I fiddled with my gloves out of habit, as Sabrina slowly made her way to her side of the battlefield.

  Finally, she arrived. The Gym Leader stood ramrod straight and gazed at me with disturbing focus.

  I stared right back, tightening my gloves once more before I palmed a pokeball.

  The stands were quickly being filled with speeds I found surprising. Excited chatter accompanied the surge of people and I grunted in mild annoyance.

  To my immense displeasure, Sabrina seemed to echo the same sentiments as me.

  Neither Sabrina or I noticed the referee staring at us strangely and I absentmindedly realized he had been speaking.

  "...an official gym battle of the Saffron City Gym between the challenger, Silver of Viridian City and the Gym Leader, Sabrina! Each side is allowed 5 pokemon and only the challenger is allowed to swap. The match will be decided, when all Pokemon of one side are unable to continue!"

  ...

  The referee coughed awkwardly at the tense silence between the two of us.

  "Um... you may release your teams now," he said lamely.

  Nothing. We were completely ignoring him.

  The two of us just continued to stare at each other, before both our eyes narrowed.

  In a disgusting amount of unison (no really I felt nauseous), the two of us grabbed a pokeball and launched it.

  "Kadabra, I am in need of your assistance," Sabrina called, clumsily throwing her pokeball.

  "Oberon," I said, smoothly tossing mine.

  At once, a Teddiursa and Kadabra coalesced onto the field, gazing at each other as Sabrina and I caught our pokeballs.

  Oberon jumped at the loud noises and looked around, terror filling his features at all the eyes on him.

  "Focus on me Oberon," I greeted, tearing my gaze off of Sabrina.

  He nervously glanced back and I smiled at him.

  "This is a gym battle. Remember the one I had back in Celadon?" I asked him.

  Oberon nodded tentatively, eyes not leaving me for a second.

  "I've decided to use you so I'm trusting you to try your best, alright?" I smirked.

  Oberon had been filling out. His malnourished frame, from neglect and team rockets administrations, looked plenty robust now and he was growing to the size I imagine he was supposed to be. His fur was healthy and thick and he was growing bigger everyday.

  I was confident he could pull his weight.

  "Ignore the crowd. Focus on my voice. The only thing that matters right now is winning," I said confidently.

  "Ursa," Oberon mumbled, eyes narrowed as the air shifted around him.

  I smiled.

  Oberon didn't realize it yet, but he became incredibly aggressive in battles. It was like a switch was flipped as soon as his adrenaline got pumping and while I was concerned about such a detail, the Nurse Joy who had checked on him hadn't noticed anything amiss.

  She suggested more research but I reacted violently to that... For his sake though, I'd probably have to find someone trustworthy to verify if he was fine.

  But that was for later. For now, we had a battle to win.

  "Kadabra, Psybeam," Sabrina said aloud.

  The crowd gasped at the vocal order, balking at Sabrina like she had grown a second head.

  Considering she wasn't a vocal trainer, opting to use her psychic prowess, I guess their shock wasn't unwarranted.

  "Payback," I ordered coolly.

  Kadabra's spoon gleamed and it aimed it forward, firing a beam forward.

  Oberon hastily covered itself in the dark type energy and let out a battle cry, bulldozing the psychic attack and rushing after the Kadabra.

  "Teleport," Sabrina said coolly, unfazed by Oberon's attempt.

  I was nonplussed. "Sweet Scent, fill the air."

  Oberon immediately stopped his charge, glaring at Kadabra as his blood began pumping. He filled the air with a honey like scent, aroma quickly taking over the battlefield and I watched as Kadabra's shoulders sagged slightly.

  "Slash," I pressed, eyes narrowed.

  Oberon growled in affirmation and charged the distracted psychic type, barely scraping the Kadabra with elongated claws before it hastily teleported away.

  "That's going to be annoying," I mused.

  Oberon grunted in agreement, glaring at the Kadabra. The Teddiursa took a single step forward—

  "Disable it."

  —Before being stopped where he stood.

  I sucked my teeth, as Kadabra held out their special spoon and captured Oberon in a blue sheen, halting his attack in its track.

  Luckily Disable didn't actually fully stop Oberon from using the move for a set amount of time but it was an effective attack to get away from opposition.

  And that's what this Kadabra wanted to do. Play keep away...

  What a bugger. This was quite the terrible matchup for us.

  Sabrina blinked, surprised as I held out a pokeball and returned Oberon to his ball.

  "Stay ready," I murmured to the ball, grabbing another one and tossing it. "Loki."

  Gasps of awe rang through the arena as my Zoroark burst from the ball.

  "Pursuit," I said calmly.

  Loki lunged forward with a predatory gleam in his eyes, the only one completely unsurprised by my sudden tactic.

  Despite that though, Sabrina showed her mettle as a Gym Leader.

  "Teleport," she ordered quickly, recovering fast from the situation.

  At the sound of its trainer, voice measured as always, Kadabra instinctively activated Teleport and vanished from its spot, appearing 20 feet away from where its spot used to be...

  And watching with wide eyes as Loki turned on a dime and immediately lunged to its position, blood in his eyes as a leer made its way to his face.

  Sabrina pursed her lips as Loki's dark claws slashed ruthlessly against the Kadabra, getting the psychic to cry in pain.

  Another Night Slash silenced it and I watched with a smile as Sabrina returned the Kadabra to its ball.

  "Kadabra is unable to battle! The winner is Zoroark!" The Referee shouted.

  No sooner was that announced, did I return Loki to his ball.

  "Good assassination. That was going to be annoying," I smiled pleasantly, tucking him back onto my waist.

  "How bothersome. It is rare to see a trainer truly utilize the fact that they may swap out their members while we cannot," Sabrina noted.

  "I'm not a fan of it myself, especially considering the League doesn't allow such things. But hate makes a person do a lot of things... like sending out a teleporting and evasive Kadabra," I droned, staring a hole into her.

  Sabrina scoffed slightly. "Do not flatter yourself, Trainer Silver."

  "If I don't, who will?" I said mockingly, sending out my pokemon since I returned Loki. Even though Sabrina's fainted, I still needed to have a pokemon on the field per the rules.

  Oberon made his way back onto the field, only slightly disgruntled by being returned...

  Okay slightly was pushing it if the way he was gazing back at me meant anything.

  "Fine fine. No returning this time," I grunted.

  Dramatic. That's what he was.

  "...Mr. Mime, I am in need of your assistance," Sabrina decided, throwing out her next pokeball.

  The Mr. Mime had a creepy grin on its face, which was probably supposed to be friendly. It waved at Sabrina before turning and doing the same with both Oberon and I.

  I tilted my head, giving it a single wave back.

  "Sweet Scent," I said as soon as I finished waving.

  Oberon hadn't even bothered waving. The air was quickly filled with the aroma of honey and Mr. Mime let out a sigh of delight.

  The Teddiursa didn't bother waiting for an order, rushing towards the Mr. Mime with blood in his eyes.

  "Oberon, slow down!" I barked to deaf ears.

  As Oberon closed the distance, shrouded in dark energy, he suddenly crashed into a Protect.

  Oberon let out a cry of pain, that transformed into a squeal as Mr. Mime slapped his small body multiple times with those big hands of it.

  I sucked my teeth as Oberon was batted away over to my side.

  "Get your head out of your ass, Oberon," I said firmly, watching him shakily pull himself up. "I didn't put you in this battle to embarrass yourself."

  He flinched at that, gazing at me with wide eyes.

  "Focus up. We're fighting an uphill battle here."

  Oberon nodded at my words, determination seeping off his frame.

  "Confusion," Sabrina ordered.

  "Cloak yourself. Rush forward," I retorted immediately.

  Mr. Mime let out a sigh of disappointment as its confusion failed to encase Oberon, before conjuring up a Reflect to stop the charging bear.

  The psychic let out a confused noise, as Oberon immediately skidded to a stop, and it cooed as my Teddiursa's eyes went wide and innocent.

  Oberon's gaze immediately turned ferocious and he darted around the Reflect, before lunging on top of the vulnerable Mr. Mime.

  "Lick. Don't stop!" I demanded.

  Mr. Mime seized up as Oberon licked it right on the cheek over and over again.

  "Launch it away! Use Confusion!" Sabrina interjected.

  It was not to be, Oberon almost immediately cloaked himself in the dark shroud of Payback and continued clawing, scratching and licking the distressed Mr. Mime.

  Finally, it's eyes flashed and a green dome erupted from its body, pushing Oberon away.

  As Oberon soared through the air, he was unable to catch himself in time before a brilliant array of light smashed into him.

  I grunted, returning him to the ball before he could skid across the floor.

  Mr. Mime slowly got up, twitching as parts of its body refused to move.

  "Teddiursa is unable to battle! The winner is Mr. Mime!"

  Dazzling Gleam... a powerful move from the strange Fairy Type.

  Oberon had done his job well. He had been punching way above his weight so securing a victory right now was not what I completely envisioned.

  Still sucked though.

  "Metang," I muttered.

  Sabrina's brows furrowed in confusion as Metang appeared from the ball.

  "How is it possible for you two to function around each other?" she asked.

  "Metang's complete and utter devotion to me," I replied.

  "You will wake up tomorrow and find that you're missing a pokemon. Continue to lie at your own risk."

  "We're the best of bros," I finished, completely ignoring them. "Bullet Punch."

  Sabrina twitched as Metang blazed across the field.

  "She's going to say Reflect. Prepare for it."

  "Understood."

  "Reflect," she said swiftly.

  Mr. Mime conjured another Reflect, panting as exhaustion seeped into it.

  For its efforts, Metang closed the distance and dashed around, appearing behind its fellow psychic with the enhanced speed of Bullet Punch.

  The mime panicked at that, attempting to turn around before its body seized up once more from the aftereffects of getting licked by Oberon.

  Metang showed no mercy at all, landing the Bullet Punch directly on its cheek.

  Mr. Mime soared through air from the moment of impact. It skidded onto the ground before a beam captured and returned it.

  "Mr. Mime is unable to battle! The winner is Metang!"

  Sabrina turned her gaze back to me. "It would appear the rumors surrounding you had some merit to them," she noted.

  "You should never listen to rumors. It's better to verify things yourself," I retorted.

  Much to my surprise, Sabrina smiled.

  "I could not agree more. Verifying is exactly what I've done so I believe it's time to truly challenge you."

  My eyes narrowed at that.

  Sabrina didn't bother saying anything else. She grabbed a pokeball and launched it.

  What greeted me was a bipedal fox covered in a coat of long fur that sorta looked like a robe. It smiled coyishly at me, before pulling a stick out of its sleeve-like fur.

  A Delphox.

  I pursed my lips at that and held out a pokeball, returning Metang immediately.

  Delphox was the final evolution of Fennekin, the fire starter of the Kalos region. It was a troublesome pokemon who relied more on its pyrokinesis, over raw firepower like the other fire starters.

  Perfect for a person like Sabrina.

  "Ares," I decided eventually.

  Ares burst from the pokeball with a deep growl, testing her little feet for a bit before gazing heinously at the Delphox.

  "Dragon Breath."

  "Mystical Fire."

  Ares opened her mouth and let loose a turquoise beam of raw draconic energy at the same time Delphox pointed their wand forward.

  A ring formed, before Delphox fired a surge of flames through it. The orange flames, with tints of purple, collided with the Dragon Breath, causing a small explosion to take place.

  Delphox let out haughty laugh, flames never waning from their wand. She waved it and summoned three fireballs this time, firing the modified Mystical Fire towards Ares.

  This was the annoying thing about Delphox. Their psychic powers gave them the ability to better manipulate their flames.

  Mystical Flame enhanced that greatly. It was practically fire manipulation.

  "Protect," I ordered with narrowed eyes.

  Ares rumbled, conjuring the green barrier and protecting herself from the balls of fire.

  They exploded uselessly against the Protect before Ares let it drop.

  "Dragon Dance."

  Ares began swaying her body from side to side, eyes gaining a violent glint to them.

  "I don't think so. Fire Spin," Sabrina retorted immediately, a glint in her eyes.

  I sucked my teeth as Delphox pointed that wand once more and conjured of cage of fire that trapped Ares in it.

  The flames constantly licked her, dealing constant damage and getting a snarl of irritation out of her.

