The ref nodded shakily at my pointed look and continued the battle on Blaine's own nod.

  "S-Simisear is unable to battle and Ursaring has been forfeited! Seeing as the challenger was second to lose, Gym Leader Blaine must release his next pokemon!"

  Blaine nodded easily, grin sharpening once more. "This should be an easy one. Who is the Fox Pokemon?" he asked.

  "A Ninetales," I said, even as he threw the pokeball to reveal it.

  A small scowl formed on my face, as the fire type fox burst out of the ball. It regally stretched each of its tails one at a time.

  Before I could decide who to use against it, the choice was made for me as a Luxury Ball began shaking harshly.

  For a moment, I feared that Oberon was trying to break out to maul me but it seemed like he had calmed down for the time being.

  No, the reason for the heavy shaking, revealed itself in the form of my first pokemon.

  Loki growled lowly, locking eyes onto the Ninetales. He licked one of his red claws and turned towards me.

  I sighed and nodded, beckoning for him that it was his match to have.

  Noises of awe erupted once more. Zoroarks were an incredibly rare sight after all. Hardly a trainer had them because they were almost impossible to encounter.

  I still don't know how my mom captured one.

  "Perhaps your most mysterious pokemon!" Blaine announced, grinning. "You have a rare team but this one here... this Zoroark is certainly the rarest!"

  I just stared at the referee and beckoned for him to continue.

  "Both contestants are set! Ninetales vs Zoroark! Begin!"

  Ninetales were as popular in Kanto as Arcanine... but they were both admired by two completely different types of people.

  Arcanine was worshipped by the masses. It was simply easier to like Arcanine. The noble dog was touted as a heroic pokemon, man's best friend in a giant and fiery form.

  On the other hand... Ninetales wasn't nearly as revered by the masses. Not many people would be willing to worship a pokemon who could supposedly curse you for thousands of years if you were to so much as touch its tail.

  Did that actually exist? Of fucking course not. Ninetales were far too accessible and if that rumor were true, catching a Vulpix would be nigh impossible...

  Well, the common Ninetales likely couldn't do it. Ninetales were more intune with... esoteric knowledge compared to Arcanine. They dabbled more in the mystical arts.

  Whereas Arcanine would more likely be blunt, Ninetales were coy and crafty.

  An Arcanine would utilize its great physical prowess to mow you down. A Ninetales would pepper and assault you from a distance until you could not continue anymore.

  Blaine messed up using Arcanine on Green and Ninetales against me. It was far easier to trick Green than it was to trick me because I'm the one who did the tricking.

  "Agility," I said coolly.

  "Imprison!" Blaine shouted with a sneaky grin.

  My smirk transformed into a more incredulous look, as Loki's Agility abruptly petered out. He let out a growl of confusion and gazed at the smirking Ninetales in the same amount of puzzlement as me.

  "Come now, Silver! Surely you realize you aren't an unknown trainer anymore?!" Blaine grinned.

  My eyes narrowed. "Safeguard. You've been scouting me," I grunted.

  "It'd be a shame if I didn't! You're talked about enough to ignite my passion by just appearing!" he grinned.

  I scoffed. Seems like Loki's tricks had been somewhat neutralized. I didn't know which moves Ninetales had but this was going to be damn annoying.

  Judging by the low growl, Loki seemed to be of the same opinion as me.

  "Agility, Ninetales!"

  Ninetales gracefully carried itself across the field, lithe body racing around the battlefield as Loki gazed at it.

  "Pursuit," I instructed, eyes narrowed in contemplation.

  Loki's eyes narrowed and he streaked across the fail, a trail of darkness following after him. Even without Agility, Pursuit was a great alternative and with Ninetales running away...

  Blaine clearly seemed aware of the danger. "Disable it!"

  I scowled as Ninetales whirled around mid stride, eyes glowing blue.

  A blue sheen wrapped around Loki, halting him directly in his tracks and preventing him from connecting.

  "Now Will-o-Wisp!" Blaine demanded.

  "Shadow Ball!" I countered in annoyance.

  Ninetales' tails spread as it opened its mouth and the fox cried out ominously. All around it, purple-blue flames formed and launched towards Loki.

  He hissed in annoyance, firing off a pinpoint Shadow Ball that crashed into his fellow fox.

  It was worth it on the Ninetales side though, because the Will-o-Wisp crashed into Loki, igniting him and causing him to let out a pained yelp. Burns began to appear all over his fur and he snarled, eyes glowing with murder.

  "Extrasensory!" I instructed, brows furrowed.

  No dice, Loki's eyes began glowing but before he could channel the necessary power, the move spluttered out.

  "Flamethrower!" Blaine countered immediately, knowing that the move would fail.

  Loki had no time to react to the steady stream of flames crashing into him. He hissed and fell to a knee, burns seeming to worsen.

  I sucked my teeth. Loki's parent being a Ninetales, was becoming very fucking annoying. They had so many move overlaps.

  Loki could learn Imprison too and he would learn it soon because I was getting played like a fiddle.

  "Loki. Condition," I grunted, causing him to look back at me.

  We exchanged a meaningful look and he eventually nodded, fighting through the pain. Loki snarled at the Ninetales and lunged at it, running in a straight line with venom in its gaze.

  Blaine and Ninetales tensed up at that reckless move and flames began forming around the foxes mouth.

  "Now!" I barked.

  Out of the shadows, Loki burst out behind Ninetales.

  My opponent anticipated this well and Ninetales whirled around to bathe Loki in flames...

  Only for it to phase harmlessly through the Zoroark. It only had a moment of confusion, before the Loki who had been running in a straight line carved into it with a vicious Night Slash.

  "Do you think I'm stupid?" I asked Blaine, watching as Ninetales cried out in pain from getting both sets of claws carved into it.

  Loki hissed before exploding in a dome of crimson energy, engulfing the Ninetales in the Night Daze.

  Sometimes, the best way to trick a person, was to have them trick themselves. Clearly Blaine had done research on me. For him to think, I wouldn't think he'd know about Illusion, was almost an insult.

  So I simply had Loki actually run in a straight line. The ridiculous move, no doubt made Blaine think I was setting up an Illusion but that was the beauty of it.

  A game of bluffs and I was a big fan of bluffing. The best Illusion, could be no illusion.

  Ninetales shakily pushed itself up. It looked like it had seen better days, composed expression vanishing in favor of the furious scowl, that showed how spiteful the foxes actually were beneath that calm and sly demeanor.

  Loki huffed, glaring at its fellow fox with a snarl of contempt.

  "Shadow Ball!" I barked.

  "Flamethrower!" Blaine returned.

  Loki charged a Shadow Ball up and fired it immediately. It sailed towards the Ninetales, who had released another stream of flames that was going to have imminent collision with the ghostly ball...

  Only for it to sail harmlessly through both the ball and Loki.

  My Zoroark appeared to the left, venom in his eyes with a Shadow Ball charged and ready.

  Ninetales flinched back in horror and surprise, bracing itself for impact and letting out a confused yowl as the attack once again sailed through it—

  Only for the real Shadow Ball to hit it on its unguarded back.

  All it took was getting tricked once, to get drawn into the game. What was real? What was fake?

  A sadistic gleam entered my eyes as Ninetales tumbled across the ground, howling in pain.

  "Ninetales, calm down!" Blaine shouted.

  His cries fell on deaf ears.

  Loki burst from the shadows once more, eyes practically glowing with bloodlust, and Ninetales let out a furious shriek. The fire fox howled in rage and began bathing the field in fire, hoping to hit Loki whether he was real or not.

  The flames clouded its vision, so when the Ninetales heard a Zoroark cry out in pain, it honed in on the direction and continued to bathe that specific area in vindictive fury.

  It never noticed Loki materializing behind it, crimson aura ominously roiling off his lithe body.

  Man, Zoroark's were so unfair.

  I smiled. "Your tricks will never compare to mine. Night Daze."

  Ninetales didn't even realize it had been thoroughly tricked. Even as the dome of dark type energy engulfed it, it probably didn't realize because it was knocked unconscious on impact.

  Loki huffed in annoyance, licking his claws once more and hissing as his burns flared up.

  I huffed in unison with him. So long as we had our Illusions, we were never out of tricks.

  They were the most useful trick after all.

  "Ninetales is unable to battle. The winner is Zoroark! Gym Leader Blaine, please release your next pokemon!"

  "Outfoxed," Blaine commented, shaking his head. "Falling for it once, fills a person with doubt. Doubt leads to anxiety, which leads to mistakes."

  I tilted my head, eyes gleaming. "You didn't fall for it, but your Ninetales did."

  Blaine snorted. "I've seen too much to let some tricks burn me! If it were my main team, they wouldn't have fallen for it either!"

  I smiled thinly. "I bet."

  The fire master chuckled. "Alright next! It's a little broad but tell me, who is the Flame Pokemon?" he asked.

  My brows furrowed at that. That was a little broad. The Flame Pokemon?

  "Here's a hint! It's called the Flame Pokemon twice! Not only that, it gains a new type!" Blaine informed me.

  I tilted my head and crossed my arms.

  Two of its forms were labelled the Flame Pokemon? That honor would only go to some ridiculously early made pokemon because of the lack of care put into that title.

  Not to mention the new typing... ah.

  "Is it Charizard?" I asked with a frown.

  Blaine grinned. "Here's a bit of trivia! Charmeleon, Charizard, Flareon and Infernape all share that title! Bit too uncreative for my tastes but I won't burn them at the stake for that!" he cackled.

  I rolled my eyes, watching as he threw the Pokeball to reveal the draconic menace in all its glory.

  Charizard spread its wing and roared, bathing the sky in flames as it took flight.

  For all the trainers who seemed to own Charmander, I hadn't seen a Charizard since I met Lance.

  Loki and I both grunted, staring at the fire type with neutral expressions.

  "Ready?" I asked idly.

  "Zor," Loki grunted, testing his feet on the ground.

  "Both contestants are set! Charizard vs Zoroark! Begin!"

  "Agility," I commanded, eyes narrowed.

  "That Zoroark is a problem! Let's get rid of it quickly. Turn up the temperature with Heat Wave!"

  Blaine's voice, while excited, carried a hint of wariness. Loki was problematic after all. He was the type of pokemon you would need to bring countermeasures for or he'd run amuck. Since his counter was gone, it was imperative that my Zoroark get taken out.

  Like we'd make it that easy for him.

  The increasingly growing temperature, only got worse as Charizard roared and violently flapped its wings. The aggressive flapping brought out swift results, as the air around the dragon turned orange.

  With no hesitation, it bathed the entire field in those red flames, heedless of the sprinting Loki.

  Loki winced, letting out an uncomfortable growl as the fiery air singed his fur even further.

  Despite being on his last legs, Loki proved to be a trooper. He wasn't going out without a fight so I'd honor that.

  "Psychic! Drag it out of the sky!" I demanded, watching as he ended up directly underneath the Charizard.

  "Psychic too?!" Blaine shouted in surprise.

  Loki's eyes glowed. He had taken to Psychic very easily, a trait inherited from the fact he had been born with Extrasensory.

  Charizard roared in confusion, as its flapping suddenly seized. Without a shred of mercy, Loki heaved and dragged it from its perch up in the sky.

  The final evolution of Charmander, was not making it easy, struggling intensely in the psychic hold. It would have long burned Loki with a Flamethrower, if not for how my Zoroark had positioned itself. By being directly under it, the starter couldn't properly aim at him and it was driving the steadily more upset dragon, up the wall.

  The psychic hold, also prevented it from flapping its wings. Even with the struggle, Charizard was slowly descending back to the ground, unable to sustain its flight for long.

  It roared in rage, spitting out fire in every direction as it continued its valiant battle to get out.

  Right as it was about to break free, Loki let a raspy chuckle of amusement and abruptly released the psychic hold, catching the Charizard by surprise. It was so focused on escaping, everything else had fled its mind.

  As a result, by the time it caught itself and spread its wings, it was very close to the ground.

  Loki hissed, brandished his claws and lunged. Those razor sharp knives, sharpened further by Hone Claw, ruthlessly met one of Charizard's wings and the dark type cut straight across.

  The crowd winced at the loud and pained roar of the dragon, on the edge of their seats by the intense battle taking place.

  Charizard's eyes bulged in a moment of true fury as Loki rendered one of its wings useless and it opened its mouth, bathing my Zoroark in a point blank Flamethrower.

  I returned Loki with a calculating eye. Charizard looked completely livid. The fire on its tail blazed brightly with its rage, one of its wings were curled up now and those bulging eyes were locked onto me, begging me to send out something it could properly vent its anger against.

  "Zoroark is unable to battle! The winner is Charizard! Trainer Silver, please release your next pokemon!"

  "That Zoroark truly is the most troublesome member of your team," Blaine commented with a shake of his head.

  I grabbed my next ball and threw it.

  "C'mon Ares," I decided, deciding to go with my Shelgon this time around.

  I ignored the muffled shouts of surprise, people blown away by her size, and just watched her lock onto the Charizard.

  "My word! Did that Shelgon eat the sun?! Seeing it in person, is a whole other experience!" Blaine asked in shock.

  "Don't call her fat, you bald fuck," I sneered.

  Blaine spluttered, sheepishly holding onto his hat.

  "My apologies pretty lady," he said to Ares.

  Ares rumbled at him, unamused by his antics.

  "Both contestants are set! Charizard vs Shelgon! Begin!"

  "Dragon Breath!"

  At once both the dragons opened their mouths and fired a stream of the destructive turquoise energy. They collided at the middle, exploding preemptively and causing a small dust to form.

  "Dragon Dance!" I barked, eyes wild.

  "That's not hot! Charizard, Air Slash!" Blaine shouted.

  Charizard roared and dispersed the smoke with blades of wind. They hit Ares hard shell and she let out slightly annoyed noise, scratch marks appearing over it.

  "Charge it," I said easily, testing the waters a bit.

  "Keep it at a distance! Fire Spin!" Blaine countered.

  Ares let out a furious snarl, as the very familiar move surrounded her from all sides.

  "Dragon Breath!" Blaine pressed his advantage with a wide grin.

  Charizard roared, bathing the path ahead in turquoise flames. They careened towards Ares with expert accuracy and I scowled.

  "Protect!" I barked, eyes narrowed.

  Ares grunted, a baleful look in her eyes as a green barrier conjured. The Dragon Breath splashed against it, flying in every direction.

  Charizard wasn't letting up, fueled by rage and adrenaline. It was still furious that one of its wings were rendered almost useless by Loki and that was giving it quite the boost.

  Cracks began to appear on the Protect and I huffed, as Charizard refused to stop sustaining the attack.

  "Scary Face!" I barked.

  For just a split second, Charizard's control over the Dragon Breath spluttered out due to Ares snarling at with it a fierce amount of venom. Her eyes glowed ominously and the Charizard took half a step before freezing.

  It gave Ares just enough time to move out of the way, dropping the Protect in the process.

  Charizard stood frozen, a look of disbelief on its features. It was almost as if it just realized that for a split second, it had gotten scared.

  Oh, judging by the unadulterated fury on its face, that was exactly what happened.

  The pseudo dragon let out a truly fierce roar, forcefully spreading its bad wing. The fire dragon ignored its condition in order to take flight and soared towards the glaring Ares.

  "Dragon Claw!" Blaine shouted. Evidently, he was going along with his Charizard's rage and was just trying to maximize its damage.

  Charizard was spitting fire in its anger, claws growing and lighting up with turquoise energy.

  "Dragon Pulse!"

  Ares roared and caught the Charizard mid flight, the concussive orb of Draconic energy slamming directly in the fire types face.

  A small explosion took place, the attack landing directly, before Charizard burst through. At this point, I'm sure it would ignore all its pain just to inflict damage.

