[Pokémon] The Resurrection's Beginning and Apocalyptic Dawn

Legendarian Mistress · Nov 30, 2009

A/N: The name of Viola's Houndoom comes from the Cheyenne name of Hohnihohkaiyohos, meaning "high-backed wolf". Part 4 is also rated R, due to the extreme gore.

Part 4: Mt. Moon and Beyond

Sixteen hundred years ago, there existed a race who called themselves Ancient Sunyshorians. They lived in the city even before it was named Sunyshore. It's believed that the Ancient Sunyshorians have been around since the times of Atlantis and Lemuria, and that's going back quite a long time. In addition to that, rumours are going around in the present that the race was, in the beginning, blessed by Suicune – which is why every descendant since the tribe's origins has blue skin and purple hair, Chase included.

On the outskirts of Cerulean City, Suicune's crimson eyes stared daggers at Sunray Striker. The woman known as Viola Laudra took off her assassin's hood allowing her straight chocolate-coloured hair to fall in front of her face. Her hair was in two different pigtails each curling the exact same way. Viola's eyes couldn't be seen due to her bangs making her appear to be fun and dangerous, much in the same way that her former mentor had been viewed before he quit Team Rocket. She had light coloured skin, almost a deep honey colour. Despite being a ninja and assassin, she was thin and appeared to be rather frail.

Chase Specular, the Psychic tracker of Saffron, had been found by Suicune in the nick of time. She was a tall azure-skinned woman, adorned in an indigo cloak with a beautiful complexion and bright mauve hair that flowed down to her shoulders. The Ancient Sunyshorian didn't blame Viola; one would not exactly take warmly to a person wearing such exotic clothing. Chase found her lilac cape rather simple; besides, she was not a materialistic person.

<You would dare take a human's life?!> Suicune snapped, pushing his face at Viola's abruptly. <Especially one whose race I have blessed?!>

A sound of derision was exhaled from the assassin's mouth. "She meant nothing to me," the ninja replied scornfully. "I was given instructions and, as a Team Rocket Commander, I was duty-bound to fulfil them."

<SHE WAS NOT YOURS TO EVEN GO NEAR!> the Beast of Water howled angrily. In accordance with the changing of his mood, the wind picked up and blew through Route 4 savagely.

"Don't think your manipulation of the wind will stop me from coming here to do my assigned task," Viola sneered, as she reached for a Poké Ball.

Suicune stepped forward, with his eyes narrowed and teeth bared. <What makes you think I'll let you harm her? Flee from here while you can.> His question was directed at Sunray Striker, while his statement was aimed at Chase. He was purposefully giving her a chance to flee from the scene, in which a mauling was about to occur.

The light that emerged from the thrown ball transformed into a sleek, graceful beast. His legs were slender and lithe, and a long, whip-like black tail thrashed behind him. Curved, devilish horns slid back from his head, and his tapering tan muzzle lifted eagerly to scent the air. Elegant silver blades rose slightly from his arched, willowy back. He opened his slim mouth, exposing needle-sharp white canines, and howled.

 the Houndoom growled.

<If you value your trainer's life, fiery cousin, stand down. I do not want to harm you, but if you push me, I will.> Suicune negotiated with the Dark/Fire type.

Chase sensed that the Water type would kill Kaiyo whether the devil dog agreed or not. Appearing to also read the ominous aura Suicune gave off, Viola brought out the rest of her Pokémon. Five flashes of white light surprised Chase as a Hypno, Dewgong, Ampharos, Rhyperior and Leafeon stood beside Kaiyo.

"Say hello to the rest of my team," the ninja taunted.

<Do you honestly think that any of this matters? If it is six or six thousand Pokémon in my way, they will lose their lives to me.>

"Do you honestly believe that you can take six –"

Sunray Striker's sentence stopped as Suicune made his first example – the Houndoom, Kaiyo. With one fluent motion, the Beast of Water slashed the Houndoom's head off of his shoulders allowing blood to spew across Chase's assailant's face. The blood trickled on the ground beside the rest of the Pokémon who seemed to be shell-shocked at the sudden attack. Suicune looked out the corner of his eye, staring at his next target, the Dewgong.

He lunged towards her, grabbing her by one of her fins. Suicune allowed the Pokémon's fin to rip slowly from her body, as cell by cell of the white sea-lion's skin tore. When the fin had finished tearing, Suicune took a large bite out of the Dewgong's body, ripping the blubber from her stomach. She was dead; however, Suicune kept clawing and biting until she was a mangled mess.

<Attack with all you have.>

Sunray Striker stepped back. Her body was frozen. She couldn't think of an attack. She didn't that Suicune could be so aggressive. Two Pokémon were dead, not fainted – dead. She had to watch her Pokémon be physically mauled by the beast. She couldn't think.

The Ampharos decided soon that he would need to take centre stage. He had the best chance of winning at the moment with the type advantage. He unleashed a flurry of Thunderbolts towards the savage monster. None of them hit. The intimidation had affected his aim. They were easily dodged one after another as Suicune dashed forward towards him. He took his paw and slashed a deep gash through the Ampharos's belly, cutting him in half. The blood now tainted the once brilliant blue coat and purple mane.

<Even with the type advantage, did you think that foolish sheep could defeat me?>

Sunray Striker's heart continued to thud abnormally in her chest. She was now down to three Pokémon, with the other three dead. She could feel the sweat dripping from her body. Why couldn't she move? She had come to do the killing, not the other way around. She couldn't murmur a word from her lips. The attacks were jumbling together in her head. She couldn't think of a way to mount an offence.

<Are you scared? I will end your life now...>

Suicune dashed forward only to be halted by the Leafeon. Annoyed by the interference, Suicune shot a menacingly high-powered Ice Beam from his mouth. The Grass Pokémon's entire body was soon dripping with frost and icicles. In one motion, Suicune pounced on the Leafeon, shattering the still live body into pieces. Blood splattered against the ground, only usurped by the frozen flesh crunching underneath the beast's paw.

The remaining two Pokémon, a Rhyperior and a Hypno, stood there. They formed the last remaining defence in front of the fear-stunned Sunray Striker. Knowing his disadvantage against the Water Pokémon, the Rhyperior took the last spot in the defensive line. The Hypno would now be the offence.

The Hypno sent a wave of psychic energy towards the Suicune blasting him back a bit. The damage was hardly noticeable since the animal landed on all fours. She continued one attack after another trying to push Suicune back. This however was becoming increasingly difficult with the aid of Suicune's wind manipulation. The wind blew the psychic waves from their course allowing Suicune to close the gap once again. The Hypno tried her last resort, her Hypnosis technique. It failed. Suicune's anger was too high to be wavered by sleep. He went mad with his claws, tearing the yellow fur off her body to expose the skin, tearing the skin to expose muscle, and then muscle to bone.

Sunray Striker choked. It was probably the most horrific yet. She heard Lairvo's crying and squealing for her life. Unlike the others, she could see him ripping out the organs of her Hypno as she gave her last living breath. Her body was locking up now. Her muscles couldn't move, she could hardly breathe any more. Is this a monster...? She stared at the last living Pokémon.

<Rhyperior... step aside or I will kill you too,> Suicune gave his last warning.

The Rhyperior was too scared to move but, unlike the others, he couldn't be ripped apart. He stood his ground in front of his trainer, steadfast as he possibly could against such a foe. He extended his arms, allowing him complete protection over his trainer. Sunray Striker, finally snapping out of her phase, began to run away. Suicune clenched his teeth before releasing a roar.

A Hydro Pump shot from the legendary's mouth like a cannonball. The pressurized water shot through the Rhyperior's skin completely, causing his heart to be catapulted out of his chest. He stood surprised at first; looking down as though he was still alive. He collapsed as his body caught up with what had happened. He, too, had fallen in battle against this beast.

Now it was just her. She was the last target that this beast had to kill. A human, without a fighting chance, just kept running. It was like she was in slow motion now. Suicune was much faster than she. Yet her body wouldn't stop running. The thoughts of the six corpses behind her made her feel as though it was futile effort.

<It's over... Sunray Striker. You tried to harm Chase and now you will pay that price with your life.>

Suicune shot an Ice Beam towards her legs to freeze her in place. She crashed to the ground, unable to move anymore. She was shaking, but it was not because the ice was cold. It was because her fears had been realized. She was going to die here. There was no mercy. There was no forgiveness. She was going to be mauled just like her Hypno. She started to scream for help.

The animal prowled around his prey, circling her like a hawk. He leaped upon her, pressing his entire body weight on the woman's rib cage. She could feel the cracks one by one compressing downward. However the pain hardly mattered when Suicune extended his claws. He slashed her neck first and proceeded down to her upper torso. The pain was becoming unbearable. He was missing vital points on purpose, just to make her suffer.

After being covered by the claws of beast, he then went on to bite the surface of her skin. She could feel her muscles being torn from their bones. She wanted to scream, yet her throat had long since lost its ability to speak. The body was being torn limb from limb now. First the arms were dislodged from her body and then the legs. She was slipping into death when Suicune's jaw lowered to her neck. The finishing blow was with Suicune crunching on her neck.

Even though she was gone Suicune ripped every portion of her apart, inside and out. It was hard for Chase to watch, but that was understandable. Suicune was just doing what he had come to do, protect Chase and he had done so... at all costs.

*****

Josephine's POV

Having finished my breakfast, I proceeded to leave the Pokémon Centre and head east towards Route 3. I was completely unaware that Rachel, Katie and Paul were in front of me. I meandered leisurely along Route 3, beating the various trainers as I went, having no clue whatsoever that all of this battling would help Juri to evolve.

"Whatsa matter with ya?!" one of the Youngsters shouted after being defeated. "Don'tcha like shorts?!"

I placed my gaze upon the rude individual and spoke as calmly as I could. "No, sorry. I don't like shorts."

"Humph!" was his response.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the path which had begun to thin out, losing the overconfident trainers. It appeared that I had hit a dead end but, as I looked around in confusion, I eventually realized that the path led north to the entrance of Mt. Moon.

Struggling up the sloped hill which led to the cave, I saw a Pokémon Centre and went inside to heal my weakened Pokémon. Returning outside a few minutes later, I stopped in front of the entrance, released my partners and instigated a discussion with them.

"Well, that was fun. I can't believe we captured so many new Pokémon, as well as battle so many trainers," I began. "But we have to be ready for the challenge of Mt. Moon. I heard that Team Rocket is in there too."

<That's no problem – we'll just beat them like we did before!> Riley said, who was prepared to battle more. 

<... No way cat girl,> Juri spoke reluctantly, as if he was just starting to understand what being in a team meant.

<We'll get the better of them.> Riley countered, with a smile that revealed her sharp teeth.

< There are going to be a lot more this time, and probably tougher. Don't forget that the trainers there are stronger as are the Pokémon,> Breona said, as she stood with her wings folded behind her.

<But we are much stronger now than we were then!> the female Luxio growled angrily, baring her teeth.

<Yes, that's true. But y'all didn't have me then,> Breona said, with a glint in her eye.

"You know what Breona? Your attitude sets you apart," I told my Pidgeotto, wondering how far ahead of me Paul was. "Anyway, are you guys ready?"

 Breona cawed before the Luxio, Sandshrew, Pidgeotto and Nidoran nodded.

"Alright, let's go!" I recalled my Pokémon and then entered Mt. Moon.

Sometime later, my Pokémon and I were worn out from all of the battling and Pokémon captures. We had captured a Zubat, but at the price of not being able to hear for a few minutes afterwards, because of all the screeching. Clefairy had also appeared, and after a Gust attack, we finally captured it.

We also caught a Geodude – I had to restrain Kingpin from defeating it, because Nidoran wanted revenge for what happened at the Gym. We had also come across a Paras, whom I eventually captured because Riley made a fatal mistake by saying that Paras's mushrooms had come from Paris... that got her a face full of Sleep Powder, and Juri had to Scratch her awake.

<Well, now that that is over, maybe we can track down the whereabouts of Team Rocket.> Riley said, whose left flank was oozing blood.

<At least their Pokémon won't attack you if you make jokes,> Juri answered.

"Yeah, but where would we..." I trailed off, tripping over a rock at that moment, leaving Riley to laugh at me.

<So Josephine, are you still 'falling' for that school boy we saw back at the entrance?> Riley said, still laughing at me. 

"Those jokes are older than Professor Oak," I replied, getting up and then bending down to pick up the rock I'd tripped on. The rock sparkled as I observed it. "I wonder what this is." I questioned.

<A rock?> Riley suggested sarcastically.

I glared at my partner.

<Okay, I get it. You wanted to figure out what it is by yourself, right?>

I just shook my head at my Pokémon's comment. "This isn't anything like the rocks in the other parts of the cave."

<Is that your final answer?> Riley asked.

I scowled at her again.

<Because if it is, you have just won one thousand dollars!>

As I was about to smack Riley on the head, a man wearing all black with a red 'R' on his shirt walked up and ordered me to give him the rock.

"Hey, you're a Team Rocket member!" I declared loudly.

Then Riley was about to say <Is that your final...>

I smacked her over the head. "If you want the stone that badly, you'll have to battle me for it! Okay Juri, you're up! Go!"

"Well, if that is how you want to play... Go Koffing!"

The small poisonous lavender coloured Pokémon prepared for the battle by elevating its lightweight, low-density body. A 'danger' symbol on its body was scarcely able to be seen as smoke was swirling out of plentiful ventilation holes spread all over its body. Its spherical form contained eyes that were focused upwards, as if it weren't paying attention to the looming battle.

"Tackle him Koffing!" the grunt ordered.

"Tackle him right back Juri!"

Both Pokémon went towards each other, colliding with one another and sending each one back to where they had been.

"Koffing, use Smog!" the grunt commanded.

Koffing let out a purple haze, blinding Juri and I.

"Now, while they can't see, tackle the Sandshrew again!"

Koffing went at Juri and tackled him hard. This made Juri mad that he'd been hit while unable to see, so he decided to get back at it.

<DIE!!> Juri yelled, right before he unleashed a mass of Scratch attacks on Koffing, eventually defeating it.

"That will do, Juri!" I commanded.

"No! I can't believe we lost!" the grunt shouted. "I will get my revenge, kid, I swear it!" With that, he took off.

"That sure was impressive Juri. I didn't know you had it in you!" I stated, walking over to the yellow shrew.

<I'm stronger than I look!> Juri replied.

I just laughed as I returned my Pokémon.

"Well, if there's one Rocket here, there's bound to be more." I said, looking around, in case I was ambushed. "I'd better stay on my guard."

*****

Paul's POV

At the same time, but deeper in the cave, I was fighting a Team Rocket grunt myself.

My rivalry with Josephine:

The two of us had in fact been polite to each other once. We fought, yes, but we still smiled at each other and expressed amusement. From the time when our Pokémon trainer test grades were revealed, that's when the arguments began.

I sighed as I easily defeated the Rocket grunt. The man had been a waste of my time; but the battle itself had proven worthwhile, as my Budew had evolved during the fight.

Evolving had increased the creature's height to one foot. Standing slightly taller than his previous form had, the Thorn Pokémon's tiny, humanoid form was green in colour and his face wore a cold, emotionless expression. Three points emanated from the top of his head. On the ends of his thin arms were two rosebuds, one azure and the other crimson. He waved both of these appendages around savagely as he glared at the opposing trainer, but remained where he was.

Before fighting the grunt, I'd also released Brute, only to get a nasty shock. At some point between my healing of the two Pokémon after the Gym battle until now, the aggressive Nidoran had evolved.

My immediate reaction was to yell "What the hell?!" as I took in the Nidorino's features. The purple ears had become thicker, the spikes and horn on his head had become longer, and the legs had become stronger as well as other imposing characteristics. Brute had lunged, before he took an offensive position, snarling at his enemy with a furious glare. "When the bloody hell did you evolve?!" I snapped at him.

<In my ball after I was healed,> the Nidorino replied, just as abruptly.

My newly evolved Roselia, recently changed Nidorino and myself made our way out of Mt. Moon, pausing only to pick the Helix Fossil after defeating a trainer called Miguel, who had thus passed onto me five hundred and seventy-six Pokédollars.

*****

Josephine's POV

I continued on my journey through Mt. Moon, still alert. I thought I saw something, but it was only a Zubat.

I wonder what they want with this stone, I thought as I pulled the rock out of my pocket. What could be so special about it?

As soon as I took out the stone, three Rocket grunts appeared, surrounding me. I was taken by surprise, but I quickly released Riley, Juri, Kingpin and Breona, who formed a protective barrier around me, facing the Team Rocket members.

"Guys, it looks like we found them," one of the grunts said, while the other two started to laugh and talk about what they were going to do with her. "Girl, hand over that Moon Stone and we might let you out of here alive."

"So that is what this is called – a Moon Stone," I said to myself. "Why do you creeps want this so badly?"

"You mean you don't know what this thing does?" all of them laughed. "Kid, that thing evolves certain Pokémon, but it can only be found here, so it can fetch a pretty penny if we could sell it." Just then, the three grunts let out all of their Pokémon. "So be a good girl and give us what we want."

"I doubt it!" I shouted. "Everyone – give them and their Pokémon what they deserve!" All of my Pokémon took on two others each with such force, that they drove them back to their trainers on each of their first strikes.

"You won't get another lucky shot there, you brat!" The Pokémon began to close in on me. "Get the Moon Stone!"

Even though they were severely outnumbered, my Pokémon stood their ground. At one point, the fight came close to involving me, but my Pokémon weren't going to let that happen. Riley knocked out two of her opponents with a combo of Bite and Thunder Fang; Juri scratched his foes silly; Kingpin was able to defeat his enemies with a series of Double Kicks and Breona struck with her wings and talons.

"We're a lot better than we were in the Viridian Forest," I muttered to myself, amazed that my Pokémon were able to not only hold their ground, but able to defeat the opposing Pokémon as well.

With all of their Pokémon defeated, the Team Rocket grunts weren't angry that I had beaten them... on the contrary; they seemed to be quite scared.

"What should we do?" one of them asked worriedly.

There was a commotion until one of them yelled "HOLD ON!"

The other two stared at the one who disrupted the bickering. "We just have to explain that we couldn't find the kid and that she escaped."

There was a murmur of agreement until...

<Then how would you like to explain your defeated Pokémon?> asked a cold voice from the shadows behind the now terrified grunts.

A tall, haughty feline stalked up behind the grunts, looking at the pathetic humans with very deep and rather creepy red eyes. Its black fur was full of yellow ring marks, even down its chin and the stomach. The paws were black, with white nails, and the long tail was striped with yellow and black. Its legs were obviously strong enough to run and pounce with ease, and the ears and whiskers were rather long-ish for its size. On its forehead, a round, crimson gem shone brightly and rather oddly.



"Not Arkbull…" a grunt muttered.

<Silence human! You will not speak in my presence!> the cat snapped, turning his attention to the offending human.

I took out my Pokédex and aimed it at the Pokémon.

"Arkbull, the Cheetah Pokémon – a Pokémon of the Normal and Dark types. Further information unavailable, Pokédex upgrade required."

"Bugger it," I cursed. I thought of escaping and did so.

While wandering about in the long grass of Route 4 in search of a Bellsprout, my thoughts had turned to where the others currently were.

I wonder how far ahead of me the other three are. I wondered, before spotting something in the grass.

It was a small sallow bell-shaped Pokémon with slender root-like legs. Its head was fashioned like an upside-down pitcher plant and its body was thinner than a stick. Its 'arms' were fundamentally two broad leaves and its eyes were not much more than two black dots.

I quickly scanned my memory for a weak attack that one of my Pokémon knew. "Aarrghh!" I screamed in frustration. Think, think, think... Oh! Of course! Riley's Bite!

"Riley, use Bite on that Bellsprout!"

<Okay!>

The female Luxio rushed forward and bit into the leafy body of the Grass and Poison type.

"Belll… sprout BELL!" Bellsprout lurched again and let out a fine dose of purplish-black powder from her mouth as she fell backwards, beaten.

<Argh! Josephine… I… feel… sick…>

The female Luxio collapsed in a heap, weakened from the Poison Powder.

I swiftly threw a Poké Ball at the fragile Bellsprout. The Pokémon was sucked into the capsule in a flash of red light, and the sphere twitched until the small, familiar 'ding' sound emitted from the orb.

Bellsprout was caught.

Returning Riley to her sphere, I hurried over and picked up the red and white orb containing Bellsprout, whom I would nickname Wisteria.

*****

Having left the grunts at Mt. Moon in the hands of a capable Team Rocket Admin, Arkbull snickered, as his tail swished, and he took a couple of steps forward. He approached the fallen, magnificent looking fox who was staring at him with baleful red eyes, as he drew closer to her. The gem on his forehead began glowing darkly, and every step he took just made him lick his lips expectantly.

The yellow fur of her body was quite vibrant, and each of the nine tails she possessed had orange tips. There was also an additional set of fur on top of her head, serving as a hair of sorts, all in the same colour.

The Ninetales snarled, barking in anger at his approach. She tried to recede, but her wounds were too painful to allow her this movement. Even so, she was too proud to give in to her fears, and did not allow herself to show more weakness. Even as he approached her, she managed to insult him, calling him a traitor.

After the response, he snarled in defiance. With a deafening roar, he pounced, trying to guarantee that there would be no escape. While doing so, the black energy flew towards the Ninetales, in a spastic beam shape.

*****

The teenager ran the last ten metres to Cerulean City's entrance. Little did Josephine and Riley know that their biggest challenge yet was coming…

*****

About half an hour later, Kevin came across his Ninetales.

"No, this isn't happening," he moaned, upon seeing his Pokémon fatally injured. "Wyldfyre, how did this happen?"

The fox's eyes flicked open, glazed over; Kevin could see her creamy furred chest rising and falling irregularly as she struggled to breathe. She turned to him, with a look of pure tranquillity and peace, and spoke with difficulty.

<… Idris…>

"Idris? The Persian who disrespected me so much? He'll pay for this!" Kevin's expression changed from shock to anger.

<No… don't. He's far stronger now… could kill you…>

"You mean he's evolved? How?" Kevin asked.

<Don't… know…> the female Ninetales replied, fighting off the inevitable a little longer.

"Wyldfyre, please. Let me help you, let me take you to a Pokémon…" Kevin began, but was cut off by a low, choked growl.

<It's too late, master. Let me… go now…>

The Ninetales closed her eyes; her irregular breathing slowed down and then it stopped.

Kevin bowed his head and closed his eyes, saddened by the death of his Pokémon. Feeling the anger rise up like a maddened serpent, he raised his head suddenly and yelled at the sky.

"Idris, I swear you WILL pay for this! Come hell or high water, you will die as painfully as Wyldfyre did!"

After feeling like this for a little while, Kevin had calmed down enough to realize that he needed to warn the other rebels of Idris' turning, so he pulled a walkie-talkie off his belt and spoke into it, holding the communication button down while doing so.

"Attention all rebels, attention all rebels. This is a code red. Idris is out and about. It seems that he's evolved into something which Wyldfyre said could kill me, so stay out of his way. I repeat, stay out of his way. Respond in your own time."

Fuyu · Dec 1, 2009

*claps solemnly* Very good. Very very good. I like the way you show development from all sides, making sure to clear up plotholes as best as you can. You've certainly come a long way. Sorry I haven't reviewed recently, been a very busy teen. Anyway, I look forward to your next update.

Legendarian Mistress · Dec 3, 2009

Extra 1: Turning Point (Rated PG 13 for some inappropriate speech from Persian)

Sandslash's POV

If any ordinary Pokémon had entered the chamber of Registeel, the punishment would have been death. For my shrew-like self, who had been abandoned by my trainer, it would result in much less.

It had all started when my trainer – a teenage male, dressed in a grey polo shirt and black denim trousers – was travelling around Hoenn in search of the chambers of the three Regis; the Golems of Ice, Steel and Rock. Having found the chambers of Regice and Regirock, the ambitious young trainer wanted to complete his mission by successfully finding the chamber of Registeel.

After searching for six months, however, he hadn't found it and all of a sudden gave up. What he didn't know, was that he was sitting outside of the Golem of Steel's chamber. The male trainer, known as Darren, turned to me and spoke despairingly.

"I don't know what to do, Sandslash. I've explored Hoenn for Registeel's chamber for what seems like forever, and I still haven't found it. What am I gonna do?" The tone in his voice sounded achingly desperate, as if he wanted to prove something to someone.

 I could clearly hear the desperation in my trainer's voice, but I didn't know how to help, nor did I know what my trainer was going to do in that act of hopelessness.

I've searched for months, and still nothing. Well, I'm gonna give up. I'll go back home to Littleroot Town and be satisfied enough that I found the chambers of Regice and Regirock. I'll leave Sandslash here, just tell him that I'll be back and he'll stay, loyal as a dog... Darren thought, not feeling the slightest bit guilty that he was leaving one of his partners behind.

My trainer stood up and spoke to me while packing his backpack. "I'm going to go home, buddy, but I'll be back. Just stay here and wait for me, okay?"

<Okay!> I immediately voiced my agreement, nodding vigorously.

With that, my trainer abandoned me for good as he walked off into the distance, never intending to come back for me at all. During this whole act, I had felt an immensely strong desire to explore inside the chamber, and now submitted to this pull. Walking into the massive cleft, I looked around in awe at how huge it was.

And there, at the very back of the room, was the Golem of Steel. Upon glancing closely at the steel-based creature, I noticed that Registeel had seven crimson eyes and his body was a dark grey metallic colour.