  "Dragon Breath," I barked, eyes narrowed in annoyance.

  "Light Screen." Sabrina smiled at me, glint in her eyes turning into a gleam.

  This stupid bit—

  Ares' frustration matched mine, as her Dragon Breath collided with the Light Screen conjured by Delphox.

  "March through the flames," I tried, eyes narrowed.

  Ares tried to do just that, but Delphox's eyes began glowing and I watched with a clenched jaw as the Fire Spin moved from its spot to keep Ares trapped.

  What an annoying fire type.

  "Don't stop running! Make it to that Delphox!" I barked.

  Ares rumbled in agreement, charging the Delphox.

  "No," Sabrina said calmly.

  A psychic blast smashed against Ares and launched her backwards, right into the Fire Spin.

  I snarled in aggravation as the flames continued licking Ares.

  By now, Ares' eyes were bulging in fury and she was fully incensed, ignoring the flames licking at her repeatedly.

  "Dragon Breath," I hissed, eyes boiling.

  "Behind the Light Screen," Sabrina ordered.

  Delphox didn't even need to be told such a thing, already standing behind the Light Screen. She had a smug smile on her face that I personally wanted to wipe off.

  I felt an immense swell of satisfaction at the smug smile being wiped away from the sight of Ares shooting out a gargantuan Dragon Breath, size eclipsing what she shot out earlier.

  Ah the beauty of Rage. If there was a move that was significantly better than its video game counterpart, that one was at the top of the list.

  Delphox had no time to react to the Dragon Breath shooting through the air like a bullet, smashing directly through the Light Screen. She let out a squeal as the fury filled Dragon Breath, practically punched her in the gut and sent her skidding back.

  "Catch her," I snarled.

  With Delphox distracted, the Fire Spin lost much of its power and annoyance, allowing the Rage fueled Ares to dash out of it.

  Utilizing the effects of Dragon Dance, my lumbering Shelgon actually made quite the distance and Delphox hastily summoned a wall of mystical flames to ward off Ares' advance...

  To no success at all. Ares burst through those flames like a woman possessed, tackling Delphox to the ground with her heavy as hell body.

  Ares snarled and clamped her fangs around Delphox's neck, the Crunch ripping out a screech from the fox.

  The aloof nature was gone, Ares was burned and fuming and utterly furious at the Delphox beneath her.

  So she ragdolled that damn fox like her life depended on it.

  "Delphox. Attempt to free yourself! Ignite yourself in flames!" Sabrina shouted, eyes wide.

  Delphox was in far too much distress to hear Sabrina. She struggled wildly underneath Ares, wand firing flames in every direction.

  Ares never let go, even when some connected with her.

  The, quite frankly, savage act was finally put to rest as Delphox erupted in a great bout of flames, launching Ares backwards with the surge.

  The fox huffed, eyes boiling in fury as an orange and red aura surrounded her.

  Blaze... just great.

  "Compose yourself, Delphox," Sabrina said measuredly, watching her pokemon practically spit flames at Ares.

  Delphox attempted to take a deep breath...

  "Dragon Breath."

  ...Before the anger came roaring back at the sight of Ares firing a Dragon Breath. She held out her wand and fired an enormous gout of flames.

  The amped Mystical Fire, collided with the amped Dragon Breath and an enormous explosion erupted over the field.

  Delphox snarled, waving her wand and summoning three fireballs. She launched it through the air with expert precision towards Ares, who opened her mouth and mowed them down with another Dragon Breath.

  A psychic sheen surrounded Ares as soon as she destroyed the last fireball and with a heave, Delphox launched her into the air, visibly straining to do so in her state.

  Ares roared as she fought against the Psychic and she glared over at Delphox, who was aiming the wand at her.

  "You won't break out in time! Dragon Breath Ares!" I shouted.

  "Mystical Fire!" Sabrina shouted in turn, eyes glowing with emotion at our battle.

  Delphox howled in exertion, placing every bit of fire into the tip of her wand before firing a Mystical Fire that looked more like a Flamethrower.

  Ares roared in pure fury, mouth opening wide as turquoise energy formed in her mouth.

  My eyes widened as instead of a beam, Ares fired a shoddy turquoise ball instead.

  The Dragon Pulse collided with the Mystical Fire and I had to cover my face as the biggest explosion yet took place.

  My coat billowed, as a rush of wind crashed into me.

  I coughed as the smoke was carried over to me, waving it away as I waited for the dust to settle.

  As the smoke wafted away, I was greeted to the sight of Ares... unconscious on the floor as Delphox sagged on her side of the battlefield.

  "Shelgon is unable to battle! The winner is Delphox!" The referee shouted.

  My eyes were slightly wide at that. After all, it was exceedingly rare for Ares to lose in a straight one on one.

  She risked it on a technique that she didn't finish and it backfired.

  I returned her to the ball and pursed my lips, watching as Delphox collapsed moments after.

  "Delphox is unable to battle! Will Trainer Silver release his next pokemon?!"

  At least she managed to take the Delphox down with her. That fox was really annoying.

  "Metang," I grunted, tossing my next ball.

  "Splendid, Trainer Silver. This battle... I do not normally enjoy them but this one fills me with a strange excitement," Sabrina stated, the gleam in her eyes still there as a ghost of a smile formed on her face.

  "I hope you keep that energy by the end of our match," I snorted, watching her every move.

  "...I believe winning would fill me with the most amount of this feeling," Sabrina mused, grabbing her next pokeball. "Therefore that is what I shall strive to do. Most trainers I merely test, but for you, Trainer Silver I will make an earnest effort to win... within reason of course."

  "Look at that. The spoiled drama queen is being brought out of her shell by someone she hates. I'm so touched," I snarked, eyes glinting as well as she tossed her next pokemon out.

  It was a white, bipedal pokemon with a green torso with sharp, red horns sticking out of its chest and back. The most notable thing about this pokemon, were the two blade like elbows it had.

  Red eyes gazed at me respectively and the Gallade bowed properly.

  Metang rumbled in acknowledgment and I simply stared at it, nodding my head once.

  Delphox into Gallade... Sabrina sure wasn't making it easy for me.

  "Come Trainer Silver, let us continue this!" Sabrina announced, eyes glowing with her faint psychic abilities.

  My eyes flashed dangerously. "Metang, Iron Defense!" I barked right as Gallade teleported from its spot.

  Remember how I said Rage was at the top of the list for significantly better than its counterpart? Teleport might have been number one.

  Gallade Teleported right in Metang's guard, blade shrouded in dark energies as it slashed into my steel types back.

  Metang looked only slightly uncomfortable from the super effective attack, body shining with the effects of Iron Defense as they pivoted immediately and raked metallic claws against Gallade's chest.

  The evolution of Ralts barely grunted as the sharp claws connected with him, merely teleporting a safe distance away. He was stalking Metang carefully, poised to either shorten the gap or widen it at a whim.

  Fucking annoying.

  "Agility," I grunted, eyes locked onto the Gallade as I began thinking of plans to catch it.

  "Double Team," Sabrina said immediately after.

  An army of Gallade's began filling the fields and I hissed as the real one teleported in, Night Slashed Metang, then teleported back into the mass of bodies.

  "Keep that Iron Defense steady, Metang. Start running."

  Metang listened to my order easily, dashing off with their head tucked and crashing into every body of Gallade they could see.

  They flew through all of them, none being real and I watched as the real Gallade teleported directly behind Metang, lunging forward with a dark blade—

  And getting a Shadow Ball smashed into his face for his efforts.

  The super effective attack made the Gallade immediately shout in surprise.

  "Shadow Ball...?" Sabrina mused, surprise on her features.

  Metang actually had a fairly easy time learning Shadow Ball from the TM. The reason I greenlighted it, was for this battle. It would give Metang a good advantage against other psychics.

  Gallade hastily teleported away, just in time to avoid another Shadow Ball smashing into his chest.

  "Don't give it time to think. Bullet Punch."

  Metang's eyes roved over the battlefield at incredible speeds, finding the real Gallade from the Teleport in record time. They glowed and blazed through the field, rushing down the fighting type a purpose.

  Gallade parried Metang, pushing away those sharp claws and taking a step back.

  Metang was relentless, claws gleaming with the effects of Bullet Punch. They dove right back into Gallade's guard and Metang just began swinging at intense speeds with Bullet Punch after Bullet Punch.

  Gallade's eyes glowed and both his blades began glowing with the dark energy of Night Slash. Then the two began striking each other nonstop.

  They parried each other, beat each other... Sabrina and I just watched Metang and Gallade wail each other.

  Gallade leaned back from a swipe and leaned in, crashing a blade against Metang's hard body, taking a fist to the face for his efforts and grunting as the claws raked against his face as a side effect.

  Metang's eyes flashed for just a moment, using its shoddy psychic abilities to make Gallade jolt forward slightly, right into a sickening Iron Head to the dome.

  Gallade let out a shout at that. No doubt there were stars in its eyes at the concussive blow and Metang took full advantage of that.

  If possible, its fists began firing off even faster. Metang was taking full effect of the speed that Bullet Punch granted it, landing blow after blow onto any part that it could reach.

  "Gallade!" Sabrina shouted, watching as her dazed pokemon was slowly but surely pushed back from Metang's assault.

  Gallade's eyes narrowed and clarity entered its eyes.

  It caught one of Metang's claws and jammed a Night Slash directly on the spot above its spike.

  Metang groaned at that, immediately pausing at the weak spot being struck and Gallade took full advantage of it.

  The Male evolution of Ralts tensed up, crossed its arms together and slashed through Metang, Night Slash devouring both its blades as an X of darkness appeared on my pokemon.

  I clenched my jaw at that, watching as Metang collapsed onto the floor.

  "Fucking hell," I cursed to myself.

  "Metang is unable to battle! The winner is Gallade!"

  This Gallade was metal as fuck. I never expected Sabrina of all people to use one.

  "Impressive aren't they? My original team also has a Gallade. What better way to show the fighting dojo a superior fighting type, than to use my own?" Sabrina asked, smiling slightly.

  "Oh so you're actually a sadist," I pointed out, returning Metang to the ball.

  "Sadist... I would not quite use that word. But, I am learning new things about myself," she mentioned.

  "Now come at me with all you have. It is a two on two. What will you do now?"

  I huffed at that and grabbed my next ball.

  "Gaia," I decided, deciding on Bayleef here.

  Sabrina's eyes narrowed, suspicion in her eyes.

  Gaia stared at the Gallade with narrowed eyes, taking in its numerous injuries and nodding to herself.

  "Gallade, use Fury Cutter," she began, suspicion never leaving her eyes.

  Ah, she thought this was Loki huh?

  "Catch it, Gaia. It's going to teleport behind you," I sneered.

  Gaia's vines snaked out and immediately lashed behind her, catching the Gallade the moment he got out of his teleport.

  It let out a grunt of surprise at being wrapped up immediately in Gaia's vines. His eyes widened as seeds began planting themselves on him and he let out a gagging noise, due to the fact that Gaia's vines were seeped in poison.

  While not even remotely as resistant to it, Gaia did have a level of resistance to poison from practicing Poison Powder so much.

  "Slam it," I grunted, eyes narrowed as she hoisted him up and began brutally slamming him onto the ground.

  Gallade cried out in pain, eyes glowing as it vanished out of Gaia's clutches and appeared closer to Sabrina's side.

  "Life Dew," she murmured to it.

  My eyes sharpened. "Don't let it heal! Razor Leaf!"

  Gaia growled in annoyance and fired a flurry of ultra sharp leaves.

  Gallade barely managed the process of healing as he was forced to cancel his technique.

  "Fury Cutter!"

  Gallade's eyes glowed with psychic energy and I huffed in annoyance.

  Two moves that hampered psychics? And it could use them to this degree? Sabrina must have really loved Gallade to be teaching just a gym version of it this stuff.

  Gallade's eyes glowed with the perception of being both a psychic and martial artist and it weaved, ducked, and cut through every leaf with a sickly green scythe.

  "Close the gap! Fury Cutter!" Sabrina ordered.

  "Reflect!" I retorted.

  Gallade vanished from its spot, blade poised to cut through Gaia's midsection, only for it to hiss as one of its blades crashed against the shining wall of Reflect.