  Evidently, Ares was the type of psycho to match it.

  My Shelgon roared as Charizard raked those claws against her. She retaliated in kind, raking one of her forelimbs right across the fire types belly.

  Ares ignored getting bathed in the point blank Flamethrower and halted the stream with a vicious headbutt. I heard a crack at that, Ares' ridiculously tough shell putting in work.

  Charizard reeled back, snout bending a awkwardly, before it snarled and opened its mouth, blasting Ares with a Dragon Breath that caused her to roar in pain.

  She retaliated in kind with another Dragon Pulse and finally, Charizard's furious roars, had some pain mixed into them. It reeled back a few feet and hissed at Ares, spitting out fire in its rage.

  The close ranged slug fest, was almost never going to benefit Charizard like this. Ares was just too sturdy and it was far frailer in comparison while being on the ground to boot.

  That didn't stop it from opening its mouth and firing a massive 大 shaped blast of fire once more.

  "Protect!" I shouted immediately, watching in satisfaction as Charizard's eyes bulged, a red tint in them.

  Not good. Delphox showed me how powerful Blaze was and I bet Charizard was moments away from activating it...

  "Rock Tomb, Ares!" I shouted, a sneer on my face. "Clip that damn dragon!"

  Blaine's eyes widened. "Charizard, Metal Claw!" he ordered.

  Charizard roared. Despite its crippling weakness to rock, the fire type faced them head on. The dragon's claws took a metallic sheen and even as Ares launched a massive boulder towards it, my opponents pokemon fearlessly cut through it.

  Ares wasn't done yet. She ripped out far more rocks than Oberon was able to and roared, practically hiding herself behind them.

  Charizard met the challenge head on. It howled as a boulder smashed into its midsection, slashed through another aimed at its wings, shuffled away from one that attempted to break its leg...

  It was an admirable effort but he was getting too caught up in trying to destroy the rocks.

  "Charizard! Behind you!" Blaine shouted hastily.

  "Ares! Crunch its tail! Don't let it turn!" I demanded.

  Using the Rock Tombs, was just a cover. If it beat the Charizard, great but this bastard was relentless and needed some extra care to go down.

  Ares roared, blood in her eyes. Without any hesitation, she clamped her sharp fangs near the end (carefully avoiding the fire) of Charizard's tail and elicited a roar of agony from the starter pokemon.

  It's eyes pulsed orange and the flame on its tail exploded. Ares grunted as the hot flames licked her but she held firm. Charizard tried to flap its wings, attempting to either get away or carry Ares off the ground, but its efforts were moot.

  As soon as it made it an inch off the floor, Ares growled venomously and yanked it back down. The force, enhanced by her Dragon Dance, caused Charizard's head to bounce off the floor with a sickening crack.

  Charizard howled and craned its neck, firing a point blank Fire Blast at her. It didn't care that it was collateral, just desperately attempting to break contact.

  Unfortunately, Ares was my most relentless pokemon. She groaned from the damage of the Fire Blast but held firm, relying on her shell to block the worst of the damage.

  She began forming energy in her mouth and judging by the uncomfortable roaring, Charizard was beginning to feel its effects.

  It summoned a Flamethrower and began bathing Ares in it but that was abruptly cut short as my dragon stamped both her forelimbs into the ground.

  Charizard's gaze fluttered, as a rock brutally uppercut it on it's already broken snout and Ares finally released its tail, only to fire the gargantuan Dragon Pulse directly at its face.

  The Flame Pokemon teetered about, before its blank gaze morphed into a snarl. It aimed at Ares and let loose the biggest Fire Blast yet, connecting directly with her. Ares let out a surprised shout, unable to form a Protect in time and she skidded backwards. A hiss left her mouth, numerous burns all over her body.

  Charizard, seeing that its last ditch effort failed, finally stopped teetering and collapsed backwards.

  "Goddamn," I muttered, some appreciation in my eyes.

  Charizards were something alright. No wonder everyone and their mother had or wanted one. They may as well have just given it a third typing because those bastards encompassed everything about a dragon.

  "Charizard is unable to battle! Shelgon is the winner! Gym Leader Blaine, please release your next pokemon!"

  Ares shuffled to my side, one of her eyes shut. Her shell was and she was breathing harshly. Despite that, I know she wasn't planning on going down without a fight.

  "Let's go girl. I'll clean your shell after this is over," I said, grinning at her.

  She gazed back at me, good yellow eye glowing in malice.

  "You two are a fine fit for each other! You and all your pokemon really! But you and Ares... you're both utterly terrifying with your desire to win and the means you go through to achieve it!" Blain grinned, clutching his next ball.

  "They're my pokemon after all. Of course they want to win," I grunted, staring at him.

  "You're exploding with confidence! I can't say I blame you, this match has lit a fire in these old bones of mine!"

  Blaine grinned and showcased the pokeball. "Now! Here's an easy one if you know your stuff! Who is the Eruption Pokemon?" he asked, tossing the ball up and down.

  My head tilted. I cycled through my exceptional memory before landing on the one that made most sense.

  "Camerupt," I replied eventually.

  Blaine's grin widened. "You're on a roll! You have the skills but a powerful mind carries you a long way! It's good to balance both out if you want to make it to the top!" he encouraged, launching the next pokeball.

  Out of the ball, burst a pokemon that resembled those two humped camels... except the humps on its back were two volcanoes. It's stout body was covered in shaggy red fur and three blue rings were lined up on both of its sides.

  My eyes narrowed.

  Camerupt, the ace of the Team Magma boss, Maxie. They weren't a pokemon you wanted to really anger, considering that if you did so, the volcanoes on its back would be utilized with vindictive glee.

  Most hoards of Numels and Camerupts, were monitored and left alone. No one wanted to deal with a moving, erupting, volcano. It was a good thing they were naturally a lax pokemon, else they'd likely be driven to extinction.

  I wonder if they evolved overtime to become more peaceful. I wonder how many dangerous pokemon used to exist that got killed off for being a danger.

  A trained one though? A bit more problematic like any trained pokemon was compared to its counterpart.

  "Are you good to keep going, Ares?" I asked calmly.

  Ares grunted, taking a step forward.

  I nodded. "Alright then. Let's win this."

  "Both contestants are set! Camerupt vs Shelgon! Begin!"

  "Sunny Day!" Blaine began immediately.

  "Dragon Pulse!" I retorted.

  Camerupt let out a low groaning noise and the volcano closer to its head shot out a ball of orange energy, that made the skies brighter.

  That low groaning noise, turned into a shout of outrage, as a Dragon Pulse exploded directly in its face.

  It's eyes narrowed and the Camerupt bellowed, only for another Dragon Pulse to connect with it.

  The Eruption Pokemon reeled, taking a single step back, before glaring at Ares with venom in its gaze.

  Ares sneered, matching my expression to a t. She watched as Camerupt's volcanoes began glowing, before a geyser erupted from them.

  Fire and rocks began falling over the battlefield, the Eruption causing absolute mayhem.

  Ares conjured a Protect, wincing as the incredibly powerful fire move battered against it relentlessly. She was exhausted so it wasn't as potent as her previous Protects. It was expected that it wouldn't hold up...

  Camerupt roared, veins littering its face at seeing Ares still standing. The Protect had weathered the worst of the storm and she only had a few more injuries to show for it.

  My Shelgon let out a roar of her own and slammed her legs against the ground. She conjured three rocks and lobbed them at Camerupt.

  "Rock Slide!" Blaine countered immediately.

  Camerupt snorted angrily, stamping the ground. The amount of rocks it summoned, eclipsed Ares' own by a fair bit. The Rock Slide shredded the Rock Tombs and Ares only had a moment to utilize her enhanced speed to leap to the right.

  Some of the rocks bounced off her hard shell regardless and made her stumble slightly.

  "Earth Power!"

  Ares let out a shout of surprise, as the ground directly underneath her erupted with power, launching her massive body into the air.

  "Dragon Pulse, Ares!" I shouted, seeing how bad things were about to get for her.

  Ares sensed it too because she didn't even bother trying to catch herself in midair. She aimed at the Camerupt and fired off the Dragon Pulse with no hesitation.

  Camerupt snarled at that, volcanoes already lit with energy. With no hesitation, the bastard fired off another Eruption. It annihilated the Dragon Pulse and crashed into Ares with crushing force.

  She landed on the floor and tumbled about, lying prone on the ground. I made sure she was absolutely unconscious, before returning her to the ball.

  "Shelgon is unable to battle! Camerupt is the winner! Trainer Silver, please release your next pokemon!"

  "Well then Trainer Silver, what will you do now? Your fires almost been put out! All you've got is that Feebas and your next two pokemon don't do so hot against mine do they?" Blaine grinned.

  Clearly he was referring to Gaia and Metang and he was right. They'd suffer quite a lot against these fire types. I looked at the Scoreboard with a frown.

  Both Blaine and I were on our 4th pokemon... after these, we'd have two each.

  "Awfully confident aren't you, Gym Leader?" I asked with a raised brow, listening to the roars of the crowd. The barriers made them somewhat muted, but you could still hear them if you actually focused on it.

  "Alright then. I have a question for you. How do you evolve a Feebas?"

  Blaine quirked a brow at my question. "You're quite rotten! Of course the only time you'd ask a question, there wouldn't be a sure-fire answer!" he chuckled, not yet understanding.

  I smiled and said nothing, grabbing my 4th Luxury Ball and tossing it towards the field.

  As my next pokemon coalesced, I paid close attention to the confusion from the crowd and Blaine with a smug smirk. A silence fell over the raucous people, as the shape and figure of my pokemon revealed itself.

  Then the shock settled in as it became more and more obvious just what I was revealing.

  Blaine's brows had shot up, eyes wide in disbelief as he gazed at my choice. I resisted the urge to turn my smirk into a full smile... before finally the silence was broken.

  "WHAAAAT?!" Misty shrieked so loudly, I could immediately tell it was her. I chanced a glance at where my group was sitting and saw her jaw flapping uselessly. She was staring at my Milotic with wide eyes, before turning towards me mechanically.

  It was kinda creepy actually.

  I raked a hand through my sweaty hair (I needed to take a deep long bath after this) and waved at her, before turning towards Freyja with a calm smile.

  Freyja crooned, finally breaking the silence. I watched as she flinched back in surprise, due to the sound of the crowd roaring in surprise.

  "IS THAT A MILOTIC?!" someone shouted.

  "IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!"

  "I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE ONE IN PERSON!"

  Freyja recoiled, eyes wide in confusion at the roaring and cheering going on.

  "Ignore all that useless chatter, Freyja. They aren't me," I interrupted coolly, moving my matted hair away from my left eye.

  She looked back at me and I smiled at the small scowl slowly forming. She turned up her face at the crowd and focused on me.

  "Right girl. So you're my last pokemon and he has three left," I lied through my teeth. "I'm relying on you to pull out the victory for me."

  Freyja blinked, before balking at my words. She gazed at me with wide eyes and I smiled confidently at her.

  "No stress girl. We're going to win this," I said confidently.

  She looked at me and nodded slowly, eyes sharpening the longer she stared at me. Eventually, they were laser focused and I felt a swell of pride, at seeing how much it matched my gaze.

  Poor Freyja was easily my most gullible pokemon when it came to me. Anyone else, probably would have suspected something but Freyja would always believe everything I said.

  It's a good thing everything I said, was for her benefit.

  "A... Milotic? You managed to evolve that Feebas?" Blaine looked stunned at that. He was gazing at Freyja and then me with wide eyes, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

  I smirked and nodded towards the stunned referee, snapping him out of his daze.

  "B-Both contestants are set! Camerupt vs M-Milotic! Begin!"

  "Freyja, it's hot," I said, making a show of wiping the sweat off my face.

  Freyja saw it and her eyes narrowed in righteous fury, letting out a dignified growl.

  Almost immediately, she wrenched control of the weather.

  Camerupt let out a groan of displeasure at the sudden and very heavy rainfall.

  I let out a sigh as the sky cried in time with Freyja's anger. The Rain Dance covered the entire battlefield and then some. It pounded against my skin, giving me much needed relief, and lessened the powerful smell of ash and soot.

  Camerupt tried to wrestle control back but Freyja's mastery over Rain Dance was improving by the day and it was completely unable to do so. The sun pierced through for a second, before it was smothered by the downpour.

  For the efforts displayed by it, the fire type got a massive Water Pulse to the face.

  The force of it, completely upheaved Camerupt, launching the fire type back. A light hit it before it even landed on the floor, Blaine returning his Camerupt to the ball with a stunned expression.

  Freyja revelled in the rain drops pounding against her skin, alert and ready for a brawl. Something especially neat about Milotic's, were that they could use their latent draconic abilities to sustain floating.

  Funnily enough, Feebas could float too.

  "Well this is throwing a little wrench in my plans but what good show doesn't have a couple of twists?!" Blaine shouted, adjusting his soaked hat.

  "We're reaching the end of the trivia challenge! Tell me, what pokemon is the Dark Pokemon?"

  My gaze darkened at that, a scowl forming on my face.

  "Houndoom," I said flatly, watching as Freyja's gaze darkened as well.

  Blaine missed it, rain too heavy. His glasses were dripping with water, to the point where I had to wonder how he was seeing through them.

  Probably technology.

  He grinned eagerly. "Got it in one! Your trivia knowledge is superb! Fun fact, both Houndour and Houndoom have the title Dark Pokemon!"

  I was unimpressed. "It's not hard when you limit it to just fire types."

  "It's the right amount of difficulty to make it fun!" Blaine countered, throwing the next ball.

  True to my concerns, the helldog materialized. It was significantly smaller than Archers and the nasty look in its eyes, belonged more to something that knew it was in for a hard fight, unlike the amusement in the Executives own mutt.

  But it was still a Houndoom. That last encounter was fresh on me and Freyja's mind so we both gave the dog a nasty look.

  "Both contestants are set! Houndoom vs Milotic! Begin!"

  Houndoom barely even got a growl out, before it was forced to avoid the speeding water bullet. It sluggishly moved through the rain with urgency, watching with wide eyes as the condensed Water Pulse pierced the ground.

  Freyja growled, not satisfied at that. If possible, the rain grew even heavier and Houndoom let out a whine. It very clearly wasn't a fan of the heavy rain, fur already drenched in it.

  "What a powerful Rain Dance," Blaine muttered, shaking his head.

  "Dark Pulse, Houndoom!" he shouted.

  "Dragon Pulse," I retorted, eyes narrowed.

  Houndoom opened its mouth and fired off a beam of purple and black energy. As it flew through the air, Freyja fired off a massive Dragon Pulse that bulldozed it.

  The dark dog yelped and leapt out the way, water splattering everywhere in its haste. The Dragon Pulse whizzed past it with dreadful speeds, barely grazing it and getting concerned pants out of the poke.

  Freyja glared balefully at the Houndoom, already charging another attack up.

  "Run Houndoom! That Milotic is trying to drown you!" Blaine shouted, right as Freyja released the superheated water.

  Houndoom ran for its life, sprinting through the water and turning it into steam as it heated up its body.

  "Thunder Fang!" Blaine ordered.

  The fire types growls, were drowned by the rain as it bounded across the field. It zigzagged across the field, never running in a straight line and ended up behind Freyja, leaping at her with venom.

  Only for Freyja to whirl around at deceptively high speeds. She winced slightly as Houndoom latched its fangs onto her but otherwise, showed no other reaction to it.

  She repaid the favor tenfold, sending out a concussive Water Pulse that rocketed the hell dog away.

  "What?!" Blaine balked in confusion.

  "Snipe it," I commanded calmly.

  "Toxic!" Blaine shouted in a panic, even as the Houndoom soared through the air.

