small tunnel that was simply used to connect the east and west sides of Hoenn to an incredibly effective degree.


    Imagine if I had to go through Slateport, take a ship to Dewford, then take a ship to the outskirts of Petalburg and finally walk my way to Rustboro.


    I''d be in Hoenn forever at that point. Might as well have done the Gym Challenge because I''d have visited 4 cities with gyms¡­ 5 if I decided to take a break in Petalburg.


    Thankfully I did not have to do all that. I could just take this tunnel to Rustboro then take it back and head to Slateport so I can sail to Kanto.


    Seemed full proof.


    Seeing as I was finally in an isolated area, I found a nice little spot and sat down in the tunnel, before releasing my team.


    Three flashes went off and I regarded my team with a small smile.


    "Sup guys," I greeted, pulling out a sandwich that I was planning on scarfing down later.


    They all greeted me with excited noises and I felt my smile widen a bit.


    "We''re almost at our first mission you three. Since I want to prioritize stealth, it''ll be Zorua and I for the job alright?" I informed them, pouring up a bowl of food for them all.


    I wanted to learn their best diets soon. After my realizations, I wanted to give them the optimal options for their kind.


    Maybe that''s why the team limit was set at 6 (fun fact, there was no way to actually enforce this. Trainers just had a lot of integrity). Raising Pokemon probably wasn''t cheap¡­ that would also explain why people were type specialists. Just easier all around to raise.


    It made a lot of sense¡­ but man was that boring. I much preferred variety in my life.


    "Zor," Zorua nodded in affirmation, scarfing down his food quickly.


    "Ko," Chikorita grumbled in agreement, not looking too pleased but understanding why.


    "Bas," Feebas agreed easily.


    We had given her the rundown and she didn''t seem opposed to it¡­ but did Pokemon raised in the wild really even understand things like that?


    I doubted it. Feebas was probably content to do whatever I asked of her.


    "Are you fine outside of the water?" I asked her curiously.


    "Fee!" my water type nodded vigorously.


    In the water, Feebas were actually pretty fast but out of it? Yeah, it wasn''t really anything impressive.


    Just the fact she was able to operate outside of it, was enough for me though. She did not need to be fast or anything, just needed to take a hit and dish it back.


    I''d figure it out soon enough. For now, I''d let them eat and discuss tactics with Zorua.


    But first¡­


    My Pokemon watched me stand up with curiosity and I began the process of removing my mostly dried blue clothes.


    Folding them neatly, I placed them to the side and pulled out an all red outfit this time.


    Long pants, red shoes, red and black gloves... complete with a hoodie that hid my face fairly well and was, you guessed it, red.


    Don''t get me wrong, I absolutely love the color red¡­ but all red? Damn these guys were ridiculous.


    Placing the entire outfit on, I gazed down at the mock Team Magma design and nodded in satisfaction.


    It probably wasn''t a perfect 1 to 1, but the dominating color of reds was all that really mattered.


    Perfect, the hoodie was protecting my peculiar silver eyes as well.


    I looked at the time and pursed my lips.


    6:29 P.M¡­ The walk to the other side of the tunnel would take about 40 minutes and from what I learned about Hoenn, it typically got dark around 8.


    Alright, it''s showtime.


    I ate two sandwiches that filled me up good enough and deposited my discarded clothes and the food bowls of my Pokemon into my bag.


    Then, I returned Chikorita and Feebas (I had to promise Chikorita that she''d be apart of the next heist... whenever that was) leaving just me and my starter.


    Zorua''s relaxed features (it was a far cry from the first day I saw him¡­ I''m glad I was making him more comfortable) sharpened to something far more serious.


    It kinda reminded me of myself.


    "Remember the plan?" I muttered to Zorua, opening up my coat a bit and allowing him to jump in so he could hide until it was time.


    We had been running through it for a while now and his presence would be invaluable.


    "Rua," Zorua nodded easily.


    "Good. In and out with a new teammate. Stealth is a priority. If we get spotted, we''re probably captured in an instant," I smirked, body thrumming in anticipation.


    There was just something intoxicating about this rush. I wasn''t the type of guy who committed crimes because that was too troublesome and the risk wasn''t worth it.


    Who knew the adrenaline could be so addicting?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The Stone Family owned a gigantic acre of land that resided in the dense forests of Route 116. It was fairly close to Rustboro City, where Devon Corps primarily operated and the leader of the corporation, Mr. Stone himself, lived.


    Gigantic might have been putting it nicely. They were utterly loaded and it showed. I must have just reached the entrance and I didn''t know where it ended.


    Night had fallen by now and I sat on a tree branch as I inspected the outskirts of the Stone residence¡­


    Maybe I should call it the Stone Territory. That seemed more fitting.


    Despite the night sky hiding my features, I still opted to put on a mask that fully hid my features.


    The piece of black porcelain was rather comfortable and probably not intended to be used for the purpose I was using it for but hey, I wasn''t fact checking that.


    There was a gate that served as the cutoff between Route 116 and the Stone Territory and it was almost as tall as the branch I was sitting on.


    Keyword, almost. There was a reason I chose this tree.


    Without any hesitation, I deftly leapt atop the gate and balanced myself on it, before landing on the stone beneath me without making a noise.


    Odd seeing the grass just get replaced by stone but I wouldn''t question it too much.


    Zorua, who was tucked in my coat still, took place atop my shoulder and immediately wrapped me in an illusion as I swiftly began moving forward.


    I wasn''t quite sure what I was looking for but I''m sure the deeper I went, the more clear my answers would be¡­


    And clear they were.


    My eyes widened in awe as I made it deeper into the territory and saw loads of Beldum and Metangs just mingling about, doing whatever it was they did.


    Night time didn''t seem to hamper the Steel types at all as they moved about.


    This was perfect! It was almost like Christmas came early!


    As I gazed at them, eyes glinting in clear interest, I noticed that they weren''t all the same size.


    Makes sense. Chikorita had been growing bigger by the day so it made sense that not all Pokemon were the exact same size.


    The Pokedex entry on weight and height must have been the average for the mentioned Pokemon.


    I wonder if Chikorita''s sudden growth were signs that she was going to evolve soon?


    It was a thought for later. For now, I needed to think about how I was going to approach this.


    There was no way I could handle all the steel types in a fight and even though their numbers certainly played a big part¡­ the biggest reason I had zero interest in a direct altercation, was due to the single lone Metagross looming in the back.


    Glowing red eyes peered through the darkness and roved over the area, glancing past my spot without indicating it noticed me here. It was impossible to tell what the behemoth of a pokemon was thinking but I just admired it.


    God, Metagross was so cool. That''s why I needed to do this. I wonder how many of the fully evolved steel type were in this area?


    The main building to the Stone Family was a lot further ahead, to the point where I could only see the lights of the, probably, massive building.


    I wonder just how many Beldums resided here? Considering they could probably breed with each other, probably a lot.


    Perfect.


    If I''m right, this was probably some type of line of defense. There were more Metangs here than Beldums and that single Metagross looked rather formidable (even a freshly evolved Metagross would crush me in seconds).


    I didn''t make a noise, as I snuck past the first line of steel types with silent steps that I had been working very hard to achieve.


    It was working out well because the psychics didn''t even glance at me.


    Dark types were amazing. It was no wonder criminal teams used them so often. Zorua''s illusions (and the fact he was on me) was naturally filled with dark type energy and that not only hid me from the eyes of people, it hid me from the mind of psychics too!


    "...But it''s not smart for me to stay in one area¡­ wouldn''t a psychic be confused if it couldn''t feel a certain place? Does it even feel the environment around it? Food for thought¡­"


    At the very least, that train of thought wasn''t biting me just yet. The Metagross hadn''t stared at any spot I was in for long and I thanked the stars for that.


    As I traversed the mix of grass and pavement, I noted that there seemed to be more than just Beldum here. It was dark so I couldn''t quite make it out but I did see some sleeping silhouettes.


    A cold thought went through my body.


    "What if Steven Stone is here?" I thought in horror.


    But as quick as the thought came, it left and I shook my head.


    If the champion of the Hoenn region were here, I think I''d have gotten caught before even entering the area.


    I even planned for this somewhat. Steven Stone visited Rustboro very rarely. The only time he visited apparently, was after exploring Meteor Falls.


    Considering he was the champion of Hoenn, he didn''t have much free time either. I doubted he would spend his free time visiting this place and from my other world knowledge, I knew he had a private home in Mossdeep so he likely stayed there in his free time.


    If there was one thing I understood from this world, it''s that everyone was far too naive.


    Maybe naive was too harsh¡­ the best way to explain it was that, they didn''t have the same amount of pessimism and paranoia as my other world and maybe that was for the better.


    Yeah that''s the best way I could put it. Despite being much darker than I expected it to be, there was still a level of naivety that the people of this world seemed to naturally have.


    It was like watching a movie and questioning where the common sense was, but I lived in the movie now and I was the only one wielding said common sense.


    Even Joy was naive in a way despite being an asshole.


    Guess that worked out well for me.


    It must have taken me 10 minutes of exploring and walking past a plethora of the Beldum line, to finally find what I was looking for and I grinned wildly, as a predatory gleam entered my eyes.


    There, all by its lonesome in a part of the forest, was a bright blue Beldum, red eye gazing at nothing as it did¡­ whatever Beldums did?


    I didn''t know the average size of Beldums but it looked pretty small (was it young?).


    I felt an immediate rustling in my coat, as Zorua locked in on his opponent, before climbing out of my outfit and landing silently on the floor.


    Without even waiting for my orders, Zorua cloaked himself in dark energy and rocketed off with the effects of Hone Claws on his red stubs.


    I smirked proudly as Beldum let out a startled noise from the Pursuit, right before my starter began clawing into him.


    Like the assassin I was raising him to be, the stealth attack was over as soon as it started and I snorted at how anticlimactic Zorua made sure his battles were.


    He was swift and efficient, having a no nonsense stance as soon as he got into it.


    Serious right as soon as battle started¡­ weren''t dark types supposed to be the opposite?


    I shrugged. Whatever, this was the perfect outcome for me. If Beldum had put up a fight, can you imagine what would happen to me? The more unaware everyone was, the better for me.


    Beldum never even knew what hit it and the super effective attacks from Zorua, swiftly knocked it unconscious.


    Without any hesitation, I grabbed the Great Ball I stole from Elm''s lab and tapped it against Beldum, watching the red light absorb him, while glancing around to see if anyone caught that.


    I wasn''t sure if the Beldum''s could communicate with each other but if they could, Zorua should have stopped that before it could start.


    It was perfect.


    The Great Ball shook heavily and for a moment I thought disaster was about to befall, as I remembered how infamously terrible Beldum''s catch rate was.


    But thankfully it settled down after a minute and pinged in success.


    Catching a pokemon was actually pretty easy. You just had to beat it into submission and knock it out and it was practically a free catch!


    Was that fucked up? Everyone else did it, I wasn''t gonna suddenly have morals to question whether it was right or wrong.


    I gazed at the Great Ball and delicately grabbed it, before placing it gently on my belt.


    Zorua''s stance loosened and he leapt back into my coat, smiling up at me and immediately cloaking me in his dark energy again (I think? I couldn''t see).


    I affectionately ruffled his tuft all while swiftly evacuating my spot. Those few seconds Zorua was off me, could have gotten me sensed by any of the pokemon there.


    Did I ever mention how much I loved Zorua? He was the perfect starter and I''m glad I had him.


    I headed directly north with the illusion wrapped around me, ensuring no one was on my tail or suspicious of my actions.


    It was all done without a hitch. I just raided the residence of the most prominent figures in the Hoenn region and captured one of the strongest non legendary Pokemon.


    I grinned madly the moment I finally made it off the Stone Residence and let out an almost delirious laugh after an hour of finally holding it in.


    HELL YEAH! I WAS AWESOME!


    After the absolute disaster that was New Bark Town, where Zorua saved my ass, I made a vow to my pride that I would hone my skills until I was better than Silver originally was.


    I wasn''t sure what the measure really was¡­ but I think this is better than anything he had done before so I''d take it.


    I just snuck past an army of psychics and took one of them right under everyone''s nose¡­ and no one was the wiser.


    It was likely they''d eventually find out, Metagross was an incredible pokemon and Beldum''s in large clusters tended to be in a hivemind kind of thing¡­ but for now, I was in the clear.


    And now, it was time to finish my journey in Hoenn with one more capture.


    "Good shit, Zorua," I said affectionately, grinning at the Dark type who was looking at me with wide eyes. "Just one more and we can go to being regular trainers."


    Zorua nodded before hesitantly climbing my shoulder and placing his head on my cheek.


    I gazed at my starter and raked a hand against his fur.


    "C''mon, let''s head to our next location. I wanna tell Chikorita and Feebas the news."


    "Zor!" Zorua nodded.


    Once I had stepped out of the forests of Route 116, it put me directly into Route 115. If I just continued walking north, I''d eventually make it to Meteor Falls.


    Much like previous things I encountered, there were no convenient obstructions that blocked early access to Meteor Falls until far later into the journey.


    No, you could easily head there from Rustboro City and that was the plan.


    I grinned violently, full of confidence as I marched towards Meteor Falls.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">

 Hubris II

    Forests, beach, the sea and now caves¡­ I didn''t have a single gym badge and yet I had already explored 4 different types of terrain.


    Pretty impressive. Technically speaking, I could have fought 3 different Gym Leaders but I just chose not to for obvious reasons.


    I yawned slightly and rubbed my eyes.


    Despite being so layered by the pseudo Magma clothing, I was so used to the scalding Hoenn heat, that the shift in temperature caught me off guard.


    Meteor Falls was massive to the point where I had to strain my neck to see the top of the ceiling.


    I was once again stunned, by the scale of the cave in comparison to the game.


    Not to scale should have been a disclaimer in every video game. This was what a real cave looked like¡­ I didn''t initially think Meteor Falls was as impressive as Mt. Coronet or Mt. Silver, but I might just be wrong because it seemed endless.


    I heard flapping and leapt back right as Zorua jumped out of my coat to intercept the Zubat trying to sink its fangs into me.


    My eyes narrowed at the small little flying type and I grunted, beckoning with my hand for Zorua to take the lead.


    This is what we had been doing mostly. I wanted Zorua to be my most independent pokemon so that we could run circles around trainers. I even planned on giving him wrong orders sometimes, just to confuse my opponents even more. We would need a lot of synergy to get it working but once it did, we''d be terrifying to go up against.


    Zubat launched towards Zorua with glowing wings, only to growl in annoyance as the dark type deftly dodged the attack.


    My dark types eyes narrowed and he lunged forward, using the speed of pursuit to directly connect with the poison type and successfully tackling it out of the sky.


    Before Zubat could think to retaliate, it let out a pitiful noise as Zorua mercifully scratched into him.


    "Nice," I praised as Zorua leapt off it''s prone body. "We haven''t fought much trainers, but we''re improving by leaps and bounds," I noted with interest.


    Our training was paying off really well. Experience from battling was good, but training was doing us all wonders and I really could just let them fight each other.


    I like to think I was training them all pretty damn well. Our battle against Sharpedo was proof of that.


    Zorua and I continued our pace through the cave, battling a couple more Zubats and being completely avoided by some Lunatone and Solrock (they were all so strange to look at!) up until we made our way to a waterfall.


    Next to the waterfall, was a hidden set of stairs that I did not hesitate to climb and I found myself for the umpteenth time, thanking this world for not having unnecessary game obstructions.


    Meteor Falls wasn''t a place some trainers should really enter until they were more experienced.


    It wasn''t a death sentence like say, Mt. Silver¡­ but the home of the Draconids wasn''t a walk in the park.


    That was another thing. Far deeper in Meteor Falls, was a village that housed the Draconid Clan. They made their home in the confinement of this cave for whatever reason and were mostly independent from the ongoings of the Hoenn region.


    The League seemed to mostly leave the Draconids alone too. I believe Elite Four Drake had relations with them and that seemed good enough for them.


    I didn''t do deeper research on their history so I wasn''t sure about the story behind that but I did know they worshiped Rayquaza.


    Wait, what was that one girls name? The one with the Mega Salamence?


    ...I don''t remember. She had the really cool music and was trying to destroy the Meteo ¡ª


    I balked. Wait, the meteor? The same meteor that was going to crash into the planet and kill us all if we didn''t stop it?


    The same meteor that had¡­ Deoxys on it.


    ...I absolutely loved Deoxys. It was my favorite mythical Pokemon¡­ but goddammit why was it on a meteor that was going to crash land on Earth?


    I pursed my lips and stopped myself from moving any further, sighing as I inclined my head to a certain direction.


    Hoenn had way too many issues. What was wrong with this region? Two living calamities, their parent able to calm them both, and a meteor with an alien on it who said parent happened to hate.


    If my life was in no danger, I''d have just noped outta here¡­ but unfortunately it was and I refused to put my life in the hands of someone else.


    But for the meteor I just might have to¡­ wasn''t a worthy trainer supposed to wake up Rayquaza and stop all the madness?


    No¡­ that''s not what I remembered. Zit tried and failed to Mega Evolve Rayquaza¡­ but we as the player, were able to.


    Because of that meteorite¡­ the one that the person in Fallarbor Town discovered and got mugged from by either Aqua or Magma.


    I halted my movement and narrowed my eyes.


    That was the same meteorite¡­ that the scientist found in here.


    Yeah¡­ I could do that. I could use my prior knowledge to give myself an advantage for sure. If I secured that Meteorite¡­


    I nodded to myself and went back downstairs, reaching the first floor of Meteor Falls once more as I headed to a random destination.


    "Zor?" Zorua muttered in confusion at my change of pace.


    "Something important suddenly came up¡­ I''m looking for something," I muttered back, heading closer to the exit that lead to Rustboro, over the one that led to Fallarbor.


    If I could give myself a head start like this and secure such an important item, that''d be huge for setting back those two gigantic idiots.


    Hell, if I were strong enough, I''d have gone after the Red and Blue Orbs too¡­ but that was out of my reach for the moment. And I very much doubted it was out in the open of Mt. Pyre like in the video games, just free for the taking.


    Did people even know those orbs were atop Mt. Pyre? Likely not... they were probably hidden well by the guardians... but if you knew it was there, it was only a matter of time before you got it.


    I was realizing now, that I knew a lot of general knowledge about important stuff. I knew where both Magma and Aquas bases were, I knew where Groudon and Kyogre resided (I wasn''t sure how I was gonna reach Kyogre)¡­ hell I even know about the Meteor.


    Mega Evolution existed in this world too... yeah securing this meteor would be important.


    I do think I still had a good amount of time, considering Magma and Aqua weren''t making much noise at all, besides shady recruitment on websites you wouldn''t find unless you were actively looking for them like I had.


    No, the most prominent criminal organization at the moment was Team Rocket. No signs of Aqua, Magma, Galactic or Plasma or whoever the hell the other regions had.


    I hated Team Rocket but I was content to stay out of their business for now. Since I''d be traveling Kanto naturally I''d be wary of them but actively seeking them out in my path of getting stronger was dangerous and dumb¡­


    If they were still going strong when I was confident enough, then I''d take them out too. My general knowledge didn''t extend to just Hoenn, I knew enough to completely ruin Team Rocket right down to the very core.


    After about 3 more Zubat attacks in the midst of my searching, I let out a grunt of annoyance.


    "Damn I''m tired," I sighed. What time was it?


    10:57 PM¡­ I frowned at that. Alright, I''d wrap up this business, set up camp deeper in Meteor Falls and get some sleep.


    Then we could begin the search for Bagon.


    There weren''t any other humans that I could see in here to question me for my weird searching habits but I wouldn''t have let that deter me regardless.


    I didn''t know the specific location but it had to be somewhere around here.


    How did I know? Well call it a hunch, but there was a suspicious pressure eerily reminiscent (but not at all as dominating) as when I ran into Registeel earlier and it was getting stronger the closer I got.


    This feeling wasn''t anywhere near similar to Registeel, who felt cold and metallic, and I might have even been able to ignore it before, but my exposure to one legendary, seemed to have opened the floodgates and now I could actively feel the strange sensation.


    I couldn''t even explain this one. It just felt like I was breathing in too much air. It really was very different from the Steel Golem.


    I frowned at that. Could I really feel the pressure of things related to Legendaries just because I exposed myself to one? Why? Why was I even able to expose myself to them?


    Was it because of who I was?


    That couldn''t be it. At the end of the day, I was only relevant in the Johto region and the legendaries associated with me, were Ho-Oh, Lugia and maybe the Legendary Beasts...


    But I never once encountered said legendaries and I doubted any of them had to do with the fortress in my mind, or my sudden vulnerability to legends.


    Was it even worth thinking about this right now?


    As I glanced at the spot where the pressure felt the strongest, I realized it probably wasn''t.


    An unassuming group of rocks blocked my vision of the prize I was searching for and I glanced at it dispassionately.


    Suddenly, I wasn''t too thrilled to find the object. I even seriously contemplated just leaving it here and letting nature run its course.


    But despite that, I couldn''t and I really fucking hated that.


    Despite the fact that I vowed to not involve myself in stupid shit or be a hero¡­ I was realizing that I''d never be comfortable with the idea of my life being on a thread with someone else needing to save me.


    The fate of the whole world? Why would I rely on some other kid to save it? What if this world didn''t have anyone to save it? Do I just die without doing a damn thing?


    I was in an alternate version of every media of Pokemon I was aware of. I couldn''t expect things to go the way I expected it to so I''d have to lay a heavy hand and ensure my own safety.


    Being a bystander could work out but if it didn''t, I''d die and that payoff wasn''t worth it at all.


    With a sigh of resignation, I moved the pile of rocks about and laid my eyes on the strangest rock of the group.


    Like I said before, if I had to save this world in order to make sure my livelihood wasn''t at stake, then I''d do things my way. I don''t know if it was Mew or Arceus or whatever the hell Pokemon it was, I wouldn''t let any of them control me or my actions.


    As I crouched down and grabbed the Meteorite, I grunted as a vision of a giant rock floating in an ever expanding darkness invaded my mind.


    Then, the darkness faded away and all I saw was green.


    I violently shook my head and placed the Meteorite in my bag, frowning as the pressure from the stone, never abated.


    "So I guess this really is Rayquaza''s... hopefully it doesn''t hunt me down now," I mused.


    Looks like I''d have to get used to the feeling. At least it wasn''t all that annoying¡­ just a slight buzzing really.


    Maybe it''d even get me used to other legendaries. I knew for a fact I was gonna be meeting them and being in denial never helped anyone.


    "Alright, let''s go set up camp," I grunted, getting up from my crouched position and heading back to those hidden stairs.


    I really needed to go to sleep.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Chiko!"


    "Fee!"


    I grunted as I was brought to the floor of the tent before a smile replaced my features. I patted the wet scales of Feebas and the dry scales of Chikorita with a pleased feeling coursing through my body that I used to be foreign with, but was quickly getting accustomed to.


    "Missed me?" I asked curiously, tiredly laughing as they nuzzled me excitedly.


    They both nodded furiously and I sighed at how adorable they were.


    "Zorua and I completed the mission," I informed them. "Flawlessly, no mistakes as far as I''m aware."


    Chikorita''s eyes widened and she glanced over at the dozing dark type, before trotting over to him.


    "She''s bigger than him now," I noted curiously. Chikorita and Zorua had been about the same size but over the weeks, I noticed that my second Pokemon had been growing quite a bit.


    Not to mention, the green of her skin was getting a bit brighter.


    Was she close to evolving? It was kind of awesome that you could see signs before it was complete. I wonder just how close she was?


    Chikorita pulled out a vine and began nudging Zorua, who popped one eye open and gazed at her tiredly.


    "Chik Chiko!" She exclaimed excitedly.


    Zorua nodded and they exchanged a few more words before Chikorita turned towards me with expectant eyes.


    I rolled my eyes and pulled out the Great Ball, presenting it to them all.


    "We''ll officially meet them tomorrow morning after I wake up. Be on your guard," I told them, idly stroking Feebas'' scales.


    They all chanted in their respect tongue and I smiled at them, before deciding to call it a night.


    I had invested (yes I actually bought these) in some repels and currently, there was one outside my tent to ward off any curious pokemon.


    Hopefully it worked out well. I didn''t wanna die in my sleep.


    Judging by the look of disgust Zorua had released the moment I put one down, it did its job well. Repels scent got weaker the more you traveled because the movement allowed more air in and diluted the scent of it.


    Stay still and it would last a very long time.


    "Alright, I''m going to sleep. You guys can do whatever but make sure you''re not too loud," I muttered, letting my head hit the pillow and falling asleep near instantaneously.


    I didn''t realize I had been awake since 7 am and it was half past 12 am now.


    Damn had I really been awake for 17 hours? Not bad¡­ though I doubted my 12 year old body should be awake this long.


    Let''s fix that.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    My eyes abruptly opened to an expanse of darkness and I blinked in confusion.


    What... was this?


    Despite the fact that my eyes were open, I couldn''t see anything except for my own body. Not even the floor beneath me existed and I warily glanced around.


    Where exactly was I?


    What was happening? What was this endless darkness¡­?


    Why was it¡­ that I couldn''t feel my heartbeat, my body, my senses¡­ I couldn''t feel anything¡­


    Except for an overpowering presence all around me.


    Paranoia began seeping into me and I began warily glancing around.


    Considering I had a sensation worse than this earlier before, it wasn''t as jarring as I expected it to be but it didn''t change that this situation was incredibly bizarre.


    "Who''s there?" I tried to ask, but whether my voice reached here or not was unknown to me because I couldn''t hear at all.


    Frustration began to rise inside of me before even that was stamped away by the heavy pressure I was being subjected to.


    This was... this was even heavier than Registeels. This pressure was almost completely stifling, smothering me completely and robbing me of all my natural senses.


    Such heaviness... if this thing had an even more imposing presence than Registeel, that meant...


    Suddenly, all my senses returned and I let out a breath I didn''t know I had been holding in.


    That was nerve wracking, I didn''t even want to think about what the hell was imposing its will onto me currently ¡ª


    I whirled around on instinct, as the presence suddenly spiked and I could only gaze in horror, at the giant red eyes of something gazing directly at me.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I let out a strangled yell as I shot up and glanced around wildly, clutching my chest and letting out strained gasps.


    My Pokemon slept blissfully unaware, though Zorua had popped a single eye open at the strained noise with a questioning gaze.


    I let out a shaky smile and placed a palm on his head.


    "Nothing buddy, go back to sleep," I whispered quietly, running my fingers through his soft fur.


    Zorua glanced up at me, before nodding slowly and shutting his eye, falling back into slumber.


    A rattled breath left my body as I thought about that dream I just had.


    Maybe nightmare was more apt. That was bizarre.


    Not to mention those eyes¡­ just what was that? Even though it was a dream¡­ I couldn''t forget that pressure crushing me from all angles.


    The pressure that even eclipsed Registeels own.


    I resisted the urge to groan and lied back down.


    No way was I getting my sleep ruined by these annoying ass legendaries. Getting my sleep interrupted, was a surefire way to piss me off for the rest of the day and my Pokemon didn''t deserve that because this wasn''t even on them.


    Still, that dream didn''t feel like a dream. Whoever wielded those big red eyes... I had a strange inkling they were the one that scared Absol off.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Rita?"


    I glanced down at the concerned Chikorita and flashed her a tired smile while idly messaging Joy that I was in fact alive today. "I''m fine girl. This hard ground kept me up for a bit."


    She nodded sympathetically and climbed atop me to graciously offer her presence to me.


    I chuckled at the fact that she thought just climbing me would help but accepted it all the same, just patting her on the leaf.


    "Alright it''s about time we meet our new member," I yawned, pulling out the Great Ball holding my most recent member.


    Zorua and Feebas perked up and nodded in anticipation, while Chikorita opted to continue resting on me for my own sake.


    I had walked rather deep in Meteor Falls and found an isolated part of the cave that had a body of water in it and no Pokemon at all.


    This room might have been crafted actually, considering there was an entrance to it.


    Also¡­ this suspiciously reminded me of the room you catch Bagon in but there was no Pokemon in here at all that I could see.


    Fine by me.


    I held out the Great Ball and released Beldum from confinement with a cool expression.


    The red light coalesced into the Steel/Psychic Pokemon and we all gazed at the Beldum with curious eyes.


    A single red eye glanced back at the small group, before locking on me, prompting me to pull out a potion.


    "Want me to heal you?" I asked curiously, gazing at the dominantly blue Pokemon with a relaxed expression.


    Beldum contemplated the question for a moment, probably assessing its own injuries, before nodding.


    I got up with Chikorita on my shoulder and approached my newest capture with a friendly expression¡­


    Only for a white light to cover Beldum''s head and crash right into me.


    Beldum had a vicious gleam in its eye, that turned into a blink of confusion, as they flew through the body.


    "I figured you''d do that," I sighed, still sitting in the same position with Chikorita as the body Beldum crashed into, faded out.


    Beldum immediately seized up, as Zorua tackled him to the floor, shrouded in dark energy.


    He let out a threatening growl as he held a paw to the Beldum''s neck and I smiled.


    Finally, I got up and moved over, spraying the Potion on its body with a calm expression.


    Beldum looked at me in confusion and I kept my expression neutral.


    "Nice to meet you Beldum, I''m Silver," I greeted coolly, placing the potion back into my bag. "I caught you, so you probably know what that means, right?" I asked.


    Beldum gazed at me with a defiant expression that I wasn''t really expecting from a Beldum but nodded its head all the same.


    "Right. I''m your trainer now and I''d prefer it if we could get along so that this could go smoother."


    Judging by the expression on its face, Beldum was not a fan of that idea and I frowned slightly.


    "Bel," was all it said.


    Considering Chikorita just snarled, I was gonna garner a guess that Beldum did not say something family friendly.


    "Why?" I asked, nonplussed by its reaction.


    No, there was simply curiosity in my stance so that I could get to the bottom line of gaining this one''s loyalty.


    "Is it because you were content with living in a hoard of Beldums?"


    It nodded easily.


    That got a scowl out of me. "But why? What''s the point in just staying there and being a Beldum forever? Does that life satisfy you?"


    Beldum hesitated slightly, before nodding its head.


    "So you''re content to stay confined in that cage all your life, while staying as a Beldum... Aren''t you even slightly interested in being a Metagross? Do you have no ambition? Goals? Are you content to be subpar?"


    As much as it tried to hide it, my words were causing Beldum to ponder a life outside its confined home and a gleam entered my eyes.


    "I don''t get it¡­ Metagross are some of the most respected Pokemon on the planet but it would naturally take years for you to ever achieve it¡­ in fact, it might never actually happen considering that''s probably not the goal for you is it? Your goal for the colony isn''t to become a Metagross, right? It''s to provide for them isn''t it?"


    A pause... a shake of its head.


    "That sounds no better than a prison to me. No free will, no choice to make your own decision... Is the inside of that cage all you ever want to know? Do you not want to see what the world has to offer you? Your only goal in life does not have to be providing for the hive as one piece of many. Don''t you want to be more? Don''t you want to be seen as a single individual?" I asked with a raised brow.


    "...Bel," Beldum said hesitantly, nodding its head as my words captured its full attention.


    It tried, it really did but I had it hooked.


    "Then work with me," I proposed. "I will show you a life beyond that cage and I''ll show you that this entire time, you''ve barely been breathing. I''ll give you the freedom of choice and my goals for you, require you to be a Metagross, so you don''t have to stay a Beldum for a majority of your life," I assured, smirking confidently.


    I beckoned for Zorua to get off and he obeyed without hesitation, making Beldum look back at my dark type.


    It must have remembered how easily Zorua dispatched of him and I did grin this time.


    "You''ve been shackled your whole life with a will that''s not your own, with a will that doesn''t want the best for you and deep down you don''t want that, so align your actual will with mine so that you can find what''s best for you," I finished, silver eyes gazing resolutely into its red.


    Beldum glanced back at me and I marveled at how a single eye could convey so much emotion.


    I wasn''t really sure but my mental image for the Metagross line must have given me the vibe that they were all emotionless machines that coldly got the job done.


    But Beldum didn''t really convey any of that. How young was he? There was a fire in his eyes, a conflicted expression, an anger at me for upending his life¡­


    But he was interested. Interested in being something besides a Beldum that roamed the Stone Territory, providing solely for the hive. Interested in attaining power that it never would normally achieve.


    Interested in becoming the behemoth known as Metagross, something it might have only thought of in passing. Perhaps it never even thought it would become a Metang because that''s not what the hive desired of it.


    But it could achieve all those hidden desires under me.


    As Beldum reluctantly agreed to join me, I found myself thanking Steven for making my life so much easier.


    Protecting the Beldum wasn''t a bad job at all¡­ but coddling them like this, confining them to only one area¡­ forcing them to be apart of one hive because of their nature.


    Well of course they''d be curious about the outside world. Maybe if the Metagross line truly was emotionless, they wouldn''t be¡­ but that wasn''t true.


    No, all intelligent things had an innate curiosity and the easiest type of curiosity to manipulate, was the curiosity of a person who was being confined, no matter how willingly.


    A caged bird would always have the desire to fly and Beldum had been imprisoned its whole life without even realizing.


    But I made it realize and that''s how I won.


    Beldum may not like me now¡­ but I would show it exactly what it had been missing out on. As we traversed the world, it would realize that I hadn''t been lying, it would realize that the hive was just a small fraction of what it could have achieved...


    And it would realize I showed them this new way of living.


    "Cool¡­ now that that''s settled¡­" I mused. "We haven''t trained in a bit. Let''s eat and I can think of something for Feebas and Beldum in the meantime. Zorua, Chikorita, keep doing what you were already practicing until you master them. Mix in physical training with it, sparring and honing your respective energies."


    They both barked in confirmation and I smiled.


    "We''re in a pretty dangerous place guys. Stay on your toes until we complete our mission. We''ll be here for at least a few days," I warned.


    Beldum watched the three nod without any hesitation and gazed at me with a quizzical look.


    I caught its gaze and simply smirked.


    "Did I forget to mention I''m a high stakes kinda guy?" I asked with a maniacal glint. "We''re here to catch another member of the team!"


    "...Bel," Beldum said slowly.


    "Chiko," Chikorita nodded sagely.


    "Zor," Zorua agreed.


    I scratched my head slightly. "You get used to it? He''s always like this? When the hell did you guys get so rude to me?"


    "Fee!" Feebas smiled.


    "Not you girl. You''re a sweetheart," I assured.


    "...Dum," Beldum said.


    Was this truly the trainer that snuck into their territory?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Beldum: N/A


    Ability: Clear Body


    Moves: Takedown


    I hummed as I scanned Beldum and nodded my head.


    "Not a lot to work with, but that''s fine. I''ve already got plans," I said aloud.


    Normally I''d keep such musings to myself, but I was realizing that the way to win Beldum over, was to verbalize how I intended on making it useful.


    As they were now, I''m sure even Feebas could give it a run for its money and win.


    "Alright, up until I evolve you, you''ll be limited. But that doesn''t mean you''re useless. There''s 3 moves I want you to learn and that''s Iron Defense, Iron Head, Zen Headbutt."


    Beldum normally only learned Take Down up until they evolved. It made them terribly useless, even more so than the first form of a lot of pseudo legendaries.


    But later on, in later regions, they decided that Beldum was too useless and allowed it to learn three moves via tutor. Thankfully that seemed to apply here as well.


    At the very least, Beldum''s tended to evolve faster than their pseudo siblings. Achieving the Metang form wasn''t very difficult at all.


    "It won''t be easy, so I need you to practice molding your psychic and steel energy to an effective degree. Just internalize it for now and don''t even bother on shooting it out of your body. We''ll focus on that when you become a Metang."


    Beldum listened to my orders and watched the clips on all the moves with its single red eye.


    Eventually, they nodded and went off by its lonesome to practice said move.


    I wondered when he would be able to communicate with me. Would it be hard like with Bronzong? I hope not. Having my own psychic to communicate with seemed cool.


    "Hey wait, Beldum! Do you want a nickname?" I suddenly asked.


    The steel type froze at that and gazed at me, before shaking their head in refusal and continuing its course.


    I shrugged. I expected that. Maybe it''d be more receptive in the future.


    "What about you three?" I asked.


    They looked stunned by my proposal, before Chikorita immediately began nodding, joy on her features at the idea of having her own name.


    Feebas and Zorua followed suit and nodded happily.


    I had been dwelling it for a bit because I was terrible with names. I hardly ever nicknamed my Pokemon but I figured to increase our bond, it''d be good to give them names.


    Also to avoid confusion on the off chance we ever faced a mirror matchup.


    I had a pretty good scheme planned too. After all, I had knowledge of another world that had its own folklore and myths.


    There''s no way this world knew about Greek or Norse mythology!


    "Zorua, how do you feel about Loki? It signifies mischief and trickery," I asked curiously.


    The Norse God of Mischief seemed like a perfect fit for my Zorua. My plan was to just name all of them after whoever''s name I could properly associate with them and Loki was practically perfect for my Zorua.


    Zorua thought about it before nodding in approval, accepting the name without complaint.


    "Chik Ri!" Chikorita demanded next. She eagerly awaited and I rolled my eyes at her.


    Chikorita''s name wasn''t one I could think of as easily as Zorua''s¡­ but there was one I liked.


    "How do you feel about Gaia?" I asked Chikorita. "It signifies one who rules the Earth."


    Gaia the Greek Goddess of Earth. Pretty self explanatory and I was immensely pleased to see Chikorita nod rapidly at it, because I had no other name for her besides like, Terra or Demeter.


    Finally, I glanced at the eager Feebas with a name already on my mind.


    "Feebas, how''s Freyja?" I asked the fish. "That name represents love and beauty so I thought it was a perfect for you."


    Aphrodite was my first option, but that name was gonna get tiring to say real fast so I settled for Freyja.


    I watched with a swell of satisfaction, as Feebas'' eyes widened in shock at what I said before she grinned in happiness and nodded.


    "Fee!" She agreed adoringly.


    I laughed at that and stood up. "Perfect. Loki, Gaia, Freyja. I''ll be calling you guys that from now on, okay? Get used to it."


    They chorused and I clapped once.


    "Alright, I''m gonna focus a bit with Freyja and get her a good regimen. Loki and Gaia can keep training on what you need to learn, alright?"


    They nodded and trotted off to train with each other and I brought my Feebas to the nice water source to help her refine her very lacking water stores.


    Beldum watched from a distance as its trainer interacted with the older members of its new team.


    A nickname? For what reason would Beldum need a nickname? It was simply a Beldum.


    No, it would only be worthy of a nickname when it managed to find what was best for it while exploring the world beyond the hive.


    Only when it was a Metagross, would Beldum agree to the idea of a nickname because only when it became Metagross, would it acknowledge its trainers words as truth.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Alright Freyja, I''m gonna be honest. Battles are gonna be hard," I admitted truthfully, dipping my bare feet into the body of water she was swimming in.


    Before she could get any negative ideas I decided to speak up again.


    "That''s not to say I''m giving up on you or anything like that. I just want you to know that if you''re ever struggling, don''t think I''m disappointed in you," I finished reassuringly.


    Feebas looked at me, before a surprising look of determination crossed her features and she began nodding resolutely.


    I smiled at her. "That''s what I''m talking about."


    I flipped open a Pokedex and beckoned her over. "First things first, we need to get you a water move and I''m thinking Water Pulse will be the best one for you to learn."


    The good thing about Feebas, was that they could actually gain quite a bit of moves from egg or tutors unlike their fellow useless fish, Magikarp.


    And it was a pretty large variety too!


    "I don''t want to overwhelm you with too many moves but I was thinking Icy Wind in the far future," I muttered.


    I showed her the two moves and she watched with curious eyes as the Sealeo on the screen showcased both moves.


    "Focus on Water Pulse first. You need to get your water stores up to something usable. Try not to neglect using Dragon Breath and Hypnosis either, those will be really useful for future moves."


    Freyja wouldn''t have the power right now, but I was hellbent on making her effective.


    My Feebas nodded in determination and set to work immediately on controlling her water abilities.


    I smirked in a pleased manner before turning serious and getting up.


    While they did this, it was time for me to do a bit of reconnaissance.


    After all, this room I was in was fairly close to the Draconid''s base of operation. A 10 minute walk to be exact.


    I probably shouldn''t go alone¡­ but my Pokemon looked pretty locked in¡­


    Except for Beldum. It didn''t look like they were making much progress¡­


    "Beldum, come with me," I called as I headed to the exit of this room in the cave.


    Beldum looked over before floating to me.


    "Dum?" He questioned.


    "You looked like you were struggling a bit so I figured I could personally help you out while I go scouting," I explained, flicking open my Pokegear.


    "Hey Jas, got a few questions about steel types. Been thinking of catching one and I wanted your opinion on how to raise em."


    I had already been doing some research on Beldum and honestly the most interesting thing I found out, was their diet and the fact that they didn''t have any weird evolution shenanigans that some Pokedex made them out to have.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    No two Beldums to evolve into Metang. No two Metangs to evolve into Metagross.


    Thank God. Going back and catching 3 more Beldums would have been hell for me.


    Also Beldum had a mouth¡­ at the opposite end of its head that it used to consume mostly metal and minerals, but also some meat.


    Fascinating. Pokemon were so strange.


    My gear immediately vibrated and I glanced down to see a message.


    "A steel type? You want to catch a steel type?! Oh what would you like to know? Typical diets? Key moves? Which one I recommend catching? There''s so much to discuss! One moment, I''m calling you right now."


    I scratched my head in confusion and resisted the urge to groan as my phone began ringing as soon as I finished reading her message.


    "Nevermind Beldum, scouting is for later," I suddenly said, turning on a dime and heading to my tent. "Hone your psychic abilities. I''ll be back with steel tips. Remember, the key to honing psychic energy, is concentration and proper utilization of the mind. Try meditating."


    Beldum looked at me like I were stupid but eventually nodded and went back to train, keeping my words in mind.


    I picked up the call and was immediately bombarded by my¡­ best(?) friend.


    "Do you really want to catch a steel type?!" Jasmine asked excitedly.


    Technically, I already caught one but yeah I wouldn''t tell Jasmine that for a while.


    "Hello to you too. Yeah, I wanna catch one eventually and figured you''d be the perfect person to help me figure things out."


    I saw her eager grin and couldn''t help but smile myself at how extroverted she suddenly was.


    "I''m so glad you came to me! I can give you general tips on steel types and even some specific ones. I don''t own all of them but I''ve done my research!"


    I nodded my head at her, noting the excited expression on her face. "I was thinking of some general tips for now."


    "Alright! You might want to get some paper. I''ll tell you some of what I know," she beamed.


    ...Some paper? Just how much was she planning on telling me?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The answer to that question I asked before, was a lot.


    Jasmine dumped so much info into me, that I was reminded of all the horrific studying I had been doing in this world since landing here.


    Despite my clearly disgusted look that I know she saw, Jasmine completely ignored it and plowed through my distaste, with a level of willful ignorance that I was actually extremely proud of.


    Because of the fact I was proud and the fact I asked in the first place, I actually did listen to everything she had to say and typed it on the nifty note section of my Pokedex.


    I noticed her smiling even wider at the fact I was actually typing my notes.


    By the time she finished, I felt exhausted just looking at what I was gonna be reviewing.


    "How do you remember this off the top of your head?" I asked in concern.


    Her knowledge was the real deal and the fact that she could recite this so easily made me realize how this girl managed to become a gym leader.


    Jasmine was a fucking genius. She was only 16 years old and she was practically a college graduate with her level of knowledge.


    No wonder she had no friends before, my best friend was not apart of the norm at all and probably had no one to actually fit in with.


    "Oh I''ve reviewed my notes on Steel Types so many times that it''s become second knowledge. I''m one of the leading experts on the type for a reason!" she explained easily.


    I snorted with a small smirk. "Is that confidence I''m hearing? Good to know you''re growing a spine," I teased.


    She flushed slightly at that. "Well, it''s kinda hard not to when you''re my friend¡­ Can you believe that a trainer I battled with 4 badges had the audacity to ask how I became a gym leader after winning with his plethora of fire types? I politely asked him for an exhibition match 1 on 3 and let Empy unleash havoc on his team."


    "Oh?" I asked in clear interest. "Seriously? You did that?"


    She nodded with an exasperated expression. "I felt far too much satisfaction wishing him luck in the Silver League after I crushed him¡­ I think you''ve corrupted me a bit. The look of horror on his face made me feel a little bad, I think I might have deflated his confidence a bit."


    I couldn''t help the slight chuckle at that and clapped mockingly. "That''s still a bit too nice for me but it''s a step in the right direction. Nice job, Jas."


    She actually rolled her eyes at me and I nearly shed a proud tear at the sassy action.


    The 16 year old was someone I began to appreciate more as I stayed longer in this world. She was practically the only person I spoke regularly to and rather than annoyance, I was actually filled with fondness talking to her.


    I doubted I''d have much friends so the fact that she was one of my only ones, wasn''t lost on me.


    Despite being older than me by 4 years, the constant teasing I submitted her to, gave me huge little sister vibes and believe it or not, I genuinely think I liked Jasmine as a person.


    ...I''m not telling her that¡­ Maybe I''d tell her the little sister part though. She''d definitely get upset considering she was 4 years older than me ¡ª


    Wait a goddamn second.


    "You have notes on this and you made me write it all?!" I hissed in disbelief, silver eyes glaring a hole into her.


    The smug little shit, actually had the audacity to smile at me!


    "I knew you''d notice eventually! Consider this revenge for worrying me so much and then making fun of me Silver!"


    This little¡­


    "You''re an annoying little sister," I said flatly.


    Her eyes widened in disbelief and she began spluttering. "L-Little sister?! I''m 4 years older than you! In what way am I a little sister?!"


    "Dunno, if you can''t tell how you''re a little sister, I see no point in explaining it to you," I said with a smug smirk. "Now if you don''t mind, something came up and I conveniently have to end this conversation here."


    "I asked a question, Silver. I know for a fact that nothing came up and this is just your way of ¡ª"


    Hmph. I can''t believe she actually got one up on me. She was so lucky that I wasn''t in Johto.


    "Alright, let''s go give Beldum some pointers," I muttered to myself.


    Annoying she may be, Jasmine did give me a whole new perspective and I was eager to put it into practice.


    Some of the things she mentioned, I could even apply to my other members in some way.


    Diets, training methods¡­ I just needed to research the right ones for them all and look into getting it at Slateport.


    Man¡­ the research would never end.


    I expertly ignored the messages coming in troves with the same level of willful ignorance Jasmine shot me earlier.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The Draconids didn''t actually reside in Meteor Falls¡­ technically? Well they didn''t live in the... cave section? that I set up camp in.


    No at one point, when you truly went deep into the cave, you''d find an entrance and through that entrance was a whole new area that had me whistling with an impressed expression.


    While the rocky terrain of Meteor Falls remained, the area became far more expansive and a lot of more livable too. Huts littered the area that people must have resided in instead of. Said people were mingling about, with tan to darkish skin that seemed to dominate the Hoenn region and I looked at their sharp features with a curious eye.


    So these were the Draconids huh? For a "dying" clan, they seemed to be doing fairly well for themselves and that did not bode well for me.


    To my surprise, there was no ceiling, allowing me to see the afternoon sky and I wondered what Pokemon managed to accomplish that¡­ it was so strange knowing I could just walk through the somewhat hidden entrance back into Meteor Falls and I''d be in a different world again.


    But the most surprising thing, were the dragons.


    Every pokemon I saw, was a dragon in some form.


    It was an amazing sight¡­ the Draconids didn''t hoard just Bagons¡­ I was seeing everything here!


    Druddigon, Gabite, Zweilous, Flygon¡­ Hell I even saw this little apple thing! I didn''t even know what that was!


    Damn¡­ maybe getting these guys attention was not in my best interest.


    With the Metagross colony, I had a dark type to shield me from their psychic perception¡­ I had nothing to shield me against these Dragons and their heightened senses but my own skills and while I was cocky enough to sneak in, unless I could stealthily capture a Bagon with no resistance from it, I''d be in trouble.


    I should look into fairies in the future. Oh wait, Togepi was a fairy huh? When was this egg going to hatch? I''d like to utilize a Fairy type to deal with everyone obsessed with Dragons.


    Right now, Beldum and I were hidden as we gauged the area and, in a rare moment of unity so early in our relationship, decided it was in our best interest to leave.


    Draconids weren''t as hostile as they used to be, but that didn''t mean they were friendly. They were isolated for a reason and though I wasn''t one to stereotype... they weren''t the smartest bunch around.


    Hm¡­ I''d have to figure out the Bagon dilemma later. It was suddenly much harder than I expected it to be.


    Should I sneak in at night? They didn''t seem to have dedicated scouts, as seen by how easily I was gathering information but things could change when night time hit...


    I should get night vision goggles. I operated a lot at night.


    Beldum and I slunk away from our hiding spot, never noticing the curious eyes on us, and began heading back to our base.


    We had been in Meteor Falls for about 5 days now. Instead of being hasty, I decided to take it easy and slowly figure out the giant cave instead of rushing right into it.


    Throughout those days, I studied the layout and even figured out a route that would lead me in and out the Draconid village the fastest in case I decided to do a hail mary play.


    Since I got Beldum way quicker than my schedule planned for, I decided to focus more on training my Pokemon up to respectable levels, while I myself did some reconnaissance.


    That''s how I managed to find the hidden entrance to the Draconid Village.


    Naivety once again struck this world because entering had been as easy as breathing once I found it¡­ though I suppose much like the Stones, no one would be dumb enough to attack a tribe of dragon trainers.


    For good reason too. I saw a Dragonite in there and the Kanto pseudo looked a lot less goofy than the games portrayed them as. It may have looked a little tubby, but that thing was full muscle.


    I wonder how Garchomp or Hydreigon looked¡­ I was a little excited to find out but not very excited to find out now in my journey.


    "Catching a Bagon might be harder than I expected," I told Beldum with a contemplative expression.


    Dragons had good sense of smell and great hearing too. Illusion wouldn''t work out very well and they''d immediately hear the sound of battle if I got in one¡­


    Maybe I could shoot for a oneshot on my target... but I really hadn''t seen much wild Bagons. I did see a Shelgon at one point and one day I heard the roar of a Salamence... but the Bagons seemed to have their own trainers already.


    Damn, did I have to give up? I didn''t want to but it wasn''t looking too hot for me.


    Hm¡­ I didn''t really want to give up but there were easier dragons to catch that I also liked... but that might be far away in the future.


    I could exit through the Fallarbor Entrance and maybe catch a Swablu I guess, or maybe even snag a Dratini if they''re in the Safari Zone of Kanto.


    But they weren''t Bagon... my definitive second choice to replace Bagon would have been Deino but how the hell was I gonna get one of those? I didn''t fancy a trip to Unova at the moment.


    Maybe Bagon was in a different location besides just Meteor Falls. Surely they weren''t all here... I could just be on the lookout for ¡ª


    Without any hesitation in my bones, I leapt out of the way of whatever was charging at me and tumbled across the cold stone floor.


    I grunted in shock and clutched my side at the sharp pain, wincing at the feeling of blood pooling on my fingers.


    Not good. Even with the dodge I still got tagged and it wasn''t a small cut either.


    The large wound on my side evoked a lot of panic out of me and I watched the steady stream of blood pour through my fingers, gritting my teeth before gazing at the offender.


    Gray tusks protruded from the side of a snarling mouth, tipped with red that matched the irises of the green and black pokemon. Upon closer inspection, I saw a red liquid dripping off the tusk and noted that I was probably seconds away from getting completely gored through.


    A Fraxure. The most violent middle evolution dragon with a fiercely territorial streak and by the looks of its still greenish pigmentation, recently evolved too.


    It was no secret that pokemon who recently evolved had to deal with raging hormones and Fraxure''s were already infamously temperamental...


    And this was glaring at me with all the fury in the world.


    "This arrogance of yours isn''t necessary, dumbass. Are you trying to prove that you''re talented to someone? I get that you don''t care enough about your life, but don''t drag your team into it."


    The words of Nurse Joy filled my head and I realized that I had been getting arrogant.


    My biggest worries at this stage of my life, wasn''t a formidable trainer finding me out¡­ It wasn''t committing crimes and potentially getting caught...


    My biggest worry in life right now was pissing off the wrong Pokemon. That''s what Joy had been trying to warn me about but I completely shrugged her off.


    "Fraxure," the dragon type growled warningly, taking a single step forward.


    Almost immediately, with reflexes I had no desire of admiring at the moment, I returned Beldum with my left hand and launched a Great Ball at the Fraxure with my right.


    I didn''t even wait to see the red light appear at my perfect aim, before I booked it to base.


    "Shit shit shit," I repeated with panicked eyes, clutching my wound as tightly as I could while sprinting to my temporary base.


    I heard the noise of what was probably a Great Ball breaking, before footsteps accompanied it and I picked up my pace.


    It was truly a blessing that I chose to do reconnaissance before officially entering the Draconid village, because it was the only reason I knew the mental map to my base.


    Blood dropped behind me as I rapidly took off towards where my other Pokemon were located and I didn''t dare look behind me to see how much distance Fraxure was making.


    I grit my teeth in pain, as I did a sharp turn and aggravated my wound but the sudden trick worked and Fraxure''s stubby legs got a little further away.


    If I didn''t have this injury hindering me, I would have been able to sprint circles around this piece of shit. I didn''t know much about them, but I imagine evolving from the quadrupedal Axew, must be awkward for movement and left them rather slow.


    But goddamn this hurt. I needed to get outta here and wrap it up.


    I lunged behind a small boulder, just in time to avoid vicious claws. I chanced a glance back and whitened at seeing the Dragon Claw completely gouge through the stone.


    Fraxure took a few seconds too long to remove its limb from the stone it dug into and I took the chance to throw another Poke Ball at it.


    Not wasting anymore time, I launched myself through the entrance to my base, much to my Pokemon''s surprise.


    Loki, Gaia and Freyja all gazed at me with wide eyes, caught up in their own training, before locking onto my wound.


    "Help. Fraxure. Dragon type. Really angry and trying to kill me," I rasped.


    Then Fraxure entered the room with a thunderous roar.


    "FRAX!" The dragon announced its presence ¡ª


    To a faceful of razor sharp leaves slamming into its coarse and rough skin.


    Gaia glared furiously at the Fraxure, two vines snaking its way out of her as she repeatedly switched from worried glances for me, to hateful glances at the unfazed Fraxure.


    The Razor Leaf seemed to only anger it but it finally took its attention off of me as Loki immediately threw out a Torment on the dragon.


    "Zor," Loki growled with narrowed eyes.


    I shakily pulled out Beldum''s Great Ball and released it.


    The steel type gazed at me with confusion in its single eye, before noticing the very same Fraxure he had seen before.


    "Defeat it," I ordered.


    I began digging in my bag and pulled out a gauze that Joy had given to me (Saying that I at least knew how to wrap myself so this would be useful), before wrapping it around my midsection as tightly as possible.


    My side was on fire right now. Not only was the cut painful, I needed to make sure it didn''t get infected because this was clearly a wild Pokemon and not a trained one.


    I temporarily took my eyes off the battle, having faith in my Pokemon to handle this for now and wasted no time packing everything up and stuffing it into my bag, finally ending with the tent.


    "Agh, being a criminal sucks," I thought, placing my skates on to make a speedy escape.


    Finished with that, I turned around in time to see Beldum flying into the white claws of Fraxure with a metallic sheen over its body.


    The Slash met the shoddy Iron Defense and Fraxure snarled in annoyance at barely denting the fierce Beldum.


    "I dunno if anything else is coming but we need to wrap this up quick and go," I thought, placing my porcelain mask on to hide my features.


    "Loki, Extrasensory! Hold it tight," I barked, eyes narrowed behind the mask.


    My Zorua wasted no time following my order and with a grunt of exertion, he wrapped the Dragon in a psychic sheen.


    Fraxure let out a surprised growl as the attack connected and immediately began struggling, making incredible progress.


    "Gaia, Poison Powder! Freyja, Dragon Breath!" I continued, silver eyes burning like a predator.


    Gaia followed my orders almost immediately. She released a purple dust cloud that made its way to the Fraxure, allowing the toxins to begin seeping into its skin.


    The dragon roared in annoyance as it was forced to inhale the attacks, right before a weak breath of draconic energy crashed into it.


    Despite being super effective, he shrugged Freyja''s attack off completely and broke out the psychic hold, before charging Loki with an enraged howl.


    It''s claws took a green sheen and extended, before attempting to crash it into Loki''s position, letting out a confused grunt as the Dragon Claw went through the spot where the dark type was.


    Fraxure let out a roar of annoyance, as a Pursuit crashed directly onto its back, sending it tumbling from the increased power.


    Before it could regain its composure, Beldum slammed into its sternum with a Iron Head.


    Loki, powered by Hone Claws, continued to repeatedly hit the Fraxure on its back with the strengthened Pursuit,, diving in and out with admirable speeds.


    Deciding that the Zorua was a bigger threat, Fraxure whirled around and attempted to catch Loki in its jaw¡­


    Only to be prevented from doing so at the vines wrapping around its mouth and kept it open long enough for Loki to dash away.


    The Dragon''s eyes widened in blistering rage, before Gaia, Beldum, Loki and Frejya began bombarding it with their own attacks.


    Despite the situation, I couldn''t keep the pride out of my eyes as Fraxure was brought to a single knee from the onslaught.


    Iron Head, Pursuit, Razor Leaf, Dragon Breaths¡­ I almost felt bad at the severe jumping before remembering that this thing just tried to kill me.


    My gaze darkened at that detail.


    I suddenly wasn''t interested anymore in catching this thing as a consolation prize.


    Haxorus was a damn stupid pokemon anyways.


    "Guys. Finish it," I ordered coldly.


    Fraxure''s eyes widened at that and it let out a desperate roar.


    With a surge of renewed strength, I could only watch, my blood going cold, as the Fraxure let out a furious howl and shot back up.


    Gripping Gaia''s vines, the violent dragon type yanked the Chikorita over to its position, all while a destructive draconic energy began forming on its tail.


    My eyes widened in horror at the last act of desperation. "GUYS GET OUTTA THERE!" I shouted.


    I had no idea what move it was attempting, but I assumed it was Dragon Tail and I didn''t need any of them getting hit by that¡­


    But the turn of events happened too quickly to properly react to. None of us were expecting the last burst of energy from Fraxure.


    The results were disastrous.


    Fraxure violently swung its glowing tail in a complete circle that connected with Loki, Gaia and Beldum all at once in a move that did not look like Dragon Tail.


    "What the fuck?!" I thought in horror as they let out respective noises and went limp.


    My horror only grew at Beldum being the only one of the three to get up. Loki and Gaia lay there limply and I distantly realized that I had never seen them actually faint before.


    "FRAAAAA!" Fraxure roared, glaring at Beldum and Freyja, who was unharmed from the attack due being in the safety of the water.


    My poor Feebas watched with wide eyes, as Fraxure took out both the much stronger Chikorita and Zorua with whatever move that was.


    Beldum, while still conscious, didn''t look too hot either. It was only a matter of time before they fainted.


    Not good. So not good. I didn''t have the same synergy with these two that I had with Loki and Gaia.


    Right now they weren''t strong enough to wrap this up¡­


    And Fraxure was blocking the exit.


    I grit my teeth and returned Loki and Gaia to their balls, pocketing it securely.


    Fraxure huffed, bruises all over its body. If the fight had gone on any longer, I''m sure it would have lost. The Dragon type looked like it was on its last legs and the poison was still taking effect. Even now, it looked like it was close to fainting...


    "Beldum, Iron Head. Feebas, Dragon Breath," I grit out.


    Beldum didn''t hesitate to follow my order and slammed its metallic skull into Fraxure''s sternum once more.


    Fraxure let out a groan of pain but weathered it well, before lunging forward and clamping its fangs, coated in dark energy, around the Beldum.


    "Bite," I frowned severely, returning Beldum and gazing at Freyja.


    She looked terrified at the prospect of being the only one up against this Fraxure.


    "Freyja," I called to her. "Don''t be afraid, we''ll get out of this," I reassured, despite not really feeling that confidence.


    Fraxure was looking between me and the Feebas, before realizing getting into the water would be far more annoying than goring me through.


    It began charging me to no one''s surprise and I began skating around the room, hoping the poison would eventually tire it out enough to make an escape.


    Though the poison was affecting it, it really wasn''t as fast I expected it too. If only this was Toxic... It would have fainted a long time ago.


    Not to mention this rocky ground was really hard to skate on when you were playing avoid the rampaging pokemon¡­


    As if proving my point, I got caught on a rock and stumbled about, before crashing to the floor.


    "Agh!" I gasped in agony as a sharp rock dug into my injury.


    I could practically hear Fraxure let out a cheer of happiness and knew it would take way too much joy trying to tear me to shreds.


    "Guess Joy was right. I am too arrogant," I thought, glancing into the red eyes of the furious dragon.


    Red eyes¡­ just like in my dream. Maybe dying in my sleep would have been preferable to this.


    Right as Fraxure was about to end my life, a Dragon Breath crashed right on its back.


    He ignored it completely, scoffing at the pitiful damage¡­ right before another Dragon Breath, this one far bigger, crashed right into it.


    That seemed to get a reaction out of it.


    Fraxure let out a roar of agony and turned to face who he thought was Feebas¡­


    Only to freeze completely.


    I took the opportunity, to dash from the corner I was trapped in to make distance between the rampaging Fraxure and I.


    What I saw, left me stunned.


    Bipedal with blue scales on all parts of its body, barring the gray bone that looked like a helmet. It wasn''t tall at all, being dwarfed by the Fraxure but despite that, it glared up at its fellow dragon without a hint of fear.


    No, there was only excitement in that gaze.


    "Are you fucking kidding me?" I thought in horror, glancing at the actual Bagon in disbelief.


    What a terrible time to run into one. Now I was stuck in what was probably a fight to see who gets to feast on me.


    I inched away from the stunned Fraxure, wondering why it was so shocked to see the Bagon, before heading towards Freyja.


    I froze as the baby dragon looked at me and I watched its predatory gaze light up of all things, before it looked at my Feebas and sneered.


    The Bagon looked at me once more and made some strange gestures with its hands that seemed as if it wanted me to wait.


    Then it rushed the Fraxure with a dangerous gleam.


    ...What the hell? Did this Bagon¡­ want something from me?


    I nodded in confusion, before turning my attention towards Freyja.


    "Are you alright, Freyja?" I asked as calmly as I possibly could, looking at the distraught water type with concern in my eyes.


    She looked at me and then at the fighting Bagon and Fraxure with a defeated gaze.


    A sharp flare at my side caused me to wince but I ignore it. "Hey, look at me," I demanded suddenly.


    I get it now. She was realizing the gap in strength between her and the rest of my team. Against Fraxure, there was nothing she could do.


    "Didn''t I tell you? This is a marathon, not a sprint. You don''t have to worry¡­ today wasn''t on you, it was on me. I got too arrogant from my success and paid the price," I muttered in reassurance.


    I ran a hand against her scales. "We''re all too weak right now but it''ll change eventually. I promise you Freyja, I''ll make you strong just like everyone else."


    She looked up at me with wide eyes, before nodding hesitantly and I smiled, glancing back at the battle at hand.


    Despite the difference in freshness, Fraxure was still a more matured Pokemon and Bagon had no idea what dodging was, taking every hit and dishing it back with the fervor of a berserker.


    But that wouldn''t work. Fraxure was on its last legs but it still had that strange Dragon move that would possibly defeat Bagon in one hit.


    "Freyja. Use Hypnosis on Fraxure. Let''s help out the Bagon," I ordered.


    She looked at me with wide eyes, before they narrowed in determination.


    Her eyes began glowing a slight blue, that slowly but surely began to reflect in Fraxure''s own eyes.


    The middle stage evolution seized up, before slowly but surely nodding off.


    Freyja''s Hypnosis wasn''t yet strong enough to put a Pokemon fully to sleep but it was still effective in leaving them dazed.


    Deciding to chance it, I said, "Bagon, aim for its tusk."


    The horror in Fraxure''s tired gaze, reflected the cruelty in mine.


    Much to its dismay, Bagon grinned at my order and followed without any hesitation. It lunged forward and opened its mouth, before clamping directly on the panicking Fraxure''s tusk.


    The resounding crack would have made me wince but I was way too pissed at the current ideals to give a damn.


    Fraxure howled in pure agony and despair at losing its tusk, before all the damage finally caught up to it and it fell back.


    Bagon let out a derisive growl at the Fraxure, before turning towards Freyja and I.


    "Hope no one else falls victim to the remaining tusk. Enjoy becoming a Haxorus," I sneered to the freshly evolved dragon type.


    I warily watched Bagon approach me. It looked at the Feebas once more and said something in its tongue.


    My head tilted in confusion, as Freyja''s expression turned into one of anger and she responded to whatever Bagon said.


    I watched the two begin arguing with each other for some god forsaken reason and let out a pained sigh.


    "Hey Bagon, thanks for the help but I gotta go," I said, really not in the mood anymore. "What was it you wanted?"


    The argument between the two stopped (Why the hell did Bagon not like Freyja?) and Bagon gazed up at me.


    "Bag Bagon!" The dragon suddenly said, gazing intently at me and gesturing with its short stubby arms.


    I blinked in confusion as Freyja''s face turned into one of disgust.


    Ah. I think I could take a guess here.


    "You wanna join me?" I asked curiously.


    Bagon''s eyes lit up at that and it nodded furiously.


    ¡­


    It said something, that this incredible stroke of luck only hit me after I was deeply humbled by my own arrogance.


    I nearly died here without even seeing a single Bagon¡­ and now one approaches me to join me after saving my life.


    The irony. I had to rob the most renowned family in Hoenn to get Beldum and now I was being approached by a Bagon.


    "Welcome to the team," I said with a strained smile.


    Bagon roared excitedly at that and eagerly bat its hard helmet against my injured midsection.


    I tried very hard to bite back the howl of pain at Bagon''s actions and instead tapped it with a Pokeball, watching it shake once before dinging successfully.


    "Alright, I just want to get out of here," I complained. "Good job Freyja¡­ I''m proud of you. I know you were scared but you still tried to save me and I appreciate that. Don''t think I didn''t notice you trying until the very end."


    "Fe¡­," she mumbled and I smiled again, before returning her.


    I glanced at the Fraxure''s body and contemplated chucking it in the water so it could drown¡­ but I completed my mission and was satisfied... Plus I wanted it to live with the misery of knowing it had only one tusk until evolution.


    Now I was finally done with Hoenn. Get me outta this goddamn region. I just wanted to relax now and head to Kanto ¡ª


    "SALLLLLLL!"


    My blood went cold at that distant roar that sounded like it came from the Draconid village.


    ...Sal?


    A primal terror went through my body.


    I just caught a Bagon and not even a minute later a Salamence begins roaring?


    What was the connection?


    Yeah no. I was done being arrogant. That roar was for me and I refused to believe otherwise. I needed to get the fuck outta here.


    A Fraxure nearly wiped me out. I didn''t even want to imagine what a Salamence was going to do me.


    Good thing I was already ready to go and I had my skates on.


    It was high time I got the hell outta here.


    As I skated out of my base and headed to the entrance of Meteor Falls, I briefly caught the gaze of a red eyed girl that I skated directly past.


    It looked as if she just arrived to the scene and I skated past her with no hesitation, watching those intriguing red eyes make eye contact with my masked face.


    She was a little taller than me with chin length black hair but that''s all I really caught before my speed came into play again and I rushed past her.


    Her eyes were wide but other than that, no words were exchanged as I continued my course.


    Hm¡­ she looked familiar.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Lying here in defeat¡­ Without a tusk, as a freshly evolved Fraxure. How unbefitting of a dragon."


    Fraxure awoke with a start and snarled violently at the voice. It attempted to get up but the numerous wounds and burns on its body prevented it from doing so.


    "You recently evolved and let your hubris get the better of you. You thought you had easy prey but look at you. Now until you evolve again, your lack of a tusk will be a reminder of how much you failed today."


    "Frax!" It roared angrily.


    That human hadn''t beaten him! The daughter of the alpha dragon had! That human had lost! He had them all dead to rights!


    "Don''t agree with the results of what happened? Facts are facts. Your so called prey got away and spared you after taking away one of the most important parts of you. You''re quite the disgrace."


    Fraxure let loose a pitiful growl at that.


    To be shown mercy by someone he had considered prey the entire time.


    To lose to all those weak Pokemon¡­


    To lose his tusk.


    How shameful!


    "Wanna get your tusks back?" The voice asked.


    He perked up at that.


    "You aren''t strong on your own and you''ll probably never see that trainer again. But if you join me, I guarantee we''ll run into them again¡­ I have some business with them too."


    "Not to mention your tusk won''t regenerate so long as your a Fraxure. With your prowess, it''ll take years for you to become a Haxorus but underneath me, you''ll be one in no time."


    Fraxure mulled over the question and strained to push himself up.


    Red eyes peered into red eyes, before the dragon glanced at the quadrupedal creature encased in a nearly full shell of bone.


    "You''re weak when you could be strong¡­ So join my team and we can both find that person in due time. Mark my words, we''ll run into them again¡­ we''re both special in our own way."


    The figure held out their hand with a wild grin.


    "I''m Zinnia and this is Gail, my Shelgon. Join me on my journey as Lorekeeper and eventually, our paths will cross the trainer who did this to you."


    Fraxure looked at the hand, then at the hardened and serious Shelgon, before coming to a decision.


    The tusked dragon grabbed the hand of Zinnia, who showed no fear at all at the fact that he could maim her through and accepted the offer.


    Zinnia''s unhinged grin grew wider and she glanced back at the position of the one who was dressed in all red.


    "Let''s get along!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "What is the meaning of this?" One Draconid shouted in shock, recalling his Druddigon that had been instantly defeated.


    "The High Elder''s Salamence is on a rampage! Why?!" Another called, horror filling his body as his Vibrava got ragdolled by the furious dragon.


    The village of the Draconids, had been calm and peaceful. The people mingled, conversated and went about their day.


    It had been a normal day for the tribe of dragon trainers. People mingled about, dragons interacted, pleasantries were exchanged.


    All that changed once the High Elder''s Salamence began rampaging.


    Dera, the aged Salamence, was a fierce creature who had seen a number of battles back in its day. Her fierce temper had dulled over the years but there were still signs of the proud warrior that would give Elite 4 Drakes equally unstoppable Salamence, a worthy battle.


    And that same Salamence was currently on a complete rampage for reasons unknown to them.


    They were understandably confused and even more afraid because despite all her age, Dera hadn''t seemed to lose a step in power.


    Fiery flames, draconic flames, heavy winds... the Salamence seemed to be focused on something with furious intent and was lashing out on all to reach it.


    Naturally, the Draconids were trying to do damage control by stopping the raging Salamence.


    If only they knew this was helping Silver make great distance out of the cave.


    They had tried to guide it elsewhere, but the Salamence had been hellbent on flying straight through the village to continue its destruction.


    The dominating power of Dera proved to be too much and just as it decided to begin razing down the area in order to reach its target, a red beam connected to it and returned her to the Pokeball.


    "My oh my. What could have dear Dera in such a fuss?" An elderly woman mused, nursing the weathered Poke Ball with a curious expression.


    She was a short woman, with long gray hair and a cloak covering much of her Draconid attire. The woman''s naturally sharp features were set in a kind smile.


    But the unassuming appearance did nothing to diminish her aura.


    "High Elder Ambrosia!" Everyone shouted in relief.


    Ambrosia inspected the Poke Ball with a searching gaze. "It''s been quite a while since I''ve had to return Dera to her ball. I normally enjoy letting her fly free but she was causing quite a bit of damage to our homes¡­"


    The elderly woman turned her gaze towards the closest immediate people.


    "Is anyone aware as to why Dera could be so upset? I haven''t the faintest clue myself. Why, I was just enjoying a cup of fine black tea gifted to me from Drake and now here we are," she asked curiously.


    A wave of silence greeted her and the elder perked a curious brow.


    "We thought¡­ you would have known," someone admitted.


    "...Most curious," Ambrosia muttered.


    "I''m aware of the reason, Granny."


    Everyone turned towards the voice and though no one said anything, a wave of discontent coursed through all but the Elder.


    Ambrosia smiled. "Ah, my dearest granddaughter, Lorekeeper Zinnia! What did you find out?"


    The appointed Lorekeeper ignored the gazes of everyone and focused on the High Elder.


    "Dera''s chosen Bagon seems to have chosen a trainer and left home of her own accord. Based on her reaction, I assume this was not discussed," she informed them with a pursed brow.


    The old woman''s eyes widened at that. "Truly? Bagon left Dera''s care after all this time? You''re certain of that?"


    Zinnia nodded shortly and pondered the events that took place.


    She had not seen much. By the time she arrived, the battle was over and the only thing she saw, was the stranger catching the willing Bagon, before turning towards a hidden pokemon and returning that too.


    There was a fallen Fraxure to the side and Zinnia debated trying to interrogate this stranger forcefully, only to freeze at hearing Granny''s Salamence let out a furious and bone chilling roar.


    Any doubt on who the Bagon was, was wiped away and the Lorekeeper was left dwelling just why Bagon chose to do this.


    Zinnia''s slight distraction let the trainer skate right past her and away from the village of the Draconids.


    She contemplated making chase, considering just what they caught¡­ but she didn''t have anything fast enough to catch up to those skates and if she ran into a trap, no one would be able to relay the info.


    ...So despite her eagerness to pursue, Zinnia held herself for once and turned towards the village.


    Besides, Bagon had willingly chosen to go with that trainer¡­


    "But why would Bagon choose to leave? Dera''s chosen daughter has always been adventurous but this is too much even for her. Doesn''t she understand why Dera chose to keep her in such close proximity?"


    Zinnia mulled the question over and glanced down. "Even if she did understand, I doubt she cared. I think Gail right here must have triggered her."


    All eyes were drawn to Zinnia''s Shelgon, Dera''s son who had just recently evolved into the second stage of the Bagon line.


    Zinnia''s Shelgon and the Bagon that had chosen the mysterious trainer, were laid and hatched in the same batch along with a handful of other Bagons.


    While Shelgon and Zinnia had swiftly bonded and formed a pair, Dera had noticed something and had taken a personal interest in Bagon.


    As a result, the aged Salamence staunchly refused to give her over to any trainer unlike her many other children.


    Clearly Bagon did not agree with that decision and had escaped into the waiting arms of that trainer¡­


    Was it because she wanted to get away at all costs? Or did she detect something special about that trainer¡­ Perhaps a combination of both?


    Zinnia wondered if Bagon felt what she felt.


    Whatever the case, Dera was furious that Bagon was gone and the perpetrator was likely long gone now. They had unintentionally helped him too by expending their forces on Salamence, all while preventing her from reaching him.


    "You mean to say Gail''s evolution triggered Bagon''s envy and she decided to escape on her own? Was her desire to find a trainer that strong?" Ambrosia asked in concern. If that was true and Bagon truly was gone, then Dera may need to stay in her ball for a bit longer.


    Zinnia nodded. "Every Bagon''s dream is to fly eventually and she must have felt like she couldn''t achieve that here. A caged Taillow will always have the desire to fly so to achieve such a goal, she needed to escape what she perceived to be her cage. Maybe she has been spying on potential trainers this entire time and finally decided on one."


    "How troubling¡­" Ambrosia muttered. "What of the trainer? Do you know of them?"


    "Nah," Zinnia lied shamelessly. "I simply saw them for a brief moment, but I wasn''t able to catch anything concrete."


    The trainer in all red¡­ Zinnia had already promised the Fraxure that she''d find him again¡­ whenever that was.


    The Lorekeeper never intended to catch a Fraxure, but a Haxorus would be a good addition and they were both invested in that strange trainer with the red outfit.


    That trainer was her personal project now. Besides, she trusted none of the Draconids, as they did not trust her.


    Zinnia would do everything alone like she always intended to.


    Such was her role as Lorekeeper.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Bagon: Female


    Ability: Sheer Force


    Moves: Rage, Bite, Leer, Headbutt, Ember, Dragon Breath, Dragon Dance


    "Holy shit," I muttered in disbelief.


    Bagon was stacked. What the hell was this?! The Dragon type looked at me with proud eyes, pleased with my shock.


    Honestly, I couldn''t even pretend to hide it. Bagon was loaded with a good variety of moves that would give me quite a bit of coverage.


    But that wasn''t the prize. The prize was the fact that Bagon had Sheer Force.


    It''s hidden ability.


    Did that mean¡­ Bagon was going to get Moxie when it evolved?


    ...I smirked with a wild gleam in my eye that Bagon immediately reflected in her own.


    We were currently hidden in the forests of Route 116 after I skated for an hour straight. After looking at my burning wound (and wincing at the gruesome injury), I decided to check Bagon out while allowing myself to recover a bit.


    Said Bagon looked at my wound with appreciative eyes and I nearly snorted at the look on her face.


    I bit my lip and glanced once more at the injury, before tentatively pulling out a bunch of revives I stole from Elm.


    Bagon watched curiously as I released my unconscious team (and Freyja) and I winced at the bruises on their body.


    Breaking Swipe. That''s the move Fraxure hit them with. I don''t know what the hell a Breaking Swipe was, but it was probably a thing in the new games and it was damn effective.


    Shitty Fraxure. Hope I never saw that stupid designed dragon again and I especially hoped it never evolved into a Haxorus so it could have half a tusk for the rest of its days.


    I lined up my three Pokemon and grabbed three revives, gazing at the little crystals with a curious eye before placing them next to each of them respectively.


    It was never quite explained how a Revive actually worked in the games. No one really knew if it was consumable, or like a stone or hell, even just a capsule with a powder in it.


    But here, they were like the Pokemon equivalent of smelling salts... sorta.


    Revives were crystal like stones that emitted an energy, that when put close to a Pokemon, revitalized them.


    No need to feed them. Force feeding an unconscious Pokemon sounded kind of¡­ not smart. Not to mention the ones that had no mouths.


    But I digress, you just needed to put the Revive close or on the Pokemon and their body would absorb the latent energy inside of it, shocking their system and waking them up.


    So no reviving the dead.


    Loki, Gaia and Beldum all woke with a start, glancing around wildly in confusion.


    They seemed to remember that they were just in battle and the three shot up with fierce glares.


    "The fight''s over," I said gruffly, making them turn their gaze to me. "We won and got away¡­ and we have a new teammate too."


    That got their attention and they focused on the Bagon who was staring at them with searching eyes.


    Unlike with Freyja, Bagon nodded at the three with some respect.


    Loki and Gaia didn''t miss the look of disgust Freyja and Bagon shot each other and glanced at me questioningly, to which I just shrugged in confusion.


    I had no clue why they hated each other already but I had never seen so much determination in Freyja''s eyes.


    "Everyone, this is Bagon¡­ our newest member. She helped us defeat Fraxure and wanted to join the team."


    As I explained to them, I began spraying them each down with a potion and watched as their wounds slowly but surely disappeared, until they were gone.


    "Zor?" Loki asked me with a tilted head.


    "Yeah, she just asked to join. Her and Fraxure both followed me back from the village."


    The Zorua didn''t look satisfied by that statement and turned towards Bagon himself.


    Ah, Loki wanted to know why she was interested in joining the team. Despite the pain I was in, I was proud of him.


    I watched the two conversate, a little curious about what her reasons were too.


    A vine tugged my outfit and I glanced down to see Gaia staring intently at me, exhaustion in her eyes but concern as well.


    The Chikorita glanced intently at my midsection, before using her vines to expose it.


    "She''s getting good at controlling her vines."


    Gaia gasped in horror at my wound and drew the attention of Loki and Beldum.


    Beldum didn''t outwardly react but Loki''s eyes narrowed furiously at the gruesome injury.


    I was sat down, rather rudely by the way, by the grass type and she began channeling a Heal Pulse that felt just incredible at the moment, considering it was getting rid of my pain.


    "So why did Bagon want to join?" I asked Loki, grunting at the sensation of being healed.


    It''s a good thing she was doing this because I was not going to visit a Pokemon Center.


    No, I wasn''t going to let anyone know that I had a Bagon or Beldum yet so braving this injury was what I was going to do until it healed by itself.


    Thankfully I had this awesome Chikorita right here.


    Zorua thought best on how to explain it before he began weaving an illusion for me.


    An aging Salamence (considering he had only seen it on Pokedex, Zorua''s depiction of Salamence was really impressive) with a pack of Bagon''s surrounding it that steadily dwindled until there was one.


    The lone Bagon glanced at the others with envy as they went off with their own trainers, until it left just them.


    That envy transformed into rage, at seeing one of her siblings evolve into the Shelgon, all while she remained a mere Bagon trapped under the watchful eye of her mother, who refused to let her get stronger.


    Then, the Bagon chose to escape while mother Salamence was unaware everyday, until meeting a trainer in all red that they followed and stopped from being killed by Fraxure.


    "Ah, I get it," I muttered, with an intrigued eye. "You were being stifled by your mom while your siblings were allowed to do whatever and they started leaving you behind?"


    Bagon nodded with a fierce expression.


    ...That explains why Salamence was so furious. Being in such close proximity to Bagon¡­ did it somehow sense my capture of its favored child?


    Probably.


    "I won''t stifle you like that," I said. "My goal is to become strong and for that, I need all of you to be at your best."


    Bagon looked at me proud expression a mirror of each other as we reached an understanding with one another.


    "I''ll make you the strongest Salamence. Stronger than your brother and you''ll fly me around the world so that you can announce you''re dominance to everyone alive. How does that sound?"


    Bagon grinned ferally.


    "BAG!" She roared happily.


    "And that goes for you all as well," I said seriously, watching Gaia step back from my wound with a tired expression.


    I glanced down and scowled.


    The blood had dried up by now and the wound had sufficiently closed but Fraxure had left its mark.


    The scar was a jagged thing, cutting halfway across my midsection in a jagged line that probably had no plans on disappearing.


    "I failed you guys today," I said bluntly with a look of pure frustration and anger.


    Now that the adrenaline wore off, all the fear and anger had crashed into me and I clenched my fist at the thought that I nearly died from something so damn stupid.


    I could have died... I could have gotten my entire team fucking killed because I was too far up my own ass. My arrogance almost cost me big and the worst part was that I had been warned before by someone who had seen this all the time.


    But I disregarded their words. I just thanked whatever that I was still alive to learn from my dumbass mistakes.


    Loki, Gaia and Freyja immediately protested at my words, while Beldum and Bagon said nothing.


    I put up a hand to silence them.


    "No. If you guys mess up I''ll hold you accountable so it''s only right I hold myself accountable too and I messed up bad."


    That Fraxure was really about to kill us all. I had been treating this whole thing too laxly because of how smoothly things had been going for me¡­ but Joy was right.


    "I was too arrogant and we almost died because of it¡­ if not for Bagon¡­"


    Just one Pokemon had done that to me. My hubris had reached levels that were too high and I nearly died before being humbled.


    "This scar is a reminder of my failure. I brought us into a situation that we weren''t ready for¡­ and this isn''t the first time I''ve done it."


    Now that I think about it, in my pursuit of the three Hoenn pokemon, I had put myself in three dangerous situations that could have cost me everything if I slipped up.


    ¡­


    This wasn''t a game. I think I had been a little disconnected to reality, not taking the world here serious¡­ but that mindset was a dangerous dangerous thing to have, when you could be killed at the whims of even the weakest Pokemon.


    This jagged scar was proof of that.


    My silver eyes burned with determination.


    "You guys shouldn''t be the only one shouldering expectations, I should too. As your trainer, it''s my job to evaluate and make decisions based on what I know and I''ll stop letting you guys down."


    I took a deep breath.


    "I may not always succeed. I may fail again¡­ but it will never be to a degree this severe. That, I promise you," I swore.


    Every one of my Pokemon looked into my blazing silver eyes, stunned silent by my resolve.


    "Bel," Beldum nodded in approval at my words, being the first to break the silence.


    Eventually, all my others followed suit and I let my heavy mood fall, smile replacing it instead.


    "Alright. We''re done with Hoenn. It''s time to head to Kanto, then our real journey begins. I think a good basis of testing our strength, is the Gym Challenge so we''ll do that," I muttered.


    There were multiple Gyms in a region, barring the 8 gyms you fought in the games¡­


    But those were lesser gyms. The reason the 8 gyms in each region were featured in the games¡­ was because those were the best Gym Leaders of each region.


    Plain and simple. Every single of the most prominent Gym Leaders, were the same 8 as in the video games.


    Naturally, those were the ones I''d challenge. Couldn''t be the best without beating the best.


    "Before I return you all¡­ Bagon, do you want a nickname?" I asked curiously.


    The dragon looked up at me in clear curiosity, mulling the question over before eventually nodding.


    I pursed my lips, as I idly wrapped another gauze around my waist just to be safe.


    Athena was the name I deeply contemplated the most but just from what I knew¡­ she wasn''t really full of wisdom now was she?


    Well, this name seemed gender neutral enough.


    "How about Ares?" I asked curiously. "It represents power, war and brutality. Fitting for a Salamence don''t you think?"


    The Greek God of War. Unlike Athena, he was far more in line with what a Salamence signified. Brutality, bloodlust and violence.


    Judging by the way Bagon''s eyes lit up, she was all game for it and I nodded in satisfaction.


    "Alright, Ares it is¡­ Now, let''s get outta here. Who knows when your mom might find us," I muttered.


    I needed to get far away from not just Meteor Falls, but Rustboros territory in general.


    My mission was complete. Despite hiccups, I accomplished all three of my goals here and even did some bonuses.


    Feebas, Beldum and Bagon¡­ all mine. Now I was done with this region for the time being and I''d be done until it was time to stop that calamity from happening.


    For now? I''d just try and enjoy a life in Kanto and get strong enough to be able to prevent said calamities.


    I sighed.


    At least I''d be able to mostly avoid trouble there.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Alright, nice job Larvitaro!" Gold shouted with a cocky grin.


    Larvitaro, the Larvitar, grunted, violent scowl falling off its face at no longer having anything to fight.


    The fallen Onix was returned to the ball and the trainer gazed at the golden eyed boy with an appraising eye.


    "Great job Gold!" Crystal praised with a bright smile, clapping at the display.


    "No biggie!" Gold shrugged, rubbing his nose with a finger.


    "Congratulations Gold, the way you commanded your pokemon along with their skills has earned you the Boulder Badge."


    The Johto native grabbed the badge and gazed at it with appraising eyes, before tucking it into his empty badge case.


    There should have been two in there but that Viridian Gym Leader was a coward and only wanted to fight trainers with 7 badges.


    "Thanks old man," Gold nodded in respect, returning Larvitaro to his ball.


    Flint gazed at the two trainers from Johto with kind eyes. "Another batch of talented kids. I won''t be surprised if I see you all in the Indigo League."


    The Crystal girl had already defeated him just before with her unrelenting Totodile. She balanced out its aggression with a cool and calculated head.


    "You''ll see me win it all!" Gold assured cockily.


    "Have some humility, Gold," Crystal said, rolling her eyes and smiling at the gym leader. "You mentioned another batch of talented kids? Have you encountered more people our age?"


    Flint nodded, recalling the trainers easily. "Four trainers all hailing from Pallet Town, though regrettably, the one with the Charmander has yet to defeat me but I respect his tenacity."


    Gold perked a brow. Was that red haired asshole from Pallet Town?


    Nah, no way. Oak and Elm were good friends and the old time Kanto champion would never leave a douche like that unchecked.


    Flint perked up. "But the other 3 have bright futures! My son fought a lad by the name of Gary and his Squirtle packed a real punch. He had quite the sturdy Rhyhorn as well!"


    Crystal pursed her lips.


    Gary as in Gary Oak? Oak''s grandson? That ruled him out completely.


    "What about the other two?" She asked curiously.


    Flint''s eyes took on a fond glint. "There''s Ash¡­ he''s actually the reason I took up my mantle as the Gym Leader again. He''s traveling with my son. He managed to defeat an Onix and Geodude with a Pikachu of all things!"


    "Seriously?!" Gold exclaimed with wide eyes. "How''d he manage that?"


    Flint let out a barking laugh. "He abused the sparklers!"


    "Really now? That''s genius!" Gold exclaimed, a cunning look in his eye.


    Crystal groaned at that look. Ash was likely not the culprit either. "And the final trainer?"


    The Gym Leader glanced at their curiosity with a knowing gleam. "Scouting out future competition eh?"


    Crystal offered a smile. "Something like that."


    The man nodded approvingly. "I should have done that. Might have helped me as a trainer."


    He quickly sobered up, making both Gold and Crystal tense.


    "The last trainer was a real prodigy that one," He sighed. "The battle was over in just two moves! Why I nearly lost my confidence again at the defeat!"


    "Two moves?!" Gold balked.


    "I was shocked too! Two Razor Leafs and I was down for the count," Flint explained, still looking shocked by the ordeal.


    "Razor Leaf?! A grass type?!" Crystal thought in shock.


    Could it be?


    Gold was thinking the same thing. "Who was it?!"


    Flint answered without hesitation. "Her name was Green! A real spitfire that one is. But the moment the battle begins, it''s like facing another person! Her Ivysaur is a force to be reckoned with and I bet she''s going to make it real far in the Indigo League! Despite being the last one to show up, she defeated me the easiest and I heard she crushed Cerulean City''s gym too!"


    Crystal and Gold both deflated at that, disappointed at the revelation that it was not the red haired thief.


    "Hopefully I get to battle them someday," Gold responded, furrowing his brows as he and Crystal departed from the gym.


    "We didn''t get much info about the thief," Crystal muttered as the duo headed to the Pokemon Center.


    "We''ll find him eventually. In the meantime, we may as well do the Gym Challenge and enjoy Kanto," the boy replied with a helpless.


    She nodded, still not looking too sure. "What if I was wrong and he really didn''t come to Kanto? I heard one of Elm''s friends was attacked near Cherrygrove City and he lost something important. Could it have been him? Is he still in Johto?"


    Gold frowned. "Your doubting yourself again Crys. We''ll find him, don''t worry."


    Crystal nodded slowly. "Do you¡­ think he''s apart of Team Rocket?"


    The criminal organization had been running rampant in Kanto. Crystal even heard around the vine that they had attacked a Pokemon Center in Viridian City and had done something in Mt. Moon as well...


    Not to mention Professor Elm thought the thief was apart of them. He didn''t go into detail but he did recount the story before he was knocked unconscious.


    "That''s what Professor thinks," Gold shrugged. "If he really is, even more reason to take him down¡­ Team Rocket should have been dealt with ages ago."


    Crystal agreed but¡­ that thief looked the same age as them. If he really was apart of Team Rocket¡­ how long had he been in there?


    Was that why he was so violent? Professor Elm said he heard the boy let out a distressed scream...


    ...Did he even have a choice?


    "Gold, I think it''s the right move to just keep this between us until we find him¡­ this whole situation just doesn''t sit right with me for some reason," she whispered to her best friend.


    Gold raised a brow at that and turned towards her.


    Crystal had been the one against the idea of keeping it to themselves¡­ now she was suddenly agreeing with it?


    He wasn''t planning on ever reporting that guy until he got his hands on him¡­ what was Crystal''s reason?


    The two exchanged a glance, years of growing up together, helping them convey intent incredibly easy.


    "Ah you''re worried he was forced to do something he didn''t have a choice with," Gold muttered.


    He never thought about that. That asshole¡­ might not have always been an asshole. Professor did say he heard him scream.


    Crystal nodded. "I might be wrong but¡­ we should at least talk to him before turning him in. I want to understand why he did what he did."


    "You and me both. He''s one of the only other trainers to beat me besides you too," Gold agreed, a thoughtful expression on his face.


    The two sighed in unison at the complicated situation.


    "Alright, let''s finish up business here and head to Celadon. I heard the gym there is water type," Crystal informed him.


    Gold tossed his head back and groaned in annoyance. "Seriously? First rock, now water? Gimme a break," he complained.


    "Get over it, you''ll be fine," Crystal said, rolling her eyes.


    What a drama queen.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Zit? Zip? Zippy?"


    I furrowed my brows.


    "What was her name¡­?"


    Her of course, was the girl that I skated right past.


    It wasn''t a game anymore so I couldn''t immediately identify her¡­ but I''m fairly sure that was the Lorekeeper girl.


    "Zem?"


    ...Whatever her name was.


    I was gonna drive myself crazy dwelling on this but the only reason I was even thinking about it so hard, was because she saw me.


    Granted, I had been fully disguised but still. Just how much did she see? Did she know the members of my team? She probably knew I caught Bagon but who else did she see?


    Zem sounded pretty good. Maybe I''d just handshake that.


    We''d probably be meeting in the future. My business with Hoenn would involve her no doubt about it so we''d cross paths and whether that was as enemies or not, remained to be seen.


    But that future was far away. If we were enemies, by the time that future arrived, I''d be equipped to deal with her. For now, if she wanted to find me, she could fuck off and follow a nothing trail.


    Unless she planned on following me to Kanto¡­


    But what psychopath would do that? Chasing me to another region? Talk about obsessed.


    "Zemya!" I slammed a fist against my palm.


    That sounded right.


    Yeah.


    Yeah¡­ I''d stick with that. I didn''t care if it was wrong.

 Ignorance is Bliss I

    Now that I caught all members of my team in Hoenn, I was very much done with this region.


    Feebas, Beldum and Bagon¡­ I was still happy as hell that I succeeded in getting them all and it must have shown in my body language because Gaia hadn''t released me yet. She was happily cuddled into me and I just pat her in satisfaction, getting a happy mewl out of her.


    Actually, she might have been this clingy because she was still worried about that scar I got on my midsection.


    The pain was mostly gone now, besides a dull buzzing, and it practically vanished altogether, by the time I made it to Southern Mauville.


    After getting the fuck out of Meteor Falls and Route 116 in general, I swiftly rushed through Rusturf Tunnel and decided to set up camp on the outskirts of Verdanturf Town, after verifying that there was in fact not a Salamence hunting me down to get their daughter back.


    The nice thing about Hoenn, was that there were literally trees everywhere. They naturally littered the region everywhere you went and because the region had so much rain and sun, they grew to gigantic heights that provided great cover.


    If I thought Johto was full of vitality, Hoenn must have been vitality itself.


    I went to sleep without wasting any time because that whole debacle with Fraxure, left me goddamn tired and I had traveled without rest from Meteor Falls to Verdanturf.


    Needless to say I fell asleep quickly, before waking up early and rushing through the routes and Mauville. This city was awful to deal with when it was filled to the brim with all those people. They would cut my time down by an amount I didn''t want to deal with.


    It was a good thing that waking up early was a universally hated thing. Mauville had been barren, save for some kindly old man, with an aged Manectric, who waved at me.


    I sent a single wave back because he was old. Being rude to old people wasn''t cool unless they were rude first.


    That brought me here, to the southern part of Mauville right at the entrance of Route 110.


    Hoenn''s routes in general, tended to be a lot bigger than the Johto and Kanto were massive and Route 110 was no exception. It wasn''t as big as the Route 119 and 118 combo, but it was still a time consumer¡­


    If you didn''t own a bike. Without a bike it''d take at least a day if you walked, but if you had one? Life was easy!


    Thankfully, I did own one! A nice little foldable bike that I permanently borrowed during my stay in Johto.


    On Route 110, there was a massive structure called the Seaside Cycling Road that provided a very swift shortcut between Mauville and Slateport City so long as you had a bike.


    Seriously, it reduced the trip to like an hour or more if you utilized it.


    Perfect. The faster I could get to Slateport, the faster I could go to Kanto.


    I ignored the guard signaling for me to get on the bike and idly flipped him off, before getting onto the cycling road.


    It was obvious to see why it was called the Seaside Cycling Road. I was offered a gorgeous view of the expansive ocean that seemed to go on forever while pedaling over to Slateport.


    Clear blue, no signs of pollution and all those water types. I even caught the huge ass shadow of what could only be a Wailord, just lounging about as I cycled.


    Hoenn was amazing and I''d never state otherwise. It was as if humans attempted to impose their will on it but the nature fought back and they compromised instead


    The only thing not amazing about it, was the fact that I was willingly attempting to give myself a heat stroke due to trying to maintain anonymity.


    At least the wind from going so fast was doing me wonders.


    There weren''t much people on the road. It was still fairly early in the morning so I only saw some dedicated cyclists who had the gear on and all.


    Those guys were really dedicated for their cause. They only glanced at me and gave me a thumbs up once we flew past each other.


    They probably assumed that I was insane as them and working out this fine morning.


    I guess that was a valid assumption, this really was a workout. Cycling for this long, was doing wonders to my legs and combined with the fact that I woke up ridiculously early, I just wanted to book my trip and got to a hotel so I could sleep.


    Unfortunately, I couldn''t sleep just yet because I had things that needed to be done. At the very least, I had long done my research on Slateport so I didn''t need to aimlessly wander around.


    If I had to aimlessly wander around in this city, I''d lose my mind because Slateport City was almost as enormous as Mauville.


    Much like Mauville and Lilycove, Slateport was a very popular tourist spot in Hoenn. It was one of the most populated cities in the entire region and it fully embraced being a port city.


    It almost reminded me of Olivine but on steroids. There was even a beach further south that was very popular by the masses.


    Huh... Lilycove and Slateport were pretty similar.


    Naturally, I didn''t give a damn about any of the tourist attractions this city had to offer at the moment. The only thing I cared about, was getting a ticket to Kanto and sleeping.


    Thankfully, the Slateport Harbor wasn''t very far from the entrance I entered Slateport through so it didn''t take me very long at all to find the place.


    In a move that I was getting dreadfully familiar with, I approached the receptionist there with a single purpose on my mind.


    "Fastest boat to Kanto?" I asked curiously, skipping all pretenses and getting straight to the point.


    Look, I''m tired, I''ve been walking for a long time, my legs were killing me and I had a new scar on my body because I couldn''t stop being an arrogant ass.


    The poor receptionist must have seen the exhaustion in my eyes because he didn''t even question my sour mood.


    He just smiled sympathetically and typed something on his computer.


    "Tomorrow at 5 pm to Vermilion City," he said kindly. "It''ll be 6000 Poke."


    I aimed my Pokegear at the machine offered to me and glanced at the successful transaction.


    I wonder how that worked. I heard Porygon and Porygon 2 were the driving force of the internet and whatnot in this world.


    Porygon-Z were almost impossibly rare in this world to the point that just finding information on them was difficult. Unlike with Milotic, not a single person actually knew how to evolve it, barring the scientists who worked on Porygon...


    For natural reasons they did not disclose information on how to evolve Porygon2 into Porygon-Z because Porygon-Z was considered a failure of a pokemon...


    Huh... I knew how to evolve a Porygon2... but I''d rather get the necessary items (Upgrade and Dubious Disc) to do that before actually catching the Porygon.


    Food for thought.


    "There''s a hotel about 10 minutes away. Pokemon friendly and cheap despite how lavish it is," the guy over the counter informed me, handing me my ticket.


    "¡­" I said nothing for a while, just glancing at him, before I nodded my head. "You''re not half bad," was all I offered.


    There''s no way I was going to apologize for my terrible etiquette¡­ but this guy didn''t deserve my moody nature.


    God, what did Fraxure do to me?


    The receptionist even seemed to understand that was my way of apologizing and just smiled knowingly.


    "Have a good day," he offered.


    "...You too," I said gruffly, marching out of the harbor.


    One day. That was fantastic. I was going to go to that hotel, I was going to get some sleep and I was going to laze in there until I thought of something to do.


    I needed to relax. I had been running myself ragged for a really long time so now it was time to just take it easy for the rest of my stay in Hoenn.


    Now to find that hotel¡­


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Turns out that receptionist was right. This hotel was fairly cheap for how nice it was.


    I landed on the bed with a relieved sigh and released my entire team.


    Without really thinking about it, I deftly caught Gaia and placed her on my chest, gazing at the grass type with a tired smile.


    "I must be more tired than I thought¡­ are you getting heavier girl?" I asked with a raised brow.


    Gaia smiled smugly but said nothing.


    Instead she began urging me to get some sleep and I yawned in agreement.


    "I''ll probably go to sleep for a long time. Do whatever you want but don''t destroy anything," I instructed, allowing the Chikorita to jump off me.


    "Loki, you''re in charge. Make sure they don''t kill each other... or me."


    The Zorua nodded in affirmation and I shot them a thumbs up.


    "Have fun. G''night," I told them.


    Then I passed out without further prompting.


    "Why are you in charge?" Ares asked with narrowed eyes. The Bagon was gazing at Loki with suspicious eyes.


    "Because that''s what Silver wanted," Loki replied easily. The Zorua had been about to start warming up, before Ares initiated conversation with him.


    Ares sniffed. "My vassal simply doesn''t understand because we''ve not been bonded long enough. Soon he whose eyes roar like the moon, will recognize my might and when I spread my wings, I will be fully in charge!"


    Loki sweatdropped at the Bagon. "If that''s what you want, but Silver has to approve it first."


    He was admittedly, quite surprised that Ares was so refined in speaking. He honestly didn''t expect it of her.


    Freyja, normally so kind and patient, snorted. "As if a brute like you has what it takes to be in charge when all you think about is violence. Go headbutt a wall until you faint. Loki will always have my vote as leader over you."


    Ares snarled immediately and glared at the Feebas. "Be grateful that my vassal fancies you! One headbutt to your body and you wouldn''t be alive to feel it!"


    "Ridiculous," Beldum said simply, floating off to hone their skills.


    Loki sighed. "Why do you two have such a problem with each other in the first place?" He asked curiously.


    "She''s rude to me for no reason!" Freyja announced with a deep frown.


    "Because she''s weak!" Ares said bluntly, pointing a stub at the fish. "Unable to do nothing with draconic abilities but make a mockery of it! If not for my intervention, you''d have let our trainer die before he could recognize and unleash my potential!"


    If not for Ares firing her own Dragon Breath at that troublemaking Fraxure, her vassal would never have been able to catch her! Such a future was preposterous! She had known he was her trainer from the moment she laid eyes on him spying on their village, with no one but her sparing a glance!


    They were destined partners!


    Freyja scowled in return. "I''m not¡­ strong enough yet but I will be! I''ll be as strong as possible because Silver believes me and I won''t let him down! Then, when I''m strong enough, I''ll beat you too!"


    The Bagon snorted disbelievingly. "You? Beat me? No matter how strong you may become, all of you will pale in comparison to my eventual might! Banish such preposterous thoughts, bottom feeder!"


    "Just you wait, brute!" Freyja replied in determination.


    Loki gazed at their third teammate with a curious eye. Freyja was shy on the best of days so he never imagined she''d so strongly fight back against something.


    Hmm, perhaps this would help the Feebas in the long run then. Some competition was always healthy and based on what Silver said¡­ Bagon would become one of their hardest hitters in the future.


    He''d monitor them for longer before making a set decision. For now, so long as she was motivated, it''d be useful.


    "Enough arguing, Silver is trying to sleep here! If he wakes up there''s gonna be hell to pay!" Gaia demanded, waving a threatening vine and making them all go silent.


    The Chikorita nodded in satisfaction and smile triumphantly. "Now that that''s settled¡­ Loki! I need your help! I wanna surprise Silver when he wakes up!"


    Loki gazed at his friend with a curious look, before nodding.


    "Sure, what do you want to do?" He asked.


    Gaia''s smile widened.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Catching up on sleep, was definitely one of the nicest feelings in the world.


    During my trip from Fortree to Meteor Falls, I didn''t actually sleep and to be fair, Tropius had cut my trip down by so much, that I decided to just finish my journey to the Stone Residence.


    Then I finally slept in Meteor Falls¡­ but I didn''t quite sleep for too long for the time I was in there. I would get some rest, but there was still the mission to accomplish so I always woke up early.


    But now, I could fully get some rest with the knowledge that I was completely done with Hoenn and I''d enjoy it.


    Sure, I''d probably be resting some more during the ship ride there but I''d for sure be studying and training because the grind never stopped.


    Right now? Just fully resting.


    I yawned and peered at my Pokegear.


    Huh, I had slept the whole day. I really was exhausted wasn''t I? It had still been morning when I fell asleep yesterday...


    It was early morning of the next day and I had a good bit of hours left before I had to go back to the harbor so I could laze about for a bit before turning productive.


    I lazily pushed myself up and caught the gaze of Beldum.


    Their single red eye had a flash of purple, for a moment and I tilted my head.


    "Mornin," I waved at it.


    Beldum didn''t really like me at all but at least it tolerated me enough to not kill me in my sleep.


    He continued gazing at me and I could have sworn they looked almost¡­ confused.


    Why?


    "Are you trying to look into my head?" I asked suddenly, raising a brow.


    Beldum looked surprised that I managed to figure it out and I snorted.


    "Here, go ahead and try," I offered, relaxing a bit. "Communicating with you would be fun, but I doubt you have enough power for that¡­ and apparently my mind is weird."


    If anything, that seemed to interest Beldum even more and I watched as it actually begin approaching me.


    The little steel type began floating over and once it got close enough, they began focusing.


    For a long while, I felt nothing. Like I said before, Beldum''s output was just not strong enough.


    Even Jasmine''s Bronzong seemed to be struggling. The other psychic hadn''t even been able to pierce my mind because I had my guard up the entire time I was talking to my friend.


    Beldum would very likely struggle even despite the fact that my guard was fully down for him to attempt to establish a connection.


    Judging by the slight frustration in Beldum''s eye, they weren''t making much success.


    Despite having little psychic reserves, Beldums were innately good at establishing connections because they were apart of a hive basically.


    As I spent more time with Beldum, his connection with their hive in Rustboro, would eventually whittle into nothing, making him unrecognizable by them.


    So he was preparing for that by forming a connection with me. They were dependent on having that bond but I didn''t realize they''d be so reliant on it.


    "Don''t push yourself. Try establishing a connection when you get more power," I informed him.


    In the first place, I was surprised he even wanted to form one. I kinda kidnapped him and all that.


    Maybe the large distance we made from Rustboro, had cut the established connection? There wasn''t much detail that went into how Metagross operated.


    Beldum didn''t look satisfied by that and continued in their crusade of establishing a bond with me.


    Was it that big of a deal? Was this an attempt to ruin my mind? I doubted it, especially considering how fortified it seemed to be against psychics.


    ...Maybe it was just not being used to not being connected to his hive and it was finally catching up to him.


    I closed my eyes and tried to fully relax, which was not very easy considering I was almost always on edge but since I just woke up¡­


    Honestly, I wasn''t sure what type of block I had in my head that made it so difficult for psychics to peer into my mind¡­


    Was it something I always had from my previous version of Silver? Or was it something else?


    Otherworldly energy¡­


    That''s what Bronzy had said that one day¡­ whatever this otherworldly energy was, made it capable of draining an elite Bronzong.


    Hm¡­


    I think I had a pretty decent idea what was going on but I couldn''t be too sure if my thinking was correct because Legendaries were at play here.


    For now, I needed to let Beldum try and establish a connection and to do that, I needed to not be thinking things that would make me more stressed.


    I didn''t have anything that made me particularly happy, so my best bet was to just try and empty my mind completely.


    Think of nothing¡­ just¡­ completely¡­ empty ¡ª


    "Bel!"


    I popped open an eye at that victorious and metallic noise, before feeling a little nagging feeling at the back of my head.


    Beldum triumphantly gazed at me and I couldn''t help but return the smile¡­ before it was wiped off my face at a startling realization.


    Wait a fucking second...


    My eyes widened in horror. "Beldum, hold on you need to disconnect from me right now!" I said urgently.


    A look of shock crossed my features as Beldum seized up and began shaking in place.


    I hastily grabbed him.


    "Hey, woah woah. Calm down Beldum," I hissed, wincing at the cool metal of its body.


    Damn it, was I stupid?! I already acknowledged that whatever was going on with my body was legendary in nature... so why the hell did I let a Beldum try to connect to me?


    Not even Bronzong could speak to me for long and Beldum was trying to do even more.


    "Don''t even think about killing it," I snarled venomously, hoping that whoever the hell was tainting me, fucked off and didn''t break my Beldum.


    Before I could find a solution to Beldum''s problems¡­ it seemed to miraculously stop on its own...


    No that wasn''t right, for a brief second, I saw a blue aura surrounding my psychic, before it vanished.


    I watched in confusion as Beldum stilled¡­ and blinked its single red eye.


    Then it gazed at me as if I were a new person¡­


    At the same time, the nagging in the back of my mind took complete root, before I finally stopped registering its presence.


    "St...r...a...ng...e."


    I gazed at Beldum in shock.


    Were they speaking to me? It was extremely broken but how?


    Most baby psychics didn''t have the capacity for that until evolving. Even despite Beldum''s former hive, it should not have been possible until it was at least a Metang and even then, it would only truly be able to communicate proficiently as a Metagross.


    ...I don''t know at all. At the very least, just that one word seemed to exhaust Beldum and it continued gazing at me like I were some type of puzzle.


    "I guess that means you accept me as your trainer now?" I said blandly, brows furrowed by the turn of events.


    Beldum nodded it head and a mental image of a black and green figure appeared in my head.


    "Ah because of the events with Fraxure," I muttered.


    Well, that made sense but I still didn''t understand what happened between Beldum and I. Why were they able to stay connected to me even with my guard back up?


    Did I become apart of its "hive" now?


    I sighed.


    Best to just do some research on it later. For now I needed to wake up my dead to the world team ¡ª


    I froze completely as I finally took stock of the room.


    Everything was a mess. They had clearly been having way too much fun despite me saying not to make one¡­


    At least nothing was broken.


    But that wasn''t even the most surprising part of this entire ordeal.


    No, the most surprising part was the fucking Bayleef sleeping happily away right beside my bed.


    ¡­


    "Why can''t I just catch a break?" I sighed miserably.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Turns out, while I was sleeping Gaia and Loki decided to spar because she was actually way closer to evolution then I thought.


    "Bay!" Gaia cheered, butting her head against my chest and getting a disbelieving laugh outta me.


    "As proud as I am that you''ve evolved¡­" I began.


    All my Pokemon went stiff, at the sight of my smile completely vanishing.


    "I know I said not to break anything... but that doesn''t mean completely ruin the room. Not to mention, I missed the first evolution on the team," I said with a small frown.


    They all winced, barring Beldum, at my severe expression and looked away.


    I sighed. "I''m not all that mad¡­ but no more surprise evolutions please. I wanna be there to see it."


    They all nodded and I smiled.


    "Now, all of you are cleaning the room, except for Beldum," I instructed.


    They began protesting immediately.


    "Bag?!" Ares said incredulously.


    "I''m not stupid," I rolled my eyes. "All of you played a part in messing this room up except for Beldum. Even after I said not to break anything, you guys went and did the next best thing," I said with a stern frown.


    "Congratulations on evolving Gaia, we''ll check you out after this room is cleaned."


    They gazed at me in shock before saying what could only be, "Fineeee," in their respective tongue.


    "Bel," Beldum said smugly, floating over to me.


    Now that I had properly punished my team, it was time to get the day started and prepare to leave this region.


    I was pretty excited. It was time to finally begin the process of getting stronger and pitting myself against Gym Leaders was filling me with a thrill that wasn''t as addictive as my stealing streak¡­ but definitely up there.


    While I wanted to do them in order, it made the most sense for me to fight Surge first because I would be landing in Vermilion City.


    Afterwards¡­ yeah I could just cut through Diglet Cave to Pewter couldn''t I? Then I''d traverse through Mt. Moon, beat Cerulean and then I''d be back on pace because I could head to Celadon relatively easy from Cerulean...


    The good thing about Kanto was that all the cities were very close to each other... it just had stupid ass video game plots preventing you from reaching them.


    Alright, not bad at all. I had a plan and it sounded pretty good to me.


    Was I expecting the plan to stick? Nope... but it was best to at least have a mental map formed of my path.


    "Ares, Freyja. Stop arguing," I demanded, watching the two make biting remarks towards each other.


    Kudos to my adorable Feebas for doing her utmost to clean up the mess they all caused, but she wasn''t really effective.


    I snorted at seeing the two reluctantly back off from each other and sighed.


    Ares and Freyja had quite a bit of animosity towards each other and from what I understood, it was because my most recent member didn''t acknowledge Freyja''s strength.


    I''d need to make sure there were no grudges being formed. For now, it was giving Freyja quite the competitive air and I''d, hopefully, have a Milotic before a Salamence.


    If Freyja became a Milotic¡­ the power dynamic between the two would shift dramatically until Ares evolved into her final form.


    Hah, their competition would be very uneven for a while but I''d make sure Freyja didn''t get dejected by it.


    We were trying to build her confidence here, not plummet it by pitting her against a dragon.


    "Alright alright, you guys have no clue how to clean properly," I sighed.


    While Loki and Gaia were doing a pretty good job, Ares and Freyja were not. I''m pretty sure they were actually making it worse and I don''t know what I expected really.


    Freyja had no limbs and Ares'' were really tiny... and they probably never cleaned before either.


    I lazily rolled off the bed and landed on my two feet. "I''m hungry and I wanna bathe so I''ll help you out."


    All my Pokemon (not Beldum) perked up at the word bathe and I resisted the urge to groan out loud.


    Goddammit¡­


    "Ares¡­ by chance, do you also want to bathe with me?" I asked slowly.


    Much to my annoyance, the Bagon nodded without any hesitation, almost looking at me like it was a ridiculous question and I did groan this time.


    Ridiculous.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Now that everything was settled, I was taking the time to inspect Gaia and her new form.


    She looked far different from the Chikorita she had been before and I marveled at the fact that she was already experiencing evolution.


    Sure, she had been showing signs but I didn''t think that meant she''d change so soon!


    Well, I suppose it made sense. Starter first forms evolved fairly quickly and I imagine I had been traveling long enough to be on pace to get my second or third badge.


    We had been training the entire time as well, exhausting ourselves just about everyday¡­


    Now that I rationalized it, it was beginning to make sense that Gaia had evolved.


    I thought my lack of fighting trainers was going to bite me¡­ but I was still getting visibly stronger because of my crazy shenanigans in this region.


    Training was scarily effective and I could thank both my research and Jasmine for that.


    Huh, would you look at that. I actually missed Jasmine. I wonder how my shy and adorable big little sister was doing.


    I''d check up on her during the boat ride. She hadn''t called me in a while so she must be busy with gym business.


    But I digress, Bayleef and Chikorita shared almost no similarities with each other.


    Her hide was yellowish now, losing the green coloration up until reaching evolution again, she was a lot taller now, but surprisingly, she didn''t get much heavier. I could comfortably still lift her.


    Her leaf had changed in appearance as well, protruding from her forehead instead that curved a bit with a sharp edge. She grew her tail out as well from that tiny thing it had been before.


    Finally, her neck beads had sprouted far more, giving off a delightful aroma that seemed to energize me just by inhaling it.


    Huh, was Gaia a walking drug?


    Nah¡­ apparently, Bayleef''s leaves were actually very healthy for people and just standing next to one, allowed the fragrance to give off a combination of simulating, energizing and rejuvenating effects.


    And people didn''t like this Pokemon? That was incredible! Just being in the presence of the Chikorita line, was beneficial to a person.


    I wonder what prolonged exposure would do¡­ hopefully I didn''t become addicted to it.


    Upon evolution, Gaia had learned one new move and that was Reflect.


    My eyes took on a manic glint at that.


    I had her demonstrate it to me and upon seeing the shimmering Blue glass-like material, I realized that Gaia was already just a few steps away from being completely insufferable.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Naturally it wasn''t perfect, but we had time of course. Mastering this move was imperative for my Bayleef and I had discovered some very interesting things about the technique as well.


    Gaia preened under my attention, enjoying every moment of it and I pat her leaf at a job well done.


    "Riding on my shoulder might be a little impossible now, girl," I said sheepishly.


    Her happy look, immediately turned into one of horror and I couldn''t resist the chuckle that erupted from my body.


    "Alright, I''m gonna go turn in this key and then we can go shopping until it''s time to go," I told all my clean Pokemon.


    They let out noises of affirmation before I returned all but Loki.


    Like clockwork, my first pokemon jumped into my jacket and I snorted.


    "I''m thinking of upgrading all of your diets and it sounds pretty expensive¡­ so I won''t be paying for it," I informed him.


    "Zor," he nodded in agreement, already knowing what his job to play was.


    "Yeah, this trip is mostly for you guys. I want to get stuff just to make your lives more comfortable," I added.


    Specialized brushes, specific foods, stuff like that. My little soldiers needed to be well kept if I wanted them at 100% so that''s what I''d do.


    Loki smiled at my list and just gazed at me with proud eyes.


    I snorted and ruffled his tuft. "Aren''t you just too adorable. I''m gonna miss you hiding in my coat when you evolve."


    Loki just laughed.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Damn, I already knew it before hand... but stealing must have been my special characteristic because this was getting pitifully easy.


    I was even doing it in people''s faces. Most of the shops that catered to Pokemon, were outside in stands¡­ meaning I had to get up close and personal to the vendor.


    Easy work when you had a Zorua.


    I didn''t even have to go fully invisible. I just had Zorua practice his precision with Illusion by making him cover specific parts of my body.


    Namely, my hand. Hard to see a hand swiping something off the shelf, when it looked like said hand was in that person''s pockets.


    For the more complicated things, I had Zorua spread out the illusion so I could safely grab at it and stuff it into this awesome bag of mine.


    Fun fact, I did my research... and the intricacies of this bag sounded almost exactly like the Storage System in the games that you would put your overcaught Pokemon.


    I guess a storage system to keep your Pokemon would be a little (extremely) unethical so they focused that kind of technology to other things, like the inside of a Pokeball or this bag of mine.


    I love technology. Those bags of food were not small at all but with this storage bag, you wouldn''t think it was even in here.


    The horrifically crowded market streets, helped me out in troves with my stealing. There were honestly so many people, a natural disgust crawled through my body.


    But I''d tough it out for my team. They deserved the best.


    Hell, I was even learning how to cook for us. Making food for them (and myself), was actually really healthy. I managed to secure myself a bunch of berries, a Berry Pot that originated from the Johto Region and a Berry Mixer that was very popular with contests people.


    Damn, I needed to relax. I was beginning to feel bad at how many things I was stealing¡­


    Oh who am I kidding? No I didn''t. I even stole some stickers to differentiate between my Poke Balls. I''d be applying those during my trip.


    After nabbing everything I needed, I decided to just chill until it was time to go.


    Thankfully, I was actually allowed on the S.S. Tidal earlier than the departure time and after flashing my ticket, I was promptly directed to my room by the pretty lady.


    If there was one things I appreciated about the ships, it''s how nice the setup was.


    Every room I had been in, even the one from Cherrygrove to Olivine, had been very nice.


    The rooms of the ships that brought you from region to region were fantastic. And every room was large enough to accommodate nearly all sizes of Pokemon except for the ludicrously big ones.


    I released my team at once and let Zorua jump out of my jacket.


    "Alright you all, we''re gonna be headed to Kanto in the next few days and we''ll be training the whole time in this room... unless you guys want some fresh air out there," I began.


    They nodded at my words and I smiled at having their undivided attention.


    "We''re gonna all learn a utility move, because I don''t want you guys really destroying anything. Practice the moves you already do know and get a more firm grasp of them too," I said.


    I had already picked out utility moves for all of them to learn too.


    "First¡­ Loki, I want you to learn Agility," I listed, beginning with my first Pokemon.


    Since he was born with Extrasensory, Loki''s psychic reserves were good enough for him to dip into learning more psychic moves earlier.


    While he couldn''t learn any other offensive psychic moves besides Extrasensory, he didn''t need anymore offensive moves regardless.


    It just allowed him to learn the other psychic moves he could learn easier.


    Pretty neat.


    Loki nodded and I showed the move to him so that he could understand the basics.


    "Gaia, you''re learning Light Screen," I turned towards my Bayleef, flicking to that move next. "I was gonna save this for later, but since you learned Reflect, getting the basics of Light Screen should be easy. As long as we get a working version, it should be fine. Mastering both of these moves will be imperative to our goals."


    Gaia nodded confidently and I smiled at her in return.


    "Beldum, there''s nothing you can learn at the moment," I informed it with a small frown. "For now I want you to refine the moves you already know. By the time you evolve, you''ll have them all down pact."


    Beldum''s were just not good at emitting their attacks until evolution. They were better at harnessing it inside of their metallic bodies but pushing it out, was incredibly difficult.


    It''s why they couldn''t even learn confusion until evolution. Young Metang''s were just dipping into being able to emit attacks.


    It was the reason why Metagross favored physical attacks so much. When they were all you could rely on in your first evolution, and you took forever to reach the final stage, you''d get pretty good at your niche.


    My Beldum would be good in both. That was without doubt.


    Beldum sensed my intent and nodded, a passive metallic sheen making its way over their body.


    I was glad that the steel type was warming up to me faster than I imagined. They''d never fully acknowledge me until reaching its desired state, but my actions at Meteor Falls seemed to increase its respect to a level that made them at least decide, that it was safe to consider me as apart of their "hive".


    Weird now that I thought about it, but eh¡­ weirder things had happened to me.


    "Ares, you''ll be learning Scary Face," I said calmly.


    Funnily enough, Ares would actually not have that easy of a time learning Scary Face¡­ because she had Sheer Force.


    I don''t really know the specifics of it and it was a little to sciency for me, but Salamence born with Rock Head followed by Intimidate were more common for a reason.


    It helped them more in the wild. Having a naturally Intimidating aura, did wonders for being an indomitable creature.


    The ones born with Moxie¡­ were very out of control, to put it nicely.


    To be honest, from what I read. You''d have to be insanely unlucky to catch a Bagon that would evolve into a Salamence with Moxie.


    Salamence were aggressive, but they wouldn''t go out of their way to cause untold mayhem. No Pokemon was wild enough to do that quite frankly.


    Salamence with Moxie were a whole different story.


    Moxie was an ability that slowly but surely released the inhibitors that held back a person or pokemon''s will, the more foes defeated hence the "raise attack on every defeat".


    For Salamence, more defeats meant it''s bloodlust would rise more and more.


    Even one defeat, was enough to send a wild Salamence on a complete rampage and most of the Dragons that had been forcefully put down, were due to having Moxie and causing destruction.


    Huh, what a dark and twisted way to explain why it was a hidden ability. Salamence were quite frankly, too dangerous naturally and adding something that released their inhibitors¡­


    You couldn''t give an apex predator more power. Salamence with Moxie were hunted down in the old days or kept in captivity, plain and simple.


    That must have been one of the reasons why Ares'' mother, kept her so close. Judging by how battle hungry my little adorable Bagon was already¡­ there might have been more behind that Salamence kept her daughter on what seemed to be a tight leash.


    I doubted it was just the future Moxie because I''m sure there were worthy trainers but that had to have played a part.


    Raising a Salamence with Moxie¡­ wasn''t smart.


    For one, you needed to have a team that could handle its rampage and when the Pokemon rampaging was one of the most dominant dragons in existence (Up there with Dragonite, Garchomp and Hydreigon in sheer destructive power), not many trainers had that.


    Only well established trainers were equipped to deal with them.


    Huh. Go figure.


    So basically, Ares understood that she was probably never going to get an actual trainer and decided to take matters into her own hand.


    What a go getter. If you want something done, do it yourself.


    I could get down with that.


    But before I went off on that massive tangent, I was saying something about Scary Face being more difficult to learn for her¡­


    Well Bagon''s with Sheer Force had differences from their brethren. Thinner helmet, smaller fangs, more lithe body.


    Overall an appearance that was much less physically imposing. But goddamn did they make up for it in aggression.


    I was kind of excited by the prospect actually.


    Ares nodded in confirmation and I finally turned to Freyja.


    The Feebas gazed up at me in curiosity and I pat her head.


    "So Freyja, learning moves as you are now¡­ isn''t very easy. So I decided on a workaround."


    Everyone of my team piqued in interest, as I shuffled for something in a specific section of my bag.


    A small disc, colored a light blue greeted them and I smiled.


    "It''s Rain Dance, to give your water moves a little more oomph and to give you more speed too," I explained.


    I wanted to get more TMs¡­ but the selection I saw, weren''t all that useful so I just opted to steal this TM for Rain Dance instead.


    Something that was useful was seeing the sheer price this TM cost.


    I''m pretty sure these were permanent. If they weren''t, a scam was being ran on us all.


    Well only one way to find out.


    "I''m going to return you now," I told my excited Feebas.


    She nodded rapidly and I put her in the ball, before taking the disc and slotting the hole into the little poke out button of the Pokeball.


    Pokeballs, for their basic appearance¡­ were actually really advanced in nature. These things would have the greatest geniuses from my old world salivating.


    One of the nifty features was being able to transfer the information of Technical Machines, into whatever Pokemon resided in the Pokeball.


    The Pokemon wouldn''t master it immediately, but it would get the basics down enough to actually use the technique.


    Extremely convenient. Rich trainers normally jacked up their Pokemon with a bunch of Tms and it backfired eventually because they never bothered mastering it.


    I released Freyja from the ball and gazed at her with curious eyes.


    "Might regret this¡­ but Freyja, use Rain Dance. I''ll deal with the mess afterwards," I ordered.


    Freyja pondered my demand, before summoning a little rain cloud over her head only, causing a light drizzle to hit her skin and save my room from terrible things.


    I gazed at the little cloud and heard Ares snicker in the background.


    Rain Dance was supposed to fully alter the weather and cause a drizzle to appear... in a much larger area.


    Really proficient users could cause it to storm with thunder and everything. Hell they could even wrestle control of the weather from opponents.


    ...Freyja was a long ways away from that.


    Freyja looked rather dejected but I simply smiled, as ideas began brainstorming through my mind.


    "Hey Freyja, could you move to the left for a bit," I suddenly asked, ignoring the light patter wetting the floor.


    Dejected eyes landed on me, but my Feebas followed my orders.


    "Now focus real hard¡­ and make the Rain Dance move left too," I instructed, eyes pondering.


    Freyja looked puzzled by my command but nodded, shutting her eyes tight and straining on the connection to the rain cloud.


    Much to my delight, the little cloud followed her.


    "Amazing¡­ I didn''t know Rain Dances output could be reduced to this," I muttered, brainstorming with ideas.


    I lifted Freyja up and placed her in the tank for water types.


    "Freyja, I want you to practice Rain Dance as much as possible," I said with a pleased smile. "I want it to seem like it''s second nature for you to summon rain. Increasing the power is important, but controlling it is even more important right now. Focus on making the drain vanish, before increasing its size, then increase the size and repeat."


    If Rain Dance could come out this small¡­ I wanted Freyja to master it to the point where she could cause a flood if she so pleased.


    It made sense that different Pokemon could make different levels of rain. Kyogre wasn''t the only pokemon with Drizzle as its ability, but Kyogre''s ability to summon rain nearly flooded the world.


    If Drizzle was naturally that dangerous, we''d be suffering another Moxie problem where pokemon would be forcefully hunted down... but it wasn''t.


    You could control the output of the rain... that was amazing!


    She looked at my eager expression with wide eyes, shocked that I was excited by something she was displeased with, before the little Feebas began nodding, absorbing my own excitement.


    Freyja''s tiny stores, had inadvertently shown me that you could control Rain Dance more then I initially thought.


    Making it that small¡­ while it wouldn''t give her the power boost a full fledged Rain Dance would, it could reduce the benefits to just her.


    I doubted I''d have discovered this if she was a Milotic or any other water type in general. The control needed to maintain this¡­


    As long as you used your power wisely, you could be formidable. Forget increasing Feebas'' power output, that was just not probable at her stage.


    Control was what I needed to focus on. Control to make her weak attacks impactul and energy conserving¡­ and then control to make her eventual strong attacks, downright deadly.


    Power came later¡­ Since Feebas had small stores, it would be far easier to grasp and get a control of, helping Freyja in the long run with understanding the steps needed to make her powers submit.


    This was the correct answer. Make her bring out the full use of what she was equipped with, before finally trying to increase it.


    By the time she became a Milotic, Freyja would be able to switch between a needle and a hammer at a whim.


    Perfect for a water type. That type of flexibility...


    "Freyja, It''s not gonna be easy¡­ but I want you to try your best at letting out a steady stream of Water Pulse, while maintaining some control over Rain Dance. Build up how long you can do it."


    "When you can''t do that anymore, practice with doing the same stream with Dragon Breath. Alternate between strong and weak versions until you have a perfect feel for all of it. Gauge the power for both, try to find a middle ground and try to mold it into different shapes. We need to fight smart."


    Freyja had been given rather simple tasks by me before so this one understandably caught her off guard.


    She looked a little unsure but I flashed her a reassuring smile that made her eyes light up.


    Then, she glared at Ares and nodded fiercely.


    "Atta girl," I praised.


    I stood up and stretched. "Alright. Let''s get started, no time to waste. We got a few days before we land in Kanto so lets make the most of it."


    They all let out choruses and got to work.


    I sighed.


    Time for me to do my work too.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I idly tossed a Pokeblock over to Ares and watched her gulp it down without hesitation.


    The Bagon finally nodded in satisfaction and let out a satisfied roar, that sounded more like a bark.


    "So Ares likes spicy," I mused with a contemplative expression, jotting it down in the page dedicated for my Bagon.


    Besides training and studying, I had taken on the arduous process of learning how to cook a meal for me and my team.


    Maybe that''s why the limit was 6. You could actually hold more than 6 Pokemon, but things would get expensive very fast.


    Type specialists existed for many reasons. Easier to train your Pokemon, likely similar diets, easier to become an expert in your craft¡­ It was overall a lot cheaper to be a type specialist, especially if u weren''t sponsored by a notable trainer.


    What type would I have even chosen if I went that route? Probably Psychic, Steel or Water.


    But anyways, I sucked at cooking currently. I was a decent cook back in my previous body by virtue of living alone for a while¡­ but none of that translated to my life currently.


    Sucks but oh well. I''d get better in time.


    At the very least, my Pokemon didn''t have to suffer like I did.


    All of them had different diets but there were similarities.


    Zorua, Bagon and Beldum had fairly similar diets in regards of what they eat.


    Zorua typically ate anything without much complaint, but meat was what they preferred.


    Bagon were mostly carnivorous, but had no complaints about what went with the meat.


    Beldum, surprisingly, ate meat as well but they did prefer metals.


    Feebas mostly ate insects and plankton. It changed once becoming Milotic, evolving into also eating smaller fish and what not.


    Finally Chikorita and subsequent evolutions, were herbivores and also gained sustenance from Photosynthesis.


    Some Meganium''s were documented only needing the barest of sunlight to sustain themselves.


    That was pretty cool.


    Naturally, there were specific meals catered to specific Pokemon, condensed and stored so trainers didn''t have to be like hunters of the past, getting their own food by slaughtering whatever they encountered.


    This world catered to Pokemon in every possible way in every single detail.


    I took a variety of different foods that were packed with the specific nutrition needed.


    Carnivore centered packs, omnivore centered packs, herbivore centered packs and even one for Pokemon that dwelled in the sea¡­ this would be sufficient for now and there were very helpful reviews on them that let me know I picked the right choices for my team.


    A thief should be fully prepared! What type of thief would I be, if I didn''t even know what I was stealing?


    Slateport was a practical goldmine so of course I''d do my research beforehand on what was worth taking.


    If I had done my research on Lilycove, I would have probably stayed there and stole a bunch of TMs for myself¡­


    Hmm, guess I could research Celadon for later. They''d probably have neat TMs for me to take.


    Besides getting food catered for them, I also began learning how to make Pokeblocks too.


    The little snacks were useful and were also quite packed with their own nutrients. You just had to blend some berries together and bam, easypeasy.


    It was a wonder only contest people did this. Though, I suppose getting all the stuff for making a portable Pokeblock maker would start adding up. None of this looked very cheap and buying berries over and over again would start to get really expensive.


    ...Which I accounted for too.


    With my Berry Pots growing 5 berries for me at a time, I had my very own resource and as a result, I didn''t think I''d have to go hunting for berries like a maniac. I didn''t get every kind of berry, but I got a ton that enhanced Pokeblocks... and I even got the ones I noticed naturally, like Oran, Sitrus, Leppa... all the status healing ones! When you were gonna steal, might as well be effective as possible.


    They didn''t even take all that long to grow either. The Berry Pot promoted their growth without me having to find a random patch of earth to build a garden on and in only a matter of days, I''d have a fresh batch.


    The technology in this world was absurd.


    Guess when you weren''t focused on constant warfare, you could evolve different things to an impressive degree.


    Why focus on furthering your warfare, when you had monsters to do it for you? Focus your efforts into something else and be progressive.


    But yeah... I decided to dabble in making different Pokeblocks and feeding it to my team to see which ones they liked.


    Once I got a firm grasp on which ones each of my members liked specifically, I''d slowly but surely mass produce them.


    Based on plenty of experimentation, I managed to basically get the gist of what every member of my team liked.


    Loki heavily preferred bitter Pokeblocks, with some partialness to spicy as well. He was willing to eat sour ones, but didn''t much like the dry or sweet ones, though he''d still finish whatever I offered him.


    His favorite was a mix of bitter and spicy from what I noted.


    Gaia hated the bitter Pokeblocks. She wouldn''t hesitate to spit it out if I gave her one. On the contrary, she loved the sweet and spicy ones. She also liked the dry snacks and tolerated the sour ones.


    Her favorite was naturally, a mix of sweet and spicy.


    Freyja proved to be the pickiest of my Pokemon surprisingly. She loved dry and sweet blocks the most and hated all the others. She especially couldn''t stand spicy and sour so I''d have to be careful what I fed her.


    Beldum preferred sour and bitter Pokeblocks the most. They didn''t dislike any of the others and would eat them if offered, but it reacted most well, when I gave them one of their preferred ones or a combination of the two.


    Finally, Ares loved spicy and sour, hated sweet, didn''t care for bitter and liked dry. Funnily enough, she despised any combination I attempted, preferring to eat them alone.


    I sighed as I finished noting all this down.


    This was hard work! I had spent practically a whole day figuring this stuff out but I had a good idea of what worked and was pretty proud of the results.


    My Pokemon also loved it because I gave them free snacks in the process of learning¡­ greedy little squirts they were.


    Now, I just needed to get better at cooking human food. I get that I was 12 and all that but seriously, this was ridiculous.


    I was talented at a lot of things, but taking care of myself did not seem to be one of them.


    Well, that was fine. I already excelled at all things Pokemon, so it was time to excel at all things human.


    Which meant fulfilling standard human affairs and not ending up a complete recluse (Joy''s words not mine)...


    "Silver?! You''re calling me first?!" Jasmine asked in clear surprise. There was a joy in her tired eyes and I felt a wry smirk forming.


    "Yeah, I thought you died because you haven''t been blowing up my phone for a while," I greeted.


    "O-Oh!" She gasped. "I''ve been a little busy with duties and it''s been a little stressful¡­ but I didn''t want to burden you with my issues¡­"


    Jasmine trailed off as she noticed my unimpressed expression.


    "Are you fucking serious, Jasmine?" I said slowly, frowning slightly at that.


    She flinched at my words and I sighed.


    "You don''t gotta be reluctant to call me just because you''re struggling with stuff¡­ we''re¡­ friends and a friend will listen to your worries," I explained patiently.


    Granted, I wasn''t a very good friend to have when your a shy and introverted girl but still, I wasn''t that terrible.


    "Look Jas, if you''re going through something, don''t bottle it up. I get you probably confide in your Pokemon, but you can tell me too."


    I had been in this world for a decent amount of time now and besides my Pokemon, Jasmine (and recently Joy) was my most consistent form of communication with an actual human.


    It''s not like I found her annoying or anything either¡­ Jasmine was a great friend and she was way too nice for her own good.


    Sure I might have been annoyed when we first met, but being rude to a person like Jasmine was like¡­ kicking a puppy.


    "Silver¡­" Jasmine sniffed, looking exactly like said puppy.


    I watched in confusion as actual tears began springing up in her eyes and for a moment, I thought her troubles were more serious than I initially thought.


    "T-That''s the first time you called me your friend!" She exclaimed, wiping the tears from her eyes with a happy smile.


    ¡­


    "I thought it was obvious we were friends. I respond to all your messages and answer all your calls," I said blandly.


    "Well¡­ that''s true¡­ but I don''t know. I didn''t want to burden you with something I can''t even go into much detail about. Wouldn''t that be rude?" she asked, looking doubtful.


    "90% of what I say is rude, idiot. Don''t go assuming things either, it''s better if you just ask me so I can tell you straight up if I mind or not," I chastised her with a disappointed frown.


    "Don''t go making up scenarios in your head alone. You''re stupid so it''ll never work out well for you."


    The sound of a haughty penguin in the background agreeing with my sentiment, caused me to snort.


    Jasmine''s face burned red and she turned to the left to glare at Empy.


    "Alright, what''s got you stressed out?" I asked curiously.


    "...Ah well¡­ make sure you don''t tell anyone," she requested.


    I shot her a flat look. "Jas, you are the only person I like. I hate speaking to everyone else."


    Her face lit up a dark red at that. "Really?!" She asked in shock.


    I raised a brow. "Are you really surprised by that?"


    "...Actually no I''m not. I''m just surprised you like me," she replied, a hint of exasperation on her face.


    "Hey, I''ve come to appreciate your insistence. You''re a good friend which is why I haven''t deleted your number yet," I assured her.


    As expected, she beamed at my compliment and I watched the tension leave her face.


    A bit scummy by me, but I was curious about what had her feeling stressed.


    "Well, I''m not sure how much you know about them, but Team Rocket are becoming a more prominent threat in both Kanto and Johto¡­ I''ve even heard of some sightings in the archipelago''s of Kanto."


    She sighed. "They''ve recently been spreading their influence en masse and we''re no closer to finding out anything far too prominent about them."


    Team Rocket eh? Makes sense that they''d be cause for concern.


    "It''s getting bad. More trainers are turning up missing. Some are in Team Rocket. Others¡­"


    The Gym Leader sighed and I furrowed my brows.


    "The worst part is, we don''t have any solid leads on any of their high ranking members or their motives. Whenever we might have one, they slink away into the shadows again."


    Yeah, it''d be hard to get a solid lead of the criminal organization when their leader was the strongest Gym Leader in Kanto.


    "Silver I know you''re very averse to the idea, but please consider getting a companion to travel with. I¡­ don''t want anything bad to happen to you and Champion Lance is adamant on continuing the gym circuit for this year."


    I nodded. "Makes sense. Canceling the circuit would let Team Rocket know that they''re winning. It would be disastrous in the long run for their confidence but either way, unless you find some things out, it''s still a loss regardless of intent."


    Jasmine looked at me with wide eyes and I blinked.


    "I''ll also consider getting a traveling companion?" I added in confusion.


    "Silver, you''re really smart. That was basically what they were saying too," she informed me.


    I nodded with a thoughtful expression.


    There was no way I could out Giovanni without being a prime suspect myself and besides, it would be the word of a trainer without a single badge against the strongest Gym Leader of Kanto.


    Normally I wouldn''t care either¡­ but Team Rocket couldn''t only be getting victories. A lead would turn the League ravenous and I''d be even more in the clear as they focused on destroying each other¡­


    Jasmine was a Gym Leader too. My suspicions would be laughed at but hers would be taken far more serious and she trusted me almost unconditionally.


    "Have you ever considered a mole in the league?" I asked curiously, cupping my chin to really sell the idea.


    Jasmine''s brows furrowed in confusion. "A¡­ mole?"


    I nodded. "Yeah¡­ I''m sure the league isn''t full of complete idiots and Team Rocket has been a ramping threat for a while now. It''s a little suspicious that besides some names, you hardly have any more leads on them. Suspicious enough for me to think someone might be feeding them information," I mused.


    Jasmine''s doubt, slowly but surely faded away, as the logic of my words were processed by her and I withheld the urge to sigh.


    The people of this world were so naive. I don''t get it. This world was definitely darker than most pokemon depictions¡­ but then I got moments like this, where people won''t even cast doubts on the idea of a traitor.


    "That¡­ makes a lot of sense," she muttered, brows furrowed.


    "Surprised no one thought of it," I shrugged truthfully. "If I had to guess, it''s probably in the Kanto region, since that''s where they''re most prominent¡­ and it might be someone influential."


    This might be suspicious¡­ but 90% of the time, I complained to Jasmine about how much studying I did and how much I hated it so knowing stuff like this, wouldn''t be too weird.


    "¡­" Jasmine''s brow furrowed more and more. She remained silent for a long while and I imagine she was having a conversation with Bronzy.


    Psychics were insanely useful.


    I let her mull things over, idly running a brush through the dozing Loki''s fur. I had taken to caring for them beyond just training and that meant self care as well. I even had a nice little specialized rag for Ares'' helmet!


    My attention flitted back to my screen as Jasmine spoke up again.


    "What should I do? This does sound like a valid concern I should bring up¡­ but how would I go about it?" she eventually asked.


    Despite being a Gym Leader of 2 years, Jasmine was still only 16 years old. She was still very young so I wouldn''t fault her even a little for being lost¡­


    In the first place, I just didn''t like seeing so much stress on her face.


    "You need to make sure your suspicions remain between you and one other person that''s not me," I said easily.


    "Raise your concerns to a trustworthy source that can look into your claims. The less it spreads, the more likely you are to get a solid lead."


    "Who¡­ would be trustworthy enough?" Jasmine asked, looking unsure of how to approach this.


    Aww, she was so adorably innocent. She had no clue how to do this at all.


    "You''re best bet is speaking to the Champion himself. I wouldn''t trust anyone else in the league with this but him¡­ and if even he''s untrustworthy, then we''ve got a whole other issue to worry about."


    Jasmine went silent again, mulling over my words.


    Then, I proudly watched as her expression turned serious, befitting of her Gym Leader role.


    "Alright, I''ll schedule a one on one meeting with Champion Lance and express my concerns to him. Though it''s certainly not a guarantee, it''s not an option we should rule out at all."


    "Sounds good," I nodded.


    "Thank you Silver¡­ you might have just opened a lot of eyes with this new perspective."


    "Don''t mention it. I''m just trying to peacefully get stronger," I told her with a roll of my eyes.


    She nodded, a look of worry in her eyes as she gazed at me.


    That made me tilt my head a bit in confusion. "What''s the matter?" I asked curiously.


    Jasmine flinched back, eyes wide at being called out and I pursed my lips.


    Did I reveal too much? Was even innocent Jasmine suspicious of me now?


    That wasn''t good. Jasmine knew a lot about me.


    "Um¡­ I know you said I shouldn''t be afraid to ask but I''m still a bit¡­ No, I''ll ask," she eventually said, pepping herself up.


    "Silver¡­ do you have history with Team Rocket?" Jasmine asked quietly, afraid to even ask the question.


    ¡­


    Huh? What the fuck? Wait, did I actually end up revealing too much information? Did Gold leak my identity and Jasmine was making false connections?


    While Giovanni was my sponsor, I don''t know what further connection I had with Team Rocket and stealing Gaia was my first heist... but I was still a thief so it was logical to make the connection.


    "That''s a bit of a weird question to suddenly ask," I pointed out, not willing to further incriminate myself by answering said question.


    "I know it is! But it''s just¡­ the moment I mentioned Team Rocket¡­ you had the most angry expression I''ve ever seen on your face¡­ and I don''t even think you realized."


    I froze completely.


    "¡­"


    Seriously? Clearly my hate for Team Rocket ran deeper than I thought because I hadn''t even noticed that my expression changed. I thought I was normal the whole time...


    But why exactly did I hate them? Even if I wanted to truthfully answer Jasmine''s question, I wouldn''t be able to because I didn''t know.


    But this feeling¡­


    "They''ve done something unforgivable to me is all," I said tersely. Based on this feeling, that seemed as honest as I could get.


    There was a flash of sorrow and pity in Jasmine''s eyes and only the fact that I genuinely did warm up to her, stopped me from hanging up in her face and never calling her again right then and there.


    Thankfully, she didn''t pry (not like I had anything to give her) and instead said, "Alright Silver, I''ll call you later after a few phone calls. I missed talking to you!"


    I inclined my head. "Sure, see ya Jasmine."


    She smiled shakily before the screen cut and her face vanished.


    I immediately sighed.


    Unfortunately, there wasn''t much more I could (or wanted to) do in regards to Team Rocket, without looking massively suspicious. Even now, I felt like I stuck my neck in too much but maybe my innate rage at the criminals played a part.


    Which begged the question¡­ what was my deal with Team Rocket? Where did this rage and hatred stem from?


    I know Giovanni was my sponsor but what did he do to me? What was this interest in me?


    I was from Viridian and I had no contact with either of my parents... but I hated my mother... did she abandon me to Giovanni? Was she also connected to Team Rocket? Was it because I was from a wealthy family?


    Rich parents tended to be douches so maybe that''s why I had called my mother a bitch¡­


    Ugh. I was missing something important here.


    Trying to figure this all out was impossible. I know I came to terms with my identity, but at this rate, my past that I didn''t know about was going to bite me.


    Should I also add Team Rocket to the list of criminals I need to permanently get rid of? I wasn''t strong enough to do so, but I could work in the shadows to take them out, leaving anonymous tips to the league...


    Well, only time would tell. I was in the middle of getting stronger. I was not strong yet.


    I''d be strong when Magma/Aqua/Galactic came into play but Team Rocket was heavily active during my most vulnerable stage of being a trainer.


    It''d be reckless to throw myself at them.


    Who do they think I am, Red?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Good morning passengers! In approximately three minutes, we will be arriving in Vermilion City! Make sure to view the city when the sun is setting, you won''t regret it!"


    I heard that message in the middle of blow drying my hair and idly pulled the electric toothbrush out of my mouth.


    "You guys heard that right?" I shouted to my team.


    A chorus of noises, was my response and I nodded.


    "Alright, I''ll be out in a sec so get ready to leave," I instructed, turning my blow dryer on again.


    The trip to Kanto was as peaceful as every other boat ride I had taken. I remained holed up in my room, except for when I wanted food, and trained with my team to help them hone the moves they knew.


    On the bright side, being in such close proximity with my team at almost all times, increased all of our familiarity by quite a bit.


    I had verified that while Ares and Freyja had animosity towards each other, it wasn''t detrimental to my Feebas.


    The little fish just looked up at me with determination in her eyes and shook her head no, when I asked her if she wanted me to tell Ares to back down.


    That surprised me a bit. Freyja was really shy and reserved so I thought she would have wanted me to tell Ares to calm down for a little.


    Maybe Freyja was using it to fuel herself. I didn''t want to overwhelm her with compliments all the time, but I did compliment her whenever I saw fit, refusing to let her confidence dwindle even a little.


    If I saw her rivalry with Ares negatively impacting her, I would step in immediately but right now, it didn''t seem completely necessary. I was sure Loki was doing the same thing as well so that was good.


    Besides that, Freyja and Gaia seemed to get along really well¡­


    Granted, my Bayleef was very outgoing so she got along well with everyone on the team but Freyja seemed to admire her quite a lot and Gaia was a big fan of it so the two were shaping up to be quite the good friends.


    Surprisingly, Ares got along great with Loki.


    The two had taken to some very light sparring with each other and though my Bagon was stronger, Loki managed to get the victory more often than not in their quick bouts.


    He was forcing her to think instead of throwing herself into every fight without logic and it was doing wonders for my very brave Bagon.


    That had gotten the two rather friendly and Ares'' mother must have been a tired person because the two were starting to become quite the mischievous duo¡­ well, whenever Ares wasn''t nose-diving off my bed head first.


    I only let them get away with it so often because I liked seeing Loki''s mischievous side¡­ the Illusion pranks were not cool though.


    Imagine waking up to a Salamence staring you down. Heart attack inducing I tell you but I couldn''t even stay mad because Loki had been genuinely remorseful at that one in particular.


    Beldum was as much of a loner as I opted to be, so they tended to channel their abilities near me, while I studied or did whatever activity I thought of. I''m also fairly sure they did extra training at night when everyone was sleeping.


    Regardless, it tolerated the team just fine. They weren''t especially close with anyone but that was no surprise. Beldum would warm up to them all eventually so for now, this was perfectly fine.


    Now it was time to get started. I had spent a whole lotta time preparing myself for this part of the journey and now it was time to really get the show on the road.


    I returned my entire team, pocketing them in their customized balls and grabbed all my things.


    I dumped my blow dryer (I still couldn''t get rid of that damn cowlick) and toothbrush in the bag, placed my sneakers on and shrugged on a violet jacket with red lines.


    It was early in the year, I heard Kanto would be decently cold at around this time.


    As I stepped off the S.S Tidal, I let out a pleased sigh as an actual cool breeze brushed against me that contrasted the boiling heat of the Hoenn region.


    Next time I''m visiting Hoenn, it would hopefully not be as a criminal so I didn''t have to deck myself out in so many layers of clothing¡­


    Or I could invest in more clothes that counteracted their extreme weather. Surely in a world as dominated by nature as this, that would exist.


    Huh... why didn''t I look into that earlier?


    Well, regardless, the air of Vermilion city, despite carrying the sea breeze smell that I was getting very tired of, felt very nice.


    Vermilion was one of the more normal cities I encountered. There was nothing too unique about it besides its incredible proximity to the sea and how large the port was.


    It was still nice all the same.


    As I walked on the stone pavement, I took in the sights with a curious eye.


    Vermilion, much like Slateport and Olivine, had a diverse amount of people. It wasn''t very easy for me to identify what region they likely hailed from based on features and whatnot, and I didn''t really care to, but they did have their differences.


    Maybe enough time here would help me spot the differences. I cared very little about learning of other people so I certainly wouldn''t research it. It''s not like I wanted to talk to them so what''s the point in learning where they likely hailed from?


    I sighed as I entered the Gym of Vermilion City and approached the receptionist there.


    It was a really big guy, who looked like he ate bricks for breakfast and squatted weights as a hobby.


    "What do you want, kid?" He said gruffly, gazing at me with bored and intimidating eyes.


    I sneered, utterly nonplussed by the fact that this dude could fit my head in his palm. "I''m here to sight see your ugly mug. Why else do you think people walk in a Gym, dumbass? I want to schedule a battle with the Gym Leader."


    So my people skills didn''t get any better¡­ but it''s not like I was trying to make it better¡­ it was kind of funny being an unabashed asshole to everyone.


    Besides, he started it!


    I saw an actual vein form on the guys head and he glared at me.


    "Name?" He asked through grit teeth.


    "Silver. S-I-L-V-E-R," I said slowly.


    "I know how to spell it," the receptionist cut in, brows furrowed.


    Heh, he must have not expected my attitude. I wasn''t gonna let anyone bully or intimidate me no matter the size difference.


    I smirked in what had to have been an insufferable manner and shrugged helplessly. "Coulda fooled me. I''m surprised you can even type without busting the keyboard. Now hurry up and continue with the questions, old man."


    I wasn''t intending on being this rude, but I was getting really irked with people calling me kid. It grated on my ears like a personal ick and made me rather sour.


    "¡­" The receptionist took a deep breath to compose himself and gazed at me with a measured expression.


    Huh, surprisingly smart for a guy this muscly. I was expecting someone like him to have exploded by now.


    I guess they didn''t just hand out this job to anyone.


    "How many badges do you have?" He asked slowly, no doubt realizing that someone way younger than him was setting him off.


    "Zero," I replied easily.


    He shot a brow up at that and gazed at me searchingly, before coming to a decision. "Listen, normally you''d be able to without a hitch but right now, Surge is upping the ante for trainers challenging him by a lot. Go fight another Gym Leader else your team''ll just end up in the Center."


    My brow raised at that.


    Surge was upping the ante? In the games, he was the third gym leader and that Raichu of his was pretty damn annoying to face¡­


    Jasmine admitted that she was actually the seventh strongest gym leader of Johto. I wonder who the strongest to weakest were in Kanto.


    How did the Kanto and Johto leaders fair against each other? Who was the strongest Gym Leader in the Indigo League, Clair or Giovanni?


    Food for thought¡­ but¡­


    "You''re really shit at your job," I said blandly. "Are you some type of pervert? Why are you keeping me here longer than I want to be? I''m here for the gym challenge. Should it really be this difficult to schedule a match?"


    I glowered at the guy wasting my time. "The match. Schedule it. I don''t give a fuck if he''s upping the ante."


    The man spluttered, face going red and he stood up to regard me.


    "Now listen here you little ¡ª,"


    Whatever he was about to say, was cut off, as booming laughter reached our ears.


    The sound of footsteps approached from further within the gym, until a massive palm grabbed the door that separated the interior of the building and a person stepped through.


    Well damn. If I thought the receptionist was big, this freak of nature was something else.


    I had to strain my neck just to look at this guy''s face. Wasn''t that a thought? I was short but still.


    Lt. Surge cut a massive figure. He was the type of guy to be the tallest in the room without trying and he seemed to love that fact.


    He wore a green shirt with no sleeves, camo pants, large boots and some shades that were currently in his hand so he could regard me with a raised brow that he clearly perfected.


    "If the kid wants to get his confidence shattered this early on in his journey, I say let him!" Surge bellowed, voice carrying effortlessly through the entire room.


    I pursed my lips and gazed at the electric gym leader with a searching expression, stifling my annoyance at being called a kid again.


    "So you''re the gym leader," I said, wholly unimpressed by my ordeal here to schedule a match. "Maybe you''re slightly smarter than the dumbass you hired but I''ll still make it easy for you to get. Me. You. Battle. Badge."


    Surge glanced down at me and unlike the easy to rile up receptionist, he simply let out another bellowing laugh.


    "Schedule the match, John," Surge said eventually, slapping the receptionist on the shoulder. "This kids got guts! I wanna see what he''s made of!"


    John (oh he had a name tag), didn''t even bother protesting Surge''s decision and just typed something on the computer. He almost looked relieved at not having to deal with me... or maybe that was relief that Surge was going to put me in my place.


    "The match is scheduled for 3 days from now," the receptionist said after a moment.


    "Hear that?" Surge asked, turning towards me with a cocky grin. "3 days from now, meet me in here and I''ll give ya a battle that''ll shock you straight!"


    I rolled my eyes at the pun. "If you decide the rules, make it a 3 on 3. I wanna get experience off this battle."


    The gigantic gym leader began laughing even harder. "You heard all of that and still wanna fight 3 on 3? I like this kid! He''s got a spine on him! Silver you said? Alright, don''t disappoint me!"


    "Whatever," I scoffed, marching out of the gym.


    I deftly dodged the body of the girl I was about to run into, relying just on instincts to do so and began mulling over my scheduled match in three days.


    To be honest, I was a little thankful that my match was in 3 days¡­ after all, the last trainer I battled was Gold.


    In Johto.


    I could use these 3 days to properly battle trainers and train too in preparation to beat Surge.


    A 3 on 3 and allegedly, Surge was getting rough against trainers, so this would be more difficult than any first badge fight I''d normally have.


    No sweat. Couldn''t become strong without struggling. I''d beat Surge here and make my statement properly.


    Besides¡­ I''m very confident that I''m much stronger than a 1 badge challenge regardless and I wanted to be pushed in all my Gym Battles.


    I nodded to myself and decided that Route 6 was a good spot for me to check out. According to my map, it was littered with trees and was probably a hotspot for trainers as well.


    Alright, let''s go fight some trainers ¡ª


    "Hey! Wait!" A voice shouted, making me twitch slightly.


    Naturally, I ignored it. Why the hell would that be for me? I literally just landed in the Kanto region.


    "I guess I can visit Pokemon Center''s now huh? No need to avoid them like the plague anymore," I mused.


    My team was in a good state. They didn''t need the center at the moment but since I''d be fighting trainers, trips would be inevitable.


    Fighting Surge 3 on 3 would be great. I already knew who I''d be using too so I''d be using these 3 days, to get them ready ¡ª


    I paused in my gait at the rushed footsteps and instinctively clenched my fist in preparation to strike, only for the footsteps to stop in front of me as a figure cut my path off.


    "It''s rude to ignore a girl calling for you, Silver! You nearly bumped into me back there too!"


    ...


    I glared at the person with enough venom in my gaze to make most people freeze.


    Bumped into? When the hell did I almost bump into someone?


    Oh back at the gym.


    "Who the hell are you and how the hell do you know my ¡ª,"


    I froze completely, sentence dying on my lips as I took proper stock of the person I was currently staring at. The longer I stared, the more the horror coursed through my body.


    "I was listening in on your conversation back there at the gym and I was in so much awe! I have no clue how you were able to talk to those two giants like that so easily! You have like, no fear at all in your heart and I thought that was pretty cool¡­ Oh! Where are my manners!"


    It was a girl with very messy long brown hair, wearing a short black dress. She was a tad shorter than me, with a smile on her face as she regarded a complete stranger with familiarity that no human being should express on their first meeting.


    But that wasn''t the problem. No there were much bigger problems then a stranger treating me like we were friends.


    No, the problem were those big, real bright, forest green eyes staring at me with clear interest.


    Ah fucking ¡ª


    Give me a break. I knew who this was.


    "Nice to meet you, I''m Leaf Green, but you can just call me Green! That''s what all my friends call me," the girl finally introduced, smiling at me like I was one of those friends she mentioned.


    ¡­


    "Oh and this is Vee! He''s my first friend!" She exclaimed, pointing at the sleepy Eevee that seemed to blend in with her jungle of hair.


    Green''s smile turned into one of confusion, as I let out a miserable groan.

 Ignorance is Bliss II

    When I said coming to Kanto would give me good information, I was expecting to sort of ease into it.


    Instead, much like my life since becoming this new version of Silver, I was slam dunked immediately.


    Leaf Green, the female player of the Kanto region, was currently standing directly across from me with a friendly, albeit confused, smile on her face.


    Rotten, miserable, shitty Legendaries. They better pray I don''t ever get my hands on a Master Ball.


    "What do you want exactly?" I asked with a raised brow, effortlessly moving past her towards Route 6 with a purpose.


    To no one''s surprise, she hastily began following after me.


    "You''re gonna fight Surge in 3 days right? Well, I am too!" She beamed. "I set up a fight with him as fast as possible because I wanted to catch up to you before you disappeared!"


    I grunted, a little outraged that she managed to set up an appointment that quick.


    "We should train together! I dunno, but you seem like you could be a pretty strong trainer!" Green exclaimed eagerly, getting straight to the point.


    She was fairly laid back and cheerful, weathering my bad attitude without issue.


    She also seemed to have a mischievous streak, but Green hadn''t attempted to rob me yet (not that it would have worked) so I could safely assume that she wasn''t primarily the manga version...


    But she had on a black dress. I''m pretty sure she wore this in the manga as well, so it was probably a version that didn''t forcefully become a thief like I still was? The masked man (wasn''t that Gym Leader Pryce actually?) didn''t exist in this world so she was free from that life.


    Guess I wasn''t as lucky huh?


    "You heard the conversation right? I have 0 badges¡­ and I imagine you don''t have 0 either," I said calmly, deciding to get information out of this before eventually turning her away.


    "I''ve got two!" Green preened, showcasing her badges. "I beat the Pewter and Cerulean gym leaders for them, now I''m here to fight Surge!"


    She spun until she was directly in front of me and looked me directly in the eyes.


    "She has no idea what personal space is," I instinctively thought, resisting the urge to shove her away.


    "I heard about how Surge was upping the ante and I got a bit nervous, but seeing how unfazed you were, inspired me! That''s why I wanna train with you so we can both beat him!" she exclaimed cheerfully.


    Wow, it was as if someone heard all my complaints about how the people in this world were too cheerful, and decided to shove a prime example in my face.


    Green was a little hyper and by a little I meant she had to have been drugged up on sugar.


    Still though, this was not only a good opportunity to milk her of information, but Green was likely a competent trainer as well.


    Sparring with her should be much better practice than finding random trainers on the road.


    "Alright, sure," I said calmly. "But I prefer to train in isolated areas. Do with that information what you will."


    The little idiot nodded without any hesitation, not a hint of suspicion on her face despite the fact that I was trying to advertise the word "caution" for her.


    "Sure! Lead the way, Silvy!" She chimed.


    "Don''t fucking call me that," I bit out harshly.


    Silvy? Ridiculous.


    Green didn''t even flinch at my biting words, a mischievous glint in her eyes.


    "What? Don''t like a cute girl calling you nicknames?" She asked innocently.


    "Maybe she''s more like manga Green than I initially thought," I thought with furrowed brows.


    "How old are you?" I asked in annoyance.


    "12!" She said without missing a beat. "You?"


    "...12," I grunted.


    So we were the same age? That didn''t seem right. Wasn''t Green a few years older than Silver?


    But it looks like we started our journeys at the same time¡­


    "Where are you from?" I continued, idly shoving some shrubs out of my face, as we traversed through the forest.


    "Pallet Town!" She informed me, smiling thankfully at my pushing through the shrubs.


    I made a show of raising a brow. "Pallet Town? Are you an Oak sponsor then?" I prodded.


    Green nodded easily. "Yeah I am! You know a lot of stuff!"


    She really was too trusting. Green answered all my questions without any hesitation, finding it in herself to trust me already.


    I just don''t get it at all really.


    "Doesn''t he have three per year? Were you the only one?" I asked, glancing at the open area with appraising eyes.


    This would do fine. There was even a lake in the area for when I inevitably worked up a sweat.


    "Mhm!" She nodded, setting her bag down once she noticed me stop moving. "There''s me, Blue and Ash! We were the top 3 but Oak made an exception this year and accepted a fourth named Mason!"


    ¡­


    "Blue¡­ and Ash," I said slowly, closing my eyes and letting out a deep sigh.


    Green did not notice.


    "Yeah oh but his actual name is Gary! I just call him Blue because I''m Green haha! We grew up together! We used to be pretty close but those two got lost in their rivalry and I didn''t feel like being in the middle of that," she sighed with a shake of her head.


    "They''re both so stupid, arguing like little kids over every small thing¡­ it was getting exhausting, so I just focused on improving until it was time to start my journey!" The girl explained to me.


    I wasn''t fully listening to her, just mulling over the revelation that Ash did actually exist in this world.


    At least that confirmed it to me. So I truly was in some massive mishmash of a universe.


    "I actually saw Blue back in Cerulean," she exclaimed, not realizing that I didn''t care even a little about Gary.


    "Yeah?" I said disinterestedly, digging around in my bag to start preparing food for my team.


    "Uh huh! Right on the bridge! We battled and I won pretty easy!" Green preened, puffing up at the thought.


    "Wow, you must be strong," I said idly, tossing a snack over to the Eevee who had curiously approached me.


    He consumed the Pokeblock easily, eyes lighting up at the taste and I tossed him another.


    That got a purr out of him and he lazily rubbed his face against my open palm.


    "I''m the best battler in Pallet!" Green bragged, putting two fists on her hips.


    Finally done with my preparations, I decided to stop letting her talk my ear off.


    "You wanna train right?" I asked, interrupting the girl. "We should probably get started on that because you talk a lot."


    Green blinked, before noticing Vee next to me with an amused look in his eyes, still accepting my mindless pats.


    A tinge of red dusted her cheek and she laughed nervously.


    "Sorry, once I get going, it''s hard for me to stop," she said sheepishly.


    "Yeah, I know. If I didn''t already decide to use this spot, I''d have ditched you," I scoffed.


    Green pouted. "You''re pretty mean you know?"


    That got a snort out of me. "Mean doesn''t even begin to describe what I am, Leaf. If you make it past the first day, I''ll be impressed."


    She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "Not Leaf! Greeeen! Call me Green, Silver!" The shorter girl demanded.


    "Alright, let''s get started," I decided. "I''m gonna feed my team first, they should be getting hungry soon."


    "Don''t change the subject! Say my name! Green! Greeeen!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "W-Woah! I''ve never seen these Pokemon before! They''re so cool!" Green awed, gazing at my team with clear delight in her eyes.


    She was clearly a lover of Pokemon and she gushed over them all, Loki in particular.


    "Can you tell me abit about them?" she asked eagerly.


    I nodded shortly.


    "This is Loki, my Zorua. He''s my starter," I introduced, nodding towards my first pokemon that was currently being hugged by Green.


    "A Zorua..." Green muttered in awe. "What region are Zorua''s native to?"


    "Unova," I answered easily.


    Her eyes lit up. "I have a pokemon that''s normally native to Unova too! I''ll show you after your introductions!"


    That got an interested look out of me.


    A pokemon from Unova? Really?


    "This is Gaia, my Bayleef. I found her in a forest," I lied easily, running a hand against her head.


    Gaia sighed in bliss at the touch, nodding in agreement and leaning into me happily.


    "A Bayleef! Wow, did you know that Bayleef is a starter for the Johto region?! They''re really rare!" She beamed obliviously, walking up and joining me in patting Gaia.


    "Really? Where I found her had quite a bit," I hummed.


    Green nodded rapidly, not a hint of suspicion on her face as she gazed at Gaia in awe.


    Good. Maybe if she was still a Chikorita there''d be more suspicion but we''d have to wait and see later.


    "This is Freyja, my Feebas," I said, hoisting her up. "I fished her up after spending a while hour searching for her."


    Freyja looked embarrassed at that, still taken aback by the fact that I was searching for her specifically.


    "A Feebas," Green muttered, eyes turning calculating as she gazed at my fish. "I think I heard a bit about them! I don''t know too much though," she admitted, putting a hand on Freyja''s scales to pet her.


    "Nice to meet you Freyja!" she beamed.


    Freyja looked surprised by Green''s energy but smiled in return.


    That raised my respect slightly for Green. If she had said anything about Freyja, I would have called it here and left.


    "This is Beldum. I found them and we came to a mutual agreement so now we''re partners," I said easily, omitting just how I found my steel type.


    Beldum didn''t react to that, but I felt a flash of amusement in my mind and couldn''t help but smirk.


    At least that wasn''t murderous intent.


    "No nickname?" she mused to herself, inspecting Beldum''s tiny body with a fascinated gaze. "What typing is a Beldum?"


    "Psychic and Steel," I replied.


    "Oh! I remember now! Beldum is the pokemon that evolves into Metagross," Green''s eyes widened in shock. "Wow! That''s insane!"


    Beldum perked up in interest at hearing their final form mentioned and I nodded.


    "And Bagon turns into Salamence!" She cheered, inspecting Ares with wide eyes.


    She was much smarter than I thought. I wasn''t expecting her to know of Pokemon outside of Kanto.


    "Ares," I introduced, patting her on her skull. "She sought me out and saved my life."


    Ares let out a fanged grin and leaned into my touch.


    "Your team is so awesome!" Green gushed, inspecting them all again to memorize them. "Here take a look at mine!"


    With that, she released her entire team, too eager to think about it further.


    I snorted at her excitement and gazed at Green''s team with a hint of interest.


    Green had 4 Pokemon to her name in comparison to my 5 and she proudly puffed up as they materialized.


    "This is Vee, my Eevee! He was my first Pokemon. I had him even before I officially became a trainer," She introduced again, pointing at the Eevee with better kept fur then her hair.


    It didn''t look much different from pictures of Eevees I saw but the little fella, from what little I saw, was quite lazy.


    Still adorable as all hell.


    "This is Lapee! My Lapras! She''s my most recent capture!" Green continued, pointing at the water type who smiled gently at us all.


    A Lapras¡­ I gazed at the water dinosaur with interested eyes, inspecting it with a hum and offering it a small smirk in return as I pat it between its ears.


    Lapee merely let out a dignified coo and leaned into my touch.


    "Aren''t Lapras super rare? How did you manage to get one?" I asked curiously.


    Green puffed up at that. "I got her from a friend named Bill after uh¡­ saving him from a problem! He was given her as a gift from someone in Saffron City but she wanted to explore the world more so I ended up taking her!" She explained with a big smile.


    Lapee crooned, clearly pleased that Green was her trainer so there were no complaints to be made.


    I raised a brow but shrugged, not quite caring enough to prod.


    Bill huh? The guy that gives you the ticket to the S.S Anne? He also brings you to the Sevii Islands as well...


    Wasn''t he also insanely rich? Not a bad person to become friends with Leaf. Just off of one meeting she managed to procure a Lapras.


    "This is Saury! My Ivysaur! He''s my starter pokemon that I picked from Oak!"


    My favorite of the Kanto starters was a sight to behold because what the hell... he was massive.


    Green''s Ivysaur gazed at me with half lidded, albeit serious eyes, looking way above the average size of what an Ivysaur should be.


    Ivysaurs tended to about 3 feet but this thing was damn near 5.


    "He''s pretty big huh?" Green laughed, rubbing the flowery bud with a fond smile. "I dunno what happened! He used to be such a tiny Bulbasaur, then he became this huge! When I spoke with the professor about it, he actually came to me to inspect him! Said a bunch of things but I think he threw in the world Alpha or something."


    Alpha? The fuck was that?


    ...Dunno. Something else I''d inevitably have to research because it seemed kind of important.


    Ivysaur grunted, never taking his eyes off me or my team.


    At least someone on her team was intelligent. There wasn''t too much distrust (that he knew of) but he was rightfully wary of the strangers.


    While he wasn''t as big as the average Venusaur (he was about a foot shorter)¡­ when the time came where he did become one, he''d be a goddamn giant.


    Her next and final member though, was by far the most surprising one and I felt my mouth slacken a bit at seeing it.


    "This is Larvee! She''s the one I mentioned being from the Unova Region! I found her in Viridian Forest," Green introduced, showing me the honest to god Larvesta.


    I gazed at the extremely rare bug type with wide eyes, gazing into its cheerful and innocent blue eyes.


    Volcarona was one of the coolest bug types out there. But not only were they cool, they were seriously fucking rare, even in their native region.


    How the hell did she manage to find one in Viridian Forest? Was it the work of poachers? That had to have been it right?


    This world had a lot of cross region Pokemon but this was pushing it.


    Areas like Viridian Forest, might actually have a ton of rare Pokemon in them but I think it would be well known if a family of Larvesta were living there because the forest would have been burned to the ground.


    If Green hunted this thing down and its mother or father was nearby, she''d be dead plain and simple.


    "A Larvesta?" I asked incredulously. "Do you realize what you just caught?"


    Green sheepishly rubbed her hair. "I did a lot of research... I caught something really amazing didn''t I?"


    "Amazing is one way of putting it," I said dryly, grunting at the heat the Larvesta was radiating.


    "¡­It''s not like I planned for this! I decided I wasn''t going to leave Viridian without catching a new member of the team because it was just Saury and Vee for the longest!"


    The girl grinned fondly. "I''m a little picky for teammates so nothing really caught my eyes for a while and I must have stayed in there for days! I was looking for a Scyther actually but then, I woke up one day and Larvee here was sitting on me, looking me dead in my eyes!"


    Ah, so she was insanely lucky. Figures.


    "Alright guys," I announced suddenly, turning to my team.


    They all went straight at my voice and I smirked in a pleased manner.


    "This is Leaf ¡ª,"


    "GREEN!"


    "Leaf. We''re gonna be training with her for the upcoming gym battle," I told them all.


    "My match should be a 3 on 3 and he''s an electric type specialist. We''ll discuss formations more but my planned are Loki, Ares and Gaia."


    The three made noises to confirm they heard me and I turned towards Freyja and Beldum.


    "You two don''t have many advantages over electric types and they tend to be fast too but you''ll be fighting the next gym leader for sure so keep polishing your techniques," I instructed them.


    "Fee!" Freyja nodded in determination.


    "Bel," Beldum didn''t fuss.


    "Alright, focus on getting down the moves I gave you," I finished, shrugging my jacket off as I prepared to work out myself.


    I turned towards the gaping Green and raised a brow in confusion, making sure my black undershirt was on correctly.


    "What?" I asked.


    She snapped out of her shock and gazed at me with practically shining eyes.


    "W-Wow! You''re so structured and organized! Training outside of battles¡­ You dedicate time to that too¡­ I never thought of doing that! I get all my experience off battles!" Green told me, gazing at my Pokemon and then her own.


    "I''m totally adopting some of your strategy. That''s so genius of you! Oh I just knew talking to you was a good idea! You have that vibe, you know? Well, not the really rude vibe that you have but the other one!"


    "Shut up," I groused. "You talk way too much."


    Green flushed red. "No I don''t! You¡­ just talk too little!"


    I shrugged. "That''s true, but that''s because I don''t like talking to people. I especially don''t like talking to people who don''t know how to take deep breaths," I stressed.


    Bless Jasmine''s soul. We were both fairly introverted so neither of us liked talking too much¡­ until you brought up steel types. Once you did that, she wouldn''t stop going.


    Green was a tried and true extrovert it looked like. She was outgoing and could talk for three people if she really wanted to.


    Essentially, she was the total opposite of her male counterpart, Red. That guy was so introverted, he made his home on the peak of the most dangerous mountain in the world and became famous off saying just "...".


    Well, Green''s personality was fairly in line with her manga counterpart. It was probably just amped up because she hadn''t gotten kidnapped by some perverted freak this time around.


    Explained why she didn''t seem to be a thief either. I wonder if she still had the talent for it?


    I don''t think I got kidnapped by that masked man either actually¡­ or maybe I did, I dunno.


    I doubt it though.


    I blinked as I noticed Green''s lips moving and focused back onto the real world.


    "¡ªSaying I don''t know how to take a deep breath? Super rude, Silvy! You''re not nice at all you know that? I haven''t heard a single positive thing come out of your mouth since even before we met!"


    God, she was still going?


    These 3 days were going to be agonizing weren''t they¡­ At least I began filtering her voice out already.


    ...I should just start my own workout.


    "H-Hey! Don''t walk away when someone''s talking to you! You know how many people would kill to talk to a cutie like me?! I''ll tell you, alot! Alot of people Silvy!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Alright a 2 on 2? First two Pokemon captured?"


    "Yep!"


    I nodded, wiping the sweat off me and stood across the eager Green.


    So my first battle was against Green¡­


    Perfect. This should be good for me. A one on one against a sponsored trainer¡­ the alleged best trainer in her class as well.


    Plans began running through my head, as I signaled for Loki to step onto the field.


    At the same time, Vee jumped off of Green, all signs of laziness gone as an alertness entered the Pokemon''s eyes that caught me slightly off guard.


    Almost as soon as Vee landed on his side of the field, Green adjusted that white hat (she had put it on the moment I agreed to battle) and I watched the eager grin vanish from her face, replaced by something far more serious.


    Oh? I felt a small and eager smirk forming on my face at that.


    Seems like Green was full of some tricks herself. Her complete shift in mood¡­


    There was no obvious signal, but Green and I began the match at the exact same time.


    "Loki, Torment and Hone Claws," I ordered in quick succession.


    "Vee, Quick Attack to get close, Tail Whip afterwards on the eyes," Green replied without missing a beat.


    Both Loki and Vee exploded into action swiftly.


    As the Eevee glowed white and rocketed towards the Zorua, Loki began glowing with dark energy and growled lowly, activating Torment on Vee and making the normal type splutter in confusion as the Quick Attack slowly but surely petered off.


    At the same time, Loki''s claws sharpened and he dashed forward.


    Vee instinctively flinched backwards as Loki closed the distance, only for my Zorua to smirk.


    The dark type sprinted right past the faltering Eevee, before he turned on a heel and slammed the Pursuit into Vee''s back.


    He squealed as he tumbled across the ground and I pressed my advantage.


    "Another one, hit it with Pursuit again," I commanded.


    Loki didn''t hesitate. Dark energy shrouded him again and he dashed forward with merciless intent.


    Green''s face never even shifted. She remained perfectly calm. It was almost like looking at an all new person.


    Right as Loki got too close, Green struck.


    "Vee, Detect, then use Return on the opening."


    "Detect? What the fuck?!" I thought in shock.


    There was absolutely no time to react and I watched with some dread, as the fallen Vee, effortlessly weaved the lunging attack from Loki with glowing eyes.


    Then, he began glowing white and slammed their head into Loki''s gut.


    "Zor!" Loki grunted, as the attack fully connected with his midsection and launched him away.


    I grit my teeth as he tumbled across the ground.


    Return was a move that did more damage the Pokemon liked you¡­ and considering Green mentioned that Vee was her very first Pokemon, that meant the move was terribly effective.


    "Loki, you good?" I asked in concern, watching him shakily climb to his feet.


    "Zor," he said darkly, glaring at Vee with a newfound fury.


    I knew what that meant.


    "Use Scratch," I ordered calmly.


    My Zorua dashed forward, claws poised to dig into Vee.


    Green''s brows furrowed at the reckless move. "Vee, intercept with Sand Attack. Once it''s blinded, finish with Return."


    Vee was already on the move. He dug his palms into the ground below and launched a stream of sand at the charging Zorua, getting a yelp out of the Dark type.


    Finally, Vee began glowing white once more and rushed Loki with intent to finish the match off.


    The Eevee let out a might yell and ran full force into the blinded Zorua¡­


    Only to let out a noise of confusion at flying right through.


    "Extrasensory," I said simply, as Loki''s illusion wore off right behind the confused.


    Green''s eyes widened for the first time since this battle started, as the Extrasensory hit Vee point blank.


    "Eev!" The Normal type yelped, as it was launched backwards to Green''s side.


    Much to my annoyance, the Eevee shakily pulled himself up and panted, mirroring Loki.


    I said nothing, as Zorua unknowingly set up an illusion again.


    Unfortunately, Green was prepared this time.


    "Vee, use Swift!" she barked, not leaving any room for trickery.


    "Fucking¡­ this girl is scarily competent," I thought in disbelief as Vee began launching homing missiles in the shape of stars that honed in on Zorua.


    "Loki, destroy as many as you can with Snarl!" I barked right back, eyes narrowed as the illusion trick failed.


    Loki dropped the illusion and opened his maw, letting out a bark full of dark energy.


    Despite getting tagged by a couple of Swifts, he managed to destroy a majority of them so he wasn''t down yet¡­


    But he''d be down soon. Loki was visibly exhausted. He was not built to take hits and he had taken that Return point blank earlier.


    I needed to wrap this up.


    Evidently, Green was thinking the same thing based on Vee''s condition.


    I wouldn''t give her the advantage.


    "Vee, Quick Attack!" Green commanded.


    "Let''s wrap this up. Loki, Agility into Pursuit," I commanded, eyes narrowed.


    Agility wasn''t mastered, but it was enough to give him a moderate speed boost and that''s what we needed to keep up with the Eevee.


    Loki grunted, tapping into his psychic abilities to give himself the necessary boost to increase his speed to respectable levels.


    The two charged each other with intent to end this, streaks following both.


    Right before they clashed, both Green and I struck.


    "Detect, then use Return!" Green shouted.


    "Taunt and then get behind for Pursuit," I barked.


    Once we both heard our respective orders, a look of horror crossed Green''s features, while a victorious smirk made its way onto mine.


    Vee''s attempts to dodge the upcoming attack with Detect, failed, as Loki''s Taunt washed over it and filled the Eevee with a blistering rage.


    Loki leapt cleanly over Vee''s lunge, before landing on his paws, turning in one single motion and launching himself directly into Vee''s back with the dark energy of Pursuit.


    Vee squealed as the attack connected and he collapsed on the floor, not making a move.


    Loki huffed, as Green extended a Pokeball and returned the Eevee, looking at the ball in slight shock.


    "Why do you have 0 badges?" She asked me in curiosity.


    "I just now chose to start the gym challenge," I replied easily, watching Loki make it back to my side with a slight limp.


    I offered to return him, but my first Pokemon simply shook his head no, intent to leave his mark before going out.


    Green smiled at me. "You''re more impressive than I initially thought, Silver. That was a fun fight!"


    I snorted. "The match isn''t over yet. Send out your next one, Leaf," was all I said.


    She nodded and Saury stepped onto the field.


    The massive Ivysaur''s eyes were alert, as he focused his gazed on Loki and I returned to the match at hand.


    "Loki, Agility," I said tersely.


    Loki began dashing around the field, the effects of his shoddy Agility increasing his speeds to respectable levels.


    "Saury, don''t let him use his tricks. Slam him."


    Quicker than the exhausted Loki could react, two vines snaked around him and hoisted him up, before slamming him into the ground.


    I clenched my jaw, shock in my eyes at seeing the Ivysaur react to my Zorua.


    Sure he was tired, but those vines¡­ what the hell was that speed?


    I returned Loki to the ball and gazed at the Ivysaur again.


    ...I pursed my lips and beckoned Gaia forward.


    Green''s Eevee was very impressive for an Eevee. The little foxes weren''t really known for their prowess in battle, but the girl here managed to raise one that would become incredibly strong in the future.


    It was not only Eevee that was impressive.


    This Ivysaur was a monster of a Pokemon. It was undoubtedly Green''s strongest Pokemon and it wasn''t close.


    "Gaia, use Razor Leaf," I tried, brows furrowed.


    "Razor Leaf," Green called out.


    The two shot out a massive barrage of Razor Leafs. Some collided with each other, others connected to their respective opponents but the attack was largely ineffective all the same.


    ...How was I going to do damage to this thing?


    "Vine Whip, grab her," Green said calmly.


    "Don''t let that happen, use Reflect," I commanded, eyes narrowed as Saury''s vines flew forward at amazing speeds.


    Gaia narrowed her eyes and summoned a shimmering blue screen that caught the vines of the Ivysaur.


    "Now, wrap your own vines around his," I ordered.


    The Bayleef smiled in a pleased manner at my command. Before Saury could recall his vines, Gaia lashed out and wrapped her own vine whip around them.


    "Slam him. Don''t stop," I ordered ruthlessly.


    Gaia didn''t have the firepower needed to take out her grass starter brethren.


    Not only were Venusaur''s more offensively geared than the Meganium line, they were also part Poison type.


    I was inherently at a massive disadvantage here and I vowed to get Gaia a counter to this goddamn beefy dinosaur.


    For now, I just had to play my cards right and whittle Saury down.


    Gaia let out a bellow and lifted up her target, before slamming him down to the ground.


    Saury, who I just noticed was glowing a bit, grunted as he met the ground and Gaia attempted to do it again¡­ only for her to blink in confusion at seeing the Ivysaur remain rooted to his spot.


    "Saury, don''t let those vines go. Bring her to you and then Take Down," Green said calmly.


    With almost startling ease, Saury heaved the startled Gaia to his location.


    "If he was this strong always, why did he let Gaia lift him the first time?!" I thought in shock.


    Then it hit me.


    "Gaia, you gotta use Reflect and then Synthesis after the Take Down!" I demanded urgently.


    Growth. The Ivysaur had been slightly glowing when Gaia hoisted him up and I finally realized that things were very bad right now.


    The Bayleef attempted to heed my order but the chain of events just happened too quickly.


    She managed to get the Reflect up but it meant very little in the face of Saury, who just bashed through it.


    "Don''t let her heal, use Sludge," Green said, a tone of finality in her voice.


    Saury grunted and spat out a single, noxious, blob at the Bayleef.


    The super effective attack had devastating effect and I watched in shock, as Gaia squealed at the corrosive poison before going limp.


    Saury''s vines snaked back into his body and he let out a single grunt, sauntering back over to Green''s side without prompting.


    "Good fight! You''re way stronger than I expected," Green exclaimed, cheerful demeanor back again as she approached me.


    "¡­" I said nothing, as I returned Gaia to the ball. A frown formed on my face as I ran through the battle again.


    The problem wasn''t Gaia vs Saury¡­ it was Loki vs Vee. If I had taken out that Eevee faster and accounted for that Detect, I''d have been able to potentially make an impact against the Ivysaur to soften him up for my Bayleef.


    She was inherently at a huge disadvantage against her Kanto counterpart so maybe I should have had her face against Vee instead.


    I sighed, missing the way Green''s smile turned shaky.


    That probably wouldn''t have changed much. Saury was just too strong and I don''t think anyone on my team would have made much of a difference at my current stage. That Ivysaur was seriously ridiculous.


    Actually, as I battled it, I realized something alarmingly startling about Gree ¡ª


    "I''m sorry!"


    Huh?


    I gazed at the nervous looking Green with a raised brow.


    "It¡­ was kind of scummy for me to challenge you to a 2 on 2! I knew Gaia didn''t have any advantage over Saury while he had all the advantage over her but I still asked for the battle. I just saw how organized and structured you were... so I wanted to see how you fared in battle because I was feeling jealous... E-Even though you don''t have any badges, you''re still a lot stronger than a lot of the trainers I did battle. I hope this doesn''t make you cancel our training ¡ª,"


    I groaned loudly and put a hand up. "You talk so much. Shut up for a bit," I requested.


    You''d think with the way she reacted, I was going to assault her for losing.


    Actually, why was she so nervous?


    "What''s your deal? Why the hell are you apologizing after winning? Do you take me for some type of pitiful fucking weakling?" I asked slowly, eyes narrowed.


    Her eyes were wide and she shook her head rapidly. "N-No not at all! I think you''re really good!"


    My eyes narrowed further. "You beat me. That''s that. I''m more than a little annoyed that I lost, but it''s not the end of the world. I don''t know what this all is, but do not apologize to me after winning a battle, that''ll piss me off even more than losing."


    It must have been because of Fraxure nearly killing me but yeah I wasn''t super pissed about losing.


    Don''t get me wrong, I was still pissed that I lost, but it was the just wait till I get my runback kind of pissed.


    Not the I''ll end your miserable existence pissed.


    Green''s nervous expression lessened slightly. "So¡­ you''re not mad that you got beat by a girl?"


    I snorted loudly. "I''d be this pissed if the strongest trainer in the world beat me. A loss is a loss and I don''t like losing. Gender doesn''t have shit to do with that."


    Was that what it was? She thought I was gonna be super pissed that I lost to a girl?


    Right¡­ this was a world full of kids. I guess the idea that some boys would be very annoyed if they lost to a girl wasn''t that surprising. I wouldn''t be surprised if they still thought cooties existed.


    Luckily for her, I''d be pissed even if a future version of myself showed up and beat me in a battle to humble me.


    "So¡­ do you still want to keep training with me?" She asked hopefully.


    "You''re probably the strongest trainer I''ll meet in the next 3 days who won''t stomp me, so yeah. That''s obvious," I scowled, not seeing the point of these questions.


    By now, Green was grinning once more, whatever internal crisis she was going through somehow appeased by my words.


    "Does that mean we''re still friends?!" The Pallet Town resident asked excitedly.


    "Since when the hell have we ever been friends in the first place, Leaf?" I asked in disbelief.


    Green squealed excitedly, rushing me for a hug.


    She did not get that hug.


    "Oof!" She yelped as I instinctively gripped her arm and flipped her over my shoulder, bringing her right to the floor.


    "Habit," I said, hoisting her up off the floor.


    "It''s okay, Silvy! You''re really rude, but you''re also a pretty nice person, aren''t you?" Green beamed, sending out a signal to her team, letting them know it was alright and that they could back down.


    "I don''t know how the hell you came to that conclusion, but I won''t dwell on it," I grunted.


    Then, I sobered up as I remembered my earlier musings.


    "Hey, Leaf," I called, turning towards the girl. "You mentioned being the best battler in Pallet?"


    She nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I actually haven''t lost a battle to anyone close to my level in skill yet! And call me Green!"


    I pondered that. "What did you help that Bill guy with?" I continued randomly.


    Green''s eyes widened at that question and she looked back and forth, before leaning into me to whisper in my ears.


    "Between you and me, he got put into the body of a Clefairy and I just ran a machine for him to get him back to normal," she whispered.


    Goddammit.


    "...One more question," I requested.


    Green nodded happily.


    "Have you encountered Team Rocket yet?" I asked gravely.


    Her smile turned into a frown and I felt my fears get confirmed.


    "Yeah, I did! I heard that they attacked Viridian City sometime while I was in Viridian Forest¡­ but I officially encountered them in Mt. Moon and thwarted their operations. I also met them in Cerulean... they stole some guys TM and injured him really badly," she explained to me with a deep frown.


    I nodded thoughtfully, but on the inside I was a cursing and scowling mess.


    I thought because Ash existed in this world, Red would not and that was true¡­


    To an extent.


    You see, Leaf Green here wasn''t just her counterpart from the Manga¡­


    Her prodigious battling, the events she went through, hell even the way her demeanor shifted in battle¡­


    The reason Red didn''t exist wasn''t because Ash was in this world.


    No¡­ Green right here was the reason Red didn''t exist¡­ because she was Red.


    Well, I suppose that wasn''t very fair to her at all now was it? She was her own person and it would be rude of me to only think of her as someone else.


    Green was the stand in for the main character of the Kanto video games.


    What an interesting turn of events¡­


    This gave me a lot to think about but I did know one thing.


    One day I was going to beat Green in a battle. She was the real deal and measuring my growth against her¡­


    Not bad at all.


    "Alright, I''ma go use that lake to clean up for a bit," I said bluntly.


    Green blinked in confusion. "The Center is only like an hour away. We can just go there," she pointed out.


    "Don''t feel like it," I replied blandly, pulling out two potions and releasing Loki and Gaia. "I want to stay here for a bit longer, but I''m also sweaty. Going to the Center is a waste of time."


    She gazed at me in awe and nodded furiously. "I wanna start dedicating more time to training too so I''ll stay here!"


    I scoffed but nodded. "Sure, whatever."


    The fact she got this strong without proper training...


    I might have just created a monster.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Naturally, my team decided to join me for a bath and I snorted, scrubbing down a grumpy Gaia as she rubbed a vine against my scar.


    "Don''t be too upset, Gaia," I informed her. "We can''t win them all and I know you want to, but we aren''t the greatest yet," I reassured.


    Evolution had increased her hormone output by quite a lot so she could get really moody but I had gotten fairly good at calming her down.


    "Green''s the real deal so don''t be offended that we lost to her," I told my team seriously. "I''m just as upset that we lost, believe me¡­ but we''ll get stronger."


    My entire team nodded in unison and Gaia grumbled in acceptance.


    "Don''t worry girl, we''ll get back at that Ivysaur," I mumbled, stroking the leaf atop her head soothingly. "I''ll figure something out for you."


    Her scowl vanished and she nodded in determination.


    I smiled, idly snatching Ares out of midair so she didn''t dive headfirst in the water.


    Despite just being shy of a 100 pounds, I hardly registered Bagon''s weight and stared at the unapologetic dragon with a look of exasperation.


    "I know you want to fly¡­ but please stop diving headfirst into everything. You put yourself in a lot of situations you could avoid if you did anything else," I chastised.


    Honestly she was lucky she had such a hard head. Multiple times a day, she''d find the highest spot she could reach and dive off of it like a little psycho.


    Sometimes she got stuck and I had to save her.


    Ares simply let loose a fanged grin, no doubt ignoring my order completely as I slowly began dipping her back in the water.


    "One day you''re gonna get real stuck and I''m gonna leave you there until you beg for help," I assured her.


    Freyja snorted, agreeing with what I said and successfully drew Ares'' attention to her.


    Like clockwork, the two began arguing with each other and I released the Bagon from my hold so they could settle their hourly squabble without drawing me into it.


    Training today went fairly well and I''d use Green for these upcoming days to make a good amount of progress.


    After I beat Surge, I''d travel through Diglett Cave to battle Pewter (was Brock traveling with Ash?) Gym and then head through Mt. Moon to Cerulean City¡­


    That was good for me, since that meant Green and Ash could do whatever the hell they wanted, without me getting involved.


    Perfect ¡ª


    "U-Um, Silver?"


    I went stiff at the voice of Green.


    Not because I was naked underneath the water and there was a girl behind me¡­


    No, it was because Green currently sounded like the guiltiest person on the planet.


    "What did you do?" I asked calmly, inclining my head to gaze at her, body still underwater to not reveal anything inappropriate to her.


    The girl refused to make eye contact, yelping the moment she gazed into my piercing silver eyes. She couldn''t maintain eye contact for more than a second and began staring a hole into the floor once more.


    On her shoulder, Vee was looking at the girl with an utterly exasperated expression, disappointment firm in his stance.


    "I-I''m sure this may seem bad b-but I-I just saw something ruffling really hard a-and I was going to call you but then everything happened so fast and please don''t be mad at me!" She blurted out.


    I frowned slightly at that, brushing my soaked hair aside and freeing my other eye in the process.


    "I''m going to ask again. What did you do ¡ª"


    I abruptly stopped speaking, as I took full stock of the situation before me.


    Green was there naturally, along with Vee and all her other members¡­


    But that wasn''t all¡­


    There was a fifth pokemon there.


    A small, light-yellow Pokemon with a rounded body was by Green''s heel. It''s body was encased in a white eggshell that had red and blue borders on it.


    ¡­


    A Togepi¡­ and judging by it''s utterly tiny size, it was recently hatched too.


    From the egg that I stole.


    "Toge?" Togepi tilted its head, holding up its stubby little arms for Green.


    "You went through my fucking bag?!" I snarled in fury, eyes flying open in a furious rage. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"


    She flinched back at my severe expression, a frantic look making its way to her face.


    "No, I promise I wasn''t looking through your bag! I didn''t see anything!" She tried.


    That failed to placate me in the slightest and only the looming fact that I was naked in this lake, was doing her any favors.


    "I''m sorry!" Green blurted, the moment I opened my mouth to rip into her.


    "I was just discussing with my team about the upcoming training with you while you bathed a-and then I was gonna bathe too so that we could keep training together¡­ Then I heard a loud cracking! I admit¡­ curiosity got the best of me but when I saw an Egg hatching I was going to run to you immediately¡­ but I was too late and Togepi already laid eyes on me," she explained, looking depressed at the idea.


    "I understand if you don''t ever want to speak to me again¡­ and I haven''t caught Togepi yet either so you¡­"


    "You might as well fucking catch it," I sneered, interrupting her. "Judging by how sorry you are, you already know what it means to be the first thing a hatched Pokemon sees so there''s no point trying to throw a pity party."


    She flinched back harshly but nodded. "I''m¡­ its parent now."


    When a Pokemon first hatched, it imprinted onto the first thing it saw and if it was a trainer, it was strongly advised for that person to raise the Pokemon up until it became independent enough.


    As a trainer, hatching an egg meant you were that Pokemon''s trainer. There was no other way around it.


    Togepi was Green''s now and there wasn''t really much I could do about it.


    I sighed and felt my anger tapering off, though the withering glare never left my face.


    Well, whatever. Togepi would have been a fine sixth pokemon but it wouldn''t have been my first choice for the slot.


    Though, if I had known this was gonna happen¡­ I would have planned more for my sixth member.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    But still, I was mostly annoyed that she went through my goddamn bag.


    It sucked that I wouldn''t get Togepi, but this wasn''t the end of the world and in the first place, I stole the Egg so that Gold wouldn''t get it.