  "Grab it!" I shouted.

  "Brick Break!" Sabrina retorted.

  My eyes widened at that, watching as Gallade used its other arm, glowing white this time, to crash it against the Reflect, smashing through the reflect like it were made of glass.

  The unexpected move caught Gaia off guard and she spluttered, before wailing as Gallade's Fury Cutter struck true.

  Gallade had foregone honor, lunging forward to continue delivering Fury Cutter after Fury Cutter.

  I grit my teeth. Fury Cutter was a move that started off weak but got stronger as you connected it. On a pokemon like this Gallade, who could utilize it in both of its blades, it was dangerously effective.

  Gallade was trying to finish this off because it understood that it was on a timer now. Gaia was steadily healing from the effects of Leech Seed and Gallade was getting drained by both poison and that same Leech Seed.

  "Gaia! Wrap your vines around its face!" I shouted urgently.

  My Bayleef whined in pain but listened to my orders, vines swiftly lashing out and wrapping around the relentless Gallade's head.

  It let out a shout of surprise at that and continued hammering away at Gaia, only to miss wildly as she spun him around.

  "Giga Drain and Brain Bash," I hissed violently.

  Gaia hissed at the same time, vines wrapped tightly around Gallade.

  "Gallade! Teleport out of there!"

  The psychic attempted to follow its order but the moment it even attempted, Gaia yanked it backwards and slammed its head brutally against a new Reflect.

  Gallade wheezed, spit flying out of its mouth as Gaia scrambled his brain. It's struggles intensified and it reached up to grasp at the vines only for Gaia to yank it backwards again, bashing its head against the Reflect with ruthless force.

  I didn't miss how everyone in the crowd winced. This was pretty barbaric to witness. Gaia was not only asphyxiating the Gallade, who was poisoned by the way, she was also scrambling its brain and sapping it of energy. It would certainly need a trip to the Pokemon Center after this because I'm fairly sure this would probably put me on the top of Team Plasma's shit list.

  Oh well. No mercy.

  Everytime Gallade so much as twitched, Gaia would bash it against the Reflect. Sabrina's orders were falling on deaf ears because the Gallade was not even remotely coherent to listen to her.

  Finally, the Gallade's hand went limp, falling to its side as Gaia released him.

  It fell forward and thudded to the ground, Gaia leering down at it with a victorious and exhausted glint.

  "G-Gallade is unable to battle! The winner is B-Bayleef!" The referee shouted, gazing at Gaia with horrified eyes.

  "Holy shit," I heard someone mutter in the silence of the crowd.

  "I thought his massive Shelgon was scary..." someone said.

  "Never thought I'd be calling a Bayleef terrifying."

  I didn't say anything, watching as Gaia tiredly dragged herself over to my side again.

  "Good job girl," I said, smiling slightly at her.

  "Bay," she smiled tiredly.

  Sabrina returned Gallade to her ball with an unreadable expression.

  "My desire to defeat you... you've only made that urge stronger," she said bluntly, grabbing a final ball.

  "I've never felt the pressure of my back being against the wall... and now I see that it is a sensation born from the thrill of battle," Sabrina stated, eyes glowing brighter and brighter.

  "With only one pokemon left, I can't help but feel now is the time for me to perform my best."

  I smirked wildly at that. "Spoken like a true trainer. I guess even you're capable of feeling that heat."

  That competitive gleam, the one that had been growing in her eyes as the battle progressed, finally settled into a calm roar as Sabrina launched her final pokeball.

  Short, humanoid, with a yellow skeletal body covered in brown armor like sections, I wasn't even surprised to see the Alakazam in all its glory.

  No one alive may have been a bigger fan of Alakazam than Gym Leader Sabrina after all.

  The psychic polished its spoons, mustache twitching as it gazed at Sabrina, then it looked at us, locking eyes with me and twitching slightly.

  I didn't realize but the psychics Sabrina used didn't seem overly affected by my presence. Maybe they had been getting used to it as well for the upcoming battle.

  Good, I wouldn't want a free win after all.

  "Calm Mind," Sabrina instructed immediately.

  "Synthesis," I replied, eyes narrowed.

  Gaia was almost completely spent from that barrage of Fury Cutters and there was no sun out to draw energy from for Synthesis, so this wouldn't be too effective but anything to keep the battle going.

  Much like the Gallade previously, Alakazam teleported from its spot and appeared to the left of Gaia.

  Gaia whirled immediately, turning to face it. She lashed out with her vines, only to whine in confusion as her attack soared past the Alakazam.

  "Light Screen!" I shouted.

  "Psycho Cut." Sabrina said at the exact same time, smiling at me.

  Gaia conjured a Light Screen, that did absolutely nothing to block the sharp blade of energy hanging off of Alakazam's spoon.

  It cut into Gaia and she let out a cry of pain, stumbling backwards.

  "Grab it while it's this close!" I snarled, eyes narrowed in confusion at Gaia actually missing the first time.

  Gaia's accuracy was impeccable. She had been trying to hit the speedy Loki since she was a little Chikorita.

  My confusion only grew as she missed the next swing as well and then I noticed Alakazam's eyes glowing.

  Son of a...

  "Careful Gaia! He's using Kinesis on you! It'll make your moves harder to hit!" I warned, watching as Alakazam teleported slightly to the right.

  "Magnificent. To think you'd be able to tell... but it is too late," Sabrina assured. "Psychic, Alakazam."

  Gaia squealed as she was launched backwards from concussive force. She rolled against the floor and remained still, before struggling to pull herself up.

  I was already fishing out a pokeball to return her but she glared back at me, a green aura beginning to surround her.

  As Overgrowth began taking effect, I huffed and nodded, placing the pokeball away for now.

  "Alright then. Razor Leaf."

  Gaia let out a mighty yell and turned into a turret, firing off sharp leaves one after the other.

  Alakazam attempted to teleport, but the moment he appeared, he was forced to conjure a wall that was almost instantly shattered by the amount of Razor Leaves that just crashed into it.

  The final forms of Abra were frail pokemon. They weren't built to take many hits, trading endurance for some of the best firepower of psychics.

  I just needed to land meaningful hits on them.

  Alakazam attempted to Teleport once more but I wasn't having it.

  "Magical Leaf!" I barked, eyes gleaming violently.

  Gaia's eyes matched my violence and I watched Sabrina's widen slightly.

  The Bayleef bellowed and launched two giant leaves that immediately honed in on Alakazam's position.

  "Disable!" Sabrina shouted.

  Alakazam's spoon glowed blue and it captured the two giant leaves in a blue sheen, capturing and suspending them in midair.

  The slight focus on stopping the Magical Leaves, gave Gaia a chance to wrap her vines around its midsection and she hoisted the Alakazam and slammed it onto the floor before it could preemptively teleport.

  Before she could repeat, the Alakazam freed itself with Psycho Cut, severing the vines completely and vanishing from its spot.

  "Magical Leaf again!" I barked.

  Gaia snarled, conjuring even more leaves this time and Sabrina's eyes narrowed.

  "Telekinesis, Alakazam."

  Gaia was suddenly wrapped in a sheen of psychic power, before she was abruptly lifted into the air and suspended there.

  She let out a shout and struggled as much as she could, growling and snarling as she prepared to fire off the Magical Leaf.

  "And finally, the finale has arrived," Sabrina announced, gleam roaring confidently. "Alakazam, use Recover."

  My eyes narrowed. "Gaia! Just fire the Magical Leaf! Hit that bastard!"

  She attempted to fire it but Gaia let out a wail, as she was suddenly struck by an unknown attack...

  All while Alakazam continued to heal.

  What...?

  My eyes widened. Was that Future Sight?

  Gaia writhed about as she was bombarded with the attack and she cried, as the green aura faded from her body.

  "Bayleef is unable to battle, the winner is Alakazam!"

  Sabrina's smile widened, as Alakazam teleported back to Sabrina's side, healthy again.

  "Splendid, Trainer Silver. Both brought to our final members... Do you feel this?" Sabrina wondered, watching as I palmed my final ball.

  I sneered. "Finding your love for battle this late in your life... and turning into a drama queen because of it, sure does fit every image i have of you."

  Sabrina scoffed, that fire never leaving her eyes. "Nothing will satisfy this fire more than defeating you. Come Trainer Silver, send out your final pokemon!"

  "Be careful what you wish for," I sneered, tossing out my final pokeball.

  Loki burst onto the scene again, staring at the Alakazam with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

  "Let's wrap this up Loki."

  "A one on one. Let us achieve victory, Alakazam."

  I tightened my gloves, eyes boiling with the desire for victory.

  I didn't give a damn about the gym badge. All I wanted was to crush Sabrina the same way she wanted to crush me.

  This went beyond testing my skills. The two of us just wanted to win against the other.

  "Calm Mind!" Sabrina shouted immediately.

  "Taunt," I snarled.

  Before Alakazam could enter a state of tranquility, greatly boosting its mental capabilities, Loki snarled at him, shrouded in dark energy.

  The move successfully worked, cancelling the Calm Mind in its tracks and make the Alakazam gain a vein of annoyance.

  "No more of your silly little tricks," I sneered at her.

  Sabrina scoffed. "It would appear so..."

  "Pursuit. Close the distance and wrap this up swift," I ordered.

  Loki launched himself across the field, black streaking behind him as he prepared to end the Alakazam swiftly and net me my victory.

  Finally, Sabrina's frown vanished, smile replacing it.

  "...Unfortunately, I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve. Alakazam. Psychic."

  My brows furrowed in confusion, before widening in disbelief as a psychic sheen actually surrounded Loki, launching him back and away from the Alakazam.

  "Zor?" Loki gasped, tumbling against the floor. He clawed the ground and halted his momentum, gazing at the Alakazam with wary eyes.

  "Miracle Eye? When did you set up a Miracle Eye?" I asked incredulously.

  Sabrina looked impressed. "Your ability to identify moves after a single interaction is worthy of praise, Trainer Silver. To answer your question, Miracle Eye was the first technique I had Alakazam use... against your Bayleef of course. Even before Kinesis."

  She pushed a strand of her hair behind her neck. "I was already preparing countermeasures for your truly troublesome Zoroark. I knew it would be a duel between them. That is why I saved Alakazam and not Gallade for it."

  I scowled at that. "So that means you've been scouting me as far back as Cerulean?"

  "I've watched every one of your battles, Trainer Silver. Our battle was one that I've been preparing to partake in for a long time and it hasn't disappointed," she said calmly.

  I took a deep breath and sighed. "So this is what obsession does, huh? Our first meeting turned you into this? I'd be almost afraid if you weren't a decade older than me," I snarked.

  Sabrina twitched at that. "Alakazam. Psybeam."

  "Agility Loki."

  Alakazam pointed both spoons and fired a beam of psychic energy at Loki, who slipped into Agility, blazing across the fields.

  "Shadow Ball," I ordered,

  "You as well, Alakazam."

  Both of them wasted no time conjuring the ghostly energies of Shadow Ball, firing them at each other with pinpoint accuracy and causing them to collide as a result.

  "Close the distance. Night Slash," I ordered, eyes narrowed like a predator.

  With Agility, Loki leapt much faster at Alakazam this time. He crossed the distance near instantly, lunging at the psychic with a hunters gleam.

  "Focus Blast," Sabrina said calmly.

  A smirk made its way to my face, before vanishing as Alakazam whirled on a dime, aiming the Focus Blast at where Loki actually was.

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  He had no chance to react, caught just as off guard as me.

  A yellow ball of energy formed in between both Alakazam's spoons and I realized he really wasn't bluffing as he smashed the Focus Blast square into Loki's stomach.

  The blast launched Loki away and I watched in disbelief as he rolled across the floor.

  "Much like how my tricks will not work on you, yours will not work on me," Sabrina informed me. "To a psychic, a dark type is like the void. Our ability to not affect them, can help us identify them as well."

  "Not to mention, Miracle Eye grants us the ability to see more than normal," she finished.

  I huffed at that. "You sure are talkative all of a sudden. Loki are you okay?"

  Loki huffed, wiping his mouth and gaining a dark glare on his face.

  "Zor," he muttered, fangs bared as he locked his teal eyes onto the wary Alakazam.

  "Let's slow down a bit," I muttered.