  I hissed. "Freyja, Aqua Ring!" I demanded.

  Houndoom groaned, righting itself and landing on the floor, skidding further back than it intended. It opened its mouth and spat out a glob of toxin material, right before a thin beam pierced it.

  The fire types gaze whitened at that, the thin, highly pressurized, water nearly piercing its body completely. It let out a whimper, before collapsing.

  "Houndoom is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Milotic! Gym Leader Blaine, please release your final pokemon!"

  Funnily enough, there was a move that a pokemon by the name of Inteleon learned called Snipe Shot, that had similar properties to my modified Water Pulse.

  Considering Milotic could not learn that move, but I managed to modify Water Pulse to a degree... With enough control, it might be possible to do certain moves.

  Not the full thing but even a slight copy could be useful.

  Freyja let out an uncomfortable whine, purple bubbles floating above her. She began glowing, before water droplets coalesced around her body, taking the form of three rings.

  I scowled slightly. In the future, I planned on teaching her Refresh and Recover but I didn't want to overload her yet so we'd have to deal with this Toxic the hard way.

  "What a powerful Milotic!" Blaine awed, gazing at Freyja in disbelief. "To deal with two of my pokemon so quickly! Not to mention, she shrugged off that Thunder Fang easily!"

  I grunted and moved my hair out of the way, watching as it flopped right back into its rightful spot.

  Blaine's grin came right back. If anything, this was the most wild it had become yet.

  "This battle isn't over just yet! Tell me Silver, you never did answer my first question! Who is the Live Coal Pokemon?" he asked curiously.

  I narrowed my eyes. Now that I knew his game, it was slightly easier but I seriously had no idea who the hell the Live Coal Pokemon was.

  Blaine's grin widened. "Alright, I guess I'm not being very fair. How about this! The Live Coal Pokemon can evolve two times and when it does, it changes into the Spitfire Pokemon and Blast Pokemon! Who is it?"

  A 3 stage pokemon that went from the Live Coal, to Spitfire, to the Blast Pokemon?

  "Cyndaquil?" I guessed raising a brow.

  "Nope but you're close!"

  ...We were wasting time here. Clearly this was the pokemon he was going to use against me and for it to fill him with such confidence, meant that whatever 3 stage evolution it was, was quite the powerful one—

  Oh shit.

  "The Live Coal Pokemon, is it Magby?" I asked with a frown.

  The grin on Blaine's face widened and he adjusted his glasses.

  "You got it!" he shouted, throwing the pokeball out.

  What came out, was not a fucking Magby or even a Magmar. It had the same color scheme but it was too large, too round. It's duck like beak was gone, replaced by pink lips on a dark face.

  The most damning evidence that I wasn't looking at a Magmar... was the fact that instead of hands with sharp claws... it had a tubular arm that looked like a canon.

  ...

  "A Magmortar?!" I asked in disbelief.

  The Magmortar leered at both Freyja and I. Freyja caught its gaze and sneered, ignoring the toxins coursing through her for the time being.

  No fuck that.

  "Why are you using a Magmortar?" I asked him, barely masking my incredulity.

  Magmortar was not just a pokemon you threw out in a 7 badge battle. It was one of the Fire type pokemon with the highest output of its element.

  It was nothing like its game counterpart. Magmortar, Electivire, Rhyperior and Dusknoir, were pokemon that stood near the pinnacle of their typings.

  You were better off counting the Fire Types that could output higher firepower than a Magmortar. There was a reason those assholes needed an entire item to evolve. They were packed with enough energy to cause serious damage if utilized incorrectly.

  A long time ago, I mentioned that Surge was upping the ante on trainers and the pokemon he used for his 8 badge challengers... was an Electivire.

  "Don't worry! This is a freshly evolved Magmortar and nothing else I have would have given you the challenge you want, right?" he asked, a knowing grin on his face.

  I glared at him and huffed. I wasn't afraid of fighting that Magmortar, I was just shocked that he was using it in a 7 badge battle. Magmortar, at minimum, was an 8 badge pokemon.

  But regardless... "Freyja, let's win this!" I announced, a wild gleam in my eyes.

  Freyja crooned and nodded, standing tall at hearing me.

  "Both contestants are set! Magmortar vs Milotic! Begin!"

  Just the presence of a Magmortar, was enough to dial up the temperature by a noticeable amount. A dense amount of steam was forming from the rain hitting its body.

  It was serving as a nice shroud for the Magmortar, hiding its body underneath it.

  That didn't stop me or Freyja though.

  "Water Pulse," I tried.

  Freyja winced slightly, the poison running through her veins growing steadily stronger, and charged a Water Pulse, firing it in the smoke.

  It exploded and the two of us barely made out a figure moving through it.

  "Thunderbolt!" Blaine shouted.

  Magmortar burst out of the smoke, crackling with electricity. With no hesitation, it fired it off towards Freyja, who braced herself... only for the both of them to blink as the Thunderbolt practically bounced off her scales. The rain amplified the damage, so she still shuddered but other than that, she was mostly fine.

  The surprise on Magmortar's face, turned into a hiss of agony as a thin beam of water pierced its midsection. It moved one of its cannons to its belly, disbelief clear at the power behind the very thin Water Pulse.

  "Marvel Scale. Makes her body toughen up when something dangerous invades her body," I offered coolly, smiling.

  Blaine cursed at that. "Shoot. It's not everyday you face a Milotic..."

  Freyja's eyes gleamed and Magmortar practically leapt away, avoiding the far larger Water Pulse this time.

  She was about to press her advantage, but shut her eyes and cried out, as the toxins in her body flared.

  Toxic was a dangerous move, one that got worse the more energy you expended. It would get stronger and stronger, until it had no more energy to sap and a pokemon was unconscious under its mercy.

  Even with her incredible defenses, Toxic was the move she'd be very susceptible to. That's why I wanted to teach her Refresh eventually.

  "Smoke Screen!" Blaine suddenly ordered, clearly scheming.

  It didn't take a genius to figure out what that plan was. He was going to stall me out until Freyja couldn't move anymore.

  My eyes narrowed. "Freyja Icy Wind! Blow away that smoke!"

  She followed the orders immediately, conjuring a powerful and cold gale that blew through the battlefield.

  "Flamethrower!" Blaine shouted eagerly.

  I only saw a brief glimpse of Magmortar holding both his cannon arms up, before a great torrent of concentrated and condensed flames, burst from its arms. The rain didn't stop the deluge of flames rushing through.

  It blew through the Icy Wind and crashed against Freyja, bouncing harmlessly off her scales but whittling her down little by little.

  She snarled and fired a Water Pulse near the source of the flames, only for a Fire Blast to meet it midway. While it had the type advantage, Water Pulse was quite a fair bit weaker naturally, than a Fire Blast being fired from a Magmortar.

  They met in the middle and formed even more steam.

  "Lava Plume!" Blaine continued.

  I hissed at that command. Magmortar practically exploded in a blaze of flames and smog. The area was so steamy, it was as if there was a permanent fog in the air.

  The Magmortar at this point, was just a glorified arsonist now. It was firing flames indiscriminately, whittling Freyja down more and more. If it weren't for the rain, I fear my not so little fish, would have dried up.

  The Aqua Ring around Freyja, was doing its best to keep her healthy, but the toxins inside her...

  I grit my teeth, watching as she desperately tried to shoot a Water Pulse at a shadowy figure and watching as it just flew through it, Magmortar having long moved away from that spot.

  Freyja cried out, cheeks a sickly shade of purple. Her eyes were getting foggy, concentration quickly leaving her body and I grit my teeth.

  "Now, Magmortar while its weakened! Get in and light it up with Thunder Punch!" Blaine ordered.

  Magmortar hissed, body practically living steam. It lumbered through the field, lunging at Freyja with a sadistic gleam in its eyes.

  The claws on its canons were back, sparking with electricity and as it got close to her, it stabbed forward.

  It watched dumbly as it's claws bounced off her hard scales, before the Magmortar's eyes narrowed venomously. With far more force, it stabbed into her and Freyja shrieked, eyes shooting open as her body surged with electricity.

  Magmortar's joy was short lived, as it ate a point blank Scald to the face. Freyja's red eyes were wide in rage and she yowled, matching the Blast Pokemon's venom.

  It tried to pull its claws back but to my disbelief, Freyja refused to give the fire type its arm. She hissed and trapped it in her scales.

  Magmortar hissed back, and aimed its other cannon at her, firing off a Thunderbolt this time and holding it until Freyja cried and released him.

  It stumbled backwards with a hellish glare, aimed both cannons at Freyja and concentrated a truly gargantuan amount of flames.

  "Now Freyja! Confuse Ray!"

  "What?!" Blaine shouted in horror.

  Freyja's eyes snapped open wide and she fired a purple wave that crashed directly into the surprised Magmortar.

  The Fire Blast it was charging, suddenly fired off into the wrong direction. The fire type stumbled around drunkenly and howled. It took its sharp claws and nearly stabbed them into its tough body, raking down as its confusion fully took root.

  It collapsed and roared, banging its head onto the wet floor. All around, more and more steam began forming. It held up a cannon arm and fired a Flamethrower in a random direction, attacking something only it could see.

  "Finish this off Freyja! Surf!" I roared, body thrumming with adrenaline like it always did in such a fun battle.

  "No Magmortar! Get away from the Milotic!" Blaine roared in a panic.

  Surprisingly, Blaine's voice pierced Magmortar's ears and it snapped up at that. The fire type hissed, not understanding why it needed to get away, but not doubting its trainer.

  The Magmortar stood, turned on a dime, took a single step and got engulfed in a giant wave of water.

  Our Surf wasn't yet complete. It wasn't at a level that I was confident in but right now, with all the adrenaline pumping... I couldn't help but demand the most eye pleasing move in that moment.

  Watching that pesky Magmortar get drowned in water, felt far too satisfying.

  Keep away wasn't in a Magmortar's style but we forced it to do that. I shuddered (in excitement) to think about how a battle with one would go, where it was free to just attack and attack.

  Not this one though. Fuck this one in particular.

  "Magmortar is unable to battle! As a result, Gym Leader Blaine has no more pokemon left to battle. The winner of this match, is Silver!"

  The crowd was cheering loud.

  Very loud.

  When the barriers dropped, I could hear my name, Freyja chants and even a couple of cheers for Blaine.

  Despite not caring what they thought of me, a small part did revel in the praise that acknowledged my talent.

  "Good job girl. I knew you had it in you," I smiled, eyes glinting as Freyja turned shocked eyes towards me.

  I walked up to her, completely satisfied with her performance, and pulled out an antidote. I proceeded to spray her down and watched as the poison vanished before my eyes.

  There was a superior look in my eyes, that was eventually reflected in hers and she hummed, rubbing her tired face against mine.

  I raked my hands against her scales gently.

  "Look at you. Three strong fire types in a row? What a powerful pokemon you've become. You fought really hard for me," I whistled, allowing her to nuzzle me.

  Freyja's cheeks darkened and she whined at my teasing, tiredly leaning onto me.

  I chuckled at how embarrassed she was. "You've become strong, Freyja. I was always proud of you, but now I'm proud that you believe in your own strength," I murmured.

  Just because she became a Milotic, didn't mean I was going to stop complimenting her! All my teammates, besides Metang, deserved constant praise.

  Freyja looked at me in awe, nodding fervently at my words. She let out a happy cry and resisted the urge to tackle me, eyes drooping as she threatened to fall asleep instead.

  "By the way, I lied. You weren't the last one. I just wanted you to fight with your life on the line so you could see just how strong you are at your best," I informed her.

  Freyja blinked and her tired eyes regarded me in confusion.

  "M-Milo?" she repeated, not sure if she heard me correctly.

  I nodded. "To be fair, my last two were Gaia and Metang, who do very bad into fire types. You were technically my last hope against that Magmortar or it would have probably eaten them alive."

  A pokemon like Magmortar, was Gaia's worst nightmare. Nonstop aggression and brute force? A body that could burn her vines so she couldn't properly grab him? It was a horrific matchup for her.

  I'm sure I could have pulled out the victory if Freyja did fall because of the work she put in, but it wouldn't be easy at all. That was still a Magmortar after all.

  In the first place, Freyja's crazy defenses had forced it to fight unlike itself so that already gave me an advantage but it still ended up giving us a bit of trouble.

  Freyja glared at me, poking me in the chest with her snout indignantly.

  "Milo! Lotic Milotic!" she ranted.

  I snorted. "But I lied for your own good. Can't you appreciate me for that?" I asked innocently.

  "Milo!" she barked, glaring at me.

  I sighed. "Fine fine. I'm so sorry darling, I'll never lie to you again. I already never lie to Gaia because she threatened to squeeze me to death if I did. Since you can also squeeze me to death, I guess I can't lie to you either. You're just too beautiful to lie to," I conceded.

  Freyja glared at me with dark cheeks. "Milotic!" she hissed, nearly combusting on the spot.

  "I'm not teasing you. I'm telling the truth," I said with a smirk, letting out a laugh at the strangled shout she directed towards me.

  "Come on girl, get some rest," I soothed, returning her promptly.

  I looked up, to see Blaine approaching me. He was walking slow, due to the water, and let out a barking laugh.

  "Excellent! That battle fueled me with a fiery passion for months on end!" Blaine shouted eagerly.

  I huffed. It was definitely a fun battle but now that it was over, I could go back to being my good ol moody self.

  "You're nothing like those other uppity trainers. You've got a real fire in you that's rare to see!" Blaine praised.

  I grunted and raked a hand through my soaked hair, scowling at him.

  "Yeah yeah you stupid trivia nerd. Just give me my badge so I can get outta here."

  "And he's still got a lot of bite too! I dunno what you did to little miss Sabrina but I'm glad you did it!" Blaine chuckled, pulling out a gym badge, along with a disk.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "This is the TM for Fire Blast! You and Green over there will get a good use out of it!"

  I snorted and grabbed them out of the eccentric man's hand.

  "If that's all, I'm going now," I grunted, marching away from him without any further prompting.

  Now that I had what I wanted... it was time to enact my plan.

  "A truly wonderful battle. I was at the edge of my seat in some situations," Lorelei praised, running a hand against my wet hair. If it made her uncomfortable, she certainly didn't show it.

  I grunted, not even flinching as a missile launched itself on top of me.

  "That was so damn cool, Silvy!" Green cheered. "I'm jealous! Why didn't he battle me with 6 pokemon?! I wanna fight a Magmortar too!"

  I chuckled at her complaints. "Next time, go terrorize a gym leader and make them ring up other Gym Leaders to do hits for them. Stupid fucking psychic. I hope she watched that battle and I hope she's seething in her dark little room where she has no friends—"

  "Silver," Lorelei exhaled.

  I shrugged. "Alright I'm done. I'll deal with her soon enough anyways."

  Lorelei gazed at me in blatant concern. "What does that mean?" she asked slowly.

  I tilted my head. "Don't worry. I won't do anything bad, trust me," I told her.

  "Last time you told me to trust you was at Seafoam. I trust you even less."

  "Well that's just too bad aunt."

  Lorelei shook her head at that, before her expression turned a tad more serious.

  "We should make haste to the Center. Oberon's evolution..." she trailed off.

  I nodded, a frown on my face. "I hope he calms a bit after this. I sacrificed that Simisear a bit but it was for a good cause," I grunted.

  "I approved of it. I'm aware that Oberon's confidence was a little rattled... so it was necessary for him to realize that he is strong," Lorelei said, matching frowns with me.

  "Let's go then!" Green urged, dragging us out of the gym and towards the center.

  I grunted and let her drag me off. Then I noticed something. "Where are your friends?" I asked in confusion.