    Considering I completely finished my mission in Hoenn as well¡­ to be honest, I was satisfied with my team. A sixth pokemon would come eventually... but not getting one immediately, was not the end of the world.


    Sucks that I''d miss out on a fairy type though. That typing was kind of ridiculous but I''d probably look for another one in the future.


    "Don''t go through my stuff ever again," I stressed, removing my eyes off of her and dipping my hair in the water again.


    What did I even want my sixth pokemon to be? I guess whatever caught my eyes next.


    Green had a look of shock on her face. "Y-You still want to hang out with me?"


    "I''ve never once wanted to hang out with you," I replied shortly. "This is strictly business. We train for the next three days, I get my badge, then we go our ways."


    "What about Togepi¡­ this was your egg and I just¡­ if only I hadn''t been so nosy," Green frowned sadly, actually looking like she was about to start crying.


    No wait, those were definitely tears forming in her eyes.


    "It doesn''t matter what I think anymore idiot," I scoffed, nonplussed. "Togepi hasn''t looked my way even once. Its eyes are only on you so just catch it. I don''t care anymore and it wants you to pick it up."


    Togepi still had its stubs up for Green right now and it even began whining while we were arguing. Green bit her lip and glanced down at it, before hesitantly picking it up.


    Judging by the way Togepi lit up, it really did only have eyes for Green.


    There would be no point trying to separate the two. I didn''t care that much about owning a Togekiss.


    I already had Ares anyways and I''d much rather fly on a Salamence.


    "Now can you get out of here? I''m naked," I grunted, pushing my hair out of my eye and scowling as it flopped right back into place.


    Stupid.


    Green looked stunned and honestly, I''d normally be extremely pissed but I was already over the situation. It''s not like I bonded with it at all. The egg stayed in my bag 24/7 to the point where I even forgot I had it at times.


    Maybe Fraxure nearly killing me did something to me besides humbling me something fierce¡­


    Or Gaia''s drugs. Could be anything really.


    Green''s eyes lit up at that and a grin formed on her face.


    "Alright Silvy! I''ll head back first then¡­ see ya tomorrow?" Green asked, anticipation in her eyes.


    "Get out of here Leaf and stop calling me Silvy," I grunted, not even looking in her direction anymore.


    I heard a giggle and the shuffle of multiple footsteps, before it eventually dwindled into nothing.


    "She''s so annoying," I sighed.


    She was lucky I still wanted to get some information from her and that her strength was the real deal.


    Loki shrugged sympathetically and I felt a tingling in my mind that caused me to gaze at the completely dry Beldum.


    The steel type gazed at me with its singular red eye and looked distinctively smug.


    He hadn''t spoken to me in a long time, but I was able to sense his intent now (it was pretty strange) and right now, he was giving me a very "You deserve it" vibe.


    ...Dick.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green showed up for the subsequent 2 days, as cheerful as ever with one extra Pokemon to her name.


    Togepi, who was a male, was too young to join training so the little guy was just being attended to by Green, who had went last minute shopping for a baby pokemon.


    I learned a good amount from her through small talk, particularly about her childhood friends.


    Ash missed a starter like usual, ending up with Pikachu and Blue ended up with Squirtle.


    The person who got Charmander wasn''t all that impressive according to her and I already forgot his name so there''s that.


    She also lived with just her mom and was a single child.


    I didn''t ask for all of that but she had apparently decided that we were actually friends now no matter how rude I was to her.


    She was a complete weirdo.


    Regardless, that didn''t take away from the fact that she was a brilliant trainer.


    Training with her, benefited me more than battling random trainers.


    I would know, we actually took time out of Day 2 to go battle some trainers.


    That''s what let me see that I actually put up a great showing against Green because no one else that was near our level even came close to beating her.


    Her whole team wasn''t strong¡­ no Larvy was considerably weak. Lappy was quite strong, but it was clear that Green recently acquired her.


    Vee and Saury on the other hand¡­


    The Eevee, while coming close to losing matches, was a real trooper. He and Green had great synergy that let them hit above their weight class¡­


    But Saury was the real monster. Green''s Ivysaur was some time of freak of its line and seeing it perform, showed me that even if I could confidently take out the rest of her team, this grass type would ensure that she won the battle.


    It was bulky, strong and had no need for actual speed because those vines were all it needed.


    Not to mention, he and Green had a scary amount of synergy.


    That Ivysaur was shaping up to be a behemoth of a cornerstone. I shuddered to think what it would be like as a Venusaur¡­


    Didn''t matter. I assured Gaia we''d get our revenge and that''s what we''d do.


    The days passed by quickly and I wasn''t going to lie, my own personal improvements after training with Green, were tremendous.


    I also had an innate talent for battling. My countless victories, despite not having battled since Johto, accounted for that.


    I took to battling like a duck (fun fact, people of this world said Psyduck) to water.


    That''s something else I noticed battling other trainers besides Green. They were so easy to read.


    The more trainers I battled, the more I realized how impressive my training partner was.


    All the trainers I battled, did nothing to hide their thoughts. It was so obvious when they were getting nervous, when they thought they were about to win¡­


    It made the battles against them all the more easy. They were showing off that at the end of the day, they were amateurs and there was nothing wrong with that¡­ it just highlighted how exceptional Green was.


    There was no loudmouth Green when she was battling. The hyperactive girl transformed into a hyper-focused battler.


    She was above her fellow peers by quite a bit and by the time she reached her full potential, she''d be a real menace.


    That¡­ slightly increased my respect for her. She would be a good measure to test my own growth whenever we ran into each other.


    My training with her was done so after this, we''d go our separate ways. I''d likely head to Pewter and she''d go to wherever the hell her next badge was.


    Good, she still talked way too much...


    Actually, that just reminded me of an encounter we had during our 2 days here. Green''s urge to talk seemed to be a disease that inhabited all the Oak sponsors.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Day 2 of training


    "Well, if it isn''t Green!"


    I twitched at hearing someone mention my partners name but ignored it.


    Green froze, recognizing that voice before a competitive gleam entered her eyes.


    "That''s my cue to go," I said blandly, preparing to leave her for the day.


    "Wait Silvy!" She urged, grabbing me before swiftly letting me go at my warning look.


    "Silvy? Who the hell are you?" The voice asked snidely.


    I sighed, brushing a hand through my hair as I turned to gauge the person.


    He was slightly taller than me, with auburn hair and bright blue eyes that were glaring at me with an innate smugness in them.


    "You must be Gary Oak. Leaf has told me so much about you, all against my will," I said in disinterest, wondering what monstrosity I was going to cook up today.


    My cooking had not gotten better. At least my team got to eat good.


    Gary Blue Oak glared at me almost as soon as I mentioned his last name. "Don''t say my whole name. Call me Gary or Blue you fucking nobody."


    I raised a brow. "I''ll call you whatever the fuck I want. What exactly are you gonna do about it if I don''t?" I sneered.


    Green watched in some disbelief, as Blue returned the sneer and focused his full attention on Silver.


    I watched Blue return the sneer and raised a brow.


    Someone with backbone?


    Yeah right, let''s see how long that lasts.


    "What? Don''t like being an Oak? Is the shadow your grandpa casts too big?" I asked smugly.


    Judging by how murderous Blue suddenly became, I struck a nerve.


    "Silver, you shouldn''t say things like that!" Green said with wide eyes, turning towards me with shock on her face. "Blue''s sensitive to that type of stuff!"


    "Aww," I mock frowned. "I''m so sorry to hear that. Poor Blue must have it so hard carrying such a burden as the gasp... Oak name! I wouldn''t want to wish that on anyone!" I sighed.


    My sneer returned as I dropped all pretenses. "Get the fuck over yourself. I bet you''re the type to abuse that name so long as it''s convenient to you. You have no right to be ashamed of being born in such a lavish lifestyle, fucking brat."


    "Silver!" Green shouted in horror.


    Blue''s murderous glare deepened and he rushed me without any hesitation, but I rolled my eyes at the action.


    Clearly I was more athletic than he was.


    I sidestepped his lunge and tripped him, using my superior agility and I watched as he stumbled to the floor with an oof.


    "You sure fight like a guy who''s lived a lavish life," I grunted, completely unimpressed.


    Blue snarled and shoved himself up. "I''ll fucking kill you!" He swore.


    My gaze darkened into something dangerous at those words. "Are you sure you can back up those words?" I asked lowly.


    "You''ll find out soon enough," he spat.


    "ENOUGH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!" Green shrieked, releasing Saury from her ball as Vee jumped off her shoulder. "Stop! Stop right now!"


    Two of Blue''s pokeballs shook, before they opened and out came a Wartortle and his own Eevee.


    Loki, who was watching from inside my jacket, growled warningly as he poked his head out and glared at Blue and his team.


    "Stop? I''m just retaliating," I said simply. "He''s the one that rushed me because I said a few words."


    Green frowned at me. "But you said some really rude things! You were way outta line!"


    I rolled my eyes. "I called him by his name and he called me a fucking nobody. Who was really outta line? I haven''t been the aggressor once, I''m just retaliating. I even tried to leave," I pointed.


    Green flinched at the accuracy of my words. "Well that''s... true but ¡ª"


    I interrupted her. "I don''t give a damn if he''s your childhood friend Leaf. He might be your friend, but to me he''s a douche that clearly needs to get put in his place, so I''m going to put him in his place."


    "I was thinking the same thing," Blue snarled. "We''re already at a field, let''s use it."


    "Sure thing. 1 on 1," I said confidently, already grabbing at a Pokeball. "I can spare a few extra minutes but not too much. Let this nobody teach you a thing or two about battling."


    Green looked helplessly at the both of us, clearly not having expected a meeting to go so south.


    I always expected a meeting with me to go bad... but I expected to be the aggressor in all these situations.


    What a fresh turn of events. That would make this feel all the better.


    "Gaia," I said easily.


    "Wartortle!" Blue barked at the same time as me.


    At once, both our starter pokemon shot out their balls.


    Sensing my slightly foul mood, Gaia''s face morphed into a scowl and she glared at both Blue and his Wartortle.


    Wartortle flashed a cocky grin but it vanished as he felt just how foul his trainer currently was.


    "Aqua Jet!" Blue said immediately.


    "Reflect, grab it," I said easily.


    Wartortle ducked into his shell and began spinning, before jetting off with incredible speeds.


    Gaia was already ahead of him. She summoned a blue wall that Wartortle crashed into.


    The hard shell protected it from the rattling that Reflect would normally give it but that didn''t matter because Gaia''s vines swiftly wrapped around it.


    "Poison Powder inside the hole," I instructed ruthlessly.


    Blue''s eyes widened. "Water Pulse! Stop it from doing that!"


    Credit to Wartortle. He immediately stuck his head out and conjured the necessary amount of water, spitting it directly at Gaia''s face...


    To very little effect. Gaia growled in annoyance but followed through with her orders, spitting out a poisonous cloud directly in Wartortle''s face.


    Then, she brutally slammed him onto the floor with her vines.


    "Wartortle!" Blue shouted.


    Wartortle hacked and coughed. It had inhaled a full dose of Poison Powder so it had gotten poisoned immediately.


    Now it was on a timer and being on a timer against Gaia wasn''t a very pleasant lifestyle.


    "Use Icy Wind!"


    My eyes widened a bit in surprise at that. Wartortle couldn''t learn Icy Wind naturally.


    Gaia let out a slight squeal as the super effective attack struck and Wartortle grinned, before devolving into hacking coughs once more.


    "Icy Wind huh? Sure are putting that Oak money to use," I taunted, unbothered by that.


    Blue snarled at that and tried his best to ignore me.


    "Well, I guess money can''t buy everything... like skill," I shrugged helplessly.


    "SHUT UP!" He roared. "Wartortle Aura Sphere!"


    "Light Screen then Synthesis," I said smugly, not showing the surprise I felt at Wartortle knowing Aura Sphere.


    Blue''s eyes flew open in even more anger, as Wartortle valiantly summoned an Aura Sphere and shot it out, only for it to break against the conjured Light Screen.


    Then, the water type could only watch helplessly as Gaia flashed a smug grin, very reminiscent to mine, and began glowing. The damage she took from the Icy Wind began patching up until she were as good as new.


    "Razor Leaf."


    Blue tried to recover from his shock. "Wartortle, Rapid Spin! Run away!"


    But it was not to be, Wartortle took a second too long to sink back into his shell and the Razor Leaf mercilessly slammed into it.


    "War!" Wartortle groaned, before falling back in defeat.


    "Well done, Gaia," I said easily, smiling as she ran up to me with a pleased smile. I ran a hand against her and chuckled as she nuzzled her head against my chest. "Sorry about that, I know that was too easy but I wanted to make a point."


    Gaia scoffed at that, just pleased to put someone in their place just like I was.


    Blue looked stunned at his loss, gazing numbly at his defeated Wartortle and I sneered.


    "No wonder you get offended when someone calls you Oak, you can''t even beat a nobody huh?" I said mockingly.


    Let it be known, no one could out asshole me and that would not change.


    "See ya Oak, maybe don''t pick fights you can''t win."


    With that I turned on a dime and left.


    Battling with Gaia became far easier when the opponent was visibly frustrated, that''s why I goaded him mid match...


    Though I doubted I needed that. I would have won that match regardless.


    So I was weaker than Ivysaur (I refused to acknowledge that I was weaker than Green herself) but I was stronger than Blue it looked.


    Not bad. I was stronger than I thought.


    "Let''s get something to eat yeah? On second thought, I''ll spoil myself with something edible," I decided.


    "Bay!" Gaia cheered, trotting next to me.


    "Are you alright, Blue?" Green asked quietly, looking at her quiet childhood friend with concern.


    She had never seen Blue so outclassed... while she was stronger than him, Blue had a way with words that Green could never really go against so even her victories didn''t feel as complete.


    But Silver completely beat him in both the battle and talking aspect. It was almost scary to see how unraveled Blue became when facing her training partner.


    Blue flinched of all things and gazed at her with a sneer. "Just leave me alone, Green. I don''t need your sympathy," he snarled.


    Green frowned sadly. "But Blue ¡ª"


    "I said leave me alone! The last thing I need is for Gramp''s favorite to try and cheer me up!" he roared.


    With that, Blue turned on a dime and stormed off.


    Green had a hurt expression at that and just watched him go, before sighing and rushing to catch up to Silver''s location.


    It didn''t take her very long, her red haired friend was walking at a rather leisurely pace by his standards and so when she caught up, he spared her a single glance.


    "Why did you say such cruel things?" She asked bluntly.


    Silver was cold but that was... just really cruel. He had said such harsh things to Blue and sure her Pallet friend was rude... but that was too much.


    "Why?" Silver replied, gazing at her with his customary bored expression. "Do I need a reason beyond him calling me a nobody?"


    "...Yes," Green said firmly. "That was harsh Silver... Blue has a tough life despite what you think."


    Silver let out a noncommittal hum at that.


    She sighed. "Blue''s parents are... not in his life and he''s only got the Professor and Daisy, his older sister. He might be a bit rude but he''s gone through a lot."


    Silver said nothing for a while.


    Then he turned towards her with those striking silver eyes of his.


    "I don''t care. At least he has a good family to complain about. It really pisses me off seeing someone get gifted everything they could ask for and they''re still unsatisfied with their life. What a sickening mindset."


    "Now are we done? I''m hungry."


    Green stood in shocked silence at that and nodded numbly.


    No one said anything and she just watched Silver''s figure retreat further in the distance.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    At least he has a good family to complain about...


    I grunted. That wasn''t something I really thought of saying. I just said it on instinct much like all the other things I said on instinct.


    Blue seemed to irk me in a way that went beyond his annoying attitude and I didn''t realize until Green pressed me.


    Whatever, what''s done was done. Blue had already beaten the Vermillion Gym so I wouldn''t be seeing him for a long while.


    Spoiled idiot.


    Green had tried to act normal meeting up with me and I decided that it was a great idea so I made no mention of the events of day 2. We managed to get back on track and now we were here at the Vermillion Gym for both our respective battles.


    "Hey musclehead," I greeted, gazing at that John receptionist from the other day.


    I saw his jaw clench instinctively at my voice and resisted the urge to laugh.


    "I''m here for my battle with your boss. Hopefully you don''t make this take longer than it needs to as well," I told him.


    Unfortunately, John seemed to grow a brain since our last meeting and simply jammed a finger to the back.


    "Not gonna say nothing? Smart," I shrugged helplessly, making my way to the back of the room.


    "Surge is gonna teach you a lesson so there''s no need," he bit out.


    Heh. Dumbass.


    "Having another man fight your battles? No wonder you''re just a receptionist. You a house maid too?" I fired back, smirking smugly at seeing a vein form on his `.


    Green couldn''t hold in the giggle anymore.


    "Shoulda stayed quiet Jane, worked out way better for you this time around!" I shouted cockily.


    "I don''t get how you''re not even a little intimidated by them," Green said after getting her laughter down. "They were looking down at me the whole time when I spoke to them!"


    A sneer formed on my face. "I won''t let anyone look down on me. There''s nothing to be intimidated about anyways. Just a couple of muscleheads," I retorted.


    Green gazed at me. Her match was up next after mine so she asked (begged) to watch my match and come here together.


    "So you aren''t nervous?" She asked me.


    "What''s there to be nervous about?" I asked in return, blood pumping at the idea of this match. "Being nervous just gets in the way of how effective I can be so it''s unnecessary."


    From the corner of my eye, I watched Green stand a little straighter, gazing at me in awe and I snorted.


    "I get nervous before every match against a tough opponent," Green admitted. "But it all goes away once the match starts."


    "As long as it goes away then you''re fine," I replied with a roll of my eyes.


    What a trip. Her? Nervous? Bullshit. She looked and acted as confident as I did in battle.


    Boisterous laughter rang out, as Green and I reached the back of the gym.


    I gazed around at it all and nodded, impressed by the sight.


    Jasmine invited me to see her gym right before I left Olivine but I denied her offer, claiming that I''d like to see it when we battled eventually.


    For some reason, that made her panic and she claimed that she actually needed to renovate the area. I''m pretty sure she actually did renovate it a few weeks ago because she suddenly promised that I''d love seeing her gym.


    I should have accepted the offer to see it just once. Gyms were cool.


    We were in a stadium. The terrain was a flat plain of dirt and there were seats all around that were currently empty.


    "They normally fill up with higher number of badges," Green whispered to me. "There''s some exceptions though. The Sensational Sisters are really popular so they always get filled seats for Gym Battles."


    Sensational Sisters? Well, Green only had two badges so I imagine that was Cerulean City.


    Oh right, those were Misty''s sisters. Weren''t they trash? Did I really have to battle them?


    Bah, they were probably better in this world. Had to be because this world didn''t mess around and if they were anything like their anime counterparts, they''d be out of a job.


    Gym Leaders had to be competent. There was no room for the embarrassments you saw in the show.


    "Right on time!" Surge called, standing on the opposite side of the giant field. "I''ve been waiting for you Silver! I''ve been eager to face you and I ended shocking all my previous challengers straight!"


    "Silver?" I raised a brow, idly glancing at the referee on the sides. "Looks like you guys are actually able to remember names. I''m impressed."


    "Only the ones worth remembering!" Surge grinned. "I heard about Green over there too," he mentioned.


    Green blinked. "Me?!" She asked in shock.


    Surge and I both scoffed simultaneously.


    "Don''t be surprised about that dumbass," I chided.


    The gym leader nodded. "You trashed Pewter and Cerulean in your battle! Of course we''ve got eyes on you kid! I''m looking forward to our battle but for now, go sit on the stands."


    Green beamed, a glimmer of excitement entering her eyes.


    "Good luck, Silvy!" She called out.


    "Shut up, Leaf," I replied.


    "GREEN! CALL ME GREEN!"


    I snorted and said nothing, silver eyes turning focused as I peered at Lt. Surge.


    "Seems like the kid''s ready! No more wasting anytime!" Surge bellowed, gazing at the ref who took that as his cue.


    "This is an official gym battle of the Vermilion City Gym between the challenger, Silver of Viridian City and the Gym Leader, Lt. Surge! Each side is allowed 3 pokemon and only the challenger is allowed to swap. The match will be decided when all 3 Pokemon of one side are unable to continue!"


    "As the Gym Leader, Surge must release his Pokemon first!"


    Surge was already throwing a Pokeball and I hummed at the sight of the pokemon before me.


    It was a small and chubby rodent, covered in yellow fur with two horizontal brown stripes and two red pouches on its cheek.


    A Pikachu. I''d have been able to identify it even if I didn''t know a damn thing about Pokemon.


    I nodded. This is about what I expected if the match really was a 3 on 3.


    "Ares," I said calmly, releasing my Bagon from her ball with a sticker of a dragon roaring.


    Surge raised a brow high at the sight of Ares, gazing at it with searching eyes. He looked a little caught off guard that this was my first choice but hid it well.


    Ares let out a battle roar, that got both our blood pumping and I felt a feral pulse course through my body.


    "The contestants are set! Pikachu vs Bagon! Begin!" The referee announced.


    "Quick Attack!" Surge called out instantly.


    "Rage," I retorted instantly.


    Pikachu''s were fast. Faster then my stubby little Bagon. Dodging moves was a waste of time and energy so we''d weather and benefit from them.


    The Quick Attack connected clean but Ares shrugged it off, eyes gaining a red tint as Rage quickly took effect.


    Good. As long as Rage was active, Ares would get stronger from getting hit. Excellent for the pestering attacks of a Pikachu.


    Surge frowned, no doubt realizing the same thing.


    "Use Thunderbolt!" He shouted.


    "Dragon Breath," I retorted instantly. "Afterwards, Scary Face."


    "Chu!" Pikachu growled, shooting a burst of electricity at Ares who fired back with the turquoise energy of Dragon Breath.


    Dragon Breath met Thunderbolt and the two moves combated with each other, until the powered up Dragon move overwhelmed the electric attack and forced Pikachu to dodge...


    Which left it completely open to the terrifying visage of Ares glaring at it.


    We didn''t master Scary Face as well as we''d like¡­ but I discovered that Rage made the move alot easier to use and it was taking full effect right now.


    "Dragon Breath," I said calmly, as Pikachu took a step back in fear as the effects of Scary Face washed over it.


    "Pikachu, move!" Surge barked, as Ares opened its mouth once more.


    Pikachu unfortunately, was too afraid to follow Surge''s command and the Dragon Breath, powered up by both Rage and Ares'' Sheer Force crashed directly into it.


    Sheer Force removed all secondary effects of moves that had them. I didn''t know the specifics of how that worked in this world, but it had to do with the structure of one of Bagon''s organs that allowed for stronger but shorter attacks.


    Pikachu squealed as the attack connected right to its gut and the little guy began tumbling across the ground with burn marks on its fur.


    Much to my surprise, it actually did get back up. I thought that Dragon Breath was going to take it out but it was a little sturdier than I imagined.


    One more hit would probably put it down for the count though.


    "Dragon Breath again," I ordered.


    Surge knew that Pikachu was in no shape to dodge the attack, so he shouted out "Shockwave!" as a last ditch effort.


    Ares roared with a feral grin and belched out a giant Dragon Breath.


    Pikachu panted and began sparking, before letting loose what seemed to be an unfocused blast of blue energy, but was proven not to be, as it honed in on Bagon''s location.


    The attack left it wide open for the Dragon Breath though and with a pitiful noise, the rodent was batted away.


    Ares let out a slight grunt as the shockwave slammed into her but mostly looked unbothered, merely allowing it to fuel her battle lust.


    "Pikachu is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Bagon!"


    "Well done," I praised with a confident smirk.


    "Gon!" Ares grunted, gazing at Surge''s side with hungry eyes.


    Surge pursed his lips at the one-sided affair and gazed at me in a new light.


    "You''re stronger than I expected¡­ so I''m gonna use a different second pokemon," he announced, grabbing a pokeball.


    I inclined my head. "Sounds good to me. This match would have been boring otherwise."


    Surge grinned and tossed the ball.


    What came out, was cause for concern and my smirk vanished.


    It was yellow and bipedal, with a vaguely humanoid shape. There were two antennae on its head with bulbous tips and it had two large fangs jutting out of its mouth.


    To top it off, black stripes littered its body with a large lightning bolt in the middle of its chest.


    "An Electabuzz as his second?" I thought with a deep frown.


    Considering his last was almost certainly gonna be the Raichu that he had been solely using for the past few months to put trainers pokemon in the hospital¡­ this was gonna get much tougher than I anticipated.


    I grunted and steeled myself.


    That was all the better for me. I wanted my battles to be tough and I wanted to come out on top knowing that my opponent was putting in the effort to win a battle.


    No better way to improve, if you weren''t trying your best to win a close battle.


    That was the fun of it all.


    "The contestants are set! Bagon vs Electabuzz! Begin!"


    "Dragon Breath."


    "Shock Wave."


    Ares opened her mouth and fired the Dragon Breath at the same time Electabuzz fired a wave of electricity.


    The turquoise beam managed to catch a couple of the Shock Wave, but the majority of the wave managed to land directly on Ares, making her grunt in annoyance.


    Worst, the Dragon Breath didn''t reach Electabuzz at all. It moved out of the way of the attack whose strength was diminished slightly by the Shock Wave.


    Staying away was a bad idea in the long run. It was best that I accepted that reality right now instead of continuing this stubborn and slow defeat.


    "Headbutt," I ordered, testing the waters a bit.


    "Quick Attack," Surge retaliated, confident grin on his face.


    Electabuzz whirred in confirmation and rocketed off, white streak following after it as the electric type charged the slower Ares.


    Ares bellowed, not backing down for even a second and rushed her opponent¡­


    Only to get batted away as the larger Electabuzz practically bowled her over.


    "Thunder Punch!" Surge shouted.


    Electabuzz''s fist began sparking and it whirred, before slamming it against Ares'' gut, making her cough a bit at the heavy blow.


    I grit my teeth. Despite not being very effective, that didn''t change the fact that Electabuzz carried quite a bit of physical power and my Bagon wasn''t the biggest girl around.


    Just the blow from the punch was enough to do damage, the electricity was a bonus.


    "Scary Face!" I barked, eyes narrowed as I thought of a plan to win.


    Ares recovered from the punch and snarled, eyes flashing an intimidating red as she activated Scary Face once more.


    Unlike Pikachu, Electabuzz only showed slight effects to the Scary Face.


    Makes sense, Electabuzz were predators too and I only had a Bagon. Once she became a Salamence, Scary Face would be most effective.


    "Dragon Breath!" I ordered.


    "Quick Attack! Get away!" Surge demanded, even as Ares opened her mouth.


    Electabuzz began glowing white once more and dashed away, successfully avoiding the attack but I was thankful for the sudden space between us.


    "Quick use Dragon Dance!" I barked, smirking as Electabuzz made great distance from her.


    Surge''s eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of Ares'' body moving to a rhythm that only she could hear, red and blue aura surging around her.


    "Dragon Dance? What?!" He grunted in shock, before coming to his senses.


    "Electabuzz, Shock Wave!" Surge barked, frowning slightly as Ares finished her dance.


    "Dragon Breath! Destroy it!" I retorted.


    Dragon Dance was a move that was very similar to the games. The user would perform a dance that had draconic roots to it (don''t ask me. I didn''t know the lore behind it) that boosted the offensive capabilities of a Pokemon.


    The difference between the games?


    Every attack was offensively boosted. Especially dragon moves.


    This world was really fun.


    Case in point, Ares opened her mouth and launched a gigantic dragon breath, dwarfing all her others since the match started.


    That pesky Shock Wave attack stood no chance and was engulfed by the turquoise flames, but Electabuzz was already on the move.


    The electric type launched forward but Ares could match it now. She was capable of reacting to him because her training partner had been my quick little Zorua.


    With a feral grin, Ares ducked her head and Headbutted the hell out of Electabuzz.


    Fun fact, Ares had been getting pestered by attacks the whole match and I had used Rage at the very beginning.


    She didn''t dodge a single attack, just allowing all of them to brush against her draconic skin and letting it fuel both her love of battle... and Rage.


    The results? Electabuzz''s gut was nearly caved in from the force of the Headbutt.


    "Buzz!" Electabuzz wheezed, as inertia finally shifted and launched it away from it''s position.


    I smirked wildly as Electabuzz soared away and tumbled against the ground, collapsing with a pained heave but much to my displeasure, the Electric type got back up with shaking legs.


    Tch. Whatever, it was the same situation as with Pikachu. One more hit and it was as good as done for.


    Surge grunted at the state of Electabuzz, no doubt noticing that it wasn''t faring too well.


    "Quick Attack," he ordered, cocky grin finally off his face.


    "Meet it with Headbutt. Overpower it," I grunted.


    Ares'' aim wasn''t good enough to hit a moving target with Dragon Breath but the speed of Dragon Dance should help her keep up with it.


    "Thunder Wave!" Surge suddenly shouted.


    My eyes flew open in shock.


    I had prepared for the possibility of Thunder Wave, but after seeing Pikachu not attempt it even once, I assumed Surge was the type to just keep his offense up, with no room for status moves.


    "I don''t normally do this against newbies, but I can''t have you just steam rolling the match now can I?" The Gym Leader informed me, grinning smugly at someone who he was probably twice the age of.


    This son of a bitch was trying really hard to make sure a 0 badge trainer didn''t win this match huh?


    Electabuzz, surging with the speed of Quick Attack, completely diverted his course of action and juked to the left.


    As a surprised Ares missed her mark, my Bagon was left wide open to the sudden Thunder Wave.


    The weak waves of electricity connected squarely with Ares and she let out a whining snarl, as static began coursing off her.


    I snarled in annoyance and bit my cheek.


    One thing I noticed, was that I had a tendency of letting my teams nature seep into me when I got caught up in the middle of battle.


    Depending on who I was using, I''d handle things a little differently and because I was battling with Ares, my strategy became a lot more aggressive because she was my most aggressive pokemon.


    I don''t think I needed to fix it because it allowed me to relate more to my pokemon but I was the brains here. I needed to act like it.


    "Quick Attack!" Surge barked, a predatory gleam in both his and Electabuzz''s eye.


    I grit my teeth. "Ares, Ember. Slow it down," I called out.


    Much to my frustration, the moment Ares opened her mouth to form the necessary energy, the static began running through her body and she was left wide open.


    The Quick Attack connected squarely with her and she was launched away from the momentum of the tackle.


    Ares let out a roar of aggravation as she attempted to move, only for those sparks to make their presence known.


    Electabuzz panted in exhaustion but began whirling its arms.


    "Shock Wave!"


    "Try and destroy as much as you can, Ares!"


    No luck. Every bolt of the Shock Wave crashed into the paralyzed Ares and I snarled.


    Paralyze was fucking ridiculous. What the hell? Potions and other medicine weren''t allowed in battle either so I was just stuck in this situation?


    Bullshit.


    By now, the damage had accumulated on my hardy Bagon and she was panting as harshly as the Electabuzz was.


    Neither were going to last long but Ares should have comfortably won this before.


    I''d have to look into status conditions more and try to find counters to them. They were nonsense.


    "Wrap this up Electabuzz! Thunder Punch!" Surge shouted, intent to finish this off.


    Electabuzz roared along with Surge and launched itself forward, sparks rolling off the fist it had been whirring just before and I grit my teeth.


    Alright then. Ares and I already fought recklessly enough.


    Time to up the ante.


    "Ares, block it with your head!" I yelled, silver eyes blazing in a moment of madness.


    Surge''s eyes widened at the command.


    Ares roared in confirmation and ducked her head, allowing the Thunder Punch to bash into her hard skull. Electricity surged across her body, but her head weathered the physical punch extremely well.


    Electabuzz roared in pain at connecting with the Bagon''s skull, the physiology of the dragon type making it regret its decision, and I sneered.


    "Ares, Bite. Do not let go of it!" I ordered with a maniacal gleam in my eyes.


    Ares matched it. She fought through her pain and leapt at Electabuzz, latching onto the arm of the taller pokemon.


    The electric type howled at that, fruitlessly trying to get Ares off of it and failing at the raw determination of my psychotic dragon.


    "Ares. Dragon Breath," I said in a tone of finality. "Don''t let go."


    Electabuzz and Surge eyes widened in horror simultaneously.


    Ares knew exactly what I meant and without any hesitation in her bones, she charged a Dragon Breath in the mouth that was still latched onto Electabuzz.


    Electabuzz''s frantic energy increased at that and it desperately tried to get Ares off of it. It began sparking with electrical energy but it began sputtering out slightly due to just how tired it was.


    "Electabuzz, Shock Wave! Get it off of you!" Surge ordered frantically.


    It was not to be. The moment Electabuzz began gathering the necessary energy from its spent stores, Ares fired the point blank Dragon Breath.


    A loud explosion took place and I stared coolly at the field.


    Both Bagon and Electabuzz were on the floor, unconscious from being in such close proximity to the Dragon Breath. Brutal burns marred the Electabuzz''s body, the unique property of draconic flames making its statement known.


    "Electabuzz and Bagon are both unable to battle!" The referee announced. "Will both trainers please release your next Pokemon!"


    I returned Ares to her ball. "Nice job you little psycho. You did your job well," I praised.


    Well was an understatement. Ares went above and beyond to do her job and win or lose, she''d be getting rewarded for the display.


    "You''re nuts and so is your Bagon! A perfect match eh? I''m impressed!" Surge exclaimed, letting out a barking laughter as he gazed at me. "I won''t lie, I expected this to be a wash in my favor but here I am on the backfoot! This went from a humbling session to a genuinely exciting battle!"


    "You already used an Electabuzz against me and you still have one more. Aren''t you a little ashamed to be doing this against a trainer with no badges?" I grunted, palming one of my pokeballs, this one with a black taping that covered the red of the pokeball.


    He clutched one of his pokeballs and a grin made its way to his face. "I''d only be ashamed if they didn''t deserve it! You''re more impressive then you let on so it''s only right I give you what you deserve!"


    With that, he tossed his final pokeball and I gazed at his last pokemon.


    It was a rodent, fur orange instead of yellow and cheek pouches yellow instead of red. It had bifurcated ears and a long tail with a thunderbolt at the end.


    As expected, his final pokemon was the same Raichu he had been using since the circuit started.


    Why he was using it? I don''t know but allegedly, he was using it against anyone that he was sure it was stronger than.


    In fact, Surge seemed to be upping the ante on every trainer that battled him for some secretive reason. I heard against more formidable trainers he was actually using his real team, with a much stronger Raichu and a goddamn Electivire of all things.


    I wonder what the deal was. Jasmine told me she only tended to use one pokemon from her actual team in battles against the strongest opponents. Anymore and the battle would swing in her favor.


    She was far stronger than a trainer with 8 badges... it was surreal to imagine.


    Regardless, this wasn''t the Raichu on Surge''s main team. If it was, this wouldn''t be a very fair fight now would it? The Raichu on his main team was his second strongest Pokemon and Surge was a strong trainer.


    That didn''t change the fact that this Raichu had been sending lesser trainers straight to the Pokemon Center.


    Normally, against a 0 badge trainer like me, this would be a slaughter but I was here to win.


    "Loki," I said calmly, releasing my first pokemon.


    The Zorua said nothing as he took the field, gazing at the cocky Raichu with a neutral expression.


    "The contestants are set! Raichu vs Zorua! Begin!"


    "Thunderbolt!" Surge said immediately.


    "Agility," I retorted, eyes narrowed.


    "RaiiiiiCHU!" Raichu growled, shooting a massive beam of electricity that dwarfed the much smaller Zorua.


    The fuck? That Thunderbolt was gigantic...


    Zorua grunted, slipping into Agility and dashing away from the attack with startling ease.


    Without needing any instructions, he immediately activated both Taunt and Torment.


    "A Zorua eh?" Surge muttered, watching his Raichu began growling in fury. "Those lil things are tricky¡­ alright."


    "Pursuit," I muttered.


    "Quick Attack, run the runt over," Surge ordered.


    Loki cloaked itself in dark energy and sprinted over to Raichu''s position, boosted by the Agility.


    Raichu didn''t falter for a second. Getting on all fours, the large rodent launched itself forward into a Quick Attack of its own.


    The rat blinked in confusion at running right through Loki''s body, only to let out a squeal of annoyance as the real Loki slammed right into its back.


    "Raiii," Raichu growled, anger mounting at the nuisance of a Pokemon.


    "Snarl," I commanded, eyes narrowed as we continued to whittle down the Raichu.


    That''s what battling Loki would be all about. Frustration at being hit by everything, while failing to track its opponent properly.


    "I see what your game is," Surge suddenly said. "And it''s not going to work."


    "Shock Wave!" The Gym Leader announced.


    I snarled in annoyance. Did every single one of his pokemon have Shock Wave? What an annoying move!


    Raichu grinned menacingly and summoned the tracking electricity.


    Illusion wouldn''t be able to avoid this attack so I thought of something else.


    "Loki, run from the Shock Wave! Don''t stop!" I barked, eyes narrowed.


    Loki slipped back into Agility without any hesitation, sprinting away from the volts of electricity chasing him down like heat seeking missiles.


    "Thunderbolt, cut off its course!"


    A massive bolt of electricity, that effortlessly dwarfed Pikachu''s earlier, attempted to smash into the Zorua but he just continued to run, leaping clean over the attack all while Shock Wave continued chasing him.


    What the fuck was this move? Did it run out of energy?!


    "Get behind Raichu! Let it take the hit!" I demanded.


    Loki followed my order without any hesitation, using his superior speed to sprint towards Raichu''s location.


    The rodent had no time to react, as Loki forced it to get in between him and the Shock Wave and the surprised Raichu was forced to take its own attack.


    Luckily, it didn''t seem to have Lightning Rod to boost its own output even further.


    "Not bad¡­ but not good enough," Surge said calmly.


    Unluckily, that attack didn''t do anything.


    Before I could tell Loki to get out of there, Surge sealed our fate with one move.


    "Discharge, don''t give it anywhere to go."


    Raichu let out a pretty evil noise and lit up far too brightly.


    Loki howled in pain as the wide electric attack struck him and sparks began surging across his body.


    "Mega Punch."


    Raichu grinned violently and began charging up a Mega Punch, no doubt willing to sock my Zorua with glee.


    Yeah right. Fuck off you little rat.


    I returned Loki to the ball with a deep frown. "I forfeit Loki."


    Loki would have been able to whittle down that Raichu¡­ but these tracking moves were seriously infuriating. Without being able to rely on Illusion, a pokemon like Raichu would eventually overwhelm him like shown here.


    Tch. He wasn''t gonna be happy about that and I wasn''t either.


    "The challenger has forfeited Zorua! As a result, Raichu wins the battle! Challenger, please release your final Pokemon!"


    Raichu looked miffed at not being able to land that Mega Punch and that was the main reason I didn''t let it do so.


    "Gaia," I grunted, releasing the Bayleef from the ball. "You''re last girl. Let''s wrap this up."


    Gaia gazed back at me and smiled eagerly at the prospect for battle, getting a small smirk out of me too.


    Raichu looked none the worse for wear. The only thing that had really taken a hit was its mental and by now, Taunt had worn off, though Torment still remained...


    Not that they knew that.


    "This is the final round between Gym Leader Surge and Challenger Silver! Raichu vs Bayleef! Begin!"


    "Thunderbolt."


    "Light Screen."


    Raichu wasted no time launching that massive bolt of electricity but snarled in annoyance as a shimmering pink screen formed and blocked a majority of the attack.


    "Not bad," Surge commented. "Raichu, Mega Punch."


    "Reflect."


    Surge''s eye twitched a bit at that but I wouldn''t have noticed if not for paying attention to it.


    Like trainer like pokemon I suppose.


    Raichu launched himself forward to throw the Mega Punch, but collided solidly with the wall of Reflect and let out a growl of annoyance.


    "Grab it. Poison Powder and Leech Seed," I instructed with a small smirk.


    Gaia followed my orders to a tee. Vines, that had gotten suspiciously quicker after meeting Saury, lashed out before Raichu could step back, wrapping around the evolved rodent.


    She opened her mouth and fired out a poisonous cloud and at the same time, the beads around her neck fired seeds that took root in Raichu''s body and began wrapping around it.


    "Discharge!" Surge growled.


    "Don''t let it. Slam it on the ground."


    Right as Raichu began sparking, Gaia lifted it high and brutally slammed it onto the field.


    Raichu whined as Gaia disrupted its attack with that brutal slam and the Bayleef lifted the rodent up to do so once more.


    "Raichu, cut the vines with your tail and get away!" Surge suddenly said, noticing the dire state that the battle would very quickly begin to take.


    I frowned as Raichu''s sharp, lightning bolt shaped, tail effortlessly cut through Gaia''s vines, getting a growl of annoyance out of her, and the evolution of Pikachu rocketed away.


    No matter. Playing keep away wouldn''t do it any favors. It was already panting slightly from the effects of getting drained by both Leech Seed and Poison Powder.


    Surge must have realized that too.


    "Thunderbolt! Full voltage! We need to end this quick!" He barked out.


    Raichu was in full agreement.


    "CHU!" Raichu roared, letting loose a massive bolt of thunder.


    "Light Screen," I grunted, eyes narrowed.


    Gaia summoned the shimmering pink screen but she had only just recently learned Light Screen and it was an exhausting move to maintain if not mastered.


    As expected, the ridiculous Thunderbolt smashed through the Light Screen and directly into her, getting a squeal of pain from Gaia.


    It said something about this Raichu that the thunderbolt did that amount of damage despite being not very effective.


    "Quick Attack! Use Mega Punch afterwards!" Surge demanded.


    Raichu surged forward quickly with the speed of Quick Attack, before using the momentum to slam a Mega Punch directly onto Gaia''s midsection.


    "Bay!" Gaia squealed in pain as she was sent tumbling back.


    She let out a whine of pain, bruises and burns already littering her scales.


    My eyes narrowed. "Razor Leaf!"


    The sharp and numerous leaves were shot out like rockets, greatly enhanced by Gaia''s evolution but none of that mattered because Raichu had already gotten out of dodge with another Quick Attack.


    The moment Raichu''s Quick Attack ended, I struck.


    "Use Razor Leaf again right now!" I told her with a predatory gleam.


    Surge''s eyes narrowed in confusion at my command. "Raichu, Quick Attack again! Get out of that spot! Run circles around it and use Shock Wave!"


    But much to his surprise, Raichu''s attempts to activate Quick Attack completely failed, leaving the shocked rodent at the mercy of the Razor Leaf.


    It recovered admirably and tried to move, but it was too late and the sharp leaves reached his location, cutting into him with expert precision.


    Raichu squealed in pain and confusion, caught completely off-guard and I pressed my sudden advantage like a shark smelling blood.


    "A gift from Loki," I smirked violently. "Gaia, grab it now."


    "Raichu, move out of the way!" Surge''s voice was frantic and confused, not able to piece together why Quick Attack failed yet.


    Raichu, in a moment of raw panic and confusion, that showed it was not apart of Surge''s main team, attempted to activate Quick Attack again, only to fail once more.


    Not to mention, the poison and Leech Seed were swiftly sapping it of energy while Gaia steadily healed back up. Right now, the poor guy was in a complete state of delirium and we took full advantage of that.


    Gaia had a rather sadistic gleam in her eyes as her vines lashed out and wrapped around the Raichu without any mercy.


    She definitely inherited being a sadist from me, because my eyes were almost certainly reflecting the same thing as hers.


    "Summon a Reflect under it and slam it down," I ordered.


    "Raichu! Thunderbolt! Put everything into it!" Surge barked in a last ditch effort to get out of the sticky situation.


    Props to this Raichu for being able to follow that order despite how terrible its situation was. With a loud roar of its name, the rodent exploded in pure electricity and sent it Gaia''s way.


    At the same time, a blue screen formed under it, before the Raichu was lifted high into the air and slammed down into the Reflect with crushing force.


    Gaia let out a shriek of pain as the hellish Thunderbolt crashed into her and she began swaying heavily, before a green aura surrounded her and began slowly patching her burned marks back up.


    Raichu was not so lucky. The electric type lay prone, unconscious to the world around it. Cuts littered its body from the Razor Leafs and bruises marred its fur from the slams of Vine Whip.


    "Raichu is unable to battle and as a result, Gym Leader Lt. Surge has no more Pokemon to use! The winner of this match is the challenger, Silver!"


    "WOOO! GET EM SILVER!" Green cheered, clapping happily at my display. There was an excited gleam in her eyes and I snorted to myself.


    I let out a grunt of surprise, as I was tackled to the floor before letting out a tiny chuckle as Gaia began excitedly licking my cheek.


    She looked exhausted but that was to be expected. Her moves were really draining to use and Raichu packed a ridiculous punch.


    "Well done Gaia. You''re on a roll," I praised, running a hand against her leaf with a pleased smirk. "You beat the hell out of that Raichu. A lot of people got wiped by it you know? And you beat it while it was practically fresh!"


    "Bay!" She cheered, accepting my praise with a smug look.


    "Not bad at all!" Surge boomed, making his way over to my side with a grin. "Torment eh? It took me too long to realize that''s what you used."


    I glanced up at the Gym Leader, managing to straighten my features even as Bayleef continued her affections on me.


    It must have been a funny sight to see someone who always had a harsh expression like me, getting gushed over by a Bayleef. The contrast must have been very peculiar.


    "No point announcing a move like Torment," I said idly, pushing myself up to regard the massive man. "Best to let opponents figure it out on their own."


    That''s exactly what I had told Loki. Why would I ever announce Torment or Taunt? It was much better to keep it a secret that could help you at the perfect time like against Raichu here.


    Surge thought Loki only used Taunt, so I goaded him into using Quick Attack twice and he fell for it.


    Once Quick Attack failed once, Raichu delved into a panic that swiftly snowballed the match into my favor.


    He may have taken out my Zorua quickly, but Loki still made his presence known.


    "Not bad at all, Silver!" Surge laughed, clasping my shoulder with that meaty hand of his.


    I nearly buckled from the force and batted it aside with a withering glare. "Don''t touch me," I growled.


    If he was bothered by it, he didn''t show it.


    "You''re definitely a newer trainer but your progress isn''t 0 badges at all! You already have different methods for your teammates too¡­ you''re gonna end up a scary trainer," the gym leader praised.


    "As the leader of Vermilion, I acknowledge your skills and hereby grant you the Thunder Badge!" He announced, pulling out the badge.


    It was an eight-pointed gold star that had a gold octagon in the center of it. It gleamed and I grabbed it out of his hand with a curious gaze.


    Oh wait, I didn''t have a badge case.


    "You don''t have a badge case do you?" Surge snorted, even managing to make that sound loud. "Hold on one second, I''ll get you one. Consider it a gift for giving me a helluva surprising battle."


    I was going to refuse the offer but honestly, I had no reason to so I just shrugged in acceptance.


    The giant of a man lumbered off and I idly watched him go, noticing a figure running up to me from the corner of my eye.


    "That was awesome!" Green praised, patting Gaia on the head with a wide grin. "Seriously! You''re so good! I can''t believe this is only your first gym badge! You and Gaia totally owned that Raichu! I knew she was strong but she''s so strong!"


    Gaia puffed up at that and I couldn''t keep the pleased smirk off my face.


    "The training paid off. Gaia was able to weather Raichu''s onslaught real well and Saury seemed to help her out with the speed of Vine Whip too," I mused, recalling the battle in my mind.


    I know Loki wouldn''t be happy about that, but he shouldn''t be ashamed of his performance. The fact that every single one of Surge''s pokemon had Shock Wave, was just annoying for his entire style.


    He also didn''t have the required power to take out Raichu. When you were against a tougher opponent that countered your style of fighting, there was only ever one outcome that it would reach. That was just the harsh reality and I hope he didn''t take it too bad.


    Green beamed. "Will you watch my battle?!" She asked suddenly.


    I raised a brow at that.


    Well, she had been my training partner for these 3 days¡­ if not for Green, this match might have been even harder but she helped me out a ton¡­


    It would only be right if I watched her battle...


    "Hell no," I replied with a snort, returning Gaia to the ball with another pat.


    Yeah right.


    Green blinked, before her eyes went wide in confusion.


    "N-No?!" She balked.


    "Yeah¡­ no," I said coolly. "I''m not interested in watching your match. You''re not gonna lose anyways with that monster of an Ivysaur."


    She spluttered in disbelief. "Don''t be so mean Silvy! Watch my battle!"


    "No."


    "Pleaaaase!"


    "No."


    "Prettyyyyy pleaaase!"


    "No."


    By now Green was clutching my jacket in a way that didn''t make me want to instinctively throw her (I had batted her hand off of me multiple times over the day), refusing to let me go.


    She was gazing at me like a kicked puppy and I gazed back with unimpressed eyes.


    Fun fact, Green didn''t like when the day ended with just training. No, for some godforsaken reason, she actually enjoyed hanging out with me.


    She would constantly pester me to do things after training was over, since we started in the morning and finished around midday, and used these same exact eyes to get me to agree¡­ but she didn''t realize that these eyes barely affected me.


    I simply agreed because I had nothing better to do, but agreeing after the first ask was not really my style.


    I liked to make it seem like I was putting up resistance despite not caring. Made the weaker people back off.


    Green was not one of those weaker people. She would bug me forever if she had to.


    Mischievous and cunning Green must have thought it had to do with her "cuteness" whenever I eventually complied.


    I snorted at the thought. What a funny girl she was.


    "Actually, you should stay back and watch the battle! I''ve got something to give you!" Surge called out, handing me the badge case.


    I shot him a scalding glare, as Green perked up in joy.


    "So just give it to me now dumbass there''s no reason to wait," I bit out. I opened up the case and placed my badge in any slot before shutting it and placing it in my bag.


    "It would be faster to just hand it out to you and the girl here after her match," Surge laughed, utterly unbothered by my foul temper.


    Are you kidding me? Everyone here was a freak.


    I scowled and marched to the stands. I had half a mind to just ignore him and leave but whatever. I didn''t have to leave for Pewter immediately I guess.


    "Yay!" Green cheered happily, taking her place on the field as she shot me a thumbs up.


    My response was to flip her off but she brushed it off like she brushed off all my terrible mannerisms.


    Annoying. That''s what she was.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green and Surge''s battle, unlike mine, was a one on one battle.


    This was what he had been doing against every other trainer that challenged him. I was the exception because I had requested for it and for some reason, he agreed to my demands.


    Probably to put me in my place.


    Heh, he failed. I had already gotten my arrogance beaten in by a Fraxure, I wouldn''t lower it any further until I nearly died again!


    Green was all business. Her black dress was gone, replaced by a teal shirt and red skirt combo, red wristbands, long cyan socks and white shoes.


    That same white bucket hat remained firmly on her head as she gazed calmly out at the field.


    Surge, considering Raichu was unconscious from my earlier beating, had sent out a hardy looking Magneton and in response, Green confidently released Saury.


    I watched the match in renewed interest because the first thing Surge had Magneton do, was use a move by the name of Electric Terrain.


    I vaguely remember a move name like that. Changed the field or something.


    It must have increased the power of electric moves too because that Magneton was rocking some serious firepower.


    It''s electric attacks came out in furious bolts, hitting the Ivysaur who managed to evade some, but not nearly all of them.


    In response, Saury launched various grass attacks, testing Magneton for something and watching as the floating magnet hardly registered some attacks.


    Steel type was a terrible typing for the Ivysaur. Not only did it resist the grass type attacks, it was completely immune to poison attacks as well.


    "Sunny Day," Green said suddenly, looking completely at ease despite the matchup disadvantage.


    Saury grunted and began concentrating, before shooting a white light into the sky.


    I scowled in annoyance, as the rays of the sun intensified and punished me for wearing long clothing.


    But that annoyance turned into a silent surprise as the entire tone of the battle shifted.


    I knew Green''s Ivysaur had Sunny Day. I don''t know how he had it and why, considering he didn''t even have Solar Beam yet¡­ but it did help boost Growth.


    "Growth, Saury."


    Saury let out a rumbling growl, plant on its back blooming a bit from the effects of the Growth and I watched it soak in the sunlight.


    Then it took a single forward and my mouth opened a little bit, as that massive fucking Ivysaur began moving like it were a Pikachu.


    Wait just a goddamn second. Did this thing have Chlorophyll?!


    Holy hell, are you telling me this entire time Saury was even stronger than I initially thought?


    Saury belied his size greatly with how quick he was suddenly moving and two gigantic vines, size boosted by Growth, sprouted out before slamming into the frantic Magneton.


    Magneton never stopped firing attacks. Thunderbolts, Shock Waves¡­ I even saw it shoot out an unpolished Flash Cannon and Tri-Attack.


    Before, Saury would just weather the attack and fire back even stronger but now he was actively dodging them.


    Those huge vines of it began battering the Magneton nonstop, before Saury supplemented his offense by firing Razor Leafs at it as well.


    It didn''t matter if they weren''t effective, because the Ivysaur was hitting it far much and it was boosted by Growth. The damage was very quickly adding up and Saury just naturally hit really hard.


    I would know. None of my Pokemon could beat this thing and three of them had resistance to its moves. The one who currently came closest was Ares but she lost in the end too.


    Saury wrapped up his dominant performance by wrapping more huge vines around the Magneton, before slamming it brutally on the ground.


    "Magneton is unable to battle and as a result, Gym Leader Lt. Surge no longer has any pokemon left! The winner of this match is challenger Green!"


    Green grinned and leapt happily. "I did it! Yes! Good job Saury!" She praised happily, hugging the Ivysaur.


    Saury grunted, smiling slightly at Green and wrapping his vines around her before she returned him to his ball.


    "Damn," I thought with furrowed brows. Saury was actually a freak of a pokemon.


    Chlorophyll blindsided me. Saury hadn''t deigned to showcase that ability in our spars and I felt my resolve to crush Green in a battle raise.


    It''s not like Saury would be her only problem in the future either. Green''s team was going to progress almost as hard as my team was.


    Right now to be completely honest, if not for Saury, I''d be able to comfortably beat Green in battle but that Ivysaur completely flipped the power in her favor.


    But as she got better, her team would very quickly catch up to Saury. Lappy was getting strong fast, but Vee, Larvee and Togee were still babies (Vee less so).


    Her final team looked pretty scary. Both our final teams did actually.


    The fights between us were going to only get better. I guess she really could be my rival for this region.


    "Alright, what the hell do you want?" I asked, ignoring Green''s badge face shoving as I instead gazed at Surge.


    Surge laughed and began digging in his pocket.


    "You sure don''t waste any time, kid!"


    I sneered, only to blink as Surge produced two pieces of paper and two TMs.


    "The reason I''ve been upping the ante, is because of these babies right here!" Surge said, handing the paper to both me and an interested Green.


    "Tickets?" I thought.


    "A ticket?" Green said aloud.


    "Yep! To the S.S Anne! We''re running a special event with it this year." Surge exclaimed. "Only worthy trainers are allowed on and I''m the one tasked with giving out the tickets, so I''ve gotta weed out the ones not ready for it!"


    My brows furrowed. A ticket to the S.S Anne from Surge?


    Wasn''t this¡­ from the Anime? In the games Surge didn''t give you a ticket to the Anne. Bill did.


    But now he was? Yeah this was from the Anime for sure.


    "When does the boat show up?" I asked calmly.


    "Two weeks," Surge replied easily.


    Two weeks¡­ perfect. I could probably get Pewter and Cerulean badges at that pace if I planned correctly.


    "Alright," I grunted, pocketing the ticket. "I guess I''ll be there."


    "Me too!" Green nodded in excitement.


    Surge nodded with a grin, before handing us the yellow discs. "A gift from me! It''s the TM for Shock Wave! It''s permanent too so use it as much as you want."


    Shock Wave¡­ I didn''t even know when I was going to catch an electric type or which I''d catch.


    It would be useful though. If I did catch one, I was going to abuse this Shockwave move because damn was it annoying.


    I took it out his hand and placed it in the TM section of my bag.


    "Awesome! Thanks so much!" Green beamed, doing the same thing.


    Surge laughed again. "Alright, now I gotta head to the center and you kids probably do too. I haven''t lost back to back in a long time."


    "No. Leave me the hell alone," I said with a glare.


    They both completely ignored me and I sighed.


    Whatever.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "So what do you plan on doing before the ship arrives?" Green asked curiously, biting into her sandwich as she gazed at me with those big green eyes.


    Green wasn''t an uncommon eye color but her shade of it was pretty damn unique, much like my pale silver eyes. Hers were a fluorescent green, practically glittering with wonder.


    "Going to Pewter City through Diglett''s Cave... then traverse Mt. Moon to head to Cerulean," I replied, biting into my own sandwich.


    Green nodded, expression thoughtful. "You plan on fighting the gyms there?"


    I nodded. "That''s the plan. I have two weeks to get their badges, then I''ll come back here and get on the boat."


    Wooo¡­ another boat ride. Was this like my fourth one? In such a short span too. I never even road a boat back in my previous world and it was basically my main form of transportation here.


    And I spent most of my boat rides cooped up in my room. Maybe I''d actually enjoy the benefits of a boat when I got on the S.S Anne.


    "What about you?" I asked, finishing off my sandwich.


    Green''s thoughtful expression deepened. "I¡­ was thinking of going to Pewter City through Diglett''s Cave¡­ and then Cerulean through Mt. Moon."


    ¡­


    I glared at the girl with narrowed eyes. "Absolutely not, Leaf."


    There was something deeply wrong with her. I don''t understand what was wrong with her.


    "We are not traveling together. Go get your other gym badges. You''ve got time to secure one or two just like me," I said firmly.


    "But Silvy! I had so much fun hanging out with you these past 3 days!" Green argued, crossing her arms and having the audacity to pout. "You''re one of the best trainers I encountered my age and you taught me the importance of training too! I think we''d be great traveling partners!"


    "Cool," I said blandly.


    She was insistent. "Wouldn''t it be fun if we traveled together?!"


    "Maybe for you and even then, I doubt it. We''re complete opposites. We''d probably kill each other after a week."


    "Nuh uh!"


    I felt a twitch form in annoyance and took a deep breath.


    This was one of the things Green would pester me about until I actually left this damn city.


    "What is your deal? Why do you want to travel with me?" I asked, trying to figure this out. "I''m not nice. I''m not pleasant. I don''t think I''ve complimented you even once and I was a complete dick to your childhood friend. So why are you so insistent on this? You''ve been a trainer long enough to have a traveling companion but you decided I was the right choice. What''s wrong with you?"


    Was she dumb? What type of masochist would want to put up with me for a prolonged period of time? I don''t even think Jasmine was that insane...


    Nah she was. Bless Jasmine''s, too nice, soul.


    Green frowned slightly, thrown for a loop by my questioning behavior. She didn''t expect my curiosity because I wasn''t curious by nature. I either said yes or no without questioning her but for something like this, naturally I''d want to ask questions.


    This wasn''t some small thing such as hanging out. This was a decision that would change my entire journey through Kanto.


    In the first place, I wanted to travel alone. I was still a criminal after all and I didn''t plan on suddenly becoming a saint.


    "Well¡­ it''s just," Green pursed her lips. "I dunno¡­ I just haven''t had this much fun hanging out with someone in years. I used to have fun with Ash and Blue, but they''ve become so hostile, that if I hang out with one of them, the other will get mad and it''s exhausting¡­"


    "But you''re different! Yeah you''re mean and really rude and you don''t really like anyone, but you''re that way with everyone! You''re mean¡­ but I still like hanging out with you because you''re just generally malicious! You don''t actually hate me because of anything I''ve done! That''s just who you are!"


    Are you fucking kidding me?


    Since when was having a bad personality a good thing? I just don''t get it at all. Jasmine thought the same thing didn''t she?


    "Besides¡­ Team Rocket is becoming more prominent and I personally stopped their operation twice. I''ve been meaning to travel with someone for a while because I could be in some danger¡­ Most people are already buddied up and honestly... I don''t think I can rely on them if that happens like I can rely on you!" Green added, using the most logic since this whole thing.


    ...That made sense. She should have just lead with that.


    She had a point. I seemed to have problems with Team Rocket as well so having her watching my back and vice versa, wasn''t a bad idea.


    "We''re leaving tomorrow at 8 in the morning. Show up outside the center or I will leave you," I said tersely.


    Green lit up at that and a wide grin split her face. She leapt across the table and hugged me excitedly.


    "Yes! I''ll be there! I definitely will! I''ll even set an alarm for an hour earlier!" She announced.


    I grunted in annoyance. "Don''t touch me," I demanded, shoving her off me.


    Unfortunately, I had done this too many times to her and she swiftly recovered.


    "Tomorrow at 8¡­ alright! I''m gonna go now for some last minute shopping! I''ll see you tomorrow!" Green beamed, backing away and waving at me.


    I sighed and waved her off. "Yeah yeah. See ya Leaf," I replied.


    "STOP CALLING ME THAT! CALL ME GREEN!"


    A snort left me as she disappeared, before I sighed.


    I was still in the center waiting for Ares, Loki and Gaia to finish their checkups from the battle so I''d be here for a little longer.


    To appease Jasmine and Joy, I did actually plan on finding a traveling partner¡­ at some point, once I was sure my criminal actions weren''t going to catch up to me.


    Getting one as soon as I landed in Kanto, was not the plan.


    Getting the counterpart of one of the main characters in the series, was definitely not the plan.


    Green wasn''t exactly like the video game version and that made sense because this world was not the games.


    But if there was one thing she had, it was their talent.


    Sure she wasn''t as invincible as the protagonist of the video games and I very much doubted Green was going to become Champion in her first year (I don''t think that was possible in this world) of training¡­ but she would become Champion eventually at this rate if that''s what she set her mind to.


    Her team had some similarities to the depictions of Red as well, though likely not in the exact order he got them.


    Venusaur, Lapras and Eevee were common sights¡­ but she had a Togepi and now a Larvesta too... with the addition of all the cross region stuff, it makes sense that she would have different choices but it was fascinating all the same to actually see.


    It wasn''t ideal that I was traveling with a hero but whatever, if push came to shove¡­ I''m positive that I could escape in the long run.


    I could also conveniently disappear whenever she was off doing her main character stuff or whatever.


    ¡­Sometimes I wish I didn''t get humbled by that Fraxure. Yeah my ego was massive after all my success¡­ but now I''ve been reduced to this, actually considering other people''s words and not being an arrogant ass all the time.


    Normally, my conversation with Green would have ended the moment she appeared in front of me¡­ and our pleasantries would have turned violent when she opened my bag¡­


    But now we were traveling together. What a funny twist of fate.


    "Silver! You''re pokemon are healed and ready to be taken back!"


    I sighed, standing up to go approach the, too nice, Nurse Joy.


    Why was it that whenever I said one thing, the other tended to happen?


    It was ridiculous.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I was staring at my team, in my room at the Pokemon Center, with a small smile.


    "First things first, we won the match and got our Gym Badge," I revealed, showcasing the badge for them all to see.


    My smile widened at the pleased noises of my team.


    "Ares, Loki, Gaia¡­ fantastic job," I praised, gazing at the three fighters who participated.


    "You all did great and before you start complaining¡­"


    I sent a pointed glance towards my first pokemon and was satisfied to see him flinch in surprise.


    "That Raichu packed too much power for you with a surefire way to hit you through your illusions. You don''t have to be disappointed in that, besides Torment helped Gaia and I wrap up that match with little issue so thank you, Loki," I praised.


    Loki''s argument died on his lips at my logical words and I scratched behind his ear.


    "Don''t worry about it. You win some you lose some and that Raichu was a fully evolved Pokemon. We''ll steadily increase your firepower until you have the strength to supplement your trickery," I assured.


    My Zorua gazed up at me, before his eyes narrowed in determination and he nodded.


    I gazed at Gaia with a proud gaze. "I already sang my praises to you girl, but you did a fantastic job neutralizing Raichu. You poisoned, restrained, drained, blocked¡­ it''s a controlled style and it''s frustrating for them, but really enjoyable for you, isn''t it?"


    The unsavory gleam in Gaia''s eyes, told me all I needed to know. It was clear as day that she enjoyed controlling the tempo of the fight and we''d keep at it.


    I''d give her options to speed up the fight, options to slow it down¡­ She''d completely control the field and her opponents every step of the way.


    Finally, I turned to Ares and felt a feral smirk forming at the same time as her.


    "Ares, you performed way above what I expected of you," I said genuinely, rubbing the hard helmet of hers. "Not only did you crush that Pikachu with hardly a struggle, you beat the hell out of an Electabuzz too! You fought through the pain and kicked his ass!"


    Ares roared at that, looking utterly pleased with herself and I couldn''t fault her.


    "We''ll continue to increase your power and endurance for now. You can take a good hit and once you become a Shelgon, we''ll teach you even more defensive techniques, to help supplement the power you''ll have as a Salamence, got that?" I instructed.


    Once she became a Shelgon, her defenses would skyrocket but everything else, barring power, would practically disappear in preparation for the metamorphosis into Salamence.


    I would take that time to teach her how to take a hit that didn''t involve abusing her shell. Shelgon''s would always be naturally more durable then Salamence because of that shell, but that didn''t mean my Salamence had to lose all that durability.


    Ares was going to become her namesake, a real war machine.


    Ares looked up at her trainer, eyes practically shining in anticipation.


    If there was any doubt about picking the wrong trainer (there had been none), the match she had against Surge dashed all of it away.


    Her trainer was truly a worthy vassal, befitting the honor of riding along with her once she gained the abilities to dominate the skies!


    I saw the look in Ares'' eyes and smiled in a pleased manner. Looks like she was truly on board with me being her trainer now.


    Good. Getting her loyalty now, would do wonders in not getting maimed to death when she first evolved into Salamence. The early hormones for Bagon''s final evolution were infamous enough to warn most trainers about.


    "Alright, next up we''re going against a Rock type gym," I announced to my team. "Freyja, Beldum. I''m using you two for this battle no matter what so get ready."


    Beldum simply nodded, their intent flashing through my mind for a moment.


    Freyja looked a lot more nervous.


    It was no secret that she was my weakest Pokemon but her control had been increasing steadily these past few days.


    Her work with Water Pulse in particular, was getting pretty damn good. Rain Dance''s output was slightly better but it wasn''t anything too impressive. Maintaining it though, required a lot of energy so I had her practice keeping it up as long as possible.


    While she couldn''t beat any of my or Green''s pokemon (her battles with Larvee were very close!), she was able to get some victories against rather incompetent opponents¡­ in my opinion.


    "Don''t be nervous," I assured. "You have me guiding you. We''ll win this badge and you''ll win your match. Just do your best and I won''t be disappointed."


    Freyja gazed up at me, taken aback by my complete confidence in her, and then she smiled shakily at me and nodded vigorously.


    I smiled at her and let the topic drop.


    "By the way, we''re traveling with Green for the time being. I don''t know if its permanent but for now, we''ll try it out," I told them. "Any objections?"


    There was a brief silence, before my team gazed at me like I had grown another head.


    "What¡­?" I said in confusion.


    "Bay," Gaia drawled, pointing a vine at me and getting a nod out of every single one of them.


    "...I''m the only one that would have a problem with that?" I asked in disbelief.


    Once again, they nodded.


    "Fee!" Freyja beamed.


    "You guys like Green?" I asked dumbly.


    Yet another group of nods.


    "Zor zorua," Loki explained gently.


    "...You guys think this is good for me because I don''t talk to enough people...?"


    A final group nod. Even Beldum and Ares agreed on that one and they could care less about my social interactions


    ...


    You''ve gotta be kidding me. No way were my pokemon telling me I needed to be less antisocial. No way were they actually encouraging me to travel with her.


    "...You guys are free to do what you want for the rest of the day," I grunted sourly, marching over to my bed to sulk in peace. "I''m gonna check out the next moves I want you to learn and do some adjustments now that we have another person moving with us. Don''t mention the less than legal things I do by the way. That''s a team secret."


    I finished by tossing them all a pokeblock and got noises of affirmation from them all.


    Before I could pull out my Pokedex to make good on my words, my Pokegear vibrating, made me glance at it and I flipped it open.


    A message, from Green¡­


    "Tomorrow at 8 right? I think that''s what you said... Wait that''s definitely what you said! Okay Silvy! I gotta go, Togee just tried to steal this trainers food so I have to apologize!"


    I felt my eye twitching in annoyance.


    When the fuck did she add her number to my Pokegear? When the fuck did she get mine?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The chilly morning air brushed against me and I let out a cold breath, stuffing my hands in my jacket pockets, before removing one to push the hair out of my eyes.


    It was currently 7:50 and I was waiting for Green to eventually show up.


    My internal clock demanded I wake up earlier, so I had been awake since about 6 actually. I took a bath with my team, made my team food, choked down my slightly edible meal (it was motivation to better my own cooking), and did a light workout that got the blood moving.


    I had already returned the keys back to Nurse Joy so all that''s left, was to wait for her to show up.


    Before, I was going to leave her as soon as 8 hit¡­ but with the news that my team liked Green, I would wait for a little longer.


    Currently, I was relaxed against someone''s house, the Pokemon Center visible from a distance that would allow me to see Green come out, as I contemplated my next course of action.


    Considering I now had a person I was traveling with, it would be best if I start including her in my planning. Green was the type of person who would generally follow whatever I say we were doing, but she was independent enough to pitch in her own ideas.


    I had a very my way or highway mindset, but that was typically when I had a set goal. If Green wanted to go somewhere and I didn''t find it inconvenient, I''d not have much problem going.


    Hm¡­ I should consider a new sixth member. I wasn''t hard pressed for one, and I would surely catch more than six in the future but I suppose filling out the last slot was a good side goal to focus on.


    I was missing quite a few types as well¡­


    I guess from the types I was missing, filling my last slot out with a Fire, Ghost or Electric type would probably be what I want the most.


    But I couldn''t really think of one right now, that''d be feasible to hunt.


    The only fire type I''d seriously consider in Kanto, was Magmortar and the only electric type was its counterpart, Electivire.


    Conveniently for Ghost, Dusknoir would be awesome too. It may have sucked in games but here? They were astonishingly rare and powerful.


    Same with Electivire and Magmortar. They were much stronger than the games portrayed them as.


    But alas, I don''t think I wanted to catch those three. Sure if the opportunity arose, I''d take it... but I think I''d like to consider other options¡­


    Which was the problem. I doubted I''d find options like those in Kanto. Sure there was much more national variance, but pokemon still had preferred regions.


    I guess looking for a Ghost was my best chance? Most Ghosts congregated at Lavender Tower and we could realistically head there en route to Celadon.


    I may even find something in Rock Tunnel. Maybe I''d even ask Green to let Lappy ride us to the Power Plant. There might be a decent electric type over there.


    Alright, that didn''t sound too ba ¡ª


    My eyes darted upward, as the sound of a woman singing, interrupted my musings¡­


    Except it wasn''t a woman singing.


    I froze solid, a primal fear surging through my body that filled me with just as much confusion because I didn''t know why I was afraid.


    Well, I didn''t know for long but I soon found out.


    The source of the woman singing, wasn''t actually a woman. It was a pokemon.


    Light green in nature, the pokemon had some insectoid features but it looked much like a dragonfly.


    A Flygon, one of the many dragons from Hoenn.


    And on the back of that Flygon was a man.


    He was a tall, middle aged man with very short black hair. He was wearing a long sleeved black shirt, with a large V neck that showed a white undershirt underneath and black trousers along with shoes.


    It wasn''t the Flygon that was filling me with such fear¡­ Despite the fact that the dragon was gazing at me with a violent gaze, familiarity in its eyes¡­ I didn''t fear it nearly as much as the man riding on it.


    The man gazing down at me with cruel gray eyes that looked similar, but oh so different to my unnatural silver hues.


    "You''re nervous," Giovanni pointed out idly. "I thought I taught you that being nervous detracted from how effective you could be. It''s a waste to be anxious."


    He was practically saying the same thing I said to Green earlier right before my gym battle. It was something that I thought of myself¡­


    Why was he saying the same thing?


    Taught me? What did he teach me?


    "What do you want?" I bit out, anger mixing in with fear for reasons I couldn''t explain.


    Giovanni raised a brow, gazing down at me with slight amusement.


    "You ran off without saying a word and while the thought is still amusing, isn''t it natural for a father to be worried for his favorite son? It''s only right that I come to pay you a visit after hearing that you remained in Kanto. Not to mention, you managed to beat Surge. It seems like you really are worth my investment."


    You would have thought hell froze over, with how my body stilled.


    What did this asshole just say?


    Isn''t it natural for a father to be worried for his son?


    Oh no no no no. No fucking way absolutely not.


    ...My connection to Team Rocket, my hatred for them, my anger and fear at Giovanni, my thieving and belligerent attitude, my birth city being Viridian¡­


    Was because I was the son of Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket?


    "You''ve gotta be fucking me."

 Let Sleeping Growlithes Lie I

    "You''ve gotta be fucking kidding me."


    Me being fairly well off, the fact that I was sponsored, the fact that I ran away from Kanto¡­ My intense hatred for Team Rocket, my fear for Giovanni...


    Zorua being my first pokemon.


    All of it made sense now. Everything that had confused me before, had been answered with this one revelation.


    Silver was the son of Giovanni¡­


    I was this assholes kid.


    Silver was Giovanni''s kid?! What the hell?! What the actual fuck?!


    There''s just no way this could be happening to me. Not only was my dad the boss of Team Rocket, he was probably the strongest Gym Leader in the region.


    It was no secret that the real strength of Gym Leaders were not accounted by the teams they used in Gym Battles.


    Giovanni was no exception. While not quite on the level of the Elite 4, he was still remarkably exceptional.


    He was the real deal. Every region had that Gym Leader... Claire, Wallace, Volkner, Drayden...


    ...Giovanni. And this was my father.


    Damn.


    If I knew this, I would have stayed my ass in Hoenn. Why the hell would I want to travel through the region where my mafia dad was running shit in the shadow... after I ran away from him?!


    Not to mention, for him to personally come seek me out meant that he wanted me back.


    Goddamnit, my other half must be so pissed at me (I would know because I''m pissed at me) for coming back to this region! It''s not my fault! It''s his for hoarding his memories! How was I supposed to know this piece of shit was my dad?


    Why didn''t I know that?! That seemed like a pretty huge revelation and yet that goddamn important detail completely alluded me until the man himself told me.


    "What do you want?" I said harshly, gazing at the Flygon with a deep frown.


    That would explain why I didn''t want to catch a Flygon. If the utter disgust I felt for this one in particular was indication, I had personal grievances with it.


    Actually, that might have explained why I didn''t seem to want any ground type in general. Through all my planning of future captures, not a single ground type appealed to me and I was even talking about Pokemon my other half wouldn''t have known about before the merging.


    That would be a problem for the future. Ground types were useful and I did not want them.


    Giovanni raised a brow and looked down at me. "It seems time away has given you quite the bark¡­ Most impressive, son. It''s a rare sight to see you standing up to me and I find myself pleased with this progress," he praised, gravely voice filled with an unknown amusement.


    The way he called me son¡­ I didn''t like it one bit. Was I just some accessory for this bastard? Did he want me to become something special to stroke his ego?


    My eyes narrowed. My other half may have been afraid of the man before me, but I refused to let anyone cow me into submission.


    Don''t you worry, me. I wouldn''t let this piece of trash walk all over me no matter who he was.


    For some reason a flash of disbelief coursed through my body at that.


    I ignored it.


    "Thanks so much dad," I sneered at him. "But you must have dirt in your ears, I asked you a question. What do you want?" I pressed, unintimidated by the middle aged man.


    Flygon snarled at my tone but Giovanni merely held a hand up, immediately silencing it, and regarded me with an appraising eye.


    He looked¡­ genuinely impressed with me.


    What a sickening thought.


    "Perhaps it was good in hindsight, that you ran away. I was quite skeptical at first, but you managed to learn how to stand up to me and not only that, you managed to beat an Electabuzz and a Raichu with not a badge to your name¡­"


    The gray eyes of my father gazed at me and beyond the cruelness, I couldn''t tell what else was behind them.


    "You''re team, show me it," Giovanni suddenly said.


    It was not a question.


    My glare deepened drastically.


    "Who the fuck do you ¡ª"


    I cut myself off and took a deep breath, reminding myself that this was still the boss of Team Rocket despite being my father.


    Yeah, he could fuck right off with that request. I''d tell him but showing him? Not a chance in hell I''m actually showing him my team.


    "Zorua, Bayleef, Feebas, Beldum and Bagon," I said tersely. I doubted he''d do something to me in public but I wouldn''t push my luck too much.


    Just give him the bare minimum.


    "Why are you here?" I asked warily, thinking about how I could bolt if it came down to it.


    He probably wouldn''t risk just dragging me back home right now. We were in public and someone would hear me struggling because I certainly wasn''t going without a fight.


    There''s also the fact that I was real good at getting away to take into account.


    Giovanni''s expression gave away nothing but for a slight moment, I saw his eyes widen in interest at some of the names.


    Then, they narrowed slightly.


    "An impressive team, but you have no use for a Feebas. Discard it and I will give you another water type," Giovanni ordered.


    I blinked in surprise, anger melting off momentarily.


    Was this asshole¡­ trying to give me advice?


    Naturally, the anger came roaring back as I digested the words.


    "I went through a lot of stress catching her, you''re outta your goddamn mind if you think I''m getting rid of Freyja," I scowled deeply, glaring at him.


    Was he going to ever answer the questions I asked? This was so fucking infuriating and I had no clue what the purpose of this visit was, especially considering he hadn''t attempted to drag me away yet.


    "Freyja? You''ve nicknamed it?" Giovanni asked in slight surprise. "I suppose your time away has made you somewhat forget my teachings..."


    I tensed at that, muscles bunching up in preparation for anything.


    If Giovanni noticed he didn''t say anything. In the first place, he was far too relaxed for this conversation, as if he weren''t speaking to his son that had ran away from home.


    Every word came out of his mouth was measured and calm, refusing to reveal any of what his thoughts were.


    Not to mention he never raised his voice. He really did remind me of a Godfather who ran the Mafia.


    Giovanni''s expression did not shift. "I admit, I''m more than impressed by the team you''ve managed to gather for yourself, but you''re forgetting important details."


    My biological father shook his head. "It matters little. I am a patient man so I don''t mind teaching you again."


    "To answer your questions, I''m merely here because I happened to have some business in Vermilion City and since I heard that my own son was here, I decided it wouldn''t be too much trouble to come. I''d be remiss to not visit you¡­ Rest assured, I believe every trainer must have their own journey, so I will continue to allow you to explore the region for now," Giovanni said simply.


    I clenched my fist, barely holding back my rage at hearing that "for now".


    "You don''t get to decide the life I live. No one gets to decide the life I live except for me," I snarled in annoyance.


    I had legendaries dragging me to this world for some fucked up purpose, I decided to deal with this worlds calamities even though I really didn''t want to, I was putting myself in business that I had no choice but to put myself in...


    Giovanni was playing a dangerous fucking game expecting me to follow his whims.


    "You are my son, of course I do. You will inherit everything I own in due time," he retorted bluntly, raising a single brow at me.


    "I don''t want it," I bit out. It was taking everything in my power to not explode.


    "You will want and have it all in time because you are my son. Naturally you will have the world when I claim it."


    Half of me just wanted to agree with his words out of fear¡­ but the other half wanted nothing more then to wipe his face into the ground right here and now.


    "Eventually you will come to appreciate what I''m doing for you, Silver. I am making you strong. You yourself despise the weak. It''s something we have in common¡­ but unlike me, you despise even associating with them. You do not wish to use them."


    Giovanni shook his head, as if his fucked up way of thinking was the right way to go about things.


    "You share many similarities to me, but you share even more with your mother. Learn to control your temperament," he scolded.


    "A journey is a great way for you to mature and see things the way you should. It''s why I haven''t put more effort into searching for you," Giovanni said bluntly.


    "You will come back eventually and resume your role as my heir, Silver."


    The way he said that¡­ the utter assurance in his tone¡­


    It really pissed me off.


    This narcissistic fucking asshole had no idea what he just did. This absolute dumbass named my father had no clue what he just unleashed.


    I can''t believe that even in a world like this, the villains were prone to monologuing with absolute confidence. The nerve of this guy to confidently tell me to my face, that I''d eventually see things his way.


    Oh you fucked up big time. Let it be known, I really hated when someone looked down on me, or assumed I''d do something I had no intention of doing.


    If I was the old Silver maybe I would listen to him¡­ but now?


    Now we were a new person and that new person had managed to overwhelm his fear with rebellious teen fury that had a proper outlet on what to unleash it on.


    Yeah, Team Rocket was done for. I''d make sure of it if it were the last thing I did.


    Stupid smug arrogant prick of a father. I would have left Team Rocket alone too for the most part, I was only using Kanto to get stronger.


    But now? Oh if this was anything like the games they were so fucked.


    "We''ll see," I said coolly, hiding my boiling rage as plans began formulating on how I was going to run this organization into the dirt.


    Giovanni gazed at me once more, almost checking to see if there was anything wrong with me, before nodding in satisfaction and making his way to Flygon.


    "Your mother won''t admit it, but she does miss you," he offered me.


    "She can go fuck herself," I said harshly, no longer fearing the consequences of my words.


    I was far too incensed for that.


    He chanced a glance at me in some surprise but merely smirked in amusement.


    "I will relay those words to her then. Do not be surprised if she visits you."


    I sneered.


    "Wait a sec," I called suddenly. "Do I have any siblings?"


    I was still stuck on him calling me his favorite son. There had to be a reason for that.


    Giovanni actually paused at the question and a dark frown crossed his features, before vanishing as quick as it came.


    "You have a younger brother the same age as you from this region. Do not ask anymore about him. He is beneath you. You may meet him on your journey but you two look nothing alike so you won''t know."


    With that, he beckoned Flygon and the dragon flew off with my father.


    "Stupid son of a bitch," I grunted in rage, balling my fist tight and resisting the urge to smash it into a wall.


    Giovanni really thought I was gonna mature and realize I was destined to eventually become the boss of Team Rocket?


    He could fuck right off with that. All his words did was make me want the role even less.


    In what world did Team Rocket Heir sound good to anyone? This was the organization that got smashed by a kid.


    Now they were gonna lose to another one because he messed with the wrong one.


    In the first place, that narcissist wouldn''t give up his role to me until he died. I had no intention of staying in his shadow for the rest of his life.


    He should have let me be. Now I was going to make him regret dragging me back into the mix one way or another.


    Resolve set on the destruction of Team Rocket, I pondered the other topic of the discussion I had with him.


    The one about my sibling.


    Truthfully, the only reason I asked him that was because he called me his favorite son.


    "You have a brother the same age as you."


    I would bet all my money, that my brother was probably Ash Ketchum himself in this timeline. I don''t know if this is how it was in every timeline where they both happen to exist but I did know that someone out there was laughing very hard at me right now.


    ¡­


    I resisted the urge to scream in rage as the reality of the situation hit me and instead, punched the wall of the house I was leaning on, ignoring the cracks on it and the blood on my knuckles.


    My dad was the boss of the worst criminal syndicate on the planet currently, my brother was a legendary magnet¡­


    Now that I knew Giovanni was my father, it was easy for me to figure out who that my mom was probably that one girl in the Johto games¡­ Archer?


    No that was the guy¡­


    Ariana, that''s what it was. She practically looked like a female version of Silver so it wasn''t hard to find out.


    I felt my anger spike at that name, along with immense disappointment and sadness.


    This fucking sucked. This was terrible. I hated this so much.


    Kanto was supposed to be the region that gave me the least problems, but it looked like it was going to give me the most.


    "Hey Silvy!" A chipper voice called out.


    Except the chipper was very strained.


    I gazed at Green with unimpressed eyes. "Oddly convenient of you to show up right now," I commented offhandedly.


    Evidently, Green was a terrible liar.


    She began laughing nervously at that, averting her gaze and rubbing the back of her head.


    "W-What do you mean? I just got here at the scheduled time!" Green said with a shaky smile.


    I snorted. "I know you saw most of that but I''ll let it go for now since you''re trying to act normal. C''mon, let''s go and we''ll discuss it later."


    She nodded hastily, relief on her features before she gasped at the sight of my bloody knuckles.


    "Are you alright?!" Green asked in concern, grabbing my hand and gauging the injury. "We have to get this wrapped up! Hold on I should have some bandages somewhere..."


    I watched with a blank expression as she reached into her bag and pulled out a gauze, before steadily wrapping it around my hand.


    Suddenly, traveling with Green wasn''t a bad idea. I was hellbent on destroying Team Rocket now to secure my freedom, so using her in my war was cruel but something I had no qualms doing.


    ...It also made my life feel at least somewhat normal for the moment.


    "This is terrible, have you ever wrapped a gauze around anything?" I said, utterly unimpressed by her work.


    Green flushed red at her shoddy job. "N-No! But I''m trying!"


    I sighed and let it be, shoving my injured hand in my pocket.


    "Sometimes, that''s all you can do, Leaf."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Diglett Cave, was a cave that was dug out by a practical army of Digletts.


    It connected Pewter City and Vermilion City together, after the humans decided to personally put interest into the cave.


    It was nice for people who didn''t want to slog through Mt. Moon and cut down what would normally be a very long trip.


    After some work, they made the caves traversable to human beings by renovating and adjusting it a bit.


    It was very convenient and if there was one thing this world was good at, it was allowing convenience of travel on foot.


    But the cave itself was very dull. Like its namesake, only Digletts and Dugtrios really inhabited the cave. Apparently any other pokemon who tried to make residence there were either driven out or killed by them.


    Pretty harsh. Digletts did not mess around.


    "Got a bike?" I asked Green.


    She blinked and shook her head no. "No¡­ they are a bit expensive¡­ but I got a bike voucher while in Vermilion! This sweet old man was talking to me about his pokemon before giving me one! I can exchange it in Cerulean!"


    Of course she did.


    "You can use my bike for the time being then," I grunted, pulling my skates out and placing them on, before handing over my bike to her.


    "R-Really?!" She asked in surprise.


    I blinked at her. "Yeah, we only have two weeks. We gotta be quick about this and I don''t need you slowing me down, just use it until we make it to Cerulean and you get your own."


    Her eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously, accepting my black and red bike.


    Then we began navigating through the cave at a pace we both agreed on.


    Green and I were occasionally attacked by the Digletts and Dugtrio there, but they proved no problem to us and we progressed through about half the cave in a pretty good amount of time before deciding to take a break.


    "So how much did you hear?" I asked, absentmindedly swatting the Togepi trying to steal more snacks from me.


    Annoying bugger.


    Green choked on her rice at that and Ivysaur brought out a vine to pat her back.


    My team looked at her with unimpressed eyes, munching their specialized meals as they listened into the conversation.


    Judging by the depressed expression on Freyja''s face, they probably heard that conversation with Giovanni too.


    I temporarily ignored the recovering Green for a moment and grabbed Freyja, much to her surprise.


    "You guys heard what he said, right?" I asked softly, gazing at the defeated Feebas with a small frown.


    My team nodded hesitantly. In particular, Loki had a frown like mine, recognizing exactly who I was talking to.


    "I said everything I meant, Freyja. I don''t care what anyone says, I captured you for a reason and I''ll be damned if anyone convinces me to release you, got that?" I demanded.


    "Of all the water types I could have picked, I chose you and I will not regret my decision. You gotta stop letting others get to your head because they aren''t me," I chastised.


    I rubbed her scales affectionately. "Ignore the haters, they''ll be in awe of you soon enough, got that?"


    Freyja looked up and met my stern gaze. She looked doubtful of my claims but nodded all the same and I sighed.


    There was only one way to show her I was serious. I''d have to beat one of the Pewter Gym Leaders pokemon with her to boost her confidence.


    Easy work. I planned on doing that regardless. Making Freyja believe in herself, was the key to evolving her so I''d make her see it herself when we won our battle.


    "You done choking?" I asked Green with a raised brow. "You can stop being nervous about it."


    My words did not reassure her at all. In fact, she got even more nervous.


    She probably understood I preferred my secrets so my companion was justifiably wary at having been caught peeping.


    "I know you''re type. You''ll die if you don''t get the questions out," I urged, with a roll of my eyes.


    I didn''t really care. It''s not like Giovanni mentioned anything extremely incriminating and we were talking quite low to each other.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    We were in public after all. Wouldn''t be great if anyone overheard us.


    Green nodded reluctantly and took a deep breath.


    "I didn''t hear anything¡­ but were you talking to Giovanni, the Viridian Gym leader?" She asked, unable to hide her curiosity.


    I nodded. "He''s my sponsor. He got me Zorua," I said bluntly.


    I wasn''t sure if that was true, but it probably was. I also had no intention of revealing that he was my father.


    My traveling companion nodded at that, half expecting that response but her face looked troubled. "You didn''t¡­ look very happy speaking to him and well, you nearly punched a hole into the wall... you''re very strong by the way," she pointed out.


    I shrugged, despite the less than savory thoughts going through my head about what I wanted to do to Team Rocket.


    "He has expectations for me that I have no interest in following. Unfortunately, he doesn''t take no for an answer and that really pisses me off," I said darkly, clenching my fist at the thought of Giovanni.


    Despite his "praise" for me, Giovanni still looked down on me. He didn''t take me serious.


    He called me his heir, he had high hopes for me¡­ yet despite that, he still only saw me as some foolish kid.


    I was going to make him regret that. He was going to learn the hard way how vindictive I could be.


    "Ah so you wanna do your own thing, but he wants you to do something else?" Green asked curiously, an indecipherable emotion in her eyes.


    "Yep," I said calmly, finishing off my bowl of rice (this was one of the few things I could actually make edible at the moment!) and placing it up.


    Green polished off her own rice (I made too much and she didn''t complain about the taste) and stood up.


    We both began packing our respective things up in our nonsense bags and repeated the same with our Pokemon.


    "So what do you want to do?" Green asked curiously, returning her team. "I guess Giovanni wants you to become a Gym Leader like him¡­ but you don''t specialize in a type so what?"


    "I dunno," I grunted, returning my team. "But I want the freedom to make the decision when I finally do know what I want to do. I''m not going to let anyone chain me down with their expectations."


    I dusted the remaining dirt off my pants and placed my skates back on, ready to finish this trip before afternoon hit.


    Diglett Cave didn''t even have anything worth having a detour. What a lame cave. At least the path was fairly linear and only took a few hours on bike/skate.


    Green was gazing at me with shining eyes.


    "You''re so cool, Silvy!" She gushed, slinging her bag back on and climbing atop my bike.


    I rolled my eyes, stamping down the slight embarrassment at that. "Shut up and ride the bike."


    Green''s eyes turned mischievous on the spot and I groaned in annoyance.


    "Oh? Is Silvy embarrassed at a little praise?! Is it because a cute girl like me is the one praising you?! Hey, stop ignoring me! HEY WAIT UP, WHY ARE YOU SKATING SO FAST?!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "I thought it would have taken way longer to make it to Pewter but you don''t waste anytime, Silvy!" Green awed, looking at her clock and seeing that it was only 3 pm.


    I grunted, thankful for once at my unruly hair covering my eyes because the light after leaving a fairly dark cave, was a little jarring.


    When I left Rusturf Tunnel, the sun hadn''t been shining both times and it was the same with Meteor Falls.


    I wasn''t as fortunate for Diglett Cave but my hair more than made up for it as it protected one of my eyes from the beaming sun.


    Kanto wasn''t as dominating in terms of weather in comparison to Hoenn.


    Whatever weather state Hoenn was in, whether it was hot or raining, it made sure to impose that weather onto you. The heat was scalding, the rain was heavy and it rarely ever got cold.


    Kanto was far more standard. It cycled through the weather like a normal place. It could get cold, it could get hot, it could rain, it could snow.


    Sure it could get bad, but it wasn''t on the level of a place like Hoenn or say, Sinnoh, which was infamously known for being frigid levels of cold.


    I was not looking forward to traveling through Sinnoh. I despised the cold.


    But Kanto was nice. It was hot right now but compared to Hoenn, it was practically a light breeze.


    Pewter City was boring. Maybe Hoenn really had spoiled me because every city I went too in that region was just outright incredible.


    Especially Fortree. I really needed to go to Fortree again. Joy had taken to sending me pictures of interesting sights in between moderating my vital status.


    But Kanto was as basic as the games and that was its charm. Pewter City had a slate gray theme about it, with granite floors, an assortment of buildings and even a museum that was full of Fossils.


    They''re lucky I wasn''t interested in any fossils. I guarantee I would have been able to commit a heist and get away with it.


    Hmm, maybe if I was bored, I''d get that Old Amber. It''s not like I wanted it¡­ but an Aerodactyl was kinda cool.


    Okay Silver, let''s not just steal for fun. Only steal when I benefit from it and though I''d benefit from an Aerodactyl¡­ I didn''t really want one.


    I''d be a good thief for now and take it easy.


    "Alright, take me to the gym," I said, gazing in interest at the happenings of the city.


    The people mingled about and rock types seemed to especially populate the area, as well as basic pokemon you''d encounter in the earlier routes.


    As we headed towards the gym, Green chatted my ear off as usual and I listened silently, occasionally nodding at things she said, while plotting what I was planning on doing against the Gym Leader.


    "I could have sworn I saw some of these people when I was battling Flint," Green muttered in interest.


    "Challengers?" I muttered back, sneering at someone whose gaze I caught. "You''re telling me they couldn''t even beat this guy and are stuck here? Isn''t this your first badge? How long ago was that?"


    Green scratched her head and laughed nervously. "About¡­ a month or two ago?"


    I snorted and walked through the automatic doors.


    "They should quit then. This sport isn''t for them."


    It was expected that not everyone was meant to do gym challenges but some people were stubborn and really thought they could do it if they kept trying.


    Some lost their first few gym battles and went off to try to get a badge from another gym leader that they might have a bigger advantage against.


    Others thought that they could beat the gym leader after enough tries and remained in one spot for who knows how long. Sometimes they gave up and moved on to another gym, sometimes they gave up on gym challenges in general.


    Pokemon Battling was an extreme sport here and like every sport, there were those who did it casually and those who eventually did it professionally.


    Gym Challenges were meant to slowly weed the casuals out. It was a fairly ruthless tactic but it made sense. People who could beat 8 Gym Leaders could earn themselves a well paying job at the league.


    People who could compete in the big leagues of the Pokemon League, earned very valuable spots. It was a tantalizing offer, one that few would turn away.


    But not everyone was meant to do it.


    "Cruel¡­ but not wrong," Green admitted, patting Togepi''s head affectionately.


    I side eyed her for a moment as I walked up to the receptionist there.


    Green was very used to my less than stellar personality, probably attributed to the fact that she was friends with Blue...


    But she was also unknowingly beginning to pick up on it too. Made sense, she was a kid at the end of the day and kids were easily impressionable.


    Even I wasn''t exempt from that. After all, despite my maturity, I still didn''t see myself as anything but 12 and I was a growing¡­ kid.


    What a thought.


    "Welcome to the Pewter Gym!" The receptionist smiled politely. "Would you like to schedule a gym battle?"


    "Yeah," I said shortly. "Silver. One badge."


    She blinked, caught off guard by the fact that I answered every question without her asking but she nodded, typing something on the keyboard.


    The receptionist blinked, before her eyes went wide and she gazed back up at me.


    "W-Wow, you managed to get your first badge from Surge¡­ one day ago?!" She asked in shock, gazing at me.


    "Yeah," I said blandly, ignoring the gaze of everyone in the gym and narrowing my eyes at the receptionist.


    It was no secret that Surge was going around crushing everyone who challenged him. The fact that I managed to beat him without a single gym badge¡­ was downright incredible, especially considering the fact that I was a new trainer.


    Whispers were going around and I idly shoved the giggling Green, making her yelp loudly instead. Togepi let out a startled yell as well and glared at me venomously, to which I completely ignored.


    The receptionist flinched at my unamused gaze and had the decency to look apologetic.


    She typed on the keyboard a bit more before looking up at me with a small reserved smile.


    "Your gym battle against Flint is scheduled for tomorrow at noon!" She exclaimed and I raised a brow.


    "Tomorrow? A bit fast isn''t it?" I muttered curiously, storing the info away.


    "Not many people have matches scheduled because there is a cooldown period for battling gym leaders. If you lose, you''re prohibited from battling for a few days. You have to wait," she explained to me and I nodded.


    That made a lot of sense. I''d be pissed if I stomped some kid and he came back the next day to get stomped again. It''d be really annoying.


    This world was surprisingly well thought out.


    "So all these people already lost?" I asked, before snorting loudly at the thought.


    Yeah, nothing else needed to be said. That was just embarrassing. There were a healthy amount of people in here.


    Maybe Surge''s method was really effective. He probably scared all the losers away because his gym had been barren.


    "Guess you weren''t wrong Green, you did see these people before," I smirked, making my way out of the gym with a cocky gait.


    Green balked at me. "S-Silvy! Not so loud!" She hissed, but it was too late.


    "Hey! Battle me!" A voice called out, causing my smirk to widen.


    There was just something about being antagonistic that was really fun.


    "You sure you can handle a battle?" I said derisively, looking at the fuming teen with innocent eyes. "However many losses you had against this guy is already embarrassing enough¡­ you sure you want me to add another one?" I asked innocently.


    "Silvy!" Green groaned in annoyance.


    Why was he such a prick sometimes?


    Now everyone in the gym looked poised to battle the duo (she didn''t even do anything!) and the Pallet Town native let out a sigh.


    At least they''d get some battles before the gym.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Zen Headbutt, wrap it up," I instructed calmly.


    Beldum followed my command to a ruthless degree, shooting forward with a psychic sheen on his steel temple.


    "Oh no, dodge Gloom!" My opponent shouted frantically.


    It was not to be, Gloom had been pressed the entire match by Beldum and we were finally going in for the kill.


    Beldum crashed into Gloom with expert precision and sent the grass type sprawling with a pained cry.


    "C''mon Gloom! Get back up!" Its trainer yelled desperately.


    Gloom did not move, unconscious and blissfully unaware of its trainers calls.


    "And that''s that," I announced, beckoning Beldum over to my side with a pleased smirk.


    I gazed at my steel type with searching eyes. "How often have you been training while we sleep?" I asked curiously, noticing how easier they were using their moves.


    "Bel," Beldum intoned.


    So basically everyday. It was clearly helping them out because Beldum was not as weak as it once was. It''s psychic energy especially, seemed to be harnessed at an easier level.


    The trainers in that gym had proven that they needed more time to battle Flint because I had not lost a single battle to them.


    And they really tried too. I chose to accept one on ones against them in preparation for my battle tomorrow and it worked out exceedingly well for me.


    Everyone wanted to put the arrogant prick in his place so they sent out their bests¡­ only for them to all fail.


    Even in matches where I should have had the disadvantage, I came out on top of because they simply lacked the sheer amount of knowledge I had amassed.


    Turns out, my dominant half did have a lot to offer in this body. My prior knowledge did wonders with my natural abilities in battling¡­ and these guys just didn''t have what it took to make it very far in the gym circuit challenge. I couldn''t afford to lose to them.


    "Alright Leaf, I''m done here. It was easy but my team is probably still tired so I wanna visit a Center," I said dismissively, watching no one else step up to battle me. They all avoided eye contact and I rolled my eyes.


    Props to my team for not faltering at the amount of people who wanted a piece of me. They just held their own and won their battles.


    Gaia, Loki and Ares handled a majority of my battles because I didn''t want to exhaust Beldum and Freyja.


    Gaia would fight the ones who looked a tad more experienced and people were quickly learning that my Bayleef was the biggest menace on the team.


    She was crushing it. Ever since that victory against Raichu, she had been stepping up even further and I was proud, because my team refused to let her keep the lead she suddenly gained.


    If there was one thing my team and I shared, it was their competitiveness and that even translated to against each other.


    They were teammates first but that didn''t stop them all from trying to be the best on the team.


    I loved it. I encouraged the competition.


    But I digress, the trainers in this gym weren''t good. Flint/Brock, were well known for being one of the easiest gyms to complete in the Kanto Gym Circuit no matter how many badges you challenged them with.


    If you were stuck here¡­ bad news.


    Green sighed at my antics and nodded. "You''re so mean," she pointed out.


    "We established this the first day you met me," I replied with a roll of my eyes. "There''s a reason I prefer to travel alone. There''s a reason I didn''t want to travel with you. I''m kind of a dick."


    "Yeah, you are," my companion muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.


    "Green?!"


    We both paused at that and turned towards the voice.


    It was an unassuming and short boy, with brown hair and big brown eyes.


    I didn''t recognize him at all. Probably not anyone important.


    "Oh! Mason!" Green waved happily. "Silvy! This is Mason, he''s the one I was telling you about!"


    I blinked slowly and gazed at the boy my age with a bored expression. "Leaf, you probably don''t realize... but you talk a shit ton. I have no idea who this is supposed to be."


    She looked confused for a minute and scratched her messy brown hair. "He''s one of the Oak sponsors! We got our starters at the same time!"


    Ohhh. This was the one whose name I couldn''t even remember.


    Mason flinched at my sharp gaze and nervously gazed at his friend. "Um¡­ Green, are you really traveling with this guy?"


    Green''s look of confusion came back. "Yeah, I am! Why are you so surprised about that?" she mused, cupping her chin.


    I rolled my eyes. "Because of the conversation we just had¡­ about how I''m "really mean". Let''s use our heads here Leaf," I explained, utterly unimpressed with both of them.


    She immediately rounded on me with an indignant glare. "That''s the third time in a row you called me Leaf! It''s Greeeeen! Why do you refuse to call me Green?!"


    "Third time? I''ve never once called you Green. Your name is Leaf so that''s what I call you," I smirked, pushing the insistent finger out of my face.


    Then I turned towards the pallet native with a sneer. "If you wanna take her off my hands, feel free¡­ I''m not gonna complain, but she''s probably not traveling with you because for some reason, you''re still in Pewter City."


    Mason flinched back and I sneered.


    "Instead of worrying about my business, worry about how after about two months, you probably still don''t have a single badge," I said bluntly, eyes narrowed at the annoyance.


    Stupid little kid, trying to infer that Green shouldn''t be traveling with me.


    Don''t get me wrong, she absolutely shouldn''t be¡­ I even thought she should be traveling alone, but when someone stuck their nose into my business when their opinion wasn''t wanted or needed, it would annoy me to no end.


    So even if this kid said something I agreed with, he should have fucked off and kept it to himself.


    "Silver! You''re totally out of line and he''s not rude like Blue," Green said firmly, staring seriously at me. "I get you don''t like people being nosy, but Mason''s my friend! You don''t have to be so mean to him."


    I stared at her in disinterest, utterly unmoved. "Whatever. I''m going to the Center and then I''m off to prepare. Feel free to catch up with your friend but I''m not interested in hearing what he has to say. I have better things to worry about."


    With that, I was off.


    "Wait!"


    I paused and glanced back, silver eyes boring into the Mason guy with a warning look.


    Mason flinched, before steeling himself.


    "B-Battle me!" He demanded, clutching a Pokeball in his hands.


    "...Are you sure about that?" I asked calmly.


    "Yeah, maybe you shouldn''t battle him, Mason!" Green suggested with a nervous laugh. "He beat Blue in a battle! Silver''s real tough!"


    I snorted loudly.


    If one thing remained universal, it was that a boy would never want himself to be embarrassed in front of a girl, especially a girl that they thought was cute.


    And this Mason kid clearly had a crush on Green.


    "Let''s battle!" Mason said surely.


    "¡­" I said nothing for a bit, glancing at Green with a curious eye.


    Her expression was practically pleading with me to refuse the offer. She clearly knew that Mason was out of his league here and this would only end one way.


    Unfortunately for Green, Mason had managed to overstep his nonexistent boundaries and I was properly annoyed that he had the audacity to battle me after watching what just took place.


    "Your funeral," I shrugged. "Leaf, referee. It''ll be quick then you two can catch up."


    Green let out a sigh and nodded reluctantly.


    "Just one on one," she requested.


    "That''s the plan," I replied easily. "I said I''d make it quick didn''t I?"


    Green sighed again.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Ares," I said calmly, sending out my fierce Bagon.


    "C-Charmeleon let''s do this!" Mason shouted, sending out his starter with a look of determination.


    The light coalesced into the middle staged evolution of Charmander and I gazed at it curiously.


    Bipedal, with red scales that contrasted from the burnt orange of its evolution and first form¡­ a long snout and a single horn on its head.


    Charizard wasn''t a pokemon I myself was vastly interested in. As a kid, I loved it to death but as I got older, I began to appreciate others more.


    My favorite fire starter was Blaziken¡­ but Charizard was still plenty cool.


    I didn''t particularly want one though. It''s not something I would outright reject, but I''d pick a few fire types before I picked Charizard.


    The Charmeleon before me looked as violent as its reputation stated and it''s sharp blue eyes immediately locked onto Ares, who grinned fiercely at the challenge.


    "Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage!" Mason ordered, pointing a finger at Bagon.


    For a moment, I saw it glance back at its trainer and saw a flash of dissatisfaction cross its feature before it reluctantly followed the demand.


    "Dragon Breath," I countered easily.


    Ares didn''t even hesitate unlike the Charmeleon, opening her mouth and belching out our current favorite move to use.


    Much to Mason''s surprise, Dragon Breath overpowered Dragon Rage and Charmeleon hastily moved to the right to dodge the line of dragon fire.


    "Look at that, Ares," I mused. "This fake dragon thinks it can use dragon techniques better than you. Isn''t that a sight?"


    Ares let out a scoff, eyes narrowed at that and as if to prove Charmeleon wrong, she opened her mouth and shot out another Dragon Breath.


    "Charmeleon, get out of there!" Mason shouted frantically.


    Charmeleon didn''t need to be told twice, scrambling to continue moving as Ares attempted to wash him in the draconic flames.


    "Try Ember!" My opponent instructed.


    I rolled my eyes. "Rage. Absorb it. Then use Dragon Dance. Let''s wrap this up quick."


    A red tint entered Ares'' eyes and she easily weathered the bouts of ember coming from Charmeleon''s mouth.


    Then, she began moving her head to a beat that only she could hear, draconic energies roiling off her body.


    "Headbutt."


    Mason and Charmeleon''s eyes widened in disbelief, as Ares launched herself forward with a new surge of speed.


    The fire type attempted to move out of the way, but my battle hungry Bagon was not having it. She swiftly closed the gap, tucked her head in and slammed the Headbutt directly into Charmeleon''s sternum.


    "Charmeleon!" Mason shouted in concern, watching the fire type get launched away by Ares'' ridiculously tough skull. "Quick! Up and use ¡ª"


    "Dragon Breath."


    Mason''s words died on his lips, as the powered up Dragon Breath crashed into Charmeleon''s form with pinpoint accuracy.


    "And that''s that," I said with a roll of my eyes, listening to Ares let out a satisfied roar. "You''ve got stamina for days, Ares. Aren''t you tired?"


    "Gon!" Ares snorted, ducking her head in front of me.


    I affectionately pat her skull with a small smirk and tossed a snack into her mouth.


    Ares was the one I was trying to use the most because I didn''t have many plans to use her in this battle¡­ and probably not for Cerulean either.


    I also didn''t want to rely on Gaia too much for those. With her, I have no doubt the badges would be a breeze to get but I wasn''t a brute like Green who just slammed everyone with that stupid Ivysaur.


    I wanted my entire team to get experience in these gyms. Gaia would be a last resort if I was brought to one pokemon in this gym and the next.


    She was a safety net for me to go a bit wild.


    I bet Gaia would love to hear how much I was relying on her. She sure did love my attention.


    "Alright, let''s get to the center. You guys fought a lot today and we''ve got another one tomorrow so we''ll just relax until then," I muttered, placing Ares back in her ball and standing up.


    "I''m headed back, Leaf. I''m gonna chill for the rest of the day."


    Green looked stunned by the sudden turn of events and nodded without really thinking about it.


    "A-Alright¡­ I''ll catch up in a bit," she mumbled.


    I inclined my head and made my way to the Pokemon Center, walking past the frozen Mason in the process.


    This fight wasn''t even slightly challenging so I lost whatever interest I had in this entire exchange. It wasn''t even worth acknowledging anymore.


    But still¡­


    "Word of advice, if you ever evolve that Charmeleon into a Charizard, it''s probably going to kill you. He will never acknowledge you as his trainer, Jason," I advised in a low voice, marching past the heartbroken kid.


    Mason flinched horribly at my blunt words, turning wide eyes towards me but I just ignored it and continued my gait.


    That wasn''t even me trying to be rude. He was just a kid and no matter how antagonistic I was, I didn''t think a kid deserved to die.


    But at this rate, even the Charmeleon might throw caution to the wind and attack his trainer.


    Certain pokemon needed to be raised different from others. That''s why despite being so infamously strong, not everyone owned a dragon.


    Though, maybe he wouldn''t die since this was an Oak raised starter. If it were a Charmeleon from the wild, Jason would have been dead or severely injured already.


    Charizard''s may not be dragon types, but they didn''t look like dragons for fun. Dragons were one of the most difficult types to raise because you had to be at a certain standard to earn their respect.


    It varied, but I doubted much dragons would want this Jason guy as their trainer. He wasn''t bad¡­ but he wasn''t good and that might be fatal in the long run.


    Charizards were still prideful after all and losing against this guy repeatedly, would be a serious blow to its pride that it may never forget.


    But oh well, that wasn''t for me to worry about besides my one bit of advice. My dragon already deemed me worthy so I was safe up until she turned into an ultra violent Salamence.


    Bah, that was for future me to worry about.


    Green winced as she watched the soul crushing look on Mason''s face.


    That fight had been a completely one-sided affair. Not once did it look like Mason was going to win that battle and the worst part¡­ was how dismissive Silver had been after winning.


    He didn''t even glance at Mason once¡­ to her traveling companion, her fellow Pallet Town resident wasn''t even worth the time.


    "I''m sorry about him," Green apologized, putting a hand on Mason''s shoulder and frowning slightly. "He''s a bit¡­ harsh and I wish I could say he''s not all that bad¡­ but that''s not the case for everyone."


    Despite his bad manners, Silver was far nicer to her, than the people they encountered.


    He¡­ valued strength quite a bit and if you were weak, he wouldn''t give you an ounce of his attention, all while being as rude as possible about it.


    Her friend sure was a strange one¡­


    "Don''t think too much about what he says. He''s really rude and I don''t think he''s capable of complimenting people¡­ you''re doing great, Mason! You''ll beat Flint eventually," Green reassured, patting his shoulder.


    "Now, I''m gonna go tell Silvy off for being so rude all the time. It was nice seeing you again, Mason! Good luck out there!" She waved.


    "Y-Yeah¡­ you too Green!" Mason replied louder than normal, resisting the urge to cry.


    That Silver guy was so mean¡­ h-he did have what it took to be a trainer...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Hey, Jas. You actually look alive today," I greeted in the comfort of my room.


    "Silver!" Jasmine beamed, looking far less tired than the last time I saw her.


    Good. She should only be exhausted because I was tormenting her, not because of anyone else causing her stress.


    "I decided to focus on my health after our talk! I actually spoke to Champion Lance the other day about my inquiries and stressed the importance of not telling anyone."


    I perked a brow at that and nodded. "What did he say?"


    "Well he thanked me and when I did tell him, it''s almost like I could see the gears turning in his head! I think your advice really helped and I''m sure we''ll make a lot of progress!"


    I nodded, pleased by that. Now that I head figured out everything I did, I would ensure that my bastard of a father regret all his decisions and take out his organization by any means possible.


    I had no interest in aligning with the League to do so, but if they upped the pressure on Team Rocket, they''d make my life easier.


    "Champion Lance was so impressed by your foresight, that he wanted to meet you!"


    ¡­


    Huh?


    "Huh?" I said dumbly, gazing at my best friend with a blank gaze.


    Obviously Jasmine and I had been talking for enough time for her to pick up on some of my cues, so her happy expression immediately shifted into one of confusion and she gazed worriedly at me.


    "Did you just say¡­ Champion Lance wants to meet me?" I asked her slowly.


    She nodded slowly. "He asked me how I came to this conclusion¡­ and I told him a friend opened my eyes to that possibility."


    Jasmine paused in confusion at my loud groan.


    Why was she so honest? It was unreal for someone to be this nice.


    "I wouldn''t have minded if you took the credit, really," I sighed with a shake of my head.


    "I could never! You''re the one who thought of it and I''d feel terrible taking credit for something you thought of!"


    I rolled my eyes. "You''re too nice Jas. Seriously, I wouldn''t have cared even a little¡­" I informed her.


    Talking to Champion Lance, was the last thing I wanted. I actually didn''t want that at all. I didn''t want to talk to a single champion in this world.


    Eh. Oh well, I would just roll with the punches then.


    "You might be the only person not eager to speak to Champion Lance," Jasmine mused with a hint of exasperation and amusement.


    "You know me Jas. There''s no one on this planet I''m eager to speak to but you," I rolled my eyes.


    Predictably, she lit up red at my compliment and began stammering.


    Honestly, it was too easy.


    "Did he ever mention when he wanted to meet me?" I asked curiously.


    How did she even know I was in Kanto? Was little Jas keeping track of me?


    I guess it was the same way Giovanni did¡­ by keeping track of my gym battles.


    Should I stop doing the Gym Challenge?


    ...Nah. This was a fast way to getting stronger. Not to mention, that fight with Surge was really exciting and it helped me out a ton too.


    "Um, I''m not sure. He just mentioned that he wanted to meet you!"


    "Helpful," I replied dryly.


    Jasmine laughed a bit. "I did tell him you aren''t very easy to talk to and believe it or not, I mentioned that Silver might not care about his champion status. I think that just excited him more."


    I snorted at that. She really did know me very well. If she wasn''t there, I wouldn''t have given Lance even a second of my time, regardless of his status.


    Well whatever. I''d deal with it as it came. Nothing to be done about it.


    "You still haven''t made any other friends? I''m not making you more confident for no reason you know," I chided.


    My friend flushed at that and ducked her head. "Well¡­ I''m fine with just you being my friend. The other Gym Leaders have noticed my changes a bit though¡­ Whitney asked me if I wanted to hang out with her and I said yes! I''m even becoming a better battler!"


    I couldn''t stop the proud smile at that. "A little confidence goes a long way ¡ª"


    "YOU CAN SMILE?!"


    Jasmine jumped, eyes wide at the loud volume and I couldn''t blame her because I must have reacted like a wild cat.


    Green was gaping at me with wide eyes, somehow managing to get into my room without me noticing.


    How the hell¡­ did she actually possess innate espionage skills like me?


    My Pokemon, who were lazing about, glanced at Green but at this point, they were used to her antics and continued their affairs.


    "Why the hell are you screaming, Leaf?" I asked in annoyance, narrowing my eyes at her.


    "Why?!" She balked. "I just saw you smile! I didn''t think that was possible! Can you do it again? I wanna take a picture of it!"


    I rolled my eyes. "Get outta my room, Leaf."


    "Silver, who is that?" Jasmine asked suddenly, a curious look in her eye.


    Green perked up at that and her mouth opened in surprise.


    Without any hesitation, she rushed over and threw herself atop my bed, practically shoving her face into the camera.


    It was a miracle that I hadn''t yet grown tired of Green because holy shit this girl was annoying.


    "You have a friend?!" Green gasped, gazing at Jasmine over the phone.


    "You made a friend?!" Jasmine gasped as well, eyes lighting up at not seeing me throttle Green immediately for invading my personal space.


    "Shut up," I demanded harshly, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Leaf is not my friend. We are traveling companions."


    "We so are friends!" Green disagreed immediately, beaming to Jasmine over the line. "It''s nice to meet you! I''m Leaf Green, but you can call me Green! Me and Silvy have been hanging out with each other for a few days so we''re totally friends!"


    Unlike me, my fellow introvert Jasmine, had absolutely no problems with Green''s larger than life personality and just returned a big smile herself.


    Huh, guess my confidence training really was working out for her.


    "Hello Green!" Jasmine greeted happily. "I''m very pleased to meet you! It might be a bit hasty of me to say, but considering we''re both friends of Silver, I think we''ll end up being great friends ourselves!"


    "Totally! You''re so nice and I don''t know how you managed to become friends with Silvy!" Green beamed. "Here hold on, let''s exchange numbers and we can message each other!"


    "What the fuck?" I thought to myself in confusion, watching the two chat it up.


    Y''know what, whatever. As long as Jasmine was making more friends¡­ and as long as Green''s attention was focused on someone else besides me.


    I flicked open my Pokedex and began scrolling, zoning out the two chatting with a startling amount of skill.


    "Hey wait a sec! You only said I wasn''t your friend but you didn''t say anything about Jas!" Green pointed out.


    "Because Jasmine is my friend," I said idly as I continued scrolling through my Pokedex.


    "Oh don''t listen to him, Green! If Silver really didn''t like you at all, you probably wouldn''t even be in his room right now! He can really be quite rude¡­"


    I groaned and shut my Pokedex.


    Never mind, I was just gonna take a nap.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Loki."


    Loki perked up at that, gazing at Gaia, along with the rest of the team, with a curious eye.


    Silver was currently asleep, managing to not make a sound even during slumber.


    "What is it?" Loki asked, peering at his allies with an interested eye.


    Ares stepped forward.


    "You know the most about our vassal correct? Explain the contents of that conversation he had with his creator!"


    Gaia sighed at how blunt Ares was. "You were with Silver for a really long time so we thought you''d know... he didn''t seem very happy with that man."


    "I guess even Silver has problems..." Freyja muttered in shock.


    Loki frowned slightly. "I don''t know if it''s right for me to say everything. Silver will tell you all eventually but we''ve been together for a long time. He hatched me."


    "That man is named Giovanni... he''s given Silver a lot of problems growing up. It... turned him cruel."


    And that extended to everyone, even Loki himself.


    "Silver didn''t use to be this nice. He was a lot angrier and didn''t care about anything," Loki admitted. "He''s still angry and still Silver but... he doesn''t direct it to everything. Just most thing."


    His team listened with raptured attention.


    "I''ve never seen Silver as happy as he is now and I think he will get happier... but we need to make sure he doesn''t go back to Giovanni," Loki said firmly.


    "So that guy is really bad news..." Gaia muttered. That would explain why Silver stole her. That guy probably taught him that...


    "If my vassal desires war against that man, then I will lead the charge," Ares said bluntly with a scowl. "He is not someone who will ever answer to anyone but me! I will not have him submit!"


    "For once, I agree with the brute... and Silver defended me against that guy! I''ll become strong and teach him a lesson," Freyja scowled.


    Loki gazed at them and nodded proudly. "So we''re all in agreement to stop that guy... What about you, Beldum?"


    Beldum barely spared him a glance.


    "Refrain from asking such ridiculous questions, trickster. My goals align with the blight, therefore I will ensure that they are not jeopardized."


    That was the best he was going to get from Beldum.


    At least they were all in agreement... the last thing Loki wanted, was for Silver to go back into Giovanni''s hands...


    He might end up like the old Silver again...


    Loki''s eyes narrowed at that.


    He couldn''t let that happen. It was his job to protect his trainer so that''s what he''d do.


    He''d bring him back to the Silver who had been so happy to have hatched his first pokemon.

 Let Sleeping Growlithes Lie II

    I was back in the area of never ending darkness from before, but this time I had access to all my senses.


    My brows furrowed, silver eyes gazing at the expanse of nothing with a tilted head.


    What type of dream was this? Twice in a row?


    Perhaps it was the work of a Darkrai?


    But if it was a Darkrai, I wouldn''t be waking up and this dream would be a nightmare... not to mention I woke up last time.


    Also I don''t think Darkrai had eyes that big. The last time I had this dream, two giant red eyes were peering at me right before I woke up.


    Did Darkrai even have red eyes? I dunno.


    So whatever this was, probably not a nightmare from Darkrai. My thoughts were almost completely coherent too. I never dreamed so clearly¡­ but then again I couldn''t actually see anything.


    This was so confusing. What Legendary was responsible for this bullshit?


    "Hey," I called out into the dark. "If you''re not gonna say anything, can you let me wake the fuck up? This place is creepy as hell and I hate being here."


    Silence. No surprise, I didn''t even feel a presence here.


    I sighed and willed myself awake, groaning in frustration as that failed.


    Just what was I dreaming of? Why was I so self aware in my dreams? Was I even dreaming?


    As I mulled over the strangeness of it all, a daunting force, not unlike my previous dream and the encounter with Registeel, crashed into me¡­


    But this felt¡­ wrong.


    Despite this being the same dream as the time in Meteor Falls. The presence in the room with me wasn''t the same.


    This was something¡­ or someone different.


    Was this¡­ a different legendary? But I didn''t even know who the first one was. Who the hell was this?


    Before I could try and get a single hint¡­ my thoughts were interrupted.


    Forcefully.


    I shut my eyes as a pressure pressed against my head and groaned in discomfort.


    A feeling, not unlike when Bronzy and Beldum managed to speak to me, suddenly made itself known, before whoever was doing this established a connection to me...


    While my guard was still up.


    Ah son of a bitch, this was another legendary.


    "How curious. Not once have I been unable to search a person''s mind... yet I can only touch the surface of yours. To wield an almost impenetrable mind that not even I can glean into¡­ Perhaps you are more."


    No sooner was that random sentence said, did I forcefully wake up drenched in sweat.


    Despite the prodding that had happened to my head, I felt perfectly fine up there and grunted in confusion.


    Sucking in a deep breath, I grabbed my Pokedex, that went flying off my chest when I rocketed up from my sleep, and checked it for the time.


    4 am¡­ I just wanted to take a nap but I ended up sleeping for way longer than I thought¡­


    I was still pretty tired too, I think I''m just gonna go back to sleep.


    I idly reached a hand out and pet whichever of my members decided to sleep next to me today.


    Before I sleep though, I guess I should think about what just happened to me.


    This was second time I had a dream where I was being influenced by some Pokemon and now I could safely say (I already knew shut up) that it was definitely Legendary in nature.


    But there was only one problem¡­ the first dream and the second one¡­


    Those were not the same legends. I was sure of it. I couldn''t give proper reasoning because I didn''t know how to explain it, but I know for a fact whoever just spoke to me was not the same as the wielder of the giant red eyes.


    And its words¡­


    "How curious. Not once have I been unable to search a person''s mind... yet I can only touch the surface of yours. To wield an almost impenetrable mind that not even I can glean into¡­ Perhaps you are more."


    Was that a psychic type?


    No I''m certain that was a psychic type. They tried to pry deeper into my mind but were met with resistance, likely by the foggy fortress...


    Much like Beldum and Bronzy. I don''t know if another type can do that... but the first legendary certainly didn''t try to pry into my mind.


    And if this was a psychic type¡­ I had a good idea who it probably was.


    The prized project of Team Rocket¡­ Mewtwo.


    Now I could be wrong and Team Rocket didn''t actually have the means to make their own artificial god and this could be like Mew or some other psychic legendary¡­ but I wasn''t holding out on that.


    Also there''s the fact that I''m Giovanni''s kid. At least this legendary made sense in the grand scheme of things.


    I frowned in contemplation.


    How much control did Giovanni have over Mewtwo? Was Mewtwo even apart of Team Rocket? Why was it looking into my head? Was it because I was calling out for someone in my dream?


    Perhaps ol dad of mine was curious about me and made a request...


    If Mewtwo was even half of what he was portrayed as by all media (seriously he was so fucking popular) things suddenly got a lot worse. Team Rocket had an actual legendary on their side¡­ and it was likely one of the strongest legendaries that currently existed.


    That was concerning. Would I still try to get rid of them?


    Absolutely.


    It was either deal with them now, or have Giovanni and Mewtwo come after me themselves anyways.


    What a suddenly daunting thing to think of. My Father had a legendary at his command (allegedly) and he probably had no qualms using it to ensure I go back to him.


    That''s probably why he was letting me go on this journey of mine, Mewtwo would not have much issue looking for me. Where was it even at right now?


    To be able to find and single me out in Pewter City... when Giovanni mostly resided in Viridian...


    I frowned deeply. What was I going to do then? I didn''t have the means to deal with a Mewtwo probably ever.


    At the very least, I was given a little solace at the fact that not even Mewtwo seemed to be able to fully penetrate my mind. It seemed to be able to speak to me when I was asleep (probably because my guard lowered) but anything more seemed out of its reach.


    Fascinating. This fortress in my mind was doing me wonders and I didn''t even understand the details behind it.


    I sighed.


    So there was a high chance Mewtwo would target me soon. I still didn''t know the identity of of the first legendary who showed up. My fortress was even strong enough to stop a legendary psychic from gleaning even further into my head¡­


    I wonder if those big red eyes I saw, had a connection to my mind being so hard to look into.


    Questions get answered, only to get replaced with different questions.


    It was all so ridiculous.


    Whatever, I''m going back to sleep ¡ª


    The pokemon I was patting let out a pleased sigh and I froze at the very feminine noise of it.


    I mechanically turned my head to the source of that sigh and bore witness to the sight of one Leaf Green sleeping on my bed.


    She was smiling happily as she snored away. Clearly she was a fan of the patting I thought I was submitting Zorua to and I gazed at her with a disbelief that she couldn''t feel at all, considering she was dead to the world.


    ...


    Green let out a loud yelp, as a foot connected to her side and launched her off the bed.


    She let out a tired groan and sat up, letting out a pained noise as the lights flicked on.


    Angry silver eyes bored into her and she scratched her head at the redhead that was her friend, Silver.


    "Why did you kick me?" she asked sleepily. She just wanted to go back to sleep.


    Silver''s eyes narrowed even further.


    Green thought Silver''s eyes were really cool. She never met anyone with eyes such a vivid shade of¡­ silver (she wasn''t even sure who had silver eyes!)! They looked good even with how cold he naturally seemed to be.


    Green thought they looked best when he was happy¡­ though she only just saw that. He really only looked at her with annoyance and exasperation¡­


    Like right now.


    "Why the fuck are you sleeping on the same bed as me?!" her friend snarled.


    Green stopped being intimidated by that tone of his after the third time! The only thing she was really weary about was doing anything that evoked a physical response from the redhead¡­ which normally meant touching him in some way.


    He didn''t like being touched very much but he was at least getting used to her!


    Oh right, he asked her something.


    Green rubbed her eyes and yawned. "While you were sleeping, I was talking to Jas and lost track of time. By the time we finished, I was so tired and I actually didn''t uh¡­ get my own room so I would have had to walk all the way to the front desk so I just fell asleep," she explained.


    Naturally, Silver''s expression didn''t shift at all. Green was getting to know him pretty well because she was positive that he didn''t care even a little.


    "I don''t care, get out. I already deal with you during the day," he groused, rubbing his really messy hair.


    "We''ll be sleeping! You don''t gotta deal with me!" Green protested. "I used to have sleepovers with Ash and Blue all the time!"


    "Go fuck yourself and have a sleepover with them then. Do I look like Ash or Blue to you?" Silver replied immediately, scowling.


    "But we''ll be gone in a few hours anyways," she countered tiredly. "Stop making a fuss about it! You have a big battle tomorrow!"


    Whatever Silver was about to say (it was probably going to be very violent), died as the sleepy Gaia let out an annoyed noise and began waving a single vine around threateningly.


    Green learned very quickly that Gaia did not like getting her sleep interrupted and Silver, despite his belligerent attitude, did not direct his rudeness towards his Pokemon.


    It was night and day how he treated his team and everyone else.


    So it was no surprise at all to Green, when Silver turned his gaze towards the grumpy Gaia and sighed.


    "Don''t touch me. Stay on your side. If you hog the covers, I''m tossing you off the bed. Oh and don''t touch me," Silver said blandly, shutting the light and making his way back to the bed.


    Green would have cheered triumphantly but she really was too tired so she just made her way to the bed and remained on her side.


    Getting Silver to accept things was actually very easy. You just had to be insistent¡­ but where things were not easy, was making sure you didn''t overstep the boundaries he set.


    That''s when his belligerence felt real. Silver was actually fairly reasonable but he hid it behind a terrible attitude.


    Green would know. He basically went along with everything she said despite how much he mentioned her being annoying.


    Jasmine thought he was a great friend behind that tough exterior of his and Green was inclined to agree!


    "Goodnight, Silver," she yawned.


    "Shut up and go to sleep," he replied bluntly, facing away from her.


    Green sweat a bit at that.


    It was just really hard to see the nice part of him! Honest!


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    A lot more people were here to witness my battle than against Surge. It wasn''t much, but they were in the stands, watching my upcoming battle with an eager look.


    Some of these people looked suspiciously like the ones I battled yesterday. Even that Jason kid was there, sitting next to an eager Green with a reserved stance.


    Besides them, there were at least 9 other versions of Brock there in the stalls too. Brock''s parents sure were freaks. I''m surprised he''s even here for this battle and not off making kid #34 with his wife.


    I shrugged. Looks like everyone wanted me to lose this battle. I was quite the heel of this match, huh?


    How unfortunate for them.


    "You must be Silver!"


    The one who said that, looked like an older version of Brock. He wasn''t as tall as Surge, but still taller than me, with a set of shut eyes and a sleeveless yellow shirt that showed well kept arms.


    "No shit," I said with a roll of my eyes, uninterested in inspecting him further. "Flint right? Let''s make this a good battle."


    Brock''s father let out a hearty laugh at that. "Straight to the point and not one to mince your words either eh? Alright, let''s not waste any time!"


    The referee stepped up on cue and raised his hands.


    "This is an official gym battle of the Pewter City Gym between the challenger, Silver of Viridian City and the Gym Leader, Flint! Each side is allowed 3 pokemon and only the challenger is allowed to swap. The match will be decided when all 3 Pokemon of one side are unable to continue!"


    "As the gym leader, Flint must release first!"


    Another 3 on 3 eh?


    "I heard you requested it against Surge as well," Flint remarked with a kind grin, holding out a pokeball and tossing it.


    The ball materialized into a sturdy looking pokemon that looked like a rhino, but it''s skin was replaced by rocky plates.


    A Rhyhorn...


    I snorted and held out my own ball. "Aren''t you all just accommodating? Though¡­ you should have made it a 2v2, I was already going to win but now it''s guaranteed," I remarked with a confident smirk.


    With that, I tossed the ball and released Freyja.


    A hushed whisper immediately rushed through the stadium at my choice, all confused.


    No surprise. I didn''t use Freyja yesterday, didn''t wanna risk anything happening to her. They probably thought I was going to sweep this guy with Gaia¡­ not an incorrect thought.


    I could definitely do that... but where was the fun in that?


    Flint''s smile lessened a little at that, gazing at my water type with the same puzzlement as the crowd.


    "Freyja, focus on my words," I instructed calmly, chilling over as my mind focused on nothing but winning this battle in the most efficient way.


    My nervous Feebas gazed back at me, no doubt realizing that I had been serious when I said I was planning on winning a match with her.


    "The contestants are set! Rhyhorn vs Feebas! Begin!"


    "Rain Dance," I began with a focused expression.


    The best way to battle with Freyja, was to be utterly composed. It was very easy for the nerves to get to her, so my calmness would seep into her and hopefully make her not panic.


    "Horn Attack," Flint began.


    Was that pity I heard in this old bastards voice?


    Freyja summoned the customary tiny rain cloud, that hovered above her (she was getting really good at controlling it!) and at the same time, Rhyhorn rushed her position, horn poised to stab into my fish.


    The name of the game, was making sure Freyja didn''t get hit by Rhyhorn because if that rhino hit my poor fish, she was going to be knocked out immediately.


    Unless in water, Freyja wasn''t very fast¡­ so avoiding hits wasn''t easy.


    That''s why I was so big on her practicing her control.


    "Freyja, Water Pulse on the ground in front of you. Launch yourself out of the way of the Rhyhorn," I commanded coolly.


    For now, Freyja''s battling relied heavily on Rain Dance. Not only did it make her water moves stronger and easier to use, it also activated her ability, Swift Swim.


    Swift Swim was an ability that enhanced a pokemon''s reflexes, so long as there was a sufficient amount of water on them.


    The most notable, was that their speed increased dramatically.


    Though Feebas wouldn''t be moving much faster given her physiology¡­ that did nothing to halt the enhanced reflexes.


    Case in point, she used the rain from Rain Dance to form a small water pulse and launched it towards the ground, causing the mini explosion to launch her up out of the path of the running Rhyhorn.


    The shocked gasps of everyone there, brought a satisfied smirk to my face.


    What Feebas lacked in power, she would make up in control and precision. Until she became a Milotic, she would maximize the water she could use.


    And when she did finally become one, she''d have all the power in the world to control and all the precision to be a truly flexible monster.


    "Water Pulse, aim for the back," I instructed calmly, eyes narrowed as the Rhyhorn continued ts course.


    My airborne Feebas (what a sight) turned at my command and formed another Water Pulse, this time for actual offense.


    With only some hesitation, Freyja fired it off and it hit the confused Rhyhorn directly on the back.


    Freyja landed on the rocky terrain at the same time Rhyhorn let out a roar of pain, feeling her confidence rise at seeing how effective her attack had been.


    "Don''t let your guard down. Focus," I instructed.


    She nodded in determination, fully bought into my confidence at the moment.


    If Flint was underestimating my Feebas before, he wasn''t anymore. The smile was gone completely and his features sharpened.


    "Rock Blast!" The Gym Leader barked frantically.


    "Get outta there," I told her.


    My calmness washed over Freyja and she followed my command far more seamlessly than before.


    She once more summoned a Water Pulse and propelled herself away from the massive boulders trying to crush her.


    "Hypnosis."


    Rhyhorn was still in the midst of setting up another Rock Blast, before Freyja''s eyes gained a slight blue sheen to them.


    Much to my delight, and Flint''s chagrin, Rhyhorn began sluggishly swaying. Rhyhorns were notoriously dumb so a move like Hypnosis would be a lot more effective...


    Unfortunately, Freyja wasn''t quite strong enough to put it fully to sleep. But just it being drowsy was fantastic for us.


    Now, time to lay this to rest.


    "Water Pulse. Snipe."


    Freyja let out a noise of confirmation and began to concentrate deeply.


    A Water Pulse began to form, smaller than any she had formed before and I watched her shut her eyes tight to concentrate.


    Flint had not been quiet during this entire exchange. He had been shouting to Rhyhorn to some success so we needed to wrap this up quickly.


    "Bulldoze!" Flint replied frantically.


    Finally, Freyja deemed her attack ready and I watched in satisfaction as she shot out a water pulse that was only slightly bigger than a water droplet...


    But what a water droplet it was. It raced through the air at high speeds and connected squarely onto Rhyhorn''s face.


    The universal confusion turned into stunned silence as Rhyhorn let out a roar of pain the moment the droplet connected.


    Power was nothing if you couldn''t control it and my Feebas would become a master of control. If she couldn''t shoot out big techniques, then we''d make the small ones hurt by concentrating as much of what little power she had.


    That water pulse was so small because she concentrated all the power into it without increasing its size. It was like a bullet!


    With proper control and precision, anything could be deadly... and when she did gain immense power, she''d be an actual force to be reckoned with.


    But small steps. This was a marathon, not a sprint. Freyja was going to be a Milotic but for that to happen, she needed to acknowledge her worth as a Feebas and for her to acknowledge her worth as a Feebas, I had to make her worthwhile.


    Only by acknowledging that I love her as Feebas, will she be able to shed her self inflicted shackles to become Milotic. At this point I didn''t even care if that wasn''t needed for evolution... I just wanted her to be happy with herself.


    Freyja let out a squeal of pain as the ground shook beneath and launched her up with dreadful force, but Rhyhorn let out a pitiful whine and collapsed, unconscious to the world.


    My Feebas gathered herself and had just enough mind to Water Pulse herself right before making contact with the ground to somewhat cushion her fall but she looked worse for wear.


    Yeah taking a hit right now was not in our best interest.


    "Rhyhorn is unable to battle! The winner of this match is¡­ Feebas?!" The referee shouted in shock.


    Freyja''s eyes widened at that call and she gazed over at me in clear surprise.


    I caught her eye and smiled smugly. "Believe me now?" I called out.


    "Fee¡­" My Feebas said, at a loss for words, before she began nodding with tears pricking her eyes. "Fee!"


    I snorted and held out my ball. "You can rest now. You took a lot of damage from that Bulldoze and you don''t have the stamina to use all those moves so let the others deal with this."


    Freyja nodded, relieved by my decision to pull her out of the battle because she truly was exhausted and that Bulldoze practically oneshot her.


    "I''m forfeiting Freyja," I announced, returning her to the ball and pocketing it.


    "The challenger has forfeited his Feebas! Please release your next Pokemon!"


    Flint looked rightfully stunned by the affairs. After all, I just thrashed his Rhyhorn with a Feebas of all things.


    Damn did it feel good to shut everyone up. I nearly laughed out loud at the only noise being Green''s cheering.


    "Surge wasn''t kidding, you''re really something," Flint remarked, gazing at me with his shut eyes. With just a bit more hesitation than before, he tossed out the next Pokemon.


    "That win was personal. Had to prove a point," I shrugged, inspecting the next pokemon with a contemplative expression.


    It was bipedal, with four arms on its round, rocky, body and it was rather short too, looking to be only 3 feet in height.


    A Graveler¡­ Weren''t these Gym Leaders making me punch above my weight a bit here?


    ...That''s not to say I didn''t enjoy this. No, this was perfect actually.


    "Beldum," I said confidently, releasing the steel type from the ball.


    "A Beldum too?!" Flint balked in shock. What the hell was this kid''s team?


    Beldum, unlike Feebas, didn''t look remotely bothered by the murmurs of the crowd. They just dipped into the connection between the two of us and I smirked.


    It wasn''t strong enough for prolonged conversation, so I was still mostly sticking to orders aloud but it would get better.


    I was just pleased we were actually able to bond and there had been no negative side effects besides that first time he attempted it.


    ...I still didn''t have an explanation for that.


    "Both contestants are set! Graveler vs Beldum! Begin!"


    "Iron Defense."


    "Magnitude!"


    Graveler jumped into the air and slammed its body onto the ground, causing the ground to begin quaking.


    I couldn''t tell what level it was, but judging by the slight tremors, I wouldn''t put it above level 6.


    Beldum''s metallic skin took on a sheen and in the first place, he was kind of floating already so Magnitude didn''t have much effect on him and the fact he was covered in Iron Defense, did wonders as well.


    "Iron Head."


    Beldum was on the move before I even finished my sentence, lunging forward to crash his metallic head into the Graveler.


    "Rollout! Meet it head on!" Flint said without missing a beat.


    "Rollout?" I frowned. "This must be some type of trap, right?"


    Beldum sensed my slight hesitation but continued their course, preparing to deal with the trap as it came.


    Graveler tucked into itself, turning into an actual boulder and with a mighty yell, began rolling towards the charging steel type.


    Naturally, it failed. Beldum had been practicing Iron Head with a vengeance and it was super effective¡­


    So where was this trap of his?


    Graveler let out a roar of pain as Beldum overwhelmed his weak Rollout with the much stronger Iron Head.


    "Graveler!" Flint shouted in concern, as cracks appeared across its body.


    ...No trap?


    That''s when I realized something.


    Flint sucked at battling. No goddamn wonder Brock was the Gym Leader.


    "Iron Head," I bit out with a scowl.


    Graveler had no time to recover, as Beldum crashed into it once more with the steel energy, causing even more cracks to appear across the middle form of Geodude.


    It tumbled across the ground from the blow, groaning in pain as the injuries began quickly piling up.


    "Graveler! Magnitude!" Flint shouted in worry, feeling the battle slipping out of his hands by the second.


    My eyes narrowed. "Iron Defense. Then finish it off with Iron Head."


    Beldum followed my command easily, sheathing himself in the metallic energy, right as Graveler shakily pulled himself up, before wearily jumping into the air once more.


    My discontent, turned into shock as the very gym itself began shaking from the tremors. I actually stumbled from how strong they were and the screams of the spectators were justified.


    The battlefield where Beldum and Graveler were battling, had become a warzone as the ground cracked from the efforts and I steadied myself with wide eyes.


    "Did this asshole actually manage to hit a level 10?" I thought in disbelief.


    "Not bad! A level 8!" Flint laughed, unbothered by the effects.


    "This was only level 8?!"


    Magnitude was a problematic move and this Graveler needed to faint now.


    "Beldum are you good?" I asked in some concern.


    If not for Iron Defense, Beldum would have been done for and even with it, it still looked like they had taken quite the hellish beating.


    The sheer difference in power between the Magnitude''s was baffling and I had no idea it could be so destructive... Are you serious?


    Fucking ground types.


    Beldum shook from the power of Magnitude, the super effective tremors causing heavy damage to it but Iron Defense at least saved it from getting completely obliterated.


    "Bulldoze! Don''t let it get close!" Flint commanded, knowing Graveler didn''t have much left in the tank.


    "Iron Defense! Dodge to the right!" I instructed with a frown.


    Graveler took two of its arms and slammed it into the ground, forming an orange shockwave that launched towards Beldum in a way that was impossible for them to dodge.


    The Bulldoze crashed into Beldum''s body and it let out a groan at that.


    My eyes were narrowed in annoyance and concern as Beldum began faltering.


    "Iron Head," I tried.


    Flint was quick to respond. "Rollout to get away!"


    Beldum attempted to crash into Graveler, but the boulder tucked its legs in and began rolling away from them at quite the impressive speeds.


    "Son of a bitch," I scowled.


    "Now, Magnitude again!" Flint said, intent to finish this.


    Mid roll, the Graveler actually leapt into the air and crashed down into the ground again.


    The tremor was weaker than the previous one, but it was still plenty strong and at this point, Beldum hadn''t yet released Iron Defense so telling them to use it, was just a waste of my breath.


    That''s why I''d use it on something else.


    The moment Graveler sprouted out of that ball shape of his I struck.


    "Don''t give it time to recover! Iron Head right now!" I barked to my visibly exhausted steel type.


    Too many hits taken for my liking¡­ I refused to have Beldum lose their first gym battle.


    The psychic must have sensed my resolve because without any hesitation, it charged the surprised Graveler, who probably thought this match was over, and crashed directly into it with ruthless precision.


    "Grav!" Graveler roared in pain, as even more cracks appeared on his body.


    "Graveler!" Flint shouted in surprise. "Quick, try and use Defense Curl! Then Rollout!"


    My eyes were narrowed like a predator who smelled blood. "Iron Head again. Don''t let it get away from you or it''s all over."


    Beldum''s eyes reflected my expression as it shone.


    "Understood."


    With that, it crashed its skull into the Graveler that attempted to curl up to get away.


    Graveler let out a final pained cry, before going limp on the ground beneath it.


    I was too shocked by what I just heard, to register the referee announcing my victory because Beldum just spoke to me.


    Would you look at that¡­


    "Did you just speak to me?" I asked curiously.


    Beldum did not respond, utterly still after that battle¡­


    "Magnificent."


    Before they finally began to glow white.


    My eyes widened dramatically and an excited pulse began to thrum through my body, as before my very eyes, Beldum began to change.


    It grew in size, small but heavy body growing dramatically. Whereas before they had no limbs, two arms sprouted from its side, adorned with deathly sharp claws that helped in hunting prey and probably cutting me in half if it held a grudge.


    More spikes formed on the side of its body and one more formed in between their, now two, red eyes.


    Finally the glow settled and I bore witness to the Metang in all its flesh.


    I didn''t even realize I was grinning but even when I did, I only reduced it to a real smile.


    "I didn''t even know you were close to evolving," I remarked, looking completely pleased with the outcome.


    A Metang! An actual Metang! That meant I was one step closer to reaching a Metagross!


    "I require very little to no sleep. I spend my time training and honing my capabilities. The results were my inevitable evolution."


    My eyes widened. "You can speak to me? Can I speak back without destroying your mind?" I asked curiously.


    Metang floated over to my side and regarded me with those red eyes of his.


    "If you are regarding the first time I attempted to bond to you¡­ I will explain it after this match but for now, your voice is not unbearable to me. Do not return me, I would like to test my power."


    I smirked with a wild glint. "Alright. One more fight."


    "Understood."


    "Wow!" Flint laughed, scratching his spiky head as he held out his final pokeball. "An evolution huh? That throws a bit of a wrench in the plans!"


    "For you maybe," I remarked with a surge of confidence. "I always intended to win with just two!"


    The Gym Leader grinned at my confidence. "You''ve got a lot of confidence! Reminds of a kid I fought a while ago! He had a rare pokemon too! A Larvitar of all things!"


    Must have been talking about Blue. We were both fairly arrogant...


    But Blue had a Larvitar? Huh, go figure. He sure put that Oak money to good use.


    "Alright, time for the last one!" Flint shouted, throwing the last pokeball.


    Metang and I watched the final red beam of the match coalesce into a gigantic silhouette and gazed at the snake like pokemon with searching eyes.


    After seeing Jasmine''s Steelix, I wasn''t as intimidated as I''d probably be if I hadn''t seen it but that did not change the fact that Onix was a big big pokemon.


    It roared it''s name and I grunted at the grating noise of rocks scratching against each other.


    "Still wanna battle it?"


    "A foolish question."


    I actually grinned and inclined my head.


    Pokemon battling was so fun.


    "Both contestants are set! Onix vs Metang! Begin!"


    "Rock Tomb! Cut off it''s movement and don''t let it close!" Flint barked.


    "Don''t let yourself get trapped. Keep moving and Iron Head when you get the chance!"


    Metang began spinning its arms, floating across the fields at quite the impressive speeds as Onix tried to trap it in between the large boulders.


    "Sand Tomb, Onix! Don''t let it hit you!"


    Onix conjured a whirlwind of sand but was too slow to fire it, as Metang crashed into its midsection with Iron Head.


    The rock snake roared in pain, Sand Tomb wavering a bit, before it came to its senses and fired it off.


    Metang instinctively wrapped itself in Iron Defense, as the sand wrapped around its body, trapping him in the clouds of dirt.


    "Bulldoze!" Flint shouted.


    Onix roared in affirmation and raised its tail up high to smash it down on the ground.


    "Float high!"


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    It wasn''t possible as a Beldum, considering they didn''t have high psychic abilities but as Metang and Metagross, they could actually further utilize their innate magnetism to float higher than they normally did.


    Case in point, Metang rumbled and floated out of both the Sand Tomb and the Bulldoze with ease.


    Then, without my input, a blue shine formed in its eyes.


    "I have the necessary power to attempt this now."


    Onix suddenly began roaring in pain, much to everyone''s confusion and the rock snake began thrashing about.


    Metang was utterly merciless. While Onix trashed about, my steel type floated even higher and slammed a hellish Iron Head directly atop its skull.


    The snake groaned and collapsed on the floor with a thunderous noise.


    I blinked in confusion at how swift that had taken place.


    "Did you just¡­ lobotomize him?" I asked slowly.


    "That is reserved for prey I intend on consuming," Metang replied, a hint of amusement in its voice as they floated over to my side.


    Creepy¡­ but kinda cool too.


    "Onix is unable to battle! As a result, Metang and Silver are the winners of this match!" The referee shouted.


    "WOOOO GET EM SILVER! HELL YEAH!" Green cheered, being the only one to clap for me.


    I distantly noticed a Pokegear in her hand but ignored it, merely rolling my eyes at her antics.


    Everyone else was stunned silent and I turned towards them, before bowing mockingly.


    "I''m not like any of you. Pray on someone else''s downfall or else you''ll end up real disappointed," I sneered with a superior gleam, turning away from them to inspect my pokemon.


    As Metang came closer to me, I peered at the evolution with fascinated eyes, idly touching its cool armor.


    "Are you gonna try to kill me now?" I asked offhandedly.


    "Likely not. You are fulfilling your obligations well and I''ve grown to appreciate something besides the monotony of my former hive," Metang replied, allowing me to inspect it.


    I smirked at that, patting its head with a satisfied sigh.


    "Still don''t want a nickname?"


    "No. I will accept one when I have become my final form."


    Ah so that''s what it was¡­ Alright, that was fine with me.


    "We''ll talk more later, especially considering you''re talking to me clearly with no signs of agony that Bronzy showed. For now, I''m returning you for inspection at the Center."


    "Understood."


    I returned Metang to the ball and placed it next to my others, watching Flint approach me.


    "Incredible!" The Gym Leader praised. "You kids are getting even more talented as time goes by!"


    I zoned him out completely.


    "You suck at battling," I said bluntly, gazing at the old man with narrowed eyes. "Is that on purpose? That would have been a complete stomp if I chose to use Gaia."


    Flint laughed sheepishly at that. "I''m a bit of a failed trainer but I''m still good enough to be a Gym Leader! I''m just not used to using these Pokemon! If you''d ever like to face my true team, show up again for a rematch! I''ve always been bad at using the loaned pokemon! My son is way better than me!"


    I tilted my head at that and nodded. So Brock had likely been the Gym Leader in this timeline too¡­ but Flint took it back.


    Interesting.


    "I''ll think about it. Hopefully you don''t rely on Magnitude luck to help your ass."


    "You sure don''t hold back your words!" Flint replied, handing me the Gym Badge. "Congratulations, Silver. Due to your display and skills, I hereby grant you the Boulder Badge."


    I accepted the boring looking badge and opened my badge case, placing it inside with a satisfied smirk.


    Not bad at all. I was doing relatively well and since I got my badge so quickly, I''d be at a good pace to Cerulean.


    Good because the trip from Pewter to Cerulean was really long, especially because of Mt. Moon.


    Speaking of which¡­


    "That was amazing, Silvy!" Green cheered, rushing up to me with a huge grin and a look of excitement. "You were so cool and controlled and you had Freyja flying around like a flying type and then you totally owned him with Beldum¡­ or Metang now! We have to battle them sometime! That''ll be so fun!"


    "Shut up," I said blandly. "We''ll battle after Metang gets used to their body."


    "Kay!"


    "I knew I recognized that voice," Flint remarked, gazing at Green with a smile. "Green! You''re traveling with this young man right here? I remember you were alone for a while!"


    "Old man Flint!" Green beamed. "Yeah! I was alone for a while because there was no one I really wanted to travel with but then I met Silvy in Vermilion and we hit it off really easily¡ª"


    "No we didn''t."


    "¡ª So we trained together and now we''re traveling through Kanto too!"


    "A decision I regret every single day."


    "It''s only been like¡­ two days!"


    Flint looked at the two starkly different children and sweatdropped. Green was a ball of energy who couldn''t stay still and Silver was¡­ the opposite.


    Well, considering how talented the two were¡­ it was good that they were traveling together. They''d elevate one another to a much higher level.


    I rolled my eyes at Green. "Anything else to say, or am I free to go?" I asked the Gym Leader.


    "You''re free to go," Flint said with a lighthearted laugh. "It was a fun battle! You two have a bright future ahead of you!"


    I scoffed. Bright future. Right.


    "We''re leaving Leaf. We can start preparing to leave the city now," I informed her, making my way out of the gym.


    "Wow, you really waste no time!" Green replied, keeping step with me. "Alright, we can make it to Cerulean through Mt. Moon. It''ll be like a week long trip but at the pace you like¡­ I''d say we can reduce it by a few days."


    "That''s what we''ll do," I grunted, grabbing my ringing Pokegear.


    It was vibrating so damn much. What was the deal with that?


    "YOU HAVE A BELDUM?"


    "YOU HAVE A METANG?!"


    "Why did you never tell me this! I cannot believe you, Silver! Oh I have some choice words to say to you about this! You caught a steel type and didn''t even think to consult this with me? Just you wait until I see you!"


    I stared blankly at the messages from Jasmine, noting that there was even more messages that she sent.


    Mechanically, I turned my head towards the Green peeking over my shoulder.


    "Oh¡­ I uh, showed Jasmine your battle! She wanted to see it!" my companion laughed. "I didn''t know you didn''t tell her about Beldum¡­ you should stop being so secretive all the time!"


    "I''m going to kill you, Leaf," I said calmly.


    She squeaked in horror and stepped back.


    "We can talk about this Silvy! Silvy, you wouldn''t hit such a cute girl like me right?! Oh my Mew, you totally would! I don''t even know what I''m thinking!"


    Green wasted no time and immediately ran away at rather admirable speeds.


    She was damn fast actually.


    Yeah¡­ no.


    I took off and chased the girl, intent to give her the meanest noogie on the planet because she was so goddamn annoying.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "I cannot believe you, Silver! I just now realized I hardly know a member of your team!"


    I sighed. "My bad Jas, never occurred to me and you know how I am. I don''t really mention things without being asked."


    Her frown vanished and she nodded. "I realize I don''t ever actually know what you''re doing. I mean I kind of assumed you were in Kanto but I never actually verified with you¡­"


    "Yeah, I was mostly just moving around and catching new teammates," I informed her. "I didn''t have a set plan in mind but because I wanted to give you a good battle in the future, figured I''d start the gym challenge after being satisfied with my team."


    Not the complete truth, but I couldn''t just tell Jasmine I was in Hoenn now could I?


    Jasmine''s eyes shone at my words, just happy that she presumably inspired me in some way. "I get that! You''re doing fantastic yourself! At this rate, you really are gonna be scary! A Metang?! I''m so jealous of you!" She gushed.


    I chuckled. "I was surprised myself. I''ll make sure to let you check them out one day."


    She nodded happily, thinking of saying something but holding her tongue.


    I perked a brow but my attention was dragged away by the struggling under me.


    "Silvy! Get off of me fatass!"


    Green got another noogie for that and squealed, trashing to attempt to get me off her.


    "Fatass? Look at you cursing. You got corrupted by me way faster than Jas did. She still refuses to curse," I remarked.


    "Silver, you shouldn''t be so rude to Green! You''ve been sitting on her since before this call!" Jasmine admonished.


    "Yeah I know, I''ve had Ares punt Togy like 5 times now," I remarked, smirking infuriatingly at the Togepi giving me the death eye.


    Fun fact, Green''s Togepi was a little villain in the making and she had no idea why he was like this.


    Togy had steadily began growing more violent as the days passed and I actually saw the little shit attempting to steal from my bag.


    That had gotten it the very first punt from Ares because she did not give a damn that he was only a few days old.


    ...Oh wait a minute. Did Togy¡­ Oh, Togy totally inherited my personality didn''t he?


    Yeah... the stealing, violent attitude, death stare...


    Poor Green. It would only get worse.


    He was already causing her more stress and she had profusely apologized to many people already after his multiple failed stealing stunts.


    Amateur. He had a long way to go¡­ If he wasn''t so goddamn antagonistic to me, I''d even have taught him a few things but for now, Ares and I would settle for bullying him for character development.


    "Stop punting Togy!" Green protested beneath me. "He''s only 6 days old! You can''t be such an ass!"


    "Says who?" I retorted with a smug smile.


    "I''m sorry Green. No one can tell Silver anything. I''m also a victim to his twisted personality and I can only imagine how worse it is in person," Jasmine sighed, knowing it was hopeless.


    Green sighed miserably. "I hate you Silvy."


    "You signed up for this," I replied easily. "Alright Jas, I''ll call you some other time, alright? I''m gonna chat with my team for a bit then Green and I are gonna start heading to Mt. Moon."


    Since she wanted to know more but was too nice to ask me, I''d go out of my way to tell Jasmine more stuff.


    Even if I didn''t, her and Green got along way well so she''d tell her everything anyways.


    "Okay! Bye Silver, Bye Green! Make sure you show me your gym battles from now on! I know I can watch the replays but it feels more authentic this way!"


    "Sure thing," I said.


    "Of course!" Green beamed.


    As she hung up, I finally stood up off Green and she let out a strangled cheer, rushing away from me with frantic eyes.


    "I''m gonna get away from you for a bit!" she exclaimed, patting down her black dress and rushing out of the door. "Meet back up in an hour! We''ll leave before night!"


    "Sure," I waved her off, no doubt smirking in an insufferable manner and sneering at the Togepi doing a very suspicious gesture that looked eerily similar to flipping someone off.


    Maybe it was a good thing I didn''t keep it. Having to deal with myself would have been a chore and a half.


    I snorted and released my full team (Ares was already out), taking a seat on the bed of the Pokemon Center rooms and gazing at them.


    Almost as soon as they all gained clarity of their surroundings, everyone locked onto Metang''s form and the following noise was thunderous.


    The most loud, was Ares'' incredulous roar. Despite being out, she had not been listening to my conversation at all, so she was just as blindsided by Beldum''s evolution as the rest of the team.


    "We won our Gym Battle," I began, catching all their attention.


    I ruffled around and pulled out the case to showcase the second badge and grinned in a pleased manner at Freyja and Metang.


    "Freyja and Metang pulled their weight really hard this battle and I didn''t even have to use Gaia," I informed them.


    Gaia grumbled a bit at that but smiled affectionately, latching vines around Freyja and hoisting her up.


    My Feebas'' eyes widened as all eyes turned to her from the action and I felt my smile widen.


    "Freyja here managed to beat a Rhyhorn one on one in combat and she only got hit once in the process!" I announced.


    I bore witness to my Feebas blushing in embarrassment, at the cheers from Loki and Gaia. It even came with Gaia lifting her up and dropping her over and over again.


    "What did I tell you girl?" I grinned, running a hand against her scales. "I told you, it''s a marathon, not a sprint but you kept doubting me! Sure you''re gonna lose some, but you''re gonna win even more," I promised.


    "You handled that battle like a pro. You were nervous, but you didn''t let it slow you down even a little. You''re getting great at using Rain Dance, you''re even better at Water Pulse but we won''t stop there. I''m never giving up on you, girl so fuck all the doubters, understood?"


    "Bay!" Gaia agreed firmly, excitedly shaking Freyja back and forth until the Feebas began protesting.


    "Fee! Fee!" she conceded helplessly, unable to escape Gaia''s impossible grasp.


    I would know, Gaia was a cuddler and she loved using her vines to make sure I couldn''t escape. Damn sleepy menace.


    Ares, stared at Freyja suspiciously and gazed back at me with a puzzled look.


    "Bag?" she asked incredulously, pointing at Freyja with a disbelieving eye.


    I chuckled. "Yes, Ares. Freyja managed to beat an opponent on her own. Of course she did, who do you think you''re trainer is?"


    Ares expression turned contemplating and she eventually nodded.


    "Gon bagon," was all she said.


    "The dragon with dreams of grandeur says that it''s expected that her vassal can even bring the potential of trash out."


    "Fee! Bas bas!" Freyja growled.


    "The fish who is full of doubt says that the dragon should jump headfirst into a deep hole."


    Huh¡­ well damn. Good to know Freyja and Ares were still getting along great.


    But still¡­ I gazed at Metang with a maniacal glint in my eyes.


    "Metang. Well done, you executed our plans with minimal issue and you even evolved off of it," I praised truthfully.


    "I figured you would only have been able to beat the Graveler¡­ but you caught everyone by surprise by not only taking it out¡­ but by surgically eliminating that Onix too."


    Metang remained stationary in their spot, allowing my team to once more inspect it.


    "Metang," was all he said.


    "The battle was sufficient. It has allowed me to verify that your claims were not false¡­ and I find myself enjoying this new life."


    "Even more than your previous one?"


    "I believe answering that question will only foster the ego that you have been steadily accumulating."


    I grinned and placed a hand on their cool metal body.


    "Perfect," I said aloud. "Alright guys, we''re not wasting anytime. We''re going straight for the third badge and we should be there in a little less than a weeks time¡­"


    My silver gaze landed directly on Loki.


    "I''ll be using you for this battle, Loki," I announced. "I don''t know what the stipulations will be, but you''re getting used no matter what, so be ready."


    He was the only one on my team now who hadn''t had a proper gym battle and I''d be damned if it stayed like that.


    Judging by the look in his eyes, Loki understood that fact too and growled challengingly. There was a fire in his eyes and I nodded in a pleased manner.


    "Whoever else I use will be flexible," I announced to them.


    I could use Gaia and probably wreck shop¡­ but where''s the fun in that?


    I''d still likely use her, since she had a blatant advantage that my other members didn''t have but steamrolling with her wasn''t how I''d do things.


    "Alright, we''re going in an hour. You guys are free to do whatever. I''m gonna get you guys started on some new moves because you''ve made good progress with your current ones," I announced.


    My team all made noises of confirmation and began handling their business.


    I sighed fondly at them and idly tossed everyone a snack, getting various noises of thanks, before flipping open my Pokedex.


    My team was progressing fantastically and it was up to me to make sure we kept that pace.


    I decided when it was time for them to add a new move to their repertoire and despite not mastering their previous moves (mastering moves was not as easy as I thought), they had displayed enough for me to add more for them.


    Now which ones would I pick¡­


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Getting used to your body?"


    "...It is, more difficult than I would imagine. The sudden gain of limbs, the growth in size. It will take me another day at the maximum to get used to such changes."


    I snorted. Another day only?


    Guess that''s what being the pre-evolution of a pokemon smarter than a supercomputer did.


    I couldn''t wait to see him as a Metagross. That went for my whole team too.


    Zoroark, Meganium, Milotic, Salamence, Metagross...


    Seeing them in their final forms¡­ That was something I looked forward to the most. Seeing them reach the apex of their respective forms... being the proud trainer of that team.


    It was going to be awesome.


    Speaking of which...


    "How can you speak to me so clearly, Metang? A psychic spoke to me earlier before I caught you and said I have some sort of foggy fortress up here so how are you immune to it?"


    Currently, I was at the outskirts of Pewter and I shared my location with Green, so she could head to my location.


    Right now, I was sitting atop Metang''s floating body while we conversed with each other.


    Metang didn''t take long at all to answer my question.


    "Ah this foggy fortress¡­ Yes, I''m aware of it. I encountered it when I first attempted to bind to you. I recall you attempting to assist me when it made its presence known," they began.


    I nodded my head. "Yeah... I realized too late what binding to me could do to you... I''m just glad that it didn''t seem to permanently damage you."


    "Your efforts are appreciated. I do believe that if I ever try to sever the bond I have formed between the two of us, my mind will shatter beyond recognition."


    "What?!" I said aloud in shock, jolting at that. What the hell did they just say?


    "It is as I say. This fortress protecting your mind, has completely trapped me in. In fact, the moment I tried to pierce the fog, the shroud wrapped around me and attempted to destroy me from the inside."


    What the fuck¡­


    "How are you alive then?" I asked in shock, a nauseating feeling coursing through me at the idea that I had nearly killed one of my Pokemon.


    I guess that meant I was not catching another psychic. Good thing I probably had no intention of getting one.


    "The fog seems somewhat sentient. I do believe it acts on your will to some degree and thankfully, you didn''t want my mind to shatter. I believe if you do not want someone to pierce your mind, they will suffer far worse than I have."


    I wonder if even Mewtwo wasn''t immune to these effects... after all, they claimed my mind was impenetrable...


    "As for how I am able to communicate with you so easily, that is due to the psychic stores inside of you. It has given me enough power to speak to you and the Fog no longer restricts me any further."


    A chill washed over me.


    Psychic what now?


    "Did you say psychic stores?" I asked hesitantly, dread welling up inside of me.


    "That is correct. You have an abundant amount of psychic energy. Though, trying to access them is impossible because of the fog stifling it."


    Silver¡­ Silver had never once been confirmed to be a psychic. I didn''t show a single sign that I was psychic.


    "Metang, can you¡­ explain the feeling of these psychic stores?" I asked hesitantly.


    He did not even hesitate.


    "Cold, heavy and imposing. Exactly like the fog but less supernatural in nature."


    Cold, heavy and imposing¡­ exactly like the dream I had last night.


    That''s¡­ no fucking way.


    Considering who my dad was¡­ there was a way.


    Suddenly, Giovanni''s vested interest in me made a lot of sense.


    That son of a bitch¡­ just what exactly did he do, that I had some connection to fucking Mewtwo of all Pokemon?


    Judging by the fact that Mewtwo was a clone of Mew¡­ I was inclined to think that I maybe got injected with something I didn''t want to be injected by.


    What type of sick fuck experiments on his own goddamn son?!


    The extents of what Giovanni had done to me¡­ I had no idea but the more I learned, the more concerned I became about myself.


    I thought it was just mental damage... Giovanni didn''t seem the type to get physical with me but...


    My life must have been rough, maybe it was a good thing I forgot.


    And if I wasn''t sure before, I was now. This foggy fortress of mine was completely separate from Mewtwo and Team Rocket in general.


    This fortress was all me... and I think that actually helped me figure more things out.


    "Silver, are you alright? You''re pale."


    I jolted at the sound of concern and gazed at the worried green eyes of Green herself.


    "I''m fine," I said tersely. "Just¡­ thinking about a nightmare I had."


    Her eyes widened and she nodded sympathetically. "Normally, when I have nightmares, mom makes me feel better but now I rely on Vee!"


    My mom was probably a massive bitch. I doubted I would rely on her for nightmares.


    I wouldn''t be surprised if I used to have nightmares and both my parents told me off for being weak.


    I scowled at that.


    Don''t worry body of mine, I''d keep us safe from those assholes. There would be no more running away from my troubles.


    Getting rid of them was a far better, and more permanent, solution.


    After that, depending on how much time I had... I could probably find the one behind this fortress because I''m 90% sure it was ¡ª


    "Are you sure you''re alright, Silvy? We can call it a day if you want¡­ You don''t look so good," Green muttered, placing a hand on my forehead.


    I swatted it off with a roll of my eyes, ignoring the way my heart warmed at her kindness.


    "I''m fine, Leaf. Let''s go, we can''t waste time," I grunted, beckoning Metang forward.


    "Do you have a problem with me sitting on you?"


    "If I did, you would not be sitting on me."


    "Sweet."


    Green rebounded quickly and glanced jealously at me using Metang as a mount, but kept pace with us as we headed to Route 3.


    "So when do you wanna stop for training?! I gotta admit, ever since you introduced me to it, I''ve been addicted! I love training! I say we walk for a few hours before taking a break. What do you think?"


    I was too used to this word vomit machine to be affected by it anymore and nodded. "Sounds good to me."


    Route 3 was quite a big route and it was only made bigger by the fact that it was connected to Route 4.


    The two routes connecting, followed by traversing Mt. Moon, and then the final stretch of Route 4 afterwards¡­


    Yeah it was going to take a few days to navigate it all.


    If I didn''t get a good time frame to go against the Gym, we might have to shelf the idea completely and just come back after the S.S Anne.


    Depending on where the S.S Anne left us, that''d probably just be shelved for later. I didn''t particularly care which order I battled the gyms in.


    "What gym do you want to battle after I get this badge?" I asked Green suddenly.


    She blinked at my sudden question before lighting up.


    "Well¡­" Green began, opening up a map to show me. "Based on my team, I wanted to actually battle Erika next in Celadon! The time frame should help me train up Larvee a lot more for that battle! I would like to go through Rock Tunnel because I was interested in maybe catching something in there¡­ but I''d also like to catch a ghost."


    I nodded at that. "So you wanna go to Lavender Town through Rock Tunnel, then path to Celadon?"


    She nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I''m getting confident in using Larvee but she''s still a little naturally weak so I wanna help her more!"


    I mulled it over and eventually nodded. "Alright. But that depends on where the S.S Anne drops us, unless you plan on skipping it."


    Green frowned and nodded with my words. "Yeah, the S.S Anne kinda threw a wrench in my plans and I thought you would have too but we''ll figure it out as we go. It''s not very rigid but I do have an order I wanna fight the Gym Leaders in," she explained.


    I raised a brow at that. "Who do you want to fight after Celadon?"


    "Fuchsia," she replied immediately. "The Gym Leader is Koga, he''s a poison specialist! I hear he''s one of the stronger Gym Leaders of the region!"


    Was that so¡­ From what I remember, Koga joins the Elite 4, but in this world Sabrina and Giovanni were both stronger than him from Kanto and Claire was stronger than him from Johto.


    Maybe they just didn''t want the position? Giovanni was obvious but I didn''t know much about Sabrina or Claire.


    "Alright, I''m fine with that then," I shrugged, content to go with her plan. "By the way, what do you wanna evolve Vee into?" I asked suddenly.


    Vee, who was buried in her hair, perked up at that and gazed in interest at being mentioned.


    Green pursed her lips. "We haven''t discussed too much about it. He doesn''t mind any form really. It''s a serious topic though so I don''t want to pick a form he might hate¡­"


    That was the thing about me owning an Eevee that I didn''t really appreciate.


    I had a very specific form of Eevee I''d want it to evolve to, that being Espeon and I very much disliked some of the others.


    But I wouldn''t deny my Eevee the chance to become a Flareon if that''s what it wanted to become¡­ Flareon may be my least favorite Eevee, but robbing it of choice would just lead to resentment.


    Luckily, Green didn''t seem as picky as I was so her having an Eevee, probably wasn''t as disastrous as me having one.


    Besides, if I caught an Eevee, I would not evolve it into Espeon. I wouldn''t subject another psychic to my presence... So I guess my goal of Eevee probably didn''t matter anymore.


    "A wise decision. Fret not, I am the only one you shall need."


    "You''re fairly arrogant."


    "That is called confidence. You are the arrogant one."


    ...Asshole.


    "I think Blue is turning his Eevee into an Umbreon," Green muttered with a contemplative expression. "That''s what Vee thinks at least, so we wanna avoid that form."


    Ah right, Blue and Green''s Eevee''s were siblings that they bonded with before selecting their starter.


    Makes me wonder why Vee hadn''t evolved yet¡­ perhaps it was also a power thing instead of just loving your trainer?


    Guess that might apply to Freyja as well.


    "Hey! Wanna battle?!"


    Both Green and I paused our conversation at the voice and gazed up at the trainers in question.


    It was a couple of campers. Two young kids, a boy and a girl with eager gleams.


    I shrugged. "Sure, who wants to battle who?" I grunted, jumping off Metang''s head.


    The duo looked at my Metang with a hint of trepidation before jolting at my snapping fingers.


    "O-Oh! We wanted to have a double battle!" They exclaimed. "We''re trying to improve our duo skills so we figured ¡ª"


    "Not interested," I denied instantly. "Have at it Green."


    Green gaped at that and rounded on me. "Is the idea of having a double battle with me that repulsive to you?!"


    "Yes. You can beat them both alone. Have fun."


    Green stamped her feet on the ground and puffed her cheeks out. "They want to battle both of us! Let them battle both of us! It''ll be good training! We can even use our weaker members!"


    I raised a brow at her and snorted in amusement. "They''re right there you know. You shouldn''t be such a dick," I taunted.


    Green spluttered and rounded on the kids, bowing profusely. "I''m sorry! I didn''t mean it like that! This guy just brings out the worst in me!"


    "You know¡­ I can see that," the camper girl sweatdropped a bit.


    "Suddenly, I don''t have anymore complaints about you," the camper guy told his companion.


    I rolled my eyes. "Double battle right? You two vs Leaf and I?"


    They nodded eagerly and I nodded after a short sight.


    "Alright then," I muttered, grasping a pokeball.


    Green grinned eagerly and grasped her own pokeball.


    At once, we launched our balls.


    "Loki."


    "Larvee!"


    Both our pokemon materialized at once and Green gazed at me.


    "I thought we said weaker pokemon?"


    "When the hell did I say that?" I mused, taking a seat on Metang again.


    Loki gazed at his opponents, both the Male and Female Nidorans, with a fierce look. It was rather uncharacteristic of him but at the same time, he probably felt like he was getting left behind by the team.


    I''d need to start upping his offense. Sometimes, it wasn''t about teaching the best moves, but the right ones and Loki wanted to learn a move that could cause damage.


    "Nidoran use Poison Sting!" Both the campers said at once.


    "Agility. Get away," I ordered calmly.


    "Flame Charge. Move outta there," Green instructed calmly.


    Loki followed my orders instantly, slipping into the Agility with only a bit of struggle and sped away from the poisonous darts.


    At the same time, Larvy shrouded itself in a fiery aura and dashed away at¡­ what might have been impressive speeds by Larvesta standards.


    Loki completely avoided the Poison Stings, while the few that connected to Larvy got burned to the point where he wouldn''t be poisoned anyways.


    "Get behind them. Extrasensory."


    "String Shot, make sure they can''t run and hold them together."


    Both Nidoran''s went alert, at the sight of Loki blurring past them but as they tried to whirl around, a white silken string shot around and began tying the two together.


    They let out twin noises of surprise as they were forced to hug and the two poison types began struggling to remove the String Shot off of them¡­


    But it was not to be. Due to Larvy''s efforts in tying them up, it left them perfectly still and clumped to take the full brunt of the Extrasensory.


    "Nido!" They both cried out, forcefully dislodged from the rope tying them together.


    "Nidoran!" Both Campers cried out in shock.


    Loki huffed, not satisfied with that match and trotted over to my side with a slight frown.


    "W-Woah! You two are so strong!" The female camper awed.


    Green smiled politely at the two and hoisted up Larvy, completely unbothered by its ridiculous heat. "We''re just a bit too strong for you guys but you definitely have potential! Are you two new?" She asked gently.


    The male nodded. "We haven''t officially started our journey yet! We''re too young! But we like to camp just outside Pewter and build up experience when we can! Nidoran are our only pokemon!"


    I ran a hand through Loki''s fur and ignored the conversation happening.


    "The Underhanded Trickster is upset at his perceived lack of power."


    "Quite the rude nickname you have for him."


    "I would implore him to attempt a sneak attack on me now."


    So Metang was still pissy about that¡­ good to know.


    "I get your frustrations," I murmured. "You want more power. I get that."


    Loki looked a bit embarrassed that I was calling him out so freely and I merely let out a tiny snort.


    "Power isn''t always about raw strength, Loki," I informed him. "If you think you''ll ever have more raw power than a Metagross or a Salamence, that''s just naive."


    My Zorua flinched but I wasn''t yet finished.


    "But that''s why you have more options to circumvent that. If I only relied on increasing your raw power, you''d notice way sooner, how much your lacking. That''s why I''m tapping into your talents. Trying to compare yourself to one of them¡­ is like comparing a warrior to an assassin."


    I ruffled his fur. "All of you have different roles on the team, remember? At the end of the day, you will be the most effective member on our team in your role. No one will be able to match you at your niche, so don''t try and surpass them at theirs. I''m the one training them after all so they''ll be the best at theirs too," I chastised with an amused gleam.


    "That, is arrogance, Blight."


    "Bite me. Also why are you calling me Blight?"


    "You are one touched by things no one would desire being touched by. Your existence is unnatural."


    If only Metang knew.


    Loki pondered my words, before his tense stance went away and he nodded in satisfaction.


    It was good dealing with a Pokemon so agreeable. I loved Freyja to death but she really wasn''t making it easy for me.


    "Good, your next move is gonna be a strong offensive one. We''ll discuss it more later," I muttered to him, watching Green finish up her conversation with the two kids.


    "Zor," he said in agreement, poking his snout against the Pokeball and returning himself.


    "Keep it up you two! You''ve got a lot of synergy already!" Green waved at the duo heading back into Pewter.


    "Thanks a bunch Green!" They waved back.


    She watched them go with a fond smile and I rolled my eyes.


    "Done?" I mused, as Metang began moving forward without any prompting.


    "Yeah! They were nice kids!" Green beamed. "Why didn''t you say anything to them?"


    "No interest."


    She rolled her eyes. "What a surprise."


    Was that sarcasm? Was she already using it? I was impressed.


    I snorted. "Let''s just go. We have a lot of distance to make... Let''s try making it to the Center by the end of the day."


    She nodded eagerly. "Kay!" she beamed.


    "Wait!"


    I let out a sigh of aggravation at that and Green paused, recognition in her eyes.


    "Mason!" She waved happily. "What''s up?"


    Mason? I thought his name was Jason¡­


    The worst of Oak''s trainers, flinched as I met his gaze and he quickly averted it, focusing on Green instead.


    "Um¡­ I have a battle with Flint in 3 days and I wanted to know if you were interested in watching it?" He asked nervously.


    I rolled my eyes as Green''s expression fell and she glanced back at me, noticing my utterly unwavering features.


    "He''s asking you Leaf, not me. I have no reason to stay here," I said blandly, looking her dead in the eye.


    She flinched at that because even though Green was an incredibly nice person, she wasn''t nice enough to compromise her enjoyment.


    And she was going to have to learn to be less nice traveling with me. I was not interested in helping people like she were and if it got to the point where I''d be getting compromised, then I''d leave her behind.


    "Sorry, Mason," she said quietly, rubbing her hair nervously. "Silver and I are on a pretty tight schedule¡­ I''d love to watch, but we really can''t stay here any longer."


    "O-Oh¡­ right," Mason mumbled, looking utterly crushed at her reply.


    Green smiled awkwardly and I let out a groan of annoyance.


    "Does your Charmeleon know Metal Claw?" I suddenly asked, just wanting to get out of here.


    Mason jumped at my sudden question and gazed at me in shock.


    "U-Um¡­ no, he doesn''t?" The boy answered hesitantly.


    I scoffed. "You have 3 days, teach it Metal Claw. Rock types are slow, utilize speed to run circles around it. What other Pokemon do you have?"


    "A-A Sandshrew and a Spearow," Mason replied quicker this time, gazing at me with wide eyes.


    "That Sandshrew should be useful. What does it know?" I asked, flicking open my Pokedex.


    "U-Umm... Defense Curl, Rollout, Fury Cutter, Poison Sting, Dig and Rapid Spin," he listed.


    At least he had good memory.


    I frowned. "You haven''t taught it another ground type move? What the hell are you doing?"


    He flinched back and I rolled my eyes.


    "Teach it Bulldoze or Magnitude. Bulldoze if you want consistency, Magnitude if you''re bad enough that you need to rely on luck. Stop using Dig against Flint, Magnitude does twice as much damage to it," I instructed harshly.


    "Use Sandshrew and Charmeleon in your fight¡­ and make sure you actually sit down and talk to them about the game plan instead of winging it. That Charmeleon especially, doesn''t respect how bad you are but I''m sure you can earn its loyalty if you stop being so trash," I told him harshly.


    "Now let''s go Leaf, I''m tired of being held up. We''ve got a lot of distance to travel."


    Green looked stunned, before a large smile split her features and she nodded.


    "See ya, Mason! I know you can win this time! We''ll see you later and tell me how it goes," my companion waved.


    "Silvy, lemme get on Metang too!"


    "No."


    "But whyyy?! They won''t even register me! I''m as light as a feather!"


    "You never stop talking do you? Fine get on."


    "Yay!"


    Mason watched the duo go with a confused expression on his face.


    "Did he just... give me advice?" he asked in shock.


    Well... it sounded like really good advice despite how rudely it was delivered...


    Maybe he should follow it...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Funnily enough, Metang''s were actually pretty fast. By rotating it''s arms backwards, they were able to speed themselves up to quite the respectable degree.


    That didn''t change the fact that we were still traveling such a giant route.


    Due to the amount of people who stopped us for battles, Green and I postponed our training for when we entered Mt. Moon and committed to traveling the Routes instead.


    We actually found quite an Ace trainer while traveling too.


    Ace Trainers were the leagues foot soldiers basically. They weren''t the weakest, ranking above Rangers and Gym Trainers, but they were far more numerous than both.


    But against the likes of Green and I? They may as well have been Gym Leaders.


    It was the first time since traveling with each other, that we actually lost. Though, we mostly expected to lose so we just did it for practice.


    Still pissed me off something fierce.


    "Do you normally patrol these areas?" I asked, watching the Ace trainer return their Exeggutor.


    "Yeah. My schedule is really flexible but when I''m on patrol I come here," he nodded in a friendly manner, not taking our money because it was just an exhibition match.


    "Alright good," I muttered. "I''ll be sure to remember you¡­ What''s your name again?"


    Both Chase (the Ace trainers name I learned!) and Green sweatdropped deeply.


    Besides that battle though, we mostly steamrolled our opponents in our path to Mt. Moon.


    There were a lot of trainers and both Green and I were using it to get our weaker mons even stronger.


    The area around Pewter, were normally inhabited by newer trainers because experienced trainers hated traveling through Mt. Moon. They''d much prefer to fly or just find another route to go.


    So trainers typically got the badge and just flew out of the city or went to Viridian. New trainers didn''t have much choice but to eventually traverse through Mt. Moon, unless they just opted to fight Flint or the Cerulean gym much later in their journey.


    Night was swiftly approaching as Green and I chatted about anything.


    It said something that I was actually responding in turn... Jasmine had done nothing but sing Green''s praises so I suppose that helped me warm up to her.


    We were almost to the entrance of Mt. Moon and we were going to call it a night due to the Pokemon Center being stationed right next to it.


    "I actually wanted to catch a Clefairy," Green admitted to me as we made the final stretch.


    "Yeah?" I asked in interest. "Why didn''t you?"


    "Never found one!" She laughed sheepishly. "I was going to camp in there for even longer until I found one but then I had that encounter with Team Rocket and decided to just head to the next city. My team was in pretty bad shape after how much of the grunts I beat."


    I sobered at that. "There were only grunts there? That''s lucky of you."


    Green nodded seriously, glancing at her hands with a frown. "Yeah I know¡­ I didn''t wanna push it. It didn''t seem like they were doing a big scale project but if an executive was there, I might have been in a lot of trouble."


    I frowned at that. For all her talents, Green was still a new trainer just like me.


    She hadn''t yet grown into the formidable behemoth I already envisioned her as. If she ran into an executive at this level, I doubted it''d be as easy as the games made it out to be.


    That went for me too. I''d need to go about this carefully. I had been planning on taking it easy in Kanto, but seems daddy dearest forced my hand.


    A stronger Team Rocket¡­ a legendary at their beck and call¡­


    Just another day I guess.


    "Let''s get some sleep," I offered, as the light of the Pokemon Center beckoned us towards it.


    Traveling with Green turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I wouldn''t actually involve her too much because at the end of the day, Mewtwo was Mewtwo.


    "Alright!" Green beamed, finding a new surge of energy and rushing towards the Center (I returned Metang earlier to let them get some rest despite the claims that they weren''t tired).


    I was far more sedated, enjoying the coolness of the night and gazing into the sky with a tired sigh.


    "Problem after problem," I muttered, looking directly at the full moon.


    Oh well, I''d just knock them off one by one. That''s all you could do.


    In order to achieve the life you wanted, you needed to get rid of all obstacles that made your goal more difficult.


    So I would get rid of all of them in anyway I knew how.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Much to my chagrin, the Pokemon Center stationed right outside Mt. Moon, had a rule that companions traveling together had to share a room.


    This was to save on room considering these Centers tended to be smaller than the ones in main cities.


    Thankfully, as a caveat, there were multiple beds in the room.


    I yawned and idly threw my pillow at the sleeping Green''s face from across the room, connecting solidly with her face.


    She let out a strangled shout and I snorted tiredly.


    "Rise and shine. It''s morning," was all I said.


    "I¡­ think I hate you," Green muttered tiredly, pulling the pillow off her face and tossing it to the side, unintentionally hitting Vee in the process.


    What followed was Green and Vee getting into a morning fight that was very good for waking everyone in the room up.


    I snorted and ran a hand through Loki''s fur, watching my dark fox do his stretches to wake up.


    Vee and Green were the complete opposite of Loki and I when it came to mornings.


    They were both terrible at waking up, compared to us who only needed a few minutes to be ready to start the day.


    By the time I was ready to go, Green was finally getting out of her sleep funk so I made it my mission to wake her up at the same time as me.


    Seeing how bad Green was during the morning, made me all the more appreciative at my rigid mannerisms.


    "Hurry up," I grunted. "Go bathe first. You take forever so I''ll do a small workout in the meantime."


    "Kay," she said lazily, rolling off the bed onto her two feet. "I''ll be fast. Don''t eat breakfast without me."


    "Yeah, yeah."


    I flicked open my Pokedex, as Green grabbed essentials, and began plotting the next moves my team was going to learn.


    I wasn''t too worried about the Cerulean Gym because allegedly, their best battler, Misty, was no longer with them and that meant I''d be facing off against one of the "Sensational Sisters".


    They were the original gym leaders, but they also appeared to hate battling.


    That wasn''t to say they sucked at it¡­ they were still one of the strongest trainers in the region, but they also didn''t have a passion for battling.


    They much preferred to do their beauty shows or whatever and unless it was one of the higher tier badge battles, they scarcely gave in any effort.


    I frowned at that. The sisters were talented, they had to be because this world was far stricter to Gym Leaders and they held the position for years.


    I wonder if all three of them had their own main team. If that were the case, then they might be far more formidable then I initially gave them credit for.


    Ah well, it was just a third badge battle. They probably wouldn''t put too much effort into this one ¡ª


    A gentle knock on the door, was soon replaced by much louder ones and both Green and I froze in what we were doing.


    We exchanged a glance towards each other, confusion clear in our gazes.


    "Togy steal something important?" I asked curiously.


    "No chance, Saury''s been making sure he behaves," Green frowned. "Did you assault someone? Ares attack someone?"


    "Nah, I''ve been thinking too much to attack anyone," I replied, pushing myself to my feet.


    I gave a hand signal to Zorua, telling him to be prepared to attack whoever was on the other side and at the same time, Green beckoned for Vee to be on guard.


    "Who the fuck is it?!" I barked with narrowed eyes.


    Nothing, the person on the other side was completely silent.


    My eyes narrowed into something dangerous and I released Metang from the ball.


    I wasn''t too concerned about who was on the other side, but it never hurt to be careful.


    Team Rocket wasn''t bold enough to continuously attack Pokemon Centers, not with how fast an Ace Trainer would come bearing down on them.


    I wonder who the hell was so interested in speaking to me.


    Without hesitation, I flipped open the door and glared at the person behind it¡­


    Or well, attempted to. I was met with a clothed chest for my efforts.


    "What the fuc ¡ª" My thoughts were cut off as I realized the reason I was staring at a chest¡­ was because the person across from me was that fucking tall.


    The first thing I noted, wasn''t the black shirt with the blue dragon logo on the front, nor was it the red jacket with scales on it, nor was it the carmine colored hair of his, that was a definitive worse shade than my own...


    It was the actual cape.


    Champion Lance, because who else could this be, cut an imposing figure, towering over me and maybe being the same or a little shorter than Lt. Surge.


    I idly heard Green drop something as I gazed at the man grinning confidently at me.


    "You must be Silver!" Lance boomed, holding out a giant palm for me to shake. "I''ve heard a lot about you from Jasmine! I''ve been eager to meet you!"


    My stunned gaze was brought to a much shorter figure peeking from behind Lance with a nervous smile.


    A nervous figure with a familiar head of brown hair.


    "...I have a strong feeling you don''t like surprises¡­" Jasmine said behind the giant of a man.


    My expression went from stunned to utterly incredulous, as I locked eyes with my best friend.


    "...But surprise?" She said sheepishly.


    ¡­


    "What the fuck?" Green said intelligently, jaw dropping to the floor.


    I couldn''t blame her for that one¡­ that was exactly what I was thinking.


    "U-Um," Jasmine stammered, noticing that my silver eyes never left her person. She slowly vanished behind Lance''s figure again.


    "Don''t worry, Jasmine!" Lance laughed, completely unaware of the millions of ways I planned on assaulting her. "I get this reaction a lot! It''s nothing new!"


    Jasmine peeked her head out again and squeaked as she noticed my blank gaze was still focused on her.


    "Champion Lance¡­ I don''t think that''s quite it," she explained, ducking behind him once more.


    The champion''s smile turned confused at that.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Silver sends his regards."


    Ariana jolted up at that in surprise, whirling around and making eye contact with Giovanni himself.


    He had an amused smile on his face, as if being told a joke that only he knew the meaning of...


    She wouldn''t say what she thought about that look. Instead, she''d focus on what he just said.


    "You ran into Silver? Where is he?" she asked.


    He gazed at her and raised a brow, walking towards his office. "Concerned about him?"


    Ariana had no choice but to follow after him, natural smirk on her face disappearing in favor of a frown.


    "He disappeared for about 3 months and you randomly found him again. Is it not natural for me to be curious about his whereabouts?" she asked, stamping her frustration with Giovanni down.


    It would do no good to show visible frustration against him.


    A sleeping Persian awoke, as Giovanni entered his room and it lazily stalked towards him, purring in content as the gym leader palmed its head.


    "I suppose your curiosity is warranted," he said slowly, methodically.


    There was always a motive behind everything he said, always a goal. Whether it was to get information, or subtly show his power over someone.


    Giovanni was a master of his words. Ariana would know and she was sure that other wench knew too.


    "He is currently traversing through the Kanto region, building his power by challenging the Gym Leaders," Giovanni informed her, eyeing a document on his table and picking it up.


    "That''s it? You didn''t bring him back?" Ariana asked, frown deepening.


    "There is no need."


    No need? What did he mean no need?


    "Are you going to elaborate? Our son ran away on his birthday and we had no clue where he went until just now," she pressed.


    Giovanni didn''t even glance up at her. His eyes just continued to rove over the document he was reading.


    "He is doing an exceptional job. His actions have opened my eyes and realized that journeying is a requirement to gaining more experience. He has accrued a good team and his growth is exponential. Forcefully retrieving him will only lead to further resentment. He will escape again."


    "So now you want to be a good parent?" Ariana thought heinously, holding her tongue in case she said something reckless.


    "You should know how capable he is. He is my son after all. Your worries are unwarranted and they detract from how effective you are. Another useless thing he inherited from you," Giovanni said coldly, placing the document down to finally regard her.


    "I''ve deemed his status to be an acceptable one. You have a mission you need to be focusing on. This conversation is over."


    Ariana resisted the urge to scream in frustration and merely sneered. There was no point going against what Giovanni said and she did have a mission to focus on.


    "I nearly forgot to mention. I informed Silver that you missed him and he told me that you may go "fuck yourself"," Giovanni mentioned, looking terribly amused by the prospect.


    Ariana felt a spike of rage and whirled around. "He said what?! And what did you do about this?"


    Giovanni raised a brow. "Should I have done something? He said even worse things to me and I saw no need to reprimand him. I find this rebellious phase of his refreshing."


    "After the mission in Vermilion, I will be paying him a visit," she said tersely, shutting the door and walking off before he could say anything.


    She silently walked to her private room, white heels clacking against the smooth tile.


    Finally, she shut her door and immediately punched the wall with a fierce scowl.


    Ariana ignored how the reinforced walls made her fist throb and inclined her head towards the Zoroark that materialized in view.


    It looked at her with a tilted head, no emotion in its predatory eyes and Ariana felt her scowl deepen.


    "Your child was the reason Silver was able to escape in the first place," she pointed out.


    Damn Illusion...


    "Zor," Zoroark said softly.


    How dare he say such a thing to her?! The audacity of ¡ª


    Ariana took a deep breath and calmed herself down.


    Giovanni himself should have known that raising Silver the way he had been raised was a bad idea.


    Silver was his son after all and Giovanni would never accept this... but Silver clearly had her temper and he seemed to finally have grown tired of his parents treatment.


    To think he actually stood up to his father... Ariana had never seen such a thing.


    She frowned deeply.


    After ensuring the mission in Vermilion went well, she''d find her son''s whereabouts and pay him a visit.


    But for now, she needed to find Lapras because her fist was bleeding.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The spawn of Giovanni went by the name Silver.


    Mewtwo had been aware of them before, but had not bothered to pay attention to them until very recently...


    Because the one named Silver was not normal.


    There was no human alive that could resist Mewtwo''s mental probing. Most weren''t even aware that they were being probed because Mewtwo was exceptional.


    But not only was this Silver resistant... he could sense that Mewtwo was there...


    How interesting.


    Whatever forces protected this Silver from Mewtwo''s administrations... was something the psychic was not aware of.


    Perhaps they should discuss with their partner about the one named Silver... Giovanni was sure to know more about his spawn.


    But that was for later. For now, Mewtwo would continue to hone their capabilities and remain on standby for the mission with Vermilion.


    "You don''t get to decide the life I live. No one gets to decide the life I live except for me."


    Those were the words the one named Silver said to his creator... the same one who was apart of Mewtwo''s own creation.


    The entire conversation had been on the forefront of Giovanni''s mind, to the point where Mewtwo barely needed to prod him.


    Perhaps he should prod Giovanni further. Seeing as they were partners, Mewtwo didn''t pry into his mind but there could be exceptions made.


    It''s not as if Giovanni would be able to tell.


    Mewtwo was exceptional. They were a master at all that they could do...


    So why was Silver allowed to decide his life? Why did Giovanni allow him to wander around.


    They were both creations of Giovanni, so what was the reason?


    If Giovanni didn''t have a sufficient answer...


    Well then Mewtwo would just ask Silver himself. They had many questions for the one with the mind guarded by forces not even Mewtwo could penetrate.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Bonus!


    Jasmine let out a nervous breath as she knocked on the door that led to the main office of Indigo Plateau.


    "Come in!" a deep and boisterous voice called out to her.


    She nodded to herself and gently opened the door.


    Champion Lance Wataru gazed at her with a wide grin. To the left of him, in his giant room, a giant Dragonite (by the name of Siegfried) lay next to him, a tiny Dratini curled into its chest.


    "Jasmine!" Lance greeted, standing up from his seat (he looked rather thankful for the distraction) and making his way to her.


    She rarely looked Lance in the eye and normally found things to distract herself with on the scheduled Gym Leader meetings... but Lance was very tall... and he also rather young too.


    "I think this may be the first time since you became a Gym Leader, that we spoke one on one," Lance pointed out with an amused grin. "I was beginning to think you were scared of me!"


    A look of horror crossed Jasmine''s features. "N-No nothing like that! I just... prefer to keep to myself and I don''t want to waste your time."


    Lance shook his head. "Waste my time? Don''t be ridiculous! I love the distractions!" he grinned, putting a massive hand on her head and ruffling her hair.


    Jasmine squeaked and ducked her head in embarrassment.


    The Champion of Indigo had a look of amusement in his eyes but decided to help her out. "So what brings you here? Like I mentioned, you don''t normally want to speak to anyone much so I knew this was serious."


    Jasmine nodded nervously. "Well it''s just..." she nervously began, taking the seat offered to her by Lance.


    How was she supposed to do this again? This felt so...


    "But it''s just¡­ the moment I mentioned Team Rocket¡­ you had the most angry expression I''ve ever seen on your face¡­ and I don''t even think you realized."


    "They''ve done something unforgivable to me is all."


    Jasmine''s expression hardened.


    "Please keep this conversation between just us. I have reason to believe that there is a traitor in our midst, supplying Team Rocket information."


    Lance blinked.


    That... was not what he was expecting to here at all.


    His expression immediately hardened because Jasmine was not the one to joke about something like this.


    "That''s a lofty claim to make, Jasmine. I''m sure you have reasons to be saying this," he replied seriously.


    To the side, Siegfried popped open an eye.