  Loki gazed back at me, before an understanding look entered his eyes.

  We're not the ones desperate for something fortunate. We were the hunters here. Alakazam was waiting for us to slip up so it could capitalize on an opportunity...

  So we just wouldn't give it one.

  "Snarl," I demanded.

  Miracle Eye allowed Alakazam to attack Loki, but that didn't suddenly make it any less vulnerable to dark type attacks... and that didn't make dark type attacks any less effective against psychic moves.

  "Psycho Cut! Cut what you are capable of," Sabrina ordered.

  Loki barked and fired a giant dark ring of energy forward. The Snarl rushed towards Alakazam, who shuffled backwards all while conjuring a blade of psychic energy on both spoons.

  It grunted and swung, relying on Miracle Eye to actually be able to affect the dark type move.

  The Alakazam groaned as it was tagged by the Snarl but he managed to stave off the full damage.

  "Shadow Ball," I pressed, eyes narrowed as.

  Loki summoned a Shadow Ball in his hands with narrowed eyes, before launching it towards the Alakazam.

  Once again the Shadow Ball clashed with one conjured by the Alakazam.

  "Again," I said methodically.

  Miracle Eye only helped with dark type moves. It did nothing against ghosts.

  Loki fired another Shadow Ball and Alakazam tried to match it once more, only for its eyes to widen slightly as it failed.

  "Torment!" Sabrina warned a second too late.

  Alakazam shuffled back in its surprise and hissed as the Shadow Ball crashed into it.

  It got up, shuddering at being afflicted with the ghostly energies before Sabrina attempted to take more control of the battle.

  "Focus Blast!" she ordered, gaze focused onto the pacing Loki.

  "Don't get hit by that," I muttered.

  Loki didn't need to even be told that. The Focus Blast whizzed uselessly past the spot he was at.

  "Widespread Snarl."

  My Zoroark's eyes were narrowed cruelly and he fired multiple rings this time, dividing Alakazam's attention greatly. They soared through the air, much smaller than the big ring he fired earlier but sporting far more.

  The psychic panted, eyes glowing brightly as it held out its spoons and fired off a concussive wave of psychic energy, destroying as much of them as it could.

  "Alakazam, Psychic! Rip the ground up underneath it!" Sabrina urged.

  Alakazam's eyes glowed and ripped the ground from below Loki, making the Zoroark stumble about.

  He ripped the ground and began bombarding Loki with rocks, making my first pokemon hiss in annoyance.

  Loki's eyes flashed and he activated Pursuit, lunging towards the Alakazam.

  Alakazam were actually quite fast. They utilized their psychic prowess to move their rather weak bodies around.

  Case in point, it repelled Loki with a Psybeam and swiftly floated backwards.

  Loki's eyes were shining, malice in them as he refused to back down. His claws glowed crimson and he lunged forward again, swiping relentlessly at the Alakazam who was trying its best to ward the attack off with Psycho Cut. Every other move would simply take too long to conjure and Loki was pressing him like he were possessed.

  Alakazam hastily captured Loki in a psychic shield. He was unable to maintain it due to how much Loki struggled against it and was only successful in launching Loki back a few feet.

  But we had cornered it from the constant and the psychic seemed to finally realize that.

  Alakazam looked behind it, being met with a wall and realized it had gotten corralled here. The psychic gazed ahead and was met with the smirking Loki.

  "Alakazam, Focus Blast!" Sabrina shouted urgently.

  "Extrasensory!" I shouted right back.

  Alakazam hastily conjured a Focus Blast and fired it forward, even without the fact it wasn't full prepared.

  It was met with a giant rainbow colored wave that wrapped around the Focus Blast, forcing it to explode preemptively.

  Due to the close proximity, both of them got caught by the explosion but neither Sabrina or I could tell what happened to our respective pokemon.

  "Alakazam! Taunt has worn off! You must Teleport out of there!" Sabrina warned, watching as smoke clouded the arena once more.

  Alakazam hastily activated Teleport, vanishing from its spot and appearing a ways away from the smoke.

  I grinned. "So you know when Taunt wears off too huh?" I asked, impressed that she was aware of such a detail.

  "...Too?" Sabrina said, before her eyes went wide.

  Out of the smoke, a panting Loki burst out, dark energy streaking off of him as he locked onto the Alakazam.

  Alakazam's eyes were wide and it's eyes were already glowing in preparation.

  "Reflect!" Sabrina shouted, eyes blazing with her psychic powers.

  As Alakazam conjured a wall to stop the Pursuit from smashing into it, it froze in shock at seeing Loki skid to an abrupt stop.

  I smiled as Sabrina made the same mistake I made earlier in the battle. "Night Daze."

  Sabrina's eyes widened, "Focus Blast!"

  Loki smiled as well, before erupting in a dome of crimson energy.

  The Night Daze was a sight to behold, double the size of what he could muster up as a Zorua and as a result, it practically covered half the battlefield.

  As the dome dissipated, I was greeted to the sight of Loki limping tiredly above the unconscious Alakazam, experimentally holding one of its spoons before placing it next to the psychic.

  He sighed and took a seat, eyes drooping slightly.

  "Alakazam is unable to battle! As a result, Gym Leader Sabrina has no remaining Pokemon! The winner of this match is the challenger, Trainer Silver!"

  I smirked crookedly, returning Loki to the ball.

  "Good job," I praised quietly. "Even with your tricks negated, we don't have to only rely on that anymore now do we?"

  The Luxury Ball shook in my grasp and I snorted.

  What a satisfying battle... but next time I wanted to sweep her 6-0.

  Was it possible? Probably not... but damn would it feel good if I could.

  "I admit, I am more than disappointed that I lost, but that was a splendid battle," Sabrina admitted, standing across from me.

  I ignored the roaring crowd, simply staring at the psychic.

  "I don't completely nullify you... so why are you foregoing using your psychic abilities at all?" I questioned curiously.

  The gym leader said nothing at that.

  "During our last encounter, I noticed how vulnerable I was. I also noticed how over reliant I happened to be on my psychic abilities," she explained, watching as the battlefield was repaired in preparation for her next battle.

  "So that's why you've been willingly acting fully human," I mused.

  "It was an experience I had forgotten about," Sabrina admitted. "I am capable of seeing many things others are not. I even foresaw the arrival of you prior to your arrival."'

  "Did you?" I asked flippantly.

  "It was a nightmare. I found myself unable to sleep well for reasons I could not explain. It was only until after actually meeting you, did I realize I was envisioning an encounter... because I had that very same nightmare."

  Hm. Fascinating.

  "You are an anomaly, Trainer Silver. One who is unnatural in a way that cannot be explained," Sabrina stated bluntly. "You are afflicted with an energy I've never encountered. An amalgamation of something familiar, yet utterly alien."

  "I'm still trying to figure it out myself. Your curiosity will have to remain just that," I sighed.

  Sabrina turned to stare at me, eyes glowing faintly.

  "During our battle, I decided to announce my orders instead of mentally communicating with my pokemon. I never expected such a simple change to invigorate me so," she revealed.

  I snorted. "Well would you look at that, the drama queen actually enjoys being human. You certainly had a bit of flair during our battle."

  "...I did not notice. I believe I was "caught in the moment" for a majority of our battle," she said.

  "Good. That means you were caught in the moment when I won," I retorted smugly.

  "I do look forward to your progression. I will take great pleasure in properly crushing you with my original team," Sabrina said simply.

  "I'd like to see it, Freak."

  "I will make sure it is more exciting than this battle, Abomination."

  I rolled my eyes, effortlessly catching the speeding bullet known as Green before she could tackle me to the ground like the pest she was.

  Charcadet cheered, crushed between the two of us due to being held in Green's arms. The little guy didn't seem to mind though.

  "Great job Silvy! That was incredible!" Green gushed, practically buzzing in her excitement.

  "It was awesome! Just watching that makes me itch to fight!" Gold grinned.

  "I agree. After this, we'll have to work off some of our adrenaline," Crystal sighed, an intense look in her eyes that showed that she was just as much of a battle freak as Gold and Green...

  And I guess me too. That battle really was fun.

  "Well done, Silver," was all Janine said, smiling slightly.

  "You still have one more battle," Sabrina reminded. "Come Trainer Green. It is your time for battle."

  Green nodded excitedly, adjusting her hat and dusting off her red skirt.

  "We need to get you a new shirt and skirt combo. You have no style at all," I mentioned, shaking my head as I placed Charcadet on my shoulder.

  Green spluttered. "N-Now is not the time to judge my fashion taste! And I'm not taking advice from someone who only wears three colors! And I like my outfit! And you need to shut up!"

  I shrugged helplessly, patting her on the back and walking towards the stands where Gold, Crystal and Janine were seated.

  "Whatever you say. Once you stop being stubborn, I'll gladly give you advice on what to wear."

  "I hate you, Silvy. Get outta here."

  "Dramatic. All of you are so dramatic," I said dryly.

  Crystal laughed quietly. "I think her outfit is fine. She doesn't need to change it!"

  I spared her a single glance. "Of course you'd say that," I pointed out.

  Just the way I said my sentence, seemed to deeply offend Crystal.

  "W-What? Are you saying something's wrong with my outfit too?" she stammered in confusion.

  "A head of blue hair, a white jacket, a red shirt and yellow pants. Are you applying to the circus? What is your getup?" I raised a brow.

  Gold snorted, transforming it into a fake cough as Crystal turned wide eyes over to him.

  "He made fun of my outfit as well. He said there's no point walking around dressed like a ninja all the time... it defeats the purpose of a disguise. I-I just like the outfit," Janine mumbled, face burning.

  "What about my outfit?!" Gold asked curiously.

  I opened my mouth, before shutting it. My eyes shut as well as I let out heavy sigh.

  "Silver, are you alright?" Crystal asked in concern, placing a hand against my head to test the temperature.

  "Is it that bad?" Gold mused, glancing down at his red hoodie.

  I opened my eyes slowly and gazed at Gold again.

  "Your outfit... is actually good," I bit out, a strain in my voice.

  Gold opened his mouth and shut it.

  "Did it... hurt you to compliment me?" he asked in disbelief.

  "Don't ask him a question that you don't want to hear the answer to. That's what I learned about Silver," Janine advised wisely.

  "After this... let's go shopping after this, Silver," Crystal mumbled.

  I raised a brow. "Why the hell are you telling me this?"

  "You're the one who made me self conscious about my outfit. I was fine with it before you said something..."

  I shrugged. "Fair enough. Alright then."

  "This may be a good opportunity for me to update my wardrobe as well... I'm also more self conscious about myself," Janine interjected.

  I pinched my nose and just took a deep breath, taking a seat and focusing on my companions upcoming battle.

  "Alright you losers. I'll teach you how to dress after this. Now focus on the battle."

  Sabrina started the battle off by throwing out a Gothorita.

  Green narrowed her eyes in contemplation and palmed a pokeball, before throwing it and revealing Dree the Dreepy.

  There were noises of awe, people not used to seeing a pokemon like Dreepy.

  "Green, unlike Silver, has a very large power gap in her team. There is a giant gap between her strongest three and her weakest three," Janine murmured.

  I nodded in agreement. "We basically spent the entire month here bridging the gap of her team a bit. Dree probably made the most improvements," I pointed out.

  His rate of growth was actually quite significant. Almost suspiciously so.

  Dree was pathetically weak. It barely knew any moves, couldn't take hits and was all in all, a true first form pseudo legend.

  But Dree was fast.

  Dree was fast as hell. During our trip here, that's what we focused on for the little guy.

  And Green was using that to full effect.

  "Quick Attack Dree! Get in close and use Astonish!" Green shouted.

  The Dreepy zipped in, streaked in white before it dove into Gothorita's guard, foreboding aura making the psychic flinch slightly, before it let out a pained noise at the Astonish connecting.

  Gothorita fired a Psybeam in retaliation but its split second of hesitation, allowed Dree to zip behind the pokemon.

  "Infestation!" Green pressed.

  Dree croaked a bit at that, determination in his eyes as he fired off an attack that literally just looked like a bunch of fleas.

  Gothorita shrieked in disgust swiping uselessly as the bugs continued pestering her.

  "Alright Dree! Astonish again!"

  "Fake Tears!" Sabrina retorted, eyes narrowed.