  Lorelei was the one to pipe in this time. "I requested they leave us be for the time being after the gym battle. We have a bit more important matters so I told them to show up tomorrow."

  I blinked and nodded in appreciation. "Thanks aunt. You're very reliable when you aren't stalking me."

  She glared at me. "One day, you should learn how to compliment a person and leave it at that."

  "You'd have to reprogram me. I'm physically incapable of just complimenting someone. It hurts."

  Green nodded. "He tried complimenting Crys and nearly threw up. I think the only person he can compliment without turning ill, is Jas."

  I shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what it is. Being nice is painful."

  "The only thing more sickening than your statement, is the fact that you managed to convince Green it's true," Lorelei scolded.

  "You choose what you want to believe, aunt."

  "Get help, Silver."

  "Isn't that what you're trying to do? Are you admitting defeat?"

  "...No. Not yet."

  I smiled at her look of defeat... when she admitted to not admitting defeat just yet.

  "Please stop smiling, Silver. It's disturbing."

  I twitched.

  Why did everyone say that?

  We were on a large piece of land, separate from Cinnabar. It was a few miles out on Route 21, with no person in sight. Lorelei swam us there with the help of her Lapras and our group of three stood measured and prepared.

  The Pokemon Center trip hadn't been eventful, barring the fact that Green and I had to deal with the residents of the island congratulating us.

  In particular, I had to deal with an army of people begging to see my Milotic, Zoroark, or Shelgon (in that order of frequency). It was such a bother, especially considering I just wanted to get to the center to get my team checked on.

  That led us here. After ensuring both our teams were healed, our group decided to deal with our little problem in an area of isolation just in case things went south.

  Lorelei and Jynx were standing a safe distance, ready to disarm at a moments notice.

  On a similar note, Saury and Gaia were standing next to Green and I respectively. I also had Loki out for good measure.

  Seeing that everyone was ready, I held out my Luxury Ball and released it, watching as it coalesced into the large Ursaring.

  Oberon was tall. Taller than me now and slightly taller than the average Ursaring. His fur hid his densely packed muscles, that could tear a human in half with barely a thought, and he opened his mouth to showcase teeth that could probably dent a steel type.

  He sure fit this world's standard of a superpowered grizzly bear. Much like how I would very much not want to run into a grizzly in real life, running into an Ursaring, especially one with cubs or inside of its territory, was asking for a gruesome death.

  Considering Oberon had... issues, I had to prepare for anything.

  My newly evolved Ursaring did not make any noises as he gained coherence. He just blinked, stumbling about and promptly sitting down.

  "Ursa?" he asked in confusion, voice rumbling and deep. It was the type of voice that instinctively brought out your fight or flight response.

  "Oberon?" I called out slowly.

  His eyes shifted to me immediately and he tilted his head. His narrowed eyes bore into me, before shining in recognition.

  Oberon cheered and I resisted the urge to flinch at the deep and loud roar.

  "Oberon. We need to talk," I said slowly, seeing that he was coherent enough.

  My Ursaring paused at the tone I was taking and he gauged me warily, a pensive expression on his face.

  "You've evolved. You know that right?" I asked.

  Oberon nodded, pushing himself back up to inspect his body closely. He gazed at his intimidating set of claws, touched his incredibly thick fur and raised a single foot to gaze down at it.

  Much like as a Teddiursa, outside of battle, Oberon seemed docile. None of that overwhelming rage was in his gaze and he regarded me with the same adoration he did as a Teddiursa.

  But that didn't change the fact that if left to his own devices, he was going to kill that Simisear.

  Goddamnit. I thought Ares was going to be problematic when she evolved, now I had to tackle Oberon as well?

  I frowned. "Oberon, did you feel pressured to evolve just to win that battle?"

  Oberon withered away at my tone, meekly avoiding eye contact with me. He nodded his head and I sighed.

  "You shouldn't have felt pressured at all, but you won your battle at least. A bit too hard but... no one got too hurt," I said softly.

  His gaze snapped and he regarded me with wide eyes.

  "I was hoping to tackle your problems as a Teddiursa but this is still fine..." I mused, approaching him fearlessly.

  Oberon seemed to realize that he had messed up again and shakily took a step back, only to freeze as I tiptoed to ruffle the top of his head.

  "I'm not going to hurt you, Oberon," I reassured, frowning slightly.

  Much to my surprise though, Oberon shook his head.

  "Ursaring..." he trailed off, a look of concern on his face.

  "He's not afraid of you hurting him. He's afraid of hurting you," Loki informed everyone.

  My gaze softened. "I'm not afraid of that shit, Oberon. How can I help you, if I'm afraid of you?" I asked him genuinely.

  I sighed and took a step back. "But we need to find out just what's wrong with you... so I'm going to have to get you checked up on by Professor Oak when we go to Pallet Town," I muttered.

  Oberon's gaze narrowed at that and he trembled, taking a step back. There was a palpable fear on his face and he let out a tiny whimper of dread.

  "Hey, look at me," I said calmly. "Don't be afraid. I'm here for you. If he tries to do anything, I'll have Aunt Lorelei freeze him and then I'll stomp on his body. He's Green's friend. You trust Green right?"

  Oberon gazed over, meeting the smiling visage of Green, and nodded shakily.

  I leaned in and beckoned him close to whisper in his ear, despite the fact he'd probably hear me regardless.

  "Hey, I hate labs too. We can both be miserable together but at least we'll have each other so that'll make us strong enough to handle it. I'm sure Gaia will play with us too if we bother her," I reassured.

  Oberon blinked at that and nodded, a hint of confidence replacing his trepidation.

  He may have evolved much earlier than he wanted to... but Oberon was still my lil man.

  "Good job on your battle. You employed your wrestling moves great," I praised. "I guess we can really get into the nitty gritty of them then. No need to adjust to having a new body, we'll just teach you everything with this one," I mused.

  Oberon nodded eagerly, soaking up my praise with a toothy grin. It was kind of adorable to see a grizzly bear acting like a little puppy but bears were pretty damn adorable for how scary they were.

  I turned towards Jynx and bowed respectfully. "Jynx, I'd appreciate if you continued guiding Oberon through therapy," I requested.

  Jynx blinked, wary expression vanishing. Lorelei's most versatile pokemon, smiled at me and nodded.

  "Jynx says of course. She enjoys helping young Oberon," Lorelei smiled. There was a proud glint in her eyes and I chuckled at it.

  "Good thank you. Oberon, we're going to keep up with the meditation practice, alright?"

  I took the time to release the rest of my team and watched as Green marched off to do the same.

  "That goes for you too, Ares. I want you and Oberon to meditate together. This will help you with Focus Energy."

  Ares grumbled and nodded, staring at the evolved Oberon with a look I couldn't quite identify. I ran a hand against her shell with a pleased smile.

  "Your track record against the Charmander line is still pretty spotless you know? You showed that Charizard a thing or two. It got my blood pumping something fierce," I praised, watching as Oberon took the time to shakily walk over (he was still getting used to his evolution) to the smiling Jynx.

  Ares puffed up at that.

  I smiled proudly, pulling out a rag and beginning to clean her tough shell.

  "It's only a matter of time before you evolve, girl. When that day comes, you'll become a real monster and that battle with Charizard and Camerupt will go very differently."

  She grunted in agreement, wiggling in satisfaction as I continued cleaning her shell.

  "Sorry for letting my emotions get the best of me. I know you weren't planning on using me against the Ninetales and we nearly paid for it," Loki said, sidling up next to me.

  I stared at him and tilted my head.

  "We won didn't we? It's a good reminder to my future opponents, that you don't need a deep bag of tricks to crush them. Your offensive power isn't a joke and your illusions are the most dangerous thing about you," I explained easily.

  Loki smiled, pleased at that and I used my free hand to ruffle his hair.

  "You're filling out your role well, Loki and now I want you to eventually learn Imprison."

  He chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Another move to limit their options. Sounds fun," he smiled.

  I snorted and turned to the star of today's show.

  "Freyja, you took out three pokemon today. How does it feel?" I asked, a knowing smile on my face.

  Freyja attempted to look composed, but it vanished immediately as she was dragged into a tight hug by Gaia. She let out a surprised yell, completely wrapped in the vines of my starter, before giving up immediately.

  Gaia got what Gaia wanted after all. It was a universal law.

  I smiled at them all. "We're going to Pallet Town next. We'll dedicate some good time to training and then we'll go crush two minor gyms and get our 8th badge," I explained to them.

  "For now though... let's all just relax. Cinnabar is a tourist spot so I'm sure I could get some good things for you all," I noted, watching Charcadet climb cheerfully on my head.

  Relax must have meant pamper them because I was almost immediately hounded by my members.

  "A well deserved punishment for you," Metang chimed.

  I grunted as Ares let out a growl of protest. "And where have you been? You've been oddly silent."

  "Merely keeping to myself. Do you think I enjoy speaking to you?"

  "Considering I'm your only friend, yes. Wouldn't want you to be a loser like Sabrina."

  "Only... friend? What gave you that idea?"

  "Metang, you're a recluse. Also, you're lying. You're training to evolve, aren't you?"

  "...I do sometimes forget, that behind your ridiculous mask, is an intelligent person."

  I chuckled, leaning against Gaia's side.

  "Things take time, Metang. Your evolution will come eventually... but try to enjoy the little things in life. I didn't take you to train you into my perfect little machine. You should be able to enjoy all aspects of freedom," I said aloud.

  Metang turned towards me, red eyes inquisitive.

  "Words to consider. I will... take them into account. But why did you say that aloud?"

  I smiled, even as a vine wrapped around my most antisocial member. Gaia yanked him towards the group with a cheerful bellow, making sure he had no chance to escape.

  "This is our team after all. Get friendly with them!" I said cheerfully.

  "Ah, I see. Truly, words cannot explain, how much disdain I hold for you at all periods of time."

  The story of my life, was trying to get a moment of peace alone and never getting it.

  Currently, the one terrorizing me, was an orange haired girl whose outfit needed reconsideration.

  "Silver!" Misty hissed, abnormally close to me.

  "Back the hell up, Suspenders," I grunted, gripping one of said suspenders and yanking her back slightly.

  She yelped as it to slapped back against her skin and glared at me. The water specialist pat down her outfit and said, "Don't call me that! And don't just yank my suspenders like that! That's so rude!"

  "Huh? Oh right. Don't wear suspenders. They're stupid," I drawled, clearly not paying much attention to what she was saying.

  Misty nearly growled aloud but took a deep breath instead, regarding me with surprising levels of patience that didn't suit her.

  The girl looked like she was about to faint. Her face was red and harsh pants escaped her.

  "How long have you been looking for me?" I asked curiously, idly reaching in my bag and handing her a water bottle.

  Misty greedily accepted it and gulped the water down with no finesse. She let out a heavy sigh at the taste and wiped her mouth before regarding me.

  "Like, 30 minutes? You're very hard to track!" she complained.

  I grunted in boredom, gazing out at the sea that led towards Seafoam.

  Misty shrieked loudly, as Loki materialized next to me, an amused smile on my Zoroark's face.

  "I didn't want to be found. That's why you didn't find me. I just now decided it was a good time to stop going incognito," I muttered.

  Green and Lorelei were shopping and I took that opportunity to peace the hell out. How unfortunate, that my peace was broken.

  "You're... not very social are you? You're a lot different from Green, Ash, Gold and Crystal," Misty panted, gripping her shirt and very quickly losing what little patience she had for me.

  "The only reason this conversation is going on, is because I have some respect for you. Get to the reason you were seeking me out before I get tired," I replied blandly.

  Misty groaned. "Ugh! You're even ruder than that Gary guy! Whatever! You have a Milotic?!" she asked excitedly.

  I turned towards her. "What about it?" I asked.

  "What about it?! That's so amazing! Not only did you manage to find a Feebas, you even got it to evolve! That's incredible!" she gushed, eyes wide in wonder.

  I grunted. "Freyja earned it. She's been fighting an uphill battle since I've had her. No one is more proud of her than I am."

  Misty looked as if she were about to close the distance between us once more, but thought twice about it.

  "Can I see her?! Please? I promise I won't be weird about it!" she pleaded.

  I gazed at her and snorted. "Freyja," I called.

  There was a comfortable silence, Misty's confusion steadily seeping into the atmosphere, before the water began rippling slightly.

  Freyja didn't burst out the water. It looked more like she ascended. The sea parted for her as she arrived and the Milotic let out a hum of delight at seeing me.

  Man, Freyja was huge. Milotics were very big pokemon and Freyja would only get bigger with age.

  I idly saw an army of water types a distance away. They were all looking at Freyja with wide eyes, no sign of aggression in them. A Tentacruel even looked like it wanted to approach but held off as I glared at it.

  "Hey girl, did you enjoy your swim?" I asked, allowing her to wipe her wet face against me.

  She nodded happily. Then, she noticed the other presence.

  Misty locked up, as Freyja turned her gaze towards her. Those red eyes peered at Misty and her cheerful demeanor instantly vanished.

  "U-Um! Hey Freyja!" Misty waved nervously, shrinking a bit under that judgemental stare.

  "I'm Misty! It's nice to meet you! I'm a water type specialist!"

  Freyja didn't even blink. She just fixed Misty with a stare that was turning pretty uncomfortable...

  Not for me though. I thought it was funny.

  "She's not all bad, Freyja," I said mercifully. "She was surprised that I had you, when you were a Feebas. Seemed like awe to me."

  Misty took the lifeline I handed her and nodded rapidly. "Oh don't misunderstand! I like Feebas and Milotic! I was just praising Silver for having the patience to work with you!" she exclaimed, waving her hands placatingly.

  Freyja hummed, getting an excited cheer from a Horsea, and eventually nodded. She turned towards Misty and offered her an eye smile, before nuzzling me and diving back in the water.

  "That's probably the best you'll get from her. Freyja isn't a fan of others," I offered, watching the water ripple in wake of her dive.

  "Tell me about it... I feel like she was staring a hole through me," Misty sighed, holding a hand over her heart.

  "Still, thanks for the save there! I'd hate it if one of the only Milotics I'll ever see, hated me!"

  I didn't know what there was to be grateful about but I guess Misty was the type of specialist to really love her specialty.

  "Don't mention it. I wasn't defending you, I was just telling Freyja the truth. She banned me from lying to her and all that," I grunted.

  "Wow… you really aren't all that terrible. Well, not that you've ever actually been that rude to me before this encounter," Misty mused, putting a finger on her chin.

  "Respectable trainers who keep their mouth shut, probably don't hear much from me. You don't keep your mouth shut but you haven't directed it to me, so you've been given the illusion that I'm not that bad," I said blandly.

  I sideyed her, before turning back to the sea.

  "Our gym battle was good. You have the talent and I can tell the ass kicking I gave you, motivated you even more to get stronger."

  Misty colored at that. "You did not kick my ass."

  "Gaia would have swept you if I kept her in. I just wanted Loki to get a win. He deserved it," I smiled.

  Loki huffed next to me, idly shoving me with a weak push.

  "I'm not the one who wasn't understanding what their role was and as a Zorua, it was hard to accomplish said role against evolved pokemon. Look at you now? You're doing exactly what I always said you'd be doing," I shrugged helplessly.

  He grumbled in defeat at that, conceding to my point.

  Misty grumbled as well, before sobering up suddenly. "Don't you think you're going a little hard on Ash? I get why he annoys you, but he's not as bad as you make him out to be."

  I side eyed her. "I don't make him out as anything. I just don't acknowledge him as worth my time."

  "He's been training really hard. Before meeting you, Ash didn't feel like a real trainer… but you lit a fire under him you know! We train together a lot and he's getting really good!" she defended.