    Jasmine nodded and channeled her best Silver impression.


    "We have been on the backfoot dealing with Team Rocket the whole time. We''ve never captured an executive. The grunts we do capture never know anything and quite frankly, we face a serious risk if we don''t figure something out," she listed.


    "Isn''t it suspicious that the Executives only show up to places that we don''t have the necessary power to stop them? Or places where we aren''t aware they''ll be?"


    Lance frowned thoughtfully at that, expression not displaying anything.


    "You''re right."


    Jasmine paused at how quickly he conceded.


    "Everything you''re saying makes sense, when I think of a traitor in our ranks," Lance admitted with a deep frown. "I never thought of it before but that makes a lot of sense."


    The Champion nodded to himself before gazing at her, sharp expressions softening. "Thank you Jasmine. You opened my eyes to a new possibility... I''ll take steps on how to handle this."


    Jasmine nodded, relief on her features and Lance''s yellow eyes peered at her.


    "I''m surprised you''re the one bringing up such a unique perspective to me," Lance pointed out.


    "Oh that''s because a close friend of mine brought it up!" Jasmine beamed, nervousness immediately forgotten.


    The dragon master was rather surprised at how swiftly her mood shifted.


    "A friend?" he prodded gently.


    She nodded enthusiastically.


    "Is this why she''s been coming out of her shell more?"


    Everyone had been noticing that super shy Jasmine was getting more and more outgoing. She didn''t stutter every sentence and she even accepted an invitation to go hang out with Whitney!


    Guess Lance figured out the reason for that. She made a new friend! What a shock! Jasmine, while a sweetheart of a child, was introverted to the core.


    "Tell me about him," Lance requested with a large grin, watching how elated this person made her feel.


    "Mhm! His name is Silver and he''s my best friend!" she gushed as if she were talking about steel types.


    That let Lance know this Silver kid was special because Jasmine only talked about Steel types like this.


    "He''s a new trainer. He''s very rude and antisocial like me! He doesn''t spend a day not tormenting me! When we first met, he didn''t even want to accept my number!"


    "...This is your friend?" Lance asked, a little appalled that someone as nice as Jasmine managed to get a friend like that.


    "My best friend!" she corrected. "Even though he''s really rude, he''s actually really nice underneath it all! He''s been helping me get more confident with myself!"


    As she gushed over her friend, Lance listened with a smile.


    "I''d like to meet him! You said he''s the one who broke you out of your shell and brought up the traitor?" Lance mused.


    Jasmine nodded proudly. "He''s really smart! He may be new but he gives me that feeling that he''s... going to be a really exceptional trainer! He beat Lt. Surge for his first badge!"


    That got all of Lance''s attention.


    Someone beat Surge for their first badge? Was this recent? To be frank, someone with no badges wasn''t supposed to be capable of beating Surge currently.


    He was going hard on all manner of badges for the S.S Anne boat trip... and someone beat him with no badges?


    "Jasmine!" Lance called suddenly. "I want to meet your friend!"


    Jasmine jumped at that with wide eyes. "Silver? You want to meet him?" she asked in shock.


    He nodded with an eager grin. "Of course! I''ve never heard you praise anyone like this! I''ll have to arrange someone to stand in for Olivine for the time being, but once that''s settled, we can go visit him!"


    Jasmine blinked. "W-We?"


    "Of course! You miss him, right? It''s probably been a long time since the two of you saw each other," Lance smiled, patting her head. "You should get to see your friend when you want, so we''ll visit him together! Besides, with what you''re saying about him, you''d be great for calming him down."


    She nodded. "That is true... I don''t think he actually cares that you''re champion... I don''t think he acts differently with anyone. Silver''s rude through and through."


    So she''d... get to visit him?!


    Jasmine beamed and nodded enthusiastically. "Okay Champion Lance! I''ll take you up on your offer! I''d love to visit Silver again!"


    Lance grinned, abnormally sharp fangs gleaming, and nodded. "Alright, you can stay in Indigo for the time being. We''ll fly over there soon."


    She accepted the offer gratefully. "It''s good that you''re bringing me! Silver can be a bit unhinged... but he at least likes me," she said.


    Lance just laughed boisterously. "He''s an interesting guy!"


    He really was. Jasmine couldn''t wait to see him?


    Should she surprise him? Silver seemed like the type of person to hate surprises...


    That mean she should do it! Silver always tormented her, it was time to repay the favor!

 The Flying Master I

    Credit where credit was due, Jasmine was quick on the uptake of things. For someone who wore a dress, she was pretty fast.


    Unfortunately, I was far quicker.


    "So, Champion Lance," I greeted with an unimpressed expression. "What the fuck do you want?"


    The speed at which my traveling companion turned on me, really should have been studied. That might have been the fastest I''ve ever seen her move.


    "SILVY!" Green shrieked in horror. "YOU CAN''T JUST TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT! THIS IS CHAMPION LANCE!"


    I gazed at her with a tilted head. "So what? He''s the one visiting us, I should be able to speak to him however the hell I want."


    Green spluttered at me and it seemed to finally hit her, that I really didn''t give a damn who I was talking to, considering I was even speaking to the champion of Kanto like this.


    "Don''t worry about it," Lance said in mild amusement, waving off Green''s concern. "It''s refreshing, having someone speak to me like this! You can just call me Lance! No need to add the Champion part. I''m off duty at the moment!"


    "I said the same thing!" Jasmine exclaimed from underneath me. "Talking to Silver is a breath of fresh air!"


    I glanced at my best friend and immediately put my knuckles to her head.


    "Hey this is much easier than with Leaf. Her hairs a jungle and yours is way neater."


    Green, who looked poised to help out Jasmine, slowly withered away at the reminder that I had already done this to her and I flashed her a cocky smirk.


    "S-Silver! I said I''m sorry!" Jasmine squealed in pain, thrashing underneath me in vain. "We haven''t seen each other in so long and this is the first thing you do?! Didn''t you miss me?"


    "Course I missed you," I replied easily, patting her hair due to how adorable she currently was.


    It was true. I missed the hell outta Jasmine. You didn''t realize how happy you''d be at seeing someone, until you actually saw them.


    But of course, that was all secondary to the fact that, "You knew I didn''t like surprises yet somehow, here I am¡­ surprised. Wanna explain?"


    "That''s because of me," Lance said a bit sheepishly. "I wanted to meet the trainer who managed to help Jasmine out so much and I insisted we go to meet him."


    "Champion Lance doesn''t waste any time! He wanted to meet you as soon as possible and I wasn''t going to say no to visiting!" Jasmine pleaded her case.


    I pursed my lips at that and mulled it over.


    Finally, I stood up off Jasmine''s back and dusted myself off, before yanking my best friend up.


    I pulled her into a hug and smiled at the startled noise that erupted from her. "I missed you Jas. I appreciate our friendship more and more everyday and I''m glad you''re visiting. Who knows when the next time we would''ve seen each other was gonna be?"


    She turned beat red at my actions and began stammering at my words, caught utterly off guard by my actions and I let out a smug smirk.


    I had guessed, correctly by the way, that Jasmine was unfamiliar with physical affection so I decided to embarrass her even despite the fact that I really was happy to see her.


    What? I had a reputation to upkeep!


    "I-I missed you too Silver. It was hard not being able to see my best friend," Jasmine mumbled, looking like she were about to die on the spot.


    I''m fairly sure she very nearly did faint, as Green leapt into the group hug from the side.


    My companion let out an excited squeal and nearly sent us tumbling to the ground.


    "Wow! Silvy''s hugging someone and I get to meet Jas super soon! What an awesome moment for us to share! He never lets me hug him!" She beamed, squeezing the both of us happily.


    "Green! I''m glad we''re already properly meeting! I enjoyed talking to you so much!" Jasmine smiled shakily, trying her best to stay upright and not faint.


    She still needed a lot of work¡­ I''d have to work on that.


    "I loved talking to you too! I don''t know how you and Silvy are best friends but it''s adorable! Let''s be good friends too okay?!" Green grinned.


    Jasmine nodded eagerly.


    "I didn''t say you could hug me, Leaf," I sneered. "Jasmine is my friend, not you."


    Green balked at that and squeezed me tighter. "WE''RE FRIENDS SILVY! STOP PRETENDING LIKE WE AREN''T!"


    "Silver you shouldn''t be so mean to Green! She''s a good friend!" Jasmine admonished me.


    I rolled my eyes. "Not a chance in hell. My limit is one friend so if you want me to be friends with Leaf, I''m getting rid of you."


    Jasmine spluttered. "That''s so rude Silver! Can''t you stop being difficult for once?!"


    "No."


    "I don''t get why he''s like this! He''s just full asshole nonstop! AND CALL ME GREEN!"


    "Your name is Leaf."


    "Silver! Have you been terrorizing Green the whole time you two have been traveling?"


    "She''s the one who asked to travel with me. It''s her fault."


    "He''s a bully! He doesn''t leave me alone!"


    Lance should have felt a little put out that his presence was being completely ignored at the moment... but honestly, it was a rare occasion that he wasn''t the center of attention in the room.


    It felt strangely nice. Even he didn''t want to always been seen as Champion Lance, warden of the Kanto and Johto regions.


    Lance already liked Silver and Green.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    In my arguing with Jasmine and Green, I forgot Lance was actually here.


    The Dragon Master was actually fairly chill about it, just waving us off and saying that friends should be allowed to be friends and all that.


    But we had sufficiently caught up with each other and to be frank, I wasn''t very at ease knowing the strongest trainer in Kanto was looming over me.


    But I could roll with it. I was rolling with everything so this was nothing.


    "So what do you need?" I asked easily, munching on my sandwich.


    Lance ate his own sandwich, which looked positively tiny in his hand, and gazed at me with sharp and yellow eyes that looked slightly intimidating at first, before he seemed to catch himself and softened them.


    Hmm, he looked kind of like the manga version of himself. His hair was longer, he had a spiky bang that jutted out and his eyes were a striking shade of yellow that reminded me of a reptile.


    Actually the more I inspected him, the more I realized that Lance looked quite young. How old was he?


    We were currently back in my booked room of the Pokemon Center because naturally, having a Champion here would bring about a lot of attention.


    "I''ll cut to the chase then," Lance said, radiating an easygoing air. "Jasmine came to me and told me about your conversation in regards to Team Rocket and¡­ it was a genius perspective that no one raised. I wanted to pick your mind more and see how you came to that conclusion."


    I nodded, expecting that.


    Green perked up. "Team Rocket? This is about them?" she frowned in contemplation.


    Lance turned over to her and nodded without hesitation. "Have you had a run in with them as well?"


    Much to Jasmine''s horror, Green nodded her head with a deep frown.


    "In Mt. Moon," she explained. "There was a team of grunts operating in there. They were preventing me from progressing so I dealt with them."


    "Alone?!" Jasmine asked in surprise, eyes wide.


    "It was reckless, I know," Green sighed. "But I got lucky that there was no executive there. I did report them after I was done and the Officer Jenny wrote a report down, but I requested to be left anonymous."


    Lance''s easy going smile was gone, a much more serious expression on his face. "Mt. Moon¡­ I got reports that they were researching not only the Moon Stone, but some fossils as well."


    "You did a good job Green, though please be more careful next time. I wouldn''t be able to explain myself to Oak if something were to happen to you."


    Green''s eyes widened in surprise. "You know me?!" She asked excitedly.


    Lance laughed at that. "Of course I do! You didn''t hear it from me, but you''re the most promising trainer of this season! The league already has eyes on you!"


    My companion lit up at that and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, looking at me and beaming even wider as I nodded in the approval she was looking for.


    She was such a kid.


    Then, Lance turned towards me and I went stiff.


    "That goes for you too, Silver. We weren''t even aware Giovanni sponsored a trainer. In all his years as Gym Leader, he has never personally taken an interest in someone."


    I sneered. "I''m so honored," I grunted.


    So they weren''t suspicious of me yet. Perhaps Giovanni being my sponsor was shielding me¡­


    Wonder how much I''d incriminate myself if I ratted on him¡­


    It wasn''t worth the risk of finding out. Revealing that I was the son of the boss of Team Rocket was only the beginning of finding out my criminal history and it would add up to something that would ruin me.


    Alright then, looks like I''m taking him out alone. No sweat, it''s not like I trusted anyone else to do the job anyways.


    That''s the whole reason I planned on stopping all these teams anyways. Regardless of if the heroes existed, I just didn''t trust them to do their job so now it was my job.


    "You wanted to know my thinking on Team Rocket? How I came to the conclusions I came to?" I asked boredly, polishing off my sandwich and messing with my Pokeballs.


    I wanted to release my team but it was a little crowded in here so I would wait until Mt. Moon.


    "That''s right," Lance nodded easily. "Though, I''m curious about you too! Once I showed a little interest, Jasmine wouldn''t stop singing your praises! You''re really bringing her out of her shell."


    Jasmine blushed an atomic shade of red at my unimpressed look.


    "Wow Jasmine. Do you tell the Gym Leaders about me too?" I asked, utterly unimpressed.


    "N-No! M-Maybe... not... uh... Whitney might know about you..." she stuttered. The brunette attempted to vanish in place at both me and Green''s stares.


    "Whitney... you mentioned her I think," I mused, before turning towards Lance.


    "As much as I appreciate you gushing over me. I really don''t deserve the praise, Jas," I said in amusement.


    "She would disagree with you. Pretty vehemently too," Lance added, ignoring the way Jasmine glared at him.


    Just the fact she was glaring was a testament to how influential Silver was to her.


    "Champion Lance! Stop! You''re embarrassing me!" Jasmine shouted.


    Lance let out a hearty laugh and put a hand on the grumpy Jasmine''s hair. "I''m just proud that you have a friend that you adore so much! It''s not easy being a young person in power."


    He sounded almost wistful saying that and I tilted my head at him.


    "How old are you?" I asked curiously.


    Green''s jaw dropped. "D-Do you know anything about Lance at all?!" She asked in disbelief.


    "He uses a lot of flying types despite being a dragon master? He also got backed by his clan," I retorted, scratching my head. "Why the hell am I supposed to know how old he is?"


    My traveling companion looked at me like this was the straw that let her know how strange I was.


    "Silvy, he''s one of the youngest champions ever!" Green exclaimed with wide eyes. "When you think of young prodigy, you think of Champion Lance!"


    "You sound like a stalker."


    "EVERYONE KNOWS THIS!"


    Lance coughed at that. "I used a lot of flying types early in my journey. You don''t just run into dragons early in your journey so I had to adjust. I have plenty more now! Also, I''m 22."


    22 huh? And he had been champion for around 5 years now? That was really impressive.


    But we were getting way off track. I wanted to get going now.


    "Team Rocket is elusive," I began with a frown. "But they''re too elusive. You don''t just remain a criminal organization for years and have barely any leads."


    Lance nodded along with my words, while Jasmine and Green listened to me with wide eyes.


    "There''s only so many times, you can call something luck before you realize it isn''t luck. It''s all calculated. Team Rocket is getting away with live murder, quite literally in some cases, and it''s getting suspicious," I muttered.


    Green flinched back at my harsh words but I ignored it.


    "The League seems to only ever capture grunts, right? Don''t you find that a little odd? You only captured expendable grunts who don''t know anything. If someone managed to avoid me for years straight with hardly a clue, I''d either think I''m a failure of a person or someone''s setting me up."


    It wasn''t rocket science. Honestly, Giovanni would have been sniffed and found out by now back at my home. We weren''t so naive to count out trusted figures.


    Hell, no one was ever trusted. My world was full of vultures and I applied it to this world as well... which is why I didn''t trust anyone.


    Here, people of power were fully trusted with hardly room for doubt. Wasn''t there an Elite 4 member in the Kalos region who was apart of that stupid ass team? Was it Team Flame?


    The culprit was a girl. That''s all I knew... I''d probably be able to figure it out if she was currently apart of their Elite 4 now.


    I''d probably have to eventually deal with her as well when I eventually went to that region. Xerneas and Yveltal were life and death after all and I for one, did not want to tamper with such a thing so I damn well wouldn''t let anyone else tamper with it.


    "So that''s how you came to that," Lance muttered. "It makes a lot of sense¡­ to think we never thought of such a possibility. We have a Drilbur in our ranks¡­"


    I blinked. What the fuck did Drilbur have to do with this ¡ª


    I couldn''t contain my groan as the realization hit me and I ignored the looks everyone shot me.


    Drilbur in our ranks = Mole in our ranks. Just kill me now, I forgot that since normal animals just didn''t exist, quotes were just replaced with Pokemon.


    I''d be the strange one using my quotes... what a thought.


    Did people say God in this world? Probably not. Pretty sure I heard Green so oh my Mew once.


    "Thank you, Silver," Lance smiled thankfully at that. "I already felt like you opened my eyes earlier when Jasmine spoke to me¡­ but hearing it directly from you, shows me just how intelligent you are!"


    "I can''t say the same for the league. This should have been one of your first thoughts," I snorted in a bit of disbelief. "Now, we''ve bathed, we''ve eaten... that means it''s time to go. I wanna feed my team and there''s not enough room in here."


    Lance nodded. "Oh by all means! I didn''t intend to hold you up. You''re headed to Cerulean City right?" He asked casually.


    Green nodded eagerly. "Silvy and I are gonna head to Cerulean to get his third badge! Then we''re gonna go back to Vermilion to catch the S.S Anne!" She explained.


    I rolled my eyes. Leave it to her to over explain. She was fangirling extremely hard.


    "I''m on vacation for a while! I won''t be able to attend the boat ride but I''d love to watch your gym battle! I heard you are quite promising and I''ve even seen you in action! Watching one of your battles live would be so fun!" Jasmine exclaimed, gazing at me with a proud look.


    I was actually pleased to hear that Jasmine would be staying a bit longer. It sucked that my best friend was trapped in a region like Johto, so I wouldn''t pretend like her presence was a bother.


    "Yay!" Green cheered, crushing Jasmine against her with a pleased smile. "We''d love that! I know you''re super busy with your gym leader stuff so just take it easy for now!"


    Jasmine nodded happily. "I really did miss Silver and you''re also very lovely Green so I''m glad I got to come visit you both."


    It was unreal how one person could be so nice and pure. Wow Jasmine was really making me feel bad for corrupting her.


    "You said a whole sentence without stuttering," I pointed out with an amused smirk.


    She puffed up at that. "I''ve been becoming a lot more confident! It''s helping out a lot and I have a much better outlook on life!"


    "Good," I said proudly. "Only I can walk over you. No one else. Teach them all a lesson."


    "You shouldn''t say such twisted things, Silver," Jasmine muttered in disbelief.


    Lance chuckled at that and placed a palm on her head. "I won''t complain. Keep improving at this rate and you''ll be able to comfortably beat Clair! Another Gym Leader usurping her position as #1, would be a good wake up call for my cousin!"


    Oh right, Lance and Claire were cousins weren''t they?


    "What about you, Champion Lance?" Green asked eagerly, unable to hide her excitement at all.


    "Just call me Lance! I insist! I''m not Champion of the Indigo League right now. Just a man with some questions!" Lance informed the still starstruck Green with an easygoing smile.


    "Yeah, you''re crushing pretty hard on a man who wears a cape in public," I snorted in amusement.


    Green''s jaw dropped and a brilliant shade of red covered her cheeks, before she turned on me and lunged.


    The results were me ending up sitting on her back. It was a fairly quick affair.


    "I hate you so much," she muttered.


    "I bet," I replied with a smug smirk.


    Lance''s mouth opened a bit in shock and he gazed back at that ridiculous cape. "What''s wrong with my cape?! No one''s ever complained about it before!"


    "Probably because you''ve got a team of monsters chomping at the bits," I shrugged, gazing at the piece of cloth like it had deeply offended me. "Capes are lame. Like really lame. Probably some of the lamest things on the planet. You wear them for fun."


    Lance actually looked like I struck him with that comment.


    "It''s okay, Champion Lance¡­ I don''t think it''s that bad," Jasmine reassured, putting a hand to his shoulder.


    "She''s too nice to outright agree with me. I know Jas very well," I commented, ignoring her scathing look.


    "A lot of people have bought capes because of you!" Green said, shooting me a glare.


    I was utterly unintimidated. "It''s insanely stupid. Do you have a cape for all your outfits? Is that the one thing you never change? Embarrassing."


    "Silver! Stop being so mean to Champion Lance! He loves his capes!" Jasmine said firmly.


    "Yeah! It''s just like how you can never say no to the color black! All your outfits have it!" Green ranted.


    "My outfits are actually cool and I don''t wear capes," I shrugged, making my way to the door.


    We needed to get going now. I told them everything I was willing to disclose so it was time to go through this cave.


    "Lance you should travel with us for a bit! You don''t have to go immediately right?"


    I paused at Green''s voice and turned an incredulous eye to her.


    "Leave him alone, Leaf. He''s the Champion of a region," I scolded harshly.


    That was exactly it, he was a goddamn Champion. I did not need Lance following me around no matter how short the trip was.


    "Oh... that''s true," Green withered a bit at that detail.


    "I don''t mind!" Lance announced. "I actually do want to travel with you for a bit! It''s been a while since I''ve been invested in the new generation but this year we have a pretty good batch! Besides, I''m bringing Jasmine back to Johto so we''ll be leaving at the same time."


    Just great. Ah well, it is what it is.


    Nothing to do but roll with the punches.


    "Alright, let''s head out then. Mt. Moon isn''t small and we don''t have all the time in the world to make it to Vermilion. We can chat on the move," I decided.


    Despite Lance looking impressed with my initiative, and Jasmine nodding easily at my words, a certain someone was appalled by my attitude.


    Green was looking at me like I was genuinely insane for ordering around not only a prominent Gym Leader, but the champion of the region.


    I rolled my eyes. Her hero worship was getting annoying so I should nip this in the bud now.


    I knew her pretty well so I knew what to say mostly.


    "Leaf, stop acting like this. Don''t you want to be the strongest trainer in the world?" I began, locking my gaze onto hers.


    She flinched in surprise at me calling her out and nodded hesitantly.


    I pursed my lips and beckoned towards them. "I don''t see any reason why I should treat anyone differently because of their status. Lance was like us at one point, a new trainer ready to make his statement."


    Everyone looked intrigued by what I had to say and I nearly rolled my eyes, but I was feeling myself at the moment so I''d continue.


    "I have no interest in worshiping someone because that''s not who I am. The only thing I see Lance as, is a person who I''ll eventually surpass. Worship, awe, idolization¡­ I don''t need those unnecessary distractions and you don''t either. You wanna be the best right? Start acting like it and get used to this. I won''t change for anyone," I finished simply.


    "My best friend is an amazing person," Jasmine thought in awe, standing just a little taller after his words.


    He was so confident... she couldn''t help but be inspired by his words. He claimed to be so introverted but Silver was so charismatic! She felt like she could do anything around him.


    "That''s what I like to hear, Silver!" Lance laughed genuinely, patting a broad hand on my shoulder and nearly buckling me much like Surge did. "I have enough people kissing my ass at all times. It gets tiring! The Wataru are a brash and headstrong bunch so Silver''s way of speaking fills me with memories of my childhood! I actually like it so don''t be offended on my behalf."


    The strongest trainer of the Kanto and Johto regions turned towards the stunned Green.


    "I''m not the one deciding things. This is you and Silver''s journey, Green. I''m just here to watch the young trainers grow. Nothing fills me with more joy than being challenged!" he grinned ferally, showing off those sharper than normal fangs as those yellow eyes gained a predatory gleam.


    Green looked at Lance, and then me, and then Lance again, before finally focusing on me once more.


    Then, I saw a glimpse of that monster of trainer that Green turned into, whenever a battle started and she nodded in determination.


    "You''re right¡­ I don''t know what got over me," she laughed sheepishly. "I just never expected to meet the champion so early in my journey! I thought by the time I met you, I''d be ready to battle and defeat you!"


    "Don''t worry about it! I get that a lot," Lance reassured, cape fluttering as he made exaggerated movements with his body.


    I noticed that about him. He couldn''t stay still. Lance was a very animated man.


    I rolled my eyes. "Good to know you got over your fangirling. It was getting painful to witness," I mocked.


    Green blushed red and scratched her unruly hair. "You''re really cool, Silvy. I don''t know how you do it sometimes."


    I caught her gaze and tilted my head.


    "You''re just now learning? You''ve seen the way I act with everyone¡­ why did you suddenly expect that to change? I''m unapologetically me and that will stay the same as long as I have a say."


    Jasmine shook her head in some disbelief. "Honestly, it''s one of the things I admire most about you. You don''t let anyone change how you act! You''re so unbothered by everything!" she praised.


    "Damn right, now let''s go before my ego takes over this building," I grunted, shoving open the door and walking through.


    "Lead the way! It''s been a while since I''ve followed someone else''s lead," Lance laughed, trailing after me without hesitation.


    As the two departed from the room, Jasmine and Green watched them go.


    "Silver''s really cool¡­" Green said bluntly.


    "He is, isn''t he?" Jasmine replied with a soft smile.


    To look Champion Lance in the face and speak to him so casually¡­ there really was no sign of awe or childish wonder in his gaze. To him, Lance was just a trainer that he had to beat eventually.


    What a wonderful mindset to have. They had never quite met someone like Silver.


    "Hurry the fuck up!" Silver shouted to the two still girls.


    They both jumped at that, shock coursing through their body at his voice.


    Yeah¡­ they definitely never met someone like Silver.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Jasmine squealed excitedly, causing a loud echo to ring out through the cave.


    "Wow, an actual Metang!" she gushed, fussing over my steel type with wide eyes.


    Metang remained completely prone as my best friend inspected it.


    "I presume this is the one who has given you tips on how to best help me?"


    "You''d presume correctly," I said dryly.


    Lance looked impressed by both Green and I''s team, inspecting each one over and stopping in shock at the sight of Ares.


    "You have a Bagon too?!" The champion asked in surprise.


    Ares let out a fanged grin at his impressed gaze and I nodded my head.


    "I used her in the match against Surge. Don''t you guys have access to that info?" I asked with a raised brow.


    "We do!" Jasmine nodded, pulling out a scrap metal from the bag she brought and feeding it to the willing Metang. "I don''t keep track of any trainers but you!" she admitted shamelessly.


    It said something about this world, that Jasmine admitting to stalking me, was seen as normal here.


    "They''re recorded too," Lance mused, cupping his chin as he gazed at my little dragon. "I''ll have to watch them back. Surge had great things to say about you both!"


    The Champion got on a single knee and gazed at Ares with a searching gaze.


    "She has Sheer Force?" He asked me in surprise. "How did you get your hands on a Bagon with Sheer Force?"


    Both Ares and I looked surprised that he was able to tell both her gender and ability at a glance and I gazed at the dragon master with a respectable gaze.


    "She approached me," I told them truthfully. "Ares wanted a trainer that could help her become a Salamence and she chose me. I like to think we''re doing pretty good right now."


    Ares roared in affirmation and affectionately headbutt my midsection.


    It still hurt like a bitch even without an injury.


    Lance looked at me with those sharp eyes of his, friendly aura vanishing for just a split second, as he gazed at me like how I imagined a dragon looked at a threat. The yellow (his eyes weren''t as dark as Gold''s) of his eyes bored into me, assessing me for something only he could see and I shifted in place, feeling my hackles rise.


    Eventually, he blinked and his friendly aura returned.


    "Sorry about that," he said, noticing my skeptical look. "For some reason, when I look at you, it makes my blood roar. Hearing that you got approached by a dragon so early on in your journey excited me. It means you have a lot of potential," he admitted.


    "Weird," I thought. Lance must have been very in tune with the Dragons he captured because in that moment he felt like one himself.


    "Getting approached by a dragon is no small feat, Silver," he praised, pulling out a slightly beat up Pokeball and gazing fondly at it. "It''s difficult to earn their loyalty so to have it at the start, is incredibly helpful. I have high hopes that you''ll make it far in your journey."


    I nodded, still thinking back to his reaction a little suspiciously.


    "What about Metang?! How did you get a Beldum of all things?!" Jasmine asked in surprise.


    "Our wills aligned," I replied easily. "Becoming a Metagross as a Beldum alone, is almost impossible. I decided to not only help Metang become a Metagross, but to show it a world that they never would have seen before."


    "Tang," Metang rumbled in agreement, much to my surprise.


    "You should not be so surprised. We have bonded now so your best interests have become mine."


    "That''s really fucking creepy, Metang."


    "Your very existence is one that disturbs me and I cannot escape from the abyss that is your mind."


    Fair. Metang was kinda stuck with me so ratting me out was probably not the smartest idea and I reckon the Metagross line was pretty damn smart.


    "You would be correct."


    Jasmine let out an awed noise. "It''s not easy to get the Beldum line to agree to be captured! They''re very used to working in tandem with their hive."


    She was not wrong and Jasmine would probably be horrified to find out that I did in fact not have Beldum agree to be captured.


    "You were not incorrect when you informed me that you''d show me a life outside of my colony¡­ so I will do my due diligence and ensure such a life remains the same."


    Perfect. Metang was fully on my side now.


    Lance nodded in agreement. "I have a friend in the Hoenn region with a Metagross! Those things are real problems but they''re picky too. You''ve got a real asset in the making!"


    Then he turned towards Green''s team with an impressed gaze too. "You as well Green. That Ivysaur might be one of the biggest I''ve seen!"


    Green nodded enthusiastically. "He''s a real beauty isn''t he!" she preened, hugging the ever serious Saury.


    Lance nodded in agreement before honing in on the exact same pokemon I did when we met. "How did you get your hand on a Larvesta of all things?!" He asked incredulously.


    She laughed sheepishly. "I found her in Viridian Forest! We went deep in there in search of something and when I was sleeping one day, I woke up with her on my chest!"


    Larvee perked up as Green presented her to Lance and the champion laughed.


    "A Volcarona¡­ Champion Alder of the Unova region has a Volcarona, it''s his ace and that guy is a complete monster," Lance commented with a wistful glance. "His Volcarona is without a doubt, the strongest bug type in the world."


    Green looked awed at that, glancing down at Larvesta with wide eyes. "You hear that Larvee? You''re gonna be the strongest bug type in the world one day!"


    I snorted loudly as little Larvee nodded enthusiastically. Green wasn''t as rude about it but she sure was as confident as I was.


    "You should review Alder''s battles and steal things from him," I commented, thinking of the Champion of Unova.


    To be honest, I didn''t care for him even a little. He wasn''t the first champion in either of his games but right now, the man was still the head honcho of Unova and his cornerstone, was an absolute beast of a Volcarona.


    Hey I did my research. I even learned more about the Galar region. The champion of that region was a boy who had been crowned pretty recently. He was still a teenager from what I remember and already, they were touting him as one of the most prodigious trainers in the world.


    Leon was his name. Apparently, his strength was nothing to scoff at and there were whispers that in a few years, he''d be one of the strongest trainers in the world.


    But god was he a loser. Any interest I had in him, was wiped away the moment I saw his outfit and I immediately stopped doing research on that region as a whole.


    I thought Lance''s get up was bad but the cape and shorts combo is the worst I''ve ever seen period.


    But I digress, the reason I had been so surprised Green had a damn Larvesta of all things, was because Volcarona''s were monsters.


    There was a reason they used to be revered as the sun (after learning Green had one I did my research on them too¡­ I felt like such a nerd) in ancient times. Their flames were scalding hot and they permanently radiated a burning heat that was quite hazardous.


    Not to mention their power output...


    It''s actually a surprise that a Larvesta was in Viridian Forest and the whole thing didn''t burn down. Larvee must have been quite young because right now, her flames were getting hotter and hotter and she did not have superb control over them.


    "You two are definitely playing the long game," Jasmine mentioned, gazing at all our members with appraising eyes. "The fact that you''re both doing so well so early is amazing but later on, I''m actually scared how strong you''ll become!"


    "It''s exciting to think about!" Lance grinned eagerly. "I can tell you''re raising them all with love and care!"


    I merely nodded my head at that, allowing Jasmine to snatch Zorua out of her grasp.


    "How have you been, Loki?" Jasmine asked, remembering my first pokemon well. "It''s been so long and you look much stronger already!"


    Loki preened at her attention and allowed her to pet him, ignoring the chortles from Vee and Ares all the while.


    Our weird group had been walking through Mt. Moon, Green at the lead to show us the way, before deciding to take a break because Jasmine really wanted to see Metang.


    One thing led to another and now both Green and I were showcasing our teams to the much stronger trainers.


    There had been various reactions but I think the funniest one, was the complete lack of reaction at seeing Gaia, considering she was a Bayleef.


    I thought there would have been some and maybe there was¡­ but Gaia''s unconditional love for me probably led them to believe it wasn''t me as the suspect who stole Elm''s Chikorita.


    Good thing she was so affectionate and clingy. Loved this dinosaur of mine.


    But yeah, despite the risks, I was currently traveling with the Champion of the region... and I thanked the stars I had not committed any crimes as of landing in this region because that would have been real awkward.


    Though¡­ he did mention having a friend in the Hoenn region with a Metagross. Wonder if Steven told him about the missing Beldum¡­ enough time had passed for me to assume the colony was aware something was up.


    "They are aware. Every month, the colony is accounted and checked for with extreme efficiency so they would notice if even one is missing. Though, now that I have severed my bond with them and forged one with you, I am practically unrecognizable to them. Due to that, even if brought to them, you would not be a suspect unless I say so."


    Awesome. Thanks Foggy Fortress for once again bailing me out of trouble.


    Mt. Moon was massive but considering I had already been in Meteor Falls, I wasn''t too impressed by it.


    It lacked the water the Hoenn cave had and the terrain was much flatter too, so it was far easier to traverse.


    Unlike Meteor Falls though, I didn''t get nearly as attacked and I hazarded a guess that Green didn''t either¡­ because Green and I didn''t have a fucking Garchomp following after us, keeping vigil of any threats.


    Yeah that''s right, Lance owned a goddamn Garchomp.


    It was massive, standing at a staggering height of of at least 7ft and looking every bit as terrifying as I imagined it would be.


    Awesome. That''s what it was. A land shark was equal parts scary and cool as hell to look at.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Told you I''m not a flying master!" Lance exclaimed (rather childishly if you ask me but hey I''m not keeping note). "I just had a hard time finding dragons in my first year as a trainer. It was a struggle you know?"


    I nodded with a bit of curiosity. "So Garchomp isn''t apart of your original team?"


    "Do you actually know anything about Champion Lance?" Green asked incredulously, gazing at me as we continued our pace. "I get the age part but not even his original team?"


    "...Dragonite? Three of them?" I guessed with a shrug. I remember that he used a lot of underleveled Dragonites in his champion battle¡­ and I remember he abused a lot of flying types.


    Lance looked at me like I had grown a second head. "You have a very messed up view of me, Silver. You think I''m a flying master with three Dragonites?"


    Jasmine withheld her laughter at his blunt statement, thought Empy made no attempt to.


    The penguin had actually been the most pleased to see me out of Jasmine''s crew and we shared a manly hug (more like he forced me to hug his body).


    But I didn''t mind all that much. Empy was great and we were practically kindred spirits. Jasmine complained more than once that he had somehow become worse ever since meeting me and I was very proud of that detail.


    Now if only I could get Rusty the Steelix to be worse... Somehow Jasmine''s starter was one of the kindest pokemon I had ever met. It was very funny with how terrifying Steelix looked naturally.


    "Are you not a flying master?" I asked Lance in return, idly slapping the Empoleon''s metallic fin in a pseudo high five as we reveled in our amusement.


    At that moment, Lance might have seen what had Jasmine and Green so stressed whenever dealing with me and I nearly smiled at the thought.


    Not even a Champion was immune to my charms. What an ego boosting discovery.


    "Two Dragonites, Gyarados, Kingdra, Charizard, and Aerodactyl. That was my original team," Lance informed me.


    "How is two Dragonites better than three?" I asked incredulously. "Not to mention, you''re literally a flying trainer!"


    "So what?! A lot of dragons are also flying types! And I recently just hatched a Dratini egg so I will have 3 Dragonites! You know how hard it is to take out one Dragonite? Try 3!" Lance retorted, crossing his arms as he defended his case.


    "Ares and I will take em all out eventually! Your gross abuse of Dragonite won''t work on me in the future!" I barked challengingly, silver eyes glaring into his yellow slits.


    Who the hell even thought it was normal to use 3 of the same pokemon? What type of psychopath was Lance?!


    "I have a Salamence too, you know?" Lance retorted with crossed arms.


    "You really are a flying master! Change your title right now you fraud!"


    "Dragon! Salamence is a dragon! My team is full of dragons!"


    "Do you own more dragon types or flying types?"


    "They''re interchangeable!"


    Jasmine sighed. "Poor Lance. I also got dragged into Silver''s willful ignorance when we first started speaking. I think it''s a skill of his to purposefully miss the point to further his own agenda," she said.


    "It takes some getting used to," Green nodded in agreement. "I didn''t realize he said certain things just to piss a person off. He''s very good at that."


    Green underestimated her traveling partner. To think he was even capable of dragging Champion Lance, the epitome of heroism in her eyes, into an argument, spoke volumes of his character.


    He was a monster alright...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "So you have a Salamence too, huh?" I mused, gazing at the Dragon Master with a contemplative expression.


    Lance nodded. "I got him as a gift from the Draconids when I went to the Hoenn region. He''s a real troublemaker and Dragonite constantly has to reign him in¡­ He was even worse when I first got him. Hardheaded little idiot."


    Made sense. On a scale of aggression, Salamence were only second to Hydreigon on the pseudo legendary scale.


    "Got any tips?" I asked shamelessly. "I''ve already got a plan for Ares but advice from a dragon master isn''t something I''d turn away."


    "He''s so shameless," Green thought with a sweatdrop. You don''t just ask a master for tips. They were masters for a reason! If you wanted such personal tips from them, you''d need to become their student!


    "Sure," Lance agreed easily with a nod. "It''ll have to wait for when I make it back to Indigo though. Write down my personal number and send me a message. I''ll save your contact."


    Green was learning a lot about Lance today¡­ he was extremely easygoing. Why did he accept that so easily?


    Hadn''t they just been arguing earlier¡­? What was this nonsense? Why was Silver suddenly buddy buddy with the Champion of Kanto?


    "What the fuck? Why do I have to give you my number?" I asked with a scowl.


    Lance snorted and ruffled in his outfit, pulling out a custom red and gold Pokegear. "How else do you expect to communicate? You could try ringing up my official number linked to Indigo, let''s see how many years it takes you to get an audience with me about those tips."


    I groaned and snatched the phone out of his hand.


    Jasmine laughed quietly at that. "I don''t know why. But Silver really hates giving out his number. You should have seen how disgusted he looked when I asked him," she explained to Lance.


    "He''s a strange kid but it''s refreshing," Lance joined in laughing. "Green, you should put down my number as well. If you ever catch a dragon or a flying type, I''d be glad to give you tips."


    Green''s somewhat jealous gaze lit up and she eagerly snatched the phone out of my hand.


    I rolled my eyes as I punched the memorized number into my own gear.


    I had no idea why she was so jealous. Lance made it very clear that he was a generally chill person but she still regarded him like a fan.


    Maybe it''s because I didn''t grow up idolizing him. That would probably do that.


    We were also 12.


    "You guys were arguing just 10 minutes earlier. How are you suddenly exchanging numbers?" Green couldn''t help but ask us.


    "Arguing?" I raised a brow. "That was nothing. We didn''t even fight it out."


    Lance nodded in agreement. "No battle or anything... Are you sure you aren''t part Wataru, Silver?" he asked suspiciously.


    "Dunno. Probably not though if all of your hair is that shade of red," I mused, grabbing my own red hair and comparing it to his.


    Yeah... mine was definitely the better shade.


    "The Wataru are a very physical bunch. Some words aren''t enough to get us to back down so it usually gets physical," he explained with a fond smile.


    "Did you fight Claire a lot?" Jasmine asked curiously.


    "Every day," he said fondly. "Claire has a bad temper and it was even worse when we were kids. She got better with age but she still holds a lot of resentment for me."


    I nodded at that. "Makes sense. Imagine being a talented trainer, a prodigy in every sense¡­ but you''re born in the same generation as the prodigy and everything they do just outshines you," I explained.


    I''d be full of resentment too. That would suck.


    "That''s basically the gist," Lance nodded, not at all putout by my accurate assessment. "Clair ignores all her accomplishments because it doesn''t compare to what I''ve done. She won the Silver Cup at 14, I won it at 13. She''s capable of competing with the Elite 4, I''m capable of defeating the former Champion."


    The Champion sighed at the thought of his cousin, tossing a snack over to the vigilante Garchomp.


    "Everything''s always been a competition with her and I was a brash and rude kid so I didn''t make it any better but now, she''s fully accepted that she won''t surpass me and it let her become complacent as a result."


    Lance did regret how much of an ass he had been when he was younger. Claire was insecure about her perceived inferiority and to be honest, he just did not care until it was too late.


    To Lance, winning had been everything... even against his younger cousin.


    I snorted at that. "She''s a loser and an idiot then," I said bluntly.


    "Silver!" Green and Jasmine immediately chastised me, balking in disbelief.


    I rolled my eyes. They were such pussies.


    "I''m just saying what I think. Her mindset is a mindset of losers. Has she ever left Johto? Kanto? Has she ever gone on another journey to find a way to surpass you?" I asked.


    "I bet the answers no. She gave up on surpassing you from the start," I snorted in disbelief. "She''s a complete loser."


    "Calling the Champion''s practical little sister a loser in front of him is a level of balls I''ve never seen in another person," Lance commented idly, those sharp yellow eyes gazing at me with a curious glint.


    "I say it how it is. Hey Jas," I said suddenly. "I want you to become the best gym leader in Johto then I want you to challenge Claire to a battle and I want you to win. I refuse to have you be weaker than a lazy person who refuses to actively improve."


    Jasmine blinked at that and flushed in surprise. "M-Me?!"


    I nodded. "Don''t worry, I''ll get strong enough and come to the Johto region to kick her ass too but I need you to do it for yourself. I can''t have my best friend losing to some lazy girl."


    Jasmine was only 16 and Claire was what...? 21? 20? That was easy for her.


    She nodded slowly, actually listening to my order despite not having any reason to. "Okay... I''ll do it!" she nodded in determination.


    Lance let out a barking laugh at that, causing a loud echo with the volume and making a few pokemon let out concerned noises.


    "You have my full approval, Jasmine!" He exclaimed with mirth in those eyes. "If you becoming the strongest gym leader is what fills Claire with motivation, then I''ll be eagerly watching."


    Then he turned towards me. "You''re impressive Silver. You manage to keep surprising me! You plan on defeating Claire too?"


    I nodded easily. "Green and I will do it. Imagine the look on her face when she gets stomped by the both of us."


    Green blinked, before a challenging gleam entered her eyes. "Roping me into your schemes without consulting me¡­ but I like it! I''m gonna become the strongest trainer in the world so being able to beat her is a given anyways."


    I smirked. "Guess we could spare some time for Johto in the future. More chances to see Jasmine too."


    "I''ve always wanted to visit Johto! I wanted to climb Mt. Silver and reach the peak and train there for a bit!" Green exclaimed with excited eyes.


    Was she serious?


    "You''re not doing that as long as you''re traveling with me. And if you hide up that mountain, do not expect me to ever seek you out. I hate the cold," I said blandly.


    "Yes sir!" she beamed with a salute.


    Lance looked at the two children with some awe in them. There was something about them that wasn''t false bravado or sheer arrogance.


    No Lance saw potential in these two to become more. They were a talented duo and if given time, they''d be able to reach the summit¡­


    They''d be able to reach him!


    "I''ll be keep an eye on you two," Lance decided with a small grin, ruffling the both of their hair. "If you ever need advice, feel free to message me. I''ll make time to reply to you both."


    Silver bat the massive hand off his red hair with a scowl. "Fuck off, don''t pat my hair."


    Green''s grin practically lit up the entire cave. "Champion Lance is giving me permission to message him! That''s so awesome! Isn''t that awesome Silvy?"


    "Shut up."


    "No!"


    Lance let out another laugh.


    He was a master after all, perhaps he should help some students out.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Besides the company, Mt. Moon wasn''t very eventful. There were no more signs of Rockets and there were a good amount of trainers too¡­


    Though they didn''t really uh¡­ pose much a threat because well¡­ Champion Lance was with us and not everyone was like me.


    They were completely unable to keep their cool around the man and as a result, the battles were pitiful.


    "C-C-Champion Lance?!" A kid balked, returning his Geodude to the ball and getting a scowl of aggravation out of me.


    Lance let loose an easygoing smile, not at all putout by the kids balking. Pulling a pen out of that godforsaken cape of his (did it have pockets?!), he easily scribbled an autograph and handed it over.


    "There you go! I''m just handling some business in here so don''t mind me."


    The kid''s eyes widened. "C-Can I come ¡ª"


    "Not a chance in fucking hell kid!" I barked, stomping away from the pitiful fight with Freyja in my grasp. "We''re leaving. Let''s go!"


    "Good job, Freyja, you did great," I praised, switching on a dime for her, before going back to indignant fury and stomping away.


    Everyone watched me stomp away with different levels of exasperation (shock in the kids case) and realized that I was very willing to leave them behind.


    "You''re a good deterrent," Lance complimented, easily keeping pace with my stride. "I should keep you around to ward off the fans."


    "That''s not a bad idea¡­ Lately, I''ve been getting approached more and more so having Silver with me would be amazing," Jasmine pondered. "But he''s so rude about it! I''d feel bad in no time!"


    "I''ve got no time to waste and I''m not adding anymore people to my journey!" I scowled. "Green is enough. She''s even too much!"


    Green spluttered. "I''m not that bad!"


    "Said no one ever," I sneered in disbelief. "If you''re too nice to tell people to fuck off, then just stay quiet and let me do the talking."


    "Stage is yours," Lance shrugged. "Just try not to be too harsh about it! These are still trainers of the Indigo League!"


    "No promises. I''ve never minced my words."


    We continued our journey through Mt. Moon, encountering a good amount of trainers on the way and every single one of them recognized my dragon master companion.


    Let me tell you, it was a miracle I had yet to assault someone.


    Actually, I did almost attempt to... after one guy kept following us despite me telling him off.


    He was so lucky the laughing Empy held me back, while Garchomp snarled warningly at the idiot, successfully managing to make him back off. Bad things would have happened to him otherwise.


    "You know there''s gonna be reports of a feral redhead traveling with Champion Lance, right?" Jasmine informed both me and Lance.


    Lance sighed. "Considering the color of your hair, I wouldn''t be surprised if they say I''ve been hiding a kid."


    "I''m 12 and you''re 22," I scowled. "There''s no way anyone''s that stupid. Besides, my hair is a way cooler shade."


    The Dragon Master let out a short laugh. "You''d be surprised¡­ There''s a lot of rumors that go around. Considering Lorelei is also a redhead who''s hair is much closer in shade to yours, they''ll probably say we had a secret child this whole time," he mused.


    Elite 4 Lorelei? The ice type user who was actually a water type trainer?


    "You two are dating?" Green asked curiously, eyes lit up at the thought of gossip.


    "Nope but that''s what everyone seems to think," Lance laughed.


    "She definitely rejected you," I said matter of factly, looking at a picture of Lorelei with a curious eye.


    "Y-You don''t even know how she looks?" Green balked, gazing at me with what could only be resignation.


    I scratched my head. "I had an idea," I said lamely, inspecting the picture.


    Lorelei was incredibly attractive, there was just no better way for me to put it, with matching red hair and eyes, behind a set of glasses. Even through a picture she reeked of professionalism and I nodded, seeing exactly why Lance attempted to get at her.


    My brows furrowed at her appearance.


    "She did not reject me!" Lance protested. "But¡­ I may have asked her out when I was 16 and she said I was way too young."


    I snorted loudly. "How old is she right now?"


    Lance shrugged. "Like 30? She''s been thinking of retiring I hear."


    "Wow, Lorelei''s 30?!" Green asked in surprise. "She looks way younger than that!"


    Lance blinked before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Don''t tell her I told you guys that or she''ll kill me. Never supposed to ask a woman her age and all that."


    "I just might if I ever meet her," I mentioned idly, gazing at her features with narrowed eyes before shrugging and pocketing my Pokegear.


    The Champion laughed. "You might! Considering how many people you scared away she''ll probably attempt to get political. Lorelei''s thorough so she''d even probably get you to appear and dissuade any rumors."


    "Pass," I said dismissively. "I''m not interested."


    Lance snorted. "Lorelei is very good at getting her way... I actually want to see an interaction between you to now."


    I rolled my eyes. "No one''s making me do something I don''t wanna do. I''d like to see her try."


    Me? Appear on camera? Yeah right. Lorelei could take that idea and shove it up her ass.


    Green checked the time and pursed her lips. "We should probably set camp soon. It''s getting late and at our pace¡­ it''ll take another day to get to Cerulean."


    "Sounds good to me," Lance and I nodded in agreement.


    "Alright!" Jasmine beamed, patting her blue skirt (Wow she even had versions for travel!) down.


    That''s where we ran into our first problem.


    "You guys didn''t set up anything for camp?" I asked incredulously, gazing at the supposedly more experienced trainers.


    How was it, that Green and I were the ones prepared to camp out but the Champion of the region and one of the strongest Gym Leaders in the Johto region weren''t?


    "I haven''t camped out in a long time," Lance defended with a shrug. "Dragonite flies me wherever in an instant. There''s really no need and I''m not a cave dweller like Steven is. Way too restraining."


    "I hardly leave Olivine and go into the wilds," Jasmine muttered in embarrassment.


    I pursed my lips at that.


    "One second," I muttered, rummaging through my back and pulling out my tent.


    Green''s mouth opened in shock as I set it up and her eyes widened.


    "What the hell''s up with your tent?!" She asked in disbelief, gazing at my luxurious and homey tent.


    "Team likes sleeping with me," I lied easily, considering I already had this tent before I took over. I gazed at the impressed Lance for a moment and gauged the man.


    I didn''t really have any interest in sleeping in a tent with any of them¡­


    Ughhh.


    "Green how many people can fit in your tent?" I asked, visibly trying to hold back my disgust and failing.


    "He looks like he''s throwing up the words," everyone thought in disbelief.


    Green''s tent wasn''t nearly as impressive as mine but with some work it could probably fit two people in there.


    "Two with some squeezing," Green informed me.


    I nodded. "Alright. You three can sleep in Green''s tent, I''ll sleep in mine alone," I decided after a moment.


    Yeah I couldn''t do it. Being nice was not my style.


    "Silver!" Jasmine said firmly, rolling her eyes in exasperation.


    "¡­" I sighed in defeat. "Okay Jas, since you''re my little sister, you can sleep in my tent with me."


    "Little sister?" Green asked in disbelief. "Jas is 4 years older than you!"


    "And?"


    Before an argument could break out, Jasmine quickly brought the focus onto the main point.


    "Silver, Lance is a giant! He''s not fitting in Green''s tent with another person," she scolded.


    Lance, to his point, was just watching all of this with an amused glint in his eyes. If he was offended by my decisions, he didn''t show it at all.


    I opened my mouth and then closed it at the firm look on Jasmine''s face.


    "...I''m not sleeping in Green''s tent," I said stubbornly, knowing exactly what she wanted.


    Just because we were physically the smallest here didn''t mean shit! I refused! It was my tent!


    "Sometimes... I really do feel like you think I''m disgusting," Green said blandly, looking at me with deadpan eyes.


    "Would you rather sleep in the tent with Champion Lance then?" Jasmine asked knowingly.


    I cringed back and sighed miserably.


    "Fine fine," I conceded.


    It was one night only and technically Green and I had slept on the same bed before.


    "I''m glad we figured this all out," Lance snorted. "I wouldn''t have minded sleeping out here though. Siegfried''s belly is pretty comfortable¡­ though I wish I brought Altaria with me," he sighed.


    Before I could agree, Jasmine, who absolutely knew I was going to make his ass sleep out here, interjected.


    "Nonsense Champion Lance! There''s more than enough room in the tent for the both of us!" She denied stubbornly, sweet little soul that she was.


    Damnit.


    "Alright fine whatever," I scoffed, stomping off to Green''s tent with a scowl.


    "I should be the one offended you know?" Green scowled in return, glaring at me.


    "I don''t see why."


    "Because it''s my tent!"


    "Pretty shitty one."


    "SLEEP OUTSIDE THEN!"


    "No¡­ and do not drool on me, Leaf. You drool."


    "I DO NOT DROOL. AND CALL ME GREEN! GREEEN!"


    Lance and Jasmine watched the two bicker, even after settling for bed with bewildered expressions.


    "At least Silver actually has a traveling companion¡­ they may bicker a lot but I genuinely thought he was going to travel the region all by his lonesome," Jasmine sighed.


    She pulled out a pokeball and released Bronzy, who''s eyes glowed with psychic energy.


    No orders needed, the steel type began ensuring no threats approached the trainers.


    "It''s funny just how different they are," Lance laughed. "Makes me wish I had a traveling companion. If only Claire was a year older¡­" he sighed wistfully.


    The Champion scratched Garchomp and dropped a snack in the dragon''s jaws.


    "Traveling is rather fun¡­ I missed the feeling," Jasmine smiled, thinking back to the days when she was first starting out with just her and an Onix.


    Not many people wanted to mess with an Onix.


    "Thank you for allowing me to see my friends, Champion Lance. Silver means a lot to me and I''m glad to see his face so soon!" Jasmine smiled.


    Lance snorted and ruffled her brown hair with an easygoing smile.


    "I''m just glad you have friends you wanna see so badly. You''ve always been one of the lonelier Gym Leaders, loneliest if Giovanni didn''t exist¡­ so now that you have friends, I want you to be able to see them when you want. Don''t hesitate to ask me if you miss them, you''re human before you''re a gym leader."


    Jasmine gazed at the champion in awe.


    There was a reason Champion Lance was so beloved by both Johto and Kanto. Ever since ascending to the top of Indigo, Lance had been doing a fine job in making both regions even better¡­


    That''s why everyone at Indigo was so dedicated to taking out Team Rocket because Lance''s legacy did not deserve to be stained by them.


    "Thank you, Champion Lance," she said with a small smile, elated at hearing she''d be allowed to visit Silver and Green more.


    "I told you, just call me Lance! We''re close enough to where you don''t have to call me Champion all the time!" he insisted.


    Jasmine looked unsure of that before she realized that yes, she was currently out camping in a cave with her two friends and Lance¡­ and they were all speaking normally to each other!


    It must have been so rude of her to continue calling him Champion Lance when he was probably looking to unwind from that. Jasmine knew she''d get real tired if Silver kept calling her Gym Leader Jasmine.


    "I''ve been inconsiderate to you¡­ I''m sorry Lance!" Jasmine apologized with a small bow.


    Lance chuckled at that and waved her off. "Don''t worry Jasmine! I''m just not that into formalities when I''m not at Indigo! I deal with it enough from those politicians, I don''t want my Gym Leaders to be the exact same!"


    Jasmine couldn''t help the tiny giggle at that. "You''re oddly immature! I see why you and Silver argue so much!"


    "That''s because he keeps calling me a flying master," Lance complained.


    "He has a point," she pointed out with a small smile.


    "Not you too," Lance sighed. "He influenced you way more than I thought."


    Jasmine giggled. "I''m reluctantly, guilty as charged."


    "Shut the fuck up and go to sleep!" a voice hissed from inside the tent.


    "What he said but a lot nicer!" another one joined. "We''re trying to sleep here!"


    "How the hell can I possibly sleep with you next to me? I can barely move!"


    "Are you calling me fat, Silvy?!"


    "When the hell did I say that? Maybe you are since you felt the need to ask!"


    "Oh that''s it you''re so dead!"


    "...They argue quite a lot," Jasmine muttered, listening to the scuffle of the two children with an exasperated expression.


    They''d probably just fight themselves to sleep so this was for the best.


    "It tends to happen when you''re complete opposites," Lance pointed out. "Are you sure you don''t want me to sleep out here?"


    Jasmine shook her head adamantly. "There''s enough room for the both of us to have space! You should be allowed a proper rest!" she said with a firm stare.


    Lance knew better than to argue and just nodded with a small smile.


    What a strange but fun group. Lance would never say he was quite close to Jasmine but it was great to see her so happy.


    "Silvy you''re ruining my hair!"


    "Ruining? It''s already a hot mess!"


    "That''s because you won''t let me use your stuff!"


    "I already make food for the both of us now you wanna use my stuff next? What next, you''re gonna wanna use my tent?"


    "Maybe! It at least won''t be as cramped as this!"


    "Maybe this wouldn''t be so cramped if you lost weight."


    "I''LL KILL YOU!"


    "I''m going to sleep," Jasmine decided with a tired sigh, making her way over to the tent.


    "Right behind you," Lance snorted.


    Those two were ridiculous.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green and I fell asleep mid brawl, leading to us waking up the next day in a tangled mess.


    I was too lazy to even throw a fit over that and my companion was in the same boat so in a moment of peace, we just went about our day as normal without causing up a fuss.


    A good thing we found out, was that Jasmine was an amazing cook. The first thing she set out to do as the day started, was cook a hefty meal (I pointedly ignored that this was from my stuff) for us all.


    "I''ll reimburse you both for the food!" Lance reassured, as I vigilantly watched Jasmine cook everything with far too much expertise.


    "Are you learning how to cook, Silver?" Jasmine asked me as I began preparing stuff for my team.


    "Yeah," I grunted. "Leaf can''t do shit outside of battling and I already wanted to learn how to cook so I''ve been getting into it."


    "I can do stuff besides battling!" Green complained, hair somehow even more messy than usual due to the fight we got into.


    I would know, I had a couple strands on me from last night.


    "Whatever you say," I said in disinterest, tossing my brush over to her. "At least brush your hair, caveman."


    Green grunted in affirmation, as bad of a morning person as Gaia was and began brushing her unruly hair.


    "I''ll write down some recipes and instructions for you so you can learn! They''ll be fast and easy for traveling trainers with nutrients too," Jasmine whispered to me.


    I sighed at that and absentmindedly pulled her into a hug (early morning turned me into a more pleasant person). "I don''t get how I''m your first friend. You''re practically an angel in human flesh," I praised her.


    Jasmine lit up red at that and ducked her head, squeaking in further embarrassment as it caused her to inadvertently deepen the hug. "S-Silver! Don''t compliment me like that! It''s weird when you''re not insulting me!" She protested.


    A snort left my mouth as I rubbed the tired Gaia''s head. "You''re a weirdo Jas, that''s why."


    Considering Jasmine was cooking for so many people, I decided to ease up the burden and help out a bit.


    Thankfully, they didn''t come completely unprepared! Jasmine and Lance both had more than enough provisions to provide for their pokemon¡­.


    Wow people really did care more for their pokemon then themselves...


    We were in a rather large area of Mt. Moon and for good reason too because there were a lot of Pokemon out right now.


    Lance and Jasmine only brought 3 of their members each with them but honestly, 3 was all they needed.


    For Jasmine, she had Empy, Bronzy and Skarmy with her. Skarmy affectionately rubbed her sharp beak on both Zorua and I, causing me to wince slightly but pat her steel feathers without cutting myself.


    Bronzy, much like every other time, didn''t spare me anymore acknowledgment but interestingly, it approached the ever staunch Metang.


    "Tell me what you two talk about. Bronzy has been ignoring me because of this fortress in my head."


    Metang didn''t visibly acknowledge my statement but I felt the tingle of confirmation and nodded in satisfaction before focusing on the real monsters in this group.


    Lance''s team.


    I had already seen that monstrous Garchomp of his but Garchomp wasn''t apart of Lance''s original team.


    Siegfried the Dragonite was.


    10 feet tall, 3 feet taller than the average Dragonite, with a powerful and bulky build with a kind but predatory gaze¡­ Siegfried was every bit the cornerstone of a Champion I expected it to be and that was on appearance alone.


    It was impressive as hell. Green had looked like she died and went to heaven after catching a glimpse of Lance''s starter pokemon and when the Dragonite actually allowed her to pat it without kicking up a fuss, I think she did die for a bit.


    This time I couldn''t even blame her. Siegfried was a champions pokemon alright.


    Next to Siegfried, almost as impressive, a gigantic and intimidating Charizard (apparently only Siegfried had wanted a nickname), gazed down at us with a searching gaze, before deeming us uninteresting for the most part.


    I felt its gaze linger on me for a bit and made eye contact with the fire starter.


    Seeing a Charizard in person was cool and while not as awesome as Garchomp and Siegfried¡­ there was a peculiar looking bracelet wrapped around its tail¡­


    "Is that¡­" I pondered, gazing at the empty slot of the bracelet that looked like it could fit a marble in it.


    So Lance''s Mega was a Charizard? That''s the only thing that slot could be right? It was probably Mega Charizard X...


    I wouldn''t outwardly acknowledge it though. Mega Evolution was a very tightly kept secret in this world and there was no information on it anywhere. To many people, that Charizard just had an accessory. It''s not like Lance ever needed to mega evolve it in battle.


    "What is this Mega Evolution you speak of?" Metang asked me suddenly.


    I blinked at the question, even as I accepted the plate from Jasmine.


    "This stays between you and I for now," I replied.


    "Naturally."


    "Mega Evolution is a temporary transformation that only works on certain pokemon. It let''s them access a new form that gives you a ton of power."


    Metang remained silent for a bit, gazing blankly at the food handed over to it before it spoke once more.


    "Fascinating. And you say the fire breather has one?"


    "Two actually," I replied, chewing my food next to Gaia, while rubbing her belly absentmindedly. "You have one too."


    That gave Metang pause.


    "Truly? I am one of the ones with such a form?"


    "Yeah. On our team, both you and Ares have a Mega Evolution but to achieve it, I need to find your respective stones."


    That was an issue. The only way to get the Salamencite and Metagrossite respectively, were from other people. I couldn''t use my knowledge like with the Meteorite to find them unless I felt like assaulting the Draconids and the Stones again.


    I''d figure it out eventually. If Mega Stones really were a tight kept secret, that just meant not many people were actively looking for them.


    "You''re thinking too far into the future Metang. We gotta make you a Metagross first," I chastised Metang.


    Metang was very eager to get stronger actually. In fact, Metang''s drive to get stronger matched Ares which was insane because Ares really loved the idea of getting stronger.


    It was rather surprising. Metang was pretty dry but that only really showed with how they expressed themselves.


    "That is true. What move do you wish for me to learn next? I''m eager to begin."


    I rolled my eyes. "We''re going to up your ranged options since you''ve evolved and can handle it now. Hone confusion and I''ll get you started on Flash Cannon."


    "Understood."


    I watched in amusement as Ares approached Siegfried with a curious eye, gazing at the giant Dragonite without a hint of fear on her face.


    I imagine being around her mother probably banished any trepidation she''d normally have.


    Siegfried for his part, just peacefully allowed it, eating his giant plate as the Bagon inspected the fully evolved dragon. She experimentally headbutt his midsection and let out an impressed noise at the hardness of it.


    "We should make it to Cerulean before the morning is over," Green informed us all, eyes lit up in bliss as she ate Jasmine''s food.


    Couldn''t blame her. It was delicious.


    "It''s been very eventful," I muttered, alternating a hand between Gaia, Loki and Freyja as I pat them.


    Of course my trip would be uneventful when I actually had formidable trainers following me around. No excitement to be seen.


    "My second trip in here and still no Clefairy," Green sighed despondently, idly snatching Togy away from Charizard in case he decided to burn the incredibly annoying Togepi.


    "Well I have Togy now so I guess I''m not too upset," Green sighed, forcing the struggling and rebellious baby to eat his food. "Stay still!" she barked.


    "Tog!"


    Green''s eye twitched and she beckoned for Lapee to come over, much to Togy''s horror.


    Lapee was the only one of Green''s pokemon that Togy willingly listened to. He''d listen to Saury but that was out of fear...


    He''d also listen to Gaia... but that was also out of fear.


    Considering how much of a sweetheart the Lapras was, I guess Togy didn''t want to disappoint her.


    "There''s nothing I wanna catch in here so I have no interest in camping," I said blandly, glancing at my Pokegear.


    We had about one more week to make it back to Vermilion so we could catch the S.S Anne...


    This trip needed to be wrapped up quick. I didn''t want to make it to Vermillion with barely any time left to spare.


    Thankfully, Kanto cities weren''t very far from each other like Hoenn. They were actually rather closely knit in some areas, barring a few like Fuchsia and Cinnabar.


    If we made good pace at Cerulean, we''d be able to make it to Vermilion in time, else we''d just skip the gym battle and come back.


    Not ideal for my timetable but hey, I didn''t have to fight Cerulean third. I could just head back there eventually with my future Salamence and then raze the gym battle with vengeance.


    "I think we''re all done, so we can continue out of the cave," Jasmine said.


    We all nodded in unison and began packing up everything at once.


    "According to Bronzy, the local pokemon haven''t seen anymore Rocket members," Jasmine said, while she worked.


    Lance pursed his lips at that. "They''ve gone oddly silent. They must be planning something because after Mt. Moon, we haven''t heard a peep from them."


    I frowned at that. Just what were they planning? Since they had been operating in Mt. Moon and Green encountered them, it was safe to assume they did some of their video game plans¡­


    But that made me wonder¡­ what were they doing in between all of that? Team Rockets goals weren''t being constantly monitored in the video games, just showing up in some places and getting taken out by the player.


    What were they doing at this very moment?


    Hm. No point dwelling on it yet. I knew how to sabotage their more key goals if it remained true so that''s what I''d do.


    Focusing on the things I didn''t know was stupid. I''d just go harder on the things I did know.


    After getting everything under order, we set out once more with the intention of making it to Cerulean.


    "So you guys are headed to Cerulean and then the boat ride in Vermilion?" Lance asked curiously, sending a message to someone on his Pokegear.


    It was crazy that there was reception in this cave. This world was full of wonders.


    "Yeah, Green already has the gym badge for Cerulean and since we''re traveling together, it would be convenient for me to knock this off the list now instead of waiting the two weeks for the boat," I replied easily, finding myself more at ease with the group.


    It would do no good to be on edge the entire time and despite it, Lance was chill.


    "I love traveling with Silver! He does all the hard thinking for me. He always thinks of ways to make his life easier, so it makes my life easier," Green sighed happily.


    "He is very dependable," Jasmine said with a smile. "He''s always very planned and quite meticulous too. I like listening to his rambling and complaints. It soothes my ears and relieves me of stress."


    I scoffed. "All she''s good for is battling. You can''t do anything else at all. I wish you were more like Jas."


    Green and Jasmine began spluttering for different reasons.


    "You speak like you can do everything! You can''t cook just like me!" Green protested.


    "That''s why I''m learning how to cook idiot. Taking care of yourself is just as important as taking care of your pokemon," I chastised sternly.


    My companion''s mouth opened in shock at that before she glared at me and whirled towards Jasmine.


    "Jasmine, can you write me down those recipes too?" Green suddenly asked my best friend. "I''ll show this asshole that I can cook way better than him!"


    "Maybe you shouldn''t curse so freely like Silver does. Don''t let his corruption get to you," Jasmine tried with an embarrassed expression.


    I raised a brow high and scowled. "You? Cook better than me? How the hell are you gonna cook better than me when all your meals are gonna have that messy ass hair in it?!" I retorted.


    "It''ll actually be edible that''s how!"


    "Wanna fucking bet?!"


    "Let''s bet!"


    Lance gazed at the two arguing children and snorted for what might have been the umpteenth time.


    These two may have been traveling together, but there was no doubt that they were rivals and the thought that they would be pushing each other nonstop, filled him with a sort of pride.


    Lance wished he had a rival close to his level in skill when starting out. He had been unmatched for most of his rise, even when Siegfried was just a Dratini.


    Even now, Lance truly only saw the other Champions as rivals and he didn''t get to really see them whenever he wanted. They were all busy people.


    Hopefully Green and Silver continued to grow with each other. They would continuously elevate one another until they reached their respective peaks.


    Lance looked forward to seeing that day¡­


    "YOU CAN PROBABLY BURN WATER!"


    "How about you cook something right now, Masterchef Leaf?"


    "GREEN! AND I WON''T COOK ANYTHING!"


    "I wonder why..."


    Well, that was if they didn''t end up killing each other first. Green and Silver argued over every little thing and it was as amusing as it was exasperating.


    At least their competitive streak would also help elevate the other. Those two would probably end up becoming some of the best chefs in Kanto just to one up the other.


    "Can''t you guys stop arguing for one second?" Jasmine sighed despondently, looking at her two friends with an accepting expression.


    They were ridiculous¡­ at least it was healthy?


    As Jasmine watched the two lunge at each other, she realized there was definitely something wrong with them.


    Green was such a sweet girl¡­ how did Silver manage to corrupt her already?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green and I''s light scuffle was rather rudely broken up by Gaia and Saury respectively, who scolded us for acting up¡­ then we continued our course.


    "I want to train," Green complained.


    Of course she did. She had been obsessed with training ever since she began following my regimen.


    "We trained a good amount already Green. We''re on a tight schedule here so we can''t expend too much time towards it just yet," I grunted, eyeing the Zubat who lost all its aggression at the single warning growl from Garchomp.


    "I know," she sighed despondently.


    I snorted and glanced at the time. "Depending on when we get there, we can probably squeeze in some training. I doubt I''m battling the Gym Leaders today so I can prep some."


    "You two are actively training and have a regimen for it?" Lance asked, looking surprised by that detail.


    "Yep!" Green chirped. "Silver introduced me to it! I didn''t really train that much¡­ just fought a lot of trainers!"


    The complete opposite of me before we met. I only trained, rarely battled whereas Green only battled, rarely trained.


    Now we did both. We practically battled every trainer we encountered, and trained diligently as well.


    Green, the little trooper, even opted to join me for my own body training. She had a surprising amount of dexterity and agility, much like me and I was sure if she put her mind to it, Green would be an incredible thief.


    Hmm¡­


    "You two are taking this incredibly serious¡­ I didn''t even passionately train this early on," Jasmine admitted with a proud smile.


    Lance laughed. "Kids are so excited to go on a journey, they forget the little things like training and just battle everyone in sight. I''m guilty of that too. I was a battle junkie."


    "Training is incredibly important and the fact you discovered the merits so early is impressive," Jasmine praised.


    Was training that good and that neglected? What was with this world?


    Though, training was treated as a novelty in the anime too and honestly, it made sense.


    Training was something reserved for the ones serious about being trainers. Most kids weren''t dedicated to actually becoming the best. They were just excited to go on their journey.


    Even Green probably got caught up in it before running into me.


    Not everyone trained exclusively for Basketball or Football¡­ stands to reason that most didn''t train for Pokemon Battling.


    Battling was an extreme sport after all so giving myself this advantage so early, would help in dividends as I grew.


    "You''re far more prepared than I expected, Silver," Jasmine said in some awe. "I knew you were prepared but actually hearing what you''re doing surprises me! I guess that''s why you were so confident against that Sharpedo!"


    "The what?" Lance and Green asked simultaneously, stopping in disbelief.


    I blinked at the two. "Oh, I got attacked by a Sharpedo earlier in my journey. Real pissed at me."


    Green gazed at me in sheer horror. "You got attacked by a what?! Silver are you out of your mind?!"


    I shrugged. "I didn''t fully understand how to use my fishing rod... and I fished up a Sharpedo."


    "That reminds me! Your Super Rod, give it!" Jasmine said firmly, holding her hand out.


    I glared at her, my greedy and thief instincts refusing to give up anything I took. "I told you I wasn''t using it anymore. Why are you taking it?"


    "Because you''re extremely reckless! You might try and use it again for no reason at all."


    I pursed my lips at that. "Someone I met said the exact same thing. Am I really that reckless?"


    "Don''t change the subject! The Super Rod!"


    I rolled my eyes and dug in my bag, pulling out the Super Rod and handing it to her. "Fine fine. I''m done with it anyways."


    Jasmine smiled thankfully and gently took it out my grasp. "I''ll give it back when you earn more badges. It puts my heart at ease knowing your at least a little safer."


    Wow, she was so damn adorable.


    "You used a Super Rod before you had a single gym badge?" Lance asked incredulously. Not even he was that reckless and Lance was a very reckless person.


    "Yep," I popped the p. "It worked out well."


    "You''re nuts," Green gaped, gazing at me like I had grown a second head. "Imagine if you fished up a Gyarados, you''d be food!"


    "I bet," I drawled, nonplussed by that.


    Gyarados were true monsters over here and I would have been eaten whole with 0 chance of escape if I pulled one.


    Yeah using this Super Rod in Kanto was a bad bad idea.


    "You used that Super Rod to catch a Feebas?" Lance asked in visible surprise, trying to mull over the risk and reward of doing such a stupid action.


    Judging by the incredulous look on Jasmine''s face, she was rather puzzled by that decision too.


    "I did. I really wanted a Feebas and they are rare," I explained in a way that didn''t satisfy them at all.


    They just didn''t get it and I didn''t think they would. To them, doing all this was only reckless with very little to gain. A Feebas just wasn''t useful until evolution and evolving one was a pipe dream.


    No matter how formidable a Milotic was, getting one was practically a myth that only a few people knew how to solve, so the risk and reward just wasn''t worth it.


    They''d probably be far more encouraging if they knew that I was completely aware of how to evolve Freyja.


    I released her from the ball and held her up. "Look at her. She''s adorable," I said with a small smirk.


    Freyja, who had clearly heard the conversation, gazed up at me with adoration and I rubbed her head with a small smile.


    "I may have almost died, but I didn''t and I got exactly what I wanted. I''m satisfied with Freyja and she''s satisfied with me. I knew what I was doing when I decided to go for her," I said firmly, glaring at them with a warning look.


    I didn''t need anyone to judge my team. I chose it and my decision was final. I wasn''t getting rid of any of them period.


    Lance laughed and held his hand out in a placating manner. "Don''t worry I won''t tell you anything! I''m looking forward to seeing what you can do in the future!"


    Jasmine nodded hastily. "I''m not judging at all! I just remember you saying I remind you of a Feebas¡­ I didn''t realize it''s because you had one!"


    My fierce glare lessened at that and I nodded slowly.


    "Good. I''m getting real tired of people insulting Freyja," I said firmly, patting her on the head.


    "They''re just worried about your safety Silvy! It has nothing to do with Freyja!" Green explained with a small smile, also joining in the patting of Freyja.


    "Fee!" Freyja beamed at me in reassurance.


    Well, if she wasn''t offended by it¡­


    "Alright," I nodded slowly.


    Too many people were worried about my safety. Was I seriously that reckless?


    Bah, whatever. I wasn''t really planning on anything too reckless like my trip in Meteor Falls for a while so they could be appeased. The extremely reckless version of me had died by the hands of Fraxure so now there was just a normal reckless version of me...


    Maybe.


    Besides, I had Green with me so I naturally had to be more careful. Didn''t wanna be responsible for her safety and all that. I wouldn''t be able to forgive myself if I was the direct cause of her death.


    My musings were cut off, as I saw a flash of light brighter then the somewhat lit up cave.


    "Finally!" Green exclaimed with a pleased smile. She marched towards the exit of Mt. Moon with sure steps and we easily followed her lead.


    I nearly hissed, as the beaming sunlight seared my eyes and shoved my hoodie over my head.


    Green was smart for already having her hat on. She was clearly prepared for this.


    Lance and Jasmine didn''t even flinch at the sudden brightness, merely letting out equal sighs as the fresh air brushed into them.


    I couldn''t blame them. Caves sucked. My time in Meteor Falls made this abundantly clear to me. The air was rougher to breath in, not as fresh and it always carried a gravely smell that I got used to.


    But it would never be comparable to the sweet air of outside.


    I dug in my bag and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, placing them on and letting out a sigh of relief.


    "Since when do you own sunglasses?" Green asked curiously.


    "Since forever," I replied, thinking back to the hell that was the Hoenn region.


    "You have way too many things in that bag," Green muttered in awe, gazing at her own just as bullshit bag.


    "I like to be prepared," I drawled, quickening my pace towards Cerulean.


    At this rate, we''d be out of the rest of Route 4 in around 30 minutes.


    Perfect. I just wanted to schedule this match, wreck the gym leaders and be off to Vermilion.


    I already knew who I was using for this match already and there had been no complaints so I was ready for this.


    "You seem prepared for the Gym Battle," Jasmine said with a small smile.


    "Of course," I said without hesitation. "It''s only my third badge; I''m not worried about it at all. My only worry, is how fast I can get this battle scheduled."


    Green nodded. "The sisters were kinda weak actually¡­ Saury and Vee beat them pretty easy!"


    Lance sighed at that. "They''re talented trainers but they aren''t motivated towards easier battles at all. Those three are actually surprisingly tough but you wouldn''t be able to tell."


    I snorted. "Why even bother becoming Gym Leaders?"


    The Champion shrugged. "To be honest, I think they''re just holding it for their little sister, Misty. Their parents¡­ are not around so the sisters were forced to take position of Gym Leaders since they were the most qualified."


    I frowned at that. So their parents were killed? That''s what he was implying in a way to not scar us kids.


    "They''re strong trainers, but they aren''t passionate about it and I can''t really blame em. Misty is a bit too young to take over at the moment but she''s promising and she does want to be the Gym Leader," he pondered.


    I shrugged uncaringly. "Oh well. Their motives mean nothing to me. I''m just here to win my badge," I grunted.


    All these Gym Leaders had issues and the only one I was invested in, was Jasmine so the others could continue in their whatever issues they had.


    My companions shook their heads at my words, but they were used to me by now so they just felt amused by it.


    I blanched as I realized they were getting used to me.


    At this rate, I was gonna make more friends then I wanted to. Me? Making friends? But... I only wanted one...


    Right on cue, my Pokegear began vibrating and I checked the message I just recieved.


    "Alive?" Joy sent.


    "And somewhat well," I replied easily.


    "Good. What the hell are you doing in Kanto?"


    I blinked at that. "You stalking me?"


    "Yes. Answer the question."


    Damn she had no shame at all. Dealing with Joy wasn''t as easy as dealing with everyone else because she was very used to my antics and was very willing to play the same game.


    "Yeah. I was just in Hoenn for a trip and ended up catching a Feebas there. I wasn''t gonna stay there for long since I had to be back in Kanto."


    There was a short pause before she began typing again.


    "A trip to Hoenn is a little crazy don''t you think? Kanto is pretty close but there are other options, like Johto or Sinnoh."


    "Yeah I get that but I needed to get away from this region for a bit. I wanted a break is all. Johto is practically still Kanto and Sinnoh is extremely cold around this time of year. I wouldn''t have enjoyed it."


    A much longer pause this time.


    "I get that. I hope you enjoyed your little vacation¡­ and if you ever find Kanto stressing you out again¡­ just come back over here and I''ll accommodate you for a bit."


    "I do not want to stand next to you while you''re working a shift."


    "Shut the hell up. Little kids like you, will probably be asleep while I''m working my shift anyways."


    I snorted at that and pocketed my Pokegear.


    A bit of a truth a bit of a lie. I truly was trying to get away from Kanto (well before all of this) but that wasn''t my reason to heading over to Hoenn.


    I couldn''t embarrass Joy like Jasmine. I had to play on her welling sympathy for me to get her to back off. She knew I seemed to have some sort of family issues (who woulda thought she was absolutely right) so I just abused that...


    Huh?


    I blinked slowly at the triple gazes on my person and glanced back at my group.


    All three of them were looking at me incredulously. Jasmine and Green in particular, were glancing at their Pokegear repeatedly before glancing back at me.


    "What?" I asked in confusion.


    "Were you¡­ messaging someone just now?" Green asked slowly, not quite believing the words coming out of her mouth.


    "Yeah," I said bluntly, unable to comprehend what was so surprising about this.


    "...Who was it?" Jasmine asked in disbelief..


    Who was it... Why the hell does that matter ¡ª


    ...My eye twitched as realization hit me.


    "Fuck off!" I barked, stomping along Route 4 with a scowl.


    Lance let out a barking laugh. "Who woulda thought Silver would have other friends?"


    "Shut the fuck up and walk. We''re almost to the city!" I snarled at the annoying dumb insects who kept harassing me for no good goddamn reason.


    How did a group of 1 turn into a group of goddamn 4?! I wanted to travel alone goddamnit but here I was with the main character of the games, the champion of the region and one of the Johto gym leaders.


    And now they were bugging me because I was actually talking to someone else! What was wrong with them?!


    "Look how embarrassed he is! Is he talking to a girl? Do you have a crush on someone Silver?" Lance asked curiously.


    "SHUT UP!"


    "That''s the first time I heard him scream! You''ve gotta be right!" Green cackled, gazing at the back of her friend who was practically speed walking.


    Jasmine tried to hide her laughter. "Guys, please don''t torment Silver so much. He''s very averse to teasing¡­ if you don''t stop he''ll start¡ª"


    A flurry of profanity left my mouth at such speeds, all 3 of them stopped laughing immediately.


    Their mouths began opening at how much words I was flinging out, not a single one pg friendly.


    Jasmine''s face had turned an interesting shade of red. "He''ll start doing that¡­" she said lamely, shuffling in place and turning progressively red.


    Green''s jaw dropped, a similar dust of red covering her cheeks. "I-I think my mom would kill me just for hearing these words¡­"


    Lance looked impressed. "He''s even worse than I was at that age¡­ hell I think he''s worse than my mom. She''s the one I got my personality from you know? She manages to fit profanity anyway she knows how," he mentioned idly.


    Momma would love Silver. Hell, she''d probably adopt him if they ever met.


    "How is he coming up with so many new words? What even are these words?" Jasmine said in shock, looking as if she were going to faint.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Cerulean City was modern much like most of Kanto. Similarly to Vermilion, it was a seaside city that was situated near a sea to the north and unlike the games, there was actually something there, being a lighthouse that was tasked with guiding ships into the city.


    Not like I was going up there anyways.


    The most eye catching thing to me, was the large fountain in the middle of the city, gushing water from all angles. It was huge and I even saw some water types lounging about in it.


    I approached the fountain curiously, gazing at the array of water types with an interested eye.


    A Chinchou noticed my gaze and swam over curiously, inspecting me with what may have been childish wonder.


    I pat it on the head, getting a happy squeal out of it, before I rummaged for a pokeblock and fed the little guy.


    It squealed again at the taste and I couldn''t stop the smile from making its way to my face at how happy it was.


    Every city had a charm to it that made me aware that this was that city. It was really neat actually.


    "After we schedule your Gym Battle, can we go to the bike shop?" Green asked, rummaging through her bag and pulling out her voucher.


    "Yeah," I said easily, opening the pamphlet for Cerulean and gauging it.


    Alright, the gym was that way¡­ but they had performances on some days?


    What the fuck? I didn''t give a shit about water performances.


    So the sisters were hot? Who cared? I just wanted to battle and be out of here.


    This better not hold me up, I would cause a scene way more interesting than a water performance if it did.


    Lance, who put on a pair of shades and a black hat, gazed at the city with an appraising eye.


    "Straight to the gym?" He boomed, trying to sound normal and failing utterly.


    I held my head at the attention he grabbed. Tall as hell, loud ass voice¡­ Lance couldn''t be subtle if he tried.


    "That''s the plan. Faster I schedule, faster I can get my match and decide if it''s worth committing to or going straight to Vermilion."


    The Champion nodded and we headed straight to the Gym.


    For once, I didn''t have to shove and sneer my way through the crowd because Lance''s giant figure cut a path for us.


    "That height of yours is useful," I said idly, freely letting him lead the group.


    "I get that a lot," Lance chuckled, navigating through the city with practiced ease. "It''s useful for things like this but makes me real easy to spot."


    "Especially when your disguise is that terrible," I replied with a roll of my eyes.


    The only thing worse than his disguise, were people''s eyes because somehow this was working out.


    "It''s good though!" Green exclaimed, proving my point.


    Jasmine nodded in agreement.


    Hopeless. Everyone was truly the epitome of intelligence.


    As we made it to the Cerulean Gym, Lance and I strutted right in like we owned the place and I took the time to inspect it.


    For one, the entrance doubled as a receptionist area and an aquarium and I saw all types of fish pokemon swimming in there, evolved and first forms.


    The most notable to me, was the Lumineon gazing at my group with searching eyes.


    I walked right up to the desk after sparing the Lumineon another glance and gazed at the receptionist, who was gazing at Lance''s tall figure with wide eyes.


    "I want to schedule a match," I said bluntly, snapping the young pretty woman out of her daze.


    "O-Oh alright ¡ª"


    "Silver. Two badges," I said bluntly, interrupting her without a care in the world.


    The woman flinched at my abrupt personality, caught off guard by it and I rolled my eyes as she slowly processed my words.


    You''d think I''m the only rude person on the planet. Seriously. I know for a fact Blue came here and he was a pretty rude guy as well.


    "Um¡­ the closest day we have scheduled is a week from now," she said eventually, gazing at me.


    Judging by the flinch, my expression was very unamused.


    She withered at my glare and began stammering as I scoffed.


    "A week?" I said in disbelief. "Yeah fuck right off. We can just start going to Vermilion," I informed Green, turning on my heel without any hesitation.


    Who the hell was gonna wait a week for this? Stupid ass Gym. Next time I came back here, I was going to absolutely dominate them for wasting my time.


    Green sweatdropped at Silver''s back. He didn''t even hesitate...


    "A week?" Lance said in confusion. "How many matches does the Cerulean gym have lined up, for it to take a week to have the next available matches?"


    The receptionist looked back at Lance, somehow not able to tell that this was the Champion of the League and my foul mood almost got worse, at how damn stupid everyone was.


    "Well, the Sensational Sisters have quite a few shows planned for the week so battles would be quite difficult to do simultaneously¡­"


    "...What?" Lance interrupted incredulously, looking at the shrinking receptionist in some disbelief. "They''re prioritizing their water shows over their gym duties? In what world do they think that''s acceptable?"


    I paused at that, sensing the annoyance in Lance''s voice and watching as his expression darkened slightly.


    Oh? Was Lance more than just the chill champion?


    ...I wonder if he acted like this right now because he was speaking to kids. Right now, I could see why anyone would be intimidated by the dragon master...


    Tall, broad, with a set of yellow eyes that gazed at everyone like they were prey...


    Wow, Lance was actually cool.


    "Where are they? I need to speak to them," Lance said quietly with a stern frown, looking very different from the man I got to know this past day.


    "U-Um well, they''re currently in the back actually spectating a battle!" the receptionist squeaked. "But you can''t go back there ¡ª"


    Lance ignored her and marched right through the doors, ignoring everything that left her mouth.


    Huh, he actually felt like the Champion right now... and I was kind of impressed.


    I shrugged and followed after him, far too interested in seeing how this was going to turn out.


    Hopefully I got my battle. I did not want to come back to this city after all.


    Green and Jasmine glanced at the stunned receptionist, before gazing at the disappearing Silver and Lance.


    "Sorry," Jasmine bowed for them all, before following the group.


    "Champion Lance looked pretty scary," Green muttered, joining the teen.


    The receptionist went pale.


    "C-Champion Lance?!" She stammered.


    Oh dear¡­ Champion Lance was annoyed with the gym?

 The Flying Master II

    You know, when the receptionist mentioned that there was a battle going on right now¡­ I ignored it because I didn''t really care what that lady had to say.


    I should not have ignored it.


    "Daisy, Violet, Lily¡­ what''s this I''m hearing about you three prioritizing water performances over gym battles?" Lance asked without any hesitation the moment he caught sight of them.


    The battle reached a momentary lull at the commanding voice of Lance and I saw the three lookalikes with different hair colors and styles, freeze completely in genuine horror.


    Funnily enough, none of them were battling.


    No¡­ the one battling was ¡ª


    "Champion Lance?!" Misty shouted in surprise, eyes going wide at the Dragon Master. She turned away completely from the battle and gazed at the calm champion with a look of blatant awe.


    Yeah¡­ Misty. Misty was the one battling and you wouldn''t believe who the hell her opponent was ¡ª


    "CHAMPION LANCE?!" Ash Ketchum shouted in awe, eyes bugging out of his head as both he and his Pidgeotto glanced back.


    Yeah¡­ Ash. What a shock. No really, I''m so shocked. Brock was here too, sitting in the crowd as a spectator. His mouth was opened in shock and he simply stared at the giant of a man with the same awe as Misty.


    "Ash?!" Green shouted, eyes widening as a grin split her face. "What are you doing here still?!"


    "Green?!" Ash shouted back, taking his full attention off the battle to stare at his childhood friend.


    Green began waving ecstatically at her friend. "How are you?! I heard you woke up late! How did you end up doing that?!"


    Ash scratched his head. "I broke my alarm falling asleep but that''s okay! I got Pikachu here and I wouldn''t want it any other way!" he laughed.


    The Pikachu on his shoulder didn''t look any different from Surges, though it certainly seemed to have way more confidence than the other rodent.


    "So Pikachu is your starter?" Green said in awe, gazing at the adorable rat with wide eyes. "He''s so cute! Nice job Ash!"


    "As much as I''d love to let friends catch up. That''s going to have to wait for a moment," Lance interrupted a little coldly, causing the whole area to go silent.


    "I asked a question you three," he said once more, crossing his arms as he gazed stonily at the gym leaders.


    The blonde one stepped forward ("Daisy," Green whispered to me) and nervously glanced at the Champion.


    "U-Um Champion Lance!" She greeted as she plastered a smile on her face that didn''t do a damn thing to convey how nervous she was. "What are you¡­ doing here?" she cringed.


    Lance was utterly unimpressed. I liked to think that I was rubbing off on him a little but maybe that was my ego talking.


    "I was here because I was interested in watching a battle, up until I found out the next earliest scheduling is a week from now because of your performances," he said bluntly.


    The sisters withered at that, realizing how royally fucked they were.


    Misty gained a look of delight.


    Lance shook his head in disappointment. "I''ve known about your performances and I''ve never once dissuaded them. Hell I even encourage them because hobbies are a good thing to have! But forsaking your duties as Gym Leaders is unacceptable and if I had known sooner, you''d have expected an even quicker trip from me."


    "We understand but..." the blue haired one ("Violet," Green whispered again) stammered.


    "But?" Lance raised a brow, making her go completely silent. "But what? This trainer right here ¡ª," he pointed a finger at me "¡ªHas to wait an entire week to battle you, for what reason? Because of your shows? There is no other trainer lined up to battle you but he has to wait a week. I thought you were balancing both, not blatantly favoring one over the another."


    Damn¡­ I feel kinda bad for unintentionally sicking Lance on these guys.


    ...No the hell I didn''t. This was entertaining and funny as all hell. I must have been the only one not uncomfortable by this brutal interrogation¡­ well besides the delighted Misty.


    The Champion shook his head in disappointment. "When you were all given the Gym, I made sure to ask if you wanted it and no one had any complaints, but your actions say another story. You''re not motivated, you''re becoming lazy and you prefer shows over being actual Gym Leaders. If you don''t want the position, you should have just told me. I''d have found a suitable replacement," he chastised, those piercing yellow eyes of his looking utterly disappointed.


    The Gym Leaders, who hadn''t even gotten a word in, looked like they wanted to be anywhere but here and at their silence, Lance just shook his head.


    "In that case, we''ll shut down the Cerulean Gym until we find a suitable replacement for you. As of now, it''s not a suitable gym for the Indigo League," he decided with a shake of his head.


    Even I blinked at that.


    Damn, that was¡­ kinda ruthless of him actually. Guess this is what being Champion was all about. Having to make the hard decisions for the sake of your region...


    Lance didn''t look even a little phased by what he just said, expression stone cold since he started this whole thing.


    I had been underestimating him a bit before, but now I could properly see Champion Lance in the flesh...


    I was impressed. I didn''t expect him to be so cutthroat.


    "Wait!" The pink haired one (Green was too stunned to tell me her name). "This isn''t necessary, Champion Lance!"


    "Yeah!" Violet nodded, a look of shock on her face. "We understand that we haven''t been¡­ up to par but shutting us down is too harsh, isn''t it?!"


    Lance sighed and shook his head. "I sympathize with you guys¡­ I really do. I let you get away with a lot of things because I understand what you went through, but this isn''t a game. The Indigo League doesn''t have a need for Gym Leaders who aren''t taking their job seriously. You are this cities first line of defense before reinforcements can help¡­ and I don''t really know if you''re reliable enough for that."


    They flinched back at his harsh assessment and Lance let loose another sigh.


    "I hate having to do this, but it doesn''t really seem like I have a choice ¡ª,"


    "Wait!"


    Lance paused at that and gazed at Misty curiously, not expecting to be interrupted. His piercing yellow eyes burned into her and the girl flinched for a second, before steeling herself.


    "I know they''ve been disappointing¡­ believe me, I''ve been disappointed with them too for years now," Misty began with a nervous expression. "But please, give them once more chance!"


    "Why should I give them one more chance, Misty?" Lance asked curiously.


    "Because despite everything, my sisters love Cerulean City and they love this Gym!" She said without hesitation. "I know they haven''t been showing it in recent times but they just needed a wake up call and you gave it to them!"


    The water type trainer bowed low. "Please, give them another chance until I''m old enough to properly inherit the gym. I''m 12 right now so it''s only two more years! I want to travel the world a bit and become more experienced but I will come back and become the Gym Leader! I''ll gather a team of Water types, I''ll take the all the tests necessary and I''ll amass the strongest team possible. Please just give them a chance until then!" she pleaded.


    I snorted rather loudly and ignored the scalding look Jasmine and Green shot me in this serious moment.


    What?! How the hell did these guys think 14 was a suitable age to become the primary defender of an entire city?!


    If Misty heard it (she definitely did), she ignored my snort and remained rooted in her bow.


    Lance gazed at her and then gazed at the Sensational Sisters once more.


    The three were looking at Misty in shock, never expecting the little sister they picked on to, be the one to step up for them.


    I even saw some tears forming from them, as they realized their little sister was growing up right before their eyes.


    "I think they learned their lesson," I shrugged truthfully, throwing in my two cents.


    All eyes turned on me at that, properly registering my presence for the first time and I sneered at them.


    "They''re a talented bunch but lack the motivation to improve. Sound familiar to you?" I asked Lance curiously.


    He frowned at that and nodded slowly, remembering his cousin well.


    "Some people just need the right kind of shock to be motivated. You three realized how badly you fucked up right?" I asked the Gym Leaders this time.


    They nodded without hesitation.


    "We definitely do!" Daisy exclaimed, bowing lowly.


    "We''re sorry for disappointing the league!" Violet bowed.


    "It won''t happen again Champion Lance!" The pink haired one ("Lily" Green finally told me) bowed as well.


    "Just keep a close eye on them," I shrugged. "If they fuck up again, fire them. Consider this probation."


    Lance mulled over my words but I doubt he needed them. For all his bluntness and intensity, the Champion was a kind person.


    "...I''d be a failure of a Champion if I snuffed out someone''s renewed fire," he said eventually, harsh expression vanishing in favor of a small smile. "Don''t let this happen again you three. Like I said, I have no problem with the shows you put on but don''t neglect your duties as Gym Leader. Find a proper balance, that''s all I ask."


    You could see the tension drain out of their bodies at that.


    "Yes sir!" They shouted in unison, relief on their face.


    Misty let out a sigh of relief at that. "Thank you Champion Lance!"


    Lance shook his head and gazed kindly at her. "I should be thanking you Misty. If you didn''t speak up, I would have actually shut this gym down for the time being, but you made me change my mind."


    "I look forward to the day you decide to try for Gym Leader, you''ll be a fine one."


    Misty turned beet red at that, unable to believe she was being praised by Champion Lance of all people!


    She could die on the spot!


    "I''m surprised you helped someone Silver," Green pointed out in awe.


    I grunted, feeling all eyes land on me.


    "She has a point," Lance agreed, glancing at me in amusement. "This is unlike you. I would have thought you''d enjoyed this."


    "He was. I was watching him," Jasmine chimed in. "Silver enjoyed every second of their discomfort, he''s quite the sadist I realize¡­ which is why I''m surprised he stood up for them."


    "I did it so they could owe me a favor," I said bluntly. "I want a match. Right now."


    Green laughed and rubbed her hair. "Yeah that sounds just like you. I can''t even say I''m surprised."


    I shrugged at that.


    "You wanna battle?" Misty asked, causing me to gauge her properly for the first time.


    Orange hair, shorts and suspenders. She looked exactly like the one in the anime instead of the games who wore a bathing suit¡­ and her age was likely younger as well, considering she was 12 and solo gym leader Misty looked like a young teen/adult.


    Brock looked the same in all media and he looked exactly like his dad too. He was probably a fair bit younger but even then, he looked the same age as Jasmine.


    As for Ash, the only real difference was that he looked a tad older, probably in part to being 12 instead of 10.


    "Yeah," I said bluntly. "I''d rather not waste anytime and there''s 4 of you, so I want to get this battle done with and not wait a goddamn week like you were planning on making me."


    "He''s so petty," Jasmine sighed.


    Misty looked taken aback by my attitude but recovered quickly and nodded. "Alright! I''ll battle you then after I wrap things up with Ash! You said your name was Silver, right?"


    "I never once introduced myself but yeah, I''m Silver. I have two badges," I said blandly.


    "Why do you always have to be so difficult?! You could have just said yes!" Green rounded on me incredulously.


    I sneered at her. "It''s almost like you''ve been finding reasons to argue with me lately. Why don''t you mind your own damn business?"


    "This is the third time today alone you''ve two started an argument with each other!" Jasmine interrupted us firmly. "Don''t you get tired?"


    "Nope."


    "Nuh uh!"


    "...Unbelievable," The Gym Leader sighed.


    "Who''s that you''re arguing with Green?" Ash asked in confusion, squinting at me with a scrutinizing gaze.


    If only this dumbass knew just who I was. I had 0 intention of ever telling him we were half brothers.


    "Oh this is my friend, Silvy!" Green introduced with a wide grin. "We''re traveling together! He''s a really good trainer! Too bad he can''t beat me!"


    A scowl replaced my features and I rounded on her this time. "You know what, we haven''t had a battle in a while. Maybe it''s time Saury learns what losing is."


    "Oh are you gonna use one of Lance''s pokemon to do it?!" Green retorted smugly.


    "Don''t be so proud because you''re a two Pokemon army. Let''s run a full 5v5 and see how it works out for you when Vee and Saury have to deal with my whole team," I barked.


    Now it was Green''s turn to glare. "You''re on! Let''s see then! And you speak like Lapee won''t pull her weight either!"


    Brock sighed in disbelief. Another Misty and Ash? Just what was his luck?


    "Save your battle for later! You still have your gym battle!" Misty barked at the two arguing.


    "Shut the fuck up! Don''t tell me what to do!" Silver barked, glaring at her.


    "Don''t yell at her like that! You''re such an ass!" Green barked in her defense.


    "Ridiculous," Jasmine sighed tiredly, just making her way to the spectators seat.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Misty and Ash''s match had already been wrapping up when I arrived. It had been Starmie vs Pidgeotto and despite my grievances against him, Ash was surprisingly beating her comfortably.


    He was a creative battler, using on the fly strategies once he figured out something, such as Starmie''s red gem being its weakness.


    Didn''t Team Rocket attack at this point? What was the deal with that?


    I don''t care actually.


    No the only thing I cared about, was planting my foot directly in Brock''s stomach for having the gall to flirt with my little sister in front of me!


    Brock let out a wheeze as the belligerent redhead kicked him in the gut with no remorse in his body.


    "Don''t flirt with Jasmine again," I demanded harshly, standing directly in front of my blushing and stammering best friend.


    "N-Noted," Brock wheezed.


    "Y-You didn''t have to do that, Silver," Jasmine muttered bashfully, sitting closer to me.


    "I wanted to," I said bluntly, gazing at my black sneakers with a curious eye.


    No marks. Good.


    "I''m sorry about him¡­ even though you''re a pervert, you didn''t deserve to be kicked in the stomach by him. Silvy hits hard," Green apologized with a bow to Brock.


    "Don''t just assault people¡­ no matter how deserving," Lance chastised me.


    "His stomach wanted to meet my foot. I''m too nice to deny him the chance."


    The sisters sweat at that. "You''re twisted," Violet pointed out with an amused smile.


    "Of course he is! This is the guy who fought Surge for his first gym badge and he won!" Daisy explained with wide eyes.


    "Really?!" Lily shouted in surprise, gazing at me in visible interest.


    I groaned. Was that really spreading around? Seriously, I didn''t even do it to make a statement. I just happened to be in Vermilion City first before every other.


    "Am I the only trainer with no badges that defeated Surge?" I asked with a frown.


    "The only new trainer," Lance corrected. "Surge doesn''t get battled first often and this year especially, he''s been going hard on every trainer and right now, he''s one of the hardest leaders to get a badge from."


    "You didn''t fight his 0 badge team either!" Jasmine exclaimed proudly. "I''d expect Lt. Surge to use that team against a third or fourth badge team!"


    I pursed my lips at that.


    So my training had turned me into roughly a trainer worth 3 or 4 badges. That sounded about right¡­


    "Starmie is unable to battle! As a result Gym Leader Misty is out of usable Pokemon, the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum!"


    Oh, seems like Ash''s battle was done. Huh, he actually won¡­


    Not bad at all.


    "Nice job Ash!" Green beamed, clapping happily for her friend.


    Ash laughed happily as Pidgeotto flew over to his side with a victorious shriek.


    "Nice job, Pidgeotto! I knew you could do it!" He praised happily, ruffling the bird''s feathers.


    "I guess you really aren''t all talk, Ash," Misty sighed with a smile, making her way over to her traveling companion. "That was my team you beat, not the ones given by the Gym!"


    I watched my half brother rub the back of his hat with, unimpressed mostly by his performance.


    The match wasn''t bad. I don''t know why he didn''t use that Pikachu of his, but the Pidgeotto wasn''t weak at all, targeting Starmie''s red gem with good gusts.


    Not bad, he was certainly better than the average trainer I ran into but he wasn''t nearly as impressive as Green or Blue had been.


    After handing Ash the Cascade Badge, Misty turned towards me with a small smile.


    "Alright, that battle got me pumped up so I''ll definitely fight you next, Silver! Just give me some time to prepare for it," she said confidently.


    I inclined my head. "Sure."


    Daisy suddenly got up and excused herself, heading to Misty''s location with some haste.


    Ash took the time to head into the stands near us and I watched him approach with a frown on my face.


    It was hard to imagine we were brothers. He was slightly tan while I was rather pale, his eyes were a warm honey brown that contrasted my cold silver eyes and his hair was pitch black while mine was a bright shade of red.


    We were complete opposites, personality and all. Ash looked more related to Gold than me.


    The both of us seemed to have inherited different aspects of Giovanni (his black hair, my silver hues), but funnily enough we seemed to take after our mothers more.


    "That was great Ash! You have a really impressive Pidgeotto!" Green praised, running up and hugging her friend. "It''s been so long since I saw you! How have you been?!"


    Ash beamed and easily returned the hug. "It really has! My journey''s been really crazy so far but super fun too!"


    Green nodded eagerly. "I''ve been having a lot of fun but Ash¡­ if this is only your second badge you might struggle against me! I''m still the best battler in Pallet!"


    "Not for long!" Ash said challengingly.


    I watched the two biggest trouble magnets of Kanto interact with each other and nearly sighed aloud.


    What a disaster Kanto was about to be.


    "You''re pretty at ease," Brock suddenly said to me, snapping me out of my musings.


    I blinked at him. "Yeah, I am. What about it?"


    The former gym leader gazed at me with a curious (I think) gaze and I returned it.


    The most notable thing about Brock (to me) was that on his waist, were 6 pokeballs. They were polished with care and I honed in on them.


    "Is that your team?" I asked rhetorically, pointing at the balls with a fascinated gaze.


    Last I checked, Brock didn''t have a full team in the anime. All he had was that Onix...


    But then again, Brock was qualified to be a Gym Leader so didn''t that mean he had an original team?


    Wait a minute... didn''t that mean Ash was traveling with a complete powerhouse?


    "Yeah," Brock nodded kindly. "They''re a bit too big to release right now but I have an Onix, Golem, Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Armaldo and Tyranitar," he informed me.


    My mouth opened in shock.


    What the fuck?! Brock was a goddamn monster! I had no idea he''d be this strong!


    A Tyranitar?! This dude was ridiculous!


    "Surprised huh?" Brock grinned kindly. "Everyone thinks Pewter is the easiest gym and their right, but that doesn''t mean I''m the weakest Gym Leader!"


    "Though, Jasmine over there is still stronger than me. I''ve never once beat her in a battle," he explained.


    Jasmine blushed at that and scratched her head. "I''m just a very good trainer but that doesn''t mean you can''t beat me!" she said kindly.


    I snorted and pat her head. "Don''t be so modest Jas. Just admit that you can kick his ass black and blue."


    "N-No! I''ll let you handle that..." she mumbled.


    Lily gazed at Jasmine and I''s interactions with blatant curiosity.


    "I like... didn''t expect you to have a friend, Jasmine... you never really speak to anyone during our meetings," the pink haired sister pointed out.


    Jasmine flushed a bit. "S-Silver is my best friend... I just really enjoy talking to him."


    Violet gazed at me, looking impressed before gazing at Jasmine once more. "Well, now that you''re accepting friends, I like totally think we should be friends too!"


    "Totally!" Lily beamed, pulling out her Pokegear.


    Jasmine looked shocked at that sisters insistence and gazed helplessly at me.


    "I think she could use more friends," I nodded in agreement, handing them her pokegear so they could exchange numbers.


    "W-When did you get my Pokegear?!" Jasmine balked in disbelief, patting her body and seeing that it was nowhere to be seen.


    "I''m not answering that question. Not relevant enough."


    Lance chuckled. "You''re a twisted person, Silver."


    "The most twisted," Green nodded in agreement.


    I smirked smugly and handed the resigned Jasmine her Pokegear back.


    "I like you!" Lily said to me. "Thanks for saving our gym!"


    I grunted noncommittally and shrugged. "Don''t thank me. Thank your sister. I added my two cents for my own gain."


    The pink haired sister nodded. "But it was still cool of you! If you''re friends with Jasmine, you''re probably a really cool person," she added.


    I gazed strangely at her. "Jasmine''s a gumball. Anyone could be her friend if they just approached her."


    "But she probably approached you, right?" Lily pressed.


    That was true...


    "Whatever," I shrugged. "I don''t know how I ended up being her only friend for so long. Jasmine''s awesome."


    Jasmine went beet red at that and ducked behind me, ignoring the fact that we were practically the same height and burrowing into my jacket.


    "S-Stop embarrassing me, Silver," she whispered pleadingly.


    "Do you want me to be the only one who knows how awesome you are?" I asked in amusement.


    "Yes."


    I actually barked out a laugh at that and just allowed her to burrow into me. "I missed you Jas. You need to visit me more."


    Green joined me in laughter. "She''s so cute! How does an angel like Jasmine end up only having a monster like you as her friend?!"


    "Two monsters. You''re her friend too."


    "I''d like to be Jasmine''s friend too!" Violet grinned.


    "Ditto!" Lily agreed.


    Jasmine looked like she was going to combust on the spot at how many people were friends with her now.


    She thought it was just going to be Silver for the longest but then Whitney approached her and now the sisters wanted to be her friend too...


    Maybe Silver''s effect on her happiness was more noticeable then she thought. She was getting a lot more fans as well...


    I smiled proudly at how popular Jasmine was becoming, before turning towards the amused Brock again.


    I was still shocked that his team was so strong to be fair!


    "Your Flint''s kid, right?" I suddenly asked him. "I battled him a few days back."


    "You battled my old man just a few days ago and you''re already here?!" Brock asked in surprise.


    "Uh huh!" Green turned to our conversation and nodded. "Silver''s not the type to waste anytime! We''re headed to Vermilion right after too!"


    "And you''re a planning bunch too," Brock muttered, looking impressed. "You could learn a thing or two from them, Ash," he suggested with a small smile.


    Naturally, Ash didn''t take that too kindly.


    "W-What?! So he does a little planning! Big deal!" Ash exclaimed, crossing his arms indignantly. "How many badges does he have?!"


    "3 soon," I answered smoothly. "All in the span of a month. Aren''t you still at two?"


    "Why is he like this with all my friends?!" Green thought in disbelief, holding her head as she saw the impending argument a mile away.


    "You aren''t half bad, but you''re way too cocky for your current skill level," I snorted, standing up as I saw Misty walk out of the backroom she and Daisy went into.


    "Oh yeah?! How about we battle then?!" Ash scowled, rounding on me with a fierce glare.


    I sighed, running a hand through my hair.


    I wonder if I''d ever reveal that we were brothers. Probably not. Clearly Ash''s mom (Deli?) didn''t push me out so he''d wanna know who our dad was and I''m not revealing my relations to Giovanni, to people who didn''t already know.


    Considering not even the league seemed aware of my exact relations with him, I might have been a secret child.


    Good. Better for me.


    "Did you say something? I zoned you out on instinct," I asked Ash, my bored silver eyes gazing through him. "Actually... never mind, I don''t care. You can just watch my battle."


    "Why you!" Ash growled.


    I ignored him and walked off to take my place on the field.


    Green put a hand to her head. "I''m sorry about him¡­ he''s a piece of work."


    Lance let out a barking laugh. "You get used to it rather quick."


    Jasmine nodded in agreement. "I won''t lie¡­ I''m pretty eager to see Silver actually battle in person!"


    Violet and Lily couldn''t help but be surprised that both Lance and Jasmine were actively showing interest in a trainer.


    They met Jasmine a few times during official Indigo meetings and the introvert was polite and professional, always keeping to herself and never really speaking to anyone. Recently during meetings, they noticed that she was particularly glued to her Pokegear...


    Now they knew why she was on it so much... she was messaging her new friend!


    As for Lance¡­ well it was Champion Lance of all people! He didn''t just drop by and give random kids a visit, that would reek of favoritism!


    Not to mention, this Silver fellow was also traveling with Green, the battling prodigy with all eyes on her! She was the most promising trainer of this generation and now she was traveling with someone who beat Surge with no badges?


    Who was Silver? Jasmine was his best friend, he beat Surge with no badges... he was sponsored by Viridian...


    I hummed a tune from my old world, lyrics long forgotten as I stood across from Misty and gazed at the field.


    The platform was a large square and all around it, water rested idly. It didn''t dominate the field but a Water type would certainly have a good time here.


    How unlucky, Freyja probably wouldn''t do too good against other Water Types just yet.


    "This is an official gym battle of the Cerulean City Gym between the challenger, Silver of Viridian City and the Gym Leader, Misty! Each side is allowed 2 pokemon and only the challenger is allowed to swap. The match will be decided when both Pokemon of one side are unable to continue!"


    I raised a brow at that. "Two this time huh? Finally switching it up a bit," I mused, palming my first ball without hesitation.


    "I was warned about you! I know how good you are!" Misty grinned challengingly. "They aren''t apart of my personal team, but they may as well be! You''re in for a battle!"


    I smirked at that. "Good, I don''t take joy in steam rolling in battles. Not as fun."


    Misty grabbed one of the Pokeballs at her waist and without hesitation, launched it out onto the field.


    "Come on out, Golduck!" She shouted.


    A flash of light revealed the blue duck in question and I raised a brow.


    "What''s up with you Gym Leaders and sending out these strong pokemon?" I asked in amusement, palming my ball of choice and launching it.


    "Gaia," was all I said, releasing her from the ball.


    Gaia announced her arrival with a cheerful beam towards me and I smiled back, before we both focused on our opponent.


    Golduck wasn''t quite what I was expecting to face up against, considering it was a fully evolved pokemon, but this was fine.


    Clearly the Gym Leaders wanted to actually test my skill level¡­ all because I beat Surge first¡­ when that was revealed, that might have been what brought Giovanni to my location.


    If I knew I''d get this kinda attention I just would have ran to Pewter first. This wasn''t even on me, this was just bad luck for optimizing my time as soon as I landed in Kanto.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    "The contestants are set! Golduck vs Bayleef! Begin!"


    Ah well, I did need to get as strong as possible. I needed to teach my dumbass dad a lesson.


    "Razor Leaf," I said immediately.


    "Aqua Jet!" Misty shouted.


    A watery aura surrounded Golduck and the litany of sharp leaves sailed harmlessly past the speeding duck.


    "Reflect," I said coolly, noticing the water type rushing Bayleef. "Catch it after."


    Misty''s eyes widened at that. "Turn right! Into the water!"


    Much to my annoyance, Golduck''s momentum was not enough to carry it into the Reflect and the duck turned on a dime, rocketing for the water and avoiding the lashing vines.


    Gaia and I sucked our teeth in annoyance at the same time.


    "Poison Powder in the water, widespread," I ordered, trying to find where Golduck could be hiding and failing.


    Poison Powder did a good job in restricting a bit of the areas where Golduck could freely swim but it wasn''t yet strong enough to fully pollute and poison the water type.


    We could make their domain just a little more uncomfortable to live in... restricting movement was another big factor of my style with Gaia.


    "Confusion!" Misty shouted, not willing to let Gaia freely spread those purple clouds into the water.


    Diluting the water would limit her by too much to be comfortable.


    Golduck burst out the water directly behind Gaia, eyes flashing purple.


    Gaia let out an uncomfortable noise as the concussive psychic energy hit her but held on long enough to immediately lash out with Vine Whip, grabbing the Golduck before it could dive back in the water.


    "Without an order?!" Misty thought in shock, caught off guard by the Bayleef weathering the confusion so well.


    "Slam it," I grunted, eyes narrowed as I processed everything this battle had offered so far.


    Gaia was way ahead of me and she began ragdolling Golduck like he weren''t a living creature. She repeatedly slammed him onto the hard ground with ruthless intentions, a sadistic gleam in her eyes that reflected mine.


    Fun fact, Gaia was my most ruthless battler. It was something Ares and her bonded over.


    "Golduck, use Screech!" Misty demanded.


    Gaia let loose a pained groan as Golduck let out an ear splitting screech and instinctively dropped it to the ground.


    "Water Pulse!"


    I let out an aggravated grunt as the water slammed directly into Gaia''s head.


    "Razor Leaf!" I barked.


    Much to my surprise, Gaia did not follow my order. No instead, she began swaying and I watched in shock as her vines began lashing out in every single direction, even hitting herself in the process.


    "She''s confused? Seriously?!" I snarled. "Gaia! Listen to my voice!"


    Misty was not going to make it that easy for me. "Golduck Aqua Jet into Zen Headbutt!"


    Golduck followed Misty''s orders to a tee and surged forward at high speeds with that watery aura once more.


    The duck slammed into Gaia before headbutting her with concussive psychic energy.


    That just made my severely confused Bayleef begin throwing an even greater fuss as she was launched back.


    Vine''s were being thrown everywhere, Razor Leaves were getting shot out indiscriminately and Gaia was dangerously close to running into the pool.


    "Gaia!" I barked loudly. "Stay still, now!" I demanded with authority.


    My voice pierced directly through her foggy mind and Gaia stood still.


    "Relax," I said slowly. "Breathe in, breathe out. Slowly now."


    Gaia slowly but surely followed my orders and at the same time, I gauged Misty and Golduck.


    Her rampage didn''t only hurt herself, I saw a few cuts on Golduck''s frame as he warily watched the mad Bayleef.


    He was somewhat tending to his wounds, which was why they hadn''t pushed their advantage yet.


    Good.


    Gaia listened to my voice, breathing in and out slowly, following my lead and calming down.


    Finally, she blinked and turned towards me with clarity in her eyes.


    "Better?" I said with a small smirk.


    "Bay!" Gaia announced, glaring fiercely at the Golduck.


    "Alright, let''s settle this," I decided.


    "He managed to break her out of confusion so easily," Misty thought in surprise, pursing her lips. "Golduck, in the water!"


    Gaia and I watched the Golduck flee and I rolled my eyes.


    "Synthesis," I said with an infuriating smirk.


    Gaia''s eyes glinted maliciously as well as she began activating Synthesis.


    Misty''s eyes widened in horror at that. "Don''t let her finish, Golduck! Water Pulse!"


    Gotcha.


    No one ever wanted to let Gaia heal. Why would they? She was extremely annoying to battle.


    As Golduck jumped out of the water to attack the steadily healing Bayleef, Gaia suddenly stopped channeling Synthesis and lashed out with her vines.


    Misty''s eyes widened at that. "Disable! Stop those vines!"


    Golduck wasn''t quick enough to avoid one of the vines slapping brutally into him, but he was able to prevent it from wrapping around by applying a quick Disable.


    The Disable completely froze the vines in a blue sheen and try as she might, Gaia no longer had any control over them and they uselessly dangled about.


    Golduck took the opportunity to pepper Gaia with more Water Pulses, discarding the idea of getting in the water once more.


    "Light Screen."


    A pink sheen formed in front of Gaia, weathering the Water Pulses and Misty grit her teeth.


    "You''re insanely annoying!" Misty scowled.


    "I get that a lot," I replied easily.


    Gaia snarled in annoyance and launched Razor Leaf after Razor Leaf at the Golduck using Aqua Jet to avoid them.


    "Ice Beam!" Misty shouted aggressively, unwilling to let me overtake the battle.


    My eyes widened as Golduck turned on a dime and shout out an ice blue beam of energy.


    Light Screen did an admirable job at protecting her but Gaia still let out a shriek of pain as Ice Beam connected with her midsection.


    She growled furiously and her assault renewed, shooting a flurry of Razor Leaves with even more murder in her eyes.


    "Gaia," I said calmly, making her go still. "Your wasting energy."


    She stopped and gazed back at me and nodded slowly.


    "How good are you with that new move?" I asked her contemplatively.


    Golduck had taken quite a bit of hits in the exchange but the most decisive hit had been at the start of the match¡­ The agile duck was quick and annoying to catch and at this rate, Gaia would be wasting resources in her attempt to hit it.


    Gaia nodded after some contemplation and I nodded in satisfaction.


    No point wasting anytime.


    "Magical Leaf," I ordered with a small smirk.


    Misty''s eyes widened in horror. "Aqua Jet! Get away!"


    Magical Leaf, much like Shockwave and Swift, had strange tracking properties that allowed the move to almost always hit its target.


    Though, this move was partially psychic in nature unlike Shockwaves weird locking on to a pokemon''s natural bio-electricity.


    After realizing Gaia had learned Reflect, I tasked her with learning both Light Screen and Magical Leaf.


    Light Screen had been fairly easy to get down but applying the psychic nature to Razor Leaf had been very tricky.


    As Gaia shot out those glowing leaves, I realized that she had been putting way more work into the move than I realized.


    She must have been tired of all these fast pokemon. Loki really left a sour taste in her mouth.


    Golduck desperately tried to escape from the Magical Leaves chasing him down. He cloaked himself in Aqua Jet and rocketed away but the leaves were relentless.


    I watched with cold and calculated eyes as the leaves inched closer and closer to the wavering duck.


    "Golduck go into the water!" Misty shouted urgently.


    Golduck heard the order and beelined for the water in hopes of getting away from the leaves ¡ª


    "Reflect."


    ¡ªOnly to run headfirst into a wall.


    Everyone winced at the sickening noise of Golduck running directly into the Reflect, right before the Magical Leaf met its mark. The array of leaves ruthlessly began cutting into the concussed duck without a shred of mercy.


    Gaia and I watched coolly as Golduck let out a pitiful whine, before it collapsed onto the floor. I felt a little bad at seeing the blood seeping from the Golduck, but it would be fine. Pokemon were made of ridiculously tough stuff.


    When Green learned that I was actively looking to use Reflect offensively and I found out how, she called me a sick and twisted person and I honestly agreed with her.


    I don''t think anyone used Reflect offensively but they hadn''t met me!


    Misty watched the whole thing dumbly, not able to process the events that just happened.


    "Golduck is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Bayleef!"


    "Tired?" I said idly, gazing at Gaia with a knowing gaze.


    "Bay!" She shook her head in denial and I rolled my eyes.


    "Liar," I muttered. "You used a lot of techniques, not to mention Reflect and Light Screen are super draining and you got hit with an Ice Beam. You won your match so I''ll return you for now."


    Gaia pouted at me but conceded.


    Even if she wasn''t tired, I would have done that.


    There was someone I owed a battle.


    "Using Reflect as an offensive option," Lance mused with an impressed eye.


    "Gaia''s real scary," Green nodded sagely. She could beat all of Green''s pokemon barring Saury.


    "She''s just as violent as he is," Jasmine noted with a small smile. Gaia was a sweetheart most of the time but clearly she was a different beast in battle.


    "Annoying too," Green added. "Beating her can feel so impossible sometimes!"


    Ash gazed at Silver''s battle with slightly wide eyes. He was fighting a stronger pokemon and winning quite comfortably!


    Green was traveling with a pretty impressive guy! Ash really wanted to battle him!


    Misty recovered quickly and gazed at Silver with searching eyes.


    He looked as composed and collected since the match began. Those cold, almost cruel, eyes staring at his Bayleef with none of that ice as he controlled her with a calmness unbefitting of a new trainer...


    Daisy wasn''t kidding, he really was good.


    Misty really wanted to beat this guy! She had no intention of making this battle easy for Silver! She was here to really win!


    The girl was extremely pumped after the events and she was especially giddy because Daisy had apologized for everything they had done to her!


    She would make the Gym proud by winning this battle!


    "Starmie! I choose you!" she announced, sending out her final Pokemon.


    She watched Silver gauge her water type with searching eyes, mulling something over (not that she could actually tell) before coming to a decision.


    He held out a pokeball and much to her surprise, her opponent returned the Bayleef to the ball.


    What¡­?


    "Loki, let''s wrap this up," I said, releasing him from the ball.


    You know, I just realized that I should start utilizing Loki''s illusions like how the video game does. Masking him as one of my other pokemon was a great idea.


    Definitely something I''d have to start taking advantage of. I''d discuss it with him after winning this battle.


    "Woah, what''s that?!" Ash called in confusion, bringing out his Pokedex to scan it.


    "A Zorua," Lance replied easily. "It''s a pokemon that''s native to Unova. Incredibly rare to find as well."


    "Unova¡­" Ash said in wonder, gazing at the Zorua with a fascinated gaze.


    I ignored all the noise and gazed at Loki with a serious expression. "Ready, Loki?" I asked.


    "Zor!" Loki barked.


    "Starmie vs Zorua! Begin!"


    "Why did you swap out?" Misty asked me, looking a tad offended by my decision.


    "Redemption. Don''t think too hard about it," I said easily.


    I failed to utilize Zorua to his fullest and we lost to Surge because of it. I was just as upset with that loss as he was.


    This was merely redemption for us. Losing was not an option.


    Misty frowned. "Starmie, use Water Pulse."


    "Agility."


    Zorua wasted no time dipping into Agility and began blurring across the field, avoiding the Water Pulse in the process.


    "Pursuit."


    Much to my displeasure, Pursuit didn''t hit its target because Starmie spun straight into the water and away from Loki.


    Expected.


    "On your guard. Hone claws."


    My eyes narrowed as Loki began sharpening his claws, all while Starmie remained hidden underwater.


    Finally, Starmie burst out of the water, back onto the platform behind Loki, red gem flashing.


    "Water Pulse!" Misty shouted once more.


    Starmie''s attempt to use Water Pulse, failed completely, leaving both the starfish and Misty stunned.


    Unfortunately, Loki and I were well ahead of them.


    "Snarl."


    The word didn''t even leave my mouth and Loki was on the move, opening his maw and shooting forth purple rings.


    It crashed into Starmie with no remorse and I watched the gem that was its core, begin flickering slightly.


    "Starmie!" Misty shouted in concern and confusion.


    Why did Water Pulse fail? What was happening?


    "Power Gem!" She tried.


    To her further confusion, Starmie used the move just fine.


    Their gym began glowing and a pinkish red beam shot out with precise aim towards Zorua.


    The fox yipped and hastily dodged the attack but Misty was relentless.


    "Try using Water Pulse one more time!"


    To her surprise, it actually worked. Starmie shot out a perfect Water Pulse that Zorua deftly dodged.


    "Torment!" Misty thought in realization, scowling at the unfazed redhead.


    That''s why it wasn''t working! What a crafty play by the Zorua and Silver!


    If she remembered correctly, Torment punished a pokemon who attempted to use the same move in succession¡­


    A genius move to use if you didn''t announce it¡­ Silver was really smart but Misty had him figured out!


    "Starmie, Rapid Spin! Catch that Zorua!" Misty demanded with a confident grin.


    Starmie took no time to follow her command and it began spinning rapidly, rocketing towards the Zorua with a single-minded focus.


    Loki could only watch with wide eyes as the star sped towards it with deadly precision¡­


    Only to fly directly through it.


    "Pursuit."


    Misty watched with slack jaws as Starmie flew directly threw the Zorua''s body¡­ while another Zorua emerged from wherever it was hiding to slam into her pokemon with dark energy.


    Fighting Bayleef had given her the gist¡­ but it was Zorua here that solidified it.


    Silver was really annoying.


    The force of the Pursuit sent Starmie flying backwards and the red gem began flickering even more, as alien noises left the Starmie.


    I watched with calculated eyes, as Starmie slowly got back into a standing position.


    Starmies weren''t capable of taking a lot of hits, especially super effective ones but it was still a fully evolved pokemon and they were ridiculously fast as well.


    "Starmie, use swift!" Misty growled.


    Seriously, did every fucking pokemon have a tracking move?


    This was insane but fortunately, Loki and I began preparing countermeasures.


    "Snarl, widespread," I said with a stern frown.


    "In the water!"


    Starmie immediately beelined it for the waters, but they weren''t the main target for the Snarl.


    After seeing how effective Loki''s Snarl was against Vee''s Swift, I decided to expand on it a bit more so that even after Loki learned stronger ranged options, he would find a use for this one¡­


    So we worked on increasing the width of the attack to turn it into a neutralizer of sorts.


    It was working quite well. Every star of the Swift was destroyed by Loki''s attack and we both nodded in approval.


    Effective, we would keep working on that.


    There was a silent lull of battle but I wasn''t too stressed. Starmies could learn Recover to make battles really annoying but that''s why it had a Taunt on it.


    Judging by Misty''s furrowed brows, she was slowly realizing that too.


    She was smarter than I gave her credit for, she spotted out the Torment as well.


    But I underestimated how desperate a person would get when they were slowly getting pushed into a corner.


    "Starmie let''s wrap this up quickly! Use Surf!"


    My eyes widened in disbelief. "Fucking what did she just say?!"


    I didn''t mishear. No, to my and Loki''s horror, a gigantic tidal wave began forming from the pool that, at this size, would cover the entire platform.


    What the hell¡­ Surf was not a move I should have been expecting on my third gym badge! Surf was not a move my poor little Zorua should be forced to face in a field that was already favored to water types!


    Bullshit that''s what this was.


    "Loki! Run to the opposite edge and charge an Extrasensory! Try to blow a hole through the wave and weather as much as you can!" I barked in some concern.


    As the wave began crashing towards the field, Loki turned on a dime, dipped into Agility and ran for his life.


    I grit my teeth in annoyance but at the very least, he wasn''t on the middle of the platform to take that Surf.


    Loki sensed that he wouldn''t make it to the edge on time and he turned on a heel, eyes already glowing with psychic energy.


    The wave of Surf was gigantic. This move was ridiculous and Loki was still standing up to it with pure determination.


    He opened his mouth and shot out the biggest Extrasensory he could muster, trying to tear some of the wave apart but it really was too big and I could only watch in horror as it eventually engulfed him.


    "Loki!" I couldn''t help but shout in concern, as the water on the platform vanished as quickly as it came.


    My eyes narrowed in fury at seeing Loki''s prone body lying there and I clenched my fist.


    Oh that fucking Starmie better count its blessings. Once Gaia got her hands on it, there would be hell to pay and no amount of Surfs, were saving it ¡ª


    My dark thoughts were interrupted, as I watched Loki slowly but surely pull himself up.


    His fur that I just brushed up today was a soaked mess, he was visibly exhausted and he clearly didn''t have much left in the tank¡­


    But he was still moving.


    Misty couldn''t keep the surprise off her face, at seeing Zorua up and standing after taking that Surf.


    That little baby should have been down and out! How was he¡­


    "Loki are you sure you''re good to keep going?" I asked with narrowed eyes, watching his legs shake unsteadily.


    I already had one hand on the pokeball but to my surprise, Loki glared at me in denial.


    "¡­" I inclined my head. "Alright then. We''ll win this, you and I."


    "Zor!" Loki panted in agreement.


    Misty frowned but shook her head. Starmie wasn''t in great condition and they couldn''t use Recover either so they needed to wrap this up quickly.


    "Water Pulse!"


    Starmie shot out the pulse of water but Loki had already dipped back into Agility, dashing across the field much slower than normal but still fast enough to avoid the Water Pulse.


    "Swift!"


    "Snarl!"


    The stars met the dark energy, causing an explosion to take place that shrouded our vision momentarily.


    Misty growled to herself as the Swift got neutralized once more.


    Ranged options wouldn''t work while Starmie was tired and Zorua had Agility up¡­ that meant she needed to match that speed.


    "Rapid Spin! Catch that Zorua!" Misty demanded.


    Starmie whirred in affirmation and rocketed off, chasing the speeding Loki with deadly intent.


    I watched with narrowed eyes as it quickly gained on him and soon, a high speed chase ensued between the two.


    My finger twitched a bit as I watched the chase happening and I couldn''t keep the nervous expression of my face as Starmie got closer and closer to the lagging Loki.


    It would only be a matter of time before he ¡ª


    "Loki!" I shouted out in concern, seconds before the momentous force of Rapid Spin hit its target.


    "Get him Starmie!" Misty shouted victoriously.


    My look of concern vanished, replaced instead by a victorious grin that Misty never saw.


    Starmie finally closed the distance fully and crashed right through Loki''s body.


    Wait¡­ through?


    Misty''s eyes widened in horror as the Zorua dissipated out of view.


    What¡­ but when did that¡­?


    I grinned, a hint of sadism in that crooked smirk of mine, as Starmie stopped in confusion, reality hitting it far too slowly.


    "Finish it off!" I shouted with a wild look in my surging silver eyes.


    As if materializing from nothing, Loki burst out from invisibility, a crimson aura surrounding his body as his eyes began lighting up blue.


    My eyes widened in interest at that and I watched with an open mouth as Loki raised both his paws in the air, before slamming them onto the platform.


    A small crimson dome formed as soon as his paws connected to the ground and I grinned wildly as it consumed Starmie.


    It was a mesmerizing sight, pink and crimson forming a force field of energy that hid both Loki and Starmie and I looked at it in some awe.


    Finally, the dome settled and vanished, leaving just Loki and an unconscious Starmie on the field, red gem no longer glowing.


    "Starmie is unable to battle! As a result, the winners of this match are Zorua and Silver!"


    No sooner did those words come out, did Zorua tiredly collapse on the floor with a relieved exhale.


    I grinned fondly at that and jogged over to his location, minding the wet platform so I didn''t slip.


    "Well done, Loki," I said, hoisting him up and tucking him into my frame.


    Even if he was soaked with water¡­ it was a small price to pay for how proud I was of him.


    "I had no idea you had Night Daze down pat," I said in awe, patting his matted fur down.


    "Zor zor rua," Loki said tiredly, snuggling into me without preamble.


    "Oh it just clicked? You learned it in the heat of battle?" I mused.


    "Rua," he nodded.


    I let out a snort and chuckled, further ruining my outfit by tucking him into his spot on the inside of my jacket.


    Night Daze was the move we wanted to work on next. It was the Zorua lines signature move and it required a lot of energy to use, which was why I was so surprised Loki managed to actually learn it.


    It must have taken every dredge of his energy to bust that out but just the fact that he actually used it¡­ he might not be able to use it as anything but a last resort for now but his signature move would be unstoppable in due time.


    "You really are impressive," I said fondly.


    "When did you trick me?"


    Loki and I blinked at that and turned towards Misty, who was holding the tear dropped Cascade Badge.


    "You mean on the last play?" I asked knowingly.


    Misty nodded, gazing at me with an awed and humbled expression.


    "We overwhelmed you with a ton of information and conditioned you," I said simply, thinking back to the play that helped us win.


    "We realized that you were aware of Torment taking effect, considering you stopped trying to use the same moves in succession. The thought that you can''t mess up like that or we''d take advantage was your primary concern, right?"


    Misty wanted to say no but Silver read her like a book so she just nodded meekly.


    "Not only that, you tried to use Recover but failed because of Taunt," I pointed out.


    "So it really was Taunt," Misty thought.


    "With all that in place, you were eager to finish the match as quick as possible and I took that into account. With everything you were accounting for and your haste to finish the battle, you forgot about the Illusion we used in the beginning of battle."


    I ruffled Loki''s fur with a content smile.


    "Since Swift was the only way to break our cover, the moment you used it, I had Loki set up an illusion and we baited you into turning the fight close ranged. It left you open for a Pursuit to the back but Loki used Night Daze instead."


    That''s when we struck. It was like a game of chess, building up plays until the climax. Loki used everything in his repertoire to defeat a much stronger pokemon that he normally wouldn''t be able to beat.


    When there were so many things to think about, you naturally began prioritizing which was most important and to Misty, Illusion was the least important of all the details she had. We used that to our full advantage for one big tricky play.


    "Genius."


    That''s the only thought Misty had, as her fellow redhead explained the match from his point of view.


    He was¡­ way smarter than she would have thought. The foresight to set up all those plays and have it pay off like that was just¡­


    "I was just dancing in your palms near the end there. You''re a terrifying trainer," she said with an incredulous smile, handing the badge over to him.


    I smirked and accepted it, inspecting the badge with a curious eye.


    It was a teardrop, smooth to the touch and that was about it. Looked better than Pewter, worse than Vermilion.


    "Here, from me as well," Misty spoke up once more, handing a disc over to me. "It''s the TM for Scald. I''m not sure if you have any water types but you can use that on them!"


    My eyes widened in interest at that.


    Scald? Seriously?


    I accepted it and gazed at it with a calculating glint.


    One of my favorite water moves to use¡­ yes, Freyja could use this just fine. It was perfect and I''m quite sure she could even learn it right now.


    Hey wait a minute, that old bastard Flint didn''t give me a TM.


    Oh well, not like I had any rock types. Stupid old fart. Dumbass old man. Shitty father #2.


    "THAT WAS AWESOME!"


    I grunted as Green leapt atop of me, hugging both Loki and I with crushing force.


    My urge to throw her off me vanished only (That was all!) because Jasmine joined the group hug and I let out a tired sigh and just returned it.


    "You''re so impressive Silver!" Jasmine gushed, eyes lit up in joy at watching the battle. "That battle was so good! Watching the way you handled that was incredible!"


    "He''s so smart!" Green said, joy on her features just at the chance to witness battle.


    She was a real junkie.


    "Don''t praise me, praise Gaia and Loki. I already know how awesome I am," I said easily.


    "That confidence is warranted," Lance praised, walking up to the group hug and ruffling my hair.


    He was lucky I was tangled up or I would have assaulted him¡­ though judging by his small smirk, he was well aware of that detail.


    "You did good. I doubt I''d ever even consider making an intelligent move like that back when I was a rookie! I''m quite the brute forcer," the champion admitted shamelessly.


    "Back then? Don''t try and fool me, I know for a fact you don''t use intelligence now," I retorted smugly.


    "It''s true. Champion Lance is all brute force," Jasmine nodded in agreement.


    Lance''s mouth opened a bit in surprise at that. "Whose side are you on, Jasmine? I''m still your Champion you know!"


    "Stop trying to fling your authority around. Do it to anyone but Jasmine. She''s always gonna be on my side because she''s my best friend," I informed him coolly.


    "I''m kind of jealous of how overprotective he is of you," Green whispered to Jasmine.


    "He calls me little sister, I think he actually means it. I don''t know why¡­ I''m 4 years older than him!" Jasmine whispered back, half distressed half flattered.


    It was nice knowing someone was so willing to stand up for her but could he not refer to her as little sister all the time!


    Green smiled mischievously. "But I kinda see where he''s coming from. You''re so adorable that it gives off little sister vibes!" She exclaimed.


    Jasmine turned beet red at that. "N-Not you too!" she whined in defeat.


    "See, everyone else sees it too," I chimed in.


    Green and Jasmine balked in horror.


    "Y-You were listening?!" They asked in disbelief.


    I blinked in my own bit of disbelief.


    "You guys are right next to me. In what fucking world would I have not heard that?!" I retorted incredulously.


    Right¡­ in this fucking world, where everyone was an idiot.


    I sighed at the genuinely appalled looks on Jasmine and Green''s face.


    Idiots. All of them.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "You two are leaving?"


    Jasmine nodded sadly, unable to resist pulling both me and Green into a hug.


    It said something that she was able to initiate those now. Green and I were pretty merciless when it came to bringing her out of her shell.


    "We stayed a bit longer because we really wanted to watch your Gym Battle and I''m glad I did! But I have to head back to Johto now and take up my duties at the Gym!"


    I nodded at that, frowning a bit. "I''m glad you visited actually. I wasn''t kidding when I said I appreciated our friendship way more over time," I said truthfully.


    Jasmine didn''t even try to hide how happy that made her and I watched the girl actually light up in joy. It was odd to see it in real life but it warmed my heart a bit to know someone was this happy to see me.


    "I''m so glad! You''re my best friend you know? I''m glad you think the same," she beamed, some tears brimming in her eyes.


    I rolled my eyes and pat her head.


    "I hope you have a lot of vacation hours. When I come to Johto, I''m kidnapping you and we''ll travel a bit," I said.


    Jasmine began laughing at that¡­ before it died down at the fact that I was not laughing with her.


    "Oh¡­ you''re serious," she said, blanching in horror at my serious expression.


    "¡­Of course I am. Green will help me," I said in amusement.


    Green shot Jasmine a thumbs up, making our friend sweat even further.


    "I''ll turn a blind eye to it!" Lance assured with a wide grin, ruffling both Green and I on the head. "Silver, Green¡­ It was nice meeting you both. I haven''t felt this relaxed in a while and you two make the hard work I put in the League worth it."


    Green beamed and happily hugged Lance. "We''re happy to have met you too, Lance! I had so much fun getting to know you and it''s so awesome that we''re friends now!"


    "What she said but a lot less worshipy," I muttered. "Don''t forget to send me those tips."


    Lance let out an amused chuckle and beckoned Jasmine over. "If you two ever need anything, within reason, don''t be afraid to shoot me a message! Or if you just want to talk, that''s fine too. It''s better than talking to those boring officials."


    I snorted. "Sure. I''ll spice up your boring life like I did Jasmine''s."


    "Silver!" Jasmine complained.


    I shrugged. "You just began making other friends and still come to me, so I''ll run with that."


    She pouted. "You''re just terrible to me sometimes."


    I smiled and nodded to the two. "Get back to your duties. Try not to be too bored while Green and I are becoming strong. We''ll give you the challenge you''re looking for eventually."


    Lance was¡­ cool. Our time traveling together showed me a perspective of him that probably only existed in headcanon so to see who he was¡­ wasn''t terrible.


    God, maybe Fraxure should have killed me instead of humbling me like this.


    Green beamed and nodded. "You bet. I''m gonna become the strongest trainer in the world so don''t be too upset when we battle and I win," she grinned.


    "I look forward to it!" Lance said genuinely, grinning wildly as he released Siegfried from his ball. "I''ll be keeping watch of all of you so try your best!"


    He turned towards Ash and his group, much to their surprise. "That goes for you all as well! I believe that any trainer, so long as they try their best, can become the best! You all have promising futures and I hope you can tap into that potential," he finished with a large grin.


    Ash''s eyes turned into stars and he nodded vigorously. "I wanna become a Pokemon Master and I will do it! Nothing''s gonna stop me!"


    "That''s the type of conviction that carries the best far! I wish you luck on your journey too, Ash Ketchum. And as for you Misty, when you choose to become the Cerulean Gym Leader, I know you''ll put your all into it. I''m looking forward to it."


    Lance had that voice. The one where you had to listen to it and believe what he was saying¡­


    No wonder he was Champion. I would never say it out loud, but Lance really was cool.


    "Now, I have to head out. I need to make sure that Karen doesn''t take the chance to cause mayhem," he sighed, climbing atop his Dragonite with practiced ease.


    The Champion held out a hand and pulled Jasmine up as well.


    "I hope to see you guys again soon!" Jasmine waved politely.


    "Bye Jasmine! Bye Lance! Don''t be strangers!" Green waved ecstatically.


    "See ya Jas. Invest in a Teleporter and visit us whenever you want," I offered them with a small smile myself.


    Jasmine''s eyes widened. "That''s a great idea! I know Bronzy can''t learn it but..."


    Lance and I snorted at the same time, before Siegfried took off into the air.


    In the blink of an eye, the massive Dragonite was gone and I whistled at its speed.


    Damn, Siegfried was fast as hell.


    "I will never know how you and Jasmine became best friends," Green said idly, fondly watching the spot they were just at.


    "I think I know why you were traveling alone. No one wanted to be friends with you," I replied idly.


    "Dick move, Silvy. Dick move," Green said fondly, still looking at the sky.


    I snorted. "We need to get to the Center to heal, then we can get your new bike."


    Green''s eyes lit up. "I forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me!"


    "Uh huh."


    Movement in the corner of my eye, caused me to turn my head and I watched as Ash himself began approaching us.


    "That was a great match! I didn''t think Misty was that impressive and you managed to beat her too!" Ash said truthfully.


    I idly scratched the dozing Loki behind his ear and stared at Ash.


    "It was a good battle," I said eventually, deciding not to needlessly antagonize him any further.


    I wanted this conversation to be over with truth be told. It left a real sour taste in my mouth knowing that this guy was my half brother.


    Whatever. No point getting upset about it. I''d probably encounter this guy a lot so being amicable was probably the smarter choice¡­


    "You''re about to ask me for a battle and I''m going to say no. To be frank, you won''t win and I don''t see the point in doing this when I have other things to do¡­ but if you manage to beat the Vermilion Gym, ask me again and I''ll say yes."


    ...Or not.


    "What''s your problem?! I was trying to be nice you know!" Ash exploded, glaring at me like the rash 12 (wasn''t he my younger brother? My birthday was in December... when was his?) year old he was.


    I didn''t even look phased. "My problem is that I hate easy victories because my opponent is too weak. You''re one of Leaf''s close friends and I get rude when I win so let''s just save us both that."


    "Besides, I wanna get Loki and Gaia healed and a battle will just hold me up," I shrugged, turning on a dime.


    "No way! One on one then!" Ash demanded stubbornly, glaring at me with those large eyes of his.


    I paused and calmly pondered the question. "Why not just battle Green? She''s your rival isn''t she?" I said civilly, giving him one final out.


    "I''ll battle Green eventually! I wanna battle you! You''re not the hotshot you think you are!" Ash said firmly. Pikachu nodded as well, a competitive fire in his eyes.


    ...


    I sighed and beckoned towards the Center. "You Pallet trainers are all so obsessed with me. You should be glad you aren''t as annoying as the Oak boy, but it isn''t by much."


    "Fine. There''s a battlefield over at the Pokemon Center. Let me heal my team and we can battle. But just remember I gave you a chance to bow out," I warned, walking silently to the Center.


    Maybe a little sibling rivalry was needed in life. Hey maybe Ash and I weren''t actually even brothers and all of this was just me jumping to wild conclusions!


    ...


    ...


    Yeah right who am I kidding?


    Green sighed and followed after him.


    At least Ash hadn''t done anything to really annoy Silver! It shouldn''t be as bad as with Mason or Blue!


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I stood across from Ash, both of us on opposite sides of the battlefield, as I palmed a Pokeball with a serene expression.


    Loki and Gaia were currently being treated and since I had downtime to wait for them, that meant it was time to put my needlessly cocky little brother in his place.


    "One on one," I reminded.


    "Yeah I know!" Ash returned, as Pikachu leapt off his shoulder onto the field.


    I sighed in disappointment. I wanted to use Freyja to really drive in the point but I guess not.


    "Metang," I said coolly, throwing out the ball and releasing my Metang.


    I would have used Ares, but I didn''t want him to think type disadvantage had anything to do with what was about to happen.


    "Woah, what''s that?!" Ash said, unable to keep the curiosity off his face.


    "A Metang," I said blandly, gazing at the Pikachu with a contemplative expression.


    Eventually I shrugged and gazed at Brock, who was acting as referee, and nodded my head. "I''m good to go."


    "This is what you have me facing?" Metang mused.


    "Make it fast if you''re so unsatisfied. Ares will be mad if I make her only battle of the day someone weak," I retorted.


    "We''re ready!" Ash grinned eagerly, Pikachu mimicking his action.


    "Alright, begin!" Brock shouted.


    "Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.


    I said nothing as Metang wrapped itself in the sheen of Iron Defense.


    "Confusion," I instructed.


    Thunderbolt crashed into Metang, who barely flinched at the attack, before their eyes began glowing with the purple sheen of psychic energy.


    "Pika?!" Pikachu shouted in shock, as the Confusion wrapped around it. The rodent attempted to struggle but it cried out as it was brutally slammed to the floor.


    "Pikachu! Are you alright?!" Ash yelled in concern.


    "You''re not focused," I said coldly. "Zen Headbutt."


    Metang rumbled and charged, psychic sheen covering its own body now.


    "Pikachu! Get out of there with Quick Attack!" Ash ordered hastily.


    A white sheen covered Pikachu and he hastily dashed to the side, avoiding the speeding Metang with urgency ¡ª


    "Bullet Punch."


    ¡ªOnly for Metang to effortlessly turn to the side at devastating speeds, blurring forward and landing a punch directly on the diminutive Pikachu''s midsection.


    Even I winced in sympathy, as the poor Pikachu practically folded under the fist that was the size of the creature. My Metang may have been smaller than the average one, but that was still much larger than a Pikachu.


    "P-Pika?!" Pikachu said in disbelief. For a second, all was still... before the pain and gravity made itself known.


    Pikachu flew away from Metang''s fist as tremendous speeds, eventually tumbling on the floor and rolling until he stopped directly in front of Ash.


    The stunned boy couldn''t even properly compute what had happened, just staring blankly at Pikachu.


    "It''s unconscious."


    The cold voice of Silver snapped him out of his daze and he frantically reached out for Pikachu, distraught clear on his features.


    "Pikachu! Are you alright?!" Ash said in horror, unable to believe how quickly he had been defeated.


    Two moves... Pikachu had gotten hit with two moves and it was over...


    What...?


    "Seriously?" I thought dispassionately. I wasn''t even mad. This was just disappointing.


    "Are you actually serious about being a trainer?" I asked him genuinely, approaching the boy cradling his Pikachu. "I wouldn''t even consider this a battle. This was just Metang and I picking on you."


    Ash looked up at me, distraught on his features that only served to further irritate me.


    "You talk so big. You act so cocky... you scream that you''ll be the best trainer alive... and then I face you... and this is the result. Not to mention you woke up late on the most important day of your life. Is this all some joke to you?!" I scowled.


    Ash flinched back.


    "Even after I told you what was going to happen, you proudly stood there and wasted my time. You think being creative is going to get you out of every situation? All that creativity is nothing in front of overwhelming power and you lack power," I sneered, shaking my head.


    "Best trainer in the world... yeah right, you aren''t even close to being the best trainer in Pallet. You''re closer to that Jason''s level than Blue and you shouldn''t even think about touching Green."


    That was even more disappointing then I thought. What good was having ingenuity in battles, when a stronger foe just ended the fight easily?


    "You''re a joke, Ash Ketchum. You''re just a dumbass who doesn''t know what he''s doing, but thinks he does."


    I just didn''t get how we were even half brothers. He was so... he was so damn weak.


    You''re telling me I was related to this guy? This was just even more insult to injury. I was related to some guy who cruised on sheer luck.


    He should be glad Giovanni was interested in me over him, he wouldn''t have lasted a second in my shoes.


    I shook my head and turned away from my depressed half brother.


    "I thought Jason and Blue were disappointing but you... you''re definitely the worst offender. At least Jason knows what he''s lacking and at least Blue has some talent... but you? You''re hopeless but you don''t know that you are."


    The worst part about Ash... it was that he did have the talent. I could see it in his battle with Misty. But he just had no ounce of interest in tapping into it.


    That might have been the most disappointing thing of it all.


    "Whatever. What you choose to do during your journey is really not any of my fucking business. So long as you''re satisfied, I guess that''s really all that matters. Just do me a favor and never challenge me to a battle again. I might assault you if we get a repeat of this," I said truthfully, walking away from him with a shake of my head.


    "You seem even more disappointed then I am," Metang mused.


    "Because I am, Metang. That fight shouldn''t have been that easy."


    How was the world relying on a guy like him? It just fastened my resolve to solve all these issues on my own because I just couldn''t ever leave my life in the hands of someone like Ash Ketchum.


    What a wreck. There really was no one worth relying on.


    Just great. My father was useless, my mother was useless and my brother was useless with flair.


    How disappointing.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green paused at seeing the slight disappointment on Silver''s face and frowned too.


    She guessed she could see why he was disappointed. He didn''t even break a sweat in that battle.


    "Heal, bike, eat then go?" she asked quietly.


    "Heal, bike, eat then go."


    That was all he said before he head back into the Center, Metang dutifully following him.


    It was getting increasingly easier for her to understand Silver.


    Before Green could catch up to Silver, she turned towards Ash and crouched in front of him.


    "I know you don''t want to hear this right now... and I''m sorry for him but Silver''s got a point Ash. You gotta train up more. Don''t you want to beat Blue in a battle?" Green asked him gently, frowning sadly at seeing tears of frustration in Ash''s eyes.


    "I think instead of being demoralized by what he said, you should use it as fuel. I bet more than ever, you want to beat him right?"


    Ash nodded slowly, just cradling Pikachu against him.


    "Then train up to beat him! Silver''s not going to stop training and neither am I! You need to use everything to your advantage as well, Ash!" she encouraged, giving her childhood friend a warm hug before standing up.


    "No more feeling bad for yourself, alright?! I want to see how much you''ve improved in the future and when that happens, we''ll battle! Now I have to go! We''re in a bit of a rush," Green smiled, waving at the group and walking off to catch up to her friend.


    Ash stared at the two with a frown, humbled in a way he had never been subjected to before.


    "Don''t feel too down, Ash. Silver is just insanely talented," Misty sighed, gazing at the back of Silver as he walked off.


    She wanted to beat him in a battle eventually. He was really strong and Misty found the idea of facing him in the future¡­ exciting! But his words... he was really quite cruel when he wanted to be.


    Made sense considering how amusing he found Lance grilling them to be.


    "Your win against me was legit but you did fight two much weaker Pokemon then what I fought Silver with. You''ve gotta improve more before challenging him to a battle. He has 3 badges for a reason!" she encouraged, putting a hand on the despondent boys shoulder.


    Pikachu was not weak by any means but Silver had made it look like a newborn... that Metang of his was no joke at all... Seems he did have more to his style then just trickery.


    Brock nodded in agreement and helped the boy up. "If you put your mind to it, you''ll get much better in no time. You''re a talented kid and I think Silver sees that too, which is why he was so disappointed. Getting a third badge of your own is a good benchmark for your progress if you train up!"


    "We can train together!" Misty encouraged. "And Brock''s a really strong trainer too. I''m sure he can give us pointers!"


    Ash''s frown vanished at that, replaced by fierce determination. He clutched Pikachu to himself tighter and gazed at the spot of where his, unbeknownst to him, brother had just been.


    "Next time, I''ll give him the battle of his life," he swore to himself.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green and I wrapped up our business in Cerulean very swiftly and the end result, was her owning a brand new shiny green bike.


    "Yes! Now we can both use our bikes to make it to Vermilion in record time!" Green cheered with a mouthful of sandwich.


    "Swallow first idiot," I chided, chewing into my own sandwich as I gazed at the extensive recipes Jasmine sent both Green and I through message.


    She had to have been semi professional because what the hell was this? These meals were way too impressive and not simple at all like she said they''d be.


    Since when was Jasmine so impressive with everything besides making friends?


    ...Guess when you spent most of your time alone, you learned a lot of miscellaneous tricks. My best friend was a real prodigy.


    "So we''re headed to Vermilion right? No more Gym stops? Saffron is pretty close by," Green mentioned curiously.


    I glanced at the time and mulled over it, before nodding.


    "We''ll skip Saffron for now. We can focus on training and battling each other in the meantime," I decided.


    She grinned eagerly at that and nodded. "Okay! I wanted to battle Sabrina later on anyways! She''s one of the toughest gym leaders in both Johto and Kanto!"


    "Good. We can ignore her for now," I nodded.


    Sabrina was a psychic wasn''t she? I wonder how she''d react if she tried to peer into my head.


    Judging by how much psychics hated me, probably not good.


    For her own sake, I hoped she didn''t try to do that. She was just a human after all.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "What are they feeding you kids these days?!"


    Gold grinned eagerly, accepting the badge out of Lt. Surge''s hand with a look of excitement.


    That match had been dreadfully difficult. Larvitaro wasn''t fast but Raichu just didn''t have a move that was capable of taking him out!


    That didn''t mean it didn''t still pack a punch. He and Crystal would be heading to the Pokemon Center as soon as they were done here because she had been in an even more difficult war!


    Crys didn''t have any pokemon with an inherent advantage over electric types so she had to pull out all the stops at having a chance to win with Misteree.


    But she did because Crys was awesome and she was just as good of a battler as he was. He hadn''t been worried (he had been so worried) for her at all!


    "Now that I''ve given you both the Thunder Badge, here, a gift from me," Surge boomed, grinning as he handed the positively tiny (in comparison to him) children the tickets to the S.S Anne.


    "What''s this?" Crystal asked curiously, accepting the ticket and smiling at the exhausted Misdreavus to her right.


    "Tickets to the S.S Anne. They''re reserved for trainers who manage to defeat me!" Surge explained.


    Gold''s eyes lit up at that. "Sounds fun!"


    He and Crys really needed to relax. They had been mowing through Kanto at a fairly swift pace so a bit of downtime wouldn''t kill anyone.


    Crys was in agreement. Their hunt for that red haired boy hadn''t really bore fruit and admittedly, a vacation sounded nice so they''d enjoy this boat ride.


    "Alright! The S.S Anne huh? That''s bound to be fun," Gold grinned eagerly.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Lance landed back in Indigo (Jasmine had been teleported back to Johto), he was not even remotely surprised to see Lorelei there to greet him.


    "Where have you been?" She asked immediately, not quite glaring at him but definitely displeased.


    "Hello to you too," Lance greeted wryly, walking into the building with her hot on his heel.


    "Not only did you disappear without a word, you brought Gym Leader Jasmine with you. Are you going to explain yourself, Lance?" Lorelei asked firmly, pushing her glasses up slightly at the rapid movement of following after Lance''s long legs.


    Mew, was it annoying trailing the too tall man.


    Karen popped her head out at that in visible interest. "Is the great Champion Lance in trouble? I wanna see this," she said, smirking wildly at that and strutting out the room she was lazing about in. A Weavile trailed behind her, just as eager as his trainer to see Lorelei tear into the champion of Indigo.


    "We were visiting someone," Lance said truthfully, not willing to go into too much detail.


    Lorelei''s eyes narrowed at the vague answer. Who on earth would Champion Lance and Jasmine wish to visit that warranted him being tight lipped about it?


    "Lorelei, you mentioned having an older sister, right?" Lance asked suddenly, stopping in his gait to turn towards her.


    The Ice Master blinked at the sudden question and gazed warily at him. "Yes¡­ we haven''t spoken in years though and I don''t actually know where she is at the moment."


    Lance pursed his lips at that and nodded, those yellow eyes digging into her in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable. "We were visiting someone named Silver. He''s the reason Jasmine''s been coming out of her shell lately and I wanted to meet the person who she called her best friend. It was an eventful trip."


    The Champion began walking away at that, offering her a single wave. "You should look into him. You might be interested."


    Lorelei bit back the groan of frustration at the abrupt end to the conversation and let Lance walk off, watching as the tail end of his cape vanished into his room.


    If he wanted to discuss something with her, he would in their first conversation. To him, that was truly the end of the conversation despite Lorelei clearly wanting to know more.


    That''s the type of person Lance was so if he didn''t tell her more, that was likely it for now until she dug into his inquiries and eventually approached him again.


    Karen shrugged. "Boring. Can you two stop talking in code? It''s so annoying. Why am I the only normal one here?" the youngest Elite 4 member sighed, making her way back into her room with the disappointed Weavile.


    Maybe she''d also look into that Silver trainer. Not like she had anything better to do.


    Lorelei ignored Karen and pursed her lips.


    "Silver¡­"


    Why would she be interested in a trainer? Lance knew she expressed very little interest in them normally so what was so special about this one?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The answer to that question was practically shot through Lorelei with a shotgun, as she gazed at the profile of the trainer Lance was so interested in.


    Silver, no last name, from Viridian City. His parents were unknown but his sponsor was allegedly Giovanni (figuring this out required digging through restricted files since normal files simply said he was sponsored by Viridian), one of the only Gym Leaders who never sponsored anyone.


    All of that, while impressive, wasn''t anything new she had seen. Silver was clearly an exceptional trainer who was steadily climbing up the ranks with quite the team he had amassed. He wasn''t an ice type specialist so Lorelei really had no reason to be interested in him...


    But despite that, Lorelei was left gaping at her screen, because of how Silver looked.


    Red hair designed peculiarly, pale skin with a picture of him scowling¡­


    He looked exactly like Ariana. The resemblance was downright uncanny down to even having similar styled hair.


    Lorelei had to wipe her own glasses just to make sure she wasn''t seeing things but the picture was still there, of that scowling redhead that looked far too much like her older sister.


    ¡­


    "What the hell is this?" Lorelei actually cursed in confusion, soaking in all of Silver''s appearance.


    Did she¡­ have a nephew?


    ...Now she wasn''t going to get any sleep tonight was she?


    Lorelei cursed Lance for suddenly springing this onto her.

 Chaos Incarnate I

    "How is it?" I asked calmly.


    Freyja looked contemplative at that, residing in her little pool with a focused expression.


    Then she turned and spat out a small burst of water that began steaming the moment it collided with the tree.


    I walked up to it curiously and tapped it, ignoring the burning sensation and nodding in approval.


    "Does the heat bother you? I know you''ve been practicing a lot with Icy Wind so the contrasting temperature might be much," I asked her, crouching in front of her.


    She mulled over my question, no doubt charging the Scald again to test it. She then I watched her channel an icy blue aura.


    Then she confidently shook her head.


    I smiled at that and gave her a snack. "Good job girl. Keep practicing all your moves and work on understanding how Scald works."


    She nodded in determination and swam off to Lapee and Larvee''s position so that they could practice the technique together, while she conversed with the little training bug.


    "Thanks again for letting me use that Scald and Rain Dance TM," Green beamed at me.


    I shrugged. "I''m surprised you didn''t get one for Scald."


    She laughed sheepishly. "I hear no one really gets TMs from the sisters and I was no exception. Maybe they''ll be different now that they''re motivated but before, I doubt they had the energy to go get them!"


    I snorted in amusement at that. "Figures. Those bums were really coasting."


    To my further amusement, she nodded without any hesitation. "Yeah they were!"


    It was funny to think that she''d probably never have agreed to that during our first meeting.


    "Practicing Night Daze?" I asked Loki curiously.


    My Zorua was currently a panting mess and he nodded.


    "Hard I bet," I chuckled. "Don''t just jump right into it. I didn''t think you were even ready to use it to that level. We were just gonna start small with it and you decided to whip out a full powered one."


    I ruffled his fur and tossed a snack into his mouth.


    "Start small first. Understand how the technique works and build up your stores towards it. Exhausting yourself with it isn''t a bad idea, but make sure you train everything else first."


    Loki nodded, lazily crawling into my jacket and began dozing off.


    He growled at the amused Ares and I regarded my most energetic pokemon with a brow.


    "How''s Crunch going?" I asked her.


    Ares looked mildly displeased, showcasing her fangs to me.


    I idly dropped a snack in there, much to her delight, and watched as she attempted the technique.


    Crunch wasn''t too hard to learn when you had Bite learned already, but it required a greater dose of dark energy and Ares wasn''t quite proficient at that just yet.


    "You just have to get a bit more proficient in honing dark energy," I noted, rubbing a hand against her skull.


    Loki peeked his head out and said something that sounded rather snide, causing Vee to begin laughing and Ares to start scowling.


    According to my better judgement (I was pretty good at understanding my team), Loki said, "What, can''t learn a move you already know?"


    I snorted at that and gave a snack to Vee as well. Loki and Ares had taken to taking shots at each other and Vee had joined in on their antics.


    It was fun watching the 3 go at it. Loki was quite the spitfire when motivated to be one.


    As the three began chatting it up, I allowed Loki to leap out my jacket and made my way over to the final group.


    Gaia instantly perked up at me and cheered, running into me without any hesitation.


    As I hugged her, I watched a vine snake out of her and saw her grab at a towel that she immediately began wiping my face with.


    "Has anyone ever told you how precious you are?" I laughed, patting her gently and nodding in respect towards Saury.


    The Ivysaur nodded back and resumed his activities, prompting Gaia to trot right up to him.


    Saury and I had mutual respect for each other. Green''s starter was the most serious of the pokemon here and was always business. I respected that about him and he respected me as well.


    Though, all of Green''s pokemon seemed to like me so there was that. Vee''s lazy ass, when not camped out in Green''s hair, sometimes hid in my jacket as well, much to Loki''s chagrin.


    "How''s your training?" I asked her. "I know you wanted to learn a new move but you''ve got a lot already... so I wanted you to understand them more before we branch out," I mentioned to her.


    Gaia pouted but nodded all the same, looking pleased with her progress. Her vines wrapped around me swiftly, before she sat me down on a Reflect that she conjured.


    I chuckled at how proud she looked and pat the Reflect. It was solid as hell and if I tried to punch it, I''d probably break something.


    "Good. I''m thinking of giving you a more physical move next like Body Slam," I informed her. "I think it would be very funny if you body slammed an opponent into Reflect."


    Gaia thought about it and then nodded enthusiastically, an unsavory gleam in her eyes at yet another method of hurting people with Reflect.


    "Saur," Saury grunted bluntly.


    "The giant plant says that you are both sick."


    I snorted at that and tossed a snack to both Saury and Gaia, before turning towards the ever lonesome Metang.


    "Guilty as charged," I conceded with a smirk. "How about you, Metang. How''s your progress on Bullet Punch and Flash Cannon?"


    "The first one is trivial to learn. I merely need to increase my speed. The second one... it eludes me currently. I can channel the energy, but firing it is difficult. My ability to use ranged options will grow as I develop but that is no excuse for my failure."


    I nodded, mulling over their problem.


    Metang''s generally had an easier time utilizing steel energy over psychic energy but using it as ranged options didn''t come as easy to them.


    Steel moves in general, weren''t very easy to emit. Not many Steel types specialized in using ranged steel type moves.


    There were few exceptions like the Magnemite line but most steel pokemon utilized their bodies more often than not.


    Metagross were no exception. They very much fancied getting close and using their devastatingly powerful bodies to do the job.


    But that was the average Metagross. The average Metagross never branched out from the comfort of using the attacks that they grew accustomed to as a Beldum or Metang.


    A trained Metagross could balance between both to a terrifying degree and that would be mine.


    "You''re still recently evolved so it won''t be easy but once you understand what needs to be done, you''ll get it easily. We''ll study notes tonight," I informed them, patting my Metang with a small smile.


    Metang was smaller than the average Metang. I don''t know if that affected it in anyway but that didn''t really matter to me.


    "Understood."


    "Hey Silvy! Mason won his gym battle!" Green exclaimed happily, wiping the sweat off her brow and gulping down the water I offered to her.


    I raised a brow, taking a big gulp out of my drink as well and gauging her.


    We were currently training on our way back to Vermilion. We had more than enough time to spare before needing to board the boat so we were taking it easy on the way there.


    "Why are you telling me this?" I asked, leaving Metang''s side to approach her.


    We trained often enough for me to figure out who liked training with who and it was always nice to figure out dynamics like that.


    Loki, Ares and Vee all preferred training with each other. Loki and Ares had already taken to training together before I met Green and Vee decided to join in too, getting along well with my most troublesome duo.


    Lapee, Freyja and Larvee liked to group together as well. The Lapras was incredibly kind and patient with the two weaker members, and both Freyja and Larvee had formed a kind of kinship called the "wait until we evolve and teach you all a lesson".


    Togee liked to alternate between the two groups above. The annoying little shit was either causing trouble with the first group, or latched onto Lapee in the second...


    He also weirdly enough, got along great with Freyja. I don''t know if it was because he genuinely liked my Feebas or if he hated Ares that much but it was quite funny to see no signs of the violent Togepi around the second group.


    He almost looked normal. Too bad he was still an annoying little shit.


    Finally, Saury and Gaia liked to train near the ever lonesome Metang, honing their respective grass moves.


    Green and I, when we weren''t supervising them, tended to also train (more like Green would just copy whatever I was doing).


    "Mason wanted me to thank you!" she beamed, helping me get the food ready for both ourselves and the team.


    I raised a brow.


    Mason? The weak trainer at Pewter? Why would he want to thank me?


    "What did I do again?" I asked in confusion.


    "You gave him advice for his gym battle! He said it really helped him pull out the victory!"


    Oh right. I guess some trainers really were hopeless. I gave him the most bare minimum advice ever and apparently, it actually helped him out.


    I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Good for him."


    Green beamed and shot him back a message, while I pulled out my own phone.


    "Three badges in the span of a month? You never take your time with anything do you?"


    "Stop stalking me, Joy. Don''t you have anything better to do with your life? Won''t your boyfriend get jealous if he sees you blatantly stalking someone else?"


    "You flatter yourself way too much and I''m single dumbass. This is my way of monitoring your vital status and you happen to have entertaining battles. Nice team by the way, Hoenn sure did keep you busy."


    I snorted. "What the hell do you do on your shifts off? There''s no way you just stalk me all the time."


    "I''d tell you about my life outside of being a nurse, but I doubt you care. But I do have a life, yes."


    "What do you normally do? Shopping for nurse outfits with your millions of cousins?"


    "There''s something deeply disturbing about the things you say, brat."


    "Who are you messaging like that? Is this the person you were talking to the other day?" Green asked curiously, peering at me.


    "None of your business," I replied boredly, shoving down my rice as I responded with one hand.


    Green rolled her eyes and dropped it, causing me to raise a brow.


    She was getting way too used to me. It was kind of impressive.


    "Gimme your brush," Green requested, scarfing her food as well.


    I grunted, tossing it over to her. "Clean it when you''re done. You left your hair in it last time."


    "Sorry, it might happen again," she said truthfully.


    I snorted abruptly.


    Green and I had both gotten very accustomed to being on the road together. Despite our complete opposite personalities, it worked out well for us and we rarely got in the others way.


    It helped that Green was slowly picking up on my personality. Made her way less annoying.


    She was still annoying as all hell though.


    "Alright, let''s keep moving," I grunted.


    "Kay," Green agreed.


    At once, we both stood and returned most of our team, continuing the trek towards Vermilion once more.


    Loki lazily leapt into my jacket and tucked himself into his preferred spot, sighing in satisfaction as I ran a hand through his tuft.


    "We''re not that far," Green noted, checking her Pokedex with furrowed brows. "We should have a good amount of time when we get there. What do you wanna do?"


    I shrugged. "Let''s stock up on provisions first and afterwards¡­ I dunno. We can take it easy or train. It''s up to you. I don''t care either way."


    She nodded and pursed her lips curiously, patting down her black dress as we made our way onto the roads again.


    "There''s not much I want to do¡­ maybe we should just take it easy until after the boat ride," she suggested.


    "Sounds good to me," I agreed. "Okay, we''ve got a plan. Let''s get moving."


    Green nodded cheerfully. "I love traveling with you! You listen to me and we''re always on the same page when it comes to plans! Thanks for accepting me, Silvy!"


    I froze at that and glanced back at her incredulously, ignoring how¡­ warm that made me feel.


    I thought of something snide to say and shut my mouth as nothing came out¡­


    "Earnest idiot," I sighed simply, turning away to hide my small smile. "You''re certainly better than your other Pallet buddies now..."


    The grin she shot me was blinding.


    "Does that mean you consider me your friend?!" she beamed, trailing after me excitedly as Vee got comfortable in her hair.


    "Not a chance in hell," I replied immediately.


    To no one''s surprise, she began whining instantly.


    "C''mon just admit that we''re friends! You admitted it with Jas! It''s my turn!" Green demanded.


    "Ask Jas to sacrifice her slot for you and I''ll consider it," I replied easily, keeping my stride even as she scrambled to keep up with me.


    "B-But why does it have to be Jas?! You can fit two or three! Just do it Silvy!"


    "Don''t wanna. Ask again after the boat ride Leaf."


    "FOR THE LAST TIME. GREEN! WHY WON''T YOU CALL ME GREEN?! I''VE LITERALLY HEARD YOU SAY MY NAME!"


    "Yeah, I only call you Green when I''m not talking directly to you."


    "...I think I might genuinely hate you."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The fastest way to get to Vermillion from Cerulean, was by taking the Underground Path in Route 5.


    We could cut through Saffron City but that place was gigantic and packed too a level that would steadily build up more and more time and I wasn''t trying to deal with that.


    So the Underground Path it was.


    Green and I were on our bikes to speed up the process to Vermilion and we focused solely on making it to the city.


    The good thing about the Underground Path, was how little people tended to inhabit it. It was quite the relaxing place and it really didn''t take us very long to exit the place and make it into Route 6.


    If there was one thing the routes of Kanto were, it was simple and I could appreciate that.


    No heavy rain all the time, no boiling sun, none of the agony that Hoenn bore down on you¡­ just simple routes to travel.


    "I met a trainer on this route that was pretty good," Green informed me.


    "Define pretty good," I said boredly, knowing that Green was too nice for her own good.


    She pondered the question. "His name was A.J. He had a Sandshrew that was real strong! I think he could beat Ash in a battle and he''d give Blue a run for his money! He''d definitely lose to you though!"


    I mulled that over and nodded. If she said I could beat him, then she probably already did.


    "You beat him?"


    She nodded enthusiastically. "He had a win streak of 94! I decided to try my hand at battling him and I won!"


    That sounded familiar¡­


    Green laughed sheepishly. "I feel a little bad though. His goal was to get 100 wins in a row and I ended up stopping that¡­ but I stopped feeling bad after I watched him whip his pokemon! There are way better ways to train your team! I don''t care if they accepted it, they probably weren''t like that at first!"


    I nodded in agreement. "He''s a freak."


    Green nodded. "The biggest. I reported him of course. There are way more ethical ways to go about doing things like that. You''re probably the biggest asshole I know and you''ve never once whipped any of them!"


    I let out a slight chuckle at the dig on my character. Now I remember. This was the guy in the anime who was going for the 100 win streak.


    He did hardcore training and while that wasn''t quite bad, I imagine in this world, things like whipping your pokemon for motivation were far more frowned upon¡­ especially with Team Rocket on the prowl.


    Honestly, what a dumbass.


    "It worked out?" I asked curiously.


    "Mhm! I don''t know what that idiot was thinking! I was told that he was reprimanded harshly and the league began evaluating him to see if he was fit to be a trainer¡­ that''s all I know," she shrugged.


    Wow that was pretty ruthless of her. This was even before we met and I had influenced her quite a bit with my own ruthless nature.


    It was even worse because she was one of the trainers sponsored by Oak. Her words would definitely be heeded.


    "Sucks for him," I shrugged uncaringly, eyeing the pokemon of the route.


    Green and I both perked up at seeing an Abra of all things lazing about, but it must have felt eyes on it because it jerked up and gazed at the two of us.


    It''s shut eyes gazed at me, before the poor thing shivered and hastily teleported away.


    "Bummer," Green said with a frown. "Alakazams are awesome. I wouldn''t have minded catching one at all."


    I scoffed. "If you plan on catching a psychic, I would recommend not being near me when that happens. Psychics hate me."


    Green blinked at that. "So I wasn''t just seeing things. That poor Abra looked terrified of you! Now that I think about it, Bronzy didn''t look your way either!"


    I shrugged. "Dunno why. Metang''s the only one who can tolerate me. Every other psychic can''t stand my presence."


    "Wow," Green muttered in awe. "They think you''re scary too!"


    I snorted. That was one way to put it.


    The two of us continued our pace, walking once more, and conversed about whatever came to us.


    It was occurring to me that speaking to Green was getting a lot easier. I was actually¡­ warming up to her company and wasn''t that a thought?


    It helped that my team and Jasmine both loved her so that made it much easier for me to warm up.


    I guess traveling with her wasn''t the end of the world¡­


    "I still can''t beat that damn electric gym leader!"


    I didn''t even react to the whiny voice of the trash trainer and just kept my pace.


    Green was much the same. I wasn''t kidding when I said I was influencing her because she effortlessly ignored them as well.


    Of course, things were never going to be that simple.


    "Hey, you two! One of you battle me! I could use an easy win!"


    I let out an annoyed sigh as the words of the fodder reached me. "Do you want this?" I asked boredly.


    "I battled the last one. It''s your turn," Green reminded.


    Right¡­


    "Whatever," I grunted, turning to face my opponent.


    The douche looked older than Green and I, with a¡­ cowboy vest, a pink shirt, a red scarf and... a set of glasses above his head?


    God help me. What was this getup? Did his parents hate him?


    Well if they didn''t hate him, I certainly did. This should be as illegal as the amount of Pokeballs he was flaunting around.


    He had some entourage with him too. A bunch of stooges that looked even less memorable than my soon to be forgotten opponent.


    "Blue seems like the type of guy to walk around with an entourage," I pointed out idly.


    Green nearly burst out laughing at that but masterfully hid her giggles. "Blue''s surprisingly not good with people! He loves the attention he gets but he gets tired of hearing them speak after a bit. I remember him joking about journeying through the region with a car and a bunch of girls though," she mentioned.


    I snorted.


    This guy didn''t get the memo clearly. Traveling with people who were here just to inflate your ego was probably the fastest way to tank your career as a trainer.


    People like this guy, would never acknowledge why he couldn''t progress as a trainer because the voices around him wouldn''t let him acknowledge it.


    "Quit ignoring me! The names Damian ¡ª"


    "I don''t give a fuck what your name is. You''re going to lose too fast for me to remember," I interrupted rudely, sizing him up with an unimpressed look. "1 on 1. I won''t waste anymore time on you."


    Green didn''t even bother sighing in exasperation this time.


    Damian spluttered in surprise at that, before recovering and shooting a sneer my way that I rolled my eyes at.


    "I''ll make you regret that," he swore.


    "I''m sure you will. Metang," I said boredly, releasing my steel type from the ball.


    This guy had a lot of Pokeballs so he had an array of options. My best bet would have either been Ares or Metang to cover most options and Ares was the type to throw a fit if I willingly put her up against a lacking trainer.


    My opponent did complain that he couldn''t beat Surge so I was probably overthinking things though.


    "That looks like a steel type," Damian muttered, not quite recognizing Metang. "Alright, time for you to redeem yourself."


    With that, he released his pokemon from the ball and I peered at it.


    A Charmander¡­ damn why did so many people own Charmanders? Weren''t they supposed to be one of the rarest fire types in the Kanto region?


    Wait a minute.


    Ohhh I knew who this douche was. This was the trainer who abandoned the Charmander that went over to Ash.


    Huh, was he still an abusive piece of garbage?


    The Charmander looked small and slightly malnourished, with a somewhat pensive expression on its face, that transformed into slight fear as it made eye contact with Metang and I.


    My eyes narrowed and I idly shoved a hand in my pocket, watching the two with a small frown.


    "Dissatisfied with this trainer?" Metang asked.


    "Yeah. Crush him."


    "Charmander, Flamethrower!" Damian barked immediately, scowling at me.


    "To the right, Metang. Smash it. It''s not strong at all so don''t hit it too hard," I said calmly.


    While I was surprised that it knew Flamethrower, this Charmander was way too small and young to properly utilize that move.


    My point was proven correctly, as Charmander opened its mouth with a bark of determination and shot out a small burst of flames that looked more reminiscent to Ember.


    Pathetic. This guy was a complete failure of a trainer.


    Metang effortlessly sidestepped the weak flamethrower as their eyes began glowing purple...


    Charmander yelped in surprise, as a purple sheen covered its body and lifted it off the ground. It tried struggling fruitlessly and if it were any stronger, I''m sure it could break out of Metang''s grasp...


    But it wasn''t. I watched with a frown as a speeding fist crashed into its gut 3 times.


    Bullet Punch. The first move I had Metang learn, considering evolution had automatically taught it Confusion and Metal Claw was incredibly easy for them to learn.


    It was fairly easy to understand. Honing Iron Head allowed Metang to channel steel energy in other parts of their body very easily.


    The hard part of Bullet Punch was the speed part but Metang had (reluctantly) been learning Agility with the help of Loki to better augment Bullet Punch.


    We just needed to master Agility further¡­ once we did that, a speeding Metagross would begin flooding people''s nightmares.


    The things I could do with that move would be incredible. Boost moves were far more useful in a world where battles were so much more dynamic than turn order.


    Though, we didn''t need to have anything mastered for this Charmander. It''s build was wiry and small, looking like it wasn''t very well kept for.


    I didn''t need to give out another order, Charmander was already down for the count. The fire type was unconscious from the two moves and I shook my head.


    "What did you say your name was again?" I asked curiously. "Dumb something right?"


    My opponent glared at Charmander''s defeated body, before mechanically turning his head towards me.


    "Damian. Get it right or else," he snarled.


    "Losers don''t have the right to make demands," I denied effortlessly. "That Charmander of yours is really weak. Are you taking care of that thing?" I asked randomly.


    "What?" he asked slowly.


    I rolled my eyes. "Though, you are a pretty incompetent trainer... so I guess it''s not the Charmander''s fault it''s weak, it''s yours."


    "SHUT UP!" Damian roared, closing the distance between us immediately and recoiling back in some fear as Metang let out a simple "tang".


    "That Charmander is useless and weak!" he snarled. "It''s not me. It''s him! Get that right! Why would he deserve anything from me without proving its worth?!"


    I let out an unimpressed noise. "Now you''re throwing it under the bus. Wow. I''m impressed."


    I scoffed, recalling Metang. "You sure showed me how good you are. The only thing I regret, was thinking you were somewhat better than a worthless trainer. See ya loser," I waved with my free hand.


    Damian''s veins bulged and he grit his teeth, recalling Charmander to the ball with a dark glare that I didn''t miss.


    Oh well. I had no interest in catching a Charizard and if I played a bigger hand here, my dearest little brother might lose one of his most iconic pokemon.


    ...But letting this jackass get away scot-free didn''t sit right with me. I don''t think he ever got punished in the show as well¡­


    Yeah, not on my watch.


    "Let''s go Green, we''re done here," I grunted.


    "Kay!" she nodded with a frown.


    As we made distance, I turned towards her.


    "We''re going to report that guy," I said firmly.


    She blinked and nodded with a curious expression. "You wanna report him too?"


    "I''m pretty sure he''s abusing that Charmander."


    Green''s gaze darkened.


    "It did look smaller than the average Charmander and what he said to you... were you goading him into revealing that?" she muttered.


    I nodded and removed my hand from my pocket. "Yeah I needed a bit more to work with."


    Green stared at the Pokedex in my hand with wide eyes and I played the recording with a smug expression.


    "They''ll probably start monitoring his actions now and knowing him, it''ll take no time at all for him to slip up. Once he gets caught, all of that will add up against him."


    "That''s why you asked for his name again... It was Damian¡­ alright, I''ll file something," she muttered with a scowl. "If all goes well, they''ll notify me on if they''ve taken further steps."


    I nodded. I imagine that in a few days, she''d be getting that message if things went as planned.


    "Oh that reminds me!"


    I raised a brow.


    "I heard there''s this place called Pokemon Tech around here and since we still have a few days to get to Vermilion, I figured we could check it out!" Green explained.


    "Why do we want to go there exactly?" I asked curiously. "I don''t think I need to test my knowledge there. I know a fair bit. You''re not stupid either."


    Green nodded eagerly. "Yeah! You''re really knowledgeable! I wanna go there though because apparently, some say it''s a substitute for traveling! I wanted to see who was dumb enough to think that was true!"


    I snorted in amusement at that.


    You know what¡­ I was gonna say no, but hearing that Green wanted to go there with the sole purpose of showing them up, had me fully on board.


    "Alright, let''s head there then," I nodded in agreement.


    "Great follow me!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Green and I walked through the forest that lead to Pokemon Tech, I suddenly paused in my gait.


    "Hey Green, you can go ahead. I''ll catch up," I informed her, acting normally.


    She glanced back at me with interested eyes and nodded.


    "You know the way right? Just call me if you get lost or use my location on the Gear!" She waved, marching forward without hesitation.


    That was one thing I liked about Green. She had so much faith in me, that she hardly ever questioned what I said.


    I watched her go with a neutral expression, idly ruffling Loki''s fur, before turning away and heading deeper into a bush.


    As I headed off, I made sure the illusion masked me well and stood behind the spies watching me.


    Jessie, James and Meowth quietly watched the back of the illusion of myself with confused expressions and I calmly stared at them.


    "Don''t move. If you so much as twitch, you can kiss yourselves goodbye."


    The three froze at that, going pale as vines slowly snaked around their bodies.


    I gazed at the idiots who were glancing confusedly at the illusion of me, Gaia at my side.


    "I''m not patient. I''m not nice and I''m damn sure not merciful¡­ so talk Team Rocket," I said coldly. "If you don''t answer me. Things will get bad for you very quickly."


    "Bay," Gaia growled warningly.


    "W-Wait just a minute sir!" Meowth stammered, not daring to move.


    "We didn''t mean to spy! Honest!" James stuttered.


    "We just got curious about what you were doing out here! L-Last we heard, bosses son went missing!"


    I scowled furiously.


    Bosses son? These assholes knew I was Giovanni''s kid?


    "How many people know that?" I asked harshly. "How many people know he''s my father?"


    They looked a little confused by my questioning, but that confusion turned into swift false understanding as Gaia''s vines tightened.


    "Just the older executives sir!" Jessie squealed hastily. "Petrel, Proton, Archer and Ariana sir! Anyone below the rank of executive is unaware! The boss will have anyone who spreads that information killed!"


    My body reacted differently to each of those names¡­ annoyance, apathy, disgust and the one most noticeable was the one I had to hearing that name.


    Ariana.


    The woman who was very likely my mother¡­ I had general disgust for the others but for her there was more than just disgust.


    Disappointment, anger, sadness¡­ longing.


    I wasn''t looking forward to meeting her at all but it was certainly inevitable.


    "Why are you here?" I asked with a sneer.


    So these three were executives as well? They weren''t complete jokes?


    That¡­ was a surprise. Were they as competent as every other normally useless trainer that I encountered?


    "We were tasked with tracking a boy by the name of Ash Ketchum¡­ we have speculations as to why but the boss just wants us to continue our antics. We aren''t supposed to do anything more," James replied.


    "Not like we can anymore even if we wanted ta," Meowth mentioned. "Getting in a battle with dat former gym leader ain''t worth what we''d lose."


    They were tasked with not doing anything more? They wouldn''t immediately lose to Brock''s original team?


    Were these three capable of actually capturing Ash? Hold on, just how dangerous was this group?


    Huh¡­ that thought never occurred to me. I thought these three would always be jokes.


    I glared at them.


    "So if otherwise, you would have killed him?" I asked dangerously.


    Like him or hate him, that didn''t change the fact that Ash was a kid.


    No damn kid deserved to be killed. He was a child.


    The three let out audible gasps of horror, looking repulsed just by the word kill.


    "N-No! How could we ever do something so treacherous?!" James asked in genuine horror.


    I raised a brow in confusion at that. They weren''t willing to kill?


    "Oh yeah?" I asked sarcastically. "You expect me to believe that someone in Team Rocket won''t stoop to that level?"


    Jessie shook her head hastily. "While I''ll admit our allies are¡­"


    "Your," I interrupted coldly. "Your allies."


    I was not apart of Team Rocket. I would never be apart of Team Rocket.


    "R-Right!" Jessie stammered nervously. "While they have less than savory tactics¡­ we aren''t like that! We''d never kill anyone! That goes against our code!"


    "¡­" I scowled.


    If they were anything like their counterparts in the anime, this was true. Should I give them the benefit of the doubt here? I''m sure one call and these three would be thrown in prison without a second thought.


    "Stay out of my way. Don''t interfere with my business and don''t tell anyone my business," I said eventually. "Be glad that it was you three."


    They were a little confused by that final statement but they looked grateful all the same as I released them.


    "Thank you sir!" they saluted to me, not doubting my orders.


    I grunted.


    Whatever. In the grand scheme, these three were insignificant to my goal of taking down Team Rocket.


    Whether they were there or not, it was of no concern to me and if their mission was to watch over my half brother, so be it.


    Let them get out of the way¡­ they weren''t all that evil.


    But these three did seem far more competent.


    Just how competent would the other Executives be?


    I pursed my lip. "Actually I want some info. How much do you know of the other Executives?"


    Jessie and Meowth both shot me a puzzled look.


    My face showed nothing and I continued to stare at them, making sure my silver eyes were boring into all three.


    "Well¡­ wouldn''t you know more about them then us?" Jessie tried slowly, walking on eggshells. "You practically grew up with the other executives and well, Ariana is¡­"


    So I grew up with them¡­ hm.


    "Do you think I know everything? I''m not apart of Team Rocket and they didn''t tell me much. Just a kid they would say," I reminded them harshly.


    "Dats true¡­" Meowth muttered. "Well I''m sure you know that Archer and Ariana are his right hands¡­ Then there''s Petrel and Proton, who are a little under them."


    "Archer is... disturbing. He''s calm and conniving and he''s willing to do anything to make sure Team Rocket stays on top," Meowth explained. "He''s da most devoted to the bosses goals and the last executive ya wanna run inta next ta Proton."


    "Proton is terrifying," James shuddered. "He''s the one who leads the most missions with the grunts¡­ He and Crobat are very volatile and we hate working with him. You do not want to get on his bad side... not you though! We would never say that about you, sir!"


    I looked unimpressed at that and beckoned for them to keep going.


    "Petrel deals with resources and recruitment mostly. He''s tricky and relaxed but that doesn''t hide how dangerous he is! His Gengar is always watching when he''s in the area!" Jessie shuddered.


    "Ariana might hate all of us. She''s cold on the best of days and incredibly foul on the worst," Jessie continued warily. "She''s a very strong trainer as well... I would think she''s only second to Giovanni but we rarely see her in action so we aren''t sure."


    I grunted at that and stored the information away.


    They were sharing information rather freely and it was teaching me a lot.


    Not bad¡­


    "Why do you want to know this?" Jessie asked cautiously, gazing at me with curiosity. "While we don''t know you as well as they do¡­ we do know that you don''t really have an interest in Team Rocket."


    How immersed was I in the Rockets growing up?


    "Things have changed. Don''t concern yourself with it. Just keep doing what you''re doing¡­ and keep avoiding me," I said cryptically.


    "Yes sir!" they saluted.


    I rolled my eyes. They were terrified of Giovanni so by extension, they were terrified of me and while I didn''t want that to normally be the case¡­ for now I''d abuse it.


    "Alright, now I''m off¡­ go relax or something. I don''t need to be caught up in your schemes. Harass him when I''m gone," I grunted.


    "Boss Silver¡­ that girl you''re traveling with¡­ you know who that is, right?" James asked hesitantly.


    I immediately stopped and whirled around, glaring at them with a disturbing amount of focus.


    "If anyone touches Green, I''m going to kill them and I fucking mean that," I said coldly, glaring at them in barely restrained fury. "Do not even think about it."


    The three squeaked, stepping back slightly.


    "W-We won''t tell anyone!" James saluted hastily.


    "But they might find out anyways! It''s not really a secret¡­" Jessie stammered.


    "She''s becoming a noticeable enemy for Team Rocket¡­ you know that right?" Meowth asked.


    I scowled. "Don''t worry about that. I''m dealing with it."


    If only they knew exactly how I was dealing with it.


    But I really meant it. If they killed Green, Team Rocket wouldn''t be disbanded by me, I''d completely destroy it including every single person in it.


    Including both my parents. These phantom feelings weren''t nearly enough to stop me. Not even a legendary would be enough to stop me.


    Huh¡­ would you look at that¡­ Green really was my friend.


    As I disappeared from the three, the rocket trio couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief.


    "He''s not as cruel¡­ but Silver has certainly gotten far scarier," James muttered in surprise.


    "You''re tellin me!" Meowth complained, shuddering at the unnerving gaze of the boss'' son.


    "He never used to be that bad¡­ he was just a foul tempered kid but now¡­ I can''t even explain it," Jessie pondered.


    ¡­


    "Puberty?" James decided.


    "Puberty," Jessie nodded.


    Meowth shrugged. "Puberty," he agreed.


    I snorted quietly at that and fully vanished.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Silvy! Look who I ran into!"


    As I pushed my way through the trees and shrubs, Gaia trudging happily by my side, I eventually managed to make it to my destination.


    Green was the first to notice me but she wasn''t the only one there.


    No unfortunately, the Ash trio was here again.


    "Ah," I said simply, gazing boredly at the group of people there. "Wasn''t expecting to see any of you so soon."


    Ash flinched as my gaze landed on him but he steeled himself. "You!" he called out.


    I rolled my eyes and idly ran a hand against Gaia. "Of course it''s me. I''m traveling with Green after all," I said in sheer disinterest.


    Ash looked like he wanted to say something but surprisingly, he held himself back and I wasn''t curious enough to goad him into saying it.


    "Hey Silver!" Misty greeted with a small smile after some hesitance.


    She probably felt guilty for not feeling much anger towards me due to what I said to Ash.


    "Misty," I nodded in some respect towards her.


    "Silver," Brock greeted.


    "Brock," I greeted.


    My gaze roved over the people there I didn''t recognize without much interest in them¡­


    School kids it looked like. None of them looked even remotely notable and what little interest I had, was gone instantly.


    "This is the place?" I asked, shifting my hair out of my right eye to properly gauge it.


    "Yep! What do you think?" Green asked curiously.


    "Boring. I imagine only losers see the appeal of coming here," I replied immediately.


    Misty let out a snort of agreement, while Brock and Green let out exasperated sighs.


    The school kids looked properly outraged, much like everyone did once I opened my mouth but I ignored them for the moment.


    "What''s with the treadmill out in the open?" I mused, peering at it.


    It was still running but no one was on it. What the hell did I miss?


    Green pointed at some meek looking kid with a small frown. "They were forcing him to run on and if he couldn''t answer questions, they''d speed it up!"


    Strange form of training¡­


    "How''d it go?" I asked, stepping onto the treadmill for the hell of it and beginning a slow jog.


    One of the outraged school kids scoffed. "Joe couldn''t even tell us what the evolution of a Pidgey was!"


    I raised a brow. "Seriously? Aren''t you a bit of a dumbass. Maybe some people really do need this place," I snorted mockingly, upping the speed of the treadmill.


    "Hey! Don''t be such a jerk to him!" Ash scowled at me.


    "You''re only defending him because you probably didn''t know either¡­ and you own the evolution of Pidgey," I mocked.


    This treadmill was pretty useful. Too bad I couldn''t stuff it in my bag¡­ it would have been gone in a second.


    I should look into a portable workout thing. There''s no way this world didn''t have it. They seemed to have very easily cracked the code of space and how to work with it.


    Ash''s face burned red as Misty snickered and he glared at me, quickly forgetting the results of our last encounter.


    "Oh yeah?! Hey you guys! He''s on the treadmill already so why not quiz him?!" my half brother loudly proclaimed.


    "I don''t think the treadmill is going to be enough¡­ Silver''s really athletic," Green pointed out, beckoning towards the high speeds I was currently running at.


    We worked out together all the time and I was a lot more conditioned than Green was. Running on this treadmill wasn''t that hard at all.


    The school kids had their mouths wide open at my display and I raised a brow at their reactions.


    "Don''t tell me you guys have this treadmill just to quiz people¡­ does no one use it for anything else?" I asked with a look of disgust.


    That was such a waste of resources! A treadmill... for quizzing?! Nothing else?


    I was a thief and I managed my resources better than these idiots!


    Judging by their looks, the idea of consistently keeping your body in shape, was a foreign concept to them.


    "No wonder they chose school. You guys aren''t built for traveling," I snorted.


    "Why you!" The lead boy there scowled, eager to put me in my place.


    Oh how I loved that. When someone was eager to show me up. Maybe that''s why I was so antagonistic, so that people could try and make me put my money where my mouth is.


    It was grossly satisfying when they realized that I could do just that.


    "Fine then. What does a Gastly evolve into?!" I was asked.


    I blinked.


    Were¡­ they serious?


    "Haunter," I replied in some confusion.


    To my disbelief, the idiot kids actually looked surprised that I answered that so quickly.


    "Not bad¡­ but what does Haunter evolve into?!"


    "Gengar."


    They balked at me and I almost laughed aloud in disbelief.


    Everyone in this world was so damn stupid.


    "He answered so quickly!"


    "Impressive¡­ has he been to tech school before?"


    Even Green looked a little lost at the varying reactions and that was the surest sign that she really had been hanging out with me too much.


    "Alright then! How about this¡­ what typing is Jynx?!"


    "Ice and Psychic."


    They went silent in disbelief at my swift, almost automated, answer and I realized that they were seriously going to keep asking me these baby questions.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "I have a question now," I decided, keeping my same pace on the treadmill. "Who is the current champion of the Kalos region?"


    A silence fell over the crowd and I smirked smugly.


    "Don''t know?" I asked curiously.


    "W-Well¡­ first year knowledge is normally uh¡­ Kanto only things¡­ we don''t quite branch out into other region stuff," the lead boy explained nervously.


    "Oh¡­ I guess this place really isn''t all that impressive if its only teaching Kanto knowledge¡­ alright then."


    I nodded as I thought of a question.


    "This should be easy. Everyone knows Champion Lance, right?" I asked in amusement, watching the way their eyes lit up.


    They probably thought they had this in the bag.


    "Lance the Flying Master ¡ª"


    "Dragon, Silvy."


    "¡ªFlying Master, uses a large array of flying types and some dragons," I continued unimpeded.


    Green stifled her laughter behind exasperation and rolled her eyes instead.