Without warning, an abnormality in the earth's tectonic plates occurred and an earthquake began. Rocks the size of boulders fell from the ceiling and the ground started to split open. In that instant, the supposedly fast asleep Registeel made his move. Grabbing me with liquid steel-like hands, which were connected to the Golem of Steel's arms and made of the same element, I in effect owed the Steel typed Regi.

<You were lucky I wasn't asleep,> Registeel spoke in an echoing, metallic-like voice. His multiple scarlet eyes glowed as he stated the obvious.

Remembering my manners of front of a Legendary, I lowered my head in respect. <Thank you for saving me. If you hadn't rescued me, I would have died.>

At that exact moment, a single shard of iron ore happened to fall from what remained of the ceiling. It struck my tail and a blinding white light filled the room.

<And so the debt begins to be paid...> Registeel said, more to himself than anyone else.

When the light faded, Sandmaul – a wickedly cool-looking, yet lethally dangerous final evolved form of the Sandshrew line – stood in my place.

The Golem of Steel addressed my Ground and Steel typed figure. <You owe me your life and, as such, are my servant. But your services are needed elsewhere at the moment, by others who are in greater need of vicious Pokémon. They call themselves Team Rocket and they reside in the region of Kanto.>

<As you wish, my lord,> I replied.

It was around this time that final evolved forms of Pokémon, who'd previously only had two stages, began to appear. Final evolved forms became more and more widespread and there didn't seem to be any way they could be gotten rid of.

Even as I found a way to get to Kanto, another commonly found Pokémon was set to evolve.

Who was that Pokémon...?

A love-struck Persian.

Persian's POV

Night lay upon the land; there was no moon, but the stars above shone over the trees. In a grassy meadow, a group of Pokémon were talking to each other about their trainer.

One of the creatures, a teal coloured dinosaur, did not appear to be all that interested in his surroundings. His facial expression was one of boredom and indifference. Slowly lumbering forward on four massive feet, the hefty reptile opened his huge mouth to let out a low-pitched roar. Compared with a second-staged Ivysaur, the pink flower on this Pokémon's back had completely opened up, with huge green palm leaves flanking it.

<You must respect Kevin!> the creature, a Venusaur, grunted. <He is your master now!>

<Respect smect,> I replied. <He doesn't train us, anyway, so who cares?>

This off-hand, sarcastic comment about their trainer infuriated the normally peaceful Exeggutor. Looking for the entire world like a palm tree with an unusually wide trunk – and big legs to boot – the huge brown Pokémon moved forward slightly, glaring directly at my insolent figure. Three coconut-like yellow heads seemingly hung from the mass of green palm leaves that grew out in all directions. While each of the faces wore a different expression, it seemed as if all three were having a good time.

<How dare you talk about Kevin like that?! Yes, you were only recently captured, but that does NOT give you the right to disrespect your trainer!>

A magnificent fox stepped forward, looking at all of us with red eyes. The yellow fur of her body was quite vibrant, and each of the nine tails she possessed had orange tips. There was also an additional lock of fur on top of her head, in the same colour as well.

<Venusaur and Exeggutor are right, Idris. You must heed the rules Kevin has.>

Looking as though I were drunk, I staggered over to the female Ninetales. <Wyldfyre... rules smules. The only thing I can think about is you; you're on my mind all of the time.>

Wyldfyre recoiled, disgusted at my actions.

<That's quite enough, Idris.> Exeggutor telepathically picked me up and threw me a fair distance away.

Later that night, I was resting on a smooth, flat rock when I heard a voice. <Who's there?> I asked arrogantly. When there was no response, my scarlet eyes narrowed and I grunted with the effort of rising to my paws.

A dark being materialized, his lavender eyes glowing cyan, as he spoke telepathically. <I have been watching you for some time and I know that you desire to be stronger. Because my powers are far superior to any other Psychic type, I can help you do that.>

I ran my gaze over the tall, bipedal feline. <Deal,> I answered, not considering any consequences of my rash decision.

<There is a price to pay...>

<Don't care, just do it.>

<As you wish,> the being, who revealed himself to be Mewtwo, replied. As the clone reached out with a three-fingered paw-like hand, everything around me seemed to disappear entirely; the rock I'd been resting on, the grass, the night sky... everything.

I tried to speak, but no words came out. It was as though I'd fallen into a black hole, but then something changed. I felt my legs lengthen considerably, my fur altered colour, and my ears and whiskers grew as well.

There was an extended amount of time before I could speak, during which I noticed I had been brought to a rather official building with a large crimson 'R' on it.

<Inside this building is a man called Rowan. Find him and he will give you your first job.>

 I rejoined, somewhat surprised that my voice had distorted, too.

<And the price you had to pay...? You will never be able to love again.>

A month later, I was watching my former team-mates train, but I had no feelings of compassion or pity for them, because I was now a member of the infamous Team Rocket. The position was indeed an unusual one for the organization – I was the first ever Pokémon Team Rocket Admin, but it was guaranteed that there would be more Pokémon Admins in the future.

My next job was to find and kill Wyldfyre.

Legendarian Mistress · Dec 7, 2009

A/N: Credit goes to Alakazam17, or A17 for short, for the description of Sandmaul.

Chapter 6: Cerulean City – Chaos and the Second Badge
Part 1: Misty

"... outbreak of shiny Elekid at the Power Plant, five miles south-east of Cerulean City. We encourage you to stay away from the abandoned electrical building, as Elekid are best known for their intentional shockings and playful natures. Emily?"

"Thanks Alice, we have two breaking news reports, the second of which Alice will be reading. A few hours ago, the legendaries of Johto mysteriously left the region. The reason for this? We're unsure, but a local of Ecruteak caught sight of what looked like a gigantic, phoenix-like bird flying out of the Tin Tower. It met with the draconic leviathan of the Whirl Islands, before they both flew eastwards towards Kanto, with the Beast trio following closely. This is Emily Tucker of the Johton News – back to you, Alice."

"Thanks Emily. Back in Kanto – the bloodied, mangled body of a woman has been found along with the mauled forms of her six Pokémon on the outskirts of Cerulean City. It is inconclusive as to how they all died, but the paw prints of a Pokémon have been found at the scene. The Kantonian Police Force believe the deceased woman was a high-ranking member of the recently resurrected Team Rocket, but the only witness to this horrible crime insisted that she remain anonymous. Further investigation into the case will begin later today. Alice Jacques for the Kantonian Regional News, over to you Richard."

"Thanks Alice, Emily. As you all may know, the Pokémon League season is well under way –"

Bethany pressed the remote control, shutting the television off. It was almost 10 AM and the death of Viola had not accomplished a thing. She tossed the remote away and pondered in her thoughts for a while. Viola's intended victim had escaped with her life intact and Viola herself had been ripped to shreds by a Pokémon. It was almost as if the death signified the very slow, crumbling demise of Team Rocket.

But the organization only just resurrected itself! Bethany thought wildly, trying to keep hope alive for the syndicate. Bethany Swift was the Commander-General of Rowan Harris' revived Kantonian Rocket forces, but she had a history all of her own. She was an experiment, a successful clone of Josephine's deceased older sister. Crimson Lightning was often complimented, in the organization, for her deep scarlet-coloured hair which fell to the middle of her back. It was currently in a braided ponytail.

Like the late Tara, she had hazel eyes but they appeared to have a bit of silver in them, instead of the bluish-green eyes that Tara had been blessed with. Her skin was fairly light, but did possess some colour, due to her enjoying the outside rather than the inside. Bethany's face was like that of an elf's; pointed chin, slightly slanted eyes, and rather small ears. Miss Swift's outfit consisted of a long crimson and yellow dress.

Crimson Lightning's main Electric type partner was a slightly humanoid feline-like creature that stood to the height of Bethany's chest. He had yellow fur with jagged black thunderbolt stripes. His arms were almost the length of his body and his hands appeared to be human-like with the five fingers. The Electric type's feet had two sharp claws in the front and one in the back, similar to that of a bird's talon. On the top of his head, he had what appeared to be two rounded antennae. Electabuzz's long, thin tail slammed into the ground.

Wildflame and Buzzsaw, the Charizard and Electabuzz respectively, were having a private conversation while glancing at their trainer from time to time. It was as if they knew that Viola's death heralded the "snail's pace" demise of Team Rocket.

<So what do you think?> Wildflame huffed, small wisps of flame coming out of his jaws.

 Buzzsaw answered. He thrust his right hand out in front of him and deliberately made it crackle with electricity. Looking into Wildflame's eyes, the Electabuzz knew that his fiery companion felt that his statement was the truth.

<Although,> the Charizard began, <Redfur deserted Nighthawk, remember? Without a Fire type, how will Nighthawk battle effectively?>

 the Electric type replied. <Oh, it looks as though our trainer is getting ready to visit Nighthawk. We had better return to our spheres.>

With that, the two Pokémon recalled themselves into their balls, before Bethany placed the orbs back on her belt and headed towards Nighthawk's office.

Elsewhere in the city of Viridian, a conversation had begun. "Do you know what is requested of you?" a harsh voice questioned of the Admin who was standing across the room from the speaker. The speaker was the Team Rocket-affiliated head scientist, Professor Robert Jones, and he was addressing Nighthawk.

The room was situated in a secret tunnel that branched away from the main area of the underground laboratory, which happened to be directly underneath the Viridian City Pokémon Mart. Jones was dressed in his usual white lab coat, black boots and matching dark blue denim trousers and shirt.

"Yes, sir," came the twelve-year-old's answer.

"You are dismissed," Jones muttered to the pre-teen under his breath.

Once the boy had left and was out of earshot, he let out a yell.

"WHERE in blazes is Arkbull?!" he shouted to no-one in particular.

It was at this moment that the evolved form of Persian slunk into the room. <You wanted me?> he inquired haughtily.

A porcupine, rising up on his own two legs, had a nasty looking expression forming on his face as he stood guard on the left hand side of the door. There were dozens of brown spikes protruding from his sandy yellow back. His large, scaly paws ended in long, seemingly metallic claws, and from the spikes coming from the back, there was a tail, which was perhaps the most fearsome part of the creature. It was scorpion-like in design, ending with a claw that resembled those on the claws in so many ways – that is, except for size. It had the same sharp edges, and the same metallic feel, though it was three, perhaps four times the size. It definitely looked like it had been attached to the creature at some point during his life, but no, it was completely natural.

"YES! I wanted you!" Jones yelled at Arkbull. "WHERE have you been?!"

<Completing my mission,> the conceited Pokémon answered, staring back at the human.

"… Very well. You and Sandmaul are dismissed!" Professor Robert Jones turned his back on the evolved forms of Persian and Sandslash. I can't stand it when he stares back at me like that, scares me to no end…

Beckoning with his tail to Sandmaul, Arkbull ambled out of the room, with the scorpion-tailed hulking shrew following him.

Celeste Silverini, or Lady Grey as she preferred to be known within the organization, had long since shredded any last remaining evidence of Project: Psychosa. The forty nine-year-old heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Nighthawk standing in the doorway of the laboratory. Lady Grey's face appeared rather girlish, but she was obviously quite experienced since she had naturally coloured silvery-grey hair which flowed to the middle of her back. Her eyes were unnaturally silver, which possessed a rather mysterious glow from them. Her outfit consisted of a long grey dress, grey boots and her usual long white lab coat.

"What do you want, Nighthawk?" Celeste questioned the twelve-year-old coldly. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

Felmare appeared a couple of seconds after his master had and shared a pointed look with the boy who refused to be known as Ace Black. "I don't see any so-called work," Nighthawk answered, making a show of looking around. "I came to inform you that the decision was handed down."

"What decision?" the silver-haired woman sneered, as if she already knew.

"The boss' decision to make me a Commander, now that Sunray Striker is dead." Nighthawk paused, reading and deciphering the expression on Lady Grey's face. "... You knew? You knew all along?" He seemed taken aback.

"Oh please," Celeste snorted dismissively. "Of course I knew. I was the one who recommended your promotion in the first place, so it is me you should be thanking, not the boss."

"Well, thank you," Nighthawk replied back in a mocking tone as he and Felmare left the laboratory. The twelve-year-old reached his office not long after that to find Crimson Lightning waiting for him. "GET OUT!" he yelled, thrusting the door open. "I ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THE DECISION, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU CAME TO TELL ME!"

Bethany paled significantly and hurried out, vowing to come back when Nighthawk was in a better mood.

*****

Juri's POV

Immediately after entering the city of Cerulean, Josephine stopped as she felt one of her Poké Balls wriggle violently. As the orb burst open, Kingpin's form emerged, glowing a brilliant white.

The male Nidoran was changing, evolving into Nidorino.

The light show exploded as Nidorino jumped, energy flowing into the air, before he took an offensive position.

<BOOYEAH!!> Kingpin yelled, fully intense. <I'd been waiting for that to happen!>

"Congratulations, Kingpin! Well done!" Josephine cried happily.

She then called upon me. "When are you going to evolve?" she asked.

I faced my mistress and replied, <It will happen. Give me time. Why do you ask?>

A brief pause, then… "I'm asking because you were the first Pokémon I ever caught; and while you started gaining experience pretty much from the Viridian Forest onwards… I'd have thought you'd have evolved by now. Do you know what I mean?"

<It will happen,> I repeated.

Watching the female trainer from a hidden vantage point, a large, grey pterodactyl, with a very large body sat motionless in an ancient cedar tree. His long arms, which had leather wings attached to them and very small claw-like hands, were folded on his back. The Pokémon tilted his massive head and grinned devilishly at his mistress's plan.

Mere moments later, a loud screech sliced through the air as the creature took off, flying away to report his findings to his mistress.

Had it not been for the Pokémon's screech, I would not have known about the dinosaur's presence. Startled slightly, I turned and looked up, seeing the massive creature flying overhead. I pondered on whether to tell my mistress, but decided against it.

*****

Paul's POV

My Pokémon and I were on our way to Cerulean City, while catching a few Pokémon along the way, on Route 4. Things were going pretty smoothly, as well as peacefully, until I heard a yell.

"Enough of this! Stop it!"

My Pokémon and I stopped at the sound of this.

"Come on guys, someone needs our help!" My Pokémon nodded and they all ran to where the yell was heard. They entered a clearing to see a Pokémon battle going on.

Two roughly humanoid Pokémon advanced on a teenager who wore a blue skin-tight leotard-like top, as well as blue swimming shorts, with a red swimming towel slung across one shoulder. Her auburn hair was slightly spiked and a lock was to one side in a pigtail. Her red swimming towel matched her red shoes perfectly.

The first was almost saurian with armoured shoulder blades and a crown of horned plates atop his head. Although small and lithe, muscles rippled beneath his rough skin, lavender skirt and sweat vest. Large red boxing gloves made his preferred fighting style obvious.

The second had a round, smooth body and no facial features beyond small dark eyes. Although his arms were small and weak his legs were large and his feet clawed. He bounced on the spot, his legs ready to spring out and attack.

The teen's average-sized turtle was reaching the end of his limitations. Bluish-purple in colour, he had stationary white ears that resembled wings. A huge curly white tail stuck out from the bottom of his hard brown shell and, as he stood on his hind legs, he eyed both enemies closely. His brown eyes were glazed over in admittance of defeat and, finally, he slumped to the ground, exhausted from all of his injuries.

I took out my Pokédex to find out that the turtle-like Pokémon was called Wartortle, and the other two Pokémon were Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee.

Two figures suddenly jumped out of a nearby tree.

They were two men in their mid-twenties who were dressed in the most peculiar uniform. It was completely white, except for a black belt, and hung loosely on them like pyjamas.

Upon closer inspection of the men, I realized that they weren't wearing pyjamas; rather, they were wearing the dogi of martial arts students, although, as I understood it the black belt meant that they were of a high rank, so their studentship was questionable. Although their height wasn't impressive, I could see their distinct muscles underneath their gi and knew that the men were as much a force to be reckoned with as their Pokémon.

"I've got to help them now! Let's go!" I told my Pokémon, who nodded in agreement. "Hey!" I yelled as I ran in front of the Wartortle and the girl. "Whoever you are, leave these two alone! Or you'll face my Pokémon... and believe me, they're tough!" I shouted at the two figures.

"You seriously think you can defeat our Pokémon?" the first male said. He had long black hair, and it appeared that the Hitmonchan belonged to him.

"Ron's right. You can't defeat us – our Pokémon are too strong," the second male added, and then continued. "Hitmonlee, get ready."

"You too, Hitmonchan. Tom, after this, we'll leave." Ron told his companion, a blonde haired seventeen-year-old.

From behind a thick hedge, two Pokémon belonging to the quartet's number one enemy were watching the incident. The first one, the sleek and arrogant Glaceon known as Icestorm, faced his companion and narrowed his opaque emerald-green eyes.

The other Pokémon – a massive Grass and Ground typed creature referred to as Wildcedar – was turtloid in appearance. As he snapped his lethal beaked mouth, it was noticeable that his badger-like head had spikes protruding from the sides. Wildcedar's gigantic tree, combined with the fact that spikes stuck out from his sides, made the seemingly placid Pokémon appear vicious. He also had a brown underside, which led down to his four one-nailed stocky feet.

<We may be the antagonist's minions, but don't you think it's still our duty to help those in need?> Icestorm asked in his characteristically denigrating manner.

<The boy is familiar. I've sensed that sort of personality in another. But we must hurry – we have to return to our master,> Wildcedar answered in an aristocratic tone.

"Hitmonchan, Mach Punch!" Ron commanded.

"Hitmonlee, Hi Jump Kick!" ordered Tom.

Behind the hedge, the two Pokémon nodded and lunged out of the thick shrub.

"Glaaaace!" the blue-furred fox growled as loudly as he could, preparing a Hyper Beam at the same time.

"Tor! Terra!" the Grass type bellowed throatily as a root, as big and wide as a skyscraper, shot up from the ground. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee skidded to a halt, their eyes wide with shock and sweat-drops appeared on their faces as they tried to run back to their masters. However, the immense surge of energy from both attacks pushed them and their Pokémon away, into the distance.

The Glaceon stopped, gasping for breath, and eventually his breathing returned to normal. He and the Torterra turned to Scarlei, Brute and I.

<I'm Torterra and this is my companion Glaceon,> the Torterra said.

I took out my Pokédex and pointed it at the giant land-based turtle. "Torterra, the Continent Pokémon – a Pokémon of the Grass and Ground types. Groups of these Pokémon migrating in search of water have been mistaken for moving forests," the device reported.

<I'm a Pokémon also from Sinnoh,> Glaceon said.

Pointing the Pokédex at Glaceon, I listened to the Pokédex entry. "Glaceon, the Fresh Snow Pokémon – a Pokémon of the Ice type. As a protective technique, it can completely freeze its fur to make its hairs stand like needles."

Beside me, the girl groaned as she attempted to get up.

<It is time for us to go. Boy, look after the girl. Come, Glaceon!> the Torterra snapped, and as I turned to ask Torterra what it meant by "look after the girl", I discovered that the two Pokémon had already vanished.

"Oh well," I said. "I guess I better check on these two and then get them to Cerulean City as fast as I can." I shook the girl and asked if she was still there, but there was no response. I put my hand on her chest, to make sure that she still had a heartbeat. Even though it was faint, I could feel it.

"She's still alive, that's for sure. Come on guys – let's go to Cerulean!" With that, I picked a Poké Ball off the girl's belt and returned Wartortle. I then placed the Poké Ball back on the belt, picked up the girl and took her into Cerulean City. I made it to the Cerulean City Hospital and rushed in. Just like the nurses from the Centres, the nurses in the Hospital had the same uniform, except that the colours were reversed.

"Nurse!" I called to the woman behind the counter. "I need your help!!"

"Yes, what is it?" the nurse asked, looking up at him. Then she noticed the girl on my back. "Oh dear…"

"Please, she was in a battle against a Hitmonchan and a Hitmonlee, and she's hurt badly." I told her desperately.

"Right, bring her this way!" the nurse told me. I brought the girl behind the counter and through the emergency door to a table. "Set her down here."

I placed the girl down onto the table.

"I can't believe that this has happened to Misty," the nurse said, with a worried expression on her face as a Chansey came over and hooked Misty up to life support. Yes, there were even Chansey in the Hospital.

"So, her name is Misty?" I asked, still looking at the girl.

"Yes, she is our town's Gym Leader," the nurse said, putting an oxygen mask on Misty.

"She's the Gym Leader?!" I was surprised. The nurse nodded. I looked back at Misty, amazed because she appeared no older than me.

"Her mother died when she was ten, but with the help of her sisters, Daisy, Violet and Lily, she was able to get over that and eventually become Cerulean's Gym Leader." The nurse explained. "She is strong-willed."

She lost her mother, I thought as I remembered my own parents – one was a high-ranking Police Officer in Viridian, and the other had left me. "Nurse, where does she live?"

"She lives at the Gym, accepting challenges from trainers and training at the same time," the nurse said, preparing things for Misty to stay through the night. "Are you Paul?" she asked of me, as I was still staring at Misty.

"Yes, I am. How did you know?" I broke my gaze on Misty and looked at the nurse.

"The Pokémon Centre Nurse Joys in Viridian and Pewter told me about you," the nurse said with a smile. "They didn't tell me that you're so helpful, though. I'm Matron Ariana, by the way. I'm the head nurse of Cerulean's Hospital."

I looked away and mumbled, "Yeah… well… I try."

Matron Ariana smiled at me again. "It's getting late. I think you should get some rest," she told me after looking at the clock.

"Matron Ariana…" I began.

The Matron looked at me, confused.

"Would it be okay if I stay here for the night?"

She nodded.

"Thanks!"

Matron Ariana left the room, leaving me alone with Misty. Suddenly, Scarlei's Poké Ball shook. I decided to let him out so I wouldn't have to hear his attitude in the morning.

<So Paul, are you going to do what I think you're going to do?> the Roselia asked, with a frosty grin that I thought shouldn't be allowed to exist in this world.

"Scarlei, I'm not like that!" I said, stunned that my own Pokémon would be thinking that.

My partner gave me an 'I don't believe you' look.

"I'm fourteen-years-old!!" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes in frustration.

<Why do you want to stay in here anyway?> Scarlei asked me.

"I just wanted to make sure that she is okay," I said, blushing slightly at the question.

The Roselia gave me the 'come on now' look when he saw me starting to turn red.

"Really! Something bad might happen during the night!" I insisted.

<Yeah, like you getting ideas.> Scarlei said, shaking his head at me. 

"Yeah…" I said, as I stared at Misty.

Scarlei started to smile at me wider than before.

"NO!! I DIDN'T MEAN IT SCARLEI, SERIOUSLY!!!"

The Thorn Pokémon's smile only got bigger and he was now waving his rosebud arms dangerously.

"Scarlei, I swear, if you tell her or anyone I said that…" I was nearly hysterical.

Roselia was on the edge of laughter.

"Scarlei, I mean it!!"

The Grass and Poison Pokémon couldn't contain himself anymore. He burst out laughing and started rolling on the floor. 

At the sound of all the noise, Matron Ariana came rushing into the room to see what was going on. "Please keep it down," she began, seeing me choking my starter. "Even though there aren't any other patients, it would help to get some sleep."

I looked up and stopped choking the Roselia. "I'm very sorry about that, Matron." I then nodded my head; the Matron bowed and left the room. I looked at my partner and said, "I think we should get some sleep."

The second staged evolution of Budew yawned in response. <Yeah, we should go to sleep. Good night Paul, and don't get any thoughts!> Scarlei warned me.

"Good night Scarlei, and keep your ideas to yourself." I raised my voice, slouching down on the chair next to Misty's bed. After a few minutes, sleep eventually took me and I was off dreaming about becoming a Pokémon Master.

Misty was running through a forest, being cut by every little twig that was sticking out. She heard noises from behind her; the menacing cries of her attackers. She turned and faced her fear; the threat of attack from the Team Rocket-affiliated Black Belts' Pokémon – Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. She finally entered a clearing and sent out her Wartortle that one of her sister's had given her.

Misty sat up as soon as she'd sent out Wartortle in her dream. She remembered how a boy attempted to protect her and Wartortle. She looked at her surroundings to find that she was in the Cerulean City Hospital. She looked to her right to find the same boy who she had seen earlier before passing out.

He was sleeping in the chair next to her bed, and then she panicked slightly, wondering where Wartortle was. She looked down at her belt and saw that Wartortle's Poké Ball was there. She calmed down and guessed that the boy had shown bravery by returning Wartortle, as Wartortle doesn't trust anyone it doesn't know and normally soaked them. She smiled at the boy, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for saving Wartortle and I," she said before falling asleep.

I awoke in the morning to find my left cheek warm. I touched it and wondered why it felt like that. Eventually, I shrugged it off. I checked to see if Misty was okay. She was sleeping with a smile on her face. After seeing that, I went to have a shower. Coming out, I saw that my partner was wide awake, and checking out some needles. I quickly put a stop to that. We got into an argument over it, which woke Misty.

Misty sat up to see the two wrestling with each other, with the Roselia winning because of his thorn-tipped rosebuds. "Guys, what are you arguing about?" she asked them in a tired voice.

We both stopped fighting and looked at her with Scarlei getting a grin on his face. <Hey Misty! What's up?! My name is Scarlei the Roselia, glad to meet you!> The Thorn Pokémon walked towards Misty, still grinning.

I had a pretty good idea of what my partner was planning.