  "Hmph. Good for him," I grunted. "He should focus on Green, Gold and the Oak boy. Those three would be great rivals for him. Not me."

  Misty laughed. "That's not how it works. Ash is a kid that thrives when someone doubts him. He's the type who'll do everything to prove someone wrong! You challenged his mindset the most so of course he'll focus on you!"

  I snorted. That sounded like me—

  I froze at that and huffed.

  So we were both vengeful bastards? So what?

  "You're advocating for him very hard. Why?"

  Misty shrugged. "Denying a trainer the one thing they want, is pretty maddening. Right now, Ash wants to battle you more than anyone else and I can respect that fire of his."

  I scoffed. "Well in that case, tell him to meet me at the League. His desire to battle me, is matched by my unwillingness to battle him."

  "Two extreme ends… you guys couldn't be more opposite," Misty sighed.

  I wasnt interested enough to say anything.

  "Well... what if you battle him instead of me? I want to battle your Milotic but it looks like she's taking it easy for the time being so I'd like to try another time!" Misty proposed.

  I groaned. "You don't plan on letting up, do you?"

  She snickered a little. "Nope! I just wanna see how he matches up now! How about it? Just a one on one!"

  I stared at her. "Alright, fine. A one on one. Just know if I end up disappointed, I'm not taking it out on him, I'm taking it out on you," I warned.

  Misty grinned confidently. "Follow me!"

  Ash was very clearly surprised to see Misty approaching with me in tow. He was sitting, watching as his team trained against one another.

  True to Green's words, he had quite the impressive array of pokemon. Pikachu, Charizard, Ivysaur, Wartortle, Primeape and the main attraction, Snorlax.

  They paused at seeing me and to no one's surprise Pikachu honed in on me, recognition clear in his eyes. The mouse sparked, growling at me and I stared back, unfazed.

  The more confusing glare, was the one from his Charizard. It was practically snarling at me and I raised a brow at the similar levels of recognition.

  Ah right.

  I held out a pokeball and idly released Metang and to my amusement, both Pikachu and Charizard's growling got noticeably louder.

  "Why am I being glared at with so much venom? I am not the caged dragon or your guardian fox," Metang questioned.

  "You battled them a long time ago."

  It didn't take Metang a second to recall what I was talking about.

  "I'm aware of my battle with the rodent. What of the lizard? Is it the abused one we encountered? That is the only time I've fought and battled this line of pokemon."

  I nodded, amusement set on my features as I confirmed their speculation.

  Metang scoffed. "Return me. I have no interest in this petty squabble."

  I acquiesced with their wishes and returned them to the ball. I wasn't really intending on using them this battle anyways.

  The act of me returning Metang, snapped Ash out of his shock and he rocketed up with a renewed vigor.

  "What are you doing here?" the pallet native asked, glaring at me with a scowl.

  I barely spared him a glance. "One on one," I said blandly, marching to my side of the battlefield.

  Brock shot me a confused nod and I nodded back.

  "H-Huh?" Ash stuttered in confusion, looking thrown for a loop.

  "I'll send out first. Loki, since you're already here," I beckoned.

  Ash shouted in confusion, as my Zoroark materialized from thin air and sauntered onto the battlefield.

  By now, all of his pokemon had stopped in their actions and they gazed at Loki with a curious gaze. None of Ash's other pokemon seemed to know me besides Pikachu and Charizard.

  "You're saying we're going to battle?!" Ash asked excitedly.

  I didn't bother replying, just gauging each of Ash's pokemon with a critical eye.

  They were good. Better than I expected them to be.

  "Go Ash! I sacrificed my battle for this!" Misty pressed.

  Ash looked stunned at that. "No way... greedy and selfish Misty?!" he practically shouted.

  "Don't make me take the shot back! You're not the only one who wants to battle him, Ketchum!" Misty barked in annoyance.

  Ash grinned and immediately charged to his side of the battlefield. "Alright! We'll show you what we're made of!" he announced, grabbing his hat and turning it backwards.

  "I choose you—"

  "Are you sure about that?" I interrupted calmly, making him freeze.

  "Huh? Sure about what?" Ash asked. His brows were furrowed, caught off guard by the fact that I interrupted him.

  I shook my head. "You were about to send out that Charizard of yours, right? You just saw what I did to a stronger Charizard the other day."

  I ignored Charizard's roar of fury at my words.

  "Think with your head, not your heart. Heart can only get you so far. You've got one shot so make it count. You want to win right? Pick your best chance at winning," I said idly.

  Loki huffed in amusement, as Ash took on a contemplative expression.

  The fact of the matter is, Loki and I weren't going to lose to his Charizard. Blaine's Charizard had been stronger, this I know for a fact and if Loki were healthy, I would have been able to beat it with him too.

  There weren't a lot of pokemon we were going to lose to that Ash owned. I'm sure Loki could comfortably beat all of them.

  So Ash should send out his best option here. Misty didn't give up her spot for him for it to be a wash after all.

  "Ugh. I hate that I'm listening to you!" Ash scowled.

  "Charizard, Pikachu... we'll get another chance to fight him but for this battle... Primeape, let's go!"

  The Primeape growled, pounded its fist together and launched itself on the battlefield long before Ash even called out to it.

  I smirked. "Good. A pokemon with a type advantage. So you've been studying. I was hoping you used that Snorlax... but this is good too," I praised.

  "I don't wanna hear your compliments! Let's win this Primeape!" Ash decided.

  The look of determination on his face was reminiscent to the one he had in our first encounter. But this time there seemed to be some knowledge in them.

  To think that all Ash needed, was someone who had the opposite personality of him, trashing him in a battle.

  Isn't that kind of what happened in Sinnoh? He had that one rival, Paul (Huh, that guy kinda reminded me of me) and in comparison to his previous journeys, this was the one he had performed best in. He was even slated to win if not for that one guy with the legendaries, Tobias.

  Perhaps we were similar. In the face of such severe adversity, what choice did we have but to overperform from the expectations placed on us.

  Unfortunately for Ash, the expectations placed on me were just a little heavier.

  "You made the right choice picking a fighting type, but Primeape might be the worst possible fighting pokemon to pit against Loki," I said coolly.

  I didn't allow Ash's confusion to bother me and just waved a hand. "Taunt."

  Primeape's eyes bulged, as Loki snickered loudly at it. Almost like it had been gravely offended, the Primeape immediately exploded in anger.

  The simian roared and launched itself across the field, fist glowing with energy.

  Ash seemed well adjusted to his Primeape losing its temper, adapting well with it.

  "That's right! Karate Chop!"

  Primeape smashed the ground into pieces, as it attempted to flatten Loki into the ground... only for his fist to go through the Zoroark.

  His confusion only lasted a second, as a wave of flames crashed into his back. The Primeape hissed, anger exploding once more as Loki's laughter came from behind it.

  With no hesitation, he whirled around to deliver another Karate Chop, only for the move to splutter out.

  Loki leered at the Primeape, Torment also in effect, and lunged, raking his sharp red claws against its face.

  "Oh no Primeape!" Ash shouted in concern, watching as his Primeape reeled back with a roar of fury.

  The fighting type attempted to swipe blindly at the Zoroark, but was met with air as Loki faded away once more.

  "He uses illusions to trick you! Be careful! Use Rage!" Ash shouted.

  And that therein lie the problem. Loki the Trickster, would make any Primeape pop a blood vessel with his deep bag of tricks.

  No matter the type advantage, Loki excelled the most against idiot brutes. Loki slowly but surely whittled down the Primeape, avoiding any and all contact and only serving to piss the simian off more and more.

  "Oh no! Hang in there Primeape!"

  "Shadow Ball," I mused, only mildly interested in seeing how Ash was going to handle this.

  Hey, Misty offered him up on a platter. This time, I was going to enjoy myself.

  "Primeape! Rage Fist on the Shadow Ball!"

  Rage Fist? The fuck was a Rage Fist—

  Both Loki and I momentarily paused, as Primeape somehow got angrier, purple aura surrounding his fist. It threw out a punch so strong, the aura lashed out a bit ahead of it, destroying the Shadow Ball in its tracks.

  Ah so this was the sleeper carry of Ash's team. No wonder Gold saw it fit to mention his Primeape. I don't know what Rage Fist was, but judging by the energy needed from it and the way I had instinctively grunted, it was a ghost move.

  "Shadow Ball again," I said coolly.

  Loki snapped out of his surprise and launched another Shadow Ball at Primeape. It tried to muster up another Rage Fist, but the simian let out an incredulous shout, that turned into a blood curdling howl, as the Shadow Ball exploded in its face.

  "Stomping Tantrum!" Ash shouted.

  Both Loki and I's eyes widened as the ground began shaking. Primeape was beating every single one of its limbs on the ground, veins littered across its entire body.

  Stomping Tantrum was a move that got stronger when its previous move failed... and Primeape just tried to use a move before.

  Huh, this might be one of the few times we're punished for using Torment.

  "Agility!" I shouted, watching in surprise as the entire battlefield began splintering in the wake of Primeape's anger, rocks and ground chasing down the sprinting Loki.

  In the confines of the battlefield, he was unable to avoid it completely and my first pokemon let out an actual shout of pain as he was tagged by the powerful attack.

  "That's right Primeape! Now use the battlefield to cut off escapes! Rock Tomb!" Ash shouted pressing his first advantage since this battle started.

  It was a miracle Primeape was even still listening to Ash's orders. The ape was completely littered in veins, grabbing giant rocks and lobbing them directly towards Loki's position. He threw so many rocks, that a pile was forming.

  I sighed. "Psychic."

  A scuffed Loki materialized right next to Primeape, shrouding it in an ominous purple sheen. His amused smile was gone and with no hesitation, he launched the Primeape towards the pile he had just attempted to bury my Zoroark under.

  The rocks scattered in every direction, as the fighting type smashed into them.

  Loki huffed, slinking over to my side.

  "I suppose that's that," I mused, raking a hand through my hair and moving my bag so that it was in my front now.

  When had a crowd formed? I'm not too sure but there was a good amount of people cheering me on.

  Hm. I should gain more awareness in battles. I was getting too lax.

  As I rummaged for a potion, I paused as an absolutely berserk roar sounded through the battlefield.

  Primeape's eyes were red (and I mean the entire thing) in its anger, so many veins on its body that even I was beginning to get concerned.

  Loki sighed vanishing from his spot and avoiding Primeape's wrath. The simian landed on nothing and let out a shriek so loud, I had to put a finger in my ear.

  It began beating every one of its limbs against the ground again, purple aura shrouding its fist. It didn't even look like a Stomping Tantrum... just a tantrum in general.

  "PRIMEAPE!" Primeape roared to the heavens.

  "Primeape! Listen to me!" Ash shouted in concern but it seems the fighting pokemon had finally reached its limit.

  I rolled my eyes. "Loki, put it to sleep!" I shouted, not even sure if I could be heard because of the screeching going on right now.

  Seriously, could this thing shut the fuck up?

  ...

  Huh. Miraculously, the Primeape actually did shut up.

  "Thank you. Now as I was saying, Loki put it out of its misery—"

  I stopped, confusion and shock making its way to my face as Primeape began glowing.

  Glowing? Glowing?!

  What the fuck do you mean glowing?!

  "Wait what?!" Ash shouted in confusion.

  To my utter disbelief, the Primeape began changing before my very eyes. It's feet left the ground, as the purple shroud around its fist engulfed its entire body.

  I blinked owlishly, watching as the pokemon began transcending...?

  His fur turned gray, one of the shackles on its right arm was obliterated, while the one on the left broke. It's eyes remained that same furious shade of red that it was before and the veins on its body did not vanish.

  That shaggy gray fur grew tremendously, almost looking like Primeape had decided to grow some gnarly looking hair.

  "What did I do this time?" I grunted to myself in disbelief.

  That Primeape looked like a very ghost type.

  I didn't even know Primeape could evolve. What the hell...?

  "Annihi..." The strange evolution muttered, gazing at its fist.

  "Primeape...?" Ash called in confusion, eyes hopelessly wide.

  I sighed. "Hey, return it. This match is done," I decided, ignoring the awed noises of the crowd.

  Ash snapped out of his surprise and gazed at me incredulously. "What?! Return him?! No way! We're just getting started!" he shouted.

  Ash's fighting pokemon snarled in agreement and I glared at them both.

  This wasn't about finishing the goddamn—

  "Alright then. We'll finish this then," I decided.

  "Alright Primeape, use Rage Fist!" Ash countered.

  The pokemon roared and launched itself forward, fist glowing with so much ghostly energy, it shrouded the Primeape evolutions entire arm.

  I stared flatly as it flew through Loki's body for the umpteenth time.

  "Night Daze."

  Loki slowly phased into existence, like a phantom, before erupting and engulfing the entire battlefield in a dome of crimson energy.

  Ash watched with wide eyes, as the energy dome vanished, revealing his unconscious Primeape (?) on the floor. Loki stared at him with an impressed gaze, licking his claws idly and sauntering over to me.

  "There now it's over," I drawled, spraying Loki down with a potion.

  I marched over to Ash with a scowl. "Your Primeape just evolved into a new form that you know nothing about... and you didn't immediately stop the match? This was just a spar, it wasn't anything so serious."

  Ash stepped back in surprise.

  "It wasn't a bad battle, but priorities moron. We don't know what the hell just happened to your Primeape so maybe return it, go to a Nurse Joy and figure the hell out," I scoffed.

  "Um... yeah. We should go to the center?" The boy stepped back, mostly in confusion and I snorted at him.

  Done with this goofy group, I turned on a dime and marched off.

  "Hey, where are you going?" Ash asked me.

  "Green gets antsy when she doesn't see me for too long and it's been about two hours. I'm expecting a call in about —"

  My Poketch began ringing, interrupting my sentence.

  I tapped it and was immediately met with, "Silvyyyyy where are you?!"

  "Was battling the Pallet boy. His Primeape evolved."

  "PRIMEAPE CAN EVOLVE?! YOU BATTLED ASHY?!"

  "I was surprised too," I grunted, ignoring Ash's group as I waltzed off. Loki dutifully followed after me and I raked a hand through his hair.

  "And yeah I fought him. It was an okay battle."

  Green beamed. "He's really been training! I'm proud of him! Now get over here!"

  I snorted at the annoying idiot. "Where are you? I'll come to your location."

  An Annihilape. That's what Ash's Primeape had evolved into. It was most commonly seen in the Paldea region and rarely anywhere else.

  Why? I'm not sure. Paldea didn't seem very forthcoming with the information they shared. It most likely had to do with the weird phenomena of their land, Terastallization. They were very tight lipped about that but I did know it had something to do with changing types.

  Perhaps, that's why most Primeapes could evolve into Annihilape in that region. I'm not a scientist so there was no way I could correctly guess.

  Well regardless, Ash had gotten quite the addition to his team so good on him. Whereas before I refused to acknowledge him as a trainer, now I could admit that he was actually improving at an impressive rate.

  Unlike Explotaro, this Annihilape was actually known. According to Gold, Professor Oak was having quite a bit of fun trying to crack the code on just what his Typhlosion had become. He was even employing the help of Professor Rowan.

  I didn't know the details and I wasn't invested enough to hear about them unless we were in person, so I would willingly remain in the dark for now until we met up with the other two members of our gang. We were just about headed to Pallet anyways, so we'd probably encounter the other duo of the Color Gang there.

  Speaking of...

  "Did you enjoy your vacation?" I asked my aunt with a small smirk.

  Lorelei smiled softly. "It… was wonderful. Seeing a glimpse into how you and Green travel about, has filled me with an unexplainable joy. I will have to look into finding and journeying with you again. I've never had so much fun, regardless of the heartache you seem to love giving me."