    "What move do all of Lance''s pokemon share in common?" I asked with an innocent smile.


    "You are such an ass," Green sighed, watching with sympathetic eyes as the hope fell from their faces.


    "Everyone''s obsessed with him. I figure this was a freebie especially considering even I know it," I shrugged.


    Green wouldn''t mention that she was positive Silver was a genius but this was actually a little funny to witness and these school guys were really annoying.


    "Don''t know?" I asked, noting the amusement in Green''s eyes. "What about you, Ash? Do you know?"


    Ash shook his head embarrassingly and I laughed.


    "I guess it can''t be helped. The answer was ¡ª"


    "Hyper Beam, correct?"


    My sentence died at that correct answer and I raised a brow.


    The one who said that was a pretty girl this time in the school uniform. Judging by the way everyone lit up at seeing her, Ash and Brock no exception, this must have been someone of note.


    "Yep," I popped my lip, not even remotely as awed as them.


    She had a superior looking smirk on her face as she gazed at me and I raised a brow, strolling off the treadmill.


    "To answer your first question. Diantha is the current champion of the Kalos region. It''s a pity these idiots don''t know anything outside of the Kanto region, especially considering someone who doesn''t even attend Poke Tech does¡­ but not everyone can be like me," she scoffed.


    Everyone in the uniform withered at her words and I scoffed in return.


    "You might be better than your useless classmates, but that doesn''t change anything. You''re only a little smarter than them for relying only on this school," I said with a roll of my eyes.


    Green beamed at my words for some reason.


    "I don''t agree with how he said it but he''s right!" Ash nodded. "You can''t learn what it takes to be a Pokemon Master just by studying!"


    Giselle raised a brow. "Is that so? How many badges do you have?"


    "Two!" Ash announced proudly.


    "I wasn''t speaking to you and just two badges isn''t worth my attention regardless," she interrupted rudely, turning towards me. "You. How many badges?"


    I raised a brow. "Three."


    She let out a haughty laugh. "Just three? You talk a big game for someone with only three badges! I''m a trainer worth 4!"


    "Yeah?" I said in amusement, unfazed by her attempt at being patronizing. "You''re a trainer worth 4 badges? That means you can beat both Green and I in a battle."


    Green perked up at that. She had been eagerly listening in on the conversation, for once not chastising me for my harsh words.


    "You two should battle!" Green requested, though it came out more like a demand.


    Misty nodded, just as eager for some reason.


    Giselle threw her hair behind her head. "A simple affair. Very well. I''ll show you why my methods are better than yours."


    I raised a brow and shrugged. "I''ve got time today. Sure why not. Nothing fills me with more joy than humbling someone."


    Giselle nodded and beckoned for me to follow her, departing with a flourish in her step.


    Dramatic. How could the talentless act talented?


    I rolled my eyes and trailed behind her.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "I don''t want to root for either of them," Ash said honestly, looking at the back of both the antagonizing trainers.


    "I''m rooting for Silver of course!" Misty said derisively. "He''s actually competent unlike the so called trainers of this school!"


    "But he''s up against Giselle!" Joe, the boy who had been getting bullied by his classmates, said. "She''s the best of the primary level! He''s just a trainer with 3 badges!"


    Green couldn''t help the laugh that left her and Joe looked confused at that.


    "I hope her confidence is warranted. Silvy will eat her alive if she ends up being disappointing!" she beamed.


    Brock gazed at the other Pallet native traveling with Silver. "So you managed to sick Silver on them¡­ on purpose, right Green?" he asked curiously.


    Green scratched the back of her head. "Guilty as charged! These guys are really stuck up and arrogant and Silvy''s the best at dealing with people like that!"


    She turned towards Ash. "He ran into Blue you know. They battled and Silver won handily," she admitted.


    Ash''s eyes widened in disbelief. "Seriously? He fought and beat Blue?!"


    Green nodded, pondering the interaction with a wistful expression.


    "I''ve never seen Blue get humbled so badly. It wasn''t like when we interacted with him back at Pallet¡­ Silver really hit him where it hurt. That''s why I didn''t want you two to battle... Silvy hides all his advice behind really cruel words and he can''t stand having his time wasted in battles..."


    Blue was a dick¡­ he used to be one of Green''s best friends but she would never defend his terrible behavior¡­


    He had attacked Silver first and Silver retaliated in kind.


    Ash wasn''t as rude as Blue so she was far less inclined to see him face off against Silvy. Their meeting had been bad but Green was just thankful that it wasn''t worse... because she knew just how bad Silver could get.


    "Are you... holding up alright?" she asked in concern, gazing at her close friend. "I know that battle wasn''t what you were expecting but..."


    Ash frowned. "I''m fine! That battle was exactly what I needed to motivate myself! Next time I battle Silver, I''m going to beat him and then I''ll beat you too, Green!"


    Green grinned. "Then watch how he battles! Study him! Silvy''s even smarter than me and he''s ruthless too! If you give him an inch, he''ll take a mile!"


    "Ain''t that the truth," Misty sighed, recalling their battle.


    Ever since the humbling Silver had given her¡­ along with the expectations required to take over the gym, Misty had vowed to begin becoming the best water type trainer around.


    She would keep her eyes peeled for any water type to add to her main team and become a Gym Leader worthy of running Cerulean.


    Then, she''d try her hand at battling both Silver and Ash again. Hell, she wanted to battle Green too!


    She never would have imagined there''d be such exceptional trainers her age but all of them were so unique in how they approached and handled battling.


    Silver, Green and Ash all battled differently and it worked out so well for them¡­ Misty wanted to get like that too.


    Brock smiled slightly at the fire in both of his allies eyes.


    Ash and Misty hadn''t been very¡­ serious about their journeys before and while that was fine ¡ªthey were still children after all¡ª it made their dreams not as believable. But that Silver had managed to ignite a fire in the both of them that was beginning to make the path to their dreams all the more achievable.


    His words, while harsh, certainly did the job and from his brief conversation with the redhead, Brock could see that Silver mostly used his rudeness as a defense mechanism. The boy was certainly innately rude, but he dialed it up depending on the situation.


    Silver''s conversation with Ash didn''t stem from a place of rudeness either... it stemmed morseo from disappointment? Brock wasn''t sure why Silver was disappointed in Ash but clearly the redhead had unintentionally lit the fire of improvement under his youngest companion to motivate him.


    As the most experienced here, Brock would help Ash and Misty to the best of his abilities... if they wanted it. Being a trainer meant more than just asking someone for help. They needed to pave their own way to get stronger.


    Brock himself did enjoy battling¡­ he just didn''t enjoy the daunting task of being a Gym Leader and caring so much for his siblings. If he had been the Gym Leader with no caveats, he would still be at Pewter.


    His time as a Gym Leader, while challenging, had been quite fun.


    Silver¡­ he was quite the interesting figure. It wasn''t everyday someone managed to garner the personal attention of Lance.


    The Champion was like his dragons, though far kinder. Nothing unworthy would keep his attention for long.


    Brock had done some research and Silver was actually being sponsored by Viridian! Whether Giovanni himself was the one who endorsed such a thing... It was not disclosed but not many trainers from Viridian were sponsored by the city.


    Not to mention his team¡­ Silver, while rough around the edges with a less than stellar personality, was quite the trainer.


    "You sound like the match has already been decided!" Joe exclaimed in surprise.


    Green turned and looked at him. "Of course it has! Silver''s my rival after all! We spar together all the time and he''s the only one who can consistently beat me!"


    If Silver lost, well Green would never live it down because Green would never lose to this stuck up girl.


    He was well aware of that, Silver wouldn''t allow himself to lose a battle that she could win!


    He was petty like that and she could shamelessly admit that she was getting that petty too.


    They would continue to push each other to another level until they both stood atop the world and then they''d finally figure out who the best trainer was.


    Green knew it was a great idea to travel with him!


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Please, send out your pokemon first."


    I raised a brow at Giselle''s request.


    "Oh don''t worry! I have no intention of using a pokemon with a type advantage against you!" she assured confidently.


    "Battles are all about calculations. It''s not just the type and character of a pokemon that decides the match. The level of the pokemon is what is most crucial."


    I hummed at that.


    Levels were not a thing in this world, but this school seemed to measure a pokemon''s skill in the very same levels that were in the game, using them as a rough estimate to decide how strong a pokemon was.


    What a dumb way to calculate. I want them to try to put Siegfried the Dragonite on a level scale.


    Actually¡­


    "You''re a huge dumbass," I said idly. "I don''t disagree with your assessment that calculations are what battles are all about¡­ but our definitions of calculations are completely different."


    Giselle rolled her eyes, unfazed by my words.


    Don''t worry, she''d start feeling my words very soon.


    "Gaia," I said easily, throwing her out onto the field. "Let''s show em girl."


    "Bay!" Gaia cheered, butting her head against my chest.


    Haughty laughter, caused us both to pause and I focused once more on my opponent.


    She was laughing, putting the back of her hand against her mouth.


    "A Bayleef? You expect to defeat me with that?!" She asked incredulously. "The Chikorita line is considered one of the worst grass type options in the Kanto and Johto regions! There are many grass types better than a Chikorita! Perhaps you aren''t as good as I once thought."


    Gaia and I''s gaze darkened equally.


    "Making Gaia angry is not what they wanted to do," Green sighed with a shake of her head. "She''s so sweet all the time but she has a mean streak."


    "I can tell¡­ she looked way too happy when Golduck slammed into that Reflect," Misty shuddered.


    "It''s even worse because she managed to make her and Silvy annoyed. He really hates when anyone has anything negative to say about his team," Green sighed.


    "Alright dumbass. Time to teach you a proper lesson," I said darkly.


    "Yep¡­ at least it wasn''t Freyja. Silvy tries to murder anyone who says anything about Freyja," Green muttered.


    "Who''s Freyja?" Misty asked in curiosity.


    "His Feebas."


    Her jaw dropped.


    "HIS WHAT?!"


    I ignored Misty''s loud shriek and focused on the girl who I fully planned on destroying now.


    I already knew Green had intentionally set me upon this girl for reasons I was unaware of, so I didn''t plan on going too hard¡­ but she insulted Gaia and I had a personal problem with people who insulted Gaia or Freyja.


    So now it was time to do things the way I normally did.


    "Cubone, come forth!" Giselle announced with a flourish.


    Ah so this girl really was a complete dick. Trying to use a pokemon with a type disadvantage to show how superior she is¡­


    Alright, sure. Let''s play that game then. No one was a bigger asshole than I was.


    "Bone Club!" Giselle announced.


    I rolled my eyes, not even deigning to give out an order as Cubone rushed forward and slammed his club into the Reflect.


    Like clockwork, vines snaked around the boulder and Gaia hoisted them up, before ruthlessly slamming the Cubone over and over again.


    If not for the fact that I was here to prove a point, I''m very sure Gaia would have kept going for the hell of it.


    She really had a mean streak.


    "Leech seed and release it," I instructed coolly.


    Gaia smiled and spat out seeds that latched all over Cubone''s limbs and began draining him.


    "Cubone!" Giselle shouted in concern, watching as the little creature began steadily pulling itself up.


    I tilted my head curiously.


    "This is impressive. You''re even worse than I expected!" I praised, clapping for her.


    She colored slightly at that. "Cubone! Focus Energy into Bonemerang!"


    Cubone began focusing, club glowing slightly as a blue aura surrounded it.


    Focus Energy helped a pokemon better spot out weak points, allowing for more damaging hits to land. It was quite useful.


    Case in point, Cubone''s eyes gained a focused tint onto them and he clutched his bone, before launching it full speed towards Gaia.


    "Ignore it. Grab him again and don''t let go until it''s over," I rolled my eyes.


    Gaia laughed haughtily and stood behind the Reflect, watching as the Bonemerang that was aimed for her neck crashed into the wall that we were both very quickly learning to love.


    As she moved, her vines snaked from her neck and lunged for the Cubone once more.


    Before they could attach to the Cubone, a red beam of light absorbed the ground type and a somewhat shaken Giselle gazed at both Gaia and I in a new light.


    My eyes glinted maliciously at the hint of nervousness in her gaze.


    "I appreciate you giving me a free win," I mock bowed. "But don''t hold back on my account. I''m not as weak as your classmates."


    That snapped her out of her stupor and the arrogance of the girl dimmed down considerably.


    "V-Very well¡­ it appears that I was treating you too laxly. You are a trainer with 3 badges after all," she muttered, clutching another pokeball.


    "Fearow, come forth!" she announced confidently.


    Neither Gaia nor I flinched at seeing the large brown bird materialize.


    "Type disadvantage failed so now you''re going to type advantage?" I mused, unimpressed.


    Giselle frowned slightly, looking properly rattled by my words and I resisted the urge to smirk.


    Battling was more than just sending pokemon out to fight. Your emotions, how you felt¡­ the way you planned. All of that was included in battles.


    Blue wasn''t a bad battler by any means but I embarrassed him because of his emotional state. A battle between us wouldn''t normally be that one-sided but because of how much I bothered him, it was almost pitifully easy.


    Battles were all about calculations of various things and one of the most important calculations, was what your opponent could be thinking at any given moment.


    And I knew exactly what this girl was thinking.


    "Fly out of range, Fearow, avoid the vines!" Giselle said immediately.


    "Magical Leaf," I replied before she could even finish her sentence.


    Gaia grinned and shot out the flurry of tracking leaves that raced after Fearow with bullshit properties that I would never understand the science of.


    Fearow squawked in panic and attempted to fly away from the leaves, but they were relentless. They continued chasing down the large bird who began growing increasingly more frantic as they refused to let up.


    "Aerial Ace!" Giselle shouted.


    "Poison Powder in its trajectory."


    Good thing about training with Saury, he was very helpful in helping Gaia hone her poison energy. The grass types had some fairly similar moves so it was good to see how they both utilized it.


    Gaia followed my orders without hesitation and managed to shoot out a dusky purple cloud that soared through the air, right as Fearow began blurring forward at the incredible speeds of Aerial Ace¡­


    They flew directly through the cloud and despite getting deeply poisoned, still managed to score a direct hit on Gaia¡­


    Gaia squealed in pain but recovered quickly, instinctively lashing out with vines that wrapped around the poisoned bird.


    "What?!" Giselle gasped in shock, clearly not expecting the swift recovery.


    Since the first time I had Gaia battle with Loki, I worked on her reflexes, especially when she was getting hit. Few opponents expected their enemies to lash out and tactically attack them while getting hit.


    "Leech Seed. Heal yourself back up girl," I ordered.


    Seeds began to latch onto the restrained and struggling Fearow, that began sapping its energy and feeding it to Gaia.


    Giselle had a look of distress at the state Fearow was in.


    "Fearow try to ¡ª"


    "Wrap a vine around its beak. Don''t let it drill itself out," I interrupted coldly.


    Fearow wasn''t even able to hack freely anymore, as a vine clamped its sharp beak shut.


    Combined with the fact that the other vines were tightening around it to an incredible degree, the bird was quickly fading out.


    Evidently, Giselle noticed as well because a flash of red engulfed the Fearow and returned it before it could suffer further damage.


    "Bay," Gaia sighed in disappointment.


    "I guess the calculations were wrong for that one too. Who woulda thought a flying type would lose so handily to one of the weakest grass types in the region," I shrugged helplessly, staring a hole into my opponent.


    "I¡­" Giselle said in shock. "But¡­"


    "Not in the books you read?" I sneered. "What happened to that big game about being worth 4 badges? Or the one where you opened your dumbass mouth and insulted Gaia? Still got nothing good to say?"


    She flinched back and I scoffed.


    "Whatever. Send out your next pokemon. Lemme guess, fire type this time?" I asked rhetorically.


    Giselle flinched even harder and the pokeball she was clutching, slowly disappeared back wherever she kept it.


    "...I forfeit. It''s your win," she said softly.


    Expected that she realized there was no winning this match. Didn''t expect her to have the balls to actually surrender though.


    "I¡­ didn''t expect that match to be so one-sided¡­ the books I read¡­"


    "Are just books," I interrupted with a roll of my eyes. "Life is not a simulation. People and pokemon are not simple enough to be accurately written about in books. Are you fucking stupid? Do you think every single version of a Pokemon is the same? Do you think Gaia will be weaker than every single grass type in this region by virtue of being a Bayleef? You''re delusional."


    She flinched back. "I''ve never once been called stupid¡­ I''ve only been praised for my talents."


    "Stupid people praising you doesn''t make you smart. It just makes you smarter than them," I said bluntly. "You should be glad that I humbled you. In one year time, you would be another forgotten failure of a trainer who can only make it to the top 64."


    "That''s not true!" one of the students argued.


    "Shut up," I said immediately, silencing the idiot with a harsh glare. "Tell me a single trainer of note who attended Poke Tech."


    The silence was deafening and I snorted.


    "That''s what I thought. You guys can stay here and in a few months, we can battle again. I''m looking forward to seeing how much I stomp you, while I journey around."


    Anyone from my previous world would have lunged at the opportunity to journey about instead of locking themselves in school¡­ but I guess the freedom of choice, allowed those who genuinely enjoyed it, to do what they wanted.


    I wouldn''t fault them for doing what they enjoyed, but just because you enjoyed it, didn''t make it better. If you enjoyed it more, keep it to yourself. Don''t act like it''s the vastly superior option.


    That just reeked of insecurity.


    "I''m done here. This whole place is a waste of time," I grunted. "Why did you wanna come here again Leaf?"


    Green shrugged. "I''m always willing to learn new things but this place didn''t really have anything I could benefit from. My bad, we can just focus on going straight to Vermilion."


    "Yeah, no more of your fun little pit stops unless it''s actually interesting," I grunted, shoving my hands in my pockets.


    "Hey, don''t get so sassy with me, Silvy! It''s not like we lost anything from this!"


    "We lost my faith in you making good decisions."


    "...You had faith in me?!"


    "...No."


    "Silver, was it?"


    I paused and gazed back at Giselle.


    "You¡­ you''ve taught me a lot in our short battle," she admitted hesitantly, gazing at me with some trepidation. "I think you''re right¡­ I put all my stock into the books and simulations¡­ but I''ve never experienced the real thing truly."


    She gazed at my bored expression, a fire in her eyes.


    "I want to travel as well and gain these new experiences, then I want to battle you again," she admitted.


    "...Good luck with that," I said simply, turning forward again and continuing my pace. "We''re going, Leaf."


    "Kay!" she beamed, falling in line easily.


    "Next time we battle, I''ll win. I won''t forget what you did to Pikachu, Silver," Ash declared, looking me directly in the eyes, with pure determination.


    Pikachu growled fiercely and I simply glanced back dispassionately.


    "Didn''t I already tell you? Don''t battle me again," I told him with a small frown. "Any interest I had in you, got dashed in our last encounter. Just enjoy your journey. Stop thinking about me."


    "No!" Ash denied in determination. "I won''t let it end like that! I''ll make you acknowledge that I have just as big a shot at being a Pokemon Master as you do!"


    I was somewhat reminded of Gold''s gaze. They both sure did have the righteous hero look down.


    "When did I ever say anything about wanting to be a Pokemon Master?" I asked him with a raised brow, shaking my head.


    Ash blinked, a little taken aback by that.


    "You... don''t wanna be a Pokemon Master?" he asked in confusion.


    I stared at my brother. My innocent and naive little brother. Green told me that he started his journey at 11 years old and was about a month away from being 12.


    It was surreal just how opposite we were down to our very being. We likely didn''t have a single thing in common besides loving our pokemon...


    Even then, Ash was the type to catch anything. I was not the type to catch anything. The pokemon I loved were the ones I willingly caught.


    He was lucky. He ended up inheriting everything involving his personality from his mother.


    My goals were far more serious than his. While a lofty goal, at the end of the day, Ash''s goals stemmed from a childish wonder.


    I didn''t get to have the childish dream of being a Pokemon Master yet. I didn''t want to become strong because that was what was necessary to become a Master.


    I wanted to become strong because I needed to become strong. There was no time for me to be weak. I didn''t want to be strong because it meant I was a Master, I wanted to be a Master because it meant I was strong.


    Maybe part of me was jealous that my brother got to live so carefree.


    "Why is everyone so interested in me?" I sighed despondently. "Why is it always Silver this, Silver that? Leaf is right here. Harass her instead. She''s your super talented childhood friend. I haven''t even seen you express an interest in battling her yet."


    "Normally I''d be offended, but I like seeing you bothered by these things! Besides, Ash has a bigger rivalry with Blue," Green admitted shamelessly.


    I turned to glare at her. "Worry about how jealous you were of that girl back there instead. Upset that you can''t keep your hair as neat? Or is it because everyone was gushing over her pretty looks?" I shot back, grinning smugly at her.


    Green began spluttering and instantly stopped. "Y-You. JEALOUS OF WHAT?! HER?! YOU WEREN''T EVEN ONE OF THE ONES GUSHING! YOU CAN''T USE THAT IN YOUR ARGUMENT!"


    I continued walking, utterly nonplussed at hearing the rapid footsteps behind me. "Obviously I can. She looks well kept together. You look like a beast."


    My amused smile was replaced by a cough, as Green actually punched me on the back, and I whirled around with fury in my eyes.


    She had no way at all to react to my speedy lunge and in a record amount of time, I had her properly restrained.


    "Apologize," I demanded.


    "I''m sorry that you''re such a dick!" Green scowled.


    She immediately squealed in distress as I pressed a knuckle to her head and began giving her the meanest noogie I could muster.


    I don''t know why she tried this. Green was so helplessly outclassed by me in the physical department it wasn''t even funny.


    In fact, it seemed like I was the most athletic out of all my dear pokedex (was that what I was going to call them? Sure) holders.


    Green might have unironically been the closest to me since she joined in my training all the time. She certainly was beginning to get as agile as I was.


    Still didn''t help squat against me though.


    Ash watched one of his best friends get tormented by me with a look of confusion.


    "Should I help?" he asked.


    "Probably not, despite her complaints, Green looks happy to be playing with Silver," Misty pointed out with a small smile.


    "I wonder when the last time we played was¡­" Ash mused quietly.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The next day, long after Green and I had departed Poke Tech, I got a message on the phone.


    "Care to explain why a bunch of kids suddenly dropped out of Poke Tech?"


    "Who is that?" Green asked.


    "Lance," I replied in amusement, showing her the message.


    Her eyes roved over the screen, before she let out a loud laugh.


    "How does he even know that it was you?!" She cackled, much to my annoyance.


    My eye twitched and I scoffed at her.


    "How do you know it was me? All I did was beat a trainer in a battle and insult her a bit."


    "I got a complaint about a red haired kid who battled their top primary level student and caused her to drop out¡­ once others heard of that, they followed suit. Almost the entirety of the primary level students dropped out so you did more than insult her a bit."


    "Wow, she was really popular," Green mused. "But she was so weak! I don''t get how they flocked to her."


    "Right?" I muttered, nonplussed by Green''s steadily growing rudeness. It actually made me quite proud.


    "Blame Leaf. I was content to stay out of it but she dragged me into it. Jealous of how the girl looks and all that. She was kinda cute."


    "H-HEY!" she bellowed. "We went through this already! I was not jealous of her! I just didn''t like how high and mighty she was, while everyone hung on to her every word!"


    "Sure," I said with a smirk.


    "Don''t make my life more difficult, Silver. I''ve seen how feral you can get. Anymore of that and those rumors of you being my kid will actually spread even faster."


    "It''s not like I''m trying to do this. Everyone, including you, it way too interested in me. Leave me alone."


    "Nah. I''ll pass. Enjoy your boat ride. Tell Green I said hi and thank her for keeping you in check."


    "Fuck you."


    With that, I pocketed my gear and ignored Green''s huge grin.


    Lance didn''t message Green and I often but admittedly, it was pretty nice to talk to him.


    I would never let him know that but he was chill...


    Speaking of which.


    "Hey Jasmine, does Skarmy know Stealth Rock?" I asked, watching Green peer curiously over my shoulder.


    As per usual, Jasmine instantly read my message. I''m beginning to think she had a special notification for me.


    "Uhm... no? Skarmy doesn''t know Stealth Rock."


    "How about Toxic?" I asked instead.


    "...No? Silver why the sudden interrogation on Skarmy? I would have expected this with Empy, not her."


    "Spikes and Roost?"


    "...Yes she has Spikes and Roost."


    "Perfect. Alright, here''s what I want you to do in your quest of becoming the strongest Gym Leader in Johto and Kanto."


    "I-I thought it was just Johto?"


    "When did I say that?"


    Green laughed and I turned towards her.


    "You know this is in the group chat right?" I asked her, pointing at the icon that had 4 names in it.


    Don''t ask. It clearly wasn''t my idea to make a group chat, it was Green''s so now there was a group chat between the three of us and recently, my dear dumb companion had the bright idea to add Lance to it.


    He didn''t type much but he tended to leave his reactions to anything funny, or drop random pictures of his newly hatched Dratini doing ridiculous things...


    He was such a dork.


    "Yeah but I just wanna read!" Green beamed.


    "So... so use your gear?" I pointed out in confusion.


    "Nope!"


    "Okay... I''ll teach Skarmy Stealth Rocks and Toxic, but what for?"


    "Perfect. From now on, I want you to send out Skarmy and I want you to use all those moves I mentioned to set up the worst field possible for your opponent."


    "...Silver I just felt a shiver crawl down my spine. I feel deeply disturbed."


    "Good. Imagine how they''ll feel. You also need to get another hard hitter. Your team is super defensive."


    "It''s occurring to me that you''re giving a Gym Leader advice and it''s very terrifying advice too," Green pointed out, shivering herself.


    I smirked as I saw Lance react to my advice with a thumbs up. "Of course. I gotta help her become more ruthless."


    "Okay... I''ve been thinking of getting two new members. I''ll have to look into them. Thank you for the advice."


    "Course. Talk to you later."


    With that I pocketed my Gear.


    "The group chat is one of the best ideas I made yet!" Green gushed.


    I snorted. It wasn''t a terrible idea, made it easier to talk to them all.


    "We''re almost to Vermilion. Still haven''t thought of anything to do?" I mused.


    "Ash should be making it to Vermilion in the next few days, maybe I''ll watch his gym battle," Green decided.


    "Have fun with that," I grunted. "I don''t feel like watching his battle so I''ll pass."


    She nodded. "Alright! In the meantime, we''ll just do some light training!"


    I nodded easily enough and Green beamed at me.


    We had about another hour before Vermilion was in sight so we just focused on reaching it by getting on our bikes (or skates for me).


    "I want skates," Green complained, looking at me jealously.


    "Do you even know how to skate?" I asked curiously, idly gliding across the floor and adjusting my speed as I needed to.


    "No! But you could teach me!" she exclaimed like it were obvious.


    I snorted abruptly. Leave it to Green to just assume I''d teach her how to skate.


    She had a lot of nerve but honestly, I wouldn''t mind teaching her.


    A comfortable lull followed suit and it didn''t take long for the familiar sight of Vermilion City to come into view.


    The familiar scent of the sea brushed against my nose and I easily ignored it, making my way into the city and noting that somehow, it was even busier than last time.


    "We should get a room first," Green decided, gazing at the plethora of people with shock in her eyes.


    "Good idea," I grunted, narrowing my eyes at the crowd.


    Without any hesitation, I grabbed Green''s arm and began mowing my way through the crowd.


    She let out a yelp at the sudden movement and watched with wide eyes as I shoved someone out of the way... and then another... and then another.


    "Move it," I scowled to the idiots in my way, ignoring their startled yells as I pushed through.


    "S-Sorry!" Green apologized to them in return.


    This happened for a few minutes, me shoving someone out of the way and Green apologizing for my actions, until we made it to the Pokemon Center.


    "You are honestly so unbelievable," Green muttered, burning red in embarrassment at my antics.


    "We got here fast didn''t we?" I snorted, making my way to the front desk.


    The Nurse Joy looked tired but she hid it rather masterfully, I was just good at spotting the little things on peoples features.


    "Hello, welcome to the Pokemon Center!" She beamed.


    "Hey, we''re here to get a room," I said bluntly.


    I did not like the look in her eyes.


    It was apologetic and I let out an annoyed sigh.


    I knew what that meant.


    "Since the city is so packed, we have to share a room, right?" I asked with a roll of my eyes.


    Joy blinked. "Why¡­ yes. It''s very busy so for the sake of saving space, trainers traveling together are made to share rooms."


    Pokemon Centers were practically hotels. They were gigantic in nature but they were only exclusive to trainers.


    Anyone could use them, but only registered trainers could sign in and sleep in their buildings¡­


    Which meant that a lot of the people here were trainers. There were certainly also citizens joining the boat ride but the sheer amount of trainers...


    Interesting.


    "That''s fine with us. Here," I grunted, showing her Green''s trainer id.


    Green spluttered in disbelief and began patting herself down. "W-When did you even get that?!"


    "Useless question. Not answering."


    "You''re just so terrible!"


    A little bit of energy entered Joy''s eyes at our interaction and she smiled, before gently taking the id out of my hand.


    She scanned with her computer and eventually handed the card back to me (I shot her a smug grin that she returned rather playfully) before giving us the information to our rooms.


    Green spluttered and shot Nurse Joy a betrayed look. "I-I can''t believe you Nurse Joy! Don''t encourage him!"


    "What are you talking about, Leaf? She''s just doing her job in the most efficient way possible. Don''t bother her anymore then you have to," I chastised with a firm frown.


    Nurse Joy giggled at our antics. "I''m sorry Green. You two are very entertaining and I decided to join on the fun."


    Green shook her head insistently. "Don''t get roped into his schemes! Before you know it, you''ll start cursing and scowling and being rude and just an overall unpleasant person!"


    I gazed at her a little incredulously. "You paint me out as some type of demon. I don''t know if I should be flattered or offended."


    "Just the fact that you think you should be flattered, shows that you are! You''re like a little Gengar, constantly terrorizing people!" she argued.


    I opened my mouth, before shutting it and nodding in agreement. "You know what? Fair."


    Nurse Joy couldn''t stop the sweat at that.


    "Enjoy your stay here, you two," she said with a bright smile as we prepared to leave.


    "Don''t be afraid to curse out any rude trainers," I retorted, making my way to the room given to us.


    "Yeah! Don''t let them be rude to you!" Green agreed, waving to her.


    She waved at the duo once more.


    "What fun kids," she said to herself with a small smile.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "We''ll stay here until the ship comes," I decided, throwing my bag on the bed.


    "Alright!" Green hummed, following suit. "I''m gonna change into something more comfy."


    "I''m gonna go buy things," I decided, removing my shirt to place one on that had half sleeves.


    "¡­"


    I raised a brow and glanced at Green in some confusion, noting that her gaze was not on my face.


    No it was focused on my torso.


    What? This wasn''t the first time I''ve changed my shirt in front of her. Ash and Blue must have done it before because she never once blinked at my changing of shirts.


    What was so awe inspiring this time?


    I followed her gaze and blinked in realization at the prominent scar on my midsection.


    "Oh this? Unfortunate run in," I told her, beckoning to the faded scar. "Foul tempered pokemon. Nearly died. Ares saved my life."


    For some reason, she just frowned at that and nodded.


    "...I''m glad you''re alive, Silvy. Don''t go dying on me yet okay? Because I''ll cry a lot," she said finally, heading into the bathroom.


    I watched her back with a stunned gaze.


    What was with her? Why was she suddenly saying that?


    ¡­


    I frowned myself and stood up.


    I should go do that shopping stuff.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Actually¡­ ever since I began traveling with Green, I realized I scarcely did things alone anymore.


    My companion was very attached, content to always hang out with me and without realizing it, I began to kind of accept that from her¡­


    I pursed my lips at that and gazed at the pair of green skates.


    "...I''m glad you''re alive, Silvy. Don''t go dying on me yet okay because I''ll cry a lot."


    Idiot¡­ this is why I didn''t want to travel with a hero. They were all just too earnest and honest.


    And I was not.


    I effortlessly grabbed the skates and placed them in my bag in one smooth motion, knowing for a fact I didn''t get spotted, before heading to the register to check out the weather resistant outfit I bought.


    The black and violet outfit was somewhat heavy to hold but that was nothing to me considering how effective it was said to be against the weather.


    Fuck you Hoenn. I''ll be ready next time¡­


    As I checked out my purchase, I forked over the money and accepted the receipt, ignoring how expensive it was due to the fact that this almost certainly wasn''t the only one I now owned.


    What?! You really thought I was only going to get one pair?! I''m not the type of person to wear the exact same outfit everyday like some characters.


    I hadn''t stolen anything in forever! This was my first since landing in Kanto!


    There were different kinds! How could I not want to see which were most effective for me?


    Nodding at my own justifications, I departed from the store and decided to head back to the Center to sort this stuff out.


    "Zor," Loki muttered from his home inside my jacket.


    "You''ve been having a great time inside my jacket these past few days. This your new residence?" I asked with an amused smile.


    Loki nodded without hesitation, rustling about and getting a snort out of me.


    "Feel free. We''ll just be doing some light training until the boat ride and after, we can continue our pace."


    Loki nodded and peaked his head out the hole to regard me.


    This guy was so fucking adorable. This was unreasonable.


    I ruffled Loki''s tuft a bit and he leaned into my touch, before growing satisfied and ducking back into my jacket.


    I smiled at his antics and made my way to the automatic doors of the Pokemon Center.


    The moment the doors opened, my smile was wiped clean off my face.


    "What the actual fuck¡ª"


    Wide crystalline blue eyes stared at me in utter panic that I matched in troves.


    Those unnaturally blue hues were attached to a girl with a normal shade of blue hair, wearing a white jacket, a red shirt and yellow shorts.


    The, quite frankly, awful getup was completely ignored by me because what the fuck?


    Crystal¡­ what the fuck was Crystal doing here?


    "Y-You¡­" Crystal stammered in shock.


    I stared dumbly at her, turned on a heel and walked away briskly.


    "Are you serious? Did those freaks actually guess correctly what region I''d be going to?!" I thought to myself.


    Not only did they guess correctly, they fucking followed me! They actually followed me instead of going through the Johto region?!


    What the hell did that mean for Johto? Could they really afford to lose all three of their most vital trainers?


    No forget that for a second. WHY DID THEY FOLLOW ME TO KANTO?!


    Dammit all, what do I do now? Do I just go to a new region?


    Yeah¡­ yeah I could do that. Sinnoh sounded like a good idea. I could get started on ensuring nothing bad happened there. It was very close to Johto but I could make it work and there were things that I needed to check there anyways.


    I could try Unova. Had a few more years for that one too.


    Hell I could even go to Alola! Heard that was a great place for vacations and it was pretty damn close to Kanto.


    I didn''t have to be in Kanto to deal with Team Rocket. I could just get strong in another region and then come back to deal with them.


    Alright, I somewhat remember Alola. I could just go there for now and deal with that littles girls hot and crazy mom. She shouldn''t be a problem right now but you never know ¡ª


    "Silvy? Are you alright?"


    I paused at that and shut my eyes in realization.


    If I left this region, I''d be leaving Green to the wolves. I wasn''t so confident that she could handle all of Team Rocket alone and if Giovanni sent Mewtwo after her¡­


    Green was one of my only friends. I wouldn''t let one of my friends die¡­


    I sighed and stopped, gazing at the worried Green with a neutral expression.


    "I''m fine, Green. What''s up?" I asked calmly.


    She opened her mouth and shut it, gazing at the figure approaching behind me.


    Crystal slowed in her gait behind me, expression shifting into one of confusion as she saw me conversating with Green.


    "Oh is this a friend of yours?" Green asked obliviously, a wide grin on her face.


    Crystal, who was about to deny such an absurd allegation, opened her mouth ¡ª


    "Yeah, she is. It''s been a while since we saw each other so we were gonna go catch up," I said easily, expression not betraying anything. "She was actually about to call our other friend, Gold so we could all get together like the old times."


    I glanced at her, silver eyes boring into the girl.


    Crystal caught my gaze and her eyes narrowed slightly, before realization dawned on her.


    She was a lot smarter than she looked.


    For some reason, she actually acquiesced with my silent request.


    "U-Um yeah! I just shot him a message actually! We wanted to catch up in a more private area!" Crystal nodded with a shaky smile.


    Green beamed innocently, holding out her hand. "Wow! If you''re friends with Silvy, that must mean you''re really impressive! I knew he was lying when he said he only had room for one!"


    Crystal looked properly caught off guard by Green''s excited energy but held out her own hand to greet the slightly taller girl.


    "Nice to meet you, I''m Leaf Green but you can call me Green! I''m Silvy''s traveling companion!" she beamed.


    "Green?!" Crystal thought in disbelief.


    "It''s nice to meet you Green¡­ are you perhaps one of Oak''s trainers?" Crystal asked slowly.


    Green nodded eagerly. "Yup! I had the highest points!"


    I bet Crystal was probably thinking why on earth was one of Oak''s trainers traveling with the thief who robbed Elm but she was probably more shocked at the fact that I even agreed to travel with someone... considering my status.


    If she was as smart as she clearly didn''t let on, she was probably beginning to realize that I had no intention of dragging Green into this.


    Judging by the look in her eyes, she probably couldn''t fathom the idea that I didn''t want to risk someone else''s being.


    "I''m not gonna bother you guys for too long! I''ll let you catch up! I''ll be in the room, Silvy," Green exclaimed with a small smile.


    I glanced over at her and nodded. "Sure. I''ll see you later."


    She nodded and waved at Crystal, before departing with a spring in her step.


    "You better consider me a friend after this Silvy! Now that I know you''ll accept more than one, I won''t take any other answer but yes!"


    Despite the situation, I couldn''t keep the wry smirk off my face.


    "Whatever you say, Leaf."


    "GREEN! WE''RE FRIENDS SO CALL ME GREEN!"


    "No."


    She blew a raspberry at me and vanished.


    Almost as soon as she did that, my somewhat friendly aura vanished and I turned towards Crystal.


    Catching my shift in mood, she glared at me.


    "Didn''t expect you guys to follow me to Kanto," I said idly, turning on a heel and beginning to walk.


    Predictably, Crystal followed after me, glancing warily at my back.


    Idiot. She was lucky I was averse to killing kids else she''d really be in a lot of trouble. She should not be following me right now.


    "Of course we did," Crystal said in a hushed whisper, letting out a surprising scoff. "We couldn''t just let you get away with what you did."


    I eyed her. "Then why are you being so secretive? Shouldn''t you be calling someone?"


    "Gold has my location and I texted him, he''s coming soon," she replied like it were common sense.


    I rolled my eyes. "I meant the authorities. I''m a criminal you know."


    Crystal blinked at my deadpan tone, flushing a little. "You''re Gold and my problem. We won''t involve the authorities in this."


    "How courageous," I said, walking into the empty clearing and turning to face her.


    She glanced warily at me, hand never leaving the Pokeballs at her waist.


    "Why did you want to leave Green behind so badly?" she asked warily.


    "No need to drag her into this. She''s innocent," I replied easily, boring my gaze into her and leaning against a tree.


    "I alone am the one who did the misdeed so I''m your only target. You and Gold are my problem just like how I''m yours. This little game of ours can be kept between the three of us just like you intended it to be," I said calmly, never taking my eyes off of her.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Crystal couldn''t keep the surprise off her features, hearing the thief speak.


    "He''s¡­ protecting her?" Crystal thought in shock.


    But¡­ he had been so cruel before? What happened between the first time they met and now?


    He was far more at ease, though the natural scowl was still on his face and those dangerous eyes of his, while still unsettling, didn''t look at her like she were a Caterpie to be squashed.


    Now, they just gazed at her like a predator who was in an advantageous position, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.


    It was then that Crystal realized that following him here alone... might not have been the smartest idea.


    He reminded her of a Weavile, those intelligent eyes peering at her with unnatural focus, daring her to make a mistake so he could lunge and sink his claws into her.


    She bit her lip nervously but at least he didn''t feel the need to attack her immediately.


    In fact... he seemed pretty at ease with the entire situation. Perhaps he''d... be opening for questions?


    Crystal couldn''t keep the knowledge out of her head that Professor Elm mentioned this same boy screaming...


    He looked so young, was he the same age as them? What could have possibly possessed him to go all the way to Johto, steal a pokemon and then flee to Kanto?


    The curiosity (and slight concern) was just gnawing at her too much and she needed to ask.


    Crystal nodded to herself and took a deep breath, focusing on the redhead across from her with a firm, albeit nervous, expression.


    Hopefully Gold didn''t come guns blazing immediately.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "She''s uncomfortable," I noted, watching her shift in place slightly.


    I was formulating plans of my next course of action. I didn''t doubt my ability to get away from these two. Based on Blue and Green, I was confident that I just outclassed my age group in the physical department.


    But even if I did that, it''s not like I could remain in Kanto any longer. They knew I was here, so I''d probably just have to leave.


    I furrowed my brows.


    Now that I was thinking more rationally, Alola was a bust too. If I wanted to maintain anonymity, my best bet would be to go to one of those far away regions.


    Guess Kalos or Galar wouldn''t be bad to visit. They were quite far from Kanto and Johto, being on the other side of the world so I''d probably be pretty scott free there.


    But that still left me with the shitty task of abandoning Green...


    "Why did you take Chikorita?"


    I perked a brow at that and focused in on Crystal curiously. Her brows were furrowed and she was staring at me with some confusion.


    "Why?" I repeated.


    She nodded her head. "You took Chikorita and a handful of supplies¡­ but nothing else. Why didn''t you take the other starters? Why didn''t you take any important documents?"


    "I didn''t want them," I said bluntly, much to her surprise. "That''s all. No point taking all three. Just one is fine enough."


    "So you''re a thief with class?" Crystal asked, unimpressed by my answer.


    "Whatever you''re expecting to hear from me, you aren''t gonna hear it. I only wanted one of the starters," I said firmly.


    "You hurt Elm," she pointed out with a scowl. "Why did you hurt him? Maybe you only took 1 because you didn''t have enough time!"


    "If I wanted to swipe all three, along with everything else in that lab, I would have done it and the result would have still been the same," I said blandly. "The only difference, is that you and your buddy wouldn''t have known who I was this time around because there''d be no pokemon to snitch on me."


    Crystal flinched at that, frowning at the truth of my words.


    "Besides, it wasn''t my intention to hurt that professor so badly," I admitted. "Glad he''s not dead. Didn''t wanna be accused of murder."


    "...Why aren''t you attacking me right now?" she asked finally.


    I shrugged. "I hate repaying debts and you helped me with Green back there. My thanks is not knocking you unconscious immediately."


    Crystal''s brows furrowed in utter confusion and she gazed at me like I were an anomaly, unable to puzzle why I was doing the things I was doing.


    Well, technically I was an anomaly.


    Before Crystal could further question me (she was probably surprised that I was being so compliant), a rush of footsteps caught both our attention and I watched as Gold himself burst into the clearing.


    His golden eyes were wide in protective fury¡­ Quilava by his side and Aipom on his shoulder, as he took in the scene.


    Gold''s fury turned into confusion, at seeing me and Crystal not tearing into each other.


    For once, Crystal almost groaned in annoyance at seeing Gold because I had immediately gone stiff at the sight of him showing up.


    I couldn''t blame her. Crystal was the type of person who wanted answers to the questions running through her head. She was probably frustrated that I didn''t fully answer them all yet.


    Oh well.


    "Look who finally showed up," I said, pushing myself off the tree as Loki jumped out my jacket. "Hey stalker. Did your first loss mess you up that bad?"


    Predictably, Gold and his team scowled ferociously at me.


    Crystal did groan this time.


    Looks like peace talks were officially off the table.


    She was getting so much information in such a peaceful way too¡­ she probably wasn''t expecting me to be so civil.


    "Finally found you! See Crys, you were right! He really was in Kanto," Gold exclaimed with a glare, his sunny eyes peering into my own.


    I hummed at that. "So you''re the brains of this," I said, peering at Crystal with an impressed eye. "How''d you figure that out?"


    "...Your dialect. It''s distinctively Kantonian¡­ and you mentioned that we''d never see each other again¡­ I took a gamble and assumed you''d go back to Kanto," she said eventually.


    That was damn smart of her. Couldn''t even be mad. That was my fault for slipping up. I made a lot of mistakes early on in my life that I wouldn''t dream of making now but all you could do was roll with what you had.


    Didn''t even realize I had Kanto dialect, though I guess my speech was more refined than these two.


    I didn''t give them enough credit. Crystal in particular, was someone I heavily underestimated.


    "So the one I should have been paying attention to was you," I commented, gazing at Crystal with a tilted head. "You didn''t impress me at all in our first meeting but you refusing to battle was just you showcasing your intelligence... unlike someone."


    Predictably, Gold snarled and took a threatening step forward, much to Crystal''s exasperation.


    She held a hand in front of Gold and he gazed at her incredulously, going silent as she gazed pointedly at him.


    To no one''s surprise, he settled down and stepped back.


    "Who''s a good boy?" I mocked.


    Crystal let out a sigh as Gold nearly exploded again. "Could you stop antagonizing him please? I just want to figure things out."


    I rolled my eyes but went silent, peering down at Crystal''s shadow with a narrowed gaze.


    To my surprise, it shuddered slightly and a portion of it seemed to shrink away from me.


    A ghost? Right... Crystal mentioned having a Misdreavus.


    Quilava growled at me and I watched with a bored gaze as one of Crystal''s pokeballs rustled heavily, before a Croconaw burst out of the pokeball.


    The crocodile was staring at me with far more venom than Quilava was and I rested my gaze on it challengingly, daring it to take the steps.


    It almost seemed glad that I was challenging it to do so and the water type took a step forward, right before pausing at the look in Crystal''s eyes.


    I couldn''t keep the amusement off my face, as my own pokeball began rustling and I tapped the button, releasing Gaia out of hers.


    At once, the final of the Johto starters revealed herself like the queen she was and I watched as the middle stage evolutions all stared at each other in clear surprise and delight.


    At least one good thing came out of this. Gaia was happy to see her childhood friends and if she was happy, then I could be somewhat pleased in this shitty situation.


    My Bayleef let out a noise of joy, at seeing both the Quilava and Croconaw and I watched the trio begin interacting with an interested gaze.


    Fine, let them at least catch up. Then I''d finally figure out what they wanted and set my plan into motion.


    I sighed. If only I could use those latent psychic powers to make them forget me.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Toto! Cynda!" Gaia cheered, gazing at her fellow starters with joy in her eyes. "It''s been so long! How are you guys?"


    Quilava and Croconaw looked surprised by her joy. "Chiko! We''ve been looking everywhere for you!" Quilava stated in relief.


    Gaia tilted her head. "You were looking everywhere for me?" she asked. "Why?"


    Croconaw blinked in shock and pointed a hand at the thief. "Because that shit eating asshole stole you! That''s why!" he snarled.


    Gaia''s gaze immediately darkened.


    "Hey, don''t you dare talk about him like that. He''s my trainer and I''m glad he took me. I love him and he loves me so I don''t want anyone else," she warned with narrowed eyes.


    Gaia stressed her point by making her way over to the amused Silver, sighing in bliss as he instinctively reached out and pat her leaf gently.


    "What¡­?!" Quilava stated in shock, not expecting her to so willingly go back to the thief.


    "That''s bullshit, Chiko!" Croconaw balked. "Stay with him? Are you serious?!"


    Gaia sniffed. "I''m dead serious. He''s the only trainer I will ever acknowledge as my own and if you have a problem with that, then I have a problem with you."


    "Well that''s not what I expected," Aipom mused, putting a stub to his chin. "I was expecting to kick this guys ass and save the stolen Chikorita¡­ but what do we do now that she doesn''t wanna come back? Do we kick ass anyways?"


    "Shut up Ataro," Croconaw and Quilava stressed, not in the mood for his antics.


    Ataro shrugged helplessly. He was just pointing out the facts!


    Quilava instinctively growled, as a familiar black figure poked its head out of the thief''s jacket.


    Loki stared at them with an uninterested gaze, frowning slightly as he prepped up an illusion that would help Silver escape in case it was needed.


    "Gaia''s not going back with you guys so stop trying to force her," Loki said bluntly. "She''s happy with us, so she''s staying with us."


    Quilava scowled at that. "What did you do to Chiko?!"


    "Nothing. She''s been on our side since the start. Why do you think when we had that run in earlier, she didn''t reveal that she was with us? And her names Gaia, not Chiko," Loki said derisively.


    Both Quilava and Croconaw froze at the truth of his statement.


    Why didn''t she reveal that she was with him? It hadn''t been that long since he got her¡­ but she had remained in her pokeball, not giving away that she was with the thief at all!


    "That''s because I already chose him as my trainer at that point! It''s not like anyone actually wanted me," Gaia frowned bitterly. "He picked me over you two! Silver listened to my struggles and problems and decided he''d make everyone regret looking down on me and he''s been doing a great job!"


    "No one''s looking down on you, Chiko!" Quilava said placatingly, wincing at the ferocious glare turned onto him.


    "I wasn''t even going to get a trainer this year! There were only two choices and Chikorita''s are always the last choice! Don''t try and feed me your bullshit, Cynda!" she scowled.


    Vines snaked out of her warningly. "Cynda¡­ Toto¡­ I''m happy you guys are so worried about me, but you don''t have to be. I love my trainer as much as you two love yours so if you try to take me away from him, I''m going to hurt you really bad," she finished.


    The two looked at her apologetic, yet firm resolve, with shock.


    She¡­ really wasn''t planning on coming back?


    "Well you heard the lady, Explotaro," Ataro said with a shrug. "She found her home. We''re no better than he is if we drag her from it."


    Explotaro wanted to protest. Croconaw already was¡­ but it was moot. Ataro was right¡­


    "So¡­ you''re happy with him?" Explotaro asked tentatively.


    "I''m the happiest I''ve ever been! I have so much fun with all of them!" Gaia exclaimed happily, leaning into Silver''s touch.


    "But!" Croconaw protested, looking dearly like he wanted to protest further.


    "That''s enough, Totoree," Misdreavus sighed, materializing from Crystal''s shadow.


    She eyed Silver like he were death itself, wariness firm in her stance but she couldn''t avoid him any longer because they needed to hear what she had to say.


    "She''s serious about staying with him. It doesn''t matter the circumstances. She chose him as her trainer just like we chose our trainers. Can''t you see? He didn''t force her to do anything. There''s no convincing her," Misdreavus said firmly, floating behind Crystal to avoid Silver''s unnerving gaze.


    "See! Misteree agrees with me! I knew she would!" Ataro exclaimed with a smug smile.


    "Shut up, Ataro," Misteree said bluntly.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Seems like they had quite the conversation," I mused, wishing Metang were out to translate for me.


    I could kinda tell based on body language though and I basically understood everything Gaia and Loki said.


    Gaia, to no one''s surprise but these two across from me, wanted to stay with me.


    It made sense. I treated her like the princess she was, she was strong under my care and above all, she was loved and appreciated unlike whoever the third trainer, who deemed themselves unlucky to get her, would have treated her.


    Judging by the look of shock on Gold and Crystal''s faces¡­ they were not expecting this outcome at all. They thought that I was surely abusing Gaia and forcing her to do whatever it was I wanted.


    The idea that she loved being with me probably never struck them. The thought that Gaia was always on my side must have been a foreign concept.


    "You want Gaia back, right?" I asked knowingly. "If she agrees to go back, I will let her go. I''m not willing to use a pokemon who''s unhappy with the way I run things. Not effective enough."


    That''s why I didn''t bother kicking a random wild pokemon''s ass and catching them. I''d much rather figure out if our wills aligned before capturing them. Less waste of a time.


    I would ignore what I did to Metang.


    Gaia scowled ferociously and rounded on me, headbutting my midsection.


    "Bay! Leaf bay!" She ranted, glaring at me.


    "Yeah I know you''re plenty happy with me, girl," I rolled, rubbing her on the head to appease her. "I was just saying that to show them that I won''t cause a fuss if you weren''t happy."


    "Bay," she grumbled, accepting my words with a suspicious glare.


    I shot her a wry smirk, before focusing on the two.


    "Well that''s that. If you two want her back, I''ll have to battle you with everything I''ve got. Unfortunately, I''m not planning on giving up Gaia that easily," I said with a shrug.


    Loki leapt out of my jacket, poised for battle and Gaia got ready as well.


    My eyes were narrowed now, poised for battle against the two formidable trainers.


    Despite my earlier worries back when I was in Johto¡­ I didn''t feel any of that fear now.


    I was talented. I was great at battling. These two were as well¡­ but they weren''t as good as I was.


    Each of them had three pokeballs. It was a 6 on 5 but I''m confident I could win this battle.


    "I''m not giving Gaia up and I''m not turning myself in for what I did. There''s no compromise we can reach so let''s get this over with," I grunted, eyes narrowed as I brushed a hand against my remaining team.


    Gold went stiff and his eyes narrowed, while Ataro and Quilava both growled warningly.


    "Wait!"


    Both Gold and I paused at that, gaining looks of confusion as we gazed at the stern Crystal.


    "Silvy," Crystal said slowly, cautiously.


    My eye twitched at that.


    "We don''t want to report you to the authorities¡­ Gold and I just want to talk," she said civilly.


    I said nothing, staring suspiciously.


    "After seeing how happy Bayleef ¡ª"


    "Gaia," I corrected.


    "Gaia. After seeing how happy Gaia is with you¡­ and from our conversation, I don''t think you''re all that bad," Crystal said tentatively, trying not to set me off with the wrong words.


    Gold looked at her in some surprise, likely not expecting her to go this route but he took a step back and let the blue eyed girl take the reigns of the conversation.


    "You said you didn''t mean to hurt the Professor that bad¡­ and you only took necessary items for survival¡­ why?" she asked hesitantly.


    I stared at her, puzzled. What game were they playing at right now?


    Here I was, planning for battle¡­ yet now I was just confused. Was this a trap?


    "You answered your question already," I pointed out, crossing my arms and not letting my guard down for a second. "I took them to survive. That''s all. Only two of you were selected to be Elm''s trainer this year right? No one was getting the third pokemon anyways and I doubt either of you were going to pick Gaia."


    "Is that why he raided Elm instead of Oak despite being from Kanto?" Gold thought, finally looking at Silver as something besides the thief.


    Crystal gazed at the violent redhead¡­ the thief who had no regards for how his words hurt people¡­ and recalled the thought of how he might have ties with Team Rocket...


    "Are you, trying to survive because of Team Rocket? Are you being targeted by them?" she asked quietly, gazing at me like I wasn''t the violent redhead who flipped her boyfriend onto his back... or the guy who sent their dearest professor to the lab.


    No, she was pitying me.


    I instinctively went stiff at that and a heinous expression crossed my features.


    Neither missed it.


    "Are you alright?" Crystal asked in worry, unable to stamp the concern that someone the same age as them felt the need to go to such lengths to protect themselves.


    "I don''t think you''re a bad person. You can''t be with how much Gaia loves you!"


    "Cut the bullshit," I scowled, rolling my eyes. "Let''s not suddenly pretend like we''re friends. Asking if I''m alright? What are you two playing at?"


    Crystal''s eyes widened and she held up her hands. "We''re not planning anything! I''m serious!"


    "I don''t fucking believe you," I said bluntly, eyes narrowed. "I''m a criminal. You know it, I know it. You didn''t come to Kanto to talk to me. You came to capture me stop trying to beat around the bush and get to the part where you try to capture me."


    "W-Well¡­ we did but," Crystal trailed off.


    "But all of a sudden you pity me," I scowled ferociously, eyes lit in fury. "I don''t need your pity. I don''t want your pity. Hurry up and send out your team, so we can battle and I can disappear."


    Who the hell told these two to suddenly start pitying me? In what world did they think I was some type of weakling, reaching out with my arms and begging someone to grab it?


    Were they dumb? Were these assholes patronizing me?!


    "We''re not pitying you, dumbass."


    I paused at that, looking into the molten eyes of Gold.


    They were narrowed in determination and he shook his head fiercely.


    "This has nothing to do with that! Gaia chose you as her trainer, just like Explotaro chose me and Totoree chose Crys! Yeah you stole her, but she still loves you despite that detail so we''d be just as bad as you, if we stole her from her home!" Gold exclaimed.


    I said nothing at that, stunned silent.


    "It would be no better if we turned you in either because not only would she lose her home, the rest of your team would lose it too! If you''re team loves you like Gaia does, then you aren''t the bad guy you''re trying to make yourself out to be," he said, pointing a sure finger at me.


    "Whether you like it or not, our paths are connected and dammit, you''re one of the only trainers to beat me in a battle, so I''m not gonna let you throw your life away to Team Rocket before I can get my revenge on you!"


    Those eyes of his, almost the complete opposite of mine¡­ continued glaring at me with a nauseating amount of emotional intelligence.


    ...He and Ash really were quite similar. They''d probably get along great.


    "You have your reasons for doing what you did¡­ and I definitely don''t agree with the method, but Professor Elm is fine and Gaia is happy¡­ so as far as I''m concerned, if your reasoning for doing this has to do with Team Rocket, then you can''t be this terrible criminal! Do you think you''re a terrible criminal?"


    "¡­" I said nothing at that.


    "You said you didn''t mean to hurt Elm... and he didn''t seem all that mad at you. I think he knows what''s happening to you and... and I think I know too," Crystal interjected quietly. "Everyone''s not your enemy, Silvy. At the very least, I''m not your enemy," she said strongly.


    ...


    I clenched my fist at that, eyes darting rapidly between the two as my heartbeat picked up and my blood started pumping.


    I didn''t believe them. Not for a damn second. I didn''t believe anything they had to say.


    "So what? You don''t want to capture me anymore?" I asked eventually, ready to bolt at a moments notice.


    Loki looked up at me in visible concern, seeming to notice the distress I was suddenly in and he whispered a quiet "Zor?" to me.


    I ignored it, eyes too focused on the two across from me.


    "Nope. I got no interest in turning you in," Gold said resolutely. "I don''t think you deserve to lose your team¡­ I don''t think you should be locked up. I think you should keep training and getting stronger, so that when I beat you in a battle, it''ll be way satisfying."


    Crystal stepped up. "I¡­ saw the way you talked to Green and you protected her when you had no reason to. I don''t think you''re a bad person, Silvy¡­ if we tried to capture you here, you''d just escape¡­ how would Green feel about that? You care about her, right?"


    ¡­


    "Can''t trust. Can''t trust. Can''t trust."


    Before I could go scorched earth and deny everything they were about to say, a vine snaked around my hand and temporarily dissuaded me from making a terrible move.


    My heart beat started settling as I gazed at Gaia and she looked up at me with a patient expression, that made my flight or fight sense slowly go away.


    I could already tell what she was saying with just her gaze alone and finally, I took a deep breath that turned a bit shaky as she wrapped me up in a hug.


    Finally, I let my guard drop slightly and nodded to her.


    "You understand that you two are the only ones who know I''m a criminal, right?" I said eventually.


    "Let''s keep it that way!" Gold grinned cockily.


    Crystal nodded slowly, gazing at me with inscrutable eyes. "We may have had a terrible first meeting¡­ but that doesn''t have to define all of our meetings. I think you''re just misunderstood, Silvy."


    "¡­" I sighed in defeat. "It''s Silver. My name is Silver. Silvy is Green''s annoying ass nickname for me and she''s the only one I''m willing to let call me that."


    "Silver¡­" Gold tested the name on his lips and nodded.


    "I''m Crystal and this is Gold, we grew up together," Crystal smiled patiently. "We''ve been neighbors our whole life."


    "Cute," I said flatly, feeling unexpectedly drained.


    I just wanted to sleep until the boat ride.


    If the two noticed my less than stellar personality, they didn''t mention it.


    "I honestly wasn''t expecting our first meeting to go that well," Gold shrugged truthfully.


    "It''s because I ran into him alone," Crystal said. "If you were here from the start, I don''t think it would have gone this well."


    I grunted, watching as Gaia happily trotted up to Quilava and Croconaw. The Croconaw was still shooting me the evil eye, but focused more on his found friend.


    "So what do you want from me?" I asked bluntly.


    The two flinched, caught off guard by straightforward attitude.


    "We don''t want anything from you¡­ we just don''t want you to deal with Team Rocket alone," Crystal explained.


    "It''s not like you''re traveling with me. How do you think you''re going to prevent that?" I retorted, beckoning Gaia over so that we could prepare to leave.


    "...We need to put more thought into this. I wasn''t expecting our plans to change so drastically," Crystal said a bit sheepishly. "I thought you''d be a lot more unreasonable."


    "Can''t say I blame you," I muttered, beginning the trek back to Vermilion.


    "You''re not the type to ever ask for help¡­ so I''ll never offer it," Gold said bluntly. "If I think you need help though, I''m going to help you. Whether you like it or not."


    I twitched at that. "You aren''t strong enough to be worrying about my safety. Worry about your own," I scoffed.


    "Where are you going?" Crystal asked curiously.


    "Back to Green. She''ll start to worry if I''m gone too long," I said truthfully.


    "You don''t wanna battle?" Gold frowned.


    "No, we agreed to take it easy until the boat ride. You''ll lose anyways and I''m tired," I replied simply.


    Gold gained a tick at that. "I''ve gotten way stronger, asshole! This battle will be different!"


    "I doubt it. Besides, I''d rather battle Crystal."


    Crystal perked up at that. "Me? Why?"


    I shrugged. "I didn''t give you enough credit."


    She flushed at that. "You''re a lot less¡­ of an ass. You''ve changed a lot."


    "Shut the fuck up. Why are you following me?"


    Crystal sweatdropped.


    "We''re going the same way, might as well!" Gold grinned leisurely.


    "Did you say you''re waiting for the boat ride? The S.S Anne?" Crystal asked curiously.


    I eyed them. "Yeah."


    "We are too!" Gold grinned. "Not bad! You really are getting stronger!"


    I snorted. "I should be saying that to you."


    As they badgered me on the way back to Vermilion, I acknowledged the swell of relief in my chest.


    I¡­ was thankful that I didn''t have to leave anyone behind. I wouldn''t lie to myself and deny that¡­ If I had to leave behind Jasmine and even Green¡­ it would suck.


    They were my friends and I don''t think I ever had friends before because¡­ it felt really nice to have them.


    So yeah, I wouldn''t look a gift horse in the mouth and tell these two to fuck off¡­ because I wasn''t that stupid (I ignored the fact that for a moment, I was about to be that stupid). I understand that Gold and Crystal had the most potential to screw my life over¡­


    So to know that they had no intentions of reporting me¡­


    Huh, guess being a hero wasn''t all that terrible if these two were indication. Bleeding hearts of gold did a lot for me¡­


    Guess keeping these two on my good side was imperative.


    What a thought.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    ¡­


    Green removed herself from the tree that was hiding her from Silver, Gold and Crystal''s line of sight with an expressionless face.


    She had followed him for one reason and one reason only...


    Because during their conversation, he had called her Green while directly speaking to her. Silvy only called her Green when he was talking to someone else... not her.


    It meant one thing... Silver was too distressed to consciously mess with her. When he wasn''t consciously doing so, he more often than not referred to her as Green... but he was always conscious of that detail when speaking to her...


    So she followed him and what she heard was...


    Silvy was¡­ Silvy was a criminal. Silvy was the one who stole Gaia from Elm''s lab¡­ and Silvy was the one who hurt him really badly.


    The shock of the situation caught up to her and she gripped her dress with a distraught expression.


    He lied to her!


    Silvy¡­ told her that he found Gaia in the wild but he lied! H-He stole her and sent someone to the hospital while he was at it¡­


    Green didn''t even realize the tears welling in her eyes¡­


    Silvy¡­ Silver lied to her.


    "He lied to me! How could he lie to me? I-I thought we were friends!" Green wailed in despair.


    She lost the power to support herself and collapsed, tears falling freely as she let out a sob.


    Green was just a fool. A dumb fool! She put her trust in someone that clearly didn''t want to be trusted and she was too blind to see that!


    H-How could Silver do this to her?! Leading her on and making her think that they could actually be f-friends?! He was...


    That was so cruel of him! Why would he pretend to care about what she had to say? Was he just entertaining a dumb girl that he was eventually going to abandon...?


    She hated him... she hated Silver. She hated him because he was a liar and he tricked her a-and he made her actually believe that they were friends.


    Green let out another sharp wail and curled into herself, prompting Vee to finally take action.


    Vee looked at the heartbroken Green in sorrow.


    "Vee," he said patiently, nudging his head against her belly.


    What?


    Green sniffed and gazed at her first pokemon with those wide teary eyes.


    "Eev, eev vee," Vee explained to her with a frown.


    "Silver''s just trying to protect me?" Green asked quietly, trying her best to wipe the tears and failing miserably.


    Vee nodded and her lips wobbled again.


    "Protect me...? He was... protecting me?" she said unsuredly, trying to calm down her errant emotions to think about it more.


    R-Right¡­ when Crystal asked why he wanted her gone so badly¡­ Silvy said it was because Green had nothing to do with this and that she was innocent¡­


    "He was trying to stop me from being an unknowing accomplice," Green said in realization, using her dress to wipe her face.


    If it was ever revealed that he was a thief... of course another prime suspect would be his traveling companion!


    T-That''s why he didn''t want to travel with her at first¡­ that''s why he kept pushing her away! In his own awkward way... Silver was trying to make sure Green didn''t incriminate herself without revealing his status as a criminal...


    The only reason he conceded in letting her travel with him¡­ was because she mentioned that she was being targeted by Team Rocket¡­


    Just like he was.


    Green wiped her tears hastily as more and more revelations were revealed to her from all the dots she began suddenly connecting.


    Now that she was no longer heartbroken at the revelation that Silvy had been lying¡­ Green was able to delve deeper into the contents of that conversation¡­


    No, she was able to delve into anything involving Silver that didn''t make much sense to her before and when she did, it caused her to come to a horrible realization.


    Silvy was being targeted by Team Rocket¡­ because he was in Team Rocket.


    And if she was right about Silvy being in Team Rocket¡­ then that meant one thing.


    Giovanni was in Team Rocket too.


    Not only was Silver in Team Rocket and trying to get out of it¡­ Giovanni himself was trying to make sure that didn''t happen.


    Silver wasn''t just being targeted by Team Rocket¡­ he was being targeted by the strongest gym leader in the region!


    Green felt a strong vertigo hit her at that and she collapsed on her butt once more, an intense look of concern crossing her features.


    Giovanni was in Team Rocket? Was that true...? How could she be so sure of that?


    ...Silver was sponsored by the Viridian Gym... more specifically Giovanni. That''s what Lance had said.


    Everything made sense now. Silvy knew about the mole in the League¡­ but he didn''t reveal it because it would have put him in danger too... because he was sponsored by the mole.


    And tied with the fact that he took Gaia to protect himself... he was assuming that it would be a giant snowball effect if they even figured one thing out.


    "He has expectations for me that I have no interest in following. Unfortunately, he doesn''t take no for an answer and that really pisses me off."


    "I don''t care. At least he has a good family to complain about. It really pisses me off seeing someone get gifted everything they could ask for and they''re still unsatisfied with their life. What a sickening mindset."


    "Oh Silvy¡­" Green teared up again, holding her heart as she finally began to understand things about him that he probably didn''t want anyone to know.


    Even after being forced into Team Rocket¡­ her companion was still so much better than he gave himself credit for.


    He stole Gaia, yet she loved him with all her heart, to the point where she readily lied with him about where he found her¡­


    He was so kind to his team and even though his words came off harsh, there was also advice layered deep within it if you just peeled off the prickly shell that he was using as a defense mechanism.


    Even now, he was clearly trying to deal with Team Rocket alone and didn''t want to drag her into it¡­ only relenting because she was being targeted by them too¡­


    Silvy was¡­


    "He''s such a good friend!" Green sobbed, curling into herself.


    She couldn''t believe she had been about to forsake him! Silver was her friend and he actually cared for her!


    He was so nice to his team and they all loved him and damnit, Green did too!


    "You''re right Vee!" Green exclaimed, wiping her eyes with a grin of determination. "We''re gonna get as strong as possible and we''re gonna help Silvy deal with Team Rocket¡­ for now, we''ll keep this to ourselves! We''ll talk to him after the boat ride."


    Vee nodded, relieved that she was out of her state of hysteria.


    Green looked properly fired up, a genuine goal in her head that wasn''t just becoming the strongest trainer alive.


    "Silvy is Green''s annoying ass nickname for me and she''s the only one I''m willing to let call me that."


    ...Silvy was her friend. He really did think she was his friend so just like how he was protecting her¡­ Green would protect him too.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "So you guys heard that right?" Vee asked.


    Saury grunted. "Yeah. "


    "What are we to do?" Lapee frowned in contemplation.


    Larvee had a confused expression on her face. "What''s going on? Why are we so serious?"


    Togee sighed solemnly. "We''re talking about how we''re going to murder that shitfaced¡ª I mean Silver. Since we''re all so close to him, I can reluctantly be the one who kills him."


    Larvee gained an expression of horror. "We''re killing Silver?! But why?! He gives me snackies!"


    "It needs to be done. He made Leaf cry," Togee said sagely.


    The Togepi let out yelp of terror, as a vine snaked around him warningly.


    "Enough of that," Saury said calmly. "We are not killing Silver. We are not killing anyone."


    The Ivysaur gazed at them all, effortlessly taking command of the conversation.


    "Based on what we heard, Silver is being targeted by that Team Rocket just like we are. It''s to our benefit to continue working with him," Saury informed them.


    Vee nodded in agreement, clambering atop Lapee''s shell with a sigh. "Silver''s not a bad guy. He''s definitely not," the Eevee said surely.


    Lapee hummed, agreeing with them both. "He''s rough around the edges but Silver''s been nothing but kind to us and Green loves being around him. I don''t have any complaints if we continue as normal."


    "We have no reason to consider him our enemy. I''ve kept an eye on him and he''s earned my trust," Saury grunted.


    "Yay! I don''t wanna kill Silvy," Larvee beamed. "He''s nice, pats me and gives me snacks and he has Freyja too!"


    "I agree. I quite like Silver," Lapee smiled.


    Togee groaned in annoyance, all pretenses dropped as he gloomily glared at nothing. "Bummer. I was hoping we could kill him and that dragon of his in his sleep."


    "Togee," Lapee chided gently.


    "That would explain Togee''s less than stellar personality," Vee sighed lazily.


    Togee perked up at that. "What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously.


    Saury glanced over at the Togepi. "You were Silver''s egg. Green hatched you by mistake."


    Vee resisted the urge to snicker, as a look of horror crossed Togee''s features. "You act just like him. How could you not tell?"


    Togee had a look of horror on his face and Green''s team was beginning to realize that the little baby really didn''t realize he was practically Silver in pokemon form.


    "Oh yeah!" Larvee said in realization. "Silvy''s basically your dad!"


    Even Saury was unable to stop the smile, at hearing Togee''s scream of anguish.

 Chaos Incarnate II

    I glared at my Pokegear, trying to burn it alive with my gaze alone.


    Why?


    Because it had two additional numbers on it.


    It didn''t take a genius to figure out who it was.


    Crystal insisted that we exchange numbers and I of course denied that heavily¡­


    But that damn Crystal said I already mentioned to Green that we were friends so it''d be suspicious if I didn''t at least have their numbers recorded.


    ...She was smart.


    My contactless phone, now had the numbers of a lot more people than I ever intended it to have and just about all of them were notable in some way.


    I sighed and pocketed my Pokegear, choosing not to dwell on it. Having two additional numbers was probably the best case scenario for me compared to what else could have happened to me.


    Well whatever. At least I didn''t have to leave to like Kalos or Galar or something. I wanted to go there without being forced and they probably had a while before whatever tragedy struck their region happened. I didn''t know what tragedy was gonna strike Galar but it didn''t take a genius to know that one was going to strike it.


    I had time.


    My gaze shifted to the door, as Green quietly opened and slunk into the room.


    She was surprisingly very quiet when she wanted to be. It was pretty jarring to know my hyperactive friend was stealthy ¡ª


    My eyes narrowed and I abruptly stood up.


    "You were crying," I said bluntly.


    "Shit!" Green froze at that, red rimmed eyes wide, as she gazed at me with a shocked expression.


    My eyes were narrowed suspiciously. It''s not like I was naturally curious but I hated having questions unanswered and this was a question that needed to be answered.


    Being confused was one thing I really disliked. The more in control I was, the more at ease I could be.


    "I thought my small bathroom break was good enough at hiding the fact that I was crying... but he''s really observant."


    I stared at Green, wondering what was going through her head and hummed.


    "What happened? Who made you cry?" I asked with furrowed brows.


    She shook her head rapidly. "No one made me cry, Silvy! I was just a little upset earlier but Vee helped me out."


    I gazed at her suspiciously but dropped it.


    If Green wanted to talk about it, she would talk about it. It was in her blood to get things off her chest so I saw no reason to pressure her about it¡­


    But since she had been crying...


    I rustled in my bag and pulled the skates out, before handing them over to Green.


    "Here. You can learn how to use them by watching me tomorrow," I said bluntly, dropping the green skates in her hand.


    Green gazed at the gifts with wide eyes, repeatedly looking at me and then the skates and then me again.


    "You got these¡­ for me?" she asked hesitantly.


    "You wanted to learn how to skate right?" I raised a brow.


    Green said nothing for a while, before she let out a squeal of happiness and tackled me to the ground.


    "!"


    "You''re the best, Silvy! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Green exclaimed happily, wrapping me in a tight hug.


    I grunted at the hug but just shook my head. "Whatever."


    "Do you think I can learn how to use them before the boat ride?"


    "It''s in a few days, so yeah. I got it down fairly easily so you should too."


    Green was actually more nimble than I was so something like skates would be right up her alley.


    "Okay! Let''s go practice tomorrow while our team does light training!"


    "Alright."


    "And don''t think I forgot that you called other people your friend before calling me that! From now on you''ll call me your friend too!"


    "Sure."


    "...Why did you concede so easily?"


    "I''ve gained the right amount of fulfillment from tormenting you on that subject. I can just torment you in other ways, Leaf."


    "WHY WON''T YOU JUST CALL ME GREEN?!"


    "See?"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The days had passed by quickly and the time for Green and I to board the S.S Anne had finally arrived.


    It had been largely uneventful. There had been one day where Green had gone to go watch Ash''s gym battle and she told me all about it.


    Apparently he had actually won on his first try, using his Pikachu and abusing the fact that it was faster than the Raichu by a good margin.


    ...First try? Didn''t he lose on his first try?


    Huh, well look at that. I guess our battle really did motivate him and he had Brock with him too. That was a gold mine right there.


    That reminded me of something else actually... it happened about a day ago.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Silvy they arrested that Damian guy."


    I snorted at that, turning towards the pajama wearing Green scrolling through her Pokegear.


    "Yeah?"


    Green nodded. "After I reported him, they kept silent about him but recently, a Nurse Joy reported that he abandoned his Charmander to die in the rain."


    I raised a brow. "Attempted murder on Pokemon is a serious offense. What was he thinking?"


    I didn''t think he''d be a huge dumbass in this world too. Pokemon were quite protected by the laws and doing something like abusing your own pokemon, was immediate grounds to being detained.


    To think that he''d still go through with it was awe inspiring. Good riddance.


    She scowled ferociously. "Yeah, he''s been completely stripped of his status as a trainer and thrown in jail for now. Thankfully, Ash was able to save the Charmander before its injuries got fatal."


    I mulled that over. "I guess it''s a good thing we reported him. That dude is a serious problem."


    She nodded. "I feel bad for that Charmander but... if Ash was able to save him then that''s the best we can ask for."


    "Did he catch it?" I asked boredly, reaching out and popping one of the Pokeblocks in my mouth.


    They were pretty good.


    "Yeah and get this! He has a Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle!" Green exclaimed with wide eyes. "Can you believe it? He missed a starter and ended up getting all three!"


    I snorted. "He''s lucky, just like you. Maybe that''s something all you Pallet kids have in common."


    Green spluttered angrily at that.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Besides that, I also hung out with Gold and Crystal on the day that Green went to go watch Surges battle. I wanted to find something to do and we happened to run into each other...


    Despite how awkward it was... that seemed to only be the case for me.


    Those two spoke to me like I wasn''t a criminal and that was the weirdest thing ever. How could they so confidently just put that past them?


    They were all just too earnest... I wasn''t used to such naive and innocence.


    I sighed at the thought of my counterparts and just ignored it for now, focusing on moving for two people.


    We had woken up damn early for this because I refused to be held up in a line and while I was fine¡­ Green was practically dead on her feet.


    I had to basically drag her to the ship and flash both our tickets to the amused, albeit stern, guy checking them, before we were allowed in.


    The S.S Anne was enormous, eclipsing every single ship I had been on since landing here and it was luxurious to boot!


    It dwarfed every ship there by a good amount and I have no doubt in my mind that the citizens who opted to board this ship, had a lot of money.


    I couldn''t stop the impressed look as I inspected it all. The design of the ship was calming, filling me with a type of serenity. The deck was made up of wood so smooth and clean, I could see my reflection on it. The furnishing looked so expensive, I thought I was in a 5 star hotel!


    The decor was dominated by marble and decor of famous water type pokemon.


    Blastoise, Dewgong, Lapras... they were crafted beautifully and I inspected each marble with an impressed eye.


    Even the exhausted Green made a noise of awe.


    "Wow," she awed, leaning on my shoulder for support. "It''s huge¡­ I can''t wait to explore it after I have the energy."


    I snorted at her, before one of the marbles caught my eye.


    "What''s this supposed to be?" I mused, gazing at the marble of a 4 legged creature. It seemed to be the most well worked on sculptures there but for the life of me, I couldn''t pinpoint what it was.


    Green perked up lazily, lifting her head off my shoulder.


    "Oh... I think that''s a sculpting of one of the three legendary guardians of the Johto region, Suicune," Green mused, scrutinizing it with a gaze.


    I tilted my head at that.


    "This was Suicune?" I asked incredulously.


    No the hell it wasn''t. I knew how Suicune looked and while this creature was 4 legged much like the water beast, it was missing a lot of details.


    There were no diamond shaped markings, no crest on its head and most notably, no billowing cloak either.


    I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Suicune. Right."


    "It''s not like anyone knows how Suicune looks," Green rolled her eyes, sinking back onto my shoulder.


    Oh... that actually made a lot of sense. I knew how Suicune looked but it was still a legendary and legendaries were impossibly rare to spot.


    So did that mean I was the only person who knew how a majority of legends looked?


    I rolled my eyes. "Alright idiot. Let''s go find your room. You''re about to start drooling on my shoulder."


    Likely because of the close proximity of when we beat Surge, Green and I had rooms right next to each other so when I eventually found hers, I dumped the half asleep girl on the bed and made my way to my room in a just a few seconds.


    "G''night Silvy," she yawned happily.


    "Night," I grunted, quietly shutting her door and letting her sleep in peace.


    I could already tell from dropping off Green, but the rooms were insanely nice. They were fully furnished, with expensive looking furniture and I whistled at the luxury of it all. They really didn''t hold back at all on how to design these ships.


    How the hell could they afford to make not only a ship like this, but one that could fit all these people?


    It was kind of nuts really. Just allowing people onto a ship like this for free just because they won a gym battle... trainers sure were valued.


    I released my team into the spacious room and let out a tired sigh.


    "We''re on the ship now and for once¡­ I''ll actually be exploring it," I informed them all, taking a seat on the bed and grunting as I practically sunk into it.


    "I woke up a bit too early today, so I''ll get some rest because Green is probably going to drag me around everywhere and I need the energy for that," I sighed, falling back.


    My team watched my body slowly disappear into the mattress, before Gaia cheered and leapt onto the bed as well.


    "The beds big enough. If you all wanna sleep with me feel free," I yawned, shutting my eyes to catch up on sleep.


    To the surprise of absolutely no one, I was almost immediately swamped by my entire team besides of course, Metang.


    I adjusted as best as I could, until we were all in a fairly comfortable spot and I snorted.


    "Ares, Freyja¡­ I swear to all that is holy if you''re arguing wakes me up, there will be hell to pay," I said blandly.


    Ares thought about protesting but she was very tired herself.


    "Gon," she replied eventually.


    "Bas," Freyja nodded.


    Loki and Metang were the only members, besides me, on our team who could properly function in the morning. The rest were not morning pokemon at all and Gaia in particular, threw some of the biggest fits if you woke her up early¡­


    Gaia was already asleep, burrowing into me with a content smile.


    Loki was right above his head, curling up and dozing.


    Ares stared jealously at Freyja resting on his midsection and growled at seeing the smug smile she was shot.


    She growled quietly at the Feebas and I rolled my eyes as she seemed to mutter something before sliding to my other side.


    Her complaints immediately died as my hand instinctively began patting her and Ares fell asleep in bliss.


    Metang''s eyes flashed, as they gazed at the pile and the steel type resisted the urge to do something as uncouth as snorting.


    "Make sure you get enough sleep, Metang. Proper rest is necessary for a healthy body. Don''t overwork yourself."


    "With how often you nag me, Blight, I don''t even need to utilize my photographic memory to remember your orders."


    "Yeah yeah whatever you say. For someone who prides themselves at maintaining their emotions, you sure are sassy."


    "I do not know what you mean."


    I rolled my eyes and fell asleep.


    As I fell asleep, I did finally hear Metang let out the snort they had been holding back though.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    By the time Green inevitably woke up and dragged me out the room, the ship had been filled and we had already set sail.


    I had woken up fairly easily, refreshed from the nap, and I returned my team before following my companion out of the room.


    She was dragging us to the all you can eat buffet because she was hungry and since I was also hungry, I let her take charge.


    It''s not like I knew what to do on this ship anyways.


    As we headed there, I watched wide groups of people just mingling about, conversing with each other about every little thing.


    It... was kinda disgusting. I hated being around large groups of people.


    I took my focus off the people and stared instead out at the sea, letting out a sigh at the great expanse of water.


    I could still see Vermillion from here but as time passed, it would just fade more and more into the distance, leaving just the sea.


    "There''s a big tourney happening on the ship, Silvy!" Green beamed, biting into a waffle with a delighted hum.


    "Yeah?" I said in disinterest, slowly eating my scrambled eggs.


    Green nodded excitedly. "Don''t be so uninterested! It''s being split into 3 groups!"


    That made me perk up slightly.


    She grinned victoriously. "Yeah! It''s being separated by amount of gym badges! One through four, five through seven and then eight!"


    One through four you say¡­


    "Now I''m a little interested," I admitted.


    That would be easy. I can confidently say I was better than any trainer with four badges¡­


    Green was too¡­


    "You''re joining the tournament?" a voice asked.


    I scowled and Green lit up.


    "Crystal!" Green beamed. "And you must be Gold!"


    Gold and Crystal both smiled at her, plates of breakfast in their hands as well.


    "Hi, Green," Crystal greeted. "Yes. This is my best friend, Gold."


    Gold grinned cockily at that. "I hear your Oak''s best trainer!"


    A gleam entered her eyes at that. "I definitely am! Are you joining the tournament too?" Green asked, beckoning them to join us.


    I glared at her and she effortlessly ignored it.


    The 4 seat booth (Green wanted to grab a two seater but who the hell had time for that?) was quickly filled, as Crystal sat next to me with a smile.


    Gold took a seat right next to Green and the two immediately began shooting into conversation like the battle freaks I knew Green was¡­ and the battle freak I knew Gold probably was.


    "It''s like looking at two Gold''s," Crystal sighed fondly, digging into her plate of eggs, pancakes and sausage with surprising daintiness.


    "Nice way of saying two dumbasses," I grunted, dropping a sausage each in Loki and Ares mouth.


    Crystal gazed at my two pokemon in blatant interest, giggling at my words.


    I watched in some interest as she released that Croconaw of hers and a Growlithe, occasionally dropping scraps of her plate in their mouths.


    Croconaw was glaring at me as per usual, up until that Misdreavus of hers materialized from thin air once more.


    She said something and Croconaw let out a begrudging scoff, that transformed into another glare as Ares made a warning noise.


    The Croconaw began sizing up my fearless Bagon and the two began growling at each other, before Loki and Misdreavus intervened and got the two away from each other.


    Crystal watched the interaction with exasperation in her eyes before thanking her Misdreavus.


    The ghost type nodded, clearly used to this before it noticed my gaze and immediately shrunk away from me.


    I frowned and mulled it over.


    "What''s the deal with your Misdreavus?" I eventually asked.


    Crystal pursed her lips at that. "I''m not sure. Misteree doesn''t normally act like this," she said in confusion.


    Misteree in question, gazed at me and simply shook its head, before vanishing from sight.


    "Weird," Crystal muttered.


    I rolled my eyes. "Don''t think too hard about it. I know I''m not," I shrugged.


    She nodded reluctantly. "So you''re planning on joining the tournament too?" Crystal asked curiously.


    I shrugged. "I''m thinking about it."


    She seemed surprised by my slight disinterest, tilting her head in confusion. "I heard there''s a huge prize for first place."


    Green, Gold and I all perked up fully at that.


    "A prize?" I mused, eyes glinting with actual interest now.


    "What is it?" Gold asked curiously.


    "I''m not sure," Crystal admitted with a slight frown. "All I know is that top 4 gets prizes."


    "First place will get the best prize¡­ so I just have to get first place!" Green beamed.


    "You think you''re getting first place with me joining? I''d like to see you try!" Gold grinned competitively.


    The two grinned at each other and I snorted, leaning back into my seat.


    "First place gets top prize¡­ guess I have to win," I muttered to myself.


    So I would need to beat a lot of impressive trainers in order to get my prize...


    Not bad at all. I could probably do that.


    Crystal saw the dangerous gleam in my eyes and rightfully scooted away.


    "All of them are freaks," she sighed.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Ash! You didn''t oversleep!" Green cheered happily.


    Ash perked up at that and a grin made its way to his face.


    "Brock woke me up on time! We had to wait in such a long line to get in!" he exclaimed.


    Green beamed. "Silvy made sure we got here early so we didn''t have to wait on a line. I was mad at him for waking me up but it was totally worth it!"


    I rolled my eyes at that. "You tried to bite me," I reminded her flatly.


    "You chopped me on the head!"


    "After you tried to bite me."


    "I''ll try it again!"


    "I know, this is your fourth time trying to do it."


    "Next time it''ll work!"


    Brock sweatdropped at the two violent companions, before gazing towards the two unknown trainers.


    "Who are these two?" the former gym leader asked.


    "Leeches who won''t stop following me," I retorted instantly, glaring at Crystal and Gold.


    I don''t know where the hell they got the idea that we were friends from but my group of two had turned into one of four and this was not how I expected it to go.


    "This is Gold and Crystal!" Green introduced with a grin. "They''re our friends! They''re from the Johto Region!"


    Crystal and Gold nodded, "It''s nice to meet you ¡ª"


    I zoned them all out and sighed, slinking away from the group quietly and deciding to go on a detour.


    That group was getting a little too big and attention grabby and that meant eyes on me and I didn''t want eyes on me right now.


    A region with Ash, Gold, Green and Crystal¡­


    What a disaster¡­


    They were talented and if they all chose to attack Team Rocket in the future, it would be great¡­


    But Team Rocket had Mewtwo and Mewtwo was not something that a bunch of kids would be able to handle¡­


    Hell I doubted the League could handle Mewtwo. That was mostly me going on theory, considering I didn''t yet know just how strong Mewtwo was but... something told me it was impossibly difficult to defeat.


    Normally I''d be fine letting them take the attention off of me and using them for my gains¡­ but there was a very real possibility they could die going after Team Rocket and like it or not, daddy dearest probably had no interest in killing me.


    "Hey Foggy Fortress. I don''t suppose you wanna help me more against a God and my evil dad huh?"


    Silence.


    Tch. Whatever. I was expecting to go at it alone anyways. Legendaries wanna harass me but as soon as I need their help, nowhere to be seen...


    They better hope I never get the means to harass them because if I did? Yeah good luck legends.


    "Oh, Silver! Where did you go?" Misty asked curiously, noticing my arrival. I noticed that there was a little Squirtle by her side and raised a brow at it.


    "The winner of the tournament gets an egg," I told them easily, scratching Loki''s head idly.


    They all blinked.


    "...How do you know that?" Crystal asked slowly.


    "I figured out," I said blandly, utterly uninterested. "The tournament is gonna be a 3 on 3. It starts tomorrow morning."


    Green yelped as I flicked her trainer id over to her.


    "I signed us both up already, Leaf. For the sake of finishing it in the span of one day, the tournament isn''t that big. I''d suggest signing up now if you wanna battle."


    Green balked at that, gazing at me and her id repeatedly, before patting down her dress in disbelief.


    "You¡­ are a sick sick person, Silvy," she said flatly, pocketing the id.


    "You scare me a little," Crystal admitted with wide eyes.


    I snorted. "I''m here to win. If any of you meet me, don''t be too sad."


    "Zor," Loki said to them apologetically.


    I looked at the fire in all of their eyes and smirked.


    Maybe this would be fun.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The S.S Anne was kind of fun when I decided to just enjoy the vacation aspect of it.


    At some point, Ash and his friends broke off from us (I wasn''t paying attention as to why) and so, we had been reduced back down to the group of 4 colors.


    It pretty funny that none of us pointed out that we were all named after a color but I wasn''t going to be the one to start that strange conversation.


    We walked aimlessly around the ship, me listening to Gold, Crystal and Green chat like they had been lifelong buddies.


    Three chatter machines. That''s what the hell they were.


    We weren''t on deck anymore, due to me growing tired of all the people there and when I made it known that I was about to go below deck, they unanimously decided to follow me.


    "Hey! I think we found the game room!" Gold grinned eagerly.


    Green''s eyes lit up and the idiot duo immediately rushed into the room.


    "It''s just us again," Crystal shook her head with a small smile.


    I sighed in exasperation and just walked into the room. "Not like we have anything better to do."


    As I made my way through the section of the ship that seemed dedicated to games, I took in all the sights.


    There were typical arcade games, fashioned and changed to fit into the thematic of this world... like a fighting game with a flurry of fighting types.


    "Gold loves this game," Crystal commented as we walked past it. "His favorite character is Poliwrath."


    I grunted. "And yours?" I asked, as we approached the rest of the group.


    "Hitmonchan!" She exclaimed.


    I mulled that over and nodded. "You don''t strike me as a person to like Hitmonchan. You look more like a Medicham enjoyer."


    "I''m pretty sure you just stereotyped me on purpose," Crystal sighed in exasperation.


    "Guilty as charged," I shrugged, perking up at hearing Green let out a frustrated shout.


    She was at a stall, one that I''d find at a carnival or fair.


    There were a bunch of marks up all in the shape of pokemon and some fake pokeballs to the side that Green was holding.


    "I can''t win!" Green complained, scowling slightly at the apologetic man on the other side.


    My eyes narrowed slightly at how unapologetic he actually was.


    "That''s cuz it''s a scam," Gold said, shrugging helplessly. "You''re not supposed to win em until you fork over a good amount of money."


    "Gold! Don''t say that out loud!" Crystal reprimanded as we approached the duo.


    I said nothing, watching as Green gazed longingly at a plush of a Clefairy and I tilted my head.


    "Lemme try," I said suddenly, walking up to the stand with a neutral expression.


    I paid the fee and accepted the pokeballs, glancing at the game with a contemplative expression.


    Then, I tensed my arm up and began rapid firing each ball with extreme force, knocking down each target with expert aim before that dumbass hidden Murkrow could blow it off course.


    Hah, trying to trick a professional criminal was never going to work out well. I knew all the dirty tricks in the book.


    The owner of the stall gazed at me with a slack jaw and I stared at him with an innocent expression.


    "Give me the Clefairy," I demanded, holding out my hand.


    "H-Huh?! B-But," the man stammered, clearly confused by what he just saw.


    I guess a perk of being raised by Team Rocket is that I was practically a child soldier and so I was capable of physical feats that not many people my age were able to do. He clearly didn''t expect me to be capable of knocking down each one that quick but hey.


    He should just be glad I wasn''t cheating with Loki, now that would be fun.


    "The Clefairy. Now," I pressed, narrowing my eyes and glaring at him.


    "R-Right!" he conceded easily, spineless dork that he was. He placed the Clefairy plush in my hand and I rolled my eyes, before tossing it over to Green.


    She caught it and gazed at the plush with wide eyes, before she squealed happily.


    "Wow! Thank you Silvy!" she gushed, hugging me gleefully and then hugging her plush.


    I grunted. "It was nothing. Bad scams just piss me off," I told her.


    "You did that pretty easy," Gold mused. "How good are you at these games?"


    I shrugged. "Dunno. That one was just easy."


    There was a challenging gleam in my counterparts eyes and I raised a brow.


    "Wanna test that?" he challenged.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    What followed after Gold''s request, was a series of challenges between the 2 of us... that eventually transformed into the 4 of us.


    I discovered that the carnival games were very easy for me! If it required anything remotely physical, I was good at it.


    As a result, I completely dominated my little group in the stall games. Because I didn''t really care for any of the prizes, I just handed them off to Green (I ignored the fact that I may have given some to the ecstatic Crystal).


    I saw a little Steelix plush though that I got for Jasmine. She''d probably either love it, or already own it.


    Knowing her, she''d own it but love it because it was a gift.


    Despite dominating the fair games, I couldn''t really feel too good about that... because I got absolutely smashed in every single arcade game.


    It was honestly embarrassing how much better they were than me in them.


    "That''s that!" Gold grinned, watching as his Poliwrath flexed in victory on the screen.


    "..." I scowled in annoyance at the prone body of the Blaziken that I was using.


    Gold was the best at this game and I was the worst and it showed in the fact that I barely dented his hp bar.


    "You''re good at all the carnival games but man you gotta up your game in arcade!"


    My scowl deepened. "It''s not like I ever played a video game. Of course I suck at them," I replied with a grunt, putting the controller down before I could smash it.


    I stood up. "Someone else can take my spot. I''ll just watch," I decided.


    Stealing a portable video game was now high on my list. I refused to let this embarrassment happen again.


    I paused, noticing that the silence was carrying on and gazed at my group.


    "What?" I grunted, frowning at how awkward the air suddenly was.


    "...Sorry bout that," Gold said slowly. "We didn''t realize you didn''t play."


    "Yeah... sorry Silvy," Green said guiltily.


    I blinked at them before an annoyed feeling coursed through me. "Stop fucking apologizing. When did I tell you to apologize?" I scowled.


    Who cared if I didn''t play? If I was really offended by it, then I would have mentioned it the first time I got stomped in one of the arcade games.


    "We''ve been in here long enough," Crystal suddenly said. "We should go get dinner early before it gets too packed."


    Green nodded eagerly. "Good idea! If it gets too crowded Silvy might choose to go hungry!"


    She yelped in pain as I effortlessly chopped her head and I sneered at her.


    "C''mon then. Let''s go then," I decided. "Afterwards, I''m retreating to my room. I''ve been too social today."


    "You''re a social guy," Gold said dryly.


    "And you''re shorter than me," I replied just as dryly, looking at the boy that I barely inched out.


    Before he could reply, I was already off and I heard a rush of footsteps, followed by complaints from my counterpart rival.


    Honestly, it was just too easy.


    "H-Hey wait up! I have too many plushies!" Green complained.


    Crystal pinched her nose, holding her smaller amount of plushies with a sigh.


    "If you can catch up to me, I''ll put it in my bag."


    "Y-You''re such a dick, Silvy! I can tell you''re speeding up!"


    "I''m the only one with the foresight to have brought my bag. Get to running."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I calmly adjusted my black gloves and fiddled a bit with my hair, before ultimately deciding to leave it like this.


    "Maybe I''ll change it''s style up another time," I mused, running a hand through it in contemplation.


    The time of the tournament was here and I was ready to win it all.


    Green and I had separated before the tournament to prepare so I was in my room making those final preparations.


    I¡­ enjoyed it a little. We had some fun but now it was time for me to win it all.


    I slipped on my long sleeved black jacket with red trims, dark trousers, some black boots and black gloves.


    "Time to win," I muttered to myself, returning Loki to his ball.


    It made sense that the tournament for 3 badges only went up to 3 on 3, considering we were still relatively new trainers¡­


    It was the most fair way to regulate these battles. Some trainers might not have 6 and it also saved time¡­ not to mention, swapping wasn''t allowed which added to the saving time aspect.


    But I really wish it wasn''t 3 on 3.


    Why?


    Because the less pokemon used, the more favorable a match went towards Green.


    Naturally, the more pokemon used, the more favorable a match went towards me.


    Green and I did friendly spars with each other a lot and it was pretty obvious that my team was a lot more balanced than hers.


    Two of her pokemon were practically unusable right now, though Larvee could still be used against weaker opponents.


    As time passed, our teams would eventually balance out and we''d become equally dangerous at 6 pokemon by the time we became formidable but for now, the amount we used matter.


    That didn''t mean I was discounting Gold and Crystal either¡­ nor was I discounting the trainers with 4 badges¡­ but I was going to crush them all and if I wanted to win it all, that meant I was eventually going to run into Green.


    No biggie. I just needed to beat her.


    The tournament wasn''t that big, so I just needed to win 3 matches to win it all.


    Easy.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I calmly took in the arena underdeck I was currently in, watching as people in the crowd cheered at the festivities of this tournament.


    My tournament group of 1-4 badges was in the smallest arena and people were obviously more interested in the higher tier badges, so our crowd was the smallest.


    1-4 badges also had the least amount of trainers which was why my tournament was the quickest. Quite frankly, any trainer with Surges badge that had under 7 badges, was quite notable...


    Which was why I wasn''t surprised at all to see that my opponent was my rival counterpart at all.


    "Wow, first round!" Gold grinned eagerly, glaring at me with those molten eyes of his.


    "Unfortunate that you have to make such an early exit," I mused, mulling over who I was going to use in my match against him.


    "I could say the same to you! I wanted to meet one of you in the finals, but I guess it''ll be Green or Crys!" Gold exclaimed.


    "I already know who I''m meeting in the finals," I said with a shrug of my shoulders.


    "Welcome everyone! We''re about to witness the second battle of the first round! On the right side, hailing from Newbark Town of the Johto Region, we have Gold! And his opponent, hailing from Viridian City, Silver!"


    I tuned out the noise of the speaker and gained a look of concentration.


    "Trainer Gold! Please send out your pokemon first!" The referee requested.


    Gold wasted no time, clutching a Pokeball and grinning as he launched it.


    "Let''s go Ataro!" he exclaimed, sending out his very first pokemon.


    The Aipom cheered, soaking in the crowd''s attention much like his trainer did.


    I pursed my lips at that and nodded, tapping one of my balls.


    "Metang," I said eventually, sending out my choice.


    Gold''s eyes narrowed and I felt the curse he let out in his mind.


    Based on my team, Gold could probably tell that this was the worst matchup for his Aipom.


    "Astonish!" Gold shouted immediately.


    "Agility," I said immediately after. "Dodge it."


    Metang said nothing as they slipped into Agility, rocketing away from the little monkey.


    "Catch it and then Beat Up!" Gold ordered.


    Aipom began chasing after Metang with dark energy coursing through its body.


    But much to its confusion, it wasn''t making as much headway as it expected.


    Gold''s brows furrowed in confusion due to how fast Metang was moving... and I pressed my advantage.


    "Blitz it," I commanded.


    On a dime, Metang whirled around and smashed into Aipom, launching the little thing back with expert precision.


    "Ataro!" Gold shouted, still looking somewhat confused. "Use Agility! Catch it!"


    Ataro huffed and nodded, attempting to slip into Agility... only to fail completely.


    "Extrasensory," I instructed.


    Gold''s eyes widened in realization. "You sneaky bastard! That''s not Metang!" He shouted, right as the strong beam of energy crashed into Aipom.


    I smirked smugly. "The jig is up, Loki," I shrugged.


    Metang snickered, Illusion fading away to reveal Loki in all his glory, posing as my steel type.


    "Ugh, I should have known something was up when it was outspeeding Ataro!" Gold scowled furiously, watching as his Aipom shakily stood back up.


    Metang didn''t quite know Agility yet. He could tap into it very slightly, but it wasn''t nearly enough to be called Agility. Just a tiny speed boost is what it offered.


    I didn''t say anything that would incriminate Loki posing as Metang and I relied on the fact that Extrasensory being a psychic type move, would distract my opponent from the fact that Metang couldn''t learn it.


    Sadly, Gold wasn''t as stupid as I was betting on and he must have remembered our first battle very well.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Pity. Oh well, the damage was long done. Aipom was battered and Loki was fresh.


    That didn''t mean I''d underestimate him any further.


    "Snarl, don''t let it get close," I ordered.


    "Avoid it! Don''t try and use Agility either!" Gold barked, eyes frantically trying to think of a way to claw back from this.


    Ataro yelped and ran from the wave of dark energy.


    "Swift!"


    Then it turned on a dime and fired off stars of energy, getting a groan of annoyance out of me.


    Everything had a tracking move! I''m convinced!


    "Destroy them!" I barked in annoyance, watching as the stars careened towards Loki.


    Loki didn''t need to be told twice, he lunged away as dark energy began forming in his mouth and launched another Snarl, this one far more widespread to take out the stars that were locked onto him.


    "Quick Attack," I ordered.


    "Get away!" Gold barked.


    I watched with an impressed expression, as Ataro began booking it with speed that surpassed even Loki''s normal output.


    Now that I thought about it, Ataro was very agile. It was capable of practically dodging any long ranged ability, it was almost as good at dodging closed ranged and it was a freak at getting away...


    All of this was probably attributed to the fact that it had Run Away as its ability.


    "Pursuit," I grunted. "Don''t let it out your sight."


    Loki growled in affirmation and lunged forward at blistering speeds, tailing the speedy Aipom with increasing speed of its own.


    Much like how I imagine an encounter in the wild would go if a Zorua was hungry enough, Loki chased Aipom across the entire field with a vengeance, powered up by the relentless Pursuit that would ensure he reached his target eventually ¡ª


    "That''s it Ataro! Use Counter!"


    My eyes widened in shock at that but before I could even give the order to back off, Loki slammed right into Aipom.


    The dreadful force of the Pursuit, was only second to the devastating Counter and I couldn''t stop my mouth from opening as Aipom''s tail that doubled as a hand, curled into a fist and punted Loki, blasting him away from the surprise move.


    "Hah! That''s our style, yeah Ataro!" Gold grinned viciously. "Lure em in and hit em where it hurts!"


    Ataro let out a tired sigh and but his tail waved victoriously.


    I was still stunned, recalling Loki to his ball with pursed lips.


    A oneshot. Counter played perfectly into that Aipom''s playstyle of luring you in with its expert nimbleness.


    Seems like even someone like Gold had a bag of tricks up his sleeves...


    "Metang," I said coldly, ignoring the referee telling me to send out my next pokemon.


    The order for the match to begin only lasted for a split second, before Ataro was wrapped in a purple sheen and slammed into the wall.


    There was a brief silence, as Ataro was slowly peeled off the wall, right before a beam of red light returned him.


    Gold pursed his lips, gazing at the real Metang with a frown.


    "Explotaro! Let''s go!" Gold shouted, sending out his starter this time.


    The Quilava growled, flames exploding out of its head and butt. It gazed at me, before its flames exploded even more in a clear desire to defeat me.


    "Smokescreen!"


    "Useless," Metang and I both said in unison, even as the smoke began covering the field.


    Metang''s eyes began glowing purple and I was satisfied to hear the Quilava cry in pain.


    Gold sucked his teeth. "Ember!" he barked.


    "Outta the way," I grunted.


    Metang rumbled and floated aside, letting the flames sail harmlessly past him as his eyes flashed purple again.


    "Quick Attack Explotaro! Don''t let it use that psychic move on you again!"


    Quilava began dashing across the field, not giving Metang a solid chance to lock on and capture him in its psychic energy and I pursed my lips.


    "Bullet Punch."


    "Be careful. It''s going to use a fire move as soon as you close the distance. So use Iron Defense right before you connect," I grunted.


    "Noted."


    Metang effortlessly cut off Quilava''s path of action, charging the fire type with fists at the ready.


    "Flame Wheel! Collide with it!" Gold instructed, a hungry glimmer in his eyes for a win.


    Quilava matched it, rushing Metang with an urge to finish the battle quickly.


    Gold''s starter leapt into the air and began spinning, flames converging around him as the momentum carried it right into Metang.


    Who let out a grunt, body sheening with the effects of Iron Defense. The super effective move no doubt still hurt, but Iron Defense did it''s job well in shielding them from the full effects...


    "Zen Headbutt launch it up."


    ...And gave Metang ample time to bash its skull into the airborne Quilava''s underside.


    Metang followed my order to a T, launching the Quilava up higher into the air, before its eyes began glowing purple.


    "Shit! Explotaro use Incinerate!" Gold urged, eyes wide in a panic.


    Quilava struggled and opened its mouth, but before it could fire the attack, Metang forcefully smashed it into the ground...


    Explotaro let loose a pitiful noise, right before exploding in flames that tagged Metang due to their proximity.


    Then, Quilava slumped over and shut its eyes.


    "Flame Burst," I scowled in annoyance. "Are you alright?"


    Metang grunted, hiding their discomfort at being hit by 3 consecutive fire moves.


    I frowned at the burn marks on Metang''s steel body and deduced that he probably couldn''t take too many more of those.


    It was a good thing that Quilava was unconscious.


    Gold returned his starter with a frown and cupped his final pokeball.


    "Alright Larvitaro! Let''s wrap this up!"


    I paused in some shock at that.


    A Larvitar?! Gold had a Larvitar?!


    Wait a goddamn second...


    "You''ve got a lot of confidence! Reminds of a kid I fought a while ago! He had a rare pokemon too! A Larvitar of all things!"


    That stupid old bastard Flint was comparing me to Gold! What the hell?!


    Oh that solidified it. Didn''t give me a TM, sucked at battling and compared me to Gold.


    I was gonna trash him if we ever rematched. I''m sure of it.


    Metang rumbled, looking worse for wear but wanting to continue this battle.


    I grunted and stared evenly at the scowling Larvitar. "Confusion," I instructed.


    "Payback!" Gold immediately countered, eyes narrowed.


    Larvitar grunted, channeling the dark energy and immediately breaking the psychic hold on its body. The stubby little thing lumbered across the field and my eyes narrowed.


    "To the right, Iron Head when you see the chance," I said.


    When Larvitar eventually reached our position, Metang simply moved to the right like I said, floating out of its way and dodging the super effective dark type attack.


    Metang began glowing, ready to cave in little Larvitar with extreme efficiency.


    Larvitar let out a pained roar as it was nearly lifted off its feet but before it could get sent flying, the ground type clamped its teeth around one of Metang''s arms.


    "Yeah that''s right Larvitaro! Don''t let go!" Gold encouraged, as dark type energy began flooding its teeth.


    My eyes widened and I felt my connection to Metang grow weaker.


    "Bullet Punch! Keep hitting him until he lets go!" I demanded.


    Metang let out a roar, free right arm glowing with steel energy as it bashed its fist over and over into Larvitaro.


    Still, Larvitar did not let go. It winced in pain every single time it got hit but the little thing actually looked too angry to let go...


    "Payback! Knock it out quick!" Gold shouted.


    I clenched my jaw. "Iron Head! Drag it closer!"


    In a last ditch effort, Metang used the fact that Larvitar refused to let go and swung the trapped arm wildly towards its body, head glowing once more.


    At the same time, Larvitar''s body gained a black aura once more and the two crashed into each other.


    I watched with a stiff expression as Metang lost the ability to float, falling towards the ground to signify that it was unconscious.


    Meanwhile, Larvitar groaned and stood up, spitting out something and glaring fiercely at me.


    I returned Metang to their ball and mulled over it.


    This match was as good as over. I just needed to send out Gaia and wipe out this feisty Larvitar...


    But that was just the easy option wasn''t it?


    "Freyja," I said calmly, sending her out of the ball.


    I heard an audible gasp in the crowd that sounded suspiciously like Misty, as my Feebas took to the field.


    Besides that though, I felt the mass confusion in the crowd, none more confused than Larvitar.


    Gold''s eyes were narrowed, no doubt realizing that I could have used Gaia to end this match in an instant but I didn''t.


    Then, he shrugged and accepted it as it was.


    "Sandstorm!" Gold said instantly.


    I scowled in irritation, as Larvitar conjured up a vicious sandstorm that would soon become its innate ability once it evolved. It bashed against the psychic barriers and I turned my gaze towards the uncomfortable Freyja.


    "Rain Dance girl. Don''t let the sand bug you," I instructed gently.


    Freyja looked back at me and nodded nervously, summoning her customary rain cloud even in the face of the powerful sand.


    She didn''t get a chance to fully soak in the effects of the rain, before a plethora of rocks were launched her way.


    They pelted her with ruthless force and she squealed in pain.


    Larvitar burst onto the scene, swiftly following up on his Rock Slide with ruthless precision.


    "Icy Wind!" I shouted, watching as Freyja recoiled from the pain.


    She whined and shut her eyes, before blasting the lunging Larvitar right in the face with a cold gust of ice.


    It clung to his skin and he roared in annoyance, but before he could reach out and grab Freyja, he was blasted in the face by a Water Pulse that also helped launch her away.


    Larvitar howled as the water connected to his icy body, causing the cold to seep further into him and causing the ground type to convulse.


    "Larvitaro! Focus on my voice!" Gold shouted.


    The downside of using Sandstorm, was that the winds were quite loud in it and as a result, it could be slightly difficult to hear orders.


    When Larvitar was already screaming in rage, it made hearing very very hard.


    The ground type pawed furiously at his face and glared bloody murder at Freyja, then stamped the ground repeatedly, sending a wave of rocks and dust soaring towards Freyja.


    She swelled up and launched a Water Pulse at the ground again, but she wasn''t fast enough to dodge all of the Stomping Tantrum and some tagged her again.


    Freyja let out a cry of pain and I knew she couldn''t take more of this. She was my most frail pokemon by far, lacking even more durability than Loki so one more hit and she''d probably be unable to continue.


    "Freyja! To the right!" I shouted.


    She heeded my order and it was right in time, because a giant boulder flew through the air and tried to crash into her.


    Larvitar scowled as his Rock Tomb missed and he looked poised to pick up another boulder...


    Well, until a swift line of water slammed right into his chest.


    The Larvitar let out a confused rasp, before scalding hot water slammed into it next, getting it to scream in pain.


    I whistled in shock, not expecting that out of Freyja and the Larvitar tried to push itself up, before it lost all the power to do so and slumped over in defeat.


    "Larvitar is unable to battle! As a result, Gold has no usable pokemon! Silver is the winner!"


    "I-INCREDIBLE! WHAT A PERFORMANCE BETWEEN THESE TWO YOUNG TALENTED TRAINERS!" The announcer screamed, stunned by our display.


    "You used that Sniper Pulse and Scald without me telling you too," I mused slightly, picking up Freyja with a small smile.


    She needed the most guidance in battles. Loki was the most independent fighter.


    "Fee," Freyja mumbled tiredly.


    "The Larvitar reminded you of Ares so you felt an unexplainable rage take over?" I asked in amusement.


    She nodded and I chuckled genuinely at that.


    "Holy shit!" Gold exclaimed. "I was a little skeptical at you sending out a Feebas but she showed me," the boy explained with wide eyes.


    I turned towards him and mulled that over.


    "That was a good battle. You improved... but not as much as I expected," I told him.


    Gold didn''t look too upset that he lost, taking it well in stride and he simply put a hand to his backwards hat.


    "You''re saying you expected me to be better than that?" He asked in surprise. "Does that mean you actually don''t think I''m a terrible trainer?!"


    I rolled my eyes. "You have a lot to improve on. That Larvitar is a loose cannon. Get it under control before it becomes a Tyranitar... or hell even a Pupitar," I said harshly.


    "That sounds more like you," Gold said, nonplussed by my harsh words. "I found Larvitaro on the way to Viridian! He was a ways away from Mt. Silver but that didn''t stop him from attacking us! It was a tough battle but we won and I caught him... he''s still warming up to us but he loves battling!"


    Ah... so I was the direct reason Gold had a future Tyranitar now. He found it enroute to Kanto...


    Huh, did that mean I changed both him and Crystal''s future teams?


    "You''re tough but not unbeatable," Gold grunted, a fire in his eyes. "I knew it was right to make you my rival. Next time, it''ll be even closer."


    I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Good luck with that. I won''t be waiting for you to get stronger."


    He grinned competitively and despite myself, I felt a sort of fire get lit.


    Gold was good. Gold was a real good trainer...


    And I was better than him.


    That didn''t mean I was way better than him. He was just as talented and would only get better... so that meant I couldn''t slack off. If I slacked off even a little, he''d catch up and win.


    Why did the idea of staying ahead sound so exciting?


    Probably because as a rival, it''s my job to lose and now I''m winning against the one who ensured I remained second place.


    I wanted Gold to continue to get stronger... so that I could continuously beat him at his best.


    That sounded fun.


    "You have a twisted smile on your face right now," Gold told me.


    "Good," I replied, turning on a dime and walking off the battlefield.


    There should be a few more battles coming up. I guess I could watch them.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    One of the battles I opted to watch worth mentioning, was between Ash and Green.


    It was actually a little surprising because Ash actually put up a fight.


    The battle started off with Green sending out Larvee and in response, Ash had sent out his Pidgeotto.


    The ease at which Pidgeotto had dispatched of Larvee had even left me surprised. Ash knew exactly what to take advantage of and made the match look like what would happen if a Pidgeotto actually ran into a Larvesta in the wild.


    Gusts, Wing Attacks, using its speed to avoid the little bug... it was quite tactical of him.


    Judging by Green''s surprise, it was not something she expected either.


    But now that she was expecting it, well... the battle turned into what I kinda expected it to be.


    After Larvee fainted, Green had immediately sent out Lapee to take the reigns of the battle.


    Despite her best efforts, Pidgeotto was only able to leave a few marks on Lapee before a well timed Freeze-Dry, froze her wings and rendered it useless.


    With that problem dealt with, Ash returned Pidgeotto and after a few seconds of mulling it over, sent out a Bulbasaur.


    It was a tiny thing but it had a fierce glare that contrasted the stoniness of Saury.


    It fought fiercely too, with a sense of urgency that contrasted Saury''s ruthless precision.


    Razor Leafs, Vine Whips, Leech Seeds... it was throwing out a barrage of attacks...


    And none of them were capable of denting Lapee.


    I scowled at that. Lapee was a problem of a pokemon. I know I called Green a two pokemon team, but her Lapras was very strong too.


    And one of the most annoying things about it... was that Green literally took a page out of my book and taught it Life Dew so that it could stay in battle for a lot longer.


    It showed here perfectly. Lapee was a machine and even after Ash''s Bulbasaur exhausted its options, she just healed right back up and finished it off with an Ice Shard that was too fast for it to escape.


    Surprisingly though, Pikachu was almost able to take her out. The little rodent was far faster than it had been when I battled him and it managed to evade all of Lapee''s attacks, while peppering it with nonstop Thunderbolts.


    It was putting up a great assault... up until Lapee used Sing, then Life Dew... then Water Pulse and Freeze Dry.


    I don''t know if Green had a direction with Lapee before, but I''m pretty sure I gave her one.


    But still, Ash put up more of a fight than I was expecting. He actually looked like he was beginning to tap into that potential of his...


    Hah, did he really take the shit I said to heart? What was it with people wanting to prove me wrong?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "I saw your battle with Gold... it was really good!"


    I stood across from my opponent with a focused expression and Crystal smiled at me.


    She had battled a 4 badge trainer earlier in the first round. I don''t know the full specifics of it but I do know that she managed to win with one pokemon left.


    "I underestimated you a lot," I said truthfully, gauging her with a contemplative look. "I won''t do that in this battle."


    Her smile turned a bit challenging at that and I saw a glint enter her eyes. "Alright then. Show me what you''ve got!"


    "Welcome everyone to the semi finals! These two trainers battled amazing opponents to get here but only one can continue! On the right side, hailing from Newbark Town of the Johto Region, we have Crystal! And her opponent, hailing from Viridian City, Silver!"


    I paused, hearing the cheers and noting that the crowd was a lot bigger than before.


    Were the other tournaments done? That didn''t seem right...


    "The crowds been spreading information about 5 trainers who were really impressive in the 1-4 circuit!" Crystal shouted to me over the crowd. "The only thing as exciting than seeing a high stakes full badged match, is watching new trainers with potential on their journey!"


    I hummed at that and nodded. So Gold, Crystal, Green, Ash and I had managed to catch people''s attentions?


    Not bad. I guess paying attention to potential rising stars did sound fun for both the fans and the haters, in case they failed.


    "I don''t care about their attention," I said truthfully, clutching a ball as I was instructed to release first. "I''m just here to win and get my prizes."


    Crystal grinned at that. "Let''s make this a good battle! I won''t lie and say I haven''t been looking forward to this!"


    With that, I tossed my ball onto the field, releasing Gaia in all her glory.


    Crystal bit her lip, inspecting the Bayleef and trying to run through the odds that it was Loki in disguise.


    It filled me with satisfaction to see people so wary of me even before the match started.


    "Archeree! Let''s go!" She shouted, sending out her Growlithe.


    The puppy yipped and I grunted as I gazed at it.


    "Poison Powder," I began immediately.


    "Ember into the powder!" Crystal retaliated.


    Gaia shot out a dusky purple cloud of poison but before it could make it far, a flame was spat into it, causing an explosion to take place.


    My eyes widened as Gaia squealed in surprise, shooting back slightly as she was caught in it. There were burn marks on her and she began coughing, the ignited powder doing a number on her.


    "Flame Charge! Don''t let her recover!"


    "Reflect!" I barked back, filing away the dangers of using Poison Powder against a fire type.


    Growlithe shot across the field, flames covering its body.


    It leapt at Gaia, ignoring Crystal''s shouts of warning and crashed headfirst into a Reflect. The blue wall cracked at the impact, but it completely halted Growlithe''s momentum, allowing vines to immediately wrap around it.


    Gaia squeezed tight, glaring at Growlithe through the screen of Reflect before she yanked forward.


    I winced as she repeatedly began banging the Growlithe onto the blue wall over and over again.


    Crystal had a look of horror on her face at that, probably not expecting Gaia to just start ragdolling Growlithe against a Reflect like that but she recovered.


    "Archeree, Flame Wheel! You need to burn those vines!"


    "Drop him Gaia!"


    Gaia dropped him, vines getting slightly singed as the Growlithe erupted in flames. She growled in anger and without prompting, summoned razor sharp leaves that soared after the fire type.


    "Agility! Run!" Crystal urged.


    Growlithe began running for its life, even as the Magical Leaf chased him down.


    Crystal grit her teeth at the sight of Gaia beginning to glow and said, "Pivot! Run to her now with Flame Charge!"


    I narrowed my eyes as Growlithe immediately pivoted, rushing to Gaia''s position with a single-minded focus. Flames began surrounding its body and then it began circling Gaia at high speeds, not giving her a chance to react.


    She whirled to one side and Growlithe was on the other in an instant, choosing right then to attack and launching himself into Gaia''s side.


    "Bay!" Gaia squealed, tumbling to the ground as the fire type attack struck her.


    Growlithe whined as the leaves finally reached and cut into him but he ignored it, shaking his head and glaring at Gaia.


    "Don''t let up! Fire Fang, grab her neck!" Crystal ordered.


    He was on her like a rabid dog, fangs burning as he sunk his fangs into her.


    "Gaia!" I barked in concern as she squealed. "Listen to me girl... Use Poison Powder and then Synthesis!"


    Crystal''s eyes widened in horror.


    "Wait! Archeree get out of there ¡ª"


    She didn''t expect Gaia to follow that order without any hesitation. Crystal thought there would be some slight pause at that... but maybe now she was beginning to realize just how much Gaia loved me.


    A massive explosion ensued, as Gaia blew a poison powder directly into the flaming Growlithe. She squealed as burn marks covered her body and I promised myself that I was going to spoil her rotten for the next few days because of what I just did.


    But thankfully, she began glowing with the familiar energy of Synthesis that made our risky play worth it.


    It didn''t get her to mint condition but it was better than the state Growlithe was in.


    "Wrap this up! Body Slam!" I ordered, watching as Growlithe limped back to its feet.


    "Run away!" Crystal urged with a look of panic. "Get out of her way!"


    Growlithe tried to obey the order. The half conscious dog turned on a heel and attempted to run, only to be met with a Reflect that blocked off its path...


    It''s confusion didn''t last very long as Gaia slammed her full body into him that looked more like a Take Down than a Body Slam, pressing and crushing Growlithe into the solid blue wall.


    Gaia panted before letting out a triumphant battle cry that made the crowd go crazy.


    "Good job," I praised, watching as Crystal returned Growlithe to his ball with a look of surprise on her face.


    "You... made Gaia really scary," Crystal complimented with a somewhat disturbed expression.


    Both Gaia and I puffed up at that. "Thanks. She''s got a talent for it."


    "Bay!"


    The girl shook her head slightly, before a focused expression came back on and she immediately shot out the next pokemon.


    "Misteree, let''s go!" she shouted with a glare.


    I grunted as the Misdreavus stared at us. She tucked away her wariness for me and instead fully focused on the panting Gaia.


    "Magical Leaf," I ordered, wasting no time at all.


    Gaia agreed with the sentiment because the leaves were already flying after the Misdreavus with expert precision.


    "Blow them away with Ominous Wind! Then Shadow Sneak!"


    Misdreavus let out a cry, summoning a cyclone of purplish wind that crashed into the leaves, ripping the psychic properties out of it and making them clatter uselessly to the ground.


    Then, she vanished from Gaia''s sight, putting us both on alert.


    We didn''t have to wait for long, because the Misdreavus popped out of the shadows directly behind Gaia with a sinister gleam in her eyes.


    "Hex! She''s burned!"


    My eyes widened in shock, as purple energy surrounded both Misdreavus and Gaia.


    Misdreavus'' eyes began glowing and then Gaia let out a shriek of agony, as she began to get assaulted from all angles leaving her no room to escape. The purple energy surrounded her and tormented her with force that didn''t give her much chance at all to fight back.


    A beam of light returned her immediately and I stared at the spot she was at in shock.


    Ah, so that''s why Crystal was a strong trainer... Okay then.


    Noted.


    "Loki," I said with a frown.


    Misdreavus and Loki stared off and before any orders were given, they were off.


    Misdreavus immediately dipped into the shadows but Loki rocketed forward, a black trail of energy trailing him as he seemed to chase something that wasn''t there.


    Right before he reached his target, Misdreavus popped out and let loose a shrill shriek that cause him to freeze up.


    Then, she summoned an orb that she shot directly at Loki, who opened his mouth and let loose a Snarl.


    The Confuse Ray was instantly destroyed by the dark energy and Loki launched another Snarl, this time targeting Misdreavus who yelped in a panic and dashed away.


    "Will-O-Wisp!" Crystal shouted.


    "Don''t let her!" I replied.


    Misdreavus began conjuring up mystical flames filled with energy that was more ghost than fire but right before she fired them off, Zorua began mocking her.


    A look of annoyance crossed her features, as the dark energies unknowingly washed over the ghost type and she banished the flames in her anger, before rushing Loki with a vengeance.


    "Misteree no, wait!" Crystal shouted but it was too late.


    The ghost had already fallen for the provocation and Loki watched with a victorious glint as she vanished into the shadows, only to appear directly behind him.


    Right as Misdreavus lunged, Loki lifted himself on his hind legs and slammed downwards, erupting in a dome of crimson energy that caught the Misdreavus by surprise.


    "Dreavus!" Misdreavus shouted, as the Night Daze consumed her.


    I rolled my eyes. Loki was upset about the battle with Aipom so he did more than was necessary. We didn''t have Night Daze mastered yet so it was still a massive drain of energy.


    But it got the job done, that''s for sure.


    Crystal returned Misdreavus to her ball with a surprised frown.


    "Misteree is really hard to rile up. Taunt is effective," she muttered. "We''ll have to work on that. She''s gonna be embarrassed to have lost in such a manner."


    I snorted and watched in interest as she released her final pokemon.


    Croconaw let out a roar at his arrival, that got louder as he realized just who his opponent was.


    I gazed at the Water type with a tilted head, before nodding to myself.


    Loki turned towards me and beckoned towards my belt and I snorted.


    "So you remember that too huh? No complaints?" I asked curiously.


    "Zor," he said with a shake of his head, allowing me to return him to the ball.


    "Alright then," I nodded with a smirk. "C''mon then girl, looks like you''re getting that battle you wanted."


    Ares let out a roar on her arrival, that only grew more in intensity as she saw that her opponent was that Croconaw who really liked giving me the death eye.


    According to Metang, Ares saw me as her vassal... and as such any slight on me was a personal slight on her.


    That was pretty damn adorable.


    "Dragon Dance!" Both Crystal and I shouted at the same time.


    Both our eyes went wide at the order but our pokemon followed it without hesitation.


    "Water Gun!" Crystal shouted.


    "Rage! Absorb it!" I retorted. "Afterwards Dragon Breath!"


    The Water Gun splashed uselessly on Ares, just fueling her more as Rage took effect and she opened her mouth, letting loose a giant Dragon Breath that careened towards the Croconaw.


    "Aqua Jet! Get away!" Crystal ordered.


    Croconaw grunted, water converging around him as he launched himself out of the way of the Aqua Jet.


    "Now get close and use Bite!"


    Still with the watery aura around him, Croconaw rushed towards Ares with a hungry glint.


    He opened his mouth, jaws at the bit to clamp around the smaller pokemon ¡ª


    "Shut its mouth with a headbutt, then Dragon Breath."


    ¡ªAnd promptly regretted it as Ares viciously swung upwards with her head, forcefully shut its mouth.


    Then, a Dragon Breath hit it directly in the midsection and launched it away.


    "Bite, don''t let it get too far," I ordered with narrowed eyes.


    Ares rushed forward, powered by her Dragon Dance.


    "Ice Fang!" Crystal ordered.


    My eyes widened as Croconaw lunged forward, teeth glowing with icy energy.


    He growled furiously as Ares clamped onto him and it was then I noticed that there was a familiar red tint in its eyes.


    Rage?! This thing also had Rage?!


    As Croconaw ignored the pain of being bit, his own sharp fangs clamped ruthlessly onto Ares, making her cry out as the super effective attack hit her.


    Croconaw practically ripped her off of him and began furiously shaking his head, Ares in his mouth the whole while.


    "Dragon Breath!" I shouted in concern, watching as she struggled weakly.


    Ares heard my order and began charging a Dragon Breath that Croconaw took notice of.


    Before she could fire it, Croconaw launched her away, disrupting the attack.


    Ares rolled along the floor and I frowned as I watched her shakily pull herself up.


    She was panting and as if sensing my hesitation, she turned around to face me...


    With a smile.


    My psychotic Bagon was smiling in joy despite the weakness in her body and the fact that she just got ragdolled by a Croconaw.


    Despite all that, she was still enjoying this battle.


    And it was all made clear to me as she began glowing white.


    My mouth opened in shock at that and I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn''t seeing things.


    Nope, Ares was glowing white and going through a metamorphosis right before my eyes.


    Her shape turned into that of a sphere, reminded me of a pupa as she turned quadrupedal before my very eyes. Her helmet seemed to have changed, transforming to cover her whole body and I watched grey legs begin protruding out of the shell.


    I contemplated wiping the stupid grin off my face, but as two big yellow eyes gazed at me, reflecting the eagerness in my smile I let out a laugh.


    "Look at you girl!" I exclaimed. "What the hell?! I didn''t even know you were close to evolution!"


    "Shelgon," Ares rumbled, voice significantly deeper.


    The Shelgon before me looked magnificent... actually...


    Hold on.


    "Ares... why the hell are you so big?" I asked in confusion, scratching my head as I gazed at my Shelgon.


    Shelgon while quite heavy, weren''t the tallest pokemon around. The average one was about 3, almost 4, feet tall.


    Ares looked like a solid 4 - 5. No seriously, why the hell was she so big?


    I scratched my head in confusion and just shrugged.


    We''d figure it out later.


    Evidently, Ares didn''t care nearly as much as I did and just turned towards Croconaw and Crystal.


    "Well, this isn''t what I was expecting," Crystal said in surprise.


    "You and me both," I shrugged truthfully. "...Ares, use Dragon Breath."


    Crystal spluttered at that, eyes going wide as I abruptly ended the temporary lull of the battle.


    "Aqua Jet into Ice Fang!" she shouted, watching in shock as a gargantuan Dragon Breath left Ares mouth.


    Croconaw frantically coated himself in water, dashing away from it as he rushed the giant Shelgon with a purpose...


    Only to run into a sphere of green energy.


    My eyes widened in interest as Ares used Protect of all moves and I remembered that this was a move Shelgon''s innately learned.


    Seems that was true... though the sight of Ares of all of my members willingly using Protect was a little shocking.


    Still effective though.


    As Croconaw recoiled, Ares lumbered about and glared at him, before opening her mouth (oh she still had one!) and firing point blank at him.


    The following explosion was giant and I watched as Croconaw''s body was sent soaring away.


    Crystal returned him with a look of acceptance, gazing at me with wide eyes.


    "I... wasn''t really expecting to go against a freshly evolved pokemon," she said bluntly.


    "That was a good match. I enjoyed it," I said truthfully.


    I was in way too good of a mood to get sassy so I just nodded, inspecting Ares'' new form with eyes full of wonder.


    She preened under my attention, big yellows eyes gazing at me expectantly.


    Seriously, she was huge. She was only a little below my chin and while I wasn''t the tallest guy around... still.


    "I''m proud of you girl. We gotta get you checked up," I muttered, returning her to her ball with a satisfied smile.


    "C''mon I know you still wanna talk so just walk," I said, turning towards where the Nurse Joy was kept and making my way to her.


    Crystal scratched her head and nodded, following after me with a somewhat scared expression.


    She probably wasn''t use to seeing my visibly happy...


    It was a valid expression.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "You''re forfeiting the match?!"


    I nodded easily, not missing the disappointed look on Green''s face.


    She was the other finalist after all. She was probably looking forward to battling me.


    "I''m satisfied with this tournament and I''m tired," I shrugged simply.


    "B-But I wanted to battle you," Green said glumly.


    "We travel together Leaf, you can battle me whenever you want."


    "But it would have been so fun with the crowd watching!" she exclaimed.


    I smirked, patting her messy head. "Then we''ll just have to meet in the League. I dunno why but I''m extremely tired," I explained to her.


    I had just finished getting Ares checked on and she was perfectly healthy with no complications...


    But there was no explanation as to why she was so huge.


    Eh, maybe Lance would know.


    "Professor Oak might know too!" Green had told me. "It might be that same thing with Saury!"


    Oh right... but I didn''t want to talk to Professor Oak.


    "Promise me we''ll have an all out battle after this boat ride," Green demanded, accepting that I had no intention of playing this last match out.


    "Promise. I''d be sick to my stomach holding back against you anyways. I will always fight to crush you," I said truthfully.


    "That''s the way I like it!" Green beamed.


    Soon, Green, Crystal, some random who had lost to Green in the Semis and I were called to the podium. My sudden forfeit was met with heavy disappointment but... since when did I give a fuck what the people wanted?


    I wanted a life of peace and I had to earn it myself. If they wanted some excitement, they should take up battling themselves.


    The random and Crystal both received a hefty cash prize, a bundle of potions, including hyper and max potions, and a bundle of pokeballs, great balls and ultra balls.


    I got the exact same things as them, with a bigger cash bonus, along with an assortment of 10 of each kind of Pokeball.


    Finally, Green got all the aforementioned gifts the others got, with the largest cash prize, along with the prized egg.


    It was a black egg (sick), looking drastically different in scheme to Togepi''s own and I peered at it with visible interest.


    "I wonder what it is," Green mused in awe, peeking at it with blatant curiosity.


    I shrugged, only to blink as the egg was shoved onto me.


    "What?" I asked in confusion.


    "Take it!" Green exclaimed.


    I blinked even more. "Uh, nah I''m good. You''re the one who won," I denied easily, yawning as another wave of tiredness hit me.


    Seriously, why was I so damn tired?


    Green shook her head insistently. "In the first place, I joined this tournament so I could win the egg and gift it to you!"


    ...


    "Why? I already forgave you for the Togee thing," I grunted.


    "That doesn''t change the fact that I took him," Green whispered to me, refusing to concede. "Please just take it? Consider this me returning the favor for you getting me Togee."


    I opened my mouth and then shut it. I would hate having to return the favor to someone and she must have been holding this over her head for a long time.


    "...Alright fine," I sighed, accepting the egg and watching her grin brightly. "You can change your mind at anytime before the egg hatches and I''ll give it back," I reminded her.


    "I''m good!" she denied.


    "I thought Crys and I were good¡­ but you two are crazy strong!" Gold exclaimed with wide eyes.


    Crystal nodded, a little humbled by the battle that took place. "You two are so ahead of us¡­ I''ve never felt more motivated to get stronger..."


    Green beamed. "I wouldn''t have gotten this good without Silvy!"


    I grunted, rolling my eyes and feeling embarrassed by the gushing going on.


    "Just train with each other," I muttered, placing the egg away into the incubator.


    For my own maturity, I''d actually watch over this egg and make sure we didn''t get a repeat of the Togepi thing... though I wouldn''t really care if it happened.


    "Next time we battle, I''ll give you more of a challenge. I was only close to winning because you returned Loki and let him do his own thing against Misteree," Crystal said in determination.


    "I look forward to it," I muttered, nodding towards the two. "Now, I''m gonna go sleep. This dragged on for way too long."


    "Good idea," Green yawned. "I''m tired too."


    With some farewells, Green and I departed heading to our respective rooms to get some much needed rest.


    I sighed and landed on my bed, sinking into it and feeling drowsiness quickly consume me.


    Sleep sounded good right about now.


    I took a deep breath and fell unconscious, slipping into my sleep far too easily.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Mewtwo is near.


    My eyes snapped open and I rocketed up, a cold sweat forming on my face as I was rudely awaken by some unseen force.


    I leapt off my bed with a sense of urgency I never felt before.


    Mewtwo was near me. I don''t know how I knew that but I could tell that the legendary was startlingly close to me.


    "Zor¡­?" Loki muttered quietly.


    I jerked my head towards him and my first pokemon jolted wide awake, at seeing the alarm in my eyes.


    Why the fuck was Mewtwo here?! Was it here for me?


    "Loki," I hissed, beckoning him over and having him leap into my jacket. "Something''s not right here."


    Loki''s eyes sharpened at that and he nodded.


    I huffed and grabbed all my essentials (and extras from the ship), securing them to myself with a grim expression.


    We were in the middle of the ocean with a legendary looming and Freyja was not a Milotic yet so swimming wasn''t quite an option ¡ª


    Wait, am I stupid?


    I needed to get Green and not leave her for dead. She had Lapee as well so we could definitely get out of here.


    Fuck... but doing that would draw Mewtwo''s attention to her. If it really was here for me, I''d be painting a massive target on her back.


    Wait, fuck I''m getting too ahead of myself. I needed to verify the situation first.


    I ignored the way my body thrummed, sensation appearing and reminding me of the looming danger, and slunk out of the room quietly.


    Almost as soon as I stepped out, I saw a man in a dark outfit, tampering with the door that led to Green''s room.


    The guy never saw the way my eyes flew open in murder, nor did he hear me charging him¡­


    But he certainly felt the hand gripping the back of his head and slamming his face brutally into the wall.


    It was probably a good thing for him that he fell unconscious because that meant he didn''t feel the vicious foot that further broke his gushing nose.


    I glared at the body in disgust, wondering how a pervert like him made it onto the ship¡­ before my eyes honed in on the giant R on his black outfit.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    "Fuck," I hissed in realization.


    The reason Mewtwo was here, was because Team Rocket was on the damn ship!


    Ah fucking hell, they were raiding the S.S Anne? In the middle of the ocean? With a legendary on the prowl?!


    "Champion. Team Rocket are on the S.S Anne. I don''t know when you''re gonna read this but it''ll probably all be over by then," I messaged Lance, glancing back and forth periodically.


    I rang his number for good measure, but I didn''t have any intention of actually speaking to him. Just needed to potentially bring it to his attention.


    I glared at the unconscious body and dragged him into my room, giving him another stomp for good measure to make sure he stayed unconscious (is what I told myself).


    Then, I stole his hat and placed it atop my head.


    "Loki, you know what that R means right?" I asked quietly, securing it and hiding my hair.


    Loki nodded with a grim expression.


    "Wrap me in an illusion for now. We''ll pose as these assholes for the time being," I grunted.


    Loki nodded effortlessly, using Illusion to wrap me in its ability and donning the attire of Team Rocket.


    I let out a cool breath and my eyes narrowed.


    That''s why Team Rocket had been so silent¡­ because they had been planning something big with the S.S Anne. Something like this probably required a lot of resources and planning to account for...


    I wasn''t expecting this. I didn''t know that they would attack the boat¡­


    A scowl made its way to my face and I immediately dialed Green, Gold and Crystal.


    To my surprise, they all answered.


    "What?" Gold and Green groused.


    "Silver? You don''t seem like the type to call ever. What''s the matter?" Crystal asked, a bit more worry in her sleepy voice.


    "Don''t be loud," I muttered. "Team Rocket are on the ship."


    There was a tense silence at that, before I heard rapid shuffling.


    "What?!" Crystal hissed in shock.


    "They''re here?!" Gold hissed.


    "Yeah. There''s an unconscious one in my room right now. He tried to break into Green''s room so I dealt with him."


    "W-What?" Green said in disbelief, wide awake now. "One tried to break into my room?"


    "What type of freak?" Gold snarled.


    "Don''t let your anger get the best of you," I scolded harshly. "You guys need to understand the situation. We''re in the middle of the ocean, getting raided by Team Rocket. You understand what this means right?"


    There was a tense silence.


    No one wanted to say it.


    "They''re aiming to kill us. This is the perfect scenario for them to do so. Our lives are in danger right now and to be honest, I think the ship is going to go under by the end of it so we need to plan escape routes."


    There was a nervous silence and I sighed.


    This is why I didn''t want to drag them into this because at the end of the day, we were all just kids at the end of the day ¡ª


    "So what''s the plan?" Green asked seriously, stepping into my room.


    She was decked out in her black dress and flinched at seeing me in the Team Rocket getup, before her gaze went over to the unconscious man on my floor.


    "I''m going to pretend like I''m in Team Rocket. You, Gold and Crys meet up and stay as a group and make sure you find Brock at all costs. Bring awareness to the ship as best as you can," I instructed slowly.


    "You''re going alone? Are you crazy?!" Crystal asked in concern.


    "It''s fine," I retorted with a scowl. "I''m gonna try to slow them down in anyway I know how and I have Loki so I can blend in."


    "Don''t worry about me. I''ll meet up with you all again because we''re probably gonna need Lapee''s help if worst comes to worst."


    "Don''t worry about him, Crys. We just have to do our part," Gold said strongly.


    I felt some relief at that and sighed, before grunting at the crushing hug.


    "Be careful," Green whispered in worry. "Remember what I said okay? If something happens to you, I''ll cry a lot."


    I frowned at that, before returning the hug for once.


    "Don''t worry, Leaf. I''m having fun traveling with you so I''ll maintain it," I said truthfully. "Besides, I hate when people cry."


    She nodded shortly, before a look of determination made its way to her face.


    "There''s a lot of civilians, but there''s also plenty of trainers. Try and wake up as many as you can. Ash and his group should be around here somewhere. If you can get Brock awake, it''ll be smooth sailing," I ordered, eyes narrowed into cruel slits.


    "Right," Gold and Crystal said in unison, hanging up at the same time.


    Green nodded and we rushed off in opposite directions.


    I grunted as my phone buzzed.


    "I''m on the way."


    That''s all the message said and despite the situation, I couldn''t help but feel relieved that Lance saw my message.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Having trouble getting these open?" I asked curiously.


    The Team Rocket grunt looked at me with some annoyance.


    "Hell yeah I am. Another minute and I''m just gonna have Mankey break these down," he snorted.


    I nodded my head at that. "We don''t wanna make too much noise idiot. One sec, lemme handle it."


    He looked a little affronted at being called an idiot, but made way for me to greet the door.


    I gazed at it, before pulling out a lock picker.


    It didn''t take me more than 30 seconds to break into the room and my "fellow" grunt gazed at my handiwork with wide eyes.


    "Dude, what the hell?" he said in awe.


    "Easy once you get the hang of it," I nodded, beckoning him in with a nod of my head.


    "Awesome, I wish I learned that skill."


    "I''ll teach you after this is over," I said offhandedly, turning towards him and beckoning him in.


    "Remember the plan right?" I asked.


    "Course I do. Loot as much as you can, silence any strugglers and leave before the whole thing blows," he retorted, stepping into the room.


    The lone person in there began stirring, before they eventually woke up.


    It was an older girl, a trainer by the looks of it but her pokeballs were on the desk, quite a ways away from mher.


    As clarity reached her, I saw her recognize the R''s on our shirts and I grunted as horror made its way to her face.


    "T-Team Rocket?!" she stammered in horror, looking back and forth rapidly before locking onto the Pokeballs at her desk.


    "Ah, ah. Don''t take another step," the grunt warned. "If you do you''re gonna be in a world of pain."


    I said nothing, crossing my arms.


    "Hey... this one''s kinda cute actually," he whispered to me.


    "I guess," I agreed, gazing at her features.


    No one I recognized but I guess he had a point, she was pretty.


    "You guess?! Well maybe you wait outside for a bit while I have some fu ¡ª"


    I swung my leg upwards, connecting directly with the dumbasses crotch.


    The pitiful noise he let out was music to my ears and I delivered a roundhouse kick to his head.


    "Would you just shut the fuck up," I said with a sneer, looking at his unconscious body without a shred of mercy in my body.


    I mugged him of all his pokeballs, stripped him of his clothing and tied his limbs together with it, making sure he couldn''t reach for anything.


    "W-W-Wha¡­?" the girl said in confusion.


    "How many badges do you have?" I asked her with a frown, kicking the dudes unconscious body for good measure.


    "...Seven?" she said in confusion.


    "Great. Team Rocket is invading the ship. We need all the help we can get. Put some clothes on, grab your team and try to wake up as many people as you can," I instructed, ear twitching as I began hearing noises.


    Seems like more and more people were becoming aware of the Rockets. Hopefully Brock was one of them.


    But things were going perfect so far. This was like the fifth rocket I had taken out.


    "Disable it, Loki," I grunted, watching as my illusion faded away.


    "H-Hey wait!" the girl called out in confusion, rushing out of bed before squealing as I pointed at her lack of attire.


    "I told you to put some clothes on," I said with a scowl.


    Without even waiting for the girl to say anything, I dashed out of the room at a brisk pace.


    Since it seemed like more and more people were waking up, I could ditch the disguise and focus on meeting up with Green and co again.


    I did my part as a person trying to save the asses of myself and whoever I liked. Everyone else could fend for themselves¡ª


    My eyes fluttered, as something smashed against my head and shattered.


    "Been tailing you this whole time and you finally left an openin for yourself," a grunt said, holding a glass bottle in his hands.


    "Perfect. Best to just take you out right now ¡ª A-AGHH!"


    Whatever the grunt was about to say, cut off as a feral Zorua crashed into him and began clawing at him with murder in its eyes.


    I groaned, as flashes went off and realized my entire team had released themselves.


    I tentatively reached for the back of my head and winced at coming back with red liquid and glass shards.


    That didn''t feel good at all. It actually hurt a lot and I was very quickly losing focus.


    A vine held me up and I watched Gaia''s worried eyes gazing at my red matted hands.


    She began glowing with the familiar power of Heal Pulse and while it helped dull the fogginess and pain a little, it wasn''t perfect by any means.


    I pushed myself up and grabbed a gauze from my bag, shakily wrapping it around my head.


    A blue sheen wrapped around it, courtesy of Metang and I watched my steel type use the gauze with an almost jealousy inducing amount of precision.


    "It would be unfavorable if you died of blood loss. We have many more concerns at our life currently."


    I agreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment and stood on my two feet, gazing at the body of the rocket with some shock.


    Even the smallest of pokemon, were more dangerous than say... running into a lion in the wild and this guy learned that first hand.


    All you needed to know was that he was almost certainly not alive.


    I grunted, opened the nearby window and heaved, both from the concussion I was probably suffering and the dead body next to me.


    "Zor?" Loki asked in concern, fur matted with blood.


    Ares was no better, blood dripping from her newly evolved fangs and I smiled shakily at them.


    To the side, I saw an unconscious Zubat and Raticate, both drenched in water and writhing from what was probably psychic tampering.


    "You guys are filthy, gonna have to get you cleaned. Freyja wash them off a bit," I said after a moment. "Thanks for protecting me."


    "Bag!" Ares snarled, gazing at the corpse with disgust in her yellow gaze.


    "...Zor," Loki said in relief.


    "Metang, throw that body out of the window please."


    "Understood."


    As Metang wrapped the body in a psychic sheen, I sighed and reassessed my plan of action.


    "We''ve done our job. Everyone should be aware of the rockets now. I''ve done my part now it''s time for me to focus on staying alive," I said shortly to them all.


    "We''re gonna find Green and get out of here. Eliminate any Rocket who gets in our way. Prioritize the human first," I sneered.


    That was one thing I didn''t get. Why didn''t people go for the trainer first? This wasn''t sanctioned battling anymore.


    I didn''t give a damn about the Rockets drugged up, mess of pokemon. The humans were the real issue and we could deal with the Pokemon after.


    "I''m returning everyone but Metang and Loki. Look alive you guys. We''re making it off this ship," I grunted slowly, head throbbing as a headache bloomed.


    My team made noises of affirmation and I returned them.


    A wave of dizziness hit me, as an explosion rocked the ship and I took that as my queue to begin fleeing now.


    "Green, where are you?"


    "I''m with Gold and Crystal. We''ve done our part and evacuations are being held, while most of the Rockets are being dealt with. Are you alright? You called me Green."


    "I took a shot to the head. Glass something. I might have a concussion."


    "?! Please come to me quickly, Silvy! We''ve done our part. Lapee is ready to go so just get over here."


    "Right, I''ll do that. If I don''t show up in the next 3 minutes. Leave."


    "W-What?!"


    "I''ll be fine Green. You need to ensure you stay alive."


    No sooner did that text leave me, did another gargantuan explosion rock against the ship, sending me tumbling.


    I gasped as my back crashed against the wall and saw stars in my gaze.


    "Bombardment of the ship has begun. We must go."


    I shakily pulled myself up, dragging myself atop Metang''s body.


    "I feel weak," I admitted with a raspy breath, struggling to get my breath under control.


    "That is why you have us."


    With that, Metang dashed off, heading to the balcony of the ship¡­


    But we didn''t make it very far, because a massive explosion rocked the ship and blew open a hole to the ship.


    Fuck ¡ª


    My eyes widened and I only had a moment to return both Loki and Metang, before I was plunged into the cold water below.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Ariana oversaw the mission of Vermilion with a bored expression.


    She was located on a helicopter that flew above the ship, a Ninetales resting next to her with an equally bored expression.


    A mission as simple as this, should have been handled by Proton. A simple mission for a simple man.


    It was his job to be upset at the useless grunts raiding the ship. The trainers aboard were rallying it looked and there was utter mayhem taking place on the S.S Anne.


    "Human."


    Ariana jolted at that and resisted the urge to scowl.


    "What is it?" she asked with a frown.


    "The odds have dropped considerably against us."


    Ariana raised a brow. "And why is that?"


    "There appears to be a formidable trainer aboard. A deeper search confirms that they used to be a Gym Leader."


    Ariana pursed her lips at that.


    Well that would explain why the grunts and officers were failing then. A Gym Leader?


    "I suppose I''ll go deal with him then. Is it Lt. Surge?" she asked with a frown.


    That one would cause her some issue, especially if his full team was with him.


    "It matters not who it is. I will deal with it. Remind them of their time limit. They have approximately 2 minutes and 47 seconds remaining before the bombs placed are set."


    Right. That''s what Mewtwo was here for. A casual flexing of power, while ensuring the mission didn''t completely fail and of course, keeping Ariana''s identity a secret.


    "All Rockets, you have 3 minutes to flee," Ariana muttered into their comms, not caring if they couldn''t hear her. "Failure to escape in that time frame, will likely result in your death. You''ve been warned."


    That was all she offered them and Ariana shut the comms off.


    "Prepare for takeoff. We''re done here," she ordered the pilot.


    What a waste of time. Why was she even here if Mewtwo was just going to solve every issue?


    Oh she knew why, it was because Giovanni finally grew tired of her complaints about the whereabouts of their fucking son. So as a solution, he tacked her onto some random stupid mission, labelled it as important and made her pour attention onto it.


    Ariana cursed under her breath at that, contemplating slowing down the destruction of the ship just to vent some frustrations.


    Alas, things were not to be.


    She watched as Mewtwo prepared itself the exact moment the third minute had passed, that cold and oppressive sheen covering its armored body, before the legendary psychic outstretched its strange hand. She ignored the explosions already going off and gazed at the legendary in some trepidation.


    It mattered very little to it if there was anyone on board. It did not care if there were still grunts, officers or executives on board.


    No... all it cared for was ensuring its task was completed.


    Ariana couldn''t stop the shudder at watching Mewtwo in action.


    A monster. That''s what it was. A monster that didn''t yet realize how monstrous it truly was.


    The first blast of power from the psychic, tore a hole into the ship, which made Ariana furrow her brow because she was well aware of the legends power.


    She was further proven correct, when the second burst of power from Mewtwo, obliterated the gigantic ship completely.


    Just a release of psychic power¡­ and the job was done.


    "What was that first attack for?" Ariana couldn''t help but ask.


    Mewtwo said nothing for a long while, merely gazing at the few survivors escaping.


    It''s job was to ensure that the S.S Anne was destroyed no matter what, all while ensuring the mission succeeded and the executive''s identity was kept secret.


    Fleeing passengers meant nothing to it... but one thing did.


    "Are you aware that your spawn, the one named Silver, was aboard that ship?"


    Ariana went cold, eyes flying wide in horror.


    "What did you just say?!" she shouted loud enough to make Ninetales jolt up.


    "It''s as I said. Your spawn was aboard the ship."


    "Is he still alive?!" she asked in horror.


    "For now."


    Ariana felt horror welling at that. Without even thinking about it, she returned Ninetales and released two pokemon from her ball.


    "Gardevoir, teleport us to the water. Lapras, swim until we find what I''m looking for," she instructed with wild eyes.


    Gardevoir''s eyes flashed at that, glancing in terror at where Mewtwo remained stationary, before it nodded shakily.


    Ariana mounted the sullen Lapras and the three were teleported directly atop the water, aways away from the S.S Anne.


    Silver was on that ship?! That wasn''t¡­ that just wasn''t possible! Why was he on that ship?! Was Giovanni aware?


    Was that damned bastard trying to kill their son?!


    She returned Gardevoir and released Zoroark.


    "Wrap us in an illusion," she ordered, even as Lapras began swimming towards the wrecked S.S Anne.


    That fool! Why was he even on that ship? If he just stopped being so stubborn he''d know that this ship was being targeted by Team Rocket!


    That¡­ that fool!


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As I sunk, I suddenly gained all my clarity and realized that I was dangerously close to dying.


    There was no way I could let that happen. Drown? After everything I''ve been through? No.


    Not happening.


    I ignored the freezing temperatures, held my breath and began swimming towards the surface because I refused to drown here.


    My head was on fire, my lungs were on fire, my body ached but I refused to die here.


    I swam against the heavy currents, I ignored the curious Goldeen and Magikarp, I ignored the Tentacruel contemplating if I was worth eating over the other fish, I ignored it all.


    I just continued to swim with a single-minded focus.


    But it felt so far... it felt like no matter how hard I swam, I was just sinking right back down...


    Terror welled up in me at that.


    I didn''t want to die. I couldn''t die to this... but how could I get out ¡ª


    I was brought out of my hysteria, as something desperately tried pulling me towards the surface.


    My eyes went wide at seeing the panicked Freyja attempting to save my life and I regained my senses.


    At the sight of my little fish, trying their best to save me with a look of pure determination and fear¡­ I mustered up all the strength I could and pushed.


    Die? To fucking drowning? After all the things I prepared myself for... drowning was going to be what knocked me off?


    Absolutely fucking not.


    My alertness went up tenfold and I could see everything so clearly.


    That clarity ¡ªI don''t know if it was the breath of death¡ª helped me see a shadowy figure near the surface and I desperately reached my hand out to grab them, feeling a well of relief at seeing it clench tightly around me.


    As I was dragged out the depths of the ocean, two slender hands pulled me with a surprising amount of force.


    I coughed harshly, clutching onto the person who saved me and letting out a small and shuddering sigh as I was immediately wrapped into a tight hug.


    I never felt as small as I did until now, clutching the person like if they let me go, I''d sink to the bottom of the ocean and it took me a while to gather my wits.


    As I steadily cooled my nerves, I took a deep breath I was hugging someone with too much vulnerability that I would never be comfortable showing...


    But right now I had more things to worry about like being thankful that I was alive and the Lapras I was atop of.


    It swam through the waters at a steady pace, bringing my panic to a steady lull.


    Did Green find me¡­? Was she waiting for me this entire time?


    But no¡­ this wasn''t Green. This person was taller than Green and older too judging by the figure that I was crushed again.


    Considering I was still being hugged (I didn''t realize the person was reassuring me with soothing words) I could only make out red hair a similar shade to mine.


    Was this¡­?


    "Better now?" the voice asked, soft in nature with a strong hint of authority in it.


    I didn''t trust myself to say anything wise, so I just stayed silent. I inclined my head and felt relief at watching Freyja steadily following the Lapras.


    "Thank you so much, girl," I held out her pokeball and smiled shakily at her, returning her to the ball.


    Finally, I turned towards the person who saved me and properly gauged them.


    It was dark, but I could make out a head of red hair, that was no doubt on a woman''s body, along with what may have been red eyes?


    She was gazing at me like I were a ghost¡­


    "Silver," she breathed out.


    Wait... I knew who this was¡­


    "I know this may be a lot to take in, especially considering what just happened to you..." the woman began.


    "...But I''m Elite Four Lorelei and I''m¡­ your aunt," she revealed. "My sisters name is Ariana¡­ she''s your mother, right?"


    I stared dumbly at her and then just let the wave of exhaustion consume me, falling blissfully asleep in her grasp.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Lorelei gazed at her unconscious nephew with soft eyes, taking his light body and putting him in front of her, before she once again took control of the situation.


    "Cloyster, Dewgong, Slowbro. Regroup with Lance''s Gyarados and Kingdra and save as many people as you can. Reinforcements are on the way," she ordered.


    Her pokemon nodded and rocketed off into the depths, giving her enough time to inspect the Champion himself, atop Siegfried as his dragons flew across the entire area.


    Lorelei sighed and removed her glasses, before gently cleaning them with her woefully unprofessional attire.


    Then, she gazed at Silver''s unconscious body and ran a hand through his matted hair.


    Her first meeting with her nephew and it was right after saving his life from drowning.


    What a great start.


    She had been sleeping, when Lance had abruptly woken her up with news that the S.S Anne was being attacked.


    Seeing as she was the one most equipped with dealing with Water situations, Lance brought her along with him and on Sigfried''s back, they soared over to a location that Lance was using his Pokegear to track.


    It was as she was searching for survivors on Lapras, did her first pokemon inform her of a figure underwater rapidly attempting to swim to the surface.


    It was a twist of fate that the person swimming up to her, happened to be her nephew...


    She was glad she made it in time to save him... just thinking of the alternatives...


    Lorelei frowned as she removed her hand from his head and gazed at the red matting her hands.


    "Lapras, continue surveying for survivors," she instructed, releasing a Jynx from the Pokeball.


    "Jynx teleport us to Vermillion then teleport back to Lapras. Inform Lance of what I''m doing."


    Jynx sang in agreement, eyes glowing as she grabbed onto her trainer and Lorelei sighed as the three of them were teleported to Vermillion.


    Silver was in dire need of medical assistance. Lorelei had no idea how long he had been underwater... but he also sustained a head injury in the process.


    "Thank you... Jynx?" Lorelei asked, noting that her Jynx looked far more exhausted than she should be.


    Jynx panted, gazing at Silver with wide eyes that prompted Lorelei to gaze at him as well.


    She sighed and carried him inside of the Pokemon Center.


    So many questions.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Ariana stared in total disbelief, as her younger sister Lorelei hugged her son and soothed him.


    Silver clung to her body, shaking and shuddering in her grasp as she ran a hand through his soaked and terrified body.


    ¡­


    Ariana felt a well of true rage flow through her and nearly threw caution to the wind, by lunging at her sister and taking her son back.


    Unfortunately, or fortunately for her, things were not to be.


    "Human. Our job is complete. We are leaving."


    Before she could protest the decision, a blue sheen wrapped around her and she was transported away from the scene.


    Ariana scowled and whirled on Mewtwo with fury in her eyes.


    Legendary be damned! She would give this thing a piece of her mind ¡ª


    "Compromise of the mission is unacceptable. I already hid your presence from the other humans, hid your identity from the grunts that are being captured and prevented you from getting captured. You have little room to be upset."


    "My son nearly died," Ariana hissed.


    "Your spawns safety was not apart of my mission. That is yours."


    Even despite that, Mewtwo accounted for his presence. The one named Silver was far too curious to let die right now.


    The Psychic was even aware enough to guide the woman, who this red haired human harbored resentment towards, to Silver''s location.


    But they did not need to know that. For now, Mewtwo''s interest in Silver would remain¡­ secret.


    Ariana bristled at Mewtwo''s cold words.


    "Silver was on the S.S Anne?"


    She stilled at that voice and whirled towards the neutral expression of one Giovanni.


    "Correct. He was assaulted by a Grunt as well," Mewtwo intoned.


    The psychic''s purposeful words elicited the reaction he was looking for and he watched as Giovanni twitched.


    "Assaulted by a simple fucking grunt?!" Ariana shrieked in rage.


    Who did these grunts think they were?! Whose child did they think they had the right to touch?!


    She''d have every single grunt cleaning Taurus shit for the rest of their lives!


    "Where is Silver now?" Giovanni asked, lips almost forming an invisible frown.


    Mewtwo spared Giovanni a single glance, already getting everything they wanted from this conversation.


    "The city where the ship set sail. His alleged aunt served as an escort."


    Giovanni raised a brow and gazed at Ariana, who grit her teeth.


    "Yes. Lorelei," she grit out the name of her little sister.


    "Interesting¡­ is she aware of your relationship with Team Rocket?" Giovanni asked.


    "Nobody is," Ariana retorted with a scowl. "But Silver and I look identical. It won''t take a genius for her to realize who''s son he is and by the way she hugged him¡­ she probably already knew."


    Giovanni said nothing at that and then nodded "Very well. He''s accounted for and safe. The raid of the S.S Anne was not as smooth as I expected, but you did an admirable job salvaging the situation, Mewtwo."


    "Naturally. This is beneath me. There is no reason to believe I''d perform any less than my intended role."


    "Entirely correct. You are free to go partner."


    Mewtwo said nothing, teleporting away from the two.


    Ariana huffed and walked off.


    "An excellent mission for you as well, Ariana¡­ but where are you going?"


    "You are not the only one who should be allowed to visit our child," she sneered.


    Giovanni gazed at her for a moment.


    "That is reckless. The S.S Anne sank, there were sightings of not only the Elite 4, but the Champion as well. Going there carries many risk."


    "Then I''ll take a page out of his book," she bit out, stressing her point by showing Zoroark''s pokeball.


    "¡­" Giovanni said nothing.


    "Very well. Do as you wish. I shouldn''t have to say this, but ensure no one makes any connections."


    Ariana nodded tersely.


    The door shut.


    Giovanni watched it for a moment, before leaning back into his seat with a contemplative expression.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Mewtwo gazed down at the buzzing of Vermilion city, so high in the sky that no one would even be able to sense it.


    Despite the thousands of people in the city, it was very easy for Mewtwo to pinpoint anyone it so desired...


    None were like Mewtwo. Mewtwo was the strongest.


    Even now, it would take but a small exertion to snuff out every life force in the city below him.


    Yet Mewtwo did not because¡­ because Mewtwo was curious.


    About the spawn named Silver.


    What Mewtwo purposefully omitted from Giovanni, was the fact that it was Silver himself who caused the plans to go so awry.


    Mewtwo of course felt when Silver woke up. Mewtwo felt Silver recognize their presence. Mewtwo used the mind of one of the other humans to understand that it was Silver who set the plans failure into motion¡­


    But why? What was the reason for Silver to sabotage something that was going to be handed to him so long as he listened?


    Silver was aware of Mewtwo''s superiority¡­ yet that did not stop him from opposing Team Rocket. In fact, it seemed as if Silver was willing to oppose even Mewtwo themself.


    Why did he not care about Mewtwo''s might?


    Giovanni cared much about his might and Silver was the spawn of him.


    The armored legendary mulled over its thoughts more, unable to reach an answer when they would normally have an answer for everything.


    It would continue to observe.


    They were¡­ curious, to see what Silver''s motives were.


    Mewtwo could end it right here¡­ but this¡­ rebellion was it? Yes. This rebellion of Silver''s fascinated them.


    Yes. They would watch this unfold unless told otherwise.


    After all, Mewtwo was curious to see how Silver would ever manage to stop his strength.

 Odd Happenings I

    These Silver Eyes


    Chapter 8: Odd Happenings


    "Right, I''ll do that. If I don''t show up in the next 3 minutes. Leave."


    Green looked at the message, a look of dread on her face as a terrible knot formed in her stomach.


    "Green? Where are you going?!" Crystal shouted in horror, watching as the girl suddenly dashed in a direction that would lead deeper into the ship.


    The Pallet trainer completely ignored her, eyes wild in fear as she stumbled forward.


    Silver was in trouble. Silver was in a lot of trouble and she needed to help him.


    An explosion rocked the ship and sent Green tumbling.


    Pain erupted through her body and she let out a cry, as her head crashed into the railing and the girl tentatively pulled herself up blinking away the tears to the best of her abilities.


    "Green!" Gold yelled in concern, catching up to her and grasping the girl. "Shit! You''re bleeding! Are you okay?!"


    Green blinked sluggishly. "Silvy needs my help. I have to go help him!" she said, tasting something metallic on her tongue.


    Crystal opened the girls mouth and winced at seeing blood pooling.


    "Green we need to get you out of here," she said slowly.


    "NO!" Green shouted, pushing them off of her. "I need to... I have to go help Silvy! He''s in trouble!"


    She took a single step and fell flat to the floor, unable to stand straight due to how dizzy she currently felt.


    Gold clenched his jaw and quickly came to a decision.


    He grabbed Green and began heading to the railing of the ship.


    "C''mon Crys the ships about to blow," he whispered urgently to her.


    Unfortunately, Green heard him.


    "What?! No! I''m not going anywhere without Silvy!" Green said immediately, struggling in his grip with all her might.


    Gold grunted as he tried with all his might to hold back Green but the girl was seriously strong.


    "Green the ships about to blow!" he said, watching as she wildly connected with his jaw without any hesitation.


    He instinctively moved one hand to his face at the hit and Green took the chance to escape his grasp.


    "I don''t care! Silvy needs my help!" Green said frantically, poised to run deeper into the ship.


    Gold was not letting that happen.


    He immediately tackled the girl and brought her to the floor.


    "Do you think Silver wants you to risk yourself like this?!" He asked seriously. "There''s no way I''m gonna let you risk your life like this. We need to jump ship now and worry about Silver afterwards."


    But Green wasn''t listening to him. She was growing steadily more hysterical, struggling intensely in his grasp and Gold feared that she''d hurt herself further just to get out of it.


    A flash of light caused a momentary lull and Gold watched in slight trepidation as Green''s giant Ivysaur materialized.


    "S-Saury! Get him off me!" Green demanded urgently.


    They were wasting time! She had to help him! Green had to help Silvy ¡ª


    Green watched with a shocked expression as Saury wrapped a vine around her, effortlessly lifting both her and Gold up.


    With another vine, he grabbed a Pokeball and handed it to Crystal, gazing at the girl with intent.


    Crystal quickly understood what he was getting at and grabbed the Pokeball, before releasing Lapee into the sea.


    "S-Saury?" Green whispered in disbelief.


    "Ivysaur," Saury said quietly, dropping the two into the ocean.


    He looked towards Crystal once more, handing her a final pokeball and she nodded hesitantly, returning the Ivysaur into the ball and taking a deep breath ¡ª


    Before jumping into the cold ocean below.


    She winced at the impact but quickly surfaced to the top, latching onto the Lapras and hastily pulling herself out of the freezing waters.


    "Lap," Lapras said softly, gazing empathetically at the betrayed Green being dragged out of the water by Gold.


    Green turned back towards the ship with wide eyes, watching as a blast of cold and heavy energy obliterated the S.S Anne where it stood stationary.


    "No way..." Gold said in disbelief, paling at the rush of power that washed over him.


    Crystal shuddered. "T-Team Rocket really have the means to do this...?" she whispered in terror.


    In just the blink of an eye... the S.S Anne had... it was just gone.


    What was that? Who was that?


    A choked sob interrupted the two and they turned towards the utterly stricken Green, tears flowing down her eyes.


    "S-SILVY!" she screamed in a panic. "No! We have to find him! We have to!"


    Gold said nothing, clenching his jaw as he guiltily turned away from the frantic girl.


    There were some boats and pokemon sailing away so he could take some solace in the fact that some people managed to get away but...


    The S.S Anne still had so many people and pokemon on it... just how many got caught in that blast?


    He saw Crystal shuddering and grabbed her hand, watching as she tightened the grip without any hesitation. She hadn''t torn her eyes off the sobbing Green and he saw tears forming in his best friends eyes too.


    "Lapee," he whispered. "Could you... do a few rounds? Maybe we''ll find Silver."


    Lapee had a crestfallen expression on her normally smiling face and nodded, swimming through the ocean.


    Green continued to wail curling into Crystal. His best friend was always one to cry easy so he wasn''t surprised at all to see her quietly weeping as well.


    "Should we have looked for him?" Gold thought, clenching his fist.


    No... it couldn''t have been the right call. They wouldn''t have been able to find him in time and make it off the ship.


    But it felt really shitty. Gold made the correct call to abandon ship but... but it felt like he made the wrong call.


    As Lapee somberly swam, Gold vigilantly looked for anyone that might have needed help.


    He hadn''t found anyone yet but that was probably because of all these ludicrously strong pokemon showing up out of nowhere.


    Gold warily gazed at the sight of a flurry of flying figures dashing through the air and close to the water.


    That wariness turned into horror at seeing a gargantuan Gyarados burst out near them.


    It gazed over at them, sparing them a glance and Gold could immediately tell that this was not a normal Gyarados.


    The Gyarados rumbled, sending vibrations through his bones and Gold realized it could probably eat him and Lapee whole.


    He heard about Gyarados. Everyone heard about Gyarados. It was one of the most famously aggressive pokemon that wasn''t an outright dragon.


    Gyarados were rare for a reason. No one wanted to deal with a wild Gyarados. One bad move could have them levelling a city for the fun of it.


    Thankfully for Gold, the sentiment of Gyarados being rare seemed to hold true because this Gyarados had an assortment of people on its back.


    He let out a sigh of relief as the Gyarados eyed them for only a second longer, before snorting and turning in a direction, swimming off with the large amount of coughing people on its back.


    "I-I shouldn''t have let him go on his own," Green sobbed.


    "...I''m sorry, Green," Crystal whispered quietly. "But we couldn''t let you get hurt anymore! You took a serious blow to the head! Silver would be furious if he realized you sacrificed your life for him."


    "But who''s gonna be there for him when no one wants to save him?!" Green wailed.


    Crystal frowned sadly at that. Green''s anguish was mixing with the concussion she was likely suffering and it made her completely inconsolable.


    She gnawed on her lip in concern, before a thought came to her.


    "Green do you have your Pokegear with you?" she asked hesitantly, glancing worriedly at the blood matting her outfit and hands.


    Green needed medical attention and badly. Crystal had already wrapped a gauze around her head but a Nurse Joy would be far better in diagnosing her.


    Those big and sad green eyes stared up at her, looking slightly unfocused and Green took a worrying amount of time to answer her question.


    "I... yeah I have it?" she eventually replied.


    "Do you have Silver''s location? Maybe we can find him like that," Crystal pressed.


    Seeing the hopeful look in Green''s eyes, truly made Crystal hope that this worked.


    It was no wonder Silver wanted to protect her...


    Green fumbled around, shivering slightly as she attempted to locate her Pokegear, before locating it and grasping it in her soaked hands.


    Her brows furrowed in frustration as she tried to get it to work and Crystal mercifully took it out of her hand.


    Green watched in anticipation as Crystal made it to contacts, not having to scroll due to Silvy being a favorite contact.


    Crystal clicked the name that said "Silvy :D!" and focused on his location.


    Despite looking at the same device, Green was too dizzy to make out what it was telling her.


    "..." Crystal let out a sigh of relief. "It says he''s in Vermillion City."


    "He''s okay?" Green whispered.


    "I think so," Crystal muttered right back.


    Green heard that and let out a relieved sob, sagging into Crystal and clutching her like her life depended on it.


    The sound of flapping interrupted the group and Crystal hesitantly looked up, going pale at seeing a gigantic Charizard in the flesh.


    "I thought it was strange that there was a Lapras idling by the area that Gyarados didn''t recognize..." the figure atop the Charizard muttered.


    Green perked up at that, turning a hazy gaze towards the Charizard.


    "Green, it''s good to know that you''re safe," Lance said. He had a tense expression on his face, as his team continued soaring through the area, scouring for any survivors.


    "L-Lance," Green whispered. "You''re here!"


    Gold''s jaw dropped a bit at that, gazing at the champion of Indigo with wide eyes.


    Lance''s brows furrowed at that. "Yeah, it was thanks to Silver... were you looking for him?" he asked in some concern, noticing the bloodied gauze around her head, the soaked outfit, and the heavy sniffles.


    Green nodded. "Mhm," she mumbled. "He was... still on the ship when it exploded I think."


    The Champion''s tense expression never let up, eyes flitting out to the sea.


    "Silver''s safe and accounted for. My companion brought him over to Vermillion because of his injuries," he said eventually. "You should be doing the same, Green. You look like you''re suffering from a concussion."


    Green nodded hesitantly. "Can I see him?"


    "After you get checked up," Lance said firmly. "Altaria, bring them to the Center in Vermillion. We''ll stay here and continue searching."


    The Altaria sang its understanding and flew closer to the trio.


    As they climbed the beautiful dragon, Green returned Lapee to her ball and practically fell asleep the moment she made contact with the cotton.


    Lance frowned at that and turned towards Gold and Crystal. "Thank you..."


    "Crystal and this is Gold," Crystal introduced to the champion, stumbling over her words a bit.


    "Crystal and Gold. Thank you," Lance said with a small frown. "Green would have ignored her injuries if it was up to her."


    "I get it though," Gold said quietly. "She''s worried about her friend... I''d be just as reckless if Crys was in trouble."


    Lance''s weary features made way for a small smile. "We all would... but it''s always nice when another presence can reign you in," he said.


    "Get some rest yourselves, kids. You look tired. I''ll handle the rest."


    With that, Lance was off.


    Crystal and Gold watched him go with expressions of awe.


    "He''s cool," Gold said bluntly.


    "Yeah..." Crystal nodded.


    "Taria!" Altaria agreed.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "How''s it looking?" Lance asked Lorelei grimly, landing next to her.


    Lorelei remained silent. "I''ve set out a search to continue conducting any rescues. We deployed both rescue pokemon and ships but... we aren''t holding out hope for any further survivors."


    Lance had a frown on his face. "There isn''t even any shipwreck. I thought the person was hysterical... but they told me one second the ship was there and the next, a wave of power washed over it and completely eradicated it."


    "I did find it strange that we didn''t encounter any wreckage of the sorts... not to mention we seemed to have shown up only moments after the ship was destroyed. How did we miss that?" Lorelei wondered in concern.


    What did Team Rocket do?


    "Forget that for now... we need to verify the survivors," Lance sighed, running a hand through his spikes.


    Lorelei nodded. "There were 5000 trainers and civilians alike on that ship, excluding their pokemon. So far, we''ve only accounted for approximately 1,500."


    Lance said nothing at that.


    1,500 survivors... on a ship with that many people. That wasn''t even counting the pokemon or the Rockets.


    "To think it could have been even less if I didn''t receive that message," Lance frowned.


    So many lives lost and for what? What was even the point of Team Rocket doing such a thing?


    "Lance you look exhausted," Lorelei said worriedly. "You must get some rest."


    Lance sighed wearily. "Later. There''s many things I have to do. I promise I''ll get some rest, but you should go spend time with your nephew."


    The ice trainer glanced at him in surprise. "You knew?"


    "Why do you think I said you''d be interested in him?" Lance replied, climbing atop his Charizard once more. "I''m going to meet with the psychics and see if they can detect anyone. Any extra life will make this trip worth it."


    Without waiting for a response, Charizard spread his wings and took off into the night sky again.


    Lorelei watched the young champion fly off with a frown.


    "He''s running himself ragged," she sighed, raking a hand through her hair.


    This was a mess. There were no signs that Team Rocket were going to attack the S.S Anne and even if they were... how were they capable of succeeding?


    Her team was still out there, searching for any signs of life but by now... if they didn''t find anyone then that meant ¡ª


    Lorelei banished such thoughts.


    She would go join Lance in the search for now. He was right. Even one extra life saved would make the trip worth it.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The first thing I noted, was that it was cold.


    I did not like being cold.


    The second thing I noted, was that I was in a bed and it smelled suspiciously like the products you''d find in a hospital.


    I did not like the hospital.


    The third thing I noted, and the most important, was that there was a presence hovering me while I slept¡­


    I did not like being hovered. I especially didn''t like waking up to someone hovering me. In fact, I hated the fact that someone was so close to me while I was asleep.


    ...Ugh.


    I groaned and my eyes fluttered open, shutting them on instinct as the bright light threatened to blind me.


    Why the hell was it so goddamn bright?!


    "Thirsty?"


    I grunted in affirmation, nodding thankfully, with my eyes still shut, as a cup was placed in my hand.


    The moment the water made its way past my lips, I let out a sigh of relief and downed the whole thing at record speeds.


    "Slow down, you''ll choke. You just woke up after all."


    "Nagging me as soon as I wake up is something I really like so thanks for that," I said sarcastically, slowly opening my eyes to regard the mysterious voice.


    What greeted me was a whole lot of red. Red eyes stared at me, behind a frame of simple yet expensive looking glasses.


    Atop their head was a frame of red hair that was styled in a slight ponytail, still leaving a good amount of it free.


    She was wearing a sleeveless black shirt, and had a purple mini skirt on¡­


    "Who the hell is this hot lady and why is she hovering me?" I blinked slowly, still in the process of waking up.


    Good looking or not, I didn''t need anyone being this close to me. Who the hell did this lady think she was?


    Next to her, dozing off, was a pale blue and white fox with flowing fur. Its coat shined with care and I briefly admired how pristine the Alolan Ninetales looked.


    An Alolan Ninetales? Wait a second...


    Seeing the ice type finally reminded me of who the person in the room with me was and I frowned in confusion.


    "Elite 4 Lorelei," I said blandly, rubbing my head and scowling in outrage at feeling a wrap around my skull.


    "Just Lorelei is fine," she said, gazing at me with an expression I couldn''t identify.


    She was startlingly close to me, chair practically right next to my bed, as she shut a book she had been reading.


    I absentmindedly made to rip my bandages off, but tossed that idea in favor of glaring at the woman who moved my hand away.


    "Stop that. Tampering with them will do no good. You need them," she reprimanded quietly.


    "Don''t touch me," I bit out with a scowl, moving my hand back to my bandages in clear defiance.


    She frowned disapprovingly at me but dropped it for now.


    "Do you remember anything?" she asked instead.


    Remember anything?


    I frowned and gained a pondering expression.


    Last I remember, I was on the S.S Anne¡­ and then ¡ª


    Mewtwo.


    I jolted violently as all the memories came flooding back and bit back a snarl of rage.


    Those filthy fucking bastards Team Rocket! They actually went and attacked the S.S Anne?!


    And they used Mewtwo to destroy it! So they really were willing to use Mewtwo to do their bidding...


    Why were they taking so long to make a concrete move? What was the point of this?! They had such a powerful legend at their beck and call but they weren''t making an immediate move to dominate the region?


    This wasn''t like Aqua or Magma or any other team that were pursuing a legendary.


    Team Rocket already had theirs. What the hell were they doing?


    Those bastards really didn''t care about anyone''s lives¡­


    Wait.


    "Green," I said urgently. "Is Green okay?" I asked with a tinge of concern.


    That little idiot was the type to wait for me to show up before leaving. She would ignore the dire state of the ship so long as I didn''t show up.


    That''s why I told her to leave. I knew she wouldn''t otherwise.


    Goddamnit if she died waiting for me¡­ If that happened ¡ª


    "Green is fine. She suffered a head blow but it wasn''t anything too dangerous."


    I sighed at that, falling back against my bed as relief flooded my body.


    "What about my team?" I questioned with a frown.


    "Green is watching them. They were restless but calmed down at the sight of her, so to distract them both we killed two birds with one stone," she replied.


    I peered at Lorelei.


    She was a good speaker. Professional to the core, with no inflection in her voice. It''s like she knew the perfect answer to everything I was going to ask ¡ª


    "I''m Elite Four Lorelei and I''m¡­ your aunt. My sisters name is Ariana¡­ she''s your mother, right?"


    I jolted violently and gazed at her with wild eyes.


    "You," I whispered in realization. "You''re the one who saved my life," I pointed out.


    Lorelei nodded, a neutral expression on her face as she gauged my reaction.


    "...And you said you''re my Aunt."


    Another nod.


    "¡­"


    I let out a tired sigh.


    "Fuck me."


    Just great. I was related to Elite 4 Lorelei. Goddamnit.


    If there was one thing I was asking for, it was definitely a high ranking relative with a lot of sway over the region.


    That''s definitely what a criminal like me needed.


    Yay.


    "I would appreciate if you refrained from using such crass language," Lorelei requested firmly, expression cracking somewhat.


    It sounded like a request¡­ but she said it in a way that made it come off as a demand.


    "I would appreciate if you fucked off with that. Don''t bother trying to order me around. I don''t care who you are," I grunted, utterly unintimidated by her.


    I saw her twitch slightly, clearly displeased by that and she adjusted her glasses slightly.


    "Deplorable behavior... We''ll deal with that at a later time," she muttered to herself, composing herself at my rather foul language.


    I watched my aunt stare at me, before both our attention was grabbed by the sight of the Ninetales waking up.


    It stretched regally and trotted up to Lorelei, allowing its trainer to run a hand through its fur.


    "How are you feeling?" she asked me gently.


    "¡­" I stared at her for a moment, pondering the circumstances and completely ignoring her question.


    If she was uncomfortable, she didn''t show it. My fellow redhead just stared back at me, posture ramrod straight.


    "When can I leave?" I asked bluntly.


    "Not anytime soon. You had glass shards in your head that had to be carefully removed. We''re going to ensure you are perfectly fine, not suffering any concussions, internal bleeding¡­ etc," she listed.


    I scowled in dissatisfaction.


    "How long have I been here?" I asked instead.


    "A full day. I rushed you to the Pokemon Center due to your injuries combined with the fact that you were submerged underwater for an extended period of time."


    Damn she was efficient. She wasted no time answering my questions.


    "Any lasting injuries?"


    "None. How did you get that scar on your chest?" Lorelei asked immediately.


    I stared at her with narrowed eyes, remaining silent.


    She had a lot of gall to ask such a personal question so quickly. My supposed aunt sure was bold.


    Lorelei didn''t let my silence phase her. "Are you truly Ariana''s¡­ son?"


    Nothing. I just continued to stare at her with my distrusting gaze.


    Lorelei gazed at me, nonplussed by my silence and eventually sighed.


    "...I know my reputation with the people. I''m cold, professional and seemingly stuck up. Lance and Karen frequently call me a "hardass" at times and though I disagree, I won''t deny that I may give off such an image..."


    I shifted uncomfortably at the tone she was taking.


    "...But may I request that I speak to you as just a curious woman named Lorelei? Could you forget the Elite 4 title just for this conversation?" she asked me earnestly.


    "I understand¡­ you have reason to be wary around me¡­ but I''ve recently found out after 12 years, that I may have a nephew and¡­ I''d like to know more about him if possible," she began softly.


    I frowned at the sincerity of her tone and sighed.


    "I nearly got killed by a wild pokemon, that''s how I got this scar¡­ and yeah I''m her kid but don''t ask me where she is because I dunno," I muttered.


    To no one''s surprise, Lorelei looked horrified at the part where I mentioned I almost died.


    "Are you alright? If you managed to gain a scar then it must have been a serious injury," she said in blatant concern.


    "I''m fine. Don''t even notice it anymore," I replied calmly, shuffling uncomfortably.


    Why couldn''t I get out of here sooner? This place was way too stifling.


    My discomfort only grew as Lorelei, a woman who I didn''t even know I was related to until now, continued to gaze at me with worry in her eyes.


    This was weird.


    Lorelei looked as if she wanted to question me some more about my life, but must have thought better of it.


    Smart. I wouldn''t have answered her at all.


    "If you don''t mind, Silver... I''d appreciate if we could..." she trailed off, stumbling a bit over her words.


    I raised a brow at that.


    "How can I put this..." she tried, not sounding too sure of how to properly articulate herself.


    That was pretty funny. The moment she wasn''t speaking business, Lorelei was quite the awkward talker.


    Must have been because she was speaking to her nephew who she didn''t know.


    "You want to connect with me," I finished her train of thought.


    "Yes. Connect. I''d like to connect with you," Lorelei nodded in agreement.


    "No."


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    She looked stunned at that.


    "No?"


    I sighed and shook my head.


    "Thanks. You saved my life," I said earnestly, meaning it. "If it weren''t for you, I probably would have died so I''m actually grateful for that¡­"


    I fixed my gaze on her with my unnerving gaze and frowned at her.


    "...But I don''t want to connect with someone because of a person I don''t even like."


    Lorelei went completely silent, gazing at me with wide eyes.


    "The fact of the matter is, you only want to connect because of your relations with my mom. I get that because you two are sisters, you feel obligated to form a bond with me¡­ but you don''t have to force yourself to do that and I''m not interested in that," I grunted with a shake of my head.


    "My mom and I don''t have a good relationship. You don''t have to feel obligated for something I''m not thinking about," I waved her off, shutting my eyes and laying back down.


    It was a nice gesture, but wholly unnecessary. I had given up on the idea of having useful family members so Lorelei, no matter how formidable, had no reason to do this.


    "Ariana and I never had the best relationship growing up."


    I paused at that, opening my eyes and locking gazes with my aunt


    "She and I were polar opposites you see," Lorelei began, a faraway look in her eyes. "She was hotheaded, had a temper and foul most of the time. A troublemaker is what my parents called her," she informed me.


    I resisted the urge to snort. She sounded like me.


    "I was quiet and studious, always tucking my head low and focusing on the future," Lorelei said bluntly. "Ariana liked to call me the golden child. She resented me for it."


    I gazed at her in mild interest.


    "I looked up to her you know? She''s my older sister¡­ she was cool, was never afraid to speak her mind and did things her way, regardless of her envy. Most of all, she never let anyone bully me for how I chose to live my life. She used to say "only I''m allowed to bully Leilei," as she beat up the other kids."


    Lorelei sighed. "But we were kids and deep down¡­ a child always wants their parents acknowledgment."


    I said nothing at that, merely resisting the urge to scoff.


    Yeah right.


    "Eventually, Ariana was eligible to gain a starter and she left with a Lapras and Murkrow¡­ I never saw her so happy to be gone."


    I''d be lying if I said I wasn''t interested about this tale so I didn''t bother interrupting her.


    "I was 10 at the time, so Ariana had a two year headstart on me. When I first started my journey I made up my mind to find her and try to mend our fractured relationship," she revealed.


    "She didn''t contact any of us for those entire two years. It hurt and I didn''t really get why she refused to contact us as kids," Lorelei sighed.


    "You didn''t realize you were the golden child?" I asked her with a raised brow.


    She shook her head. "I didn''t realize they were neglecting her¡­ how could I? It took me a bit more years of traveling to realize what went on but I think by then, Ariana let her grudge go. We eventually met up again. She had traveled through some different regions at that point and was a notably strong trainer."


    There was fondness in her voice. Lorelei truly did have fond memories of my horrible mother¡­


    "And then it all went downhill¡­ and it was my fault."


    I tilted my head at that.


    "How so?" I asked, far too invested in this tale to just stop listening.


    I wonder if it was because it was about my mother...


    "...When I was 16, I entered the Indigo League. I had been traveling for a few years at this point. My strength had grown immeasurably. I had an affinity with Ice and Water types and my team was formidable so I figured I could join," Lorelei said softly. "It was the tournament I was going to use to put myself forward as a candidate of the Elite 4¡­ and can you believe that Ariana happened to join this tournament too?" she asked me with a frown.


    "¡­" I could take a guess where this was going.


    "It was awful timing. We didn''t discuss it or anything. Both of us were surprised to see each other. We battled our way through the bracket¡­ and we met in the finals¡­"


    "It wasn''t close. I¡­ won and I only lost three pokemon in the process¡­ and that was the biggest mistake I could have ever made."


    Lorelei shuddered softly, prompting Ninetales to sink further into her.


    "I knew I was talented. I was even recognized and trained by Gym Leader Pryce. That tournament wasn''t one I expected to struggle with at all¡­ I knew I was going to win¡­ but," she trailed off.


    "I was a fool. I knew my older sister envied me but she managed to move past that¡­ and I dragged her right back down to that pit. I never felt more guilt, than seeing her face after the end of that battle¡­"


    Lorelei actually looked sad at that moment. "She looked at me without any emotion at all. There was no hint. No happiness, sadness, anger... just nothing. An important milestone for me¡­ was turned into such a disaster because of that. I haven''t seen her since. She disappeared off the face of the planet afterwards."


    Ah. So that''s how it was. My mom got her soul crushed by her little sister.


    Unfortunate. Some parents sucked. Ariana''s parents sucked and Ariana herself sucked.


    I guess I also had to suffer the consequences of that.


    Hooray.


    "I know you think I''m doing this out of obligation¡­ but I want to at least get to know one family member¡­ and I''d enjoy it if we were on good terms," Lorelei said truthfully, gazing at me with an earnest expression.


    "¡­"


    Well, she did save my life.


    "Alright, what do you wanna do?" I asked simply.


    Lorelei stared at me, before a small smile adorned her face.


    "How about we just have a conversation and take it from there? I''d like to know more about you," she requested.


    I snorted. "Sure. I''m not a pleasant person to have a conversation with though."


    "I''m aware. We''ll be fixing that."


    "I''d like to see you try."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Lorelei was kind of a stickler. She twitched at my foul language, attempted to correct me on multiple occasions when I used said foul language and dearly looked like she wanted to reprimand me for using that foul language.


    Unfortunately, I was very unintimidated by most people and Lorelei was no exception so cowing me into submission, with the stern aura of an Ice Queen, was not something she could do.


    Once she seemed to resign to that fact, she just took the time to learn anything she could about me¡­


    Which to be fair, wasn''t much but even if I wanted to tell her stuff¡­ it''s not like I had the memory for it.


    "That reminds me," Lorelei muttered, pulling a file from who knows where. "Forgive me for appearing too worried but¡­ I did some research when trying to learn more about you and I noticed some things."


    She missed the way I stiffened.


    "You started your journey approximately four months ago, but unlike most trainers, it took you nearly two months to challenge a Gym Leader, all while amassing a team beyond just the Zorua you began with."


    "She''s dangerously smart," I noted with a frown.


    "Now normally, I would commend you for this. Not many trainers would take the time to find their team first, train them and then battle the Gym Leaders but I noticed something alarming..." Lorelei frowned.


    Alarming? Was it the team I had amassed?


    "...You didn''t use a single Pokemon Center up until you arrived to Vermilion City."


    ¡­


    Fuck.


    Pokemon Center trips were logged?! What in the fuck do you mean they were logged?!


    But she said I didn''t go to one up until Vermilion City¡­ that wasn''t true. I went to one in Hoenn ¡ª


    Joy.


    Did¡­ Joy not record my trips at the Hoenn Pokemon Center? No that wasn''t quite right¡­


    Did she clear them? But why would she do that?


    Was it¡­ because she thought my family situation was that bad?


    "Are you in danger, Silver? Were you trying to stay hidden?" Lorelei asked me softly, resting a single hand on my arm.


    I sucked in a breath at the cool (a byproduct of being an ice type trainer I imagine) touch and ripped my arm away from her.


    "Don''t touch me," I scowled.


    Lorelei made no reaction to my action. She just continued to stare at me with those bright red eyes of hers.


    "Silver. With your assistance, You single-handedly saved hundreds, no thousands of lives at the S.S Anne. You were one of the first to take initiative and you helped us put some control over a catastrophe."


    I shifted uncomfortably at that detail.


    "And despite all you did, you nearly died. If not for how fast I rushed you to the Center, you would have needed stitches at the minimum¡­"


    Lorelei gazed at me with visible concern.


    "And in spite of all I just said, you hardly look phased by these things. You aren''t panicking at being in the hospital, you haven''t asked further about the injuries you sustained¡­ I''m worried. Forgive me for coming off as condescending, but these aren''t normal reactions for a child," she admitted with a frown.


    "Your first mistake was comparing me to what you''ve seen before. Don''t bother doing that, I''m not like anyone," I said with a sigh, leaning back as I mulled over this unexpected situation.


    Having an overprotective aunt, who happened to notice all these details, made my life way more stressful.


    "My danger is the same as every other trainers," I informed her with a scowl. "Team Rocket is all our issues, so of course I wanted to fuck them over. If I didn''t, we would have just died."


    "And I won''t let that happen," Lorelei said protectively. "If you''re ever in trouble, Silver¡­ please don''t hesitate to give me a call. I''ll be there as quick as I can."


    She really was hellbent on maintaining a relationship with me¡­


    A normal family member sounded¡­


    "Whatever," I grunted, handing my Pokegear over to her.


    Lorelei looked startled by my action, before she realized what I was doing. A small smile made its way to her face and she delicately took it out of my hand.


    "I hope you don''t use this to try to reconnect with my mom," I said gruffly.


    "This isn''t about reconnecting with Ariana. This is about reconnecting with you."


    ...


    If she wanted to get close with her family, who was I to deny her that?


    And¡­ it was nice in a way for someone to be interested in me for something as simple as being family.


    It''s not like I planned on acknowledging my other family members. At least Lorelei was normal.


    And she saved my life. I didn''t want to owe her for that. This seemed like a good form of payback. Since she saved my life, I''d allow her to do what she wanted and find a spot in it.


    As my aunt put her number on my phone¡­ I distantly realized that all my plans of staying hidden had gone completely haywire.


    The champion had my number, my aunt was apart of the Elite 4, I was traveling with the main character of Kanto¡­ and I had an assortment of people invested in my journey.


    Before I could properly begin my process of edgy teen brooding, a rapid set of footsteps stamped towards my door and pushed it open without hesitation.


    I jolted a bit in shock at that, eyes sharpening in alertness but at seeing how relaxed Lorelei''s Ninetales was, I simmered down a bit¡­


    And that simmering down allowed way for¡­ relief because Leaf Green was crying and tear stricken but she was alive and I didn''t end up getting her killed.


    "SILVY!" Green sobbed in relief, launching herself across the room. "I''m so happy you''re alive! I-I thought you were¡­ I thought something so bad happened to you and it m-made me so saaaad!" she cried, squeezing me with all her might.


    I exhaled at that, unable to muster up a snide response because¡­ because those were genuine tears of terror for my well-being.


    And I was relieved she wasn''t dead either.


    "Idiot¡­ I thought you would have tried staying behind until you saw me," I replied quietly, returning the hug with a relieved sigh. "I thought you waiting for me, would have gotten you caught in that explosion. If you died because of that¡­" I trailed off.


    Green withered in guilt. "I did¡­ I tried waiting for you. I was going to wait until you showed up but Gold and Crystal forced me to jump ship," she admitted, trembling in my grip.


    "Good," I said firmly. "Don''t ever prioritize me over yourself, Leaf. If your life is in danger, make sure you get to safety. Don''t worry about me, I''ll be fine."


    Green flinched at that, gazing at me with wide teary eyes. There was something there that I couldn''t identify and it confused me for a moment.


    "...Your life is important too, Silvy. Make sure you also prioritize yourself," she returned with a sniff.


    I stared at her dumbly for a bit, before I snorted.


    "Idiot. That was never in doubt. I wanna stay alive y''know?" I asked rhetorically.


    She looked immensely relieved at that for some reason.


    "Good," she said firmly, tightening the hug on me.


    I couldn''t help but feel a slight twinge of concern at seeing how hard she was shuddering.


    For all the ways I called her annoying and bothered her¡­ I didn''t want anything terrible happening to Green. I especially didn''t want it happening on my behalf.


    Green was annoying. But she was an earnest and cheerful girl who was just trying to have a journey and become strong.


    I sighed at put a hand firmly to her head, patting her and getting an even harder tremble.


    "I need to get even stronger," I thought with a dark frown.


    I didn''t realize Green had the exact same thought as me.


    "How''d you get this?" I asked, moving her hair out of the way to inspect the bandages wrapped around her head.


    "I hit my head on the railing after an explosion hit the ship," she replied.


    I frowned at that. "Was this after I told you to leave?"


    "..." Green said nothing at all, averting her gaze.


    "Did you try to keep looking for me after taking a blow to the head?" I pressed.


    The silence was all the answer I needed.


    I sighed. "Green," I said patiently.


    She stiffened at the use of her name and glanced at me like a child about to get scolded.


    Well she was, so it was a pretty good look.


    "I appreciate that," I told her first and foremost. "I appreciate that my wellbeing is important to you... but don''t think I''ll be happy if something happens to you because you were stuck worrying about me," I chastised.


    "That''ll actually piss me off more than anything. I meant it when I said prioritize yourself. I understand that you were afraid... but you can''t be that irrational next time."


    Green nodded glumly. "Sorry," she mumbled.


    I sighed. "Don''t be. You tried to do what you thought was right. It was just to a fault."


    I pat her head at that with a small smile. "Thanks Leaf, you''re a good friend."