<Over there is my trainer, Paul, and he has…>

I ran over and hit my starter on the head.

<Paul! That hurt!> The Grass and Poison Pokémon complained.

"What he was about to say, is that I have one other Pokémon as well." I said, relieved that I was able to come up with something that didn't make me look suspicious.

Misty gave me an odd look.

"So, are you feeling any better?" I asked, looking worried.

"Yes!" she said cheerfully, smiling at me. "How did you defeat my attackers?"

"I didn't. I was aided by a wild Torterra and Glaceon. They defeated your attackers. But why were they attacking you?" I asked, referring to Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee.

"A week ago, I noticed Wartortle and I were being followed. Eventually, they attacked and Wartortle did his best to protect me, but the tension had drained his powers and they threatened to steal Wartortle. If you hadn't come along, they would have taken my friend." Misty explained.

I was stunned. "Let me guess – they're a part of Team Rocket?"

Misty nodded, and then a question popped up in her mind. "How did you get me to the Hospital in Cerulean, if you're not a local?"

I stared at Misty, and then I replied. "It's obvious. Everyone knows what a Hospital looks like…"

Scarlei interrupted me. <He wanted to make sure you had a heartbeat, so he touched your chest to make sure you did!>

There was a long silence at this statement. Then, from out of nowhere, Misty's attitude changed completely. "WHAT??!!" she yelled at the Pokémon. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!"

The Roselia just nodded and moved away from me, knowing what was about to happen.

"Scarlei… why did you do that!?!" I said angrily through gritted teeth.

Misty jumped out of the bed, ran towards me, jumped on top of me and made me fall to the floor, causing me as much pain as possible. I rolled Misty over to avoid any further pain and held her down. Hearing all of the commotion, Matron Ariana came in. "What is it now?" she asked before seeing me on top of Misty. We both turned their attention to Nurse Joy, who started to blush.

"Well… it's good to see that you're better Misty… I'll leave you…" she said quietly before closing the door. I got off Misty and helped her up. We were both silent for a while, as Scarlei's mouth opened wide at what he'd just seen.

The Pokémon then decided to break the silence and said in a serious tone that he'd only used once before. <Paul, I was just joking around earlier; I didn't mean it.>

I just looked at my partner before apologizing to Misty. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier. It was the only thing I could do. I don't know how to take a pulse anywhere else, so that was the only way I knew how to feel for a heartbeat," I said in a tone that matched my words.

Misty turned to face me at the sound of my apologetic voice. "It's okay – I mean, you were really only doing it to make sure," she said, also in an apologetic voice. "You did save my life… and I never thanked you for it."

"No problem. By the way, how old are you exactly? I'm going to be fifteen in a few weeks. I was wondering, because you seem to be older than me." I said, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Oh, you're only fourteen?" she asked, sounding surprised. "I just turned fifteen a couple of months ago, so that means that we were born in the same year. I'm surprised, though, that you're only fourteen. You seemed older to me," she added, with a small smile.

"That means a lot, Misty." I said, returning her smile with one myself. "So Misty, I heard that you are the Gym Leader here. Once you're completely better, would you like to have a Gym battle?"

"Yes, I would love to have a battle against you. I haven't had a Gym battle for a while, and I think it would be great to battle a trainer like you." Misty accepted the offer happily.

I smiled as Misty and I talked some more about ourselves. We didn't notice Matron Ariana looking in at us, a cheerful look on her face as she walked past, knowing we were starting to become really good friends and maybe more than that.

*****

Later that evening, Sabrina and Lucian teleported into Cerulean City, as Lucian wanted to find and berate Katie Emerson. The two Psychics found the Pharaohonian-born teen relaxing on one of the Pokémon Centre's stunning scarlet sofas after a long day.

"I left a note for the four of you. Did you read...?" Sabrina began, but was immediately cut off by Lucian's out of character yelling.

"SABRINA TOLD YOU TO TELL ME IF YOU WERE ABLE TO RESTORE THE VIRIDIAN FOREST THAT YOU WERE TO INFORM ME RIGHT AWAY! WE ARE AWARE THAT THE FOREST HAS BEEN REVIVED, BUT I RECEIVED NO MENTAL PROBE TELLING ME AS SUCH! WHY?!"

"Chill Lucian," Katie responded, merely looking at her Elite Four mentor. "We experienced a fair bit of stress as we traversed through the Forest, and I simply forgot."

"Don't tell me to chill," Lucian hissed angrily. "How do I know you're not lying...?"

This time Sabrina cut Lucian off as her crimson eyes stared into his lavender ones. "She means it, Lucian. She wants you to relax. She's telling you the truth, I just read her mind."

At this, Lucian stopped short and blinked in surprise. Quickly changing the subject, he asked Katie about her progress. "How are you going with controlling your powers?"

"Quite well," she answered. "I can freeze time and manipulate the growth of vegetation."

"What of the others?" It was Sabrina this time.

"Josephine and Paul, you mean? I don't know; Rachel and I were the first to reach Cerulean," the brunette with blonde foils replied.

"We'll be leaving you now," the Saffron-born Gym Leader stated. "Be sure to find the other two as soon as you can. Come on, Lucian."

And with that, the two Psychics exited the Pokémon Centre, leaving Katie to go up to her pre-booked room unhurriedly. She lay on the sofa for just a few minutes extra, before getting to her feet and strolling along up the escalators to her room.

In another room in the Centre, Josephine lay in her bed, thinking about her relationship with Paul. She knew she loved him, but wasn't going to admit it to anyone. Little did she know that a far handsomer teen would catch her eye and be with her all of the time, very soon in fact; this alone would cause the relationship to fall apart and would make Paul very jealous.

Sgt Shock · Dec 8, 2009

Awesome chapter Kyuu-chan. Sorry for my absence. I should told you that I had finals this week and wasn't going to be as activate (grades before fiction writings). :D I'll be working hard for now own. I'm closing towards my break. Good job and keep the good work up.

Legendarian Mistress · Dec 13, 2009

A/N: I'd like to thank my co-authors, KP and SS, for helping out with part 2.

Part 2: Teamwork

Josephine cheered after the defeat of the last of the Nugget Bridge trainers, along with Juri, the next morning. The Camper returned his Mankey, a furry primate-like creature with a long, curly tail, pig nose and nasty attitude, and stood up erect, giving her a sharp nod. "I did my best. I have no regrets!" he shouted out, making the girl roll her eyes. The other four before him had said the same thing, and had gotten it stuck in her head.

"All right, I get the drift," she sighed. "But you're the last one, right?"

Though he didn't answer vocally, Camper Ethan nodded once. Relieved, Josephine returned the Sandshrew into his Poké Ball and ran the rest of the way. It wasn't very lengthy like with the spaces between the Nugget Bridge trainers, but it was even still quite a way. At the end of the bridge, she stumbled over the steps, crying out and flailing her arms around rapidly in the hope of rebalancing herself. She only fell back onto her rear, where she screamed loudly, "DAMN IT ALL!"

"Well, that's not a nice way to say you're upset, but I agree," a voice commented beside her.

The trainer turned her head at once to see a lone man standing at the end of the bridge. He had a strange, almost maniacal smile on his face, his eyebrows raised and hands behind his back. The eyes were dark and glinted at her eerily. Even in the morning sunlight, his dark hair didn't have a highlight gleam. It was very peculiar, but Josephine got herself up without a second thought. "Yeah... I guess. But my butt hurts still."

"It'll go away eventually. Now, for your prize for making it over the Bridge all in one piece." He swung one arm toward the girl, a small, round object sparkling as it arched to her.

She caught it at once, hazel eyes staring at the curious item in her palm. "I-It's... gold."

"That's called a Nugget, my good lady," he told her, grinning wider. "You can sell that at a good price."

"Good deal, good deal," she agreed, dropping it in a side pocket of her bag.

The man didn't move one bit, except for the slight muscle twitch at the corners of the mouth. "Now that you're pleased, how would you like to join Team Rocket?"

"Yeah, I guess I am very—" She paused quickly, looking back at the man. "Did my ears deceive me, or did you actually say 'Team Rocket'?"

"I did, my good lady," he proudly said. "Watching your feat on the Bridge was very stimulating, and we could use good people like you. So, what do ya say?" At this, he held out a hand in front of her.

She stared at it for a few minutes, and then smirked. "First, let me think about this thing," she slowly said, "so why don't you put your hand down until I do?"

Confused, the man did so. That was when Josephine quickly shot out her own hand, grinning like how he was. "All right, then. I accept!"

<Josephine, what in the world are you doing?!> She heard Riley's shocked voice exclaim from her Poké Ball. <That's Team Rocket you're talking to!>

She didn't reply back.

A grin of sinister nature grew on the man's face at the offer. "You got yourself a deal." And he reached out to grasp it.

Suddenly, she pulled her arm back – popping it – and laughed, "Psyche!" much to her Pokémon's relief.

He wasn't very prepared for what had happened, and his eyes stared widely at her in disbelief. "You little witch! You tricked me!"

She rubbed a finger on her nose, snickering. "I guess I have potential in me after all."

With a growl, he ripped off the disguise, revealing his black uniform and crimson "R" on the shirt. He was wearing the usual hat to shadow his eyes, one explanation as to why they were very dark. From his belt, he pulled out two Poké Balls and threw them out, revealing a Rattata and Zubat. "You won't have anything in you when you're through with me!" he snarled. "Since you won't join, you're my enemy."

Shrugging, Josephine brought out two of her own, releasing Riley and Breona, who glared at the opposing Pokémon. "I try my best. I have no regrets."

*****

Paul and Misty were having breakfast at the Pokémon Centre together, having a chat. Over the last hour, the boy learned more about the Leader of the city than he did the first day he and Josephine met. He found out her fears, likes and dislikes, favourite Pokémon, why she enjoyed Water types, etcetera. What was the most interesting was she being the youngest of four sisters, and not the most popular, except for being well-known as Gym Leader. She inherited the Gym when her sisters decided to go on vacation around the world until they would return.

Before then, she didn't train her Pokémon by battling, and found it a little difficult fighting other trainers. But practice makes perfect, as she said, and before she knew it, she was able to use her Pokémon's special skills successfully, giving beginning trainers a taste of how true Gym Leaders fight. She was eventually voted the hardest beginning trainer of Kanto, something her sisters had ended up reading on their trip. When they returned, they congratulated Misty for proving herself worthy to run it herself, and the sisters officially retired, eventually marrying.

He just couldn't wait to start battling her, having hung onto her every word.

She finished with a smile, brushing away a bang. "So... what's your story?"

Paul took a deep breath. "Well... I lived with my older sister, Cherry," he began, glancing at the table. "When I was eight, my mother was promoted to Superintendent and my beat-nik father left. But before then, we were a happy family, and I wasn't the grumpy sour-puss I am today. But after that all happened, my godfather, Professor Oak, took care of us. He taught us all about Pokémon, but I'm not sure how well I listened. Probably very good if I was able to pass school, but I turned cocky and everything. I'll use brawn instead of brain first, and shout out things automatically. I'm pretty much not afraid to speak my mind because of this, but it usually gets me in trouble." He shrugged heavily, sighing. "My life's pretty much crap right now. Losing a parent and having one promoted isn't good for you, it seems. The trauma... does things to you."

Misty reached out for his hands, grasping them in her own, a compassionate look etched on her face. Her eyes shone with shared sadness. "Oh, Paul... I lost my parents, too. But I was younger than you, and it left me in the care of my sisters, who really didn't give me much attention. I lived in their shadows for years, which explained my brash behaviour against you, sorry."

He grinned sheepishly; his face a slight shade of rose. "That's okay. Guess I really should've paid attention in health class."

She giggled.

The ding of the Centre's doors opening caught their attention, turning to see who was coming in. At once, Paul tensed up, watching as Josephine strutted in with a large, pleasing grin on her face. She strolled up to the counter and pulled out her Poké Balls, asking for a recovery process. Nurse Joy happily accepted it, and turned for the other room. The auburn-haired boy quickly looked to the wall, in the hopes to avoid eye contact.

Misty noticed, blinking in confusion. "What's wrong, Paul?" she wondered.

"I don't want her looking over here," he said through gritted teeth. "She won't leave.

"HE-E-EY, PAUL!"

Misty sweat-dropped. "Too late."

Josephine came up to the table, a smirk of superiority plastered on her face. She leaned closer to him. "So! Wanna know what happened to me today?"

"No, I don't want to know what happened to you today," he grumbled, hand covering his face in agitation.

"Fine, but you don't know what you're missing! Hey, who's this?" she quickly asked, turning to Misty, who grinned. Paul immediately turned a bright red at the question, knowing exactly who she meant without looking.

The girl stood up and extended a hand. "My name's Misty," she introduced herself. "I'm the Cerulean City Gym Leader."

The redhead, while shaking her hand, suddenly paused, and her eyes grew wide. Her mouth gaped open, and her legs locked up. From the corner of his eye, the boy could see Misty was in danger. Getting up, he pulled her away, leaving Josephine's arm still hanging in mid-air. "You'd better cover your ears," he muttered.

She was still confused. "Why?"

Her answer immediately came. The trainer had gone into shock, having not believing what she was told. All tense and slightly shaking, she took a breath and hollered, "YOU'RE THE GYM LEADER?!" Any surrounding people in the room turned to stare at her, and a Chansey poked its head out to see what was going on. "NO WAY!"

Paul scowled. Wanting to stay calm in front of Misty, he responded, "Yes, Josephine, she is. Now calm down."

"But she's younger than Brock! It's impossible!" she continued to shout.

Folding his arms tightly, he inquired in annoyance, "You didn't consume any sugar this morning, did you?"

"No! I'm still worked up from the battle with a Team Rocket grunt this morning! But still, she's the Gym Leader?!"

"Go back, go back!" the girl suddenly demanded, walking up to the hyper trainer. "Did you say you battled a grunt?"

"Heck yes, I did! He was easy as pie! He gave me this Nugget, though. Let me show you—"

"Josephine, never mind the Nugget!" Paul snapped, startling the Leader. With a clearing to the throat, he started again, with a softer voice. "Never mind the Nugget. Now, Misty. Why is it you were wondering about the grunt?"

She nodded, turning back to Josephine. "We've been having secret agents belonging to Team Rocket roaming around lately," she recalled. "There's been a recent report of someone's house being trashed by men in black uniforms, searching for a TM that held Dig. They took off with the item, and the police are still tracking them down. The grunt you battled might have had the TM."

"No, only this Nugget," she interrupted, holding up the gold piece.

"Well, still, he might've known about it. Do you know where he is at the moment?"

"He left without a trace after our battle."

"Where did he go?"

The redhead shrugged. "He threw down a smoke bomb and vanished. Like a ninja."

Paul smacked his forehead. "There are no such things as ninjas, how many times am I going to tell you?"

"There are too, Paul!" she yelled at him. "I know a ninja when I see one, and that grunt was a frickin' ninja! Why else did he have a smoke bomb?"

From the counter, Nurse Joy called out, "Your Pokémon are ready, miss," looking over at the small group.

Holding her head up high, she walked over and collected her Pokémon, being reminded on the rules of yelling in a hospital, and left alone. She turned back to Paul, placing her Poké Balls on her belt. "Our conversation is over," she pointed to him, "and when can we have our battle?" she asked the Leader.

Misty smiled. "I'm available this afternoon," she told her. "The best times are after lunch and before six."

"And where is it?"

Pointing toward the farthest wall in the Centre, she said, "Just beyond the Pokémon Centre. You can't miss it."

Speaking up, the auburn-haired boy warned her, "It won't help. Josephine doesn't have a sense of direction. She can't even find the North Star at night."

"I CAN TOO!" she screamed, stomping on his foot. Paul flinched, feeling his ankle going numb.

Sweat-dropping, the Leader gave him a look of pity. "Well... I'll see you two later. Nice to meet you, Josephine." With a wave, she exited the building. The boy watched her leave gracefully, silently cursing Josephine for intruding. He didn't even get the chance to ask for her number.

He gave a cry of agony when the girl ground his foot again and glowered at her. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he roared.

"Nothing!" she replied back, taking her foot off and crossing her arms. "I just like to torture you."

"Well, I don't think I can feel my foot anymore, thanks to you."

She gave a mocking smile. "You're welcome, rival. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go train. Want to shape up for the fight. What about you?"

"Go find a doctor," he sarcastically began, "and then train. What do you think I'm going to do?"

Josephine pondered for a few minutes, staring at the foot she crushed. With a finger pointed up toward the ceiling, she replied slowly, "You'll go train, and... find a doctor."

He threw his arms up into the air. "Gah! Why am I even talking to you? You're wasting my time." He turned to limp out of the Centre. "See ya, loser."

"Hey, you were wasting my time, first!" she shouted after him. She paused for a moment. "And I'm not a loser!" By then, he had gone past the doors and turned the corner. Scowling, she stamped out as well and looked to yell at him again. Her expression softened when she saw he wasn't anywhere in sight.

*****

For the following hours, the two avoided contact with each other, training on Route 24 and 25 to fight the other trainers. He battled hard, but Josephine tended to slack off after each trainer battle sometimes talking to them, or her Pokémon alone. At one point, she fell asleep growing bored, and had to be woken up Riley's static brushing against her cheek. After a fit of hysteria, she calmed down by fishing, yet not finding anything interesting but Magikarp.

<You know, they do evolve into something more powerful,> Kingpin mentioned after she threw the tenth fish back into the water. All her Pokémon were bored, and were sunning themselves or playing certain activities with one another.

"I don't care, they're not worth catching," she grumbled, staring evilly at the rod. She bit into a rice ball she had made a while back. "Besides, this one guy tried to convince me to buy one of those things, and I haven't had interest in Magikarp since." The Nidorino rolled his eyes, and returned to watching the others play, eating thoughtfully.

After they all had eaten, the girl checked her watch. Packing away her rod, she gestured to the others, "Come on, guys! Let's go have our Gym battle!" They all cheered, and ran the way back, even when it was downhill. At that time, Josephine held out her arms and pretended she was soaring down to the Gym, Breona cawing beside her.

Several people watched them go by, gawking at their behavior and shaking their heads. Paul was the one to see them speed their way to the Gym on his way back from Route 4. Brute saw this as competition, and with a bellow, dashed off as well. Sighing, he ran after him, his Pokémon quickly following. Kingpin had heard Brute's call of challenge, and pumped up his leg strength for more speed. Josephine noticed. "What's... wrong, Kingpin?" she puffed.

<We got company,> was his answer before pulling away.

Confused, she looked over and screamed seeing Brute closing in, Paul not too far behind. Because their paths were crossing, she tried to gain enough friction to slow. It wasn't enough. At the intersection, she missed running into the Nidorino, but ended up smacking into the boy. As it was still slightly downhill, the two and their colliding Pokémon rolled down what little hill was left.

The two Nidorino, so focused on their "challenge", failed to dodge the rolling bodies, and were sent flying. At long last, they stopped into a pile, Kingpin and Brute landing on top. Passers-by stopped to inspect the accident. Officer Jenny ran past the growing crowd to check on the trainers. "Are you guys alright?" she wondered, shuffling around for her communicator. "Do I need to call an ambulance?"

The teenagers groaned and caught each other's eye. With a quick scowl, Paul turned to her. "No, thank you. I'm fine. Though I'm not so sure about Clumsy here."

"I'm okay," she corrected him, glaring. "Thank you, though, Officer."

"What about your Pokémon?"

<Tell her to keep Kingpin and Brute away from each other,> Wisteria begged, carefully bending herself out of the pile. She extended her roots and safely touched ground. <Otherwise, I'm still pliable.>

Breona was the only one able to keep out of the collision, and landed next to the Bellsprout, wings folded. In her beak was Josephine's hat, which she dropped on top of her mistress's head. She tilted her head at the others struggling to get up. <They look fine,> she said, spreading out a wing.

Grinning, Josephine stated, "They're fine. We were going to take them to the Centre, anyway."

Riley scoffed, stretching once she was free. 

Once the weight was off their backs, the trainers stood up, dusting themselves off and stretching. Seeing they were okay, Officer Jenny nodded and broke up the crowd. When everyone was out of sight, they glowered at one another. They returned the Pokémon to their balls and headed for the Pokémon Centre. "What was wrong with you?" Paul muttered. "I'm telling you, you need to lay off the sugar."

"I didn't! It's excitement!"

"Then stop getting excited."

She stuck out her tongue at him.

*****

The trainers looked up at the Cerulean Gym determinedly and anxiously after the walk from the Centre. The building's colourful roof was spherical much like a carousel's top, supporting a plasterboard Dewgong exactly on the rim, just over the entrance. In bold letters underneath it, the Gym name screamed out to all available trainers, yet hollered to the two standing before it, gazing up at the vastness of the majestic building. It was more interesting than the Pewter Gym, being colourful and pleasing to the eye.

They had guesses to what awaited them inside. The battlefield could be similar to the previous Gym's, only more of the theme of water. Josephine had a vision of herself and Paul battling with their Pokémon underwater, hopefully with re-breathers, yet losing terribly. Glancing at the Poké Balls containing Breona and Riley, she grew worried they wouldn't last too long without over hydrating and running out of air. Or paralyzing everyone in the water before the drownings.

The auburn-haired boy turned to her, eyebrow raised. "So. You're not going to run off and never come back, are you?"

She did a double-take, laughing nervously as the images were pushed out of her head. "No, no! I'm fine, I'm ready!" She pumped her fist up in the air to reassure him. And herself. "I can so totally kick butt!"

Paul shrugged, looking back at the pearl-white seal. "Just checking on ya. You looked nervous."

Josephine shook her head. "Nah, not me. I don't know the meaning of 'nervous'." With a deep breath, she began walking erect toward the glass doors. "Now let's get going. You want the badge or not?"

Without another word, the teenager followed suit, hands in his jean pockets. The redhead kept her light eyes ahead of her, preparing to brace herself for whatever was beyond the doors. Her reflection drew closer a bit too quick for her, to the point she paused to stare into her face. She was indeed nervous; it was showing in the crease of her forehead and the frown. She was certain her Pokémon would have the wonderful advantage, but her fantasies of Misty's strength made her hesitate. It looked believable the Gym Leader with her knowledge of Water types could very easily defeat her, her obvious disadvantages.

She was within range of touching the handles, Paul could see that. But the way she eyed the reflection convinced him she was indeed having second thoughts about it all. He tilted his head. "Is there something wrong, Josephine?" he inquired, making her jolt. "Are the handles rigged?"

"What, no! I'm just... making last-minute strategies as all." She forced upon her face a grin before grasping the silver handle. "See? Nothing to worry about." Jerking her arm back, the door swung open. Looking inside, the two marvelled at the sight, as their jaws dropped.

The inside was more spacious than it looked on the outside, from its high ceilings to the humongous pool in the middle of the room. Spotlights were suspended above in the rafters pointed toward the water, stands that could seat hundreds built into the walls. The floor was smooth teal tile, and a sign by the door cautioned the two with "No Running" in red letters, yet they could see yellow signs lined up by the pool's edges.

Someone had recently been in here, for wet spots littered a few places and a path led to another pair of doors in a far-off corner. On the deep ends were long, white diving boards held high in the air above five coloured pads floating in the water. This intrigued the trainers. Two of the longer ones drifted at the ends, the smaller squares not too far up front. A good-sized yellow circle occupied the middle, yet left enough swimming water to not be a bother.

Paul strolled closer, his eyes wide in amazement at the originality and vacant room. Josephine kept her eyes on the pool from where she stood, staring at the pads balanced smack in the middle. She took in the size and shape of it all, not believing what she was seeing. "It's a field," she breathed, releasing the door. It closed quietly, but heavily, bumping up against her heels. She scooted forward sharply, glancing behind her shoulder in reaction.

"Very observant, Josephine," a feminine voice echoed, causing her to crick her neck turning back to the far end. Walking into the room, dressed in a periwinkle swimsuit and water shoes, Misty gave them a pleasing smile, orange hair put up in a side-ponytail. She had a cream towel hanging over a shoulder, and two miniature Poké Balls clutched in a hand. "My sisters have tried their hardest on making it stand out from the norm. I think they did very well."

The teenage boy, having turned his attention to the Leader, nodded in agreement. "Very original. I like it."

Misty smiled. "What's your friend like?" she wondered about Josephine, who was rubbing her neck and grumbling to herself. "We didn't have time to get to know each other back at the Pokémon Centre."

Paul rolled his eyes. "She's not fit to be a rival of mine," he muttered, loud enough for the Gym Leader to hear him. From the corner of his vision, he caught the golden highlights in her fiery hair, shimmering with slight movement. Her face and water-coloured eyes were glowing, a hint of cleanliness; she might have finished taking a shower, or she was the one swimming in the pool earlier. As much as the light was fluorescent and thus artificial, she was very real. He imagined the radiance about her as a halo, beaming down from the heavens itself. And not as pretty as you, he thought to himself.

The teen was too into gazing at Misty, he barely heard her speak once more. "You know her, then?"

He caught himself, and blurted out to cover it up, "Not really. But I'm not willing to know her any further." The girl placed her hands on her hips and titled her head, watching him closely. Paul flushed in embarrassment and looked away.

Josephine walked up with a quirky step, constantly reaching back to rub on the bruised heels. "Gah, those are hard," she explained, shaking her ankles around. When the throbs faded, she sighed, swinging her arms back and forth, looking up at the two teens.