  Dree's assault temporarily slowed down, as Gothorita burst into tears. It caused the little dragon to slow down and Sabrina pressed her sudden advantage.

  "Psybeam!"

  Gothorita's crocodile tears vanished as quickly as they came. The psychic powered through its disgust and fired off a beam of psychic energy, connecting squarely with the vulnerable Dree.

  Dree shrieked at that, launched backwards as the attack struck true.

  "That's probably that. Dree can't take a hit," I sighed, mulling over how Green could win this battle.

  Her two most advantageous pokemon against Sabrina, were babies still.

  Judging by the slight furrow of her brows, Green realized that too. She held out a pokeball to return Dree but stopped as the Dreepy slowly pushed himself back up.

  My brow shot up high in disbelief, as his body was surrounded by a white aura and I stared at the sight in disbelief.

  "Woah?! Evolution?!" Gold gasped eyes wide.

  Crystal awed at that.

  I was not of the same reaction at all.

  "That... what?" I muttered in confusion, watching as Green's eyes widened in confusion as well.

  "What's the matter?" Janine asked softly, having her doubts as well.

  "That shouldn't be possible. Dree shouldn't be close to evolution at all," I stressed.

  I understood that a Dreepy underneath a trainer was significantly stronger that a wild one but they still had relatively late evolutions.

  But as I watched the metamorphosis happening before my very eyes, I could not deny the facts.

  Why was Dree evolving right now?

  The little thing grew significantly larger, horns on its head growing significantly larger as it (along with his head) turned black, gaining two pinkish and triangle stripes on its head.

  The dragon opened its yellow eyes to inspect its new body. His little arms grew slightly, his tail grew massively and he gained an all new set of feet.

  Despite my confusion, I still appreciated the Drakloak.

  What a cool pokemon.

  "Dree? Are you alright?" Green asked in concern.

  The Drakloak turned back towards Green and hissed in surprise. He nodded slowly and inspected his body once more.

  I don't think anyone was expecting this evolution... even Dree.

  I imagine they were taking a one way trip to the pokemon center after this but for now, my companion had a battle to win.

  "We'll focus on that later, Dree! Let's win this!" Green exclaimed, confidence entering her eyes.

  "Congratulations. Though, it appears this was unexpected and not calculated," Sabrina mentioned.

  "Completely," Green admitted without a hint of hesitation. "But he's fine so let's continue!"

  "Indeed," the gym leader agreed. "Gothorita, Psybeam."

  The Gothorita looked incredibly uncomfortable with the Infestation lingering over them, but it carried out its order immediately.

  Dree watched as the Gothorita's Psybeam approached and the dragon growled, before it jetted out of the way. The dragon moved at far faster speeds than before and I whistled in appreciation as it appeared behind the psychic.

  The Drakloak tackled Gothorita from behind, before activating the ghostly energy of Astonish, smashing into the psychic with dreadful force.

  Gothorita rolled across the ground from the force of the attack before Sabrina returned it to its ball.

  "Fast," I murmured. This thing was going to be a serious problem when it became a Dragapult.

  Green's whole team was to be honest. But this thing right here? It was going to cause serious damage.

  Sabrina mulled over her options, before grabbing another pokeball and throwing it out.

  A Xatu appeared from the ball, staring at nothing before it slightly shifted its gaze towards the Drakloak.

  Then, the bird spread its wings.

  "Tailwind," Sabrina said.

  I watched with a calculating eye as a whirlwind formed on the battlefield, cloaking Xatu and pushing Drakloak back slightly.

  Xatu let out a shrieking cry before firing blades of wind at Dree, who hissed and dashed backwards, avoiding the Air Slash by a hair's breadth.

  The dragon dashed towards Xatu, ghostly energy pouring off of him once more but right before he arrived, the bird teleported, appearing behind the dragon instantly.

  Dree let out a strangled hiss of surprise, as more blades of wind crashed against his back.

  "Night Shade."

  As the dragon whirled around, a black mirage of the Xatu was conjured, before it crashed into Dree.

  Dree attempted to crash into the Xatu with Quick Attack but the bird had already flown away, speed enhanced by the turbulent Tailwind.

  "Quick Attack! Try and catch it!"

  What followed next was a high speed chase between the two. Dree tried following after the speeding Xatu, but was always a step too slow.

  They zipped through the air and Xatu took the chance to try and pepper Dree with ranged attacks the entire time. Dree avoided as many Air Slashes he could but at the cost of losing even more distance between him and the psychic bird.

  Dree's frustration was clearly mounting but the dragon just wasn't used to his new body. He had a difficult time maneuvering, wasn't as aerodynamic as the Xatu, wasn't as fast either with the Tailwind activated.

  This wasn't even mentioning the fact that Xatu could teleport. Once the Tailwind petered out, Dree actually began gaining on the Xatu but right before he could connect, the bird vanished.

  Dree's growling was getting louder and louder and it peaked the moment Xatu appeared back on the ground, teleporting once again.

  The psychic gazed up at the Drakloak before firing another flurry of Air Slash.

  Dree's growl transformed into a roar and the dragon opened its mouth, before firing a very familiar orb of draconic energy.

  The turquoise orb smashed against the blades of wind, plowing through them and striking the surprised Xatu in the chest.

  "Now! Infestation!" Green pressed immediately, a vindictive gleam in her eyes as she greedily accepted the gift.

  Dree hissed and jetted forward, soaring through the air and firing off an Infestation to make sure Xatu's attempts at escaping were far more limited.

  Xatu squawked as the fleas began harassing it, before squealing as Dree crashed into it from above, slamming directly into its midsection with pure momentum.

  The bird shrieked and began relentlessly pecking at the Drakloak, before Dree opened its mouth and fired a point blank Dragon Pulse at it.

  It's struggles ceased after that and Dree hissed, slowly floating back over to Green's side.

  "Ares is gonna be pissed at that," I mused, patting Freyja idly as she greedily watched the battle, Dragon Pulse in particular.

  "Fee," she agreed, not remotely as putout by the detail that Dree just learned Dragon Pulse. She just inspected the move, absorbing whatever knowledge she could.

  That was the good thing about her. Every opportunity was a learning one for her. She was very humble.

  Sabrina returned Xatu and gazed at the Drakloak with a contemplative expression.

  "It seems I truly do have to battle you like I battled Trainer Silver. Good," she said, pleased.

  Green smiled at her, before her expression turned serious at the next pokemon Sabrina released.

  Short and humanoid, with a black body that looked like it was wearing a dress... The Gothitelle stared at Dree with a half lidded expression, blue eyes glowing faintly.

  "Dragon Pulse!" Green shouted immediately.

  "Psybeam," Sabrina countered.

  Dree opened his mouth and fired an orb of turquoise energy, watching as it soared through the air.

  In retaliation, Gothitelle fired a familiar beam of psychic energy. It collided with the Dragon Pulse and cancelled each other out, a brief explosion taking place.

  "Quick Attack! Get close and pepper it!" Green ordered.

  Dree was of the same mindset, already streaking through the air to close the distance.

  "Feint Attack," Sabrina smiled.

  Green's eyes widened in shock, as Gothitelle leaned back slightly, before it bitch slapped the hell outta Drakloak with a hand cloaked in dark energy.

  Dree's head turned from the force of the smack, before the dragon wheezed and collapsed.

  "That looked like it hurt," I muttered, as Green returned Dree to the ball.

  "Sabrina did not fight the two of us as hard as she's fighting you two," Crystal murmured, eyes wide.

  "Poor Green is collateral from traveling with Silver," Gold snorted. "I'd prefer this more than not knowing what she's even ordering though."

  "But she has a lot more passion when she says the orders aloud. It's almost like her pokemon are reciprocating her newfound energy," Janine pointed out.

  I snorted and pat Charcadet, who's eyes were completely glued to the battle, on his little helmet. "They can sense her obsession. Considering the spoiled princess probably never felt such energy, it must have lit a fire under all their asses," I mused.

  I heard gasps from the people around me (they had tried congratulating me earlier and after the first five, I just started snarling at them), probably due to the fact I called their Gym Leader a spoiled princess.

  Then again, we had been sending quite the scalding remarks towards each other during our battle.

  In comparison, Green and Sabrina actually looked like they liked each other.

  "Alright Larvee," she muttered, sending out her Larvesta.

  Larvee was a lot bigger than when I first met her. She was maturing by the day and getting stronger as a result.

  "Flame Charge, Larvee!" Green began.

  The Larvesta's eyes narrowed and she launched herself forward, enhancing flames covering her body as the larvae charged her opponent.

  Before she connected, a psychic sheen covered and lifted Larvee up, courtesy of the Gothitelle.

  "Throw it," Sabrina instructed.

  "Not so fast! Larvee use Screech!" Green shouted.

  Before Larvee could get launched away, she opened her mouth and let out a piercing wail.

  Gothitelle's eyes widened and she let out a cry, abilities faltering and dropping Larvee to the ground.

  "String Shot! Don't let go at all!"

  Larvee chittered and spat out a long string that wrapped around the Gothitelle thrice.

  Freyja let out a cheering noise as without any hesitation, Larvee used the psychics body to start launching herself through the air.

  "I think she took a bit of inspiration from us," I scoffed, hiding my smile at seeing the flying Larvesta.

  "Leech Life!" Green ordered, eyes gleaming.

  Before Gothitelle could fully recover from the Screech, she was brought to her knees, as Larvee tackled and sunk her fangs into her neck.

  The Psychic let out a warbling cry, twitching as Larvee tried to drain her of everything. The Psychic shouted and released a concussive blast of psychic energy, blasting the Larvesta away.

  Larvee hung onto the String Shot for dear life, only to cry out in pain as a pinpoint Psybeam smashed into her.

  Gothitelle's lazy look was gone, replaced by fury at Larvee's shenanigans. She summoned another Psybeam and fired it without hesitation.

  "Struggle Bug!" Green urged.

  Larvee fired out darts of sickly green energy that shielded her from the worst of the Psybeam.

  That didn't mean she left out unscathed. Both her and Gothitelle had gotten attacked by their respective attacks.

  Larvee was panting, keeping a firm grip on the string shot. She glared at the Gothitelle and yanked forward, making the psychic stumble on their feet.

  "Flamethrower!" Green suddenly shouted.

  I let out a barking laugh at that, making eyes turn towards me.

  The little maniac really was learning from me too much wasn't she?

  Larvee, who was still attached to the string shot, let loose a Flamethrower that traveled across the string from her to the still trapped Gothitelle.

  "Psyshock Gothitelle! Defeat the Larvesta!" Sabrina immediately ordered, watching the flames race across the fire.

  The terrified Gothitelle heard Sabrina's voice and braced herself, eyes glowing bright.

  Purple dots formed around Larvee, before at once they crashed into her body.

  At the same time, the Flamethrower reached the end of the rope and consumed Gothitelle, lighting the psychic up in a great blaze.

  Larvee cried out and Gothitelle let out a shriek of agony, as both attacks struck true.

  The Larvesta's eyes fluttered and she slumped over, unconscious.

  Meanwhile, the flames were forcefully banished by the irate Gothitelle, who was gasping. The psychic was gripping themselves, eyes wide as they stared at the unconscious body of Larvee, who was still holding onto that String Shot.

  "Larvesta is unable to battle! The winner is Gothitelle!"

  What a trooper. Larvee did far more than I was expecting her to do against that Gothitelle.

  Green returned Larvee with a soft expression, smiling at the pokeball and hugging it slightly, before she placed it away.

  My companion gazed at the Gothitelle and nodded to herself, grabbing a pokeball and tossing it.

  Lapee burst out of the ball, crooning as she stared at the burned Gothitelle.

  "Lapee! Use Rain Dance!" Green started off.

  "Gothitelle, Hypnosis," Sabrina said calmly.

  Green's eyes widened in horror as Lapee's eyes began glowing the same color as Gothitelle's.

  "Lapee! Listen to my voice!" Green shouted on deaf ears, watching as Lapee's eyes began drooping.

  Much to her dismay, the Lapras was put to sleep by the move.

  What a tactic by Sabrina. Gothitelle was on its last legs so its best bet was to output as much damage as possible.

  "Heal Block. Follow it up with Psyshock," Sabrina murmured, eyes gleaming.