    You would think I gave her the world at that simple statement. If you looked hard enough, you''d see literal stars forming in her eyes as my traveling companion beamed at me.


    "Of course Silvy!"


    "I''m going to go check up on some things," Lorelei said, reminding us of her presence.


    A red dust of mortification covered Green''s cheeks and she bowed to the smiling Elite 4.


    There was a proud look in her eyes as she gazed at us both and I turned away from her, not liking the way it made my stomach turn.


    "S-Sorry, Elite 4 Lorelei. I didn''t mean to interrupt you two. You must have been talking about something important and it was really rude of me to barge in," she stammered in embarrassment.


    Lorelei idly shifted her ponytail behind her shoulder and waved Green off. "Don''t worry, Green. I''ve been hogging my nephew for more than enough time. I don''t blame you for wanting to see him," she smiled gently.


    "Now if you''ll excuse me, I''d like to read the reports on this¡­ disaster to put lightly. Silver, later on you will likely be getting questioned so that we can verify your perspective on the event that took place. If you don''t feel like speaking to the Officer Jenny, I can conduct the interview."


    I gazed at her and nodded. "Sure. I''d prefer to speak to you if I have to speak to someone."


    Lorelei looked pleased at that and made her way out of the room, Ninetales following her dutifully.


    As she quietly shut the door, Green finally picked her jaw off the floor.


    "D-Did Elite 4 Lorelei just call you her nephew?" Green asked me dumbly.


    "Yeah¡­ apparently she''s my aunt," I replied idly, watching her take Lorelei''s seat and (somehow) pull herself closer to my bed.


    "W-Wow! That''s insane! Elite 4 Lorelei is really mysterious you know?! I never would have thought you of all people would be related to her!" Green gaped.


    "I know right? I was just as shocked as you," I snorted.


    It was just my luck that my mother was a criminal and my aunt was apart of the Elite 4.


    Wonder how that meeting would go down if they ever met again.


    "You just found out Elite 4 Lorelei is your auntie and you don''t even look fazed! I''d be screaming to the world! Lorelei is really famous!" she exclaimed.


    I gazed at her with a pondering expression and decided¡­ Green deserved a bit of trust.


    "Being honest, I do care a bit," I told her with a sigh, crashing my head back into my pillow. "It''s just¡­ I don''t really have a good relationship with my parents. Family isn''t really something I''ve been thinking of so to be blindsided by someone that''s making the effort..."


    Green sobered up at that and nodded in sympathetically. "You¡­ aren''t letting your hopes up?"


    I frowned at that. "Sorta¡­ but she wants to be a proper aunt and I won''t deny her that. Besides, she can be useful to us."


    Green couldn''t stop from sweating. "You''re twisted Silvy¡­ but I get you!"


    I nodded with a smug smirk. "So how''s my team? Are they okay?" I asked in concern.


    My companion sighed. "They''re fine. They really want to see you and now that you can accept visitors, I''ll bring them over. They¡­ really love you, you know? Gaia and Freyja were crying and have been spending time with Lapee. Loki and Ares have been sparring nonstop with Saury and Vee to take their mind off things¡­ it''s been hectic."


    I frowned at that. "I want to see them soon. I gotta make sure they know I''m fine."


    Green nodded and shot up. "I''ll go get them! I''ve been taking care of them in your stead¡­ hopefully you don''t mind!"


    "It''s fine if you went through my bag to do that," I waved off. "You were using it for my team so I don''t mind¡­ is my bag alright? Anything destroyed?"


    She shook her head. "Your bag is waterproof and you sealed it shut! Nothing was damaged in the process and I made sure to keep it away from anyone who might have pried through!" she explained to me.


    I blinked before an appreciative expression made its way to my face. "Good job, Leaf."


    She beamed. "Call me Green!"


    "No."


    "I hate you!"


    I chuckled at the fact that she said that with the same beaming expression.


    "I''ll go get your team now! Don''t move an inch, I''ll tell the nurse if you do!" she threatened, rushing out of the room with a wave.


    I watched her go and sighed.


    Lately, Green''s presence had been a lot more welcomed by me. She caught on to my mannerisms and life very easily and our synergy had reached a state that made her¡­ a lot more trustworthy.


    She was¡­ a damn good friend.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I let out a wheezing laugh, as nearly my whole team bombarded me with affections.


    Gaia and Freyja were crying and I hastily put a reassuring hand on them both in hopes of calming them down.


    Somehow, Ares managed to get up here and I watched her rub that hard shell against me, careful to not crush me under her new weight.


    "It''s okay guys, I''m alright," I soothed fondly.


    It was always shocking, seeing how much my team cared for me.


    I¡­ liked it.


    Gaia whimpered in relief and I sighed at that, wiping her tears gingerly.


    "I wanted to thank all of you for protecting me," I addressed them suddenly, making them perk up. "Seriously, you guys did amazing for how sudden that was sprung on us."


    "All of you saved my life in one way or another and I''m grateful to you all so thank you," I said earnestly.


    "And that includes you Freyja."


    Freyja perked up at that, watching in awe as I wiped away her tears with a small smile.


    "All of you did amazing¡­ but despite all your setbacks, despite your self imposed status as the weakest on the team¡­ you were still strong enough to give me the strength to survive. If it weren''t for you, I don''t know if I woulda had the resolve to keep going."


    My team knew how thankful I was to them¡­ but Freyja was the type to always downplay her involvement.


    But Freyja didn''t understand that she played a huge part in motivating me to get out of that crushing water.


    If I didn''t see her trying her hardest to save me. If I didn''t see my so called weak little fish trying her best to get me out of that water, terror in her eyes at the thought of losing me, I don''t know if I''d still be here.


    "You''re a hero, Freyja. Never forget that you saved my life," I smiled earnestly at her.


    Freyja teared up at that and nodded at my words, leaning into my touch with a happy cry.


    "It was a bit bumpy, but I''m no doubt alive because of all of you and I won''t forget that," I said earnestly. "This is just another hitch in the road. But we''ll get so strong, that we''ll pave new roads and patch up all the hitches in them."


    Ares rumbled in agreement and I smiled.


    "So what''s the plan Leaf?" I asked her conversationally.


    She was gazing at me in awe, a fire in her eyes at my words. "Since we''re in Vermilion, I was thinking of heading to Lavender through Route 11, then we can just head north through Route 12!"


    I pondered that, eventually nodding.


    I forgot that since there was no convenient obstructions like a massive sleeping Snorlax, heading through Lavender like this was probably significantly faster than the Rock Tunnel route.


    "Fine by me. I''m guessing you wanna fill out your last slot with a ghost?" I asked curiously.


    Green nodded enthusiastically. "Ghosts are tricky and hard to command but if you can manage to get one under your control, it''s super beneficial in the long run!"


    I found myself nodding with her. "Maybe I''ll look into catching one myself. If I see one that I like, I''ll give it a go."


    "We''ve got a plan! We''ll head out as soon as you''re recovered!" Green beamed, pushing herself up. "After Lavender, we can go to Celadon through Saffron or the underground road!"


    I nodded at that with a curious expression. "That''s a good plan. Alright then."


    She shot me a thumbs up, before turning it into a wave. "Alright, I''m gonna go get some sleep! Now that I know you''re okay, I can get some real sleep! My head kinda hurts!"


    I waved her off. "Sure thing, good night Leaf."


    "Night Silvy!"


    I watched her go and a yawn left my mouth.


    "I''m a little tired myself and I missed you guys so everyone find a spot and I''m going to sleep," I grunted, closing my eyes.


    With that, I fell asleep immediately. A pleased sigh left my mouth at the warmth of my team and fell into a dreamless slumber.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I awoke to more visitors.


    This time, it was Gold and Crystal who decided to visit me.


    "Sup," Gold nodded.


    "Hey, Silver!" Crystal greeted enthusiastically, placing some flowers next to my bed.


    I blinked at the kind action and nodded in greeting at the two.


    "Hey," I said simply. "Didn''t expect to see you guys, thought you would have moved on by now."


    Gold raised a brow. "You serious? After what you did, there''s no way we would feel good just leaving you behind."


    Crystal nodded immediately. "You saved our lives, Silver! You kept a calm head and properly guided us on the right way to handle the situation!"


    I grunted. "I just did what I needed to do to make the situation salvageable. If anything, I should be thanking you for making sure Leaf didn''t kill herself waiting for me."


    Gold snorted. "She was really about to. I understand her worry though¡­ I woulda done the same for Crys! But I know Crys would be pissed if I risked myself for her and I know you''d be the same way, so I had to get her outta there."


    "She looked so heartbroken¡­ I''m glad to see her smiling again," Crystal said softly.


    "Tell me about it! She socked me in the jaw and I still feel it," Gold complained, not seriously offended by it.


    That got a snort out of me. Green was picking up a lot of my mannerisms.


    "I''ll apologize on her behalf," I said begrudgingly. "And stop looking so guilty," I demanded, glaring at Gold.


    Gold flinched back. "You could tell?" he said sheepishly.


    "Course I can. You wear your heart on your sleeve," I scoffed. "If you''re guilty at making the decision to leave me behind, don''t be. It was the right one. Sometimes you gotta make tough decisions."


    Gold frowned at that. "But it sucks. It felt like... it felt like both options ended with me losing."


    I sighed. "Sometimes you run into situations like that. Pick the one where you lose the least. That''s what a leader does."


    "...Being a leader must be hard," Gold muttered, fiddling with his quiff as a contemplative expression took over.


    "It''s never easy," I replied truthfully.


    Crystal gazed at me with a searching gaze, those bright blue eyes looking for something.


    Eventually she smiled. "You''re smart, Silver."


    "I know," I replied with a snort.


    "We just wanted to see that you were alright before continuing our journey," Crystal informed me. "We''re gonna head south to Fuchsia City now. We want to see what the Safari Zone has to offer!"


    The Safari Zone¡­


    "Smart. You two could use a new member or two," I nodded. "You''ll need to become as strong as possible, if you plan on calling yourselves my rival."


    Both Gold and Crystal''s eyes shone competitively at that.


    "You and Green are way stronger than we expected but you aren''t unbeatable! Next time, we''ll beat you both!" Crystal exclaimed passionately.


    "Fires me up just thinking about the day I win a battle against you two!" Gold grinned eagerly.


    I snorted. "Whatever you say."


    Pleasantries over, the duo waved goodbye and left to continue their own journey.


    Fuchsia eh? That was opposite of Green and I, so it''d be a long while before we met again.


    I wonder how their teams would look next time I saw them...


    Hopefully it was formidable. They were probably on Team Rocket''s radar now so they''d have to be careful.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    A gentle knock on the door interrupted my bored scrolling and I glanced at the door.


    "Fuck off," I said idly, turning back down to my Pokegear as I ran a hand through Loki''s fur. Gaia was snoozing across my legs, effectively trapping me (she did it on purpose) and despite the fact that I could punt her light ass to the other side of the room, I was obviously not going to do that.


    I didn''t even blink as my door opened anyways.


    "They told me you''d say something like that. I was told if you said it, I could just come in anyways."


    I blinked at that, gazing up in some confusion at the unknown voice.


    It was a girl. Definitely not one I recognized and she looked absolutely nothing like any main character.


    "Who the hell are you?" I asked curiously, gauging her appearance.


    She had on some shorts and a form fitting shirt underneath an open jacket. If I had to guess I''d say she was like, 17?


    A trainer by the looks of it. She was definitely dressed like one.


    "Silver, right?" she asked. "I''m Maria. I''m no one special or anything like that... but you saved my life back on the S.S Anne."


    I stiffened at that. "Look. I really am not looking to take credit for that, so there''s no need to come all the way over here to thank me," I waved her off.


    "You stopped me from getting assaulted," she informed me.


    I blinked and peered at her. "Huh?"


    Black hair, brown eyes, somewhat pretty but ultimately unrecognizable.


    Yeah this was just a completely random person. When the hell did we meet ¡ª


    "Oh," I said in realization. "You''re the girl with 7 badges. The one who was dressed in her underwear."


    I remember now. She was the one that dumbass rocket was getting feisty over.


    I snorted as she blushed in embarrassment.


    "Please don''t bring that up. I''m just here to thank you," she mumbled.


    "If that''s all you came here to do, you were better off just continuing your journey," I waved her off.


    Maria rolled her eyes. "Green was right. You really are an ass."


    I rolled my eyes. "Yeah I know. Now is that all you wanted?"


    The random girl sighed. "Look, I''m trying to thank you for something that''s really important to me. You really got me out of a tough spot and if you didn''t take out that Rocket... I saw what happened to the ship. There''s no way I would have survived if you didn''t wake me up."


    I frowned at that. "I was just making sure scum like that didn''t get away with doing whatever they wanted. Stooping to levels like that isn''t something anyone should be cool with," I said truthfully.


    That Rocket mentioned wanting to have some fun, right before I smashed my foot into his nuts. It didn''t take a genius to figure out what he had been intending on doing.


    "And I wanted to thank you for that," she said earnestly, smiling at me.


    I grunted. "Whatever. Don''t expect someone to always be there to bail you out."


    She rolled her eyes. "You''re exhausting to talk to and it''s only been like 3 minutes."


    "That''s how I feel when someone opens their mouth around me," I replied with a sneer. "Now get out. My hospitality limit has been reached and I''m already pissed that I''m cooped up in here."


    Maria rolled her eyes. "You''re so grumpy. You remind me of a feisty Liepard."


    I blinked at that. Was that her way of calling me a cat?


    "Alright alright, I''ll head out now," she said stretching slightly and turning towards the door.


    "Oh and before I forget..."


    I watched warily as she approached me. I may have been cooped to this bed but I was very willing to kick the shit outta her if she tried anything.


    I blinked in utter confusion as she leaned and kissed me on the cheek.


    Huh?


    "That''s thanks for saving me... and don''t say "I guess" when someone mentions a girl''s looks next time. That''s offensive," she said cheekily.


    "See ya Silver, try not to be so exhausting next time. You''re a cute kid so you''d be more popular that way. If we ever run into each other again, I''ll try to properly repay you," Maria waved.


    I blinked in confusion.


    "Is she fucking stupid?" I mused. "Why would I want to be more popular? I already know I''m good looking."


    "Bay," Gaia growled warningly, glaring daggers at the spot the girl was at.


    I sighed deeply and pat Gaia to placate her. "Who the hell kisses someone randomly like that? Does she think this is some romantic movie?"


    Whatever. This is why I hated interacting with people and I especially hated interacting with randoms.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    You know, it was dawning on me how many people cared for me, when Jasmine burst into my room with tears in her eyes.


    My shy and dainty best friend, launched herself across the room and directly onto my bed.


    I let out a way too familiar sounding grunt, as Jasmine crushed me in a hug, practically smushing me back onto the bed.


    "Jasmine?" I said in clear surprise, returning the hug to the best of my ability as she sobbed atop me. "What are you doing back in Kanto?"


    "What am I doing back in Kanto?!" Jasmine shouted tearfully, glaring at me with all the fury of a chipmunk. "Do you think I wouldn''t visit my best friend in the hospital?! Gym Leader be damned! I would have visited you no matter what anyone said!"


    Green and I blinked in shock at her use of foul language, before Jasmine''s fierce expression immediately melted and her tears renewed.


    She grabbed the yelping Green and dragged her into the hug, just letting her tears soak the both of us.


    "I-I''m so glad you two are okay!" she cried, squeezing us. "When I heard that the S.S Anne was attacked, I began to fear the worst and then¡­ and then Champion Lance told me you were in the hospital!"


    I sighed and ran a soothing hand through her neat hair.


    Jasmine whimpered. "I-I can''t believe Team Rocket would attack you guys. I promise I''ll make them regret all their decisions! They better hope I never see any of them or Rusty is going to have lunch!" she swore.


    "It''s alright Jas," I soothed.


    "We''re fine now!" Green agreed, hugging our distraught friend. "They''ll pay for this, alright?"


    Jasmine nodded in our grasp, sniffing and wiping her tears away.


    "Let''s stop being sad," I said with a shake of my head, reaching for my bag. "Here, I got you a gift."


    Jasmine sniffed, not removing herself from the bed and watching with wide eyes as I pulled out a small Steelix plush, followed by a giant one of a Piplup.


    "I won a bunch of these on the ship and saved these two for you."


    My best friend gasped, mouth opening wide in, franky adorable, awe as she tentatively accepted the two gifts and I watched as the tears in her eyes renewed.


    "T-This is my first time receiving a gift from a friend!" Jasmine cried, wiping her eyes unsuccessfully as she grinned at me. "Thank you Silver!"


    I sighed. "Sometimes I think you abuse how adorable you can be sometimes," I pointed out.


    Jasmine flushed red immediately, before yelping as she was bombarded by an army of plush.


    "Here Jas! You can have some from me too!" Green beamed. "You never got a gift from a friend?"


    "N-No?" Jasmine mumbled in confusion, struggling to contain all the plush she suddenly got.


    "Alright! From now on we''ll get you all the gifts you could think of!"


    Jasmine''s mouth opened at that, gazing helplessly at me and sighing in resignation as I simply flashed her a smug smirk.


    "Have you got any new team members?" I asked curiously.


    Jasmine perked up at that and nodded enthusiastically.


    "I did actually! I got two new pokemon after you started giving me such useful advice! I have no idea how you know so much by I finally got the Ferroseed I mentioned to you and I''m in the process of securing a Tinkatink for more power!" she exclaimed happily.


    Ferroseed... now that was an awesome damn choice. I very much approved of that one.


    I flicked open my pokedex to gaze at the one named Tinkatink.


    I only took a single glance at the first form of Jasmine''s upcoming pokemon before I immediately came to a conclusion.


    "It''s literally you in Pokemon form."


    Green perked up, glanced over Jasmine''s shoulder, gazed at the picture and burst out into laughter.


    "H-Holy shit it really is you!" she cackled, getting an amused huff out of me.


    Jasmine looked mortified at our observations. "T-That''s so rude of you two to say! I''ve been getting better because of you both!"


    I nodded. "Yeah you''ve already evolved into Tinkatuff. They''re almost menaces but not quite yet¡­ we just gotta turn you into a Tinkaton. These little fellas are demons," I said, looking completely impressed by the final form of Jasmine''s fairy.


    Tinkaton? This little girl was a real monster.


    I approved tremendously.


    "Wow, so doesn''t that make you her trainer?!" Green pointed out. "You''re the reason she''s slowly becoming a menace after all!"


    I nodded with a pondering expression. "That makes a lot of sense to me. What do you think, Jas?"


    Jas looked at us with a horrified expression. "You two are horrible¡­ I can''t even peacefully visit you," she said with a defeated sigh.


    I chuckled at that. "So I guess you can''t stay for too long right? How long do you have?"


    "Just a day. I''ll be leaving before night hits¡­ I just wanted to make sure you two were okay," Jasmine said with a relieved smile, diligently placing all the plushies she got into her bag.


    Knowing her, she was going to set them all up as soon as she got home and then send us a picture of it.


    "Alright, we can chat. Just the 3 of us then!" Green beamed.


    I nodded in agreement, watching as Jasmine slowly but surely realized she had been squeezing me atop my bed practically the whole time.


    As I watched Green begin teasing the red faced Jasmine, I felt strangely light.


    These two were my friends. It was surreal to think about but yes, I had friends and they meant a lot to me¡­


    I couldn''t let Mewtwo and Team Rocket succeed. I had to stop them in anyway I knew how¡­


    And that meant I needed to get strong.


    But would I ever be strong enough to stop a legendary? I don''t even think Lance could stop Mewtwo¡­


    My eyes narrowed slightly, running through a bunch of plans¡­ before coming to an epiphany.


    This could either work, or end up being really fucking dumb.


    But hey, it was either that or I get captured¡­


    Alright yeah, I''d try to make this plan work. If it worked, perfect. If it didn''t, I was probably going to die.


    Oh well. It was a last resort kind of thing anyways. Actually, if I thought about it, I had a couple of last resorts. Surely one of them was bound to work?


    Only time would tell.


    "Silvy! Jas and I are gonna go get some food! You must be tired of all the hospital stuff so we''ll get you some too!"


    I blinked at that, focusing once more on Jasmine and Green and noticing that they were both staring at me with those innocent expressions of theirs.


    "Tell me about it. Something actually good please. I''d kill for a burger," I agreed with them, watching as they both got off my bed and patted themselves.


    "Kay! We''ll be right back!" Green beamed.


    Jasmine smiled and waved, before the two departed.


    Yeah¡­ I''d protect them both. These were my friends and that innocence may have been something I didn''t have¡­ but they didn''t have to lose theirs.


    I sighed.


    So this was what it was like to care for people. Knowing that you could handle things in a smarter fashion, but being unable to because it wasn''t just you that mattered anymore.


    It¡­ was as nice of a feeling as it was terrible.


    Truly a double edged sword.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "You look like you''re in a bad mood."


    I glared at Lance as soon as he said that. "Speak for yourself. I''ve been healed for a few days now. You look like shit."


    Lance tried to hide his exhaustion by laughing at my comment but I narrowed my eyes at him, peering at those bags under his striking yellow gaze.


    "It''s been a hectic few days. I would have visited you sooner, but there were a lot of things I needed to do," Lance informed me, ruffling a giant hand on my head and withdrawing before I could bite it.


    I straightened up slightly, at seeing my aunt appear from behind the giant champion.


    "Bad?" I asked, nodding towards Lorelei and watching as her serious expression, made way for a tiny smile.


    Lance''s easy expression vanished for a moment. "It''s been a mess, but this is far better than the alternative¡­ and that''s thanks to you, Silver."


    I blinked.


    "We received various testimonies on your involvement in the S.S Anne," Lance revealed to me with a tired smile. "One even said you stopped them from even getting assaulted. That one really stuck with me."


    "Not only that, I spoke to Green and she told me you were the first one aware that Team Rocket was on the ship, utilizing her and two other capable trainers to bring eyes on their involvement. You kept a cool head and immediately messaged me, ensuring a call went through as well so that I had a higher chance to see it... but not saying anything to compromise your position."


    I shifted uncomfortably as his sharp gaze landed on me.


    "It''s no exaggeration to say that you spearheaded the rescue of so many people and helped largely thwart whatever Team Rocket wanted to do so I''d like to thank you as Champion of Indigo. You did your part masterfully and I''m truly thankful for that," Lance said, bowing towards me in a display that I knew was completely out of character for the proud dragon in human flesh.


    "¡­Stop that," I grunted, looking away from him. "I just did whatever was going to give me and Green the best chance of survival."


    "And that decision impacted thousands of innocents," Lorelei said softly. "The casualties were numerous¡­ but you helped save many people. That is an achievement worth acknowledging and we cannot thank you enough."


    ¡­


    This was awkward. I didn''t want such praise.


    "Whatever¡­" I muttered. "You have questions for me?"


    Lorelei nodded and stepped forward, taking reign of the conversation.


    "Could you tell us your perspective of the events that transpired on the S.S Anne?" Lorelei asked, releasing a Jynx from the pokeball.


    I gazed at the humanoid pokemon with an interested gaze, resisting the urge to snort as it used its abilities to bring out a clipboard.


    It looked at me for a brief moment and I felt a slight tingle, before Jynx recoiled back harshly.


    My brows furrowed at that and Lorelei chanced a glance at her pokemon in some confusion.


    Perhaps it was the type of pokemon, because Jynx seemed to have reacted a lot worse than Bronzy did... in fact Bronzy seemed to be the one with the best reaction to me to date.


    I frowned.


    "I woke up in the middle of the night randomly. I decided to leave my room for a bit and when I opened the door, there was a Rocket trying to break into Green''s room. Naturally, I reacted not great to that and dispatched of him, before dragging his unconscious body into my room."


    Lorelei interrupted me for a moment. "You dispatched of him? How so?" she asked curiously.


    I gazed at her. "I grabbed his head and slammed it into a wall. Then I stomped on his face twice," I replied truthfully.


    Lorelei pursed her lips at my violent words, while Lance smirked idly.


    "After knocking him unconscious, I messaged Champion Lance and called him for good measure so he could see. Then I stripped him of his clothes and donned on Team Rocket''s attire."


    "Why?" Lorelei asked, not liking the conclusion she came to.


    "To pose as them and move around more freely," I grunted. "It was an easy solution that Loki, my Zorua, made easier. I knew I couldn''t do this alone, so I called Green and two of my other¡­ friends. Their names are Gold and Crystal."


    Both of them nodded in recognition at the names and I continued.


    "I informed them of the situation and instructed the three of them to meet up with each other and wake up anyone they could. Meanwhile, I would pose as Team Rocket and disrupt them as much as possible."


    "That''s incredibly reckless," Lorelei chastised, losing the professional air slightly in place of concern. "You could have been hurt."


    "I was hurt," I said dryly. "I disrupted about 5 groups of rockets. After saving a girl who was about to be assaulted, I was blindsided by one of them and they smashed some sort of glass onto my head."


    Both Lorelei and Lance clenched their fist at that.


    "That would explain the head wounds, concussion and glass bits," Lorelei frowned deeply.


    "My team heard the scuffle and they¡­ dealt with the rocket who did that," I grunted. "They saved my life. After patching me up, I was planning on heading to Green''s location, but then the ship blew up and a hole got ripped where I was running, before I fell into the ocean."


    The memory was still rather fresh and I shuddered at the chilling water that had grabbed me from all directions.


    "I thought I was gonna die," I admitted with a small sigh. "While swimming, I could see everything. I could see all the pokemon staring curiously at the mayhem taking place. I saw the Tentacruel wondering if it was worth it to use me as food. I saw the Magikarps and Golden swimming away¡­ and I saw my Feebas trying her hardest to save my life."


    Lance''s brows furrowed at that.


    "Afterwards, I saw a figure reaching out for me and I grabbed it. And then I saw you and you introduced yourself as my aunt to a person that just got out of a life threatening situation," I said dryly.


    Lorelei had the decency to cough slightly, turning away from that and I snorted in amusement, watching as Jynx finished writing it all down.


    "Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, Silver¡­ now I just have one more. Are you aware of what could have destroyed the ship?"


    ¡­


    "A pokemon probably," I said with a frown. "I don''t know what it was, but a pokemon definitely destroyed the ship."


    They did not need to know about Mewtwo. League moral needed to be high and knowing there was a Legendary they very likely couldn''t defeat, would only be a net negative.


    I''d have to be the one to deal with that¡­


    "I see¡­" Lorelei mused. "Right. Thank you again, Silver."


    "No problem Ms. Aunt," I grunted. "Now when am I free to go?"


    "I''d appreciate if you referred to me in a less sarcastic tone," Lorelei pressed, accepting the notes out of Jynx''s hand.


    "No can, Ms. Aunt," I replied.


    Lance snorted. "You''ve actually been clear for a while now but they''ll let you go tomorrow. I just told them not to release you before I got to interview you because you would have left beforehand."


    I scowled fiercely. "Fuck off you shit champion! Stop holding me back or else I''ll stomp your nuts out!"


    Lorelei frowned deeply at my tone and language."Silver ¡ª"


    Lance chuckled. "You need to stay still a bit. You remind me of a worse version of myself in terms of recklessness. Sometimes it''s nice to take things easy."


    I scoffed.


    "Lance is not wrong. Pacing yourself is important Silver. You''re intelligent and you use that intelligence to fuel your reckless actions¡­ please also use it to regulate yourself," Lorelei requested.


    "...And use it to gain better manners," she added, stressing this one the most.


    "I''ll think about it but probably not," I informed her, gauging my aunt.


    "That reminds me," Lance suddenly said, gazing at me with suspicious eyes. "Your Shelgon."


    I blinked. "Yeah, caught me by surprise too. Why''s she so big? You have any idea?"


    Lance pursed his lips. "It''s likely because of something called the Alpha Phenomena."


    Alpha Phenomena? What was that?


    "You''ve seen Green''s Ivysaur, right?" Lance asked curiously.


    I nodded. "Yeah hard to miss Saury."


    "That''s because he''s an Alpha Pokemon. They''re bigger than the average pokemon and stronger too."


    "It''s a very recessive gene," Lorelei added. "You won''t just find an Alpha Pokemon in the wild."


    "That would also explain why Ares has the recessive ability," Lance muttered.


    Oh.


    Ohhhh.


    That''s why Ares'' mom refused to let her go!


    Oh shit I was an even bigger criminal than I thought! Ares was an actual psycho for seeking me out though, I doubted she knew all the details.


    I''d say I was lucky, but I nearly died getting this damn Shelgon and Green got an Alpha as her starter!


    "What''s in the egg?" I asked Lance suddenly.


    Lance snorted in amusement. "Curious about it huh? I was going to offer up a different egg, but we received that one as a gift instead. It''s a pokemon from a faraway region... you''re smart so you might have heard of it but no harm if you haven''t," he told me.


    I furrowed my brows.


    I didn''t really want an egg of a pokemon whose identity I didn''t know but it''s not like I was starving for a 6th pokemon.


    "So you won''t tell me what it is?" I asked.


    "Nope."


    Asshole. Whatever.


    "Are you two heading back to Indigo?" I asked instead.


    "We''ve dispatched forces to help Vermilion deal with the aftermath and Surge has taken a personal interest in this," Lorelei informed me.


    "He''s as pissed about this as we are," Lance sighed with a firm frown. "If you hear anything more about Team Rocket ¡ª"


    "Do not hesitate to call me. I will be there as quick as possible," Lorelei finished his statement.


    "Will do," I replied easily.


    "And¡­ don''t be afraid to message me for miscellaneous things¡­ I truly don''t mind," Lorelei tried to say as normally as possible.


    Unfortunately it wasn''t normal.


    I snorted in amusement. "Alright, aunt. I''ll keep that in mind. Now go get back to your duties."


    They both nodded and I watched them depart. Lance''s confident steps, followed by Lorelei''s quiet waltz.


    She glanced back one last time at me, opened her mouth, then closed it and shuffled out of the room.


    Weirdo. If you wanted to say something¡­ just say it ¡ª


    I blinked as my pokegear began vibrating and gazed at the device.


    "Please be careful¡­ and I meant it when I said don''t be afraid to message me. I''d be happy to speak to you about anything."


    I snorted out loud.


    My aunt was such a dork.

 Odd Happenings II

    After telling Green to meet up with me tomorrow morning, I studied out of boredom and messaged the contacts on my phone to pass the time.


    Joy was the most surprised about that detail, not being aware that I was in the hospital until I told her.


    "You''re in the hospital? What for?" she had asked.


    "Boat ride got attacked by Team Rocket."


    There had been a brief silence at that as she digested that info. No doubt she was searching up any and all info about the attack on the S.S Anne now.


    Hoenn and Kanto were fairly close to each other. Not nearly as close as Kanto and Johto, or Johto and Sinnoh¡­ but close enough where some info would definitely leak over there.


    "I heard about that. You were on that boat?"


    "Yep. Got clocked in the head with glass. Luckily didn''t need any stitches."


    "Fuck. That''s not good at all. At least you lived. Team Rocket is getting far too bold and it''s concerning."


    "Tell me about it¡­ that reminds me. Did you wipe my records after I used your center?"


    "Yeah. I did. You won''t tell me if I''m right, but I''m pretty sure you''re being targeted by someone so I just wiped your records to make sure they didn''t know you came to Hoenn. It worked out well considering you didn''t use a single other Center over here."


    "¡­Thanks, I appreciate that. Whenever I come back to Hoenn, I''ll drop by and visit."


    "Whatever you say kid."


    "Who are you talking to?"


    I didn''t bother looking up from my phone. "None of your damn business," I muttered instinctively.


    ¡­


    I froze.


    Whose voice was that?


    My gaze sharpened and I swiftly looked up¡ª


    Only to freeze once more, this time in horror.


    A pretty face with sharp features glared down at me. Red eyes and red hair dominated the person''s appearance¡­


    But what stood out the most, was how similar this person''s red hair was to mine¡­ down to even the style.


    There were some key differences. My hair had a spikier tint to it compared to her smoothness¡­ but both the ends of our hair flared out at our shoulders.


    The key differences of our hair, seemed to be in the fact that I had bangs that bothered my eye, while she didn''t¡­ and that annoying cowlick of mine, that stuck straight up, had nothing on the evolved form of hers.


    Well damn, I really was my mothers child.


    "I do hope that wasn''t my sister you were messaging," Ariana grit out, wearing a casual white shirt, along with long black pants.


    There was no sign she was apart of Team Rocket right now. She just looked like an angry mother.


    ¡­


    I was trapped in a hospital room, with my mother who was an executive of Team Rocket and she looked pretty pissed at me¡­


    She was dangerous¡­ Ariana was a talented trainer and judging by Lorelei''s words, she was very formidable...


    "How the fuck did you get in here?" I scowled.


    ...But none of that would ever matter to me because my mother was a bitch.


    Unlike Giovanni, my mother didn''t regard my words with thin amusement.


    No my mother was very clearly ignorant enough to match my energy.


    Guess I know who I got that from.


    "How the fuck did I get in here?! How the FUCK DID I GET IN HERE?!" She hissed, waving her hand.


    I watched in surprise, as a Zoroark materialized from thin air. It stared down at me with recognition in its eyes and I sneered at it.


    It barely reacted.


    "I got in here, the same way you got out, you brat!"


    She wasn''t bothering to hide her shouting and I couldn''t help but notice not a single person was coming in to check the noise¡­


    But of course that was cleared up as I saw a Gardevoir of all things materialize as well, eyes glowing with purple psychic energy.


    It turned its gaze towards me for a moment and I watched as it flinched back horribly, energy faltering for a brief minute, but it shook its head and gazed away from me, keeping the room soundproof.


    "What the hell do you think you''re doing, Silver?!" Ariana shouted at me with fury in her eyes. "What is this?! What are you trying to prove?!"


    I glared at her, stamping down my fury as Loki released himself from the pokeball.


    Zoroark perked up at that and it''s eyes gained a slight spark in them.


    At the same time, Ariana glanced down at her belt in annoyance and released a Ninetails who was gazing at Loki with recognition as well.


    ¡­


    Wait, the Zoroark was pretty self explanatory¡­ but was Ninetales Loki''s other parent?


    That would make sense. Loki did have Extrasensory...


    What a terrible situation to be in. It was time to prepare for the worst.


    Though, I had no intention of backing down for even a second.


    I sneered at my mother, noticing the way Loki never faltered in the face of his parents. They were horribly stronger than us right now but despite that, we both glared at them.


    "What do I think I''m doing? What am I trying to prove?" I snarled, rocketing off my bed and glaring at her.


    Ariana was taller than me so I had to glare up at her but I didn''t let that stop me at all.


    She looked taken aback by my aggression, eyes widening in surprise slightly but I ignored it because this woman evoked so much more crushing emotions out of me than Giovanni, that it was nauseous.


    This woman didn''t make me feel angry because of their expectations. She didn''t fill me with fury at her abuse.


    No, my anger and rage stemmed from an intense disappointment in the woman who claimed to be my mother.


    So I let that side take over.


    "Since when the fuck do you care about what I''m doing?! All of a sudden, you''re some caring and prime example of a good mother?! Give me a fucking break!" I shouted at her.


    Ariana took a step back at the raw fury in my gaze, mouth opening in shock.


    "The only thing you give a fuck about, is making sure daddy dearest doesn''t throw you away like yesterday''s trash isn''t that right? You''ll do anything to keep him satisfied as long as you''re safe!" I spat venomously.


    "You''re so damn pathetic! All that matters is that you stay on his good side, even throwing your own son to the side and now that I''m fed up that both my fucking parents suck, you want to suddenly care about me and wonder what I''m doing?!"


    " Why don''t you just fuck off and leave me alone?!" I roared at my mother, eyes blazing with pent up fury.


    Ariana said nothing.


    "When I needed you, you did nothing. Stop acting like my mother. You failed your job and you know why you failed? Because you''re weak," I hissed.


    "You''re too weak to stand up for yourself. You''re too weak to have your own voice. You''re too weak to do what you want to do and you''re too damn weak to even put up a fight against your sister. It''s no wonder you crawled into some ditch and went into hiding ¡ª"


    SMACK.


    I abruptly stopped speaking, as a hand connected firmly with my cheek.


    There was a hot rage in Ariana''s eyes and she looked at me with a fierce scowl.


    "Don''t you ever speak to your mother like that again," she hissed at me. "You have no idea what I''ve been through and you''d dare belittle me like this? You''d mention my damn sister around me?!"


    "I don''t have to explain my actions to you. Pack up your things. We''re going home. This way, you won''t have to throw yourself in situations that will get you killed."


    I said nothing for a while, merely taking the time to register that yes, my mother just slapped me across the cheek.


    I tentatively put a hand to my cheek, feeling the stinging sensation.


    But despite that, I didn''t feel all angry.


    No, I just felt my resolve tighten.


    "Do you want to know something?" I asked, eerily calm as I turned my boiling silver eyes onto her. "You''re the reason I hate weaklings."


    Ariana''s eyes flew open in a rage. "Did you not just hear anything I said ¡ª"


    "You''re the one who taught me what it meant to be weak and I hate that feeling more than anything. You stand there and look proud of yourself for submitting to a stronger force. Now, you''re trying to keep me weak with you and I won''t let that happen," I swore to myself.


    "You can take me back if you want. I will run away again. Imprison me for as long as you''d like, I''ll find a way to escape¡­ and if it comes down to it, I''ll take you out to earn my freedom. You''ve denied me long enough, I won''t be denied anymore."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Ariana shuddered.


    Yes¡­ she shuddered. Ariana shuddered because currently, in this very moment, her 12 year old son looked far more unnerving than Giovanni did¡­


    Hell currently, her son looked even more unnerving then that Mewtwo.


    His silver eyes bored into her with a chilling amount of ice, no hint of emotion on his face as he spoke his resolve to her.


    His eyes had always been a unique point about him. He had inherited practically everything from her but those silver eyes of his...


    That was all him. It wasn''t grey like Giovanni''s eyes were... that was something unique to Silver and right now it was ¡ª


    They were unnerving, narrowed in a way that reminded her of an intelligent predator. He reminded her of a feline, patiently waiting for her to make one wrong move before he could sink his claws into her.


    There was no emotion on his face, even with the red mark on his cheek and he just continued to stare at her.


    Distantly, she realized that Gardevoir was utterly terrified of her son and it was then Ariana had to wonder, just what had happened to Silver.


    Gardevoir had always been somewhat wary around him but this far exceeded that...


    What happened? What had happened to Silver? This wasn''t the son she remembered...


    You''ve denied me long enough, I won''t be denied anymore.


    "I''m just¡­ trying to protect you," Ariana said quietly, breaking eye contact with her son.


    "You failed. I don''t want your protection."


    "You saw what happened on the ship! You nearly died because I wasn''t there to watch you," she pressed.


    "Even when you were watching me, I never felt safe. Besides it was your organization that almost killed me," he said coldly.


    Ariana scowled, ignoring how the first sentence made her feel. "It wouldn''t have been like that if you just stayed with us. Just come with me! I''ll make sure nothing happens to you!"


    "You think I believe that? Do you really think for even a second, that I think you''ll keep me safe?" Silver asked in genuine curiosity.


    She hated the way her stomach was currently twisting. He truly had no faith in her at all. Not even an ounce.


    "I... I admit that I''ve made some mistakes in the past but things are different now," she tried. She didn''t even know what she was saying anymore.


    "Different... right. If things are different, then you wouldn''t be here trying to force me to come back home," he bit out.


    "Zor," his Zorua said in determination.


    Ariana''s expression nearly cracked as frustration built up. She was seconds away from dragging him home, warnings be damned.


    "Don''t you understand, Silver?! This isn''t some game! Why are you trying so hard to go against Giovanni?!"


    "Because I get to decide how I live. No one else. I don''t want to meet his expectations because his expectations don''t align with what I want to do."


    ¡­


    "You plan on becoming our enemy, don''t you?" Ariana said in realization.


    Giovanni... if Giovanni realized what Silver intended on doing, he wouldn''t be so amused by this entire thing.


    Silver knew that. He knew what Giovanni could do but yet he still intended to go against him just to earn his freedom.


    "¡­" Her son said nothing.


    He was serious. He truly was hellbent on taking out Team Rocket.


    How on earth was her son ever going to do that?


    Giovanni thought this was some teenage rebellion but Ariana knew otherwise. She knew the moment she looked into the eyes of her only child, that this was no joke to Silver.


    This was his goal and nothing was going to stop him.


    Not her. Not Giovanni¡­ and not even Mewtwo.


    Did Silver even know about Mewtwo? Did he not realize how futile it was?


    "When you fail, don''t think I''ll be able to protect you from Giovanni," she whispered.


    "You never protected me before. Why do you suddenly think I have expectations for you? I don''t need you," he said calmly.


    Ariana ignored the stabbing in her chest that had been getting stronger as the conversation went.


    His words didn''t feel good to listen to. They felt downright awful. Even worse than the disappointment in her parents voice.


    I don''t need you.


    "Foolish boy. Do whatever you want then," she said bitterly.


    Her son raised a brow. "You don''t plan on taking me back?" he asked incredulously.


    "What''s the point? You''re stubborn. You''ll just constantly find a way to escape. Only a crushing defeat will reign someone like you in," she said.


    Silver snorted. "I''m not you. One loss won''t make me give up all hope. I''m tired of being a caged prisoner. I''ll fight to my last breath and if that fails, then I''ll die."


    Ariana clenched her fist.


    Die? He would accept his death? What was this madness that he was spewing? How could he look his own mother in his eyes and tell her he''d rather accept death then go back with her?


    How did he think something like that would make her feel? No one would ever want to hear that, especially a mother from her son.


    She was someone who admired strength. Ariana respected strength and knew when to submit to it¡­


    So why wasn''t Silver the same? Was it because he didn''t see the monstrosity known as Mewtwo?


    Giovanni was far ahead of her in strength, so naturally she submitted to his power¡­


    Why wasn''t Silver doing the same?


    "You''re the reason I hate weaklings."


    ¡­


    Was it because she was weak? But she was far stronger than Silver was...


    What wasn''t she understanding?


    "Refrain from ever speaking to me like this again. This is the only time I''ll let such a thing slide. Do it again, and I''ll remind you who birthed you," she promised.


    He just continued staring at her, idly scratching at the bandages wrapped around his head and reminding Ariana that he had gotten injured under a mission she was in charge of.


    She really could just capture him, consequences be damned. It''s not like he could stop her. Silver''s team was full of babies in comparison to her.


    But Ariana did not because Ariana knew that for multiple reasons, doing such a thing would be one of the biggest mistakes she could do.


    Silver was¡­ someone who desired freedom from his stifling parents.


    It sounded disturbingly similar to her and once Ariana tasted freedom, she had forgotten about her stifling household.


    It wouldn''t be¡­ right of her to deny him what she herself sought at one point in her life.


    And a small part of Ariana, one that she would never admit existed, didn''t want the relationship she had with her son to be unsalvageable.


    "I won''t tell Giovanni what you plan on doing but he will find out eventually," she said stiffly, beckoning her team over to her side.


    "Thank you so much," he said sarcastically.


    They both watched as Zoroark and Ninetales approached the little Zorua, before the duo each licked apart of his fur.


    "Zor!" Loki barked indignantly, recoiling away from them and shooting them a steady glare, maintaining his protective position in front of Silver the entire time.


    Ariana stifled her jealousy at her own pokemon and returned them, right before Gardevoir''s eyes began glowing and they teleported away.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I watched my mother disappear with a stormy expression, stifling the vindictive satisfaction down at tearing into her.


    Now that I wasn''t pissed to high hell, I could admit that my mother''s reaction to my words was fairly uncharacteristic.


    It''s not like I knew Ariana well, but I doubt she''d have stopped at a single slap. I definitely inherited my temperament from her and I can confidently say I wouldn''t stop there.


    In fact, I''m surprised that I was still in my bed and not being forcefully teleported away with her.


    ¡­


    It was weird.


    "That was weird, right Loki?" I asked him absentmindedly, rubbing my cheek.


    "Zor," Loki nodded in agreement.


    "...Wanna go to sleep?" I asked.


    "...Zor," Loki nodded once more.


    I sighed and grabbed him, pulling him close and shutting my eyes.


    I''d think about this at a later date.


    As soon as I woke up, I gathered everything I needed to go, almost flipped off the nurse who wanted to do one final checkup and met up with the ever patient Green in the reception hall.


    "Finally! We can get our journey started again!" Green beamed, hugging me in joy at seeing me cleared.


    I grunted and let her hug me, dragging her body out of the center in the process. "Let''s not waste anytime. I can''t believe I got held up there for so long."


    Green giggled at my displeasure. "That''s okay, Silvy! We made pretty good progress anyways! We can just go to Lavender really quickly, then go straight to Celadon!"


    I grunted. "Yeah."


    Green remembered something and rummaged in her bag, pulling out my egg and handing it over.


    "I almost forgot! I was taking care of the egg while you were in there. Hope you don''t mind! I just made sure nothing too dangerous happened to it!"


    I accepted it easily and nodded. "You''re too good of a person, Leaf."


    She blushed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her messy head. "Aww don''t say stuff like that! You''re gonna end up embarrassing me!"


    I huffed in amusement, taking in the morning air with a soft sigh.


    "G-Green? S-Silver?"


    ¡­


    One fucking second of peace. That''s all I ask for.


    Just one second.


    "Mason!" Green cheered, clapping happily. "How are you?!"


    Mason blushed bashfully and rubbed the back of his head. "I''ve been¡­ pretty good! I got two badges now!"


    "Seriously?!" Green exclaimed, looking genuinely joyful at hearing that.


    "Y-Yeah! I caught an Oddish on the way to Cerulean and I studied what I could teach him! He really helped me out in winning! How about you guys... I um, heard about what happened with the S.S Anne," he muttered.


    Green''s smile dimmed. "It''s a good thing you weren''t on there. It was a mess," she said somberly.


    Mason flinched back. "S-Sorry. I didn''t mean to bring up bad memories. I''m just really glad you two are okay!"


    I zoned out the conversation and sighed.


    The S.S Anne was a talking point everywhere you went. I''m sure it was even being spoken about in other regions.


    It was one of the most disastrous events in recent years after all. Thousands dead, ship completely destroyed and culprits still on the loose...


    Team Rocket was very quickly being recognized as a global threat. I wouldn''t be surprised if other regions began aggressively pushing to intervene. Doubt was being thrown Lance''s way on if he could truly handle this by himself.


    For all his strength, Lance was still very young. It was obvious that the older generation would think him not capable of such a thing.


    Ungrateful. That''s what they were. They should be glad that Lance was the one running the region cause if it were me, I''d pull a petty move and just leave.


    "S-Silver! I wanted to thank you and Green for helping me figure out how to improve!"


    I blinked and zoned back into the conversation.


    "Huh?" I grunted in confusion, tilting my head. "What I do?"


    Green giggled. "Silvy! You gave him advice! Don''t you remember?"


    "No."


    Green stopped laughing at my serious answer. She instead stared at me with a slack jaw.


    "T-That''s okay!" Mason laughed nervously, gazing at me.


    The short boy reminded me of a mouse. He was jittery and nervous all the time. Maybe losing so much had ruined his childish confidence.


    "You might not remember but I do! You told me what I needed to do to and I won my first rematch against Flint since! T-Then I didn''t even need to battle the Cerulean gym again because I began strategizing! I''ve even been winning more battles!" he exclaimed.


    I stared at the genuine joy in the kids eyes and nodded. "Not bad."


    He nodded eagerly, looking at me with sparkling eyes. "A-And the best part is, I think Charmeleon is actually beginning to respect me a bit! We haven''t lost a battle in so long!"


    "Cool," I shrugged. "Now you don''t have to be afraid of being maimed in your sleep."


    "S-Silvy!"


    "I''m telling the truth."


    "D-Do you two have any advice against Surge?" Mason asked curiously. "I heard he''s uh¡­ really strong."


    I sighed.


    "What''s your team?" I asked blandly.


    "U-Uh¡­ Charmeleon, Sandshrew, Fearow and Oddish!"


    "That Sandshrew should be close to evolution. I''d suggest achieving that before you think about battling him. His Raichu will eat you alive otherwise. If Oddish is close to evolving, work on that too," I said gruffly.


    Mason nodded along with my words eagerly, hanging onto everything with a level that was making me very uncomfortable.


    "A-Alright! Thanks guys! I''ll let you know how my battle goes when it happens!" he exclaimed, scampering off to the center with haste.


    "See ya Mason!" Green waved happily.


    "Bye Green! Bye Silver!"


    I watched him go with a befuddled expression.


    "The fuck?" I mused.


    "You''re like his mentor now!" Green beamed in joy.


    "Shut the hell up. Let''s go," I scoffed, marching off towards Route 11. "We''ve got distance to make."


    "Kay!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Route 11 and 12 were pretty peaceful routes. Kanto, when not being mugged by a band of villains, was really just a vibe of a region.


    Our trip was pretty uneventful through Route 11. The events of the S.S Anne left the area around Vermilion rather quiet.


    It was odd seeing the routes so subdued and quiet. Even the pokemon seemed to sense the solemn air and kept to themselves.


    Despite Lance and Lorelei claiming I saved a lot of lives¡­ many died all the same. Not everyone had a way to escape.


    The S.S Anne was a giant ship that could fit thousands of people on it and the group I directed was only 4 strong¡­


    It would be naive to think I saved everyone, especially considering Mewtwo probably obliterated the ship.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Many more people lived than if I hadn''t intervened¡­ but many people died regardless.


    "Did Ash and his friends survive?" I asked randomly.


    Green jumped, looking puzzled at my question before nodding her head as she remembered the instructions I had given her.


    "They did¡­ Brock was one of the first people we managed to wake up and he helped ward off so many Rockets! His team was amazing! I didn''t think the rockets were expecting someone as strong as him to be on the ship but he single-handedly kept so many at bay!"


    I nodded at that.


    It was good that they managed to secure Brock''s help. With him, it would have been easy to regroup and defeat the Rockets.


    We continued through Route 11, only encountering 2 other trainers that didn''t have the energy to battle us.


    It was peaceful. I took the time to release Gaia and Loki and they kept pace with us as the sun slowly move through the sky.


    Vee was snoozing away in his nearly permanent residence of Green''s hair, almost fully blending in with it, while Togee sat on her shoulder, arrogantly leading her with his tiny fingers.


    I caught him shooting me a few looks of horror occasionally but I hadn''t bothered him in a while so they confused me mostly.


    We walked in a peaceful silence, only making noises of slight interest as we entered the bridge that made up Route 12.


    It was fascinating. Lavender and Vermilion were directly connected by one massive bridge that occasionally connected to plots of land.


    Without the creation of the bridge, it would take a significantly longer time to reach not only Lavender, but Fuchsia as well¡­


    Kanto was really good with that. It made getting to every one of the normally difficult cities, more convenient to reach.


    "Silvy can we talk?"


    I paused at that and nodded, gazing at Green with a curious expression.


    She looked nervous and beckoned me to a more private area where we could take a small break. We had been at it for about an hour so a break wasn''t out of the norm, but we could normally go longer.


    Must have been something important she wanted to talk about.


    "What''s up?" I asked her with narrowed eyes.


    My companion sighed and steeled herself.


    "I was going to wait a bit before telling you this but¡­ I figured if I just told you now, it would help in the long run¡­"


    I raised a brow.


    "I-I know everything about you um stealing Gaia from the lab and¡­ being apart of Team Rocket," she whispered.


    "B-Bay?!" Gaia spluttered in horror, eyes going wide at the reveal.


    Loki went stiff in my grasp.


    I went stock still, body freezing over completely.


    "A-And I know that Giovanni is also probably apart of Team Rocket too¡­"


    "¡­" My face turned expressionless at that and Green gazed nervously at me.


    That¡­ was not what I was expecting at all.


    Fuck. This entire time I was trying to shield her from the truth so she could claim ignorance but she ended up knowing anyways.


    "Guessing you listened into the conversation with Gold and Crystal?" I asked with a frown.


    She followed us? How? I didn''t even feel her.


    Her skills in stealth were better than I gave her credit for.


    Green nodded hesitantly. "I-I won''t tell anyone!" she suddenly blurted.


    I paused at that. "You won''t?" I asked dumbly.


    "No way! You''re my friend Silvy!" she scowled. "I-I was a little hurt when I found out but then I realized you were dealing with so many things!"


    "You''re not a bad person at all Silvy! I''ve been traveling with you long enough to know that you have a reason for everything and¡­ and you really are my friend and I don''t want anything bad to happen to you. If I tell anyone what you did, something bad will happen to you and I might never see you again," she whispered.


    I watched as the girl began shivering slightly.


    "I-I already thought I lost you during the boat ride and I realized... that I don''t want that to ever happen."


    I blinked in shock as a warm feeling coursed through my body.


    "So even though you''re a criminal¡­ I won''t say anything because you want to free yourself and Gaia is happy that you took her and I''m happy that you''re my friend¡­ so I''m gonna be selfish," she finished with a small breath.


    "The only thing I ask, is that you trust me and let me help you deal with Team Rocket."


    ¡­


    I stared at my companion with an inscrutable expression and mulled over her words.


    "Okay," I said eventually.


    Green looked surprised at that. "Really?!"


    I nodded. "I don''t know if you realize, but I''m a criminal and you just said you won''t tell anyone. I''m not really in a position to say no to you."


    "You''re¡­ my friend, Leaf and we''re already traveling together so yeah, I''ll accept your help."


    Green grinned.


    "But you have to listen to everything I say when we''re dealing with them. If you don''t, I''d rather you just report me."


    "I''ll listen! You can trust me Silvy!" she assured.


    Trust¡­


    I smiled sardonically. "Don''t regret that, Green. I''m a criminal after all."


    "You''re the only other person who knows Giovanni is in Team Rocket," I informed her with a frown. "Considering you haven''t revealed it to anyone yet, you probably realize why I haven''t done it."


    "Because you''re apart of them too. Forcefully," Green deduced intelligently.


    Don''t let her mannerisms fool you. Green was a smart girl and she had probably come to her own conclusions with the info she had been storing about me.


    I nodded. "Yeah. For my own sake, I have to take them out without anyone else figuring that out. I don''t wanna go to prison."


    Green frowned at that and nodded. "We could leave anonymous tips in the future. It doesn''t have to be known who is working on taking them out."


    "Food for thought," I mused with a sigh. "We''ll talk more in a more private area. Let''s continue for now."


    Green nodded and dusted herself off, before we both continued our path to Lavender.


    "Togee was stolen by the way. You might not wanna reveal that."


    ¡­


    ¡­


    "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"


    "TOGEPI?!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green took to being an unintentional accomplice fairly well. She panicked a bit after learning that I stole Togee''s egg (may as well be honest with her) but surprisingly, she decided that there was no way she was ever going to give the Togepi up.


    "It''s not like Togee wants to leave me a-and I don''t wanna give him up!" Green explained.


    "Tog! Tog tog epi!" he ranted, clutching her dress protectively as he stared at me in a mixture of horror and respect.


    "If you don''t say anything, I won''t. We''ll come up with a coverup on how you got that egg," I said truthfully.


    She nodded hesitantly and I felt a little bad at the stress on her face.


    Green was a goody two shoes. She probably had no idea how to react to this information.


    "Don''t worry. If anything ever goes wrong, I''ll take the full fall," I grunted. "You aren''t going down with me. Not my style to shift the blame to someone else."


    "Neither of us are going down," Green said firmly, as we walked along the bridge. "It''s like¡­ keeping a secret!"


    ...


    "...My mom is going to kill me if she ever finds this out," she moaned sadly, holding her head.


    "You unfortunately, have no one to blame but yourself," I shrugged. "No one told you to be so insistent with me."


    "Shut up! How was I supposed to know you were a criminal?!" she hissed.


    "My bad temper, my refusal to let you look into my bag, how secretive I was¡­ should I go on?"


    "...No, I think I get the point," Green sighed in defeat.


    I sighed too. "Just claim ignorance if you ever get caught. I''ll reinforce the idea that you had no idea."


    Green just stared at me, expression unknown to me before she reluctantly nodded.


    "I won''t tattle on you. I''m serious!"


    "I appreciate that Leaf. Now let''s keep going, we should be there soon," I said with a shake of my head.


    "...Silvy, are we still friends?" Green asked tentatively. "I don''t want you to think you have to do this¡­ if you really want me to, we can go our separate ways and I''ll never tell anyone a thing."


    I paused at that and turned towards her.


    "Don''t be stupid. You''re on Team Rocket''s shit list anyways. You may as well keep traveling with me and we can both give em hell," I grunted.


    Green looked stunned by my response, before she grinned brightly and nodded vigorously.


    "C''mon! Let''s keep moving!" she urged, rushing forward with purposeful steps.


    "Stop rushing you idiot. You''re going to ¡ª"


    "A-AH!"


    Splash.


    "¡ªFall," I finished with a sigh.


    She was so hopeless.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green had taken to walking with Larvee to dry herself off after her trip into the water and I grunted, unamused by the fact that I had to save the dumbass.


    I dunno why. Not only did she have Lapee, Green knew how to swim. But she looked way too helpless floundering about.


    "Sorry," she mumbled, squeezing her hair and getting another fountain of water to drop out.


    Vee, Togee and I just glared at her, all a victim to her stupid antics.


    Larvee tilted her head in confusion at why we were all glaring at her trainer.


    "We''re almost there," I scowled, marching forward as I saw a massive tower in the distance.


    It was tall as hell, being the only thing visible so far in the swiftly approaching city and in unison, Green and I upped our pace.


    We entered the Checkpoint Gate that was littered all over the Kanto and Johto regions, nodded to the guard there and made our way to the exit.


    Gloomy. Depressing as fuck.


    Those were the first words I thought of, when I took in the sights of Lavender Town.


    This place was dull as hell.


    "We''re leaving as soon as we finish with the tower," I grunted.


    "Agreed," Green nodded, fully supporting my decision. "What happened here? I know Lavender town is¡­ not the most lively place but this is way worse than I was expecting."


    "Dunno," I frowned. "Wanna go to the Center?"


    "Nah. I think we''ll just camp out in Route 8 after we finish our business here," Green said immediately.


    "Sounds good to me," I snorted in agreement.


    With that, the two of us headed straight to Pokemon Tower.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "I wonder if I''ll find a Gastly! A really cool ghost type is Froslass! Get it? Because it''s Ice type! Oh but I''d really love a Mimikyu! They''re so cute," Green said to me, looking excited at the prospect of a sixth member.


    I listened to her rambling with one ear, shaking my head in exasperation.


    "What about you Silvy? If you were to catch a ghost type, what would it be?" she asked curiously, turning towards me.


    I hummed, letting the cool air of Pokemon Tower brush against me.


    If Lavender was depressing to be in, this place was the reason why because it was goddamn stifling how gloomy it all was.


    "A Chandelure," I said truthfully. "If I could catch any ghost, it would be Chandelure, Aegislash or Trevenant. Dusknoir would be cool as well."


    "Wow! Unique picks for sure," Green awed, flicking open her pokedex to go look at each of them. "They all look really cool!"


    "Right?" I agreed, ignoring all the graves around me and pushing up the stairs.


    "You know that''s something I realized about you! You''re fairly picky huh?" Green asked.


    I mulled it over and nodded. "Yeah. I don''t really chuck a ball at anything, regardless of how strong it is."


    "You just catch what you like!" Green beamed.


    "Yup," I agreed.


    The two of us perked up as a Duskull mulled about.


    Green''s eyes widened in excitement but before she could even contemplate the idea of catching it, the thing jolted, let out a screech and vanished.


    ¡­


    Green''s smile turned strained. "That was the fourth one, Silvy."


    "Yeah."


    "Not only are we barely running into any ghosts¡­ the few we run into immediately bolt it."


    "Astute observation."


    "I can''t help but notice the same thing happens with psychic types."


    "Seriously, you''re a lot smarter than I give you credit for."


    I watched Green''s smile twitch and shrugged helplessly.


    Funny story... from the moment Green and I entered Pokemon Tower, famous to most of the ghosts that inhabited Kanto, we ran into a staggering¡­ three (four now!) ghosts.


    And all four of those ghosts took one look at our group and bolted.


    I had the strangest inkling they were avoiding me.


    "Split up?" I suggested.


    There was no way she was going to catch a ghost while I was traveling with her. Best to let her attempt to find one while alone. She didn''t have many answers to ghost types but I believed in her ability to deal with them.


    She nodded with far too much speed for my liking and I grunted in amusement.


    "I''m going up 1 floor at a time! Just make sure you aren''t on the same floor as me! Bye and stay safe!" Green urged, rushing off without any hesitation.


    I tilted my head and nodded, watching her go.


    Guess I''d just head to the last floor and work backwards until we met up. She should have caught something by then.


    I turned towards the elevator and pressed it, stepping inside and heading straight to the top of the building.


    As I arrived to floor 6 (Allegedly there were 7 floors but the elevator didn''t go to 7), I stepped out and into the deep fog.


    I grunted, nonplussed by the strange air and made my way through the floor.


    Not a ghost in sight¡­ seems like Green''s observations were true and I was being avoided by ghost types.


    Can''t say I''m surprised. Crystal''s Misdreavus took a real long time to get used to me and still not getting fully used to it.


    Ah well. Just another on a long list of issues that I had.


    Floor 6 was filled to the brim with gravestones. There were a few people about, each expressing themselves differently in front of a grave but all sharing the anguish that made me uncomfortable.


    It was depressing. I could see all manner of pokemons in here and all of them were expressing their sorrow.


    From the family with the Vivillon and Butterfree, to the man sobbing while a somber Machoke lay a palm on his shoulder.


    I quietly brushed past them, not staring at the Tangela offering emotional support to a distraught older woman.


    This was making me uncomfortable. I didn''t really wanna be here anymore.


    "I wonder if they''ll be adding more graves for the people and pokemon of the S.S Anne? I wonder who here lost someone from the S.S Anne," I thought without really putting much stock into it.


    Frowning at the rather dark thought, I shook my head to ward them off and continued making my way through the tower.


    As I walked, the fog seemed to deepen, but strangely enough, it wasn''t really hampering my vision. It brushed against me, almost seeming to grasp at me at times, before recoiling away.


    I paused and raised a brow, as the fog began condensing further and further the deeper I went.


    It got heavier and heavier and right as I made it to the entrance of the final floor that couldn''t be reached by elevator, I stopped.


    My eyes narrowed slightly and I idly released Loki from his ball, as something began manifesting in front of me.


    It was a pokemon, that much was obvious, with a black body. Green flames surrounded the creature''s thin body and its bone weapon, as gray eyes stared at me.


    An Alolan Marowak? Weird. I guess it made sense for that to be the ghost of Lavender over a normal Marowak. I didn''t know the specifics about it but I didn''t care enough to question it.


    It was staring at Loki and I warily, set in a defensive stance. The creature looked wise beyond its years, making me wonder how old it actually was.


    "Leave this place."


    I blinked.


    "Huh?" I asked, looking around slowly for the voice that said that and eventually focusing on the Marowak again. "Was that you? You can communicate with me?" I asked slowly.


    "Correct. I am the guardian of this tower and you are disrupting its peace. Forces that should not reside here have touched you."


    Hm¡­


    "Will you kill me otherwise?" I asked, already set on heading back. I had no belief that I could beat this Marowak. Something about it screamed too strong to stop by the average trainer.


    "No. I refuse to touch one like you."


    I grunted at that and shrugged. "Whatever. I''ll go. Not like I''m here for any reason," I muttered.


    Was it weird that an Alolan Marowak was speaking to me? Yeah. But honestly, I was too far past giving a fuck to question it.


    I had more things to worry about then this. The most interesting thing about it, was its confirmation that I was the one disrupting the ghosts¡­ and that it had no intention of doing anything physical to stop me from doing so.


    Ghosts came in different personalities but many ghosts were not afraid to use their abilities to get their way. If Marowak saw me as a threat, I''m very sure the guardian of the tower would eliminate me¡­


    After all, I heard that at an earlier time Team Rocket came by and this Marowak (if it truly was the guardian) right here was the one who dealt with it.


    Yet it refused to attack me.


    It was obvious why, right?


    Because deep down it feared me and wanted nothing to do with whatever was protecting me.


    Whether it was this Foggy Fortress or Mewtwo''s dormant psychic energies inside me¡­ something was scaring and causing the ghosts to act out of turn and even this ancient Marowak wasn''t immune to such a thing.


    So I would leave. It''s not like I was here for a mandatory reason. I doubted I''d find a Litwick or Honedge in here so my desire for a ghost wasn''t that high.


    Maybe I''d find a Duskull but they''d definitely not wanna approach me.


    Ah well. Ghosts were cool but if they couldn''t function well around me, kinda defeated the purpose of catching one.


    "I''m actually gonna wait in the center. Without any ghosts its kinda boring."


    "Kay! In that case, get a room for us to hang until it''s time to go! I battled Blue earlier!"


    "Kicked his teeth in?"


    "Hell yeah I did! It was actually disappointingly easy..."


    "Good. It should be easy."


    I pocketed my device and headed straight to the elevator again, making my way down to the first floor and exiting the building.


    I could almost hear every ghost exhale in relief the moment I stepped out the building and I snorted at that.


    Psychics avoided me, ghosts avoided me¡­ I already had Metang but how the hell was I going to ever catch a ghost?


    Oh well. Nothing to do but go with the flow.


    I absentmindedly headed to the Pokemon Center to reserve a room momentarily.


    Best to just get my own space until Green was done. It was about midday so depending on when she finished we could probably travel some more.


    As I was about to enter the double doors, it opened preemptively and I deftly moved to the left to avoid the body speeding out, thanking myself once more for having incredible reaction time.


    "Watch where you''re going, dipshit," I grunted.


    "Eat a dick, dumbass," the voice snarled.


    I paused and tilted my head.


    At the same time, the offender froze and turned towards me.


    "Ah, if it isn''t the Oak boy," I said in realization, gazing at Blue with an uninterested gaze. "No wonder you were in such a rush. Green just told me you got slammed by her."


    Blue glared at me heatedly, confirming my thoughts without saying a word and I snorted.


    "What the hell are you doing here?" he growled lowly.


    "I decided that stalking you after all your failures was too good to pass up," I said dryly, rolling my eyes at his sour attitude. "Do you think the world revolves around you? We just unfortunately happened to run into each other."


    Seems like my day had been too boring, so they decided to throw this guy in it¡­


    Funny. Too bad I didn''t care. I wasn''t in the mood to antagonize this guy any further.


    I brushed past him with a sigh. I had been fairly moody lately and I blamed it on my encounter with Ariana.


    "Hey. You were on the S.S Anne right?"


    I paused at that and turned towards the frowning Oak.


    "What of it?" I asked.


    "..." he said nothing, looking highly uncomfortable.


    I grunted at him. "Both your friends are fine. That Ash kid survived too," I informed him.


    "That''s not why I wanted to know!" Blue scowled.


    "Sure," I sighed, raking a hand through my hair. "Now if that''s all, I''ll be heading off, Oak boy."


    "Stop calling me that!" Blue barked, glaring at me with fury.


    I barely spared him a glance.


    "Nah, I don''t think I''ll do that. You threw a fit when I called you Gary Oak so now I''m calling you whatever the hell I want. I don''t care about your family issues," I grunted. "If you have such a problem, you can gladly battle and put me in my place... but based on what Leaf said, I doubt you''ll be much of a challenge."


    He scowled, gazing at his pokeballs once more before shaking his head.


    "Don''t talk like you know anything about me. I don''t have family issues."


    "And I can''t kick your ass in 10 different regions. I''m also capable of lying you see? Much better than you at least," I retorted dryly.


    "Look. I don''t really care about your issues and I definitely don''t care about you. You''re Leaf''s friend, not mine so you can stop trying to initiate a conversation with me every chance you get," I told him boredly.


    Blue looked more puzzled than confused at that.


    "You don''t care about my name?" he asked.


    "I would punch you with a smile on my face. I could have sworn our first meeting made that clear."


    "...But I''m an Oak. Why don''t you care?" Blue frowned at that.


    "Fuck. It''s unreal how much of an ego you have. I thought I was bad," I sighed. "I don''t give a shit about your grandpa dumbass. Why would I give a shit about you?"


    Blue stared at me, those bright blue eyes of his glinting with a surprising amount of intelligence.


    It looked like he was using said intelligence to piece together some type of puzzle.


    I snorted and decided this conversation was no longer worth my time.


    I felt his eyes on my back as I disappeared into the center.


    Guess it made sense that he was surprised. Professor Oak was one of the few people who you could claim to be more famous than the Champions.


    That most likely extended to the Oak boy too...


    Oh well, I didn''t give a fuck if Cynthia herself appeared in front of me. She would be just another person.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Silvyyyy!"


    My raised brow turned into a grunt as a figure leapt atop me.


    "Get off me fatass!" I growled, struggling with the excited girl.


    "Hahaha! Nope!" she beamed, shoving a pokeball in my face. "I caught a new member!"


    "Great, get the fuck off of me!" I demanded, hoisting her up and tossing her off the bed.


    She deftly landed on her feet, flailing slightly as she lost her balance before triumphantly standing straight.


    "Tada!" she beamed, thrusting both her arms into the air.


    I stared unimpressed at her impressive display of athleticism, dusting myself off..


    Green was grinning ear to ear as she bustled about the room, practically dancing on her feet.


    I huffed and sat on the edge of the bed, glaring at her all the while.


    "What the hell did you catch that made you this excited?" I grunted.


    "I don''t know!"


    I blinked at the answer.


    "You don''t?" I asked with a raised brow.


    It had taken Green another hour to show up and I had taken the time to read up on a few more recipes that Jasmine sent me.


    I planned on making stir fried rice today, I was pretty good at making rice already¡­ may as well add some more flavor to it.


    "The pokedex told me what it was, but I''ve never seen it before in my life!" Green grinned.


    Without needing more prodding, my companion released her newest capture.


    I stared at Green''s capture with a tilted head, inspecting it thoroughly.


    It was a tiny creature that looked like a reptile or an amphibian, with a dark green head, yellow eyes and pink gills. Two horns adorned it, that were dipped in pink and it''s serpentine body had two long front limbs.


    My eyes narrowed suspiciously as I rummaged through my memory to identify this thing.


    I distantly remember seeing something like this but I don''t know where¡­


    "I just got finished battling Blue and then I was going to explore a bit more¡­ then I noticed something was stalking me! I battled a Gastly and even though I considered catching it, I decided against it and kept looking! That''s when this little guy came out!"


    I nodded.


    "Turns out, he''s been getting bullied by the ghosts around the tower for being too weak! He saw how I battled and wanted to battle me so then we battled a bit and when I won, I captured him!" she beamed, holding up the little tangible ghost like it were a prize.


    "His name is Dree! He''s a Dreepy!"


    A Dreepy¡­


    Oh!


    My mouth opened slightly.


    I knew what a Dreepy was! When I was doing all that research on the other regions, it was one of the pokemon native to the Galar region that caught my attention!


    Why? Because it''s final evolution, Dragapult, was awesome, that''s why!


    I was also 90% sure that it was the pseudo legendary of the Galar region. It had three forms, it started off ridiculously weak and it evolved into the apex predator of its region, much like Dragonite, Salamence, Garchomp, Hydreigon... you get the point.


    Wait¡­ Green just got a massive capture just now didn''t she? From what I remember reading, Dragapults used their absurd speed to hunt and battle.


    Not only that, it was a ghost type. Trying to hit one of these little shits was a task and a half.


    I stared at the Dreepy in blatant interest. The same Dreepy who was currently gazing at me like I were death itself.


    "He joined you because he wants to be stronger?" I asked.


    "Yep! He''s tired of being a pushover so I''m gonna help him become strong!" she beamed.


    I blinked at that and turned my gaze towards the terrified Dreepy once more.


    "Do you realize what you just caught?" I asked with an impressed brow, recalculating Green''s strength at full power with this new addition.


    It was looking fun. Green''s strength with just this single capture, catapulted into something that excited me quite a bit.


    To think she''d get her hands on a Pseudo Legendary as well.


    "That pokemon is spoken about in the same vein as Dragonite, Salamence and Metagross you know?" I pointed out. "It evolves into something called a Dragapult and they''re real monsters. The apex predators of the Galar region."


    Dreepy''s blatant horror vanished a bit at my words and his eyes gained a shine to them at my praise.


    "Wow!" Green awed. "I knew you''d know something! Hell yeah! You hear that Dree? Stick with me and you''re gonna be real strong!" she assured.


    Dree nodded enthusiastically, before looking at me once more.


    I snorted.


    "Green, remember how we mutually agreed that I was scaring off the ghosts?" I suddenly asked.


    Green nodded in confusion.


    "Did you ever stop to think that the ghosts you capture might¡­ suffer the same issue?"


    ¡­


    Green blinked slowly and gazed at Dree, before a horrified gleam entered her eyes.


    "How are you like this?! Turn it off!" she demanded, glaring at me as she protectively held the Dreepy.


    "Turn what off?!" I demanded with a scowl.


    "You know what! What is it anyways?! You can scare off psychics and ghost types! Are you a Zoroark in disguise?! Are you Loki''s dad?!"


    "Are you a dumbass?!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "So you don''t actually know the specifics behind why you can scare them off?" Green asked tentatively.


    I frowned and nodded. "Team Rocket probably did something to me. I don''t know the specifics but that might play a hand in it."


    It might have been a little risky to tell Green this stuff but I might have been more desperate for a person to trust then I realized.


    Besides, she knew that I was apart of Team Rocket for at least a week before she told me and still managed to place that much faith into me.


    I should repay the favor a bit.


    Green''s eyes gained a worried tint. "Is that why they''re targeting you? They¡­ t-they experimented on you?"


    I nodded with a severe frown. "Possibly¡­ actually, that reminds me of something."


    I suddenly stood up.


    Something very peculiar just sprung up in my mind.


    Something that I could only attribute to my great memory stealing stuff from my old world when it came to this world.


    It was such a minute detail too¡­


    "So Green, you already know I''m a criminal right?" I said lowly.


    Green suddenly gained a wary look on her face.


    "Y-Yeah?"


    "Well, I''m about to go potentially do something less than legal. I suggest you don''t leave this room in case my actions turn... bad," I warned her.


    She balked at me.


    "W-What?!" she asked in horror.


    I didn''t reply further. "Be ready to evacuate the city. I''ll shoot you a message."


    "W-Wait just a damn minute Silvy, what do you think you''re about to do?!"


    "I''ll tell you after I finish."


    "N-NO! HOLD ON I''M COMING WITH YOU!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Knock Knock.


    I idly waved at the curious Cubone behind the gated field and threw a treat towards the excited Growlithe, Green nervously glanced at me.


    She had no idea why I was knocking on the door to a random person''s house.


    Considering I told her I was about to do something less than legal, she was probably jumping to some wild conclusions.


    Well, I did give her the chance to stay at the center.


    If I was truly right about this, things were going to get fairly intense.


    Then again, I could always be wrong.


    "Just let me do the talking," I said calmly. "It''ll either be a big misunderstanding, or I''ll have a lead."


    Green nodded hesitantly, clutching my arm nervously.


    Since Green was here, I was not going to go guns blazing immediately and instead, I''d poke and prod instead¡­


    But as the person on the other side opened the door, I watched with a neutral expression as they immediately zeroed in on me¡­ only to play it off by gazing at Green next.


    Gotcha bastard. This was going to be good.


    "Oh, why it''s been so long since I''ve had visitors so young!" Mr. Fuji greeted us with a kindly smile.


    I flashed a disarming smile myself, no hint of recognition in my eyes¡­ because I truly didn''t recognize him at all.


    Which is why this performance was all the better. I know you Mr. Fuji¡­ I just don''t know you.


    "Hello!" I greeted cheerfully (I ignored the wave of horror emitting from Green at my display) and watched as he minutely relaxed. "We heard that you care for abandoned and orphaned pokemon. I was just curious about how you do such a thing just in case I ever encounter a new teammate who happens to be suffering from those circumstances," I stated kindly.


    Mr. Fuji''s beady eyes widened slightly at that.


    "Why of course! I''d be glad to give you two young ones advice!" he agreed, smiling at the two of us and beckoning us in.


    I nodded towards the stunned Green and stepped inside the building with her in tow.


    She shot me a questioning look as the man faced away from us and I gazed at her.


    "Just let me handle this. Act natural," I mouthed to her.


    The poor girl looked terrified. This was why I didn''t want to bring her here.


    Ah well, she was insistent on following me. I''d shield her as much as I could but there was only so much I could hide from her.


    But still... I sighed and grabbed her hand for just a split second and squeezed reassuringly, watching as she jumped slightly.


    She gazed at my hand in awe and I watched as some of the fear actually melted away.


    My companion smiled at me and I nodded, releasing my grip and focusing ahead once more.


    "Are you interested in taking in abandoned pokemon?" Fuji asked us.


    "Yeah," I nodded easily. "So many Pokemon have been abandoned for reasons out of their control, you know? I want to try to help them. It''s only right. Sure they might be difficult¡­ but you just need a little patience."


    "I couldn''t agree more!" Fuji stated with a smile on his face, radiating joy at my words.


    "Yep. It''s better late than never¡­ I wanted to know though. Did you always care for abandoned pokemon or was there a reason that made you decide on this?" I asked curiously.


    Fuji jolted a bit at that and I hastily put a single hand out to reassure him, internally sneering at him.


    "Oh if it''s something private there''s no need to tell me! It''s just, the reason I decided to start this road of mine is because I stopped an abandoned pokemon from getting too badly experimented on¡­ just looking at it¡­ I can''t believe anyone would do such a thing. It''s being cared for now because I wasn''t qualified to do so, but I vowed to try to learn how to help them out."


    The too innocent look in my eyes was missed by Fuji but immediately noted by Green and I watched as the realization hit her¡­ before her expression darkened slightly.


    Fuji must have thought I was too young to be making such implications because he just smiled thinly at me, trying to hide his nervousness as my comments began striking closer and closer to home.


    "Many people have such good things to say about you though!" I clapped, abruptly changing the subject. "They told me if I wanted to learn how to care for abandoned pokemon, I should come speak to you! Your name precedes you!"


    "I''m just an old man trying to make the world a better place, little by little," he said quietly.


    "Really? That''s why you have those pokemon out in the field right?" I asked.


    "That''s correct. It''s good to give them sunlight and let them enjoy the outside. Lavender can be oppressive but there is some light in it if you just look at it!"


    "Finding light in even the darkest of things..." I mused, mulling over the words.


    "Yes. It''s much like caring for difficult pokemon. You just have to be patient and find the holes," he explained to me.


    "Oh! So is that why you worked with Team Rocket to create Mewtwo? Did you think there was light in them?" I smiled innocently, saying the statement like it were apart of everyday conversation.


    I said it so casually, that it took Fuji a full second to register the weight of my words but when he did¡­


    Oh when he did, I watched him go pale in horror.


    "I guess whatever you did to me was apart of that too, right?" I asked him with a raised brow. "That''s why the moment you saw me, you looked away right? That''s why even now, you''ve yet to make eye contact with me¡­ right?"


    "I¡­ I beg your pardon?" Fuji asked, trying to play dumb.


    I sighed and released Metang from their ball.


    "Dr. Fuji let''s not play dumb," I said coldly, dropping all pretenses as Metang''s eyes began glowing. "I know who you are and you know who I am. Now you''re going to answer some questions for me or I''m going to ruin your life. I promise you can believe me when I say that."


    There were no pokemon in here. All his abandoned pokemon were currently out in the fields so that meant it was just the three of us and Green and I''s teams.


    Not like they could have stopped me anyways.


    "Don''t try and bullshit me either. A single lie is all it takes for it all to come crashing down," I said harshly, eyes narrowed in a cold and calculated fashion.


    I hid my anger very well. I remembered my meeting with my mother well. She had looked far more unnerved when I wasn''t displaying any emotion.


    Clearly it was a universal thing.


    "You''ve built a nice and peaceful life after your horrific past. It would be a shame if you couldn''t enjoy it anymore," I said idly.


    "Tang," Metang droned, red eyes boring into Fuji.


    At the sight of two intimidating eyes boring into him, Fuji broke fairly quickly.


    "I just want to live a peaceful life now¡­ I don''t ever intend on going back to the person I used to be," he said pleadingly.


    "Answer my questions then. You think I give a shit about what you''re doing now?" I raised a brow, unmoved.


    He glanced at my ruthless expression and let out a weary sigh.


    "What¡­ would you like to know?"


    "Your affiliation with Team Rocket for one. Talk about it," I grunted, leaning against a wall as my gaze bore into him.


    There was no sign that I was bothered by this conversation. I looked completely in control of the situation.


    Green''s sympathy was gone, a firm scowl on her face. If she felt bad before, it was all gone at hearing that he had affiliated with Team Rocket.


    "¡­A long time ago, I was¡­ employed by Team Rocket. They took notice of my skills as a scientist and commissioned me for a project," Fuji began in resignation.


    "My task varied¡­ I was meant to experiment on many pokemon¡­ but my main mission was the creation of an artificial legendary along with cloning," he explained.


    "He does not lie," Metang informed me.


    "Why did you accept? Cloning is highly illegal. You could be put in jail for the rest of your short life," I grunted with narrowed eyes.


    "...I wanted to bring my daughter back and as a result, I heavily studied cloning. That''s why they took notice of me¡­ because they wanted me to make a clone of Mew," he explained.


    Green''s eyes widened in horror. "Mew?!" she hissed. "Is that why you said Mewtwo? Did they successfully clone Mew?" she asked me in a quiet whisper.


    I briskly nodded my head.


    "You only succeeded in cloning Mewtwo?" I asked calmly, unbothered by the man''s heartbreak at reliving painful memories.


    "No¡­ I created a copy of a Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle as well¡­ the pokemon were able to survive through sheer virtue of being a pokemon but my daughter died," he admitted.


    I stared coldly at him. "I see¡­ and where did you operate exactly?"


    "...It was a mansion."


    "Everything he says is true. You may continue with the interrogation."


    "Perfect."


    "What did you do to me?" I asked with narrowed eyes. "You and your other scientists buddy. You did something to me. Tell me. Now."


    Fuji''s gaze jolted up and he gazed at me with wide eyes.


    "I didn''t¡­"


    "Now''s not the time to express regret!" I barked, silencing the old man. "You''ll tell me what you did to me or else."


    He quickly gave up on explaining at my merciless gaze, merely bowing his head.


    "...I was not the one tasked with overseeing your progress. I only saw you occasionally¡­ but from my understanding, we were tasked with injecting the cells of Mewtwo inside of you. I merely extracted those cells before giving them away."


    ¡­


    "What¡­?" Green said in horror. She glanced at me in horror and I had a carefully blank expression on my face.


    "Why?" I asked coolly.


    "I''m not aware of the reason why. It was not my jurisdiction," Fuji replied.


    "So which scientist''s jurisdiction was it?" I pressed with narrowed eyes.


    Fuji gazed at me in shock.


    "I can''t¡­ I can''t say. It''s not my place. Besides, if this information gets out¡­ they''ll¡­ I''ll be in danger," he said shakily.


    I hummed curiously.


    "So a friend of yours. If I had to guess, they''re someone still around and rather notable too," I informed him.


    There was a look of horror on his face at my accurate assessment.


    "Dr. Fuji. I don''t think you understand the situation," I informed him, reaching into my pocket.


    Before his eyes, I pulled out my Pokedex and smiled thinly, pressing a button on the device.


    "¡­A long time ago, I was¡­ employed by Team Rocket. They took notice of my skills as a scientist and commissioned me for a project. My task varied¡­ I was meant to experiment on many pokemon¡­ but my main mission was the creation of an artificial legendary along with cloning."


    I watched in satisfaction as the color drained from Fuji''s face.


    "Voice capturing mechanism. Very useful," I said idly, pausing the recording. "State of the art. It''s main purpose was to capture the cries of a pokemon or the ramblings of a researcher."


    I smiled, no compassion at all in it.


    "The most danger you''re in right now, is and always will be because of me," I stressed coldly, pocketing my Pokedex. "Your life is now in my hands. Now, you''ll tell me the name of who it was or the league will have a field day extracting the information from you themselves."


    It was at that moment, that Fuji must have fully realized that I was no ordinary boy. Despite knowing I was experimented on and injected with Mewtwo''s cells, he still thought there was a smidgen of innocence in me.


    He truly must have believed in that new philosophy of his in seeing the light in the darkest places...


    But there wasn''t an innocent left in me. I didn''t give a damn about anything coming out of this guy''s mouth, unless it was answers to the questions I had.


    And I would get my answers one way or another.


    "¡­" Fuji. "I''m sorry, but I cannot give up a friend. At the very least, this warpath of yours can be focused on all but them."


    ¡­


    I stared at him and shrugged helplessly. "Oh well, not much we can do about that. I''m sure Gym Leader Blaine will appreciate the fact that you went down without tarnishing his reputation. I''ll see if he does the same in regards to you."


    You could hear a pin drop at the silence that overtook us.


    Green was staring at me with wide, horrified eyes, and Fuji was doing the exact same.


    I smirked sardonically.


    My knowledge on the happenings of the anime may not have been that good, but everything else? I was very knowledgeable about that type of stuff.


    All Fuji needed to do for me, was confirm that he worked in the Pokemon Mansion in Cinnabar and I would have the answer to the question I was truly searching for.


    Who did this to me?


    I had a hunch it was Blaine but I could not go on theory alone. This was a different universe after all. It would do no good to track down such a famous Gym Leader and begin grilling him about what he could have potentially done to me.


    "B-But how do you know that¡­?" Fuji asked in horror, not even bothering to mask his shock.


    "One more question," I said, ignoring him completely. "Did you give yourself anyway to stop Mewtwo?"


    Fuji was too clouded in shock to hide his answer and he merely shook his head numbly.


    I sucked my teeth at that. "Figured. Alright, we''re done here," I said, nodding towards Green.


    Green was looking at me and Fuji repeatedly, before focusing on me and nodding tentatively.


    "Please... I just. I just wanted to save my daughter," he said brokenly, gazing at me pleadingly. "I never intended for any of this..."


    I said nothing, staring at the tears forming in the old man''s eyes with a tilted head.


    Then, I slowly walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper into his ears.


    "I don''t give a fuck about your daughter. Stop bringing her up like I care," I muttered cruelly.


    With that, I pat the stunned man''s shoulder and stepped back, turning away from him and making my way to the door.


    "If anyone asks, we don''t know each other. If I find out you said anything before I speak to Blaine¡­ You and him are gonna be in for a bad time," I pulled out my Pokedex and waved it, before shoving it in my pocket.


    "Thanks for your time, Dr. Fuji. Stick to caring for abandoned pokemon. You never know how much longer you''ll be able to do it."


    "You''re... you''re a monster," he sobbed in defeat.


    Green whirled and glared at him with all the fury in the world but I simply looked back at him with a cold glint on my apathetic face.


    "Monster... I wonder if that''s what you called me while experimenting on me. I''m just the product of an environment that you participated in. You created two monsters, now reap the consequences of being a fucking idiot," I sneered.


    With that, I left the building of the man whose soul I just crushed and blackmailed.


    Should have picked better business and he shouldn''t have fucked with me.


    Right before I closed the door, I heard the old man let out a louder sob and watched as the Growlithe let out a bark of concern.


    Monster huh? I wonder if he considered himself a monster for committing the atrocities he did.


    I wonder if he called Mewtwo a monster right before handing it over to Team Rocket.


    Fucking dumbass. Now I had to go and clean up his mess.

 Odd Happenings III

    Green and I were camped out in Route 8, both contributing to the meal we were about to eat and operating mostly in silence.


    "This is good. We''re getting better at cooking," Green said idly, munching the stir fried rice with a delighted expression.


    "Mhm," I nodded in agreement.


    We continued eating in silence.


    "So¡­"


    Yep, there we go.


    "...You really were experimented on¡­ by Team Rocket?" she asked tentatively, gazing at me with sorrow in her gaze.


    I grunted, stamping down my disgust at her pity.


    "I don''t remember anything but yeah," I frowned. "The specifics are a bit of a shock to me as well but not much we can do about it."


    So I was implanted with Mewtwo''s cells. Much like how Mewtwo was implanted with Mew''s cells.


    What did that mean for me? What were the specifics behind that?


    Did that mean I had the ability to use psychic abilities? How strong would they be?


    To find out more of what happened to me, I''d need to find and speak to Blaine.


    If he refused to comply, well that recording was going to help me out quite a bit. Gym Leader Blaine was a recluse. People hardly saw him but despite that, he was well renowned across the world.


    If I leaked this information, there would be an uproar. With how dire of states Kanto was already in, that might be a tipping point.


    But I really didn''t give a damn. I needed every resource possible to push me towards stopping Mewtwo and Team Rocket.


    The power of blackmail was something special. A world as naive as this would never see it coming.


    "So Team Rocket have access to a Legendary pokemon inspired by Mew?" Green said in horror.


    "Yeah," I said idly.


    "...Was that what destroyed the S.S Anne?" she asked tentatively.


    I nodded. "I felt it. That''s why I woke up. That''s also probably why I was too tired to battle you."


    Green said nothing, biting her lip as she thought about all she heard.


    "So¡­ you have the cells of a legendary clone inside of you," she mumbled.


    "Sounds about right. What? Wanna capture me?" I asked in amusement.


    Green giggled slightly at that but attempted to sober up at the weight of my past.


    "No! It''s just¡­ wow, I didn''t know your past¡­"


    "Sucked?" I finished.


    "Yeah... not to mention that thing with Blaine. You''re telling me that both Blaine and Giovanni have ties with Team Rocket?" she mumbled, nervously rubbing her arms.


    "It''s crazy to think about," I sighed. "You alright? I didn''t really intend on overwhelming you with all this info."


    "I''m... probably gonna have trouble sleeping tonight," she admitted. "But I''m still with you 100%! All I can think about is how sad I felt thinking you were dead and... I never wanna feel that again," she admitted.


    I stared at her in surprise, before sighing with a small smile.


    "You can sleep in my tent tonight if that''ll help," I told her.


    "How can you be so relaxed about this?" Green asked with a sad frown.


    I sighed and leaned back slightly, petting Loki''s fur as he burrowed into me.


    "I''ve done enough moaning and bitching about the unfortunate reality that is my life. All that''s left, is for me to take action," I said truthfully. "If you want something done, you''ve gotta do it yourself so instead of crying, I''ll focus my anger on getting back at everyone who wronged me," I swore.


    Green nodded after a moment, looking properly moved by my words. "I''ll help you in anyway I know how! That''s seriously messed up¡­ we''re both only 12 so to think it happened to you when you were even younger¡­ that''s not right at all! It pisses me off just thinking about it!"


    It was pretty fucked up. Green would probably be even more furious if she found out Giovanni was my dad¡­


    But that wasn''t something I planned on revealing ever. Giovanni would have to disappear without that information getting out.


    The two of us had been traveling through Route 8 for the remainder of the day, having left Fuji''s house during the evening and immediately departing the city after the interrogation.


    We had been walking mostly in silence, accepting any battles and winning them handily until it was time to take a break for the day.


    It had taken about two hours of walking so by the time tomorrow hit, we''d only need another hour or two to make it to Saffron, which we''d cut through to make it to Celadon.


    We could have cut through that underground road that led straight to the outskirts of Celadon, but Green wanted to enjoy the city sights of the largest city in Kanto.


    As a result, we''d cut through Saffron early tomorrow morning and head straight to Celadon.


    It would be early morning so not many people would be awake hopefully. It would be pretty good for us to walk through and just enjoy the sight.


    We polished the rest of our meal off, allowed our team to finish theirs as well and decided to get some sleep.


    "I will keep watch. Rest."


    "Thank you, Metang."


    "Let''s go to sleep, Leaf," I grunted, getting my tent ready.


    "Kay! Goodnight, Silvy!"


    "Goodnight."


    With that, I stamped out the fire and went to bed.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Route 8 was peaceful in the early morning. Besides the fact that I kicked a delinquent in the nuts for trying to intimidate us, it was pretty relaxing.


    We ate some breakfast, did some light training and paced ourselves through the relatively small route.


    "I can''t believe you kicked that guy in his special spot," Green whispered in horror.


    "He kept trying to intimidate us. When I get intimidated I attack people," I said dryly.


    "How do you always have a smart response for everything?" she muttered.


    "The key is in the question you asked. "Smart" response," I emphasized.


    She shook her head with a tiny giggle.


    The two of us continued to converse about mundane things, just enjoying the temporary melancholy of the quiet route.


    I did enjoy traveling in the early morning. It was always so peaceful. The sun was mostly at the right temperature, the breeze wasn''t erring too hard to one side.


    Now that the trip with S.S Anne was done... now that I was finished with Hoenn, I realized that I didn''t have to rush through the region as frantically as I was doing before.


    Green and I could take our time traveling the region now and amassing our strength. We could dedicate more time to training our bodies, training our pokemon etc. We could allocate more time towards stuff like that and sure, it''d make the trips in the routes longer but you couldn''t rush becoming the strongest.


    I could certainly speed up the process, but actually pacing myself was important.


    Though, that didn''t quite apply here considering Route 8 wasn''t really a big route. We made it to Saffron fairly quickly despite not being in a rush.


    I imagine our path from Celadon to Fuschia was going to take a really long time. That was a really big route and at our slowed down pace, I imagine it''d take at least a month to reach Fuchsia.


    Saffron City was enormous in every sense of the word. It was a complete metropolitan city, with tall buildings everywhere, completely paved streets and of course, the most famous company in all of Kanto and Johto¡­


    Silph Co.


    Even in a city full of tall buildings, Silph Co. headquarters stood out starkly from the rest. It was a real skyscraper of a building, colors dominated by a yellow and blue.


    It was tallll.


    "When we come back we should explore it. I heard they allow visitors all the time," Green said to me, rubbing her eyes as she resisted the urge to yawn.


    "Sure," I said absentmindedly, keeping a single eye on her to make sure she didn''t fall over from exhaustion.


    We didn''t need to stock up on any provisions, having stocked up quite a bit in Vermilion, and Celadon was right there anyways. It would take us probably another hour or two to get there.


    Saffron was fairly close to Celadon, Cerulean, Lavender and Vermilion. You could use it to make it to any of them at a pretty reasonable pace. That was another reason the city was so wealthy. It connected to all the other hotspot cities.


    It was typically the quickest, standard, route to take. There were things like underground roads as well but most people who didn''t own bikes, didn''t go such routes.


    Honestly, it was really surprising that a city as big as this one, was largely empty. Normally, time of day wouldn''t affect the bustle of such a city but no¡­ it was quiet and peaceful as Green and I quickly moved through it.


    "So remind me again why you don''t wanna battle Sabrina right now?" I asked, not quite caring about the request but still wanting to know why.


    "Sabrina is one of the strongest gym leaders in both Kanto and Johto period!" Green gushed, momentarily forgetting how tired she was. "If she wasn''t so set on staying as the Saffron City Gym Leader, they say she could have easily made a case to join the Elite 4!"


    "That seems to be the case for a lot of the Kanto gym leaders," I said dryly.


    Green nodded. "Well, the Johto League is¡­ kinda newer than the Kanto League and the Gym Leaders there are really young compared to other circuits!"


    Jasmine told me the same thing. Her, Bugsy, Falkner and Whitney were all around the age range of 16 ¨C 18, while Morty and Claire were a tad older, then you had Chuck and Pryce who were middle aged and ancient respectively.


    In comparison, all the Kanto Gym Leaders were quite a bit older than them. The youngest were the Sensational Sisters who were all 17, then there was Erika who was 20 and finally Sabrina, whose age was unknown but she definitely was in her mid 20s.


    "So you want to face Sabrina later on so that we can get a tougher fight?" I mused.


    Green nodded enthusiastically. "6 ¨C 8 badge gym battles are the real deal! I actually wanted to battle her seventh, but Cinnabar is way too inconvenient to go to without messing up our pace completely!" she explained.


    Not to mention, our sudden business with Blaine. Battling him seventh was important for us as well because we''d be quite a bit stronger...


    Naturally, that wouldn''t help much if he used his real team to burn us alive but we could definitely buy more time to raise suspicions if it came to that.


    "If that is the reason you wish to battle me sixth, then you may visit again after collecting all 8 badges. I will give you the battle you seek."


    Green and I paused at that, gazing at the person who said that.


    I snorted as my companion let out a strangled squeal of excitement.


    Guess we knew who her favorite Gym Leader was.


    Sabrina was a beautiful woman, with long black hair that had shorter layers around her face and small eyes that were reddish-purple in nature. She wore a red and black dress that was fairly small, though it didn''t matter because the parts that would be exposed were covered by black leggings along with red boots.


    If I were a lesser human being, I''d whistle. But fortunately, I wasn''t a freak.


    "S-Sabrina!" Green gaped in awe. "Wow! I''m such a big fan! One of my dreams is to battle and ¡ª"


    "Crush me?" Sabrina finished her sentence, expression as serious as all the rumors about her said it was.


    Green''s cheeks burned red. "Well, I wasn''t gonna say that outloud but¡­ uh yeah, I wanna crush you!" she exclaimed.


    If Sabrina was offended by that, she didn''t show it. She just continued to gaze at Green with those strange eyes of hers.


    "You are strong, Leaf Green. I look forward to our battle in the near future," was all she said.


    Considering Sabrina didn''t compliment anyone, it was fairly justifiable that Green was over the moon at such a statement.


    Good for her, it was about damn time someone showed my rival some love and not me¡­


    Though, I may have spoken too soon because Sabrina finally turned her gaze towards me and I watched as her expressionless face transformed¡­


    Into wariness. I imagine if she were anyone else, that would be outright fear.


    Good on Sabrina for not being super expressive.


    "So you are the abomination," she said with an actual frown on her face.


    Nevermind. I was going to kick her fucking teeth in.


    I sighed. I guess it was expected that someone as intune with psychic energies as Sabrina, would be bothered by me.


    At least she was looking at me with thinly veiled disgust.


    "What," I said flatly, not even bothering to make it sound like a question. "Just say what you wanna say and let me move on with my life. Be warned that if you say something else that''s offensive you may get attacked."


    "S-Silvy!" Green hissed, immediately pushing me behind her with an astonished look. "You can''t assault a Gym Leader! She''s a Gym Leader!"


    "Wanna test how much how I care about that?"


    "...N-No."


    Sabrina seemed to realize that she was making an out of turn face and quickly schooled herself.


    "You are the one who has been interfering with my abilities," she stated matter of factly.


    "Oh I bet," I grunted. "Lemme guess. It was bad, but the moment I stepped in the city, it got worse?"


    Her silence was probably as close to confirmation as I was going to get.


    "I feel myself growing steadily unwell in your presence," Sabrina stated bluntly, getting disturbingly close to me.


    I let out a strangled grunt, leaning back at the abrupt action.


    "Get the fuck away from me you freak!" I shouted, instinctively shoving her away.


    Sabrina''s eyes widened at the action and I genuinely wouldn''t be surprised if no one ever made human contact with her because she flailed about and fell flat on her butt in a rather uncouth display.


    "Oh my Mew," Green moaned miserably, hiding her face behind her hands. "Silvy you just shoved Sabrina. I don''t think anyone has ever even touched her."


    "Did you miss the part where she got so close to me, I could feel her cold ass breath?!" I asked incredulously. "One wrong move and that freak would have kissed me!"


    Green opened her mouth and shut it.


    "You know... that''s actually a fair point. Are you alright, Sabrina?" she asked in concern, gazing at the Gym Leader with wide eyes.


    Honestly, yeah she looked kind of terrible. Her cheeks were steadily flushing over as well, though it didn''t appear that she noticed. The woman didn''t even get off the floor, just staring at me with glowing eyes.


    "You should probably get away from me," I told her warily, watching in real time as her condition worsened.


    The last thing I wanted, was to be charged for causing Gym Leader Sabrina to get horribly sick.


    Psychic pokemon were already unable to stand my presence. I didn''t even want to think of what I''d do to a psychic human.


    "Um Sabrina¡­ you don''t look too good," Green pointed out with a worry. "Maybe you should go lay down."


    Sabrina ignored us both.


    "What... are you?" she eventually asked.


    "Seriously, go home," I said warily, ready to bolt out of the city.


    I did not like the way Sabrina was looking at me at all. This was seriously concerning.


    She was just staring at me. It almost looked as if she were in her own world ¡ª


    I stood stock still as I felt an almost tentative prodding in my head.


    Was she a dumbass?! What the hell did she think she was doing?!


    To no one''s surprise at all (except for everyone besides me I guess), Sabrina jolted back violently as my mind forcefully repelled her and I watched as her condition grew even worse.


    By now, I was already grabbing Green in preparation to run off because Sabrina''s nose just started gushing.


    Yeah that''s right, the Saffron Gym Leader was suffering from a nosebleed.


    Woops.


    Was she some type of freak? Why exactly was she subjecting herself to this?!


    "Such a repulsive presence. I''ve never encountered such a thing," she muttered to herself, not even seeming to notice the blood.


    Green let out a panicked gasp and grabbed a napkin, rushing forward to wipe at the woman''s nose as she continued muttering to herself.


    Oh... now I get it.


    Sabrina really was a freak.


    My existence was an anomaly to Sabrina and as someone who was so in tune with her psychic energy, my repelling mind fascinated her. It was probably doubly so since my existence was one that hampered her very own.


    As one of the few psychics in the world (the alleged best human psychic as well), it was probably unheard of for Sabrina to find someone stranger than her¡­


    Especially when that stranger entity was making her existence miserable.


    Oh my god. Sabrina was basically a pampered princess who was used to having things go her way. My existence was antithesis to that and she was trying to figure out why that was.


    Finally, my presence seemed to become too much for the gym leader because Sabrina forcefully banished the glow from her eyes and unsuccessfully tried to get rid of the flush staining her cheeks permanently.


    She wordlessly accepted the napkin out of Green''s hand and neutrally wiped the blood away.


    I was impressed that she was able to do that with such a straight face.


    An Alakazam materialized by her side and I watched as she shook her head at its questioning gaze.


    The woman turned her gaze back towards me and I narrowed my eyes as an almost threatening gleam entered those reddish eyes of hers.


    "Ala," Alakazam said calmly, wrapping Sabrina in a psychic sheen.


    The powerful looking psychic seemed to be communicating with her and eventually, she nodded.


    Our eyes never left the other. It remained like that for far too long before Sabrina finally turned away.


    Without so much as another word to me, she vanished in her own version of Teleport.


    That self teleportation was cool as fuck.


    "That was so strange," Green muttered. "Do you think she maybe got drunk on¡­ yknow?"


    I thought about it and shrugged. "Who knows. I''m willing to bet she''s a freak who just gets fascinated by strange things that don''t normally happen to her. Also, she nearly attacked me there."


    Green mulled it over. "She... she did?! Wow... she was staring at you for a really long time."


    "She has the gall to call me an abomination. She should be glad that I don''t leak pictures of her blushing with a nosebleed. Wonder what the world would think of that."


    "...When did you take a picture of her?"


    I showed her the picture. Out of context, it really did make her look like a giant pervert.


    Green looked stunned at the image.


    "Silvy, Sabrina was my favorite gym leader... w-why did you just do this to me?"


    "If that''s your reaction, imagine hers when we meet again and I show this picture."


    "You might actually be a monster."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Our strange meeting with Sabrina, was the only thing that happened to us on our trek to Celadon that was out of the norm.


    ...But that encounter was really weird. Sabrina must have lowkey been quite the morbid person deep down. It was clear that she couldn''t stand to be close to me but that only seemed to ignite her curiosity.


    Hah. She was probably spoiled deep down and wasn''t used to being denied something.


    Either that, or that curiosity must have correlated with why she was so damn good with psychic abilities. Psychics were curious by nature, fueled by their boundless thirst for knowledge. Things that confused them, only made them want to understand why they were confused.


    Sabrina was likely no different.


    Oh well.


    "Wow! From one huge city to another!" Green awed, admiring the sights of Celadon with wide eyes.


    I nodded in agreement and admired the city, taken a bit more by this place then with Saffron.


    Saffron was full on metropolitan. It was a city that was completely overtaken by humans with almost nothing showing in the nature aspect. It was by far the most similar city to something I''d run into back where I used to live.


    Celadon was kinda similar but they seemed to respect nature far more than their neighbor. The buildings were as tall as Saffron''s and the streets were paved as well but they still made way for a plethora of foliage, grass, trees etc. There were even fountains and small ponds.


    It was a nice balance. Unlike Saffron, it looked like they just built Celadon in the middle of a forest and only got rid of the necessary trees to do so, leaving the rest of nature alone.


    It was pretty neat.


    Such a shame that I was going to commit the most heinous of crimes while in this city.


    "Green, let''s quickly go set up our gym appointment," I muttered to her.


    She sensed something in my tone (wow I was actually getting really proud of her) and nodded. "Business to do after?"


    "Depending on what I find, yeah," I nodded.


    Green hummed at that and nodded in agreement.


    If there was one thing I liked about Green, it''s that she was always willing to follow my lead.


    "How good are you at stealth?" I asked randomly.


    She blinked warily. "I''ve never tested it¡­ why?"


    I pursed my lips at that. "After we get our matches scheduled, we''ll test it."


    "...Why, Silvy?"


    "Don''t worry, I can already tell that you''re a natural. You managed to spy on me after all."


    "You seriously need to answer my question!"


    "¡­"


    "Why did I agree to this?"


    "Because you''re an earnest idiot who''s bad at knowing when to bow out."


    "OH SO YOU''LL ANSWER THAT ONE?!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Who the fuck spilled their box of perfume, combined it with 30 other perfumes and then added Gloom shit to it?" I grunted immediately, furrowing my nose.


    "I think Gym Leader Erika runs a side business manufacturing perfume," Green commented.


    "What does she manufacture it with? Muk ass?" I asked with a scowl. "I feel my sense of smell dying as we speak, how strong is this shit for it to reach over here?" I grunted.


    It probably could have smelt good, if there wasn''t a million different concoctions combining and assaulting my nose.


    "Let''s just get our matches scheduled," I grunted, marching towards the woman at the reception desk and making a point to pinch my nose shut.


    She was currently giving me the stink eye and I immediately glared at her.


    "We gotta problem?" I snarled in annoyance, releasing my nose just to say that sentence. No chance was I ever gonna come off as nasally to anyone.


    She flinched at my ferocious glare and Green sighed tiredly, stepping in front of me.


    "We''re here to schedule a gym battle. I''m Leaf Green, three badges. This is Silver, three badges," she said with a strained smile.


    The receptionist took her eyes off me hastily and nodded at Green''s words, typing something quickly with manicured fingers.


    "3 days from now, you both will be scheduled to battle Erika in a 4 badge gym battle. Are these conditions okay?" she asked as professionally as possible.


    "Yep!" Green chirped, already dragging me out of the building. "3 days? Alright! We''ll be there! Thank you so much!"


    She smiled politely at Green, before glaring at me and I flipped her off as we departed.


    "You are so foul," she sighed as soon as the door shut.


    "Like that gym," I replied. "Alright, we got 3 days. It''s time for me to tell you what we''re going to do."


    Green perked up at that and gazed at me with wide eyes.


    "What is it?" she whispered a little eagerly.


    "Infiltration," I muttered. "The Game Corner. I''m pretty sure it''s a base for Team Rocket. When night hits, we''re gonna infiltrate and sabotage them. By the time we''re done, it''ll be completely outed and they''ll take a massive hit."


    Her eyes widened at that and I put a hand out.


    "You don''t gotta come with," I informed her seriously. "I''m totally fine doing this alone but I figured I''d tell you since you want me to trust you... and I want to trust you."


    I was being genuine here, despite how manipulative my words would normally come off. I actually didn''t mind if she came with me or not.


    I would actually prefer if she didn''t come because this was risky business.


    "W-Well¡­ as long as they''re bad guys, I guess I don''t mind," Green muttered, steeling herself. "In for a penny, in for a pound!"


    I stared at her. "Seriously, Leaf¡­ you don''t have to force yourself to do this. You''re uncomfortable as hell."


    "Yeah I am¡­ it''s kinda scary but... it''s scarier leaving you alone," she admitted quietly. "B-Besides! I''m also a little excited! I''ve never done anything so bad!"


    Exciting? Was little Green enjoying the thrill of being a rebel?


    Based on my observations, she did have the talent necessary to be a great thief like me so if she found it thrilling, then I guess I couldn''t judge her.


    All I could do was ensure she didn''t get caught.


    "Alright, let''s go find a secluded area. We''ll do light training with our teams while I test out how good you are."


    Green nodded, understanding the implications of what being bad probably meant.


    She really was trying her best to not be a liability all for the sake of helping me out.


    She¡­ was a good friend.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Nervous?" I mused in the dark of night.


    "Yes. I don''t wanna mess this up," Green muttered in her black outfit. The dress was gone, replaced by a skin concealing pants and shirt combo.


    Faraway from what she normally would wear but good for hiding her identity.


    "You won''t fail," I reassured. "I tested you and you passed with flying colors. If you keep it up, you''ll be just as good as me."


    She lit up at my truthful compliment and grabbed the mask I threw towards her. It was white, with a set of eyes and a mouth on it that showed none of her features.


    Her brown hair was a little impossible to hide so I adjusted by dying it black and tying it into a long ponytail that I needed to brush down.


    "The dye wears off with some water so don''t worry," I muttered.


    "I''m more shocked that you know how to tie my hair into such a neat ponytail!" Green exclaimed in a whisper, tentatively touching her hair with wide eyes.


    I grunted at the random skill I seemed to have. "Besides the fact that we''re going to sabotage Team Rocket, we''re gonna get stronger too."


    Green blinked. "We are?"


    I nodded with a smirk and we began moving.


    "Where are we about to infiltrate, Leaf?" I asked.


    "The Celadon Game Corner that''s secretly a Team Rocket hideout," Green replied automatically, remembering because I drilled the plan into her head repeatedly while we trained.


    I nodded my head. "But just because it''s a Team Rocket hideout, doesn''t stop it from being a Game Corner."


    Green blinked, before her eyes widened in realization.


    "Oh!" she whispered. "You want to steal some goods from Team Rocket and the Game Corner?!"


    "Yup," I popped the p, gazing at the still open game corner with an inquisitive gaze.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The Game Corner was open 24/7 so there was never a perfect time to infiltrate it.


    That didn''t mean there weren''t better times though.


    I placed my mask on and put up my hoodie.


    "An anonymous message is going to be picked up by the Celadon Police Force in about an hour and thirty minutes and that''s when they''ll probably come to investigate. We should be done in an hour at the minimum," I informed Green, tapping a window experimentally.


    Without any prompting, Loki''s eyes began glowing purple and at the same time, cracks began appearing all over the glass.


    Gaia''s vines slowly snaked out and nudged a single panel of the glass, catching it before it could crash into the floor.


    She repeated the same with every piece until there was nothing left and I shot her a thankful smile.


    "Thanks girl," I muttered gently.


    "Bay," she whispered, batting her head against me.


    "Wow," Green and Vee awed at our action.


    "I''ll go first," I muttered to her, returning Gaia.


    I placed my thick gloved palm on the edge, ignoring the shards of glass and I leapt into the room.


    I made no noise as I landed on the floor and blew out a cold breath.


    It was chilly tonight.


    We weren''t in the main building of the game corner. The prize corner of the casino was a whole different structure that was attached to the actual game corner to the right of it.


    As such, it was quite a bit emptier and at this time of day? Nearly midnight? Yeah the only one in here, were probably the folks who were in charge of transactions.


    The little room I was in, was empty. There were items strewn about. A bag splayed haphazardly on a bench and I inspected it for any goods.


    My eyes narrowed as I reached into the bag and pulled out a knife, inspecting it with calculating eyes.


    Weapons were quite rare in this world and the more dangerous, the harder it was to secure them.


    It was actually a very healthy way to go about things. Even simple weapons like this were quite the hassle to get.


    This wasn''t some kitchen knife too. This looked like an actual dagger.


    Hm. It looked dangerously sharp too. I wonder if it was made with pokemon parts.


    I slipped it into my pocket and took the time to inspect the rest of the room.


    This must have been the break room for their staff.


    Green quietly stepped up next to me and I gazed at her.


    "Three people," I put three fingers up, taking wads of cash out of their bags and putting it in my own.


    "Two boys, one girl."


    Green''s brows furrowed at that.


    "What do we do?" she whispered.


    I smiled and reached into my bag.


    Green''s curiosity, turned into abrupt horror as I pulled out a baseball bat.


    I wasn''t kidding when I said weapons were hard to get. Since they were difficult... it was time for me to get innovative.


    "Where did you get that?!" she gaped at me.


    "I''m going to use it on them."


    "That is not what I asked you!"


    Before I could make good on my words to assault the disguised rockets, Green put her hands out and stopped me.


    Slowly, she released Saury from his ball and beckoned towards her serious and gigantic Ivysaur.


    I blinked, absentmindedly tossing a sweet snack towards the Ivysaur.


    All of Green and I''s pokemon had been caught up on everything so they were all briefed on this mission.


    We were naturally not going to use some but the chance was always there so they were alert.


    "Saury, Sleep Powder as soon as we exit this room. There should be three people out there. Don''t even let them scream," she whispered to him.


    I blinked at that and nodded.


    That was fine too.


    I placed my bat back into my bag¡­ for now and followed Green and Saury out of the room.


    There were three bored adults there. One was dozing off, the other was scrolling through their phone and the last was filing their nails¡­


    None even noticed they were slowly inhaling the powerful sleep powder from Saury until they all fell asleep, thudding to the floor.


    "Nice," I grunted, not bothering to tie them up. Saury''s powders were very potent and on a human, they were sleeping for the rest of the night.


    Green was looking at the unconscious bodies with wide eyes.


    "I can deal with incapacitating the Rockets," she whispered to me, a strange glint in her eyes.


    I huffed in amusement at that and nodded, before walking up to the counter.


    Much to my delight, discs were littered all in front of me. I smirked wildly at the expensive pricing of them but to my slight confusion though, there were no pokemon being sold.


    "They got rid of that years ago," Green answered my question. "Game Corners aren''t really¡­ thought highly of. It promotes bad things you know? Selling and keeping pokemon didn''t give it a better light and it put a stigma that was frowned upon¡­ so they shelved the idea and just limited it to TMs only."


    Ah when it came down to it, it was always morals.


    That sucked. I was hoping to get a Porygon or a Scyther from these idiots.


    Hm¡­ alright then. I''d just take the TMs as a consolation prize. At the very least they didn''t appear to be changed and the best part?


    All permanent.


    Ice Beam, Iron Tail, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower¡­ wow I felt spoiled here taking all this good stuff. All they needed was Earthquake and Protect and I''d have been golden.


    "They''re permanent so we can just share these," I grunted. "Better this way to avoid raising suspicion. We''re done here now, let''s go to the actual Game Corner."


    Green was a little slack jawed, looking at all the expensive TMs I was storing in my case and then she gazed at me.


    "Ready?" I grunted.


    "Y-Yeah!" Green said, dipping back into the break room with me so we could exit the Prize Corner.


    "Last chance to back out," I warned her. "There''s probably going to be actual Rockets in there and they''ll want to hurt us."


    "I''ve got your back, Silvy," Green said firmly. "We''re in this together until we take them all out and set you free."


    Set me free¡­


    I pat her on the head. "I''ll make sure nothing happens to you. Would hate to explain to your mom that you died," I snorted, tapping Loki with one hand and grabbing Green with the other.


    Green squeaked and then watched in fascination, as my first pokemon began exuding black energy, that wrapped around the both of us until we looked like a nondescript adult couple.


    Loki''s illusions were impressive but they had limits for the little Zorua. Things like camouflage/invisibility were a tad harder for him over something like masking us as other people but for it to be effective on both Green and I, we needed to remain close and keep contact.


    Less area to cover. Very nice all around.


    "Be calm," I muttered to her, watching as Vee jumped into her disguised shirt to stay hidden.


    Holding her hand showed me how nervous she was. My companion was squeezing it tightly as we weaved through the late night addicts, who had their eyes glued to the slots.


    All ages were allowed inside the game corner but near midnight, it was mostly adults that remained¡­


    And those adults were extremely addicted. They didn''t even spare Green and I a glance as we marched past them.


    I wrinkled my nose a bit at the stench and just shook my head.


    Some things changed, others did not. Degenerates existed in all manner of worlds and gambling addictions were universal.


    My eyes narrowed slightly as I furtively glanced about for any clues. I didn''t know the exact location of where their hideout would be but I could take a wild guess and say it was in some secluded area in the far back.


    The corner was way bigger, but the layout in general, was very similar to the games¡­


    I turned into a corridor that suspiciously led to nothing and made sure know one saw us waltz into it.


    After double checking, I effortlessly moved a poster to the side and pressed a very nondescript (no really, this wasn''t sarcasm at allll) button.


    A tiny rumbling occurred before Green and I''s eyes as the floor made way for a set of stairs.


    We watched it with wide and unimpressed eyes respectively.


    Ridiculous. But I guess if you wanted to stay hidden, this was the way to go about things.


    I chanced a glance back to make sure we weren''t being tailed and then I headed down the stairway after confirming that the coast was clear.


    "So there really is a secret base down here," Green muttered quietly.


    "Yeah," I grunted with a frown, watching as our disguises wore off. "Be as quiet as possible. I''ll lead."


    She nodded and adjusted her mask slightly, falling in line behind me.


    Neither of us made a sound, as we navigated the underground facility. It was cold in here and there wasn''t a soul in sight currently...


    I pursed my lips after pushing open a door and paused at seeing an empty seat on the other side.


    Someone was supposed to be guarding here but they weren''t¡­


    Footsteps alerted us to the arrival of said person and my eyes went sharp.


    "Maaaaan this shift fucking sucks," the grunt complained, idly scratching his pants as he lazily sat down. "Why the fuck do I always get stuck with this shift? It''s not like anyone actually knows where this is. But here I am, with no one to fucking talk to while the other guys get to fuck off and do whatever. Couldn''t I at least get Ana to keep me company? Nope."


    He never noticed two sets of eyes glaring at him. He definitely didn''t notice the violent rage in the catlike silver gaze that was me.


    I wasted no time leaping off the roof I was perched against, slamming both my feet onto the unsuspecting guy''s back.


    I heard a wheeze of agony escape his mouth, before vines swiftly wrapped around him and shut him up.


    My mask protected me from the aroma of Saury''s Sleep Powder quite well and we shot each other a nod of respect.


    Green''s strongest pokemon was a real trooper. He was utterly unfazed by his set of orders and just carried them out with a chilling efficiency.


    "Oof," Green said quietly, landing on the floor with a slightly unbalanced stance.


    I idly pulled her up and gazed coldly at the body, before stripping the man of anything he could use as a way to get out.


    I left his outfit on though, so he could be easily identified. The big R wasn''t doing him any favors.


    "Should I have Saury tie him up?" Green asked curiously.


    "No. Sleep Powder is enough. Harder to identify what put him in this state and he''ll be unconscious for a long time," I denied, pushing another door open and stepping into a massive hallway.


    I confidently walked through like I owned the place, never making a sound and making sure Loki would alert me of any sounds. His hearing was much better than mine and I trusted him wholeheartedly.


    "You''re so calm," Green whispered, trailing me. She wasn''t as confident as I was but that was to be expected.


    It was still much better than I expected someone as nervous as her to be. That was another reason I was taking the lead, so that she could calm her nerves by looking at me.


    Loki twitched slightly and I immediately ducked into a corridor, Green hastily following me.


    I put up two fingers and released Gaia from her ball.


    No sooner did I do that, did two rocket grunts appear from around a corner of the corridor to the left.


    "It''s cold as balls in here man," the man complained.


    "You wanna take that complaint up with Proton? Let''s see if you win the roulette and leave the room with only one limb," the woman offered.


    I paused at that and frowned.


    As they walked past us, both Gaia and Saury lashed out with their vines, immediately immobilizing and dragging them into this little pocket with us.


    They weren''t even allowed to scream due to the vines wrapping tight around their mouths.


    "Don''t knock them unconscious yet," I grunted, watching as the two rockets struggled fruitlessly.


    I effortlessly stomped on the fingers of the one attempting to nudge her pokeball and watched as she squealed under the muffle of Gaia''s vines.


    Green winced slightly but I was ruthless.


    "None of that," I chastised coldly. "If you value those limbs that you talked about, you''ll answer some of my questions."


    To stress my point, I pulled out my bat and aimed it at the man''s leg.


    "You''re going to nod for yes, shake for no. If I feel like you''re lying, I''m going to smash a limb. When I run out of limbs, you should get very afraid," I warned them.


    They almost looked like they didn''t believe I was capable of something like that and I scoffed.


    What was with these idiots underestimating me because I was a kid? I was fully disguised. I could have just been a short adult.


    "Squeeze tighter, Gaia," I grunted.


    I couldn''t stop the well of satisfaction at seeing the sheer panic in their eyes, as Gaia began squeezing tighter and tighter.


    "Don''t think I have any sympathy for you, Team Rocket. Especially not after that stunt you pulled with the ship," I said coldly, nudging my bat against the man''s skull hard enough to make it bounce off the wall behind him. "You kill, steal, assault¡­ you''re scum of the world so I will break every one of your limbs if you don''t comply. Got that?"


    They both nodded eagerly, fear in their eyes.


    Good. I''m glad they were complying. I really didn''t fancy scarring Green here more than she likely already was.


    I spared a glance towards her and she gazed back at me, eyes almost certainly wide behind that mask, but nodded shakily at my unspoken question.


    "I''m okay for now. They''ve done worse," she whispered quiet enough for only me to hear.


    A liar. That''s what she was.


    I sighed and ignored it for now because this was important for our plans.


    "Is Executive Proton in this building right now?" I asked calmly.


    Hesitance.


    My eyes narrowed and I stood poised with my bat, swinging it through the air.


    "Mmmm!" the man nodded hastily and I stopped mid swing.


    I scoffed. "Is he overseeing a big project?"


    A shake of their heads and I pursed my lips.


    "So he''s just visiting?"


    A nod.


    "What rotten luck."


    Funnily enough, they nodded sagely at that.


    Proton was unhinged. Don''t ask me how I knew that, I just did. He was very easily the most unstable of the Executives and had the worst temper to boot.


    We needed to approach this differently.


    "You guys hold pokemon hostage here right?" I asked coldly.


    A hesitant nod.


    I nodded towards Saury and briefly had him remove his vines from the girls lips.


    Why? Because she was more likely to care about her looks of course. I had a bat aimed directly at her skull so she understood exactly what was going to happen if she screamed.


    The female rocket was gazing at me like I was about to kill her and I merely nudged the bat against her to have her understand that I was not messing around.


    "Where do you keep them?" I asked lowly. "I want full instructions of how to get there. Don''t speak louder than necessary or you can kiss your pretty face goodbye."


    She nodded fearfully. "A-A-All the pokemon are in the same room. It''s to keep stock of them easier¡­ they''re behind cages. You just have to make it to the third floor and you''ll f-find them."


    Green glared at the duo and I nodded in satisfaction, before Saury immediately put them to sleep.


    "New plan," I grunted to Green.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green and I continued stealthily moving through the Rocket hideout, taking out Rocket after Rocket in our silent rampage.


    Most didn''t even get the chance to battle us, we captured and slept them easily. That was better for us because we needed to conserve our energy as much as possible.


    I was a little confused that none of them had their pokemon out, but the few rockets we did battle made it clear why.


    Those were not pokemon that could just be left out. Most were drugged to oblivion and it made Green more and more furious with the rockets for so callously abusing their pokemon.


    We rid them of their pokemon and just left them somewhere for the investigators to pick up their pokeballs. With any luck, they''d be sent somewhere for rehabilitation so that they could get whatever junk was in their system flushed.


    But I suppose there was one benefit to seeing those pokemon and that benefit was riling Green up something fierce.


    A more motivated Green, meant a more confident Green and as we traversed I began to worry less and less for her¡­ enough for me to divulge a new set of actions.


    "Hold it right there you little shit."


    I stopped at that and cursed my luck, before turning to face the voice of the perpetrator.


    He was of average height, with a black hat that hid a full head teal hair. There was a smile on his face, but his equally teal eyes reflected the fury he was currently feeling.


    "I was wondering why I was barely running into any grunts. Turns out we got a little cheeky fucking Rattata scampering around," Proton grunted in feigned amusement.


    My masked face revealed nothing to him, but I was eyeing the 6 pokeballs on his waist warily.


    "Mask on¡­ body hidden¡­ are you some type of vigilante?" Proton asked incredulously, smile twitching a bit. "Are you a fucking freedom fighter? Who the hell do you think you are?!"


    I said nothing.


    Proton snarled in annoyance. "Don''t think you can go around interrupting my work. Team Rocket doesn''t like anyone sticking their nose in our business! You won''t expect any mercy from me!"


    Nothing. I didn''t say a word.


    Proton''s waning patience snapped in half.


    "Quiet type huh? Let''s see how quiet you are when I''m ripping out the information of who you are!"


    Proton threw his pokeball out and I watched warily as a Weezing popped out.


    It was an ugly thing, with two spherical heads that were connected by a tube with yet another sphere on it. It''s eyes, both sets, were half lidded as it immediately honed in on me.


    Without any hesitation, I turned on a heel and ran for my life.


    Proton''s eyes bugged in rage. "OH NO YOU FUCKING DON''T! AFTER THAT LITTLE SHIT! DON''T TEAR THEM TO PIECES YET!"


    The sound of another pokeball opening, showed a Crobat with bloodthirsty eyes that flitted off after me, turning the corner as well at incredible speeds.


    Proton was hot on his pokemon''s heels, eyes bulging in his rage as he stormed off with the Weezing.


    I watched him go with a lazy expression, sitting atop the cage of a fuming Nidoqueen.


    "That''s the guy that captured you all huh?" I asked her quietly, allowing the illusion to melt off of me.


    One really neat thing about Loki''s illusions, was that he could control it a certain distance.


    It would increase when he evolved, but the moment that illusion of me had turned the corner, it dissolved. Proton would very likely thing I teleported away or was way faster than led to believe.


    So I had some time.


    Nidoqueen growled in affirmation at my question.


    "Don''t you worry girl. I''ll free you all from your cages, then you can get all the revenge you want," I smiled thinly, right as Green poked her head into the room.


    "You just have to promise not to hurt me¡­ and be careful. That guy is pretty strong¡­ so just cause a lot of chaos until the people come to save you."


    I leapt off the cage and looked the Nidoqueen in her eyes, stamping down my innate dislike for ground types.


    Of all the drugged and caged pokemon, this one seemed to be the most coherent¡­ so I watched her nod in affirmation, respect in her gaze.


    "Found the key?" I asked Green with a small and smug smirk.


    "Yeah, the plan worked perfectly. You distracted the executive and gave me time to find the keys to the cages," Green said, showing off a ring of keys.


    Once learning that Proton was here, I had to adjust my plans a little. I didn''t have a set goal here, I was just trying to fuck them over¡­


    But trying to fuck over Team Rocket with an executive nearby was a death wish.


    So do we leave?


    Fuck no.


    We continue with the mission but just adjust how we go about it. We just needed to do one last thing before heading out and there was bound to be good things to loot.


    Cue, distracting Proton so that Green could raid his room and steal anything valuable.


    "Got anything else besides the keys?" I asked curiously, going through the process of unlocking every single cage, starting with Nidoqueen.


    The poison type rumbled as she stepped out and I gazed warily at her¡­ but she snorted and nodded respectfully at me, trudging past me and heading directly towards a cage full of Nidoran, Nidorinos and Nidorinas.


    "Yeah," Green nodded. "I got a lot of loot, we can split it half after its all said and done. They had a lot of money too."


    I shot an impressed look at her, clinking open the cage of a Machoke.


    I was mostly freeing the Pokemon that looked coherent. I''m not gonna lie, I didn''t trust those drugged up ones to not attack me. When the investigators came they''d deal with it.


    "I''m proud of you," I said truthfully, returning the bow that the Machoke shot me.


    "I can''t believe the first time I hear a compliment from you, it''s because I''ve become your partner in crime¡­ literally," Green sighed, also bowing.


    Machoke raised its head and I watched its reptilian face scour the crowd of caged pokemon, before walking up to a cage and ripping it open with its bare hands, allowing a coherent Medicham to slowly walk out.


    "Thank you," I said truthfully, shooting a nod of respect as Machoke began assessing who was safe enough to release. "Help will be on the way to get the ones who can''t fend themselves, so play it safe," I announced to them.


    I absentmindedly opened the cage of a terrified Teddiursa and watched it shrink into the cage.


    "Hey, I''m not here to hurt you," I reassured with a disarming smile. "You''re free to go now. You can escape."


    The Teddiursa nodded hesitantly and tentatively walked out the cage, gazing at me with caution.


    "Right, we''ve stayed here long enough," I grunted, turning away from the free army. "The police should be getting their message soon, so that means it''s time to go."


    Green nodded in agreement. "We did good. We just have to make sure this place gets found out."


    "I''ve got that handled," I grunted, turning on a dime and rushing out of the room. "Try not to kill anyone not wearing an R on their shirt! They want to help heal you! Hurting them will only be bad for you all in the long run! Comply with the allies!" I barked to the freed pokemon.


    I didn''t wait to see if the Pokemon registered my words because I was already sprinting with Green.


    Proton seemed like a dumbass but by now, he was sure to realize that something was amiss and I very much doubted the pokemon were going to be quiet.


    Right on cue, we heard the pokemon begin roaring in fury and that motivated me to get far away from that noise.


    "Our missions complete, it''s time to get far away from here," I mumbled to her as we ran.


    "Yeah!" she nodded. "This was¡­ scary and crazy but it was also kinda really thrilling!"


    "Yeah?" I mused, wondering if her adrenaline pumped the way mine did in the middle of something dangerous. To me, the high of committing such a high stakes heist, was a little intoxicating.


    Judging by the little gleam in Green''s eyes¡­ she was more like her manga counterpart than I thought. I knew they had a lot of similarities but this was a surprise.


    ¡­


    My eyes widened and without any hesitation, I gripped Green and lunged forward.


    "O-Ow!" Green shouted in shock, tumbling with me and clutching her side in shock as her outfit shredded slightly.


    I placed her behind me as we caught our footing and snarled in annoyance.


    We both watched watched as a tiny ghost materialized behind us. It was bipedal with sharp claws, dripping in some blood, and sharp teeth, with gemstone like eyes and a red gem in its chest.


    Sableye¡­ didn''t think he''d have this pokemon in his possession.


    "You really thought I was gonna let you get away?!" Proton hissed furiously, a Toxicroak at his side that leered at us, lip curling in anticipation.


    The executive looked pissed as hell, eyes smoldering with murder in his eyes.


    I pursed my lips as Crobat flitted into view and banished any thoughts of successfully escaping.


    Crobat''s were far far too fast for the human to react to. To be honest, if you were alone with a Crobat, you were already dead and only living as long as it wanted you too.


    The fact that Proton of all people had a Crobat meant the two actually had a bond with each other... which meant that it was almost equally as violent as he was.


    "You''re fucked," Proton promised violently, gritting his teeth. "You think I can''t stop that little rebellion down there? You think I''m afraid of a few wild pokemon? Once I deal with you, it''ll be nothing for me."


    "¡­" I pondered the situation. "Maybe you should be more weary of those wild pokemon."


    Proton raised a brow, but his eyes widened in shock as the ground underneath him began shaking.


    Toxicroak only had a moment to react as a horn attempted to gore through Proton. It leapt into action, parrying the horn with that long red claw on its arm.


    Nidoqueen snarled violently, and the very world around us began shaking as it no doubt used Earthquake.


    Toxicroak''s defense was short lived, as a Sandslash burst from the ground and a torrent of flames, courtesy of a Rapidash, attempted to bathe the rest of Proton''s team.


    "Run!" I barked, dragging Green and pushing her ahead.


    I watched as the crowd of rampaging pokemon grew larger and larger and decided that the commotion was probably going to get picked up on soon.


    It was really time to get out of here. Proton was a spiteful piece of shit ¡ª


    "Oof," I grunted, as I got tackled to the ground. I landed face first on the floor and felt cracks make its way to my mask. Bits began falling off and I hissed in pain.


    "I don''t give a fuck what happens, I''m taking you out."


    I could practically feel the spit hitting the back of my neck with how hard Proton was frothing at the mouth.


    I hissed as a foot crashed into my ribs and flipped me over, meeting the angry teal eyes of Proton and Crobat.


    "You caused me a lot of damn problems you shitty little brat," he hissed, crouching lowly to regard me. "Now let''s see who you are behind this mask ¡ª"


    I spit a wad of blood through the cracks of my mask and aimed directly towards his eyes without any hesitation.


    "AGH!" Proton shouted, clawing at his face as the spit struck true. As his grip loosened on me, I lunged forward with wild eyes and stabbed the dagger into his side without any hesitation.


    My theory of it being made of some pokemon material was looking more and more true because it sunk into him with way too much ease.


    I ignored the urge to wince, eyes unnaturally focused as I glared hatefully at the stupid fucking group that blew up the S.S Anne.


    "ARGHHHHH!" Proton howled in agony, clutching the gushing spot as I ruthlessly ripped out the blade.


    At the same time, a baseball bat connected directly with Proton''s head and I felt myself getting dragged from underneath him.


    "Cro!" Crobat hissed, instinctively turning towards Proton in visible concern.


    The slight distraction allowed Saury, who was wrapped in an illusion, to wrap a flurry of vines around the giant bat. I noticed a slight sheen to them and realized they were seeped in Sleep Powder.


    The makeshift chloroform rag performed its job admirably, because even the much stronger Crobat was unable to resist. Soon, it fell asleep and Saury discarded it to the side with a grunt.


    Loki was atop the Ivysaur, glaring fiercely at both Proton and Crobat and showing me exactly how the giant Ivysaur managed to sneak up on them.


    "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Green stammered, pulling me up and rushing with me. She was holding my baseball bat and it was obvious who had used it to get me out of that predicament.


    "I''m fine," I huffed, clutching my side slightly. "Thank you, Loki, Leaf and Saury. That was a sticky situation that I was in and you guys got me out of it."


    "Of course! I promised that I''d have your back, now let''s go!" Green urged, tugging my hand forward. "Loki can you wrap us in an illusion again? We''ll need to be invisible this time so we can leave without being questioned."


    Loki nodded and got to work quickly.


    I took a deep breath and stood up straight, as his illusion washed over us and we began swiftly marching towards the exit because Loki wouldn''t be able to keep this up for too long.


    As we made it back to the actual game corner. The noise from down here wasn''t quite reaching them but I know that earthquake must have been felt¡­ so I just slapped a sign on a wall with a big ass arrow (Green began sweating slightly at that) and we got the hell up outta there.


    There was a noise of confusion and a wave of anxiety from the few addicted gamblers in there and I watched as they contemplated leaving this place, or continuing with slots.


    Sickening. I already knew what my decision was.


    As Green and I made our way out of the Game Corner, we turned on a dime and rushed off, heading directly to the forests of Route 7.


    The both of us collapsed next to each other with twin sighs, releasing our entire team in the process.


    "Bay," Gaia muttered, approaching me and inspecting my wounds. She began glowing slightly and I sighed as the pain dulled into something much more tolerable.


    "Come here Green," I grunted, beckoning her over.


    Green blinked and rolled a single time, closing the distance immediately.


    She let out a strangled shriek as I lifted her shirt halfway, revealing 3 gashes on her side.


    "Sableye got you," I frowned. "Does it hurt bad?"


    "K-Kinda," she stammered, fidgeting under my intense gaze.


    I sighed.


    "Loki, could you channel some dark type energy on it? It should help get rid of some of the potential ghost energy that entered her system."


    Loki nodded and deftly leapt next to us, placing a gentle paw on her wounds and using a harmless amount of dark energy.


    Then, Gaia wrapped her vines around the wound and began glowing, channeling a Heal Pulse and making the wound close up.


    "A little better?" I asked.


    "Much," she replied thankfully.


    "Wanna go to a Center?" I muttered.


    She shook her head. "I''m okay! If we go now, we might become suspects. It really does feel way better now," she grinned reassuringly.


    I watched Gaia remove her vines and gazed at the spot where she got wounded, nodding slightly at not seeing it scar over.


    I idly pulled a Full Restore out of my bag and sprayed once on the spot, getting a surprised hiss out of her.


    "There we go," I nodded in satisfaction.


    Green rubbed the spot slightly and gazed at me, before smiling.


    "I can''t believe we did that," she gasped, hugging Togee with an awed expression.


    "What? Did you enjoy it?" I asked, groaning slightly as I tentatively peeled my black coat off.


    Proton kicked me pretty damn hard. It wasn''t enough to break bone thankfully, but it was definitely going to bruise.


    "Don''t tell anyone¡­ but it¡­ was kinda fun. You know, before that executive showed up," Green admitted in a mumble, running a hand through Vee''s fur.


    "Good. You did great today," I informed her, watching as Gaia hawked in on my bruised ribs and immediately got started again.


    What a gem.


    "Really?! I''m glad. I was really hoping I didn''t let you down," she said quietly.


    "You didn''t. You did the opposite. I''m honestly surprised a goody two shoes like you was willing to do this and you did it to an impressive degree too."


    Green stuck her tongue out at me. "S-Shut up! I can be a little rebellious!"


    "Yeah you proved me wrong. I can''t believe you used my bat before me," I sighed despondently.


    "You really wanna use the bat," Green said dryly. "...I can kinda see why."


    I snorted and it erupted into a small chuckle.


    Green giggled as well and we both laughed at the bizarreness of the situation.


    It was ridiculous to think about, but that''s what made it so funny.


    Eventually we settled down and Green sobered up slightly.


    "So what do we do now?" she asked in concern.


    "Wanna camp out for the night? Or do you wanna waltz back to the Center? I''ve already got an excuse lined up for that option so."


    With the exposure of the Game Corner, there was a solid chance that the city would be in a bit of an uproar. So Green and I''s alibi would be that we had been training off route and set up camp/or slept in the center right after.


    "Let''s camp!" Green decided immediately.


    I nodded. "Wanna sleep in my tent again? It''s much comfier," I added.


    Her eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. "Yeah! It''ll be fun! Another sleepover!"


    I simply snorted and got my tent ready¡­ only to go alert as a rustling noise suddenly hit my ears.


    At once, everyone in the clearing went alert and I narrowed my eyes.


    I beckoned with my arm for them all to be ready to start blasting.


    Green mirrored my movement and all of our pokemon got ready¡­


    Only to stop in confusion at seeing what stepped through.


    It was a bipedal pokemon that was covered in orange-brown fur while looking very ursine in nature. It had a light brown muzzle with a tiny black nose and small black eyes that had white irises.


    To top it all off, there was a crescent moon marking on its face.


    The Teddiursa shuddered in terror, beginning to nervously lick its paws as it noticed all the eyes on it. It looked as if it wanted to bolt at any given moment and I tilted my head.


    "A Teddiursa?" I muttered in confusion, waving my hand slightly to tell my team to ease up.


    "Wait, is this the one from the Rocket Base?" Green asked in confusion. "Wow! Did you follow us all the way over here?! How did you do that?!"


    Teddiursa flinched and nodded tentatively at the question, before pointing at its nose.


    It tracked us by scent? It managed to pick our scent in all that mayhem and follow us here?


    Well, it was a bear I guess. Stood to reason that a super powered bear would have fantastic sense of smell.


    I blinked. "Why would you do that?" I asked bluntly.


    "If you had stayed there, you woulda got rescued by the Officer Jenny''s and the rest of the police force," I grunted.


    "Teddi¡­" Teddiursa mumbled after a moment.


    "It does not trust humans," Metang translated.


    "You don''t trust humans?" I asked with a raised brow.


    Teddiursa nodded reluctantly. "Ted Teddi ursa," it explained.


    "Humans took both its mother and it from their home and transformed her into a mindless beast. They seemed to have experimented on the little cub as well."


    I scowled at that.


    "That''s fucked," I frowned.


    "What''s wrong?" Green asked me.


    "The Teddiursa and it''s mother were both experimented on. Team Rocket turned its mom into a mindless monster¡­"


    Green gasped in horror. "That''s horrible¡­ the poor thing," she said sadly, gazing at the Teddiursa with pity.


    "But I don''t get it. You don''t trust humans, you were set free and you had the skills to escape the Game Corner without being detected," I pointed out.


    Teddiursa shrunk a bit at my piercing gaze.


    "You don''t have to trust humans anymore. You''re free. Just go live in the forests now. Why are you here?" I asked bluntly.


    By this point, Teddiursa was now licking both its paws as its nervousness began to climb higher.


    "T-Teddiursa," it stammered.


    "While it does not trust all humans. It¡­ admires and respects you in particular. From my point of view, it has latched onto you because you saved it."


    I blinked.


    It latched onto me?


    "You like me?" I asked the little thing curiously.


    "Ursa!" Teddiursa exclaimed eagerly, black eyes looking up at me.


    "It hopes to be as brave as you some day. I do believe it wants to join us."


    I figured but just to be sure¡­


    "You wanna join me?" I asked the little fella, crouching down directly in front of Teddiursa.


    "Teddiursa!" Teddiursa nodded happily.


    "Despite not trusting a single human, for good reason too, you mustered up the courage to approach two humans and you wanna join one of them..." I mused.


    This little fella didn''t trust any human. It got experimented on. It practically lost its mother to those same humans¡­


    Yet it still had the courage to approach me, a human to ask for my help.


    It was like looking at a pokemon version of myself¡­ except Teddiursa was way braver than it gave itself credit for because it had the strength to willingly put its trust into someone.


    I¡­ was still working on that.


    I never even once thought about catching a Teddiursa. Like it hadn''t passed my mind a single time¡­ it just wasn''t a pokemon I cared about¡­


    But how could I sit here and deny this guy a chance to join me? It''s not like I was starving for a sixth pokemon¡­ it''s not like I knew who was going to go there.


    Why not them? Besides, don''t I originally have an Ursaring? Might as well have at least one matching member.


    Most pokemon held in captivity, normally suffered once they actually made it out in the wild anyways. Unless trained, it was unwise to release them because they''d lag behind their natural counterparts.


    Heh. Look at that. Looks like I didn''t completely lie to Dr. Fuji. I really was rescuing a pokemon from being experimented on.


    Maybe Mewtwo''s cells had given me precognitive abilities.


    Wasn''t that a thought?


    "Alright Teddiursa, you''re in luck. I''ve been needing a sixth and I''ve also been pretty indecisive about it so I think you''ll make a fine addition to the party," I smirked sardonically, holding a Luxury Ball for him.


    "Tap the button and you''ll be apart of the team. Once you do this, you''ll have a whole new life to look forward to," I told them.


    "It''ll be hard. I won''t lie. I have high expectations for my team members and I have high expectations for myself¡­ and you''ll have to match that. But, I can promise you that if you stick it out, it''ll all be worth it. You won''t be a coward, you won''t be weak¡­ and you''ll be able to avenge your mother," I swore to them.


    Teddiursa looked captivated by my words, eyes shining in awe, as its paws fell limply to its side.


    Then, it raised one of those wet little paws and tapped on the Luxury Ball without any hesitation.


    I watched as it was sucked into the ball, not even struggling once before signifying a successful capture.


    I gazed at the ball with a contemplative expression.


    A Teddiursa¡­


    "Well guys, looks like we have our sixth member," I informed my team. "Be nice to them, alright? They seem a little shy so we''ll be patient."


    Gaia, Loki and Freyja all showed their support to the newest member, while Metang said nothing and Ares rumbled.


    "So long as it has its uses, I will not complain. The same goes for the dragon who''s trapped in its shell."


    I grunted at that.


    "That¡­ was so inspiring!" Green beamed. "Now we both have 6 members! Oh but technically you have 7! The egg!"


    I blinked.


    Oh shit. Right, I had the egg.


    "I''m going to have a team of 7 soon. Don''t tell anyone."


    Green blinked. "Oh right¡­ you have nowhere to put extra pokemon."


    I nodded and stood up, dusting myself off and groaning as I stretched out the kinks in my body. "Yeah I don''t. Not for the foreseeable future at least. I''ll be caught dead before I send a member of my team to Viridian so I''ll have to illegally go over the limit."


    She nodded sympathetically. "And it would be suspicious if you requested a new area¡­ alright, that makes sense."


    I smirked at her. "Thanks, Leaf¡­ now let''s go to sleep. I''m pretty tired."


    "Kay Silvy!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Proton let out a gasp of agony, as he was suddenly enveloped in a sheen and transported out of the Game Corner.


    His side was bleeding heavily after getting fucking stabbed and he was still furiously wiping at the blood in his eyes.


    "Proton."


    Proton froze at that and hesitantly opened his stinging eyes.


    What he saw, made a chill go down his spine.


    All the Executives were staring down at him currently. From Petrel''s lackadaisical smirk, Jesse and James pensive expression, Ariana''s unimpressed sneer and Archer''s irritated glare.


    But all of that paled in comparison to the figure in the middle, sitting rigidly in his seat as his grey eyes coldly bore into him.


    "I believe an explanation is required," Archer stepped forward immediately. "How is it, that the Game Corner has been compromised the one time you were tasked with going there."


    Petrel put a hand into his ear lazily. "Yeah man, that base meant a lot to me. I''m normally the one who''s watching over it you know? How''d you mess that up?"


    "Brute''s are only good for one thing," Ariana snarled, mood foul for reasons unknown to anyone.


    Jesse and James said nothing, awkwardly watching the affairs.


    Proton snarled. "There was someone sneaking around! Someone who knew about the hideout! They were working right under my nose and ended up freeing all those damn pokemon. When I get my hands on them... I''ll make them regret crossing Team Rocket!"


    "When?"


    A tense silence washed over everyone at that and every single agent gazed at the mostly silent Giovanni.


    One could almost be led to believe that he hadn''t said anything in the first place but it was impossible to miss their bosses voice.


    "The Game Corner supplied us with almost 43% of our funds," Giovanni listed idly, expression not betraying anything. "It is the driving force in allowing us to have a steady income and in just one day, that steady income has ceased to exist."


    "Not only that, underneath the Game Corner, was a hideout that was used to test and restrain countless of pokemon. Pokemon that we eventually planned on selling for an even greater profit, or using for ourself."


    Proton began shuddering.


    "You understand correct, Executive Proton? To experiment and test, we naturally need supplies. Those supplies are expensive. We no longer have access to the supplies in the Game Corner," Giovanni stated matter of factly.


    Horror dawned on his face.


    "Now you understand," Giovanni praised quietly. "We did not just lose the Game Corner. We lost many, many resources that we used there. It''s not as if I placed all my eggs into a singular basket, but some baskets are more important than others and because of you, I lost one of my baskets."


    "So explain to me your side of things, Executive Proton."


    Proton crumbled immediately. "T-There were two of them! Both short! They had disguises on! They were running around the base and dispatching all of our members! I never saw it coming! When I caught one of them, they stabbed me! I didn''t expect it so they got away."


    He bowed his head to the floor pleadingly. "Forgive me sir. I''ll work to rectify this mistake immediately! I''ll find those bastards and bring them in!"


    Ariana scoffed silently, while the other Executives remained silent.


    Giovanni said nothing as well, just gazing at the man with a neutral expression.


    "Tell me then Proton. What pokemon did those trainers have?"


    Proton nodded vigorously and mulled the question over ¡ª


    He went pale.


    W-What pokemon did they have? Surely there was one he spotted right?


    Was it that Nidoqueen...? The Rapidash?


    Wait... wait.


    "Well?" Giovanni raised a brow.


    "I... I didn''t quite see any of them," he explained.


    "...I see," Giovanni nodded. "Very well, Proton. Did you glean their appearance? Any bit of evidence that might lead us to finding out who caused this?"


    "T-They were disguised. I nearly broke one of their masks... right! They both had white masks on!" Proton explained desperately.


    "Masks. Your best piece of evidence... is that they wore masks?" Giovanni asked.


    If Proton was of sound mind, he would have mentioned a key detail. He would have mentioned that one of the two had spat their blood on him.


    But Proton was not of sound mind.


    "Just give me a chance Boss Giovanni! One more!" Proton begged. "I promise I''ll find them. I''ll get them back for the glory of Team Rocket!"


    Giovanni nodded at his request.


    "And how do you expect to do that?" he asked suddenly.


    "I''ll head out right now! I won''t rest until I find them! There was two of them and one of me, yet they ran away from me the entire time! My team has to be stronger than theirs¡ª"


    "What team, Proton?"


    Proton went still.


    He hesitantly reached for his belt and shook as 6 empty pokeballs greeted him.


    "They''ve been captured. Taken by the League," Giovanni supplied helpfully. "You released every single member of your team, didn''t catch a single good hint on who the perpetrator was and compromised one of our most important locations."


    It was then Proton noticed.


    Giovanni stopped adding the Executive title in front of his name.


    "I believe you misunderstand something, Proton," Giovanni informed him. "I did not rescue you because of your value. I rescued you because you hold valuable secrets."


    "But your use has clearly run out. Executive Archer. Petrel."


    Two hands suddenly gripped Proton and the man shakily looked back to see a Dusclops staring at him, pulsing red eye glowing ominously.


    "Sorry man, no hard feelings but you kinda screwed us big time," Petrel shrugged helplessly.


    His shadow cackled unapologetically, grinning maliciously as two red eyes gazed at him.


    At the same time, the sound of a pokeball opening alerted Proton to a new presence and he gazed in horror, at the sight of Archer''s Bisharp.


    "Pathetic. It''s truly a shame that we''ve allowed you to sully our names for this long," Archer scoffed.


    "Escort him out of the room if you would. Afterwards, continue the missions you''ve been assigned," Giovanni said calmly, leaning back into his seat.


    Proton''s eyes widened in terror. "No sir wait! Please! Give me another chance! Please!"


    "You boast the highest amount of failed missions among the Executives. You have garnered the least of the grunts loyalty and earned the most of their fear. You are the only Executive with a bounty on your head. You are nothing but a Primeape, aimed at structures to break. Unfortunately, you have broken mine," Giovanni stated boredly.


    "I grow tired of this conversation. Escort him out."


    "You can''t do this to me! Stop! Let me go! After everything I''ve done for Team Rocket?! I shed blood, sweat and tears for this organization! I did everything in the honor of Team Rocket! You can''t ¡ª SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE! ANYONE?!"


    Giovanni''s face never even twitched. He merely ran a hand through his pet Persian, eyes roving over a document lying on his table.


    "Executive Jesse and James."


    The two jumped straight at that, eyes finally leaving the door that Proton had been dragged through.


    "Excellent job. You are to resume your mission as you see fit," Giovanni said, not even looking at them. "Your efforts have been noted."


    "Y-Yes Sir!" They saluted shakily. Not wasting anymore time, the duo swiftly departed.


    Ariana followed suit. The woman made to take a step out of the meeting room¡ª


    "I''ve allowed you to brood long enough. Inform me of the meeting between you and Silver. That''s very clearly the reason you are this belligerent."


    ¡ªBefore stopping at his voice. Ariana bristled and turned around mechanically.


    "The meeting didn''t go as planned," she grit out. "Clearly you undersold just how belligerent he became."


    "Is that so?" Giovanni mused. "In that case, there must be a reason as to why you didn''t bring him back with you. You are not the type to sit idly by as someone verbally tears into you."


    "You must know so much about me," Ariana sneered, fury building at his accurate assessment. "I will collect him at another given time. He''s doing well for himself and taking him now, will only lead to resentment."


    "That is what I said," Giovanni informed her.


    "I know that''s what you fucking said!" she barked in annoyance, whirling around for him. "I merely saw it fit as his mother to pay him a visit. I haven''t seen him in months after all."


    "So you did miss him."


    Ariana scowled and marched out of the room, ending the conversation without saying a thing.


    Now she felt better for not telling that damned annoying bastard what Silver planned on doing.


    Smug know it all huh? Figure that out ¡ª


    Ariana went pale.


    "You plan on becoming our enemy, don''t you?"


    No. Surely not.


    Surely the one who had raided the Game Corner wasn''t...


    ...


    For the first time since Proton had been transported into the room, Ariana began to feel uneasy.


    Surely it wasn''t Silver that had ruined the Game Corner, was it?


    How did he even know there was a secret base in the Game Corner? That wasn''t possible! Giovanni gave explicit orders to never inform Silver of the happenings of Team Rocket until he was of age. He couldn''t have possibly known about that base!


    So if it really was him, how could he have known?


    How had he been able to outmaneuver Proton so masterfully, to the point where the man didn''t even know a single pokemon he used?


    ...The Zorua. That''s how.


    "Oh no. He was even more serious that I imagined," Ariana thought in horror.


    This wasn''t something small. This wasn''t stopping some grunts. Giovanni would want the blood of whoever destroyed the Game Corner.


    What would he do if he found out it was their son?


    ...


    Ariana nearly bit her tongue with her inner musings.


    This sudden situation was not one she had ever expected to be put into.


    Silver was recklessly serious about freeing himself from Team Rocket''s clutches. The same little boy who used to be so clingy, was now gazing at his mother like she was a stranger, while working to tear down everything his father worked towards.


    What would happen if Giovanni sent Mewtwo after the perpetrator? Surely it wouldn''t take the legendary but a second to find out.


    "A second is an understatement of my power, human."


    Ariana felt a chill crawl down her spine at that baritone voice.


    "Y-You know?!" she asked in horror.


    "It hardly required focus. Such was the volume of your thoughts."


    Oh no. If Mewtwo knew then... what did that mean for Silver?


    "You need not worry. Such miniscule affairs mean nothing to me. This familial matter is something that you humans may deal with. They have very little to do me."


    With that, the psychic''s voice vanished and Ariana held her head as a strong headache bloomed.


    Mewtwo was aware of Silver''s involvement...


    No wait. Mewtwo had always been aware of Silver''s involvement. Yet Giovanni had no idea of their son''s involvement in either events.


    A cold bead of sweat formed on the woman''s face as she came to a horrific realization.


    Mewtwo had secrets and some of those secrets involved their son.


    Silver wasn''t the only one in his rebellious stage, there was a Legendary who had just entered one too.

 Celadon I

    Teddiursa: Male


    Ability: Pickup


    Moves: Baby-doll Eyes, Lick, Scratch, Fury Swipes, Payback, Seismic Toss


    "Ursa," Teddiursa said quietly, offering me a Pokeball from who knows where.


    Where did he get this from?


    I took it out of his hand and ruffled the fur on his head.


    "Thanks lil buddy," I said, rolling the pokeball in my palm as I inspected it.


    Pickup was an ability that allowed a Pokemon to identify items of varying value.


    Once a pokemon encountered something with said value, they were filled with an urge to take them. Wild pokemon even had the urge to steal those valuable items from people who already owned it.


    The type of pokemon tended to affect what they stole as well. Meowth''s were famous for stealing gems and coins of value, while Teddiursa used theirs for mostly food, especially honey.


    Teddiursa weren''t as bold as Meowth or Zigzagoons tended to be. They typically just used their ability to stock up on food. Pickup Teddiursa were typically foragers and had an easier time evolving into Ursaring, due to having the necessary nutrients needed to survive.


    A Pokeball wasn''t really something they''d see to much value in and I don''t know where Teddiursa got this from but oh well.


    Not like I had a problem with it. Pokemon with Pickup who were born around humans, typically tended to gain an interest in valuable things that were material in nature and not just food.


    Green beamed, joining me in patting the shy Teddiursa. I watched in amusement as his face darkened slightly in embarrassment, blush adoring his face.


    My companion squealed. "He''s so cute!" she gushed happily.


    He was. I would easily concede that point.


    Teddiursa looked fairly standard. Nothing too impressive about it but it had a good starting point for me.


    Seismic Toss implied that one of its parents was a fighting type. If I had to guess, it was a Primeape... which was a little strange considering Ursaring and Primeape tended to have disputes with each other but if Team Rocket were involved than yeah...


    "Do you want a nickname?" I asked curiously, gazing at Teddiursa with a tilted head. "Something for you to differentiate yourself?"


    Teddiursa had a pensive expression at that before gazing back at my team.


    Gaia waved cheerfully with a vine, making him flinch shyly. He quickly turned back to me once he noticed how many eyes were on his person.


    "All of them have nicknames except for Metang," I told him helpfully. "If you don''t want one, you don''t need one. I''m not putting any pressure on you," I shrugged.


    No one said anything as Teddiursa mulled over the idea of getting a name.


    He glanced back at my team, looking nervous and I almost assured him one more time but I refrained from doing so.


    You couldn''t coddle someone who wanted to change themselves. You needed to be a little forceful and let them take that step forward.


    Teddiursa put a paw to his mouth as he continued to debate with himself if he should get a nickname. I wasn''t expecting him to turn the situation into something like this but I was fine with it.


    This was important to him so I''d treat it important.


    Finally he glanced up at me and his features shifted into one of determination.


    "Teddi!" he nodded eagerly.


    I nodded with a smirk and tilted my head.


    Well to be honest¡­ Teddiursa had a few pretty good nicknames¡­ His whole theme was moon bear after all.


    But that perfect nickname was Artemis and Teddiursa was a dude. There was also Diana and Luna on the Roman side as her counterparts¡­ but again, Goddesses.


    I could just do the same thing I did with Ares, but those names sounded a bit more feminine in nature.


    Maybe Luna was my best bet? I guess it sounded the least egregious.


    Nah. This was important to him so I had to really try.


    So I guess I should keep his name at least in relation to Artemis¡­


    Apollo?


    Nah, Apollo was practically her complete opposite¡­


    I pursed my lips. Why did all the Romans and Greek gods of the moon have to be Goddesses? Give me at least one to work with! I didn''t even know the name of the Norse one!


    Well fuck them too. I''d just have to expand my sources of mythology.


    "How about Oberon? You''ll be a king of your species under the moon you all love so much," I informed him quietly, gauging his reaction.


    A bit outta there, but Oberon was actually a pretty good name. He was most known for being the fairy king sure¡­ but he was also heavily associated with the moon, there was a moon named after him back at my other world.


    Not to mention his name origins included the word bear. I think it had something to do with nobility so it was perfectly suitable for a pokemon owned by me.


    So all in all, perfect¡­ and judging by the look in his eyes, Teddiursa quite liked that name too!


    He nodded eagerly and I smiled down at him.


    "Alright then. Everyone, this is Oberon. He''s the newest member of the team," I introduced.


    At seeing the eyes of everyone, including Green''s team, there, Oberon immediately fled behind my legs, sticking one head out and gazing nervously at them as he clutched my long pants.


    I refused to show even the slightest bit of emotion at how fucking adorable that was. Seriously, I had a reputation to upkeep here.


    Green did not. She squealed at the cute sight and dearly looked like she wanted to kidnap and squeeze Oberon to death.


    "On that note, everyone¡­ this is Dree! We all met him but we may as well do it formally!" She beamed, officially introducing the Dreepy to us all.


    Dree wasn''t as nervous as Oberon but that probably fled as he laid eyes on both Loki and Ares, not to mention me. He was still a bit of a wreck around me but at least exposure therapy seemed to be going well.


    Our older members all made various noises, greeting the two newest members of the team with general cheer.


    Oberon stuck his head out a little further at that, looking stunned by the greetings. His black eyes were wide in nervous awe


    "Bay," Gaia encouraged happily, ever the social butterfly.


    "Don''t be afraid of them," I reassured. "They''re your new teammates after all. Most of them are nice."


    He nodded slowly and hesitantly walked from behind me.


    "Try waving," I offered.


    Oberon nodded and raised one of his paws to wave at the crowd.


    He immediately let out a panicked yelp as Gaia immediately wrapped him in her vine and dragged my newest member into the team.


    I rolled my eyes and let it be.


    Let them get acquainted. Better for it to be now than later.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Hello!" Gaia beamed, bringing their new teammate close to them all. "I''m Gaia! I heard you managed to follow us all the way here from the Game Corner! That''s really impressive."


    "U-Um..." Oberon stammered, looking like a Deerling caught in headlights.


    Loki rolled his eyes. "Gaia, did you miss the part where Silver said he''s shy? You''re scaring him."


    Gaia''s eyes widened. "Oh oops!" she exclaimed, gently placing him down.


    "Sorry about her. Gaia is excitable," Loki apologized, peering at him with curious eyes.


    "That''s... okay?" Oberon muttered, not looking too sure of himself.


    Loki didn''t look bothered by their new teammate. "I''m Loki, I was Silver''s first pokemon. Gaia was his second. That''s Freyja, his third, followed by Metang and Ares," he introduced, pointing at each with his muzzle.


    "N-Nice to meet you!" Freyja greeted shyly.


    "N-Nice to meet you too," Oberon replied.


    "Two pests who are afraid of their shadows. My vassal truly knows how to select partners. Wonderful," Ares grunted neutrally, eyes glancing between Oberon and Freyja.


    Oberon wilted slightly at that and Freyja instantly glared at the giant dragon.


    "I''m surprised you still know how to speak. I thought evolution took the last of your intelligence!" Freyja scowled.


    The Shelgon''s eyes narrowed. "The audacity for you to dare speak to me when the gap in our strengths is this vast. Were I still my previous form, you''d already know your place."


    Freyja snorted. "Look at you, acting like you''ve actually changed! Isn''t that rich?! Once a dumb brute, always a dumb brute!"


    Gaia sighed. "There they go again."


    "They... do this often?" Oberon asked.


    "Multiple times a day," Loki replied, ignoring them easily. "You get used to it. Neither of them are going to hurt the other because Silver will let them hear it."


    "W-Wow," Oberon muttered. "I didn''t think Freyja would have what it took to stand up to... Ares," he tested the names on his lips.


    "None of us really get it," Gaia explained. "Maybe Metang does but Metang doesn''t talk to anyone."


    Metang chanced a glance at their team. "The animosity they harbor stems from the battle with the tusked dragon long ago," they explained.


    "Figured," Gaia and Loki replied at the same time.


    "Tusked dragon?" Oberon asked curiously.


    Gaia nodded with a small scowl. "Yeah! It was a while ago but we ran into a tough dragon called..."


    "Fraxure," Loki supplied.


    "Fraxure!" Gaia repeated. "Wanna hear about it? Actually we can tell you about all our journeys so far! Metang can use that big brain of theirs to help too!"


    "Do not drag me into such meaningless conversation," Metang rumbled.


    "Too bad! You''re joining! We need more team bonding!" Gaia said decisively. "Freyja! Ares! Stop arguing! We''re gonna get to know Oberon better!"


    "Oh... okay!" Freyja said, shooting Ares one final glare.


    "Must I join such ridiculous endeavors?" Ares scowled.


    "You will! How else can anyone explain how truly amazing you are?!" Gaia beamed.


    "...I suppose you have a point. Very well," Ares grunted.


    "W-Wow, Gaia is..."


    "Effective?" Loki finished Oberon''s train of thought.


    Oberon nodded and the Zorua smiled.


    "Gaia''s nice but don''t get on her bad side. She''s got a mean streak," Loki advised. "Just be yourself, it''ll be fine."


    Oberon nodded and watched as his new teammates got ready to break him in...


    "Y-You''re our trainers first pokemon, right?" he asked timidly.


    Loki nodded curiously.


    "Um... do you think he''s a good trainer?" the Teddiursa eventually asked.


    "..." Loki pondered the question, looking a little troubled for a bit.


    He looked down at his body and eventually said, "I think Silver is the best trainer a lot of us could have asked for. Whether you think the same is up to you... spend time with our trainer and maybe you''ll love him as much as we do."


    Oberon looked stunned. "O-Okay! I wanna be as brave as him one day!"


    Loki smiled slightly. "He''d call you an idiot for that. Silver doesn''t think he''s brave at all but I didn''t say that."


    "R-Really? But he never smelled afraid even once!"


    "What''s on the outside of a person doesn''t always match the inside," was all Loki said.


    Oberon nodded slightly at that, looking a tad confused. "O-Okay... you''re really nice. Do you want a berry?"


    Before Loki could answer, Oberon shuffled about and pulled out a Pecha Berry.


    The Zorua looked at the Pecha in surprise. "Where did you get that?"


    "I-I found it," he mumbled.


    Loki burst into tiny chuckles. "You''ll fit right in I think. Now c''mon. Gaia gets impatient quickly."


    "Loki! Hurry up! Stop hogging our new teammate!" Gaia urged.


    "Coming coming," Loki rolled his eyes.


    Oberon looked confused but nodded all the same, trailing after the Zorua into his new team.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green sidled up to me with a smile on her face and I glanced at her.


    It was the morning of the day after our Game Corner raid so the commotion was likely still going strong.


    "You alright?" I asked, gauging the way she walked and declaring it good enough.


    She nodded eagerly and showed me her flashing Pokedex.


    We both peered at it and I raised a brow at the contents.


    On it was the news.


    The Celadon Game Corner had been shockingly exposed to be a rocket hideout by an unknown source. A group of Officer Jenny''s had investigated the random report and had encountered dozens of Rocket Grunts and pokemon, both wild and captured alive.


    "The owner of the Celadon Game Corner is currently under investigation and fire. Currently, he has declined to respond to any questions," the reported finished.


    Nice. I hadn''t left anyway for them to track my anonymous note back to me (I had Metang use his shoddy psychic skills to write it) and they actually followed through on it.


    But...


    "Doesn''t seem like they caught Proton. He''s wanted after all so that would have made the news," I scowled.


    "He somehow got away," Green frowned with me. "Maybe he fought his way out."


    "Doubt it. There would be a bigger commotion," I pointed out. "Between you and me... I''m assuming he got teleported out," I muttered quietly.


    Green''s eyes widened. "By the..."


    "Yeah, likely," I replied with a frown.


    "But can''t you feel when he''s close by?" she asked in shock.


    I sighed. "His power is just that great."


    To be honest, if I tried really hard... I''m pretty sure I could locate Mewtwo. I couldn''t understate how strong the Legendary was... if I focused, I''d be able to feel it like a beacon of sorts.


    What a disturbing thought. It was better for my health if I just ignored it like I had been doing this entire time.


    "That''s really scary," Green mumbled nervously. "I thought it was because I didn''t swing hard enough. I was already thinking of ways to up my strength."


    I snorted loudly.


    "I still can''t believe you used my bat before me," I commented in amusement.


    I was just a little slighted by that but it was fine. I realized something about weapons the moment I stole this knife.


    It was created... weapons really were excruciatingly difficult to get so if you couldn''t buy them... just create them.


    Green shuffled nervously and leaned into me.


    "Please don''t tell anyone, but I don''t think that''s the last time I''m gonna use your bat," she whispered so quietly, I nearly couldn''t hear.


    Oh but I heard alright and it caused me to erupt in laughter.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Her cheeks dusted red at the sound of my laugh and I pat her head. "You''re a good person, Leaf. Thanks for saving my ass back there."


    She beamed with rosy cheeks, clearly not used to me complimenting her so earnestly and grabbed me in a crushing hug.


    "Of course I''ll save you, Silvy! I know you''d do the same for me!"


    I rolled my eyes in amusement. "Yeah yeah."


    Green sobered up slightly. "Um... I saw you stab that Proton guy. Are you okay?"


    I blinked and frowned. "Yeah I''m good... well as good as someone who stabbed someone can be."


    My companion bit her lip at that. "I dunno how you can do it..."


    I clenched my fist. "Anything to win," I said firmly.


    Stabbing him hadn''t been hard at all... and that was the problem.


    It was far too easy. I didn''t like how easy it felt to stab Proton because one move, and that stab would turn into something fatal.


    But... I wasn''t moral enough to think that I shouldn''t stoop to Team Rockets level. That wasn''t me. I wasn''t some hero that believed myself better than my opponents.


    I''m not the type of person to say, "You won''t be any better than them if you do this."


    That wasn''t who I was. If stabbing Proton was the best way to get outta that situation, then I''d stab him again.


    I was a boy who desired freedom. And I would get that freedom.


    Let''s just hope I got to earn it without becoming a murderer... and if I couldn''t? Then oh well. It is what it is.


    I would do anything to free myself from the Rockets. I''d even make deals with the Devil to do so.


    Green glanced at me in some concern and pulled me into a hug. "You can talk to me about anything you want to Silvy. I know you don''t wanna talk to anyone else so I''ll listen to your problems," she said in determination.


    I sighed at that and pat her on the head. "Thanks Leaf. Now, let''s get our day started. We''ve got a Gym Battle to prepare for."


    The both of us would be fighting Erika in 2 days so it was good to prepare for that.


    "Alright! Let''s spend today training while the noise dies down!" Green grinned. "We can check out the department store another time!"


    I perked up at that and nodded.


    The department store was a great way to get resources¡­


    "Alright let''s get to training," I instructed. "We''ve got a big battle two days from now. Practice the moves you struggle with and when you get them all under control¡­"


    I pulled out the TMs I stole and showed it to them.


    "...You''ll learn some new moves to perfect," I smiled.


    "Yep!" Green beamed. "We did a great job yesterday but it''s time to focus up for the gym battle! Our opponent is a grass type gym leader so for this battle I''ll use¡­"


    I listened to her enter trainer mode and snorted, turning to my team in the meantime.


    "Alright you guys. Get to it and I''ll check you all soon. Oberon, with me. I need to understand more about you," I stated, pulling out my dex and gazing at it.


    My Teddiursa jumped at that and nodded, scuttling over to me as quick as his little feet could take him.


    I absentmindedly crouched down and caught him with one hand, as he stumbled and tripped from the speeds.


    He yelped as he fell into my hand and my eyes flickered back over to him.


    "No need to rush," I assured, hoisting him back up. "You won''t get in trouble for taking your time."


    "Teddi¡­" Oberon said quietly, gazing at me in surprise.


    I watched as he shuffled around, before he pulled out an Oran Berry to hand over to me.


    I erupted in a slight chuckle and took it out his hand.


    Where was he getting these from?


    "Thanks little man, now let''s see what Pokeblock you prefer¡­"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Gaia''s eyes narrowed slightly as the bush near her ruffled and she immediately launched of flurry of leaves towards it.


    Vee burst out of it and growled, shooting out a flurry of stars that collided with the Light Screen Gaia immediately conjured.


    At the same time, a jet of piercing water nearly crashed into Vee, but the blue figure of Lapee intercepted it, absorbing the water and rejuvenating her slightly.


    She began setting up to sing, but a dark aura washed over her that abruptly stopped anything from coming out.


    Her melodious voice turned scratchy and Lapee shot a dark glare of embarrassment over at the smug Loki, opening her mouth to blast him with scalding hot water.


    The Lapras only felt more anger as the water washed over Loki with no effect, revealing that it was an illusion the entire time.


    Gaia let out a battle cry, pinpointing Lapee''s location immediately and shooting Magical Leaf after Magical Leaf after her.


    The Bayleef''s eyes narrowed at seeing a burly figure step in front of the leaves, taking the attack without so much of a flinch.


    Saury rumbled, shooting a toxin sludge at Gaia without any hesitation that the Bayleef hastily blocked with Light Screen.


    They both shot out a flurry of leaves that collided with each other, ignoring the sharp leaves that made it through.


    Lapee didn''t remain silent, opening her mouth and shooting out a pulsing cold beam that Gaia swiftly ran away from.


    As Saury positioned to catch her location, he let out a grunt of surprise as a psychic sheen suddenly surrounded him.


    The giant Ivysaur was launched back across the clearing and right as he caught himself, a fiery turquoise beam crashed into him.


    Saury let out a roar of pain, right as Ares, boosted with Dragon Dance, launched herself over to his position. There was an eager gleam in her eyes as she lumbered over with her enhanced speed while the Ivysaur attempted to recover.


    She gave him no respite, smashing her full weight into the Ivysaur and sending him soaring through the air at incredible speeds.


    Metang watched coolly and intercepted Saury''s flight, claws shining to ensure the Ivysaur was put down.


    The attack didn''t connect however, as Metang was suddenly hit by a stream of flames.


    It''s eyes flashed in annoyance and it regarded Larvee for a split second, encasing her in a shell of psychic energy.


    "Tang," was all it said, before a thin jet of steaming water crashed into the Larvesta.


    Larvee cried out in pain but was silenced as Loki burst from the shadows with a dark aura, crashing into her with a purpose.


    He didn''t even wait to see her fall unconscious, dipping back into his illusion with a predatory look in his eyes as he immediately went for Togee next.


    The Togepi activated Metronome, waving his tiny little arms about as they glowed white and he opened his mouth, firing a massive burst of fire that shifted into Kanji.


    Loki''s eyes widened and he hastily jumped out of the way of the Fire Blast, fur singing as the heat washed over him slightly. He narrowed his eyes and slipped into Agility, immediately rushing the exhausted Togepi.


    Togee saw his approach and clumsily tried to activate Metronome once more, shooting out a weak Air Slash that Loki deftly jumped over.


    Finally, the Zorua snarled, shooting dark energy, before following up with a dark tackle.


    Togee flew back a few feet, unconscious on impact and Loki once again, vanished, avoiding the flurry of leaves.


    Saury grunted warily and Lapee attempted to rejuvenate him with Life Dew to no success because of Loki''s administrations.


    The kindhearted Lapras actually scowled in annoyance, gazing at the Gaia who just shot out a Heal Pulse as well.


    She opened her mouth and attempted to use Freeze-Dry on both the Bayleef and Shelgon but was met with complete resistance as the green shield of Protect erupted from Ares, protecting them both.


    A metallic beam of energy crashed onto the ground beneath both Saury and Lapee, separating the two very briefly and giving an opening.


    Gaia''s eyes gleamed and she immediately lunged, vines snaking out of her body and grasping Lapee without any hesitation. The Lapras let out a cry of panic as the vines mercilessly wrapped around her.


    Vee saw and attempted to assist, only to cry out as Loki burst out of the shadows again, tackling him with his full weight.


    As Vee tumbled, Loki''s eyes glowed purple and he opened his mouth, shooting forth an Extrasensory to seal the deal.


    "Eev!" Vee shouted, crumpling on the ground.


    At the same time Lapee let out a cry from Gaia''s assault and collapsed, unable to sustain herself at all due to Loki.


    Saury grunted and attempted to stop the charging Ares, failing as the dragon bulldozed his defenses and crashed into him full force.


    The accumulated damage was too much and the Ivysaur eventually fell.


    "Shel," Ares rumbled in satisfaction.


    As the rest of them relaxed minutely, they suddenly stiffened as Vee shakily got up.


    "Vee..." he said in determination, glaring at the healthy pokemon.


    Ares would have raised a brow if she had one but she was swiftly silenced as Vee began glowing a bright white.


    A stunned silence washed over the field, as they watched the Eevee begin changing before their eyes.


    No one dared interrupt such an important milestone so they witnessed with bated breaths as Vee''s body underwent evolution.


    He lengthened, brown fur turning into lilan and smoothing over. It''s ears remained large, as a tuft of fur formed near his face. A red gem conjured from the evolution, embedding itself firmly in his forehead and his tail turned slender, splitting at the end.


    "Espeon," Vee said finally, gem glowing brightly as his eyes flashed.


    Then, he shut his eyes and let out a distressed cry, collapsing abruptly at the new surge of psychic powers.


    "Alright, that''s enough!" Green shouted, making the Dreepy next to her jump. "Oh geez, he decided on Espeon? I was expecting to consult this a bit more!"


    I frowned, Oberon looping his arm around my neck, as I slowly approached. "We should take him to the Center fast. Evolving into an entire new type, especially one as a psychic is overwhelming him. If I knew, I probably wouldn''t have been in the area either."


    She nodded hastily and returned Vee to his ball, along with the rest of her team.


    I followed suit and our little spar officially ended in favor of us rushing to the Center at record speed.


    The Center was fairly close to the outskirts of Celadon, so we made it there fast at our pace and entered the building without hesitation.


    "Nurse Joy!" Green called urgently, handing her Pokeball over. "My Eevee just evolved into Espeon!" was all she said.


    Nurse Joy did not need any further prompting. She easily grabbed the Pokeball and smiled reassuringly at Green. "Don''t you worry. It''s natural for evolved psychics with weak stores to get overwhelmed, especially if they weren''t a psychic before. They can perceive the world easier but I''ll make sure there are no complications."


    Green smiled in relief and nodded, before the two of us handed our Pokeballs over to the inquiring Chansey.


    "Sorry for calling the fight off early... though I think we both knew how that was going to turn out," Green said as we took a seat nearby.


    I waved her off. "It''s cool. It was just a spar anyways. Evolution is way more important. We can spar anytime," I mentioned.


    She nodded thankfully. "I''m shocked though! Our fights are normally 50/50 these days but that group battle wasn''t close!" she exclaimed.


    "My team is a little more independent than yours," I replied easily. "With Loki doing his thing as well, it was overwhelmingly in my favor from the start... also we fought as a team before."


    Green nodded in awe at that. "It''s definitely your win. I don''t even think Vee''s evolution woulda helped in the long run."


    The two of us had decided to dabble into doing full team fights instead of 1 on 1s. It was in preparation for our future encounters with Team Rocket and it helped build teamwork not just between our members, but us as well.


    That''s why Green and I didn''t give too much orders out. It was too chaotic and the noise would drown out our orders both in spars and the real thing.


    Like Green said, it wasn''t really close. My little soldiers were well used to me giving them some of the reins, not to mention in an all out battle, Loki and Gaia were incredibly frustrating to deal with.


    Saury''s power had been overwhelming before but he wasn''t unstoppable. I had caused him to faint on many occasion and with Ares evolution, it actually became much easier to do so.


    The gap between Green and I had completely closed. In fact, I edged out on her just a little... though with Vee''s evolution it might have shifted back into her favor.


    That was fine. I liked this power struggle between us. It made things all the more exciting.


    "Was Espeon Vee''s preferred?" I asked curiously.


    Green mulled it over. "Espeon or Jolteon. That''s what he wanted the most I think..." she explained.


    I nodded at that and took a sip of water. "What about you? What did you want?"


    Green blinked before flushing slightly. "I brought up Sylveon with him once and he bit me," she admitted.


    My laughter turned into abrupt coughs as the water made its presence known. "Y-You deserve that," I coughed, resisting the urge to snort.


    She rubbed the back of her head bashfully. "It was worth a shot! Espeon and Sylveon were tied for me but I was really fine with anything he wanted."


    I nodded thoughtfully at that and we fell into a comfortable silence.


    On our way to the Center, we heard quite the commotion. It appears the addicts weren''t very happy that their precious Game Corner was shut down. I had already seen plenty of Jenny''s forcefully bringing people down due to their disruptive nature.


    I rolled my eyes.


    They were all pathetic. You bring down the stronghold of a notorious organization who kills and kidnaps for fun, but all you can think about is no longer being able to gamble.


    I guess it''s a good thing Green and I remained anonymous. The attention after that, would turn me into a public criminal.


    "Miss Green, Mr. Silver. Your Pokemon are ready!"


    The two of us perked up at that and immediately approached the desk to greet the polite Nurse Joy.


    "Your Espeon will be fine. Just give him time to get used to his new body. Espeon''s are some of the most sensitive psychics there are so evolution is especially jarring for Eevee''s when they turn into one," she explained.


    Green nodded, relief clear on her features and the two of us accepted our teams. "So is there anything I should do?"


    "Just let him get used to his body. Increase his diet as well and if you wouldn''t mind, have him speak with Silver''s Metang on how to best control psychic energy. Due to also having lacking to almost nonexistent reserves, Metang should be able to explain how to utilize psychic energy quite well to Espeon," Joy said quietly, making sure none but us could hear it.


    I nodded appreciatively at that. "We can do that."


    Green beamed. "Awesome! Okay! Thanks so much Nurse Joy!"


    "Of course. You two have a wonderful day," Nurse Joy smiled, waving us off.


    I mulled over her words. "Alright back to training. This city is insufferable right now," I muttered.


    "Agreed," Green nodded. "I''m so excited! Vee finally evolved!"


    I nodded. "Espeon''s are real strong too. A valuable addition," I mused.


    She nodded eagerly as we headed back to our base. "I saw Metang coordinating somewhat with the team. I wanna do that too!"


    "It''ll get better with time for sure. He just needs to get used to it," I shrugged. "Let''s just hope he can function around me. I imagine just evolving into a psychic type is gonna be rough but with me around..."


    Green frowned at that. "Maybe we should stay a good bit away from each other for now? I can get Vee accustomed for the remainder of the day and then maybe expose him to you..." she mulled.


    "Smart," I nodded. "We can just train separately for now."


    "Kay!" she beamed in agreement. "I''ll go this way."


    With that, she marched off with a beaming grin.


    I watched her go until she disappeared and grunted, releasing my team right after.


    "Hey," I greeted. "You all probably know but Vee evolved and since he''s a psychic, we decided to train separately for today."


    They let out noises of understanding and easily got to work.


    "Loki, are you okay?" I asked curiously. "You''ve been lost in thought for awhile now."


    Loki jumped at that and gazed at me with wide eyes.


    I narrowed my eyes slightly. "What''s up? What''s got you conflicted?"


    My first pokemon frowned slightly and shook his head. "Zor, zor," was all he said.


    I perked a brow. "Just thinking about Vee''s evolution huh. You two are kinda rivals..." I mused, nodding at that. "Don''t worry. You''ll evolve when you''re ready."


    "...Zor," Loki said and I missed the way he glanced down at his body.


    I ruffled the tuft of his hair that was growing bigger by the day and smiled. "I was gonna get you started on Sucker Punch... but I think we can hold off on that for now since you''re so focused on Night Daze," I muttered, pulling out a disk.


    Loki perked up and I smirked.


    "I don''t plan on giving anyone else TMs just yet besides Ares... but you need a bit more variety before evolution so here, the TM for Shadow Ball," I muttered. "Wanna learn it?"


    When he evolved, I planned on teaching him Flamethrower but for now, Shadow Ball would be good to give him some type variety.


    While it wouldn''t help him hit things he couldn''t before, variety was useful and he wouldn''t have difficulties using the strange ghost type, especially considering he could already use Dark and Psychic moves.


    Loki nodded at my question and I returned him to his ball. It didn''t take me long at all to get things ready and I slotted the Pokeball against the disk, watching as the ball glowed with the ghostly purplish energy.


    I grunted at the strange sensation but ignored it, releasing Loki from his ball and watching as his brows furrowed slightly.


    Finally, he conjured a small purplish ball that he fired against a tree.


    I whistled at the impact, noting the hole with an impressed eye. "Great. Practice that along with Night Daze."


    "Why have you not given me that TM," Metang asked immediately. "I already know that I can learn it."


    "When did you steal my Pokedex? How do you even know how to operate it?" I asked in exasperation.


    "Simple affairs. I''ve already consumed the knowledge on my species. As for operations, it was slightly difficult to operate but it was a good exercise in psychic abilities."


    I blinked at that. "You used your psychic abilities to use the Pokedex? How... the hell did you do that?"


    "I have been improving somewhat. It just requires a tad amount of pressure. Now, you may stop changing the subject."


    I sighed and made my way over to Metang. "You still aren''t proficient in your psychic capabilities. Learning a ghost move would only throw that further into disarray. You''re clearly improving more than i thought but it''s still not enough..."


    I paused. "Alright, how about this... you''re already making good progress so I imagine it''ll be sooner rather than later, but once you can fully operate this Pokedex without struggling, I''ll teach it to you and we can get started on Psychic."


    Metang mulled that offer over. "Very well. I accept your terms. This benefits me as well... I quite enjoy using this device."


    "It''s a deal," I said, watching in amusement as they failed to rip it out of my hand with their psychic abilities. "You got your work cut out for you."


    "Your attempts at humor have failed miserably. You should remain aloof."


    "Dick," I muttered under my breath.


    "You are not quiet either."


    "Quiet enough to catch you!" I barked back.


    "...Touche."


    I snorted at that and stopped in front of Gaia.


    "You are not learning a new move," I said immediately, patting her gently as she pouted in outrage. "I know. I know."


    "I''ve been thinking of ways to help you beat Saury," I muttered to her, making her perk up at that. "It''ll take a bit but I got a solid idea. But that''s for later... for now I want you to master Body Slam... and then we can get started on learning more grass moves, like Grass Whistle."


    Bayleefs were unable to learn Petal Dance and Petal Blizzard until evolution so Gaia was pressed to find a really hard hitting grass type move... and Solar Beam required far too much energy that we didn''t have right now. As a result, I''d have to focus on her utility...


    Though, I could probably try and teach her Energy Ball at some point. It was difficult for them to learn but we could achieve it.


    Gaia beamed at me and nodded eagerly, trotting off happily.


    I smiled and made my way to Freyja. "Hey girl," I greeted, running a hand against her scales. "You''ve been making good work on the moves you have, so I think it''s time to learn a new one."


    She nodded eagerly and I mulled over if I wanted to teach it to her.


    "It''s called Confuse Ray. Instead of relying on Water Pulse to confuse opponents... we''ll just do it ourselves. It''ll make battles for us much easier but this move is hard to learn," I explained.


    Confuse Ray was a scary move. It was far more sinister than say... supersonic, which just jumbled up your senses due to piercing noise.


    Confuse Ray, while messing with your senses, made you see things that weren''t there. It messed with senses by utilizing the strange ghost energy. It forcefully pushed ghostly energy inside of you.


    Considering Freyja didn''t have an ounce of ghost energy inside, this move was going to be a hassle to learn and I couldn''t cheat by teaching her Shadow Ball because she couldn''t learn it.


    To be honest, I wasn''t expecting much progress on this one but there wasn''t much else I could actually teach her, barring like Dragon Pulse.


    She didn''t have enough stores for that though... which was why I hadn''t given her the TM for Ice Beam yet.


    "No sweat if you can''t make fast progress on this move girl. Take your time with this one and continue mastering your previous moves," I encouraged.


    Freyja nodded happily and I smiled at that.


    She had been getting much better lately. It was harder to get her down.


    Even Ares evolution didn''t do much besides making her angrier that the brute had become a bigger brute.


    Metang translated that for me. I would never call Ares a brute! I was her glorious vassal after all.


    "Love the optimism girl," I praised, running a hand against her scales again. "Confidence is a good look on you."


    Freyja blinked before blushing happily. My adorable little fish nuzzled me and I laughed at the ticklish sensation.


    "Fee!" she beamed, turning away to focus on her task. I watched her dive into the pond with a fond smile.


    As I got up to approach Ares, I''m very sure I heard a groan of disgust leave Freyja''s mouth.


    I chuckled at that and stood in front of Ares so she couldn''t glare over at my water type.


    Hard considering she was only a little shorter than me but hey.


    "Ares," I greeted, pulling out a disk. "Wanna learn Flamethrower?"


    She tried very hard to mask the unsavory gleam in her eyes. Evolution had made her more aloof but she was upping it to look cool.


    Dork.


    "Alright then," I rolled my eyes, returning her to the ball and connecting it with the disk.


    I released her from the ball and watched those wide yellow eyes light up.


    "Don''t you dare," I said immediately. "You were about to aim at a damn tree weren''t you?"


    Ares'' silence was all I needed to hear to know her answer.


    "You''re an even bigger troublemaker than me," I sighed, pointing at a large boulder. "Hit that instead."


    She nodded and opened her mouth, firing off a stream of flames.


    I watched in visible interest as it crashed into the boulder, swiftly scorching the surface area to the color black.


    "Not bad," I whistled. "Practice that move. We''re gonna be using it very soon. Shoot in the pond over there and do not hit Freyja... unless you two want to train."


    "Shel," Ares rumbled, trotting off over to the pond with Freyja in it.


    They shot each other looks of disgust and I snorted in amusement.


    "Finally," I mused, turning towards Oberon. He had been trailing me the entire time and I smiled down at him, handing him a pink pokeblock.


    Oberon liked the sweet flavor of blocks by far. It must have been attributed to his love of honey but he adored whenever I gave him some.


    "Alright little man, you''re stronger than I expected... but there''s always room for improvement," I began, walking off to an isolated area. "You have three types down already and you can learn a lot more so we''ll definitely be leaning into that."


    Oberon hung onto my every word.


    "But for now, we''ll start easy. The first move you''re gonna learn is Slash," I informed him. "Once you learn it, we''ll combine it with Fury Swipes and target important parts of our opponents body."


    My Teddiursa''s mouth opened in shock. Maybe he wasn''t expecting me to have already had a plan for him...


    Or maybe he wasn''t expecting me to be so ruthless.


    "You''re small right now Oberon," I said truthfully. "And unlike Loki, you don''t got the speed to back up your size. So we''ll have to handle battles a little different. We''re gonna make every hit count, so every time you land one, they''re gonna regret it."


    Thankfully, he could learn many types of moves so it''s not like he''d be starving for options at his peak. I didn''t really care for Normal Type pokemon but they did have the benefit of typically being able to learn a lot of other typings.


    Oberon looked up at me in awe and nodded hastily.


    "Right. Cycle through your moves. We''re gonna get you used to them until it''s second nature," I ordered. "Then, we''ll get you started on Slash. You''ll understand all your moves well and based on what you can learn... Fury Swipes might be really good for us."


    As I mulled over the move set I wanted for Oberon, he hung onto my every word and I smiled as he immediately charged forward.


    I crouched and caught him before he could fall, standing him upright.


    "You''re pretty clumsy huh? We''ll work on that," I assured.


    He nodded, before handing me a Sitrus Berry and getting into it.


    I chuckled at that, idly pulling out my Berry Pot to plant the Sitrus in.


    I think Oberon was going to be a good addition.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Loki."


    Loki perked up at that, turning his head towards Gaia with a curious look.


    His friend was looking at him with a suspicious glint and he tilted his head at that.


    It was currently the two of them with no other member around. Silver was in the distance, cleaning Ares shell, along with Freyja''s scales as they both fought for his attention.


    "What''s up?" he asked curiously.


    "Why aren''t you evolving?"


    He froze at the question. "What do you mean?"


    Gaia''s eyes narrowed. "You''re ready aren''t you? I can tell. You''ve been resisting it," she pointed out quietly.


    Loki pursed his lips at that. "No point lying about it. Yeah, I''m ready," he admitted quietly.


    The Bayleef looked somewhat confused. "How come?" she asked curiously. "I didn''t think you would stop yourself from evolving. You and Silver are really similar so I expected you to want to be stronger."


    The Zorua sighed. "It''s nothing so serious, Gaia... I just don''t know if I''m ready yet."


    Gaia looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "You know you don''t have to be nervous you''ll disappoint Silver. I''m sure if you talk to him, he''ll help solve your problems," she whispered encouragingly.


    Loki mulled that over. "When the opportunity comes, I''ll talk to him and see what he thinks... but I imagine he''ll think I''m being dumb for not wanting to evolve as quick as possible," he muttered.


    Gaia sighed and pat him gently with a vine. "You can be just as dumb as him too. It''s all in your head, Loki. I''m sure whenever you two talk, it''ll be fine!" she encouraged.


    Loki wasn''t used to being called dumb. He liked to think he was only second to Metang in terms of intelligence.


    Maybe he was being silly.


    "Next time it gets brought up, I''ll say something and we''ll go from there," Loki said finally. "Now stop bugging me."


    "Don''t wanna! Silver doesn''t want me learning any new moves so let''s spar," she grinned. "Maybe the beating I give you will motivate you to evolve."


    Loki sighed tiredly, glaring flatly at her. "You''re more like Silver than I am. You two are practically made for each other," he said, rolling his eyes as he got up.


    "Of course! That''s why he took me! Silver is my chosen trainer!" Gaia beamed, snatching Loki up with her vines. "Now let''s go!"


    Loki sighed again and just let it be.

 Celadon II

    "Stray too far and I''m strapping you to my baseball bat."


    "Tog."


    "Fuck you too."


    I was currently in the department store with Green. We had time to kill so we decided to check it out in case there was anything we each wanted to buy.


    We managed to procure a good bit of money from Proton''s office in the Game Corner, along with some other miscellaneous items, like a Silph Scope (apparently it helped you spot ghosts easier in their incorporeal form), 3 Nuggets and a Fire, Water and Thunder Stone.


    I told Green she could have the last one but uh... looks like Vee made up his mind before she could use them.


    There had also been a lot of drugs but... yeah Green said she couldn''t pick those up and it would be hard for me to get rid of them.


    Sure we could just burn em, but then why take them in the first place? I''m sure the League would figure something out with them instead of us needlessly incriminating ourselves.


    Overall, it was a really good haul that turned downright incredible when you accounted for the TMs we got.


    Now we were in the Department Store for various reasons such as it being a super store.


    Seriously, it was huge and it had way more stuff than just essentials for traveling.


    Like clothes. It had clothes and Green wanted to buy herself some clothes, so she left me with the horrific task of watching Togee.


    There was also the fact that she wanted to get some provisions for Vee but I ignored that in favor of being annoyed that she wanted clothes.


    Because he was a handful and would refuse to sit still (and I also refused to watch her buy new clothes), she thought it would be a bright idea to stick me with the Togepi.


    "It''s good bonding time! You know you''re technically Togee''s dad so spend some time with him!" she beamed, ignoring the complete look of horror Togee had shot her at that statement.


    I caught it though and words could not explain how badly I wanted to attack her for saying that.


    But here we are, with a perfectly healthy Green and a perfectly grumpy me, on two different floors.


    I rolled my eyes and watched as Oberon idly clutched my neck tighter due to the amount of people in the place. He currently had two arms looped around me, shrinking into my back as we walked past a person.


    His paws smelled like honey and wet fur so I was definitely going to bathe him later today.


    I actually bought a batch of honey earlier for him. It seemed to be his definite favorite thing to enjoy, so I''d give him some sometimes.


    I was currently on a floor filled with foods to feed your team. The last batch seemed like a good one and my team approved of each of the ones specialized for them, so I wanted to get more.


    There''s also the fact that I had a companion to account for too. Green had already said I could just tell her how much I spent and we''d split it halfway because her team quite liked the batch of foods I got as well.


    I didn''t really mind. It was better for me to get the stuff anyways.


    As I walked through the aisles, scrolling through my pokegear to figure out which was the correct one, I absentmindedly picked out exactly which ones I needed.


    Without really even thinking about it, I snatched one for checkout and a few others because of my made up 5 for 1 special, effortlessly concealing them in my bag while keeping the other out in the open to pay for.


    "Tog?!"


    I raised a brow and gazed at Togee, who was looking at me with slack jaws. For once, there wasn''t a vindictive look in the little shit''s eyes.


    No. He just stared at me with true shock.


    ¡­


    Oops.


    "Don''t tell Green," I said bluntly.