"Alrighty, then. When do we—" She paused, spotting the pink on the boy's cheeks and Misty gazing upon him brightly. Her light eyes narrowed in slight suspicion. Looking between the two, and pointing at Paul, she said, "Is there something going on between the two of you?"

With a double-take and a cry of disbelief, he shouted, "No, there isn't!" The blush dyed deeper at the outburst, making the Gym Leader sweat-drop with a smile.

"You sure? If there is, I don't find it fair," she continued. "It's like being a teacher's pet, only instead it's a Leader's pet."

"There's nothing going on, I swear!"

Giggling, Misty waved her hand. "We're only friends, Josephine," she corrected her, making the golden-haired boy slump his shoulders. She raised her brows as she smiled, giving her the emotion of interest. "Well, since we're all here, we can begin. You want the rules, first?"

The female trainer nodded, fixing her hat. "Sure."

Paul gave a silent sigh before nodding, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Good thing of Misty to change the topic. He wasn't sure how he was able to survive the conversation. She resumed, holding up the two Poké Balls she was holding. "This will be a double battle with two Pokémon each, no time limit."

Quickly, Josephine shot up her hand, almost smacking the boy in the face. "So, if our first Pokémon faints, we send out another, right?"

The redhead Leader grinned. "Correct."

"Is that the same with you?"

"No, I have my two right here. Second rule is, you are allowed to help your fighting companion, and items are allowed during battle. You are not allowed to purposely harm the other's Pokémon if you two aren't cooperating. If you win, you receive the Cascade Badge." From her pocket, she pulled out two badges, one somewhat different from the other. They were both water droplets, however, one was vertically straight, while the other curved slightly to the left and was rounder. "If you lose, you are allowed to return as many times as you want until you succeed. Are there any other questions?"

Again, the redhead raised her arm quickly, making Paul glare at her. "We're not battling on those pads, are we?" she pointed to the flotation devices inside the pool.

Misty gave a soft laugh. "Actually, we are. Like you said, it's a field." Folding her towel and dropping it on the ground, she turned and ran to the water's edge. From there, she leaped and seemed to soar over the pool, landing skilfully without a tremble onto the rectangular pad. The teens gasped at her agility and balance, looking to one another in awe. Did they have to jump to the pads as well?

Paul was the first to make a move. "Alright, let's get going," he muttered to himself, heading over to the other side. Josephine watched as he gained enough momentum to leap from the edge to the pad, holding out his arms for balance. She scowled at him, having wished he'd fall off. Mimicking his movements, she too tried to get a good amount of strength to make it to the pads. She jumped like how he did, however, her shoes upon impact slipped, and she fell screaming into the pool. The two snickered at her.

"It's not funny!" she yelled at them when she surfaced. "I didn't have enough running power!"

"Balance is more like it," the boy pointed out, smirking. "Your inner core must be missing."

Grumbling, she crawled back onto it, shivering from the water sliding down her body and soaking her clothes further. She had still managed on keeping a grip of the Poké Balls in her hand, and enlarged them as soon as she stood. "After this battle, Paul," she spoke to him, eyes blazing, "you're next to swim."

"Sorry, I just ate before we came here," he retorted, rolling his eyes. "I'll get cramps."

"Shut up, you will not."

Sensing the argument was going to continue, Misty activated the Poké Balls. "We may begin. Go!"

She threw them up into the air, and they split to release the Pokémon inside, where they landed onto the next set of pads. The first was star-shaped and tan-coloured, with a golden mantle attached in the middle. In the very centre was a scarlet gem that gleamed brightly in the fluorescent lights.

The second was larger, and had an extra star set on the back, giving it the appearance of ten appendages than five, and it was a beautiful shade of light purple. It too had the same mantle of sort; however, the gem was octagonal, yet it was very red, like crimson. When it slightly moved, the jewel glimmered to a faint orange before returning to its normal colour.

The two trainers pulled out their Pokédexes at the same time, recording after one another.

"Staryu, the Star Shape Pokémon," Josephine's device recorded. "This enigmatic Pokémon can regenerate any appendage it may have lost in battle. Legend claims they can communicate with the stars in the night sky."

"Starmie, the Mysterious Pokémon," Paul's Pokédex confirmed. "Its core is able to glow brightly in seven colours of the rainbow. This Pokémon had been given the nickname "the gem of the sea" because it's very luminous."

The girl beamed. "Ah, yes. I remember seeing them," she recalled, placing it back into the bag. "They're very pretty to watch."

"I'm glad you think so," the Leader giggled, smiling brightly. "They're known to create Star Pieces during certain nights. They either attach to the Pokémon, or they float in the ocean for a good while before sinking to the bottom. No one knows how it works."

Paul had already released his first Pokémon while Misty was talking. Brute growled in his throat, stomping in impatience. Josephine knew whom she was starting with, and threw Breona's Poké Ball onto the pad. She appeared in the form of white energy, and began to flutter her wings and stretch her body around. <Looks like this is my battle field...> Breona observed her field of play. <Water based field,> Breona noticed. It was definitely out of her element for the most part.

The trainers looked to one another, waiting for the first move. Hearing Brute's heavy pants, the boy shrugged. "Guess I'll go first, then. Brute, Horn Attack that Staryu, now!" he called out.

<Let's dance!> the Nidorino bellowed, and leaped toward the said Pokémon, first jumping onto the round pad.

"Staryu, dodge!" Misty commanded an easy tone to her voice. At the word, the star scooted to the side without any other simple movement. Brute landed on the slippery surface, failing to hit it with his horn. He slid almost to the end of the pool, eying the water conspicuously. If he was to fall in this water, he would definitely lose to the Staryu. He snarled at the idea. He brought himself back to the middle of the floating circular tile. "Water Gun, Starmie! Knock him into the water!"

<Kr-r-r-u! Water blast!> Starmie, from the top appendage, shot water forcefully onto his face. With enough momentum and power to the blast, it caused Brute to slide across the pad to the back to the edge he hated to dearly right now. The Pidgeotto suddenly began to beat her wings to cause a small gust on the other side of the rabbit-like creature. The gust allowed the balance to actually fall the middle portion of the tile. The Nidorino looked over his shoulder confused on the sudden help.

Everyone was shocked, including Josephine. "Holy...! What was that?! I didn't order you to make a move!"

Breona looked at her trainer coolly. <I'm helping my partner. In battle, all allies are needed.> She defended herself accordingly. <If you wish for me to attack... I will do so, Josephine.> The Pidgeotto sprang into action before Misty could respond. Her wings glimmered with increased intensity, as they slammed the Starmie across the front sharply. The Starmie made slight cry of pain as it touched the gem on its chest like a person would touch their lips after a punch to check if it was cracked.

The attack, however, did have a consequence; the power of the attack caused a small wave to send Brute to the edge, and this time he didn't get his balance back in time thus causing him to stumble into the water. The Nidorino struggled as the water began to surge at him from all directions. Slowly, the water was getting the better of him.

Paul's eyes widened as the Pokémon sank, no matter how hard he thrashed. "WHAT THE HELL!" It was probably the same train of thought going through Brute's head as he sank deeper and deeper into the water.

Breona gritted her beak, knowing the consequences for the attack. <I'll get him.> She proclaimed. She flew into the air to get a better view of the Pokémon below the depths. She dove within the water to effortless pull him back up to the surface like a person would do for the Coast Guard. Though he squirted out a stream of water from his mouth that he accidentally swallowed, he had managed to faint underwater. His eyes seemed slightly glazed. He was definitely out of it right now.

Unable to believe what had occurred, the boy returned him and threw out the other ball. From it, came Scarlei. Even as a Roselia now, Scarlei appeared nothing more than menacing. The flowers at the ends of his skinny arms seemed to respect the dead. His master glared over at his partner. "Why did your Pidgeotto do that?" he growled dangerously.

The sweat on the redhead's brow dropped. "I don't know... And I was trying to think of a move for her to use," she found herself without a clear excuse.

Misty sighed, shaking her head. "Enough chat, you two," she demanded. "We're in a battle, so let's finish this seriously. Staryu, Swift on Roselia. Starmie, Rapid Spin to the Pidgeotto. Go!"

On command, the Staryu unleashed a barrage of glowing stars headed for the bird. Its bigger form loosened the back part of its body, and used it to propel itself into the air, twirling quickly at Breona. Paul was again the first to issue orders. "Scarlei, Protect."

A thin black shield shimmered before Scarlei's body, easily deflecting the attack. During this, Josephine stared determinedly at the approaching star. Pointing at it, she shouted, "Gust!" She had to admit that she was slightly unsure about the order. The spinning of the star might cut easily through the air. Breona on the other hand was more than sure that she could handle the situation.

Without hesitation, she began flapping her wings harder and harder forcing the star back. The Leader gasped at the sight. The girl grinned. "Great! Keep up the good work."

Breona gave a powerful war cry as she began to flap her wings with increasing power. The star began losing its intensity to fly backwards. However, Rapid Spin was still in effect, giving it the ability to catch itself before any damage could be done. Josephine snapped her fingers at the sight.

"Good thinking, Josephine," Misty complimented, "but it's not enough. Psychic, Starmie!"

The gem in the core began to glow a bright violet, as well as Breona, whose eyes bugged out in surprise. She was trapped in the air just when pulses from the jewel travelled to her with power. Even Paul couldn't help but stare at the affects of the attack. Breona, when released, plummeted to the tile underneath her almost like a downed jet. She staggered to her talons, swaying from loss of inner balance. She couldn't keep the opponent in sight clearly. <What... is... this?> she moaned.

"Oh, no! She's confused!" the trainer groaned, holding her head. "But how..." she relayed to herself. From her knowledge, Psychic couldn't confuse Pokémon.

"Looks like you didn't see that my Starmie mixed Confuse Ray with that," Misty smiled. Josephine however did not.

<Order an attack...> Scarlei spat.

"Staryu, Swift again!" Misty shouted. Since Paul wasn't going to make a move, she was.

<Hya-a-a! You won't get away this time!>

From the core of the Staryu came the stars once more. Scarlei soon took matters in his own hand to put the layer of Protect on again. This time it failed, shattering effortless in his face allow the stars to scrape against his face. The stars caused the Roselia to skid across the circular floating tile.

<Make... a... move!> Scarlei commanded. At times like this, Paul forgot that he was the trainer. He snapped himself back to focus.

"Scarlei, Magical Leaf..." Paul called out when he was sure the Swift wasn't hitting his Pokémon anymore.

<About time...>

Scarlei's two roses began to emit a bizarre light before shooting waves of small black leaves. The swarmed together forming a maelstrom of leaves to block the remaining stars as well as counter attack his opponent. The Staryu's and Roselia's leaf and star struggle continued. The more leaves Scarlei would send, the more stars Staryu would spew out of its core. It was a stalemate now. Josephine saw this struggle as a chance.

"Paul, give me cover."

"Sure..."

Breona collected herself and shook her head swiftly, looking over at her mistress. <Give me the order.>

Pointing at the star getting up, she shouted, "Vital Throw!" Even a Gym Leader couldn't expect this attack, Josephine was certain. She was taught this move... and the only Pidgeotto to ever have this attack.

Spotting the Staryu, she nodded. <My pleasure...>

With the cover from Scarlei's petals, she swerved closer and closer to the star before grabbing one of its appendages with her beak. She wrapped her wings around the star after flying it into the air. Breona clutched tightly on the Staryu as she brought herself as well as her opponent down to the tile floor with vigorous strength. The impact made a small wave that splashed against Misty as she viewed her now fainted Pokémon. The light on Staryu's chest dimmed as it fell limp.

Though one normally would be upset at the fainting of a Pokémon, Misty only smiled, and returned it. "Good job, Staryu," she told it, before pocketing it. "`Kay, Starmie, Psybeam!"

Once again, the jewel on its body emitted a bright purple glow before it shot pulses from the middle. Rings of light raced for the Pidgeotto, who was still recovering from her Vital Toss. The attack struck her cleanly and she passed out from the energy. "I understand... Breona." Josephine returned her in a beam of red energy, staring at the Poké Ball. "Well, there's always next time." Pocketing it, she pulled out Riley's ball and threw it to the centre. The thunder cat appeared next to Scarlei, who seemed to give her a glare from the corner of its eye.

"Three-way tie, I'm impressed," the Leader said, grinning. "This should declare the winner."

"You're on, Misty!" the girl cried out. "Riley, Thundershock it!"

<Whatever you say,> she replied, fur sparking with electricity. Scarlei patiently watched as the sparks of lightning began to crackling from the black silk on his partner's body.

"Quick, Starmie, Light Screen!" At Misty's command, the Starmie created a new layer of thin light to protect herself from the oncoming attack. If that attack was full power, it would faint her without question. When Riley's attack fully hit, the blanket of light protected it. Even Riley couldn't help to grunt alone with her mistress in annoyance.

"Well, scratch the Electric attacks, then," Josephine sighed.

"Scarlei, Poison Jab..." Paul spoke coolly with his eyes fixated on Starmie. If special attacks were going to work, physical should do the trick.

<You should have said that earlier...>

After making that wise remark, Scarlei dashed across the water. The move next surprised Josephine, Misty, and even Paul alike. His Pokémon used his natural light weight to skip across the water like a rock skipping against a lake's surface. He secured his place on Starmie's tiles before unleashing a flurry of jabs with his arms. The Starmie frantically dodged the attacks, praying that one of the petals won't touch its purple body.

"Starmie, Water Pulse!" Misty thought quickly. She couldn't afford to be poisoned or even hit by Scarlei's attack this late in the battle.

Starmie avoided one final attack from the Roselia before retreating to the water's surface, levitated on top of the water, and rapidly began to spin around. It moved at speeds which created waves that rocked the pads in the disturbance. The two trainers fell to their knees and began hanging on, their Pokémon losing their balance quickly. The Starmie then paused facing them. There was a time where only the waves of the water could be heard before it shot itself into the waves.

The impact caused it to form a chain of surf rush at them, slamming into the Pokémon with such force, they were soaked as the pad spun from the angle it hit them, and made Riley dizzy. Scarlei thinking ahead, planted his roots within the tile that was once Starmie's. He soon found an opportunity, a slight portion when the Starmie moved, to make his move. He calculated the movement and slammed his rose fist into the Starmie's chest. The hit made the Starmie stumble back, but held its ground.

Josephine was confused on whether Riley was confused or not. "Are you able to continue, Riley?" she asked worriedly.

<Ehh… too dizzy…>

Misty smiled, seeing this as her chance. "All right, then. Starmie, give me another Water Pulse."

It began to repeat the manoeuvre once again, the waves rocking the pads to keep her at bay. "Come on, Riley! Get up! You need to dodge this attack!"

Paul glanced over at the girl. He saw the panic in her eyes, and somehow felt pity for her. She had always been good with battling, but there were times when an attack got her struggling to keep the Pokémon in battle. She would shut down and be unable to recover to counter back depending on the situation. Back then, he would make fun of her and constantly brag about being the best. Watching her now, he felt a sudden urge to help. That's how double-battles go anyway, right? Returning his attention to the battle, he exclaimed, "Scarlei, now!"

A sinister smile crept up Scarlei's face. He turned around to see Riley unable to move about by herself. Unknowingly to the Starmie, the Roselia had cleverly placed a Leech Seed within the core of the star's chest that could be launched anytime. The vines of the Leech Seed suddenly spread across the body of the Starmie stopping the attack. It was definitely his ace in the hold, then why did he use it to protect her? Paul... she thought.

Josephine was confused at the sudden defence, slowly looking over at Paul for answers. He flipped his bangs, looking over at her. "What? You are going to thank me, or pay attention to the fight?" He said that with a smile. One that he couldn't mask with his cocky coating that he normally gave to his rival. Josephine was probably was more stunned about the smile than he actually helping her.

She quickly shook her mind free of the bewilderment. Nodding, she turned back to the field, noticing Riley slowly standing. "Thunder Fang, Riley!"

The thunder cat shook her head free of dizziness and pounced on Starmie. She proceeded to bite down on an appendage, but Misty ordered a Water Gun attack at the last moment. Riley subsequently received mouthful of water. She was blasted into the air, but flipped over to land on her feet by Scarlei. <Well, it was refreshing, but a bit harsh,> she remarked, smacking her lips.

<It isn't some summer treat...> Scarlei spoke harshly. <You could have been damaged if the attack was timed correctly.>

<You're definitely no fun to be around.>

Paul glanced over at his partner, a small smile on his face. "Ready to give it another shot?" he queried.

The girl nodded. "Whatever you say."

They faced their respective Pokémon, calling them by name.

"Scarlei, Magical Leaf!"

"Thundershock, Riley! Go!"

Scarlei spun around to create a storm of the black leaves coated in multicoloured aura while the Luxio sent a power-outage from her static fur at the same time. The two attacks formed into a larger pillar of leaves and electricity. Both Misty and the Starmie eyed the attack. There was no way to dodge it. With the property of Magical Leaves accuracy and the charge of the Thundershock this made this attack unavoidable.

Even if she were to submerge Starmie into the water, it would conduct the electricity. That would same logic could apply to the tiles as well, considering how damp tile was, it wasn't going to last long either way. All she could do is watch now as the attack struck the Starmie squarely in the middle. The blast sent it flying back into the wall behind Misty, and slid to the floor. The gem blinked in alarm, signalling its defeat.

<Match finished...> Scarlei turned away.

<We won!> Riley praised herself, as well as her partners and of course her trainer.

Paul and Josephine turn towards each other. At this time, they shared a look of respect for each other. The both of them took this time to acknowledge each other skills. Of course, that cocky smile was on Paul's face. However, Josephine liked it - almost. They quickly snapped their attention away from each other to view the Gym Leader.

The Leader returned Starmie to its ball, and she gazed upon it brightly. "You were awesome," she whispered to it. "Have a good rest." She turned around to face the victors, and couldn't help but grin. "Congratulations, trainers! You have defeated I, Misty, in a Gym battle. You are now one badge closer to the Pokémon League at Indigo Plateau. If you'll come back to land, I'll hand you your badges." With that, she hopped back onto the tiled floor.

One by one, the two teenagers avoided falling back in the water by jumping out of the pool. They returned their companions into their Poké Balls, and walked over to Misty. With a smile, she held out the two badges, and the trainers thanked her. Josephine gazed at the water droplet with pride, while Paul placed it in his badge case. "I enjoyed our battle, Misty," he told her, giving her a thumbs up.

"So did I. I really didn't think you were that powerful."

"What, the rescue wasn't enough?"

"What rescue?" Josephine piped up, looking away from her prize.

Misty answered it. "I was attacked by a Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee owned by two creeps. I don't really understand why they did, but it was lucky of me to be found by Paul here." At the mention of the finding, he blushed in embarrassment, looking away. She giggled. "He saved my life. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't walking by."

Josephine noticed the pink on his face again, but shrugged it off. "Well, aren't I glad he did? He's a good kid at heart, no matter what he does."

"Stop torturing me," he begged.

"I thought that's what rivals do," she pointed out, poking his cheek.

"You're not my rival."

"I thought I was!"

"No one is."

The redhead tomboy sighed, sweat-dropping. "I hope to see you two, again. I really appreciate your company."

"We might be coming back one day sooner or later," the redhead trainer said, thinking about how the routes were going. "There's always that possibility we may have to turn around for the Rock Tunnel."

"Wow, Josephine, you really do know your directions," Paul remarked dryly.

"Well, if you do happen to return, give me a call, okay?" Misty wrote down her number on two slips of paper, handing them to each teen. The boy felt relieved he didn't have to ask her for it in secret. "I'd like to show you around some more, if you want."

"Gee, thanks, Misty," the auburn-haired teen thanked her, shaking her hand.

She grinned. "Anytime! I love to help new friends. It's… in my nature."

He stared into her eyes one last time, eyes that also looked back at him. Her hands were behind her back, the angelic smile shining the light onto her face. He hoped they were returning; he still wanted to continue knowing the tomboy in front of him. Maybe even ask her out before they would head off again. Then he'd be able to stroke her hair at that time, and hold her in his arms…

"Hello-o-o, Paul?" Josephine's voice interrupted his thoughts. She waved her hand in front of his face. "You're breaking up."

"I am not."

"Well, I'm getting ready to go. Wanna come?"

"No, you go ahead. I might catch up."

She looked between the two, and again got very suspicious, narrowing her eyes at them. "Okay… but don't be too long. I want to kick your butt within the next few days, or so. Got that?"

Paul shrugged, smirking at her. "Whatever you want. You got yourself a challenge."

Thanking Misty once again, Josephine exited the Gym. She glanced up at the sky, shielding her face from the late afternoon sun. Checking her watch, she found it to be thirty minutes after arriving at the Gym. She sighed, dropping her eyes. She didn't feel happy. Having seen the look in his eyes and even the pink on his face, she knew there was something going on.

She didn't really know the feeling very well, but whatever it was, she felt slightly jealous, which didn't make sense if he hated her guts. Even so, she didn't make heads or tails of what was going on. The words she muttered under her breath didn't sound like her, but she didn't care. It was all she focused on. "I'll get you for this, Misty. Somehow, someway, I'll make you pay…"

"What are you saying, Josephine?" a voice of familiarity inquired from nearby.

She looked up quickly, and spotted Rachel walking up to her, her lavender-hair still up in the ponytail she last saw her in, and even in the jumper. "Oh, Rachel! Uh… nothing. I'm just waiting for Paul to come out." At the words, the said person exited the Gym, a grin on his face. She sweat-dropped. "See? Paul, I've been waiting out here for far too long. What took you forever?"

He blinked, confused. "What're you talking about?"

"Never mind. This is Rachel, whom I ran into back in Viridian City."

Legendarian Mistress · Dec 13, 2009

(continued from last post...)

The said girl smiled and waved at him. "Hello, Paul. Nice to meet you."

He shrugged. "Same here. What time is it, Josephine?"

"Three o'clock."

Paul turned his back on the girls, waving an arm lazily. "I'm gone. See ya, loser."

"Hey, that's no way to treat a girl!" Rachel snapped, glaring at him. "Now come back here and say good-bye like a normal person!"

The redhead shook her head, glaring after him. "Forget it, Rachel, he won't listen."

"I'd listen to her if I were you," the boy called back behind his shoulder, smirking in an unpleasant way. "Actually, I wouldn't if I was you."

She scowled, gritting her teeth. "Oh, yeah, well, I wouldn't want to be you!"

Josephine placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her head again. "Don't get him angry, right now," she warned her, even though Paul was already disappearing into a crowd.

"What is wrong with him?" she grumbled. "He's such a jerk."

She agreed. "Yeah… but you haven't known him all your life."

"You know the guy?"

"Come on, I'll explain later. Right now, I need to heal my Pokémon and maybe go train some more. Or…" She gave a grin, thinking up an idea. "…we could have a friendly battle."

Rachel got into a stance of readiness, already boring her eyes into her for a challenge. "I am so ready for that right now. Go heal your Pokémon, Josephine! We're having a battle right here, right now! I thought you'd never ask!"

Legendarian Mistress · Dec 16, 2009

Part 3: The War Foretold

The reflections of the battle were still within Paul's mind. He wondered to himself why he allowed his Roselia to help Josephine's Pokémon, even though they didn't like each other. The last time he had fought together with her, they argued so much, they failed the double-battle test, the only method they didn't do so well in. Since that day, they vowed never to participate in a double-battle as partners again. But today, they had no choice. It was teaming up, or lose the badge. Of course, he could've lost on purpose to fight Misty alone by himself, but he didn't. It was the strangest thing.

The teenager sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He had decided to travel out of the city for a thought or two to ponder on. He found a secluded place that still had the buildings in sight, but he wouldn't be seen. He leaned up against a wired fence post, folding his arms and staring over at the city. "Of all the battle methods in the world, why couldn't we work together once before?"

<Humans are different in many ways when it comes to pride,> Mewtwo's harsh voice echoed in his head.

Paul glanced over quickly, eyes glowering sharply at the figure levitating before him. He was very tall in stature, complete in the figure of a feline. The fur was of very pale lavender, the belly and tail deeper in shade of purple. If it wasn't for the tail, the boy noted, he would've mistaken him as a humanoid creature. He indeed had a human shape to him, in the bony arms and leg muscles; however, he only had three fingers on each hand, tipped with a knob-like extension, and two toes on each foot.

The chest was like armour, most likely to protect the ribs from powerful blows. The ears looked more like horns, in his opinion, and the nose was only noticeable from the nostrils. His mouth was in a straight line of impatience, like how he saw it with Rachel. The eyes were the most interesting feature. The sternness of his gaze made Paul shiver, and the intensity of the amethyst irises were clearly seen with a glint, even in the setting sun.

Mewtwo folded his arms, raising an eye-ridge. <You look confident in yourself,> he pointed out.

He wondered how Mewtwo was able to speak without moving his mouth. This was very peculiar compared to his Pokémon. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," he stated seriously.

The super-clone seemed to smirk. <I'm liking your answer, here. However, it won't help you further along in your travels. You best be better off being truthful instead of leaving others hanging like that. Now, I'll mention it again: You look confident in yourself.>

Paul looked around the area he was in. There wasn't a citizen in sight of where he was to witness the strange sight. It wasn't like others went near wired fences on the outskirts of town anyway. He made eye-contact again. "You might say that."

<But you aren't, are you?>

"Oh, I am. I'm only hesitating because of someone I don't wish to talk about."

<Ah, the girl, huh? Yes, she is one not worth mentioning. But I'm not here to have a chat, or even make acquaintances.>

"Then why are you here?" the teenager wondered.