  I raised a brow. "Should you really be wasting your vacation hours on that?"

  To my surprise, Lorelei laughed. It was a light and gentle thing, that spoke of a level of comfort that she had managed to reach while with us.

  "The Elite 4 have quite a lot of freedom. We're very rarely challenged after all. Truly, I am not required to be at Indigo at all times. I just… find it peaceful when I am there but recently, I've found a new type of peace with you two."

  "Ugh... right in the heart strings," Green mumbled, clutching her heart as she nearly collapsed from how mushy she was feeling.

  I pursed my lips at that and ignored the way I warmed up. "Well in that case, you can visit me whenever you want. I don't mind all that much and Oberon still needs help."

  She visibly lit up at that and even as she released Jynx, my aunt closed the distance and pulled me in a tight hug.

  "Thank you, Silver," Lorelei murmured.

  That thank you felt a little heavier than normal, letting me know it was loaded with more than just a thanks for traveling with us.

  "You're welcome aunt. Thank you for being patient with me," I said honestly.

  "Of course. Even if no one else is, I'll always patiently hear you out," she reassured.

  Lorelei grasped my shoulders as she pulled back and we stared at each other, a conversation being shared between us in that moment.

  "Yeah, I'll be careful," I assured, reaching up and squeezing her hand.

  She smiled brilliantly at that, before suddenly leaning in and planting a gentle kiss on my forehead.

  Before either of us could properly register what had just happened, Lorelei swiftly marched over to Jynx and the two promptly vanished.

  "...Huh?" I muttered in confusion, rubbing my forehead.

  "That was the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Green gushed, laughing wildly with rosy cheeks. "You should have seen Lorelei's face! She was so embarrassed but she was smiling so hard!"

  …

  "...Huh," was all I mustered.

  That… was weird.

  "You're so confident now, Silvy. How come?"

  I adjusted my gloves slightly, mostly out of habit, and grunted. "I was a little wary that he'd attack us out of nowhere… but with the knowledge that Lorelei is watching over us, he'll definitely think twice about it."

  Green awed and nodded at that. She adjusted her black dress and tightened her gloves.

  "Oh! That reminds me!" she gasped in realization.

  I turned towards her in confusion, tilting my head.

  "Back at Seafoam, during our encounter... your eyes!" she whispered in concern.

  "My eyes...?" I muttered.

  What was she talking about? Now that I recall, sometime before I began speaking to Articuno, Green had said something along the lines of "Your eyes!"

  Green looked very concerned. "Well, I saw it for a split second but your eyes... they were red instead of silver."

  Red instead of silver...?

  I frowned at that. "I've never seen my eyes turn red before. This is the first I'm hearing about it," I answered honestly.

  "You're saying just my iris turned red? That's it?" I asked carefully.

  Green nodded. "I thought it might have been a trick of the eyes but now I'm not so sure."

  I clicked my teeth at that. "Well, I have some ideas but there's no point speculating. At this point, I just want answers that will make me stop with all the guessing."

  My companion nodded sympathetically. "Alright, we've got a job to do!" she exclaimed, determination on her face.

  I nodded, taking her hair and tying it into a ponytail, before turning towards the door. "Let's hope things go smooth. I've got Lorelei on speed dial otherwise," I grunted.

  "So we'll just have to run for our lives until she shows up... okay, we can do that!" Green muttered.

  It was a good thing Lorelei allowed us to stay in that booked room until we were ready to go. She insisted that we keep it until we were done with Cinnabar and that was a benefit to us because sneaking out of a pokemon center was much harder.

  The two of us left our room, quietly and quickly heading to our destination with nary a sound. We stuck to more isolated areas, alleys between buildings, clearings, because Cinnabar was never going to be truly barren.

  It was almost childsplay to make it to where we knew Blaine was residing, without alerting a soul. The only real surprise, would be if Ash and his group were still sleeping here but they were on a fast track to Pallet already.

  No one was going to get in our way here. We would be talking to Blaine whether he liked it or not.

  Green and I entered the Big Riddle Inn without any hesitation. I silently slid the door open and stepped inside without a sound, eyes moving in every direction to make sure there weren't any traps set up.

  My companion followed soon after and we were going to immediately prepare to seek out Blaine... but to our immense surprise, the Gym Leader was already there.

  Blaine sat at a table, signature hat on but no suit like before. There was only a candle lit next to him, highlighting part of his face in the dark of the night.

  He was looking directly at us, almost like he knew we were going to show up one of these days.

  "I was expecting you. Though, I wasn't expecting you to show up without Elite 4 Lorelei."

  We tensed up at that grave tone.

  "Any reason why you were expecting us?" I asked coolly, both hands shoved in my pocket.

  "I won't play dumb with you so don't play dumb with me," Blaine said bluntly.

  I stared at him coldly, eyes pulsing lowly in the night.

  So it seemed like we weren't doing any beating around the bush.

  Good.

  "How did you know to expect us?" I asked. "Don't lie. Things will get very bad very quickly if you do."

  Blaine didn't react outwardly. "It was a hunch. If you're implying that someone told me, you'd be wrong. I just knew from the moment we met, this was probably going to happen."

  The Gym Leader gazed pointedly at me. "You act so angry, but that anger doesn't come close to what you're hiding behind those eyes of yours."

  I stared coldly at him.

  "Your friend ratted you out. He had a nice little occupation in Lavender… but not even he has as much balls as you, who walks around parading as a gym leader."

  Blaine grunted. "Fuji huh? He's always been more spineless about this. A good man who suffered from an unfortunate situation."

  He didn't sound very bothered by it. Weird.

  "Where's your team?" I asked bluntly.

  Blaine shrugged. "Out and about. I can never pinpoint their exact locations when I let them do what they want. The easiest is Magmortar. He's probably inside that volcano."

  I crossed my arms. "So you're here alone?"

  "That's right. Feel free to ask me any questions."

  I wasn't understanding very well. What was Blaine playing at? Did he really expect me to believe that not a single one of his members were nearby? He had an Arcanine and a Rapidash. There was no way they weren't close or close enough to instantly make it here.

  A frown made its way to my face and I raked a hand through my hair. "Does the league know what you've done? Are they aware of your past?" I decided to ask.

  Blaine huffed. "Of course not. That's not something I'm so willing to share. Experimenting on a small child is frowned upon, believe it or not. Creating an unauthorized pokemon, is even more illegal."

  Green snarled at that, eyes flashing dangerously at the casual mention of what he had done.

  I stared at him, not nearly as fazed. "Why'd you do it then?"

  Blaine sat back, staring at me. "Why else? For science."

  "For science?" I asked frostily.

  Blaine sighed. "Do you ask a Fearow why it flies? Do you ask a Magikarp why it swims?"

  "They were born to do that," I replied, no emotion in my tone.

  "You weren't born to tamper with children," Green countered frigidly.

  "But I was born to be a scientist," Blaine replied evenly, adjusting his glasses.

  We paused at that, gazing at the gym leader with matching bemusement.

  Blaine saw it, of course he did. "I was approached with a proposition, that had the potential to be groundbreaking. A never before seen opportunity… a journey into the unknown that not even the greatest minds had ever done and I was being asked to spearhead it. It was practically a dream come true and that dream was giftwrapped to me. In the grand scheme, one single child was just a necessary sacrifice for a greater future."

  Blaine removed his hat, showcasing his bald head.

  "Curiosity is one of the most powerful things a human can have, both because of the glory it can bring about and the ruin. A scientist's entire life, revolves around the concept of curiosity. Without it, we are unfit to call ourselves one. We strive to accomplish and innovate… bringing about new creations that push humanity towards a more fulfilling future."

  Blaine stared at me. "Creating a legendary pokemon, with the cells of a pokemon some don't even know truly exist… I'd be a fool to say no."

  "Mew, the ancestor of pokemon. It's said that Mew carries the DNA of every single pokemon inside of it. A pokemon with almost unparalleled power... and I was tasked to create a new pokemon with what little cells I was given with it. Such a task sounded impossible but the rewards? I did not do it for the money or the fame, I did it to fulfill my burning curiosity."

  There was a tense silence at that. I gazed at Blaine with a frigid gaze, reminiscent of Articuno and Seafoam.

  Green almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. To her, Blaine was a gym leader, one of the protectors of the region she was born in. She was supposed to look up to him... but now she was finding out the cold truth about some people.

  I wished she hadn't come. I didn't want her innocence to be shattered so thoroughly.

  "So nothing mattered to you besides accomplishing your goal?" I asked.

  "You monster…" Green whispered, shivering in anger.

  "That's completely right," Blaine agreed bluntly. "I ignored everything in the pursuit of science… and that included the morality of working on you. It would all be worth it, if it succeeded. In a way, what I did to you motivated me even more to accomplish my goal because if I failed, then I would have tampered with you for no reason at all."

  "You're right. I've come to terms with the immoral things I've done in my past. I don't regret what I've done… but this remorse is not one that will ever go away," Blaine said truthfully.

  Remorse? I didn't give a fuck about that.

  "What did you do to me?" I asked bluntly, unfazed by his words.

  Blaine looked strangely at me. "I implemented you with the cells of the artificial legendary."

  "Why?" I asked.

  He seemed to age there. "...A fail-safe. You were meant to be used to control the clone of Mew in the events that something went wrong."

  "You expected a child to control a legendary?" I asked incredulously.

  After seeing Articuno, I don't know what they expected me to do with Mewtwo.

  "You were the only one alive that was trusted to do such a thing. Not to mention, as a child, it would in theory, yield more effective results as you aged."

  Ah. Giovanni was too much of a coward to do it to himself so the only other trustworthy person, would be his own flesh and blood.

  But still...

  "In theory?" I questioned.

  Blaine grunted. "The funny thing about what happened to you... is that it failed. The cell implementation was seamless, but nothing changed about you. They went dormant," he commented.

  Nothing changed about me? What...? I wouldn't call the freak of nature I had become, a failure. The only thing that seemed to fail, is that I'm very sure there was no chance I'd ever be able to control Mewtwo.

  But, that made sense that it failed. If something did change with me, then there's no way I'd ever have been able to run away from home. There's no way Giovanni would ever even remotely risk threatening me...

  Which meant I was some type of late bloomer. Mew was the most adaptable pokemon alive. Who's to say how its cells would affect me? When it would affect me? How it would affect me?

  How late did I bloom? Was I even sure that I had bloomed yet?

  ...I had a strange hunch that I knew exactly when it happened.

  I stared at him with a tilted head. If it failed at the time, then he very likely didn't have the answers I needed but he did give me a lot more to work with.

  "How old was Silvy when you did this?" Green asked. She was clenching her fist tightly and I put a hand on her shoulder.

  Blaine shrugged. "It was 4 years ago."

  So when I was 8? Hm.

  "Why are you answering so freely?" I wondered.

  The gym leader didn't seem surprised at that question. "What better way to atone, then for the one who I've wronged the most, to be the one to properly condemn me?" Blaine said wryly.

  "I see…" I mused. "Green we're done here."

  Green and Blaine raised a brow at that.

  "We are?" Green asked.

  I nodded.

  "I see... that's why you didn't bring Lorelei," Blaine exhaled.

  My eyes bored a hole into him and a gleam formed, that made the man shift uncomfortably.

  "My overprotective aunt would throw you in jail without a second thought... but that's not what I want for you. That's too easy. That's not satisfying," I told him.

  Green turned towards me abruptly.

  I smiled thinly. "You have a strong team so when the time comes, I'm going to hunt you down myself, Blaine. I'm going to dismantle you and your team. I'm going to make you feel as helpless as I did when you did whatever it was you did to me," I promised, staring coldly at him.

  He didn't get to reach his closure yet. Not until I decided it.

  "Don't waste away just yet. Feel free to watch my ascension in this world. You claim that curiosity is the driving force of humanity... so use that curiosity to try and predict when I'm coming to cash in my receipt. Battling that Magmortar of yours, sounds like a treat."

  There was no emotion in my tone. No anger, no sadism, no sadness. It was cold and clinical, said like I was reading a report, instead of threatening a man to his face.

  Ironically, I must have sounded like a scientist.

  Judging by the small shiver that went through Blaine's body, he realized that too.

  "I'll clean up the mess you made. That was my intended purpose after all," I said, smirking to myself as I prepared to leave.

  I paused, as Green stormed up to Blaine and open palm slapped him across the cheek. The thunderous smack resounded in the deathly silent room and I watched as the candle flickered and went out. Distantly, I heard his glasses clatter on the ground.

  "You should be ashamed of yourself. You call yourself a gym leader but... but you can't even protect one little boy!" she snarled, sneering at him with raw contempt. "Count your days, Blaine! I won't forget this!"

  With that, she marched past me and through the open door.

  I quietly shut it and leisurely caught up with her.

  "Silvy… You're really scary," Green mumbled.

  I pat her head and chuckled. "I should be saying that to you... but you don't have to be afraid."

  "I'll never be!" she denied with a smile, glaring behind us once more.

  I smiled at that. "Alright, let's get ready for tomorrow. You wanted to see your mom right?"

  She beamed. "My mom would love you! I can't wait until you two meet!"

  I huffed. "An adult? Like me? Let's be realistic."

  Green puffed her cheeks. "I'm serious!"

  "Did you enjoy peeping?"

  I watched in amusement, as Domino jumped up high. She whirled around, regarding me with wide eyes.

  Judging by the shock on her face, she didn't think I'd be able to sneak up on her... but I had improved quite a lot from my days in Team Rocket I imagine.

  Green was currently sleeping, Charcadet keeping her company, so I decided to seek out the rocket agent stalking me.

  She had been listening in after all. Not that I cared. The info she was learning, was what Team Rocket had done to me.

  For once, she looked lost for words. The girl was staring at me with wide eyes and I leaned against the wall with a calm expression.

  "I..." she trailed off, a disturbed expression on her face.

  I patiently waited, fiddling with my Poketch while she gathered herself.

  "You were experimented on?" Domino asked eventually.

  I flicked my gaze over to her. "Yeah. My own pops offered me up. Crazy huh?"

  She shuddered at that. "You're... you have the cells of that monster inside of you?" she muttered to herself, horror on her features.

  I snorted. "Seems like it."

  Domino took a deep breath at that. "Silver, just come back to Team Rocket. With the knowledge I have now... there's no way the boss will ever let you go!"

  I tilted my head. "Nah, I'm good. I've been enjoying my freedom. Why don't you run along and be a good little slave alone?"

  She scowled. "Being stubborn won't get you anywhere! I see what you're trying to do! When the time comes, don't think I'll help you with Giovan—"

  "Help?"

  That one word stopped Domino in her track and she gazed at me with wide eyes.

  I stared at her, face blank. "I think you're misunderstanding something, dumbass. I don't want your help. I've never wanted your help," I said coldly.

  Judging by the stunned look in her eyes, she was not expecting that.

  I raised a brow. "Did you forget our last conversation? I told you to stop trying to be my #2. Why the hell would I ever want your help? The only reason we're having this conversation, is because this is the last time I'm giving you an out," I said idly.

  "An... out?" she mumbled in confusion.

  My gaze turned stormy and I glanced at my gloved hands. "I'm going to win by any means necessary and you seem to have some attachment. Considering we grew up together, I'll give you one chance to get out of dodge before shit hits the fan. If I see you on Team Rocket's side, you have no one but yourself to blame."

  Domino looked like she wanted to call me out on how ridiculous I was. After all, stopping Team Rocket? How was I ever going to do that?

  "I'm... not going to put a target on my back because of your foolish actions, Silver. I think I'm fine just where I am," she huffed.

  I stared at her, before flashing a sardonic grin her way.

  "Smart and safe. The right choice for a follower. That's why I don't want your help. Only the dreamers who are insane enough to risk it all, would serve as good help for me."