  "Heal Block?!" Green repeated in disbelief.

  "Regretfully, this Gothitelle has not been taught Psychic Noise," Sabrina explained.

  Psychic Noise? I never heard of it.

  The burned Gothitelle's eyes began glowing and she shot out a red beam that the Lapras didn't react too, simply glowing red with the aura as well.

  Purple dots formed around Lapee, before they all at once slammed into her. She cried out and writhed in pain, still sleeping from the hypnosis.

  Gothitelle was merciless. She summoned even more purple dots, trying to pour out as much damage as possible.

  Lapee was helpless to stop the assault. As the repeated Psyshocks continued to hit her, the Lapras would just shudder, damage accumulating by the second.

  "Lapee! You have to wake up! Use Brine!" Green shouted desperately.

  Right before the next salvo of Psyshock crashed into the Lapras, her eyes snapped open.

  The kindness was gone, replaced by the protective fury of a pokemon who knew their trainer was in trouble.

  She opened her mouth and fired a stream of water directly at the Gothitelle.

  The Psychic wasn't expecting the attack and it crashed into her with the speed of a bullet.

  Her eyes bugged as the attack washed over her, before the pain kicked in. With all the injuries, the salt water of Brine was doubly effective.

  Gothitelle writhed in pain, strangled shriek leaving its mouth before it slumped over.

  "Gothitelle is unable to battle! The winner is Lapras!"

  Lapee panted, injuries all over her body from the beating she took while unconscious.

  "You can't heal, Lapee. She did something to you," Green informed her with a frown.

  The Lapras whined, shutting her eyes in exhaustion before slowly opening them again.

  Sabrina smiled. "Wonderful, Trainer Green. Let us not waste anytime."

  The Gym Leader grabbed her next Pokeball and launched it forward.

  A Gardevoir popped out of the pokeball, easily identifiable by me because who wouldn't be able to identify a Gardevoir?

  "A Gallade against me, a Gardevoir against Green. She's so fucking obvious," I sneered.

  What was with these gym leaders? Erika had used a Lombre against Green and a Nuzleaf against me as well.

  Was Koga gonna use a Nidoking and Nidoqueen against us respectively? Goddamn.

  Gardevoir was an elegant pokemon. Just its stance alone gave off that vibe. Something like walking even seemed tedious to it.

  "Lapee, use Ice Shard!" Green began immediately, eyes narrowed.

  Lapee summoned a barrage of tiny icicles and fired them off at incredible speeds towards the Gardevoir.

  They crashed into the psychic and rung out a noise of discomfort from the Gardevoir. Her eyes began glowing and she immediately teleported.

  God, Teleport was so annoying.

  As if sensing my annoyance, Sabrina turned towards me for a brief second and we locked eyes, before she turned back to the battle.

  The Gardevoir appeared behind Lapee, a pink ball in her hand that she fired at the back of the Lapras.

  The Moonblast hit with devastating force. Lapee cried out as she was sent skidding forward after being hit from behind.

  Lapee attempted to turn around and face the psychic, but a sheen covered her, before hoisting the water type up slightly, and slamming her back down.

  Finally, Gardevoir leaned forward slightly, smiling as it kissed the Lapras on her head.

  Despite how gentle the move looked, Draining Kiss was anything but and the small wounds Gardevoir had, instantly closed up as she siphoned energy off of Lapee.

  Green returned Lapee to her ball instantly, a deep frown on her face.

  "Lapee didn't get to do anything," Crystal frowned.

  "It's unfortunate. She got neutralized completely." I frowned at that detail and gazed at the Gardevoir.

  That Gallade had been insanely troublesome for me. I was expecting Vee to be in for a fight.

  "Swift!" Green shouted just as Gardevoir teleported.

  The Espeon's gem began glowing and Vee fired a barrage of stars that honed in on Gardevoir's location even through the Teleport.

  As Gardevoir appeared, she was forced to defend herself from the Swift. Her eyes glowed and she let out a cry, summoning a ring that captured some of the stars.

  Not all were caught from the Disarming Cry and she winced as they chipped her slightly.

  "Sunny Day, Vee!" Green continued.

  Vee summoned a beam of light and fired it into the sky, making the entire room grow brighter as sunlight poured out.

  "Moonblast," Sabrina said softly.

  Gardevoir held her palms in front of her, summoning a pink ball of energy that she fired at Vee.

  "Quick Attack!"

  Vee's body streaked white as the Espeon blazed across the field, speed enhanced by their psychic abilities.

  He focused on Gardevoir's location and instantly closed the distance.

  Gardevoir was already prepared to teleport the moment Vee lunged, but the Espeon stopped early and kicked a face full of dirt in the Gardevoir's face.

  The final form of Ralts let out a shout of surprise at being blinded and Vee finally took the time to actually lunge, fangs glowing dark.

  A tussle ensued, as Vee tackled the Gardevoir to the ground and sank his fangs directly into her neck.

  No one ever expected the Espeon to get physical. Gardevoir and Sabrina were of no exception.

  The Gardevoir shrieked as Vee injected her with dark type energy.

  She attempted to use her wiry limbs to push off the Espeon, but Gardevoir's weren't the most fit pokemon around.

  "Dazzling Gleam, Gardevoir!" Sabrina instructed with narrowed eyes.

  Gardevoir heard the order and her eyes glowed, before a shockwave of pink energy erupted from her.

  Vee squealed as he was launched back, before the Espeon used his psychic powers to slow his descent.

  Gardevoir panted before pulling herself up. She gazed warily at the Espeon and dusted her gown.

  Then, she teleported and appeared behind Vee, firing off another shockwave of fairy energy.

  Vee squealed as the Dazzling Gleam connected once more, tossing him backwards. The Espeon skidded across the floor, only for his momentum to halt as another popping noise reverberated through the air.

  Gardevoir, who had teleported once more, cut off Vee's route and hoisted him up with psychic energy, before planting a kiss on the Espeon's head.

  Green was not going to let that slide.

  "Vee! Use Shadow Ball!" she barked.

  Gardevoir's eyes widened and she hastily tried to pull back.

  Vee glared at her violently and spat a ghostly ball of energy directly in her face.

  Gardevoir squealed in shock, stumbling backwards and letting out a wail as another Shadow Ball crashed into her.

  Vee was relentless, he peppered the Gardevoir with Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball.

  The Espeon panted as they stopped, gem dimming in brightness to signify his exhaustion.

  Gardevoir was collapsed on the floor, unconscious to the world after the barrage of Shadow Balls by the Espeon.

  "Do you guys have the TM for Shadow Ball?" Gold asked quietly, eyes wide.

  "Yeah," I replied coolly. "We got a couple from the Game Corner."

  Their eyes widened at that and I grunted.

  "Consolation prize for doing their job for them. I'll share. Just wait for this to be done," I told them.

  Gold had an excited gleam in his eyes and even Crystal looked interested.

  My interest was grabbed, as Sabrina released her final pokemon. Out came a Slowking of all things and I quirked a brow at the intelligent pokemon.

  "A Slowking? Really now?" I mused.

  It seems like Sabrina was really reading my mind.

  "Normally, I'd use Alakazam here... but Trainer Silver was the one who battled him. You should count yourself fortunate, Trainer Green but that does not mean the battle is over yet," Sabrina explained.

  Green smiled. "Of course it isn't! My hand hasn't been raised yet after all!"

  "Vee! Shadow Ball!" she shouted.

  "Amnesia, Slowking," Sabrina retorted calmly.

  Vee shouted and fired a Shadow Ball forward towards the Slowking who just smiled regally.

  An aura surrounded the water type, suspiciously shaped like some question marks, and as the Shadow Ball crashed into it, he merely took a single step backwards, mostly unharmed.

  Green's mouth opened in shock at that.

  "Okay then... Quick Attack, get behind and Bite it!" she ordered.

  Vee darted forward, speeding across the field as he opened his mouth and prepared to bite into the Slowking.

  "Disable."

  Slowking turned at a leisurely pace, the gem on its crown glowing as it fired a blue beam that completely froze Vee in its spot.

  "Yawn."

  Slowking yawned and to Green's horror, Vee yawned as well, eyes drooping slightly as the Disable on it wore off.

  Vee stumbled about drunkenly, trying to remain upright and failing the tall task as his eyes began shutting.

  Try as he might, the Espeon was unable to resist and he fell unconscious.

  "Surf," Sabrina instructed coolly.

  Before the attack could fire, Green returned Vee to his ball.

  "You're so cheap," Green grumbled, grabbing her final pokeball.

  "My apologies. I am just well aware of what your final pokemon will be. That Ivysaur is truly a threat. I cannot waste anymore of Slowking's stamina before facing it," she explained gently.

  Green sighed, before a smile made its way to her face. "Sorry Sabrina, but your slightly mistaken? I'm not using Ivysaur."

  Sabrina tilted her head. "Pardon? Do you intend on using your Togepi? That is unwise, Trainer Green."

  Green grinned, grabbing a pokeball. "Nope! I'm planning on using my Venusaur!"

  With that, she threw the ball and out came Saury in all his glory.

  "Holy... shit," someone said, mouth flapping uselessly.

  "What the hell has that Venusaur been eating?!"

  "You didn't know? In her battle against Surge, Green had the biggest Ivysaur I've ever seen!" someone exclaimed.

  Gold whistled. "I will never get used to the size of Saury."

  "He's gigantic!" Crystal nodded in agreement.

  "Bullshit, that's what it is," I scoffed, glaring at the Venusaur in all its glory.

  Saury stared ahead, ignoring all the shouts and whispers of awe. His expression was as neutral as always and he assessed his opponent with a calm and searching gaze.

  "I see... your Ivysaur has evolved while journeying here."

  Sabrina's voice was flat, but there was definitely a tad bit of appreciation in her gaze. "Most impressive, Trainer Green."

  "Thanks! Now we've got a battle to wrap up!"

  The gym leader nodded. "Indeed we do. Slowking, Nasty Plot."

  "Growth, Saury!" Green ordered.

  The plant on Saury's back somehow seemed to get healthier, standing ramrod straight as he absorbed the sunlight to boost himself and the Venusaur rumbled.

  At the same time, a sinister gleam entered both Slowking's eyes and the gem on its head.

  "Razor Leaf!"

  "Power Gem."

  Saury fired off a barrage of razor sharp leaves that carved through the air, before Slowking summoned a wall of rocks to block them. They nearly cut completely through the stone, reducing them to rubble and Slowking was still subjected to some of the attack.

  "Confusion."

  The Venusaur let out a groan of annoyance, as a weak psychic force crashed into his giant body.

  "Vine Whip! It's too slow to dodge!"

  "Disable!"

  As Saury's vines flew through the air, a blue beam hit the Venusaur and completely froze the beams.

  "Psychic," Sabrina ordered, eyes glowing.

  Slowking's eyes glowed as well and Saury let out a roar as he was launched backwards from the Super Effective attack.

  "Slack Off, Slowking."

  Green's eyes narrowed as Slowking sagged slightly, sighing as he relaxed and his body healed over.

  "Saury. Take Down," she instructed.

  Saury stamped a feet onto the ground, catching himself and glaring at the Slowking.

  Then, he tensed up and launched himself across the battlefield.

  Seriously. This was so bullshit.

  "That Venusaur is 8 feet tall, weighs about 500 pounds and is moving like he's one with the wind," Gold said in disbelief, watching as Saury crashed into Slowking.

  "Welcome to the unfair world of Saury," I said boredly, watching as the Venusaur wrapped the Slowking in vines.

  "Use Toxic, Saury!" Green ordered.

  Saury rumbled and spat out a venomous blob that seeped splashed right against Slowking, seeping into its skin.

  The Slowking let out a groan of discomfort and cried out as Saury violently slammed it against the pavement.

  "Giga Drain!" Green pressed, eyes wild.

  The Slowking's struggles renewed as Saury began draining it of its energy, healing himself in the process.

  It almost looked like this was going to be how the rest of the match went, up until Saury let out a roar of pain, blasted backwards by an unknown force.

  I had a hunch what it was though.

  The Future Sight sent Saury tumbling, releasing Slowking in the process and Sabrina immediately pressed her advantage.

  "Psychic!"

  Slowking had a look of determination on its face, heaving Saury and launching him further back.