The feline landed, still staring down at him. Raising a hand, Mewtwo replied, <I'm here to give you a warning. You better be keeping your eyes open, especially on the girl.>

"Why? I don't even like her, let alone think of her as a rival."

<Your brash nature will get you in trouble one day, boy,> Mewtwo snapped, his gaze sharp. <It's about time to think of everyone as your rival. The world is a dangerous place to be in, and doesn't appreciate it if you snap at it with your remarks. Now listen here: You better start becoming friends with the girl.>

Paul sneered. "Why? She's not even fit to be my rival."

<Hold your tongue!> Mewtwo swung his paw swiftly with a flick, smacking Paul in the face. The boy could feel the heated imprint of the limb, and he glared up at the feline. <You better change that attitude of yours, or you'll wish she is.>

Raising an eyebrow, he cried out, "Who do you think you are giving me orders like that? I'll have you know it's not my fault I got this attitude."

Again, Mewtwo slapped him again, only harder. His eyes pierced coldly into the fourteen-year-old's own. <You need discipline to straighten it out,> he growled. <As I was saying, the time will come when you wish you were friends with the girl. I don't understand myself why I'm telling you this, but I'm merciful enough to give you a chance to have memories. Normally, I'd be telling you to loathe her with your soul, but I'm in enough trouble already.>

"What're you talking about?" Paul inquired.

<You will know in due time! The time will come when you understand the reason behind this.> Arms folded, the feline rose softly into the air, still glaring down at him. <Keep your eyes peeled. I will return when you least expect it.>

"Then why ask me to keep watch over my surroundings?" he asked harshly.

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. <You'll let your guard down sooner or later, boy. If you wish to keep me at bay, then straighten up and act more mature. The world will eat you up, and you'll be lucky enough to be spat out for a second chance to redeem yourself. The war will begin sooner than you expect. This is your only warning.> In a bright light of sky-blue, the feline disappeared within a second. Paul stared up at the place Mewtwo was in, scrunching his eyebrows in thought.

His only warning? Keeping the thing at bay? Friends with Josephine? The war will begin sooner than he expected? What did Mewtwo mean? Shaking his head free from the haunting words, he turned back around for Cerulean City. He needed to sleep it off.

*****

It was late before Josephine decided to turn in for the night. The teen had had an encounter with Prince Arthur, the royal runaway whom Rachel had met in Viridian, and instantly fell in love with him. Josephine knew then that her feelings for Paul had lessened significantly; fair's fair, after all. Paul had fallen for Misty, so why couldn't she fall for Arthur?

She and Rachel had a friendly battle that was broken up because fighting wasn't allowed on the streets. Deciding they were better off not trying to make a rivalry, they talked a little bit about what had happened, and allowed their Pokémon to converse. They shared the same room and bunk bed, and continued to chat even after lights-out (Josephine lost rights to the top bunk). Their companions were huddled together on the other bunk bed, and some were snoring softly. "What do you think is wrong with Paul?" Rachel quietly pondered, staring up at the ceiling.

Josephine was still brushing her hair, sitting cross-legged in her nightgown on her bed. "He's always been like that, since the day his dad left him and Cherry," she explained. She looked at the floor, sighing. "We used to be friends. Then he turned into a jerk and we fought often. We couldn't even fight together without arguing over a stupid attack move. It's a wonder we even defeated Misty today."

"Must've been interesting, huh?"

"Yeah... it was." Stuffing her brush back into her bag, she crawled into her covers. She lay on her side, staring at the sleeping Pokémon. "You ever double-battled before?"

"Besides at school?" the lavender-haired girl wondered. "Nope. I hear it's amazing, though, especially with another person beside you. Apparently, it's to teach others to cooperate with each other, and even to protect one another. Many trainers end up liking the method, from what I heard. Did you know it originated in Hoenn to fight side-by-side? Kanto adopted it later on, but I'm not sure about Johto."

"Well, if the Johto people discovered eggs first, then I'm sure they have double-battles, too." Josephine smiled. "Why did you want to know about Paul?"

Rachel shrugged. "I thought maybe he was a jerk at heart. Guess he wasn't."

The redhead nodded slowly, thinking back to the double-battle at the Gym. The way he ordered his Roselia to send Leech Seed the Starmie was almost a change of heart. She needed to repay him, it seemed. As much as she hated him, it's best to back him up when the time came. "Good night, Rachel."

"Oh, good, I thought you'd never mention it!" the girl sighed in relief, making Josephine sweat-drop. "Good night!"

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, dreaming about returning home successfully, and with wonderful memories.

Maybe.

*****

The digital clock on the dresser barely read two before a rosy light appeared in the dark room. The shape faded into the small, pink cat, levitating above the bunk beds. Mew turned her head to the beds the girls were sleeping on, and flew down to the bottom. The girl was fast asleep, breathing slow and even, her red hair and angelic face shining in the little moonlight there was in the room. She seemed at peace. Glancing behind her shoulder to make sure the Pokémon were asleep, the feline reached out a tiny paw, placing it gently on the forehead, closing her eyes.

The darkness altered to a small town, clear blue skies above and green trees flourished. Pidgey cooed as they flew, and an occasional Rattata dug up someone's garden. Many people walked or rode on bikes, knowing each one by name and friends with another. The houses were of wood, or bricks in the new subdivisions, the largest belonging to a lab that could only belong to the Professor. Mew recognized this as Pallet Town, as she sometimes flew over in her travels. She had been transported to one of the brick houses, beautifully kept neat and the garden blooming. Over the door, a welcome banner was tacked up, with red, curvy letters exclaiming "Welcome Home" to whoever came home.

The door opened before the cat could move, and Josephine exited, looking up at the sky. She slightly turned her head to tell some persons she'd be back, and walked down the pathway. Her hair was put up in a ponytail, and she was in a long, white dress; Mew almost didn't recognize her in the attire. Quietly, she flew up to the girl's vision, and peered at her bright, light eyes. Josephine gasped at the sight of her, blinking rapidly. "Oh, my goodness, aren't you a cute little thing," she breathed.

<That's what they all say,> Mew giggled, smiling at her.

The girl backed away. "You can talk! And I mean with telepathy!"

She nodded. <I've been watching you for a while, Josephine. And I must say your skills have been growing.>

"You saw me at the Indigo Plateau then, huh? I almost beat the Champion with Breona, but he had the advantage." She shrugged. "At least my family cheered me on all the way."

Remember, this is a dream, the cat reminded herself. Try not to ruin it too much. <Well, I came by on behalf of congratulating you, and to help warn you.>

The redhead tilted her head, eyebrow raised. "What do you mean by 'warning'?"

The cat flew in loops around her a few times, a habit of hers to check a person out. She made sure there wasn't any form of recording device on her before pausing again in front of her. <There are people willing to hurt you to keep you from being what you are destined to be.>

"Of course," she agreed. "People want to be the greatest Pokémon Master of all time. They can kill for that title."

<Not that, dear.> Gently, she took her hand into her tiny paws. Josephine never knew how soft the touch could feel with any Pokémon. Mew smiled, as her paws glowed a soft pink, surrounding the girl in an aura.

<You were Chosen to fulfil the destiny needed to keep the world safe from harm. As legend states, the Legendaries will start clashing against Team Rocket to protect the region. Only one side will come out the victor, but it may be delayed for a little while longer because of you. However… if the fight does happen, and the Legendary who chose you falls, so will you. It's important that survival is the key.>

"Wait, back up!" she cried out, eyes showing signs of fear. "There's going to be a war to protect Kanto? What?"

<I wish I had more authority to tell you, but I can't. There's not much time left. I sense him near us.>

"Who's near? Why can't you tell me?"

The smile on Mew's face became more of sorrow than her usual joy. <In due time, dear. For now, take care.> She closed her cyan eyes and touched her fingers to the back of the girl's hand. Josephine gasped as a bright light illuminated from the hand and filled her vision. When it faded, she was lying awake in her room, staring up at the top bunk in shock.

What was Mew talking about, and why did she suddenly appear like that? And what legend? Nothing was making sense, and it was beginning to hurt her head thinking about it. Sighing, Josephine turned around to face the wall to try and fall asleep again. Her sleep was deep, but dreamless, with nothing but black for the rest of the night.

*****

With Sinnoh being slowly rebuilt, none of the eight major cities were liveable yet. This was the main reason why the Sinnohian Gym Leaders and Elite Four had had to migrate to Kanto and live there until each of their hometowns were able to be inhabited again.

Volkner Electro, the former Sunyshore Gym Leader, stood in the centre of Vermillion. He felt not only restless, but sensed a dark aura settling over the city. The former Leader had spiky, deep coloured blonde hair, sharp blue eyes, and fair skin. His face was clean cut, but still appeared to be rough and dangerous. Volkner's eyes always appeared to be calculating, as though he was thinking of war tactics as he walked. He was a well built man from his days in the military. But, the most defining feature was that broad frown that reached across the entire length of his face. Volkner's frown and his calculating eyes often lead people to wonder if he was a kind person or not. What could be answered was that he was Volkner Electro, formerly of the Sunyshore Gym and the cousin of Charles Ryder Harris.

Because of his accident, Charles had had to retire from the life of a trainer, but he constantly dressed casually. Volkner, however, always wore a black, short-sleeved v-neck short. On top of it was his long-sleeved blue over-shirt with six yellow buttons, three on each arm. Long grey trousers covered his light brown shoes, which left people guessing what coloured socks he had on.

Something caught Volkner's eye and he turned to look at the fleeing figure. It was a black-clad Team Rocket grunt. The Sinnohian Electric type master exhaled heavily, for he wanted to dismiss the person as not being worth his time, but knew he had to apprehend the grunt.

He released his Electivire, who sped towards the criminal after using Thunderbolt on himself. The Electric type grabbed the grunt and held him as Volkner approached. "So you're part of the resurrected Team Rocket I keep hearing about. What business do you have in Vermillion?" the Leader barked.

There was no response from the Rocket grunt. Volkner looked at his Pokémon, then at the lawbreaker, before sighing in disappointment. He would be getting nothing from this felon, the grunt was dead. A trickle of some kind of liquid slid down his face. Hmph, the Leader snorted. He was a clever one. Had a fast-acting poison of some sort in his mouth. As soon as Electivire touched him, he swallowed it.

Fuyu · Dec 21, 2009

Haven't been here a while. It's very good, your writing. You're starting to ease into it more. However I thought

Spoiler:

was with Paul why would Mewtwo give the warning.

Legendarian Mistress · Dec 21, 2009

Because

Spoiler:

is Paul's Chosen Legendary. Celebi is Katie's.

Legendarian Mistress · Dec 22, 2009

A/N: This chapter is specifically rated M because of the scene where Sandmaul nearly kills Juri. Read at your own risk.

Chapter 7: Kingpin's Departure, Clouds of War a Brewin'

The Harwood clan, otherwise now known as the Harris', had some very interesting relatives. Volkner Electro, Charles' cousin, was Rowan, Josephine and Natalie's uncle. Eleanor, the former queen of Sinnoh and now residing head monarch of Saffron Castle, was Josephine's father's cousin. In addition to that, Prince Arthur — Josephine's new lover — was her cousin.

*****

With Josephine the second of the quartet to be notified by their Chosen legendary for the predicted war to protect Kanto, and with the other two not knowing yet – as Paul and Josephine had thought it was best that they learn in their own time – the five trainers were completely unaware for what waited for them outside of the Pokémon Centre.

Two black clad Team Rocket grunts pounced on Josephine, shoving the other four aside, while a third grunt quickly gagged the red-haired teen and hauled her onto his shoulder. A Houndoom appeared from behind one of the grunts and released a Smog attack, covering their escape. Paul, Rachel, Katie and Arthur covered their mouths, but it was too late and when the poisonous smoke had cleared, the grunts, Josephine and the Houndoom had vanished.

Between fits of coughing, Rachel hastily called upon her Aerodactyl, Aeroc. The ancient creature circled once and landed beside his trainer. <What's the matter, Rachel?> the grey skinned dinosaur asked, after folding his wings and screeching loudly. All the while, his massive head looked at his surroundings.

"It's Josephine," Rachel said, getting to the point. "She's been kidnapped by Team Rocket. I need you to see if you can find out which way they were headed."

As the male Aerodactyl flew into the air and went in a random direction to begin his search, the four teens ran towards Nugget Bridge and Route 24, when Paul noticed something move in the corner of his eye. "You go ahead," he told the other three. "I'll be there in a minute."

*****

Juri's desire to protect his mistress from these evil people was so incredibly strong, that it caused his evolution. As Arkbull's Dark Beam attack hit home, the male Sandshrew was unable to avoid the onslaught. When the energy faded... a glowing figure stood in the middle of the path. His claws were bigger and sharper, the spines on his back were coloured brown and sharp enough to puncture a tyre.

"SLASH!!" The Pokémon growled fiercely, swiping the air with his claws.

"Whoohoo Juri! Go, get them! SLASH ATTACK NOW!!" Josephine yelled, ecstatic that her Sandshrew had finally evolved.

<You may have evolved,> Arkbull began in a haughty tone, <but let's see how well you do against my companion here. Sandmaul, you have my full permission to end this pathetic, inferior being's life. Proceed as you will.>

"Mauulllll," the Ground and Steel type released a drawn-out, twisted cry of glee. The hulking shrew stepped forward, rubbing his steely claws together as his scorpion-like tail arched itself in anticipation of a looming bloodbath.

Thinking that he could still get in the first strike, Juri hurried forward, only to be met with pain as Sandmaul's tail moved at lightning speed and left a big gash in his right shoulder.

<AARRGGHH!!!!!!> Juri yelled, as the pain seared through him like a white hot knife, causing him to stagger backwards. Pools of the red liquid trickled quickly down his sandy coloured scales.

He recalled now, he remembered who had killed his parents.

It was this hulking monstrosity of a shrew who had slaughtered his loved ones. "Well," Juri thought, grimacing in pain. "One of these days, Sandmaul will be condemned by a Pokémon higher up. But even after that happens, there's nothing neither I nor anyone else can do to bring back my parents."

Even as his Sandslash parents lay dying from severe loss of blood, his Sandshrew self wept openly at the brutality of the attack. Some minutes later, with her mate already having passed on, Juri's mother knew her time was also coming and, in her last moments alive, said this to her male offspring: <Son, be strong. Believe that you'll win against him one day and, no matter what happens, be loyal to whoever captures you.>

Those were her last words, and the light in her eyes faded as she drew her last breath. The young male Sandshrew was utterly devastated by the deaths of his parents, that he forgot the advice his mother had given him and withdrew into himself, turning into a cold and distant creature.

It was not long after that that he burrowed up to the surface of Route 1 and a red-haired female engaged him in battle against her Shinx, Riley. Still grieving from the murders of his parents, and then being captured had proven too much for him. He shut down almost completely.

But things slowly became brighter for him. He learned that Breona liked to take it easy when not being military-like, Riley was cheeky and Kingpin was happy-go-lucky.

How he could allow the other Pokémon to like him? He would have to become more sociable, he knew that for sure. It would be a difficult task, but he was up to the challenge.

 Up until now, Sandmaul had never spoken; but, now that he had, it was clear that his voice had been affected by his evolution from Sandslash. It was a husky, rasping tone of voice. <You're that pathetic Sandshrew who wept for his parents, aren't you?>

<You... murderer...> was all that Juri could say at first. <WHY DID YOU DO IT?!> He yelled.

Sandmaul paused momentarily and chose not to answer, but then continued attacking. His steel grey claws struck repeatedly at the recently evolved Sandslash's chest. More blood spurted out and Juri felt his life ebbing away. Just then, a beam of red struck him and he was recalled into his containment sphere.

At the exact same time, a somewhat hoarse voice called out: "Battle? This is no battle! THIS is a bloodbath! Sandmaul, fall back AT ONCE!"

A middle-aged woman walked up to the previously battling Pokémon. Glaring at the Ground and Steel type, who was reluctant to give in, she watched as the steely claws fell to the shrew's sides and the lethal tail lowered itself slightly.

The woman was dressed in her white long-sleeved uniform adorned with a cold geometric pattern that embellished an R-shape on her front, the collar scraping gently below her rather gaunt jaw.

"Why are you doing this?" Josephine asked of the woman.

Pretending as though she hadn't heard the teen, the woman continued glaring at Sandmaul.

However, Josephine was not to be put off that easily. "Why are you doing this?!" she repeated, having more confidence this time. "Are you a member of Team Rocket?"

Mentally sighing, knowing she had to get this over and done with, she turned to her. "Yes, I am."

The fourteen-year-old redhead hesitated, her pause lengthening considerably. What was she going to tell her parents? After all of this time, Queen Eleanor was a member of Team Rocket… How could you, Your Majesty?! How the hell could you do that to us?! She pondered quickly.

"Commander Veisa!" one of the grunts straightened himself and saluted Eleanor. "She's one of them! Look here!"

Alexander, an experienced criminal who seemed destined never to be promoted, had originally worked for Giovanni. After he permanently retired, the grunt was a key member who had instigated the search for Team Rocket's new leader. Like most grunts, he wore a black business shirt and black denim trousers. A black cap adorned his head and he wore white gloves and white boots.

He grabbed Josephine and pulled her hand out to show one of his new boss'. "She's a Chosen!!" he emphasized the last word.

Glancing briefly at the tattoo that Mew had imprinted on the girl's right hand, Eleanor dismissed it, saying, "Lock her up with the others!"

Like most grunts, he showed contempt as he started to drag Josephine away, but the sound of crashing glass distracted everyone. A loud screech split the air, causing the Rocket members – even Eleanor herself – to look skywards as an Aerodactyl swooped through the shattered warehouse window, with Rachel and Paul on his back. Katie and Arthur clung to the ancient dinosaur's talons.

"Leave her alone!" Paul yelled, as the cocky teen jumped from Aeroc's back and landed in a crouch. His right hand quickly swiped three Poké Balls from his belt and enlarged them so quickly, that it was hard to see.

Katie and Arthur hit the ground with a thud a few seconds after Paul and immediately brought out their Pokémon as well. At that exact moment, Rachel landed and hopped off her flier. Releasing Laverne and Maverick, after Josephine called upon Riley, Breona, Kingpin and Wisteria, the Pokémon numbering nineteen lined up against Team Rocket. Scarlei, Brute and his newest companion, Drake the Dratini, had joined the fray after Rachel had hopped down off Aerodactyl.

Eleanor calculated her chances. Nineteen against two final evolved forms? Hmm, not good odds. I better back down and retreat.

"Alexander, leave her. RETREAT!" she yelled, hearing the wail of police sirens coming ever closer.

As the gathered Rockets ran everywhere, Prince Arthur felt betrayed as he watched his mother — who he now knew was the enemy — flee the confrontation.

A few minutes later, still in the abandoned warehouse...

"So…" Arthur gave the kind of smirk to the auburn-haired boy that could only be achieved by him. Paul winced at the thought of what he might say. "I see how you look at her."

"W-what…?" Paul's speech became equal to that of a person with marbles in his mouth. "What are you talking about?"

Arthur's eyes squinted as he walked around Paul in a circular motion. Paul followed the movements as best as he could with a look of his own. What was he getting at? What exactly was he getting at? He could feel his heart pound with the simultaneous footsteps of Arthur. Thump, thump, pause… thump, thump, pause. He hated when someone beat around the bush. This was one of those times. He cracked his fingers.

"Just get out what you want to say?!" Paul shouted, clenching his fist to maintain that tough tone.

"Oooh, I know," Arthur smiled, Paul didn't. "Don't say you like…."

"Shut up!" Paul roared, swinging a fist towards Arthur who dodged it effortlessly.

"You like her, don't you? YOU liked or like JOSESPHINE!" Arthur roared into laughter.

The more Paul threw punches, the more that Arthur laughed. Paul's face had now turned this crimson colour across the bridge of his nose. He was obviously caught in the act. All he could do was salvage his dignity. Even the dignity was a far off dream now. He was embarrassing himself further as he threw more and more punches.

"I don't like that loser!" he shouted.

"That doesn't convince me," Arthur's smile grew broader. "Little old Paul has a crush. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I DON'T LIKE HER! She is impatient, rude, and the WORST BATTLER IN EXISTENCE."

"Sure she is…" Arthur folded his arms.

"It's true!" Paul roared, trying to now push Arthur, but the royal runaway dodged effortlessly.

"Come on, Paul…" Arthur knelt down to him. After missing that push, Paul had crashed into the ground and didn't get up. Arthur gave his hand to help him up.

The redness on Paul's face hadn't faded, thus causing Arthur's smile to form a chuckle. Arthur's grip on Paul's hand slipped, causing him to slip on his rear and crash back onto the ground. Paul grumbled as he got to his feet on his own.

"Sorry sorry…" Arthur said between his laughter. "My hand slipped…" That was the truth, but in fact it was his laughter that caused it to do so.

"You disgust me," Paul snapped.

"Come on man… I was just joking. Take a joke," Arthur smiled. "You're much too young to be such a stiff."

"You're the same age!" Paul roared. "Besides I'm nothing like any of you!"

Paul stormed off leaving Arthur alone. He's definitely a bit up tight. Arthur rubbed his chin as the teen stomped away from his previous location. Arthur laughed one more before continuing onward.

*****

"Where is it?" Josephine screamed, throwing her map to the ground fifteen minutes later.

"Having trouble with directions, Josephine?" Paul asked, rolling his eyes at the same time. Aeroc bent down, picking up the map in his teeth and offered it to Josephine.

"Shut up, Paul," Josephine said, grabbing the map from the Pokémon. "I just want to know where Bill's Sea Cottage is."

Just then, a small, yellow Pokémon teleported in front of them and sat rather blandly on the ground. The head was shaped like a fox's, but the eyes were closed, giving it the impression of being asleep. The torso, shoulders, hands and feet looked like they were armour, with the aforementioned torso and shoulders being brown. A long, thick tail came from underneath it, with a brown ring formed close to the tip.

"That's an Abra. Wait a minute; the face can't be an Abra. It looks too human..."

Josephine was correct. The Abra's face resembled a human face with buck teeth. "Oh well... it might be a new type of Abra. Let's get it Riley!"

As Riley approached the Pokémon, it shouted, <Hold on trainer! I'm human!!>

"But you're an Abra... aren't you?" Josephine was confused. "If you're really a human, why do you look like an Abra?"

<That's easy to explain. But first thing's first,> the Pokémon began. <The name's Bill, designer of the Pokémon Storage System!>

"You're the Bill? The person who was the first to be able to create a transport system for Pokémon?" Josephine was amazed that a Pokémon could create all that.

<Did I not just say that?! Anyway, you're probably wondering how a Pokémon could make all that high-tech stuff?> Bill said, seeing the astonished look on Josephine's face. <You see, I was experimenting with my storage system at my house, and it started to malfunction. I went in one part of it and my Abra was in the other. Then it started to work again, but it fused me with my Abra.>

Josephine was trying to register everything Bill had just said, and then the 'download' was finally done.

"So why are you outside Bill?" Paul asked, beating his rival to the point.

<I seriously doubted anyone would be coming inside my place anytime soon, so I decided to go through my window to get some help,> Bill said with a serious look on his face. <But now, I finally have people to help me!! What're your names?>

"I'm Josephine Harris and I come from Pallet Town," Josephine introduced herself, and then pointed to Paul, Katie, Arthur and Rachel, who was visibly becoming annoyed; her annoyance clearly shown in her tapping foot.

"Paul Oak at your service," the auburn-haired boy broke in. "Pallet-born as well, I might add."

"I'm Rachel Savina, born of Pewter City." The impatient and impulsive lavender-haired girl spoke hurriedly.

"Sinnohian-born, Kantonian-raised Prince Arthur here," the prince stated.

"And I'm Pharaohonian-born, Johton-raised Katie Emerson," the brunette with blonde foils established.

"So, could you tell us where your cottage is?" Paul questioned.

<Just follow me! I'll lead you straight to it!!> Bill said, smiling as best he could in his Abra's body. After a few minutes, Bill and the quartet plus Arthur were standing in front of Bill's Sea Cottage, which was surprisingly big.

<I keep a lot of the storage stuff in there, so I had to make a few modifications to this old house. Well, don't just stand there, come on in!!>

Paul opened the door for Bill to walk in, and the five trainers were amazed at what they saw inside. Old notebooks scattered about on the floor, boxes stacked on each other, every one of them filled with notes about the storage system and other mechanical devices that they assumed were part of the experiments Bill had.

Rachel gave Bill a surprised look, and Bill returned it with a frown. <What? Did you think I was the tidy type?>

"Alright Bill, what do you want us to do?" Josephine said, shrugging off all the mess.

<Well... I need two people to reverse the effects of my accident, and since I have to be in the machine, you're going to have to find someone to help you.> Bill said with a sad look on his face.

Josephine grumbled. Bill raised an eyebrow. "Oh, sorry about that Bill. I'm still angry at the fact I was lost, but forget about it. I don't care that it has to be Paul… after all, he's got two arms…"

Bill was excited by the sight of Paul; it was almost as though he hadn't seen the auburn-haired boy enter with the others. <Paul, my boy, how have you been? I'm glad that you finally made it. I was hoping you'd get here soon.>

"Bill?! Is that you? You sure have changed from when my godfather saw you," Paul said, staring at him, getting in on the act as well. "The Professor said that you were crazy about Pokémon, but isn't turning yourself into one going a bit too far? Oh Josephine, I didn't see you there. What's up, loser?" Paul decided to act his usual cocky self for the last two sentences.