  I pat her shoulder and walked past her. "Stay warm and cozy, blondie. I'll give you a show that's going to shake your whole foundation soon enough. You'll have a front row seat to it all."

  As I placed my hand on her shoulder, I felt a strong shudder rip through her body and resisted the urge to laugh.

  Need her help? Yeah right. I was just testing how good my manipulation skills were...

  And they were pretty damn good.

  "I... I won't tell Giovanni about this... but that's as far as my hospitality will go. Your suicidal little march will start and end with you," she said eventually.

  I just leisurely continued my gait, not bothering to acknowledge her words.

  Tonight, I was actually tired so I'd get some well deserved sleep.

  The morning after our interrogation of Blaine, saw Green and I preparing to depart from the island. We got everything we came here for so it was time to vanish.

  As Green and I were preparing to surf up to Pallet Town, the two of us paused at hearing rapid and heavy footsteps.

  "Green?! Thank goodness! I thought I was gonna miss you - w-woah!"

  The voice suddenly let out a loud shout, as I whirled around and kicked his feet from under him.

  "You've got a lot of nerve running up so boldly on us," I mused, eyes narrowed as I watched the man start cowering.

  Green and I were getting more and more fans who would approach us... but running? While calling my companions name?

  There's only so much I could handle. Green and I were constantly getting hounded and this was the last straw for me.

  "S-Sorry! I didn't mean no harm! You gotta believe me!" the man shouted hastily.

  I huffed and glared at him. "Yeah right. What purpose do you have with Green?"

  Green took the chance to close the distance, peeking over my shoulder to peer at the guy I was about to assault.

  "Oh! Bill is that you?!" she shouted in recognition.

  Bill? The one who had created the storage system?

  I stared suspiciously at him and let him go, allowing him to stand up.

  Bill laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah! I've been keeping tabs on you! You've turned that Lapras there, into quite the tough one haven't you?! Your battle against Blaine was incredible!"

  Green beamed. "Lapee is amazing! I'm so glad you trusted me to take care of her!"

  The man looked bashful at that. "Well, she's clearly better fit for you than me! I'm just glad she's doing what she loves!"

  "But that's besides the point. I was looking for you because I had a favor to ask!"

  Green nodded curiously. "Sure! What's up?"

  "Well, I'm taking a trip to Knot Island, or One Island! I have a friend who needs my help but I'd like a bodyguard of sorts to come with me. I thought who better, than a friend of mine!"

  Green's eyes glittered in contemplation and she opened her mouth to accept—

  "What's in it for her?"

  —Only to abruptly shut it. My companion laughed nervously and took a step back.

  I stared, unimpressed, at Bill. My unnerving gaze, bored into his and I watched as he began fidgeting in place.

  "What does Green get out of going with you? How long is this trip going to last? How will she be rewarded? Do you plan on compensating her for such a sudden ask without giving her any time to prepare for it?" I asked in quick succession.

  No shot was I going to let Green offer her services for free just because they were friends.

  "O-Oh and I won't go without Silvy," Green mentioned, scratching the back of her hair.

  Bill blinked and waved his arms frantically. "Oh how careless of me! I didn't stop to think how this would affect either of your journeys! It won't take too long, honest! I'll be sure to reward and accommodate you two in anyway I know how! If the trip takes longer than anticipated, I'll compensate naturally!"

  I mulled that over and nodded. "We'll discuss rewards afterwards but for the meantime, Green and I want full lodgings to a place that allows for a lot of training between powerful pokemon."

  Bill nodded eagerly, not even remotely put out by my request. "Of course! That's nothing! You can even borrow my boat to explore more of the area if you want!"

  I nodded at that. "Alright. We accept those terms."

  Green looked at me, mouth flapping uselessly.

  I stared back at her and shrugged. "I guess our trip to Pallet Town is postponed for now. We'll head there after this," I muttered.

  Might as well get something out of this and this was actually a perfect time for us to train. Bill looked like a rich guy who didn't know what to do with his money so I'd help him allocate some of it to a better place.

  The creator of the storage system? That allowed you to send pokemon and items across the world?

  Yeah, this dude was definitely loaded. I was going to get all I could from him.

  Green sighed in exhaustion.

  Bill smiled obliviously.

  "Ah, if it isn't young Gold and Crystal!" Professor Oak smiled at the two, watching as they appeared with his Alakazam.

  Crystal smiled and bowed respectfully. "Professor Oak! It's nice to see you again," she greeted.

  "Sup old man!" Gold greeted.

  The young lady of the duo immediately twitched and whirled around.

  "Gold! Be a little more respectful! Professor Oak is a living legend!" she admonished, wagging a finger in his face.

  "He's also old and a man. I don't see what I did wrong," Gold countered, shrugging helplessly.

  Crystal's eye twitched. "You've somehow gotten even more ridiculous in such a short span!"

  "Well you're no better! You just like to pretend you are!" he exclaimed.

  Naturally, the both of them had gotten worse. It was a side effect of hanging around Silver for too long.

  Samuel coughed at the two children, staring at them with fond exasperation.

  "Ah the power of youth," he sighed, before clapping his hands once.

  Gold and Crystal paused in their argument to regard the professor. They realized what they had been doing and had the decency, to don matching sheepish looks.

  "Now, on behalf of Indigo, I would like to formally thank you two for your exemplary efforts in protecting Saffron City from Team Rocket," Oak began, earnestly bowing to the two.

  Crystal waved her hand rapidly. "Oh there's no need! We were just doing the right thing!"

  "And the right thing was something incredibly dangerous. Truly, I apologize for the state of Kanto currently. It's a beautiful region without the chaos," the professor sighed.

  "Hey, it's no biggie!" Gold waved him off. "Despite everything, Kanto's been fun! Crys and I have been enjoying ourselves!"

  Oak smiled. "I'm glad. You two no doubt played a valuable part in the defense of Saffron. I wish I could properly thank young Green and Silver as well."

  The duo looked surprised.

  "You know about Silver?" Gold asked cautiously.

  "He's very... antisocial. I'm surprised," Crystal mentioned warily.

  "Know him might be quite the stretch. I know of him," Oak chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

  "I did once try to speak to him through Green but she told me he said "The only thing I have to say to that fossil, is to put a leash on his grandson". She informed me that he said far less polite things but... I believe he doesn't see much value in speaking to me."

  Gold and Crystal listened to him and sighed in exasperation.

  "That sounds like him alright." Crystal pinched her nose.

  Leave it to Silver, to not want to talk to Professor Oak of all people. The living legend was someone everyone wanted to speak to!

  "To be fair, his grandson is kinda a dick," Gold mumbled.

  "Gold!" Crystal hissed.

  Samuel laughed. "No no. While I wouldn't quite use those words, I acknowledge that Gary can take quite some getting used to. I believe that given time, he'll mature and you might all find a good friend in him."

  "I said the same thing!" Crystal exclaimed, beaming at hearing someone agree with her.

  Gold shrugged. "I still don't see it."

  Oak chuckled. "But I digress. I'm aware of Silver because he travels with Green. I'm also aware that he seems to be involved in many of these escapades... but that is as far as it goes. You would think he is the famous one since I'm so eager to get in contact with him!"

  "He's like that! But he's very nice despite the things he says," Crystal smiled fondly.

  "You sound like you like him," Gold pointed out, staring suspiciously at her.

  Crystal twitched in annoyance and whirled towards him. "Well maybe you miss them too because you seem eager for a fight!"

  "They're quite the chaotic ones," Oak thought with a small smile, coughing a little louder this time.

  "While I'd normally leave you two to settle your differences, I do believe you're here for a specific reason, yes?" he asked, barely managing to contain his excitement.

  The two stopped their arguing and turned towards the professor.

  "Right! It's my Typhlosion! I'm sure you already know but he's different!" Gold explained.

  Oak nodded, trying to compose himself. "Right! Follow me this way please!"

  "My word..." Oak muttered, gazing at the variation of Typhlosion with a look of wonder.

  The Typhlosion accepted it easily, a relaxed expression on his face as he gazed into the distance.

  "There are reports of certain Typhlosion being more lax, but this amount is already an abnormality. Not to mention, while bearing base similarities, the overall appearance is quite different," he muttered.

  The professor stood straight. "You said he gained the ghost typing?" he asked.

  Gold nodded. "We're pretty confident that he's a fire and a ghost type."

  "Most intriguing. I've read the reports and it says that near death could have potentially caused this... but I'm sure such an occurrence isn't so rare, that you would be the only trainer with a Typhlosion like this," Oak explained.

  Gold remained suspiciously quiet at that.

  Eventually, Oak stood up and clapped his hand. "I've no strong clue what this Typhlosion is and how it came to be but my best guess, would be that it is an alternate form with very specific conditions needed to evolve."

  "Really?" Crystal asked in interest.

  Samuel nodded with a pleased smile. "Many pokemon may have evolutions lost to time, simply because there are no ways to know how to evolve some of them. Typhlosion here could very well be one of those examples. Perhaps being near death was one of the many conditions needed to evolve, but that is not all to it. Whatever it is that occured in Silph Co, unlocked the necessary requirements to unlock this hidden evolution."

  "How can you be so sure Explotaro being near death wasn't the only condition?" Gold asked curiously.

  "Because to be frank my boy, that is too common of a condition, for you to be the only trainer capable of having a never before seen form of Typhlosion," Oak explained, gazing once more at the Typhlosion.

  "If being near death were the only condition, we'd see far more of this version. For all we know, being near death does not even have to be the condition. Do you have the slightest of clues of what could have caused such a change?"

  "Silver," Gold thought instinctively, shaking his head at the old man. "No clue," he replied aloud.

  Crystal nodded in agreement. "Maybe the rockets had something or maybe Silph was working on a product that interacted with Explotaro strangely? There's so many variables at play here, pinpointing which one it was..."

  "Would be rather difficult," Oak finished, smiling at the two.

  The professor pat Explotaro easily.

  "When there are no answers, it is up to researchers to find them. Ah, I haven't felt so excited in ages! Diving into the unknown is the essence of a scientist," Oak explained.

  He turned towards the two sponsors of Elm. "You two are free to stay here at the ranch if you so please! I have lodgings upstairs in my lab. I would like to spend more time with Explotaro here."

  The duo nodded. "Not too much. I still needa train him," Gold warned.

  "But of course! I will not get in the way of you two being trainers! There is a fine area in the woods of Pallet that serve as good training. Perhaps you'll even find my Venusaur or Dragonite slumbering about!" Oak laughed.

  "Nice! Hopefully they don't mind a fight!" the young boy chuckled.

  "Don't just go bother them, Gold! We need to establish what we'll be doing our stay here first!"

  "Sure thing, mom! Gonna tell me when to go bathe next?"

  "Ugh! I've had it with you!"

  Ah the joys of youth. Oak watched the two bicker with each other, Mismagius and Typhlosion leisurely following after them, with a small smile.

  "Right, it appears I have a new study to pour my interest into," he mused.

  When dealing with the unknown, it was always good to dig through history to see if anyone else had done something similar.

  And if that failed, well Oak's expertise didn't lie in evolutions. He was sure Rowan would be most fascinated in hearing about a never before seen evolution.

  "You know, when they mentioned that you were more stressed lately, I thought Sidney and Phoebe were simply making a joke at your expense, but perhaps they were not faultless."

  Steven didn't bother responding, staring intently at a screen. To his right, Metagross' eyes flashed, red boring into the intruder.

  Wallace always knew Steven adored Metagross too much. Willingly making his eyes bloodshot to match the red of his ace? How committed to the cause!

  He hated staring at Metagross. It was far too lifeless for his taste. A cold beauty, wrapped up in the shell of a machine.

  "Care to explain what's attracted so much of your attention?" The Water Master asked, all smiles despite the downright depressing atmosphere.

  "..." Steven's brows were furrowed. "Did you know, that around 4 months ago, the colony reported to me that one of the Beldums were left unaccounted for?"

  Wallace paused in disbelief at that. "Four months ago? Did one of the Beldum grow free will and realize how monotonous and drab this colony of yours was?"

  His joke clearly went unappreciated, because Steven did not even react. Wallace was quite offended that the only one bothering to pay attention to him was Metagross and that was because the war machine was waiting for literally anything to slip up so that it could act out to defend its trainer.

  Honestly, so tasteless. He was convinced Metagross would kill them all at the drop of a hat (no smiles because it did not do such meaningless things of course), if Steven ordered it...

  "It was stolen."

  Wallace once again, paused. There was a look of confusion on his face, all smiles gone.

  "Pardon me... you're saying someone stole a Beldum from your estate?"

  Steven nodded. It was the first movement of his body that actually acknowledged Wallace's presence.

  The confusion deepened even further, before eventually transforming into disbelief.

  "I'm more likely to believe my previous observation of it having gained free will," Wallace admitted, brows furrowed.

  "It was stolen," Steven said firmly.

  Wallace was not so easily convinced but he would entertain the notion.

  "Logically speaking then... you would have a reason to suspect it was stolen? Where is your proof?" he asked calmly, taking an exaggerated seat next to him.

  He blinked at what he was seeing, but was unable to dwell on it for too long, as a document was placed in his hands, courtesy of Metagross.

  So Steven already had a suspect?

  Wallace opened the file with pursed lips. He inspected it and felt his brows furrowing deeper because... instead of clearing things up, this only made things more confusing.

  Name: Silver.

  Class: Trainer.

  Age: 12...

  That was all that the paper offered him, along with haphazard notes written by Steven himself because Metagross wrote so perfectly, that it was tragic beauty in itself.

  "This is the boy you suspect?" Wallace asked incredulously.

  Steven nodded.

  The water master leaned back and pinched his nose, taking a deep breath.

  "Steven, there is hardly any personal info on this file. You have more notes then you do information."

  "I'm aware, Wallace."

  Wallace stared at his friend with an incredulous expression.

  "Would you mind explaining to me why you suspect that a boy from the Kanto region, is the one who stole a Beldum from your colony?" Wallace asked slowly.

  Steven's expression cracked for a bit, annoyance making its way to his face.

  "You don't think I understand how ridiculous I sound?" he asked. "Metagross and I have gone through countless calculations... it had to have been sometime after he began his journey."

  The Champion showed Wallace his screen and the water master pushed a cheek against his fist.

  "His first recorded battle was against Lt. Surge... five months ago. He utilized a Bagon, Zorua and Bayleef," Steven explained.

  "Before that, there is no recordings of him doing anything at all."

  Wallace pursed his lips. "So you're telling me, this boy raided your estate with a Bagon, Zorua and either a Bayleef or Chikorita... and no one detected him? Not only that, he succeeded in evading complete detection? Do you realize how absurd that sounds, Steven?" he asked carefully.

  "The Stone Estate, with a colony of Metagross, Metang and Beldum... invaded successfully by a single boy who began his journey... a month before your Beldum went missing?"

  Steven sighed in aggravation. "I've already mentioned how ridiculous it sounds, Wallace!" he said sternly, rubbing his forehead with both fingers.

  "Things aren't lining up. In the middle of March, that is when I discovered one of the Beldum went missing. This Silver battles Flint with a Beldum that evolved into a Metang near the tail end of February. A maintenance is performed the middle of each month and this Beldum was accounted for in the month of February," Steven stressed.

  "So you mean to say, between the middle of February and March. A first year trainer, with a Bagon, Zorua and Bayleef waltzed into your estate, completely undetected and managed to capture one of your Beldum in a manner that didn't raise suspicion until the next maintenance?" Wallace asked.

  "And not only that... before your next maintenance, that same trainer managed to evolve the Beldum into a Metang."

  Steven nodded.