  "Get up Saury! Seed Bomb!" Green urged.

  Saury pushed itself up and fired off a flurry of exploding seeds towards the Slowking that exploded on impact, sending the psychic tumbling backwards.

  "Wrap this up, Saury! Petal Dance!" Green jumped.

  "Slowking, weather the storm! Slack Off and Amnesia!" Sabrina exclaimed.

  Pink petals began falling around Saury as he began moving side to side in a fast paced rhythm, that would absolutely kill him in embarrassment, before the Venusaur roared and launched them. It flew towards Slowking with a purpose and the slow pokemon tensed up, before getting consumed.

  Saury didn't let up in his assault, just continuing to power the Petal Dance, before finally stopping. The Venusaur swayed in a daze, eyes unfocused as the fast pace and power consumption of Petal Dance left it confused.

  Once the Petal Dance died down, we all saw the sight of Slowking standing there, calm and collected even despite the hellish storm that he had just been battered with.

  Then, his body glowed purple.

  Slowking's eyes rolled to the back of its head as it fell backwards, Toxic finishing off the pokemon on its last legs.

  "Slowking is unable to battle! As a result, Gym Leader Sabrina has no remaining Pokemon! The winner of this match is the challenger, Trainer Leaf Green!"

  A grin split Green's face and she began cheering loudly, jumping on the tired and confused Saury.

  "YES SAURY! WE DID IT! GOOD JOB!" She squealed, squeezing her starter happily.

  The Venusaur gained a bit of clarity in his eyes and he simply wrapped a vine around his overexcited trainer.

  "Venusaur," he said simply, smiling at her as she continued to squeeze him.

  "Magnificent," was all Sabrina said, looking a little wondered by the battle. "Even with all I threw at you two, I was still overpowered."

  Green puffed up at her praise. "It was such a fun battle! You really made us sweat for it Sabrina!"

  "You even looked like you enjoyed making us sweat," I pointed out with a knowing smirk.

  Sabrina's eyes shifted over to me. There was still that natural distaste we had for each other but the gym leader seemed to appreciate the restrictions I suddenly placed on her.

  "I've never once gone into battle blind," Sabrina stated truthfully. "There is a certain thrill… in dealing with the unknown. Ignoring my poor state, it is rather refreshing to see the world from a… rawer viewpoint."

  I nodded, rummaging through my pockets and pulling out my Pokegear.

  "How do you feel about this?" I asked randomly, showing her a picture of our first encounter. The one where she had a gushing nose and if you had no context, made her look like a huge pervert.

  "Wait Silvy! Don't show her that picture!" Green exclaimed with wide eyes, just a second too late.

  Sabrina stared at the picture where she was suffering a nosebleed, with a painfully neutral expression.

  Then, I watched with a delighted expression as a small scowl made its way to her face.

  "I knew you were an abomination," she said in such a low voice, I'm sure it was one step from being a hiss.

  "I knew you were a pervert," I replied easily, glaring at her in return.

  "Huh? Pervert? Who?" Gold said curiously, only to get hit in the back of the head by Crystal.

  The troublemaker held the back of his head. "N-Nevermind. Forget I asked," he sighed.

  I idly snatched the two badges out of the frozen Sabrina's hand and handed one over to Green.

  "That was a fun battle Sabrina. When I become much stronger, we can have a good battle where we can both fight the way we actually want to," I smiled innocently.

  Sabrina's eyes began glowing and Green let out a squeak of terror.

  "I look forward to such an event, Trainer Silver. Now please, get out of my city," Sabrina said, measured and professional.

  "Sorry, we're going to stay here a bit longer. I need to train for a bit longer with the color gang," I smiled innocently.

  "...What did you just say?" Sabrina asked quietly, eyes boring a hole into me.

  "You've got a team to heal. I've got a team to heal. Let's end the conversation now." I clapped my hands and waltzed out of the gym, Green right on my heels.

  As the lingering crowd cheered us on, I smiled at hearing Janine say, "I'm sorry for him, Ms. Sabrina... just please try and ignore him. We really are training here for the time being."

  "Gym Trainer Janine... if you do not keep him away from me, I fear what I will become."

  I snorted in amusement.

  What a drama queen.

  Charcadet was sat on my head, as I regarded my entire team with a pleased smile.

  "We got our badge you guys," I praised.

  While most of my members were pleased, two were not so much.

  "Ares, what's up?" I asked, sitting in front of my Shelgon.

  She was glumly laid out, legs splayed in all directions and I met her annoyed eyes.

  "Shel," she stated.

  I sighed. "We can't win em all girl. You did damn good though fighting a fully evolved pokemon without being fully evolved yourself."

  Ares perked up slightly, gazing at me with her big eyes and I ran a hand against her shell.

  For someone so proud, Ares sure did love my words of affirmation.

  I moved to the side of her and pulled her in a one armed hug, wrapping my hand around the hard shell.

  "Don't worry about it Ares. You win some you lose some but once you reach your apex... once we reach the very top, we'll win them all," I assured.

  Ares wasn't used to losing. Ares was especially not used to losing without even fainting one other member of the opposition. I can understand why she was so put out by this defeat.

  "...Shel," Ares agreed, rubbing herself against me in content.

  I smiled and let her show her affections, before turning towards Oberon.

  "Oberon," I said calmly, watching as he nervously fiddled with his paws.

  He jumped and gazed at me, placing both paws in his mouth.

  "You weren't satisfied with that battle, right?" I asked bluntly.

  He shook his head slowly.

  "Then learn to better control yourself, little man," I said, ruffling the fur atop his head. "You put up a good fight. If you were in more control, that battle was ours."

  He jolted at that, eyes widening. Then, they narrowed in determination and he nodded.

  "Every loss just motivates you to get better because losing sucks. You'll get better in no time, Oberon. Just work on it, alright?"

  He nodded furiously, cuddling me and sighing as I raked a hand against him.

  "Well done everyone. That battle wasn't easy at all. If you guys weren't exceptional, we could have easily lost that," I pointed out.

  Gaia and Loki smiled tiredly at that and Metang huffed in my mind.

  "The next battle is against a fire type. Freyja, I'm going to be relying on you," I said, gazing at my content fish swimming around.

  Freyja jumped at that, gazing at me with wide eyes.

  She was my only member who truly didn't mind not doing Gym Battles. She was afraid that she could cost me the badge if she put up a poor performance.

  "Yep. You're basically my only answer to fire types," I smiled confidently. "I'll be strategizing around using you as the ace, alright?"

  She nodded shakily, not believing that I was planning on making her the ace of this battle.

  "Hey, just trust me. You'll be fine. You know I'm not going to set you up like that. I'm doing this because I believe you can do it," I assured, smiling confidently at her.

  Freyja saw my confident smile and stared adoringly up at me, nodding rapidly and getting a chuckle out of me.

  "Alright guys. In the meantime, we're going to train with the usual people until Team Rocket decides to show up or not. I'll give it a max of one month and if they don't we'll move on and just leave a tip to be careful of them," I advised them quietly.

  My team let out noises of affirmation and I gave them a thumbs up, before deciding it was about time for a nap.

  "Silvy!"

  I looked up at the sound of distress and watched a teary eyed Green tackle me.

  She sobbed against me and my eyes narrowed.

  Who the fuck made Green cry?

  "What's the matter?" I asked quietly, glancing at Janine with a tilted head.

  She shook her head. "She refused to tell me. She just came looking straight for you."

  "Dree is gone!" she cried out, fat tears spilling out of her eyes.

  I raised a brow high at that. "What?" I asked in surprise.

  "I dunno what happened. He was a little antsy earlier but I wrote it off because Nurse Joy said evolution was smooth despite me thinking it was too early!"

  She was rambling hard but I could understand her easily enough.

  "But then today, he just flew off! He was too fast for me to stop a-and I waited for him to come back but he never did!"

  I frowned at that, mulling over what could have happened as I ran a hand against her back to soothe the hysterical girl.

  "W-What do I do?" she asked me, big wet eyes staring up at me in distraught.

  "Oh. Ohhhh," I said in realization. "I think you just need to wait a bit more, Green. He'll be back."

  Green sniffed, lips wobbling. "R-Really?" she asked me.

  I nodded. "You said he was feeling antsy right? There's a reason for that," I explained calmly, some amusement in my eyes that I hid because this was really stressing her out.

  "Promise he'll come back?"

  I pat her head. "Promise."

  She nodded shakily and we went about our day as usual.

  For the entire day, Green practically glue herself to me, nervous energy going down due to my calm air and giving her the balance she desperately needed.

  I decided to forego training today since she clearly couldn't focus and just told Gold and Crystal to go without us...

  But those two just ambushed us as well. Then Janine decided to be there for Green and now we were all just relaxing in a room, playing video games and chatting.

  "I am so bad at this," Janine complained, face burning as Crystal picked up another victory against her.

  "You're just as bad as Silver!" Gold cackled.

  "Shut the fuck up," I sneered, leaning back.

  "What he said," Janine muttered, hitting rematch without any hesitation.

  It was a good thing Pokemon Centers had such big rooms. They were seriously nice and accommodating to all but the biggest of pokemon.

  Green said nothing as Gold and Janine began arguing, causing me to sigh.

  As I opened my mouth, I suddenly closed it at seeing a figure outside our window... our very high up window.

  I smirked and tapped Green, making her look outside.

  "!" Green's eyes widened before she pushed herself up and launched herself out of the room, marching through the door with a purpose.

  "Be right back," I sighed, jogging after her.

  Green was like a bullet but I was in no rush so by the time I made it out, I bore witness to the sight of Green sobbing happily, squeezing Dree like her life depended on it and watching as the ghost tried its best to calm her down...

  All while two Dreepy stared down at Green in confusion, resting proudly on Dree's head.

  "Drakloak's like to care for Dreepy. If they don't have one, they get anxious and start finding replacements," I explained to Green, watching her bear hug the dragon.

  "Though, they normally have one. I'm surprised Dree has two."

  Dree nodded at my explanation and Green sniffed happily.

  "The more the merrier!" she laughed, pulling me into a tight hug. "Thank you Silvy."

  I snorted and laughed. "Yeah yeah."

  Green smiled and rounded on Dree. "You are in big trouble mister! You can't just fly off and not tell anyone about it! Next time you have to tell me before doing something like this! I was worried sick about you!"

  I snorted at the withdrawn look in Dree's eyes and turned on a heel. "Reprimand him in our room. Now that you're no longer depressed you can speak for the both of us."

  "Yes sir!" she beamed happily.

  Crystal and I stood across from each other, gaze equally calculating, as Gaia faced off with Croconaw.

  It wasn't close. Gaia was absolutely thrashing the water type and he was getting more and more furious at how easy she was making it seem.

  Anger seemed to fuel it something fierce though because with a quick usage of Dragon Dance, he had thrown himself back into the fray, fangs glowing an icy white.

  With the renewed speed and power (Crystal's damn Croconaw had its hidden ability by the way), the spar began anew and Gaia's eyes widened excitedly at the slight shift in tempo.

  She was still stronger than him but his ferocity was a good match against her slow it down style. The best way to get at Gaia, was brute force that surpassed her defenses.

  He didn't quite surpass it, but he was certainly trying.

  As their spar grew in intensity, Gaia and Croconaw both let out cries of pain as they viciously attacked each other with teeth and vines respectively.

  The two glared harshly at each other, before twin smiles were revealed and they began glowing in unison.

  My eyes widened in surprise at that.

  "Seriously?" I grunted in disbelief and excitement.

  "Woah!" Crystal awed.

  The commotion stopped and everyone gasped, at the dual evolution currently taking place.

  While there were two evolutions taking place, I only had eyes on my starter of course.

  Gaia grew tremendously, shooting up in height, as the leaves around her neck bloomed out. The leaf on her head vanished, replaced by two antennae and as the glow settled, I noted that her scales had turned a deep shade of green, far similar in hue to when she had been a Chikorita.

  My Meganium let out a deep noise of curiosity and she immediately turned towards me.

  Then, her gaze lit up and she stampeded over to my location.

  "Meganium!" Gaia bellowed happily, vines launching out and snatching me up with ridiculous speeds.

  My mouth opened in shock as I was pulled into a crushing hug and I let out a disbelieving laugh, wrapping my arms around her.