"You noticed me just fine Paul!" Josephine screamed angrily, not understanding that Bill and Paul were acting. Her reaction was to be returned with a sneer from her rival. "Besides, if I remember correctly... I was the one who beat you that last time at school."

"Yeah, you did get lucky and beat me. I'll give you that," Paul told Josephine, moving his right hand towards his belt and quickly removing a Poké Ball. "But how about a battle to show that last time was a fluke?"

<Hey! Come on now! Before there are any battles, would you two mind helping me regain my human form? Have your battle afterwards, okay?> Bill queried.

"Alright then Bill, what do the loser and I have to do?" Paul said, making Josephine glare at him.

<First, let me get into the right pod,> Bill said, jumping up to press a button on the pod. <This is where you and Josephine come in. Both of you have to go and pull down the levers, of both pods, at the same time. Got that?>

Josephine and Paul nodded.

<Alright then, get to it!> Bill said, as the hatch closed behind him. Josephine and Paul went to the levers and looked at each other.

"You ready Paul?" Josephine asked. Paul nodded.

"Okay, on three. One... two..."

"THREE!" Paul and Josephine both said, flipping the levers down simultaneously. A light filled both of the pods for about twenty seconds, and then finally faded away, opening both doors.

"That is much better," Bill said, stepping out of the left pod. Both Paul and Josephine grimaced at the sight that greeted them. "What's the matter with you two?"

"Uh, don't know how to break this to you Bill... but you're naked." Paul said, closing his eyes and shaking his head at the same time. Josephine placed her hands over her eyes.

"Oh, sorry about that, you two! Be back in a minute!"

With that, Bill ran into his bedroom.

Josephine and Paul both looked at each other with disgusted looks on their faces. "That was more of Bill than I cared to see." Josephine sighed; shaking her head like Paul had done a moment ago.

"Indeed – I learned two things about Bill today," Paul said, with a disgusted look on his face. "One... he is crazy enough to mess himself up enough to become a Pokémon. Two... well... I think that you know that one Josephine."

Josephine nodded, shuddering at the thought.

Bill returned, and this time was fully clothed. "Probably more than you needed to see of me, huh?"

Both trainers nodded silently at Bill's words. Bill rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... definitely more than you needed to see. By the way, weren't you two meant to have a battle?" Bill asked them, steering the subject in a different direction.

"That's right!!" Josephine and Paul yelled at the same time. Both of them ran outside, with Bill, Katie, Rachel and Arthur following closely behind. They finally stopped when they were some distance from Bill's house. They both reached for the Poké Balls at their belts, and raised them up in the air, ready to throw them.

"From what Professor Oak has told me, these two are pretty good. This should be interesting..." Bill said to himself, smiling at the thought of seeing these two battle each other, especially since hearing what the Professor had told him.

"How about a quick one on one battle Josephine?" Paul asked.

Josephine nodded. "Go Kingpin!!" Josephine shouted, sending out her Pokémon. Kingpin appeared, looking happy to be in battle.

"Go Brute!!" Paul shouted, also sending out a Pokémon, which slowly appeared, and eventually showed the extremely hostile-looking Nidorino.

"Alright, go Brute!! Horn Attack!!" Paul said. Brute charged at full speed towards Kingpin, ready to knock him back.

"Kingpin! Dodge it and counter with Double Kick!!" Josephine ordered. As Brute was about to strike, Kingpin jumped to the left and delivered two swift kicks to Brute's side. Brute skidded back a few metres, but quickly regained his composure and looked unfazed.

<You're going to pay for that, you runt!!> Brute shouted at Kingpin. Brute advanced on Kingpin and gave him a look that told Kingpin that he wanted to kill him.

"Not yet Brute. Hold your anger in for a little later." Paul told him sternly. At that moment, Josephine realized why Paul called his Nidorino 'Brute'. He was so angry and untamed that he could be considered a brute... which is another name for demon. Although Paul seemed to be able to keep him in check.

I guess Paul really does know how to handle his Pokémon, Josephine thought, admitting in her mind that Paul was a good trainer. But that doesn't mean I won't beat him.

"Brute, use your Poison Sting on Kingpin!!"

Brute ran at Kingpin with his claws extended.

"Kingpin, get out of the way!!" Josephine yelled, but the command came too late. Kingpin took the full force of the blow. Even though he was a pure Poison type, the Poison Sting attack still did considerable damage to him. He struggled to get up from the attack.
"That attack really did put Kingpin down. Still, he doesn't give up easily. Kingpin, use your Horn Attack!!" Josephine commanded. Kingpin ran towards Brute, but surprisingly Brute didn't bother to move. He took the Horn Attack head on, and went right back to Paul's feet.

"Good job Brute. Now use your Rage attack and finish this!" Paul said, giving a sure sign of victory with his smile. Josephine wondered why Paul would order such an attack right now, but then it clicked. Due to Brute's temper, the attack would be even more effective, and especially since he just took some damage. Brute's pupils shrunk, then he charged at Kingpin and knocked him back at least ten metres.

"Kingpin!!" Josephine yelled as Kingpin went behind her right side. Kingpin was barely standing and on the point of fainting.

"Let's end this now. Brute, Horn Attack." Paul said calmly.

"Wait Paul," Josephine said, as she recalled Kingpin. "I admit defeat. You win – your Nidorino is stronger than mine. But I won't lose to you again."

Paul returned Brute and walked up to Josephine. "That was a good battle Josephine," Paul extended his hand. As Josephine reached out to shake it, Paul pulled it back and ran it through his hair. "Too slow. Just be glad I didn't use Drake in this one."

"Whatever Paul," Josephine sighed. "You were better this time, but next time I'll get you. By the way, who is Drake?"

"You'll find out next time we battle Josephine," Paul snickered. "Until then, you can think about it."

"Yeah, but you don't know who Wisteria is either, and you'll have to figure that out next time as well." Josephine said, glad that both of them had Pokémon to hide from one another.

Bill walked up to the two rivals, smiling. "Well, that was a phenomenal battle!! Before I forget Paul, this is what I called you all for." Bill pulled five tickets out of his pocket. "These tickets allow you to tour the ship in Vermillion Harbour, the S.S. Oceania. It's one of the best luxury cruise liners in the world. Josephine, Katie, Arthur and Rachel, you can have these four."

The five trainers took the tickets and pocketed them. "Thanks," they said in unison.

"Don't mention it. It was the least I could do after Josephine and Paul separated me from my Abra," Bill said, still smiling at the two. "If you want to get there, you should leave now, because it will open tomorrow night."

"Bill, I think you should have this," Josephine began, handing Bill Kingpin's sphere. "He deserves to be with you, as you obviously care very deeply about Pokémon."

"But… Josephine… have you told him…?" Bill answered, looking quite shocked.

"Yep, already did that," came the reply.

It had been just after Kingpin evolved into Nidorino that Josephine told him that he would be passed onto someone else. Ever the Pokémon with a 'happy-go-lucky' personality, Kingpin happily took in the information and continued jumping around like a mad Rhyhorn, impaling flowers on his horn as he went.

"Very well," Bill responded. It was the only thing he could say. He accepted the red and white orb.

"Josephine, if we want to get there, we NEED to get going NOW." Paul emphasized the importance of leaving as soon as possible.

"Okay, okay!" Josephine snapped. "Jeez, Paul…" Her ranting dropped to a mere whisper as she muttered expletives under her breath.

"Bye, Bill. Have a good time!" the five trainers shouted back as they quickly set off.

Bill looked at their departing backs for a while, and then face-palmed. "I forgot to mention this to them, but there are reports that Team Rocket is in Vermillion City. I hope they survive this journey…"

*****

Meanwhile, in Vermillion City, Commanders Veisa and Nighthawk were making their move on the S.S. Oceania — the new luxury liner since the S.S. Anne was overtaken and sunk by the Rocket forces who'd been led by Giovanni all those years ago. Demanding that the grunts dress casually and act like ship attendees, Eleanor and Ace observed the happenings from the control room, where the captain and his navigators were strangely bound and unconscious.

"They were on their way to Bill's Sea Cottage when we had to flee," Eleanor had previously said, explaining her mishap in not capturing Josephine. "I have reason to believe the eccentric weirdo gave the five of them tickets to this ship."

"Good," was all that Nighthawk said at first. There was a lengthy pause, before he continued. "I had a run-in with the auburn-haired boy's mother a few months ago. Tell one of the grunts to slip a lethal amount of arsenic in the boy's drink. I want the boy to suffer quickly." At the end of his statement, he giggled as if he was possessed and rubbed his hands together in his twisted glee.

Zeffy · Dec 25, 2009

You did a really great job on this fic. I've read no plotholes. If there is one though, maybe I missed it. The concept is great and those POVs are great. The way you interpret when the characters talk are good. If I really had enough time, I would read each chapter and write reviews for each one. But alas, I don't have enough time. I'll try to review the next chapters better. Until then.

Legendarian Mistress · Jan 6, 2010

A/N: I'd like to thank my co-author, KP, for helping out with descriptions of an evolving Bellsprout and Weepinbell.

Chapter 8: Arrival in Vermillion, A Commander's Crackdown

"Squirtle, Water Pulse!" commanded a female Picnicker. The rippling liquid energy shot towards its target, a tiny Bellsprout.

"Dodge it Wisteria, and finish this…!" Bellsprout's trainer began, but then trailed off as something amazing began to occur.

Josephine watched gleefully as Wisteria morphed before her very eyes. The skinny root-like body seemed to merge with her bell-shaped head as the tiny roots shrunk into the light. The leaves grew in size as did the body of the evolving Bellsprout, a hook-like stem protruding out from the top. When the glow faded, there was Wisteria's new form.

She looked nothing like her previous form. Feet weren't available anymore for any mobility, except if she were to hop around. A larger, gaping mouth was on the rounded area of the golden, lime-green spotted body. Her eyes were bigger, almost like dinner plates with irises of dark brown. The leaves flapped in the breeze near the top where the stem grew into a hook for hanging from higher areas. Wisteria stared up at the girl and, smiling with her eyes, exclaimed <Are you pleased with me, Josephine?> in a shy tone.

Sensing that the Water Pulse attack was nearing her, Wisteria simply placed the two broad leaves in front of her face and let them soak in the liquid. Then she countered with a Razor Leaf; the emerald-green foliage struck Squirtle and knocked him down and out.

"BOOYEAH!!" Josephine pumped her fist in the air several times. "Of course I'm pleased with you, Wisteria," the red haired girl added, speaking honestly. "Ever since I caught you on Route 4, you've been doing your very best in battle."

<Why, thank you,> Wisteria quietly murmured, shyly looking away.

"Return," the female Picnicker recalled her Pokémon to his Poké Ball and went up to the winner of the battle. "Great match Josephine!! I had heard rumours about you, but I didn't think that your Pokémon were that strong!!"

"You put up a great fight too, Ailsa," Josephine told her.

"Thanks Josephine. Well, here is the money you earned. I hope to see you again sometime!" After handing Josephine her money, Ailsa walked off, leaving the redhead with four hundred and fifty Pokédollars and a very happy Weepinbell.

<I'm getting better!> Wisteria said, bouncing up to her trainer. 

"Don't let this go to your head Wisteria," Josephine told the plant Pokémon. The teen smiled, remembering the words Misty had given as advice, as if sensing Josephine was on the verge of being visited by Mew.

<You don't forget things too easily...> Riley said, annoyed that her trainer had used one of Misty's quotes against the dual Grass and Poison type. <Too bad you can't read maps as well as you can remember things!>

"Hey, come on! Give me a break! Anyone could get lost on the way to Vermillion City!" Josephine indignantly protested to the Pokémon. "I do know that we are surrounded by trees and that we are on Route Six!"

While Josephine argued the finer points of their location to her starter, with the female Luxio just sitting there grooming herself as electricity sparked in her fur, Rachel was engaged in a spot of play-time with the female Meowth she had just captured.

"Ohh, you're so cuuute! Yes, you are. Oh, yes." Rachel spoke in a cutesy sort of voice, well aware that her Meowth – whom she had nicknamed Persi – was used to being pampered.

Becoming aware of Josephine, Katie, Arthur, Paul and their Pokémon, Persi gave each being a calculating stare, determining whether they were worthy of her friendship. Deeming Riley to be worthy, as they were both felines, Persi meowed her approval of the female Luxio and turned her curled tail up at the others.

<She's a pampered, conceited and generally stuck up little b****,> Psy spoke to Paul. The auburn haired boy had been able to catch the condescending Drowzee just as they had entered the Route. He was a bipedal, tapir-shaped Pokémon, with a lazy face and appearance. The bottom half of his body, other than his toes was black, while the rest of him was golden. As he communicated telepathically, he waved his three-clawed hands around in a circular manner.

Has she always been like that? Paul queried, projecting his thoughts into Psy's mind.

<Hell yeah; since she was born… makes me wonder why her Persian parents didn't go crazy,> the Drowzee answered.

"Psy, how's Juri's condition?" Josephine questioned her rival's Pokémon.

She was met with a resolute silence.

"Oh? Didn't I tell you, loser?" Paul was acting his usual cocky and arrogant self again. "Psy only talks with my other Pokémon and I. So I'll pass on what he said."

He paused dramatically.

"WELL?!" Josephine started to worry for her Sandslash. "TELL ME!!!!"

"He said Juri's recovering well inside the Poké Ball, but we should hurry and reach Vermillion to get him proper treatment."

"Anyway, you're going to Vermillion City? I can't battle you today, but I will battle you tomorrow. I can also tell you how to get to Vermillion City. Follow this path up ahead until you reach a fork in the road. Take the left path, and you'll be there in no time!!" The speaker had short, spiky blonde hair. He was shirtless except for a green army vest. He had long baggy pants that matched the vest. He was muscular as well, so the quintet assumed that he'd previously been in the army.

"Thanks Lt. Surge!" the quintet called back as they hurried down the left path.

The five trainers finally arrived at Vermillion City, much to the pointless huffing of Persi. They'd already been to the Pokémon Mart there, and they were taking their Poké Balls from Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Centre.

"Thanks Nurse Joy," they spoke in unison, taking their Poké Balls off the tray.

"No problem, you lot. I hope that you use our services again," Nurse Joy said with the 'Nurse Joy smile' as Josephine called it. "Remember, the party at the S.S. Oceania is going to be around 7pm."

"Don't worry, Nurse Joy. See you." They went over to deposit more of the Pokémon they had captured. Right now, they had seen over seventy different types of Pokémon, and owned about forty. Professor Samuel Oak, at Pallet Town, was happy with what Josephine had been sending him along with his own godson. Not to mention Rachel and Katie's work.

After they'd deposited their Pokémon, they went outside, to look at the town clock to see that they had about fifty minutes to get down to the dock.

Riley edged over to Juri's side. <You said something about Sandmaul being a murderer? What were you on about?> she inquired quietly.

<He killed my parents, but I couldn't remember that it was him until he attacked me,> the male Sandslash was determined to be more open with his team-mates.

<How are you dealin' with the fact that you've now met your parents' murderer face-to-face?> Breona queried.

Shy though she was, Wisteria was hasty to point out to Breona an irregularity in the Pidgeotto's question. <Breona, I do believe that's a personal attack on your behalf. Juri will deal with it the best way he can.>

<In other words,> Breona began, sensing a Pokéspeech brawl was about to break loose. <You want me to apologize. To make everyone happy, I will. Juri, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. Please find it in yo heart to forgive me.> Her apology over and done with, she stretched out a wing, waiting for the Sandslash to shake it with his silver-clawed hand.

A bit slow on the uptake, and not realizing what the female Pidgeotto's gesture meant until Riley whispered in his ear, Juri finally — yet gently at the same time — shook the wing. <You're forgiven,> he answered.

"Better get going so we can get there early," Josephine said, reaching for her Pokémons' Poké Balls, intending to recall Breona and Riley. "Juri should be excited about facing Lt. Surge tomorrow, considering he's an Electric type user and Ground types can easily beat Electric Pokémon."

"But remember what Nurse Joy said? Juri HAS to take it easy… which means no HARD battles…" Paul pointed out.

Rolling her hazel eyes in frustration, Josephine mumbled "Yeah, yeah."

Juri took shape after coming into view from the red energy of the Poké Ball. <I'm prepared to battle tomorrow! I can't wait to face his Raichu!>

The red-haired teen laughed at Juri's attitude. As the quintet and their Pokémon walked into the city, they were spotted by a middle-aged man. He quickly ran over to them and picked up Juri. "Ohh, a Sandslash!! These are such amazing Pokémon!"

"Uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Josephine warned, stepping away from the man and Juri.

Juri decided that the man had held him for far too long, and proceeded to Slash and Bite him. The man let go of Juri and stepped back, blood pouring from his wounds.

"I tried to warn you!" Josephine said.

The man regathered his composure and said, "I must say, it certainly does have some power in its teeth and claws. Anyway, young ones, would you mind telling me your names?"

"My name is Josephine, and they are Paul, Rachel, Arthur and Katie. We travel around Kanto to..." Josephine was cut off by the man.

"Josephine, Paul, Rachel, Katie and Arthur!! Good names for rising Pokémon trainers!! Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the Pokémon Fan Club president, but you can call me Shannon." Shannon said happily. "Also, it is true that I like Sandslash, but I like many Pokémon. My favourite is Rapidash..."

<Josephine, I have a feeling that this guy is going to be talking for a long time. Maybe I should shut him up my own way...> Juri warned his trainer.

"Juri!! Don't do that!" Josephine said in a worried voice. "Let's just hear what he has to say!"

"Yes, my favourite Pokémon is Rapidash..." Shannon said in an awe-struck voice. "The horn on its head... its amazing eyes glisten to the flowing mane of fire... how I love it!!"

About five minutes later, the same sort of thing was going on. "When it is galloping, the beautiful sound it makes..."

Then, minutes later, Josephine was starting to consider Juri's offer that he'd made earlier. "Yes, Rapidash is truly amazing... WHOOPS! Look at the time!"

Josephine immediately jerked up along with Juri to look at Shannon who was staring at his watch. "I'm sorry for keeping you so long! There has to be a way to repay you for taking so much of your time!! I know!! Take these bike vouchers!!"

Shannon pulled out five coupons from his pocket and handed them to the quintet. "Take these bike vouchers to Cerulean City. Once you get there, you can go and get free bikes from the 'Cycle Shop', which is located near the Gym. Anyway, sorry for taking up your time again! I hope to see you later."

Finally, the man left the quintet towards the man part of the city. "That was... interesting... oh well! Juri, return!" Josephine returned Sandslash to his Poké Ball, and the five trainers went in the direction of the docks as fast as they could to get to the S.S. Oceania's ceremonies.

"Welcome to the S.S. Oceania!! The most expensive cruise liner in the entire world!"

They had finally reached the S.S. Oceania to see the start of the ceremonies.

An attendee of the ship was talking to everyone there. "I hope that you enjoy the captain's ship as much as he enjoys riding the seas with it!! Now, come aboard!!"

It was at this point that Paul slipped into the crowd and disappeared from the sight of the other four. He would join them again later; he just wanted to be by himself for a while.

The plank was sent down with many cheers from the crowd. They ran up the plank to see why the S.S. Oceania was so famous. As the four girls stepped on board, it didn't even take a second to realize why. The ship looked so huge from the outside, but it was nothing compared to the inside. There were so many staircases that you couldn't count them all. The main banquet hall was simply humongous. There were countless stores of Pokémon merchandises and memorabilia.

An Olympic size swimming pool took up the bottom part of the ship. Restaurants were lined up at various parts of the ship. A sports area was reserved for the athletes. However, the most appealing thing to the four girls, as well as the other trainers there, was the battle arena. There were dozens of stages to battle on simultaneously, leaving no trainer without a fight for a long time.

As Josephine was about to go on a battle stage, someone called out her name. "Hey Josephine! About time I finally found you!"

She turned around to see a cocky Paul walk up to her. "So, which stage were you going to lose on first?" Paul asked her, with his usual 'I'm better than you' tone of voice.

"Well, with the winning streak that I've had ever since battling you, I was going to beat some more trainers!" Josephine replied, surprising Paul with her words. Huh? How the hell did he get away from us?! I was sure we all entered together… she thought, feeling confused.

"So... you have gotten better since then, huh?" Paul said, chuckling a bit. "Then how about we make a bet? The one to defeat the most trainers in the next hour wins this one. Agreed?" Paul extended his hand to Josephine, who shook it in agreement.

Without warning, an attendee came up to them and offered Paul a flavoured milk drink. Surprised, he nodded his thanks and drank it down in no time.

At that moment, all of the lights in the ship suddenly went out and a figure took the opportunity to 'accidentally' lock two of the trainers in a storeroom cupboard. There were shouts of confusion, until the main light in the battle area came back on again, revealing many men and women dressed in black with the letter 'R' in red on their shirts. Rachel, Katie and Paul — unaware of Josephine and Arthur's disappearing act — immediately knew who they were.

"For those of you who don't know us, which does surprise me considering we will one day dictate all of your lives, we are the organization known as Team Rocket," said a woman in the middle who, like the boy beside her yet dissimilarly to the others, was wearing a black mask over her face. The voice sounded familiar to Rachel, but she couldn't quite place it.

"We've captured all of the passengers on board, except for all of you tough Pokémon trainers. You can either surrender now, or do what you love the most, and that's have a Pokémon battle with all of us. Choose now, and make sure it is the right choice."

Legendarian Mistress · Jan 11, 2010

Chapter 9: The S.S. Oceania Showdown!

Suddenly, Paul caught a glimpse of something light blue. "What was that?" he asked Scarlei. They had just crossed Nugget Bridge, which was north of Cerulean City, and Paul was doing a spot of fishing.

<What was what?> the Roselia questioned his master.

"I think I saw… oh, never mind." Paul said.

<No. What?> asked Scarlei eagerly.

"I think there was a Dratini there," Paul said, still staring at the same spot.

<Don't be silly,> Scarlei said, while he obviously looked around for it as well. <Over there!> he said.

Paul threw his godfather's rod forward. A small creature dove back under the surface of the water. "Damn it!" Paul muttered. "I have to catch it!"

"Draa?" A small head poked out of the water. It was pale blue with cute frills at the sides; two adorable eyes watched the human with interest and a white muzzle.

Paul took a Poké Ball out of his pocket, but accidentally dropped it, because he was in a rush, and it rolled into the water, where it started sinking. The Dratini dove down again. Paul saw his Poké Ball come to a halt when it reached the bottom. After a few suspenseful seconds, the Dratini swam forward to examine it, poked a little too far, and was dissolved into red energy that was drawn into the ball.

Paul stared at it for a short while, unable to believe his luck, and then attached a small magnet to the end of the line. He reeled the Poké Ball in quickly. He took the Poké Ball off the magnet, put the magnet back in his backpack and held the Poké Ball, elated to have caught a rare Pokémon. Then and there, he vowed to train Dratini until he reached his final form – Dragonite!

*****

The following battle that ensued was utterly terrible. Pokémon lashed at each other for survival. There were screams of pain and victory. Even though the Rockets' Pokémon mainly consisted of Poison types, the sheer numbers were starting to overwhelm the trainers' Pokémon. In the southwest corner of the battle area, a Rocket grunt's Scyther was slashing at the throat of a Pidgeotto. Also in the area, a trainer's Machop was doing its best to get away from a grunt's Kadabra, who was using its Confusion attack to torture it slowly.

Near the entrance, more Rockets were starting to come in and surround the area. Things were starting to become hopeless. Very few trainers were still holding their ground, and three of those trainers were Katie, Paul and Rachel.

While the battle raged on the main floor of the ship, a more intimate encounter was happening in the cramped storeroom cupboard. Josephine placed her free arm on Arthur's chest and hugged him, as he softly stroked her hair.

"How do you think Paul will react?" She asked.

Arthur managed to marginally turn his head in her direction. "Does it really matter what he thinks? He has, after all, got Misty."

There it was — her lover's mature-minded, modest and fun loving persona. Mentally, Arthur's Glaceon — Iceheart — was rolling on the floor laughing his arse off. As for how the redhead knew this would be revealed very soon. A sneaky grin crossed the distant Ice type's face in the black darkness. The pale azure coloured fox knew exactly what to do; it was time for him and Riley to kick the plotting into action.

Leaning over to press the release button on the female Luxio's red and white orb, the aloof creature waited for the blinding light to fade. The Electric type's yellow eyes turned sharply towards her mistress's lover's Glaceon and she crisply asked: <What is it this time, Iceheart?>

<It's time for them to become embarrassed,> the Sinnohian-born Pokémon answered.

It only took a second for the Luxio to realize what the Ice type was going on about. A devious smile spread over her face — unseen by the two trainers in the darkness — and her yellow eyes seemed to sparkle mischievously.

Being able to see in the dark helped Riley a lot, as she gingerly raised a forepaw, slid it underneath her trainer's right hand and then pushed the five-fingered limb onto Arthur's hand. The two Pokémon instantly felt the tension rise; they could tell that their trainers loved each other, but just wouldn't do anything overly exaggerated to make it obvious to others. If there'd been light in the cupboard and if Iceheart had had a camera, he most definitely would have gotten a picture of this moment.

Both the trainers were caught off guard when light flooded into the cupboard and the surprised face of an assistant deckhand looked in at them. "'ere," he began, "what are youse doing in here?"