    "Tog! Toge, pi, toge!" Togee suddenly said, pulling on my pants with awed eyes as he looked around the store rapidly.


    I blinked in confusion.


    "Teach you?" I mused. "What the hell do you want me to teach you? I thought we hated each other. This goes against our pact," I pointed out.


    Well, I didn''t hate him at all and he had been giving me strange and somewhat horrified looks lately instead of malicia... but this was still pretty out of the blue.


    Why was Togee asking me to teach him? What exactly did he want me to teach¡­


    Ohhhh.


    I snorted in amusement. "You know Green''s gonna kill the both of us if I teach you how to be a better thief right?" I whispered to him with an amused glint.


    How the hell would I even teach a Togepi how to be a good thief? Would those skills even remain when he became a Togekiss?


    Togee waved off my concern, not at all phased by what his mother was going to do to him. If there was one thing the little shit was, it was hard headed.


    He did not learn his lesson. No matter what you did, his ignorance prevailed.


    I mulled it over and decided that if he was gonna steal anyways, might as well make him good at it.


    Less stress for his trainer that way. Green was probably tired of apologizing to people about her Togepi''s less than stellar personality.


    "Alright sure whatever," I shrugged, going to the checkout and paying off my single bag.


    Togee actually looked like a sweet Togepi in that moment and if I didn''t know him so well, I''d actually think he wasn''t a demon.


    "C''mon, let''s head to the TM floor there''s stuff I wanna check out there."


    Togee climbed atop my shoulder without any hesitation, a starstruck look in his eyes as he hung onto my every word.


    To think that my thieving abilities would be the thing that won this Togepi over.


    "Alright first things first¡­ always be aware of your surroundings and you gotta be sure of your course of plan. As long as you have a plan, even situations like a packed store are nothing to you," I muttered.


    All the while Togee (and unknown to me, Oberon) nodded, hanging onto every word I said.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green blinked at the sight before her, holding bags of clothes and other miscellaneous things.


    Next to her, Vee was unsteadily carrying a bag with just his psychic energy, though it faltered as I showed up.


    Vee''s eyes shifted over to me and he tried to flash me a smile despite how nerve wracking my presence was to him all of a sudden.


    It must have been jarring. Vee was probably not used to feeling things like this from me. We spent quite a bit of time together after all.


    Green looked helplessly confused, rapidly blinking as she stared at me.


    The reason she looked so confused, was probably because of the sight of Togee sitting proudly atop my shoulder, no hint of animosity radiating off of him.


    "You two didn''t kill each other?" she asked in surprise.


    "Nah," I denied, patting Togee on the head. "We get along now."


    "Tog!" Togee agreed.


    Green looked on dumbly, idly picking up Togee and regaining proper custody of him.


    "What did you guys do?" she asked eventually.


    "¡­" Neither of us said a word.


    Green let out a suffering sigh and hastily dragged me out of the store before I could steal anything more.


    I couldn''t even steal the TMs. They were behind the counters of the checkout area.


    Lame.


    "Silvy," she said in a hushed whisper, dragging me back to our camp.


    "You can''t just steal from them! I don''t mind if you take from bad people because they''re bad you know¡­ but the Celadon store didn''t do anything to you! You''re not bad Silvy so you don''t have to do bad things," she said quietly.


    I paused at that and frowned in contemplation.


    It''s not like I was at risk of getting caught. Why was she so worried?


    Green stared at me with a firm frown and I sighed.


    "...I''ll limit it to once per city," I said finally.


    Once per city that she''d know about of course. Me? Stop? Hah.


    My companion gaped at me.


    "It''s a work in progress. I know you''re still gonna do it behind my back but at least I got you to say something," she sighed eventually.


    I smiled. "Don''t worry. I''m very good. It helps me hone my skills as well."


    "That''s not the point! And please don''t smile, it''s creepy!" Green urged.


    I rolled my eyes. "Rude," I said flatly.


    The reason we chose to enter the city, was that the commotion had largely died down. In fact, the city was very quiet.


    "Silver? Green?"


    Oh. I think I knew why the city was quiet now.


    The two of us stopped at being called, gazing at the one who called us.


    "Oh if it isn''t Ms. Aunt. Fancy meeting you here," I greeted, tilting my head curiously.


    What the hell was she doing here? Seeing my aunt so soon after the events of Vermillion?


    Odd.


    Lorelei was staring at me with a delighted expression that she hid pretty well.


    It was impressive. I doubt anyone would be able to tell how happy she was.


    Why the hell could I tell?


    "Ms. Lorelei," Green beamed quietly, waving at her excitedly in a way that didn''t draw too much attention.


    "That''s why the city is so quiet now," I mused.


    Lorelei sniffed once. "It was quite loud but the moment I showed up and established... boundaries, it became far more tolerable. Rest assured, the city will not be as raucous as it was before my arrival," she said.


    "Scary," Green whispered to me.


    I snorted in amusement.


    "What are you doing here?" I asked curiously, watching as she approached us at a measured pace.


    Gotta respect how there was no hesitation at all in her. She saw no issue with the fact that she was an Elite 4 member approaching a fellow redhead.


    My aunt looked as rigid as ever, wearing something a lot less casual for the occasion but still managing to make all the heads around turn.


    If she noticed, she didn''t say anything. Lorelei stopped directly in front of us and we stared at each other for a long while.


    There was clearly something she wanted to say or do, but she was much too awkward to do so and I had 0 interest in finding out what it was.


    "I was here on business but I''ve mostly wrapped up for the day¡­ I''ll tell you about it but do you have a more quiet area where we could speak?" Lorelei asked softly.


    ...Was she serious right now?


    I nodded with a roll of my eyes, curious about what she had to say. "We set up camp somewhere in Route 7. If you don''t mind getting leaves on you, you can come," I informed her.


    Lorelei looked only mildly offended. "I was a trainer at one point as well. It''s almost standard to get a little bit of dirt on you. I''m not sure what image you have of me, but I assure you it''s incorrect to some degree."


    I snorted. "Coulda fooled me, princess. Now come this way, your highness," I taunted with a mock bow.


    Green bit her lip and looked away to hide her amused expression.


    Lorelei twitched as soon as I said princess. Judging by the deep breath she took, I could tell she was trying very hard to not glare at me.


    Heh. Annoying a stiff was very funny. Doubly so when it was someone I was related to.


    "Silvy, stop harassing your aunt," Green admonished with a small smile. "C''mon Ms. Lorelei, our camp is this way."


    "Please, just call me Lorelei. Silver makes me feel old enough," Lorelei sighed, following after us and ignoring the glances at our group.


    I minded it though and glared at one offender who was creeping after us.


    Before I could violently teach him a lesson, Lorelei''s Ninetales merely shot the weirdo a piercing glance and immediately caused him to wither away.


    I scoffed and shoved my hands in my pockets as the temperature steadily dropped around me.


    Stupid cold ice types.


    "Silver we need to talk about your mannerisms," Lorelei said quietly, turning her red eyes onto me.


    I raised a brow and easily met her gaze. "What about them?" I asked ignorantly.


    "It''s utterly deplorable," she said without hesitation, completely missing how not genuine my question was. "You must portray yourself in a more favorable and refined light. I received reports about a week ago of a feral redhead nearly attacking several people inside of Mt. Moon. I had no idea what they were speaking of but after meeting you, I know exactly what they meant."


    I raised a brow at that. "Huh, I didn''t think that would actually spread. Guess that flying master wasn''t speaking out of his ass," I mused contemplatively.


    "Dragon master, Silvy."


    "Please watch your language."


    I ignored them both.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "You really don''t know how to cook?" I asked with a raised brow.


    That was really surprising to hear actually. Lorelei looked like the type of woman who could do it all.


    Lorelei coughed, drinking the tea offered to her. "It was not something I spent a lot of time learning. I can make something fulfilling but... the taste leaves much to be desired."


    Green nodded in understanding.


    I did not.


    "Wow, I would think someone as stiff and proper as you would know how to cook, aunt," I mocked with an amused smirk.


    Lorelei seemed more interested in drinking her tea than interacting with me. She took a long sip out of it, daintily placing the cup down and not showing any indication that she even drank anything.


    "The reason I''m here ¡ª"


    I snorted loudly at.


    "¡ªIs because we received a message regarding Team Rocket performing operations inside of the Game Corner. Such a preposterous report was almost disregarded... but there was no harm in validating such a thing so the Police Force swiftly gained permission to conduct an emergency investigation," she explained, shifting into the professional mode that she was well known for.


    It was really impressive. It was like she was the perfect robot when she slipped into this mode. There was never an inflection, nor any emotion that would help figure out what she thought about the entire thing.


    She truly was ice cold to the core. No wonder she was insanely awkward.


    "According to Gym Leader Erika, by the time they arrived onto the scene, most of the action seemed to have settled down and there were multiple freed pokemon, along with¡­ incapacitated grunts," Lorelei explained gently.


    Incapacitated huh? Yeah, she was avoiding mentioning their deaths. She did this back in the hospital as well. Most likely to protect me.


    Eh, whatever. I was a kid after all.


    Green and I nodded at the information she was feeding us, invested in hearing the aftermath of our heist.


    "The pokemon, captured by Team Rocket, were very agreeable¡­ some were injured but the ones freed didn''t seem too affected by the drugs injected into them. The Game Corner has effectively been shutdown and everything of value has been confiscated¡­ I decided to offer my assistance in lieu of the surge of protests. I have been very effective in gathering the ones who decided to transform their anger into violence and they will be dealt with accordingly."


    I tilted my head at that. "You?" I pointed out in confusion.


    Why would they send Lorelei of all people? Intimidation tactics seemed more fitting for someone like Bruno or even Agatha¡­


    Actually, Lorelei was quite literally the last person I''d send here for intimidation. The current Kanto Elite 4 was Bruno, Agatha, Lorelei and Karen.


    In fact, I''d probably have sent Karen. Dark types were very good at getting their point across...


    Why the hell was Lorelei here ¡ª


    "...Are you stalking me?" I asked suddenly, narrowing my eyes suspiciously at her.


    Green choked on her tea at my blunt question and I absentmindedly began patting her back.


    She shot me a grateful and incredulous look all at once. "T-Thanks Silvy?" she stammered.


    "No problem."


    "...I am not stalking you. I merely volunteered after seeing that you were in Celadon," Lorelei said as measured as possible.


    I noticed that she wasn''t looking at me at all and that got an abrupt chuckle out of me.


    Well, if there was one thing my aunt was, it was honest. I could appreciate that.


    "Should you really be telling us this?" I asked curiously. "This seems like league business."


    "It is League business¡­ but besides the fact that I''d like to keep you two informed of Team Rocket matters, I have many reason to believe that you were involved in the exposure of the Game Corner."


    The two of us froze at that and I turned towards Lorelei with a curious gaze, making sure I didn''t show anything to her.


    "Why do you think that?" I asked.


    Lorelei didn''t look even slightly unsure of her statement. "Anonymous call, a broken window yet no signs of any human interference, traces of powder lingering in some areas... all of this occurred on the night of the same day you two arrived in Celadon. No one knows but I believe it was a joint effort between you and Green," she pointed out.


    Goddamnit. My aunt was too smart and attentive for her own good.


    Suddenly, her stalking me wasn''t so funny.


    "Stop stalking me," I said with narrowed eyes. "You''re using base assumptions to jump to that conclusion. Green and I were out training in the forests after applying for a gym battle," I denied.


    Lorelei gazed at my firm expression. "A very solid alibi. You did only enter the Pokemon Center earlier today... but I believe that was on purpose wasn''t it? After all, you prefer to avoid Pokemon Centers but in recent times, you''ve consistently entered them," she pointed out.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ...


    "Not to mention, back at the hospital, you merely said Team Rocket is all of our problems but you weren''t being entirely truthful. This is where I do believe I don''t understand the picture but I do have suspicions of such things."


    Green said nothing but I could tell she was having a harder time keeping a poker face.


    ...


    Shit. This made me realize something.


    Lorelei knew more about me than she was letting on. And the worst part was that I didn''t know what she knew.


    I''d have to replay every conversation I had with her and assume my pathing had been tracked by her.


    What did she know?


    "Silver, I am not your enemy," Lorelei said softly, attempting to place a hand on my shoulder and thinking better of it.


    I was at least a little thankful for that.


    "I''m just¡­ worried. For the both of you," Lorelei said truthfully. "I want to understand what drives you to attack Team Rocket so brazenly, Silver. What makes you refuse anyone''s help? You have gone through something and I... want to help."


    "¡­" I said nothing, even as Lorelei got closer to me. I just stared warily at her, trying to think of what the hell this woman knew about me.


    Did I even want to know? How screwed was I?


    I froze as she tentatively pulled me into a tight and warm (cold technically because she was damn cold) hug.


    "You don''t have to trust me immediately¡­ but just know I''ll always be there to help you if you need it. Whatever you tell me will stay between us," she assured.


    I snorted. "Yeah right," I rolled my eyes.


    "I''m serious, Silver. I have a duty as an Elite 4 member... but I also have my duties to you that I''d like to catch up on," Lorelei told me gently.


    ¡­


    "...Why?" I asked curiously, gazing at her with my disturbing eyes.


    My silver eyes bore into her blood reds and my aunt didn''t even flinch.


    "We''re family. If I have to become the only family member you''re willing to trust, then I will do everything in my power to do so," she said firmly.


    ¡­


    I sighed in defeat¡­


    "I''m being targeted by Team Rocket if you couldn''t already guess. Though, I''m sure you could," I muttered quietly.


    Green''s eyes widened at that and she stared at me from the side, expression eventually going soft as she stayed out of it.


    "I can''t tell you why they''re after me," I admitted bitterly.


    "That''s okay." Lorelei didn''t look bothered by my response. There was just an understanding look in her eyes, as she stored the information away along with all the other things she learned about me in such a short time.


    The effort she put into understanding me...


    "Does your knowledge of the Game Corner have to do with why they are targeting you?" she asked patiently.


    "No. They probably don''t know it was me who did it," I said truthfully.


    Her brows furrowed and she mulled over my response, absentmindedly rubbing my back in a circle.


    I nearly recoiled at the foreign feeling before I realized it didn''t feel terrible.


    "You wish to continue your journey," Lorelei pointed out bluntly.


    "Yes," I nodded.


    "You will refuse all manner of protections I offer?"


    "Most likely. I won''t let you take leave so you can follow me around the region."


    "¡­" Lorelei pursed her lips at that and nodded to herself.


    "Silver whatever you''re going through¡­ no matter what it may be, understand that I will protect you," she said strongly. "I''m fine with you keeping things to yourself for now. I''m very patient¡­ but if there''s one thing I want you to promise me, it''s that if something happens, you will immediately call me."


    ¡­


    "Alright, aunt," I said quietly. "You''ll be the first person I call."


    "That''s all I ask so thank you," she said softly, stepping back from me with a small smile.


    "...Stop stalking me," I said flatly, staring tiredly at her. "I thought it was kinda cute but now I don''t think it''s very cute anymore."


    Lorelei had the decency to look kind of embarrassed. "I apologize but I just find myself very concerned about your wellbeing... so I frequently check up on you," she replied.


    "We''ve barely known each other for a week. Why the hell are you so concerned?" I raised a brow.


    Lorelei frowned. "Do you think time is a factor in how I should feel about you?" she asked in some confusion.


    "Yes," I answered without hesitation, like it were common sense. "We haven''t known each other long enough for you to react and act the way you do."


    This was the same way Jasmine and Green warmed up to me way too fast. It was so weird. Why did they become attached to me so quickly?


    My aunt looked at me with a perplexed expression. "Silver... love and care are not transactions. They should not cost time to be bought. It is a priceless thing that cannot be measured in such a way. If someone feels love, they simply feel love," she said softly.


    I froze completely at that.


    "You are my nephew. Is it so baffling that I care about you?"


    "..." I said nothing, realizing that everything I said now would probably be stored away.


    It was clear the league had eyes on me now, so I''d have to manipulate their thoughts on what could possibly be wrong with me.


    Yeah...


    "Don''t worry, Lorelei!" Green assured, mercifully sweeping in to save me. "I''ve got his back!"


    As Lorelei gazed at Green, I shot her an appreciative look for taking the attention off me.


    I''m sure she noticed it because Green was more aware than she let on... after all she interrupted that conversation to give me a break.


    What a sweet girl... I felt a little too weird to speak right now so I was glad she did it.


    "Thank you, Green. Please also take down my number. I trust you more to recognize when a situation is getting bad before Silver does," Lorelei requested.


    She was probably right but I still scowled.


    Green blinked, before her face lit up red at that. "Y-You want my n-number?! Really?" she stammered excitedly.


    Lorelei nodded. "You''ve listened to all of this and Silver hasn''t shown the slightest bit of discomfort at how much you know. He trusts you and I trust his judgement."


    Green nearly fainted on the spot. "Oh of course I will! I-I''m so honored! I''ll try not to be a bother!"


    "I wouldn''t mind if you messaged me updates. Silver doesn''t contact me," my aunt frowned.


    I rolled my eyes. "Do I really need to message you? You''re stalking me anyways. If you have enough time to stalk me, you have enough time to message me," I said flatly.


    "Well... I didn''t want to overstep my boundaries," she admitted. "I would never mind a message from you, but I''m sure you would have times where you would mind a message from me."


    I snorted. "Well, you aren''t wrong."


    Green nearly squealed aloud but nodded hastily. "Life updates on the way! I''ll get Silvy to say hi!"


    "Thank you, Green. You''re a good girl," Lorelei said, flashing her a smile.


    Green finally squealed.


    I watched my companion with an amused glance.


    She was such a fangirl.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "You don''t have an ice type?"


    If you listened real hard, you could hear the disappointment in Lorelei''s curious question.


    "Haven''t really encountered any," I admitted. "Not many I''d want either."


    I had no positive or negative feelings about Ice types. My favorite was Sneasel but well¡­ I had Loki now instead of my original first pokemon.


    "I see¡­" Lorelei pondered, patting the fur of the Alolan Ninetales curled up against her.


    We were currently in our camp, just relaxing in preparation for the next day so that we could get our gym badges and get out¡­


    But Lorelei was still here.


    Weird.


    "Since you already know. We encountered a Executive there," I informed Lorelei, getting her eyes to widen. "But we dealt with him. You didn''t find him?"


    My aunt turned a startled gaze towards me. "Did... the executive have... an assortment of fully evolved poison and dark types?"


    My brows furrowed in confusion. "So you did catch him? That was his team alright. It was Proton."


    Lorelei gazed at me with horrified eyes.


    "It matches up with what we''ve seen him with but I didn''t want to entertain the idea that you two encountered Proton because well... he has a terrible reputation."


    I nodded. "I believe it. Violent man," I muttered.


    Lorelei frowned. "Barring the fact that you somehow survived an encounter with a Crobat... and you managed to deal with him, we saw no sight of Executive Proton. Did you two perhaps..."


    I shook my head. "We got outta there as fast as possible after he attacked us... but wait, you have his pokemon?" I asked in confusion.


    She nodded. "They have been properly restrained. A Weezing, Crobat, Cacturne, Sableye, Toxicroak and Drapion were all accounted for. Though, the Weezing and Crobat were, well..." she coughed.


    "Dead," I finished for her. "You know you don''t gotta really hide the fact that things die. This is the third time you''ve done it," I informed her.


    Lorelei flinched at my words. "I''m aware that you likely know what I mean... but I would prefer not to be the one to inform you of such things," she said carefully.


    I rolled my eyes.


    So the Crobat and Weezing died? I guess the Weezing got jumped by the wild pokemon before Proton''s other members could react to them.


    And well, the Crobat was unconscious so yeah. A sitting duck.


    Did that mean Proton was also killed by the wild pokemon?


    But they would have seen his corpse at least... so that meant he had to have been saved by Mewtwo.


    But taking him and not his pokemon? A trainer without their team was practically worthless¡ª


    Oh. Ohhhh. Yeah. I get it now.


    Yeah. I don''t think we had to worry about Proton anymore. My father was the leader of the Mafia after all.


    Well... huh. I got Proton killed didn''t I?


    Oops I guess. At least judging by the fact Mewtwo wasn''t currently at my location yesterday, no one knew it was me who attacked Game Corner.


    Small victories.


    I shrugged at that. "How long are you staying here?" I asked curiously, turning towards the woman who was way too close to me.


    She had barely left my side since this whole thing started. Occasionally, she would run a cool hand through my head.


    I must have been too drained to tell her to fuck off for that.


    "I will remain for another day to ensure Erika has things fully under control. Afterwards, I will head back to Indigo," she explained easily.


    I nodded before pausing. My eyes narrowed as a thought occurred.


    "...What do you plan on doing tomorrow?" I asked suspiciously.


    "¡­" Lorelei pursed her lips and turned her gaze towards me.


    I narrowed my eyes further.


    "...I was going to handle personal affairs," she said vaguely.


    "Like?" I pressed.


    "The Celadon Department store has quite a good variety of Pokemon dolls¡­" Lorelei admitted, slightly embarrassed to be doing so.


    Green perked up. "You like pokemon dolls too?!" she asked excitedly.


    My companion reached into her bag and pulled out an army of plushies. The most obvious were the various evolutions of Eevee and the suspiciously new looking Espeon doll.


    I eyed Vee for a bit and was satisfied to see him blush in embarrassment, getting a snort out of me.


    "So do I!" Green grinned happily. "I love collecting them! My mom likes when I send them to her as gifts too and I gotta start giving some to Jas as well!"


    "What about you, aunt?" I asked innocently. "How many dolls you got?"


    Lorelei stared at me and I watched as she pushed her glasses up slightly.


    "My house is full of them," she admitted painfully slowly. "It''s a hobby of mine to collect them."


    "So cool," I mocked. "So you''re staying in Celadon for longer just to buy more?" I asked.


    "That''s awesome! You have a collectors heart! We should compare!" Green grinned happily, totally oblivious to the horrible embarrassment I was currently submitting my aunt too.


    "I''d¡­ be delighted," she replied eventually.


    I snorted. "So besides the fact that you want to buy more dolls. You''re definitely here to watch our gym battle, right?"


    "...You did all this on purpose," Lorelei accused flatly.


    "I wanted to see how far you were willing to go to hide the fact that you''re blatantly stalking your nephew," I said with an amused smirk.


    Lorelei sighed in defeat. "I do believe it''s time we start disciplining you. Your terrible behavior has gone on for far too long," she muttered.


    I blinked before my aunt focused her undivided attention onto me.


    "You may join if you''d like, Green. It would be beneficial for you to pay attention."


    "Y-Yes ma''am!" Green saluted.


    Huh? The hell was she talking about? Discipline me?


    "What the fuck?" I muttered in confusion, before letting out a startled noise, more akin to a cat, at the icy cold hand touching my neck.


    What the fuck?!


    I turned a wild gaze towards Lorelei, who didn''t look even remotely bothered by the fact that she just touched me with her freezing hands.


    "Language," Lorelei was all she said.


    "Language?!" I snarled. "I''ll show you something worse than language."


    I glared at my aunt, before immediately lunging at her with malicious intent.


    Lorelei''s eyes widened, as I landed atop of her.


    "What do you think you''re doin¡ª O-Ow!" the Elite 4 member let out an uncharacteristic shout, as I bit her neck without any hesitation.


    "Silver!" Lorelei yelped in disbelief, pushing me off of her.


    "I hate the cold," I hissed, unbothered by the fact that I just bit my aunt. "Do that again and we''ve got more of those coming."


    I was not above doing such a thing. I nearly bit Lance when he put his hand on my head on multiple occasions.


    Lorelei looked shocked, likely never expecting anyone to ever physically attack her. She touched the spot where I bit her and I was satisfied to see annoyance take root.


    She put a hand out to calm the alert Ninetales and finally glared at me.


    Oh she wanted to do it herself?


    That increased my respect for the dainty woman by a lot.


    "You plan on doing this by yourself?" I asked with a raised brow. "You think you can handle getting dirty?!"


    "I will do what it takes. I fought with my sister all the time. This is nothing new," she explained, glaring at me.


    "I''ll fucking show you something new!" I barked.


    "You need to stop acting like you''re feral!" Lorelei announced, very willing to tussle with me to prove her point.


    "No. Acting how I act, lets people know that they should fuck off and leave me alone!" I snarled challengingly, poised to lunge at her again.


    "What the hell¡­" Green said dumbly, watching as my aunt and I glared at each other.


    "Nevermind, this must run in the family," she decided, nodding to herself and taking a seat to enjoy the free entertainment.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I grumbled slightly, nodding in some respect as I brushed my hair. "I didn''t expect you to be so willing to tussle," I noted, straightening my hair out.


    She was damn strong too. Guess years of being an elite level trainer, made you impressive yourself.


    It also helped my theory that humans had to evolve further than the ones in my world to keep up with Pokemon to some degree. Lorelei, for all her daintiness, was athletic as hell.


    Ninetales was a mix of horrified and amused at what his trainer and I had just done. I couldn''t blame the regal fox, he probably never saw his trainer get down like that.


    Good. I prided myself in making so many people act out of character.


    Lorelei huffed and accepted my brush, holding her once perfectly cared for hair and straightening it out. "I didn''t expect you to be a literal rabid beast. I clearly needed a different approach for you."


    "I respect that... there''s no way you''re gonna get me to change my ways though," I said bluntly, yawning slightly.


    She let out a sigh. "I''m beginning to realize that¡­ but I''ll accept that challenge," my aunt said. "Turn around, the back of your head is still a bit messy."


    She was certainly a stubborn one.


    I snorted and did so, allowing her to brush the back of my head down. There was a brief silence between us, only broken up by the sound of the brush scrubbing my hair down.


    "So are you sleeping with us? It''s about that time for us to sleep and today has been eventful so I''m tired, " I asked my aunt.


    Lorelei looked slightly caught off guard by that, evident by the pause of her brushing. "You wouldn''t mind? I have a hotel reserved so I could sleep there. Actually, it''s quite the large room, I''m sure all three of us could comfortably sleep in there¡­"


    "We already set up our tents and I''m too lazy to pack them up," Green admitted truthfully, thoroughly exhausted from all the laughing she did.


    I nodded in agreement.


    "I see..." Lorelei muttered, resuming her brushing slowly.


    "I don''t care what you pick," I shrugged truthfully. "It''s up to you but I wanna sleep out here. The city is far."


    Green yawned and nodded. "I''ll sleep in my tent tonight then," she decided.


    "Sure. Goodnight Leaf," I waved.


    "Night Silvy! Night Lorelei," she waved.


    "Alright, I''m goin to sleep too," I grunted, feeling as she stopped brushing my hair.


    I stood up and stretched out the kinks in my body. "Goodnight, aunt."


    "Wait," Lorelei called out. "Where exactly would I be sleeping?"


    I blinked. "In Green''s tent."


    "No, Silvy. Stop being like this."


    I pursed my lips at that. "Thought she was asleep¡­" I muttered.


    "It hasn''t even been a full minute yet. Why are you like this?" Green asked inside her tent.


    "I limit test how much I can get away with things," I said blandly.


    Damn. Thought she was just gonna accept it. Green was a huge Lorelei fan after all. Who wouldn''t wanna sleep in the same tent as her?


    "Alright, you can sleep in mine. There''s enough room," I said begrudgingly, turning towards the confused Lorelei with a sigh.


    "It''s good to know you find everyone equally disgusting, Silvy."


    "I discriminate fairly, Leaf."


    I didn''t wait for my aunt to say anything and vanished into my tent.


    I bet a lot of people would kill to be in my position¡­


    "Whatever," I sighed, not really pleased by the complete turn of events that took place in the span of a day. I didn''t think Lorelei was just gonna full on stalk me. I thought being an Elite 4 member kept her damn busy but clearly not. I wouldn''t be surprised if she was aware of every move I made.


    Having an Elite 4 aunt who was very willing to keep tabs on you, kinda put a dent in any future plans I was planning. Especially when that same Elite 4 member was clearly too smart for her own good.


    To think she figured me out so much. If I realized that she knew more during our meeting at the hospital, I would have been more careful with what I said.


    It was careless of me. Lack of information was as critical as having information.


    "This is quite the tent," Lorelei noted quietly, removing her glasses and gently placing them to the side.


    I grunted and immediately honed into my preferred spot, sighing as my head connected to the mat. "Just pick a spot."


    With that, I shut my eyes and ignored the shuffling as Lorelei picked a spot to rest for the night.


    Her body was just naturally cold. She radiated like no warmth at all which was funny because Green was kinda the opposite with the body warmth she emitted.


    I would know. Green was very clingy (are you even surprised?). Least she warmed me up when the nights got cold.


    Funnily enough, Green said I was fairly cool as well.


    "This is a bit awkward," Lorelei admitted quietly.


    "You''re just an awkward person," I told her truthfully. "Must run in the family, I suck at socialization too."


    For some reason, that seemed to ease Lorelei and I heard an almost quiet chuckle erupt from her body.


    "I suppose that''s true. I''ve never quite been the best at dealing with people outside of professional situations either. Too... cold they said," she informed me.


    "Dork but I''m the same. But you can scratch the professional part... and the part where I do it on purpose," I snorted.


    It was dawning on me, that I had let my defenses weaken around Lorelei by too much to be normal.


    I don''t know if it''s what she said or how she delivered it¡­ or the way she would absentmindedly rub my hair or my back in a way that felt good but¡­ I let my guard down way too fast.


    I withheld the urge to sigh as realization hit me.


    I was such a kid. No wonder I slipped up like this¡­ it was also no wonder I was so accepting of Green and her mannerisms.


    Yearning. That''s all it was. The desire for things I didn''t have when I was even younger most likely.


    Back in Hoenn, when I met Joy, I thought I was self assured and confident in how I was going about things.


    But now? Not so much.


    "I''m getting tired for real this time," I told her. "Goodnight aunt."


    "Goodnight Silver," Lorelei said quietly, cool yet quiet breaths temporarily brushing against me.


    I sighed at feeling the cold air and stared out into the darkness, mind running with dozens of thoughts.


    What do I do now? How do I approach things? I guess I could play the "I''m one of Team Rocket''s experiment" card and play on their sympathy?


    But that would still incriminate me with Team Rocket if they did a little digging.


    Goddamnit. Lorelei finding out about me threw things for a real curve.


    Wait a second. How the hell did Lorelei figure out I existed?


    "Considering Lorelei is also a redhead who''s hair is much closer in shade to yours, they''ll probably say we had a secret child this whole time."


    Lance.


    My eyes narrowed in the dark of night.


    Lance played me like a fool didn''t he? Lance knew more than he was letting on too.


    Did he bring up Lorelei to test how I''d react to hearing her name? When I lacked a visible reaction, not even knowing how she looked... did he assume that I was related to her in another way?


    Of course he did. That''s why I was currently sleeping in a tent with my aunt.


    Lance that conniving bastard. I bit back a snarl of irritation and felt my anger spike.


    I didn''t like being treated like a fool. I really didn''t like it.


    And here I was, about to admit that he was cool. The asshole set my Elite 4 aunt onto me.


    ...I sighed.


    Well, I suppose it was a good thing I hadn''t committed egregious crimes since landing in Kanto. My goal of eliminating Team Rocket did not change but my desire to do it alone, only strengthened.


    The league knew things about me and I didn''t know what. If they were going to stalk me, then I''d let them stalk me attacking Team Rocket nonstop. If I did that and they didn''t connect the dots with me and Giovanni, I could portray myself as a victim instead of a criminal.


    Whatever. I''d do what I continued to do. It''s not like the league was scarier than Mewtwo. The biggest threat to me currently, was the psychic type and I needed to find a way to deal with him.


    "What a mess," I thought, once again taking note of the woman sleeping next to me.


    She even slept dignified. Truly an ice queen ¡ª


    I let out a strangled hiss as I was abruptly pulled into a bear hug.


    My tired state, meant my struggles achieved absolutely nothing and I scowled.


    Remember how I mentioned my aunt was actually strong? Well yeah I wasn''t kidding! What the hell was this grip she had on me?!


    Eventually, I gave up trying to escape and just shut my eyes.


    Lorelei was squeezing me against her like I was some damn toy and judging by the even breath brushing against my neck, she was well and truly asleep so this wasn''t intentional.


    ¡­


    Fucking forget it. I''m going to sleep. I''m too used to this bullshit happening to me.


    <hr>


    A gasp of horror woke me up and I blinked blearily at seeing red fill my vision.


    It only took me a second to realize that red belonged to my increasingly familiar aunt and memories of last night filled my head.


    I sleepily glared at her with all the fury a tired and grumpy person could muster. "Did you seriously flip me to face you while I was sleeping?" I asked in disbelief.


    "I-I..." Lorelei looked stunned, completely caught off guard. Without her glasses it was much easier to see her expressions.


    It also helped that I was close as fuck to her.


    "You what?" I pressed with a firm glare. "You forgot to tell me that you''re a serial hugger? Woulda been nice to mention so I could set up a barrier between us," I scowled.


    "And could you fucking let me go?!" I barked, still trapped in her grasp.


    Lorelei released me like she had been burned and I dusted myself off as regally as I possibly could, after the situation that just took place.


    My aunt actually looked panicked, embarrassment flooding her so fast that I would have laughed if not for the fact that I was also embarrassed as hell. "Silver, I am so terribly sorry. I had no idea that I was... I tend to sleep with my pokemon dolls so ¡ª"


    "So you thought I was a doll?!" I sneered.


    She spluttered slightly at the interruption. "That''s not what I was implying, no. I just built up such a habit and since you slept right next to me, my habits got the better of me and ¡ª"


    "No wonder you buy so many dolls. Your grip must have destroyed them," I said bluntly.


    Lorelei coughed, reaching for her glasses to properly distract herself from this horribly awkward situation. "Well... at least you are rather comfortable?" she tried placatingly.


    I immediately groaned. "You fucking suck at this. Is that really your attempt at reassuring me?"


    The silence was loud. "Was... it that bad?" she asked tentatively.


    I pinched my nose at the dork and let out a suffering sigh.


    "The less you mention it, the better. Just understand that whatever image I had of you, was destroyed last night."


    "You had a positive image of me?"


    "No. It''s just worse now."


    After falling asleep, Lorelei seemed to take my compliance as freedom to do what the hell she wanted with me and I ended up absolutely crushed against my aunt.


    Needless to say, she was clearly mortified to find out that her pokedoll was in fact not a pokedoll but her very belligerent nephew.


    Utterly ridiculous.


    "You should be glad I wasn''t uncomfortable or neither of us woulda got sleep," I scowled, pushing out of the tent to get away from the grabby woman.


    Ice queen my ass. She wasted no time at all grabbing me in her sleep. Who knows what she would do in the early morning?


    Lorelei followed me outside of the tent and at the same time, Green''s tent opened up and she stepped out with a yawn.


    "G''mornin. What on earth were you two arguing about?" my companion grumbled, blinking blearily as she wiped her eyes.


    She began blinking even more as she gazed at the two of us.


    "Are you two alright? Both your faces are red," Green pointed out with a look of confusion.


    Lorelei coughed lightly as I looked away with a scowl.


    "My aunt is not as cold as she makes herself out to be," I said bluntly, ruffling through my bag to prepare for breakfast.


    "Huh?" Green muttered.


    "Really, I''m sorry about my actions," Lorelei repeated. "I''m embarrassed just thinking about it. You were just very comfortable and right there so¡­"


    "Please stop talking," I interrupted her, stamping down my embarrassment even further.


    "Wha...?" Green scratched her head.


    At least Green wasn''t bad when she inevitably found my goddamn body. Not even Gaia crushed me that hard against her and she was clingy enough to use her vines on me.


    Lorelei was a whole other beast. That was completely ridiculous.


    "I can''t help but think you''re thinking unsavory things about me," my aunt muttered.


    I glared at her to confirm that I was before ruffling in my bag again. "I''m making eggs. If you have a problem, raise your hand."


    Green raised her hand.


    "Yes you can help, Leaf."


    Green lowered her hand.


    Lorelei placed a hand into the air.


    "...You can help too aunt."


    Lorelei placed her hand back into her lap and I sighed.


    Green and I were getting a little decent at cooking. Breakfast was one of the few things we learned how to make good at a fairly impressive rate so that was nice¡­


    But Lorelei said she didn''t know how to cook, so I''d have to keep an eye on her¡­


    And it was a good thing I did. My aunt wasn''t just bad at cooking, she was horrid!


    "I''m sending you the recipes Jas sent us," I decided immediately on her behalf. "I can''t believe you''re such a shitty cook. I used to be that shitty... But I''m 12."


    "Please watch your language," Lorelei chastised, not looking at either Green or I as she diligently ate her eggs. "I must admit, I thought it would be easier. Jynx is quite fond of cooking so she normally handles it when I make food for myself," she admitted.


    "...Are you serious?" I asked incredulously.


    "Don''t worry about it! We kinda suck too!" Green reassured, wolfing down her plate.


    "What the hell did you eat when you were a trainer?" I asked, genuinely curious.


    "Packaged foods and rations," she said truthfully.


    I glanced at my aunt with an incredulous gaze.


    "Wow are you one of those people that are only good at their job?" I asked curiously.


    "...I am more than capable of doing other things," Lorelei defended. "There are just many things I didn''t have the time to dedicate to in my pursuit of honing my craft. Becoming a Master required much of my attention."


    Huh, so even someone as smart and dignified as Lorelei, suffered from tunnel vision.


    "Honestly, people speak as if your completely perfect. It''s kinda cool to know you suck at so many things too," I nodded.


    "We''re learning how to cook too! You can learn at the same time as us!" Green grinned encouragingly.


    Lorelei opened her mouth and closed it.


    "It''s genuinely shocking that you and Green are traveling companions," she said finally.


    I snorted in amusement and grabbed all the plates for washing.


    "We need to get ready for the gym," I said bluntly, watching as Green began packing everything up.


    "We leaving right after?" she asked curiously.


    "Yeah. You still wanna skip Sabrina right?"


    "Yep! We''ll go to Fuchsia!"


    I rolled my eyes. "I''ll ignore how inconvenient that''ll make our travel plans. Wrecking that freak later will feel satisfying for me too," I muttered.


    "I''m impressed that you two have such good plans and you properly communicate them... but please refrain from using such derogatory terms when speaking of our gym leaders," Lorelei requested with a sigh.


    "We had an interesting first meeting," I replied bluntly. I had no intention of telling her how my meeting with Sabrina went, now that I knew these guys were mentally logging info about me.


    Lorelei blinked. "You remained in Saffron for less than an hour. In that frame you already encountered Sabrina?" she asked a little incredulously.


    "I can''t seriously be the only one baffled by the fact that you have been tracking my journey right?" I asked Green. "Am I weird for this? I can''t be?"


    "Famous trainers get tracked a lot..." Green said sheepishly. "But yeah it''s a little strange that someone is so invested in you."


    Lorelei pursed her lips at that. "I see... I will moderate my monitoring then. How does once a day sound?"


    "You''re a freak," I replied bluntly, rolling my eyes. "Do whatever you want."


    "Right. But that doesn''t change the fact that you and Sabrina had a strange encounter. Does this have to do with Jynx refusing to tell me why she is afraid of you?"


    I shrugged. "Probably," I replied.


    It was no secret psychics were wary of me. I wouldn''t be surprised if most trainers with experiences psychics realized I was weird. Jasmine certainly picked up on Bronzy not liking me off our few meetings.


    Lorelei pursed her lips at that and nodded, likely understanding that this was not something I''d be telling her no matter what.


    "We''re headed to the gym now. You wanna come with us or sneak in?" I asked her.


    Lorelei frowned. "I''ll head out first to speak to Erika about matters pertaining Celadon," she murmured, releasing Jynx from her pokeball.


    "Sure," I said, watching as Jynx inched away from me, eyes glowing.


    Lorelei shot us both a small smile before she vanished to the gym.


    "Alright Green, it''s showtime," I grunted.


    "Kay!" she beamed challengingly, adjusting her white hat confidently.


    Erika¡­ our first gym battle after the disaster that was the S.S Anne.


    I was a little pent up honestly so¡­ I was going to make a statement this match.


    Judging by the antsy Green, she was here to prove a point as well.


    Good.


    "Bet I''ll beat Erika with less pokemon than you," I grunted.


    Green whirled on me with a challenging glint. "You''re so on! Loser washes every dish for a week!"


    I nodded in agreement. "It''s a bet."


    With that we set off.

 Celadon III

    "Still smells as shitty as possible," I sighed, pulling out a black half mask and covering the bottom half of my face.


    Green accepted the forest green one I was holding and placed it on.


    "You got one for me?" she asked with wide eyes.


    "Yea," I muttered.


    Green''s eyes shone in joy and she pulled me into a hug that I ignored. She didn''t raise my hackles anymore so it was just easier to allow them.


    She had a tendency to hug for too long though, so it normally left me with the task of dragging her wherever we were going.


    "We''re here for our gym battle," I grunted to the receptionist.


    I glowered at the lady glaring at me, daring her to say something.


    "Head to the back to meet Gym Leader Erika for your battle. I hope you enjoy it," she grit out eventually.


    "Thanks doll. Maybe afterwards you can take me out for dinner," I said snidely, lowering my mask with the sole intention to show her my thin and painfully fake smile.


    "I''ll take you out for ice cream after Erika crushes you, don''t worry," she replied with fake cheer, beaming at me with a twitching grin.


    "Are you even allowed to eat ice cream? Wouldn''t want your lactose intolerance to act up," I said in faux concern.


    "I don''t have lactose intolerance," she said in a moment of confusion.


    "Oh. You just look like someone who does," I shrugged ignorantly, getting her polite facade to crack completely.


    Green dragged me to the back of the gym right as we opened our mouths to sling obscenities at the other.


    Green shook her head. "You two don''t even know each other... how did you end up hating each other so much?"


    "What makes you think that? We just agreed to go on a date," I said idly, finally stopping with the glaring as I lost eyesight with her.


    Green giggled. "All of this over the smell of the gym?"


    "Shouldn''t have gotten offended that it smelled so shitty."


    The two of use conversed, even as we made our way to the back of the gym and when we finally arrived, I took in the sights.


    There was of course the standard battlefield of the gym but besides that, there were trees decorating the area, dotted with various flora and even berry plants.


    It was gorgeous to behold. The trees weren''t too tall, but they were healthy and a glowing shade of green. It honestly looked like it was created by a pokemon with how healthy they looked. I admired them for a bit and found that the aroma of back here eclipsed the front.


    Seriously if it could smell so pleasant back here, then why did it smell like hell in the front?


    As a fan of greenery, it was a very aesthetically pleasing gym to look at. My favorite so far by a mile.


    Near the largest tree under a shade, there were two women conversing in quiet tones to one another. They were both sitting on comfy and sturdy looking grass themed seats and the entire scene looked like something out of a movie.


    The first one was easy to identify because she had made sure that I knew exactly who she was last night.


    I was still a bit sour about that. She was never living it down even if I didn''t need her mentioning it anymore.


    My aunt was speaking to a young woman. She looked rather lethargic, almost appearing as if she were about to fall asleep at any moment, but it certainly didn''t take away from her pretty features as she attentively responded to her superior.


    Around the area, a small group of powerful grass types were lounging about and I gazed at them with an appreciate glance.


    Tangrowth, Vileplume, Bellossom, Victreebel, Venusaur and Meganium...


    That was quite the team Erika had. They all looked powerful, fitting for a trainer of her calibre. From what I knew of Erika, her first pokemon was a Tangela so that meant the Tangrowth happily soaking the sunlight above, was her ace.


    I whistled, gazing at the Meganium in particular as I inspected the final form of Gaia.


    Green was much the same awing at the Venusaur that Saury would become as well.


    Both of them seemed to sense our gazes and perked up, turning towards us with slight interest.


    The Meganium''s eyes immediately locked onto me and I raised a brow at the action.


    I must have spent too much time with Gaia if a Meganium was locking onto me like that from this far.


    I tilted my head to the side and ruffled in my bag, before pulling out some snacks.


    Meganium''s gaze lit up immediately and it bounded over to my position, eagerly accepting the snacks with a delighted rumble.


    I gazed at the evolved form of my starter and smiled at it, rubbing its head calmly as the large grass type eagerly butt it against me.


    So maybe I had a soft spot for the Chikorita line now. Hard not to when you had Gaia.


    The Venusaur let out a tired groan, gazing at Meganium with a half lidded gaze of disapproval.


    I handed Green a snack as well so she could feed it to the Venusaur and my companion immediately gave it to the tired looking grass type.


    It sniffed the pokeblock once, before deeming it acceptable. As it consumed the blocks, it let out a content rumble and allowed Green to rub its head.


    "As trusting as ever, Meganium. Won''t you stop making Venusaur grow older in stress? Don''t you remember that time you got sick because you ate expired food?"


    "Ganium!" Meganium said without hesitation, nuzzling me in satisfaction.


    "Wow, Meganium really likes you!" Erika mused, a gentle lilt to her voice that kinda made her sound both airy and tired.


    I stared at her with with a neutral expression, gauging the woman up and down.


    Erika was... pretty damn short. Was she not taller?


    Must just be one of the many oddities of my world.


    "It''s likely because he has a Bayleef," Lorelei interjected, knowing I was going to stay completely silent if given the chance.


    Erika''s eyes widened and she sauntered over to me with wide eyes.


    "Is that so? You have a Bayleef?" she asked excitedly, looking far more awake now at the revelation. It was like a switch had been flipped and I watched the Grass Master regard us with a surge of energy.


    I pursed my lips and nodded. "Yeah, her names Gaia," I said.


    "Green here also has an Ivysaur," Lorelei stated, causing Erika''s eyes to widen even further.


    "You must show me!" Erika requested politely holding both our hands with one of hers. "I do love when trainers use grass types! They just aren''t appreciated enough as a typing I fear. The Chikorita family especially is one that people unfortunately mistreat," she stated, making me pause in ripping my hands away from her.


    "Don''t worry. Anyone who does learns very quickly that Gaia and I are not to be fucked with," I found myself nodding in agreement. Anyone who could appreciate Gaia, was slightly less horrible in my books.


    "O-Oh my!" Erika gasped, putting a hand over her mouth at my words. There was a faint blush and I rolled my eyes.


    Stiff.


    "Please refrain from using such harsh language," Lorelei said.


    "No," I denied effortlessly.


    Erika gasped again and watched with wide eyes as Lorelei twitched. "H-How bold!" she muttered.


    Had no one ever denied Lorelei or what? Actually, I wouldn''t be surprised at all if that were the case.


    I snorted and without much hassle, released Gaia from her ball.


    At the same time, Green happily released Saury and both our starters appeared in a flash.


    "Bay!" Gaia cheered, rubbing her cheek against against my own happily.


    I could never resist the urge to smile when my team was happy to see me and I cracked a wry smirk, allowing my most affectionate pokemon to get her pleasantries out the way.


    Erika cooed excitedly, gazing at Gaia with pleased eyes.


    "What a sublime Bayleef!" she gushed, effortlessly closing the distance between her and Gaia.


    Gaia puffed up at that, letting out a pleased sigh as Erika easily stroked the leaf atop her head.


    "Such a healthy color! You truly take good care of her don''t you?" Erika asked, practically gliding around Gaia with proud and searching eyes.


    "Of course I do," I grunted, pleased that the care routine I was setting up for my team was working out well.


    "Amazing! Silver correct? I have high hopes that you and Gaia here will show the world the potential of the Chikorita line," Erika beamed, patting me gently on the head.


    It was almost funny because she was shorter than me, but I still stared warningly at her.


    "I''ll bite you pipsqueak. Don''t go patting me for fun," I said bluntly.


    "P-Pipsqueak?!" she repeated with wide eyes. "How rude! My height is a sensitive topic!"


    "Don''t irritate me with something as patronizing as patting then. I am not above using someone''s insecurities against them," I replied.


    Lorelei let out a suffering sigh, knowing that I actually was very much willing to bite someone.


    "Delinquent," Erika muttered under her breath.


    I sneered at her but Gaia mercifully saved Erika from even more ridicule by kidnapping my attention.


    She was lucky Gaia was a higher priority than her.


    Erika took the time to divert her attention onto the second grass type and I heard the loudest gasp yet from her, as she laid eyes on Saury.


    "Why this is the biggest Ivysaur I''ve ever seen! The Alpha phenomena?" she gasped, leaning towards the staunch Ivysaur with a look of awe.


    "Yep!" Green laughed sheepishly. "I don''t think the Professor knew that Saury had it. It would have been really unfair to hand him out while the other two were normal," she guessed.


    I nodded. That made sense.


    As usual, Saury didn''t even flinch at the attention, meeting the gaze of Erika''s Venusaur with a steady expression.


    I snorted. Saury was certainly too cool.


    "We''re here for our gym battle," I grunted, watching as Gaia and Meganium conversed happily with each other.


    "Oh right! Apologies!" Erika gasped, bustling about with a burst of energy. The short woman looked quite lost in her admiration of grass types and I was beginning to realize all the gym leaders were freaks in their own ways.


    I suppose normal people couldn''t reach the apex after all. You had to have a certain amount of insanity to reach the top of the mountain.


    "I''d love to chat with the two of you more after these battles if you don''t mind! The condition of your Bayleef and Ivysaur are superb!" Erika gushed happily, smiling at us.


    "I''ll think about it," I grunted, making my way to the stands. "You can have first battle, Green."


    The last gym leader we both battled was Surge and I got first battle against him, so it was Green''s turn to go first.


    "Kay!" Green grinned eagerly.


    Erika nodded with our words, before turning towards Lorelei. "Lorelei, what do you wish to do now? Thank you so much for showing up but I believe Celadon has calmed down from the uproars of these past few days so you really don''t have to stay any longer."


    Lorelei looked all business as usual, a far cry from how painfully awkward she was when trying to bond with me.


    "I''d like to ensure that there are truly no more issues. By the end of the day, my work here should be done and I will head back to Indigo," Lorelei informed her.


    "As thorough as ever. What will you do in the meantime?" Erika asked, yawning slightly as she practically glided over to her spot of the arena.


    "...It''s been a while since I''ve paid such close attention to the younger generation. Seeing as I have some time to spare, I believe there is no harm in watching these two battle," she replied without hesitation.


    Real subtle Lorelei. Real subtle.


    Erika looked genuinely surprised at her words.


    "You knew their pokemon too! Are Green and Silver of interest to you? Well I suppose that makes quite a bit of sense. These two are making quite a name for themselves," The grass trainer mused.


    "We are?" I asked curiously, raising a brow at that.


    Green and I only had three badges to our names. I knew I was eventually going to make waves but so early?


    Hm...


    Erika nodded easily. "I haven''t done extensive research because I''d like it for the trainers who haven''t battled me yet, to surprise me with their choices. Just hearing that you two have a Bayleef and Ivysaur has left me pleasantly fulfilled! I''ve been hearing about you two!"


    "Yeah?" I hummed contemplatively, tilting my head at that.


    "Yes! Surge had nothing but praise for you both and he rarely praises rookies! Flint believed that Green was the strongest trainer of the rookie class and the sisters of all people, would not stop talking about you Silver! They never talk about anyone!" Erika exclaimed with wide eyes.


    "Is she really an adult?" I thought, watching the woman constantly shift between lethargic and excited.


    I was being talked about?


    ...Whatever. I guess I''d just take some pride in the fact that three famously attractive girls were talking about me so much.


    In the grand scheme I didn''t care, but they were still cute so small victories.


    "Flint thinks I''m the strongest?!" Green asked with wide eyes. "Awesome! But Silvy is just as strong as me... it''s a toss up these days who can win!" she explained proudly.


    I rolled my eyes. "Wouldn''t be a good rivalry if it was one-sided now would it?"


    Lorelei looked proud and out of Erika''s vision I saw her shoot me a small smile that I gazed away from.


    Dork.


    "Well in any case, I eagerly look forward to battling the both of you," Erika said regally, kimono fluttering with every slight movement.


    I simply grunted and made my way to the stands, taking a seat with Gaia happily next to me. I absentmindedly pet my starter with a hum, before releasing Oberon from his ball.


    My most recent capture gazed at me with curious eyes and I beckoned towards the battlefield.


    "Watch. I''m not going to use you for this battle so just observe and see what they''re about. You''ll watch my battle too," I muttered to him.


    Oberon nodded hesitantly, climbing atop my lap and sitting there as he gazed down at the battlefield.


    He was still pretty weak but he had a good sense for battle. It was a work in progress and I''d have to use him in my battles on the way to Fuschia to build up his experience.


    "Bay!" Gaia beamed, choosing to be out for the battle as well.


    I smiled at them both and inclined my head slightly, as Lorelei took a seat directly next to me, ignoring the aura I was radiating that let anyone know if they sit close to me, there would be bad times ahead.


    Kinda surprising they could pick up on it. There were quite a bit of people filling into the stands, as Green and Erika prepared for their battle to begin.


    Surprising. I dunno if it was because 4th badges were interesting, Erika was popular, or rumor of Lorelei being here spread.


    Probably all three.


    "Aren''t you sitting a little too close to me?" I asked idly, without indicating I was addressing her.


    We were being given quite the wide berth and the moment Lorelei sat down next to me, it seemed to get even wider.


    Lorelei stared straight ahead. "We slept in the same tent. I have hardly room to be embarrassed of such a thing after what transpired in there."


    I rolled my eyes. "That''s not what I''m talking about. Wouldn''t it be bad if you sat next to a redhead who kinda looks like you? You have a reputation to upkeep. This is the second time you''ve been around me in public."


    Lorelei''s eyes flitted over to me and she adjusted her glasses slightly at the sudden movement.


    I''m very sure I heard someone let out a gasp in the distance.


    "Do you truly think I''d let something as trivial as my reputation stop me from bonding with you?" she asked simply, shaking her head in exasperation.


    "The only reason I''d hide our relation to each other, is because that''s something you would want. I''m not ashamed of you, Silver so I have no personal reason to hide our familial ties."


    I jolted at that, gazing warily at my aunt, before I shook my head and just turned towards the battle about to begin.


    "Do whatever you want," I said eventually, carefully keeping my gaze trained straight ahead. "Whether you choose parade it to the world or not¡­ I don''t care."


    Lorelei gazed at me for a long while and I pretended like I didn''t see it, until a hand almost imperceptibly touched me, just keeping constant contact.


    "I''d rub your back or run my hand through your hair but I don''t think you''d be receptive to that in a public environment," Lorelei said, a hint of amusement in her voice.


    "You seem to be getting to know me well. It would be a shame if the whole world saw me assault you," I commented, still not looking at her.


    "...Please don''t do that. I still have to upkeep some of my image," she replied, not even willing to risk finding out if I was serious or not.


    I snorted.


    Lorelei was¡­ complicated. I didn''t really know how to explain my feelings towards her right now so I just wouldn''t bother and I''d let her do whatever she wanted until I figured myself out and gained my freedom.


    My aunt said nothing and just squeezed me reassuringly, absentmindedly signing a paper that an eager child brought her way.


    ¡­


    I really couldn''t explain any of this. I missed when I was just angry at everyone all the time.


    A vine snaked around my other arm and I sighed at the gentle smile on Gaia''s face, patting her and focusing on the match.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green''s battle with Erika was a 4 on 4 and it began with the Gym Leader sending out a Weepinbell.


    In response, Green sent out Larvee and the battle was quickly underway.


    It began with Weepinbell immediately brightening up the battlefield with Sunny Day and as Larvee spat out a String Shot, the grass type dodged with what had to have been increased speed because Weepinbell were not fast at all.


    The grass type began running (? Don''t ask me Weepinbell looked like it was using those leaves to move about) around the battlefield, avoiding Larvee''s barrage of Embers with surprising deftness.


    Green''s eyes were focused, eyes never leaving the grass type as it darted closer and closer to the Larvesta.


    "Flame Charge!" she shouted.


    Larvee followed her advice quickly, shrouding herself in much harsher flames and rushing towards the Weepinbell with a purpose.


    "Stun Spore!" Erika retorted immediately.


    Green''s eyes narrowed and she immediately ordered Larvee to halt her attack, before the bug could run into the yellow cloud.


    Then, she ordered Larvee to ignite the cloud with Ember, causing a brief explosion that clouded both their visions.


    Erika''s eyes widened at the surprising move, right before Larvee burst out of the smoke, shrouded once more in the flame charge.


    While Larvee didn''t seem that fast, they weren''t as slow as you''d expect.


    But it was still surprising to see the moth larva crash into the stunned Weepinbell at surprising speeds, amped up by both the Sun and Flame Charge.


    Weepinbell squealed in pain as the attack connected squarely with its body, burns appearing over due to contact with Larvee''s increasingly hot body.


    Larvee was relentless, she shrouded herself in much harsher flames this time around, utilizing Flame Wheel instead of Charge and rushed the Weepinbell...


    Only for a sudden explosion to take place after she took a few steps.


    I raised a brow in confusion at that.


    What the hell did Weepinbell use to suddenly blow up...


    "Clear Smog," Erika said with a calm smile. "It was quite ingenious of you to blow up the stun spore but it gave me ideas of my own."


    Ah, so she filled the field with the invisible gas so that neither Green or Larvee could see it. Then, when Larvee''s flames connected with it, it would cause an explosion.


    Hm, Green took the strategy of blowing up those clouds from the battle Crystal and I had... and Erika swiftly adapted it to her own strategy.


    Not bad at all.


    My rival would not be deterred, her serious expression calculating.


    "Morning Sun," she said bluntly.


    Erika''s eyes widened in horror. In the sun, Morning Sun would be extremely effective so if Larvee got that off... it would regenerate quite a bit of its health.


    Naturally, any sane trainer would want to stop that.


    "Sleep Powder! Don''t let it!" Erika shouted.


    Green''s eyes glinted victoriously. "Flamethrower!"


    "Flamethrower?!" Erika gasped.


    I couldn''t blame her for being surprised. Larvesta didn''t have the necessary stores to belch out continuous flames. As a result, most of the fire attacks they used early on didn''t emit too many flames. Up until they reached evolution or close to it, the fire they emitted would only be half effective if used at a range due to lack of sustain.


    But Green had the TM for Flamethrower now and they were battling in the sun. Even if Larvee couldn''t utilize Flamethrower to max effectiveness at her stage, it''d still pack quite the punch.


    Not to mention the Sleep Powder Weepinbell was getting ready. The powder moves being combustible was quite a fun thing Green and I found out.


    Weepinbell was a sitting duck, as the Flamethrower raced through the air and crashed into it without mercy, setting off the powder as well and causing an explosion of catastrophic proportion to take place.


    I whistled in appreciation and ignored the concerned look Lorelei shot me.


    "Weepinbell is unable to battle! The winner of this match, is Larvesta!" The referee announced.


    The crowd roared happily at that.


    "Amazing!" they cheered, clapping for my companion.


    "Impressive. I did not expect Green to fake her out there," Lorelei muttered.


    "She''s a little copycat," I rolled my eyes. "She was a strait-laced girl before meeting me."


    "So you truly did corrupt that poor girl," Lorelei sighed.


    I chuckled at that.


    Erika looked slightly surprised by the outcome, before nodding with a small smile on her face.


    Then, she sent out a Lombre.


    I raised a brow. Quite the odd and convenient choice to have.


    Much like the Weepinbell from before, Lombre set the weather once more but this time, it began raining onto the battlefield.


    Green''s brows furrowed at that due to Larvee''s Morning Sun being effectively halved in the rain but she remained mostly unfazed.


    She tried to have Larvee tie up the Lombre in a String Shot but it seemed to have Swift Swim, reactions aiding it in weaving through the strings.


    The grass and water type needed no instructions, rushing the Larvesta with an easygoing expression.


    Larvee''s hot body had caused a constant fog of steam to form around her due to the rain so she was having a hard time seeing, which allowed the Lombre to immediately close the gap.


    Larvee attempted to clamp her teeth around the Lombre for a Bug Bite but the grass type clapped its hands together, making the Larvesta flinch in surprise.


    The Fake Out effectively cut out her attack and before she could recover, Lombre opened its mouth and shot a barrage of bubbles that collided with Larvee.


    The Larvesta squealed as she was launched back from the attack, collapsing onto the floor.


    "Larvesta is unable to battle, the winner of this match is Lombre!" the referee announced.


    Once again, the crowd began cheering.


    "Go Erika go Erika go!" they roared.


    "She evened it up without taking a hit," I mused. "Not bad."


    "Effective and quick," Lorelei nodded along.


    Green mulled over her choices and eventually grabbed a Pokeball.


    Much to my surprise, she did not send out Saury. Instead, Lapee was released and she crooned as the rain splashed against her body.


    I watched Lorelei straighten up immediately.


    "Why don''t you have a Lapras?" she asked.


    I blinked at the question. "Didn''t want one... and Lapras are rare as fuck. How the hell was I just going to find one?" I asked in amusement.


    Lorelei hummed at that. "You know, it''s a tradition of our family to be given Lapras," she informed me.


    I snorted. "Yeah?"


    She nodded. "I grew on the Sevii Islands, Floe Islands to be exact. I was always fascinated by Ice and Water types... likely due to the island I grew up on. Believe it or not, before I was even eligible to begin my journey I had already befriended and made up my mind on starting my journey with a Lapras, Slowpoke and Seel," she explained.


    I raised a brow high. "Starting off with three?"


    Lorelei sighed. "My family is rather well off. I could afford to do so and I really would have preferred to not leave them behind. Despite not being legally allowed to catch them, I did spend quite a bit of time with them so I had an advantage when the day of my journey arrived," she explained.


    As she did so, I continued watching Green''s battle.


    Lapee had gotten hit by a Leech Seed from the Lombre, as the grass type steadily dwindled the sturdy girl with Mega Drains. She attempted to fire Ice Beams at it, but the nimble grass type was swiftly evading her.


    "Seems to have worked out well for you," I pointed out.


    "I have a strong affinity for the Water and Ice types," Lorelei said. "It is easier for me to train and utilize them to their full capabilities."


    "Makes sense. Most type specialists have an easier time with specific types and delve into that," I mused, watching as Lapee used Life Dew to heal all the damage.


    Life Dew did a fantastic job at depleting a Pokemon''s stamina but with Lapee absorbing the water from the rain, it was not nearly as draining.


    Judging by how frustrated the once relaxed Lombre was, it was doing its job.


    "Do you not have a type you resonate with?" Lorelei asked curiously.


    I shrugged and ran a hand against Oberon''s hair, watching as my hyper focused bear melted at it.


    He seemed to really enjoy the battle taking place.


    "Not really. I don''t feel anything in particular with a specific type," I shrugged.


    I actually had anti synergy with ghosts, psychics and ground types for obvious reasons. I still didn''t think I was ever getting a ground type at this rate. My damn dad put too much of a sour taste in my mouth when it came to them.


    Lorelei nodded thoughtfully. "I think you are particularly good at training any type. Your team seems well balanced," she praised.


    "Lapee, use Freeze-Dry!"


    Erika''s eyes widened in horror at the surprise move and before she could order Lombree to dodge it, the attack crashed into it and sent the pokemon howling in agony.


    Freeze-Dry was a funny move that did bad things to an organ that every single water type carried. It was the only ice type move that was super effective against water types and considering Lombre was also a grass type...


    Yeah, it was down for the count even through all the sustain it managed to do.


    "We talked through that whole match," I scolded Lorelei.


    She had the decency to look properly chastised and she coughed slightly. "My apologies. It''s just... nice to speak to you," she said.


    I rolled my eyes. "You are the second person who has ever said that about me," I said dryly, watching Erika send out a Bellossom next.


    Lorelei surprised me by rolling her eyes as well. "I''m not surprised... but who was the first?" she asked curiously.


    "Jasmine," I replied easily.


    Lorelei sighed. "I don''t even know how you could possibly have befriended someone as sweet as Jasmine.


    "She likes that I don''t coddle her," I replied easily. "Now focus on the match."


    Lorelei blinked. "Who is the adult here?" she muttered under her breath.


    I snorted at that and focused on the match.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Bellossom was a feisty little thing despite its stature. It swayed across the battlefield, immediately arresting control and summoning the dominating sun once more.


    It dodged Ice Beams and Freeze-Dry alike, eyes filled with determination as it summoned Magical Leaves that it fired at Lapee.


    The Lapras let out a cry of pain as the leaves cut into it with ruthless precision and Bellossom immediately summoned a long green blade.


    It dashed forward, Leaf Blade in hand, and immediately began preying upon Lapee.


    It cut relentlessly into her and Green''s browed furrowed.


    "Freeze-Dry! Blow it all around you!" she demanded.


    Lapee fought through the pain and let loose the cold and freezing beam.


    Predictably, Bellossom dashed backwards, blade still in hand as it patiently waited out the attack.


    Green was not done however.


    "Mist!" she shouted.


    Lapee crooned and, utilizing the additional moisture from the Freeze-Dry, summoned a huge and hazy mist that covered her entire body and then some.


    "She''s attempting to heal. Don''t let her," Erika ordered, quiet voice carrying.


    As the Lapras vanished into the Mist, Bellossom, brave psycho that it was, dashed into it on Erika''s orders, intent on finishing the match right then and there.


    Only I could see the predatory gleam that entered Green''s eyes. "Sing!" she demanded.


    Erika''s eyes widened in horror. "You sneaky!" she gasped.


    "She''s making me so proud," I said, smirking a rather infuriating manner.


    Only a few notes of the sing escaped the dense mist and periodic flashes followed suit.


    Everyone watched with tense breaths as the Mist finally vanished fully and they watched with wide eyes as Lapee panted tiredly in front of the frozen and unconscious Bellossom.


    "Yes!" Green''s cheery personality broke through, a wide grin on her face.


    "Bellossom is unable to battle!"


    Once the referee announced that, Lapee let out a tired sigh and collapsed, shutting her eyes as she fell unconscious.


    "Lapras is unable to battle! Will both contestants send out their next pokemon!"


    Erika chewed her lip in contemplation and I couldn''t blame her.


    She lost the Bellossom to a pokemon on its last legs. That victory by Lapee had almost completely swung the tides of the battle in Green''s favor.


    Now all she had to do was send out Saury and cash in on her victory¡ª


    "Leafeon, come forth!"


    "Vee, let''s finish this!"


    Gasps of awe rang through the arena, as the Leafeon and Espeon both appeared on the field.


    "Wow! Look mom!" a child shouted eagerly. "Two Eevee''s!"


    "They have a different name than Eevee, sweetheart. The green one is a Leafeon and the pink one is an Espeon," a woman explained patiently.


    "She must be tired of me calling her a one trick pony," I mused.


    This was a good opportunity to test out Vee''s evolution as well. The Espeon had sparred lightly the day before but nothing built experience like a high stakes battle.


    Leafeon started the battle off immediately, firing razor sharp leaves towards Vee.


    Vee''s eyes narrowed slightly and began glowing, shooting out a concussive blast of raw psychic energy that gave him enough time to move away from the remaining leaves.


    His eyes began glowing once more and Leafeon let out a cry of agitation, as another concussive blast of psychic energy crashed into it.


    "Focus, Leafeon!" Erika soothed. "Quick Attack. Close the distance."


    "Quick Attack! Get away!" Green countered.


    Vee and Leafeon both began glowing, before a chase ensued and the two raced across the battlefield.


    While psychic type and not very physical... Espeon''s actually boasted the second highest sprint speed of the Eeveelutions. It only got outpaced by Jolteon.


    Comparatively, Leafeon was in third place and this one didn''t have Chlorophyll by the looks of it.


    It was a good thing Vee had gotten used to their body so quickly, else this game of cat and mouse would have ended far sooner. Neither of the evolutions of Eevee wanted to get hit by what the other specialized in.


    But still... Espeon''s did not have as much stamina as Leafeon. Especially not a Leafeon under the sun.


    It was evident that Green would crack first despite being in an advantageous position.


    "Detect!" Green ordered.


    With evolution, Espeon''s perception had increased greatly to the point where it gained slight precognitive abilities.


    Detect was practically overkill.


    Vee''s eyes glinted and he deftly weaved away from Leafeon''s Quick Attack¡ª


    "Sand Attack!"


    ¡ªAnd kicked up dirt directly into the Leafeon''s eyes. It was as if he knew Green was going to say that.


    Leafeon let out a shrieking cry as the dirt connected with its face.


    "Return!" Green pressed her advantage.


    Vee, in a decidedly not Espeon fashion, let out a battle cry and tackled his white glowing body into the Leafeon, sending the grass type skidding back.


    Leafeon let out a cry.


    "Magical Leaf!" Erika shouted.


    The grass Eevee shook its head and flicked its tail, shooting out an array of leaves towards the psychic.


    Vee didn''t need any prompting to dash away from the leaves and the brief respite allowed Leafeon to get the dirt out of its eyes.


    It glared at Vee and dashed off in a different direction, intercepting where the Espeon was going to go.


    Vee''s eyes widened at seeing the glaring Leafeon, only to let out a strangled cry as the grass type lunged, teeth marred with dark energy.


    At the same time, the Magical Leaves crashed into them both, numerous cuts forming as a result.


    I winced as Leafeon bit down fiercely, eliciting a pained shriek from Vee as the super effective attack did numbers to it.


    "Vee! Swift! Get it off you!" Green shouted in concern, gazing at her first pokemon with wide eyes.


    Vee fought through the dark type move, psychic abilities completely worthless at the moment, and fired the point blank stars.


    They came out more numerous and far more damaging than when Vee was an Eevee and they launched the Leafeon back, getting a surprised yowl out of it.


    Vee panted tiredly, glow returning to its gem as its psychic powers returned. It glared furiously at Leafeon, even as the grass type glared right back at him.


    Leafeon glowed white and rocketed across the arena, ignoring how Vee''s gem began glowing brighter and brighter in his fury.


    Finally, as Leafeon lunged, fangs covered in dark energy again, a bright pink light erupted from Vee and a gigantic beam of pink energy smashed into the Leafeon point blank.


    "L-Leaf?" Leafeon gagged, before it got sent soaring away.


    Vee panted tiredly as the Leafeon thudded onto the floor, glaring at its grass counterpart even as the gem on its head darkened completely.


    "Oh right," I said. "Espeon''s build up their power from being under the sunlight."


    It looked like Vee used a new move as well. Was that Psybeam?


    "Leafeon is unable to battle! As a result, Gym Leader Erika has no remaining Pokemon! The winner of this match is Leaf Green!"


    Green''s serious expression vanished and she let out a squeal of happiness, rushing Vee and squeezing him with all her might.


    "We did it!" she cheered happily. "Yes! Great job!"


    She froze up as she finally heard the cheering of the crowd and I watched as my friend blushed a deep shade of red, gazing at the people with wide eyes.


    We made eye contact and I snorted, clapping once for her and getting a grin to form on her face.


    "She''s good," Lorelei praised, clapping along with the crowd.


    "Course. She''s my rival after all," I nodded once.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "How was I?!" Green asked me happily.


    "Good. I''m surprised you won without using Saury."


    Green pouted. "Hey! I''m not a Saury merchant... whatever that really means," she muttered.


    I snorted. Saury merchant was what I had taken to calling her lately. She had no clue what it actually meant but context clues.


    "Good luck! It''s your turn now!" Green exclaimed cheerfully, squeezing me as her reassurance.


    I grunted and nodded. "Watch Oberon and Gaia for me. They''re with aunt," I muttered.


    "Kay!"


    With that, I made my way to the battlefield.


    "Magnificent! Green is quite the exceptional trainer!" Erika commented to me, looking thrilled at the battle that just took place.


    "Of course she is," I said gruffly, cupping a pokeball and staring at her.


    "I do look forward to seeing how she blooms in the future! I was thoroughly impressed!" she beamed.


    I was glad that Erika seemed just as interested in Green as me. More people needed to give my companion her flowers.


    "This is an official gym battle of the Celadon City Gym between the challenger, Silver of Viridian City and the Gym Leader, Erika! Each side is allowed 4 pokemon and only the challenger is allowed to swap. The match will be decided when all Pokemon of one side are unable to continue!"


    A four on four, just like Green''s match...


    "Gloom, come forth!" Erika yelled, elegantly throwing her pokeball out.


    "Metang," I said coolly.


    Erika''s eyes widened as my steel type revealed itself and she straightened up a bit.


    "Both contestants are set! Gloom vs Metang! Begin!" The referee shouted.


    "Sunny Day!" Erika began immediately, starting off with what was clearly her favorite move.


    I grunted at that. "Goddamn weather merchant," I huffed.


    The gym leader blinked. "What''s a weather merchant?" she asked in confusion.


    "You. Metang use Confusion," I said.


    Erika didn''t get the time to be outraged by my response, focused on getting Gloom away from the attack.


    "Dodge Gloom! Use Stun Powder!"


    Gloom dodged the concussive psychic energy with its increased speed, short legs carrying it across the battlefield as the plant atop its head began secreting that paralyzing yellow cloud.


    "Don''t get touched by that. Use Agility," I said, eyes roving over the field as I mulled over my course of action.


    "How good did you get with ranged psychic attacks?"


    "Do not patronize me."


    "You''re so fucking sassy all the time."


    I rolled my eyes as Metang sped up, body floating across the field at much quicker speeds.


    Erika chewed her lip in contemplation. "Giga Drain!" she ordered eventually.


    Gloom focused and shot out beams of green energy that began tracking down Metang.


    Metang utilized his rudimentary Agility and weaved away from the beams.


    "Get close. Zen Headbutt."


    Metang didn''t even make it seem like it had acknowledged my order, merely adjusting his flight and rushing the Gloom.


    "Gloom! Run away from it!" Erika said with wide eyes.


    Gloom abruptly stopped trying to catch Metang with Giga Drain and instead began running for its life.


    The harsh truth was that Gloom didn''t really have a single attack that would work on Metang. It''s best bet was trying to paralyze but I faced enough grass types to know that it was fishing for it.


    As Gloom used its enhanced speed to run away from Metang, it was suddenly blasted with a wave of Confusion, stopping it right in its tracks and allowing my steel type to reach it, Zen Headbutt still formed.


    Metang crashed ruthlessly into Gloom, head actually lifting the pokemon off the ground, and the momentum carried them both through the air before Metang abruptly halted.


    The speed at which he halted, sent Gloom soaring off its body and the grass tumbled across the ground, unmoving from its spot.


    "Gloom is unable to battle! The winner is Metang!"


    The arena had been mostly silent. First it was in shock at me releasing my Metang, then it was getting stunlocked by how one-sided the first battle had been.


    "Holy shit," I heard someone say.


    I bore my silver gaze into Erika''s gray eyes and I watched as she pursed her lips, returning Gloom to its ball.


    "I see. The rumors about you certainly were not exaggerated... even the part where they called you a Weavile in human flesh," she said.


    I grunted at the comparison. First people were comparing me to cats, now it was a predator?


    Crystal said I reminded her of a Weavile too.


    Silly idiots. I didn''t travel in a pack!


    Erika mulled over her options and eventually grabbed a Pokeball.


    "Nuzleaf! Come forth!" Erika announced.


    "Don''t know much about us my ass," I grunted. "First a Lombre for Green and now a Nuzleaf for me?"


    "The others were more awed by your team outside of the Bayleef and Ivysaur," she mentioned with a smile. "My personal favorite was Flint''s account of a flying Feebas."


    I rolled my eyes.


    Sounded about right.


    "Good to keep going?" I asked Metang coolly.


    "I find it difficult to believe that you call me sassy, when you actively seek to annoy me like this."


    "I annoy you because you''re sassy."


    "I am sassy because you annoy me."


    "Both contestants are set! Metang vs Nuzleaf! Begin!"


    I sighed, adjusting my hair slightly so as to stop blocking my eye.


    "Iron Head," I tested.


    "Fake out!" Erika immediately countered.


    I grunted in some annoyance as Metang''s attack was immediately cancelled by Fake Out and as my steel type recovered swiftly from their flinch ¡ª


    "Astonish!"


    They were hit by the super effective ghost move... that caused them to flinch again.


    "I am sufficiently annoyed," Metang said tonelessly... or more tonelessly.


    "Way ahead of you. Iron Defense."


    Metang''s steel body glowed harshly underneath the sun. I smiled as Nuzleaf, who was in close proximity, was practically flash banged by the sheen and as the grass type flinched back, Metang ruthlessly bashed their steel head against it.


    "Nuz!" Nuzleaf gasped, body folding as Metang headbutt him with its entire body. He was sent skidding backwards, the force uprooting the grass type completely and sending it tumbling across the floor.


    "Bullet Punch," I pressed ruthlessly.


    Metang''s eyes glowed menacingly, fists glowing as it blazed across the field.


    "Hang in there Nuzleaf! Use Payback!" Erika cried out.


    My eyes widened. "Shit, you''re going way too fast. You''re gonna get hit by this."


    "My body is still protected. I will survive," Metang replied effortlessly.


    I raised both brows at that. "Is Ares seeping into you? You sound like a psycho."


    "It is not the dragon I inherited this from. It is you."


    With that, Metang continued their course and I watched as both the pokemon punched each other with full force.


    They both roared in their tongue and were sent away from each other, as Metang''s temporary levitation nearly failed, before they uprighted themselves once more.


    I really needed to get them Magnet Rise and Miracle Eye. They would be some of the next moves to learn.


    Nuzleaf wiped a fist against its cheek, glaring at Metang tiredly. It looked barely conscious and I was honestly surprised it could still go.


    Metang floated in place momentarily and rumbled.


    The temporary lull was broken by both Erika and I.


    "Mega Drain, get back some energy!"


    "Bullet Punch, knock its lights out!"


    Nuzleaf utilized the speed Chlorophyll gave it, ducking wildly underneath Metang''s swift punches with a desperation befitting a Pokemon on its last legs.


    It scrambled underneath Metang''s floating body and lunged atop him, shooting a single green beam that attempted to drain what it could from Metang''s metallic body.


    "Pepper him Nuzleaf! Don''t get off!" Erika encouraged.


    Nuzleaf roared in affirmation, bombarding Metang with Payback after Payback.


    I snarled in annoyance as my connection with Metang faltered and thought of a solution.


    "Metang, fall upside down!" I barked, a feral look in my eyes.


    Metang didn''t outwardly acknowledge my order but I watched as their levitating body did a complete 180.


    Without any hesitation, Metang crushed Nuzleaf under their full weight.


    Then, they floated back up, Nuzleaf''s broken body embedded into the ground. The grass type didn''t even groan, just flattened onto the battlefield.


    "Do not ever hold anyone accountable for my less than savory antics. You are the reason for it all."


    "You might be right," I replied with a crooked and wild smirk.


    "Nuzleaf is unable to battle. The winner of this match is Metang!"


    ...


    "YEAHHHH!" The crowd roared in awe.


    I ignored them scowling slightly at that battle. The Nuzleaf was way annoying and all her pokemon seemed to utilize Chlorophyll¡­


    How could I have played that better?


    I frowned as I contemplated it, gazing at the concerned Erika all the while.


    It was just a matter of experience. I couldn''t know every single move that a pokemon knew. As I battled more and more, I''d be able to account for more things.


    Erika was gazing at Metang with furrowed brows, biting her lip in contemplation.


    "Come forth, Victreebel!" She announced, releasing the final evolution of Bellsprout from its ball.


    That''s funny. She used Weepinbell and Bellossom against Green, then used Gloom and Victreebel against me.


    Alright then.


    "Both contestants are set! Victreebel vs Metang! Begin!"


    "Weather Ball!" Erika said as soon as she could get the opportunity.


    Victreebel didn''t waste any time and fired an orange beam, not unlike the sun in appearance. It streaked through the air, leaving flames in its wake and smashed into Metang with crushing force.


    My eyes widened at that and I gazed at Erika in shock.


    "I can be quick and sneaky too," Erika puffed up proudly.


    I scowled at that and returned Metang to their ball.


    "Well done maniac," I praised, pocketing it.


    Weather Ball¡­ A move that changed types depending on the weather¡­


    Weather Ball¡­ That was an interesting technique.


    "Ares," I decided eventually.


    I heard even more gasps from all around as my gigantic Shelgon was revealed and Erika stared at her with wide eyes.


    "W-Wow. That''s quite the Shelgon you have," she muttered.


    "She''s glorious yeah?" I mused with a proud smirk.


    Erika blinked. "Yes... I''d have to agree," she nodded.


    "Ready to win, girl?" I asked.


    Ares rumbled, turning those yellow eyes towards me.


    Evolution had chilled her temperament (along with a lot of other things about her) quite a bit in preparation for her metamorphosis into a Salamence, but my violent dragon was still very much there.


    And she''d become a lot worse when she evolved anyways. She''d make Bagon-Ares look like nothing when she became Salamence-Ares.


    But for now, I''d enjoy my slight peace with Shelgon-Ares.


    "Dragon Breath," I ordered.


    "Leaf Tornado!" Erika commanded.


    Ares opened her mouth and fired a giant torrent of dragonic flames. They eclipsed her previous evolutions flames and rushed towards the stormy leaves, burning them to cinders.


    The weird thing about pokemon with abilities in their prevolution that evolved into something with different abilities was that they didn''t completely lose their old abilities.


    It was weird to explain. Ares still had the organ that upped her power but it was far less prominent and it would practically vanish as she became a Salamence...


    But as a Salamence, she''d inherit some parts of Overcoat.


    Not the entire thing but she''d be more resistant to weather and whatnot due to the thicker layering that a Shelgon with Overcoat had.


    Weird stuff but I''m not a scientist so I wouldn''t try to understand it.


    "Fire some Embers," I tested with narrowed eyes.


    Ares opened her mouth and began firing pellets of flames that Victreebel dashed away from.


    "Acid!" Erika shouted.


    Victreebel''s mouth spat out a poisonous stream that connected squarely with Ares, getting a grunt annoyance out of her.


    This sun speeding up every single one of her pokemon was getting really infuriating.


    "Dragon Dance," I ordered with narrowed eyes.


    Erika''s eyes widened. "Try and stop it! Don''t let her get it off!" she demanded.


    Victreebel hissed in affirmation and launched its sun enhanced body towards the stationary Ares.


    Right before it could fully close the gap, vines shot out of its body to wrap around the guarded dragon.


    Ares grunted in annoyance as the vines stopped her already low movement, trapping her even further in place.


    Then, the Victreebel conjured another Leaf Tornado and crashed it onto her.


    As the leaves crashed onto Ares position, Erika said, "Slam!" and Victreebel continued its combo by hoisting up my massive Shelgon and slamming her onto the floor.


    A huge dust formed that combined with the already hazardous Leaf Tornado, forming a clash of different elements that blocked both Erika and I''s vision.


    Victreebel appeared out of the dust, looking none the worse for wear¡ª


    A gigantic stream of flames crashed into its back, getting a gasp out of everyone there but me.


    "TREEBEL?!" Victreebel shouted in both surprise and pain as the huge flames washed over it.


    Erika''s mouth was agape in genuine surprise, as the dust settled to reveal Ares.


    My Shelgon, despite the combo she just took, didn''t look close to fainting and I smiled at the scuff marks on her shell.


    Her yellow eyes were narrowed in fury, both from the Rage and her genuine anger at being attacked so much.


    Good thing she was a Shelgon now. Those shells of their were criminally annoying to deal with.


    As Victreebel attempted to recover from the Rage enhanced Flamethrower, Ares eyes lit up with malevolence and she began swaying her huge body, the effects of Dragon Dance washing over her.


    With matching malice, Ares and I honed in on the Victreebel with less than friendly intent.


    Ares tensed up her little legs and rocketed over to the wide eyed Victreebel.


    She was actually using more power than speed to close the distance. The sheer strength behind that push, made up for her lacking natural speed and she used the momentum from the initial start to carry her over.


    "Sleep Powder!" Erika tried with wide eyes, knowing Victreebel wouldn''t be able to move in time.


    As Victreebel mustered up the power needed to spit out Sleep Powder, it gagged in disbelief as the full weight of, my much heavier than normal, Shelgon crashed into it.


    Miraculously, the full body Headbutt did not knock it unconscious and it managed to get off the Sleep Powder...


    To no effect. Ares shell completely protected her from the effects of Sleep Powder and it only made her angrily retort with another Flamethrower.


    That certainly did the job. Ares rumbled and idly cleaned her feet with the Victreebel''s body, before trotting off him back to my side.


    It almost brought a tear to my eye. She was just like me.


    "Victreebel is unable to battle. The winner of this match is Shelgon!"


    "LOOK HOW HUGE THAT SHELGON IS!"


    "DID YOU SEE IT CRASH INTO VICTREEBEL LIKE A CANNONBALL?!"


    "SO COOL!"


    Ares and I both grunted, unbothered by the adoring crowds as we gazed ahead.


    "Sleep Powder failed?" Erika muttered to herself in confusion. "Oh I just knew I should have used Abomasnow for this," she lamented.


    I raised a brow. She had access to a goddamn Abomasnow? What the hell?


    Erika bit her lip (she did that a lot) as she returned Victreebel to the ball and gazed at the violent Shelgon.


    I watched her dig into her kimono, contemplation on her face as she thought of who to send out last.


    Finally, she clutched her pokeball and said, "Come forth, Tangrowth!"


    A Tangrowth¡­ I narrowed my eyes and watched as the final evolution of Tangela revealed itself.


    "Let''s wrap this up," I decided.


    "Shel," Ares grunted. Despite being far more tame, despite looking even aloof and unexpressive¡­


    Ares would never be able to hide that bloodlust from me. After all, it washed over me to the point where I became more bloodthirsty as well.


    The mass of vines had two eyes underneath it, peering curiously at us. Unlike the Tangrowth I saw earlier, this one seemed far more active.


    "Sun''s still up girl. It''ll be fast," I said warily.


    Ares scoffed and I smirked.


    "Yeah, you''re right. The Victreebel was fast too," I nodded in agreement.


    "Both contestants are set. Shelgon vs Victreebel! Begin!"


    "Wrap it in your vines then use Poison Powder!" Erika began immediately.


    "Burn em," I retorted instantly.


    Ares opened her mouth and shot forth a hellish amount of flames. They were truly huge in nature for how little experience she had in Flamethrower but the sun and Rage helped out a lot.


    Tangrowth''s vines were numerous in nature. They lunged from every part of its body with purpose.


    The grass type gurgled in distress as a majority were burned by Ares but a few stragglers managed to make it through, encasing the Shelgon.


    "Physical attacks won''t do anything! Use Giga Drain!" Erika shouted.


    Tangrowth''s vines began glowing green and Ares let out a snarl of rage, as her energy began getting funneled into the Tangrowth.


    "Tangrowth use Ancient Power!"


    Multiple glowing rocks were suddenly ripped out of the ground and Tangrowth hastily launched them towards Ares from every direction.


    As the rocks converged on her location, Ares let out a cry of surprise as they began damaging her.


    Ancient Power was a strange technique that had ties with a past far ago. The prehistoric technique carried some sort of mystic properties to it that could sometimes boost all of a pokemon''s capabilities.


    "Tangrowth! Use Growth then Ancient Power once more!" Erika said confidently.


    "Flamethrower!" I barked urgently.


    Ares snarled in rage and she opened her mouth, only to let out a shout of surprise as the vines covered it up. Instead of a stream of fire, a shotgun like flame erupted instead, blasting a hole through the vines but all that did was cause more vines to converge around her mouth.


    I snarled in rage, eyes pulsing in fury as even more Rocks than before formed. They loomed dangerously as Tangrowth prepared to bombard Ares with a barrage of the prehistoric rocks.


    I narrowed my eyes, mind running through multiple scenarios that could get me out of this situation.


    Finally, one struck me and my eyes glowed maliciously.


    "Ares, Crunch the vines! Don''t let go and bring it to your location now!" I barked.


    Ares eyes glinted in joy at the order and she opened her covered mouth. It began glowing with dark energy and she fully clamped onto Tangrowth without any hesitation.


    Half the job was already done thanks to the grass type. Now it was time make sure the pesky little fighter got up close and personal


    "You battle like a complete maniac!" Erika shouted in distress, watching as Ares clamped her jaw around as many of Tangrowth''s vines as possible. "Tangrowth, don''t let that Shelgon pull you close! Ingrain! Bury yourself into the ground!"


    Tangrowth gurgled in affirmation and as Ares tried to yank it from its spots, she suddenly found great resistance.


    She was not to be deterred however. Ares snarled and tugged even harder, getting an uncomfortable noise to erupt from the Tangrowth.


    "Pluck it!" I barked. "Rip it out of the ground!"


    Ares roared in agreement, eyes pulsing madly as her rage mounted.


    Tangrowth let out a panicked yell and tried doing anything to halt Ares madness. Its vines began glowing green to drain Ares before she could muster up the energy to yank it but if anything, that only made her angrier.


    Finally, with a muffled roar, Ares completely ripped Tangrowth from its spot. The force of her pull was so great, that Tangrowth''s vines snapped off even as it began soaring towards her,.


    But the best part about it, was that Ares hadn''t even fully ripped it out of the Ingrain... no she just ripped the ground underneath Tangrowth as well.


    It was like the reverse of earlier. Instead of becoming the cannonball, Ares had turned something else into one. Tangrowth''s flailing body began getting closer and closer to the feral Shelgon and it let out a cry of fear.


    "Fire the Ancient Power, Tangrowth!" Erika shouted over its panicked yells. "Use your vines to latch onto something! Anything!"


    I smiled eagerly as Tangrowth tried to do so, only to realize a fast majority of its vines were either burned to cinders or chomped off.


    Realizing it had no choice but to meet Ares head on, the grass type launched every single floating rock, even as its body closed the distance¡ª


    "Protect," I said coolly.


    ¡ªAnd crashed right into a sickening green barrier.


    The Ancient Power fared no better, slamming into the Protect and causing it to shudder. However, the barrier held strong.


    I watched as Tangrowth''s body slowly peeled off the Protect, eyes dizzy and swirling as its vines did its best to protect the grass type from such powerful impact.


    Ares was not having it. She dropped the barrier and opened her mouth, firing off a gargantuan blaze of flame that consumed the Tangrowth.


    Erika watched the entire thing with a slack jaw, disbelief on her face at the series of events that just took place.


    "Tangrowth is unable to battle! As a result, Gym Leader Erika has no remaining Pokemon! The winner of this match is Silver!"


    That snapped her out of her daze and she met my gaze with wide eyes.


    I flashed her a crooked and satisfied smirk.


    "...You are so rotten," she mouthed to me.


    I let loose a barking laugh.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I grinned in satisfaction, running a hand on the exhausted Ares'' shell.


    "Well damn girl. Two fully evolved pokemon?" I asked.


    "Shel," Ares rumbled tiredly, leaning into my touch with half lidded eyes.


    "Thoughts on Protect now? I know you thought it was lame that you learned such a defensive move," I pointed out.


    "...Gon," she admitted reluctantly.


    "Hah," I chuckled. "I knew I''d win you over with it. You gotta keep your body safe so that you''re a perfectly healthy Salamence," I said wisely.


    That got a burst of energy out of her.


    "Shel!" she rumbled, before remembering just how tired she was. She abruptly collapsed and I smiled with a shake of my head.


    "Hungry?" I asked her, enjoying the cool and sturdy shell that I was leaning on.


    "Gon." she shook her head in denial.


    "Fucking liar," I rolled my eyes, digging into my bag and pulling out a snack for her to eat. "I know you''re big and bad and don''t wanna eat much since you''re a Shelgon now, but you''ll have to convert even more energy in that shell of yours," I murmured.


    While not eating as a Shelgon made the Salamence come out tougher and hardier, that was completely unnecessary if they were under a trainer.


    Ares was already tougher than her wild brethren. Shelgons stored energy inside their shells, while their cells worked overtime in preparation for evolution.


    As a result, they didn''t battle anyone, normally hiding themselves away in an isolated area as they patiently awaited evolution.


    In the wild, it took forever for Shelgons to evolve. They rarely moved and never ate so the energy being stored away was scarce for them. As a result, they refused to do battle because it would divert that energy to something else. They wanted every ounce of what little energy they had, focused onto evolution.


    Ares on the other hand, was battling nonstop and refused to stop doing so. The rate at which her cells worked were accelerated to a far faster degree than if she had holed herself up and she was burning twice as much energy as wild Shelgons in the process.


    As such, she''d need to continue to sustain herself up so that she could have the necessary energy to focus onto evolving.


    Due to this, when she evolved¡­ she''d be stronger (and more bloodthirsty) than any wild Salamence. She was getting the best of both worlds. She did not stagnate at all like wild Shelgons. Ares would continue to battle and so long as I kept her diet right, at the same time she''d be accelerating her evolution at an even quicker and more optimal way than her brethren.


    Ares listened to my words and latched onto the part where she heard that eating would help her more than harm¡­ and wolfed down the snack I offered to her with gusto.


    "Good," I said, pleased by her reason. "You''ll need all the nutrients you can get. There will be no complications with your evolution."


    "Shel!" she announced, showing a glimpse of that excitable Bagon.


    "...Phenomenal performance, Silver. Truly. Your style of battle is so unique," Erika said, walking over to me at a steady pace. The look of shock was gone, replaced by a small and proud smile.


    I gazed at the short woman and accepted the badge out of her hand.


    "Here you are. As Gym Leader of Celadon, I hereby declare you worthy of the Rainbow Badge," Erika smiled. "Oh! And here you are, the TM for Giga Drain," she said, handing it over to me.


    My eyes glinted and I accepted it, pocketing both items away.


    "That was a fun battle. Almost made up for the fact that your gym smells like complete shit in the front," I mentioned, nodding in respect at that battle.


    Erika''s expression immediately turned offended. "Excuse me, please don''t speak of my gym in such a manner!" she scolded me.


    It was hard to take her serious. She was plenty of years older than me but she was really short and her personality didn''t help.


    I snorted. "The smells clash way too much. Smells like a Muk''s ass. You gotta learn how to filter them out."


    Erika glared at me. "You rude brat! I will take note of your complaint, but didn''t anyone ever tell you that if you have nothing nice to say, don''t say it at all?!"


    "Hard to take you calling me a brat serious when you''re shorter than me¡­ and I do know that saying, I just ignore it most of the time," I replied with a helpless shrug.


    "You¡­" Erika fumed, crossing her arms. "How does such a rude boy have such a sweet Bayleef? The rumors truly were right about you!"


    I shrugged again. "Dunno. Why does such an elegant, and short, lady use such poisonous perfume?" I returned curiously.


    "Stop mentioning my height!" Erika shouted, poking me on the chest indignantly.


    She even puffed out her cheeks! How adorable of her.


    I smirked cruelly and pat her head mockingly. "Aw it''s okay. Not everyone can be blessed¡­ some are just more cursed than others and you''re really cursed."


    I deftly dodged the swatting hands and made my way over to the beaming Green and proud Lorelei.


    It was a gift of mine to irritate people. I couldn''t let that talent go to waste now could I?


    "The things you say and do are downright terrible. I can''t believe you would say such things!" Erika complained, following after me despite her words.


    "If you knew me for longer than an hour you''d believe it."


    "Nice job Silvy!" Green beamed, high fiving me with a grin.


    "You lost the bet by the way," I said with a smug smirk, watching as the gym was quickly emptied out.


    Green''s smile vanished immediately and a distraught look crossed her face instead.


    "Ah damn I forgot about that," she muttered. "Alright dishes for a week. I can do that. I''ll still help with breakfast, lunch and dinner too."


    I whistled. "You sure are a trooper."


    "You two bet on our battles?" Erika asked incredulously, gazing at us with wide and innocent eyes. The amount of naivety in them almost made me feel bad.


    How was this girl the gym leader of the city with a casino in it?


    "I wasn''t really ever intending on losing this battle so yeah," I nodded in amusement.


    "Yeah no offense Erika! We''re a bit better than 4 badges right now!" Green said apologetically.


    Erika gazed at the two of us.


    "I was aware of that... do you truly think I''d use that team against trainers with four badges?" Erika asked slowly.


    We both blinked.


    "Now that you mention it..." Green muttered.


    I nodded in agreement. "Yeah that battle was pretty hard," I mused.


    Erika gazed at us helplessly. "You two are surprisingly rotten," she said finally.


    I chuckled at that mostly because of the horrified look on Green''s face.


    "W-Wait! I''m not as bad as Silvy, promise!" she pleaded her case. "H-He''s the reason I''m like this!"


    "That just means you were never as innocent as you thought," I interjected with a smug smirk.


    Green spluttered. "That has nothing to do with this! You are a literal demon!" she exclaimed.


    I raised a brow and shrugged. "You wouldn''t have been drawn to this demon if you didn''t have qualities either," I pointed out.


    Her mouth flapped uselessly, trying to muster up something to say.


    "I hate you," she finished flatly.


    "I know," I soothed with a smug smile.


    "An excellent display from the both of you," Lorelei praised us with a small smile, shaking her head at our interactions.


    "Any pointers?" Green asked excitedly.


    Lorelei nodded. "There are a few things I could tell the both of you if your receptive. But that can wait for later when I can properly write down my thoughts."


    I nodded. "Sure thing aunt," I said.


    Both Lorelei and Erika''s eyes widened at that.


    "Pardon?! Did I just hear that correctly?" Erika hissed in confusion, glancing rapidly between Lorelei and I.


    As she began noting the similarities between the two of us, Erika went pale.


    "You two are¡­?" she asked dumbly.


    Lorelei was gazing at me in shock at what I just said. She must have been genuinely surprised that I was willing to disclose this type of information.


    Eventually, a smile formed (I imagine this would be a grin on anyone else) on her face and she nodded without hesitation.


    "Yes¡­ he is my nephew," she said proudly.


    No seriously, she looked too proud to be claiming me.


    "You''re such a dork," I sighed with a small smile. "Yeah, she''s my aunt."


    "But that''s not why he was able to win. I''ve had no influence on Silver''s talents or growth whatsoever," Lorelei assured, looking even more proud.


    "Wow," Erika awed. "Lorelei... how is it possible for someone as dignified as you, to be related to a brute like him? You two are complete opposites."


    "You can''t walk in crowds," I said boredly.


    "You see!" Erika cried out. "He made fun of my figure! Who does that?!"


    "Someone who owns eyes and has good vision."


    Lorelei sighed. "It''s a work in progress. He''s very stubborn. I can still feel the bite mark."


    Erika gasped at that. "You bit Lorelei?!"


    I shrugged. "She was asking for it."


    "It was super fun to watch! Lorelei is really strong¡­ I would have never guessed!" Green laughed.


    Lorelei coughed lightly at that. "Let''s not speak about that. Silver is the only one I''ve done that with."


    "Get used to it. You''ll have to do that every time you try to get me in one of those lessons of yours," I replied.


    Lorelei sighed. "It appears in a way, you''re also attempting to turn me into a more vulgar person," she muttered.


    "Let''s see who cracks first," I said cheerfully.


    Lorelei shuddered. "Don''t speak like that. It doesn''t suit you."


    "I say the same thing," Green nodded sagely.


    I snorted. "Alright, Leaf. Let''s get ready to leave the city. Fuchsia is far so it may take us a while to get there."


    "Yeah! Since we''re not in a rush it''s gonna take us a long time to get there," Green pointed out.


    "Fine by me. We need to slow down a bit anyways," I nodded in agreement.


    We had been traveling too quickly due to the urgency of catching the S.S Anne. Now we could slow down and pace ourselves, train properly, battle trainers etc.


    "I listened at camp, but you two truly have well thought out plans. It eases my worry by quite a bit," Lorelei praised.


    "More plans means better time allocation. It''s efficient," I muttered. "Let''s go to the Center first then we can head out."


    "Kay!" Green nodded.


    "I also have to heal my members. 8 pokemon defeated¡­" Erika mused. "Let''s make haste. I''d like to talk to both Gaia and Saury more."


    "Bayleef," Gaia beamed, nuzzling me in satisfaction.


    I rolled my eyes and allowed Oberon to loop his arms around my neck, giving the tiny bear a piggyback. "I don''t like attention and you two attract a lot of attention," I said dryly.


    "You''ve already attracted attention. Both our battles were quite splendid after all," Erika smiled mysteriously.


    I furrowed my brows. "What?"


    I didn''t really get what she meant, up until I made it back to the entrance and saw my arch nemesis of a receptionist.


    We made eye contact and I smirked smugly at her.


    "Dinners on you," was all I said, sneering at her mockingly.


    Green sighed in exasperation and prepared to drag me away from the ensuing argument but both our shock, she fucking fluttered her eyes at me.


    ...Huh?


    "Sure!" she chirped, not at all putout by the fact that I comfortably won my battle against her boss that she vowed was going to crush me.


    I blinked in confusion.


    "What the fuck? Why don''t you hate me?" I asked aloud.


    Erika raised a brow in confusion and turned towards the just as confused (and outraged) Lorelei. "Hate?" I saw her mouth.


    Lorelei shook her head. "I do not know."


    The receptionist tilted her head. "Hate you? Why would I ever hate you?"


    ¡­


    Huh? Was I imagining it all in my head? Was I actually flirting with this girl without even realizing?


    No¡­ there''s no fucking way. There was real venom in our words. Why the hell were things suddenly different with her ¡ª


    Oh fuck off.


    "Did you watch the battle?" I asked.


    "Yep! You and Green did an amazing job!" she beamed.


    I scowled and stomped out of the gym without waiting for the receptionist to say anything else.


    If possible, my outrage only grew higher.


    As soon as I stepped out, I saw a swarm of people waiting, who lit up at the sight of me and Green appearing in their line of sight.


    No way.


    "It''s Silver! Can we battle?!"


    "That battle was so awesome! What are you feeding that Shelgon?!"


    "How do you know Elite 4 Lorelei?! Is she your mom?!"


    "Are you and Green dating?! I''m asking for a friend!"


    "I think you''re really pretty Green!"


    I blinked, looking utterly bewildered by the attention.


    "Oh wow, I think we''re getting popular now. It''s around 6 badges when this happens but we attracted them before that," Green muttered, shooting an excited wave that made the crowd cheer for her.


    "I''ve already reprimanded the receptionist but I can''t do much with these people," Erika giggled, stepping out and getting the crowd to practically roar in excitement.


    Lorelei was nowhere to be seen, likely not wanting the attention to grow. Knowing her, she was already in the Center waiting for us...


    Good to know Erika and Green were enjoying this¡­


    "Move out of my way now or I promise someone''s getting sent to the hospital."


    ...But I was not.


    The crowd went somewhat silent, as my dark glare washed over them all and I effortlessly cut a path that allowed me to walk right through.


    Oberon was clutching me tightly, nervously glancing at all the people making such loud noises.


    If anything that made my glare deepen.


    "Oh dear. Quite the scary presence you have," Erika commented, waving and smiling at the crowd.


    She pat a small child on the head and cooed at their cute little Oddish, getting a beam out of the kid.


    "He''s super scary!" Green agreed.


    "Shut the hell up," I replied gruffly.


    So I was getting popular. That meant more people would be paying attention to me.


    I frowned as I mulled that over.


    It sucked as much as I expected it to but at the same time, I was expecting it to a degree.


    My team was rare after all. Like really rare. Oberon was the most common pokemon on my team and he was my latest capture.


    So yeah. I knew popularity as I grew stronger, was inevitable because being strong was the pinnacle of recognition in this world and my goal was to become very strong.


    Naturally that came with the consequences of picking such a path.


    Didn''t think it''d be this early though.


    Time to put my charms to good use.


    "Touch me and you''ll lose that arm for a few weeks," I warned harshly.


    I was satisfied to see the sneaky arm disappearing back into the small crowd.


    "You really are a terrible person, Silvy," Green nodded sagely.


    "I agree wholeheartedly. Please do not assault my citizens," Erika muttered.


    I was about to reply, up until someone placed a hand on my shoulder and I body flipped them over me, getting ready to place a foot directly onto their ribcage.


    Alas, I was unable to do so.


    "Bay," Gaia sighed, soaking up the attention as she wrapped vines around me and carried me away from the body.


    "You should have let me," I snarked, letting my Bayleef escort me away from my attempted crime.


    "Leef," she said patiently.


    Next time. That''s what she told me.


    "Fine," I conceded, letting her usher me to the center.


    "He conceded to her so easily," I heard Erika whisper.


    "No one can tell Silvy what to do except for Gaia and the rest of his team. He consistently listens to her the most."


    I mulled that over.


    "Bayleef," Gaia snickered slightly.


    I rolled my eyes. "Shut up. You''re lucky I like you."


    She beamed and snuggled up against me as we made our way to the Center.


    "Yeah yeah, love you too girl."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "So you chose Bulbasaur as your starter and Silver here found Chikorita in the wild?" Erika asked curiously.


    Green and I nodded.


    Currently, we were waiting for our team to be healed so Erika escorted us to a nice area that the Gym Leader was allowed to relax in while waiting for their members.


    It was nice. Like a spectators booth.


    "Incredible! You two haven''t been trainer for that long but you''re both bursting with potential!"


    The Gym Leader gazed at both Gaia and Saury in awe. "Truly, for how young you two are, your pokemon are all in such good condition."


    Erika pointed at them. "You see based on their pigmentation, I can tell that the two of you are actively going out of your way to nurture them properly. Such methods are normally reserved for more experienced trainers, coordinators or breeders," she explained.


    I nodded. That was basically what Joy had been saying.


    "Wow," Green muttered, drinking in the information.


    Erika nodded with a smile. "Yes, it''s incredibly rare for new trainers to do such a thing. I''m impressed."


    "You should be impressed with Silvy!" Green beamed. "He''s the one who helped me really understand all these things. Without him, I''d be a lot weaker and unaware!"


    I blinked. "You''d be fine," I said boredly.


    "Nuh uh! No way! You need to stop downplaying yourself Silvy," Green pouted childishly. "You''re pretty awesome you know?"


    I grunted. "Stop that. I know I''m awesome," I muttered.


    Green glared suspiciously at me.


    "So how have you been since the fiasco with the Celadon?" I asked, changing the subject.


    Erika sighed tiredly. "Tired. It quite literally came out of nowhere. I had no idea the Casino was being used for such a thing..."


    "I''ll have to properly thank Lorelei for her timely intervention. I found myself getting quickly overwhelmed with the events as well. That battle was quite phenomenal! Your method of battling is so unorthodox," Erika beamed, looking a lot less tired.


    I snorted. "I just use what I can to my advantage. That''s all."


    "The surprise certainly rejuvenated me!" Erika giggled. "You and Green both lived up to the rumors I heard."


    Green blushed and rubbed the back of her hair. "Thanks! Next time I want to battle your real team!"


    The grass specialist nodded happily. "It''d be my pleasure! I love forward to seeing how the both of you progress!"


    I wouldn''t be opposed to battling her again. It would be fun.


    A beeping noise interrupted our conversation and Erika got up with a smile.


    "That would be for us! I have some paperwork to finish up back at the gym and then I''m going to take a well deserved nap."


    I snorted. "You do that."


    "It was nice talking to you Erika!" Green waved.


    "You two as well! Be sure to visit when you evolve Gaia and Saury, I''ll be glad to teach you something," she waved, gliding off.


    I tilted my head at that. "Alright. I''ll hold you to that."


    With that, we watched as the gym leader placed all the Pokeballs in a tiny little purse (she kept it in her kimono), wave at us again and head out of the center.


    "Time for us to head out too," I mused.


    "Kay!" Green beamed. "What do you think she wants to teach us?"


    "She probably wants to teach you how to properly take care of your hair, beast."


    "B-BE SERIOUS FOR ONE SECOND SILVY!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    After getting our pokemon healed, double checking our supplies and ensuring we had everything ready and began heading to Route 16 to continue our journey.


    Right before we stepped into the route though, we were surprised to see my aunt herself waiting there. I had no idea where she went so I just assumed she had business to take care of.


    Lorelei had a soft expression as she regarded the both of us.


    "Will you still refuse to come back to Indigo with me?" she asked softly.


    I nodded. "Yeah. I don''t like being chained to one place. It''s too stifling," I told her.


    Lorelei nodded in return. "Do you remember our deal?"


    "Yes, aunt. If something urgent happens, I''ll call you. Honest," I told her with an exasperated sigh.


    She let out a small sigh at that, relief filling her stance and I frowned.


    She really did care for me huh?


    "Be careful. You and Green are exceptional trainers. I refuse to let your growth be stunted by the likes of Team Rocket," Lorelei stated passionately.


    My aunt place a hand on my shoulders, before pulling me into a tight embrace.


    "Thank you, Silver. I know you don''t¡­ trust many people but I''m glad that you were able to let me in, if even a little," Lorelei whispered to me.


    ...


    "¡­No problem aunt," I said eventually, letting my hackles drop. "You''re not all bad."


    She only squeezed me tighter at that before releasing me.


    "And you are not bad at all, Silver," Lorelai said, standing straight. "Don''t hesitate to call me. No matter how big or small the issue, I will be more than willing to hear you out. I don''t even mind just small talk."


    "If you want to talk to me more, just say you want to talk to me more," I said dryly.


    Lorelei said nothing for a long while.


    "That would be preferable," she said honestly.


    I rolled my eyes. "Sure. I already check on Jas and¡­ I don''t hate you so I guess I can send you a message here and there."


    Lorelei nodded, looking pleased by my reply. "Understood. Now, I have matters to attend to back at Indigo¡­ namely, ensuring that Karen has not caused mayhem."


    My aunt turned towards Green and smiled at my companion. "Thank you for watching over my nephew, Green. I do appreciate it."


    Green blushed bashfully at that. "Of course! Silvy and I are friends so we''ll always have each others backs!"


    Lorelei looked thankful at that and simply smiled at the two of us, before she summoned Jynx and they vanished.


    "Silvy," Green said idly.


    "Yeah?"


    "Elite 4 Lorelei is a bit of a dork."


    The abrupt statement caught me so off guard that I wasn''t able to tone down the bark of laughter that left me.


    "I''m telling her you said that."


    "W-What?! Don''t tell her I said that! I think it''s endearing! Silvy I''m serious! Hey, get back here! PUT YOUR POKEGEAR AWAY!"

 Player One I

    These Silver Eyes


    Chapter 10: Player One


    Unlike the games, there were a lot of towns and cities in between the "major cities". They were littered throughout all of Kanto and while traversing through the routes, you could visit them if you so chose to. It was nice if you were low on supplies or if you wanted to fight a minor gym or something.


    Naturally, I didn''t give a damn about these random cities because there had not been a need to visit them. The major cities weren''t just major in the games, they were major here as well. Roads were specifically paved to reach them faster, shortcuts were created by pokemon and human alike to reach those places.


    During my journey so far, I ignored literally every single one of them and rushed to the big cities that I did know because to be honest, you didn''t really have to visit the minor cities if you didn''t want to because the Kanto, and every region really, made the major cities quite accessible.


    They were unimportant to me. Some of them even had gyms but I had no interest in challenging the lesser gyms because they were just that¡­


    Lesser.


    Though, I would probably have to fight at least one in the near future. It''s not like I was going to run to Viridian Gym and battle Giovanni for my last badge. That was one of the dumbest things I could possibly do.


    "Something on your mind, Silvy?" Green asked curiously, keeping pace with me as we traversed Route 17.


    It was honestly a really beautiful and simple route, but it was significantly longer than the previous Route 16 that connected this route and Celadon. Route 16 hadn''t taken too long to get through but Route 17 was a whole other story.


    "Just thinking about how we''re gonna get the 8th badge," I replied to her. "You know since¡­"


    Her eyes widened in realization and she nodded with pursed lips.


    "There are unofficial gym badges¡­ you have to collect two for it to count as one," she murmured, cupping her chin contemplatively.


    Neither of us wanted to go to Viridian with the knowledge that Giovanni was the Gym Leader there... It would be like walking into a lion''s den.


    Green especially, seemed to have garnered quite a bit of animosity amongst Team Rocket. Who knows what my dad would do if he ran into Green himself.


    If he did something to her, unfortunately he''d have to kill me next because I wouldn''t rest until I was strong enough to make him regret that decision.


    And when I did get strong enough to make him regret that decision...


    So yeah. We''d have to avoid Viridian for a long while.


    How long? Who knows.


    "Should we avoid Cinnabar too?" she asked curiously.


    I shook my head. "Nah. We''ll get the badge first and jump him afterwards. He doesn''t suspect us I think¡­ but just in case he does, I''ll set up a call with Lorelei."


    I¡­ didn''t quite trust her. But Lorelei did seem to have my best interests in mind so if push came to shove, I''d reveal the things to her and maybe she''d pick family over duty.


    I didn''t really trust her to do that though. Lorelei was the most professional Elite 4 member by far and while it wasn''t a competition (the others were very not professional), she was someone who took her job very seriously.


    To be frank, with the knowledge that Lance had practically tricked me, I didn''t really trust them at all. Lorelei was making an effort... but she made me feel strange and the most important thing, was that she answered to Lance.


    I wanted nothing to do with Lance and I didn''t trust Lorelei to keep her mouth shut around him. I even warned her that I''d cut all contact off if she did.


    That''s why telling my overprotective aunt was a last resort option. I just didn''t know what they knew about me and until I did, I''d keep them at arms length.


    If even one of the things they knew about me was incriminating, I''m toast. Hell, at this point I imagine they even had their suspicions on Gaia.


    Whatever. Just deal with it as we go. The only solid proof they could have against me, wouldn''t testify.


    Green seemed to understand that as well and she nodded in determination.


    Good. We were on the same page. We tended to always be these days.


    "Let''s take a break," I murmured, beckoning my head towards a grassy field with a nice big tree.


    She nodded happily and we changed course, directing our bikes towards the resting spot.


    It was practically mandatory to use bikes on Route 17 or "The Cycling Road". Unlike the games, the biking wasn''t needed for the entirety of the route but it was pretty necessary to make it to a place called Sunnytown, which Green and I would be going to for a quick stop.


    Sunnytown was a few days away, but we''d go at our own pace and make it there whenever.


    We both sat down and I immediately began pulling out supplies with one hand, while releasing my team with the other.


    Green and I seamlessly worked around each other as we prepared to eat. We never got in the others way, simply gliding around the other as we swiftly got things ready.


    "Pass me the skillet."


    "When did you buy this one? It looks really nice." Green asked, passing it over and rummaging for the food.


    "Do you really wanna know?"


    It was a nice skillet. Our last one was burned for... mysterious reasons that I didn''t feel the need to go into so I had decided to buy a new one.


    "...Silvy we really have to talk about that."


    "We already did. I thought we compromised."


    "No we didn''t! You compromised!"


    I pursed my lips. "It''s a good way to keep my skills up to snuff. I need to be as good at stealth as possible. That''s the only reason we managed to hide our identities from Proton."


    Green sighed. "Well... when you put it like that I guess it makes a little sense... but you have to promise to slow it down when we finally stop Team Rocket!"


    I sighed in return and nodded. "Sure sure. By the time we stop them, I should be well established in my strength to justify slowing down. We''ll have much more spending money."


    Her smile was one of relief and I rolled my eyes.


    "I told you I won''t get caught you know?" I said in amusement.


    "I know you won''t get caught! It''s not about that," Green denied. "I just don''t want you to feel like you have to do bad things because of the bad people around you."


    I mulled that over.


    "Oh that reminds me! I forgot to ask but what''s with that glowing rock in your bag?" Green asked curiously.


    I blinked and tilted my head.


    Glowing rock¡­?


    I grabbed my bag and opened it, rummaging through it before finding what Green was talking about.


    "The meteorite?" I muttered in confusion, grasping it and wincing back immediately as I suddenly felt a shortage of air.


    It was like I was floating far above, even higher than the clouds and the high altitude meant that there was an extreme shortage of oxygen.


    As I struggled to catch my breath, flashes of green pervaded my vision and I instinctively looked high up into the sky.


    Nothing... there was nothing that my eyes could see up there.


    A disturbed expression made its way to my face.


    "Silvy, are you alright?" Green asked worriedly, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You look like you''re struggling to breathe. What are you looking at?"


    I blinked harshly at that and suddenly took a deep breath. "Ugh, yeah sorry about that..." I muttered.


    ...Let''s not touch it again for the time being.


    "I found this rock in Hoenn," I told her, beckoning towards the Meteorite. "It was just a normal one before. I don''t know when it started glowing. I haven''t paid attention to it since finding it."


    She nodded curiously at that. "Wow that''s cool¡ª"


    Green paused.


    "Hoenn? You went to Hoenn?" she asked in confusion.


    "...Wait a minute," Green said slowly, eyes shifting over to both Metang and Ares.


    "Yes," I answered without hesitation, stuffing the rock back into my bag and praying that Rayquaza fucked off back to sleep.


    "I-I didn''t even ask you a question!" she spluttered.


    "I knew you were going to. Metang, Ares and Freyja are all from Hoenn," I replied easily.


    "¡­" Green pursed her lips suspiciously. "How did you get Ares?" she asked randomly.


    Ares perked up at that and glanced over, trotting her gigantic body to my position.


    I placed a hand against her shell with a smile. "She approached me. Saved my life from a Fraxure of all things. Remember that scar you saw? He gave that to me. Nearly died."


    Green sighed in relief as Ares preened at my attention. "So you just happened to come across her?"


    "Nope. I was planning on stealing her from a clan," I admitted with a shrug. "She just so happened to find me first after I gave up on the idea. She upped my initiative with her own. Perfect fit don''t you think?"


    "Shel," Ares agreed happily, leaning into my touch.


    Green froze completely at that. "Y-You... huh? You tried to steal a Bagon from a clan? Not to mention... you almost died to a Fraxure," she stuttered, eyes widening in horror. My rival glanced around rapidly to ensure that there truly was no one around (there wasn''t) and she turned back to me with a disbelieving expression.


    "Did you go after a clan of dragons?!" she hissed quietly in my ears.


    "You are seriously a lot smarter than people give you credit for," I praised.


    "You''re the only one who doesn''t give me credit for it!"


    Green took a deep breath. "I knew you were crazy but this takes the cake! Seriously?! That''s insanity Silvy!"


    "Trust me, the fact I almost died humbled me quite a lot," I told her.


    "YOU''RE TELLING ME YOU WERE WORSE THAN YOU ARE NOW?!" she screeched in horror.


    I snorted. "If you met me before the Fraxure event and you hatched Togee, naked or not I was definitely going to send you to the hospital... me being naked just prevented it this time."


    She blushed, disbelief making its way to her face. "Wait... you''re saying you still woulda sent me to the hospital?!"


    "Almost certainly. You are very lucky I was bathing."


    My companion held her head at that, before freezing once more.


    "Silvy, how did you get Metang?" she asked slowly.


    "¡­Do you really wanna know?" I asked curiously.


    Green held her head. "Oh Mew. I don''t think I do. Did you... no wonder you dont want info revealed," she sighed morosely.


    "At least I don''t abuse them," I shrugged.


    "Fair... you love them a lot," Green pointed out.


    "I nearly died attempting to bond to you. Your very presence is abuse."


    "Stop lying Metang. You love me. I see the way you look at me."


    "What on earth are you talking about? Is this another talent of yours? Saying the most ridiculous of things in a serious manner?"


    "I have no idea what you''re talking about. That sounds more like you and the sassiness you try to keep hidden."


    "Seek help."


    I snorted at that and began assisting Green in making a quick meal for ourselves.


    "Thanks," I said, accepting the bag of rice out of Gaia''s vines.


    Gaia had taken to helping Green and I meal prep. She was actually really helpful despite being a safety hazard for actually cooking.


    There was no need to go into that road... but just know Gaia thought I was cooking this bad on purpose and tried her hand at it.


    It did not go well. She truly was my starter alright because holy hell did she suck at cooking. She even had the gall to get mad at me when one of her vines got burned! As if she didn''t demand to cook!


    The nerve of some people. Gaia had been left pouting for the rest of the day when I explained in great detail how it was her fault and not mine.


    Saury, surprisingly, helped us as well. Though Metang told me it was to increase the dexterity in his vines. The cool headed Ivysaur didn''t seem to appreciate how nimble Gaia was getting with hers.


    Hah, they really were rivals. Saury really didn''t like her improving at anything better than him.


    A new addition to the helping us cook crew, was actually Oberon. He really liked being around me and was very shy otherwise, so he decided instead of getting in the way, he''d help me out.


    "You interested in cooking?" I asked curiously, accepting the jar out of Oberon''s paws.


    "Ursa!" he nodded happily.


    I smirked crookedly. "Alright, you can join Gaia in being my little assistant. We''re still learning how to cook as well."


    Oberon nodded, only to yelp as Gaia wrapped her vines around his waist and hoisted him up.


    "Bay!" she cheered, beginning to chat with him about the importance of helping us with cooking.


    Green nodded. "We''re getting pretty good! We aren''t burning them completely anymore!"


    "One day things beside the rice will have flavor," I said wistfully.


    "One day we won''t have to rely on Jas guiding us," Green agreed sagely.


    We¡­ were still getting there. Green and I sometimes even called Jasmine to have her guide us on how to make the meals taste good.


    I don''t know what was different between her guidance and us following instructions (or reciting from our, exceptional by the way, memory), but our food only managed to taste good when she was guiding us.


    Next time she visited us, we''d have to watch her every move. It didn''t matter how embarrassed she ended up getting... it needed to be done.


    The two of us were steadily improving but I didn''t like learning a skill so slowly.


    I wasn''t used to it damn it.


    It wasn''t yet dinner, so we were making a small amount of rice. Enough to fill us up to continue our journey, not enough to completely skip out our next break.


    A good balance. It allowed us to pace ourselves well, take necessary breaks and eat a sufficient amount of food. We were growing kids after all. It was important to do this right.


    "We''re making noodles tonight," I told her, inspecting it on my phone. "We''ll figure out which version depending on our mood. I bought a couple."


    Green nodded, happily eating her plate of rice as we stared out into the sea. When she was in the middle of chewing, I would hear her let out awed noises, just staring at the life in the sea with a wide gaze.


    It really was beautiful. Route 17 was surrounded by the sea. Combined with the trees, low grass, and the steady rhythm of bikes, the area really was incredibly peaceful.


    "Teddi," Oberon said, nudging my jacket and drawing my gaze away from the school of Goldeen.


    "Hm?" I raised a brow.


    He hesitantly gazed at my pokegear and I raised a brow, knowing exactly what he wanted.


    Alas, I couldn''t just accommodate him so freely. He needed to muster up the courage to ask. It would do no good if Oberon was afraid to ask even simple questions.


    My Teddiursa stared at me with an intense expression, going through a war of epic regards I imagine, as he contemplated if it was worth asking.


    Eventually, I watched him tentatively point at the Pokegear.


    "Go on," I nudged gently, purposely breaking my chopsticks and replacing them with a spoon because at least they weren''t fucking annoying to use.


    "Do you want me to teach you how to use those?" Green asked in amusement.


    "I don''t see the point. A spoon does the same job," I said blandly, proving my point by grabbing a spoonful of rice and eating it.


    "I''ll teach you tonight," Green decided.


    "Bah, whatever," I rolled my eyes, turning towards Oberon once more.


    I watched as he fiddled with his bowl, before he walked over with it, getting closer to me in the process.


    Then, he climbed atop my lap and began gazing at my pokegear, all while absentmindedly eating his food.


    He just continued eating his little pellets, eyes glued to the screen.


    ...Why the hell were my pokemon so cute? I had an image to upkeep here!


    "You wanna look over the recipe too huh?" I mused, lowering my gear to make it easier for him to inspect.


    Oberon let out a happy squeal at my simple and kind act, nodding enthusiastically at my question and handing me one of his pellets.


    Getting this happy over such simple acts? Wasn''t Oberon just adorable?


    I snorted and accepted the pellet, dropping it back into his bowl out of his line of sight. "Sure, you can look. There''s no way you''re gonna be a worse cook than Gaia."


    "B-BAY!" Gaia bellowed in embarrassment, rushing me with a look of outrage.


    "Leef! Bayleef!" she ranted, butting a head against me as I watched on with amusement.


    "Girl, I''m not gonna just lie to you. You''re even worse than me at cooking," I chided, brushing a hand against her head. She nearly melted into it, before remembering she was supposed to be throwing a tantrum and she ripped her head away, very reluctantly mind you.


    I huffed in amusement. "There''s a reason as my little assistant, you are not allowed to do more than just hand me stuff."


    Gaia puffed out her cheeks, rounding on Togee, Vee, Loki and Ares with a dark glare.


    The moment she even made the motion of turning, they had all stopped laughing. It was so in sync, that I''m pretty sure Gaia was getting confused on whether they were actually snickering or not.


    She huffed at the peaceful silence and turned back towards me with that angry scowl of hers.


    Wow she really was becoming way too much like me.


    I rolled my eyes. "Stop being a brat, Gaia. You shouldn''t even be mad that you can''t cook. You barely need to eat and you can do a bunch of other things. Don''t be mad that you can''t do one thing," I informed her.


    "You''re the same way!" Green chimed helpfully. "Ohh I''m Silver. I can do everything. When I can''t do something I get mad and I decide to harass Leaf or Jasmine! Don''t try and talk me out of it either because I get especially ignorant!"


    I twitched and directed a glare at my companion.


    "What?! I thought it was a pretty good impression!" Green defended, throwing both hands up. "I even said Leaf!"


    My glare deepened.


    The following silence made me huff and continue my stare off with my starter.


    Honestly, Gaia truly was the (Drama) Queen of the group and as the (Drama) Queen, she hated being told that she sucked at something.


    I''m convinced if I told Gaia she''d never be able to fly, she''d actually attempt to do it just to prove me wrong.


    The fact that she was still glaring at me was proof of that. It seems my dramatic Bayleef was actually hell bent on learning how to cook now.


    Well... who was I to deny her?


    "Alright alright. Come then. You can watch with Oberon and I. We all suck at cooking anyways," I conceded.


    She perked up at that and beamed, immediately laying her head onto my lap (while avoiding Oberon in the process) and focusing on the screen.


    "You''re setting a bad example for the team, Gaia," I chastised, lowering it so that all three of us could watch. "You''re my second member you know? Imagine if all of them start throwing temper tantrums like you just did."


    "Do not imply that I''d do such a thing," Metang rumbled, sounding utterly unamused.


    "Gon," Ares rumbled as well.


    "Zor!" Loki protested.


    "I can definitely believe Loki and Metang, but no amount of brooding and evolution is ever gonna make me believe you, Ares," I snorted rolling my eyes, as I picked up the approaching Freyja. "At least Freyja doesn''t deny the truth."


    "Bas!" she agreed happily sinking into my hold with a happy smile.


    I was too used to getting swamped by my team. Multitasking who got pats was mandatory... though it was pretty difficult only doing it with one hand.


    My poor bowl of rice was to the side now but I''d eat it eventually.


    "Shel?!" Ares grunted in shock. Clearly she was not expecting to get called out like that and the genuine surprise on her, not at all expressive, face, brought a real laugh outta me.


    I chuckled. "You certainly are less expressive but you''re still my little maniac of a Bagon inside that shell and I guarantee you''re gonna be even crazier when you become a Salamence."


    Freyja let out a suffering sigh. "Fee¡­" she said morosely.


    Ares glared deeply at her and let out a warning growl. It was a deep and heavy thing, a far cry from pre-evolution where she sounded more like a small dog instead of a damn tiger.


    She trudged over to us with a purpose and I let out a wheeze as she butted my chest lightly and knocked me backwards, before lazily resting half her body on me.


    "Ursa!" Oberon exclaimed in shock, having the foresight to evacuate the area with his bowl before he could become collateral.


    "Bay," Gaia sighed forlornly, moving her head from my body.


    Did I forget to mention my gigantic Shelgon was a heavy fucking girl now and I was a goddamn 12 year old kid?


    "Goddamnit Ares! Get the fuck off me!" I barked, watching as she ate my bowl of rice with a smug look in her eyes.


    "Gon," she said haughtily.


    "A worthy punishment for my rebellious vassal, is what the caged maniac says," Metang supplied helpfully.


    "I didn''t fucking need that translation Metang!" I snarled.


    "I was merely assisting you. You dearly looked as if you needed it."


    I twitched.


    "Next time you tip over, I''m leaving you like that and I''ll make sure no one helps!" I warned her, watching as she finished off my plate of food.


    Ares rumbled and trotted off, satisfied by a job well done.


    I grunted as the pressure was released from me and sat up, brushing myself with a scowl.


    I glared at her retreating body, before turning towards Gaia with a pointed expression.


    Gaia met my gaze and balked.


    I nodded.


    She shook her head.


    I nodded again.


    She let out a suffering sigh of defeat.


    "Bay," she chastised me, snaking out a vine and tripping Ares right over.


    "Shelgon!" Ares shouted in surprise, falling over with a thunderous noise.


    I smiled victoriously and stood up, letting out a fake noise of concern.


    "Awww, my poor little Ares. Always so clumsy," I sighed, walking up and patting her shell, before taking a seat on it. "Must have been something bad in that rice. I can''t cook after all so it probably got you good."


    She glared at me, growling in fury at hearing the sounds of Freyja laughing.


    Green''s jaw dropped at the events that just took place and she turned disbelieving eyes towards me.


    "D-Didn''t you just say that Gaia was setting a bad example?" she asked incredulously.


    "Yeah," I nodded.


    "But¡­ you just told her to trip Ares."


    "I do stuff for her, she does stuff for me. Symbiotic relationship," I replied easily.


    "Leef," Gaia disagreed. "Leef! Bayleef!"


    "You don''t agree with what I just told you to do?" I raised a brow. "Ares made you evacuate your spot you know."


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The Bayleef opened her mouth, before shutting it at the truth of my words.


    Green gaped. "A-Aren''t you setting a bad example too? You''re a maniac!"


    I tilted my head. "Who do you think Gaia got it from?" I asked curiously.


    "Bay," Gaia nodded sagely, batting a head against my side to further chastise my bad habits.


    "B-But... wha?" Green stuttered.


    "Oh you seriously thought I was the voice of reason," I said in realization. "Nah, that''s Loki."


    "Zor," Loki shook his head in amusement, accepting his head pat with a pleased expression.


    Green opened her mouth and closed it. "You realize that a dark type is the voice of reason on your team right¡­? That''s like saying a ghost is the most sensible member of the party¡­"


    I shrugged. "Metang''s an asshole. They don''t ever help anyone with anything. Just insults me all the time and pretends to be emotionless."


    "Refrain from speaking nonsensically."


    "You are the most confusing person I''ve ever met. It even leaks into your team," Green sighed in defeat.


    I chuckled, finally tipping Ares upright as she flailed about helplessly with a growl that didn''t sound like a whine at all. "We''ve been through a lot in a short time. Builds character."


    "Gon," Ares growled at me.


    "You were asking for it," I said easily, utterly unintimidated by my giant Shelgon even as she glowered at me. "You know how this goes, girl."


    She grumbled begrudgingly, accepting the snack thrown her way.


    "Alright, we got a bit of time before we start moving again, let''s train," I clapped once, turning on a dime and walking off with Ares right on my heel.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Flying Master: You mad at me?


    Flying Master: ...Gonna take that as a yes.


    Flying Master: Alright scratch that, you''re pissed. Silver, whatever you''re thinking, just know that I never had bad intentions. I thought it would be nice if Lorelei got to meet family and since you didn''t seem to know her, I figured you''d appreciate having one...


    You: So instead of telling me straight up... you spoke to me as if you didn''t have a clue on anything about me? Just because you got one over on me doesn''t mean I''m fucking stupid, Champion. Don''t ever patronize me again.


    Flying Master: I understand that... It probably wasn''t the smartest approach by me but I needed to be a little cautious. I can''t just approach a random redhead and ask if they''re related to Elite 4 Lorelei.


    You: So instead you act as if you know nothing... and then you send my aunt who I didn''t know after me? Right. Do you even know anything about my family? You have to. That''s the only reason someone would so brazenly intrude on business that''s not theirs.


    Flying Master: You''re right. I saw that you were listed as an orphan and interfered where I shouldn''t have. That was a mistake on my behalf.


    You: Save it, hero. I don''t care. I''m not mad at you or anything because you''d actually know if I were. It''s not like I hate Lorelei... I just want nothing to do with you if I can help it. Thanks for introducing me to my aunt. She''s a pain in the ass but at least she''s upfront about everything.


    I rolled my eyes and pocketed my Pokegear, not waiting for a response from him. I really didn''t wanna read it anyways.


    It''d be hypocritical of me to be mad that Lance got one over on me. My whole life since I woke up in the lab had been getting one over people.


    That didn''t mean I had to like it though. I had no intention of dealing with someone full of ulterior motives. That''s why I didn''t want to talk to the Champion of a region.


    Personal relationships when it came to people of such high power never ended well. Because duty had to come before all that stuff. Lance had a right as the Champion of a newly struggling region, to do what he needed to do to ensure it was stabilized...


    But that would not be at my expense. That was his duty, not mine. He could spout all he wanted on how he wanted Lorelei and I to meet up. That was only one of his goals.


    How many more did he have? I don''t know and I wouldn''t let him use me to solve them. The closer I got, the more chances I had at slipping up and now that I knew that Lance was much smarter than he acted... I couldn''t afford to do that.


    "Silvy, are you alright? You seem a little sad," Green asked, plopping down right in front of me.


    Our teams were training with each other and she had been guiding Dree and Larvee before approaching me.


    I scoffed. "Sad? The hell are you talking about?" I grunted.


    Green pursed her lips. "Nothing much... training is going really good. We''re making pretty good progress."


    I eyed her for a moment before nodding. "How''s Vee?" I asked randomly, watching as Oberon and Freyja sparred slightly.


    Despite his power advantage, he couldn''t hit Freyja because she kept speeding away with weak and controlled Water Pulses.


    All the while, she peppered him with Icy Winds and Dragon Breaths, wearing down the little bear until he couldn''t continue anymore.


    "He''s doing good! Still getting used to you but he''s been getting a lot of help from Metang. Thank you both for that," she smiled.


    I grunted and waved her off, even as I stood up. "No worries. Metang needs help using ranged psychic moves anyways and Espeon''s are really good at that."


    She smiled at that and I hoisted up the defeated Oberon. I sprayed him with a potion and regarded my crushed normal type.


    "Not bad," I mused, much to his surprise. "You''re at the level I expected you to be at. We''ll get you stronger in no time."


    "I saw how you looked during Green''s battle. You think they''re exciting?" I asked curiously


    Oberon gazed at me in awe and nodded eagerly.


    I snorted. "What did you think of my battle?" I asked curiously.


    The way his eyes shone, practically forced the smile onto my face.


    "Ursa Teddiursa!" he exclaimed excitedly.


    Ares stopped her attempts at trying to catch the ever speeding Loki and turned towards Oberon.


    She puffed up proudly, eyes looking distinctly pleased.


    "The cub is singing both her and I''s praises."


    Ah, no wonder she looked so proud of herself. Ares was an egomaniac.


    I chuckled. "Soon enough, you''ll be just as impressive. Just go at your pace and you''ll be there," I assured.


    "Isn''t that right, Freyja?" I asked.


    "Fee!" she beamed happily, nuzzling me.


    "Freyja here loved bringing herself down but lately she''s begun to realize just how amazing she is," I praised, hoisting my little fish up proudly.


    Freyja went beet red at that.


    "You''ve made a lot of progress girl," I smiled truthfully, patting her on the head. "I''m proud of you. You look more confident by the day. Your skin is practically glowing!"


    "Bay!" Gaia nodded in agreement, idly flinging the protesting (he loved it) Togee up and down with her vines.


    "Zor," Loki chimed in.


    Freyja practically died on the spot from embarrassment and I huffed in amusement.


    "Freyja is proof that with just the right mindset, you''ll be able to become strong," I told Oberon. "So don''t go getting down because one of my members beat you. That''s how it''s supposed to be right now. I wouldn''t be a very good trainer if you could beat them," I snorted.


    I ran a hand through his head. "Patience. You''ll get strong in due time. You have me as your trainer after all."


    Oberon looked up at me and if I squinted, I''m pretty sure I''d see stars in them.


    He shot me a shaky smile and I smirked right back.


    "Teddi!" He beamed, reaching behind and pulling out... earrings?


    Where the hell did Oberon get this piece of jewelry from? It was just a simple pair of drop earrings and I blinked owlishly at the accessory.


    "Huh?" I grunted in confusion, crouching low. "Leaf, you own any earrings?" I asked.


    "No! How come?" she asked curiously, walking over and inspecting the ones in my hand. "When did you get those?"


    I shrugged. "Oberon, when did you get these?" I asked slowly.


    Oberon shuffled nervously and stared at me for a minute or so before quietly uttering, "Ursa ursa."


    "In the previous city. He located and acquired it for you."


    My eyes widened at that and I chuckled to myself. "Well damn, I didn''t know you were skilled like that," I laughed in amusement.


    I ruffled him by the hair. "Nicely done Oberon. That''s quite the gift you got from me... but make sure you never get caught," I muttered.


    "Teddiursa!" he nodded vigorously.


    "No Oberon!" Green chastised in distress. "Don''t be like Silver! You''re better than this!"


    Oberon jumped with wide eyes, turning towards Green.


    "Don''t steal from people. That''s bad!" Green explained. "They''ll be very sad!"


    "Steal from corporations. They don''t care about their product anyways," I added with a short nod.


    "No! That''s not any better!"


    "All corporations are greedy and self serving. They won''t care if we take from them because they don''t actually care about their customers or employees. They''ll just mass produce more so it''s fine for us to take it."


    "W-Where are you getting all this from?!"


    Oberon gazed at the two of us with wide eyes, clearly torn on who he should listen to before giving up and shuffling over to the contemplative Loki.


    Before he could reach, a hand gripped his own and he met the gaze of the ever mischievous Togee.


    The Togepi shot him a thumbs up and Oberon fired back a shaky smile.


    I watched in amusement, drawing Green''s gaze away from the two...


    "Togee I swear to all that is holy!" Green suddenly barked.


    ...Or not. The Togepi immediately withered away in horror, trying to get away from his scarier by the day mother.


    I shrugged. She really had a sixth sense for these things.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I hummed a random song to myself, idly catching Loki as he jumped into my arms.


    "You''re getting heavier," I noted, patting him atop his tuft of hair as he crawled into his designated spot inside my jacket. "You gonna evolve soon?"


    Now that I thought about it, Gaia was also getting quite a bit heavier too.


    My team was growing up before my very eyes.


    It had been about a week since we left Celadon and since Green and I were in no rush to make it to Sunnytown, we mostly trained and battled the rowdy bikers who loved staying around.


    Those damn bikers... I already smashed my foot into one of their faces for trying to intimidate us. Before I could get my bat though, Green dragged us away.


    Lucky bastard.


    Loki looked up at me and nodded without hesitation at my mostly unserious question.


    I blinked in surprise. "Oh shit, really? How close are you?" I asked curiously.


    "Zor," he answered.


    Green and I both perked up at that.


    I blinked even harder. "Really close? Oh. Why didn''t you say anything?" I hummed, thinking about what I''d have to adjust now that he was going to evolve.


    Probably more meat in his diet. Zoroark''s were far stronger than Zorua''s so they could actually afford to hunt down prey more consistently.


    I didn''t notice Loki frown slightly, caught up in how I was going to accommodate his evolution.


    "C''mon we''ll let you battle the trainers now. I''ve been letting Freyja and Oberon get more experience but we can run through them with you," I encouraged.


    Loki looked a little conflicted and it was finally that I noticed the turmoil he was going through.


    I immediately paused what I was doing and turned my full attention to my first pokemon.


    Green stopped as well and the two of us walked to a more isolated area.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked him, taking my first pokemon out of my pocket and holding him up by the midsection. Like this, I could look directly into his green blue eyes and I could see the hesitance clear as day.


    Had he been hiding this from me? How long had Loki been conflicted for?


    Loki looked pensive at my question. "Zor¡­ zorua," he began.


    I furrowed my brows. "You''re hesitant about evolving? Is it because of your mother?"


    Did Loki also have issues with his mom? It didn''t seem like it... the Zoroark seemed rather fond of him after all.


    Loki confirmed my thoughts by shaking his head slowly. "Rua, Zor. Zorua,"


    I frowned.


    "It''s because he doesn''t know if he''s actually ready for that?" I confirmed with Metang.


    "That is correct."


    Ah... now I understand. Loki''s problems didn''t stem from his confidence or his parents...


    No, Loki''s problems stemmed from me.


    I sighed fondly at that, understanding it all from that single realization. "Loki, can I admit something to you?" I asked him.


    Loki looked at me with a hesitant gaze and nodded slowly.


    I sat down, placing him in front of me with a relaxed smile. "To be completely honest with you¡­ with the whole team really. I''ve kinda lost my memories."


    You could hear a pin drop at the silence that ensued from my declaration.


    Green''s eyes went wide in disbelief at that, a choking noise emitting from her as she tried and failed to say something.


    The rest of my team fared no better, gazing at me in sheer horror at the reveal.


    Loki''s eyes widened in horror. "Z-ZOR?!" he barked in concern.


    I held out my hand reassuringly. "I''m talking about¡­ before we started this journey of ours. I still remember everything we''ve done so far... but I don''t remember anything from before we got Gaia... does that ring a bell?" I asked curiously.


    Loki mulled my question over and his eyes widened as he pinpointed the exact moment I was talking about.


    "Zor!" he exclaimed.


    "Yep, exactly back in the lab when I started freaking out. That''s when you had to bail me out because I messed up the mission badly," I said seriously. "I was confused and shocked¡­ I dunno what happened really and I''m still not sure what the exact details are... but you helped me out, even despite the fact that you were afraid of me."


    Loki flinched at my words. They weren''t accusing at all, I was just stating a fact.


    "Even though you were afraid of me, you still helped me out to the best of your abilities. I never did apologize for treating you like shit¡­ because I don''t really remember doing any of it..." I admitted with a small frown.


    Loki looked stunned at the admittance. He had just taken to staring at me with wide eyes, unable to really muster up words.


    I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "...But that doesn''t change the fact that I still did it. One of the first things I realized about you, was that you were afraid of me¡­ and I felt bad because I know I was the reason for it. So, I wanted to make it up to you in anyway I knew how. You didn''t deserve whatever the hell I was doing to you before so I vowed to treat you the best I could," I said truthfully.


    "You''re free to do your little pranks with Ares and Vee, you''re free to sleep inside my jacket whenever you want¡­ and you''re free to decide when you''re ready to evolve," I said resolutely, running a hand through his hair.


    Loki reeled back at that.


    "You feel like the reason you want to evolve is because of me right? You think that because I want to be strong enough to defend myself, you have to evolve to achieve that," I informed him accurately.


    At my words, I saw the realization hit Loki''s face and smiled sardonically.


    "I won''t rush you to do anything. I won''t force you to do anything. I''ve forced you enough, haven''t I?" I informed him seriously.


    "I''m sorry for being such a bad trainer until the end and I''m sorry for making you fill yourself with so much expectations. I''m not the only one on the team dealing with this baggage, huh? You know more than anyone, what''s at stake... and you began to act accordingly, to my will and not yours."


    What a terrible thing I put Loki through. I didn''t even realize. I thought just treating him better would solve all his issues but that was naive of me.


    I placed Loki on the ground and ruffled his tuft.


    "It''s your decision, Loki. Don''t do this because of me, do it because of you. If you want to evolve, great. If you don''t, that''s also great. I won''t scorn you for making your choices. We''re a team," I finished.


    Loki looked at me with wide eyes and to my slight surprise, he began tearing up.


    "Zor!" Loki nodded furiously, grinning up at me.


    Thank you. That''s what he said to me.


    I smiled at that, only to gasp as a white aura began surrounding my first pokemon.


    The touching scene, was replaced by a buzz of excitement as we watched Loki change right before our eyes.


    He grew in size, body shifting and cracking as his structure began to change and I watched in awe as my little Zorua grew more than double his height. His 4 little paws transformed into dangerously sharp claws, he gained some red rims around his eyes and mouth, his forelegs shifted slightly, looking more akin to arms now and his hind legs transformed as well to accommodate the change, able to support his dominantly bipedal body.


    Finally, that little tuft on his head, transformed into a large, red, voluminous mane with black tips, flowing freely down his back in an awesome display.


    Light blue irises shifted into focus, as the Zoroark stared at me. I watched as he wiped the tears out of his eyes, before he inspected his new arms in shock.


    He stumbled a bit, not used to being bipedal whatsoever and I rushed forward to keep him upright, gazing at him in awe.


    "You alright?" I asked quietly, inspecting every little change about him.


    "Zor," he said, voice a far deeper octave. It was one befitting a true predator now.


    Loki shrugged me off of him, much to my confusion and took a shaky step back, legs wobbling somewhat.


    Then, those predatory eyes locked onto me and I watched as my first pokemon vanished.


    I tensed slightly.


    Had evolution brought out Loki''s resentment for me? Was I about to die? How the hell do I even defend myself against a pokemon who could utilize illusions?


    Hm... I don''t think I could.


    Well shit. I guess I''m dead.


    My mounting confusion didn''t last long, as the environment around me shifted into a different scenery.


    I opened my mouth in surprise.


    The entire scenery? Seriously? Loki couldn''t do this even if he tried his hardest as a Zorua.


    "Woah!" Green said in awe, eyes sparkling as the area transformed into a room. "What is this?"


    I was about to reply, before my attention was grabbed by a truly stunning sight.


    There was a little boy, with a full head of red hair and a set of the strangest silver eyes. He didn''t look like he was even in the double digits of age, glowing with the childish innocence of a curious boy.


    And there was an egg in his hands. It was pitch black, red markings all over it.


    The boy was holding onto the egg like a lifeline, clumsily making sure the egg, that was half his size, was in perfect condition.


    "¡­" I said nothing, watching the child with a blank gaze.


    Green gasped silently, looking rapidly between the child and me.


    He was surprisingly diligent. He wiped the egg clean, kept it warm, put it in its own bed¡­


    "Mom won''t tell me what you are," the child practically squeaked.


    I couldn''t stop the surprise at hearing the illusion speak. I just stared dumbly at it, unable to muster up a single response.


    "But I''m not stupid you know! You''re the same colors as her black fox pokemon! Zor... zoro... um... Zorark!" he exclaimed, eyes full of wondrous curiosity¡­


    Did I¡­ really used to look like that?


    "One day, you''ll hatch and then we''ll be buddies and then we''ll go out there and get even more friends and no one will stop us! Not dad, not mom, no one! We''ll become the strongest around!" the young Silver said with a look of genuine excitement at the prospect.


    His naive gaze, widened in awe as the egg began shuddering right next to him. In the dark of the night, the egg began glowing and the child excitedly ran to cut the lights on, so he could better see the sight.


    "Woah!" he gasped excitedly, getting as close as possible to the egg without making physical contact.


    It was surreal seeing those familiar silver eyes, look so innocent. It was foreign, seeing such a wide smile don the face of the child with my face.


    But it was there. A beaming and expectant grin as the egg cracked and cracked, until a tiny tuft poked out of one of the openings.


    A head followed that tuft and the cracks grew more and more numerous, before a slate gray fox burst out of it, covered in fluid from growing in the egg.


    It was much tinier, but that was my Zorua alright. As he opened his blue-green eyes, they made direct contact with the wide eyes of Silver.


    Then, the little version of me laughed and lunged, grasping the yelping Zorua in a fierce hug of excitement.


    "Yuck! You''re so slimy!" he laughed happily.


    "Z-Zor!" the baby Zorua squeaked.


    "¡­" I said nothing as the illusion faded away and the Zoroark stepped back into view.


    There was a strange look in Loki''s eyes as he gazed at me and I stared back at him.


    That illusion... that was really me huh? I imagine soon after that took place, I was experimented on...


    But before that, I must have been having a great time with Loki huh?


    "...I hatched you?" I asked quietly.


    "Zoroark," he replied with a nod.


    I had an inkling that Loki had been my pokemon for a long time since my mom had a Zoroark... but I had no idea that I was the one who hatched him.


    "¡­" I said nothing at all, just staring at my first pokemon with an expressionless face.


    Then¡­


    Then I pulled him into a fierce hug.


    "I can''t believe it," I laughed disbelievingly, overwhelmed with a surge of emotion. "So you''ve really been with me since the start huh? You even saw me change in real time huh?" I asked.


    Loki looked stunned, before he hesitantly raised his new arms and then he returned the hug in kind.


    "Zor," he nodded.


    I laughed a genuine laugh. It was a foreign and different, not sounding anything like my dry chuckles before, but it was real.


    "Loki, thank you. Thanks for putting up with a dumbass like me," I said truthfully, raking my hand through his wild crimson mane.


    Loki chuckled and was about to say something, before he caught himself.


    There was a contemplative expression on his face and he nodded.


    I watched curiously, as the Zoroark stepped back once more, before he began weaving an illusion once more.


    He transformed himself into¡­ me?


    Yes.. that was my face alright... but his hair was slate gray instead and his eyes were that same light blue of his pokemon form.


    Then, he opened his mouth and my eyes widened.


    "No, thank you Silver," Loki said earnestly. "Thank you for being the best trainer we could ask for."


    ¡­


    I¡­ forgot that a Zoroark who took the form of a human, was capable of human speech¡­


    And considering my Zoroark had known humans quite literally since birth¡­ he''d know a thing or two.


    "Asshole," I muttered, a dust of red donning my cheeks as I sighed. "The first time you speak to me and it''s to goddamn embarrass me."


    I heard a snicker from him and smiled with a shake of my head.


    "Just so you know, we''re going to abuse that new skill of yours so much," I pointed out.


    "Zor," Loki agreed, eyes drooping slightly in exhaustion.


    I snorted and inspected him once more, noticing something about his evolution. "We''ll have to get you a bangle for your hair too. It''s a rite of passage for Zoroarks to wear one right?" I asked, grabbing his free hair and noting the soft and spiky texture.


    Loki nodded, reaching back and grasping his long mane.


    When a Zorua evolved, they tended to get bangles for their mane that allowed them to style it into a ponytail of sorts.


    They were typically teal due to that being a Zoroark''s preference but there were sightings of different colors.


    How they got the bangles? Well that was obvious don''t you think? They utilized their illusions to take the material they wanted to transform into one... or they just took the bangle itself.


    Truly, this pokemon was made for me.


    Loki mulled something over, before suddenly pointing directly at my eyes.


    "Ark," he said simply.


    I blinked. "You want your bangle to be silver?" I asked curiously.


    He nodded without hesitation.


    I felt a warm heat course through my body at that. "Alright. We''ll get you that silver bangle then," I conceded easily enough.


    "Looks like we really are stopping in that Sunnytown place. I considered just skipping it since our supplies were good but we can go," I informed the starstruck Green. "I don''t want Loki doing anything until we get him checked up. Plus I need to find a silver bangle for him."


    Green nodded eagerly. "Alright! We can stop there and restock any missing supplies! That was so awesome and inspiring and I can''t wait to battle Loki!"


    I felt an excited thrum go through my body at that.


    Loki had always been my craftiest fighter. He was my fastest to boot¡­ but Loki had always lacked the power and output to truly fulfill his fantasies.


    And now we had it. We had the missing piece.


    Zoroarks were on a completely different level of power than their pre-evolution. They were upgraded in every single way and Loki and I had already been racking up wins as his baby form.


    Now?


    "You look scary," Green pointed out fearfully.


    "If you thought Loki and I were annoying before, we''re about to hit another gear," I said with a gleam in my eyes.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Loki was being swarmed by the team, all of them inspecting his newly evolved form.


    None looked happier than Gaia. She and Loki had known each other the longest after all.


    "You did it, Loki!" she cheered, wrapping him in her vines and pulling the Zoroark into a strong hug.


    "You look so strong!" Freyja cheered happily.


    "You''ve taken a form worthy of fighting alongside me," Ares praised gruffly, inspecting her teammate with a critical eye.


    "Hmph," was all Metang bothered to say.


    "W-Woah," Oberon gasped.


    Loki laughed at that, just letting it be and returning the hug to the best of his abilities. "Yeah, I was being a little dumb," he admitted.


    "I''d say duh... but I never knew about you and Silver''s past," Gaia said, sobering up quickly.


    The Zoroark sighed. "It''s complicated... and considering he doesn''t even remember it... I don''t think there''s much need to discuss it anymore," he explained.


    So Silver had amnesia? Was it a result of the experiments?


    Loki scowled. He hadn''t know Silver had gotten experimented on. He had simply gone out with Giovanni while Loki''s mother and father had tended to him in the care of Ariana.


    Then... he came back like the Silver he had known before. The one who hated everything and everyone. The one who only saw use in things that were useful to him.


    It was the ghost of that Silver that made Loki feel like he had to evolve... and when it clashed with the kindness of this Silver, it had caused him turmoil on whether his evolution was something he actually wanted or not.


    But Loki did want to evolve. Loki wanted to be strong enough to protect Silver and their team. That... was his own thought and he was glad that Silver helped him realize that.


    Gaia smiled softly and squeezed him. "You and Silver have been through a lot huh?" she asked.


    Loki nodded, voluminous hair jostling at the movement. "And then some. I''ll tell you all another time... especially since I''m the only one who remembers."


    "That''s a promise! How about after we deal with all this stuff?" Gaia beamed.


    Loki nodded. "That gives me enough time to get better at my illusions. It would be better to tell the story with visuals."


    Ares snorted. "Very well. I will allow your secrets for now. Do not think me one to forget such a thing."


    The Zoroark smiled in amusement. "Of course, Ares. Once I get the greenlight from Silver, how about we spar? I''d like to spar with you too Metang."


    "Excellent! I look forward to it, Loki," Ares exclaimed, nodding to her friend with a gleam in her eyes.


    "Whatever you say, Trickster," Metang replied.


    Gaia immediately began whining. "Did you forget me, Loki? How could you forget me?!" she exclaimed.


    Loki rolled his eyes. "Of course not, you drama queen. You''re just so spoiled that you already had a spot reserved."


    Gaia nodded happily, before realization hit her. "Hey! Wait a second! Don''t call me spoiled! You''re proving Silver right and if Silver knows he''s right, he gets worse!" she barked angrily.


    "He isn''t wrong," Loki informed her with an amused smile. "You''re spoiled as hell, Gaia. I don''t think anyone would disagree... they just want to be spared from the tantrum."


    Gaia balked at that and gazed at her team, noting the complete silence.


    Then she turned towards Loki, glower on her face and waved her vines threateningly.


    "Gaia, you better not be thinking of fighting Loki right now," the voice of Silver said warningly.


    Gaia went stiff and shot the amused Loki a dirty glare.


    "I-I wasn''t going to!" she whined guiltily.


    Their trainer was glancing over at them with narrowed eyes, Green next to him with an amused smile.


    "Sure you weren''t," Silver said dryly, rolling his eyes and turning away from her.


    "When did he get so good at understanding us?" Gaia grumbled in defeat, stamping away.


    Loki laughed. "He''s been improving a lot. He''s always making an effort for us. That''s why I chose to evolve in the end... so that I can do my part for him."


    "Don''t compliment him right now! I''m mad at him and I don''t wanna hug him!" Gaia barked. "Ares! Come train with me!"


    "Very well," Ares rolled her eyes, trotting after the Bayleef.


    "So dramatic," Loki sighed in amusement. "Freyja, you okay?"


    Freyja jumped at that, gazing at Loki with wide eyes.


    She had been deep in thought before being called by him and it was clear whatever she was thinking of was currently plaguing her.


    "Oh! Loki... I-I was just thinking... why did Silver want me?" she asked hesitantly.


    Loki paused at that question.


    "It''s not like I''m strong or anything... you guys are a lot stronger than me but even despite that, he''s... trying to make it work. He tries almost twice as hard for me as for anyone else... Why?" she asked.


    To be completely honest... he did not know why Silver wanted Freyja either. He didn''t really go into detail about it. He just decided that he wanted the Feebas.


    "I don''t know," he said honestly.


    Freyja deflated slightly.


    "But... I do know that you were always his goal," Loki informed her.


    Freyja perked up at that.


    "The Silver I knew only cared about strength and what a pokemon could offer him... I don''t think he would have even looked your way," Loki said bluntly.


    "But Silver picked you without hesitation. He traveled to a whole new region and you were his first capture there," he explained with an amused smile.


    Freyja''s eyes widened at that.


    "Was I really?" she asked quietly.


    "Yep. Silver had his mind set on you from the start. I don''t actually think he was considering anyone else... because he likes you," Loki explained.


    "You have confidence issues so Silver boosts you up. You''re weak so Silver makes you strong... and you were captured because Silver likes you. I don''t think there''s anything more to it, Freyja."


    Freyja blinked in surprise. "He just likes me for... me?"


    Loki nodded. "He does. Trust me... if it were the old Silver, he wouldn''t be nearly as patient. He sees something in you that you don''t see yet... but he''s convinced you''ll see it one day."


    "Wow..." Freyja said.


    "I-I think you''re plenty strong already!" Oberon suddenly chimed. He nervously glanced at her with a small smile. "You beat me up so easily!"


    "W-Well that''s because you''re new! You''ll get stronger too, Oberon," Freyja encouraged.


    "You too! We''ll both evolve in no time and become even stronger!" Oberon said, a burst of happiness filling him.


    Freyja smiled, before it vanished in a moment of confusion.


    "Evolve..." she muttered to herself.


    Could she evolve? It would be amazing if she could...


    Maybe evolution would let her finally put Ares in her place.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "You have amnesia?" Green asked me quietly, pulling me to the side so we could converse alone.


    I glanced at her and nodded. "I don''t have any memories of before I took Gaia," I informed her truthfully.


    Green heard and saw everything between Loki and I. It''s not like it was a private moment so I expected this. Besides, I trusted my companion. She was a real trooper and... she could afford some trust from me.


    She nearly died trying to save me after all. As far as I was concerned, Green was the only ally I could actually consider trustworthy with no strings attached.


    As she digested the information I just said, a look of genuine horror and sadness appeared on Green''s face. To be honest, it looked like she was about to start crying at my admittance, little empath that she was.


    I felt a little bad that this nearly drove her to tears. I didn''t have memories of before Gaia... because I didn''t really exist yet before Gaia.


    But¡­ I couldn''t quite say that could I? Maybe in the future but for now, only I could afford to know that little secret of mine¡­


    Besides, I already came to terms with the fact of who I was.


    I''m Silver, that''s all there was to it now.


    "I can''t¡­ I can''t believe them! How could they do that to you?! You looked so cute and innocent!" Green snarled angrily. "Those low life, scummy, Muk shit eating assholes¡ª"


    I snorted at her colorful language.


    "I won''t let Team Rocket get away with what they did to you," Green said darkly, glaring at the floor.


    I blinked. "I won''t either. Now calm down you rabid animal. Wouldn''t want you to bite anyone," I said assuredly, patting her on the head.


    Green nodded, puffing her cheeks out indignantly at my comments and getting a chuckle out of me.


    "Cute and innocent. Not two words I''d ever associate with myself," I mused.


    Green''s anger vanished instantly as a squeal left her mouth. "You were so cute when you were younger! You looked so happy and at peace! I almost died at you struggling to pronounce Zoroark! Now look at you..."


    I twitched at the despondent sigh she let out and glared at her.


    "You calling me ugly?" I sneered.


    "I''m not calling you cute!" she sneered back.


    "Is Ms. Jungle Hair really judging appearances?" I asked curiously, peering at her hair with a innocent expression. "I''m pretty sure I saw a Pidgey resting in it."


    "Your face could make a Wooper cry," Green said flatly, trying to hide her hair from me. "Leave my hair alone! I can''t help it!"


    "You started it," I scowled.


    She scowled right back. "You deserve everything I say! You''ve been terrorizing me since we''ve met!"


    "I''ve been terrorizing you?" I asked incredulously. "We''re only friends because you wouldn''t leave me alone!"


    "Nuh uh!"


    I twitched harshly at that, poised to attack her at a moments notice.


    "There''s no need to fight you two," Jasmine said.


    "He/She deserves it," Green and I said at that same time, before pausing.


    Huh?


    Jasmine?


    The two of us turned towards the direction of that voice and were met with a stern faced Jasmine.


    "Huh, that''s gonna take some getting used to," Green said offhandedly.


    "You''re telling me," I sighed.


    The Jasmine smiled at that, melting away into the amused Loki.


    "That''s one way to get us to stop fighting," I commented with a roll of my eyes.


    Loki huffed at that, clearly finding a great joy in his new control over illusions and I snorted.


    "C''mon, let''s make it to the next city! We need to make sure Loki''s evolution was smooth!" Green laughed happily, switching on a dime.


    I nodded. "Sounds good to me. It''s time to head out, you all!"


    I heard a chorus of noises and returned everyone, except for Loki.


    "You wanna get used to walking?" I asked.


    "Ark," he nodded.


    Zoroark''s were quite short, but I was also pretty short so we stood at fairly similar heights. He was struggling to stand upright and I pat him as his frustrations flared in the form of a snarl.


    "Hey don''t worry," I assured. "You just got your whole structure changed. It''s expected that you''ll struggle a bit. You''ll get used to it."


    "Also, your hormones are probably all outta sorts so it''s okay to let your emotions flare," I informed him.


    Loki nodded, looking embarrassed at that.


    "Mhm don''t worry about it, Loki!" Green nodded eagerly. "You shoulda seen Saury when he first evolved. He was trying so hard to mask his frustrations with his cool guy attitude!"


    "Wow, even Saury, the epitome of cool guys, wasn''t immune?" I chuckled.


    Vee cackled and nodded eagerly.


    "Ivy," Saury warned, causing me to snort.


    "Hear that, Loki? You''ll be fine," I assured, running a hand through his mane.


    Loki made a noncommittal growl, deep voice making him sound far more predatory than when he was a little Zorua.


    I sighed.


    "Not gonna lie, I''m gonna miss you sleeping in my jacket," I said wistfully.


    "Zor," Loki nodded in agreement.


    "It was super adorable," Green agreed. "One of the few times I''d apply that word to you."


    "Fuck you," I said gruffly.


    She giggled, only to yelp as she tripped on the foot I stuck out.


    Before she could fall face first, Saury''s vines lifted her up and set her back straight, giving her the ability to instantly whirl and lunge at me. It was a very practiced maneuver because I tripped her a lot.


    "You stupid prick! Stop tripping me!" Green barked.


    "Stop trying to bite me all the time!" I barked in return, holding her face back. "Rabid goddamn creature!"


    "Saur," Saury said with a tired sigh.


    "Zor," Loki nodded in agreement.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    :D Silver: Jasmine, am I good looking?


    :D Green: You don''t have to lie!


    :D Silver: On that note, is Leaf''s hair a genetic mutation?


    :D Green: Leave my hair alone! And call me Green damnit!


    You: U-Um... w-why are you guys asking me these questions? D-Do I have to answer them?


    :D Silver: Yes


    :D Green: Yes


    You: ...


    You: Please, I would really prefer to not answer these. This is very embarrassing for me.


    :D Silver: Refusal to answer will make us come up with our own answer. I don''t think you want that. It would make our next meeting awkward.


    :D Green: :(.


    You: You two are so evil... I-I...


    You: ...Please don''t make me.


    :D Green: Jasmine...


    :D Silver: Answer now.


    You: U-Um... well... I wouldn''t say Silver is ugly at all. He''s actually um... quite cute. As for Green''s hair, I think it''s fine! For how wild it looks, she does take rather good care of it.


    :D Silver: See? Also you''re way too honest, Jas. I just asked if I''m good looking. You only needed to say yes... but thanks for calling me cute.


    :D Green: I think she''s just too nice to tell the truth... except for when it''s about my hair of course!


    You: I hate you two so much sometimes... what did I do to deserve this?


    :D Silver: Not answer immediately. Don''t be so stubborn next time.


    :D Green: Lie to Silvy too next time.


    :D Silver: Kinda like what you were doing? Lies will never douse my confidence. I know what I know, Jas knows what I know and you know what I know.


    You: Please stop. I just answered the question you asked honestly. Why am I being punished for such a thing? I didn''t even want to answer!


    You: And you two better not be fighting right now! I swear everytime I hear you speak a fight breaks out.


    :D Silver: Don''t worry, we aren''t fighting.


    You: Good... wait a second. Green can you say something?


    :D Green: Hi Jasmine! Green here! My eyes were being blocked by my terrible hair so I couldn''t respond! ...Hehe?


    You: Silver... can you please get off Green? And please give her Pokegear back.


    :D Silver: Damn, thought my impression was spot on.


    :D Green: I''LL KILL YOU!


    Jasmine stared at her Pokegear dumbly, face burning red as they stopped replying in the chat.


    "They''re so annoying," she sighed in the comfort of her room.


    "Tink?" Tinkatink questioned, glancing up at her from her spot on Jasmine''s lap.


    "My best friends, Silver and Green," Jasmine explained with a fond smile. "You''ll meet them one day. Silver gave me the inspiration to catch you!"


    Her most recent capture, next to Ferroseed who was currently asleep nearby, looked on with nervous anticipation, nodding slowly as she fiddled with her little baby rattle shaped hammer.


    Jasmine was currently at her desk, signing a few papers before they suddenly bombarded her with that question.


    Silver was one of the most confident people she knew, he already knew the answer to what he was asking... so clearly he and Green were arguing...


    Again.


    "One day those two are going to kill each other," she muttered, idly staring at her army of Pokedolls.


    They sat proudly on her desk, adding more life to what used to be a rather barren room.


    Her favorite was the giant plushie of the Piplup. It sat proudly in front of her, watching as she jotted away on each document.


    Conveniently, Empy loved that one too.


    Speak of the Giratina...


    "Emp?" Empy asked curiously.


    Jasmine blinked and nodded. "Yes, I was just messaging Silver and Green."


    The Empoleon looked offended. "Pole empoleon," he grunted, crossing his fins.


    Jasmine sighed. "It was just messages, Empy! It''s not easy for me to tell Silver you said hi!"


    Honestly, Empy didn''t care about any trainer they had ever encountered! Now all of a sudden, he was Silver''s biggest fan?


    Was it because of how arrogant the both of them were? Jasmine just didn''t know!


    "Fine... I''ll call him," she said in defeat. "I need to make sure they haven''t killed each other anyways."


    "Empoleon emp."


    "Empy says: You act as if you don''t want to speak to him when that''s very far from the truth. Enough with the act and call him so that I may thank him for the gift."


    "T-Thank you Bronzy. I really needed to hear that," Jasmine sighed miserably.


    "It is of no concern. I am simply fulfilling my duties."


    Jasmine sighed again.


    The Piplup plush wasn''t even for Empy! It was hers! Rusty was already doing her best to take care of the woefully tiny Steelix plush that Silver also gave her... to surprising success.


    They were so annoying! Jasmine never thought she''d be fighting her teammates for her friends affections.


    "Silver, Empy wanted to say hi. Yes, he made me call you just to relay that. Empy, Silver says "sup bro". Silver are you still fighting Green?! Would you two stop fighting?!"

 Player One II

    "Alright, we should be almost there," I grunted.


    We weren''t very far from Sunnytown now, fueled by our desire to get Loki checked on and as a result, we sped up our pace a little.


    "Hold it right there!"


    But alas, the world really wanted to bring the absolute worst outta me.


    Green and I abruptly stopped pedaling, as no joke, a group of bikers surrounded us.


    I twitched violently at that.


    Did these assholes actually surround me?


    The bikers of this route, were some of the most insufferable people I ever had the displeasure of meeting.


    Loud, obnoxious and full of themselves... up until I stomped that out by crushing them in battle.


    The cycling road, unlike the one in Hoenn, was riddled with delinquents who thought they were big and bad up until they encountered yours truly.


    Trying to intimidate me and ending up an embarrassed mess at the end of it basically summed up our life on this route so far.


    I even reduced one to tears. Grown man too... grown man who couldn''t even get a second gym badge.


    Ridiculous. I hated this route so much.


    "Whatever comes out of your fucking mouth better not be irritating, obnoxious, or something worthy of pissing me off," I warned, not intimidated in the slightest by the group of bikers.


    It was a very unreasonable thing for me to say because I was irritated from the very first second of this conversion.


    Case in point, my hand was already reaching for my bag and Green shot me an exasperated look.


    "Can we help you?" Green asked politely, deciding to take control of the conversation like she often tended to do. "We''re in a bit of a rush so if not, please let us through."


    I scoffed and said nothing, eyeing down each one with a scowl.


    Most only had one pokeball attached to their waist and at this point, I was completely confident that Green and I''s team could steamroll them.


    And then after we steamrolled them, I was gonna make sure they couldn''t ride their bikes anymore by smashing their legs.


    This damn cycling road was full of annoying bikers who swore they were thugs and big baddies... then they sent out the most ridiculous shit.


    "We haven''t seen your face around these parts before," some guy with a ridiculous haircut greeted in a half friendly/half challenging manner.


    No seriously. It was a shade of orange sticking straight up, with a lighter patch of orange donning part of it.


    "We''re not from around here," Green explained politely.


    "Shouldn''t that be fucking obvious? It''s almost the middle of the year and the gym circuit challenge," I scoffed with a roll of my eyes. "You expect everyone on this route to be from around here?" I sneered.


    The guy with the ridiculous hairdo was apparently not the sole leader of this dumbass gang because there was a green haired girl with some ridiculous shorts on.


    It was pretty cold right now. How the hell could she walk around with shorts that small?


    "You got a problem?" the girl asked.


    I sneered. "What clued you in, dumbass? Was it the happy greeting or the baseball bat I''m about to shove up all your ¡ª"


    "We''re just journeying around the region and we''re in a bit of a rush so if you don''t mind!" Green interrupted immediately, way too used to my terrible attitude escalating situations.


    "Woah hold on, you can''t go without greeting us!" he immediately exclaimed.


    "Can I kill them yet?" I muttered to Green quietly.


    "There will be no killing of any sort!" she muttered back.


    "What about breaking of limbs?"


    "...That''s still up in the air."


    I nodded, pleased by that. "What the fuck do you guys want?" I asked with a raised brow. "Depending on what you say, I have been given permission to start doing things my way."


    "I-I didn''t give you permission! That''s not what I meant!" Green balked at me.


    "That''s what I heard."


    "You are so ignorant!"


    We both paused, as the girl stepped off the bike and walked up, crossing her arms across her chest.


    "Greetings around here mean battles," she said, glaring at us with a slight scowl.


    I was wholly unimpressed.


    "So you''re surrounding us. Refusing to let us go through and using shitty intimidation tactics¡­ all for a battle? Is that right?" I asked incredulously.


    "That''s right!" The guy said, completely missing the way I glanced at my bag, hellbent on pulling out my bat.


    "And out of curiosity... what will you do if I refuse?" I asked with narrowed eyes.


    The guy paused at that, thrown for a loop.


    "Huh... no one''s ever refused before," he mused. "But if you did refuse, we would keep you here until you accept."


    The girl nodded.


    I nodded too. "Violently?" I asked. "Would you keep us here through violent means?"


    The biker gang balked. "What?! No! We''re not monsters!"


    How unfortunate for them. I was definitely a monster in that case.


    I reached into my bag without hesitation and pulled out my baseball bat.


    "What... are you gonna do with that?" the lead guy asked curiously.


    "Stay still and you''ll find out quickly."


    Green gaped and ripped the baseball bat out of my hand, stuffing it away into her bag and ignoring the dirty glare I shot her.


    She let out a strained scream, as I reached into my bag again... and pulled out a long stick that had been carefully carved into a staff.


    "That... is an awesome stick," the male biker complimented.


    I nodded, pleased by how stupid he was. "It''s damn awesome. I have more of them. Wanna see?" I asked curiously.


    The trees in this world were really damn tough by virtue of Pokemon. I even made sure to research which one Farfetch''d use to make their leek and used it as inspiration.


    That handy knife, which I''m pretty sure was made from Pawniard pieces, did a helluva job at carving them. My wooden weapon looked damn good.


    Good foresight by me to create more than one. Who knew I''d be using them so early!


    Before I could make good on my intentions, Green decided it was high time to end this conversation.


    "A battle? Alright, sure! How about we make it a double yeah? You both have one pokeball so we can just do a 2 on 2 double battle!" she interjected, realizing that I was very close to doing something criminal.


    The dude nodded at the request, taking his gaze off my well crafted weapon. "Sounds good to me! The names Chopper and this is Tyra ¡ª"


    "I don''t give a fuck about your damn names!" I barked, turning on a dime and stomping off with my bike, invisible Loki in tow. "Let''s get this over with!"


    I glared hellishly at the crowd blocking my exit and was about to push someone out of the way... before thinking twice of it.


    Why? Because I thought of something better of course.


    I shoved one person to the side instead of backwards, watching as he crashed into the person next to him... and watching as that person crashed into the next person.


    What followed next was a literal domino effect as they were all knocked to the floor.


    "Next time don''t box people off. You never know how they might react," I sneered, rolling my bike over the first guys groaning body as I stepped over him.


    "Let''s go Leaf!"


    Loki snorted quietly in amusement, quiet voice huffing next to me as we walked off to the nearby battlefield. It was flat but the edges around were elevated, boxing off whatever fought in there.


    It looked like it was done by a ground or rock type. Clearly it was a safety precaution and I scowled.


    How convenient. Clearly this was an ambush spot for them.


    "S-Sorry about him. He''s been getting very annoyed with the bikers on this route," Green muttered, turning and racing after me.


    "He has issues," Tyra muttered, glaring at my back.


    "And your ass has burns all over it! Wear an actual biking fit if you''re gonna sit on one all day instead of barely passable shorts!" I sneered.


    She gaped at my comment. "W-What is wrong with you?!"


    I flipped the middle finger in response, getting her to splutter even more.


    "Stupid dumbass idiots." I muttered increasingly more graphic obscenities under my breath and ignored the horrified and groaning biker gang.


    "I think they''re more afraid of you, then we should be of them," Green whispered, catching up to me quickly.


    "Because they''re just a group of idiots," I scowled. "Now why the hell did you offer up a double battle?"


    Green blinked at the sudden question. "Well, I figure we should get our team synergy up a bit more you know? We train a lot but doing actual double battles might be useful."


    I mulled that over.


    Yeah it would. We''d probably be battling in unison a lot in the future. Building up our chemistry in battles, actually sounded like a great idea.


    "Alright, but we''re making this fast. I want to go to the damn center," I grunted, fiddling with Loki''s pokeball even despite the fact he was right next to me.


    "Yeah I get that," Green nodded in understanding. "Saury evolved in the middle of Viridian Forest sometime after I caught Larvee. I was so stressed trying to get out of there because he was so huge and I thought something bad happened to him!"


    I snorted at that. "Leave it to you to overreact¡­ but I get that. Our teams are important to us."


    She nodded. "Yep! Now let''s win this battle!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green and I stood next to each other, idly going through our motions at the ensuing battle.


    Her expression shifted into something cool like it usually did, while I began humming a tune to myself, like I usually did.


    She fiddled with her hat, while I fiddled with my pokeballs.


    Then, we both got ready at the exact same time, throwing out our respective member.


    "Gaia. Make this fast."


    "Let''s go Saury."


    My Bayleef and Green''s Ivysaur burst from their respective balls, gauging their opponents with a malicious and cool glint respectively.


    "Golem let''s do this!" the boy shouted eagerly.


    "Cloyster teach them a lesson!" the girl barked.


    My eyes widened a little.


    "A Golem?" I mused, eyes glinting curiously as the fully evolved rock pokemon appeared.


    That was a quite the strong pokemon to own¡­ but it looked newly evolved. Not used to going back to two arms. Smaller than the average Golem¡­


    I felt the air shift against me and spared a neutral glance at seemingly nothing.


    Except it was Loki of course. He was put out that I wanted to get him checked up on before we could do anything extensive and as a compromise, I allowed him to work on his illusions so long as they weren''t too taxing.


    He seemed to be enjoying his newfound control over it and honestly, I was too.


    It wasn''t everyday you got to sit and enjoy an actual conversation with one of your members that wasn''t an extremely sarcastic psychic. Loki was very good at human language while utilizing his illusions... and he tended to very much enjoy morphing into a human body that looked exactly like me.


    That was very flattering.


    Right now he was camouflaged, blending in with the environment and hovering me just in case the biker gang did choose to get violent.


    It was cool. His control over his illusions had gone up to another level¡­ I couldn''t wait to test out how good he was in battles and I could tell he was antsy to try his new power.


    "Alright, let''s get this done," I grunted, shooting Gaia a smile.


    "Yep," Green nodded.


    "Cocky huh?" the boy (one of these days, I''d not automatically forget people''s names) said.


    "Aggressive and cocky... makes me really wanna put em in place," the girl replied with a scowl.


    "Your voice sounds beautiful when I can''t hear it. Let''s keep it like that, Shorts," I retorted boredly.


    Gaia snickered at that, peering at her opponents with an eager gleam.


    The green haired girl blinked before flushing in anger.


    "Let''s crush them, Chopper. We''ll show them that we''re only dedicated to our bikes! And my name is Tyra!" she growled.


    "What a name. I certainly haven''t already forgotten it," I said dryly.


    "Would you shut it?! Cloyster, Icicle Spear!"


    Gaia snickered and summoned a Reflect, blocking both Cloyster and Golem''s attacks but making the wall shudder.


    Saury didn''t let that go unpunished. A flurry a razor sharp leaves shot out of him...


    Unfortunately, the pokemon were quick to react. Golem immediately hid inside its shell, while Cloyster clamped its shell shut.


    The leaves battered the two but what would have been a practical oneshot, was weathered well by their shells.


    "Bay," Gaia mused.


    "Ivy," Saury grunted.


    Golem rumbled, still tucked into his shell, and began rolling rapidly towards them.


    I grunted at that. "Are you crazy having a Golem do that without any barriers around?" I barked in confusion, watching as Gaia manipulated the Reflect to block Golem from crashing into Saury.


    "We''re careful! That''s why the battlefield is like this!" Chopper assured.


    The Rollout broke straight through the already weakened Reflect and I sucked my teeth as Golem hit the Ivysaur, sending him skidding back.


    Judging by the alertness in his gaze, Saury was clearly agitated by them now.


    "Leech Seed," I grunted, watching as the Ivysaur spat a ball of light from the plant on his back.


    It rushed into the sky and I idly put a pair of shades on to block the sunlight.


    Gaia hummed and fired off a flurry of seeds that latched onto both Golem and Cloyster, before they bloomed.


    It wasn''t as effective due to those pesky shells, but it would slow them down by a little...


    But clearly not by much. Golem was still in its Rollout and that was a problem.


    Golem''s could not see at all when they were using Rollout. It made them some of the most hazardous pokemon to encounter and you dearly didn''t want to be in one''s path while it was inside its shell... unless you wanted to get turned into paste.


    It was a good thing the battlefield was encased by that wall. Golem was picking up speed and was crashing into things indiscriminately.


    Gaia squealed as the ground type came flying towards her at intense speeds, summoning another Reflect that held up long enough for thick vines to wrap and yank her out of the way.


    Before she could even thank Saury, the two grass types let out shouts, as ice cold spears crashed into them repeatedly, courtesy of the smugly grinning Cloyster.


    Golem continued spinning, careening towards the water type and Cloyster summoned a green shield, catching the Golem and rebounding it in another direction...


    Right into Saury and Gaia. The Golem crashed into the both of them with dreadful speed, plowing directly through a Reflect.


    Green and I scowled at the course of the fight currently.


    Judging by their growls, Gaia and Saury were in the same boat.


    Now I was sufficiently annoyed.


    "Growth," Green said with pursed lips.


    Saury began glowing in a harsh green light, gleaming sun ahead energizing him even further with the growth.


    "Cloyster, Aurora Beam!" Tyra shouted urgently. "Hit the Ivysaur!"


    Cloyster opened its mouth and shot out a pulsing multicolored beam... but as it fired the beam towards Saury, a set of vines wrapped around it.


    Gaia glared maliciously at the Cloyster. It squeaked in horror and immediately shut its shell, leaving it largely protected from anything Gaia could do.


    Unfortunately, Gaia was my pokemon.


    I rolled my eyes. "You know what to do," I sneered.


    Gaia let out a thunderous (and adorable) bellow, hoisting the protected Cloyster up with her vine... before launching it in the completely out of control Golem''s path.


    The stupid thing was still using Rollout and before the, at the moment, blind ground type could crash into us again... we forced it to crash against the Cloyster.


    As Cloyster flew through the air, it landed directly in front of the Golem.


    "Oh no! Golem wait!" Chopper shouted but it was too late.


    Golem''s unstoppable rolling, crashed into Cloyster. Kudos to the Cloyster because it was making that reputation of its shell being uncrackable really true...


    But just because you couldn''t crack its shell, didn''t mean the thing inside was suddenly immune to everything.


    As Golem unknowingly crashed into its partner, it began carrying the stunned Cloyster to the walls of the makeshift arena.


    It practically smushed the water type into the wall, momentum completely halting his Rollout. As he popped out his shell finally, Golem heard his trainers distressed shouts and looked down, expression shifting into horror as he regarded the Cloyster shell.


    "C-Cloyster!" she shouted in horror, watching as her pokemon popped out of its shell, eyes swirling from the rollercoaster of a ride it went on.


    "Magical Leaf."


    "Seed Bomb."


    Golem wasn''t given any chance to even properly mourn his mistake, as he was instantly bombarded with sharp leaves and exploding seeds. Gaia and Saury relentlessly barraged the duo.


    Gaia huffed in satisfaction, watching with a glint as the two cried in pain and collapsed.


    Saury rumbled, fierce expression melting off as he nodded to Gaia at a job well done.


    "That''s that," I grunted in contemplation.


    For how fast that battle was, this duo was surprisingly strong.


    Nothing we couldn''t deal with... but I doubted they would lose to anyone who happened to come across this route. A Golem and Cloyster were real problematic and I simply refused to continue testing the waters of how durable they were inside those shells of theirs.


    Testing it once was enough. I wasn''t the type to keep attacking something the same way until I finally learned my lesson.


    The shells looked hard so I worked around it. If it were a single battle I''m sure I would have had to cook up something different.


    Trainers in general, were getting stronger. We rarely encountered the trainers that were too strong for us, likely due to them already having their gym badges and seeing no reason to travel around the region again, so most trainers we encountered were far below Green and I''s level and the few who weren''t, outclassed us by a good bit.


    It wasn''t often we ran into those near us. This was pretty refreshing¡­


    "Dumb stupid ass bikers," I sneered.


    ...But that didn''t change that they held me up.


    "Good match!" Green said with a smile, expertly standing in front of me. "But seriously, we need to get going now! My friend is really steps away from hurting you guys!"


    The boy with the fiery hair shook his head disbelievingly. "You two are the real deal alright!"


    I rolled my eyes. "You both have a single pokemon each? Be serious. That means you dedicate all your time to them for what?"


    People who only had a single pokemon, typically wanted it for protection, companionship or any other variety of reasons. They were the people who didn''t want to actually dedicate their time to being trainers.


    It was actually fairly rare to encounter people with full teams of pokemon because they truly were a hassle to take care of, especially if you weren''t an accomplished trainer.


    Many trainers kept their teams small, up until they began establishing how they fared against others.


    Those who found themselves successful, eventually branched out into capturing more members.


    The less fortunate ones, kept their teams small. It would be no good to catch a full team without having proper sustenance for them and if they sucked, they''d run through resources fast until they were brought to the point where they either had to give their pokemon away... or release them.


    I was an outlier. It was reckless of me to catch a full team of 5 before knowing how I stacked up against the competition, especially considering I didn''t fight many trainers at all until I had my members¡­


    Not to mention, it split my attention way more focusing on them all while every single one of my members were fresh.


    It was a risky method, the way I went about things. Timing captures and giving a gap between them, let you focus specialized attention onto members.


    By the time you got your next member, the previous member was mostly established¡­


    But I did not do that.


    Barring Loki, I caught my members basically right after the other. Gaia, Freyja, Metang and Ares were captured in incredibly quick succession.


    But it was working out. The benefit to what I did, was that if done well my entire team would grow much stronger at a fairly equal pace... and the closer they were in strength the better they could push each other to get stronger.


    It allowed me to do infighting way more between my members because it was a toss up on who could win. That''s why I had been so exceptional despite not facing any trainers. Because my team was so evenly matched... for the most part, they gained experience off each other.


    No one had been significantly stronger than the other barring Freyja for obvious reasons... and even she had been capable of putting up enough fights to learn from them.


    I was lucky that my team was so competent and I had a knack for this trainer stuff.


    It was high risk high reward and I was being rewarded nicely for my risks.


    Good. I kinda didn''t have a choice with the quick succession of captures. The faster you did something, the less time the opposition had to react after all. Imagine if I took a month long break after stealing the Beldum. That could give someone time to find out one went missing and search for my location... especially considering Meteor Falls wasn''t far at all from the Stone Residence.


    It was good to take your time with things... but not all things. Sometimes, you had to be fast.


    I blinked at my tangent and gazed at the dorks calling themselves a gang with actual bikes.


    Not even motorcycles. I should steal a motorcycle¡­


    But that''d be a bit harder to hide... and I had a bike and skates.


    Actually, I should get some form of transportation that didn''t take long to get on. I think I remember Gold mentioning being great at riding a skateboard.


    Skateboards were easy to equip and fairly fast too. Took much less time than putting my skates on... and besides, if Gold could do it, I definitely could.


    "Did you say something?" I asked our opponents, tilting my head in contemplation.


    Did I really need 3 modes of transportation? One for ease of equipping did sound good...


    The male teen nodded eagerly. "Yeah we were ¡ª"


    "Actually, never mind. I don''t give a damn. Let''s go Gre ¡ª Leaf," I decided bluntly.


    The guy blinked owlishly at my interruption, mouth flapping as his words died on his lips.


    Green twitched in annoyance. "You were literally about to just call me Green. Just call me Green!"


    "I have no idea what you''re talking about. I was talking about the girl with the green hair and the tiny shorts over there," I said, pointing at our opponent.


    The green haired girl twitched, burning red at my words and glaring at me.


    "Then why did you say Leaf then huh?! In fact, why did you say let''s go?!" Green asked, placing her hands on her hips with a flat glare.


    "She looks like a stupid leaf... and I said let''s go because I''m sure I have some pants that can replace hers," I said bluntly, placing a snack in Gaia''s mouth.


    "I''ll hurt you," Green said flatly, patting Saury on his head.


    "Hey! Watch it you annoying twerp!" the girl growled, marching up to me with a scowl. "Don''t think I''ll let you say anything you want!"


    I rolled my eyes as the biker gang, in unison mind you, began shuddering at their female bosses anger.


    Seriously?


    "I''m terrified. I definitely won''t bash your kneecaps. I''ll definitely be as afraid of you as your gang," I said dryly.


    "Wow... he''s standing up to Tyra," Chopper muttered in awe. "I didn''t know that was possible!"


    The gang nodded in unison and Tyra turned towards them.


    "Shut it!" she barked.


    They immediately whitened and went silent.


    I shook my head in exasperation.


    What was with everyone being universally intimidated by some girl with a little authority in their voice. People were allegedly terrified of my aunt.


    Ridiculous.


    I ignored whatever the boy and girl were saying, choosing to focus on more important tasks like patting Gaia on the head, before returning her and Loki.


    The gang never even realized my Zoroark was out.


    Heh, that was still awesome to say.


    My Zoroark.


    "Well, we''re outta here biker dorks," I bowed mockingly. "May we never meet again. If we do, count your days."


    Green shook her head in exhaustion. "It was nice fighting you guys! Let''s battle again sometime in the future!"


    "Sure thing!" the guy (Copper?) exclaimed. "Tyra and I will definitely take you both on!"


    "Focus on your pokemon more instead of your bikes if you want a chance at beating us... otherwise don''t battle me," I muttered, grabbing my bike once more.


    "I''m going to get back at you next time. I thought we had bad manners but you''re even worse," the girl named Tyra said, crossing her arms as she glowered at me.


    "Whatever you say brute," I retorted easily.


    "B-Brute?! What are you talking about?!" she shouted.


    I ignored her completely.


    "Have you ever wondered why your name is Leaf Green? Are green eyes a running trait in your family? Do you guys love the color green?" I asked Green suddenly.


    Green blinked at the random question, expression turning contemplative. "U-Um¡­ my mom has the same green eyes as I do... her name is Maple. Hey, is your name Silver because of your silver eyes?"


    "I would assume so. Seems like both our parents weren''t all that creative."


    Green opened her mouth and closed it, as a contemplative expression crossed her face that looked distantly close to the face I''d make if I were having an existential crisis.


    Oh wait. I did have one of those.


    "Wait a second¡­ are Gold and Crystal their real names too?" she asked cautiously, even as we rode off.


    I thought about it and shrugged. "I think so. Never heard them refer to themselves as anything else. I know Crystal has a little sister named Lyra though so maybe she has a different name."


    "We''re all named after colors. And those colors are the colors of our eyes. I call Gary Blue because of his eyes too...," Green pointed out with a disturbed look.


    "Is this a coincidence? Do our parents happen to know each other?!" she asked in horror. "I''ve never met anyone else named Green or Blue or Crystal or Gold either! How do we happen to all be friends with each other?!"


    ...Oops.


    I rolled my eyes at the drama queen. "It''s an interesting situation... but if it makes you feel better, your name is Leaf... but I guess leaves can come in the color green too."


    "Why are you so annoying to me?!"


    "Fighting fire with fire."


    "Ugh, you''re just the worst!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Sunnytown seemed to follow the trope of the Celadon and Saffron, being far more metropolitan in nature than other cities.


    Stone roads, skyscrapers, all that jazz.


    I didn''t really care about admiring the sights. I just wanted to get Loki checked up on so Green and I beelined straight to the Pokemon Center.


    "Hello, welcome to the Pokemon Center!" Nurse Joy greeted. "How can I help you?"


    "My Zoroark recently evolved. I wanted a checkup done on him to see if there were any complications," I explained quietly, handing her my team.


    Green followed suit and the Nurse Joy nodded politely, accepting the Pokeballs and placing them all in two trays.


    "Of course! Congratulations on the evolution! It''s not often such a rare pokemon like Zoroark is seen. I''ve never actually seen one," she praised with a gentle smile.


    It was true. Zoruas and Zoroarks were exceedingly rare captures. If they didn''t want to be captured, you''d probably never even know there was one there.


    How my mother managed to get a Zoroark? No idea... but you didn''t really get to choose to catch a Zorua, they normally choose to let you catch them.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    That must have meant that at one point, my mom wasn''t a complete piece of shit.


    Go figure.


    I smirked wryly. "Thanks. He''s done nothing but make me proud."


    She smiled kindly, before she had the Chansey escort the trays to the back.


    "Would you two like a room? I''ll be sure to call you when the checkups are done," the nurse informed us.


    "Okay! One for the two of us!" Green nodded happily.


    I nodded and the two of us accepted the keycard and headed to the room.


    "You know, the more I think about our travel plans, the more I realize we''re maniacs," I said idly.


    The fastest way to get to Cinnabar after all, was to go south of Fuschia or Pallet Town. Heading to Saffron after Fuschia and then choosing to go to Cinnabar was a maniacal decision that would have us traveling for quite a long time¡ª


    ¡­


    Wait a goddamn minute.


    Saffron.


    Oh shit, Saffron.


    Damn I forgot... Were Team Rocket going to attack Saffron in this timeline? Would they do such a thing with a powerhouse like Sabrina in the city?


    I mulled it over. They had attacked the S.S Anne because it was in the middle of the ocean. It would be hard to get reinforcements if the boat was attacked.


    Saffron was the heart of Kanto. Would they really attack it?


    ...The Game Corner was their hideout, they attacked Lavender a little before Green and I showed up...


    "What''s the matter?" Green asked quietly.


    I pursed my lips. "I think Team Rocket is going to attack Silph Co. But I don''t know when exactly."


    This world was a mix.


    It was redundant to say but I was saying it for a reason.


    Because this world was a mix, there were multiple main characters here. While that wouldn''t be so bad, one person alone threw that out of loop.


    Ash Ketchum. His existence made things far harder to understand... but I think I understood it.


    While Ash was certainly an important person... Kanto did not currently revolve around him.


    No, the events happening right now... Mt. Moon, Cerulean, the S.S Anne... the major events of Kanto didn''t involve Ash at all.


    Most of the major events taking place, all stemmed from the game and Ash was not Player 1 of the games...


    At the moment, Player 1 was my companion herself, Leaf Green, which meant this world currently revolved around Green''s actions...


    And Green wanted to battle Sabrina 6th... which was the exact slot her badge went into.


    You could fight Koga and Sabrina at the exact same time... but no matter which order, Sabrina''s badge goes in the sixth slot.


    Using that as reference, and the fact that you can''t battle her until you get rid of Team Rocket, then if Team Rocket did attack Saffron, it would be sometime in the nearer future. Either before or after Green and I battled Sabrina for her sixth badge.


    Of course the timeline could also be way out of sorts, but I don''t think so. If I looked at this world from the perspective of Green being just as much of the main character as Ash, I could say with confidence that Team Rocket was going to attack Saffron in some capacity.


    Ash didn''t have to deal with Team Rocket... but Green was dealing with them in almost the same way the player does.


    Would she have accidentally found the Game Corner? Did me attacking it earlier than it was intended force us to attack Proton? We probably wouldn''t have encountered him if we waited after our Gym Battle.


    ...So that meant it was better that we did. Proton was dead now and one dead Executive was already a big help for me.


    Green''s eyes widened in horror. "You''re sure? Would it really be smart of them to attack Sabrina''s city? She''s probably the most difficult Gym Leader to attack!" she whispered to me.


    I frowned. "I wasn''t sure before... but now that the Game Corner is lost, they''ll want to salvage such a loss. I wouldn''t be surprised if they upped their aggression all over the region as a result of the Game Corner."


    One thing had been bothering me all this time but I finally understand it now.


    Initially, it made no sense to me that Team Rocket had Mewtwo but hardly used it to exert more of their pressure. With the legend at their beck and call, Indigo would be at their heels already.


    But Giovanni did not want Mewtwo to be the reason Indigo was under Team Rocket''s control...


    Giovanni wanted to be the reason he was ruling the world... and while that could cause some confusion, considering Mewtwo was on his side already, it made sense when you factored one thing.


    He did not have full control over Mewtwo. In his eyes, Mewtwo was not his complete weapon yet and as a result, he was keeping the legendary on a leash.


    Giovanni did not trust Mewtwo at all. Not just that. He didn''t trust the control he had over the legendary.


    He wanted a way to ensure the legendariy''s power before Mewtwo realized just how powerful it really was.


    Before Mewtwo realized it did not need to listen to Giovanni''s orders.


    Of course, I couldn''t just go on theory. That theory didn''t matter squat anyways. Mewtwo was currently still their trump card and he was an ally to Team Rocket...