  Wallace wanted to point out the sheer absurdity of that entire statement, but instead decided to entertain the notion.

  "So assuming he did do such a thing. How?" The water trainer asked.

  "I don't know."

  Wallace blinked. "You don't know? The great Steven Stone does not know something? Well I guess there truly is a first time for everything."

  Steven nodded shortly. "There is no trace of him having ever been in Hoenn. Sightings of him have only begun in Kanto and by then, he already had a team of five registered members. I have no idea how he managed to do what he did."

  Wallace hummed in contemplation. "You mentioned that he battled Lt. Surge. How many badges does he currently have?"

  "Seven."

  Nothing out of the ordinary this time of the year. If he had a secret pokemon with superior strength, it's likely he wasn't using it.

  "Very well. Show me his team," Wallace decided.

  Steven nodded and flicked over. "This is his currently registered team."

  Wallace glanced over and inspected it.

  Zoroark. Meganium. Milotic. Metang. Shelgon... Ursaring and Charcadet.

  Truly, he had quite the exceptional team. It was quite rare and if Wallace had to guess, the boy did put some thought into what he wanted to capture—

  "WHAT?!" Wallace shouted, eyes zipping back to lock onto the sole water type of this Silver's team.

  A Milotic?! This trainer owned a Milotic?

  "Why wouldn't you inform me of such a thing, Steven?" Wallace asked incredulously, suddenly extremely interested in the boy. "He owns a Milotic?!"

  This boys Milotic... it had almost single-handedly dealt with 3 of Gym Leader Blaine's seven badge team... one of which was a Magmortar of all pokemon!

  The way he commanded it... the absolute trust the two had in each other. The way they gazed at one another after victory!

  That was true love! True loyalty! It was beautiful!

  Steven nodded. "He utilized it in one gym battle prior to his most recent battle with Blaine. Against Gym Leader Flint for his second badge."

  Wallace blinked owlishly. "He used a Milotic in his second gym battle? Where did he possibly find one? A gift perhaps? This would give strong credibility to him having broken into your estate if he had a secret Milotic."

  The Champion of Hoenn had a confused expression and shook his head. "No... he didn't have the Milotic against Flint. He used a Feebas in his gym battle."

  ...

  "Pardon me?!" Wallace practically shouted in his excitement. "A Feebas you say? This Silver owned a Feebas?"

  "Yes," Steven answered bluntly, brows furrowed. "Considering how scarcely he utilized it in gym battles, I'm not sure when it evolved. I'm not even sure if that Feebas and Milotic are one and the same."

  Wallace was practically shaking in his excitement. "Show me that battle!"

  The Champion gazed at his long time friend with a confused frown but nodded, bringing up said battle.

  The water master watched with practical stars in his eyes, as Silver had his Feebas launch itself through the air with the utilization of water techniques. The little girl was battling a Rhyhorn of all things and she won!

  Beautiful! Stunning!

  "Magnificent! There is no way that Feebas and Milotic are different! They both look at him exactly the same!" Wallace shouted, clapping his hands with a beam on his face.

  "Wallace. Be serious," Steven said flatly. He was decidedly less amused.

  "But I am, Steven," he answered truthfully. "Any trainer who is able to turn a Feebas into a Milotic... is a wonderful person and I cannot be told otherwise. If not wonderful to humans around... then at least to their own pokemon."

  The Champion gazed at him incredulously. "You mean to tell me that a mere evolution has swayed you?"

  "Yes. It's told me what I need to know. If this boy did steal your Beldum, which I now highly doubt, then you have nothing to worry about. I assume you've seen him utilize it in battles correct? Is there anything out of the ordinary?"

  "..." Steven frowned. "No. Even in the battle against Flint, which would not have been too long. They showcased good synergy and the Metang has even adapted to his style of battling."

  "So then why do you suspect him?" Wallace asked in amusement.

  "Because it makes sense, Wallace. His team is full of rare pokemon! Not only has my Beldum gone missing, he has a Chikorita as well! Do you know who was attacked this year? Professor Elm!" he exclaimed.

  His friend now looked doubtful. "So let us get this straight. You mean to tell me... this boy jumped from taking a Chikorita of all things, to then catching a Feebas, Bagon and Beldum? To go from Chikorita and Feebas... to a Beldum from Steven Stone, is quite the leap. Surely something would have detected him."

  Chikorita was not a pokemon a trainer would risk their lives to capture. There were some dedicated fans to it but to be quite frank, the array of pokemon Silver captured just did not align with a person hunting them down personally.

  To go from Chikorita and Feebas... to a Beldum? At best, Wallace would say he was a fan of punishment because such a team would take very long to turn online.

  "I understand but surely this is too much to be a coincidence," Steven pressed with furrowed brows, turning back towards the screen.

  Wallace nodded. "Yes... it is. But that's not good enough and you know that, Steven. Not to mention, Feebas are as rare to encounter as Beldum yet he has one. He did not steal it from me. He very likely found the Feebas and the Bagon by searching for them. It's only logical to assume he did the same with Beldum and Chikorita."

  "Of course I know that! I've suspected this boy for months! But nothing makes sense to me. How did he do it? Why did he do it? His actions are so illogical..." he trailed off in confusion.

  What reason would he have for entering his estate to take a singular Beldum and then use it like any other ordinary trainer? He had done it with such grace, that it took a routine inspection to find out one was gone.

  What was stopping him from taking more?! One could make an absolute fortune out of selling Beldums! Enough to feed themselves until retirement!

  Wallace shrugged. "Perhaps he heard that you were hoarding a line of Beldum and deduced that just taking one from you, would be faster than finding one normally," he said jokingly.

  Steven twitched. "This is a serious matter, Wallace."

  That was utterly ridiculous. There had to be something more.

  "Well regardless. You lack proof to investigate any further and I firmly believe that with the knowledge he has a Milotic, this boy is more than meets the eye..."

  Wallace turned towards him. "There's also the chance that the Beldum sought a trainer out on its own free will. You and Metagross love to pretend that the Beldum family has no emotion but that's very far from the truth."

  Steven frowned in contemplation. Was that possible? But how would Beldum even have escaped on its own? Perhaps it was closer to evolution than predicted and utilized rudimentary abilities to float higher and away. It's not as if the entire estate was walled off...

  But that didn't change the fact that this Silver from the Kanto region had a Feebas, Bagon and Beldum. All pokemon native to the Hoenn region. You could find them elsewhere but...

  But how? How did he do it? Like how Wallace mentioned, there were no reports of a stolen Feebas or Bagon which meant the boy did find them on his own. Was it possible that all those rare pokemon were just given to him?

  And if he did steal Beldum... just how much talent did this boy possess? It had been his second month of a trainer and he managed to evade detection from a colony of the Beldum family?

  Such a talent was one you'd find every generation. That was talent that rivaled someone like Steven Stone or Lance Wataru.

  ...Even Steven was beginning to doubt himself. How could he have done that with the team he had at the time... in probably a weaker stage than when he fought Surge?

  His battle with Surge, while impressive, was nothing eye-catching barring how he utilized certain techniques with his terrifying Bayleef. Steven was sure the head of the colony could have dealt with this Silver without even blinking.

  Wallace sighed dramatically. "Do you know anything else about this boy? You've been keeping an eye on him, correct?"

  Steven nodded, an unsure expression on his face. "I'm not quite sure of the validity, but there seem to be many rumors, that mention that he is Elite 4 Lorelei's son. They seem to be in frequent contact with one another, so I'm inclined to believe that at the very least, they have some relationship."

  That brought an abrupt burst of laughter from Wallace.

  "Steven my dear friend... Please make sure I am here when you call Lorelei to explain to her, that her supposed child is a thief. That woman is as proper as Lady Glacia. Such a thing, will sound like a declaration of war and we cannot afford war with Kanto, Johto and Alola," he pointed out, visibly amused.

  "That's why I doubted the rumor... but I've seen footage of the two traveling with one another for a brief period," Steven said bluntly.

  His friend shrugged. "It seems the only way for you to get answers, is for you to ask questions. I'm sure you should be able to detect if that Beldum is apart of your colony, even after all this time. Or you could speak to Lorelei herself."

  Steven exhaled. "I do believe if I speak to Elite 4 Lorelei, it will be seen as a slight on her character and Lance is very protective of his own. Regardless, I will find the time to do such a thing... It appears I don't have much choice."

  Wallace chuckled. "I've never seen such visible distress on your face. This Silver has truly thrown you for a loop... to think it was someone you've never had a conversation with, that would show me a rare side of you. I'd like to meet a trainer capable of taking a Chikorita of all pokemon, gaining a Milotic and "stealing" a Beldum in the same breath. Such a person must be incredibly polarizing which makes them all the more interesting... no wonder you find yourself thrown for a loop. A rigid man like you, is completely unable to deal with anomalies and this boy screams oddity."

  "You can leave now," Steven bit out, unamused.

  Wallace waved in an exaggerated manner and vanished.

  "Take care of yourself, Steven. You look like you haven't slept properly in ages!" were his parting words.

  Steven watched him go and sighed.

  He was sure of it. He knew who and what but he didn't know when, where, how and especially why.

  It was why that was truly driving him crazy. What was his goal? Risking international crime just for a singular Beldum went far beyond the scope of insanity, it was downright demented and unbelievable.

  There had to be a reason he would do such a thing.

  "Metagross?" he questioned.

  "Protection. It is the only logical solution, though logic evades this human," was all Metagross offered.

  Protection... Steven's brows furrowed.

  What would be so dangerous, that this boy would risk the ire of one of the strongest trainers in the world? Steven hardly had an equal alive...

  And that was largely due to Metagross. To gain a Metagross' acknowledgement...

  Such a thing was incredibly difficult, yet this Silver and Metang battled with not only synergy, but matching intent. Silver's Metang was nothing at all like Steven's Metagross...

  A clear sign that they were bonded. That was for certain. How long? Not long enough to be normal.

  He had gained Metang's loyalty. The Metang who he was sure was aware that it was stolen (if it was stolen).

  "Perhaps he heard that you were hoarding a line of Beldum and deduced that just taking one from you, would be faster than finding one normally."

  Steven twitched. Finding a Beldum in the wild, was a tall task... and his Beldum colony was no secret. The champion was just aware, that no one would be ridiculous enough to ever think of invading his colony.

  Wallace had a point. There was no visible pattern to the pokemon he stole either. A Chikorita? A Feebas? Zorua was his starter allegedly... But a Bagon and a Beldum?

  It just did not match. None of those pokemon had traits that would point to a pattern for a trainer to target. If he wanted immediate power, he wouldn't have caught them in their first form.

  Steven couldn't make heads or tails as to what was going through this Silver's head. He was beginning to dread the inevitable conversation they seemed destined to have.

  Bonus!

  Sabrina walked into her dark office, eyes glowing as she took a deep breath.

  Her day had been normal and dare she say, a little boring. She was loathe to admit it... but the anomaly known as Silver, certainly did make her life more entertaining.

  Hmph. Perhaps she should have Alakazam check her for any abnormalities. Such a thought process, was concerning to have.

  Him? Entertaining?

  Preposterous.

  The psychic paused, as something caught her attention and she tilted her head in confusion, at seeing a single silver envelope sitting on her desk.

  "Alakazam?" she questioned.

  "A letter. You received it while on duty," Alakazam replied, voice just a tad higher than a whisper.

  A letter? For her? Sabrina had never received a letter before from anyone barring Indigo Plateau and any letters from them, was normally handed directly to her.

  Most curious...

  She lifted the letter with barely a thought, sitting down in her seat and bringing it over to her all without lifting a finger. She was about to do the same in regards to tearing it open, but decided to practice the sensation of being human once more.

  It would do no good to appear a newborn if she ever encountered that damned abomination once again.

  The gym leader slowly and neatly tore open the envelope, unable to stamp her curiosity at what the contents could be.

  There was a letter, that appeared to be handwritten and what looked to be a photo attached to it.

  Sabrina idly placed the photo to the side, gauging the letter like it were a strange entity.

  The first thing she noted, was that the writing was neat. Whoever did this, had superb penmanship.

  The second thing she noted, was that whoever wrote this, was obnoxious in a familiar and blood boiling way.

  "Dear Overrated, 50 year old, Psychic Sabrina,

  I got your gift and I wanted to thank you so much for it! I knew you'd put your overinflated ego to the side and give me the gift I rightfully deserve xoxo! I can't put into words how much I appreciate your efforts to help me improve as a trainer! Telling Gym Leader Blaine to use a stronger team for me? I'm touched xoxo! I can sense how eager you are to get crushed against me in our rematch and I'm not one to disappoint. I'm sure you'll love the battle when you eventually watch it. Spoiler: I smashed him 4-6! Next time, maybe you should show up and try to command his fire types, I'm sure since you love trying new things, it would be a great challenge for you! Don't be upset if you can't though, I know there's a lot of things you can't do without psychics. Anyways, I would hate to interrupt your time. I know you're a busy person who loves to "checks notes" stare at the wall in a dark room for no reason at all, so I'll let you get back to it xoxo!

  Best regards, with love, so much love xoxo, Trainer Silver, the first year trainer who is embarrassing your existence.

  Ps: Do your legs still wobble when you walk? It must be so embarrassing not knowing how to walk properly but keep up the hard work :)!

  Ps: Do you still make that disturbing face when you're losing a battle you're into?

  Ps: I left a picture for you that I thought was pretty darn cute! You might like it! I know you don't have any, so maybe you should frame it too!

  Ps: Green says hi!"

  Sabrina read the letter with a stunned expression, eye steadily beginning to twitch more and more as she read the full contents of it. By the end, Sabrina's eyes were glowing so brightly, it looked reminiscent to the days where she was a young girl who could barely control her powers.

  She slowly grabbed the photo that she pushed to the side and gazed at it, finding an unbecoming picture of her with narrowed and excited eyes, a wide smile on her face, in a moment of deep concentration. She must have been incredibly focused because the psychic never knew she could even make a face like this.

  Clearly, it was a picture that Silver had taken during their battle (How did he possibly do such a thing without her notice?) because Sabrina hadn't felt that level of excitement since her match against both him and Green.

  The lights to her room idly flipped on, as she shredded the remains of the letter into dozens of tiny pieces... before shredding them even more.

  "Abomination. Wretched creature," she muttered lowly, glow never leaving her eyes. She mechanically turned her computer on, in preparation to watch the Cinnabar Gym battle.

  The gym circuit was nearly over. When that time came, Sabrina would be granted time to herself.

  When that time came, she was going to hunt that abomination down. There was no longer any patience left in her, to wait for him to grow to her level. She was going to crush him like he deserved to be.

  ...

  What on earth did xoxo mean?

  ...A quick search did not give Sabrina any further clues and she clenched her fist.

  Truly, he was an abomination.

  "Silvy... are you sure you wanna send that letter to Sabrina?" Green asked in disbelief.

  I tilted my head and nodded, smiling serenely. "I think she'll love it. I bet she's never gotten a friendly letter anyways."

  "F-Friendly?" Green stammered. She opened her mouth and shut it uselessly.

  "What does xoxo mean?" she asked curiously.

  I didn't even blink. "Hugs and kisses."

  Green blinked. "I never heard of that... why not just use hugs and kisses?"

  "Because she doesn't know what xoxo means. The curiosity will kill her and she'll know I did it on purpose."

  My companion stepped away from me. "W-Well, tell her I said hi. Maybe that will lessen the blow."

  I shrugged, knowing it damn sure wasn't going to. "Sure... and done."

  Green sighed tiredly, shaking her head. "You're a terrifying human being, Silvy."

  I smiled at her. "Thank you."

  "It's not a compliment! And didn't I tell you to stop smiling?! It's so creepy!"