Embarrassment quickly forgotten, the group piled out and the trainers muttered apologies. <We were accidentally locked in here. By whom, I wouldn't know,> Iceheart explained, in a frosty tone, to the deckhand's Machop. The pint-sized Fighting type waved them off and the foursome hurried back to the raging battle.

"Wisteria, fling Riley to increase her Thunder Fang's power!" Josephine shouted over the battle cries and orders. Wisteria swung Riley in a three hundred and sixty degree circle and Riley came through a bunch of Pokémon ganging up on three trainers who had already been defeated.

"You do the same Scarlei! Fling Brute!" Paul also ordered. Scarlei and Brute did the same action as Wisteria and Riley had done, except that it had a greater effect due to Brute's aggressive personality.

<We can take on any Pokémon like this!> Scarlei yelled triumphantly in a very cold, confident voice.

"Josephine – time for some more team work! Let Psy redirect Riley's Thunder Fang so it can get past enemy shields!" Paul said. Josephine told Riley to use Thunder Fang. As soon as it was released, Psy put both of his hands together and shot the attack in different directions, hitting many Team Rocket Pokémon and causing them a great deal of damage.

"Psy's Confusion made that one even more powerful!" Josephine said, slightly surprised that she and Paul were working together as a team.

"Did you expect any less?" Paul asked, showing a glint of his usual cockiness. "Josephine, I'm up to seven. What about you?"

He's already by three, Josephine thought. Bugger, bugger, triple bugger!
"Everybody, go all out now!" Josephine's Pokémon started to really give the Rockets' Pokémon problems. Eventually, Josephine had caught up to Paul and even surpassed him when Juri delivered more Slashes as he went up against a grunt's Grimer. "I'm up to eight, Paul. I passed you and I'm still going!" Josephine yelled, glad at her Pokémons' handy work.

"What was that?!" Paul shouted back. "I'm up to eight!" Josephine mentally kicked herself. She knew that Paul wasn't going to wait around for her to catch up and beat him. Then, all of a sudden, the quintet heard about half-a-dozen anguished cries. They turned around and saw Rocket grunts finishing off at least fifteen Pokémon, and then started attacking their trainers. The trainers looked at each other.

"Paul, Rachel, Katie and Arthur — I think we should give them what they deserve if we're going to win this war," Josephine told her rival and her friends in a serious voice. "Let's combine attacks on them!"

"Yeah, let Wisteria use Razor Leaf, Scarlei use Poison Jab and Laverne use Water Gun!" Paul replied.

Josephine nodded in agreement. "You heard him, use them now!" Josephine told the Pokémon. The three Pokémon stood beside one another and released their attacks. Each of the attacks formed a spinning circle, creating a quick flash of bright light. The elements of the combined attacks – grass, poison and water – hit with tremendous force when they reached their targets. The Rocket members were thrown about ten metres away and were left unconscious. The quintet high-fived each other.

"So, you really want to end this battle that badly, huh?" a voice said from behind the two. They turned around to see the same young boy who had stood beside the woman who'd been talking earlier at the centre of the battle area.

"Yeah!" the five of them said in unison. The young boy merely laughed and then grabbed a pair of female trainers who were nearby. He then pulled out a knife and put it across their throats. The quintet didn't move an inch.

"Now that you five will listen, hear my demands or else these two won't get 'ahead in life'!" he laughed at the cruel joke. The five trainers flinched a bit, but eventually gave in and returned their Pokémon.

"Good… good… Now, ALL of you will follow me. Understand?" the boy ordered. Josephine gave Paul a questioning look and, in return, he glanced at Rachel. The lavender-haired girl merely nodded, sensing this boy was Nighthawk and irritating him would not be a good idea. Rachel nodded at Josephine, telling her without any words that this had to be done.

As one, the quintet walked towards the boy. "Alright, I will let these two go once we reach the storage area," he said, turning and walking to where the storage area was. "Come on now! You don't want these young trainers to die now, do you?!"

As they followed the pre-teen down the stairs, they were each only wondering one thing. What the hell does he want from me? That question played through their minds many times before they arrived at their destination. The twelve-year-old turned to face them when they were at the storage area's door and let the two trainers go. "I may be in Team Rocket, but I am a person of my word," he said as the two trainers ran away. "Now, let's go inside."

The quintet followed him into the storage area, and was surprised at the sheer size of it. It was as big, if not bigger, than the battle area. Of course there was a lot of luggage, but there was still plenty of room to have a battle. The boy shut the door and went to the middle part of the room.

"You are probably wondering what I want from you, right?" he asked them. They were shocked that the boy knew their exact words. "I can't read minds; there used to be someone else in Team Rocket who could do that… I heard she reformed. But, I can tell what's going through peoples' minds when they prepare for battle. I know that from experience and tough battles."

"You mean…?" They started to say, finally figuring out who this person was.

"Yes, I am Commander Nighthawk — formerly of the Admin position," he said, finally pulling off the mask. Josephine wasn't aware of the reactions of her rival, friends and lover. She just stood there, still disbelieving at the fact that Scyla's master was back and quite possibly wanted to kill her. "You are wondering why I joined Team Rocket. That's simple to answer; it's because of the power Team Rocket presented to me! I'm here to get payback from you escaping Scyla last time. Now, let me introduce you to a Pokémon of mine you haven't seen! Go, Redfur!"

The Poké Ball released a large, orange creature, that looked like a huge dog of sorts. He growled viciously, as spurts of flame dripped from his mouth. Redfur's body was covered in black stripes, and he had a long and thick creamy mane and tail, as well as creamy patches of fur on his legs.

The quintet stared in awe at the way the 'Legendary' Pokémon's muscles tightened visibly in his four legs and the absolute determination in his black eyes. Rachel stammered that she would go first against Nighthawk.

*****

While Lt. Surge enjoyed a round of poker at the Vermillion Pub with his reformed companions and ex-boss, a woman happened to walk into the building and stopped suddenly, her azure eyes searching the room. She was a slender being and her long pink hair was done up in a ponytail which cascaded onto small shoulders. She was dressed in a pink blouse and a long pink skirt, with the woman's elegance increased tenfold by the flowing effect of her garments. Her hands were as white as a ghost's and her lips finally formed a smile when she found the group of people she was seeking.

Walking over to them, she started things off. "It certainly is a pleasure to see that you've all reformed."

Lt. Surge merely gawked at the Legendary's human form, thinking to himself What a babe!

"I would keep your thoughts to yourself, if I were you, Surge," Sabrina scolded, automatically knowing that Mew wouldn't have risked being seen if there wasn't something that she needed them to do.

"You seek our assistance, I can tell. How may we be of assistance to you, Mew?" Koga asked quietly, leaning back in his chair. The tall man was dressed in dark brown ninja-style clothes. A red scarf was wrapped around his neck and broadened to look like a cape. The sleeves and top of his boots were marked with red circular stripes. He had black spiky hair and there was always a serious expression on his narrow-set face. He put two fingers together and placed them on his forehead; it seemed that he was deep in concentration.

"The new quartet of Chosen," Mew began. "The new leader of Team Rocket has revealed himself to be my Chosen's brother which makes things a lot more complicated."

"A sibling bond… of course…" Blaine thought out loud, already devising ways in his mind to nullify the bond between Mew's Chosen and the new leader of Team Rocket. The elderly man had a bald head and wore sunglasses. The white lab coat that he wore may have given some the impression that he was a scientist, but that was not the case. The tan coloured shirt and the red tie, along with the purplish-blue trousers and brown shoes indicated that this man was, like the others, a Gym Leader.

"I must beg of all you to help the new Chosen in their quest to bring down Team Rocket," Mew pleaded with each of them, relying on their vows to help the innocent, trusting that they would come through for her.

There was a long silence as they considered the situation. Giovanni finally broke the silence as he said, "We will help them take down Team Rocket."

*****

Rachel had lost quite quickly against Nighthawk and now it was Josephine's turn. Breona had already gotten in some swift blows thanks to her agility, but the battle took a sudden twist that would lead to the redhead's crushing defeat. Nighthawk looked into her eyes and revealed that her brother was the Chosen of Zapdos.

Paul stood there, speechless, while Josephine fell to her knees, utterly stunned by the news. She couldn't believe it! Her brother – not only the leader of Team Rocket, but a Chosen as well?! Her shock gave Nighthawk's Arcanine the chance to quickly finish each and every one of her Pokémon. Resignedly, she recalled them all into their Poké Balls and said dejectedly to Paul, "It's your go now."

Josephine walked away from the others and leaned on one of the walls, Paul faced off against Nighthawk. Knowing that Scarlei, Brute and Drake were weakened from all of the battles upstairs, the auburn-haired teen decided to go with Psy. Releasing the condescending Drowzee, Paul bravely commanded his Psychic type partner to do his best.

<Let's go, you pile of dirt!> Psy insulted the Fire type, who became angry at the comment.

<You are nothing more than an amateur at insults, I'm afraid,> the Arcanine replied, his tone of voice clearly a helpless sounding monotone. Nevertheless, the fiery Pokémon lunged over to the Psychic type, alternating his attacks between Flamethrower and Iron Tail.

The Drowzee was on the verge of fainting, but then everything in the room halted as a bright white light which had overtaken Psy faded. He was of a medium-sized stature, complete in a humanoid figure. His entire body, except the white fur around his neck, was yellow-skinned. If it wasn't for the pendulum, the boy noted, he wouldn't have known what sort of creature he was.

He indeed had a human shape to him, in the slender – yet well-muscled – arms and legs; however, he only had three toes on each foot. The ears were pointed, in his opinion, and the nose was one of the most noticeable things about him as it was triangular shaped. Pursing his lips together so much made his mouth a straight line of impatience. The eyes were the most interesting feature. The smugness of the Hypno's gaze made Paul shiver, and the intensity of the black irises were clearly seen with a glint.

Nighthawk's Arcanine snorted. <You certainly knew when to evolve,> he began, <but that doesn't mean you'll win.>

It had been the day after learning of his promotion to Commander that Nighthawk had visited Redfur's family. The Arcanine was adamant for what seemed like hours that he would not go back to the dark-skinned twelve-year-old. Some convincing was needed and a possible hold over the Fire type's mentality was put in place; but, eventually, Redfur rejoined the one who had betrayed his trust in the first place.

"PSY!! NOOOO!!" Paul yelled, distraught at the prospect of losing one of his partners. The Hypno was lying motionless on the floor of the baggage area, covered in blood. The blood was courtesy of Arcanine's Crunch attack, aimed at doing a lot of damage to the opponent.

The ship started to shake, knocking the quintet and Nighthawk off their feet. "Looks like the ship is starting to have some problems because of all the battles," Nighthawk said, getting up and reaching into his pocket, pulling out a communicator. "Abort mission. The S.S. Oceania is too unstable to fight on anymore. Repeat, abort mission."

Nighthawk looked at the quintet with an expression of hatred set on his face. "You got lucky this time, you five! But next time, this match won't finish so easily!" They stared right back at him. As Nighthawk recalled Redfur and was about to leave, Josephine yelled out to him.

"What exactly is Team Rocket trying to accomplish?" She asked, trying to find the answer to the question she had had on her mind ever since she saw the grunt in the Viridian Forest.

Nighthawk turned around and stared at the quintet for a few minutes before asking, "Tell me, how many Pokémon do you think there are in the world?"

Josephine was surprised that Nighthawk would ask her such a question, considering that he hadn't answered her. "Well, according to Professor Oak, there are four hundred and ninety-three Pokémon known to man…" Josephine started to explain before Nighthawk interrupted her.

"Four hundred and ninety-three? You might think that, but in truth, Team Rocket knows about Pokémon from regions that are relatively unknown to humans. Now if you would like to live, I would advise helping out the people up top. Until our next battle, know that Team Rocket will stop at nothing to get what they want." Nighthawk finally ran off. The quintet decided to take his advice and help out the crew and passengers above.

Paul returned the bloodied Hypno and the group started running through the room to reach the door. They then left to help out everyone else on the ship.

A few hours later, everyone on the S.S. Oceania was safe on dry land. However, no Team Rocket members could be found. Paul was explaining to Officer Jenny that one of the new boss' of the criminal organization was called Nighthawk and he was the one who lead the attack on famous cruise ship. Jenny wrote down all of the details and thanked the quintet for their time as she left.

Mewtwo suddenly appeared in front of Paul. <I see you've attempted to become friends with the girl.> He paused, and then hit the boy with a three-fingered paw. <But you're not trying hard ENOUGH! Let THIS be a lesson!>

"Ohhh... I feel sick," Paul mumbled, as if the slap from his Chosen Legendary triggered a landslide reaction in his stomach. "I'll be a while, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he hurried to the Centre and was stuck in the male toilet for ages.

Frazzled from their experiences that day, the quintet booked their rooms. They then showered, got changed into their pyjamas and went to bed.

*****

The digital clock on the hardwood dresser barely read one before both two lights – one rosy and the other an icy blue – appeared in the dark room. With the cold temperatures of winter upon them, she felt in her element as she brushed her sweeping, icy blue hair over her shoulder. Frost glistened off it as they did of her pale skin which radiated an almost death-like chill in the cold room.

The young woman, who happened to be Articuno in human form and Mew, turned their heads to the beds the girls were sleeping on, and focused on the top bed. The girl was fast asleep, breathing slow and even, her lavender hair and angelic face shining in the little moonlight there was in the room. She seemed at peace. Beckoning with her tail, the pink feline indicated to Articuno that the humanized Titan of Ice touch one paw. Glancing behind her shoulder to make sure the Pokémon were asleep, Mew reached out with the other tiny paw, placing it gently on the forehead, closing her eyes.

The darkness altered to a small town, clear blue skies above and green trees flourished. Pidgey cooed as they flew, and an occasional Rattata dug up someone's garden. Many people walked or rode on bikes, knowing each one by name and friends with another. The houses were of wood, or bricks in the new subdivisions, the largest belonging to a lab that could only belong to the Professor. Mew recognized this as Pallet Town, as she sometimes flew over in her travels. She had been transported to one of the brick houses, beautifully kept neat and the garden blooming. Over the door, a red banner was tacked up, red, curvy letters exclaiming "Welcome Home Chosen Two".

The door opened before the two Legendaries could move, and Rachel exited, looking up at the sky. She slightly turned her head to tell some persons she'd be back, and walked down the pathway. Her hair was put up in a ponytail, and she was in a long, white dress; the Legendaries almost didn't recognize her in the attire. Quietly, Mew flew up to the girl's vision, and peered at her bright, light eyes. Rachel gasped at the sight of her, blinking rapidly. "Oh, my goodness, aren't you a cute little thing," she breathed.

<That's what they all say,> Mew giggled, smiling at her. Alongside her, Articuno also smiled.

The girl backed away. "And you can talk! And I mean with telepathy!"

Mew nodded and then motioned with her tail at Articuno. "I've been watching you for a while, Rachel. And I must say your skills have been growing."

"You saw me at the Cinnabar Island Gym then, huh? I almost beat Blaine with Maverick, but he had the advantage." She shrugged. "At least my friends cheered me on all the way."

"Well, we came by on behalf of congratulating you, and to help warn you."

The lavender haired teen tilted her head, eyebrow raised. "What do you mean by 'warning'?"

The cat flew in loops around her a few times, a habit of hers to check a person out. She made sure there wasn't any form of recording device on her before pausing again in front of her. "There are people willing to hurt you to keep you from being what you are destined to be," Articuno spoke.

"Of course," she agreed. "People want to be the greatest Pokémon Master of all time. They can kill for that title."

"No, you don't understand. The fight against Team Rocket will be difficult and one of you will die before the end. But at this moment, I can not foresee which of you may die."

Rachel's azure eyes widened in horror upon hearing this. "Back up already! One of us?! Die?! Can you tell me more?!"

Articuno turned her head in shame, not wanting to elaborate. The smile on Mew's face became more of sorrow than her usual joy. <In due time, dear. For now, take care.> Rachel gasped as a bright light illuminated from Mew – which also surrounded Articuno – and filled her vision. When it faded, she was lying awake in her room, staring up at the ceiling in shock.

Why did Articuno and Mew tell her that, and why did they suddenly appear? And how could one of them die? Nothing was making sense, and it was beginning to hurt her head thinking about it. Sighing, Rachel turned around to face the wall to try and fall asleep again. Her sleep was deep, but dreamless, with nothing but black for the rest of the night.

*****

Having woken up later than usual the next morning for some reason, Josephine became quite pissed off when Katie and Rachel showed her their Thunder Badges that they'd earned from Lt. Surge.

"Have you seen Paul, by any chance?" Rachel questioned her best friend.

Rolling her hazel eyes, the redhead replied: "I only just got up, Rach. Do you want me to go look?"

"That'd be a good idea," Katie interrupted. "Lt. Surge wanted a battle with the two of you."

"Okay," came the red-haired teen's response. She went down the hallway to Paul's room and was about to knock, but she found that the door was strangely ajar. Hmm, that's not like Paul. He always keeps his door shut... she thought, beginning to worry a little. Pushing open the door, the first thing to hit her senses as she entered was the disgusting stench of death.

Her eyes rested upon Paul's inert figure and she immediately started crying. The teenager she had once loved was covered in vomit and stomach bile. His eyes were glassy and his body stiff as cardboard. A piece of notepaper had been stuck to his hand, obviously after the boy had died. Scrawled on it were the words: Nighthawk was here.

It was at that moment that she heard quickened footsteps. She turned around swiftly and stiffened in panic, frightened that Nighthawk had returned. When a Luxray's head poked around the corner, in advance of his master, Josephine breathed a sigh of relief. Before long, Volkner was peering at the scene of death. He inhaled deeply and faced his niece. "It's partially my fault that this happened," the Leader admitted.

"Uncle Volkner, wha-?" the red-haired teen was caught off-guard.

"A few days ago, I apprehended a Rocket grunt, but he was a clever one. As soon as Electivire touched him, he swallowed a fast-acting poison which he'd obviously stored in his mouth. By the time I got over to him, he was dead. If I had been quicker in getting over to him, then perhaps I'd have gotten vital information on why Team Rocket was in Vermillion. This boy was just a victim of Team Rocket's villainy. I'm sorry."

Wondering what was taking so long, Rachel, Katie and Arthur came down the hallway. Volkner turned fluidly and shook his head, indicating for them not to come any further. Josephine faced her friends and lover, but when Rachel saw the tears streaming down her friend's face, she became indignant. "Who are you and why is Josephine crying?!" the violet-haired fourteen-year-old raised her voice.

Volkner's head snapped up and he raised a hand, saying: "One at a time, please. Thank you for your consideration. My name is Volkner Electro, by the way. I'm Josephine's uncle. My niece is crying because the boy she used to love is now dead."

This piece of news stunned the remaining three trainers. "H-how?" Katie's question came out as a whimper.

"I suspect it was poisoning from arsenic, but I can't be one hundred percent sure until Officer Jenny gets here."

"Who could have done this?" Rachel asked, still shell-shocked.

"I betcha anything it was Nighthawk," Arthur answered, his voice becoming uncharacteristically hard. "Don't you remember how viciously he attacked Paul's Drowzee last night, before Psy evolved into Hypno?"

"Yeah," Rachel and Katie agreed in unison.

Two hours later...

"Yes, it was indeed arsenic poisoning," Officer Jenny confirmed. She placed a hand around Josephine. "I'm very sorry you had to see him like this first. It must be traumatic to deal with." Her tone indicated she was just as upset and shocked as everyone else was.

Volkner spoke up. "His parents will need to be notified."

"Parent," Josephine muttered. "He only had his mother. His father abandoned him."

Lt. Surge and Nurse Joy were at the scene as well. Not normally one to be upset, Lt. Surge's voice came out broken when he finally started talking. "The boy had a lot of potential. What will the three of you do now?" His question was directed at Josephine, Rachel and Katie.

However, it was Arthur who answered. "We are going to grieve, there will be a funeral at Pallet and then we're going to suspend the Gym badge quest while we are out of the region."

The two Gym Leaders, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny nodded in approval. They thought that that was a wise choice.

Legendarian Mistress · Jan 18, 2010

A/N: A very BIG thankies goes out to winterfell for providing the description of Darkrai.

Chapter 10: A Time to Mourn For the Lost

How many years have I known you, Paul? It seems like forever. You always beat me in everything that I have done. Yet this time, you beat me to somewhere that even I didn't want to go to. Tell me, why did you have to leave? I thought I hated you, so why are these tears cascading down my face? I can't come to terms with your death. You were more than just a friend, but something more than me. Though Arthur has my heart, you stole a portion. That portion died with you and now... I can't think about anything other than revenge. I want to hurt the people who ended your life. That's why I will move on. That is why I will become stronger.

I never thought that you would leave so soon. I was just getting used to having you around. You always kept a serious expression plastered on your face. That's why I tried to give you a little nudge. It was to get you out of that. Now I don't have that chance, do I? Teasing you was just me telling you that I cared and maybe… maybe you've realized that. I will never know. But what I do know is that they won't get away with this. Not as long as I live.

I knew something would eventually happen to you after Nighthawk's Arcanine nearly killed Psy. I just didn't think your life – as short as it was – would end because of arsenic poisoning. Team Rocket will pay dearly for taking you away from us.

After getting confirmation from Officer Jenny that you'd died from arsenic, I'm still in shock. I can't believe they even had the nerve to do such a cowardly act like this. I didn't know you for all that long, but I will never forget you – Paul Johnson, son of Viridian's head policewoman. May your soul rest in peace, knowing we will avenge your death.

A day later, the night sky seemed to hear Josephine's, Arthur's, Rachel's and Katie's respective thoughts and a shooting star fell to the far north, as if telling them that was where they had to go.

*****

"I'm Alice Jacques, reporting for the Kantonian Regional News. Here in Vermillion City – the body of rising Pokémon trainer, Paul Johnson — son of Viridian's head policewoman, Superintendent Tyler — was found in the Pokémon Centre. It has been confirmed that he was killed by a lethal amount of arsenic. The Kantonian Police Force believes the deceased trainer was well loved by his mother, who may very well be Team Rocket's next target. There will be more reports into this unusual case throughout the night."

Misty pressed the remote control, shutting the television off. It was almost 10 PM and the death of her Paul had not accomplished a thing. She tossed the remote away and wallowed in her grief-stricken thoughts for a while. Team Rocket had broken her heart for some reason that was unknown to her, or anyone else, with the exception of Nighthawk alone.

Suddenly, her Pokédex began ringing, indicating an incoming video call. The Water type Leader answered it. "Hello?" she asked nervously.

"How are you today, Misty?" the face on the other was that of Josephine's. Seeing the dejected look in the auburn-haired girl's eyes, she added: "Oh, I guess you just saw the news report then?"

Misty shuddered, recalling the recently-turned off television bulletin. "Why...? Couldn't you have done anything?"

"There was nothing I could do. Some attendee gave him a flavoured milk drink, which he sculled in no time at all. After that, Arthur and I got locked in a storeroom cupboard while Rachel, Paul and Katie were fighting off Team Rocket. It was only after Team Rocket fled the Oceania that Paul started feeling sick. Come the morning..."

The Leader sighed heavily and turned her face away slightly, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have been presumptuous. Can you do me a favour?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Kindly inform the others that I'm closing the Gym for an indefinite period of time. There is a funeral planned, isn't there?"

"Of course, but after that's out of the way... well, let's just say the four of us won't be in Kanto for six months."

"Huh? Where are you going?"

"We're going to lend the Sinnohians a helping hand in rebuilding their homeland. I hear rumours that they have a new Queen over there now."

"I see. Well, at any rate, I will be attending the funeral... and I'm sure Superintendent Tyler will show up there as well. By the way, you do know that, with the four of you gone — even though only three of you are Chosen — Team Rocket might up the ante on Kanto."

"Yes, we're aware of that," Arthur interrupted, moving into the small picture. "I'm Prince Arthur Regan, born a Sinnohian, but raised on Kantonian soil since I was nine. Be very wary of my mother; she's a traitor — her Team Rocket name is Commander Veisa. But I'm sure the Kantonian Elite Four can handle the organization."

"You sure sound hopeful there, Your..." Misty started to answer, but trailed off when Arthur waved his hand in dismissal.

"Just call me Arthur," he explained. "I have little time for royal titles."

The fifteen-year-old Leader smiled bleakly. "As you wish, Arthur. I understand completely."

"Well, I'll hand you back to Josephine now. It seems she has one final thing to say. Goodbye Misty, it was nice talking to you."

"It was nice to talk to you too, Arthur. Josephine, are you there?"

"I'm here," the redhead replied, moving back into view. "The funeral will be in a couple of days."

"Two days?" Misty sounded surprised. "I had better go out and buy the appropriate clothing then."

Emotion-filled yelling could be heard in the background at this point. Josephine turned slightly to Arthur and told him to sort Rachel and Katie out, before focusing her attention on Misty once more.

"I have to go," Josephine stated, grimacing after learning her lover couldn't sort out her two friends. "It turns out my friends were trying to tell me that Scarlei is very depressed."

A small, fleeting smile crossed Misty's face. "Alright, bye. Have a good night's sleep."

"Bye Misty, and... I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," the Leader breathed and terminated the call.

The next day...