    But I don''t think Mewtwo would be playing a hand in the Saffron invasion if there was one.


    "So they''re gonna go for Silph Co¡­" Green said in concern.


    "Most likely," I said truthfully. "If they plan on attacking Silph Co though, we probably need to warn someone¡­"


    "We can''t be too sure though," Green pointed out.


    That was true. Green didn''t have the knowledge that I did but at the same time, she had a point.


    "Okay, after Fuschia, we''ll head over to Saffron and verify. If I''m right, we''ll have to get some type of help because there''s definitely going to be an Admin there and we can''t deal with them like we did Proton," I said truthfully.


    Even despite being the epitome of technology and what not¡­ Team Rocket likely had moles in there. So if they truly attacked, it was because the moles couldn''t get what they wanted.


    ...


    Seems like we really did have to go to Saffron next. The timeline was rough enough for me to guess that there was a real chance Silph could be hit sooner rather than later.


    Ugh, even if I wanted to go to Cinnabar next, I wouldn''t be able to sleep right. I needed to thwart Team Rocket''s success by any means possible or it was doomed.


    Team Rocket operated in a lot of places but I know for a fact that if they raided Silph Co, it''d be their most important heist to date.


    It was imperative that they didn''t succeed. I''d even camp in Saffron just to really make sure it didn''t go well for them.


    "We don''t have to go to Cinnabar immediately," Green agreed, frowning slightly. "You were right about the Game Corner and I wouldn''t put it past them to attack Silph Co."


    I nodded seriously. "We might have to. It''ll only benefit us in the long run. More training and preparation for Blaine as well. The league still has a lot more months to start," I muttered to her.


    We nodded at that, both in full agreement with each other.


    With that out the way, we conversed normally, informed Jasmine about Loki''s evolution, listened to Jasmine squeal in excitement about said evolution and eventually got called back to the Nurse.


    As we made our way back out to the front, we were met with the beaming Joy there. She was looking at us with delight.


    "Your Zoroark is perfectly healthy and in incredible condition!" Nurse Joy informed me, smiling brightly as she whispered her praise to us. "You both take impeccable care of your pokemon. I''m truly pleased by what I saw. Please do keep up the good work. Being a trainer is more than just battling!"


    Green flushed and I smirked.


    "Of course. They''re our little willing soldiers after all," I said truthfully, accepting my 6 pokeballs and hiding them under my long shirt. "It''s imperative to make sure they''re in the best condition."


    "Soldiers, hm?" Nurse Joy hummed. "That''s quite the strange way to view Pokemon, Mr. Silver," she pointed out.


    I tilted my head. "Is that so? I thought it was obvious. They are soldiers and I''m their commander. It''s up to me to make the calls that will win them their battles and it''s up to me to make sure they''re in the condition to carry out the strategies I have planned for them. It''s a mutually beneficial relationship."


    Nurse Joy looked somewhat startled by that, gazing at me with wide eyes. "I¡­ see," she mused.


    "So that''s how you see things?" Green wondered, eyes wide. "That makes a lot of sense actually. You''re very pragmatic and efficient. It''s also no wonder you shoulder the blame of failures so much..."


    I tilted my head even further.


    Was my view of things unique? Surely I wasn''t the only one who viewed Pokemon like that?


    ...Except maybe I was. I wouldn''t be surprised because finding someone with my mindset was getting pretty difficult.


    I shrugged helplessly. "We should go to bed. We''ve got a long day ahead of us."


    "Yeah! Let''s do that!" Green beamed.


    "Goodnight, you two. Please continue taking care of your team and yourselves," Nurse Joy said kindly, waving at the two of us.


    "Goodnight," Green waved.


    "Night," I grunted.


    I needed to buy that bangle tomorrow¡­ also I needed to find someone that could transfer pokeballs. My team deserved a bit more luxury.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "How''s it look?" I asked curiously.


    Loki grasped his long mane of hair, fashioned into a ponytail with the help of a shining silver bangle, and inspected it.


    Then, he nodded in satisfaction and rubbed his muzzle against me.


    I smile at that. "Good. You might have noticed but I also transferred you all into Luxury Balls like Oberon. I heard they''re much comfier or whatever. I have no idea what goes on in Pokeballs."


    It actually hadn''t been that difficult. Apparently the technology to transfer Pokeballs had been discovered years ago in Sinnoh.


    Go figure.


    Well, I got gifted 10 Luxury Balls back on the S.S Anne so they came in handy for making my team comfier.


    "It''s nice. Both the Luxury Ball and the bangle. I like them," Loki said, transforming back into his favorite illusion of me.


    It was still strange looking at my face with slate gray hair.


    I nodded in satisfaction. "You got the all clear to battle too. I know you were getting antsy."


    He nodded immediately at that, transforming back into a Zoroark in his eagerness.


    I snorted as he grumbled in embarrassment.


    "C''mon, we need to at least get you fully used to everything. We''re basically done with this city anyways."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Silvyyyy!"


    I grunted and paused from my activity of fiddling with an empty pokeball to look up from my spot.


    "What''s up Leaf?" I asked, placing the object to the side. We were currently taking a break from traveling, back on Route 17 once more to continue our course to Fuchsia.


    "Smile!" she beamed, holding up her pokegear and snapping a picture of me.


    I blinked owlishly at that, inspecting the picture she showed me.


    "You''re surprisingly photogenic!" Green praised. "How did your face even morph into a scowl so quickly?!"


    "Habit?" I mused, gazing at the picture of me raising a brow and scowling.


    She nodded in agreement before sitting right next to me and smushing her cheek with mine. "Cheese!" she grinned happily.


    I rolled my eyes as she took of a picture once more, this time with the both of us in it.


    "Why exactly are you snapping pictures of me?" I asked as she removed her cheek from mine with a beaming smile.


    "Well the first one was because Lorelei asked me to give her a picture of you... and then I realized we never took a picture with each other! Me? Not take a picture with you?! How could I have missed such an important detail!" she exclaimed.


    She began fiddling with her Pokegear and said, "Oh! I can send this to Jasmine as well! There''s no way she has a picture of you! Next time we see her, we''ll take a group photo."


    I snorted in amusement and picked the pokeball back up. "Ms. Aunt asked you to take a picture of me? Why didn''t she just ask me herself?"


    Green snorted in return. "Yeah. I''m sure you would have willingly given her one. Knowing you, you''d take a picture of your middle finger and send it."


    I shrugged. "Fair enough."


    My pokegear began vibrating (I had it set to vibrate) and I fished it out of my pocket, seeing the name "Ice Cold Stalker" on it.


    I watched Green run back to wherever she was and picked up the phone.


    "Sup aunt," I greeted easily, watching as her face appeared on screen.


    "Hello Silver. How are you today?" Lorelei asked, smiling at me as she typed away at something.


    "Eh," I replied, tilting my head at the sound of clicking.


    She let out a noncommittal hum at that and a comfortable silence started, only broken up by the sound of her typing away at whatever league business she had.


    "I hope you didn''t mind me asking Green to take a picture of you," she suddenly said.


    I had taken my attention off the screen, allowing the lull of the typing to fill the air as I handled my business, so it took me a bit to register her statement.


    "It''s whatever," I commented. "But why do you want a picture of me?"


    "I wanted to print and frame it in my office... also I wanted to make it your profile picture. It''s a nice picture but I do hope one day I can get one where you smile."


    I blinked owlishly at that. She wanted to frame a picture of me in her office?


    ...What a dork. Whatever.


    I ignored the slight warmth and rolled my eyes. "I don''t smile for pictures. I only smile when something unfortunately funny is happening to another," I replied easily enough.


    Lorelei sighed. "I believe you... have you eaten today? Bathed properly? Route 17 is quite the enormous route so it''s easy to be ill equipped for it."


    "I''m fine." I sighed in exasperation. "We stopped by at Sunnytown a few days back and replenished anything we might have used."


    "Ah yes. Your Zorua evolved correct? Well done on achieving such an accolade. It''s truly rare to find a trainer who owns a Zoroark."


    I smirked proudly. "Loki put in the work and earned it. All I did was guide him in the right direction."


    Lorelei smiled, looking just as proud for whatever reason. "Excellent job, Silver. Please keep up the good work."


    Seriously. She was a dork.


    Her expression turned a tad concerned. "You mentioned replenishing supplies. Are you low on funds by chance? You and Green do both have a team of six respectively so prices will rack up very quickly. If you''d like, I could easily send some money over. I have more than I know what to do with¡ª"


    "Nah," I denied easily, interrupting her tirade. "I appreciate the sentiment, but Green and I are fine right now. We don''t need help at the moment."


    Lorelei sighed. "I expected you to say that. I understand how you think. You would refuse any and all handouts offered to you and I greatly respect that... but please don''t let that pride negatively impact you."


    "Whatever you say mom," I said sarcastically, waving her off and watching as Gaia whined in defeat at Loki''s hands. "If I need to milk you of your Elite 4 money and you''re willing... then yeah, I''ll do it. Money is money."


    "..."


    I gazed down in confusion at the silence and saw Lorelei positively glowing. There was a smile on her face and I perked a brow.


    "Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" I mused curiously.


    "No reason at all," Lorelei replied immediately, removing her glasses by what clearly looked like habit and wiping them clean with a rag. "I will call you tomorrow to check up on you again."


    I scratched my hair and nodded. "Sure, whatever. We''ll just be traveling and traveling and more traveling. Message me first though. I tend to ignore calls."


    "Understood. Goodbye, Silver. Make sure you eat a balanced meal."


    I grunted and the call hung up.


    What made her so happy? Judging by what I knew of Lorelei, any other person would be grinning ear to ear.


    ...Did I even care enough to ponder it?


    Nah.


    "Silvyyy, try this!" Green suddenly exclaimed, placing a plate in front of me.


    "Are you gonna keep bothering me?" I asked, not looking up this time.


    Green puffed out her cheeks and said nothing.


    I sighed as a spoon of something was suddenly pushed towards me.


    "Try it! Please!" she pleaded with wide eyes.


    I glanced at what was being offered to me and tilted my head, before glancing at the place that Green had taken a chunk out of.


    "A muffin?" I asked curiously.


    She nodded eagerly. "I made it using Pecha Berries as the base."


    I shrugged and opened my mouth, bravely eating the entire piece of muffin on the spoon.


    Green watched in anticipation as I chewed it, eyes gleaming in curiosity.


    "Well?" she asked.


    I blinked. "It''s actually not terrible. Pecha berry flavored Muffin?" I mused.


    I grasped the actual muffin and inspected it. It was a little burnt around the edges and while far from perfect, it didn''t taste as bad as I expected it to.


    "Since when do you make pastries?" I asked.


    "I just wanted to try my hand at something a little sweeter and this one was fast and easy!" she beamed, rubbing her messy hair.


    "A little more work and I''d even say it tastes good," I said truthfully.


    Green cheered. "I''ll get better! Making sweets are kinda fun!"


    I snorted and handed the muffin to Oberon, watching as he bit into it with a happy cry.


    "H-Hey! You were supposed to eat that!" she spluttered.


    "There''s no way I''m eating all that," I replied in amusement.


    Green pouted. "You''re so terrible!"


    "You''ve only said it a million times. Now c''mon. Let''s get back to traveling," I chuckled.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Oberon, slash."


    "Don''t give it the chance, Machoke! Karate Chop!"


    I sucked my teeth as the tired Oberon was struck square in the chest, sending my little bear across the clearing.


    There went the streak we had been somewhat building up. How unfortunate.


    I returned him to his ball with words of encouragement.


    Across from me, some tall and muscular jackass smiled cockily across from me. There was a Machoke crossing its arms as well, scratch marks over it at the efforts of Oberon.


    "Nothing to it! Send out your next already so we can get this over with!" he said cockily.


    I twitched at that, decent mood turning foul at the cocky talentless shit before me.


    "Wanna act all big and bad huh?" I mused darkly, clutching a pokeball. "Fine then."


    I threw out my pokeball and said, "Metagross, let''s teach this dumbass a lesson."


    The guys eyes widened in horror immediately. "W-What?! Didn''t you fight Erika like 3 weeks ago?! It already evolved?!" he gaped.


    I glared coldly at him as a Metagross coalesced on my side. "You talked a big game making fun of my weakest member after countering him. I''m just returning the favor."


    Metagross rumbled ominously. It was an intimidating thing. They were far too intelligent to ever prey on humans for the fun of it, but you still never wanted to run into a Metagross.


    Massive and robotic in nature, with a turquoise colored body and 4 legs that had horribly sharp claws attached to it.


    "Agility," I said immediately.


    "M-Machoke, use Knock Off!" he barked nervously.


    Machoke nodded, shrouding its thick arms in dark energy as it bounded after Metagross...


    To no success, Metagross effortlessly weaved his attack, sped up by Agility¡ª


    "Extrasensory."


    ¡ªThen his eyes flashed and he absolutely crushed Machoke underneath the heavy Extrasensory. The rainbow colored beam smashed into the Machoke, sending him flying from the raw force behind it.


    He was unconscious before he hit the floor, unmoving from his spot.


    "Oh wow, that''s about how I expected that to go," I said, unmoved by the guys sudden nervousness. "Send out your next. I''ve got places to be."


    The dude flinched back, shakily returning his Machoke.


    "Hurry up so I can get this assbeating over with. I don''t got all day," I said cruelly. "You ambush me, you recognize me and then you challenge me to a battle and immediately send out a counter to my first pokemon... then you talk as if you''re hot shit. Don''t worry, I''m going to put you in your place."


    Metagross rumbled, already back at my side.


    The guy shook his head harshly and gained some of his bravado. "Haunter! Let''s do this!" he shouted, sending out the ghost type.


    Haunter cackled as it was released from its ball... before going completely stock still, eyes flitting over to me in horror.


    "Haunter don''t worry about it! It''s freshly evolved and you''re super effective against it!"


    The ghost gazed back at its trainer with horrified eyes that caused me to snort.


    Its poor trainer thought it was terrified of the Metagross.


    "Shadow Ball!" Haunters trainer shouted, eager to get an early advantage.


    The Haunter shuddered, forming a ball of ghostly energy that it immediately lobbed over at the prone Metagross.


    "Dodge it. Use Shadow Ball after," I instructed.


    There really was no need. Metagross was already on the move.


    He effortlessly leaned to the right, already forming a ball of ghostly energy in the same movement.


    While his practice with ghost moves wasn''t the best, it was still enough to make Haunter shriek. The Shadow Ball whizzed through the air and the ghost dashed away as fast as possible from it.


    "Pursue it with Bullet Punch," I pressed easily, utterly unbothered.


    Metagross rumbled in acknowledgement, before lunging forward at a burst of speed. The Agility had already been applied so now my opponent could only watch the terror of a speeding Metagross crashing into its Haunter with the force of a bullet train.


    "W-What?! With just a Bullet Punch?!" he gaped in disbelief, watching as Haunter crumpled to the floor. "No way! I don''t care if you have a Metagross! A Bullet Punch isn''t taking it out in one hit you cheater¡ª"


    "Send out your last pokemon," I interrupted coldly.


    He spluttered, gazing into my frigid eyes with a bead of sweat.


    "K-Kadabra! Let''s do this! We''ll teach this cheater a lesson!"


    I stared coolly as he sent out his third pokemon.


    "Cheater? Sure let''s go with that," I rolled my eyes. "Charge him."


    Metagross rumbled in agreement and rushed after the wide eyed Kadabra (it also terrified of me by the way) with blazing speeds.


    "Slow it down with Psychic and then Teleport away!"


    As Metagross charged Kadabra, it''s eyes glowed brightly, only to peeter out abruptly as it tried to halt the speedy Metagross.


    My pokemon continued unimpeded, wholly unaffected by the attack and in a panic, Kadabra tried to teleport away.


    I sighed as it vanished a few feet away. "Night Daze."


    "Night what?!" the guy blinked in confusion.


    Metagross let out a noise of amusement, glowing crimson, as it crashed one of its feet onto the ground.


    A giant dome of pink and crimson consumed the battlefield, engulfing the Kadabra almost effortlessly.


    "And that''s that," I sneered, watching as the dust settled. "Worthless garbage. Someone with your skills, should never even think about trash talking."


    The guy flinched back at that, eyes wide in disbelief as he gazed at what just transpired.


    Then, he stepped back in disbelief as Loki dropped the Illusion, showing the Zoroark in all its glory.


    He snickered at the dumbfounded look on my opponent''s face and I snorted.


    "Y-You..." he stammered.


    "My money. Now," I demanded. "If you even have any. With your level of skill you must not win a lot."


    I shrugged helplessly and snatched the money out of his hand. "Well whatever. Thanks for wasting my time. We''re going Leaf."


    "Kay!" she beamed. "Hey that was pretty good battling by you... but you should be a little nicer! Keep up the good work!"


    I snorted. Green was giving advice to someone who looked a fair bit older than us.


    "Well done Loki. You''ve been cleaning house," I praised, watching as he easily kept pace with us.


    "Zor," he smiled, rubbing his snout against me.


    I chuckled at that.


    Loki''s evolution was as incredible as I expected it to be. His parameters had absolutely spiked in all areas and he was a complete force now.


    Speed, power, stores... Loki had everything needed for us to fulfill our fantasies and that meant all that was left, was putting the work in.


    "I can''t believe we''re getting recognized," I sighed tiredly.


    How annoying. It didn''t happen often, but people would occasionally recognize Green and I. Most times it was for battles, other times it was to just ask how we got so strong so fast...


    They were all annoying. Every person who approached us had been met with extreme resistance by me and apologetic words from Green.


    "It''s exciting! You should be a little kinder. I think that guy was about to cry," Green sighed.


    I rolled my eyes and pocketed my money. Then, I released Oberon from the ball and sprayed him down with a potion, all while we walked to our destination.


    "He should have kept his mouth shut about Oberon. Honestly, he challenges me to a battle, I send out Oberon first, he counters with a fighting type, wins and then talks shit before the match is up. He was begging for it," I sneered.


    "You have a point," she mused. "Oberon''s such a cutie, how can anyone be so mean to him?!"


    Oberon blushed in embarrassment and ducked into my body.


    "Not bad Oberon. You tried your best," I assured with a small smile. "We''ve been getting some wins but we aren''t the strongest yet so we''ll run into matches we lose. Don''t worry about it."


    He nodded, clutching me tightly and I chuckled in amusement.


    "You did good. Your Slash is looking strong. Let''s focus a bit on your speed and approach to certain things..."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The terrain suddenly shifting from advanced technology, to rural in nature, let me know that we were finally making it to a new city.


    It was fascinating seeing how the routes reflected the city that was nearest to it. The routes near Saffron, Celadon, Sunnytown and the sorts were quite advanced.


    There were more paved roads, more human built structures and of course there was the Cycling Road.


    But here? Route 18 was a lot different than even the previous Route 17. Technology was replaced by trees, bushes, wooden fences and the sorts.


    It was incredible how two places right next to each other, could look so drastically different.


    You saw more pokemon as the routes became less tampered with. They seemed to flock to the more natural routes and I tilted my head curiously at that.


    I had long gotten used to seeing a large array of different types of pokemon hanging around in the routes. It was cool but it was normal now¡­


    Still, it was always nice to appreciate the simple things. Even those damn Fearows that thought it was cool to attack us.


    Ares had fun when that happened. She had taken to brutalizing anything that could fly lately.


    Fun stuff. Pretty sure Loki began hunting as well after evolving.


    Well, as long as I didn''t see it, that was fine. I''m sure as a Salamence, Ares was gonna hunt a lot too.


    I just needed to make sure they weren''t a trainers pokemon...


    "We''re almost to Fuchsia!" Green cheered, full of renewed energy. "I wanna take a hot bath and eat some good food and set up a gym battle!"


    I nodded in agreement. We had left Sunnytown about two weeks ago and had just been traveling the entire time.


    It was the longest I had been out in the routes. I was used to speedrunning things but taking it at a more moderate to even slow pace was good too.


    "Don''t wanna visit the Safari Zone?" I asked curiously.


    She shook her head. "I don''t want to catch anymore members. There are a lot of cool things in the Safari Zone but I''m satisfied for now!"


    I nodded in agreement. "You and me both. I don''t think there''s anything in the Safari Zone I wanna catch either. We''ve got our work cut out for us already with a full team. Catching more would be detrimental."


    There were cool things but¡­ honestly, I wasn''t too interested in it and I was fine with my current team.


    "You read my mind! I didn''t expect to have 6 at this point but its working out well because I have you!" Green beamed.


    I rolled my eyes at her earnest words. "Yeah. We''re probably the best pair that could have happened. I''d probably only be this good with Gold or Crystal," I said truthfully.


    Green squealed happily and squeezed me happily.


    "Will you hug me for every little thing?" I asked in mild amusement.


    "Of course! Since you began accepting them instead of hurting me, it''s been open season!" she admitted shamelessly.


    A hug happy maniac and a person who''d hurt you if you touched them.


    Truly a perfect pair.


    I just rolled my eyes and let it be. Green and Jasmine were the only people on the planet I''d actually consider hugging back anyways.


    Based on some messages between Gold and Crystal in our other group chat (it was Green. You know it was Green) they had caught some of their own encounters in the Safari Zone.


    They wanted to keep them a surprise but our counterpart duo seemed fairly excited about it.


    Not bad. I was looking somewhat forward to meeting with them again.


    Right now they should be about halfway to Celadon I think? Their trip from Vermillion to Fuchsia had taken quite a long time as well.


    We had unintentionally passed each other on our journeys to our respective cities but any chances of meeting up had vanished, long after we figured that out.


    They had gotten their Fuchsia badges too, though from how much they complained, they didn''t have many answers to Koga''s poison types so it was a tall task for them.


    Though, Koga was only their fourth badge. I imagine it''d be even harder for them if they were battling him for a higher tier.


    Koga was a very heavy hitter Gym Leader after all. Many people liked to battle him early on to just get his badge out of the way.


    From what I understood¡­ barring Giovanni, who refused to battle anyone with less than 6-7 badges¡­ then the Kanto Gym Leader challenged the most early on, was Sabrina.


    It made sense. I hear later battles against her, were probably the second hardest in the region. She was a truly frustrating opponent to deal with when instead of Abras and Drowzees, you were facing Alakazams and Hypnos.


    Blaine tended to get challenged later on no matter what, due to the inconvenience of reaching Cinnabar.


    Surge was right after Sabrina. The maniac of a gym leader battled like he had a vendetta against you. While Electric certainly wasn''t the scariest type to face... later on Surge would send out pokemon that were fast and hit hard.


    I heard he even had a second Electivire for 8 badges... which was completely bullshit and unfair by the way. Electivires were ludicrously rare for a reason and Surge was one of the few trainers who had one on his main team.


    Koga was incredibly annoying to fight because of his style of slowly choking you out with his pokemon. In his later gym battles, he had access to a potential Crobat and no one wanted to deal with that pokemon if they could help it.


    That''s why I had been convinced I was dead when Proton sent one out. Crobats were complete menaces to deal with. Ludicrously fast with access to poison type moves... it was one of the best at hit and run tactics and even disregarding that, they hit hard.


    The gym leader challenged the most at 7 badges, were Pewter City, Celadon and Cerulean in that order.


    They were the most lenient at that tier and you were almost guaranteed to have an answer to those typings if you weren''t a specialist.


    Though, I imagine with the resurgence, Cerulean would become a lot harder to get a badge from.


    It was kinda fun figuring out how differently this place was¡­ and it was fun seeing how cowardly most trainers were.


    Planning your gym battle route to get the easiest battles? What a pathetic mindset to have.


    Avoiding a gym because "It''d be better to fight the hard gyms first"?


    Ridiculous. If you wanted to be the strongest, things like that shouldn''t bother you. Plotting the route you''d take based on who was easiest, was crazy talk.


    If a city had a gym in it, you should just battle them. It shouldn''t matter what order you did them in. Traveling like that would just take up a lot of unnecessary time, leaving you with less opportunity to fully dedicate to just training for the conference.


    I fought Pewter, Cerulean and Celadon early on because they were nearby. I don''t care about how easy they are later on.


    In fact, getting those badges so quickly in succession, was quite helpful. It saved me a lot of time going to the closest cities. If I got all my badges in a timely fashion, I could go find an isolated area with Green and we could just only train without traveling around.


    Losers ran away from challenges. They could never hope to become strong like that.


    That''s what I respected about Green. She willingly skipped Sabrina not because it''d be easier to fight her later on¡­ but because it''d be harder.


    Hell, Green wanted to battle her seventh if she could but it would have been incredibly inconvenient. She was a real maniac, my traveling companion.


    It was impressive and I approved.


    Not like I''d ever tell her that.


    Me? Willingly compliment Green out of the goodness of my heart?


    Don''t be ridiculous now.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Fuchsia dipped back into the more natural aspect of Kanto that one half of the region seemed to embrace. There were not many advanced displays of technology, city being just as rural as the routes around it and I admired the old school feel of it.


    This city seemed to have the most wild pokemon idling about in Kanto so far. They were everywhere in all sizes and shapes.


    A Pidgeot screeched directly above us and I craned my head to look at it, before focusing on the smooth dirt roads below to regard the Arbok curled up on the side.


    It cracked open an eye, hissing at me threateningly and flicking out its tongue.


    I stared, utterly unintimidated as it suddenly turned its head to a spot right next to me.


    The Arbok''s hissing turned into a strangled noise, as a Garchomp suddenly materialized behind me, snarling at the wild snake in a threatening manner.


    Green laughed wildly as it hastily slithered away from us and I pat Loki''s wild hair.


    "Straight to the gym?" Green asked excitedly, smiling the whole time.


    "Yeah," I nodded in agreement. "We can set up our battles and then take it easy. I have a feeling that after this, things will be hectic."


    Green nodded sympathetically. "We got a lot stronger on the way here and we can only get better," she assured me.


    She wasn''t wrong at all. In the month it had taken us to get here, we had been training a lot and when you were training with someone, who was equal to you in skill, constantly, you both would begin to improve at an explosive rate.


    Whenever Green and I took a break, we trained with the other. Even simple things like having another perspective helped out a lot.


    I''d be significantly weaker traveling alone or even with any new trainer besides Green, barring Gold and Crystal.


    I snorted. "You''re right. We''ll only get stronger from here."


    With a few directions from a rather quiet man, we hastily made our way to the Fuchsia Gym and entered the Japanese styled building without wasting any time.


    I gazed at the interior with a curious eye.


    In terms of simplicity, Fuchsia was definitely one of the most simple. The entire interior looked akin to a dojo to me. The floor was wooden, the rooms were fairly bare and it was largely empty, barring the stern looking man at the counter.


    My eyes flickered in a direction for a second, before I focused on the man again.


    "We''re here to schedule a gym battle," I said bluntly to the man, returning his stern face with a small scowl of my own. "This is Leaf Green and I''m Silver. We both have 4 badges."


    The man nodded, utterly unfazed by my abrasive nature.


    Bummer. Harassing receptionists had become a fun hobby of mine.


    Harassing stiffs was even more fun.


    "Understood," he said, typing away swiftly and efficiently.


    I watched his fingers blaze across the keyboard and grunted as he gazed at the two of us once more.


    "Two days. That is how long you have until you are required for summons. Failure to arrive will postpone the opportunity to apply for upwards to five days," he explained.


    I rolled my eyes. "Thanks so much. I was definitely considering bailing out," I said sarcastically, turning away with a small frown and departing from the gym.


    Green and I walked in some silence, heading towards the Pokemon Center.


    "Two days huh?" she murmured contemplatively. "Okay, that''s good enough to prepare for Koga."


    "Shouldn''t be terrible at all. We got this," I said with a shrug.


    She nodded confidently. "Yeah we do!"


    I smirked before stopping abruptly, annoyance replacing my earlier expression. "You can stop hiding now. I''ve noticed you since we were in the gym."


    Green blinked in confusion, only to yelp as a figure landed in front of us.


    "Cool," I thought idly.


    "You could sense me?" the stranger asked, voice sounding genuinely surprised at that little detail.


    It was a girl. She looked to be a year older than us, with a spiky head of purple hair, tied by a yellow band, and matching purple eyes.


    She was decked out in an actual ninja outfit. It was all black and covered her fairly well, long pink scarf flowing behind her.


    Did people actually walk around in ninja outfits? Did casual wear just not exist?


    I blinked boredly. "Why do you think I called you out?"


    Sometimes, it felt like I was the straight man in a fucking comedy movie. So much ridiculous shit happened around me and I was the only one who thought it was incredibly odd.


    Like that girl who randomly kissed me on the cheek for doing something as basic as making sure she didn''t get assaulted by a criminal. Or Lance having the worst disguise of all time... or this girl thinking I would just randomly say "Come out, I know you''re there", without actually knowing if someone was there.


    I nearly pinched my nose at everything I recalled. This world was so anime it hurt.


    The girl frowned. "To think I''d still be lacking in my training. I''ll have to rectify such a mistake. Father would be displeased to hear about this."


    I sighed. "Why the hell are you following us? It''s not a good look for the Gym Leader''s daughter to go stalking two random trainers."


    Green''s eyes widened. "Oh! You''re Koga''s daughter?"


    The girl coughed, clearly surprised that we identified her so quickly. "That''s¡­ correct. I am Janine, daughter of Koga and next in line to inherit the Fuchsia City Gym."


    "That doesn''t help us figure out why you''re stalking us," I said bluntly.


    Her cheeks dusted slightly at my blunt and accusing tone. "I noticed you glance directly at me while you were signing up for the gym battle. I thought it might have been a coincidence but you didn''t look elsewhere so my interest was piqued."


    The Venomoth next to her buzzed in affirmation. It looked bigger than the average one


    "I then recognized who you two are and only grew more interested. Silver and Leaf Green, two first year trainers with four gym badges. My training is by no means complete, but it''s highly unlikely for a first year trainer to spot me while I remain completely hidden."


    She peered at me with blatant curiosity. "Do you also have some form of training?"


    I scowled but before I could respond, I instinctively lashed out and grabbed the arm of the girl who suddenly rushed me, before flipping her entire body over my shoulder.


    Janine landed deftly on her feet and I snarled at the unaffected girl.


    "What the fuck do you think you''re doing?" I growled warningly, clenching my fist. "Next time I''m not throwing you over my shoulder, I''m breaking a limb."


    Green squeaked at that, already intent on pulling me back and away from this maniac.


    "I see. You truly do have some form of training," Janine muttered. Venomoth flitted back over to her side and I scoffed.


    "Green, we''re leaving. This girl is a weirdo and I''m tired of dealing with weirdos."


    Green sighed and nodded. "At least you two didn''t actually start fighting¡­ I didn''t wanna break that up," she said bluntly.


    "I didn''t wanna fight. I''m tired and want to take a shower," I grunted.


    "Me too," she replied easily.


    "One moment please," Janine called out.


    I did not listen. "Fuck off. Let''s just leave this meeting here and forget this ever happened."


    Attacking me out of nowhere, how utterly ridiculous did you have to be to do that?


    Janine looked puzzled. "You do not wish to battle?" she asked in slight confusion.


    "No," I denied harshly. "You stalked me, attacked me and now you wanna battle me?" I asked incredulously.


    What the hell was wrong with some of the people I happened to meet? Why were they all freaks?!


    I turned towards the girl with narrowed eyes. "Do you have any friends?" I asked randomly.


    She opened her mouth.


    "Human friends. Your dad doesn''t count," I interrupted.


    She shut her mouth abruptly.


    Janine furrowed her brows. "I''ve been immersed in my clan training for years. I did not have time for such things."


    I sighed, not even remotely surprised. "How old are you?"


    "I am 14."


    Right. Okay. Cool.


    So this girl had basically spent her whole life training herself and then her pokemon. As a result, she really really didn''t understand social cues.


    I guess anyone could become a Gym Leader huh? I mean people like Surge and Giovanni could so I shouldn''t be surprised at all.


    "You have terrible social skills and that''s coming from me," I informed her helpfully. "Just because it looks like I know what I''m doing, does not give you free reigns to attack me. Maybe next time, ask for a spar or something."


    "He is correct, Janine. It is unwise to jump to such conclusions, no matter how confident you may be in your assessment."


    I watched as a figure flitted into view, causing Janine to go stiff.


    "Double cool," I thought.


    "I apologize for my daughter''s actions," Koga said, bowing shortly. "It is rare for her to encounter someone near her age with formal training of sorts. In her excitement, she made a hasty and unwise decision."


    I grunted, unwilling to disclose anything about my physical abilities. "It''s your fault anyways so I don''t get why you''re apologizing on her behalf. Do it for yourself first," I scowled, glaring at the gym leader next.


    Koga looked slightly taken aback, neutral expression making way for a slight quirk of his brow. "Pardon me?" he asked.


    I rolled my eyes and scoffed loudly. "You''re her dad and you don''t see the problem with the fact that your daughter has the social skill of Slowpoke? Do you have the social skills of a Slowbro? How could you possibly think this is okay?" I pointed out.


    Green sighed tiredly. "I don''t get how you''re like this. It hasn''t even been an hour."


    "What I don''t get, is how you always find a way to pin the blame on me!" I snarked, rounding on her with a glare. "You need to stop accusing me just because I''m ruder than the person messing with me. I''m the one being harassed every city I land in. My life would be so much simpler, if people actually left me alone like I wanted to be!" I barked at her.


    Green flinched, taken aback by me suddenly attacking her.


    Then she mulled over what I said and eventually nodded. "You know what¡­ you''re actually right. Now that I think about it, you really do try to end conversations as fast as possible¡­ huh, you even did the same with me and Blue and Ash... and Mason," she mused, pursing her lips as she finally saw the truth.


    I sneered. "Yeah. I have basically never initiated anything with anyone but somehow, I''m in the city making this dumbass dad see that he did a terrible job at parenting his daughter."


    My companion laughed sheepishly and stepped away from my angry glare. "S-Sorry about that¡­ I won''t accuse you so much. But you''re also still kinda a dick so I think you deserve it."


    I shrugged, already used to it.


    "I do not think I have the social skills of a Slowpoke," Janine frowned, pondering what I said.


    I rolled my eyes and completely ignored her. "Your kid is a human, ninja man. I bet you''ve done a good job raising her as a fellow ninja, but you did a terrible fucking job raising her as a daughter. That''s pathetic and you need to do better," I reprimanded with a shake of my head.


    That got Janine to react. "Do not speak of my father in such a way! He is one of the greatest people I know!" she scowled.


    I sighed. "Everything that comes out of your mouth bores me to death. You can''t be this big of a drone," I said with a shake of my head, half lidded gaze turning towards her.


    "D-Drone?!" she spluttered. "I am no drone. I am a well respected ninja of my clan!"


    I groaned audibly. "We''re leaving Leaf. I''m seriously sick of this conversation."


    Green laughed nervously. "Yeah we should get you outta here before you make an enemy of the city."


    Koga said nothing, mulling over my words.


    "Hearing about my failures as a father was not what I was expecting today... but I believe what you say has some merit," he said eventually, making me pause. "My apologies, Janine¡­ It appears I truly have neglected part of my duties. I will seek to rectify this immediately."


    Huh? Seriously? Accountability?


    I almost clapped. Koga was a pretty respectable guy.


    Janine looked bewildered by that. "F-Father?" she asked in confusion. "What neglect are you speaking of? You''ve done no such thing to me!"


    "In your eyes, perhaps not. But how are you to know better?" Koga asked bluntly.


    I watched his daughter go silent in shock and snorted loudly.


    "You know what. The fact that you managed to realize so quickly, makes you not so shitty in my eyes. You''re just a terrible dad," I rolled my eyes.


    "¡­" Koga frowned contemplatively at that. "It seems like there is much for me to think about in these upcoming days, including our battle."


    Before I could say anything, the gym leader vanished.


    ...How the hell did he do that?


    "What did you do to my father?" Janine accused, frowning at me with a glare.


    "Spoke the truth. Don''t get mad at me for opening his eyes," I said bluntly.


    Her glare deepened and a small scowl formed on her face.


    "My father is a great man. He has balanced his duties perfectly and you have no right to slander him like that!" she defended.


    "I don''t know who you''re arguing with. It''s not me," I retorted boredly, heading towards the Pokemon Center with a resigned Green.


    To no one''s surprise, Janine followed us.


    "I''m arguing with you! You said things that weren''t true!" she blamed me.


    "No I didn''t. I don''t care enough to lie to strangers. Aren''t you guys ninjas? If it weren''t true, you should be able to tell or something," I replied with a wave of my hand.


    Janine immediately spluttered at my sentence. "T-That comes off so offensive! Don''t state such stereotypes like they are true!" she finally cracked.


    "It''s actually impressive how you can break people''s character. Is that a special talent of yours?" Green whispered to me.


    "Yeah, it''s an ability called common sense."


    "I heard that!"


    I sighed and kept my pace. Even as we entered the Center, she easily kept pace with us.


    "Hey," I greeted the Nurse Joy, handing her my Pokeballs without her having to say anything.


    Green followed suit and smiled at the Nurse Joy.


    "Can we get a room as well?" Green asked politely.


    Nurse Joy nodded slowly, glancing slowly behind us and noting the Janine glaring at the back of my head.


    "Ignore it. Temper tantrum," I mouthed silently.


    She nodded again, slower this time.


    "Here you are... have a wonderful day," she said, handing our team off to the Blissey behind her and then giving us a keycard.


    We accepted it thankfully and immediately walked off.


    "Isn''t it crazy that they''ve just stopped giving us separate keys?" I asked Green with a scowl. "Why do they think I wanna share a room with you now? You''ve already stolen one half of my tent."


    "It''s fun and you know it! I''m gonna be in your room the whole time anyways!" Green beamed, nonplussed by the revelation. "We get to have sleepovers everyday!"


    "Yeah, I love waking up to a forest of hair somehow finding its way onto me¡­ despite the fact we have separate beds."


    Green blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry. I can''t help it," she mumbled, hanging her head.


    "You aren''t even attempting to solve your problem," I said dryly.


    "S-Stop ignoring me!" Janine shouted finally.


    Wow, she really was persistent. She even followed us into our room.


    I rolled my eyes. "Why are you upset again?" I asked, finally acknowledging her.


    "You insulted my father! How dare you say the things you said about him? He''s done no such thing to warrant that!" Janine replied immediately.


    I stared at the slightly taller girl and sighed tiredly. "You have no social skills. Do you realize that you followed me all the way from the gym, to my rented room in the Pokemon Center and you don''t see the problem with that."


    Janine blinked at the callout.


    "He um¡­ has a point," Green chimed in. "Normally people don''t uh¡­ follow others into a room that they haven''t been invited into."


    "No one does that. Not even me," I grunted, taking a seat on my bed even as Green leapt happily on it. "You have no social skills. You don''t know how the hell to act like a normal girl. You were raised as a ninja and future gym leader. That''s it. Koga did his job as your teacher well, but he did a terrible job as your father."


    If someone had done that to Jasmine, their ass would have met my foot. While definitely socially awkward, Jasmine wasn''t nearly as terrible as this girl here.


    Janine looked stunned. She opened her mouth and then shut it, realizing that there was not much she could say to defend herself here.


    "That''s¡­ not true," she said eventually.


    "What do you do for fun?" I asked boredly, falling back onto my head and crossing my arms behind my head.


    "For fun? Do you mean in my free time?" Janine replied.


    "Yeah, sure," I replied.


    "I like to meditate in order to clear my head of unnecessary thoughts. Most of the time, I will use the spare time to hone my craft or clean the dojo. I like to have my team spar with each other and I may sometimes join them. Afterwards, we discuss what could be done to improve and then I feed them and myself..." she listed off.


    A light amount of snoring cut her off and Janine blinked in surprise as she saw Green, unconscious on my bed with a happy smile.


    "You put her to sleep. Nice," I praised, yawning slightly myself. "Get it now?"


    Janine blinked, before the ninja girl flushed.


    "...I will delve deeper and analyze your claims further," she mumbled in embarrassment.


    I snorted. "You do that," I told her, resisting the urge to sleep because I needed to get my and Green''s team since she was already unconscious.


    Janine frowned. "You have opened my eyes in ways that I don''t find¡­ enjoyable and I harbor a strong dislike of you."


    I snorted at that.


    "After your affairs with my father, let us do battle. I''d like to see why there are so many whispers of you," she eventually said.


    I raised a brow.


    Janine''s team was too strong for me currently. She was very clearly experienced and based on her Venomoth alone, I''m fairly sure she was going to be a gym leader in about another year or two.


    "Whatever you say," I said coolly. "I don''t take defeats well. Just understand the consequences of what''s going to happen after our battle."


    I still remember that Ace trainer that patrolled the routes between Pewter and Mt. Moon. His name was Brace or something but all I needed was a face.


    When I got my hands on him again, he was gonna regret beating me.


    Janine jumped at that, whirling towards me with a startled gaze.


    "Dangerous," was written all over her face. It was easy to tell what she was thinking.


    Ninjas had pretty good instincts.


    "I¡­ will keep that in mind," she muttered, silently exiting the room.


    I watched her go with a blank expression.


    "Silver. Green. Both your pokemon are ready to be picked up," a voice rang into our room.


    I stood up and frowned.


    I didn''t like fighting battles I knew I was going to lose. It was a waste of time when I could be improving myself to get to that level.


    Fighting an unbeatable force was something a person like Gold or Ash would do. It was an idiots goal to fight someone so strong, you couldn''t even learn anything from it.


    That''s why I didn''t chomp at the bits to battle Lance. He was so out of my league, there was nothing I could learn from the fight.


    Getting defeated in one shot wasn''t a learning experience.


    But¡­ I''d be trying to face off stronger threats anyways. Proton''s team still looked way stronger than mine and I doubted he was the strongest Admin...


    Perhaps I had to become a bit more like the idiots then. I had already stepped one foot onto that path.


    I stood up and stared at Green''s sleeping body, sighing with a shake of my head.


    "Dumbass stole my bed," I grunted, making my way out of the room.


    Maybe I was becoming an idiot because I constantly traveled with one.

 Player One III

    "I don''t get you at all Leaf."


    Green flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry..."


    "You steal my bed, I say alright that''s cool and let you have my bed and I even go get your team for you while you irresponsibly fell asleep waiting for them."


    "I get it Silvy. You don''t have to continue," she muttered.


    I ignored her.


    "But what do I get in return? I get a head full of hair in my goddamn face because you stealing my bed wasn''t enough. I take your bed and somehow¡­ somehow, you ended up on that same bed. Wanna run me through that play?" I finished, staring unimpressed at her.


    Green curled into herself. "I-I said I''m sorry! I dunno why, but you''re a comfy pillow! Your body is really cold and it helps me fall asleep faster!"


    I twitched in annoyance. "Anything else you wanna say before I kill you? I''ve given you enough leeway. It''s time to die."


    Green squeaked. "Y-You don''t gotta do that! At least I didn''t squeeze you like Lorelei did! You shouldn''t be so upset that a cute girl like me is hugging you!" she tried with a winning smile.


    My companion let out a squeal of terror as I lunged, poised to choke her out.


    "W-Wait! Before you kill me, d-don''t you wanna check out the city?" she tried to persuade me.


    "I want to hurt you more," I said bluntly, utterly unswayed by everything she was trying to say.


    A bead of sweat fell down Green''s head and she sighed in defeat. "Y-You''re a very scary person. Okay, I accept my death."


    I blinked, taken aback by that. "You do?" I asked in confusion.


    "OF COURSE NOT!" she screeched.


    Green used my shock to get from under me and the girl began running for her life.


    "Clever girl," I muttered, eyes narrowed like a predator as I stalked her rapid footsteps.


    "B-Bye Nurse Joy!" Green yelped, rushing out of the Pokemon Center.


    The confused nurse waved slowly at Green, watching her exit the building with haste.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll catch her," I said, pocketing the card to our room. "She is not getting away."


    "While I wasn''t worried before¡­ I''m certainly concerned now," Nurse Joy explained slowly, looking half amused half horrified. The poor lady had already had to deal with us twice now so I couldn''t blame her.


    I nodded. "Yeah, better that it happens outside the center. I agree with that sentiment."


    "That''s¡­ not what I said at all."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "S-So you wanna check out the Safari Zone?" Green asked in a way that sounded like a whine, rubbing her head as she winced. "It''s not like we have anything else to see and¡­ we have money to spare," she whispered that last part.


    We did get a healthy amount of money from our Game Corner heist so it wouldn''t really be a hit to our funds.


    "We can just sightsee you know? It''ll be fun!" Green added, delicately patting her hair.


    I sighed. "Nothing else to do in this boring ass city but go to that beach in the south¡­ alright then," I agreed.


    Mind made up, Green and I decided to head to the Safari Zone as strictly sightseers.


    It was the biggest attraction in, the otherwise boring, city. You were allowed to catch any pokemon in there only if it agreed to go with you. If it didn''t want to go with you, that was that and if you tried to capture it, you were going to jail.


    The Safari Zone was a place that protected pokemon. Forcefully capturing them, went against the nature of it.


    Gold and Crystal managed to get some pokemon to agree to go with them. I wonder who they caught.


    Green and I had no interest in catching anything further at the moment. I had my hands full with my current team, not to mention I had this egg that my companion took more care of than I did.


    That was 7 pokemon so far and I was still not even fully established as a trainer.


    Unless it was a pokemon I desperately wanted, I wasn''t keen on catching anymore members.


    "Welcome to the Safari Zone!" the receptionist greeted us. "Would you like to enter?"


    Green nodded happily. "We''re just sightseeing! We don''t wanna catch anything!"


    The receptionist nodded in return, smiling at Green''s infectious energy. "That''s rare! Okay then, would you like a guide to show you around? If you don''t want to catch anything, you''re even qualified to ride around in our vehicles!"


    Green''s eyes lit up. "That sounds really fun!"


    "Sure," I agreed boredly.


    She nodded happily, typing away at something. "Okay, as for your guide¡­"


    "If I may?"


    The lady stopped speaking and perked up. "Miss Janine!" she greeted. "Fancy seeing you here! Is there something the matter?"


    I sighed. "She''s been following us this whole time," I grunted.


    "So you could still sense me¡­" Janine mulled, crossing her arms in contemplation. "Sarah, I''d like to be their guide if that''s possible."


    The receptionist, Sarah, blinked and nodded. "I''m sure that''s acceptable."


    I thought about refusing but just rolled my eyes and let it be. She''d follow us regardless so who cares.


    "Here, some of the pokemon love when you give them treats," the lady beamed, handing us a bag.


    Green eagerly accepted it and nodded. "Awesome! I''ll feed them all!"


    With that settled, we got into a fairly open vehicle that allowed us to view the entirety of the expansive area.


    It was really nice. Large trees littered the plains, large areas of grass existed and pools of water were littered everywhere.


    "You drive?" I raised a brow, watching Janine take the wheels with familiarity. "Pretty strange for a ninja. Figured you''d be jumping through trees all the time."


    There was also the fact she was 14¡­ but I''d seen stranger things... Like leaving the security of an entire city to a 16 year old.


    I caught the gaze of a Seaking and took a snack out of the awed Green''s bag, tossing it over to the fish.


    It easily gobbled up the snack and I watched as Goldeen''s popped out of the water next, getting a wry smirk out of me.


    I took a handful of the snacks this time and tossed them, getting noises of excitement out of the school of fish.


    "Do you realize how offensive some of the things you say are?" Janine asked, watching me from the corner of my eyes. "I know you do. You almost weaponize this form of ignorance."


    "You get used to it," Green shrugged, happily throwing out snacks to anything she saw. "So Janine, what are you doing here?"


    "I wanted to observe you two further, so that I could learn," Janine frowned. "Father forbade me from my duties until further notice. He informed me that I should relax so I thought it would be best if I sought you out."


    "Weirdo," I muttered under my breath, ignoring Green placing a chastising hand on me.


    "Am I not making the correct effort?" Janine asked incredulously, looking offended by my words.


    "Sure¡­ but there are plenty of better ways to go about it besides stalking someone you don''t like," I shrugged.


    "That is what I''m trying to learn and unfortunately, you are the only one who I can observe," she scowled.


    "I am not the one to learn it from. I have no social skills," I replied in amusement. "I guess Green is good though."


    "Thanks!" Green beamed with a thumbs up, ruffling the fur of a Tauros that was nuzzling her.


    "T-THEN WHY DID YOU DO ALL THIS?!" Janine shouted, finally losing her composure with me... again.


    I shrugged again. "Boredom I guess? Gotta entertain myself somehow when everyone refuses to leave me alone."


    Janine looked stunned at my words. "I¡­ but... You''re a horrific human being," she said eventually.


    "I think so too. It''s a wonder people talk to me so much."


    Green laughed and scratched the back of her head. "I''m sorry about him Janine¡­ he''s difficult to get along with. You might never get along with him. We met a lot of trainers like that."


    I looked distinctly smug at that.


    "That''s not something you should be proud of Silvy. It''s hard for me to make friends because of you."


    "Stop being so clingy then. You are more than free to go off on your own more. In fact, I encourage you to go make more friends."


    "...Anyways Janine, you''re better off not engaging with Silvy too much! He''s especially good at bothering super serious people. There''s a reason he doesn''t have many friends! People have actually tried to befriend us but he''s too much of an ass and pisses them all off," Green exclaimed, completely ignoring the alternative I gave her.


    I snorted and gazed out into the Safari Zone.


    This entire thing kind of reminded me of those trips in the Savanna but instead of lions and zebras and whatnot, you instead saw things like a herd of Nidoran and Nidorino being led by a lumbering Nidoking.


    Or you saw a stampede of Rhyhorns, being watched over by a beast of a Rhydon that was eyeing you down like it had a personal fucking problem.


    I sneered at that one, watching as it snorted and gazed away.


    It was fascinating, seeing all the different pokemon lingering about. We were spared a brief glance by some of them.


    None were aggressive though. It was forbidden to hurt the pokemon in the Safari Zone. This was a preserve after all. You''d face a lot of jail time if you attacked something in her¡ª


    Janine and Green paused in their conversation, as an explosion rocked the area we were in.


    My eyes narrowed, hand ducking to my pokeball immediately.


    "What¡­?" Janine''s eyes narrowed, watching as the Pokemon jolted in surprise. Soon, a cacophony of noise began filling the airs and I scowled.


    Seriously? Could I get a moment''s rest? Why did chaos follow me wherever I went?


    "Call your dad," I instructed immediately, eyes narrowed as my hackles rose.


    We were being watched¡ª


    BOOM!


    No sooner did I think that, did I stop thinking at all, rational replaced by surprise as I was sent flying out of the vehicle we were in.


    I let out a gasp as I hit the floor, body tumbling across the floor rapidly before a tree stopped my momentum.


    Pain exploded in my back, amplified by the confusion I was feeling and I hissed, trying and failing to figure out what the hell was going on.


    "What the fuck?" I rasped, stars in my vision as I blinked rapidly.


    As I began to come to, I alarmingly noted that I wasn''t alone and gave off the impression that I was completely incapacitated.


    It helped that I was still dazed. I could barely make out that they were saying something.


    "... isn''t the girl..."


    "... was with them..."


    "... Petrel said he''s going..."


    "Just distract this..."


    There was a conversation going on between people and I spat out a wad of blood, verifying (and mostly hoping) that nothing was broken.


    "He''s awake after that?!" one of the voices exclaimed, becoming more clear to me as the seconds passed.


    "These kids are made of different stuff I tell ya."


    Then, I looked up to see an Arbok looming over me.


    The giant snake looked a tad bigger than the one I encountered yesterday and I grunted at the intimidating pattern on its chest.


    "Bok," it hissed menacingly, violence in its unfocused and furious gaze.


    I stared at the snake, slightly unfocused gaze becoming clear and as I came to, I took the time to appreciate just how tall an Arbok truly was when it was looming over you.


    "You''re gonna need a bit more than that to scare me, snake," I rasped, sneering at the thing as I clutched my ribs.


    "Is he nuts? Talking to Arbok like that won''t be good for him," the female voice scoffed.


    "Who does this kid think he is?" the male voice agreed.


    Arbok clearly didn''t appreciate my words, it was hissing with so much vitriol, actual venom was leaking out of its mouth, melting the ground around it.


    I stared fearlessly at it and sighed, before leaping to the right without hesitation.


    At the very moment I leapt, a shriek of terror rang through the clearing and temporarily distracted the Arbok... but it didn''t register it for more than a few seconds, immediately turning towards me again.


    With the size and speed of this thing, one lunge would be all it took to close the distance between us and then I''d be food... but that didn''t matter to me because right as it geared up to lunge at me, my pokeball snapped open and Metang burst forth.


    My psychic rumbled in a rare fury, crashing into the snake with ruthless precision as his dome shone blue with the effects of Zen Headbutt.


    I ignored the fact that he used his incredibly sharp horn for that and stood up, spitting out another wad of blood.


    Gaia immediately hissed in worry as she released herself, heal pulsing me and as she patched me up, I glanced up to see a livid Ares bulldozing a Mightyena.


    I winced as she shot a point blank Dragonbreath in its face, burning the thing with the sheer power behind it.


    "No wait! Please stop!" A wail of terror caught my attention just in time to see red claws raking against a female human body, hot rage palpable from the attacker.


    I watched numbly as the body dropped next to another that had been the source of the initial scream, head throbbing something fierce.


    The two who were talking were unconscious on the floor, blood seeping underneath them as Loki, who had been tailing us in his illusion, snarled down at the bodies.


    His sharp fangs were bared to the world and there was a surprising amount of venom in his eyes, fury reaching levels I didn''t know my calm first pokemon was capable of.


    The anger vanished, replaced by worry as he immediately crossed the distance between us.


    He contemplated grasping me but thought better of it due to the red liquid seeping off his claws. Instead, he settled for a pensive look, just allowing Gaia to do her thing.


    I huffed and took a deep breath, wincing at the slight pain in my ribs, before taking out a rag.


    Gingerly I wiped his claws clean, staring at the darkening cloth with a blank expression, even as Gaia stepped back.


    The situation felt eerily similar to the S.S Anne after I got attacked. I didn''t like this one bit.


    "Nothing''s broken I think," I said aloud, patting Gaia''s yellow-green scales as my expression never shifted. "Just a pain on my sides. Maybe a bit of internal bleeding but I should be fine."


    It was a miracle that nothing was broken with the trip I just fucking went on...


    I gazed once more at the prone bodies to get a good look at them and felt my body go cold.


    The giant red R on the one who''s outfit didn''t get shredded, filled me with far more dread than I would have liked... dread strong enough, to overwrite the nausea I was feeling staring at them.


    But this dread wasn''t for my sake.


    No it wasn''t for me at all.


    "...isn''t the girl..."


    I had managed to pick up snippets of their conversation while I was coming to and that was something I caught.


    Isn''t the girl.


    Isn''t the girl...


    Isn''t the girl.


    Petrel.


    Team Rocket was after a girl.


    Team Rocket was targeting our vehicle because of a girl.


    Fucking Petrel was here as well and he was probably targeting the girl too.


    My eyes flew open at that and I hastily released Oberon from his ball, feeling a strange vertigo hit me that transformed into something primal.


    "Oberon, you know how Green smells right?!" I asked wildly, feeling my body enter a rare frenzy.


    Oberon looked rattled by my wide eyes but he nodded quickly.


    "Tell me! Show me where she is!" I demanded.


    There was a manic feeling coursing through me. Everything was heightened to levels that didn''t feel normal and my distress must have shown through because Oberon sniffed the air twice and hastily pointed me in a direction.


    "You believe they are targeting the forest human?" Metang questioned, even as I hastily wiped the purplish blood off his horn.


    "Yes. She''s in trouble," I hissed.


    I huffed wildly, returning the rest of my team to their ball, barring Loki.


    Without any hesitation, I rocked off in the direction Oberon pointed me at, completely ignoring the pain in my ribs as I did so.


    The speeds I was currently running at, reminded me of my encounter with Fraxure but this time I wasn''t running away from something, I was running towards it.


    I wouldn''t. I could not let Team Rocket get Green. Not if I could help it.


    Chaos was currently taking place in the Safari Zone. I''m sure Team Rocket was all around but I didn''t give a damn about any of the wild pokemon that may have needed help right now.


    "Ursa!" Oberon warned me, notifying us that we were close to her location.


    I pressed on as I heard the sound of action and I made Loki set up an illusion preemptively.


    As I entered, I saw Saury tying up two unconscious grunts and felt such a surge of relief, it froze me in my spot. Pained breaths left me and I clutched my ribs again, before surveying the scenery.


    A Golbat was unconscious on the floor, Vee''s eyes glowing menacingly as his gem shone brightly. A little further away, Togee, Dree and Larvee were making sure the Raticate didn''t wake up, strings from the Larvesta tied firmly around it.


    Lapee was crooning in concern. She was currently directing spraying droplets of water on a furious Green, who was clutching her broken arm tightly. There was a panicked look in her eyes and as I dropped the illusion, her eyes darted over to mine.


    Her pokemon stiffened but at seeing who it was, I heard them all make palpable sounds of relief.


    Cold fury made way for sheer relief and Green let out a weak cry.


    I''m sure it matched the look in my eyes because I was pulling her into a hug before I even registered that I moved.


    "Silvy..." Green whispered. "I''m glad you''re okay!" she cried, hugging me to the best of her ability with her good arm.


    I said nothing just letting out a rattled and pained sigh as I stared at her broken arm.


    "That''s not good," I muttered, releasing Gaia from the ball. "Gaia can you...?"


    Gaia nodded immediately, flashing with Heal Pulse as she directed as much as she could to Green''s arm.


    I didn''t have the slightest clue about doctor shit but I''m pretty sure she needed a cast for that. I reached into my bag and took out my gauze, gingerly wrapping it around her entire arm.


    The appendage was limp but I needed to make sure she didn''t move it too much, tying it to her sides by looping a rope around her sides.


    It was shoddy and definitely not approved, but it would be good enough for now.


    "We need to get you checked out. I think we stopped the swelling but we need professional help."


    "Silvy...?" Green muttered in confusion, noting the state I was in. "Are you okay? Your breathing a little rough. I thought that you..."


    I shook my head harshly. "I''m fine. But we need to get you out of here. I think Team Rocket is targeting you."


    "Me?" My companion frowned at that. "I thought... they were targeting you? I heard them mention a Petrel and assumed that was someone strong. Since he wasn''t here, I thought he was after you."


    "The Rockets that ambushed me mentioned that the target was a girl," I denied, gaze wild as they flitted around for any more attackers. "Petrel is an Executive. You didn''t encounter him?"


    Green shook her head slowly. "N-No? I just faced two grunts¡ª"


    We both stilled at the same time.


    "Janine," we said in unison.


    Green wasn''t the girl they were targeting...


    They were targeting the Gym Leaders daughter and they were using an Executive to do it.


    "We have to go help her," Green said immediately, eyes wide in worry.


    "Absolutely not," I denied harshly.


    Green stilled at that, whirling towards me with wide eyes. Her mouth opened at my face and I shook my head.


    "You have a broken arm and that''s an Executive out there. We aren''t ready for an Executive, Green," I informed her coldly.


    "Neither is Janine!" she exclaimed in shock. "But she''s close enough that maybe we can swing the tides in her favor! She''s going to be a Gym Leader soon! If we just help her, I''m sure we can win!"


    My eyes were wild as I glared at her. "And if we can''t? Do we just die?! We can get help for her but going out there ourselves is suicide!" I exclaimed.


    I was not going to let her kill herself for the chance to save someone else. That wasn''t going to happen. I already had the scare of my life when I thought she was being targeted by an Executive.


    "Silver that''s not fair to her! Help won''t arrive in time if he''s attacking her right now!" Green shouted in return. "We can help! We have to! Why don''t you want to help her?!"


    I clenched my jaw at that. "Because she''s not as important to me as you are. I''m not putting your life on the line for a sliver of a chance to save someone else," I said coldly, no hint of remorse in my gaze.


    Green froze at that, a small shudder ripping through her body, as she gazed at me with wide eyes.


    I stared right back.


    She had a broken arm, there were Rockets out in the Safari Zone and there was an Executive here that she wanted to directly attack.


    Not a chance. Not a chance in hell. Janine''s importance to me, didn''t even come remotely close to Green''s.


    Green was player one. Her life was far too important to be thrown away like trash.


    "Silvy... please. I can''t... we can''t just let her die. That''s not fair to her. That''s not right," Green said quietly, looking heartbroken at just the idea that we wouldn''t help.


    "I don''t care about what''s right," I wanted to say but I couldn''t.


    Green and I stared at each other instead, her desperate forest green eyes clashing with my cold metallic silver.


    Then I sighed in defeat.


    "Okay. We''ll help. Follow my lead. We need to handle this carefully," I grunted.


    Green sagged at that and pulled me into a tight hug.


    "Thank you," she said.


    "Thank me by staying alive," I muttered.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I went stiff, a shudder of familiarity coursed through my body, as I stared at the lax man out there.


    He was tall, taller than Proton by a fair bit, with bright purple hair that was cut short at the sides. There was a large curl on the top that matched his purple beard and purple eyes.


    I knew this slimy looking bastard¡­ that was Petrel alright and across from him, a tear streaked Janine was facing off against him. Her outfit had tears from the ambush and with how she could barely stand upright, I hazarded that something had happened to her leg too.


    The reason for her tears was made abundantly clear because laying there, completely unmoving, was a familiar Venomoth.


    Green let out a quiet gasp of horror at that, covering her mouth at the sight.


    I stared grimly assessing the pokemon on field and picking out which pokemon belonged to Janine.


    Crobat, Nidoqueen, Ariados, Roserade¡­ and what was that last one?


    It was dark gray and looked like a salamander, with a thing body that had a purple underside with several wavy dark pink markings.


    A Salazzle. That''s what it was. It was from the Alola region I''m pretty sure.


    And the pokemon they were facing off against...


    Ditto, Swalot, Dusclops, Banette, Jellicent¡­


    And a Gengar. An honest Gengar.


    Fuck.


    Gengars were rare. They were really damn rare and it was a good thing they were because no good was happening with a Gengar prowling around.


    The ghosts and Petrel looked totally at ease, a far cry from Janine''s distress.


    I clenched my jaw in annoyance as the ghosts suddenly froze up, before at once they all turned towards my direction eyes wide for an unexplainable reason.


    "Hm?" Petrel muttered, following their gaze. "Mind coming out? I don''t really feel like going over there, so I''d have to send something after you and none of us would like that option."


    "Don''t move," I grunted, stepping out into the clearing without any hesitation.


    Petrel froze, eyes widening to match his ghosts as we locked eyes with each other.


    "Ah shit," he said without meaning to.


    I watched as his eyes roved over my injured body, a bead of sweat forming on his features as he saw the tears and cuts littering me.


    Judging by how nervous he suddenly was, I imagine that either my dad or my mom would kill him if he revealed he caused these injuries.


    "Team Rocket," I said grimly, watching as Janine stared at me in shock. "You''ve got a lot of balls attacking in broad daylight."


    Petrel recovered quickly. "Nothing personal at all," he shrugged, deciding to play dumb for now. "Wrong place wrong time... but I''ll let you go since you haven''t gotten in my way just yet."


    "No."


    Petrel blinked owlishly, before his mouth opened in shock at the sight of a Tyranitar lumbering out to the clearing.


    "What?! A Tyranitar?! But how?!" he balked, even as I released the rest of my team.


    "You think you can attack me and get away with it? Fuck off," I snarled truthfully. "Get your head in the game, Janine. We gotta win this battle."


    Janine nodded shakily, wiping her tears and testing her bad leg before wincing.


    The ghosts looked like they wanted to be anywhere but here and Petrel took notice.


    "Be wary of the Tyranitar," Petrel warned, thinking that was why they were suddenly afraid. "Avoid it and target the others."


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Unfortunately, that seemed to somewhat snap his team out of their daze and they prepared to resume the battle.


    I huffed. "Careful. Ghosts are tricky. Do what you can to support Janine," I instructed.


    Gengar regained its bravado, cackling as it charged a Shadow Ball and fired it at Crobat who flitted out the way, only for a psychic sheen to cover it from the Ditto who had transformed into a Mr. Mime.


    The normal type of Petrel''s team had an empty smile on its already disturbing face, dragging Crobat out of the sky and towards the ground, only for its powers to falter as a wave of dark energy crashed into it, courtesy of the Tyranitar.


    Crobat hissed and immediately charged forward, sinking poisonous fangs into the Psychic/Fairy and dumping as much venom in it as possible.


    The Ditto shrieked at the super effective attack, cells shifting until it transformed back into its default blob state and Crobat began ragdolling it with pure venom, before a spray of steaming water crashed into it.


    Crobat shrieked as the Scald struck true and a shadow loomed over it... turning out to be the gaping maw of a Swalot.


    Before the bat could be swallowed whole, a strong beam of psychic energy slammed into the Swalot, sending the poison type skidding back with a cry.


    Petrel sucked his teeth, gazing at my Metang in some confusion.


    He immediately covered his eyes though, as the sun brightened above him unexpectedly.


    The executive wasn''t able to dwell for too long as a spray of leaves soared towards Jellicent, courtesy of Gaia.


    From a different angle, Roserade began glowing before it instantly fired a giant beam of green energy.


    As it careened towards Jellicent with pinpoint aim, Dusclops stepped in front of the attack and opened its mouth very slightly, dragging in and absorbing the Solar Beam.


    Everyone that wasn''t Dusclops, let out a startled noise as we began being pulled towards it and I hissed but before I could order Tyranitar to hit it, a weak ball of murky energy crashed into the ghost from behind.


    Gengar hissed warningly at Dusclops, smile gone as it cowed the ghost into shutting its mouth.


    My eyes narrowed slightly at that, gears turning slowly but I went on high alert as Banette burst from the left, grin mocking as it appeared directly next to my team and I.


    It charged a Shadow Ball and lobbed it, hissing in annoyance as it collided with a Light Screen conjured by Gaia. The Banette shrieked mockingly, vanishing in plain sight in time to avoid Ares'' dark maw.


    As Banette vanished, Jellicent immediately took its place, firing an icy white beam that crashed into Ares side.


    Ares hissed in agony, eyes bulging in rage as the Ice Beam crashed into her from the much stronger pokemon. She opened her mouth, already enhanced by Rage, and fired a hellishly large Dragonbreath that crashed into the Jellicent.


    It blubbered in surprise, before glowing white and patching up its wounds, floating away hastily as Tyranitar focused onto it.


    As it floated away a large barrage of leaves soared towards it, only for Dusclops to once again get in the way, weathering the attack incredibly well.


    Janine''s pokemon were standing next to mine, taking the time to regroup with us in order to better have each other''s back and Gaia crooned, firing a Heal Pulse that washed over all of them.


    I grunted with a frown, as Ditto gurgled and transformed into a Chansey. Almost as soon as it did that, the egg in its patch began glowing gold before it was doused in its own aura.


    That Ditto was transforming at speeds that were completely unnatural. It didn''t care whatsoever about the accuracy of how it looked, just intent on becoming the pokemon of its desire.


    But that wasn''t the issue. The issue was that a Ditto couldn''t possibly transform this much. It''s cells weren''t built to be morphed this much, no matter how exceptional the pokemon was.


    While a Ditto''s biology allowed it to morph into a perfect replica of a pokemon it was looking at, they could not constantly transform like this.


    Not only was it taxing, it was dangerous if done too much. A Ditto could permanently jeopardize its cells if it didn''t give itself a chance to rest.


    Troublesome. Taking it out of the fight would have been useful.


    Banette popped back out of the shadows, hissing as it summoned a ghostly flame. The Will-o-Wisp spun around its body and it launched them forward, grin vanishing in annoyance as Salazzle leapt in the way of the attack.


    She hissed in annoyance as the strange flames brushed against her and spat out an enhanced Flamethrower that collided with the weakened Hydro Pump.


    The Hydro Pump quickly overpowered the Flamethrower and careened towards Salazzle, fizzling completely right in front of her for strange reasons.


    Ariados skittered about, spitting out Sticky Webs that wouldn''t do much to the Ghosts... but it managed to land around the already slow Swalot.


    A shroud of psychic energy surrounded Swalot and nudged it over ever so slightly, tangling it up further and leaving it open for the roaring Nidoqueen.


    The ground underneath Swalot glowed before it erupted underneath the monster, launching it upwards.


    Salazzle opened its mouth to capitalize on the opportunity but was completely unable to as Gengar appeared in front of it, eyes glowing pink.


    The salamander swayed at that, eyes glazed over before they began drooping.


    Gengar cackled in amusement, eyes continuing to glow menacingly as it shot a shadow of itself that lunged through the sleeping Salazzle.


    The Ghost didn''t even acknowledge the unconscious salamander afterwards, turning on a dime and conjuring a massive Shadow Ball.


    My eyes widened as it launched the gigantic Shadow Ball at a random bush and the Gengar cackled victoriously at landing a direct hit on the hidden Vee.


    "Oho! So that''s what it was!" Petrel crooned, watching as the Espeon immediately collapsed from the super effective attack. "Sneaky sneaky! I was wondering why some things were happening that didn''t make any sense..."


    "There''s at least one more trainer here... but they could be gone now," he mused. "I guess I have to speed things up."


    "Gen!" Gengar agreed, summoning a Shadow Ball in each of its hands.


    He lobbed one directly at Gaia, who hastily threw up a Light Screen but Banette burst from the shadows behind her, tackling her with a full powered Phantom Force.


    It attempted to push his advantage but with the jig up, Saury sent out a litany of vines, wrapping them around the surprised ghost.


    Crobat hissed and immediately flitted over, fangs dark as it soared at immense speeds.


    Only for Gengar to pop in front of it with a menacing grin, second Shadow Ball still in its hand.


    Without any hesitation, it crashed the giant murky ball in Crobat''s face and immediately halted its flight.


    Crobat cried out in pain and tried to direct the Bite towards the Gengar, but the ghost suddenly lunged forward, attacking Crobat before it could even think about attacking.


    The Sucker Punch launched the bat backwards and Gengar finished it off with a final Shadow Ball, sending the bat careening towards the floor where it landed with a thud.


    I grit my teeth at that. We were quickly getting picked off like flies and it was getting bad. Petrel was picking up the pace of things and the Gengar was making it look easy.


    We had a far greater advantage in numbers but Petrel''s ghosts were tricky and hard to catch.


    "The Tyranitar. Get rid of it. Too troublesome and its playing guard," Petrel decided, seeming to finally decide that his mission was more important than whatever relationship we had.


    Jellicent blubbered, wrestling control of the weather and causing it to rain, before it fired off a gargantuan Surf.


    My eyes widened and I hissed as I was submerged for a moment. Memories of nearly drowning on the S.S Anne surfaced and my gaze turned into pinpricks.


    But as soon as the attack came, it ended and I coughed as I was dragged out of sight momentarily.


    All around, my, Green and Janine''s team was splaid about and I coughed at seeing Janine prone on the floor.


    "That''s that," Petrel shrugged, before his expression turned wary. "Now, what are you doing here kid?"


    I glared at him and stood up. "Don''t call me kid you annoying fucking pest."


    Gengar''s smile was gone, regarding me with a wary expression.


    Similarly, all his ghosts were doing the same. They looked at me warily and I felt my gaze dart around.


    Petrel shrugged. "Well, whatever. I''ve done enough damage. Dusclops grab the girl. That Koga should be on the way and that''s not something we need."


    Dusclops eyes glowed and he lumbered over to the unconscious Janine, hand reaching out to grab her.


    The ghost paused in confusion, as his hands went right through her body.


    "Huh?" Petrel mused in genuine confusion, before having his attention grabbed by a Pokeball rolling to his feet, button already pressed down.


    "...What?" he scratched his head. "What is this¡ª"


    The Pokeball exploded.


    Yellow smoke filled the entire area around Petrel, catching the Executive completely off guard as he shouted in surprise.


    "W-What the hell?!" he coughed harshly, eyes watering intensely as his limbs locked up.


    Pokeballs were storage devices. While their main purpose was to hold Pokemon... they could store other things as well because this world had advanced technology with space to an enviable degree.


    The technology for Pokeballs, Bags, all sorts of storage


    For whatever reason, despite not being secret, not many people seemed too interested about that, but I began tampering with it when I remembered that in the games, items you found were almost always stored inside Pokeballs.


    I did like that this world found a way to explain these things.


    The results were desirable. It wasn''t perfect but it accomplished exactly what I wanted from it...


    Aka, creating even more of my own weapons.


    I filled that pokeball with Gaia''s stun powder and turned it into a makeshift stun bomb. Sure it was a use of a Pokeball... but it''s not like I was a catcher. I had a bunch of extras anyways.


    I never had any intention of fighting this guy fairly. Not even once.


    When Janine''s team had converged on my area, that was because the illusioned up Green had grabbed her and dragged her to somewhere safe.


    The only real person here was me, my pokemon, Green''s invisible team and Janine''s team.


    Loki was the only member of my team who had not actually been completely there. The only time he had been there, was when he attacked the Ditto with Snarl.


    Afterwards, we gambled on the fact that they''d do everything to avoid Tyranitar''s attacks and had him stand back to focus hard on the Illusion.


    Someone had to be the sacrifice for a play like this to avoid suspicion and I chose myself for obvious reasons...


    Though, I wasn''t expecting to get submerged by a Surf. It brought up terrible memories and my fight or flight, was at its peak now.


    There was true blood in my eyes now as I glared ferociously at the coughing Petrel.


    I lunged forward, sprinting full speed at him, ignoring how my soaked outfit slowed me down or how the rain above splashed against me repeatedly.


    Petrel''s eyes widened. "Stop the kid!" he demanded, struggling tremendously to move his body and only managing to successfully move his arms.


    Swalot, who was the least affected by me, lunged at me, mouth open wide to swallow me whole.


    "D-Don''t kill him dumbass!" Petrel shouted in a panic, but it was too late.


    Swalot shut its giant mouth around my body, to no effect at all as the illusion of me faded out.


    That''s why I didn''t bother making all of us illusions... for this one chance to get one over them all.


    From the moment I threw that explosive ball, I had been wrapped in an illusion. When my illusion began running, I ran too...


    But I was in the complete opposite direction of where Petrel''s team was charging...


    Right behind him.


    There was a manic gleam in my eyes and I actually hissed violently as I seized the opportunity.


    Without any hesitation in my bones, I pulled out that handy dandy knife from the Game Corner and stabbed Petrel without any hesitation.


    Petrel let out a shriek at the feeling of the knife sinking into his back with far too much ease.


    "You''re going to return all your pokemon or I dig the knife deeper into a fatal spot," I whispered dangerously.


    He sucked in a deep breath of shock. "Kid? What the hell?" he rasped in surprise.


    My eyes narrowed in hatred and I bared my teeth.


    This guy must have been the reason I hated being called a kid.


    "You think I''m joking. You just tried to drown me. I will kill you," I snarled.


    "H-Hold on. Let''s talk about this. What do you think your da¡ª"


    "5, 4, 3," I began counting, ignoring what he was saying.


    This was a bluff. I wasn''t too keen on killing a person but I had already stabbed him like a maniac so it worked out well.


    Too well.


    Petrel began shakily returning his team. Banette, Jellicent, Swalot and Dusclops went into their ball.


    Right as he aimed the ball at Gengar though¡­ things quickly took a turn.


    Gengar moved faster than I could ever hope to react, big red eyes glowing with malice as it lost the mischievous glint in them.


    I watched with wide eyes as it lunged towards me with murderous intent¡­


    Only to let out a horrifically loud shriek as it was unexpectedly slashed into with claws of dark energy.


    Loki snarled violently, clawing away at the Gengar with repeated use of Night Slash.


    The sounds of the ghost shrieking, served as sufficient distraction and I watched with a clenched jaw as an Abra grasped him.


    Without any hesitation at all, the man teleported away, leaving me to stare at the spot where he had been, knife dripping with his blood.


    I watched with a scowl on my face, wiping my knife as Gengar blew away Loki.


    The ghost looked shocked, probably not expecting to be left behind by his trainer. It looked significantly smaller, likely due to getting slashed with dark energy and the powerful ghost gazed at us with a malevolent glare.


    "Snarl. Don''t let it use its ghost moves," I hissed.


    Gengar was clearly Petrel''s strongest pokemon. It would be good to get rid of it now.


    Loki snarled in affirmation but before he could attack, the Gengar let out a yowl as the air shifted around it.


    It only took me a moment to realize the air shifting, was due to a Pokemon moving.


    A Crobat sunk its fangs into the Gengar with ruthless precision, the Crunch making the ghost shriek as it was instantly dealt with by the giant bat.


    I watched in shock at the speed of how swiftly that troublesome Gengar had been dealt with, turning my head to regard the owner of it.


    "It appears I was too late to avoid travesty¡­"


    Koga''s neutral expression was gone for once, a look of slight sorrow in his eyes as he gazed at his daughter weeping over the body of Venomoth.


    Next to him, Dree and Oberon were gazing at the wreckage of the battlefield with wide eyes, having been instructed to find and help anyone get here.


    All around, the sounds of action grew more intense and I imagined that Team Rocket, whoever hadn''t already escaped, were currently being apprehended.


    I sighed tiredly, running a hand through my soaked hair. "Your daughter needs you. I can debrief you later. She''s in no condition to do it herself," I said simply.


    The Gym Leader gazed at me, noting my soaked and bloodied attire, before nodding his head.


    "Very well¡­ thank you for your assistance, trainer Silver. Truly, I have no way of knowing how to repay you," he whispered, walking towards his daughter to offer his presence.


    I sighed, returning my team to their balls after making sure they were all fine. "We can discuss rewards later... and don''t thank me, thank Green."


    With that, I made my way over to my injured companion.


    "How''s your team?" I asked quietly.


    "Bad, but not as bad as¡­" Green trailed off, limping slightly as she attempted to stand upright.


    I noticed that her eyes were glued onto the scene of Janine''s quiet sobs that broke out into something louder, the moment Koga wrapped her in his arms.


    A sigh left my mouth again and I shook my head, grabbing and placing my equally soaked companion on my back.


    It wasn''t all that easy, considering we were the same height but she wasn''t really heavy at all.


    "S-Silvy?" she asked in confusion, instinctively wrapping her good arm around my neck.


    "You''re in no condition to move so freely," I grunted, beginning to trudge out of the Safari Zone.


    "But you''re hurt too..." Green whispered.


    "I''m fine," I replied bluntly.


    I could practically feel Green''s judging frown as she stared at the back of my head but I simply ignored it and kept walking.


    "C''mon we need to get everyone, including ourselves, checked out," I muttered.


    Green nodded hesitantly and tiredly dropped her head. "Yeah¡­"


    We walked in silence. I was carefully avoiding where it was loud and just listened to the sounds of battle taking place.


    "Silvy¡­ did we do good?" Green asked quietly.


    "...Yeah, we did the best we could given the unfavorable situation," I replied truthfully.


    "...So why is Janine crying? I-If we really did good¡­ why did someone still get hurt?" she asked, voice cracking slightly.


    I sighed. "No one leaves a war unscathed. Some costs are greater than others¡­ but some outcomes are more favorable too. Better to lose one than to lose all, right?"


    Green flinched at that. "We can''t save them all?"


    "¡­" I said nothing for a long while, not willing to shatter Green''s innocence any further.


    It wasn''t something I was willing to do with my own hands. It would probably not be possible for it to stay the same as this journey progressed but I wouldn''t be the main catalyst if I could help it.


    But if I left it at nothing, it''d be even worse wouldn''t it?


    "We can''t save them all no¡­ but we can get stronger to save as much as possible if that''s what we want to do," I told her quietly.


    "R-Right..." she nodded softly. "Thank you, Silvy... and I''m sorry you got even more hurt helping me."


    "Don''t worry about it. This is the best outcome I could have asked for," I sighed, watching the droplets of water that fell off my hair.


    I barely flinched as an Arcanine suddenly appeared in front of us, staring lethargically at the absolutely giant dog.


    The Officer Jenny atop of it, stepped off and regarded the two of us with pursed lips.


    "Can you make this fast? My companion needs medical attention," I said gruffly, staring at her with a half lidded gaze.


    This was actually the first Jenny I was seeing. I tended to avoid the police force especially and really, I had no reason to ever talk to them.


    The Jenny shook her head. "I''m not here to hold you kids up... I''m just checking to see if you two are alright," she said quietly.


    There was a roughness to her voice but she was dialing it down to speak to the two of us in a gentler manner.


    "We''re as fine as could be," I bit out, really not in the mood for small talk. "Now can we go?"


    Jenny frowned and sat atop her Arcanine. "C''mon kids. I''ll get you to the Center. You''re in no condition to be carrying someone like that," she said sternly.


    Arcanine barked a deep and guttural noise of agreement, making my bones shake at the sound. The fire dog was a real specimen of a pokemon and in this world, they really did live up to the hype.


    I opened my mouth to automatically deny her request, before shutting it.


    "Fine," I conceded, walking up to the Arcanine.


    It was seriously tall, 6 ft on all fours, and I diligently removed Green off my back.


    "Her right arm is broken," I warned, watching Jenny carefully lift the girl up. I assisted her and soon, Green had a single arm wrapped the cops waist.


    Then I gingerly made the climb, ignoring the way my body ached in favor of keeping Green secured to the Jenny.


    "Not too fast Arcanine, but make it quick," Jenny muttered, glancing back at us to make sure we were fine.


    I stared back at her with a listless expression and we had just continued to look at each other until she frowned and turned back.


    Without further prompting, Arcanine sped off, legendary speed quickly carrying it out of the Safari Zone and to the Center.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Green had been rushed to the emergency room after Nurse Joy took one look at her arm.


    All of our Team had been checked in as well. They were doing mostly fine, though getting surfed by that damn Jellicent had done its number.


    As for myself, I had been forcefully sat by that stern Nurse Joy, despite my insistence that I was mostly fine.


    It was just a few fractures in my ribs. No biggie.


    Regardless, we had been in there for a few hours but the advanced technology meant I was mostly healed, while Green had been given a sling that could be removed in about a weeks time.


    The two of us had been allowed to retreat to our room that we never checked out of in the Center and that''s what we had done, just regrouping to talk about what had happened.


    "What a disaster..." Green said in distraught, gazing down at her wrapped up arm.


    "There were other grunts too. I guess their mission was to snag all the rare pokemon in there," I explained with a frown. "Some got away, most were caught. Lotta the pokemon resisted and were injured in the process."


    Green frowned sadly at that. "Who knows how many more places they''re attacking? This is terrible¡­"


    "It''s a tragedy. Since the creation of the Safari Zone, no one has ever attacked it. It''s a sacred place for pokemon to find refuge," a quiet voice said.


    Both Green and I stiffened, before relaxing minutely at the sight of the subdued Janine.


    Her eyes were red but despite that, she had a neutral expression on her face.


    I said nothing at all.


    Green''s eyes were narrowed in concern.


    "Janine, are you okay ¡ª"


    "Why didn''t you kill him?"


    My companion''s question was interrupted almost immediately and she shut her mouth abruptly, eyes widening at the horrifying question.


    Janine''s eyes were locked onto mine and I stared back with a neutral expression.


    "I saw it. You had that knife buried inside of him¡­ why didn''t you end him?" she asked, clenching her shaking fist.


    "¡­" I frowned at the question and took a good look at her, scratching the bandages wrapped around my midsection.


    Red rimmed eyes, shaking body, clenched fist...


    Ah so that''s what this was. Logic wouldn''t work here I imagine.


    Janine didn''t wait for me to answer. "It''s your fault. All of this is your fault!"


    Green jumped at that, a protective glare on her face as she prepared to rip into Janine for attacking me.


    I simply held her arm to stop her, causing my companion to look back at me incredulously.


    I just shook my head.


    Janine was glaring at me venomously. "If it weren''t for you¡­ I-I would be content with my current life! I wouldn''t have been there! It''s your fault! Why?! Why did you show up and start spewing such nonsense?! B-Because of you I lost¡­ I lost my first pokemon!"


    By now her tears had renewed and the brave expression cracked through completely, allowing both Green and I to see the shattered girl beneath... not that she had been hiding it very well.


    "¡­" I sighed, raking a hand through my damp hair as I watched the tears stream down her face.


    "I didn''t kill him because I''m already teetering on a thin line. If I took his life with my own hands, I don''t really know what type of effect that would have on me further down the road. I can''t go down that road while I''m with Green," I said truthfully.


    Green shuddered at that, looking at me with wide eyes.


    What I just said was true. I truly believed if I killed Petrel there with my own hands, I''d have taken a route that there was no turning back from.


    This was only my second time using that dangerous knife and I had done so without any hesitation. There was none of the nausea that I felt when I had stabbed Proton.


    The adrenaline had banished it. My fight or flight had ensured I wouldn''t feel any hesitance at what I had to do... and it ensured that I remembered that feeling so I wouldn''t hesitate ever.


    It was easy. It was so easy to just resort to that when things went south.


    But I didn''t want to jump to such drastic measures so quickly. Taking a life? That wasn''t a decision I could just make on a whim.


    Even now, I realized just how easy it was to do so. Would that always be my last resort when things got hard? Was I doomed to become a murderer?


    ¡­It sucked, because I seemed to already know the answer to that. If it came down to it, I had to do what it took... but until then, I''d stay on this road. Until there was truly no other option, I would try to retain the tiny piece of me that hatched Loki out of his egg.


    "I''m sorry about your Venomoth. If I had the power to change how that situation ended, I would have¡­ If I had the power, these events wouldn''t have played out like this but I''m not strong enough yet," I said truthfully, making Janine sniff harshly.


    I stared at her with a firm resolve.


    "But I won''t apologize for the words I said or the actions I took. I will never apologize for speaking my mind. Hate me, I don''t blame you. If that''s what you want to do, then that''s what you should do," I said simply, ending the situation right then and there.


    Janine sniffed even harder and took a step back. "I hate you," she whispered eventually.


    I inclined my head. "Sure. Hopefully that hate serves you well," was all I said.


    A sob tore through the girl and she abruptly turned and departed the room.


    I watched her go, face expressionless.


    "Why did you let her say all that, Silver? You weren''t to blame in the slightest. It''s clear Janine didn''t know she was the target this entire time so... why didn''t you tell her?" Green frowned in distraught, tearing her gaze off where Janine had just been.


    I grunted at Green''s questioning tone. "She''s not in the right headspace to listen to logic, Green. Right now, she just wants to lash out and she chose me as her target. If I told her she was the target, do you know what she would say?"


    Green shook her head slowly.


    "She''d say "It''s your fault that I was put in a situation to be targeted". Nothing I say in this moment will be good enough for her and that''s okay. That''s how people grieve," I said bluntly, truly unbothered.


    I wasn''t the one who lost someone. I was just thankful Green and I made it out fine. I couldn''t be upset that a person I was willing to leave to the dogs, was upset with me.


    "But... that''s not right. How is that fair? Am I supposed to just think you deserve that?" Green asked brows furrowed to convey her dismay.


    I smirked crookedly. "It''s fine, Green. What''s one more thing I don''t deserve?"


    Green frowned sadly and pulled me into a hug. "I''ll always be your friend, okay Silver?"


    I said nothing, before returning the hug easily. "Thanks Green."


    A knock on the door interrupted us and I gruffly said, "Come in," before it opened.


    I stiffened slightly at seeing Koga himself step inside but otherwise maintained a calm air.


    "Silver. Green," Koga bowed.


    "Koga," we both said, as Green bowed and I stared.


    "I will not sugarcoat it, as I know the both of you are intelligent children¡­ but I''m aware that Janine was recently here and whatever she may have said, I apologize on her behalf," Koga began immediately.


    I shook my head. "Don''t apologize for someone else. I''ll never accept it. She wanted an outlet and she chose one. I don''t care enough about peoples validation to be bothered by it so if it''s me she wants to be mad at, let it be me."


    I couldn''t quite blame her. Janine was the only one who had lost a member in that exchange besides Petrel.


    Koga gazed at me, expression not revealing anything. Then, he reached into his pockets and pulled out two gym badges, along with two discs.


    I raised a brow. "What are you doing?" I frowned. "I want to battle you. I don''t want the badge for free."


    He shook his head. "I will be busy in light of recent events and you''ve more than proven your mettle against the Rocket Admin. Most of my battles have been canceled already and I''m preparing to scour the areas around Fuchsia for a while."


    I frowned at that. I would have suggested battling Janine for the badge instead but¡­ yeah I didn''t think that was a good idea right now.


    "I''ve seen your capabilities and as I understand, you are more than eligible to gain a 5th badge. You two have earned it," Koga said truthfully. "If you find the results so unsatisfactory, I will accept any challenge from you at a later date with a stronger team that will satisfy your needs."


    Both Green and I frowned but nodded in acceptance.


    "We''ll be back for that battle," I grunted, accepting the badge out of his hand as Green did the same.


    "I look forward to it. Normally, I''d be thrilled to accept a challenge from such promising children, but there are more pressing matters," Koga said seriously.


    "I get it," Green nodded. "What''s the TM?"


    "This is the TM for Toxic," Koga explained, allowing us both to grab at the discs. "A very useful move for slowly choking out and restraining enemies."


    Absolutely perfect. No truly. Koga had no idea what he just unleashed.


    I mulled his words over. "Janine was being targeted," I said bluntly, making Koga go still.


    The ninja shut his eyes and let loose a weary sigh. "I had... doubts about such a thing but it appears that it truly was the case. You are sure of this?" he asked.


    I nodded. "Our vehicle was attacked by a ghost that separated all of us. While two grunts tailed us, Janine was presumably left alone with the Executive. I rushed to Green and we both came to the conclusion that she was the target all along. During the battle, the Executive told one of his pokemon to grab her. My bet is that she was going to be used as hostage to make you do something."


    Koga listened to my debrief with a calm expression, eyes closed to hide how grave he must have felt about the whole thing. "Astute observational skills, Trainer Silver. With this information, it''s clear that Team Rocket is trying to throw the entire region into chaos. With Janine apprehended, my hands would be tied. She is weaker than me, but capturing her may be no different to capturing me... so it would make sense to target her instead."


    It made sense. Koga was the closest to becoming the Elite 4 and Janine would replace him as Gym Leader. Dealing with her would be taking out two birds with one stone.


    "The Executive''s name is Petrel. Obnoxious looking guy with purple everything. He''s a ghost specialist. The Gengar you captured was his strongest pokemon but he also had a Ditto, Jellicent, Dusclops, Banette and Swalot," I informed Koga. "The Ditto transformed into an Abra and they teleported away."


    Koga nodded. "Valuable information. We''ve apprehended the Gengar thanks to your efforts and I will continue to search for this Petrels whereabouts."


    We nodded before Koga bid us farewell.


    "Do be careful, Silver and Green. Team Rocket may not take too kindly to your interference. If you are ever in need of assistance, I will do what I can... it is the least I could do after you two saved my daughter," he said, vanishing from sight.


    I watched him go with a tilted head, scratching my bandages once more.


    "So we got our badges," Green mused, scratching at her arm and whining as I snatched the good arm away.


    "It kinda sucks that we won''t get experience from the battle but that''s okay. We''ll just battle even more trainers on the way to Saffron," I grunted.


    I opened up a map and Green clambered onto my bed so we could inspect it.


    "We''ll head through the east into Route 15, then path through all the routes and cities there until we make it back to Vermillion. Then we can head up Route 6 to Saffron," I grunted. "It''ll take a very long time. Let''s stock up on provisions tomorrow."


    Green nodded in agreement. "We''ll take that time to grow even stronger. We have to be prepared for anything. Team Rocket can be anywhere at anytime," she said in determination.


    "That''s right," I agreed wholeheartedly. "Petrel made a fool of us and I don''t think he''s the strongest Admin."


    Green scowled. "We''ve gotta approach this carefully... if it weren''t for you and Loki, that would have gone terrible for us."


    We were both in agreement at that and I sighed.


    "Green. Silver. Both your pokemon are ready to be picked up."


    "Let''s go get our teams," I grunted.


    "Kay!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Green and I got ready to depart Fuchsia, I suddenly stopped what I was doing and let out an exhausted exhale.


    "I know you''re there," I said blandly.


    "¡­" Janine said nothing, appearing in both Green and I''s line of sight.


    There was no greeting from her as she gazed at us and I tilted my head curiously.


    What did she want now? More vitriol to spout at me right before I left? How did she even know we were leaving?


    "You know where Team Rocket is going to attack next," Janine said bluntly.


    I didn''t react to her statement.


    "Tell me where it will be. You will be there as well and¡­ I won''t let Venomoth''s death be in vain," she said bluntly.


    "¡­" I raised a brow and turned away from her. "You haven''t even properly grieved yet. I''m not going to point you towards people that are gonna kill you. Do that on your own time. I won''t take the blame for this one."


    "If you don''t, I''ll tell Father that you and that Rocket Admin know each other."


    I paused at that and raised a brow, turning towards her with a curious expression.


    Was this what I thought it was? Oh wow, I never expected this to happen to me so soon.


    "I saw it. The look you two exchanged and way he treated you. He was nervous to see you and so were his ghosts," Janine accused flatly.


    Green''s eyes widened at that and my expression flattened.


    "You blackmailing me?" I asked curiously.


    "Yes," she said bluntly.


    I hummed at that.


    How bold. Never expected a goody two shoes to actually blackmail me.


    Oh well. To my surprise... I didn''t actually care all that much.


    "Saffron City. That''s probably where their next hit will be," I informed her, unfazed by her threat.


    Judging by her flinch, she wasn''t expecting that.


    "Silph co is my best bet," I added coolly, shoving my gloves on.


    Janine looked stunned by my compliance. "R-right. In that case, I will be tailing you both. I suppose you take issue with that?" she goaded.


    "Nah. Feel free. Green and I can''t cook that well though so it won''t have much flavor unless its rice," I told her, already turning on my heels to leave.


    "I-I said tailing. You won''t even see me," she scowled.


    "I''m sure. Let''s go Leaf," I grunted.


    The ninja didn''t even look like she had properly prepared for a trip. I''m guessing she didn''t expect us to be going so far to Saffron but I imagine she''d be lacking provisions pretty quick.


    Oh well. I wasn''t going to wait for her to go get more and I bet she knew that.


    Green watched with a confused expression and we shared a quick glance.


    The immediate understanding on her face, pleased me more than I''d like to admit.


    She was a good little soldier.


    Janine was very clearly trying to piss me off or annoy me to some degree. It was so painfully obvious that it made her inexperience funny.


    I smiled in some amusement.


    People just didn''t understand how petty I was. I''d even ignore my natural disgust to get one over on them.


    There was no beating me in this game. I tried to show sympathy and yet she threw herself in the path of a speeding train.


    "Let''s get along Janine. We''ll be seeing each other a lot I imagine," I muttered. "C''mon Green. It''s gonna be a long trip."


    Green sighed tiredly. "Kay Silvy. We''ll take 2 hour interval breaks like usual."


    "2 hours, Janine," I informed her.


    This threw a bit of a wrench in my plans but I could use this eventually.


    I couldn''t quite trust Janine to deal with things in a logical manner though so I''d have to curb that on the way there.


    "I don''t see why you feel the need to tell me such things," Janine grit out coldly, vanishing from our sights.


    I watched her go with a half lidded expression.


    "If she wants to express her anger by inconveniencing me than so be it, but I hate being inconvenienced," I muttered.


    "Have a bit of sympathy, Silvy," Green chastised sternly.


    "I had sympathy. I even took the heat for her anger," I pointed out. "Now she''s going out of her way to antagonize me. I''ve yet to be out antagonized and there''s a reason for that."


    Green sighed tiredly. "Just¡­ be gentle. She''s hurting you know?"


    "I''m aware. I won''t go too hard," I grunted.


    "That doesn''t fill me with much comfort," Green said dryly.


    I simply smiled. "C''mon we really do have distance to make."


    "Silvy, please stop smiling. It''s legitimately one of the scariest things I''ve ever seen."


    "Not enough people mention how rude you are, Leaf."


    "I''m only this rude because of you! Stop corrupting me!"


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Ariana jolted slightly at the sight of Petrel barging into the room, eyes roving over to the sight of him clutching a wound on his back that was gushing with blood. She idly put out a hand that stopped the Honchkrow resting on her desk from tearing into the intruder.


    There was a panicked and wild look on his normally lax face and he groaned in pain.


    "I thought you were told that if you didn''t see an opportunity to avoid Koga, you were to simply send out the grunts to serve as distraction," Archer said immediately, crossing his arms as he assessed Petrel''s state.


    "You''re normally more careful. How did you slip up?" Ariana pressed, eyes narrowed as she leaned back into her seat slightly.


    "Well I''m doing great! Thanks for asking," Petrel retorted, even as the Abra next to him transformed into a Chansey. "I''m doing absolutely wonderful! Easy mission, all I had to do was avoid one person but no one told me a raving maniac was going to cost me my Gengar!"


    Ariana raised a brow. "Raving maniac? You are saying it wasn''t Koga that caused these injuries?"


    "How is that possible?" Archer mused. "Reports didn''t say anything along the lines of anyone formidable entering Fuchsia. Was it a wayward master?"


    "That''s because it wasn''t anyone formidable. It was the damn kid!" Petrel gasped.


    Ariana and Archer froze at that.


    "Kid?" they repeated in unison.


    Petrel nodded with a furious expression. "Imagine my surprise, when an easy mission to capture the gym leaders brat, turned into me losing my starter! What the hell am I supposed to do without Gengar?!"


    "When you say kid, are you speaking Silver?" Archer asked with furrowed brows.


    Ariana went cold as Petrel nodded.


    "He''s the one that stabbed me!" the purple executive scowled.


    "Oh no," Ariana thought in genuine horror. Silver had stabbed Petrel?


    Hold on one second, hadn''t Proton been bleeding profusely as well?


    "You were stabbed by Silver? For what reason?" Archer frowned, looking stunned by the revelation.


    Petrel quieted a bit at that. "Beats me," he eventually said.


    Ariana''s eyes narrowed at that.


    "Petrel, you understand what you are saying correct?" Archer said slowly, eyes narrowed as he stared him down. "You should count yourself lucky that our boss was summoned to his duties. He would not forgive you for omitting details. Now tell us, why exactly did Silver attack you?"


    "...I might have attacked him first," Petrel admitted.


    Faster than he could react, a Zoroark was pinning him to the ground, snarling at him with murder in its eyes.


    "YOU DID WHAT?!" Ariana roared, slamming a fist against her desk as she stood up abruptly.


    The Executive let out a panicked yell as the temperature of the room began heating up, an alert Ninetales staring at him with venom in its gaze.


    "I didn''t know it was him!" he exclaimed.


    "You didn''t know?! Don''t bullshit me! You know exactly how Silver looks!" Ariana snarled.


    Archer pinched his nose. "Ariana, please refrain from disemboweling him. I understand your grievances, but we just lost an Executive, we cannot afford to lose another so freely."


    Ariana sneered at that and crossed her arms, glaring at Petrel with a look that promised death. "You think my reaction was bad? You won''t be able to talk Giovanni out of killing him once he hears his prized son was attacked."


    The blue haired executive paused at the truth of her words.


    Petrel went pale.


    "Petrel, explain in detail exactly what caused Silver to attack you," Archer requested, trying to see if it was possible to salvage the situation.


    Like it or not, Proton had been a good asset to direct towards things. Losing another Executive so soon, would begin to make the cracks noticeable.


    Petrel was still useful. He was smart enough to know that attacking Silver was off limits.


    "I didn''t know it was him! He was hidden in a vehicle with the target when I had Gengar attack it! I sent two grunts after him without ever knowing his identity and you know the grunts don''t know about him either!" he explained.


    "The kid was launched away from the attack and when he showed up, he had cuts all over and I already realized I messed up," Petrel informed them.


    Ariana''s eyes were narrowed in hatred, willing Petrel to combust with her gaze alone.


    "I tried to subtly tell him to get out of here but he was already pissed off by the looks of it and he refused to go."


    "So he attacked you because you attacked him first!" Ariana barked. "Of course he''d do such a thing! Do you think my son was raised a coward?!"


    Archer sighed. "Petrel, continue."


    Petrel nodded hastily. "The kid was crafty. The entire fight, he was pulling one over me. He made me think he had a Tyranitar but it was actually a Zoroark!"


    Ariana stiffened at that.


    "A Zoroark? Silver has one already?!" she thought in shock.


    "I''m not sure how much I was tricked, but he made moves fail, set up illusions... and then I tried to wrap up the mission so I had Jellicent use Surf to quickly deal with it," Petrel explained, watching the interest the Zoroark hovering him expressed.


    "You tried to drown him?!" Ariana hissed violently, recalling how terrified he looked being fished out of the water by her damn sister.


    "It wasn''t a full powered Surf! Just enough to incapacitate everyone so I could grab the girl but the kid got up from it and threw an exploding Pokeball at me! That was when he stabbed me and I barely escaped after he threatened to kill me if I didn''t return my pokemon! The kid didn''t feel like the kid at that point. It felt like I was dealing with something completely different!" Petrel exclaimed.


    Completely different... much like how Ariana felt after speaking to her son in the Pokemon Center.


    "You can take me back if you want. I will run away again. Imprison me for as long as you''d like, I''ll find a way to escape¡­ and if it comes down to it, I''ll take you out to earn my freedom. You''ve denied me long enough, I won''t be denied anymore."


    Had they reduced Silver to this? Someone who was willing to kill in cold blood?


    First Team Rocket had attacked him during his trip on the S.S Anne... then they attacked him again at the Safari Zone. Wasn''t he justified to be this furious with them?


    Ariana''s anger vanished partially as she thought about every action Silver was taking. At this rate, he truly was going to cross paths with Giovanni and she wasn''t sure his father would be remotely as understanding as to why he was doing this.


    "Archer is right. We need you alive," Ariana said bitterly. "The mission at Fuchsia was a failure. Koga arrived faster than you anticipated and you were forced to flee after your Gengar was captured. There will be no mention of Silver there or else you will be killed by Giovanni."


    "I agree," Archer said, looking slightly surprised that Ariana suddenly said such a thing. He stared suspiciously at her but dropped it.


    "For the sake of Team Rocket''s stability, it would be ideal if you were kept alive and as such, we must not inform Giovanni that Silver was there. Fortune truly is shining over you because he will be in Viridian for the coming weeks," the blue haired Executive explained stonily.


    Petrel let out a breath he didn''t know he was holding as his fellow executives saved his life.


    "You need a new sixth pokemon. I would implore you to go figure out what can possibly replace that Gengar of yours," Archer demanded, dismissing him.


    Ariana watched him go with thinly veiled disgust and scowled to herself.


    "You did good controlling yourself, Ariana," Archer said, making his way to the door. "Petrel''s death would have complicated matters. He is still useful to us."


    "Whatever," she scoffed. "Don''t you have preparations to be making?"


    The executive looked back at her, icy teal eyes full of pragmatism and devotion to Team Rocket.


    "That I do. I trust that you''ll be able to control yourself and not inform Giovanni of what transpired? Silver is your child as well after all."


    "I won''t tell him. The risks outweigh the benefits and most importantly, my satisfaction," she scowled.


    "That it does," Archer nodded, shutting the door behind him.


    "You are distressed."


    Ariana clasped her hands and rested her forehead against them, regarding Gardevoir''s words with shut eyes.


    "What gave it away?" she asked eventually.


    "You are always in distress of some form, when it comes to your offspring."


    Ariana scowled at that, temper swiftly rising.


    "It was not my intention to offend you. I merely answered the question you asked me," Gardevoir responded softly.


    The redheaded executive took a deep breath, before a thought occurred to her.


    "Gardevoir. Why are you terrified of my son?" she asked curiously, turning towards the psychic.


    Gardevoir froze at the question, neutral gaze making way for a surprised expression.


    "I..."


    Ariana''s eyes narrowed. "No. I want the answer. What has Silver done to warrant such reactions from you? I need to know."


    She wasn''t sure why she was only just now asking this but there had been a lot on her mind since her encounter with her son.


    Gardevoir suddenly looked nervous and that only made Ariana more suspicious at what she could be hiding.


    Before she could press her psychic more, it suddenly spoke up.


    "Do not ask me what, for I do not know... however, I do know that the one named Silver, has been touched by something he should not be able to be touched with."


    ...


    ...


    What?


    "What does that mean?!" Ariana hissed, trying not to scream out the question.


    "His existence is unnatural. It is one that I cannot stand to be near."


    Ariana sat there, stunned silent at what Gardevoir was telling her.


    What did she mean by this? What did any of this mean?


    Gardevoir had never been this unnerved by Silver before he had run away. What had happened to her son?


    Memories of an unnerving silver gaze staring her down, devoid of anything positive, surfaced onto her mind and Ariana realized that maybe she hadn''t been too far from the truth, when she noted that they were even more unnerving than Mewtwo''s own icy gaze.


    "I''m just¡­ trying to protect you."


    "You failed. I don''t want your protection."


    Ariana sat there with a disturbed expression on her face.


    What could she do? Would asking Giovanni even accomplish anything besides leaving herself prone to his wrath?


    Here Ariana was, trying to shield Silver from the eyes of Giovanni but was she truly accomplishing anything? She knew nothing of what happened to Silver clearly.


    Could she truly do anything?


    "You never protected me before. Why do you suddenly think I have expectations for you? I don''t need you."


    ...


    Ariana said nothing, merely holding her head against her clasped fingers.

 Drama Queen I

    I let out a tired sigh, as my Pokegear began ringing.


    "Yes, aunt?" I asked without even looking at who was calling me.


    Lorelei actually looked offended by my words... and my demeanor. "Don''t you yes aunt me so casually! I heard of what happened at Fuchsia... You encountered another Executive?!"


    She took her glasses off and wiped them clean, before placing them on... and removing them to wipe again. She was very clearly distressed because no amount of wiping was satisfying her right now.


    "Yeah, I did," I muttered. "Green and I were exploring the Safari Zone when they suddenly attacked. Executive Petrel was there."


    Lorelei let out a rattled breath at that, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. "Are you fine? I''ve barely read through the reports before calling you..."


    "My ribs were fractured but they''re fine now. Green has a broken arm but she''s recovering," I explained, watching as my companion perked up at that.


    "Your ribs?! Should you truly be moving with fractured ribs? Are you really making Green move about with a broken arm?" she pressed immediately, nearly jumping out of her seat.


    At this rate, I''m pretty sure she was going to teleport over. Christ she was overprotective.


    "Aunt, relax," I said slowly, showing her my bandaged midsection. "We''re fine."


    "Silvy''s actually not letting me do anything!" Green exclaimed, a distraught expression on her face, as she showcased her wrapped up arm.


    "We got the clear from Nurse Joy. We just can''t aggravate them and we''re good to go," I assured, pushing Green''s arm down and getting a protesting whine out of her.


    My aunt held her head, massaging her temple slightly.


    "My apologies... I''m just aware of how reckless you are and it makes me worry."


    I rolled my eyes. "You''re way too much of a worrywart. How often do you message Green about me?"


    "3 times a day!" Green chimed helpfully.


    Lorelei had the decency to look only mildly embarrassed. "I haven''t felt so distressed since I''ve learned about you, Silver. Fury and stress... I feel myself filled to the brim with these emotions almost constantly."


    "You and me both," I agreed easily. "But we''re fine now. We''re slowly headed to Saffron City and that''ll take us a long time."


    Lorelei sighed softly. "Right. Train well for Sabrina... at six badges, she is quite the formidable opponent."


    "That''s why we''re battling her now instead of 5th or 4th," I replied easily, peering at my aunt.


    Her eyes, like usual, rarely left me and there was always a worried tint to them. She was overprotective and I''m sure she was the type to panic if I got a papercut.


    "You need to stop stressing yourself so much. I understand you''re worried but you''ll just slowly kill yourself with what ifs," I warned her.


    The ice specialist actually breathed a cold breath of air at that, visible even through the screen.


    "You give me good advice, while completely ignoring the fact that your character is the cause of my stress," Lorelei said flatly.


    I shrugged. "You get updates from Green everyday, you call me everyday... and you''re still this stressed out? You should consider therapy."


    "...I''m going to hang up now. I can feel you attempting to raise my blood pressure and I believe that''s counterproductive to what you just suggested."


    I snorted in amusement. "Alright Aunt, see ya."


    "Goodbye Silver."


    I pocketed my gear and let out a small chuckle, before it devolved into coughing as my ribs disagreed slightly with the action.


    "I''m gonna get breakfast started, Leaf," I informed my companion.


    "Oh! Lemme help!" she beamed.


    I glared at her. "No. I don''t know if you remember, but you have a broken arm. You won''t be helping with the cooking until we remove the sling."


    As expected, her expression immediately turned distressed.


    "But... but I wanna help!" she pleaded.


    I scratched my head in confusion. "You know, most people would take this as the chance to laze around."


    "I''d feel bad making you do all the work and you haven''t let me do anything! C''mon let me do something!"


    I rolled my eyes at her big puppy dog gaze. "You''ll hand me stuff with your good arm. That''s all."


    I snorted as she actually began whooping in joy.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I jolted awake at feeling a presence outside of my tent, eyes narrowed in aggravation.


    Was Janine finally trying to get rid of me? She sure did seem to be contemplating attacking me quite a lot so maybe she decided to pull the trigger.


    This wasn''t the first time she stood outside my tent... It had left me rather restless and grumpy because I detested when someone who I didn''t trust, was close to me.


    Luckily, I didn''t have to have much sleep to operate well enough.


    To my surprise, Janine actually entered this time. She was alone, breath quiet and footsteps impossible to hear...


    But no amount of ninja skills could hide her presence from me.


    Without any hesitation, I lunged forward and tackled the girl to the ground, staring down at her with an emotionless gaze.


    Janine gasped at the unexpected action and I huffed quietly.


    "You finally grew the balls to enter huh?" I whispered, clasping her hands above her head and watching as she struggled. She sure was strong, a testament to her upbringing, but I wasn''t a slouch either.


    "Don''t get too loud. Wouldn''t wanna wake Green now would we?" I muttered, inclining my head over to where my companion was happily sleeping. She was already rustling about due to losing my body but she was a deep sleeper so I was fine.


    Janine glared at me and said nothing.


    I stared back, unbothered by the anger.


    "What do you want?" I asked sternly. "I''m trying to sleep and you''re getting in the way of that. Could you stop being a pussy and make your attempt on my life already? I''m getting sick of this."


    The girl stopped struggling at that and gazed at me with wide eyes.


    "Kill... kill you?" she murmured in shock.


    I raised a brow and leaned in, staring at her with cold eyes that were hard to miss, even in the dark of night.


    "You''ve been standing outside my tent almost every other night and hampering my ability to sleep... and you''re telling me it''s not with intention to kill me? What the fuck are you doing then?" I asked with narrowed eyes.


    How ridiculous.


    "I''ve had too many attempts on my life to be intimidated by your silly little games. Look at you. You''re upset with me for not killing Petrel but you can''t even will the courage to do it yourself. You sure are a fucking hypocrite," I hissed, watching as she shuddered underneath me.


    "Now either pull through with the attempt or let me go to sleep, ninja." I got off her and glared at the girl, daring her to make a move.


    Janine dusted herself off and glared right back at me, balling her fist tightly.


    "Well?" I pressed.


    She grit her teeth and turned on her heel, walking out of the tent without another word.


    I watched her go and scoffed.


    "Coward," I muttered, before letting out a strangled hiss as I was strong-armed back down to the bed.


    "..." As I opened my mouth to tear into Green for being a jackass, I heard the noise of snoring and stared dumbly at my unconscious companion, watching as a content and lazy smile made its way to her sleeping face.


    "She''s a freak," I thought to myself, scratching my head slightly and just letting it be.


    With the presence of Janine gone now, I could actually sleep so I''d take that small victory.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Hatcher Boy: Sup guys! Crys and I got our fifth badge from Celadon! You wouldn''t believe how hard that fight was! I thought it would have been a breeze!


    Catcher Girl: It was so much more challenging than we were expecting! Erika found out that the two of you were our friends and prepared accordingly. You two must have traumatized her because she didn''t show us any mercy at all!


    Leaf: Oops! Sorry about that haha! Me and Silvy really caught her off guard with our battles!


    Hatcher Boy: That''s putting it lightly. That chick put Crys, Ash and I through the ringer!


    Leaf: You guys ran into Ash?! How is he?! I haven''t seen him since the boat ride!


    Hatcher Boy: We battled and I won but his team is legit! He seems to really wanna get back at Silver too... and knowing how Silver is I can probably see why.


    Catcher Girl: He''s pretty good! We exchanged numbers with him. Erika was his fifth badge too and the match was really close! He had the craziest Primeape I''ve ever seen and that''s saying something... but just when he was about to win with his Charmeleon, he got interrupted by some Rocket Goons!


    Hatcher Boy: Seriously, those were the strangest rockets we ever met. They didn''t seem all that malicious¡­ just really damn stupid. We didn''t even arrest em, they just¡­ went blasting away.


    Catcher Girl: Language, Gold.


    Hatcher Boy: My bad.


    Leaf: Wow, at least you guys ran into the stupid rockets. Silvy and I weren''t so lucky here in Fuchsia.


    Catcher Girl: ?! What happened in Fuchsia? Are you two okay?!


    Leaf: We''re fine... but they attacked the Safari Zone and there was an Executive leading the charge. He was so strong¡­ one of our friends lost a pokemon to him before we could help her¡­


    Hatcher Boy: Oh¡­


    Catcher Girl: Oh...


    Leaf: Yeah¡­ it sucks b-but we got rid of his strongest pokemon at least! A Gengar of all things! It was captured by the league and it seemed a lot better than the rest of his team! Koga was so impressed that he gave us badges without having to battle him! Now, we''re headed to Saffron to fight Sabrina for our sixth badge!


    Hatcher Boy: What?! We are too! Hell yeah, maybe we can meet up!


    You: You two are coming to Saffron?


    Catcher Girl: Silver! Have you been reading the chat the entire time?!


    Hatcher Boy: Dude what the hell?! At least say sup!


    Leaf: Yes he has¡­ I''m sorry I tried to get him to say something but he refused.


    You: I didn''t ask to be put in another goddamn group chat. Now answer the question. Are you guys headed to Saffron?


    Hatcher Boy: Say hi first.


    You have left the chat.


    Leaf has added you to the chat "Color Gang!"


    Leaf: Silvy says hi. Just trust me on this.


    Hatcher Boy: Drama queen.


    Catcher Girl: I can see Silver typing and I''ve seen his colorful language first hand... so to answer your question, yes we''re headed to Saffron.


    You: Alright. You''ll probably make it there first. I don''t know when exactly, but Team Rocket might attack Saffron soon.


    Catcher Girl: WHAT?!


    Hatcher Boy: THE HELL DID YOU SAY?!


    Leaf: Silvy thinks Team Rocket is gonna attack Saffron. I had doubts too but he''s also the one who found out the Game Corner was a Rocket Hideout...


    Catcher Girl: T-That was you? You''re the anonymous person who exposed the Game Corner?


    You: Yeah.


    Hatcher Boy: Dude, what? Couldn''t you have¡­ idk, exposed them after I checked it out?


    Catcher Girl: Gold!


    Hatcher Boy: My bad. Good work guys...


    Catcher Girl: I''m sorry you two. Gold has a gambling problem.


    Hatcher Boy: How is winning a problem? If I win, I don''t see the issue.


    You: I actually agree with that.


    Catcher Girl: Not you too, Silver... you''re supposed to be the logical one.


    Hatcher Boy: He understands logic, Crys. That''s all there is to it.


    Leaf: He''s also extremely ignorant Goldy. You never know which side is agreeing with you.


    Hatcher Boy: You have a point...


    You: I''ll explain everything once we meet up. Since we''re going to Saffron¡­ I guess I can include you guys. Watch what you say though, Green and I have company.


    Hatcher Boy: Don''t just blue ball us like this man! Spill the deets!


    Leaf: He already put away his pokegear¡­ I''m sorry.


    Hatcher Boy: What a dick.


    Catcher Girl: We''ll wait at Saffron for you two. Four¡­ or five heads are better than two as long as we coordinate properly. Thank you for trusting us Silver. Goodnight!


    You: Go fuck yourself.


    Hatcher Boy: YOU''RE STILL HERE?! HEY SHARE SOME INFO ¡ª


    I sighed, pocketing my pokegear as I chewed my late night snack (it was jerky).


    "You''re so rude," Green sighed, taking one of the jerky I offered up and chewing it.


    I grunted, taking another bite out of my snack. "I didn''t even wanna tell them everything. We don''t know how much they''ve improved since last we saw those two¡­ but once I confirm that they did get stronger, we can talk more."


    Green nodded, leaning over to take another jerky. "Just in case they aren''t strong enough, you don''t want to drag them too deep into it, huh?"


    "Mhm. It would be like sending lambs to the slaughter," I nodded.


    "That makes sense," she muttered quietly. "Okay, I agree with you. More help would be great but I don''t wanna put them in danger."


    "Great. Now it''s getting late, let''s go to sleep," I grunted.


    "Kay!" she beamed, already giddily making her way to my tent.


    She was so ridiculous. I don''t even remember what her tent looked like.


    I got up and stretched, glancing curiously at my final piece of jerky.


    "Hey Janine, do you want the last one? I know you didn''t prepare any food," I mentioned randomly, watching as Lapee helpfully doused the fire.


    I rolled my eyes at not getting an answer and summarily ate the final jerky.


    No chance was I willing to offer twice. I never even offered once. I was just being a tad insufferable right now.


    "Silvyyy can I sleep in your tent?" Green asked, expression morphing into an expression I''m sure anyone else would find adorable.


    It was fairly adorable.


    "At this point, I don''t even know why you own a tent," I sighed tiredly, beckoning her inside.


    "It''s for when other people wanna travel with us! They are never prepared for some reason!" Green exclaimed, placing a finger on her chin as a confused expression made its way on her face.


    I snorted at that. "So I''m really not the only one who noticed that."


    "I notice a lot more things now," Green said glumly, sighing as she entered. "It''s like your super serious nature latched onto me."


    "That''s called common sense," I retorted, following after her.


    She giggled at that, jumping onto the comfy bed of my tent with a happy sigh. She even began rolling around in her giddiness.


    "Your audacity needs to be studied," I rolled my eyes, taking my side and shutting my eyes. "Try to stay on your side this time."


    "You and I both know that''s not happening. Just accept it, Silvy," Green said, turning so serious that it completely threw me for a loop.


    I snorted abruptly, almost choking at how deadpan her voice was.


    So there really was a scary side to Green¡­ the one who forced her affections onto you. She said it with so much conviction, I really didn''t doubt it.


    What a monster.


    "You''re a freak," I grunted in amusement, shutting my eyes and preparing for sleep.


    "Nuh uh," she mumbled, already half asleep.


    I envied how fast she could fall asleep. Unless I was exceptionally tired, it took me a bit.


    I''d also never admit it, but her body warmth helped me fall asleep faster as well.


    Typically, I just spent the time thinking of plans for the future. I never realized when I fell asleep until I was waking up with my companion''s hair all over my body.


    This time though, my thoughts were focused on the ninja outside.


    I didn''t know what Janine''s deal was at all. After the other night where I told her to kill me if she wanted me dead, I didn''t even see a glimpse of her anymore.


    She stopped showing up outside my tent too.


    I didn''t particularly care about her revenge towards Team Rocket and surprisingly, I really didn''t care that she was "blackmailing" me because at the end of the day, beneath all that ninja training, Janine didn''t have the resolve to do what I did for a living.


    So I wasn''t all that concerned about those former things.


    No, what I was concerned about was the fact that she just lost someone important to her¡­ and she was here following us instead of being tended to by her father.


    That meant that she definitely had not properly grieved.


    That meant that Janine was a ticking time bomb.


    For me? No not at all. It was for Team Rocket and while directing a ticking time bomb in their direction was a good idea and all¡­ normally when you planted a bomb, you didn''t want to be in the vicinity for its explosion.


    And I''d be in the vicinity of that explosion.


    Janine had the potential to ruin a lot of things for me because she refused to think straight. All the planning in the world, didn''t matter when emotions were at play and Janine was in the most disastrous form of emotional distress.


    Did Koga even know she was traveling with us? He had to, the man was a ninja after all... but why the hell would he let his barely grieving daughter travel with us?


    I sighed, feeling the familiar sensation of my clingy friend dragging me into a sleep induced hug.


    Jackass¡­ but yeah she was right. I should get some sleep instead of overthinking like I tended to do.


    I''d figure the complicated stuff tomorrow during breakfast.


    I sighed and let the warmth of Green wash over me in the cold, not even realizing when I fell into a dreamless sleep.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "You''re getting pretty heavy," I mused, lifting Gaia up experimentally.


    My starter''s skin was also deepening in color too. It was clear she was close to evolution so I''d save an offensive move for afterwards.


    She preened under my attention and rubber her cheek against my own, causing me to smile.


    "I know you''ve been agonizing over it and it''s been long enough... your Body Slam and Razor Leaf are looking pretty damn dangerous, you''ve strengthened Reflect and Light Screen a lot too. I''d like you to work on making Synthesis more effective but that''s not your main priority..."


    I hummed and stroked a hand against her as I fiddled with my Pokedex. "I want to get you started on Grass Whistle as your main priority and I''ll give you the TM for Giga Drain too. Giga Drain will be easier to utilize when you evolve and you look pretty close to evolving," I noted.


    I don''t know if my mind was playing tricks with me, but Gaia couldn''t learn Toxic. In fact, a majority of pokemon couldn''t learn Toxic and I could have sworn it used to be more universal.


    Only Loki could learn it. Hm...


    Was that a unique thing to this world? Well, it put a damper on my plans for sure but oh well. I''d probably catch a poison type eventually.


    Gaia puffed up at that, a gleam in her eyes as she immediately glared over at Loki.


    I rolled my eyes as the Zoroark looked over and flashed her an eye smile, waving with his dark encased claws.


    "Bay," Gaia mumbled under her breath.


    Ever since evolution, Gaia and Loki had been sparring quite a bit more and my Bayleef had won a grand total of zero times.


    It''s not like she was the only one. No one could currently beat Loki because the style we had cultivated was finally bearing fruit.


    Loki was too fast, too tricky and countered Gaia''s entire fighting style with a good Taunt. Even as a Zorua these things were present...


    But now he actually had more than enough power to put her down.


    Hm...


    I gained a pondering expression. My team members all had quite the rivalry with each other that I heavily encouraged. All of them wanted to be the reason I won a battle. All of them wanted to be the star of the show.


    Right now, Gaia''s most troublesome opponents on my team were of course, Loki, Metang and Ares.


    Metang and Ares utilized brute force against her to an effective degree but Loki basically turned her tricks off completely, which was far more infuriating to deal with.


    Alright... based on what I was having Loki learn next, Gaia was going to need a bit more countermeasures for sure.


    "I''m only doing this because I trust you to balance them all properly," I muttered, scrolling through my Pokedex to find the move I was thinking of.


    Gaia peeked curiously over my shoulder, leaning her head onto it as I hummed a tune.


    "There we are. This isn''t a move you''ll get quickly at all but once you do get it down... Loki won''t be able to Taunt and Torment you so freely," I informed her.


    "BAY?!" she shouted loudly.


    I watched in amusement as her face colored from the eyes on her person and laughed as she huffed and told them to carry on.


    "Bay?" she repeated, much quieter this time.


    "Yes, I''m serious. It''s called Safeguard," I chuckled, keeping my voice low just to accommodate her secret streak.


    "Not only will it protect you from Taunt and Torment, you''ll be safe from all other forms of annoying status moves too."


    Gaia looked like I had given her the world at that and I sighed fondly.


    "Alright, Grass Whistle can wait. You''re already annoying enough. Make sure Giga Drain is usable and Safeguard will be your priority right now. Take your time, it''s not easy to learn," I smirked, returning her to the ball and slotting the TM for Giga Drain for her.


    Thank you Erika. Of all the Gym Leaders I met so far, she was probably the one whose presence was most tolerable.


    Excluding Jasmine of course. Should I even need to mention that?


    Gaia nodded vigorously as I released her and licked my cheek, rubbing her own against it right after.


    "Gross," I rolled my eyes, accepting it easily.


    "Now go get practicing. I''ll come guide you soon."


    Gaia cheered and bounded off to an isolated area.


    I watched her go with an amused expression, inclining my head slightly to regard the gray haired version of myself.


    "What''s she so excited about?" Loki asked curiously, balancing a tiny Shadow Ball in his hand.


    "Secret. She''d probably kill me if I told you," I replied calmly, fishing out a TM from my bag. "Wanna learn Flamethrower?"


    Loki tilted his head and nodded. "I''ve got a decent grasp on Shadow Ball. Night Slash wasn''t hard to learn at all either..."


    "Night Daze?" I asked.


    "Still taxing but much easier to use," he listed easily.


    Speaking to Loki''s human form really showed me that we had similar upbringings. He embodied the soldier aspect the most of my members.


    I''m glad he was more at ease now. I was not glad I was subjected to more pranks as a result.


    "Alright then. Keep practicing with Night Daze... I''ve got some ideas for it," I mused, returning him to the ball and applying the TM to it.


    It glowed molten orange and I watched it curiously, releasing my first pokemon from his ball.


    Loki had a thoughtful expression on his face, smoke pouring out of his mouth.


    "Refine your moves. Perfect them and hone your craft," I instructed with a smirk. "You have a lead right now but the others are chomping at the bits to surpass you..."


    Loki nodded fiercely.


    "But don''t overwork yourself. Slacking and relaxing are two different things. Don''t slack and make sure you relax whenever you can," I encouraged, ruffling his long hair.


    "Zor!" he barked, nuzzling my cheek appreciatively.


    I watched him slink off to hone his moves with a small smile... that quickly turned to a sigh of exasperation at the argument taking place.


    "Why are you two even training together?" I asked tiredly, walking over to... you guessed it, Freyja and Ares.


    "The fish with growing confidence wished to train her draconic technique. The caged maniac agreed under the condition that she also be allowed to use hers at a moderate level... Naturally that broke down quickly," Metang explained.


    I pinched my nose as they both guiltily looked away from me, smoke steaming from the both of their bodies.


    "I imagine if Metang weren''t here to regulate things, it would have gotten outta hand?" I questioned.


    "A wise observation."


    "And you say you don''t care."


    "You are truly the most aggravating human I''ve ever met."


    "I''m the only one you''ve met that isn''t Steven Stone and Green probably."


    "A testament to your skills."


    I shrugged, before focusing on my troublesome pokemon.


    "Ares, you''ve seen the effort Freyja is putting in and you still have problems with her?" I mused curiously.


    Ares grunted and I sighed at her tone.


    "Alright alright I get it. On that note, I''m gonna punish you two now. You''re both getting ridiculous," I decided, pulling out my Pokedex.


    "Gon?!


    "F-Fee?"


    The two stared at me in horror at my decision. It was rare for me to punish them but it was about time for me to put a small hand into the situation.


    "There we go. Dragon Pulse," I smiled.


    Ares perked up at that.


    "You''ll both be learning it. It''s a strong dragon type move."


    Both Freyja and Ares nodded slowly, a look of confusion on their faces.


    "Oh right, I forgot to mention. You''re learning it together as a duo," I said bluntly.


    There we go. There''s the look of horror I was waiting for.


    "Ares, you''re going to help Freyja learn Dragon Pulse. You two are going to learn the move, you''re going to bounce ideas back and forth on how to properly utilize it and you''re going to both know this technique. You won''t be learning anything else until I decide you both have it learnt to a good degree," I smiled.


    "Shelgon!" Ares snarled incredulously, glaring at me.


    I rolled my eyes and pat her shell. "You''re a prodigy, Ares. Daughter of a probably master leveled Salamence... but you can still learn from Freyja. Don''t be so arrogant... that''s how we met after all and you saved my life."


    Ares grumbled lowly.


    "Yeah I know, it was fate that caused us to meet. I am your one true trainer. You will not accept anyone else but me. Totally missing the point still," I sighed.


    "You two will learn from each other while getting Dragon Pulse down. Ares, help Freyja with power and Freyja, help Ares with control. Good luck!"


    They both recoiled at my cheerful look and I pat them both.


    "Oh and if you two get in another fight in the process of learning this move, there will be hell to pay. Gets in the way of learning you know? Keep your arguments to a minimum," I warned.


    "...Gon," Ares muttered in defeat, properly chastised.


    "Bas..." Freyja sighed.


    "Good. You two can do it," I encouraged, walking off as Metang followed me.


    "You are truly a monster. How you can so effortlessly cow the caged maniac? I will never understand."


    "Ares understands that I''m as much of a maniac as she is. We understand each other well. Perhaps I was destined to be her trainer like she''s convinced I am," I replied easily, watching as they plucked the Pokedex out of my hand with their powers.


    "You''ve convinced me of the opposite. I refuse to believe I was meant to be captured by you. I find it difficult to believe any of my species could tolerate you," Metang droned.


    "You sound like a tsundere," I informed them, patting his metallic shell.


    "What on earth does that mean?" Metang asked, neutral voice tinted with confusion.


    "I''ll tell you when you''re older," I soothed.


    I grunted as my Pokedex was slapped against my face without any hesitation. I peeled it off and glared at him with a heinous glare, a red mark on me.


    "These are the next moves I wish to learn... along with Shadow Ball," Metang informed me, unable to hide the amusement in their voice.


    I sneered at them and glanced at my screen.


    "Miracle Eye and Magnet Rise?" I mused. "What a coincidence, those are the moves I wanted you to learn too."


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "There are no coincidences. Our wills are aligned."


    That... was true.


    "Your species doesn''t have a hard time learning Magnet Rise at all. I don''t expect that to take very long... but I don''t know the specifics behind Miracle Eye so that may take longer," I mused, gazing at the move curiously.


    "I am patient. A skill learned from having to deal with you."


    "No you''re patient because you had a dull ass life before me. If anything, I made you impatient."


    "...I have no comment."


    I chuckled and made my way to the final member, watching as Oberon, Togee and Dree sparred with each other.


    The three were good friends with each other and I was thankful for that because outgoing Togee sure did force Oberon to get out of his shell.


    Oberon noticed me approaching and cheered happily, only to let out a squeal as Togee crashed directly into him.


    "Tog," Togee chastised, sitting his tiny body atop Oberon''s much bigger, but still tiny, midsection.


    "He''s right Oberon. Don''t get distracted in the middle of battle," I smiled, putting out a fist for Togee to bump.


    "Is Togee getting bigger to you?" Green asked, watching as Dree flew behind her to avoid my gaze.


    "He is," I agreed, pursing my lips as I lifted Oberon up. "You looked pretty comfortable fighting Togee before I distracted you. We''ll have to put you in more battles for sure."


    Oberon nodded happily.


    "You''ve got Slash down... now I want to teach you a fun move that''ll circumvent your only weakness," I smirked, watching as Metang floated the Pokedex over to me... already on the move.


    "You''re useful when you''re not being annoying," I complimented.


    "You took the words out of my mouth."


    I showed Oberon the move. "Play Rough. It''s a fairy type move and it''s super effective against fighting types. You''ve got Baby-doll Eyes already so you should have a small grasp on how to utilize fairy energy... that still won''t make this move very easy to learn but if you get it, you''ll get to deal with pesky pokemon like that goddamn Machoke," I scowled.


    Oberon gazed at me with wide eyes and nodded eagerly, gluing his eyes onto the screen.


    "I''ll have to train with you more on this one... Fairy energy is strange," I muttered, ruffling his fur and turning towards the Green instructing Dree.


    "Hey Leaf," I called out, ruffling through my bag.


    "Hm?" she turned towards me with curious eyes. "What''s up?"


    She yelped and hastily caught the object thrown at her, gazing at it with wide eyes.


    "I-Is this a...?" Green muttered.


    "Shiny Stone. I got it at Slateport when I thought Togepi was going to be mine... but I don''t need it anymore so you can have it," I grunted.


    "R-Really...?! These are so rare and a Shiny Stone isn''t really easy to secure at all! Are you sure you want me to have it?" she asked.


    I blinked in confusion. "What the fuck am I gonna do with it anyways? No one on my team evolves with stones. Besides, you''re gonna struggle a lot against Sabrina with your current members."


    Green''s lips wobbled and she let out a cry of happiness, tackling me to the floor.


    "You seriously are a great friend!" she cheered, hugging me in content.


    "I know... but you should start hiding it. If Togee was a Togetic, you''d have a Togekiss on hand right now," I mused.


    Green''s eyes widened in horror and she turned in time to see Togee biting the Shiny Stone.


    There was a greedy gleam in his eyes as he waved his prize and Green immediately snatched it out of his hand.


    The Togepi cried out in protest, squealing as Green gripped his tiny cheek with her fingers.


    "No Togee! You cannot touch this! You have to wait for me to give the go ahead!" she warned firmly.


    He nodded hastily, sighing in relief as Green released the fingers from his cheek.


    The Togepi pathetically crawled over to me and hid behind my back, peeking out to glare distrustfully at Green.


    I let out a loud chuckle at that.


    "You know how ruthless you gotta be, for someone to find protection in me?" I laughed, hoisting Togee up.


    Green had a distinctive look of horror at the realization and she let out a wail of distress, collapsing onto her knees and clutching her heart.


    "And you call me a drama queen."


    I rolled my eyes, glancing in a direction and watching as the figure vanished before I could call them out.


    "Alright drama queen, let''s run some exercises. Your team really is going to get put through the ringer against Sabrina."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I fished out my Pokegear, never taking my eyes off the battle.


    "Jasmine?" I asked. "Oberon, Payback."


    "S-Silver! Were you not planning on telling me that you were attacked in Fuchsia?!" Jasmine shouted, a frantic look in her eyes.


    I grunted. "Didn''t wanna worry you. You overreact a lot and I''d hate to see you cry," I said honestly. "To the left, Oberon. Use Seismic Toss."


    "That doesn''t matter. I want to know everything going on about you from now on!" she demanded.


    I rolled my eyes. "Yes maa¡ª. Oberon, Baby-doll Eyes... great you got its guard down, now finish it off with Play Rough... okay that was too ambitious. Use Slash."


    Jasmine blinked owlishly. "Are you in the middle of a battle?" she asked.


    "Yeah. Oberon, the battle''s over! You can stop," I barked.


    The hackles on Oberon vanished and he settled down, turning towards me with an expectant expression.


    I crouched and ran a hand against his fur. "Nice job Oberon. You''re catching up quickly. Play Rough could use a bit... okay a lot, of work but you''re making great progress."


    Oberon beamed up at me, nothing like the aggressive bear he had just been against that Raticate.


    I gazed at my opponent who, who was returning his Raticate and huffed.


    The battle wasn''t terribly difficult. I used Freyja and Oberon for this battle, allowing my two weakest to continue building up their experience against the trainers of Route 15.


    As I opened my mouth, I paused and stared at the wide eyed Jasmine and shut it.


    "Not... bad. You should train more," I said slowly, accepting the money from the teen and walking off.


    "Uh... will do," the trainer stated, gazing at the Oberon hanging off my neck with a wary gaze.


    I couldn''t blame him. Oberon was becoming quite ferocious in battle.


    "Silver, are you okay? You look ill," Jasmine pointed out, a concerned expression on her face.


    "I''m fine... mostly. Just feel like I swallowed throw up," I muttered, angling my phone so that Green could wave to Jasmine.


    "Hi Jasmine!" Green waved. "We really didn''t want to worry you, honest!"


    Jasmine sighed. "I understand... but I''m not a little kid! You two can tell me these things... aren''t we friends?"


    "The best of friends!" Green said urgently, watching Jasmine''s crestfallen expression with horrified eyes.


    "Alright Jasmine, stop looking so sad," I sighed. "We''re sorry for not telling you."


    Jasmine sniffed. "Oh darn... I told myself I wouldn''t cry. I''m sorry too, I just get really worried for you guys and since I''m in Johto..."


    "Don''t apologize," I interjected. "I get it. My aunt is a worrywart too and you''re tame compared to her."


    Green nodded in agreement. "Yeah Jas, I get it! I worry too and I travel with Silvy!"


    Jasmine sniffed again and nodded shakily. "I really do need to visit you two again... you''re both close to 8 badges so maybe that will be the best time."


    I nodded my head. "We''re probably gonna relax a bit after 7 badges. Find a place to train for a while. Maybe you''ll be able to visit in the meantime?"


    Jasmine had a contemplative expression on her face. "Okay... I think I can do that."


    "Good. We''ll be sure to keep you updated on things... and I''ll tell you more," I assured.


    Jasmine smiled brightly and nodded. "Okay! Thank you Silv... Wait, aunt?"


    I blinked, looking around to make sure no one was listening.


    "Wait... did I actually never tell you?" I mused, cupping my chin.


    No... I don''t think I did.


    "I didn''t know you had family," Jasmine admitted with a small frown.


    "No point," I said bluntly. "I''m surprised though... with how proud she is to parade it to the world, I would have expected Lorelei to have told every gym leader."


    "Lorelei respects your privacy a lot. She''s really considerate towards you too," Green mused.


    "H-Hold on," Jasmine interrupted, face pale as she stared a hole into me. "Lorelei? As in... As in Elite 4 Lorelei?"


    I nodded. "She is... my mother''s little sister," I said blandly.


    Green jolted at that, gazing at me with wide eyes. "She is?"


    "She is?!"


    "Yeah," I nodded truthfully. "I learned about her a bit after the S.S Anne. Never knew I had one," I admitted.


    "Wow! That''s crazy!" Jasmine awed, a wondrous look in her eyes.


    "I never would have expected you and Ms. Lorelei to be related!"


    "That''s what everyone says... even me," I sighed. "She''s insanely overbearing and stalks me any chance she gets."


    "I think it''s really cute! You should see how awkward those two always are, Jas!" Green gushed.


    I grunted. "Shut the hell up, Leaf."


    Jasmine giggled. "Ms. Lorelei is a little... cold so I can imagine that it must have been quite the interesting conversation! It was no wonder Lance was so interested in you! Maybe he had an inkling."


    My best friend sobered up immediately as my expression soured.


    "Silver, are you okay?" she asked in concern.


    I grunted. "I''m fine, Jas."


    She nodded, clearly not convinced. "Well alright then. I''ll let you to continue traveling in the meantime... call you later?" she asked hopefully.


    "We''ll call tonight. I''ll tell you more stuff," I assured, watching her light up again.


    "See ya Jas!" Green waved happily.


    "Bye Silver, Bye Green!" Jasmine beamed.


    I watched her hang up with a fond smile.


    "I miss Jasmine," Green sighed wistfully.


    "You and me both. I don''t know how much longer I can go not tasting my food," I sighed.


    "...You and me both," Green agreed sagely.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Wait¡­ why does this smell so good?" Green asked with wide eyes, practically salivating as she stared at the assortment of food.


    "I''m surprised too. It turned out even better than I expected," I raised a brow.


    Experimentally, I snatched a sausage and bit into it, eyes widening.


    "We actually made something beyond edible?" I wondered, offering the other half of the sausage up for the Loki curled up against me.


    He popped open an eye and gulped it down in one bite, ridiculously sharp teeth making quick work of it.


    My first pokemon mulled over the taste, before nodding in approval.


    "It''s good," an illusion of Jasmine said. "Best thing I''ve eaten from you two... not that I''m picky."


    Green beamed at that and I smirked, both of us pleased at hearing the praise.


    The two of us distributed a portion of the hefty breakfast after ensuring that our team was eating and the two of us sat down across from each other.


    Green let out a noise of delight, eating her plate of eggs, sausage and biscuit at a slow pace to savor it all. "Wow! I wonder why it''s so good?!"


    "Spite," I replied calmly, forking a sausage and biting into it.


    She blinked in confusion. "...Huh?" my companion mumbled.


    Her confusion only lasted a split second, replaced by horrifying realization as Janine hesitantly walked into the clearing.


    I didn''t even look up from my plate, eating with one hand as I alternated pats between Loki, Gaia and Oberon.


    At some point, it''d become all of my pokemon vying for my attention. It was nothing new. The only reason Freyja and Ares weren''t here yet, was because they were begrudgingly discussing how they could learn Dragon Pulse.


    "Hungry?" I asked knowingly.


    "..." Janine said nothing. Then, her stomach rumbled loudly and a blush of mortification appeared on her face.


    I glanced up at her, watching her with a neutral expression. "Sit. It''s about time we talk."


    I saw Green''s disbelieving gaze and raised a brow.


    "You created your best meal yet, all due to your pettiness and spite?" Metang asked, echoing Green''s thoughts.


    "Yeah."


    "Due to the human who has some justifications in blaming you?"


    "Sounds about right."


    "You don''t see the issue in what you''re doing?"


    "You make it sound like that''s a problem. I''m trying to help her you know."


    "My trainer may be one of the most twisted individuals on the planet. I cannot believe it."


    I shrugged, watching with a cool gaze as Janine hesitantly took a seat.


    I could tell she was hungry because there was no way she prepared for this trip in an efficient manner. I don''t know what she had been eating before but if she was hellbent on suicide rushing Team Rocket, she may as well do it on a full stomach so she could focus on them.


    "Could you fix her a plate Gaia? My hands are kinda full," I asked gently, running a hand against her head.


    Without even looking up, Gaia''s vines snaked out and she began setting up breakfast for the future gym leader.


    "Eat," I demanded, making her jump in surprise. "I can''t have you starving yourself before we get there. You need to be useful to us," I said bluntly.


    Janine flinched in surprise at my blunt tone and mechanically accepted the plate thrust onto her hands.


    Green gazed at me with wide eyes.


    "Be nice!" she mouthed.


    I sent her a nod of acknowledgment.


    "As you are right now, I can''t say with confidence that you are a reliable ally," I grunted. "You get what I mean right? In your emotional state, I''m worried you''re going to get Green and I killed."


    "B-Be nicer!" Green mouthed, unable to believe I was like this.


    "I am stronger than the two of you," Janine grit out, a flash of anger crossing her face as she almost ravenously ate her meal.


    "That''s not really in doubt. But you''re not in a state where you can be trusted to make sound decisions," I retorted calmly.


    She glared at me, placing her food to the side. "You of all people, don''t get to judge anything about me," she sneered.


    I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Oh yeah? Why not tell me about it?" I asked boredly.


    "Gladly, you egotistical maniac!" she growled, standing up and walking towards me. "You''re too full of yourself. You have so much unwarranted arrogance and I can''t fathom how anyone could put up with you!"


    "You and me both," I agreed, waving my hand and having my team stand down.


    Janine shook harshly at that. "And then you act as if nothing bothers you! You just come off as insufferable."


    "Good. The more insufferable I am, the less people who''ll talk to me," I shrugged, stabbing a sausage and biting into it.


    "...Do you think this is funny?" Janine whispered, quivering as she met me eye to eye.


    I stared at her boredly. "I''m just letting you get your temper tantrum out of the way. Once you''re done, we can get back to discussing how I don''t need you to be a detriment to Green and I."


    ...


    My eyes widened as a fist crashed against my face.


    "How about that for discussion?" Janine hissed, glancing at her fist and then me with raw satisfaction.


    I grunted, placing a hand against my nose and coming back with blood.


    Janine was barely able to react to my lunge, letting out a shout of pain as I tackled her to the floor and crashed a fist against her.


    "You wanna be childish huh? Fine. Let''s play your game," I hissed right back.


    The purple haired girl recovered in record times, ignoring the bruise blooming. She bat one of my arms, causing me to lose my balance and flipped us over.


    Clearly she was putting her training to good use.


    "I hate you," she grit out, poised to punch me again.


    I was not letting that happen. Without any hesitation, I slammed my head against her own.


    As Janine recoiled from the headbutt, I used the slight freedom to kick her away.


    "Attacking someone who made food for you? What would your dear daddy think if he saw how unprofessional you were acting?" I sneered at the girl.


    "Don''t you dare mention my father again! This all started because you can''t keep quiet!" Janine snarled, poised to lunge at me again.


    "Nah, it all started when you decided to stalk me," I retorted with a dark glare. "Your problem is you don''t know how to let things go. If you let the conversation end when I wanted it to end, we wouldn''t be here. You''re the one who followed me around. Don''t get mad at your actions."


    "SHUT UP!" Janine shrieked.


    I rolled my eyes.


    "The sheltered little girl wants to throw down... sure whatever then," I sighed.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Are you okay?" Green asked, wiping my face with a wet rag.


    I grunted, feeling the stinging sensation as she wiped me down. "I''m fine."


    "You have a black eye and some bruises," she murmured, placing a bandage on my nose.


    She smiled and then turned towards to the Janine tending to herself.


    "Janine come here. I''ll clean you up too," Green said gently.


    Janine glanced up, revealing a black eye that probably matched my own.


    "I''m okay," she said stiffly.


    Green''s eyes narrowed. "Janine. Come here. I''ll clean you up," she said firmly.


    Janine flinched at that, gazing at Green with wide eyes before she slowly moved over and reluctantly sat next to me.


    A plate floated onto her lap and she gazed at Vee, one eye shut as she was unable to keep it open.


    "Calmed down?" I asked calmly.


    Janine jolted at my words. "Did you... make me fight you on purpose?" she asked quietly.


    "Nothing feels better than punching someone in the face. You were clearly pent up anyways. Besides, I wanted to punch you too for all the nights you kept me up," I replied easily.


    "..." Janine said nothing at that, ignoring the pain she was in.


    We had quite the slugfest. While she was a ninja, I did have some prior training in Kickboxing. Not enough to be notable at all but everything came easy in this body so I was far better at it here.


    Besides, she stopped fighting like a ninja after I gave her that black eye.


    Releasing all your stress was a good way to start thinking rationally. Seeped in exhaustion like this, had drained Janine of most of her energy and anger at me. It was effective and all it cast was a little pain.


    This was probably the best time to speak reason into her.


    I sighed. "You were the Rocket''s target," I informed her quietly.


    Janine froze completely at that. Her fork stopped moving, jammed into a sausage and she gazed at me in shock, her good eye wide.


    Best to just be honest about the whole thing now. Clearly she was committed to coming with us.


    "What¡­ what?" she whispered in horror.


    "You were their hit. That''s why you got separated from Green and I. They wanted to take you hostage to hold leverage over your dad," I said truthfully.


    Janine quivered. "B-But that''s not... you can''t be serious," she stammered.


    I sighed, deciding to not be an asshole for once.


    "Listen. I can''t imagine how you must feel right now. You just lost your first pokemon so the way you''re acting is fair. If I lost Loki... or anyone for that matter, I''d become a completely different person¡­"


    I placed a hand on her shoulder. "...But you gotta understand what you plan on doing, could end with you losing more than just Venomoth. Think about the rest of your team¡­ if you want revenge, get it in a way that gives you the most amount of satisfaction. A suicide rush isn''t satisfying... getting vengeance is," I finished.


    "I do believe that you are not meant to encourage revenge¡­ but somehow, you chose the correct words."


    I ignored Metang for the time being and watched as Janine shuddered.


    "So they¡­ truly were targeting me?" she asked softly. "I see. That''s why I was attacked by the Executive alone¡­"


    The girl began shaking at that. "And you two saved my life. If you weren''t there then, I''d be¡­"


    "Don''t thank me for that. Thank Green. She''s the real hero," I said firmly.


    "You''re the reason it went so well!" Green denied ferociously.


    "You''re the reason I went," I said bluntly.


    "Why?" Janine eventually asked.


    Green and I paused at that.


    "Why?" I repeated in some confusion. "Why did we help you?"


    "Why did you allow me to place the blame on you?!" Janine cracked, expression turning distraught. "You saved my life and you let me accuse you?!"


    I blinked at that, watching as her expression trembled. Her lips wobbled, her eyes narrowed and tears sprung to her eyes.


    "I was down to take the blame. It''s not like I cared if you hated me¡­ so I was gonna let it be and move on to the next city. Unfortunately you decided to follow after me and throw a wrench in my plans. Now I have to make sure you don''t risk Green or I''s life," I said bluntly.


    Janine flinched horribly, trembling harshly as she curled into herself.


    "I''m¡­ sorry," she said, standing rigidly and bowing lowly. "I can''t believe¡­ I had no idea. I said such terrible things to you and you just weathered it all¡­"


    I rolled my eyes. "You''re grieving. People rarely say what they want to actually say when their emotions are high. I know you think this is me playing it up... but I seriously don''t care what you, or most people, think about me."


    Sometimes it was natural for your first response of something unexpected, to be completely irrational. You didn''t give yourself time to think so you just responded impulsively.


    It was like when Green stole my egg. I was pissed as hell and I absolutely would have beat the hell outta her¡­ but I was naked in the water. Because of that, I was forced to rationalize and come to terms with it and that made me realize that I truly didn''t care about owning the Togepi because I caught the three members I did want.


    Due to that, my initial burst of anger quickly faded away and maybe that was for the best because if it hadn''t, I doubted Green and I would be friends right now.


    Janine was in a bit more of an extreme situation. This wasn''t something that a person could rationalize immediately.


    She lost someone very close to her and her initial reaction was to lash out on me because I was the second most antagonistic force involved in the situation. Without Petrel there, Janine found the next best thing and what was better than the boy who had been messing with you since arriving to the city, even if he couldn''t have possibly expected things to turn out like this?


    It was completely illogical and irrational on her end and everyone knew that. But there was a reason for that so I just let it be.


    At the end of the day, she was the one that lost something. I was still the one who was going to leave her for dead if not for Green.


    But now it was necessary to plug it. Before, it was just a minor inconvenience in my life and I had plenty of those already.


    Now? If I let this go on, Janine would just antagonize me until her and Green were dead and I was back in Team Rocket''s grasp.


    This was a serious mission we were going to and it would already be hard. I refused to let it be even further jeopardized. There was already a big chance it could go wrong, I needed everything to work in my favor.


    Janine was a stronger trainer than us and we''d be on the road for a long time. It''d be foolish for me to not utilize her so I''d use her capabilities for Green and I.


    By the time we made it to Saffron, we''d be a lot stronger.


    It was fairly scummy of me I guess, considering how I treated her before... but I couldn''t expect to win by being the paragon of virtue here.


    Janine, unlike other forces I could potentially use, already knew things about me that was detrimental. She wasn''t in the dark so I had no qualms against using her over someone like... Lorelei.


    "How can I make this up to you two? I''m so foolish," Janine frowned, clearly ashamed by her actions.


    "I''m not mad or anything. Just follow my lead," I said lowly. "We have a lot of time before me make it to Saffron. Join us for training and what not."


    Janine nodded hastily. "Very well. I will gladly join you two for training."


    Green beamed. "Yay! Happy to have you!" she beamed.


    I pursed my lips. "Actually. Teach us some of those ninja techniques of yours. They could come in handy."


    The ninja blinked, eyes widening in shock. "I-I can''t just teach you such things! Those are the teachings of my clan! It would take years for me to be qualified to have my own student to pass the teachings onto!"


    I tilted my head. "...So? Just teach us," I said bluntly, bulldozing over her attempt to explain rationally to me why such a thing couldn''t just be done.


    Janine faltered at my tone. "But¡­" she mumbled.


    I snorted. "I''m just kidding. I''m not that much of an asshole."


    "Oh," Janine sighed in relief. "Well, I wouldn''t mind teaching you basic things. I noticed that you fought in a way that I''ve not seen much before. So long as I don''t delve into the secrets of my clan, I believe it would be fine."


    I blinked. "I was just kidding you know," I said flatly.


    "But I''m not," she said seriously.


    "I still dislike you... I think you''re insufferable but I''ve misjudged you. At the very least we can strategize together instead of getting in the others way... so please allow me to apologize properly."


    I stared at her. "Alright then. If that''s what you want. We work together to accomplish our goal, then you can go back to hating me."


    She nodded in agreement.


    "I''ve never been a teacher¡­ this is imperative for my future as Gym Leader as well. It is beneficial to us both," Janine said, determination written all over her face as she held out her hand for me.


    "Sure¡­" I said awkwardly, gazing at her hand like it were an anomaly before grasping it.


    I wasn''t expecting this much but I guess there were good things that came from being a child soldier. Janine was open to reason and capable of seeing the bigger picture.


    "So we''ll be ninjas?!" Green beamed excitedly. She jumped up and grabbed Janine''s hand with both of hers, making the ninja squirm uncomfortably.


    "Well¡­ that''s not what I ¡ª"


    "I look forward to learning from you! I''ll be a great student!" Green steamrolled whatever she was trying to say with a blinding grin and a proper bow.


    On anyone not named Silver, my companion was pretty good at using her adorable abilities.


    Janine was clearly no exception.


    "I¡­ look forward to having students as well," she mumbled, ducking her head in defeat.


    I snorted in amusement and shrugged at the information that we''d probably be getting taught more than Janine intended.


    Green was a good little soldier.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "So you''re sure that they''ll attack Silph Co?" Janine asked curiously, keeping pace with us.


    "Not 100%," I answered truthfully. "But they might attack it in the near future. I''m going to get as strong as possible in the meantime and thwart them from doing that."


    Janine nodded thoughtfully. "Does that mean it was you who sabotaged the Game Corner?" she asked.


    I tilted my head at that and shrugged. "Yeah. It was me. I''d prefer if you kept that a secret."


    "Why do you wish to remain in anonymity? You''d be regarded highly if anyone knew you exposed the Game Corner as a Team Rocket hideout. I''m sure you''d be greatly rewarded and recognized," Janine said, looking puzzled by my secrecy.


    "I don''t need that right now or ever really," I said bluntly. "All that does is put a target on my back and I don''t need that yet. I want to be able to properly defend myself before attracting unwanted eyes."


    Janine nodded once more, before a look of realization crossed her features. "Wait, does Team Rocket not know it was you who attacked them? How is that possible?"


    "Intense desire to stay hidden," I muttered. "Though, maybe that''s out of the window now since that Petrel got away."


    "Why?" Janine asked curiously. "Why are you attacking Team Rocket so harshly? You stabbed that man without any hesitation in your bones despite the two of you recognizing each other."


    I snorted. "We''re not close enough for me to tell you the reason for that. I know you''re thinking of something but keep your theories to yourself."


    Janine frowned and nodded. "I understand. Regardless, you clearly have prior training. To be able to evade revealing your identity to an entire base is quite impressive. Training you will be enjoyable."


    "Yeah!" Green beamed, a challenging glint in her eyes. "We''ve got this you guys!"


    Janine looked at Green in wonder, properly taken aback by her charismatic cheer.


    It was rare to find someone so optimistic all the time. I could understand her surprise.


    "We''ve got another hour of walking to do. Once we do that, we can continue training," I said calmly.


    "It would be ideal if we take the woods to Lavender instead of the routes. It will take longer but we will be bothered less, always have ideal camping space and good room for training," Janine added.


    "You know the way there?" I asked.


    She nodded. "Traversal by trees is how I typically prefer to move so I''ve made myself familiar with the words around Fuchsia."


    "Alright," I nodded in agreement. "We won''t encounter trainers but you should make up for that."


    "I will. You will get stronger fighting me over any trainer. I''m slated to become gym leader soon after all," Janine said confidently.


    "I like that confidence," I said truthfully.


    "It''s awesome! Makes me really believe in you," Green giggled. "Now let''s move! We''ve got distance to burn!"


    <hr>


    I idly stretched, groaning in satisfaction at the sound of cracking, and stood up straight. Then, I repeated the process with my legs, sighing as I downed a bottle of water.


    Freyja was happily blowing a weak gust of cool air over me that felt really nice and I pat her in return, leaning against the dozing Loki and sinking into his mane of hair.


    A vine brought a rag over and wiped me down, courtesy of Gaia who summarily plopped her head onto my lap.


    Ah, my team was too good to me sometimes.


    "Those cracking noises are so sick. They make me nauseous," Green muttered, doing her own stretches as Lapee and Larvee did a douse and dry combination for her.


    "Pussy. Grow a pair," I muttered under my breath, making sure she could still hear me.


    Judging by the way she twitched, she didn''t appreciate that very much.


    I was proven correct, as my companion immediately lunged, poised to tackle me to the floor.


    I grunted, stepping back and grabbing her arm, before kicking the back of her feet and dropping her to the floor.


    Then I lunged myself and our brawl ensued in kind.


    "You know¡­ While I''m quite glad that you two have proven to be fast learners, I didn''t expect you two to take my training and use it on each other," Janine said tiredly.


    "He was asking for it! Teach me more so that I can put him in his place!" Green barked, attempting to place pressure on a part of my shoulder.


    "If you learned it, then I guarantee I already learned and figured out how to counter it!" I snarled.


    I dodged it, but before I could properly retaliate, Janine spoke up.


    "You two shouldn''t fight so much. There''s an egg about to hatch. If the first thing it sees is you two fighting, it may get overstimulated," Janine said, too used to us to be anything but tired and amused.


    We both paused at that, hands wrapped around each others necks as we gazed at our third companion.


    "The egg is hatching?" I asked in surprise.


    "Quick Janine, let''s get outta here! I already messed up once, no way am I gonna do it again after I tried to make amends by giving him the egg!" Green jumped up, fully recovered.


    She rushed our temporary companion and pushed her out of the clearing.


    Their respective teams followed behind the both of them, all used to Green''s antics. "We''ll be back in 10 minutes, Silvy!"


    I scratched my head and nodded, removing the egg from the incubator as it began shaking harshly.


    My team watched from a healthy distance, interest blatantly clear on their face, as I placed the egg right in front of me¡­ on the off chance that it hatched into a pokemon that I shouldn''t be holding.


    As the black egg with red markings on it cracked through, I watched as a cylindrical hand popped out first, followed by another and a black head slowly appeared.


    I thought this was going to be the first egg I actually hatched¡­ but that wasn''t quite the case since I hatched Loki.


    Not to mention Togee was my egg¡­ what was I? The egg whisperer? Gold was supposed to be the hatcher, not me.


    Well, as a set of red and yellow pupils stared at me, innocent and wide eyes drinking in all my features, I decided it wasn''t a terrible title to have.


    The little fella inside, held out that cylindrical hand of it and I grasped the fiery red tipped appendage, pulling the pokemon out of the remains of the eggs.


    I grabbed a towel and wiped the fluids of the egg off of it, all while it cuddled against me, eyes still drinking in every ounce of my features.


    Almost as soon as I did that, the pokemon seemed to erupt in flames. Most notably, it''s eyes gained wisps, its torso gained flames and the top of its head gained a plume of fire.


    I tilted my head at the sight of its body activating with flame, stumped at what I was looking at.


    "What the hell are you supposed to be?" I muttered to myself, peering at the pokemon curiously.


    I didn''t know what the hell this pokemon was. It had to have been from a region I never witnessed before.


    Galar? Paldea? Those were the ones that I virtually knew nothing about so this was probably from that.


    The pokemon let out a cry of happiness and spread its arms, making me roll my eyes.


    I complied with its request and pulled it into a one armed hug, noting the much warmer than normal temperatures of its light body.


    Well if the literal plume of fire didn''t confirm it, this certainly did.


    A fire type hm...


    As the fire type cuddled me happily, I fished out my Pokedex and scanned it.


    "Charcadet, the Fire Child Pokemon. Burnt charcoal came to life and became this pokemon. Possessing a fiery fighting spirit, Charcadet will battle even tough opponents."


    Charcadet: Male


    Ability: Flash Fire


    Moves: Astonish, Ember, Leer


    "A Charcadet? The fucks a Charcadet?" I mused in interest, watching as the flames licked at my resistant outfit.


    "Char!" the tiny fella exclaimed happily, prompting me to smile slightly.


    "Aren''t you a friendly one?" I mused, looking at the evolution of Charcadet.


    Or well, evolutions.


    So this was why Lance greenlighted this pokemon to be given as a reward. Charcadet was a pokemon who predominantly resided in the Paldea region. It was a pure fire type and while not really notable, one thing stuck out.


    Its evolutions.


    Fascinating. Charcadet was a pokemon that had two different evolutions. It could either transform into something called an Armarogue, gaining the psychic type in the process or Ceruledge, gaining the ghost type in the process.


    Wow. This poor thing, got quite possibly the worst trainer it could have asked for. I couldn''t even emphasize how unfortunate it was for me to be this guy''s trainer.


    Psychics and Ghost types hated being in my presence and this Charcadet could only transform into one or the other?


    If I knew Charcadet was going to be in this egg, I would have seriously given it back to Green. Better for her to have it than me in the long run.


    Alas, it had fully imprinted onto me so I could do nothing about that.


    "Hey Charcadet. I''m Silver," I introduced gently, watching as those fiery eyes locked onto me. "I''m the one who hatched you so if you want, I can become your trainer."


    Charcadet nodded eagerly, looking adoringly up at me.


    "I''m a battler so if you join me, you''ll be expected to battle," I explained. "That''s my primary designation. If you have any problems with that, you can let me know in the future."


    "Charcadet!" the fire type beamed, accepting all I was saying. I wasn''t even too sure it could fully understand what I was talking about but pokemon were quite intelligent creatures.


    I smiled at him, before beckoning my team over. "This is your team. You''ll grow with them, train with them, laugh with them¡­ probably argue with them too. It''ll be a long journey together," I informed him.


    "Char¡­" Charcadet gazed at my little soldiers in awe. He stumbled about, not quite used to walking just yet and detached himself from my body, facing the entirety of my team.


    Then, he began waving happily, radiating with joy. "Char charcadet!" it cheered.


    "He''s a big ball of energy already," I sighed fondly.


    Charcadet reminded me of Green and I suppose that made sense since Togee had my personality. Green had grown quite fond of taking care of the egg after doing so while I was hospitalized and I didn''t mind her doing it.


    ...Having a little Green might not have been what I wanted. Just one human Leaf was enough and now you''re adding a fire type to it?


    How tiring.


    "Charcadet, c''mere," I said, watching as the little baby curiously prodded the giant Ares. She merely glanced at him, expression not showing much, and let it be.


    Well look at that. Even Ares knew when to be nice.


    Charcadet hastily rushed over to me, stumbling on his feet and letting out a laughing noise, as he tripped and I caught him.


    "I''m gonna put you in a Pokeball now. Be careful, it''s your first time so it might be a little jarring," I muttered to him, pulling out a Luxury Ball that I knew for sure I hadn''t been using as a weapon.


    He nodded as expected and without further prompting, tapped onto the button himself.


    I watched the light engulf the newborn with an interested expression.


    It shook heavily at first, probably due to Charcadet not expecting the sensation but eventually it settled down.


    A wary expression made its way to my face, as the pokeball dinged a successful capture. I was waiting to see if it would get sent off to a place like Viridian¡­ but it just remained there, stationary.


    Charcadet huh? Can''t say I ever expected to get one of these¡­ mostly because I never knew it existed until just now.


    His evolutions were pretty damn cool too and I guess judging on the one he wanted, I''d give him a different name.


    Since both options were equally terrible in the long run, due to being in close proximity to me, I''d let the little guy decide which one he wanted and not cause a fuss about it.


    Exposure therapy was definitely a thing so it''d suck at first, but I''m sure he''d eventually get used to me. Vee and Dree were doing much better around me now.


    Dree especially seemed to actually prefer training his moves near me in recent time. Maybe my presence was helping in a way that I wasn''t aware of.


    I released Charcadet from his ball and rolled my eyes as he immediately latched onto me.


    "You''re a happy little guy aren''t you?" I asked curiously, watching him rush the amused Loki next.


    My Zoroark glanced down at the tiny Charcadet, lip curling in amusement as the fire type inspected him.


    "Silvyyyy!" a voice called, rushing into the clearing with a giddiness only matched by the pokemon that just hatched. "How''d it go?! What was it?!"


    Charcadet jumped at the voice and if possible, his good mood seemed to get better.


    "Cadet!" he cheered loudly, running to the excited Green with a happy beam.


    "Woah!" Green shouted in surprise, lifting up the Charcadet with obvious glee.


    "What''s this?! It''s so cute! Who''s a cute little one?! You are!" she gushed, eagerly hugging the creature that let out a giddy shout.


    "Charcadet. He''s a happy little guy," I explained easily. "Reminds me of you."


    She laughed. "He''s so warm too! It''s nice to meet you Charcadet, I''m Green!"


    "Char char!" Charcadet greeted her happily.


    Seems like he recognized both of the people who took care of his egg. Maybe Green talked to him while he was in there?


    It would make sense that he instinctively loved her then. I didn''t really talk to Togee at all when he was just an egg.


    Huh¡­ maybe I should treat any future eggs I get better... or maybe I should stop getting eggs.


    "A Charcadet¡­" Janine mused in clear interest. "Quite a rare find. Was this the egg that was given to the winner of the tournament aboard the S.S Anne?"


    I nodded, accepting Charcadet back as he held his hands out for me to grab.


    "Green won the tournament but she gave it to me," I informed her.


    "If we actually battled, I think you had a higher chance at winning than me! Besides it was payback after I hatched Togee! So?! Is it good payback?! Do you forgive me completely?!" Green beamed.


    I chuckled and pat her head. "Sure thing. I wasn''t expecting this out of the egg at all but I''m damn impressed."


    Charcadet and Green beamed with equal energy. The sight made me let out an exasperated sigh.


    A rare egg to commemorate the grand sailing of the S.S Anne. A massive event deserved a good prize and this Charcadet was a damn good prize.


    I guess I did get something good out of that nightmare of a boat ride.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Hello!" Charcadet waved at his new team excitedly.


    "Hi Charcadet! I''m Gaia! I was Silver''s second pokemon!" Gaia beamed happily, bounding up curiously to him.


    Charcadet looked up at Gaia in wonder. "Hi Gaia! You were second?" he asked curiously.


    "Yep!" Gaia nodded, tentatively tapping the little fire types body with a vine.


    "This is Loki, Freyja, Metang, Ares and Oberon in order of who joined!" she introduced.


    "Wow..." Charcadet whispered. He gazed at all of them with wide eyes.


    "So all of you battle right?!" he asked curiously, practically buzzing in place. "That''s so cool! I wanna battle too! When can I battle?!"


    "He just hatched and he''s already thinking about battles?" Loki asked in amusement.


    Ares huffed. "The hatchling already grasps the glory of battles. They showcase far more promise than others," she stated, nodding in approval.


    "And who exactly is others?" Freyja asked with a scowl on her face. "Is little miss Ares still upset that she needed me to figure out the first part of Dragon Pulse?"


    "Watch your tone. You have managed to accomplish such a little thing and you feel proud of yourself? Ridiculous," Ares rumbled lowly.


    Freyja scoffed. "Says the one who keeps using Dragon Breath instead! I could give you control tips on that move too!"


    The Shelgon''s eye twitched and Ares turned towards her temporary partner with a heavy glare.


    "I hope you are fully aware of the consequences of daring to belittle my draconic heritage," Ares said lowly.


    "Don''t make it so easy next time!"


    "Oh! Are they about to fight!?" Charcadet gasped in awe, jumping up and down as an unhinged gleam entered his eyes. "Yeah! Kick each other''s asses! Lemme fight too! I wanna beat the hell outta something!"


    Gaia spluttered immediately at his words. "W-What?! Who taught you how to say such things already?!" she asked.


    "I dunno. I just said what would make me feel happiest," Charcadet shrugged happily, yawning tiredly.


    Metang suddenly let out an audible groan.


    "I would have preferred if the newborn had inherited everything from the female companion and not our trainer," was all they said.


    "Yeah that''s definitely from Silver," Loki chuckled in amusement.


    Gaia sighed and hoisted the warm body up with her vines, watching as Charcadet let out another tired yawn. "I guess that makes sense."


    "He''s got a lot of energy..." Oberon said quietly. "But I kinda get where he''s coming from. Battles are really fun."


    "I''m surprised you like them so much, Oberon," Loki noted, gazing at the tiny bear.


    Oberon was the polar opposite of Charcadet already. He was a gentle little bear but lately, the Teddiursa had become more and more aggressive in battles. It was almost like a switch was flipped.


    "They''re fun! I''ve never battled before Silver but it''s been awesome!" Oberon explained with wide eyes.


    "You don''t think anything is a bit weird?" Loki mused, watching Gaia place the dozing Charcadet in the confused Silver''s hand.


    "Weird?" Oberon mused. He placed a paw to his mouth and pondered the question. "Now that you mention it... my head does get a little hazy. It makes it a little harder to hear Silver."


    Loki had a frown at that, muzzle curled into a small frown.


    From what Silver had told him, Nurse Joy had confirmed that Oberon here had been experimented on but the specifics weren''t known. His trainer had nearly become violent when they recommended running further tests on the Teddiursa.


    "If you feel anything weird, let me know alright?" Loki asked.


    "Okay!" Oberon nodded eagerly.


    The Zoroark smiled at him.


    It was his job to make sure nothing amiss was going on with his team. He could understand them perfectly unlike Silver so he''d help their trainer out.


    "Ares and Freyja... you two should stop arguing soon," Loki suggested.


    The two glanced over at him, annoyance deep on their feature before they froze at the sight of two chilly orbs of silver glaring at them.


    "Y-You have a point," Freyja stammered nervously.


    "...I will listen this time," Ares muttered.


    Loki smiled. "Smart."


    <hr>


    You: "Why did you pick such a weird pokemon to give out? This seems too specific and odd."


    It took around 20 minutes for me to get a response but I didn''t really care, just continuing north through the forest with my group.


    Charcadet eagerly drank in the world around him on my left shoulder... and Oberon sat happily on my right.


    It looked like he could choose when to ignite his body and after explaining to him, that I in fact did not like getting burned by him, he glumly apologized and remained mostly deactivated.


    I fished out my Pokegear and checked the message with a frown.


    I didn''t wanna be messaging this guy but he was the only one with answers about Charcadet so I kinda had no choice.


    Flying Master: "Considering you''re texting me of your own volition¡­ I''m gonna take a wild guess and say you''re still upset but need answers on the egg?"


    You: "I didn''t ask you to try and pry into how I''m feeling. You''re the one who greenlighted the egg so I need info on why. I have no reason to message you otherwise."


    Flying Master: "Ouch."


    You: "Why did you select this pokemon? Not only is it from a far off region, it evolves with weird methods. How exactly am I ever supposed to evolve this thing into either of its forms?"


    Lance replied much faster this time. Seems whatever business he had been dealing with, was wrapped up for now.


    Flying Master: "The original prize for the lower level was an Eevee so that they could have multiple choices. Not every trainer will be happy with what hatches out of the egg so we wanted a choice that most people would be satisfied with."


    You: "So basically you wanted a popular and cool pokemon."


    Flying Master: "Yeah exactly. We do not condone treating pokemon poorly but at the same time, we aren''t going to give a... less than popular pokemon and invite that misuse onto it. It would be incompetent of us to give out an unpopular pokemon. It''s better for the trainers who truly want those pokemon, to go out and catch them."


    That made sense. It would be stupid to give a pokemon out like Trubbish. Not a large niche of people liked it and more power to the people who did, but it wouldn''t be fair for the egg to hatch to a trainer that didn''t really want it at all.


    Naturally, I''m not like most of the other scrubs who would do something like mistreat a hatched pokemon but it''s not like I was destined to win this tournament. No one was like me so no one would act like I did.


    But I wouldn''t deny that it was a surprisingly intelligent move to give out a popular pokemon. I guess in Paldea, Charcadet was quite popular.


    But for what reason did he pick Paldea? There were a lot of other regions too.


    As I was replying to Lance''s message, I paused as he sent another one.


    Flying Master: "The S.S Anne was supposed to be a momentous event and I wanted the eggs to represent that. Giving out an Eevee seemed a little¡­ expected but I just so happened to be speaking to a friend of mine from the Paldea region and she agreed with my sentiments. So, she gave me two eggs and I decided to throw in one of my own too."


    A girl from Paldea? I wouldn''t even have thought Lance had communicated with anyone from that region. It was very far from Kanto.


    Flying Master: "Not many lower level trainers have a ghost or psychic so I figured a Charcadet would be great for filling in that slot. I gave the middle group a pokemon called Jangmo-o and finally the highest group got the other egg of a pokemon called Frigibax. The last two are formidable dragons and I didn''t think any lower levelled trainer should be given a dragon to raise."


    I suppose that made sense.


    I knew what a Jangmo-o was vaguely. It was the pseudo legend of the Alola region. Considering it was only the middle group prize, Frigibax must have been quite the prize to get in comparison.


    As I searched up the final pokemon, Lance sent me a message... but I ignored it for the time being.


    Frigibax was a dragon and ice type pokemon that evolved twice. It''s evolutions were called Arctibax and Baxcalibur respectively.


    Considering it''s final evolution, Baxcalibur, looked like a beast of a pokemon, I''d go out on a limb and say this was a pseudo legendary. It would make sense if it were the 8 badge prize. Pseudo legendaries wasn''t an official term coined in this world so I was really the only one to use it, but that didn''t change the fact that they were spoken about more than other pokemon.


    They might not have had the title "Pseudo Legend" but they certainly still had the reputation of ones. Every pseudo was an apex predator of its region. Even the adorable and friendly Goodra, was viewed as an unstoppable threat.


    Done inspecting the pokemon, I went back to my messages and read what Lance sent.


    Flying Master: "Charcadet evolves with an item called the Auspicious Armor or the Malicious Armor. You were going to get it shipped but due to the sinking of the S.S Anne¡­ things happened and it was lost in the wreckage. Don''t worry though, I''ll secure a new set soon¡­ I know you hate my guts right now but I''ll probably have to give them to you."


    You: "Nah no thanks. I don''t wanna see you. Let Lorelei deal with it since she''ll probably take any excuse to visit me anyways."


    I didn''t care if I was being petty. He got me once, so I''d make sure he never got me again.


    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Well then I''d have to turn homicidal.


    I''d cut Lorelei off too if she told him anything about me and she understood well.


    My aunt hadn''t been at all confused when I told her that... almost like she expected it.


    Flying Master: "Alright. Whatever you say. I''m sure Lorelei would love that."


    I could practically feel Lance''s sigh through the message but ignored it, pocketing my gear with a scowl.


    "You okay?" Green whispered, gazing at Janine''s back. She was further ahead, guiding us through the forest as usual, while her Ariados skittered through the trees next to her.


    "I''m fine," I grunted. "Just figuring out more about Charcadet from the Champion."


    She looked surprised by that. "Lance? You''re talking to him? I thought you were mad at him?"


    I frowned. She could tell?


    "Of course I could! You''re my friend Silvy," Green said in hushed disbelief. "You get upset whenever he''s mentioned."


    I twitched at that and glared at her.


    Green held her hand up in surrender. "I didn''t mean anything by it. The sadness is hidden by all the anger but you''re always angry so it was easier to spot."


    I scoffed. "Whatever. Let''s keep going."


    Sadness? Me?


    Ridiculous¡­ is what I''d say if I wanted to lie to myself, but Green''s words bugged me something fierce.


    Sadness.


    "Why do you think I was sad?" I asked her with a frown.


    Green put a finger to her chin and contemplated the question.


    "Well¡­ maybe sad isn''t the right word to use here because I''ve never actually seen you sad. I think you''re just disappointed that Lance had ulterior motives... which by the way I''m pissed about too! No one gets to mess with you like that," she explained.


    ...That sounded pretty accurate. Knowing that the reason he chose to travel with us, was to fulfill whatever agenda he had¡­ it sucked.


    Ah I get it now.


    I sighed. "He disappointed me like every other adult in my life," I muttered bitterly.


    Everyone was interested in me for their own agenda. That''s all there was to it. Finding out that someone I thought was cool, was the exact same, was shitty.


    How rotten. Just another reminder that I was so unnatural, even the champion of the region wanted something from me.


    ¡­


    "Thanks for not using me for your own motives, Leaf," I said quietly.


    I should thank Jasmine as well. Those two were just my friends. There was nothing else behind it. Just two friends that wanted to help me out.


    Green frowned sadly and abruptly pulled me into a deep hug.


    "It''s okay, Silvy. I won''t ever use you like that," she said firmly. "To me, you''re just my violent friend who needs a little help."


    What a bright personality my companion was. It was easy to see why most people we met were taken by Green''s sunny personality.


    "Are you two okay? What''s the matter?" Janine asked, turning towards us with a look of slight concern.


    "Nothing!" Green beamed, squeezing me tightly. "I just got hug happy again and Silvy is my favorite person to squeeze because he hates it!"


    I scoffed, shaking my head at how easily she came up with that response.


    "She is the bane of my existence," I said flatly, dragging her forward and snorting as Charcadet cheered and also hugged me. "She even haunts me in pokemon form."


    "Double the fun!" Green cheered.


    "Charcadet!" Charcadet cheered.


    I rolled my eyes.


    Ridiculous.

 Drama Queen II

    Janine''s training with us was doing wonders for our members.


    Much like their trainer, Janine''s team didn''t like me all that much but they were also capable of keeping things professional.


    The same could not be said for Green. They, much like Janine, adored my companion.


    Funnily enough, they also liked my team more than they liked me.


    With the loss of Venomoth, you could tell that Janine and her team were a lot more disjointed. Nidoqueen seemed to be stepping up as the group leader in place of the bug type.


    Janine''s Nidoqueen had the most disdain for me. Considering how motherly she acted with our third companion, she probably didn''t appreciate the fact I slugged her in the face and gave her a black eye.


    Not like I cared. While not as strong as my disdain for Nidoking, I still didn''t like Nidoqueen as a pokemon at all. Ground type and all that jazz.


    So long as they didn''t have a problem with my team, I truly didn''t care how they felt about me.


    My eyes flitted over to the poison type trainer who just took a seat next to me.


    "Do you not mind being alone?" Janine asked curiously.


    I grunted, watching as Charcadet was gently instructed by the Salazzle.


    "I don''t care."


    She continued to stare at me. "I don''t understand you," Janine said eventually.


    "Should you really be trying to understand someone you don''t like?" I drawled. I idly smiled, as Charcadet conjured a small flame and excitedly looked over at me.


    Janine pursed her lips. "I just don''t see how you can travel with someone like Green and still end up with such a depressing personality."


    "You sound like you have a crush on Green," I pointed out boredly. "Do you want my seal of approval? You aren''t getting it. She could do better than you."


    The girl blinked, a mortified expression making its way to her face.


    "I don''t even know why I tried speaking to you," she hissed with a deep glare.


    "I''m wondering the same thing," I scoffed.


    Janine let out a growl of frustration. "I don''t get you! You have such a kind companion. You have an incredible team... but you''re still such a bitter creature!"


    My eyes locked onto her and I sighed.


    Janine jumped as I suddenly closed the distance and stared into her soul.


    She shuddered underneath my piercing gaze, eyes wide in shock.


    "What do you want from me, Janine?" I asked calmly, staring a hole into her.


    "I..." she trailed off.


    "You don''t like me. We''ve come to an agreement to work professionally to stop Team Rocket. You''ve even made friends with Green. So what do I offer that you want?" I mused, watching as she finally broke eye contact.


    "...I don''t understand. Nothing about you makes sense," she admitted finally.


    I raised a brow.


    "You are antagonistic and cruel, yet you care deeply for your team and Green. I''ve never seen you have a positive conversation with strangers, yet you were considerate enough to willingly become my target. You have such a deep anger hidden behind your eyes, but not even the words you say, truly reflect that."


    What was this? A case study on Silver?


    "You''re an enigma. Who are you really, Silver?" Janine muttered.


    "..."


    I stared at Janine with a neutral expression.


    "I don''t hate you Janine and it''s clear you don''t hate me the way you think you do, but we aren''t friends by any stretch of the imagination. I''m not inclined to share information about myself so freely. You already know too much," I replied frostily.


    Janine flinched back at my words and nodded slowly.


    "You are... correct. My apologies. I''m the one who set such a boundary between us, it''s unbefitting to be the one to break it."


    I stared at her and snorted. "You''re the confusing one. Nothing you''re doing makes sense to me."


    Janine frowned at that. "It appears we are destined to never see eye to eye. How fitting."


    "Some people are just like that. You''ll meet people you can''t stand but you gotta put a smile on and work with them regardless," I said truthfully.


    "Oh like father with Gym Leader Surge or Giovanni," Janine said without really thinking about it.


    I snorted abruptly at that, before a chuckle erupted from my body.


    Janine looked taken aback by my laughter, before a smile made its way to her face and she began giggling.


    She had no idea that I thought her dad not liking my dad, was just a funny and poetic thought but good for her for finding the situation funny regardless.


    "It''s probably a bit soon to ask but do you plan on ever filling your last slot?" I asked as my chuckles died down.


    Janine sobered slightly at that. "I''ve thought of it... but at the moment, I think I am fine with my current team. It is... difficult to think of what could replace Venomoth."


    "That''s the problem. You''re thinking of a replacement. Doing that will set your next member up for failure," I chided, leaning against the large tree.


    "If you go in with the thought that your next pokemon has to replace your first, you''ll never be satisfied. Maybe raising a new one will fill the void."


    "That''s..." Janine muttered, gazing at me in surprise.


    "Do you... have any suggestions? A poison type would be preferable," she asked tentatively.


    I raised a brow and gazed at her team with a curious expression.


    "You should catch a Mareanie or Skorupi," I suggested bluntly. "I think they would be good for your team."


    Janine nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps I will get both. I think they are equally good options."


    "Not a bad idea," I shrugged, shutting my eyes.


    "...Thank you Silver. You aren''t nearly as terrible as you try to make yourself out to be," Janine said suddenly.


    "I''m worse," I said gruffly.


    There was a comfortable silence that took place and I noted that Janine still hadn''t left.


    "Silver..."


    Ah. She still needed something from me.


    "What?" I sighed.


    I opened my eyes and stared at Janine, who was gazing at the floor with an embarrassed expression.


    "Since I''m teaching you and Green what I can, could you um... help me act less like a "drone"?"


    ...


    Janine''s eyes were glued to the ground, not even daring to stare at my incredulous expression.


    "I realized that you were correct in your assessment... I have a difficult time speaking normally to others around our age."


    I said nothing for a long while, before a tiny snicker left my mouth.


    "D-Don''t laugh at me!" Janine exclaimed.


    "Alright alright, quiet down," I sighed in mild amusement. "I''ll help you be less of a drone. I''ve already helped Jasmine out so it''ll be easy."


    Janine blinked, taken aback by my quick agreement.


    "We''re in mutual agreement already. I don''t mind assisting," I added with a shrug.


    "I... okay thank you." She smiled at me, before a confused frown made its way to her face.


    "Jasmine? Do you mean Gym Leader Jasmine?" Janine asked warily.


    "Yeah, she''s one of my best friends," I shrugged.


    Janine blinked owlishly, mouth opening in shock.


    "H-Huh? You and Jasmine? How is that even possible?!"


    "Dunno. She''s a gumball though so we put up with each other. Hard to be mean to such a pure person."


    "This is what I mean. You don''t make any sense at all."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Silvy! Saury is evolving!"


    I jolted at the loud scream and gazed up.


    "He is?" I asked. Without any hesitation, I pushed myself up and made sure the sleeping Charcadet wasn''t too bothered by the jostling.


    I jogged over where the light was shining and met the excited gaze of the buzzing Green.


    "What''s the occasion?" I asked curiously, watching as Saury''s body began morphing.


    "He was training with Vee! I guess Vee was taunting him a bit too much and this is the result," Green explained with a happy grin.


    Vee had the decency to look sheepish. The Espeon had clearly been taunting Saury a little too much. With evolution, he could have a much easier time defeating his friend.


    Clearly that pushed the Ivysaur over. Not only did I have an easier time beating him, now he wasn''t even the strongest on his own team?


    Saury was Green''s most competitive member. He hated anyone taking a lead over him so this evolution was a long time coming...


    But goddamn was he huge.


    The average Venusaur was about 6 feet tall and Saury looked like a solid 8. The bud on its back bloomed into a large pink, white-spotted flower that was supported by a thick, brown trunk surrounded by green fronds.


    "Venusaur," Saury rumbled, deep voice carrying through the field.


    His mouth opened in surprise, showcasing two pointed teeth in the upper jaw and four in the lower, and he turned towards Green.


    Green let out a shout of joy at the recognition in his eyes and leapt onto Saury.


    "Saury! Look at you! You''re so big!" she gushed happily, squeezing the tree of the Venusaur.


    Saury grunted, vines seeping out of his body to properly adjust Green atop his newly evolved body.


    "We need to get to a center," I said immediately, walking up and inspecting Saury with a calculating gaze.


    Saury caught my gaze and nodded in respect, allowing Green to fuss over his new form with his custom boredom.


    "He''s huge. Gotta make sure he can handle his new body weight and whatnot. I need to get Charcadet properly checked up on anyways," I mused, slightly adjusting the fire type in my arms.


    "Yeah! Good idea! We skipped a couple towns since we had enough supplies but we should be pretty close to Saffron now!" Green laughed. She was practically latched onto the Venusaur and the sight of the girl atop the giant frog, was way too funny.


    It really gave a good idea how big Saury had become by just comparing him to his trainer... or me.


    Saury nodded in agreement, allowing Green to return him to his pokeball without further prompting.


    "Alright! Let''s move out!" Green cheered, marching forward without any hesitation.


    I rolled my eyes and followed after her, patting a dissatisfied Gaia on the head.


    "Don''t worry girl. You''re going to evolve soon too. Then we can focus on crushing that giant ass Venusaur," I assured.


    She gazed at me with a surprising amount of fierceness, eyes all fired up.


    We both smiled in unison and I returned Gaia to her ball.


    "Slow down Leaf. We still have a bit before we can make it there," I sighed.


    "I can''t help it, I''m so excited!"


    "We haven''t even eaten yet."


    "...I''m not that excited! Let''s eat!"


    "Moron."


    "What did you say?!"


    Janine sighed miserably from her perch in the tree. "Here we go again."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Shower," Green moaned tiredly, practically dragging herself into Saffron City.


    I ran a hand through my hair, scowling in annoyance at the feeling of it.


    Being out in the wild for that long was not something I expected. Even with the periodic baths the three of us took in the pools of water we found, my hair still felt way too grimy.


    It was matted to my head and I had long since gotten used to that feeling...


    Doesn''t mean I still didn''t have to hate it.


    "Almost a month in those forests¡­ I almost forgot what civilization looked like," Janine sighed.


    The band in her hair had been gone for the last week or so, spiky hair running free and making her look actually fairly normal for once.


    I nodded in agreement with her sentiment, watching Green fish out her Pokegear to probably message Gold and Crystal.


    They had arrived to the city much earlier than us, by virtue of Celadon being much closer to Saffron than Fuchsia, and were preparing for the next steps¡­ in case I was right of course.


    "Let''s go to the center," Green decided, already dragging her feet there.


    I snorted and nodded, making my way there.


    It was the middle of the day so Saffron was packed. People and pokemon were everywhere, filling the streets with endless and noisy chatter.


    I already hated this place.


    Without much effort, I grabbed Janine and Green''s arm before beginning the familiar process of pushing through as many people as possible.


    My two companions yelped, faces going red in embarrassment as I bulldozed people much taller than me in the process.


    "S-Silver, wait! Don''t just do this!" Janine exclaimed with wide eyes.


    I ignored her of course, continuing my course with a single-minded focus.


    "Hey! Watch where you''re going¡ª"


    The person saying that choked on their words as I focused a steely glare onto them, craning my head just enough to appear the maximum amount of creepy.


    As expected, the middle aged guy, who looked like he had an office job, shut his mouth quick and briskly looked ahead.


    "Damn freaky trainers," he muttered rushing off and adjusting his suit.


    I snorted in amusement.


    The differences between trainers and normal people, were pretty apparent if you focused on trainers.


    Spending all that time in the wilderness, around monsters wielding such volatile energy, had a long term effect on people.


    This world was practically saturated in the energies of pokemon and as its inhabitants, every human was bound to get affected by it... Trainers just got affected more than others.


    They tended to appear more wild and feral as a result of practically living in the wild with all their pokemon. It wasn''t something anyone could deny either.


    This was just a natural side effect of being a pokemon trainer.


    It was even more apparent in specialists. Specialists were practically half whatever type they trained¡­ especially depending on the type they trained.


    It''s why Lorelei was always so damn cold or Lance felt like an apex predator. It was just a cause of being around creatures with such dominating abilities.


    Generalists at the very top, didn''t have one defining trait that specialists tended to have but as a result, they were far more unpredictable.


    You could have the seemingly normal Cynthia, who I was absolutely sure had some issue once you actually met her, or the completely off the rails Alder, who you didn''t have to meet to see that there were a few screws loose.


    It was natural. Different pokemon had different influences. Not every specialist was the same. Not every generalist was the same.


    For instance, Lance was renowned for his Dragonite so even as a dragon master, he came off as much more gentle than someone like say, Elite 4 Drake, who was renowned for his monster of a Salamence.


    No one trainer acted the same as the other. Some trainers could get completely overwhelmed by their pokemon''s traits, others could not be affected by it at all.


    It varied with everyone. For me, my personality was most influenced by whichever member I was battling with.


    In comparison to trainers, the civilians in this world were far more ordinary. Most tended to be crept out by the unrefined trainers. After all, trainers were both the protectors and enemies of this place.


    A formidable trainer was just as much a sword as they were a shield. It only took one rogue Master to cause untold amounts of damage in a short span.


    Trainers always had the most eyes on them in the world, whether that be because of fame or infamy.


    They truly ran how the world worked. No amount of politics could stop a Hydreigon from leveling a city.


    I was honestly pretty thankful that Team Rocket seemed to have no Masters in their midst. Getting wayward masters under control was an almost impossible task. Those who didn''t work for the league, preferred to be left alone in isolation.


    Well, it wasn''t like they needed a Master. I''m fairly sure Giovanni probably didn''t want Master levelled trainers for the same reason I listed. Too out of control and unpredictable.


    It was fascinating learning about how this world was ran. I wouldn''t want a wayward Master working under me either. The potential fallout would be too messy.


    I finally released my group as we made it to the Pokemon Center, looking none the bothered as I walked through the door.


    "A-Are you going to do that every time we enter a crowded city?" Green mumbled, face burning as she hid it in my hair.


    "H-He''s done this before?" Janine gaped in disbelief, blushing in embarrassment as she repeatedly glanced through the double doors we just walked through. "I thought you said my social skills were atrocious?!"


    "I never said mine weren''t. Pretty sure I even told you I have no social skills back at Fuchsia. I just understand that about myself while you didn''t," I replied easily, walking up to the Nurse Joy there and ignoring Green clutching the back of my long sleeved black shirt.


    "We''re here to book a room," I said bluntly, adding just a dash of patience to it because Nurse Joys were typically chill and I only reserved my rudeness for one Joy in particular.


    I needed to see how Joy was doing. It''s been a while since I gave her a status report on my life¡­ about two weeks?


    "Of course!" Nurse Joy smiled gently.


    "Our teams would like a checkup as well," I added. "I hatched an egg while traveling in the wilderness and never got him checked on. He seems healthy but I''d like you to verify it."


    "My Venusaur evolved too!" Green''s muffled voice added.


    Joy nodded easily at my request, cooing at the sight of the Charcadet curiously staring at her.


    "Of course!" she smiled, accepting my 5 pokeballs without prompting.


    "Go on," I nudged Charcadet, keeping Gaia''s ball with me. She was the most healthy of my team at most times, needing the pokemon center the least, so I kept her ball with me to avoid suspicion.


    Charcadet blinked at my words, before horror filled the little guys eyes.


    "Char!" he cried out, wrapping his arms around my neck desperately.


    Huh?


    I blinked in confusion and gazed at the little guy with a tilted head.


    "What? You don''t like hospitals?" I mused. "It''s fine. It''ll be quick. Just go."


    If anything, that made him react even worse and I grunted, alarm swiftly filling me, as his body began warming up in his distress.


    "Woah woah," I said placatingly, holding him away from my body in both hands.


    The distraught in his eyes were very real. The little man was absolutely terrified of something.


    Did he hate hospitals like me?


    "What''s your deal? Why don''t you wanna go?" I asked in confusion.


    "Char!" Charcadet cried, actual tears welling up in his eyes that instantly steamed.


    ...Huh? I didn''t form a bond with Charcadet long enough to understand his grievances.


    "He doesn''t want you to leave him," Green interjected, letting out a sigh of exasperation as she placed a soothing hand on Charcadet.


    "It''d be the first time he does something without you there. He''s terrified of not seeing you."


    Nurse Joy nodded with a small smile. "It''s normal for a hatched pokemon to be especially attached to their trainer. Would you mind coming to the back with me while I perform a checkup?" she asked politely.


    I blinked and nodded slowly.


    I had no idea Charcadet would have attachment issues but then again I even slept with him.


    He really was Green alright. At least my tent was fireproof.


    "Alright alright, I''m not going anywhere," I sighed, allowing Charcadet to clutch me once more. "See? I''m still here so let''s go."


    Charcadet nodded strongly, looking relieved by that detail.


    Just great. Guess I needed to postpone that shower.


    I followed the Nurse Joy to the back after she handed my companions their cards and ensured that Gaia''s ball stealthily ended up in Green''s hand just in case.


    "Char!" Charcadet beamed up at me, leaving his bad mood like it were never even there.


    I rolled my eyes and absentmindedly pat his head.


    Joy giggled at that and tentatively accepted the Charcadet, making sure I was in his sight the entire time.


    As the Chansey handled my team, Nurse Joy personally tended to Charcadet. She ran him through various tests, checked his status and made sure nothing was amiss.


    All the while, I watched with half an eye.


    Seeing as I had nothing better to do, it seemed appropriate to speed up the messaging Joy thing I was planning on doing.


    You: Sup. Here to give you a report on my status. Alive for now but grumpy and tired.


    Bundle of Joy: Nice to see you''re still a beacon of happiness. I watched your gym battle against that Erika girl recently. Not bad at all kid. I think I''m gonna tune into all your battles now.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    You: Wow, you really are a fan of me. I should be flattered that a Nurse Joy, especially one as unappealing as you, is rooting for me.


    Bundle of Joy: It''s impossible to compliment a person like you. You''re so damn annoying.


    You: Can''t help it. Your cousins are too nice. Makes it all the sweeter when I can finally harass you.


    Bundle of Joy: Are you telling me that you spare my cousins from your annoying tendencies just to unleash them on me? Am I some type of stress doll?


    You: Not at all. Seeing people with your face all the time and having to resist saying what I''d say to you is a tall task. When I finally get to speak to you, it''s like the floodgates open.


    Bundle of Joy: Genuinely, you are the most sickening 12 year old I''ve had the pleasure of meeting. I didn''t think a human being like you could exist.


    You: Pleasure? That means you enjoy my stellar personality. Doesn''t that make you sicker than me?