Scarlei continued to stand by himself, feeling just as despondent as the previous day. <Death is something that I cannot calculate, so why are the figures for it randomly trying to assort themselves in my head? I imagine the tombstone over and over again. P.A.U.L J.O.H.N.S.O.N. No matter how many times I see it, no matter how many times I spell it, the gravestone isn't going to change. This shouldn't hurt, so why does it hurt? Hurting is irrational. Death is going to occur, so why can't my heart see this? Why didn't I expect it? Why do feelings hurt? Why do these emotions exist? My thoughts never expected this. Paul... why did you leave? So many things have been left undone. I don't want to miss you... but I can't help to.>

Josephine looked over the letter she had written last night to the family members of all involved.

To everyone it concerns,

This isn't something that we wanted you to read. We were convinced otherwise by Lt. Surge, who said that people always regret the things they didn't say. We couldn't face you. We can't face anyone actually. Though Paul's life was lost, we are still alive. We are grateful. But how can we see our loved ones? How can we see you when we are not strong enough to protect you? The past few days have been tough for us. Looking at these stars, we think they are against us as well.

They chastise us as we walk away from the people that we care about. It's not about space, you must understand. But we don't want you to see what we're willing to become to stop the needless taking of lives. No, it won't stop at just Team Rocket. It is the entire world's crimes that have us bothered. It sickens us that people are willing to destroy with the use of Pokémon for their advantage; as well as Pokémon that are willing to destroy on their own accord, not because their master said so. To stop this, we're willing to become far stronger than any trainer Kanto ever knew. We don't want you to see this transformation but we're sure that you will see the results.

We're not sure what path this road to inner strength will lead us. We want to take that road. We want to defeat the evil.

To you personally, Natalie, I have some words I want to say. Protect yourself. Become strong. Don't let Team Rocket get to you before we come back. Keep a watch on Mum and Dad. Become a better trainer.

We're not going to tell you where we're going. It's far. We don't want you away from Kanto for so long. We will build our team to grow with us. Don't bother to call because we will not answer. We're not going to reveal a time that we will be back. We may come back in a week; we may come back in a month, maybe a year. But we will return. We will stop this crime that plagues the streets we want to walk on.

So promise us this. Open your heart to someone else. You may not like the people that we become. You deserve better than that. You deserve someone that would love you.

Josephine.

"I'm surprised Scarlei's still down," Katie's voice broke into Josephine's thoughts.

"You shouldn't be," Rachel answered nonchalantly. "Scarlei was Paul's partner. They shared a close bond; despite the fact that Scarlei was cold-hearted, he cared very much about Paul."

Arthur wandered over to Josephine and stroked her face, while placing his other hand on her shoulder. "Rose," he began, calling her by a shortened variant of her middle name. "We need to tell Scarlei and his team-mates what's going to happen to them."

Josephine put the letter down on the table and looked into her lover's bright cobalt eyes. "Scarlei's unstable right now, remember?" she replied, returning his caress with a kiss. She looked at Brute, Drake and Psy who stood in a corner, away from the depressed, suicidal aura the Roselia was exuding. "At least Psy's opened up, even if it's only marginally."

Being Mew's Chosen enabled her to communicate telepathically with Psychic Pokémon, and so she focused her mind on the Hypno's. Psy, do you know what's going to happen to you and the others?

<How am I supposed to know that?! All four of you have fortress-like mental shields,> he answered abruptly.

Hey, come on now. There's no need for that. Between ourselves, we decided to release the four of you back into the wild, the redhead tried to psychically soothe the indignant creature.

<Why would you do that?> the Hypno still sounded sceptical.

Josephine mentally sighed. Because we care, and we don't want any of you fretting over what was lost.

<......> Psy was stunned into silence.

We care enough to let the four of you attempt to have another go at your normal lives.

<I'm sure Paul would've told you I have no family or friends due to my attitude.>

He did tell me that, the fourteen-year-old responded. That's why Professor Oak has offered you the chance to live with the other trained Pokémon who inhabit the wide open fields of his research laboratory.

<Give me twenty-four hours to think about it.>

I can't; none of us can. Because after the funeral, we're heading for Sinnoh. I'm sorry, Psy, but the decision will have to be today.

The Hypnosis Pokémon lowered his gaze for a few minutes. <Very well,> he eventually replied. <I'll go to the laboratory, but Brute and Drake are coming with me. It's that or nothing.>

You've got yourself a deal, Josephine countered.

The day of the funeral (or three days after Paul's death)...

Josephine's POV

My eyes trailed the path in which Paul's coffin was being carried. The thick wood of his coffin was glossed so well that it reflected light off its surface. I had to watch Superintendent Tyler, Paul's mother, polish it over and over again with her tears as a substance to clean it. She stood there all morning just polishing off the surface. I can remember the circular motions that she made with her clothes within the grief stricken trance. Now she was alone.

The coffin was set down before us while my hand was tightly grasping Arthur's fingers. Why, just why did it have to end like this? The world was barren now for all of us; a woman without a child, teens without a friend, and the world with one less Chosen. I couldn't bring myself to look at his body. Katie had said that he looked dashing in clean clothes, yet the paleness of his skin gave me the bleak reminder that he was no longer with us. I clenched my hand tightly to my chest. A part of me was still with him.

The sun had created something of a mist-like veil of light that showered the preacher as he spoke. The man's prayers and sermon almost felt like a blur as I watched. He spoke of how we should not grieve his death too much and how he was in happier place. Happier place… my mind choked on those words. Why did he have to leave to be happy? Why couldn't he be with someone he loved? He could have shared his life with someone like Misty who was now painfully watching this grim scene unfold.

After the preacher's last words left his lips, Tyler took the head of the small group. She stumbled upon herself as the tears streamed down her face. Everything was collapsing on the woman's face. The tears came down in rivers. Why did it end like this? I asked myself as I tugged tightly on my black dress.

"Today… we lay to rest a young man… who wanted to become something greater and be better. His life may be cut short, but his dreams will live on in all of you. Paul is with you and he is watching," his mother bit her lips. "Let him live on and let him become something great."

Those were the last words of the elegy. She soon fell to her knees, as they began filling the plot with dirt one shovel at a time. With each plot of dirt, my heart fell even deeper into the abyss below. I didn't realize that my own tears stained my dress. It pitter-pattered against my dress like rain drops.

"They will pay for his death," I murmured to myself.

"Yes… they will pay…" Arthur reassured. He wrapped one arm around the back of my neck. I needed something warm because it felt so cold. "You're strong…" Arthur rubbed my back.

"Not strong enough," I replied.

Those three words sent Arthur into a nonplussed state. His eyes just locked onto the last plot of dirt filled as the grave keepers patted with the back of their shovels. Katie, Rachel, and Arthur then wrapped their arms around me suddenly. I thought I would feel empty since Paul wasn't in this embrace. However… it felt like he was there — wrapping his thin arms around me.

"We will get them…" Rachel spoke. Her tears mixed with mine on my dress.

"Yes," I let out a deep bit of air. "Yes we will…"

Misty slowly approached the grave, watching Tyler place a row of flowers on it. Charles helped her gain the strength she needed to give that final goodbye; he gently guided her to the gravestone. When she got there, she fainted under all of the pressure. Charles managed to catch her before she hit the ground despite his condition. It was a very disheartening scene. Though a part of me was with him; all of her heart was with him. The loss sent her to unconsciousness.

They were not going to get away with this. Everything felt so wrong, like nothing any of us imagined. Team Rocket… this is my vow. You will never get away from the people that you hurt. We will find you and we will put an end to all of this.

*****

Somewhere in Sinnoh, a creature cloaked in shadow emerged, his ice blue eyes glowing ominously. On his small head was a white fog and surrounding his neck was a crimson collar of sorts. The long skinny arms hung limply from his body which was shaped like an hourglass.

<Damien,> Darkrai spoke in a husky tone, turning to his Chosen. <Be prepared, for they are coming. And they will need all of the help they can get.>

The fifteen-year-old Chosen of Darkrai, Damien Shadowlore, faced the Dark type Legendary. His clothing was modest and nondescript, consisting of his black shirt with a white trim and blue jeans. Damien's hair was also black and his footwear was coloured grey. "Gallade has just told me something," he began. "He predicted that one of the girls will fall in love with me." Here, he stopped and snorted dismissively. "As if anyone could fall in love with me — I'm slightly moody and secretive, after all. Why me?!" He suddenly yelled to the night sky, thus showing that he was indeed irritable.

 Darkrai answered slyly.

"Spare me the flattery, Darkrai," Damien responded abruptly. "We both know you only picked me because of my personality and not my appearance..."

<Enough of this,> the Dark type Pokémon commanded firmly. 

"I understand, Darkrai," Damien replied.

Back at Kanto...

The S.S. Oceania had left the region, headed directly for Sunyshore City of Sinnoh. Once the luxury liner arrived, the foursome would get acquainted with the Mercurias — the new royal family of the city — before travelling to all of the cities and townships in order to help them rebuild what was lost.

Sgt Shock · Jan 21, 2010

Sorry for the lack of reviews lately. I have been you know busy with various things. Yet here is the review and I hope that you like it.

First off, I really think you are portraying the lot of your characters nicely. I don't think that you notice it but you have a ton of characters, each with their distinctive personality. You are really showing improvement on the personality of each characters and the emotional factor that comes with each and every chapter. I think Paul's death really showed how serious the fan fiction can be and is going to be from now on. Up until now it has been kind of light, now you are really bringing down the darker side of the pokemon world. I like it.

On a side note, Lt. Surge totally eying the humanized mew in the Vermillion Pub--priceless. I was like woah, that is something I would make Lt. Surge do in my fan fiction (albeit Josh will probably smack him in the back of his head.).

Keep up the good work and I hope that this review as worth the wait. :) See you around.

Legendarian Mistress · Jan 26, 2010

Interlude: A Time to Strengthen

Natalie brushed her hair from her face as she stared blankly out of the window over-looking their front lawn. The night had just blanketed itself over the area so the sky had enveloped something of a glow of it all. She traced her finger down the windows, allowing the smudge of her fingertips to form an almost perfect straight line down the reflective surface. Her sister was gone without any words to bridge the reason of the departure. She could feel the loneliness swell within the confines of her chest.

After prying herself away from the window, she straightened the miniskirt to the point that it almost ripped. Amongst the feelings of loneliness, she couldn't help but feel a bit angry with the sudden decision to leave. Even now she could see the boat drifting off into the distance in her mind's eye. Everything seemed so different now. She knew something had changed within Josephine's eyes the day that she gave a weak goodbye towards her. They held the sense of change and they basically bellowed the seriousness in her entire body. She could have at least have taken her upon their journey. However, that didn't happen. She was standing within these walls already waiting for her return.

With her face red with emotion — though her mind was filled to the brim with such — she continued walking down the narrowed hallways like a phantom. Through the hallway, she came upon what was once Josephine's room. Her body almost felt as though it was moving by itself as she reached for the silver doorknob. She twisted it and pushed the door open. The door creaked open allowing the young girl to enter silently within the darkness of the room. Natalie fiddled with the wall until her fingertips touched the light switch. She clicked it.

The room was lit with a flow of yellow light causing Natalie to squint as she tried to observe her sister's room. The dark colour of the room, a navy blue colour like a Luxray's fur, helped her eyes adjust to the sudden surge of illumination. She wandered slowly into the room. The scattered journal pages littered the floor with more even pouring onto the bed. She picked up a page. It was the day she graduated from trainer school, taped to the front with the graduation picture — Paul was in it circled with a black marker. Tears soon littered the picture from being seen clearly. Natalie clutched it to her chest as she looked at her sister in the picture. That smile was much happier than the one that she saw that day that she left; a faded shell of it was all that she saw.

As she ventured deeper within her sister's room, more of her feelings towards her sister leaving began to bloom. She couldn't decide what she was angry at or why she was angry in the first place. She knew why she was sad however, her sister had ventured to Sinnoh without her. She ran out of the room with the tears streaming down her face. She could still remember those words that she spoke to her parents, those same words that she resented as they played in her mind over and over again.

*****

Days before...

"I'm leaving for Sinnoh…" Josephine spoke calmly trying to keep her face composed as she stared at her father's concerned glances.

"Sinnoh?" his voice was that of disbelief. "Why would you go to Sinnoh? It's so…."

"Far!" Josephine's mother finished as she vigorously rubbed the glass that she was cleaning. It almost broke.

"I need to become stronger," Josephine kept this cold tone of resolve.

Charles, Josephine's father, rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger as though he was trying to quell a headache. After a massaging it a bit more, he placed the glasses firmly upon them as he stared down at his daughter with a bleached smile written on his face. Fiona, his wife, stared at him as he tried to patch together this smile. She had long given up trying to smile in this situation, yet Charles wouldn't stop. She took in some air as she started to gather her opinion on this matter.

"I don't think that you should go," Fiona spoke sternly. Charles shot her a glare.

"We cannot decide that for her, Fiona. You didn't lose a friend to an enemy nor are you in a situation like she is in now." Fiona's eyes almost seem like they were going to fall out of their head with her husband's surprisingly calm tone. "Josephine…"

Charles suddenly seized Josephine's hand. They were almost doubled the size of hers. She stared at the back of his slightly scarred hand as he held it tightly almost squeezing it beyond the normal circulatory means. He looked into her eyes deeply; they shared the same eyes colour so it was like staring deeply into his own. He took a deep breath trying to compose the words he wanted to say to her. When they finally arose at his lips, he squared his shoulders and released his grip on her hand.

"Be safe," Charles spoke. Fiona dropped her glass allowing the shards of glass to shatter on the tiled floor.

"Why aren't you stopping her?" Fiona exclaimed.

"This is my journey, mum," Josephine spoke simply as she readjusted her dark blue bag. She flashed the tickets to the boat they were taking. It was already set in stone.

"I…"

Fiona was breathless so words were impossible. Nothing she could say or do could convince her otherwise so she just eyed the bag thrown helplessly over Josephine's shoulder in astonishment. She was really going to do this. She was really going to leave. Tears began to form on her mother's face. Never once in her entire life of being a mum had she worried this much about her child. Those same tears were reproduced on her father's normally relaxed expression as Josephine walked toward the door. Natalie, who until now had just been peeking around the corner, sprung into action. She flung herself around her sister's stomach.

"Don't leave…" Natalie pleaded as the tears crashed all around Josephine's feet. "Don't leave me…"

This was the last person that Josephine wanted to see her leave. She wanted to take every precaution to make sure her little sister wouldn't know until she woke up later this morning. Yet there she was, tugging her stomach as though she was trying to pull it away from the door. Natalie's head swayed back and forth as though she was denying the very reality of the situation. She couldn't reject it… no one could.

"Natalie… please let me go," Josephine spoke trying to hold back her own tears.

"No… you won't be able to leave if I hold on to you," Natalie spoke between her sobs.

"I know that you don't want me to leave yet…" Josephine forced Natalie to break her embrace slowly. "This is something that I have to do."

With that Natalie slid to the floor sombrely, she crashed on her knees as Josephine opened the door. She could no longer feel her legs any more; they felt like jelly under her waist that couldn't keep form. Josephine looked at the disgruntled young girl with a disgruntled look of her own written in tears on her face as well. She opened the front door slowly causing an agonizing creak for everyone in the room. This was it. The light just poured within the room of the house as Josephine took her first steps out of the building.

"I'll be back…" Josephine whispered as she stepped clean out of the door. "Keep the light on for me," she spoke as her own voice began to crack underneath the pressure. "I love all of you…"

She closed the door behind her leaving this ghost in the room that felt like her without her being visible. The remaining three Harris' emptily stared at the door, hoping that Josephine would just crash through the door at any moment. That moment never happened, forcing Charles to wheel over to the door to flick the lock. The morbid aura drenched the room with a mixture of sadness and understanding. The tides of change had occurred and all three of them were now being pulled under the sick undertows that came with it. It was something that they had to accept as a family.

*****

Charles struggled to swing his body into his wheelchair allowing his massive arms to bring him to the comfort of being upright. The doorbell was ringing a rather slow tone for the third time. This person definitely want to see the family and he wasn't about to let them wait any longer than his wife had already. He wheeled himself to the doorway allowing him to fling the door open rather casually. There stood Sabrina with her eyes already observing the area in a sweeping motion. She gave a mental note of how nice Josephine's house was before continuing with the task at hand.

"Good morning, Mr. Harris," Sabrina allowed herself in without much effort from Charles to stop her. It didn't help much that he loved company too much to care that she came in uninvited.

"Have a seat, Sabrina. Have a seat," Charles gave the notion with his hand. She took a seat on the white leather sofa while he closed the door. "What did you come to speak to us about?"

"It's about Josephine…"

He could feel his heart almost slide from the crest of his ribs to the bottom of his stomach like a boulder tumbling down a slanted hill. Charles, unknown to him, had formed this rather concerned facial expression that infected the rest of his body to a nervous shutter. His hands rapped against the metal of his wheelchair hoping that wouldn't hear something that would make him regret letting Josephine leave in the first place.

Before the conversation could even begin again, Fiona rushed into the room as though her mind had detected the name in her daughter's name. Though she had a full silver serving plate of tea and cups, she rushed into the room placing it down at the table where all of the furniture of the living room was centred. She hurryingly poured three cups of tea before sitting in the vacant chair closest to her husband, but close to Sabrina enough to hear what she had to say.

Instead of speaking right away, Sabrina helped herself to the steaming cup of tea placed before here. She brought the cup slowly to her lips allowing the smooth, fantastically made tea flush her pipes clean. After consuming much of the cup, she placed the porcelain down and allowed the other two to do the same. Charles, who was nervously sipping away at his tea waited for Sabrina to speak while his wife, who hadn't touched her tea at all with the fear she will break the cup, did as well. She closed her eyes.

"Your daughter's safe…" Sabrina mentioned conversationally. Both of the parents sighed in relief.

"That's a relief," Fiona reached towards her cup of tea. She drained the cup to cure the dryness that fluttered in her throat.

"That is definitely a relief," Charles' booming voice echoed within the room. He looked up to the white walls.

"But I can say," Sabrina started, but was suddenly distracted by the change in expression of both of the parents. The world 'but' always transitioned a sentence from a positive to a negative note or vice versa. Since they started with a positive one, the negative would soon follow. "She won't be the same…"

A sense of bewilderment flashed against Charles and Fiona's faces like lightning amongst the clouds. Won't be the same, Charles mouthed to himself. What did that mean exactly? It was natural that a person changed when they went off. Why would she go about telling them this when it was common knowledge for this to happen. Again they were waiting as the mysterious wielder of psychic powers found the words she wanted to speak.

"She's not going to be the little girl that you both raised. She's going to be different. With power comes a different outlook, it is a simple thought."

"Would she be…?" Fiona trailed off. "Would she….?" The words failed her miserably allowing this broken person before them.

"Don't worry," Sabrina stood up as she took a gander at the last remaining portion of tea. "She will be just fine. Just different…"

"How different?" Charles found himself asking.

"More than what you are used to…" she spoke as she moved her hair from her face. "However, I must be going now. It was a pleasure speaking with you."

As quickly as she came in, she was gone in a flash leaving a slight imprint on the Fiona and Charles. They pondered the words to themselves trying to understand what she meant by that. It already felt like years had passed since she was last seen within these walls. Now, with this new information, it rekindled their concern about their daughter's well being. It made them feel anxious, yet it made them worry as well. Charles locked the door in the same way that he did when Josephine left. This time it felt much more different yet confusion was the common grounds.

*****

"Looks like our little birds have left their gilded cage," Nighthawk mocked as he read the report again that a grunt handed to him on the progress of Josephine and her party. "Take one piece from the puzzle and the entire thing comes crashing down. Right, Crimson Lightning…"

The boy's eyes met with the woman's across the table. The unending boasting of how he single-handedly killed one of the Chosen had increased indefinitely as the time passed. Everyone in Team Rocket now looked up to his bravery, but for the most part, Crimson Lightning found it to be annoying. Anyone could have poisoned Paul on a whim if security was that loose. The woman's face almost crumpled as Nighthawk continued on with his boasting of his slaying—as he called it—of the Chosen.

"What's with the face, Crimson," Nighthawk's raised a brow. She had this look of displeasure on her face as if she had seen something repulsive.

"Don't get cocky, they are just leaving the region," Crimson Lightning folded her arms.

"What if they don't come back? What if they are too overcome by grief to stop us? What would you say then?" If Nighthawk's ego could get any larger, it would leak from his ears.

"We can fill the world with what ifs. But the truth in the matter is that they will most likely come for revenge and it will be our head. That is the reality of it all."

Nighthawk waved it off as though she was not even speaking. He was too consumed by his pride to care that Crimson Lightning was even speaking to him, nevertheless scolding him for the achievement that he worked hard for. After a couple of moments of her rambling, he stopped her by just raising his hand while she was in mid-sentence. She stared at the palm of his hand, dumbstruck that he would speak to a person much older than he was in that matter.

"If they do come back," Nighthawk spoke. "I will destroy them," he spoke that simply.

"What if you got lucky?" Crimson Lightning rebuked.

"What if we filled the world with what ifs," Nighthawk spoke in a clever retort. "Trust me. If they want to gather their broken pride in another region, let them. However, if they cross my path again, they're going to wished they stayed."

An awkward silence filled the room with a slight uncertainty, much of this radiating from Crimson Lightning. She stared at Nighthawk as he laced his fingers together. Until now, she hadn't viewed him as a superior mainly for the fact that he was a child in her eyes. Now he wasn't a child; he was a pure demon that bore his horns through his forehead. She gulped loudly as she viewed Nighthawk's calculating expressions.

"If they come…" his confident expression dissolved into pure darkness upon the muscles of his face. "I will kill them without a doubt."

He left the office soon after leaving Crimson Lightning stunned on what was going to happen. For their sake, she thought to herself. They better not come back.

Fuyu · Jan 31, 2010

Hello, sorry for the lack of reviews. I'm in agreement with SS, the dark turn of the story is unsurprising but welcomed and you are rising to the challenge it brings. Be careful and don't slip up now. More people are becoming interested and that means more nagging. Good luck and continue writing your best.

elavate7 · Feb 1, 2010

very nice!!!! keep it up!

Legendarian Mistress · Feb 4, 2010

Lending a Hand: Sinnoh Reborn

Sinnoh, once a fairly successful region, had fallen into the despair that slowly contaminated the world like a deep setting poison within a drink. Every aspect of the region was dying away at a bitterly sluggish rate; the economy was the first, then the criminal level rose, and finally its people slowly began to fall to the hopeless world around it. Everything looked as though it was falling apart for the region; even Kanto, Johto and Hoenn had lost hope in where Sinnoh was going.

Hope was just another word in many of the Sinnohians dictionary; however, it lacked a meaning. After a couple of years within this painful anguish of the blackened world, the region began to reconstruct itself. Without guidance, this became a difficult task. Every step they took forward, two was taken back. In the shambles of this broken land, a new group of leaders would step forth into this abyss. This group was called Mercurias and this group was authority and order.

The members of the family known only as the Mercurias was quickly identified by the crimson full moon tattooed on their right shoulder and printed on the left side of their clothing. The oldest of the family, a beautiful woman with ginger coloured hair that flowed to her back, would take charge in recreating the nation. Like her family, she was order and she was perfect. Everything was constructed perfectly with her siblings like a well-played orchestra that performed the song of hope for the people. At first she went only by the name of the Red Angel, then when she thought that everyone deserved to know her name she revealed it — Ilona Mercurias.

Respected much like the former queen, Ilona carefully observed her people as well as her siblings to assure the perfect harmony within the reborn country. Her dazzling jade eyes watched every portion of the effort to rebuild the region; along with her brothers and sisters: Sebastian, Erwin, Symphony, Aaron, and Kilia.

Sebastian, the careful thinker of the family, handled the economy with various new products and ideas to get the flow of money. Though he was a rather stocky man, his brains were as strong as his body. Within several months, many of the people of Sinnoh were back in work. A small smile against his scruffy black beard could always been seen when a press conference was given. He knew that he was brilliant and he had every right to think that.

Erwin and Symphony helped rebuild the hope and families of the people of Sinnoh. Twins, they were never seen without each other, yet they were always seen surrounded with crowds of people as well. They would sing songs, mend families, and bring the unity back to the more damaged portions of the family. Known for their two-toned hair in opposite directions; they brought back the fundamentals of what Sinnoh was about. They were a blessing to many of the people that they came across.

Aaron, the second oldest of the family, was Ilona's right hand man when doing anything. He controlled the law of Sinnoh, bringing back the crime rate to a relatively low level by just his presence alone. Everyone felt that inkling sensation of danger when around the rather lean but battle-scarred man. Within his first months, like his brother Sebastian, he managed to get many of the high ranking criminals off the street. It was indeed quite the feat with such dangerous men around.

Finally, the youngest of the family, Kilia, was the relations officer of the family. Only being in her early twenties, she controlled the relations with other regions. She insured that none would threaten in such dire times and was the ambassador to gain support of the other regions. Her hair, the lightest of red, would bounce aimlessly as she entered other regions. Not many would take her seriously yet she was down to business to gain support. Effective thinking with an extroverted personality made her the perfect spokesperson for the family. That was a decision that no one could regret.

The fallen region of Sinnoh had made a complete turn from the worst to the best country within a short window of time. Like small dew that drenched the entire land, Sinnoh began to prosper like no other era before this. The world began to view them as an equal to Kanto or even greater than that. Ilona had successfully crafted a phoenix from ashes alone. She, as well as her siblings, had exacted their blessing on the land and it continued to grow.

[Pokémon] The Resurrection's Beginning and Apocalyptic Dawn

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