    Bundle of Joy: It adds spice that others don''t is all. Other people don''t have the entertainment value that you do. I condemn everything about you but you''re still interesting.


    You: You sound like an addict. "I know its bad but I can''t stop". Stop using me as your drugs, you maniac. Go get a life besides being confined in the hospital.


    Bundle of Joy: How do you think of this shit?


    I chuckled at that and we continued our banter, even as the Nurse Joy here wrapped up her inspection.


    Almost as soon as she finished, I grunted as a tiny figure immediately leapt atop me.


    "You have a perfectly healthy Charcadet!" Nurse Joy giggled, watching as my baby pokemon happily snuggled me. "No mishaps at all with him except for homesickness from not being in your grasp."


    I rolled my eyes. "Very funny," I said dryly, standing and stretching idly as Charcadet sat happily on my shoulder.


    Nurse Joy had a bright smile. "You''ve already figured his diet out and are taking the right steps to nurture him¡­ but do keep in mind that you should refrain from putting him in serious matches for a while. Keep them friendly with your allies, okay?"


    "Char!" Charcadet shouted in distress, crossing his arms.


    Nurse Joy put a hand to her hips and a stern look replaced her kind smile. "No, Charcadet. You''re too young to fight! In around another month you should be fine to push yourself further but for now, friendly training!"


    "Sure thing mom," I said sarcastically.


    "Char char," Charcadet mimicked, eyes drooping to match my half lidded gaze.


    Despite the obvious sarcasm, nothing could get a Nurse Joy''s spirit down and she just laughed again, running a gentle hand against both Charcadet and I and getting a dirty glare from the both of us in return.


    Unreasonable. They had to be clones.


    "Would you mind bringing your teams back up to your friends?" Joy asked kindly. "You all look exhausted so I''d hate to have them moving again. Please tell Ms. Green that her Venusaur is perfectly healthy and just needs to get adjusted to his size."


    "Yeah yeah," I sighed, accepting the trays with dividers on them for our team. "I''ll handle it."


    "Thank you Silver. Have a good day!" she waved.


    I nodded in acknowledgement, walking off to the room while balancing the tray in one hand.


    You: You ever stop to think that Nurse Joys are all clones and you''re an error in the system with how shitty your personality is?


    Bundle of Joy: I hope you understand that either you''re visiting me when you come to Hoenn, or I''m visiting you. The amount of Nurse Joy jokes you''ve made, have landed you firmly on the properly reprimand list. You''re too much of a rotten kid so don''t dodge what''s coming to you.


    You: Looking forward to it. I fight back. Don''t think being a dainty little nurse, is going to save you.


    Bundle of Joy: Freak.


    You: Defect.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Thank you, Silver," Janine said with a small smile, accepting her team once more as I tiredly handed it to her.


    "Thanks Silvy!" Green beamed.


    "Bay!" Gaia beamed, crashing into me happily.


    I smiled tiredly at her, even as Charcadet cheered and leapt, landing atop my Bayleef and getting them both to laugh. "Hey girl, how are you feeling?" I asked quietly.


    Gaia puffed up, flashing me a confident grin. "Bay!" she assured.


    I chuckled. "Right right."


    "So now that we''re in the city, I believe now is the right time to ask why you''re willingly carrying a team of 7?" Janine said in a hushed whisper, sitting on Green''s bed.


    "Can''t part with my team now. They aren''t developed enough for me to box them," I said easily. "I was not going to catch Charcadet until the time came¡­ but I didn''t want to risk anything happening. He''s pretty rare after all."


    Janine nodded thoughtfully. "Some trainers are allowed to hold onto a newly hatched pokemon if they already have a team of 6 and it won''t count. Perhaps you should consider speaking to someone about it?"


    "I''ve been illegally carrying for about a month now. I don''t think that''s much of an option right now," I replied.


    Janine frowned at that and nodded slowly. "A valid point¡­ very well, I''ll not speak about it. I''m willing to vouch for you however if you ever choose to. As Gym Leader Koga''s daughter, my word can carry some weight."


    I perked a brow. "You''re willing to keep my secrets... and help?" I asked in confusion.


    We had been traveling with the ninja for so long that I was sure she had picked up on more than a couple of things. Considering her designation as a ninja, she likely had heightened perception as well so it wouldn''t be as difficult for her.


    "I am," Janine nodded. "You were planning on protecting me in your own way, by letting me place the blame on you¡­ so to make up for it, you may truly consider me an ally. I''ll protect you as well. You must have good reasons for harboring the things you do."


    I paused at that. "...Thanks," I said lamely.


    Janine looked more stunned than I did.


    "You''re thanking me?!" she asked in surprise.


    "Yeah," I said truthfully. "This is important to me and you can tell. I appreciate you not ratting me out, even when you blackmailed me earlier."


    Janine blushed in embarrassment. "I''m sorry about that. Despite my less than stellar attitude towards you, you still treated me rather nicely¡­ well as nicely as I''d expect you to act after getting to know you."


    I snorted. "We traveled together for a month. No point staying enemies when we could both potentially kill each other."


    Janine nodded sagely. "It would be most lethal. That''s why I never slept near you."


    "After our interaction that one night, I made sure Green was close to me. No way would you be able to kill my adorable rival and feel good about it," I replied, ruffling her hair.


    Green let out a gasp of horror at that. "Y-You piece of shit! You used me as collateral?!"


    "I have a far more killable personality. No sane person would consider killing you," I said truthfully.


    "As evil as he is¡­ I am inclined to agree with him. I could never kill him with you in the tent. You are far too innocent," Janine replied with a small smile.


    "See?" I replied.


    Green puffed her cheeks out, glaring at the two of us with a red face. "D-Don''t compliment me after what I just heard! Ugh, I can''t believe this! I''m no longer sleeping in your tent!" she declared.


    I raised a brow. "Why are you making it sound like its a punishment for anyone but you? This is the happiest news I''ve heard in awhile."


    She opened her mouth and then shut it, a look of realization crossing her features.


    "I-I''m sleeping in your tent from now on! Prepare to be smothered to death by my hair!" she said instead.


    My smirk vanished in favor of wariness. "Wait, I actually think your hair can kill me."


    "That''s the point!"


    "Please bathe before you two fight," Janine interjected with a roll of her eyes.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    I hummed in contemplation, watching as my team trained from the comfort of a nice bench.


    Janine''s pokemon were going through the motions once more, drilling my team as usual.


    Throughout our trip here, Janine''s pokemon had beat our own into quite the shape. She was definitely above us by a fair bit so Green and I took great advantage of that.


    The two of us took turns sparring with her team over and over again. Despite still not liking me very much, watching me teach Janine how to be more normal, had warmed them up to me.


    Not Nidoqueen though.


    Salazzle was the one who liked me the most out of her team and she had a special fond spot for Charcadet. Considering he was permanently attached to me, that meant the salamander was around me as well.


    She was cool. Bit of a haughty personality but generally chill around me.


    We were in an isolated training area. It was far off from where people would come but still in decent range of Saffron.


    Janine and Green were conversing with each other, while I fiddled with a Pokeball.


    "Green! Silver!" A voice greeted.


    I craned my neck, meeting blue eyes with an almost unnatural hues and eyes colored too deeply to be considered yellow.


    "Gold! Crystal!" Green beamed happily, jumping up and rushing them.


    She pulled them both into a crushing hug, getting a happy flush out of Crystal and a large grin out of Gold.


    They all exchanged pleasantries and I smirked in amusement as the chatter duo of Gold and Green got into it.


    "Your friends?" Janine asked quietly, scooting next to me as our teams briefly looked over and focused back on their training.


    "Something like that," I replied dryly, watching the three converse. "If you ask them, they''ll say yes."


    "But you''re too cool for that, right?" Janine asked in amusement, ignoring my scalding look.


    "You sure did get comfier acting human. Does wonders I bet," I grunted, rolling my eyes and ignoring her glare next.


    "No thanks to you. Motivating me to change as a person, while you yourself are this ignorant, is ridiculous," she bit out.


    I smirked. "Once again a victim to having no independent thought. You still have much to learn," I shrugged helplessly.


    "Yo Silver!" Gold grinned.


    "Gold," I nodded, noting that he didn''t have the Aipom on his shoulder anymore.


    "How''s it going? Who''s your friend? Girlfriend?" Gold asked curiously, looking Janine up and down before shooting me a thumbs up. "She''s cute! Not bad dude!"


    "Gold!" Crystal chastised with a look of exasperation, holding her head at his antics.


    "How''d you know? We were put in an arranged marriage by her clan. High compatibility. We love each other a lot," I replied effortlessly.


    Janine nodded in agreement and scooted closer to me, smiling slightly. "We must be of age before we solidify our relationship. But it''s ideal to get to know each other better so we''re traveling together."


    Gold and Crystal''s jaws dropped at that, taking in our utterly serious expressions with wide eyes.


    "Oh¡­ uh. Congrats? I meant it when I said she''s cute," Gold said awkwardly, shooting Crystal a helpless look.


    "You both look good together! We''re sorry for making fun of you!" Crystal said supportively, a blush of embarrassment on her face.


    Green erupted in giggles. "You two are so funny! Were you thinking of that for a while?"


    My serious expression melted. "Nah. I just thought of it after Gold asked if she was my girlfriend."


    Janine nodded. "It felt apt to follow his lead so that''s what I did. I admit, it was rather funny. One of the more enjoyable things you''ve taught me, is the thing you call "trolling". It explains many of your actions," she smiled.


    "You did good. I''m surprised," I nodded in approval.


    "I''m more surprised you know of arranged marriages," Janine retorted.


    "Do you think I''m stupid?"


    "You think I''m stupid, yes?"


    "Dumb question to ask."


    "Likewise."


    "That¡­ was a trick?" Crystal asked in confusion.


    "Seriously?! You two sold that way too well," Gold complained.


    "Silvy''s been teaching Janine! She''s a pretty good student! I''ve also been sorta learning trolling but Silvy says I''m too nice for it!" Green beamed happily.


    "Trolling eh? Never heard of it," Gold mused.


    Green nodded eagerly. "I actually think you''d be great at it Gold! You have that personality to you!"


    Gold grinned, before it vanished. His eyes squinted and he peered at Green. "That doesn''t sound like a compliment if Silver''s really good at it."


    A snort left me at their actions, before grunting in dissatisfaction as Gold looped an arm around my shoulder.


    "How''s it been going, Silver?" Gold asked with a grin.


    I shrugged his arm off. "Well enough. Lot on my mind as always."


    Crystal smiled. "Well you''ve got the two of us now so we can split up the hard work!"


    Green cheered. "Yeah! The color squad is here!"


    Gold opened his mouth to agree and then shut it. "Hold on... are we actually all named after colors?"


    "That would explain why our group chat is called the Color Gang..." Crystal said, a disturbed expression making its way to her face.


    Janine looked surprised at that. "That''s... truly strange. I''ve never met another with your names either so its double strange that you happen to all know each other," she noted.


    Gold scratched his head. "My mom and Crys'' are best friends, that''s why we''re both named after colors..."


    "My family name is Green," Green mentioned, midlife crisis look appearing once again. "Did you guys notice we all have the same eye color as our names as well?!"


    They gaped in realization. Gold looked at Crystal, Green and I, before fishing out a mirror and gazing into it.


    "What... the fuck?" Gold said slowly, face morphing into one startlingly similar to Green''s.


    The idiot duo of Gold and Green began panicking at the same time and I sighed tiredly.


    "Wait... do you two only live with your moms as well?" Gold asked curiously.


    Green nodded with wide eyes. "Yeah! For as long as I could remember!"


    "Same with Crys and I!" Gold explained.


    I''d input my two cents here and say I had both my parents, but I wasn''t a main character like these three were and my parents were shitty.


    Besides... the closest thing I had to a mom currently, was Lorelei and I guess she was single too.


    "Wow this is crazy! I wonder if there''s more people with the color and eye combination like us," Gold mused.


    "We should find them all and form the color army!" Green gushed.


    Crystal sighed. "I think it''s just a coincidence you two. I''m sure there are people out there with a name that matches their eye colors... and our chances of meeting them are extraordinarily low too."


    "So explain the four of us!" Gold puffed up, a glint in his eyes.


    "Uh huh! It''s fate! The color army must rise!" Green laughed happily.


    Crystal gazed at them in some disbelief. "There''s no way you two think we''re actually going to find them. That''s so specific! Silver, tell them they''re being ridiculous!"


    Three eyes looked expectantly at me and I scratched my head.


    "Never say never," I said lamely, knowing damn well I''d probably be meeting more of this so called "Color Army".


    There were none active right now besides us but I imagine that''d change soon.


    Crystal looked dumbfounded by my words, eye twitching at the smug look in Green and Gold''s eyes.


    "What an interesting group you all are," Janine mused with a small smile.


    I rolled my eyes and watched as Gaia happily yanked Crystal and Gold into a hug. "Alright enough of that. Now that we''re all met up¡­ let''s see your teams. It''s been a while since we''ve seen each other."


    "It would be ideal if you joined us in training as well. We''re sure to make great leaps with the 5 of us," Janine added.


    "Yeah! I wanna battle you two. I love battling Silvy but some variety is definitely fun!" Green grinned challengingly.


    Gold grinned right back. "You and me both! It''s really been a while since we''ve seen each other! You aren''t the only ones getting stronger here!"


    Crystal nodded eagerly. "We got new members too you know!" she exclaimed, revealing a set of 6 Pokeballs.


    Gold did the same and I raised a brow in surprise.


    Gold and Crystal were like Green and I. They were both skilled trainers around each others levels that had probably even better synergy than me and my friend.


    Considering we tended to exchange ideas, I wouldn''t be surprised if their rate of growth was just as fast as ours. They had each other to improve with after all.


    "Teams of 6?" I mused. "You had three last time and you seemed to time your captures pretty well."


    "I caught two pokemon in the Safari Zone and I recently finished off my sixth in Celadon," Crystal explained with a small smile.


    "I caught one on the way to Fuchsia, one in the Safari Zone and I got my most recent while we were checking out the areas around Saffron waiting for you two!" Gold grinned.


    I looked on in visible interest as they subsequently released their teams and my brows shot as high as possible.


    Why the hell did I have to nearly die to get what the hell I wanted and these idiots managed to capture their teams by sheer happenstance!


    Crystal''s team caught me almost completely by surprise. She still had Misdreavus, Growlithe and that surly Croconaw¡­ but her final three members were the ones that caught me by surprise because what the hell was this?


    Crystal''s final three pokemon were an Eevee¡­ a Kangaskhan and a goddamn Dragonair.


    "Eevee was in Celadon," Crystal explained. "She was¡­ from the Game Corner," she explained quietly.


    I sobered at that.


    Ah, Eevee was one of the captive pokemon. That would explain why the little thing looked afraid of its own shadow.


    It''s eyes darted to and fro, before eventually stopping on Vee with a look of blatant curiosity.


    "How''d you end up getting her?" Green asked in worry.


    "She chose me," Crystal said, gently lifting the little thing up and tucking the fox into her frame. "I was just exploring Celadon before I encountered her, hiding near a tall building. Officer Jenny said she runs from everyone but she didn''t take off from me¡­ so that must have been a good sign. We bonded during my stay there so I adopted her."


    Eevee stared at me, tilting her head as some recognition entered her gaze.


    I caught her eyes and we had a stare off, before the Eevee let out a cute bark.


    "I think she likes you!" Crystal awed.


    "She hates me," Gold complained.


    I smiled and ran a hand against her head. Maybe she recognized me from the raid on the Game Corner by scent. I hadn''t seen any Eevee but I wouldn''t keep an Eevee out in the open either.


    "What about your other two?" I asked, watching as Dragonair glided over to Ares with a curious expression.


    "Crystal has an innate gift at attracting pokemon who want to join her," Gold rolled his eyes. "We went to the Safari Zone and those two were stalking her practically the whole time."


    "I didn''t even know Dragonair was watching me until I made it to a body of water and he popped out!" Crystal exclaimed, face red. "Gave me the scare of my life! Kangaskhan at least didn''t jump me like that!"


    Green giggled at that. "That''s insane! Your team is so cool, Crys!"


    She beamed with a rosy blush and I took the time to gauge Gold''s team.


    Ambipom, Quilava, Pupitar¡­ Looks like that Aipom and Larvitar of his had evolved during their travels...


    Good. They would be quite helpful.


    I took my eyes off the familiar faces and focused on the new encounters which were a Seadra, Scyther and a Rufflet of all things.


    "I caught Seadra on the way to Fuchsia. She attacked me with no hesitation so I caught her because I respected her grit!" Gold exclaimed.


    Seadra puffed up at that and glared fiercely at us. It was clearly a feisty little thing but I was beginning to realize most of Gold''s pokemon were feisty.


    Like this Scyther glaring over at me.


    "Scyther was my Safari Zone encounter! She''s a tough girl that was eager to get outta there so she joined me!" Gold grinned.


    Scyther gazed at the assortment of pokemon battling with a hungry look in her eyes. It was obvious she wanted to get into battle as quickly as possible.


    I grunted as a weight landed on my head and glared up at the excited Rufflet.


    "Rufflet approached me while we were exploring the area! We found him near a place called Silver Town and he just landed on my hat and refused to get off," Gold grinned, rubbing the back of his head.


    Rufflet chirped at that, flying over to Gold and landing directly on his head.


    I hummed as I assessed them.


    "You guys have improved... but you can improve a bit more," I nodded in approval, ruffling in my bag for a bit. I finally pulled out what I was looking for and tossed it over.


    Crystal caught it with wide eyes, nearly stumbling at the unexpected move.


    "W-Wha¡­?!" she gaped, looking at the Fire and Dusk stone with disbelieving eyes. "How did you get these?!"


    "Fire Stone was from the Game Corner," I grunted.


    "A-And the Dusk Stone? These are really rare!" she exclaimed.


    That¡­ was at Slateport. Along with a Shiny Stone, Sun Stone, Dawn Stone, Moon Stone, Leaf Stone and something called an Ice Stone.


    It was a bundle. Not sure why anyone would ever want a bundle of every single stone but you never knew I guess¡­


    Besides, the bundle was so easy to steal. They were begging me to do it by placing it out in the open there.


    "It was a bundle," I said calmly.


    "But why are you giving these to me¡­?" Crystal asked in confusion. I saw her Misdreavus pop out, eyes shining as it locked onto the Dusk Stone.


    "You need those for your members don''t you? I don''t need any evolution stone at all and I doubt I will for the foreseeable future," I said bluntly.


    I took a glance at the Eevee tentatively talking to Vee and ruffled in my bag more.


    Then, I pulled out the Leaf Stone, Thunder Stone and Ice Stone.


    "Here," I said bluntly, dropping them in her hand without prompting. "For your Eevee. I have a hunch it''ll pick one of those 3. Picking the right Eevee evolution is important."


    Crystal had wide eyes. "T-This is insane, Silver! You''re really just giving these to me?" she asked, gazing at the stones with wobbling lips.


    "That''s what I said didn''t I?" I grunted. "You''ll need to get strong. Use those when you feel like it but now you always have the option."


    Misdreavus and Growlithe stared at the respective stones with a reverent gaze and I absentmindedly caught the eyes of Crystal''s very hateful Croconaw.


    It looked bigger now, much like Gold''s Quilava¡­ and Gaia too. If I had to guess, all three were going to evolve soon.


    Good. With Saury''s evolution, Green''s power had leapt ridiculously but if the rest of our starters evolved as well, it''d be great in the long run.


    I didn''t know about Crystal''s Growlithe, but I''m sure her Misdreavus was probably ready for evolution anytime now. It was her first pokemon after all.


    Crystal said nothing, before pulling me in a crushing hug.


    I grunted, body twitching violently at the sudden contact but it wasn''t nearly as bad as when Green first hugged me so I was able to resist body flipping her.


    "Thank you so much, Silver! You just saved me so much money and time! We were in Celadon earlier but they were really expensive and I couldn''t buy them without putting a dent in my wallet! I had to spend a lot of money getting Eevee good to go!" Crystal exclaimed happily, grinning ear to ear


    "Don''t just suddenly hug me like that," I chastised. "You should thank Green for hugging me so much. The first time she touched me, I flipped her on her back."


    "First 10 times!" Green beamed, not even slightly putout by that detail.


    "Huh, you too?" Gold asked with a raised brow. "First thing he did when I grabbed his shoulder, was flip me over it."


    "I''d do it again," I replied bluntly. I was about to remove Crystal from my grasp, up until I saw that damned Croconaw giving me the evil eye for daring to make contact with his trainer.


    Oh yeah?


    I flashed a villainous smirk at the little bastard, before wrapping a single arm around Crystal.


    "You''re welcome for the help," I said easily.


    "H-Huh?" Everyone, barring Green, said. Crystal''s eyes were wide and I couldn''t blame her because I had to stamp down a lot of disgust to do this.


    But anything to win.


    My longest human companion immediately began searching for something and it didn''t take her long to see Crystal''s Croconaw getting ready to chew me in half.


    "Oh my Mew," Green sighed tiredly, holding her head in exasperation and dragging me away from Crystal. "I''m sorry about him, Crystal."


    "W-What?" Crystal stuttered, confusion pouring off of her. "You''re sorry that Silver¡­ hugged me?"


    "You''ll understand the longer you hang out with him," Green said sagely. "Silver is at his best, when he''s terrorizing someone."


    "Guilty as charged," I said, smiling as Croconaw took a single step, before a vine wrapped around both him and Quilava, pulling them over to the excited Gaia.


    "Alright, you guys got stronger so you can join us for training," I praised, nodding in approval.


    "We got our Saffron Badge too!" Gold grinned cockily. "That''s 6 for us!"


    I grunted. "Right, we still have to get ours, Green. That should be fun," I sighed in misery.


    Another meeting with Sabrina? I was looking so forward to it. No really. Just thinking about it left me excited.


    How fun.


    "It''s gonna be so fun!" Green cheered.


    "We should apply later today¡ª"


    "There is no need. I''ve already applied for the both of you to challenge me. Your battle will commence in 3 days time."


    I stiffened at that, watching as a figure walked into the clearing.


    A very familiar, very annoying figure.


    Great. She must have sensed my joy at wanting to see her and visited instead.


    Woo. Fantastic.


    "What the hell are you doing here?" I scowled at Sabrina, immediately locking eyes with her.


    It was impossible not to. She honed in on me like a missile, gaze just as unnerving as mine.


    "It is not as if I''m willing to put myself in such uncomfortable situations. You merely hamper me to a degree that is worth investigating," Sabrina intoned, expression neutral.


    "Hamper you¡­ That''s what we''re calling it. That''s why you practically slammed your palm onto the hot stove last time right?" I retorted with a raised brow.


    "...What the hell is going on?" Gold whispered to Green.


    "It''s a long story that Silvy will kill me for if I tell. Sabrina might kill me too," Green replied sagely.


    I effortlessly ignored them, glaring at Sabrina. "You''ve verified that it''s me. You can fuck off now," I sneered.


    Sabrina didn''t even blink at my harsh language. "Last time was merely curiosity. I merely acted out of turn, due to it being my first time experiencing such a sensation," she explained.


    "But you were actively hurting yourself in the process. Don''t be a suicidal dumbass," I chastised.


    Sabrina blinked this time, surprised by my reprimanding tone. "Is it not natural for one to wish to learn more about that which confuses you?" she asked


    "Yeah, when it''s not actively harming you," I fired back, sighing in exasperation.


    "Look, it''s happening again. Get outta here. I do not want a repeat of last time."


    True to my words, her face was already steadily getting flushed. Sweat was forming on her features and she straightened up, eyes flickering repeatedly as her legs shook slightly.


    This was the effect I had on the strongest human psychic alive. I couldn''t even imagine what I''d do to a lesser one.


    "Your concern is unnecessary," Sabrina denied, staring at me with narrowed eyes.


    "It''s not concern for you. It''s concern for me," I bit out, glaring at her.


    "I am no barbarian. Attacking you is an unnecessary and unlikely option," she stated calmly, eyes narrowing even further at the slight inflection in her tone.


    "You''re embarrassing yourself. What point are you trying to prove?" I raised a brow.


    Sabrina attempted to speak but stumbled instead.


    I watched her catch herself with a bemused expression. "You barely know how to walk. It''s actually like dealing with a newborn."


    Ridiculous. What did she gain from this?


    "Sabrina, are you okay?" Janine asked in concern, stepping up to her with surprising familiarity.


    Right, gym leaders and all that jazz.


    Sabrina focused on the voice and pursed her lips. "Gym Trainer Janine¡­ I was not expecting your arrival."


    Janine''s eyes widened. "Y-You didn''t? But how is that possible?!"


    Sabrina didn''t say but it didn''t take a genius to figure out what was affecting her so much.


    All eyes focused on me and I grunted.


    "You need to get out of here. For both our sakes, let''s hope I don''t stay here for too long," I repeated blandly.


    Sabrina''s eyes focused onto me once more.


    "Your presence is a hamper to my abilities. I cannot safeguard Saffron like this," she frowned.


    I sighed. "Gotta get this gym badge somehow. Take this time to learn how to be human," I retorted.


    Sabrina said nothing, pondering my words. "Perhaps, this is a challenge in its own right. Seeing as I am completely unable to avoid your presence, I will take the time to grow used to this sensation and improve my limitations."


    Yeah, I can''t even say I''m surprised about that.


    "I will see you in 3 days, Trainer Silver and Trainer Green. These may be the first battles I experience¡­ blind," she mused, turning on a dime and beginning to walk away.


    "You look like you barely know how to walk," I said snarkily.


    Sabrina didn''t deign to reply to my insult, just walking slowly out of the clearing, until an Alakazam appeared next to her and teleported away with the Gym Leader.


    The psychic pokemon only spared me a single glance, knowing full well that inspecting me, was only going to be harmful to it in the long run.


    Smart. Much smarter than its spoiled brat of a trainer.


    I huffed as she vanished, watching as all eyes locked onto me again.


    "Do you and Sabrina have hate boners for each other?" Gold asked bluntly.


    "Gold!" Crystal shouted, shoving him to the side.


    "Something like that. I just want her to leave me alone because she''s annoying. She is fascinated by things that she doesn''t understand, even if that thing is harmful to her," I grunted, nursing my head with my fingers.


    What an annoying conversation I just had. Unfortunately, I needed to make sure Sabrina didn''t end up hospitalized by my presence since her help against Team Rocket would be valuable.


    ...


    "Alright. Fuck. I''ll tell you," I sighed tiredly. "We''re already potentially going to die. So yeah whatever."


    Green sat next to me. "Are you sure?" she asked in concern.


    I shrugged. "It''s not like I know all the details myself. I could always be wrong but at this point¡­ this is the least of my concerns about what you guys already know," I sighed.


    The three who had no idea, gazed at me in concern.


    "Silver¡­?" Crystal asked quietly. "Is everything alright?"


    "Never has been." I rolled my eyes.


    "I was experimented on by Team Rocket. They did things to me. I don''t remember what, I don''t really know what, but I know that I''m a bother to psychics and ghosts and I know they want me back. Am I mandatory? Don''t think so but they will look to get me back eventually."


    There was a terribly loud silence at that.


    No one said anything.


    I didn''t say anything either because I didn''t wanna.


    I didn''t even wanna tell them this but at the end of the day, did it matter whether they knew this information or not?


    No. It didn''t. There were many more incriminating things about me that they knew.


    Gold and Crystal already knew I was the criminal who assaulted Elm and stole Gaia. That was literally the single biggest detail that would ruin my life and they were safeguarding it for no reason other than the goodness in their hearts.


    What would them knowing about me being tampered with by Team Rocket do? Nothing. It didn''t matter. It wasn''t a significant detail in the grand scheme of things. It was near the bottom of my list of issues and was only higher up because Team Rocket were active.


    As for Janine¡­ well whatever. She was jumping to her own conclusions so now she could just stick to the right one.


    The silence was eventually broken up by probably the most expected person.


    "That''s¡­ shit man," Gold scowled, taking a seat from the shock of what I said.


    His expression was pinched, anger bright and visible in his eyes. "No wonder you hate being touched," he muttered.


    I grunted at the observation, running a hand through Loki''s fur as he sat next to me.


    That made sense. I didn''t make that connection about why I hated being touched.


    I just thought I hated everyone... which was probably still true.


    "That''s¡­ so sad. I can''t believe that," Crystal frowned, expression turning distraught.


    She put a hand over her heart and took a deep breath. "We''re sorry Silver. We had no idea you had gone through such a thing¡­ it''s no wonder."


    Janine frowned deeply. "I see... that is why you and that Executive recognized each other. It''s no wonder you weren''t wary of my attempt at blackmailing."


    "It''s whatever you guys. Now you know some of my motive. What you do with that information is up to you but I''d like it if you didn''t tell anyone," I sighed, lying against Loki''s curled up body.


    His hair was very comfy. I found myself dozing off against him more often than not.


    "We won''t tell anyone," Crystal assured, a determined look in her eyes.


    "We''ll handle this. Trust us a bit, Silver, that''s all you need," Gold said, grinning cockily.


    They really were heroes alright.


    I scoffed. "What I''m doing right now is trying to trust¡­ this is as much as I can give out," I said bluntly, getting up and dusting myself off. "Now enough trying to be sappy. Let''s get to it. We got work to do."


    They all nodded in unison, grins on their faces as a challenging look entered their eyes.


    "Wait... did you just say blackmail?" Crystal asked in confusion.


    Janine and I sighed at the same time.


    "It''s a long story."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "We''ve never actually watched you two battle," Crystal pointed out.


    I raised a brow at that. "We''ve never watched yours either."


    Now that I think about it, I only really saw them battle against me on the boat. I had no clue how they had evolved their styles further.


    "This is a good opportunity! Watch us win!" Green beamed happily.


    I snorted at that.


    "Let''s get this over with. Just being in here gives me the creeps," I said with a sigh.


    There was no one at the front desk and I tilted my head in confusion.


    "There''s a note here," Green mused, grabbing it.


    "Please enter when you arrive, Trainer Silver and Green." It read.


    I shrugged. "Guess I incapacitated the receptionist. Shame... no terrorizing today," I sighed.


    "You terrorize the receptionist?" Janine asked, pinching her nose as I nodded.


    "You should have seen the one in Celadon! Her and Silver hated each other but then she ended up liking him!" Green exclaimed with wide eyes.


    I groaned. "Don''t remind me."


    Crystal giggled at that. "I do find it funny how despite your terrible personality, you somehow make friends."


    "Friends? What the hell are you talking about? I have two friends only," I said blandly.


    Green grinned brightly. "Who are they?! Come on! Name them!"


    "Jasmine and Jasmine," I said bluntly.


    Green balked and rounded on me. "S-Stop! You can''t just say Jasmine. You already admitted I was your friend!"


    "I don''t remember that. Could you show me?"


    "You''re so shameless!"


    Janine abruptly stepped in between the two of us with a tired sigh.


    "You two are in the midst of entering a gym battle and you still have time to fight?" she asked in exasperation.


    Green puffed out her cheeks. "He knows we''re friends. I dunno why he acts like we aren''t. He''s a tsundere."


    I blinked, before glaring at her. "How the hell do you know that word?"


    "Context clues from whenever you chat with Metang!"


    Gold whistled. "And I thought we were bad," he whispered to Crystal.


    "That''s because you realized who the brains of the operation is," Crystal whispered back with a small smile.


    From the corner of my eye, I saw Gold''s eye twitch.


    Huh, this group was really chaotic.


    Our group of 5 entered the back of the gym, all while sorta bickering with each other.


    The dubbed "Color Gang" was quite dysfunctional. At some point, I put Gold in a headlock.


    Don''t ask me why. He probably irritated me with his voice.


    Sabrina''s gym was simple in nature. It had a purplish-pink theme but other than that, it didn''t stand out too much unlike Erika''s gym.


    Elegant and simple, it was a nice reflection of the leader, even despite Sabrina''s issues these past few days.


    The Gym Leader stood in the center of the room, eyes closed as she took deep breaths.


    "So you''ve finally arrived," Sabrina said, opening her eyes and boring them into our group.


    To my slight surprise, she seemed to be faring much better than before. There was still a permanent flush on her cheeks but it wasn''t remotely as prominent as before.


    "Are you feeling better, Ms. Sabrina?" Janine asked politely.


    Sabrina idly glanced over at Janine, expression as neutral as ever.


    "Thank you for your concerns, Gym Trainer Janine¡­ I''m recovering quite well. In fact, I find myself welcoming such trials. Improvement is a core part of every human being¡­" she explained, gazing at her hands with a curious expression.


    "And you''ve been learning how to be human, huh?" I mused with a sardonic grin.


    Sabrina turned her gaze towards me, disgust barely visible. "When you have something for as long as you can remember, losing it causes one to act in a matter reminiscent to blindness. Since the moment I carelessly bent a spoon as a child, I have never known a life without my psychic abilities."


    Her eyes glowed faintly. "This vulnerability has been enlightening. It''s both humbled and taught me the weakness of humans¡­ but there is beauty in even weak things and I look forward to exploring that further," she smiled somewhat.


    I rolled my eyes. "You sound like a psychopath. You must have been suffering quite a bit these past few days to be referring to humans like this. I wish I would have seen you attempt to open your door with your psychic abilities¡­ and then crash face first into it," I sighed forlornly.


    Gold snickered at that, putting his hands up in mock surrender as Crystal shot him a glare.


    Sabrina pushed a hand against her hair, placing it behind her shoulder as she stared at me, practically confirming my sentence by not saying a word.


    "Trainer Silver¡­ I look forward to our battle," she said shortly.


    "You''re a little too excited don''t you think? But I''ll accommodate you and go first," I decided, smirking cockily at her.


    Sabrina huffed of all things. "I grow tired of you. As much as I''d prefer to use my most exceptional members in our battle¡­ I must reluctantly adhere to the guidelines set. I''d also like you out of my city at the earliest convenience."


    I scoffed. So she wanted to crush me with her strongest team huh? Good to know she still hated me.


    Jokes on her. I had no intention of leaving this city until I was finished with my business here.


    "Let''s get started then, freak," I sneered.


    Sabrina''s eyes narrowed. "Very well, abomination."

 Drama Queen III

    I fiddled with my gloves out of habit, as Sabrina slowly made her way to her side of the battlefield.


    Finally, she arrived. The Gym Leader stood ramrod straight and gazed at me with disturbing focus.


    I stared right back, tightening my gloves once more before I palmed a pokeball.


    The stands were quickly being filled with speeds I found surprising. Excited chatter accompanied the surge of people and I grunted in mild annoyance.


    To my immense displeasure, Sabrina seemed to echo the same sentiments as me.


    Neither Sabrina or I noticed the referee staring at us strangely and I absentmindedly realized he had been speaking.


    "...an official gym battle of the Saffron City Gym between the challenger, Silver of Viridian City and the Gym Leader, Sabrina! Each side is allowed 5 pokemon and only the challenger is allowed to swap. The match will be decided, when all Pokemon of one side are unable to continue!"


    ...


    The referee coughed awkwardly at the tense silence between the two of us.


    "Um... you may release your teams now," he said lamely.


    Nothing. We were completely ignoring him.


    The two of us just continued to stare at each other, before both our eyes narrowed.


    In a disgusting amount of unison (no really I felt nauseous), the two of us grabbed a pokeball and launched it.


    "Kadabra, I am in need of your assistance," Sabrina called, clumsily throwing her pokeball.


    "Oberon," I said, smoothly tossing mine.


    At once, a Teddiursa and Kadabra coalesced onto the field, gazing at each other as Sabrina and I caught our pokeballs.


    Oberon jumped at the loud noises and looked around, terror filling his features at all the eyes on him.


    "Focus on me Oberon," I greeted, tearing my gaze off of Sabrina.


    He nervously glanced back and I smiled at him.


    "This is a gym battle. Remember the one I had back in Celadon?" I asked him.


    Oberon nodded tentatively, eyes not leaving me for a second.


    "I''ve decided to use you so I''m trusting you to try your best, alright?" I smirked.


    Oberon had been filling out. His malnourished frame, from neglect and team rockets administrations, looked plenty robust now and he was growing to the size I imagine he was supposed to be. His fur was healthy and thick and he was growing bigger everyday.


    I was confident he could pull his weight.


    "Ignore the crowd. Focus on my voice. The only thing that matters right now is winning," I said confidently.


    "Ursa," Oberon mumbled, eyes narrowed as the air shifted around him.


    I smiled.


    Oberon didn''t realize it yet, but he became incredibly aggressive in battles. It was like a switch was flipped as soon as his adrenaline got pumping and while I was concerned about such a detail, the Nurse Joy who had checked on him hadn''t noticed anything amiss.


    She suggested more research but I reacted violently to that... For his sake though, I''d probably have to find someone trustworthy to verify if he was fine.


    But that was for later. For now, we had a battle to win.


    "Kadabra, Psybeam," Sabrina said aloud.


    The crowd gasped at the vocal order, balking at Sabrina like she had grown a second head.


    Considering she wasn''t a vocal trainer, opting to use her psychic prowess, I guess their shock wasn''t unwarranted.


    "Payback," I ordered coolly.


    Kadabra''s spoon gleamed and it aimed it forward, firing a beam forward.


    Oberon hastily covered itself in the dark type energy and let out a battle cry, bulldozing the psychic attack and rushing after the Kadabra.


    "Teleport," Sabrina said coolly, unfazed by Oberon''s attempt.


    I was nonplussed. "Sweet Scent, fill the air."


    Oberon immediately stopped his charge, glaring at Kadabra as his blood began pumping. He filled the air with a honey like scent, aroma quickly taking over the battlefield and I watched as Kadabra''s shoulders sagged slightly.


    "Slash," I pressed, eyes narrowed.


    Oberon growled in affirmation and charged the distracted psychic type, barely scraping the Kadabra with elongated claws before it hastily teleported away.


    "That''s going to be annoying," I mused.


    Oberon grunted in agreement, glaring at the Kadabra. The Teddiursa took a single step forward¡ª


    "Disable it."


    ¡ªBefore being stopped where he stood.


    I sucked my teeth, as Kadabra held out their special spoon and captured Oberon in a blue sheen, halting his attack in its track.


    Luckily Disable didn''t actually fully stop Oberon from using the move for a set amount of time but it was an effective attack to get away from opposition.


    And that''s what this Kadabra wanted to do. Play keep away...


    What a bugger. This was quite the terrible matchup for us.


    Sabrina blinked, surprised as I held out a pokeball and returned Oberon to his ball.


    "Stay ready," I murmured to the ball, grabbing another one and tossing it. "Loki."


    Gasps of awe rang through the arena as my Zoroark burst from the ball.


    "Pursuit," I said calmly.


    Loki lunged forward with a predatory gleam in his eyes, the only one completely unsurprised by my sudden tactic.


    Despite that though, Sabrina showed her mettle as a Gym Leader.


    "Teleport," she ordered quickly, recovering fast from the situation.


    At the sound of its trainer, voice measured as always, Kadabra instinctively activated Teleport and vanished from its spot, appearing 20 feet away from where its spot used to be...


    And watching with wide eyes as Loki turned on a dime and immediately lunged to its position, blood in his eyes as a leer made its way to his face.


    Sabrina pursed her lips as Loki''s dark claws slashed ruthlessly against the Kadabra, getting the psychic to cry in pain.


    Another Night Slash silenced it and I watched with a smile as Sabrina returned the Kadabra to its ball.


    "Kadabra is unable to battle! The winner is Zoroark!" The Referee shouted.


    No sooner was that announced, did I return Loki to his ball.


    "Good assassination. That was going to be annoying," I smiled pleasantly, tucking him back onto my waist.


    "How bothersome. It is rare to see a trainer truly utilize the fact that they may swap out their members while we cannot," Sabrina noted.


    "I''m not a fan of it myself, especially considering the League doesn''t allow such things. But hate makes a person do a lot of things... like sending out a teleporting and evasive Kadabra," I droned, staring a hole into her.


    Sabrina scoffed slightly. "Do not flatter yourself, Trainer Silver."


    "If I don''t, who will?" I said mockingly, sending out my pokemon since I returned Loki. Even though Sabrina''s fainted, I still needed to have a pokemon on the field per the rules.


    Oberon made his way back onto the field, only slightly disgruntled by being returned...


    Okay slightly was pushing it if the way he was gazing back at me meant anything.


    "Fine fine. No returning this time," I grunted.


    Dramatic. That''s what he was.


    "...Mr. Mime, I am in need of your assistance," Sabrina decided, throwing out her next pokeball.


    The Mr. Mime had a creepy grin on its face, which was probably supposed to be friendly. It waved at Sabrina before turning and doing the same with both Oberon and I.


    I tilted my head, giving it a single wave back.


    "Sweet Scent," I said as soon as I finished waving.


    Oberon hadn''t even bothered waving. The air was quickly filled with the aroma of honey and Mr. Mime let out a sigh of delight.


    The Teddiursa didn''t bother waiting for an order, rushing towards the Mr. Mime with blood in his eyes.


    "Oberon, slow down!" I barked to deaf ears.


    As Oberon closed the distance, shrouded in dark energy, he suddenly crashed into a Protect.


    Oberon let out a cry of pain, that transformed into a squeal as Mr. Mime slapped his small body multiple times with those big hands of it.


    I sucked my teeth as Oberon was batted away over to my side.


    "Get your head out of your ass, Oberon," I said firmly, watching him shakily pull himself up. "I didn''t put you in this battle to embarrass yourself."


    He flinched at that, gazing at me with wide eyes.


    "Focus up. We''re fighting an uphill battle here."


    Oberon nodded at my words, determination seeping off his frame.


    "Confusion," Sabrina ordered.


    "Cloak yourself. Rush forward," I retorted immediately.


    Mr. Mime let out a sigh of disappointment as its confusion failed to encase Oberon, before conjuring up a Reflect to stop the charging bear.


    The psychic let out a confused noise, as Oberon immediately skidded to a stop, and it cooed as my Teddiursa''s eyes went wide and innocent.


    Oberon''s gaze immediately turned ferocious and he darted around the Reflect, before lunging on top of the vulnerable Mr. Mime.


    "Lick. Don''t stop!" I demanded.


    Mr. Mime seized up as Oberon licked it right on the cheek over and over again.


    "Launch it away! Use Confusion!" Sabrina interjected.


    It was not to be, Oberon almost immediately cloaked himself in the dark shroud of Payback and continued clawing, scratching and licking the distressed Mr. Mime.


    Finally, it''s eyes flashed and a green dome erupted from its body, pushing Oberon away.


    As Oberon soared through the air, he was unable to catch himself in time before a brilliant array of light smashed into him.


    I grunted, returning him to the ball before he could skid across the floor.


    Mr. Mime slowly got up, twitching as parts of its body refused to move.


    "Teddiursa is unable to battle! The winner is Mr. Mime!"


    Dazzling Gleam... a powerful move from the strange Fairy Type.


    Oberon had done his job well. He had been punching way above his weight so securing a victory right now was not what I completely envisioned.


    Still sucked though.


    "Metang," I muttered.


    Sabrina''s brows furrowed in confusion as Metang appeared from the ball.


    "How is it possible for you two to function around each other?" she asked.


    "Metang''s complete and utter devotion to me," I replied.


    "You will wake up tomorrow and find that you''re missing a pokemon. Continue to lie at your own risk."


    "We''re the best of bros," I finished, completely ignoring them. "Bullet Punch."


    Sabrina twitched as Metang blazed across the field.


    "She''s going to say Reflect. Prepare for it."


    "Understood."


    "Reflect," she said swiftly.


    Mr. Mime conjured another Reflect, panting as exhaustion seeped into it.


    For its efforts, Metang closed the distance and dashed around, appearing behind its fellow psychic with the enhanced speed of Bullet Punch.


    The mime panicked at that, attempting to turn around before its body seized up once more from the aftereffects of getting licked by Oberon.


    Metang showed no mercy at all, landing the Bullet Punch directly on its cheek.


    Mr. Mime soared through air from the moment of impact. It skidded onto the ground before a beam captured and returned it.


    "Mr. Mime is unable to battle! The winner is Metang!"


    Sabrina turned her gaze back to me. "It would appear the rumors surrounding you had some merit to them," she noted.


    "You should never listen to rumors. It''s better to verify things yourself," I retorted.


    Much to my surprise, Sabrina smiled.


    "I could not agree more. Verifying is exactly what I''ve done so I believe it''s time to truly challenge you."


    My eyes narrowed at that.


    Sabrina didn''t bother saying anything else. She grabbed a pokeball and launched it.


    What greeted me was a bipedal fox covered in a coat of long fur that sorta looked like a robe. It smiled coyishly at me, before pulling a stick out of its sleeve-like fur.


    A Delphox.


    I pursed my lips at that and held out a pokeball, returning Metang immediately.


    Delphox was the final evolution of Fennekin, the fire starter of the Kalos region. It was a troublesome pokemon who relied more on its pyrokinesis, over raw firepower like the other fire starters.


    Perfect for a person like Sabrina.


    "Ares," I decided eventually.


    Ares burst from the pokeball with a deep growl, testing her little feet for a bit before gazing heinously at the Delphox.


    "Dragon Breath."


    "Mystical Fire."


    Ares opened her mouth and let loose a turquoise beam of raw draconic energy at the same time Delphox pointed their wand forward.


    A ring formed, before Delphox fired a surge of flames through it. The orange flames, with tints of purple, collided with the Dragon Breath, causing a small explosion to take place.


    Delphox let out haughty laugh, flames never waning from their wand. She waved it and summoned three fireballs this time, firing the modified Mystical Fire towards Ares.


    This was the annoying thing about Delphox. Their psychic powers gave them the ability to better manipulate their flames.


    Mystical Flame enhanced that greatly. It was practically fire manipulation.


    "Protect," I ordered with narrowed eyes.


    Ares rumbled, conjuring the green barrier and protecting herself from the balls of fire.


    They exploded uselessly against the Protect before Ares let it drop.


    "Dragon Dance."


    Ares began swaying her body from side to side, eyes gaining a violent glint to them.


    "I don''t think so. Fire Spin," Sabrina retorted immediately, a glint in her eyes.


    I sucked my teeth as Delphox pointed that wand once more and conjured of cage of fire that trapped Ares in it.


    The flames constantly licked her, dealing constant damage and getting a snarl of irritation out of her.


    "Dragon Breath," I barked, eyes narrowed in annoyance.


    "Light Screen." Sabrina smiled at me, glint in her eyes turning into a gleam.


    This stupid bit¡ª


    Ares'' frustration matched mine, as her Dragon Breath collided with the Light Screen conjured by Delphox.


    "March through the flames," I tried, eyes narrowed.


    Ares tried to do just that, but Delphox''s eyes began glowing and I watched with a clenched jaw as the Fire Spin moved from its spot to keep Ares trapped.


    What an annoying fire type.


    "Don''t stop running! Make it to that Delphox!" I barked.


    Ares rumbled in agreement, charging the Delphox.


    "No," Sabrina said calmly.


    A psychic blast smashed against Ares and launched her backwards, right into the Fire Spin.


    I snarled in aggravation as the flames continued licking Ares.


    By now, Ares'' eyes were bulging in fury and she was fully incensed, ignoring the flames licking at her repeatedly.


    "Dragon Breath," I hissed, eyes boiling.


    "Behind the Light Screen," Sabrina ordered.


    Delphox didn''t even need to be told such a thing, already standing behind the Light Screen. She had a smug smile on her face that I personally wanted to wipe off.


    I felt an immense swell of satisfaction at the smug smile being wiped away from the sight of Ares shooting out a gargantuan Dragon Breath, size eclipsing what she shot out earlier.


    Ah the beauty of Rage. If there was a move that was significantly better than its video game counterpart, that one was at the top of the list.


    Delphox had no time to react to the Dragon Breath shooting through the air like a bullet, smashing directly through the Light Screen. She let out a squeal as the fury filled Dragon Breath, practically punched her in the gut and sent her skidding back.


    "Catch her," I snarled.


    With Delphox distracted, the Fire Spin lost much of its power and annoyance, allowing the Rage fueled Ares to dash out of it.


    Utilizing the effects of Dragon Dance, my lumbering Shelgon actually made quite the distance and Delphox hastily summoned a wall of mystical flames to ward off Ares'' advance...


    To no success at all. Ares burst through those flames like a woman possessed, tackling Delphox to the ground with her heavy as hell body.


    Ares snarled and clamped her fangs around Delphox''s neck, the Crunch ripping out a screech from the fox.


    The aloof nature was gone, Ares was burned and fuming and utterly furious at the Delphox beneath her.


    So she ragdolled that damn fox like her life depended on it.


    "Delphox. Attempt to free yourself! Ignite yourself in flames!" Sabrina shouted, eyes wide.


    Delphox was in far too much distress to hear Sabrina. She struggled wildly underneath Ares, wand firing flames in every direction.


    Ares never let go, even when some connected with her.


    The, quite frankly, savage act was finally put to rest as Delphox erupted in a great bout of flames, launching Ares backwards with the surge.


    The fox huffed, eyes boiling in fury as an orange and red aura surrounded her.


    Blaze... just great.


    "Compose yourself, Delphox," Sabrina said measuredly, watching her pokemon practically spit flames at Ares.


    Delphox attempted to take a deep breath...


    "Dragon Breath."


    ...Before the anger came roaring back at the sight of Ares firing a Dragon Breath. She held out her wand and fired an enormous gout of flames.


    The amped Mystical Fire, collided with the amped Dragon Breath and an enormous explosion erupted over the field.


    Delphox snarled, waving her wand and summoning three fireballs. She launched it through the air with expert precision towards Ares, who opened her mouth and mowed them down with another Dragon Breath.


    A psychic sheen surrounded Ares as soon as she destroyed the last fireball and with a heave, Delphox launched her into the air, visibly straining to do so in her state.


    Ares roared as she fought against the Psychic and she glared over at Delphox, who was aiming the wand at her.


    "You won''t break out in time! Dragon Breath Ares!" I shouted.


    "Mystical Fire!" Sabrina shouted in turn, eyes glowing with emotion at our battle.


    Delphox howled in exertion, placing every bit of fire into the tip of her wand before firing a Mystical Fire that looked more like a Flamethrower.


    Ares roared in pure fury, mouth opening wide as turquoise energy formed in her mouth.


    My eyes widened as instead of a beam, Ares fired a shoddy turquoise ball instead.


    The Dragon Pulse collided with the Mystical Fire and I had to cover my face as the biggest explosion yet took place.


    My coat billowed, as a rush of wind crashed into me.


    I coughed as the smoke was carried over to me, waving it away as I waited for the dust to settle.


    As the smoke wafted away, I was greeted to the sight of Ares... unconscious on the floor as Delphox sagged on her side of the battlefield.


    "Shelgon is unable to battle! The winner is Delphox!" The referee shouted.


    My eyes were slightly wide at that. After all, it was exceedingly rare for Ares to lose in a straight one on one.


    She risked it on a technique that she didn''t finish and it backfired.


    I returned her to the ball and pursed my lips, watching as Delphox collapsed moments after.


    "Delphox is unable to battle! Will Trainer Silver release his next pokemon?!"


    At least she managed to take the Delphox down with her. That fox was really annoying.


    "Metang," I grunted, tossing my next ball.


    "Splendid, Trainer Silver. This battle... I do not normally enjoy them but this one fills me with a strange excitement," Sabrina stated, the gleam in her eyes still there as a ghost of a smile formed on her face.


    "I hope you keep that energy by the end of our match," I snorted, watching her every move.


    "...I believe winning would fill me with the most amount of this feeling," Sabrina mused, grabbing her next pokeball. "Therefore that is what I shall strive to do. Most trainers I merely test, but for you, Trainer Silver I will make an earnest effort to win... within reason of course."


    "Look at that. The spoiled drama queen is being brought out of her shell by someone she hates. I''m so touched," I snarked, eyes glinting as well as she tossed her next pokemon out.


    It was a white, bipedal pokemon with a green torso with sharp, red horns sticking out of its chest and back. The most notable thing about this pokemon, were the two blade like elbows it had.


    Red eyes gazed at me respectively and the Gallade bowed properly.


    Metang rumbled in acknowledgment and I simply stared at it, nodding my head once.


    Delphox into Gallade... Sabrina sure wasn''t making it easy for me.


    "Come Trainer Silver, let us continue this!" Sabrina announced, eyes glowing with her faint psychic abilities.


    My eyes flashed dangerously. "Metang, Iron Defense!" I barked right as Gallade teleported from its spot.


    Remember how I said Rage was at the top of the list for significantly better than its counterpart? Teleport might have been number one.


    Gallade Teleported right in Metang''s guard, blade shrouded in dark energies as it slashed into my steel types back.


    Metang looked only slightly uncomfortable from the super effective attack, body shining with the effects of Iron Defense as they pivoted immediately and raked metallic claws against Gallade''s chest.


    The evolution of Ralts barely grunted as the sharp claws connected with him, merely teleporting a safe distance away. He was stalking Metang carefully, poised to either shorten the gap or widen it at a whim.


    Fucking annoying.


    "Agility," I grunted, eyes locked onto the Gallade as I began thinking of plans to catch it.


    "Double Team," Sabrina said immediately after.


    An army of Gallade''s began filling the fields and I hissed as the real one teleported in, Night Slashed Metang, then teleported back into the mass of bodies.


    "Keep that Iron Defense steady, Metang. Start running."


    Metang listened to my order easily, dashing off with their head tucked and crashing into every body of Gallade they could see.


    They flew through all of them, none being real and I watched as the real Gallade teleported directly behind Metang, lunging forward with a dark blade¡ª


    And getting a Shadow Ball smashed into his face for his efforts.


    The super effective attack made the Gallade immediately shout in surprise.


    "Shadow Ball...?" Sabrina mused, surprise on her features.


    Metang actually had a fairly easy time learning Shadow Ball from the TM. The reason I greenlighted it, was for this battle. It would give Metang a good advantage against other psychics.


    Gallade hastily teleported away, just in time to avoid another Shadow Ball smashing into his chest.


    "Don''t give it time to think. Bullet Punch."


    Metang''s eyes roved over the battlefield at incredible speeds, finding the real Gallade from the Teleport in record time. They glowed and blazed through the field, rushing down the fighting type a purpose.


    Gallade parried Metang, pushing away those sharp claws and taking a step back.


    Metang was relentless, claws gleaming with the effects of Bullet Punch. They dove right back into Gallade''s guard and Metang just began swinging at intense speeds with Bullet Punch after Bullet Punch.


    Gallade''s eyes glowed and both his blades began glowing with the dark energy of Night Slash. Then the two began striking each other nonstop.


    They parried each other, beat each other... Sabrina and I just watched Metang and Gallade wail each other.


    Gallade leaned back from a swipe and leaned in, crashing a blade against Metang''s hard body, taking a fist to the face for his efforts and grunting as the claws raked against his face as a side effect.


    Metang''s eyes flashed for just a moment, using its shoddy psychic abilities to make Gallade jolt forward slightly, right into a sickening Iron Head to the dome.


    Gallade let out a shout at that. No doubt there were stars in its eyes at the concussive blow and Metang took full advantage of that.


    If possible, its fists began firing off even faster. Metang was taking full effect of the speed that Bullet Punch granted it, landing blow after blow onto any part that it could reach.


    "Gallade!" Sabrina shouted, watching as her dazed pokemon was slowly but surely pushed back from Metang''s assault.


    Gallade''s eyes narrowed and clarity entered its eyes.


    It caught one of Metang''s claws and jammed a Night Slash directly on the spot above its spike.


    Metang groaned at that, immediately pausing at the weak spot being struck and Gallade took full advantage of it.


    The Male evolution of Ralts tensed up, crossed its arms together and slashed through Metang, Night Slash devouring both its blades as an X of darkness appeared on my pokemon.


    I clenched my jaw at that, watching as Metang collapsed onto the floor.


    "Fucking hell," I cursed to myself.


    "Metang is unable to battle! The winner is Gallade!"


    This Gallade was metal as fuck. I never expected Sabrina of all people to use one.


    "Impressive aren''t they? My original team also has a Gallade. What better way to show the fighting dojo a superior fighting type, than to use my own?" Sabrina asked, smiling slightly.


    "Oh so you''re actually a sadist," I pointed out, returning Metang to the ball.


    "Sadist... I would not quite use that word. But, I am learning new things about myself," she mentioned.


    "Now come at me with all you have. It is a two on two. What will you do now?"


    I huffed at that and grabbed my next ball.


    "Gaia," I decided, deciding on Bayleef here.


    Sabrina''s eyes narrowed, suspicion in her eyes.


    Gaia stared at the Gallade with narrowed eyes, taking in its numerous injuries and nodding to herself.


    "Gallade, use Fury Cutter," she began, suspicion never leaving her eyes.


    Ah, she thought this was Loki huh?


    "Catch it, Gaia. It''s going to teleport behind you," I sneered.


    Gaia''s vines snaked out and immediately lashed behind her, catching the Gallade the moment he got out of his teleport.


    It let out a grunt of surprise at being wrapped up immediately in Gaia''s vines. His eyes widened as seeds began planting themselves on him and he let out a gagging noise, due to the fact that Gaia''s vines were seeped in poison.


    While not even remotely as resistant to it, Gaia did have a level of resistance to poison from practicing Poison Powder so much.


    "Slam it," I grunted, eyes narrowed as she hoisted him up and began brutally slamming him onto the ground.


    Gallade cried out in pain, eyes glowing as it vanished out of Gaia''s clutches and appeared closer to Sabrina''s side.


    "Life Dew," she murmured to it.


    My eyes sharpened. "Don''t let it heal! Razor Leaf!"


    Gaia growled in annoyance and fired a flurry of ultra sharp leaves.


    Gallade barely managed the process of healing as he was forced to cancel his technique.


    "Fury Cutter!"


    Gallade''s eyes glowed with psychic energy and I huffed in annoyance.


    Two moves that hampered psychics? And it could use them to this degree? Sabrina must have really loved Gallade to be teaching just a gym version of it this stuff.


    Gallade''s eyes glowed with the perception of being both a psychic and martial artist and it weaved, ducked, and cut through every leaf with a sickly green scythe.


    "Close the gap! Fury Cutter!" Sabrina ordered.


    "Reflect!" I retorted.


    Gallade vanished from its spot, blade poised to cut through Gaia''s midsection, only for it to hiss as one of its blades crashed against the shining wall of Reflect.


    "Grab it!" I shouted.


    "Brick Break!" Sabrina retorted.


    My eyes widened at that, watching as Gallade used its other arm, glowing white this time, to crash it against the Reflect, smashing through the reflect like it were made of glass.


    The unexpected move caught Gaia off guard and she spluttered, before wailing as Gallade''s Fury Cutter struck true.


    Gallade had foregone honor, lunging forward to continue delivering Fury Cutter after Fury Cutter.


    I grit my teeth. Fury Cutter was a move that started off weak but got stronger as you connected it. On a pokemon like this Gallade, who could utilize it in both of its blades, it was dangerously effective.


    Gallade was trying to finish this off because it understood that it was on a timer now. Gaia was steadily healing from the effects of Leech Seed and Gallade was getting drained by both poison and that same Leech Seed.


    "Gaia! Wrap your vines around its face!" I shouted urgently.


    My Bayleef whined in pain but listened to my orders, vines swiftly lashing out and wrapping around the relentless Gallade''s head.


    It let out a shout of surprise at that and continued hammering away at Gaia, only to miss wildly as she spun him around.


    "Giga Drain and Brain Bash," I hissed violently.


    Gaia hissed at the same time, vines wrapped tightly around Gallade.


    "Gallade! Teleport out of there!"


    The psychic attempted to follow its order but the moment it even attempted, Gaia yanked it backwards and slammed its head brutally against a new Reflect.


    Gallade wheezed, spit flying out of its mouth as Gaia scrambled his brain. It''s struggles intensified and it reached up to grasp at the vines only for Gaia to yank it backwards again, bashing its head against the Reflect with ruthless force.


    I didn''t miss how everyone in the crowd winced. This was pretty barbaric to witness. Gaia was not only asphyxiating the Gallade, who was poisoned by the way, she was also scrambling its brain and sapping it of energy. It would certainly need a trip to the Pokemon Center after this because I''m fairly sure this would probably put me on the top of Team Plasma''s shit list.


    Oh well. No mercy.


    Everytime Gallade so much as twitched, Gaia would bash it against the Reflect. Sabrina''s orders were falling on deaf ears because the Gallade was not even remotely coherent to listen to her.


    Finally, the Gallade''s hand went limp, falling to its side as Gaia released him.


    It fell forward and thudded to the ground, Gaia leering down at it with a victorious and exhausted glint.


    "G-Gallade is unable to battle! The winner is B-Bayleef!" The referee shouted, gazing at Gaia with horrified eyes.


    "Holy shit," I heard someone mutter in the silence of the crowd.


    "I thought his massive Shelgon was scary..." someone said.


    "Never thought I''d be calling a Bayleef terrifying."


    I didn''t say anything, watching as Gaia tiredly dragged herself over to my side again.


    "Good job girl," I said, smiling slightly at her.


    "Bay," she smiled tiredly.


    Sabrina returned Gallade to her ball with an unreadable expression.


    "My desire to defeat you... you''ve only made that urge stronger," she said bluntly, grabbing a final ball.


    "I''ve never felt the pressure of my back being against the wall... and now I see that it is a sensation born from the thrill of battle," Sabrina stated, eyes glowing brighter and brighter.


    "With only one pokemon left, I can''t help but feel now is the time for me to perform my best."


    I smirked wildly at that. "Spoken like a true trainer. I guess even you''re capable of feeling that heat."


    That competitive gleam, the one that had been growing in her eyes as the battle progressed, finally settled into a calm roar as Sabrina launched her final pokeball.


    Short, humanoid, with a yellow skeletal body covered in brown armor like sections, I wasn''t even surprised to see the Alakazam in all its glory.


    No one alive may have been a bigger fan of Alakazam than Gym Leader Sabrina after all.


    The psychic polished its spoons, mustache twitching as it gazed at Sabrina, then it looked at us, locking eyes with me and twitching slightly.


    I didn''t realize but the psychics Sabrina used didn''t seem overly affected by my presence. Maybe they had been getting used to it as well for the upcoming battle.


    Good, I wouldn''t want a free win after all.


    "Calm Mind," Sabrina instructed immediately.


    "Synthesis," I replied, eyes narrowed.


    Gaia was almost completely spent from that barrage of Fury Cutters and there was no sun out to draw energy from for Synthesis, so this wouldn''t be too effective but anything to keep the battle going.


    Much like the Gallade previously, Alakazam teleported from its spot and appeared to the left of Gaia.


    Gaia whirled immediately, turning to face it. She lashed out with her vines, only to whine in confusion as her attack soared past the Alakazam.


    "Light Screen!" I shouted.


    "Psycho Cut." Sabrina said at the exact same time, smiling at me.


    Gaia conjured a Light Screen, that did absolutely nothing to block the sharp blade of energy hanging off of Alakazam''s spoon.


    It cut into Gaia and she let out a cry of pain, stumbling backwards.


    "Grab it while it''s this close!" I snarled, eyes narrowed in confusion at Gaia actually missing the first time.


    Gaia''s accuracy was impeccable. She had been trying to hit the speedy Loki since she was a little Chikorita.


    My confusion only grew as she missed the next swing as well and then I noticed Alakazam''s eyes glowing.


    Son of a...


    "Careful Gaia! He''s using Kinesis on you! It''ll make your moves harder to hit!" I warned, watching as Alakazam teleported slightly to the right.


    "Magnificent. To think you''d be able to tell... but it is too late," Sabrina assured. "Psychic, Alakazam."


    Gaia squealed as she was launched backwards from concussive force. She rolled against the floor and remained still, before struggling to pull herself up.


    I was already fishing out a pokeball to return her but she glared back at me, a green aura beginning to surround her.


    As Overgrowth began taking effect, I huffed and nodded, placing the pokeball away for now.


    "Alright then. Razor Leaf."


    Gaia let out a mighty yell and turned into a turret, firing off sharp leaves one after the other.


    Alakazam attempted to teleport, but the moment he appeared, he was forced to conjure a wall that was almost instantly shattered by the amount of Razor Leaves that just crashed into it.


    The final forms of Abra were frail pokemon. They weren''t built to take many hits, trading endurance for some of the best firepower of psychics.


    I just needed to land meaningful hits on them.


    Alakazam attempted to Teleport once more but I wasn''t having it.


    "Magical Leaf!" I barked, eyes gleaming violently.


    Gaia''s eyes matched my violence and I watched Sabrina''s widen slightly.


    The Bayleef bellowed and launched two giant leaves that immediately honed in on Alakazam''s position.


    "Disable!" Sabrina shouted.


    Alakazam''s spoon glowed blue and it captured the two giant leaves in a blue sheen, capturing and suspending them in midair.


    The slight focus on stopping the Magical Leaves, gave Gaia a chance to wrap her vines around its midsection and she hoisted the Alakazam and slammed it onto the floor before it could preemptively teleport.


    Before she could repeat, the Alakazam freed itself with Psycho Cut, severing the vines completely and vanishing from its spot.


    "Magical Leaf again!" I barked.


    Gaia snarled, conjuring even more leaves this time and Sabrina''s eyes narrowed.


    "Telekinesis, Alakazam."


    Gaia was suddenly wrapped in a sheen of psychic power, before she was abruptly lifted into the air and suspended there.


    She let out a shout and struggled as much as she could, growling and snarling as she prepared to fire off the Magical Leaf.


    "And finally, the finale has arrived," Sabrina announced, gleam roaring confidently. "Alakazam, use Recover."


    My eyes narrowed. "Gaia! Just fire the Magical Leaf! Hit that bastard!"


    She attempted to fire it but Gaia let out a wail, as she was suddenly struck by an unknown attack...


    All while Alakazam continued to heal.


    What...?


    My eyes widened. Was that Future Sight?


    Gaia writhed about as she was bombarded with the attack and she cried, as the green aura faded from her body.


    "Bayleef is unable to battle, the winner is Alakazam!"


    Sabrina''s smile widened, as Alakazam teleported back to Sabrina''s side, healthy again.


    "Splendid, Trainer Silver. Both brought to our final members... Do you feel this?" Sabrina wondered, watching as I palmed my final ball.


    I sneered. "Finding your love for battle this late in your life... and turning into a drama queen because of it, sure does fit every image i have of you."


    Sabrina scoffed, that fire never leaving her eyes. "Nothing will satisfy this fire more than defeating you. Come Trainer Silver, send out your final pokemon!"


    "Be careful what you wish for," I sneered, tossing out my final pokeball.


    Loki burst onto the scene again, staring at the Alakazam with a predatory gleam in his eyes.


    "Let''s wrap this up Loki."


    "A one on one. Let us achieve victory, Alakazam."


    I tightened my gloves, eyes boiling with the desire for victory.


    I didn''t give a damn about the gym badge. All I wanted was to crush Sabrina the same way she wanted to crush me.


    This went beyond testing my skills. The two of us just wanted to win against the other.


    "Calm Mind!" Sabrina shouted immediately.


    "Taunt," I snarled.


    Before Alakazam could enter a state of tranquility, greatly boosting its mental capabilities, Loki snarled at him, shrouded in dark energy.


    The move successfully worked, cancelling the Calm Mind in its tracks and make the Alakazam gain a vein of annoyance.


    "No more of your silly little tricks," I sneered at her.


    Sabrina scoffed. "It would appear so..."


    "Pursuit. Close the distance and wrap this up swift," I ordered.


    Loki launched himself across the field, black streaking behind him as he prepared to end the Alakazam swiftly and net me my victory.


    Finally, Sabrina''s frown vanished, smile replacing it.


    "...Unfortunately, I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve. Alakazam. Psychic."


    My brows furrowed in confusion, before widening in disbelief as a psychic sheen actually surrounded Loki, launching him back and away from the Alakazam.


    "Zor?" Loki gasped, tumbling against the floor. He clawed the ground and halted his momentum, gazing at the Alakazam with wary eyes.


    "Miracle Eye? When did you set up a Miracle Eye?" I asked incredulously.


    Sabrina looked impressed. "Your ability to identify moves after a single interaction is worthy of praise, Trainer Silver. To answer your question, Miracle Eye was the first technique I had Alakazam use... against your Bayleef of course. Even before Kinesis."


    She pushed a strand of her hair behind her neck. "I was already preparing countermeasures for your truly troublesome Zoroark. I knew it would be a duel between them. That is why I saved Alakazam and not Gallade for it."


    I scowled at that. "So that means you''ve been scouting me as far back as Cerulean?"


    "I''ve watched every one of your battles, Trainer Silver. Our battle was one that I''ve been preparing to partake in for a long time and it hasn''t disappointed," she said calmly.


    I took a deep breath and sighed. "So this is what obsession does, huh? Our first meeting turned you into this? I''d be almost afraid if you weren''t a decade older than me," I snarked.


    Sabrina twitched at that. "Alakazam. Psybeam."


    "Agility Loki."


    Alakazam pointed both spoons and fired a beam of psychic energy at Loki, who slipped into Agility, blazing across the fields.


    "Shadow Ball," I ordered,


    "You as well, Alakazam."


    Both of them wasted no time conjuring the ghostly energies of Shadow Ball, firing them at each other with pinpoint accuracy and causing them to collide as a result.


    "Close the distance. Night Slash," I ordered, eyes narrowed like a predator.


    With Agility, Loki leapt much faster at Alakazam this time. He crossed the distance near instantly, lunging at the psychic with a hunters gleam.


    "Focus Blast," Sabrina said calmly.


    A smirk made its way to my face, before vanishing as Alakazam whirled on a dime, aiming the Focus Blast at where Loki actually was.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    He had no chance to react, caught just as off guard as me.


    A yellow ball of energy formed in between both Alakazam''s spoons and I realized he really wasn''t bluffing as he smashed the Focus Blast square into Loki''s stomach.


    The blast launched Loki away and I watched in disbelief as he rolled across the floor.


    "Much like how my tricks will not work on you, yours will not work on me," Sabrina informed me. "To a psychic, a dark type is like the void. Our ability to not affect them, can help us identify them as well."


    "Not to mention, Miracle Eye grants us the ability to see more than normal," she finished.


    I huffed at that. "You sure are talkative all of a sudden. Loki are you okay?"


    Loki huffed, wiping his mouth and gaining a dark glare on his face.


    "Zor," he muttered, fangs bared as he locked his teal eyes onto the wary Alakazam.


    "Let''s slow down a bit," I muttered.


    Loki gazed back at me, before an understanding look entered his eyes.


    We''re not the ones desperate for something fortunate. We were the hunters here. Alakazam was waiting for us to slip up so it could capitalize on an opportunity...


    So we just wouldn''t give it one.


    "Snarl," I demanded.


    Miracle Eye allowed Alakazam to attack Loki, but that didn''t suddenly make it any less vulnerable to dark type attacks... and that didn''t make dark type attacks any less effective against psychic moves.


    "Psycho Cut! Cut what you are capable of," Sabrina ordered.


    Loki barked and fired a giant dark ring of energy forward. The Snarl rushed towards Alakazam, who shuffled backwards all while conjuring a blade of psychic energy on both spoons.


    It grunted and swung, relying on Miracle Eye to actually be able to affect the dark type move.


    The Alakazam groaned as it was tagged by the Snarl but he managed to stave off the full damage.


    "Shadow Ball," I pressed, eyes narrowed as.


    Loki summoned a Shadow Ball in his hands with narrowed eyes, before launching it towards the Alakazam.


    Once again the Shadow Ball clashed with one conjured by the Alakazam.


    "Again," I said methodically.


    Miracle Eye only helped with dark type moves. It did nothing against ghosts.


    Loki fired another Shadow Ball and Alakazam tried to match it once more, only for its eyes to widen slightly as it failed.


    "Torment!" Sabrina warned a second too late.


    Alakazam shuffled back in its surprise and hissed as the Shadow Ball crashed into it.


    It got up, shuddering at being afflicted with the ghostly energies before Sabrina attempted to take more control of the battle.


    "Focus Blast!" she ordered, gaze focused onto the pacing Loki.


    "Don''t get hit by that," I muttered.


    Loki didn''t need to even be told that. The Focus Blast whizzed uselessly past the spot he was at.


    "Widespread Snarl."


    My Zoroark''s eyes were narrowed cruelly and he fired multiple rings this time, dividing Alakazam''s attention greatly. They soared through the air, much smaller than the big ring he fired earlier but sporting far more.


    The psychic panted, eyes glowing brightly as it held out its spoons and fired off a concussive wave of psychic energy, destroying as much of them as it could.


    "Alakazam, Psychic! Rip the ground up underneath it!" Sabrina urged.


    Alakazam''s eyes glowed and ripped the ground from below Loki, making the Zoroark stumble about.


    He ripped the ground and began bombarding Loki with rocks, making my first pokemon hiss in annoyance.


    Loki''s eyes flashed and he activated Pursuit, lunging towards the Alakazam.


    Alakazam were actually quite fast. They utilized their psychic prowess to move their rather weak bodies around.


    Case in point, it repelled Loki with a Psybeam and swiftly floated backwards.


    Loki''s eyes were shining, malice in them as he refused to back down. His claws glowed crimson and he lunged forward again, swiping relentlessly at the Alakazam who was trying its best to ward the attack off with Psycho Cut. Every other move would simply take too long to conjure and Loki was pressing him like he were possessed.


    Alakazam hastily captured Loki in a psychic shield. He was unable to maintain it due to how much Loki struggled against it and was only successful in launching Loki back a few feet.


    But we had cornered it from the constant and the psychic seemed to finally realize that.


    Alakazam looked behind it, being met with a wall and realized it had gotten corralled here. The psychic gazed ahead and was met with the smirking Loki.


    "Alakazam, Focus Blast!" Sabrina shouted urgently.


    "Extrasensory!" I shouted right back.


    Alakazam hastily conjured a Focus Blast and fired it forward, even without the fact it wasn''t full prepared.


    It was met with a giant rainbow colored wave that wrapped around the Focus Blast, forcing it to explode preemptively.


    Due to the close proximity, both of them got caught by the explosion but neither Sabrina or I could tell what happened to our respective pokemon.


    "Alakazam! Taunt has worn off! You must Teleport out of there!" Sabrina warned, watching as smoke clouded the arena once more.


    Alakazam hastily activated Teleport, vanishing from its spot and appearing a ways away from the smoke.


    I grinned. "So you know when Taunt wears off too huh?" I asked, impressed that she was aware of such a detail.


    "...Too?" Sabrina said, before her eyes went wide.


    Out of the smoke, a panting Loki burst out, dark energy streaking off of him as he locked onto the Alakazam.


    Alakazam''s eyes were wide and it''s eyes were already glowing in preparation.


    "Reflect!" Sabrina shouted, eyes blazing with her psychic powers.


    As Alakazam conjured a wall to stop the Pursuit from smashing into it, it froze in shock at seeing Loki skid to an abrupt stop.


    I smiled as Sabrina made the same mistake I made earlier in the battle. "Night Daze."


    Sabrina''s eyes widened, "Focus Blast!"


    Loki smiled as well, before erupting in a dome of crimson energy.


    The Night Daze was a sight to behold, double the size of what he could muster up as a Zorua and as a result, it practically covered half the battlefield.


    As the dome dissipated, I was greeted to the sight of Loki limping tiredly above the unconscious Alakazam, experimentally holding one of its spoons before placing it next to the psychic.


    He sighed and took a seat, eyes drooping slightly.


    "Alakazam is unable to battle! As a result, Gym Leader Sabrina has no remaining Pokemon! The winner of this match is the challenger, Trainer Silver!"


    I smirked crookedly, returning Loki to the ball.


    "Good job," I praised quietly. "Even with your tricks negated, we don''t have to only rely on that anymore now do we?"


    The Luxury Ball shook in my grasp and I snorted.


    What a satisfying battle... but next time I wanted to sweep her 6-0.


    Was it possible? Probably not... but damn would it feel good if I could.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "I admit, I am more than disappointed that I lost, but that was a splendid battle," Sabrina admitted, standing across from me.


    I ignored the roaring crowd, simply staring at the psychic.


    "I don''t completely nullify you... so why are you foregoing using your psychic abilities at all?" I questioned curiously.


    The gym leader said nothing at that.


    "During our last encounter, I noticed how vulnerable I was. I also noticed how over reliant I happened to be on my psychic abilities," she explained, watching as the battlefield was repaired in preparation for her next battle.


    "So that''s why you''ve been willingly acting fully human," I mused.


    "It was an experience I had forgotten about," Sabrina admitted. "I am capable of seeing many things others are not. I even foresaw the arrival of you prior to your arrival."''


    "Did you?" I asked flippantly.


    "It was a nightmare. I found myself unable to sleep well for reasons I could not explain. It was only until after actually meeting you, did I realize I was envisioning an encounter... because I had that very same nightmare."


    Hm. Fascinating.


    "You are an anomaly, Trainer Silver. One who is unnatural in a way that cannot be explained," Sabrina stated bluntly. "You are afflicted with an energy I''ve never encountered. An amalgamation of something familiar, yet utterly alien."


    "I''m still trying to figure it out myself. Your curiosity will have to remain just that," I sighed.


    Sabrina turned to stare at me, eyes glowing faintly.


    "During our battle, I decided to announce my orders instead of mentally communicating with my pokemon. I never expected such a simple change to invigorate me so," she revealed.


    I snorted. "Well would you look at that, the drama queen actually enjoys being human. You certainly had a bit of flair during our battle."


    "...I did not notice. I believe I was "caught in the moment" for a majority of our battle," she said.


    "Good. That means you were caught in the moment when I won," I retorted smugly.


    "I do look forward to your progression. I will take great pleasure in properly crushing you with my original team," Sabrina said simply.


    "I''d like to see it, Freak."


    "I will make sure it is more exciting than this battle, Abomination."


    I rolled my eyes, effortlessly catching the speeding bullet known as Green before she could tackle me to the ground like the pest she was.


    Charcadet cheered, crushed between the two of us due to being held in Green''s arms. The little guy didn''t seem to mind though.


    "Great job Silvy! That was incredible!" Green gushed, practically buzzing in her excitement.


    "It was awesome! Just watching that makes me itch to fight!" Gold grinned.


    "I agree. After this, we''ll have to work off some of our adrenaline," Crystal sighed, an intense look in her eyes that showed that she was just as much of a battle freak as Gold and Green...


    And I guess me too. That battle really was fun.


    "Well done, Silver," was all Janine said, smiling slightly.


    "You still have one more battle," Sabrina reminded. "Come Trainer Green. It is your time for battle."


    Green nodded excitedly, adjusting her hat and dusting off her red skirt.


    "We need to get you a new shirt and skirt combo. You have no style at all," I mentioned, shaking my head as I placed Charcadet on my shoulder.


    Green spluttered. "N-Now is not the time to judge my fashion taste! And I''m not taking advice from someone who only wears three colors! And I like my outfit! And you need to shut up!"


    I shrugged helplessly, patting her on the back and walking towards the stands where Gold, Crystal and Janine were seated.


    "Whatever you say. Once you stop being stubborn, I''ll gladly give you advice on what to wear."


    "I hate you, Silvy. Get outta here."


    "Dramatic. All of you are so dramatic," I said dryly.


    Crystal laughed quietly. "I think her outfit is fine. She doesn''t need to change it!"


    I spared her a single glance. "Of course you''d say that," I pointed out.


    Just the way I said my sentence, seemed to deeply offend Crystal.


    "W-What? Are you saying something''s wrong with my outfit too?" she stammered in confusion.


    "A head of blue hair, a white jacket, a red shirt and yellow pants. Are you applying to the circus? What is your getup?" I raised a brow.


    Gold snorted, transforming it into a fake cough as Crystal turned wide eyes over to him.


    "He made fun of my outfit as well. He said there''s no point walking around dressed like a ninja all the time... it defeats the purpose of a disguise. I-I just like the outfit," Janine mumbled, face burning.


    "What about my outfit?!" Gold asked curiously.


    I opened my mouth, before shutting it. My eyes shut as well as I let out heavy sigh.


    "Silver, are you alright?" Crystal asked in concern, placing a hand against my head to test the temperature.


    "Is it that bad?" Gold mused, glancing down at his red hoodie.


    I opened my eyes slowly and gazed at Gold again.


    "Your outfit... is actually good," I bit out, a strain in my voice.


    Gold opened his mouth and shut it.


    "Did it... hurt you to compliment me?" he asked in disbelief.


    "Don''t ask him a question that you don''t want to hear the answer to. That''s what I learned about Silver," Janine advised wisely.


    "After this... let''s go shopping after this, Silver," Crystal mumbled.


    I raised a brow. "Why the hell are you telling me this?"


    "You''re the one who made me self conscious about my outfit. I was fine with it before you said something..."


    I shrugged. "Fair enough. Alright then."


    "This may be a good opportunity for me to update my wardrobe as well... I''m also more self conscious about myself," Janine interjected.


    I pinched my nose and just took a deep breath, taking a seat and focusing on my companions upcoming battle.


    "Alright you losers. I''ll teach you how to dress after this. Now focus on the battle."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Sabrina started the battle off by throwing out a Gothorita.


    Green narrowed her eyes in contemplation and palmed a pokeball, before throwing it and revealing Dree the Dreepy.


    There were noises of awe, people not used to seeing a pokemon like Dreepy.


    "Green, unlike Silver, has a very large power gap in her team. There is a giant gap between her strongest three and her weakest three," Janine murmured.


    I nodded in agreement. "We basically spent the entire month here bridging the gap of her team a bit. Dree probably made the most improvements," I pointed out.


    His rate of growth was actually quite significant. Almost suspiciously so.


    Dree was pathetically weak. It barely knew any moves, couldn''t take hits and was all in all, a true first form pseudo legend.


    But Dree was fast.


    Dree was fast as hell. During our trip here, that''s what we focused on for the little guy.


    And Green was using that to full effect.


    "Quick Attack Dree! Get in close and use Astonish!" Green shouted.


    The Dreepy zipped in, streaked in white before it dove into Gothorita''s guard, foreboding aura making the psychic flinch slightly, before it let out a pained noise at the Astonish connecting.


    Gothorita fired a Psybeam in retaliation but its split second of hesitation, allowed Dree to zip behind the pokemon.


    "Infestation!" Green pressed.


    Dree croaked a bit at that, determination in his eyes as he fired off an attack that literally just looked like a bunch of fleas.


    Gothorita shrieked in disgust swiping uselessly as the bugs continued pestering her.


    "Alright Dree! Astonish again!"


    "Fake Tears!" Sabrina retorted, eyes narrowed.


    Dree''s assault temporarily slowed down, as Gothorita burst into tears. It caused the little dragon to slow down and Sabrina pressed her sudden advantage.


    "Psybeam!"


    Gothorita''s crocodile tears vanished as quickly as they came. The psychic powered through its disgust and fired off a beam of psychic energy, connecting squarely with the vulnerable Dree.


    Dree shrieked at that, launched backwards as the attack struck true.


    "That''s probably that. Dree can''t take a hit," I sighed, mulling over how Green could win this battle.


    Her two most advantageous pokemon against Sabrina, were babies still.


    Judging by the slight furrow of her brows, Green realized that too. She held out a pokeball to return Dree but stopped as the Dreepy slowly pushed himself back up.


    My brow shot up high in disbelief, as his body was surrounded by a white aura and I stared at the sight in disbelief.


    "Woah?! Evolution?!" Gold gasped eyes wide.


    Crystal awed at that.


    I was not of the same reaction at all.


    "That... what?" I muttered in confusion, watching as Green''s eyes widened in confusion as well.


    "What''s the matter?" Janine asked softly, having her doubts as well.


    "That shouldn''t be possible. Dree shouldn''t be close to evolution at all," I stressed.


    I understood that a Dreepy underneath a trainer was significantly stronger that a wild one but they still had relatively late evolutions.


    But as I watched the metamorphosis happening before my very eyes, I could not deny the facts.


    Why was Dree evolving right now?


    The little thing grew significantly larger, horns on its head growing significantly larger as it (along with his head) turned black, gaining two pinkish and triangle stripes on its head.


    The dragon opened its yellow eyes to inspect its new body. His little arms grew slightly, his tail grew massively and he gained an all new set of feet.


    Despite my confusion, I still appreciated the Drakloak.


    What a cool pokemon.


    "Dree? Are you alright?" Green asked in concern.


    The Drakloak turned back towards Green and hissed in surprise. He nodded slowly and inspected his body once more.


    I don''t think anyone was expecting this evolution... even Dree.


    I imagine they were taking a one way trip to the pokemon center after this but for now, my companion had a battle to win.


    "We''ll focus on that later, Dree! Let''s win this!" Green exclaimed, confidence entering her eyes.


    "Congratulations. Though, it appears this was unexpected and not calculated," Sabrina mentioned.


    "Completely," Green admitted without a hint of hesitation. "But he''s fine so let''s continue!"


    "Indeed," the gym leader agreed. "Gothorita, Psybeam."


    The Gothorita looked incredibly uncomfortable with the Infestation lingering over them, but it carried out its order immediately.


    Dree watched as the Gothorita''s Psybeam approached and the dragon growled, before it jetted out of the way. The dragon moved at far faster speeds than before and I whistled in appreciation as it appeared behind the psychic.


    The Drakloak tackled Gothorita from behind, before activating the ghostly energy of Astonish, smashing into the psychic with dreadful force.


    Gothorita rolled across the ground from the force of the attack before Sabrina returned it to its ball.


    "Fast," I murmured. This thing was going to be a serious problem when it became a Dragapult.


    Green''s whole team was to be honest. But this thing right here? It was going to cause serious damage.


    Sabrina mulled over her options, before grabbing another pokeball and throwing it out.


    A Xatu appeared from the ball, staring at nothing before it slightly shifted its gaze towards the Drakloak.


    Then, the bird spread its wings.


    "Tailwind," Sabrina said.


    I watched with a calculating eye as a whirlwind formed on the battlefield, cloaking Xatu and pushing Drakloak back slightly.


    Xatu let out a shrieking cry before firing blades of wind at Dree, who hissed and dashed backwards, avoiding the Air Slash by a hair''s breadth.


    The dragon dashed towards Xatu, ghostly energy pouring off of him once more but right before he arrived, the bird teleported, appearing behind the dragon instantly.


    Dree let out a strangled hiss of surprise, as more blades of wind crashed against his back.


    "Night Shade."


    As the dragon whirled around, a black mirage of the Xatu was conjured, before it crashed into Dree.


    Dree attempted to crash into the Xatu with Quick Attack but the bird had already flown away, speed enhanced by the turbulent Tailwind.


    "Quick Attack! Try and catch it!"


    What followed next was a high speed chase between the two. Dree tried following after the speeding Xatu, but was always a step too slow.


    They zipped through the air and Xatu took the chance to try and pepper Dree with ranged attacks the entire time. Dree avoided as many Air Slashes he could but at the cost of losing even more distance between him and the psychic bird.


    Dree''s frustration was clearly mounting but the dragon just wasn''t used to his new body. He had a difficult time maneuvering, wasn''t as aerodynamic as the Xatu, wasn''t as fast either with the Tailwind activated.


    This wasn''t even mentioning the fact that Xatu could teleport. Once the Tailwind petered out, Dree actually began gaining on the Xatu but right before he could connect, the bird vanished.


    Dree''s growling was getting louder and louder and it peaked the moment Xatu appeared back on the ground, teleporting once again.


    The psychic gazed up at the Drakloak before firing another flurry of Air Slash.


    Dree''s growl transformed into a roar and the dragon opened its mouth, before firing a very familiar orb of draconic energy.


    The turquoise orb smashed against the blades of wind, plowing through them and striking the surprised Xatu in the chest.


    "Now! Infestation!" Green pressed immediately, a vindictive gleam in her eyes as she greedily accepted the gift.


    Dree hissed and jetted forward, soaring through the air and firing off an Infestation to make sure Xatu''s attempts at escaping were far more limited.


    Xatu squawked as the fleas began harassing it, before squealing as Dree crashed into it from above, slamming directly into its midsection with pure momentum.


    The bird shrieked and began relentlessly pecking at the Drakloak, before Dree opened its mouth and fired a point blank Dragon Pulse at it.


    It''s struggles ceased after that and Dree hissed, slowly floating back over to Green''s side.


    "Ares is gonna be pissed at that," I mused, patting Freyja idly as she greedily watched the battle, Dragon Pulse in particular.


    "Fee," she agreed, not remotely as putout by the detail that Dree just learned Dragon Pulse. She just inspected the move, absorbing whatever knowledge she could.


    That was the good thing about her. Every opportunity was a learning one for her. She was very humble.


    Sabrina returned Xatu and gazed at the Drakloak with a contemplative expression.


    "It seems I truly do have to battle you like I battled Trainer Silver. Good," she said, pleased.


    Green smiled at her, before her expression turned serious at the next pokemon Sabrina released.


    Short and humanoid, with a black body that looked like it was wearing a dress... The Gothitelle stared at Dree with a half lidded expression, blue eyes glowing faintly.


    "Dragon Pulse!" Green shouted immediately.


    "Psybeam," Sabrina countered.


    Dree opened his mouth and fired an orb of turquoise energy, watching as it soared through the air.


    In retaliation, Gothitelle fired a familiar beam of psychic energy. It collided with the Dragon Pulse and cancelled each other out, a brief explosion taking place.


    "Quick Attack! Get close and pepper it!" Green ordered.


    Dree was of the same mindset, already streaking through the air to close the distance.


    "Feint Attack," Sabrina smiled.


    Green''s eyes widened in shock, as Gothitelle leaned back slightly, before it bitch slapped the hell outta Drakloak with a hand cloaked in dark energy.


    Dree''s head turned from the force of the smack, before the dragon wheezed and collapsed.


    "That looked like it hurt," I muttered, as Green returned Dree to the ball.


    "Sabrina did not fight the two of us as hard as she''s fighting you two," Crystal murmured, eyes wide.


    "Poor Green is collateral from traveling with Silver," Gold snorted. "I''d prefer this more than not knowing what she''s even ordering though."


    "But she has a lot more passion when she says the orders aloud. It''s almost like her pokemon are reciprocating her newfound energy," Janine pointed out.


    I snorted and pat Charcadet, who''s eyes were completely glued to the battle, on his little helmet. "They can sense her obsession. Considering the spoiled princess probably never felt such energy, it must have lit a fire under all their asses," I mused.


    I heard gasps from the people around me (they had tried congratulating me earlier and after the first five, I just started snarling at them), probably due to the fact I called their Gym Leader a spoiled princess.


    Then again, we had been sending quite the scalding remarks towards each other during our battle.


    In comparison, Green and Sabrina actually looked like they liked each other.


    "Alright Larvee," she muttered, sending out her Larvesta.


    Larvee was a lot bigger than when I first met her. She was maturing by the day and getting stronger as a result.


    "Flame Charge, Larvee!" Green began.


    The Larvesta''s eyes narrowed and she launched herself forward, enhancing flames covering her body as the larvae charged her opponent.


    Before she connected, a psychic sheen covered and lifted Larvee up, courtesy of the Gothitelle.


    "Throw it," Sabrina instructed.


    "Not so fast! Larvee use Screech!" Green shouted.


    Before Larvee could get launched away, she opened her mouth and let out a piercing wail.


    Gothitelle''s eyes widened and she let out a cry, abilities faltering and dropping Larvee to the ground.


    "String Shot! Don''t let go at all!"


    Larvee chittered and spat out a long string that wrapped around the Gothitelle thrice.


    Freyja let out a cheering noise as without any hesitation, Larvee used the psychics body to start launching herself through the air.


    "I think she took a bit of inspiration from us," I scoffed, hiding my smile at seeing the flying Larvesta.


    "Leech Life!" Green ordered, eyes gleaming.


    Before Gothitelle could fully recover from the Screech, she was brought to her knees, as Larvee tackled and sunk her fangs into her neck.


    The Psychic let out a warbling cry, twitching as Larvee tried to drain her of everything. The Psychic shouted and released a concussive blast of psychic energy, blasting the Larvesta away.


    Larvee hung onto the String Shot for dear life, only to cry out in pain as a pinpoint Psybeam smashed into her.


    Gothitelle''s lazy look was gone, replaced by fury at Larvee''s shenanigans. She summoned another Psybeam and fired it without hesitation.


    "Struggle Bug!" Green urged.


    Larvee fired out darts of sickly green energy that shielded her from the worst of the Psybeam.


    That didn''t mean she left out unscathed. Both her and Gothitelle had gotten attacked by their respective attacks.


    Larvee was panting, keeping a firm grip on the string shot. She glared at the Gothitelle and yanked forward, making the psychic stumble on their feet.


    "Flamethrower!" Green suddenly shouted.


    I let out a barking laugh at that, making eyes turn towards me.


    The little maniac really was learning from me too much wasn''t she?


    Larvee, who was still attached to the string shot, let loose a Flamethrower that traveled across the string from her to the still trapped Gothitelle.


    "Psyshock Gothitelle! Defeat the Larvesta!" Sabrina immediately ordered, watching the flames race across the fire.


    The terrified Gothitelle heard Sabrina''s voice and braced herself, eyes glowing bright.


    Purple dots formed around Larvee, before at once they crashed into her body.


    At the same time, the Flamethrower reached the end of the rope and consumed Gothitelle, lighting the psychic up in a great blaze.


    Larvee cried out and Gothitelle let out a shriek of agony, as both attacks struck true.


    The Larvesta''s eyes fluttered and she slumped over, unconscious.


    Meanwhile, the flames were forcefully banished by the irate Gothitelle, who was gasping. The psychic was gripping themselves, eyes wide as they stared at the unconscious body of Larvee, who was still holding onto that String Shot.


    "Larvesta is unable to battle! The winner is Gothitelle!"


    What a trooper. Larvee did far more than I was expecting her to do against that Gothitelle.


    Green returned Larvee with a soft expression, smiling at the pokeball and hugging it slightly, before she placed it away.


    My companion gazed at the Gothitelle and nodded to herself, grabbing a pokeball and tossing it.


    Lapee burst out of the ball, crooning as she stared at the burned Gothitelle.


    "Lapee! Use Rain Dance!" Green started off.


    "Gothitelle, Hypnosis," Sabrina said calmly.


    Green''s eyes widened in horror as Lapee''s eyes began glowing the same color as Gothitelle''s.


    "Lapee! Listen to my voice!" Green shouted on deaf ears, watching as Lapee''s eyes began drooping.


    Much to her dismay, the Lapras was put to sleep by the move.


    What a tactic by Sabrina. Gothitelle was on its last legs so its best bet was to output as much damage as possible.


    "Heal Block. Follow it up with Psyshock," Sabrina murmured, eyes gleaming.


    "Heal Block?!" Green repeated in disbelief.


    "Regretfully, this Gothitelle has not been taught Psychic Noise," Sabrina explained.


    Psychic Noise? I never heard of it.


    The burned Gothitelle''s eyes began glowing and she shot out a red beam that the Lapras didn''t react too, simply glowing red with the aura as well.


    Purple dots formed around Lapee, before they all at once slammed into her. She cried out and writhed in pain, still sleeping from the hypnosis.


    Gothitelle was merciless. She summoned even more purple dots, trying to pour out as much damage as possible.


    Lapee was helpless to stop the assault. As the repeated Psyshocks continued to hit her, the Lapras would just shudder, damage accumulating by the second.


    "Lapee! You have to wake up! Use Brine!" Green shouted desperately.


    Right before the next salvo of Psyshock crashed into the Lapras, her eyes snapped open.


    The kindness was gone, replaced by the protective fury of a pokemon who knew their trainer was in trouble.


    She opened her mouth and fired a stream of water directly at the Gothitelle.


    The Psychic wasn''t expecting the attack and it crashed into her with the speed of a bullet.


    Her eyes bugged as the attack washed over her, before the pain kicked in. With all the injuries, the salt water of Brine was doubly effective.


    Gothitelle writhed in pain, strangled shriek leaving its mouth before it slumped over.


    "Gothitelle is unable to battle! The winner is Lapras!"


    Lapee panted, injuries all over her body from the beating she took while unconscious.


    "You can''t heal, Lapee. She did something to you," Green informed her with a frown.


    The Lapras whined, shutting her eyes in exhaustion before slowly opening them again.


    Sabrina smiled. "Wonderful, Trainer Green. Let us not waste anytime."


    The Gym Leader grabbed her next Pokeball and launched it forward.


    A Gardevoir popped out of the pokeball, easily identifiable by me because who wouldn''t be able to identify a Gardevoir?


    "A Gallade against me, a Gardevoir against Green. She''s so fucking obvious," I sneered.


    What was with these gym leaders? Erika had used a Lombre against Green and a Nuzleaf against me as well.


    Was Koga gonna use a Nidoking and Nidoqueen against us respectively? Goddamn.


    Gardevoir was an elegant pokemon. Just its stance alone gave off that vibe. Something like walking even seemed tedious to it.


    "Lapee, use Ice Shard!" Green began immediately, eyes narrowed.


    Lapee summoned a barrage of tiny icicles and fired them off at incredible speeds towards the Gardevoir.


    They crashed into the psychic and rung out a noise of discomfort from the Gardevoir. Her eyes began glowing and she immediately teleported.


    God, Teleport was so annoying.


    As if sensing my annoyance, Sabrina turned towards me for a brief second and we locked eyes, before she turned back to the battle.


    The Gardevoir appeared behind Lapee, a pink ball in her hand that she fired at the back of the Lapras.


    The Moonblast hit with devastating force. Lapee cried out as she was sent skidding forward after being hit from behind.


    Lapee attempted to turn around and face the psychic, but a sheen covered her, before hoisting the water type up slightly, and slamming her back down.


    Finally, Gardevoir leaned forward slightly, smiling as it kissed the Lapras on her head.


    Despite how gentle the move looked, Draining Kiss was anything but and the small wounds Gardevoir had, instantly closed up as she siphoned energy off of Lapee.


    Green returned Lapee to her ball instantly, a deep frown on her face.


    "Lapee didn''t get to do anything," Crystal frowned.


    "It''s unfortunate. She got neutralized completely." I frowned at that detail and gazed at the Gardevoir.


    That Gallade had been insanely troublesome for me. I was expecting Vee to be in for a fight.


    "Swift!" Green shouted just as Gardevoir teleported.


    The Espeon''s gem began glowing and Vee fired a barrage of stars that honed in on Gardevoir''s location even through the Teleport.


    As Gardevoir appeared, she was forced to defend herself from the Swift. Her eyes glowed and she let out a cry, summoning a ring that captured some of the stars.


    Not all were caught from the Disarming Cry and she winced as they chipped her slightly.


    "Sunny Day, Vee!" Green continued.


    Vee summoned a beam of light and fired it into the sky, making the entire room grow brighter as sunlight poured out.


    "Moonblast," Sabrina said softly.


    Gardevoir held her palms in front of her, summoning a pink ball of energy that she fired at Vee.


    "Quick Attack!"


    Vee''s body streaked white as the Espeon blazed across the field, speed enhanced by their psychic abilities.


    He focused on Gardevoir''s location and instantly closed the distance.


    Gardevoir was already prepared to teleport the moment Vee lunged, but the Espeon stopped early and kicked a face full of dirt in the Gardevoir''s face.


    The final form of Ralts let out a shout of surprise at being blinded and Vee finally took the time to actually lunge, fangs glowing dark.


    A tussle ensued, as Vee tackled the Gardevoir to the ground and sank his fangs directly into her neck.


    No one ever expected the Espeon to get physical. Gardevoir and Sabrina were of no exception.


    The Gardevoir shrieked as Vee injected her with dark type energy.


    She attempted to use her wiry limbs to push off the Espeon, but Gardevoir''s weren''t the most fit pokemon around.


    "Dazzling Gleam, Gardevoir!" Sabrina instructed with narrowed eyes.


    Gardevoir heard the order and her eyes glowed, before a shockwave of pink energy erupted from her.


    Vee squealed as he was launched back, before the Espeon used his psychic powers to slow his descent.


    Gardevoir panted before pulling herself up. She gazed warily at the Espeon and dusted her gown.


    Then, she teleported and appeared behind Vee, firing off another shockwave of fairy energy.


    Vee squealed as the Dazzling Gleam connected once more, tossing him backwards. The Espeon skidded across the floor, only for his momentum to halt as another popping noise reverberated through the air.


    Gardevoir, who had teleported once more, cut off Vee''s route and hoisted him up with psychic energy, before planting a kiss on the Espeon''s head.


    Green was not going to let that slide.


    "Vee! Use Shadow Ball!" she barked.


    Gardevoir''s eyes widened and she hastily tried to pull back.


    Vee glared at her violently and spat a ghostly ball of energy directly in her face.


    Gardevoir squealed in shock, stumbling backwards and letting out a wail as another Shadow Ball crashed into her.


    Vee was relentless, he peppered the Gardevoir with Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball.


    The Espeon panted as they stopped, gem dimming in brightness to signify his exhaustion.


    Gardevoir was collapsed on the floor, unconscious to the world after the barrage of Shadow Balls by the Espeon.


    "Do you guys have the TM for Shadow Ball?" Gold asked quietly, eyes wide.


    "Yeah," I replied coolly. "We got a couple from the Game Corner."


    Their eyes widened at that and I grunted.


    "Consolation prize for doing their job for them. I''ll share. Just wait for this to be done," I told them.


    Gold had an excited gleam in his eyes and even Crystal looked interested.


    My interest was grabbed, as Sabrina released her final pokemon. Out came a Slowking of all things and I quirked a brow at the intelligent pokemon.


    "A Slowking? Really now?" I mused.


    It seems like Sabrina was really reading my mind.


    "Normally, I''d use Alakazam here... but Trainer Silver was the one who battled him. You should count yourself fortunate, Trainer Green but that does not mean the battle is over yet," Sabrina explained.


    Green smiled. "Of course it isn''t! My hand hasn''t been raised yet after all!"


    "Vee! Shadow Ball!" she shouted.


    "Amnesia, Slowking," Sabrina retorted calmly.


    Vee shouted and fired a Shadow Ball forward towards the Slowking who just smiled regally.


    An aura surrounded the water type, suspiciously shaped like some question marks, and as the Shadow Ball crashed into it, he merely took a single step backwards, mostly unharmed.


    Green''s mouth opened in shock at that.


    "Okay then... Quick Attack, get behind and Bite it!" she ordered.


    Vee darted forward, speeding across the field as he opened his mouth and prepared to bite into the Slowking.


    "Disable."


    Slowking turned at a leisurely pace, the gem on its crown glowing as it fired a blue beam that completely froze Vee in its spot.


    "Yawn."


    Slowking yawned and to Green''s horror, Vee yawned as well, eyes drooping slightly as the Disable on it wore off.


    Vee stumbled about drunkenly, trying to remain upright and failing the tall task as his eyes began shutting.


    Try as he might, the Espeon was unable to resist and he fell unconscious.


    "Surf," Sabrina instructed coolly.


    Before the attack could fire, Green returned Vee to his ball.


    "You''re so cheap," Green grumbled, grabbing her final pokeball.


    "My apologies. I am just well aware of what your final pokemon will be. That Ivysaur is truly a threat. I cannot waste anymore of Slowking''s stamina before facing it," she explained gently.


    Green sighed, before a smile made its way to her face. "Sorry Sabrina, but your slightly mistaken? I''m not using Ivysaur."


    Sabrina tilted her head. "Pardon? Do you intend on using your Togepi? That is unwise, Trainer Green."


    Green grinned, grabbing a pokeball. "Nope! I''m planning on using my Venusaur!"


    With that, she threw the ball and out came Saury in all his glory.


    "Holy... shit," someone said, mouth flapping uselessly.


    "What the hell has that Venusaur been eating?!"


    "You didn''t know? In her battle against Surge, Green had the biggest Ivysaur I''ve ever seen!" someone exclaimed.


    Gold whistled. "I will never get used to the size of Saury."


    "He''s gigantic!" Crystal nodded in agreement.


    "Bullshit, that''s what it is," I scoffed, glaring at the Venusaur in all its glory.


    Saury stared ahead, ignoring all the shouts and whispers of awe. His expression was as neutral as always and he assessed his opponent with a calm and searching gaze.


    "I see... your Ivysaur has evolved while journeying here."


    Sabrina''s voice was flat, but there was definitely a tad bit of appreciation in her gaze. "Most impressive, Trainer Green."


    "Thanks! Now we''ve got a battle to wrap up!"


    The gym leader nodded. "Indeed we do. Slowking, Nasty Plot."


    "Growth, Saury!" Green ordered.


    The plant on Saury''s back somehow seemed to get healthier, standing ramrod straight as he absorbed the sunlight to boost himself and the Venusaur rumbled.


    At the same time, a sinister gleam entered both Slowking''s eyes and the gem on its head.


    "Razor Leaf!"


    "Power Gem."


    Saury fired off a barrage of razor sharp leaves that carved through the air, before Slowking summoned a wall of rocks to block them. They nearly cut completely through the stone, reducing them to rubble and Slowking was still subjected to some of the attack.


    "Confusion."


    The Venusaur let out a groan of annoyance, as a weak psychic force crashed into his giant body.


    "Vine Whip! It''s too slow to dodge!"


    "Disable!"


    As Saury''s vines flew through the air, a blue beam hit the Venusaur and completely froze the beams.


    "Psychic," Sabrina ordered, eyes glowing.


    Slowking''s eyes glowed as well and Saury let out a roar as he was launched backwards from the Super Effective attack.


    "Slack Off, Slowking."


    Green''s eyes narrowed as Slowking sagged slightly, sighing as he relaxed and his body healed over.


    "Saury. Take Down," she instructed.


    Saury stamped a feet onto the ground, catching himself and glaring at the Slowking.


    Then, he tensed up and launched himself across the battlefield.


    Seriously. This was so bullshit.


    "That Venusaur is 8 feet tall, weighs about 500 pounds and is moving like he''s one with the wind," Gold said in disbelief, watching as Saury crashed into Slowking.


    "Welcome to the unfair world of Saury," I said boredly, watching as the Venusaur wrapped the Slowking in vines.


    "Use Toxic, Saury!" Green ordered.


    Saury rumbled and spat out a venomous blob that seeped splashed right against Slowking, seeping into its skin.


    The Slowking let out a groan of discomfort and cried out as Saury violently slammed it against the pavement.


    "Giga Drain!" Green pressed, eyes wild.


    The Slowking''s struggles renewed as Saury began draining it of its energy, healing himself in the process.


    It almost looked like this was going to be how the rest of the match went, up until Saury let out a roar of pain, blasted backwards by an unknown force.


    I had a hunch what it was though.


    The Future Sight sent Saury tumbling, releasing Slowking in the process and Sabrina immediately pressed her advantage.


    "Psychic!"


    Slowking had a look of determination on its face, heaving Saury and launching him further back.


    "Get up Saury! Seed Bomb!" Green urged.


    Saury pushed itself up and fired off a flurry of exploding seeds towards the Slowking that exploded on impact, sending the psychic tumbling backwards.


    "Wrap this up, Saury! Petal Dance!" Green jumped.


    "Slowking, weather the storm! Slack Off and Amnesia!" Sabrina exclaimed.


    Pink petals began falling around Saury as he began moving side to side in a fast paced rhythm, that would absolutely kill him in embarrassment, before the Venusaur roared and launched them. It flew towards Slowking with a purpose and the slow pokemon tensed up, before getting consumed.


    Saury didn''t let up in his assault, just continuing to power the Petal Dance, before finally stopping. The Venusaur swayed in a daze, eyes unfocused as the fast pace and power consumption of Petal Dance left it confused.


    Once the Petal Dance died down, we all saw the sight of Slowking standing there, calm and collected even despite the hellish storm that he had just been battered with.


    Then, his body glowed purple.


    Slowking''s eyes rolled to the back of its head as it fell backwards, Toxic finishing off the pokemon on its last legs.


    "Slowking is unable to battle! As a result, Gym Leader Sabrina has no remaining Pokemon! The winner of this match is the challenger, Trainer Leaf Green!"


    A grin split Green''s face and she began cheering loudly, jumping on the tired and confused Saury.


    "YES SAURY! WE DID IT! GOOD JOB!" She squealed, squeezing her starter happily.


    The Venusaur gained a bit of clarity in his eyes and he simply wrapped a vine around his overexcited trainer.


    "Venusaur," he said simply, smiling at her as she continued to squeeze him.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Magnificent," was all Sabrina said, looking a little wondered by the battle. "Even with all I threw at you two, I was still overpowered."


    Green puffed up at her praise. "It was such a fun battle! You really made us sweat for it Sabrina!"


    "You even looked like you enjoyed making us sweat," I pointed out with a knowing smirk.


    Sabrina''s eyes shifted over to me. There was still that natural distaste we had for each other but the gym leader seemed to appreciate the restrictions I suddenly placed on her.


    "I''ve never once gone into battle blind," Sabrina stated truthfully. "There is a certain thrill¡­ in dealing with the unknown. Ignoring my poor state, it is rather refreshing to see the world from a¡­ rawer viewpoint."


    I nodded, rummaging through my pockets and pulling out my Pokegear.


    "How do you feel about this?" I asked randomly, showing her a picture of our first encounter. The one where she had a gushing nose and if you had no context, made her look like a huge pervert.


    "Wait Silvy! Don''t show her that picture!" Green exclaimed with wide eyes, just a second too late.


    Sabrina stared at the picture where she was suffering a nosebleed, with a painfully neutral expression.


    Then, I watched with a delighted expression as a small scowl made its way to her face.


    "I knew you were an abomination," she said in such a low voice, I''m sure it was one step from being a hiss.


    "I knew you were a pervert," I replied easily, glaring at her in return.


    "Huh? Pervert? Who?" Gold said curiously, only to get hit in the back of the head by Crystal.


    The troublemaker held the back of his head. "N-Nevermind. Forget I asked," he sighed.


    I idly snatched the two badges out of the frozen Sabrina''s hand and handed one over to Green.


    "That was a fun battle Sabrina. When I become much stronger, we can have a good battle where we can both fight the way we actually want to," I smiled innocently.


    Sabrina''s eyes began glowing and Green let out a squeak of terror.


    "I look forward to such an event, Trainer Silver. Now please, get out of my city," Sabrina said, measured and professional.


    "Sorry, we''re going to stay here a bit longer. I need to train for a bit longer with the color gang," I smiled innocently.


    "...What did you just say?" Sabrina asked quietly, eyes boring a hole into me.


    "You''ve got a team to heal. I''ve got a team to heal. Let''s end the conversation now." I clapped my hands and waltzed out of the gym, Green right on my heels.


    As the lingering crowd cheered us on, I smiled at hearing Janine say, "I''m sorry for him, Ms. Sabrina... just please try and ignore him. We really are training here for the time being."


    "Gym Trainer Janine... if you do not keep him away from me, I fear what I will become."


    I snorted in amusement.


    What a drama queen.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Charcadet was sat on my head, as I regarded my entire team with a pleased smile.


    "We got our badge you guys," I praised.


    While most of my members were pleased, two were not so much.


    "Ares, what''s up?" I asked, sitting in front of my Shelgon.


    She was glumly laid out, legs splayed in all directions and I met her annoyed eyes.


    "Shel," she stated.


    I sighed. "We can''t win em all girl. You did damn good though fighting a fully evolved pokemon without being fully evolved yourself."


    Ares perked up slightly, gazing at me with her big eyes and I ran a hand against her shell.


    For someone so proud, Ares sure did love my words of affirmation.


    I moved to the side of her and pulled her in a one armed hug, wrapping my hand around the hard shell.


    "Don''t worry about it Ares. You win some you lose some but once you reach your apex... once we reach the very top, we''ll win them all," I assured.


    Ares wasn''t used to losing. Ares was especially not used to losing without even fainting one other member of the opposition. I can understand why she was so put out by this defeat.


    "...Shel," Ares agreed, rubbing herself against me in content.


    I smiled and let her show her affections, before turning towards Oberon.


    "Oberon," I said calmly, watching as he nervously fiddled with his paws.


    He jumped and gazed at me, placing both paws in his mouth.


    "You weren''t satisfied with that battle, right?" I asked bluntly.


    He shook his head slowly.


    "Then learn to better control yourself, little man," I said, ruffling the fur atop his head. "You put up a good fight. If you were in more control, that battle was ours."


    He jolted at that, eyes widening. Then, they narrowed in determination and he nodded.


    "Every loss just motivates you to get better because losing sucks. You''ll get better in no time, Oberon. Just work on it, alright?"


    He nodded furiously, cuddling me and sighing as I raked a hand against him.


    "Well done everyone. That battle wasn''t easy at all. If you guys weren''t exceptional, we could have easily lost that," I pointed out.


    Gaia and Loki smiled tiredly at that and Metang huffed in my mind.


    "The next battle is against a fire type. Freyja, I''m going to be relying on you," I said, gazing at my content fish swimming around.


    Freyja jumped at that, gazing at me with wide eyes.


    She was my only member who truly didn''t mind not doing Gym Battles. She was afraid that she could cost me the badge if she put up a poor performance.


    "Yep. You''re basically my only answer to fire types," I smiled confidently. "I''ll be strategizing around using you as the ace, alright?"


    She nodded shakily, not believing that I was planning on making her the ace of this battle.


    "Hey, just trust me. You''ll be fine. You know I''m not going to set you up like that. I''m doing this because I believe you can do it," I assured, smiling confidently at her.


    Freyja saw my confident smile and stared adoringly up at me, nodding rapidly and getting a chuckle out of me.


    "Alright guys. In the meantime, we''re going to train with the usual people until Team Rocket decides to show up or not. I''ll give it a max of one month and if they don''t we''ll move on and just leave a tip to be careful of them," I advised them quietly.


    My team let out noises of affirmation and I gave them a thumbs up, before deciding it was about time for a nap.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Silvy!"


    I looked up at the sound of distress and watched a teary eyed Green tackle me.


    She sobbed against me and my eyes narrowed.


    Who the fuck made Green cry?


    "What''s the matter?" I asked quietly, glancing at Janine with a tilted head.


    She shook her head. "She refused to tell me. She just came looking straight for you."


    "Dree is gone!" she cried out, fat tears spilling out of her eyes.


    I raised a brow high at that. "What?" I asked in surprise.


    "I dunno what happened. He was a little antsy earlier but I wrote it off because Nurse Joy said evolution was smooth despite me thinking it was too early!"


    She was rambling hard but I could understand her easily enough.


    "But then today, he just flew off! He was too fast for me to stop a-and I waited for him to come back but he never did!"


    I frowned at that, mulling over what could have happened as I ran a hand against her back to soothe the hysterical girl.


    "W-What do I do?" she asked me, big wet eyes staring up at me in distraught.


    "Oh. Ohhhh," I said in realization. "I think you just need to wait a bit more, Green. He''ll be back."


    Green sniffed, lips wobbling. "R-Really?" she asked me.


    I nodded. "You said he was feeling antsy right? There''s a reason for that," I explained calmly, some amusement in my eyes that I hid because this was really stressing her out.


    "Promise he''ll come back?"


    I pat her head. "Promise."


    She nodded shakily and we went about our day as usual.


    For the entire day, Green practically glue herself to me, nervous energy going down due to my calm air and giving her the balance she desperately needed.


    I decided to forego training today since she clearly couldn''t focus and just told Gold and Crystal to go without us...


    But those two just ambushed us as well. Then Janine decided to be there for Green and now we were all just relaxing in a room, playing video games and chatting.


    "I am so bad at this," Janine complained, face burning as Crystal picked up another victory against her.


    "You''re just as bad as Silver!" Gold cackled.


    "Shut the fuck up," I sneered, leaning back.


    "What he said," Janine muttered, hitting rematch without any hesitation.


    It was a good thing Pokemon Centers had such big rooms. They were seriously nice and accommodating to all but the biggest of pokemon.


    Green said nothing as Gold and Janine began arguing, causing me to sigh.


    As I opened my mouth, I suddenly closed it at seeing a figure outside our window... our very high up window.


    I smirked and tapped Green, making her look outside.


    "!" Green''s eyes widened before she pushed herself up and launched herself out of the room, marching through the door with a purpose.


    "Be right back," I sighed, jogging after her.


    Green was like a bullet but I was in no rush so by the time I made it out, I bore witness to the sight of Green sobbing happily, squeezing Dree like her life depended on it and watching as the ghost tried its best to calm her down...


    All while two Dreepy stared down at Green in confusion, resting proudly on Dree''s head.


    "Drakloak''s like to care for Dreepy. If they don''t have one, they get anxious and start finding replacements," I explained to Green, watching her bear hug the dragon.


    "Though, they normally have one. I''m surprised Dree has two."


    Dree nodded at my explanation and Green sniffed happily.


    "The more the merrier!" she laughed, pulling me into a tight hug. "Thank you Silvy."


    I snorted and laughed. "Yeah yeah."


    Green smiled and rounded on Dree. "You are in big trouble mister! You can''t just fly off and not tell anyone about it! Next time you have to tell me before doing something like this! I was worried sick about you!"


    I snorted at the withdrawn look in Dree''s eyes and turned on a heel. "Reprimand him in our room. Now that you''re no longer depressed you can speak for the both of us."


    "Yes sir!" she beamed happily.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Crystal and I stood across from each other, gaze equally calculating, as Gaia faced off with Croconaw.


    It wasn''t close. Gaia was absolutely thrashing the water type and he was getting more and more furious at how easy she was making it seem.


    Anger seemed to fuel it something fierce though because with a quick usage of Dragon Dance, he had thrown himself back into the fray, fangs glowing an icy white.


    With the renewed speed and power (Crystal''s damn Croconaw had its hidden ability by the way), the spar began anew and Gaia''s eyes widened excitedly at the slight shift in tempo.


    She was still stronger than him but his ferocity was a good match against her slow it down style. The best way to get at Gaia, was brute force that surpassed her defenses.


    He didn''t quite surpass it, but he was certainly trying.


    As their spar grew in intensity, Gaia and Croconaw both let out cries of pain as they viciously attacked each other with teeth and vines respectively.


    The two glared harshly at each other, before twin smiles were revealed and they began glowing in unison.


    My eyes widened in surprise at that.


    "Seriously?" I grunted in disbelief and excitement.


    "Woah!" Crystal awed.


    The commotion stopped and everyone gasped, at the dual evolution currently taking place.


    While there were two evolutions taking place, I only had eyes on my starter of course.


    Gaia grew tremendously, shooting up in height, as the leaves around her neck bloomed out. The leaf on her head vanished, replaced by two antennae and as the glow settled, I noted that her scales had turned a deep shade of green, far similar in hue to when she had been a Chikorita.


    My Meganium let out a deep noise of curiosity and she immediately turned towards me.


    Then, her gaze lit up and she stampeded over to my location.


    "Meganium!" Gaia bellowed happily, vines launching out and snatching me up with ridiculous speeds.


    My mouth opened in shock as I was pulled into a crushing hug and I let out a disbelieving laugh, wrapping my arms around her.


    "You''re taller than me now," I laughed happily.


    "Meganium!" Gaia beamed, eyes glowing in joy as she effortlessly hoisted me up and placed me on her back.


    "You remember what I said too. That was what, our first day meeting?" I smiled fondly, running a hand against her neck and getting a happy sigh out of her.


    "Mega," she puffed up, trotting around the field with me in tow.


    I''m pretty sure she was actually planning on becoming my taxi now.


    I sighed with a pleased smile, inhaling the aroma around her and feeling myself relax naturally.


    "We''re gonna have to get you a saddle if you really do plan on carrying me as much as I think you do. I can''t end up sore from this," I commented in amusement.


    "Gan!" she beamed, accepting without issue.


    She stopped directly in front of the Feraligatr, inspecting her friend with a happy smile and they began chattering, even as she pulled the large crocodile into a hug.


    I took the time to inspect Crystal''s starter, whistling at the big guy.


    "Double evolution is kinda cool," I commented, watching Crystal gush over her water type. There was a big grin on her face and she ran a hand against his scales repeatedly.


    "I''m so surprised! I knew he was close but not that close!" she exclaimed.


    I nodded in agreement, watching as Green rushed Gaia next.


    "Wow Gaia you look amazing!" Green squealed, jumping and hugging the Meganium.


    Gaia squealed happily as well, wrapping an insane amount of vines around my companion.


    Without any hesitation, she hoisted Green up and planted the girl directly behind me.


    Then she happily trotted over to my gathering team, preening and showing off to them all.


    "Ganium!" she cried out happily, pulling Loki into a tight hug.


    "Ark," Loki rolled his eyes, accepting it all the same.


    Ares and Freyja both inspected her with appreciative gazes, while Charcadet stood happily atop Gaia''s head.


    "We''re getting so much stronger!" Green gushed happily, squeezing me in her giddiness.


    To my surprise, I smiled at that. "Yeah we are. We''ll keep getting stronger too."


    "Ya see that, Explotaro?!" Gold asked with a wild grin. "They''re getting stronger but we won''t let that stop us! You''re next buddy!"


    The Quilava let out a cry of agreement and I grunted.


    "He should be close to evolving," I said bluntly. "I''m sure with a bit more of a push, he''ll get there."


    Gold blinked owlishly. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly.


    Crystal nodded in agreement. "You''re so mellow all of a sudden. Well, everytime we see you, you''re a bit nicer but this one is too sudden."


    I blinked at that. "Probably because of Gaia here. I''ve been inhaling her aroma since she was a Bayleef."


    Gaia beamed at that and I sighed.


    "Let''s go get you checked out girl. Good job kicking that Feraligatr''s ass by the way. We''ll count that as your victory."


    The Feraligatr in question shot me the evil eye and snarled but I ignored it.


    Gaia laughed happily.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Lorelei typed away on one of her computer screens in the comfort of her office, which doubled as her room in Indigo.


    On the other screen (she bought this one recently for... reasons), was a screen detailing information on her nephew, Silver.


    He was a mystery.


    Lorelei loved him dearly but that did not change the fact that there was something strange going on with him.


    "I just don''t understand... he''s listed as an orphan but he''s almost certainly Ariana''s son," Lorelei frowned.


    Silver had informed her that he did not have a good relationship with Ariana... but he knew of her for certain. If he was an orphan, that would imply that either Ariana was now dead... or she had given him up.


    This wasn''t something she had the answer to. She''d have to somehow ask Ariana about it or wait an undetermined amount of time to prod Silver because Silver was closed off and guarded. Lorelei already told Silver she wasn''t interested in him because she wanted to mend her relationship with Ariana and that was true. Asking Silver anything regarding that, would be seen as a betrayal in his eyes, and she refused to prove his wounded heart right.


    It would do no good to force him to speak about it either because Silver was also insane and unpredictable. She had literally no idea how he''d react to something like being forced.


    Lorelei needed patience and a gentle hand that Silver... clearly wasn''t used to.


    "What a conundrum," she murmured to herself, choosing to focus on a much more heavy topic.


    Silver was being targeted by Team Rocket.


    Did Team Rocket take Silver from Ariana? Did Ariana give him away? Was that why he had a bad relationship with her?


    There was no point thinking about what could have transpired between Silver and Ariana right now. The more urgent thing was that Silver was being targeted by Team Rocket...


    She grabbed her cup of tea and drank it.


    The reason why, likely tied into why psychics were terrified of him.


    Did Team Rocket turn Silver into a psychic deterrent? Why would they do such a thing? Why him?


    What did her nephew do to deserve such a thing?!


    Lorelei gripped her cup tighter than intended and watched in dissatisfaction as it spilled, only for a beam of ice to hit it, instantly freezing and preventing the drink from spilling all over her desk.


    She sighed and watched as Jynx placed the frozen drink back into her cup.


    "Thank you Jynx," she smiled.


    "Of course, Mistress Lorelei," Jynx replied. "You are thinking of something stressful?"


    "Silver," she replied, observing how Jynx flinched back at just the mention of his name.


    This is what she was talking about. Jynx was her pokemon. Jynx was the pokemon of a master...


    And she was terrified not of Silver''s pokemon, but Silver himself... her first year as a trainer, nephew.


    That didn''t make sense. Team Rocket didn''t do something normal to Silver. To turn her nephew into a person that was capable of terrifying a master level psychic... that seeped into levels of unnatural.


    If this was what they were capable of, it was no wonder he was being targeted by them. Was Silver the only psychic deterrent? Was he the only successful one?


    What did they do to him?


    "Mistress... you are making an out of turn face," Jynx said warily.


    Lorelei took a deep breath and schooled her expression. She noted that she was trembling and grabbed her cup, before realizing her drink was still frozen.


    "I will make you another drink," Jynx decided, grabbing the cup out of her hand and gliding off.


    "What did they do to him?" she whispered to herself.


    Was that why he was so guarded? So cold? Silver didn''t trust anyone and he didn''t want to trust anyone.


    He only let his guard down around her because he truly wasn''t used to such affection. Had Lorelei been the first adult to give Silver what every child needed?


    It was no wonder he didn''t want her to tell Lance anything about him. From what her Champion had said, he had basically tricked Silver.


    He probably wouldn''t want to know that Lorelei gave him a firm lashing for that.


    Very well then... Lorelei was already intent on being there for him, but she was completely committed to making sure Silver understood he could trust her if not any other adult.


    He was her nephew after all and despite all his faults, Silver was utterly adorable and she would protect him.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    A gentle knock on the door, interrupted Lorelei and she glanced up, sorting through some paperwork.


    "Come in," she stated loud enough to be heard.


    The door opened and Lorelei glanced up, surprised to see little Jasmine on the other side.


    "Gym Leader Jasmine?" she tilted her head. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"


    Jasmine blushed and ducked her head, before taking a deep breath and standing straight.


    That was already massive improvement from previous interactions Lorelei had with her. Jasmine was quiet on the best of days and practically mute on the worst. Lorelei couldn''t remember ever having a casual or even professional conversation with her.


    Jasmine was competent, she rarely needed to be spoken to or reprimanded.


    "H-Hello Ms. Lorelei," Jasmine greeted softly, shivering as the absurdly cool temperature of the ice masters room, brushed against her.


    Considering she was wearing a sundress and cardigan combo... it wasn''t protecting her very well from the cold.


    Lorelei stood up and walked over to her closet, grabbing a long black coat in the process. She made her way over to the child and wrapped her in it without hesitation.


    "My room can be cold to visitors," she murmured gently as she ensured it was covering her completely.


    Jasmine turned beet red and began stammering.


    "T-Thank you Ms. Lorelei," she smiled shakily.


    "Just Lorelei is fine," Lorelei smiled in return, beckoning the girl to a seat. "Can I get you some tea? I was just about to get some for myself."


    "Oh, yes please!" Jasmine nodded eagerly.


    Lorelei sat across from Jasmine and watched as Jynx glided over to the kitchen. "So Gym Leader Jasmine, it''s not often you wish to speak to anyone... It''s even less often that the person would be me," she mentioned bluntly.


    The poor girl looked very awkward, jumbled up in Lorelei''s jacket, but she wasn''t nearly as withdrawn as the Elite 4 expected her to be.


    Jasmine accepted the cup of tea with a thankful smile and took a tiny sip out of it, sighing as the heat warmed her up.


    "Just as blunt as him too... Well, to be honest Ms. Lorelei... I''m here because I found out you''re Silver''s aunt," Jasmine said bluntly.


    Lorelei blinked at that. "You know of that? Silver told you?" she asked in genuine surprise.


    She knew that Jasmine had visited Silver but she wasn''t sure of the details behind it. She had been to surprised at the revelation to question the relationship between the two.


    All she knew was that they were friends.


    Jasmine nodded happily. "He mentioned that he would have told me earlier but it slipped his mind and he expected you to parade it to the whole world."


    Lorelei sighed at that. It certainly sounded like her nephew.


    "I''m just surprised. Silver is incredibly guarded... I wouldn''t have expected him to tell you that," she mentioned, taking a sip out of her drink.


    The gym leader tilted her head in some confusion. "Well... Silver is my best friend. He doesn''t tell me everything but I think he trusts me... I think," Jasmine murmured, not sounding the most sure of that.


    "They are best friends?!" Lorelei thought in surprise, eyes widening slightly.


    Jasmine shook her head hastily at her depressing thoughts. "No, he trusts me! I was basically his only friend until he met Green and we care about each other a lot!" she said, a determined expression on her face.


    Lorelei smiled softly and placed a hand on the teen''s shoulder, making her jump in her seat with a startled yelp.


    Adorable. Lorelei wouldn''t have believed someone as kind as Jasmine would be friends with her bad mannered nephew but then again, Lorelei was also unable to believe that he and Green were friends.


    "I think Silver appreciates you as much as you do him. I had no idea you two were so close... he just told me that you were one of the few people to enjoy speaking to him," she assured.


    Jasmine lit up at that. "He''s getting a lot better! You should have seen him when we first met... He mentioned that you two just recently learned about each other during the S.S Anne?"


    "He truly does trust Jasmine. I never expected that," Lorelei thought in surprise, nodding easily at her question.


    "We did, yes. I had no idea I had a nephew. I''ve been working on connecting with him and I think I''m making some progress."


    Just talking about her nephew, seemed to completely put Jasmine at ease. He truly was the reason she was breaking out of her shell and that was something that filled her with pride.


    Jasmine grinned brightly. "Silver''s prickly on the outside but he has a heart of gold deep down! He always pretends like he''s aloof and doesn''t care... but he''s also the same person who always listens to every word I say before giving me great advice... sometimes! Even when it doesn''t seem like he''s listening, he''ll go and say something that proves that he heard every word!"


    Lorelei felt a swell of fondness form at that.


    Clearly she hadn''t put enough stock in Silver and Jasmine''s relationship. He trusted her just as much as he trusted little Green.


    "How did you two meet? That''s very much a strange happening," Lorelei asked curiously.


    "In Olivine! I found him in my secret training spot training with Loki! He was going to leave but I told him we could share the spot and we began talking from there! He really didn''t want to speak to me at first but we made it work and now we talk a lot. He helped me decide to catch a Tinkatink and Ferroseed too," Jasmine gushed.


    Lorelei nodded, smiling at how giddy the girl was¡ª


    The Elite 4 member froze abruptly.


    "Olivine...? Silver was in Johto?"


    "This is news to me," Lorelei said measuredly, schooling her expression.


    "Oh! I didn''t mention how we met to Champion Lance! Silver isn''t the type to talk about himself so I don''t talk about him too much," Jasmine explained.


    "I had no idea Silver was in Johto," Lorelei mused.


    "He''s like that. Silver doesn''t really talk about his personal life unless you ask... and even if you do, he might not tell you anything. He''s rubbing off on me because now I don''t talk about those things too much either!" Jasmine sighed with a small smile.


    The gym leader hummed. "We spoke everyday until he had to catch his boat ride! I could never actually tell if he was listening but he really was!"


    Lorelei nodded thoughtfully at that, pieces to a puzzle she had been mentally creating, falling into place slowly but surely.


    "Jasmine I don''t mean to sound so sudden with this... but has Silver ever mentioned Team Rocket to you?" she asked carefully.


    Jasmine went stiff, a nervous expression on her face.


    "I won''t tell anyone. I just wish to know because I suspect some things," Lorelei explained carefully.


    "W-well... it''s just, I told Silver things I shouldn''t really have gone into detail about," she admitted.


    The Elite 4 member placed a hand on Jasmine''s shoulder with a soothing expression.


    "Don''t worry Jasmine. This will be our secret, okay? You will not get in trouble for this. Of course you won''t, you''re one of the most competent Gym Leaders in Indigo after all," Lorelei assured.


    Jasmine nodded slowly.


    "Well, when I was talking to Silver about the ramping Team Rocket attacks, he had the angriest expression I had ever seen on his face. Silver... I wouldn''t say he has an aloof personality because of how mean he can be. But most of the time his expression is distant and stony. He''ll rarely make an out of turn face that isn''t him smirking or neutral but that anger was... scary," she admitted, frowning sadly just thinking about it.


    "Truly?" Lorelei whispered.


    Jasmine looked distraught as she nodded. "I asked him if everything was okay and... he told me Team Rocket did something unforgivable to him. That''s all."


    Lorelei said nothing for a bit, mulling over the information she received.


    "Thank you, Jasmine. I''m trying to help Silver in anyway I know how and you''ve been a great help," Lorelei said.


    Jasmine lit up. "I want to help Silver too! If he''s really being targeted by Team Rocket... we can''t let them get him!"


    "We won''t," Lorelei said firmly. "Come, how about I share some of my findings with you? In the meantime, we can exchange more lighthearted conversation."


    Jasmine nodded vigorously and Lorelei smiled fondly.


    She could see how even Silver was unable to be too harsh to this girl. Jasmine was rather adorable.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Lorelei was bothered by something and try as she might, she simply could not ignore it any longer.


    "H-Hello?" A voice stammered slightly in confusion.


    "Professor Elm," Lorelei greeted professionally, gazing at the man with a cool expression. "How are you feeling?"


    The Professor blinked owlishly, before he seemed to realize what she was talking about.


    "Oh I''m completely fine now! Fully recovered after all these months!" he assured.


    Lorelei nodded. "Good. I''m glad you''ve managed to completely heal. I won''t waste anymore of your time so I would just like to ask if you could recount anything you know about that encounter."


    Elm looked a little puzzled but he nodded all the same.


    "Well, I don''t know much to be completely honest... but I heard the sound of a child screaming and I went to check what it could have been... and then I woke up in the hospital bed."


    Lorelei pursed her lips at that.


    "Whoever attacked me, didn''t seem to be inherently malicious. From what I''ve seen, they likely would have preferred to not have anyone show up and attacked me out of panic. They then took an inconsequential amount of supplies and... one of the starters. Oh but I was only going to give out two starters this year!"


    "..." Lorelei furrowed her brows.


    Was Professor Elm... perhaps trying to protect the assailant? The words he were saying sounded as if he were making excuses for the thief.


    "And the starter stolen... was a Chikorita, correct?"


    Elm laughed nervously and nodded. "Maybe little Chiko would be better in the hands of someone who actually wanted her. Chikorita is typically the last chosen starter and my two little trainers, Gold and Crystal, were quite set on their picks. It''s a bit unorthodox but if the thief willingly chose her, I suppose it may be good for the both of them."


    So he truly was trying to protect the assailant. Did he suspect foul play at hand?


    "Right. Thank you, Professor Elm. The thief has managed to cover their tracks incredibly well but that doesn''t mean the League has given up," she assured.


    Elm scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Take your time! Though, if you do ever catch this thief, I''d like to speak to them."


    "Of course. Have a good day, Professor Elm," Lorelei nodded.


    Almost as soon as the call hung up, Lorelei''s expression cracked and the woman let out a deep and exhausted sigh.


    "...Fuck."


    Lorelei''s entire team stopped what they were doing, in order to gaze at their trainer with wide and disbelieving eyes.


    She did not notice of course. The Ice Master was too busy massaging her temple.


    When Jasmine had mentioned that she met Silver in Olivine, Lorelei''s brain began itching in a way that demanded she delve deeper onto such a strange encounter.


    Silver was in Johto... and he hadn''t used a Pokemon Center until entering Kanto. It was just too strange to hear that he had been in Kanto''s sister region.


    And now that she finished her conversation with Elm, Lorelei could say with some confidence that little and feisty Gaia, was the same Bayleef that once belonged to Professor Elm.


    Silver was the thief. The same thief that kidnapped Chikorita and attacked Professor Elm.


    "That fool," she whispered to herself, holding her head as a pounding headache formed. "What was he thinking?"


    Actually, Lorelei could see exactly what he had been thinking. The Ice Master had spoken to her nephew... she had a somewhat keen understanding of her little troublemaker.


    Silver was someone who would go to any lengths, to achieve whatever it was he desired. No matter what the cost may have been, if Silver was the only one in jeopardy, he would take that risk.


    Lorelei always knew that Silver was completely and utterly insane, the moment she heard about his raid of the Game Corner. It didn''t even sound out of character, to hear that he had broken into Professor Elm''s lab to take the final starter.


    It said something that instead of being confused, Lorelei had already completely figured out the reason he would do such a thing.


    To get stronger of course. The starters distributed by the Professors were stronger then their wild counterparts, bred to be captured by a trainer.


    So in his unhinged crusade against Team Rocket, Silver decided he needed a strong team to help him.


    She just truly wished, he hadn''t jumped to the conclusion that he should steal one because something like that, might actually have been considered child''s play to her skilled nephew.


    "Goodness, I don''t even want to know how he managed to capture Metang and Ares," she muttered, standing up and making her way to the kitchen.


    The Elite 4 member opened a cabinet and stared at the full bottle of wine in her cabinet, before grabbing it and a cup.


    "Ninetales," she requested, pouring a drink and holding out the cup for Ninetales.


    Her ice fox peered at the cup and manifested two ice cubes, dropping them in the cup.


    Lorelei immediately took a swig of her drink as she contemplated the situation.


    Gaia didn''t just accept Silver as her trainer. She absolutely adored him. The only reason Gaia''s love for Silver wasn''t out of place, was because all of Silver''s pokemon loved him.


    Silver absolutely had not abused her at all. It truly seemed like he took her and forged a bond with her. Like Elm had said, it was unorthodox but perhaps this truly was the best outcome for a pokemon like Chikorita?


    Gaia wouldn''t have had a trainer otherwise so was any harm truly done beyond the professor being hurt?


    Not to mention... Lorelei just truly realized who Elm''s sponsored children were.


    Gold... and Crystal. Two friends of Silver.


    Was it a coincidence? Did those two just happen to befriend Silver, after deciding to travel through Kanto instead of Johto, while not suspecting that he was the thief?


    Lorelei was sure not even an infant would find that convincing.


    ...


    Lorelei took another swig of her drink, before realizing it was done. She poured herself another cup and exhaled.


    "Never has someone filled me with so much stress," she muttered to herself.


    Her nephew was ridiculous. Did he truly raid a professor''s lab just to take a pokemon? Not many people would risk such a thing for a Chikorita of all things!


    What was he even thinking?! Was this truly his resolve to eliminate Team Rocket? He would incriminate himself to such a degree, just to get rid of the bigger villains?


    Did all the adults in his life truly fail Silver, to the point where he realized he needed to be bad to deal with the bad guys?


    He attacked them whenever he could... he stole a starter... she didn''t even know how he acquired the rest of his members.


    And despite that, he managed to perfectly hide his tracks. Silver was not a suspect at all in the league database.


    His skills in espionage, were unnatural for a child. He was more skilled than most adults, because not even Lorelei had gleaned how good he was at them.


    "I heard the sound of a child screaming."


    ...


    She would talk to him after this mess with Team Rocket was over. Lorelei would get answers out of him at a later date but for now, she would... not do anything too hampering to their relationship.


    Silver was a loose cannon. If Lorelei approached this wrong, there was no way the situation wouldn''t end in anything less than nuclear. Whether that meant Silver ended up in prison... or disappeared off the face of the planet.


    Or even worse, back into the arms of Team Rocket.


    Lorelei told Silver he could rely on her and she knew he didn''t believe her... so she would prove him wrong.


    Silver was a troubled child but he was not a bad one. Her nephew was just a person who would go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals... but it was not at the cost of anyone he seemed to cherish. He did everything he could to protect Green (did Green know about these things as well?) and he seemed to be keeping Jasmine at a safe distance so she couldn''t be incriminated with him...


    Perhaps that was why she thought he didn''t trust her before. Silver was protecting her by keeping her ignorant.


    "Silver''s prickly on the outside but he has a heart of gold deep down."


    Lorelei sighed, massaging her temple and finishing off her drink.


    "I''m going to take a break for an extended period of time... I will visit Silver soon," she said decisively.


    Was it smart to go to the target of her stress? Likely not... but Silver had caused her this stress so it was up to him to alleviate it.

 Freaks

    These Silver Eyes


    Chapter 12: Freaks


    "What do you think?"


    I blinked and looked up, having been properly distracted by my pokegear for the moment, to gauge the nervous Crystal''s appearance.


    She fidgeted in place at my assessing gaze, face turning a progressive shade of red as I said nothing.


    Crystal was dressed in a white lab coat, over a baby blue, form fitting shirt. She had the same shorts on that she usually did, except now they were white much like her coat. The black of her black and white sneakers was replaced by a similar shade of baby blue and I eventually nodded in approval.


    "Much better. You can actually qualify as cute," I complimented genuinely.


    Her cheeks darkened at that and she turned to look at herself in the mirror the store had placed on the wall.


    "W-Well... it does look really nice. I can''t believe you managed to pick this out for me," she mumbled, shyly looking at herself up and down.


    I chuckled, feeling a deja vu I couldn''t explain. "You guys are all extremely useless at day to day activities because you only have training on your mind. You''re the most competent of the 4 idiots... but you sacrificed dressing skills to achieve it."


    Thankfully for Crystal, I actually did know how to dress so when she dragged me to a clothing store, only to stare helplessly at all the different clothing, I decided to offer the hopeless girl some help.


    I saw her pick up red pants, an orange shirt and some fucking suspenders before intervening for her own good. I realized if left to her own devices, Crystal would cause a natural disaster with her dressing.


    Cue, me picking out multiple different outfits and handing them off to her. You help out a little and suddenly, you''re picking out every outfit for them to wear.


    Blue and white were good colors for her. In general, she''d probably fit better with a lighter array of clothing...


    "H-How about me?" a voice asked timidly, poking their head out of the dresser before slowly stepping out.


    ...In comparison, Janine was definitely someone who naturally looked better in darker clothing.


    Black skinny jeans, with a short sleeved, form fitting purple shirt and a silky black jacket, purple highlights adorning it.


    I clapped, impressed that she could turn it around like this. "The pants could be replaced for easier travels... but other than that, I wouldn''t think you''re a gym leader''s drone of a daughter, with that outfit. Who would think you''d actually look decent in a normal outfit. Shocker."


    Much like Crystal, Janine''s cheeks darkened in embarrassment.


    "Stop looking at me now," she mumbled.


    "Can''t you just compliment us for once without making it backhanded?" Crystal sighed, tugging the blue shirt slightly.


    "Nah, this is how I entertain myself after being dragged clothes shopping without consent."


    Janine huffed. "Next time, don''t open your mouth so freely."


    I rolled my eyes. "Are we done here? I''ve given you both pointers and a couple of outfits. You''re both good looking now so you no longer need to feel insecure."


    Crystal and Janine nodded in unison, both glancing at each other.


    "You really do look good!" Crystal complimented, a smile forming on her face.


    "You as well! I doubted Silver''s abilities but... he unfortunately does know what he''s doing," Janine muttered.


    I chuckled in amusement at the distaste in her voice, raking a hand through my hair.


    "Yeah yeah now go pay... we have to go meet up with Green and Gold for food. My dinners on you, Janine," I said bluntly.


    Janine blinked, horror flashing on her face. "Why me?"


    "Crystal''s broke. You''re a gym leader''s daughter."


    "I-I''m not broke! Don''t just go saying that so loudly!" Crystal stammered, trying to shove both her hands over my mouth and failing miserably.


    "Stop taking advantage of my status! These are my savings! I meticulously spend my money and save the rest!" Janine protested.


    "What do you spend it on? Kunai, shurikens and smoke bombs?" I asked boredly, grabbing both of Crystal''s hands with one of mine and hoisting her off the floor.


    "W-Why are you so strong?!" Crystal gaped, struggling intensely to no avail.


    "You are so offensive! Why do you think these things are okay to say to someone?! Don''t you walk away from me! Oh that''s it, I''ve had enough of you!" Janine shouted.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Walking with a Nidoqueen and a Kangaskhan, was a great way to make room.


    They both held Crystal and Janine''s bags respectively, Janine holding her head as she pocketed her old as hell (seriously, it was ancient) Pokegear with a despondent sigh.


    "I didn''t say you had to pay for Crystal''s bags too," I pointed out, gazing at a hand held mirror to make sure I didn''t have a black eye.


    "...Shut up. I actually like Crystal," Janine muttered, snatching the mirror out of my hand to make sure her eye wasn''t black either.


    "Ouch," I said flatly, amusement on my features as she gave me back my mirror. Nidoqueen was glaring darkly at me, due to having to break up me and Janine''s fight and I rolled my eyes at her.


    "I appreciate that, Janine. I''ll repay you back, don''t worry," Crystal promised with an apologetic smile.


    Janine waved her hands. "Oh don''t worry! I''d only make Gold and Silver pay me back!"


    My brows went up at that. "Do you like girls?" I asked curiously.


    Janine twitched and turned an incredulous stare towards me. "What are you asking me?! You and Gold are just both incredibly insufferable! You two must be brothers in another universe."


    I stopped so abruptly, my companions immediately followed suit and turned towards me.


    "Silver... are you okay?" Crystal asked in concern.


    "Did I punch you too hard?" Janine asked carefully.


    I coughed harshly. "Don''t ever say that about Gold and I again. Alright, I''m good to go... also you hit like a pussy so it was never going to be that."


    "What is wrong with him?" Janine whispered in disbelief.


    "You''ll go on for days trying to find that out," Crystal whispered back.


    "He didn''t even have to mention how I hit. He threw that in for the hell of it."


    I snorted. "C''mon. We need to get back to training soon so let''s store those bags."


    We did just that and after watching Janine and Crystal store their bags away, with the help of Nidoqueen and Khanaree (the Kangaskhan), our group began making its way back to our training grounds.


    Considering that it was Gold and Green we left behind (Green really refused to change her outfit. I respected her commitment), I wasn''t surprised at all to see a battle taking place.


    But what I was surprised about, was who was being battled.


    I watched with a vaguely interested gaze, as Ataro, Gold''s Ambipom, lunged forward, hitting a somersault and delivering two vicious slaps of its tails onto the Umbreon that was its opponent.


    The Umbreon squealed and skidded back, collapsing onto the floor with a final thud.


    "Nice job Ataro!" Gold grinned, high fiving one of his Ambipom''s tail.


    The Ambipom cackled at his victory and I watched as the two actually did a handshake that ended in a fist bump.


    "Tch," Blue sucked his teeth, returning his Umbreon to the ball with a heinous scowl.


    Green clapped at the end of the match. She was leaning on the slumbering Saury and was probably serving as the referee for the concluding battle.


    "Nice job you two!" she praised.


    "Nothing to it! That was pretty good!" Gold replied easily, crossing his arms behind his head.


    "Nice job? Pretty good?" Blue spat, crossing his arms as his boiling azure eyes glared at them both. "Save your fucking pity party! There was nothing nice about that!"


    Green withered at that, expression turning hurt as she rubbed her arm awkwardly.


    Gold raised a brow and immediately scowled at the way Green whittled backwards. "Calm down, jackass. Aren''t you and Green friends? Why are you being such a dick to her when she didn''t do anything?" he asked.


    "Yeah, watch who you''re talking to like that before I render that big mouth of yours useless," I said coldly, fury shining in my metallic eyes as I marched up to the Oak.


    If possible, Green''s expression turned even more distressed. "W-Wait hold on you guys! I''m okay, really!"


    Gold and I ignored her.


    Blue froze and stared at me, true anger in his eyes that hadn''t been there our last encounter in Lavender.


    I scoffed. Part of me thought he had actually been capable of improving but clearly that wasn''t the case.


    You could practically see the sparks flying, as we glared at each other and Crystal already looked geared to break up the altercation that hadn''t taken place yet.


    "I don''t know what you''re doing here. But you can fucking leave now, Oak," I sneered.


    Blue scowled violently. "I thought I told you not to call me that," he said lowly.


    "I thought I told you I don''t give a fuck. I''ll call you worthless if that''s what you really want. You aren''t anything without that name," I hissed.


    Veins littered his head at that and almost exactly like our last encounter, it looked like it was about to come to blows.


    I sneered derisively. "There''s two ways to shut me up. Beat me in a battle or beat me in a fist fight. You can''t do either so if I were you, I''d remember my role in this world and shut the fuck up."


    "Damn. Not bad," Gold whistled.


    "Oh jeez this is going to get bad," Crystal sighed.


    "I see now that he really could have been way ruder to me," Janine muttered.


    "S-Silver!" Green shouted with a frown.


    Blue''s glare deepened and he balled his fist, likely remembering how our last encounter turned out.


    I was proven right as he decided to forgo violence in favor of saying, "Whatever. I''m outta here."


    "Bit of a sore loser, huh?" Gold raised a brow.


    I scoffed. "That''s because he is a loser with a losers mentality to boot. Can''t handle someone with more bite than him so he goes for his worried childhood friend."


    "Bummer. Guess he can''t punch above his weight, huh?" Gold crossed his arms.


    "You guys, seriously! You don''t have to do this..." Green trailed off, gazing nervously at her friend.


    Green wasn''t willing to match Blue''s ignorance. She was much too nice for that and this was the boy she grew up with.


    But Gold and I? We were both very ignorant and neither of us cared all that much for him.


    Blue''s eyes narrowed heatedly and he snarled, turning towards the two of us with a look that made me think he was probably ignorant too.


    But not as much as us of course. He was a pampered little rich boy. He''d never be.


    I stared back unfazed. "Wanna fight? It can be a proper 1 on 1."


    Gold raised a brow. "Have your pick. We won''t jump."


    "Gold and Silver!" Crystal interrupted, stepping between us with a frown. "You''re making Green uncomfortable!"


    The three of us stared at each other and I scoffed.


    "You''re lucky Gold already beat you, Oak. I wouldn''t have minded putting you in your place again," I said partingly, making my way over to Green.


    "Some childhood friend you are. After speaking to Ash... I can definitely say you''re the problem of the three and you should take a look in the mirror," Gold advised.


    Blue hissed and took a step forward, deciding to throw caution to the wind... before Crystal stepped in front of him with a sigh.


    I didn''t even spare him a glance.


    "Instead of being so angry that people are more skilled than you, how about you self reflect and actually get good? Surely you had to have inherited something from your gramps... or did it skip a generation?" I asked in mock concern.


    Crystal sighed and pinched her nose. "Those two are ridiculous... Blue was it? I think you should go. They''re going to keep going until you lose your reasoning and attack them."


    "He started it," Gold shrugged unapologetically.


    Crystal ignored her best friend effortlessly. "I''ve seen some footage of you! You have the talent but you don''t tackle being a trainer with enough passion I think. Just talent isn''t enough and you have to be willing to learn from everything, especially the defeats! I think if you work on yourself a little more, you can even join our Color Gang!"


    Gold and I snorted in unison.


    Blue stared at her with an astonished stare.


    Then he scoffed and turned away.


    "...Like I''d wanna hang out with you losers!" he snarled, marching off.


    "Ironic!" the two of us shouted right before he disappeared.


    "Jeez... you two don''t make situations better," Crystal sighed.


    "He was being a dick the entire time even before you showed up," Gold grunted.


    I walked up to my companion with a tilted head. "You alright?" I asked.


    Green stared up at me with a frown. "You... you don''t have to defend me like that, Silvy. I didn''t need you to do that. I can handle myself!"


    To punctuate her point, she crossed her arms and turned her head.


    "Hoh? Is little Miss Green trying to act rebellious because I bothered her little baby of a friend?" I asked in some amusement.


    "No I''m not! I''m serious! You always do this and you know you make situations worse! I can handle Blue just fine!" she retorted loudly.


    I stared at her with a raised brow and reached out, grabbing her cheek and pinching it harshly.


    "O-Ow!" she yelped. She thrashed in place and attempted to push my unrelenting fingers away.


    "Watch it, idiot," I warned idly, not truly upset but still deciding to put her in her place. "You don''t get to try and act tough around me, you clingy little pest. You lost that privilege when you drooled on me three nights in a row."


    "I-I DON''T DROOL!" she yelped loudly.


    "Another argument for another day. We''re not talking about that right now," I said coolly.


    Green whined. "S-Saury! Help me! Don''t just sleep!"


    Saury opened a single eye and gauged what was happening, before seeing it was just me.


    "Don''t worry Saury. It''s about Blue," I said calmly.


    That made the Venusaur immediately groan in annoyance and understanding. He shut his eyes again with a huff, allowing himself to fall back to sleep.


    "Traitor! I won''t forget this!" she gasped.


    I huffed in amusement and squeezed harder. Eventually, she whined in defeat and began pleading for me to release her.


    As I released my grip, she rubbed her cheek with a grumble and glared at me.


    "No one is allowed to take advantage of your kindness. I''m the only one because I''m too above taking advantage of you so I''ll never do it," I said firmly. "If you expect me to stand there and just watch him mouth off on you for the hell of it, you''re insanely stupid. You should already know how I react when someone bothers you."


    Green nodded shakily at the reminder. She was clearly remembering that one teen who was pissed that he lost to a girl.


    He stopped singing that tune real quick when I kicked his ass soundly. As if age difference was going to stop him from catching these hands.


    I pat her head. "You shouldn''t be making the effort to try and keep your friendship with him stable. He''s the one that needs to put in the work because I know you didn''t do anything wrong but get put between some childhood rivalry."


    Gold nodded in agreement. "If even Silver can be friends with you, it''s his problem."


    Green stared at the two of us and sniffed, tears forming in her big eyes. "You two are sweet!" she exclaimed, dragging us into a tight hug.


    I rolled my eyes and Gold rubbed a finger against his nose.


    "Blue certainly has the talent but he''s got a lot of his own issues that need to be dealt with. I still think one day, he''ll join our group!" Crystal smiled.


    I grunted. "Weren''t you the one saying that the chances of us meeting more color named people, is extremely unlikely? What''s the sudden enthusiasm in recruiting them?" I asked her with a suspicious gaze.


    She flushed at that. "I-I think the idea of having a little group of ours with people named after colors, is pretty cool. That doesn''t mean I think we''ll just find more. But on the off chance we do, we should invite them!"


    I snorted at that. Something told me, that was going to be my job.


    Gold mulled her words over. "He''s pretty good. A cut below us but he probably doesn''t have a companion he can train with a lot. If he was really focused and had a proper rival, he''d be up there with us for sure."


    "What''s his team?" Crystal asked curiously.


    "An Umbreon, Wartortle, Kadabra, Rhydon, Pidgeotto and Ninetales," Gold listed, putting up a finger for each one.


    I raised a brow. "That''s actually a solid team," I mused.


    Not bad at all.


    Janine shook her head. "I cannot believe you guys are truly trying to make a color gang. I''m even further confused by the sheer convenience of you all having colors in your name."


    Gold shrugged. "It''s an awesome idea. Imagine a whole group of trainers named after colors. We''d be famous in an instant! Blue''s his middle name, right?"


    Green nodded. "Technically he has two first names... Gary Blue Oak. I heard his parents couldn''t agree so they just picked both, but Gary is his official first name. I call him Blue because I''m Green. He... probably qualifies for the color gang."


    I rolled my eyes. "I''d put Janine in our group before accepting him as he is. She can be Purple."


    Janine blinked and pinched her nose. "I think I''ll pass. Being apart of the color gang, sounds far too chaotic."


    We all sighed in unison.


    "Sounds about right."


    "We need to change that name. Color gang sounds too dorky," I sighed.


    "N-Nuh uh," Green grumbled.


    "I think it''s good!" Crystal agreed.


    "It''s not terrible," Gold nodded.


    The three paused.


    "W-Why are you looking at us so soulessly?" they asked in unison, taking a step back at my dead stare.


    "Hopeless morons," I muttered, stomping off to train my team. "Stupid name. Keep it. I don''t care."


    Dumbasses. All of them.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Green? S-Silver?"


    I paused at the somewhat familiar, but mostly unfamiliar voice, and turned towards it with a curious eye.


    "Mason!" Green cheered, approaching the jittery boy with a big smile. "How''s it going?! What''s up?"


    Mason smiled bashfully. "I''m here for my 5th badge... I just came back to Saffron, after fighting Erika, and Sabrina crushed me!"


    Green laughed at that. "I noticed your spirits aren''t down!"


    The average boy scratched the back of his head. "Well, I expected it a little. Sabrina is really strong but I can''t be afraid of the challenge!"


    "That''s not a bad mindset," I complimented idly, continuing my gait towards our practically reserved training ground.


    We were in it so much, our group was starting to actually pick up some traction. Trainers could show up and have their pick at the litter against a talented group of trainers.


    Even at times where we weren''t there, someone would actually wait for us to show up.


    Anyone who looked too much for the dubbed "Color Gang", I shamelessly used Janine against them. She was very good at taking out the experienced ones and despite me calling her my personal guard dog, the annoyed girl still did it.


    It was a good money making strategy too. We got battled quite a lot. Crystal got upset when I mentioned her broke pockets were practically bursting for once.


    "I heard that you guys have basically been setting up a battlefield somewhere," Mason mentioned with a curious eye, voicing my thoughts aloud.


    Green tilted her head at that. "Hm? Well, it was a training ground at first but we started battling people and it kind of spiraled out of control from there. Now we get battled so often!"


    "It''s annoying," I drawled with a sigh.


    "That''s because you''re such an asshole, you get battled the most! Everyone wants to put the rotten prince in his place!" Green cackled at my misfortune.


    I grunted and shoved her. I watched in satisfaction, as my companion nearly plummeted to the floor with a startled shriek.


    My hand grasped her dress and pulled her back up before she could eat dirt and Green rounded on me with a snarl.


    "Stop tripping me!" she hissed violently. She pat down her dress and I shrugged helplessly.


    "You''re mad at me for saving your clumsy ass? Learn some accountability."


    A strangled noise left her mouth and I smoothly continued my walk towards the training grounds, ignoring the weight on my back trying to choke me out.


    "H-Hold on! Silver, I wanted to battle you!" Mason shouted, rushing to follow us.


    My eye twitched. "Why?"


    "So you can give me advice! Don''t worry, I can take it!" Mason assured, smiling nervously.


    I blinked and huffed. "Alright. But you should battle Crystal if it''s advice you want. She''s a good teacher... though she might be battling someone."


    "You gave me the best advice! You''re the reason I have 4 badges right now so I want your help!" Mason pushed with an eager smile.


    I turned to face him and grunted. "Yeah yeah, alright. C''mon."


    "Green get the fuck off my back."


    "Nah I''m good. You''re strong enough! Go go go!"


    I sighed.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Gaia," I said easily, petting Charcadet on his head.


    He sighed in bliss and leaned against me. My youngest member was practically buzzing in excitement at the prospect of battle. His eyes were literally burning with fire and he sat happily on my shoulder.


    Mason stood on the other side, gazing nervously at my Meganium.


    "I''ve... seen footage of your Bayleef," he mentioned quietly. "She''s very terrifying. I didn''t know she evolved."


    I raised a brow and at the same time, Gaia puffed up at, what she perceived to be, the compliment. "You watching footage of me? How flattering."


    Mason nodded eagerly. "You''re inspiring to watch! You and Green! I watch and try to learn what I can!"


    Stolen novel; please report.


    I rolled my eyes at that. "It''s not a bad idea... especially when you struggle as a trainer."


    There was a small crowd watching us. I swear they grew bigger when I was the one battling. Clearly I was the heel in these battles and damn was I a good one.


    "Are you two ready?!" Crystal shouted, Mismagius floating next to her.


    Oh yeah. She had evolved her Misdreavus a few days back. The evolution had been rather smooth, if not strange because Crystal''s first pokemon was a real hard hitter now.


    She also wasn''t terrified of me anymore. In fact, her evolution made Misteree warm up to me quite a lot. She began hanging around me far more often, almost seeming to... enjoy my company.


    Hm... her evolution seemed to have given her quite a lot of power too...


    "Fearow! Let''s do this!" Mason shouted eagerly, sending out his bird.


    I hummed as the bird came shrieking out. It spread its wings and instantly honed in on Gaia.


    "Alright, begin!" Crystal shouted.


    "Fearow, Aerial Ace!" Mason shouted immediately.


    I raised a brow at his initiativeness. He was a lot more confident now, none of that jittery behavior exhibited.


    "Reflect."


    Gaia didn''t even flinch, eyes glinting as she almost instantly conjured a Reflect. I whistled at the speed, still impressed by how much stronger evolution had made her.


    Fearow crashed into the Reflect with a startled shriek, flinching back slightly but immediately taking flight into the air at Mason''s frantic orders.


    "Get up! Agility to get away!"


    I grunted in amusement, as the brown bird got outta dodge just in time to avoid lunging vines. The vines moved with incredible speed but Fearow''s Agility made it faster.


    Gaia sighed in disappointment and waved her vines threateningly at the Fearow, almost as if saying "I''ll get you!".


    "Magical Leaf," I ordered easily.


    "Fury Attack! Destroy the leaves!" Mason rebounded.


    My eyes glinted. Mason sure was preparing to battle my team.


    Unfortunately, my power had boosted quite a bit.


    Gaia let out a bellow, that actually did sound fairly intimidating in her new form, and fired dozens of massive leaves that all careened towards the bird.


    Fearow squawked in disbelief at the sheer amount of leaves and tried to peck as many as he could, but they both greatly underestimated the sheer gap in power between Gaia as a Bayleef and Gaia as a Meganium.


    The bird let out a shriek of pain as the rest of the sharp leaves slashed into it, before the vines seized the opportunity and lunged.


    Before Gaia could pull off her customary slam dunk, a pokeball returned the Fearow.


    "Woah..." Mason muttered, gazing at Gaia in awe. "She''s even more impressive in person."


    "Damn right she is," I smirked.


    "Ganium," Gaia preened happily.


    My opponent gazed at Gaia with an assessing gaze, before he nodded and tossed out another pokeball.


    "Let''s do this Charmeleon!"


    The Charmeleon roared and its tail flame ignited brilliantly. It only increased in intensity as they realized who their opponent was.


    Charmeleon gazed at me and snarled in recognition, eyes darting around before they landed on Ares.


    My Shelgon perked up at the feeling of someone''s glare on her body and she turned around, regarding the Charmeleon with slightly confused eyes. She was currently with Freyja and the two were training as usual to master Dragon Pulse.


    I hid a smile at the severe lack of recognition in her eyes and judging by how upset the Charmeleon was getting, it probably realized the same.


    Let it be known that Ares and I were the same level of assholes... so we tended to garner the most negative reactions from trainers. A vast majority of the trainers who truly disliked me, had Ares as their opponent. We tended to have no respect for them after all so it made sense.


    Much like how I struggled to remember why Mason seemed to like me, Ares had no recollection of the Charmeleon she had crushed back at Pewter.


    Charmeleon snarled violently, making Gaia raise a brow. My Meganium seemed to shrug and trotted back over to my side.


    "I was gonna keep you in you know," I drawled, leaning against her easily.


    "Ganium," she drawled in return, plopping herself down and shutting her eyes.


    I chuckled in amusement. "You wanna fight Ares? You sure about that?" I asked curiously.


    "Yeah! Charmeleon''s been itching to get revenge! She''s ready for this!" Mason said confidently.


    I blinked. "Your Charmeleon''s a girl?" I mused.


    Huh go figure. Must have missed that in our last encounter.


    "Ares," I called, beckoning my head. "You''re in."


    Ares groaned loudly, clearly not enthused in the slightest to be getting dragged away from something important.


    She trudged onto the battlefield with a grumble, as enthused to do this battle as I was.


    "Alright! Start!" Crystal shouted.


    "Dragon Breath."


    "Dragon Breath!"


    At the twin commands, both of the reptiles opened their mouths and fired.


    Turquoise beams of energy crashed into one another, colliding in the middle before Ares quickly overtook Charmeleon''s beam, careening towards the fire type.


    Charmeleon seemed to anticipate that she was going to get overpowered and leapt to the side at once.


    "Dragon Dance. Charge it right after."


    "Flamethrower!" Mason retorted.


    Ares lunged forward, eyes gleaming maliciously as the Flamethrower attempted to bathe her. She ignored it completely and bulldozed through the flames, closing the distance between her and the Charmeleon immediately.


    Almost exactly like their last encounter, she slammed her skull directly into Charmeleon''s midsection, getting the fire type to gag...


    "Smokescreen!"


    ...For a moment. I watched with an impressed gaze, as the Charmeleon snarled through the pain and belched the smoke from her mouth, bathing Ares in the black fog.


    "Shel!" Ares shouted in surprise, stepping back in surprise at being completely obscured.


    "Alright nice! Now use Dragon Breath!" Mason urged.


    Charmeleon scrambled about at the opportunity, blood in her eyes, and lunged backwards. She opened her mouth and roared, firing a Dragon Breath that crashed directly onto Ares shell.


    Ares roared, more in surprise, and turned a hellish glare towards the Charmeleon.


    The ground dented with her short charge this time and I winced as she completely bowled over the Charmeleon. She snarled and turned towards the floored fire type and bathed it in a Dragon Breath immediately afterwards...


    Or attempted to. The Charmeleon was returned to the ball and Ares directed a glare towards the excited Mason.


    "Alright! I give up! It''s your win!" Mason said, not sounding very upset about that.


    I raised a brow and shrugged. "Ares get back over here. You can get back to training," I instructed with a small shake of my head.


    She grumbled and marched off... to Loki''s position. They exchanged words before my first pokemon huffed in amusement and the two walked towards an isolated area.


    "Wow, she doesn''t uh... seem very happy," Mason pointed out, not missing the deep glare Ares shot him.


    I grunted. "She didn''t expect the Charmeleon to land a single meaningful hit on her. Ares takes great offense when weaker enemies put up a fight," I mused.


    "She really is your little dragon!" Green cackled. "That was good Mason! I didn''t expect you to improve so much!"


    Mason blushed bashfully and rubbed the back of his head.


    "I just prepared a lot for Silver and he still made it look easy! I promised Charmeleon we''d at least surprise that Shelgon so I''m glad we did!" he exclaimed.


    I stared at him and snorted. "Good for you. But you''re still weak. You need to improve your firepower. What''s your team?"


    Mason jumped at that. "Um... Charmeleon, Fearow, Gloom, Sandslash, Shuppet and Shuckle!" he exclaimed, standing straight at my question.


    I hummed, raising a brow at the final two. "Shuppet and Shuckle huh? Those are probably more recent but they''ll serve you well in the battle."


    Mason nodded eagerly. "Do you have any tips for me?" he asked hopefully.


    I raised a brow. "Sure. Those two can be fairly tricky pokemon. You said you want to fight Sabrina right? I''ll introduce you to a fun playstyle," I smiled benevolently.


    For some reason, the jittery boy shuddered and Green let out a loud groan.


    I shrugged.


    Apparently, after my advice to her, Jasmine had entered a new realm of terrifying to face. The Gym Leaders actually sparred sparingly but on my command, I had ordered she go battle the other ones.


    Turns out she was terrorizing her Gym Leaders with the stuff she taught Skarmy and Fortry. Soon, I was going to teach her some fun strats!


    I guess I could share some of that horrible knowledge with this kid here.


    For him? Oh of course not! I didn''t really give a damn about really helping him succeed.


    But I''d do anything to piss Sabrina off. I hoped she could feel the sheer vitriol in my body through her battle with Mason here.


    "Alright, let me tell you about a move called Sticky Web..."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Silver!"


    I glanced up, only to tense at seeing Janine''s serious demeanor.


    "You were right. Silph Co... no, all of Saffron is under attack," she said urgently.


    Our group jumped at that.


    "So they really did come?!" Gold scowled, surging up as his team followed suit.


    "Why didn''t you call?" Crystal asked in concern.


    Janine shook her head. "I couldn''t. Team Rocket did something. Some type of interference. I attempted to call anyone on the way here, even Father. Nothing came through. Crobat has already flown out of the city to relay the information but since our training grounds are so far out, I had to come here myself."


    I grunted. "Alright. Good work."


    It had been 2 weeks since our battle with Sabrina and we had decided to just camp out in the city.


    I knew Team Rocket weren''t going to just attack at the whims of my arrival, but I just knew that they attacked around the time frame of getting your 5th or 6th badge.


    Turns out my hunch was correct. It wasn''t often, but my outside knowledge did come in handy every once in a while. I was beginning to doubt if they were actually going to show up. I had actually been about to give it one more week before leaving the place.


    "Remember what we discussed. We need to make sure Sabrina knows their target. I bet they''ve got distractions for her to get away with robbing Silph Co for free," I grunted, beginning the process of swapping my already dark outfit, to something darker.


    I ignored Crystal''s gaping at the fact that I was changing right in front of them. She grew up with Gold, I''m sure they saw things as childhood friends.


    "I can go warn her," Janine said, gazing at us in concern and ignoring my changing of attire. "Just¡­ be careful. I''ll be as fast as possible. Act as if an Executive can stop you at anytime."


    "You do the same. They won''t attack Sabrina with a bunch of grunts. There''s gonna be an Executive there," I warned.


    Janine nodded, determination on her features. "All the better if it''s that bastard," she said darkly, dashing off.


    "Keep your head screwed on! Don''t let your emotions cloud you!" I shouted.


    "You as well, our partnership is still intact after all," Janine warned, vanishing.


    I watched her go with serious eye.


    Executives... here''s to hoping my mom wasn''t here. No particular reason, I just felt like she was the last Executive you wanted to run into.


    I nodded my head and turned towards my group. "We''ll sneak in and eventually split up into groups of two. Gold come with me. Crystal, with Green. Just follow our lead," I instructed.


    The reason for the pairings was obvious. Green and I were very well versed in stealth now and since I was the more skilled of the two, I''d take the rowdier of the duo.


    "Right." Crystal agreed with a frown.


    "Gotcha." Gold nodded with a scowl.


    Green and I exchanged a glance.


    "We''ll stay nearby, but traveling in groups of four, is too noticeable," I muttered to her.


    She nodded in agreement. "Stay away from the top floor until we''re ready, right?"


    "Yeah exactly. Stay vigilant. Don''t trust anyone that''s dressed as a scientist. Rocket probably has moles," I grunted.


    With that single warning, the four of us stealthily departed to Saffron.


    I flicked out my pokegear and furrowed my brows at not having any signal go through.


    Was that how they planned on getting in and out of Saffron without attracting the entire region? Some type of EMP that disrupted connections?


    Damn it. I was growing less and less sure of Team Rocket invading, that I decided against warning Lorelei. Maybe I should have trusted my instincts...


    No matter. We just needed to stall for Sabrina and make sure they didn''t accomplish their mission. I''d learn from this and trust my instincts from now on.


    Saffron was in chaos. Rockets were all over, causing mayhem. Considering we were hiding ourselves, it was hard to make out what was happening but from what I could see, the rockets were neck and neck in combat with the police force of Saffron.


    Conveniently, the sounds of combat got quieter the closer we got to our destination...


    We (my companions) contemplated jumping in to help some, but the cops were handling it well and we had more things to worry about, especially considering we were probably the only ones who knew their true targets.


    Silph Co... the biggest building of Saffron loomed over us, far quieter in comparison to other parts of the city.


    There was a man guarding the entrance, eyes vigilant as he stood wide awake¡­


    But even despite that, he never saw me approaching at all.


    "!" The man almost wailed in agony before being forcefully silenced.


    I landed a solid kick directly onto the rockets crotch with full power, before forcefully covering his face with a rag seeped in Sleep Powder. I didn''t even flinch at the sound of something cracking, far too used to my above average strength.


    The rocket was stuck between reaching for his sweet spot and struggling against the hand forcing the rag to cover his face so as a result, he was trapped in a hellish purgatory of indecision.


    I stared ruthlessly at him, unmoving from my spot as tears of exertion formed in the rockets eyes from his fruitless struggles. I just held the rag over his face with a steady calmness.


    It didn''t take long at all, for him to eventually lose consciousness and I dragged his body away, hiding him in the alleyway the rest of my companions were camped out in.


    "You¡­ are genuinely terrifying," Crystal muttered, shaking as she stared at the unconscious body of the man I just violated.


    Gold scratched his head. "Guess you really were just looking for the pokemon. After what I just saw, I think if you wanted the Prof gone¡­ he''d be gone."


    "He did nothing to me. No reason to attack. I panicked and used too much force on him. My goal was just a pokemon and a pokedex, along with some supplies to survive better," I grunted.


    Crystal looked thoughtful at that. "I''ve seen your skills first hand. How did you even get caught? The professor isn''t the most aware person."


    I raked a hand through my hair. "I was having a very off day. An almost out of body experience if you would."


    Both her and Gold hummed in unison at that.


    "Alright, Let''s go. The coast seems clear for now. Communications seem to be sabotaged so that probably means they can''t communicate with each other either through conventional means..."


    I ruffled in my bag for a second and pulled out two walkie-talkies.


    I tinkered with it a bit, before speaking lowly into the device. I grunted at the shrieking static of two being so close to each other but it died down eventually and I handed it over to Green.


    At least this worked... sorta. The voices sounded very muffled and more than once it cut off, but it would get the job done.


    "You''re so resourceful," Crystal mentioned, awe on her face.


    "Seriously, how many things do you have in that bag?" Gold asked curiously.


    "Any answers to that question, may lead to further incrimination of me. You''ll just have to wait and see in the future," I muttered.


    Gold stared at me and shrugged. "Well, you let us use all those TMs so I guess I can''t be too curious."


    "I''ll pretend like I didn''t hear that," Crystal sighed.


    They sure did take the liberty to use all the TMs they could.


    "I got these after realizing Green and I could get separated at any time. Keep that one with you. We won''t go too far from each other. Use it sparingly, I don''t think it''ll be perfect with whatever is messing with comms," I grunted.


    We all nodded in unison, perfectly accepting that plan.


    The four of us snuck into the building, only to immediately recoil at the sight of the prone bodies of what had to be security guards.


    I don''t know what animal got to them, but I''m pretty sure it was a fire type and a strong one too.


    Crystal let out a gasp of horror at that, clutching Gold tightly as tears welled into her eyes. She shut her eyes and her breathing picked up.


    Gold stared, mouth set into a grim line as he pushed her ahead of the bodies.


    I did the same with the emotional Green, sighing as she clutched me tightly.


    "It''s so horrible... how can they treat human lives so callously?" Crystal asked, a hitch in her voice.


    "That''s all they do... all they do is hurt people," Green mumbled, shutting her eyes tightly.


    "It''s okay. Just let me guide you through until it''s time to split up," I soothed to the best of my ability, eyes darting to and fro for signs of any rockets.


    Green nodded shakily, allowing me to push her forward.


    Silph Co wasn''t riddled to the brim with Warp Tiles like its counterpart so I was thankful for that, but the building was still a complete maze to navigate. Turns and rooms everywhere... without a guide, Silph was really fucking annoying.


    To access the higher floors as well, we needed the Card Key¡­


    "Look for a Card Key. You can''t navigate upper levels without them. Once either of us find it, we''ll meet up again," I grunted.


    "Were you planning on robbing Silph Co? You know way too much about it," Gold asked randomly, gazing at me with wide eyes.


    "That''s not a bad idea¡­" I murmured.


    Naturally, I''d probably pick some things up while exploring but that wasn''t my main objective. Taking out Team Rocket was the priority for me so spelunking was my secondary.


    A cool feeling washed over me and I took a deep breath, gaze turning cruel and clinical.


    I had an organization to fuck over.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Wait hold on! We''re supposed to be having a pokemon battle¡ª"


    The speaker squealed in pain as I stomped on his knee, huffing to myself as the distraction caused the man''s Mightyena to glance back, giving Gold''s Scyther, Scytaro, enough time to slash into its midsection.


    "Save your battles for someone who gives a fuck."


    I ignored the wolf''s pitiful whine and turned towards the final person there, the scientist who was shivering next to an unconscious Magnemite.


    Oberon wiped his claws idly, snarling as he forced the meager scientist to the ground with his deceptively high strength.


    "H-Hold on! I was being forced to work with him! You gotta believe me!" the man shouted in terror, shaking as I silently approached him. He was very clearly disturbed by the fact that I shattered that man''s leg.


    "Oh yeah?" I asked curiously, stepping on the floor harder than necessary and making him flinch back from the stomps.


    He nodded rapidly, eyes wide in hope.


    "Okay then... where''s your Card Key?" I asked with a small smile.


    "...I-I don''t have one! I''m not high enough rank for one!" he exclaimed hastily.


    I mulled that over. "Who would have one?"


    "Definitely people on the higher floor! If you find a scientist up there, there''s a chance they''ll have one!" he shouted eagerly.


    I nodded my head, before crashing a foot against the man''s face.


    He never saw it coming and I watched him slump over, blood spurting out of his nose.


    "Damn. You''ve got legs made out of steel," Gold whistled.


    "Who was going to believe that dumbass?" I sneered, making sure to place the card he was hiding on his chest for the world to see that he was allied to Team Rocket.


    Silph Co, even without the warp tiles, was a nightmare to navigate. The entire building was a labyrinth that was made to confuse and halt anyone from doing what Team Rocket were currently attempting to do.


    Gold and I were navigating the floors easily despite that, taking out Rockets and traitorous scientists alike. There was a bunch of foot soldiers on the earlier floors so it had been easy... but there was still a fair bit of them.


    That''s when I got creative. No point letting my pokemon waste their energy on the early floors... so I mostly assaulted them from the shadows.


    Very effective. The few we did battle, were with scientists and that was because we needed their card keys.


    Gold and I, surprisingly, had almost perfect synergy with each other and that detail wasn''t lost to either of us... but we didn''t comment too much on it, just accepting the small mercy.


    It was better than us having no synergy. That would be a disaster.


    I grunted, ruffling through the traitorous scientists pocket and finding nothing of note besides a wallet with his identity in it.


    "Nothing?" Gold asked, crossing his arms and leaning against a wall as I mugged him.


    "Nah," I muttered, pulling out a wad of cash from his wallet and handing him half of it.


    Gold blinked at the action.


    "It''s your cut. Wouldn''t want any dissension because you''re upset about not getting money," I informed him.


    "You have a messed up way of thinking¡­ but I respect and agree with that at least. Should we really be stealing this guys money though?" he asked with a raised brow, not really put out with what I said at all.


    "He''s a traitor. Do we care?" I returned, raising my own brow.


    Gold pursed his lips at that and opened his mouth, before shutting it and nodding in agreement. "Fair point. Don''t mind if I do then," he conceded, taking the money out my hand and stuffing it in a red and gold colored wallet.


    That was another good thing about Gold. His morals were a lot more in line with mine without much tampering on my end. Green would accept the money after a lot of pestering by me and Crystal probably wouldn''t take it no matter what I said, only to end up with it in her wallet anyways.


    My counterpart though, had no problems with my cheating and crafty nature. In fact, he was much the same himself and that was why we had such good synergy.


    Neither of us had qualms getting down and dirty if it called for it.


    When I decided to save energy by just assaulting the Rockets myself, Gold nodded and pulled out a billiard cue.


    Before he could begin utilizing it as a weapon, I just gave him one of my modified stick weapons, this one a staff.


    He seemed to appreciate that quite alot. He could keep it if he wanted. I had a ton of these weapons at the ready.


    I would be more surprised... but Gold was a 12 year old gambler. I guess I shouldn''t have been too shocked that his mind was a tad skewed.


    Regardless, it made planning with my current partner very easy.


    With our pact in set, Gold and I began looting any traitor or Rocket of their valuables, making sure their teams were fully incapacitated as well while filling our pockets.


    "Do you hear that?" a Rocket whispered with a puzzled expression. She turned around quizzically, only to grunt in confusion at not seeing anything.


    "Hear what?" the other replied.


    While the female rocket was standing around, the male was ruffling through the cubicle he was in, looking for anything of value. He grabbed a Super Potion and nodded, storing it away...


    Only to freeze at the strangled shriek that left his companion. He jolted, attempting to stand up only for a staff to smash against the back of his head.


    The girl shivered in terror, as the illusion dropped and she was forced to see the razor sharp claws of Loki holding her neck hostage.


    I effortlessly kicked her pokeballs away from her, crouching down and ruffling through the man''s outfit, even as Gold stared at his staff with a gleam.


    "Don''t just stand there and gawk at the weapon molded to perfection. Go search the girl," I grunted, tossing him the Super Potion.


    Gold caught the potion easily, spraying down Ataro with it before my words registered with him.


    "Search the girl?!" he asked incredulously, eyes wide.


    I paused in my ruffling and turned towards him. "...You take your hands like this," I began, raising my hands slowly.


    "Then you start digging in pockets like thi¡ª"


    "I know what searching is, dickhead!" Gold interrupted. "I''m just... not gonna search a girl."


    At his low mumble, I completely stopped and peered at him.


    "Seriously?" I sighed, pinching my nose and marching towards the slightly confused rocket member. "I didn''t think someone with your personality would get nervous around the opposite gender. Learn something new every single day."


    "Shut up," Gold muttered, only to splutter as I began searching her with no hesitation in my bones.


    She yelped loudly at my prodding hands, only to go still at Loki''s threatening snarl. It didn''t take a genius to understand his message and she just shivered in compliance.


    "You''re a criminal but get uncomfortable when someone touches you? Fucking ridiculous." I raised a brow, scoffing in a completely unimpressed manner, as I ruffled through her pocket.


    I continued searching the girl, pulling out jewelry, money... before finally pulling her shirt up slightly to pull out a pokeball.


    "Save your reservations when it comes to criminals. Going easy on one of them because of gender, will get you killed," I said calmly, watching her go pale as I revealed the hidden pokeball. "You should only get nervous if it''s Crystal."


    "S-SHUT UP DUDE!" Gold hissed loudly, trying his hardest not to shout.


    I tossed the pokeball into the pile of the others and stared at her. "Anything else you''re hiding? I''m not adverse to searching more. I''m not nearly as merciful as my partner here," I warned, tugging a piece of her clothing to get my point across.


    She shook her head hastily.


    My eyes narrowed.


    "I-I have a bit of money on me!" she squeaked in defeat. "Just... please let me grab it instead..."


    I tilted my head, before a look of realization made its way to our face as she pulled it out of her... shirt.


    I snatched her wallet out of her hand and opened it, shamelessly ruffling through it and sighing to myself at not seeing what I was looking for.


    "I feel like the criminal," Gold muttered, turning his head away.


    I ignored it.


    "Where''s the card key?" I asked.


    "I-I don''t have one."


    I narrowed my eyes at that. "Who''s the one running this mission?"


    The girl shook. "I-It''s a joint mission by two of the Executives. I don''t know which ones... no one but the highest ranking grunts do. We were just told to look for something!"


    Two executives? One was no doubt distracting Sabrina... so that meant the other was here.


    Hm.


    "Gaia knock her out," I grunted, not even watching the vines wrap around the Rockets face to asphyxiate her.


    "Jeez man, you sure don''t hold back," Gold whispered, watching her body hit the floor.


    "I don''t hold back against people who wouldn''t hold back themselves. Besides, Gaia''s a girl so it''s fine isn''t it?" I replied, leaving the discarded bodies there.


    I''m fairly sure I was trained by or with some blonde and that was why I didn''t discriminate between genders.


    Flashes of that color appeared whenever I thought about my above average physical training. It was probably a blonde girl by the looks of it but I didn''t dwell on it too much.


    The neat thing about the rockets, is that their pokemon basically never left their balls of their own accord. Whether that be fear or drugs? Probably both to be honest.


    Oh well. I was also beginning to realize, not many pokemon released themselves from their balls. Perhaps it just depended on the bond between them. My team released themselves from the ball often enough.


    "You have any idea where a Card Key could be?" Gold frowned, as we continued our pace.


    I mulled it over.


    Honestly, using my knowledge of the games was pretty good... so where did you find the card key there?


    Once again, my impeccable memory came into play and I huffed as the details came to me clear as day.


    That was still mighty suspicious, but I''d just chalk it up to the privileges of being forced into a new world and this body being clearly genetically superior to an unnatural, but probably not all that by this worlds standards, level.


    "Let''s go to the fifth floor," I said suddenly, beelining it to the elevator.


    "Alright," Gold grunted, keeping pace with me as we head there.


    A lounging rocket, who was guarding our means of transportation, suddenly lunged up at seeing us approaching.


    "Stop right there! You''re not getting through me! I am one of the Four Rocket Brothers¡ª"


    "Gaia. He seems annoying."


    As the rocket scrambled to reach for his pokeballs, Gaia lashed out with her vines and slammed the criminal into the wall. Just me mentioning that he was annoying me, was enough to put her in go mode.


    The man crumpled instantly, wheezing weakly as his hand went limp. "A-At least let me battle..." he rasped, falling unconscious.


    "It''s hard for me to identify who the real criminal is," Gold said idly, kicking the man''s two pokeballs away.


    "We''re both criminals," I said gruffly, walking up to the elevator and stamping the man''s head into the pavement, in the same movement.


    With a single press, I watched as the elevator came down.


    I frowned in contemplation and dragged the unconscious body of the Rocket in the elevator.


    "Just in case," I murmured, beckoning the confused Gold in.


    I pulled out the walkie-talkie and put it to my mouth. "We''re going to floor five to check something. Stay nearby."


    I twitched at the ridiculous static but ignored it as Green''s broken voice came to life.


    "Roger. We''re conserving energy on our end by avoiding battles," Green replied.


    "Good. Keep it up," I grunted, turning it off.


    "This is crazy," Gold muttered, fiddling with his quiff.


    "The city is under attack too¡­ They''re distracting all the enforcers by spreading out through Saffron too."


    I nodded. "Gives them free reins to attack Silph Co. By the time they get done out there¡­"


    "The rockets will be done in here," Gold finished my sentence grimly.


    I nodded, picking up the discarded body of the rocket and planting it directly on the door.


    As the elevator stopped, the doors opened and allowed the unconscious body to fall through.


    "Huh?" A voice muttered in confusion, watching the body hit the floor. "Wait¡­ HUH?! Big bro?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!"


    Guess we found one of the other Rocket Brothers.


    It finally seemed to register to the voice that something was wrong with the fact that a body of his ally just dropped out of the elevator because he immediately peeked into it.


    "What? What''s going on?"


    His brows furrowed in confusion at not seeing anything in there and he boldly, and stupidly, took a step inside.


    How unfortunate for him. He truly had no self preservation skills.


    Ataro immediately lashed out with one of its tails, batting it against the man''s side before he realized there was even anyone in the elevator, and flattening him against the wall.


    He wheezed weakly at that and fell unconscious right next to his brother, the brute strength of a pokemon proving to be too much for him.


    "Not bad," I muttered to Gold, grabbing the man''s pokeball to hide.


    "You''ve got crazy sense for these things. I wouldn''t have thought there''d be someone waiting for me outside," Gold muttered, staring at the slumped bodies in awe.


    "It''s just all too predictable," I replied back.


    We watched Ataro effortlessly carry both the bodies into an isolated area.


    "You think the Card Key is on this floor?" Gold asked curiously.


    "Not positive¡­ but I have a strange hunch," I muttered, taking off in a random direction.


    The two of us continued to jog through the floors, dodging the eyesight of the lingering Rockets, and it only took me a few minutes to spot a scientist lingering about.


    Blood entered my eyes, at how rapidly he seemed to be patting down his body.


    "Where is that damned¡­" he muttered to himself, before freezing as I allowed him to feel my presence.


    As I stepped into view, I watched him go pale in horror. He began stepping back, still patting down his body... If anything, he got more urgent doing so. There was a sheen of sweat on his body and it would be odd that a 12 year old was getting this reaction... if not for the sheer amount of bloodlust I was radiating.


    "Looking for something?" I asked peacefully, watching as he took another step back. Despite that, I didn''t move from my spot. I continued to peer at him and he shuddered for reasons unknown.


    Perhaps he thought if he made a single wrong step, I''d jump on him. It was like being in a situation with a predator, maybe he was assessing when the perfect time to run was.


    "U-Um..." he stammered hesitantly, before turning on a dime and bolting.


    How unfortunate for him. Didn''t you know that you were never supposed to turn your back to a predator? You were especially not supposed to run from them either.


    He should have just cooperated. Now, I was going to actually have to treat him like he were prey.


    My eyes narrowed and I exploded forward, closing the distance between me and the woefully unathletic scientist, in a matter of seconds.


    I lunged and tackled the man to the floor with the momentum, ignoring his scream of horror and forcing my hand over his mouth.


    "One more noise out of you and I''m breaking a finger. Don''t test me, I don''t give second chances," I warned quietly.


    The scientist''s struggles intensified as I flipped him over and I narrowed my eyes.


    He tried to reach for a pokeball that had rolled away but I effortlessly kicked it further, before growing tired of his antics and stamping my foot against his hand.


    "I warned you. Why do they never listen to the first warning?" I asked calmly.


    Gold winced at the man''s attempt to scream, but vines wrapped effortlessly around the scientists mouth and nose, muffling him completely.


    "I was a little confused on why he took Gaia... but now I totally get it. Those two belong with each other," he muttered, scratching his head.


    "You''re with Team Rocket right?" I asked lowly, fishing in his outfit and pulling out the card that allowed all the Rockets to identify the traitors.


    The man gasped, face turning blue before I had Gaia release him. He gasped heavily and began inhaling as much air as possible.


    "P-Please let me go!" He begged, shaking in terror as my Meganium loomed over the both of us.


    I pondered his request and nodded easily. "Sure. But where''s your Card Key? You look a step above those other traitorous scientists so you must have one. Keep it down by the way, if I think you''re getting loud on purpose, bad things will happen to you," I requested, staring down at him coolly.


    He shook his head. "I-I don''t know what you''re talking about! I don''t have a Card Key!"


    I tilted my head. "Oh. That''s a shame. Gaia."


    She lashed out again and the man only had a moment to squeal before the vines wrapped around his face again. This time, Gaia put the slightest amount of pressure and for a Meganium, that was still a dreadful amount for a human to deal with.


    "Gaia here can lace her vines in poison very easily. You think you''ll find help in time?"


    He began urgently speaking.


    "I can''t hear what you''re saying," I said calmly, crossing my arms as his panic increased tenfold.


    "What a way to go. You thought you were going to cash out big with Team Rocket but instead, you''re going to choke on your own saliva in a dark little corner where no one will check up on you. The poison will paralyze you first, then you''ll find it hard to breathe... and then you''ll lose feeling in your body. Scary stuff," I drawled.


    That broke the coward and I distantly heard "I''ll tell you! I''ll tell you!" coming from his mouth.


    I stared at Gaia and nodded, watching as she released the vines around his head with a scoff.


    "Ready to be honest with me? One more slipup and it''s the end for you," I informed him.


    He was staring at me like I were the devil itself, panting harshly and clutching his chest.


    "I-I do have a Card Key but I don''t know where it is, honest! I must have dropped it somewhere!" he panicked.


    I hummed. "Did you lose it on this floor?" I asked.


    He nodded hastily. "Yeah it''s definitely here! I-I''ll help you look for it! I''m sure if we work together, we can find and get out of here. Team Rocket forced me to join them so¡ª"


    Whatever he was about to say, never came out because I curb stomped him onto the pavement, knocking him into dreamland.


    "Why would I collude with a traitor? So you could betray me?" I mused, standing up and leaving the "For the Glory of Team Rocket!" card on his chest.


    I adjusted my gloves out of habit and turned to Gold. "Card Key should be somewhere on this floor. Look on the floors."


    Gold nodded, gazing at the body on the floor before shrugging.


    "You know. Part of me thought of the starters, Totoree actually fit you the most."


    I raised a brow. "Yeah?" I asked, eyes trained on the floor.


    "Yup. You two have the exact same aggression and temper... but now that I see you and Gaia, I change my mind. You two are perfect for each other," he snorted.


    I huffed in some amusement, running a hand against the pleased Gaia. "Of course. Gaia is Gaia and I''m me. We were bound to succeed with each other."


    "Meganium!" Gaia cheered, batting her head against both Gold and I.


    Gold grinned fondly at her. "I''m glad we managed to clear up the air, Silver. Thank Mew for Crystal because you and I probably would have brawled it out throughout the region."


    I snorted. "I should be thanking Gaia for calming me down. I almost did something I was going to regret if it wasn''t for her."


    "You two really are good for each other. It''s cool that you picked her. She probably used those vines to pull that stick out your ass," Gold mused.


    I twitched at that. "Wait till this is over... and didn''t I tell you to look at the floor?"


    I bent down and snatched up a discarded card off the floor, inspecting it and smirking crookedly at finding my target.


    "Seriously, the things you say seem so random but they always payoff... I should take you to gambling one of these days," Gold pondered, inspecting the Key Card with a grin.


    I snorted. "Our ideas of getting money from a Game Corner are very different."


    "Steal from them after they cheat us out of our money. I''ll already milk them dry once I enter," Gold said dismissively.


    I actually laughed at that. Some hero Gold was.


    The Walkie-Talking surged to life as I spoke into it to alert the other group. "You guys, take the elevator to Floor 5¡­ Gold and I will meet you there."


    "Yes sir. Found the Key Card?"


    "Yeah. We can group up and make it to the top floor now."


    "Alright. This way, Crys!"


    As the comms cut, Gold and I rushed over to the elevator and waited outside, ensuring that no other Rocket approached in the meantime.


    Team Rocket didn''t have an infinite amount of soldiers and a ton of them were outside distracting the police. I wouldn''t be surprised if there weren''t that many left. It''s no wonder they added the mole scientists to their mix.


    "Don''t let your guard down, Hero. You never know what could happen."


    Gold nodded, expression turning serious. "We''ll tackle it. Don''t worry so much, we got this!"


    I grunted and nodded, before turning as the elevator opened up.


    Gold, rather blankly, and I watched as a body dropped out of the elevator, before identifying it as an unconscious Team Rocket member.


    I smiled proudly, as Green poked her head out soon after, due to the lack of reactions, before a smile broke out on her face at seeing me and Gold staring.


    Gold looked at the body of the Rocket, then he looked at Green, then he looked at me.


    Then he gave up trying to understand and took his spot next to the exasperated Crystal.


    "Are you two alright?" Green asked in concern, ignoring Gaia using her vines to shove the body away.


    "I feel like I''m becoming more and more twisted the longer I stay in you two''s presence," Crystal admitted.


    "W-What?" Green spluttered. She had a confused look on her face. "Are you still thinking about all those Rockets we knocked unconscious? Or was it the looting? I know the interrogation looked bad but I knew what I was doing! I told you it''s best if we put the Rockets body in the elevator to catch anyone off guard!"


    I mussed up her hair. "Well done. You did everything right."


    "She did the exact same things you did," Gold pointed out with a look of disbelief.


    "Exactly."


    Crystal rubbed her nose slightly. "You found the Card Key?"


    "Yeah," I grunted, flashing it to them all.


    "We need to strike them fast. We''re wasting time battling all these rockets," Gold mused.


    "Come on, let''s make our way to the top floor then. If we can stall the Executive, Sabrina and Janine will show up in time," I decided.


    Well all nodded in agreement. "Alright. Let''s go!"