  "You're taller than me now," I laughed happily.

  "Meganium!" Gaia beamed, eyes glowing in joy as she effortlessly hoisted me up and placed me on her back.

  "You remember what I said too. That was what, our first day meeting?" I smiled fondly, running a hand against her neck and getting a happy sigh out of her.

  "Mega," she puffed up, trotting around the field with me in tow.

  I'm pretty sure she was actually planning on becoming my taxi now.

  I sighed with a pleased smile, inhaling the aroma around her and feeling myself relax naturally.

  "We're gonna have to get you a saddle if you really do plan on carrying me as much as I think you do. I can't end up sore from this," I commented in amusement.

  "Gan!" she beamed, accepting without issue.

  She stopped directly in front of the Feraligatr, inspecting her friend with a happy smile and they began chattering, even as she pulled the large crocodile into a hug.

  I took the time to inspect Crystal's starter, whistling at the big guy.

  "Double evolution is kinda cool," I commented, watching Crystal gush over her water type. There was a big grin on her face and she ran a hand against his scales repeatedly.

  "I'm so surprised! I knew he was close but not that close!" she exclaimed.

  I nodded in agreement, watching as Green rushed Gaia next.

  "Wow Gaia you look amazing!" Green squealed, jumping and hugging the Meganium.

  Gaia squealed happily as well, wrapping an insane amount of vines around my companion.

  Without any hesitation, she hoisted Green up and planted the girl directly behind me.

  Then she happily trotted over to my gathering team, preening and showing off to them all.

  "Ganium!" she cried out happily, pulling Loki into a tight hug.

  "Ark," Loki rolled his eyes, accepting it all the same.

  Ares and Freyja both inspected her with appreciative gazes, while Charcadet stood happily atop Gaia's head.

  "We're getting so much stronger!" Green gushed happily, squeezing me in her giddiness.

  To my surprise, I smiled at that. "Yeah we are. We'll keep getting stronger too."

  "Ya see that, Explotaro?!" Gold asked with a wild grin. "They're getting stronger but we won't let that stop us! You're next buddy!"

  The Quilava let out a cry of agreement and I grunted.

  "He should be close to evolving," I said bluntly. "I'm sure with a bit more of a push, he'll get there."

  Gold blinked owlishly. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly.

  Crystal nodded in agreement. "You're so mellow all of a sudden. Well, everytime we see you, you're a bit nicer but this one is too sudden."

  I blinked at that. "Probably because of Gaia here. I've been inhaling her aroma since she was a Bayleef."

  Gaia beamed at that and I sighed.

  "Let's go get you checked out girl. Good job kicking that Feraligatr's ass by the way. We'll count that as your victory."

  The Feraligatr in question shot me the evil eye and snarled but I ignored it.

  Gaia laughed happily.

  Lorelei typed away on one of her computer screens in the comfort of her office, which doubled as her room in Indigo.

  On the other screen (she bought this one recently for... reasons), was a screen detailing information on her nephew, Silver.

  He was a mystery.

  Lorelei loved him dearly but that did not change the fact that there was something strange going on with him.

  "I just don't understand... he's listed as an orphan but he's almost certainly Ariana's son," Lorelei frowned.

  Silver had informed her that he did not have a good relationship with Ariana... but he knew of her for certain. If he was an orphan, that would imply that either Ariana was now dead... or she had given him up.

  This wasn't something she had the answer to. She'd have to somehow ask Ariana about it or wait an undetermined amount of time to prod Silver because Silver was closed off and guarded. Lorelei already told Silver she wasn't interested in him because she wanted to mend her relationship with Ariana and that was true. Asking Silver anything regarding that, would be seen as a betrayal in his eyes, and she refused to prove his wounded heart right.

  It would do no good to force him to speak about it either because Silver was also insane and unpredictable. She had literally no idea how he'd react to something like being forced.

  Lorelei needed patience and a gentle hand that Silver... clearly wasn't used to.

  "What a conundrum," she murmured to herself, choosing to focus on a much more heavy topic.

  Silver was being targeted by Team Rocket.

  Did Team Rocket take Silver from Ariana? Did Ariana give him away? Was that why he had a bad relationship with her?

  There was no point thinking about what could have transpired between Silver and Ariana right now. The more urgent thing was that Silver was being targeted by Team Rocket...

  She grabbed her cup of tea and drank it.

  The reason why, likely tied into why psychics were terrified of him.

  Did Team Rocket turn Silver into a psychic deterrent? Why would they do such a thing? Why him?

  What did her nephew do to deserve such a thing?!

  Lorelei gripped her cup tighter than intended and watched in dissatisfaction as it spilled, only for a beam of ice to hit it, instantly freezing and preventing the drink from spilling all over her desk.

  She sighed and watched as Jynx placed the frozen drink back into her cup.

  "Thank you Jynx," she smiled.

  "Of course, Mistress Lorelei," Jynx replied. "You are thinking of something stressful?"

  "Silver," she replied, observing how Jynx flinched back at just the mention of his name.

  This is what she was talking about. Jynx was her pokemon. Jynx was the pokemon of a master...

  And she was terrified not of Silver's pokemon, but Silver himself... her first year as a trainer, nephew.

  That didn't make sense. Team Rocket didn't do something normal to Silver. To turn her nephew into a person that was capable of terrifying a master level psychic... that seeped into levels of unnatural.

  If this was what they were capable of, it was no wonder he was being targeted by them. Was Silver the only psychic deterrent? Was he the only successful one?

  What did they do to him?

  "Mistress... you are making an out of turn face," Jynx said warily.

  Lorelei took a deep breath and schooled her expression. She noted that she was trembling and grabbed her cup, before realizing her drink was still frozen.

  "I will make you another drink," Jynx decided, grabbing the cup out of her hand and gliding off.

  "What did they do to him?" she whispered to herself.

  Was that why he was so guarded? So cold? Silver didn't trust anyone and he didn't want to trust anyone.

  He only let his guard down around her because he truly wasn't used to such affection. Had Lorelei been the first adult to give Silver what every child needed?

  It was no wonder he didn't want her to tell Lance anything about him. From what her Champion had said, he had basically tricked Silver.

  He probably wouldn't want to know that Lorelei gave him a firm lashing for that.

  Very well then... Lorelei was already intent on being there for him, but she was completely committed to making sure Silver understood he could trust her if not any other adult.

  He was her nephew after all and despite all his faults, Silver was utterly adorable and she would protect him.

  A gentle knock on the door, interrupted Lorelei and she glanced up, sorting through some paperwork.

  "Come in," she stated loud enough to be heard.

  The door opened and Lorelei glanced up, surprised to see little Jasmine on the other side.

  "Gym Leader Jasmine?" she tilted her head. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

  Jasmine blushed and ducked her head, before taking a deep breath and standing straight.

  That was already massive improvement from previous interactions Lorelei had with her. Jasmine was quiet on the best of days and practically mute on the worst. Lorelei couldn't remember ever having a casual or even professional conversation with her.

  Jasmine was competent, she rarely needed to be spoken to or reprimanded.

  "H-Hello Ms. Lorelei," Jasmine greeted softly, shivering as the absurdly cool temperature of the ice masters room, brushed against her.

  Considering she was wearing a sundress and cardigan combo... it wasn't protecting her very well from the cold.

  Lorelei stood up and walked over to her closet, grabbing a long black coat in the process. She made her way over to the child and wrapped her in it without hesitation.

  "My room can be cold to visitors," she murmured gently as she ensured it was covering her completely.

  Jasmine turned beet red and began stammering.

  "T-Thank you Ms. Lorelei," she smiled shakily.

  "Just Lorelei is fine," Lorelei smiled in return, beckoning the girl to a seat. "Can I get you some tea? I was just about to get some for myself."

  "Oh, yes please!" Jasmine nodded eagerly.

  Lorelei sat across from Jasmine and watched as Jynx glided over to the kitchen. "So Gym Leader Jasmine, it's not often you wish to speak to anyone... It's even less often that the person would be me," she mentioned bluntly.

  The poor girl looked very awkward, jumbled up in Lorelei's jacket, but she wasn't nearly as withdrawn as the Elite 4 expected her to be.

  Jasmine accepted the cup of tea with a thankful smile and took a tiny sip out of it, sighing as the heat warmed her up.

  "Just as blunt as him too... Well, to be honest Ms. Lorelei... I'm here because I found out you're Silver's aunt," Jasmine said bluntly.

  Lorelei blinked at that. "You know of that? Silver told you?" she asked in genuine surprise.

  She knew that Jasmine had visited Silver but she wasn't sure of the details behind it. She had been to surprised at the revelation to question the relationship between the two.

  All she knew was that they were friends.

  Jasmine nodded happily. "He mentioned that he would have told me earlier but it slipped his mind and he expected you to parade it to the whole world."

  Lorelei sighed at that. It certainly sounded like her nephew.

  "I'm just surprised. Silver is incredibly guarded... I wouldn't have expected him to tell you that," she mentioned, taking a sip out of her drink.

  The gym leader tilted her head in some confusion. "Well... Silver is my best friend. He doesn't tell me everything but I think he trusts me... I think," Jasmine murmured, not sounding the most sure of that.

  "They are best friends?!" Lorelei thought in surprise, eyes widening slightly.

  Jasmine shook her head hastily at her depressing thoughts. "No, he trusts me! I was basically his only friend until he met Green and we care about each other a lot!" she said, a determined expression on her face.

  Lorelei smiled softly and placed a hand on the teen's shoulder, making her jump in her seat with a startled yelp.

  Adorable. Lorelei wouldn't have believed someone as kind as Jasmine would be friends with her bad mannered nephew but then again, Lorelei was also unable to believe that he and Green were friends.

  "I think Silver appreciates you as much as you do him. I had no idea you two were so close... he just told me that you were one of the few people to enjoy speaking to him," she assured.

  Jasmine lit up at that. "He's getting a lot better! You should have seen him when we first met... He mentioned that you two just recently learned about each other during the S.S Anne?"

  "He truly does trust Jasmine. I never expected that," Lorelei thought in surprise, nodding easily at her question.

  "We did, yes. I had no idea I had a nephew. I've been working on connecting with him and I think I'm making some progress."

  Just talking about her nephew, seemed to completely put Jasmine at ease. He truly was the reason she was breaking out of her shell and that was something that filled her with pride.

  Jasmine grinned brightly. "Silver's prickly on the outside but he has a heart of gold deep down! He always pretends like he's aloof and doesn't care... but he's also the same person who always listens to every word I say before giving me great advice... sometimes! Even when it doesn't seem like he's listening, he'll go and say something that proves that he heard every word!"

  Lorelei felt a swell of fondness form at that.

  Clearly she hadn't put enough stock in Silver and Jasmine's relationship. He trusted her just as much as he trusted little Green.

  "How did you two meet? That's very much a strange happening," Lorelei asked curiously.

  "In Olivine! I found him in my secret training spot training with Loki! He was going to leave but I told him we could share the spot and we began talking from there! He really didn't want to speak to me at first but we made it work and now we talk a lot. He helped me decide to catch a Tinkatink and Ferroseed too," Jasmine gushed.

  Lorelei nodded, smiling at how giddy the girl was—

  The Elite 4 member froze abruptly.

  "Olivine...? Silver was in Johto?"

  "This is news to me," Lorelei said measuredly, schooling her expression.

  "Oh! I didn't mention how we met to Champion Lance! Silver isn't the type to talk about himself so I don't talk about him too much," Jasmine explained.

  "I had no idea Silver was in Johto," Lorelei mused.

  "He's like that. Silver doesn't really talk about his personal life unless you ask... and even if you do, he might not tell you anything. He's rubbing off on me because now I don't talk about those things too much either!" Jasmine sighed with a small smile.

  The gym leader hummed. "We spoke everyday until he had to catch his boat ride! I could never actually tell if he was listening but he really was!"

  Lorelei nodded thoughtfully at that, pieces to a puzzle she had been mentally creating, falling into place slowly but surely.

  "Jasmine I don't mean to sound so sudden with this... but has Silver ever mentioned Team Rocket to you?" she asked carefully.

  Jasmine went stiff, a nervous expression on her face.

  "I won't tell anyone. I just wish to know because I suspect some things," Lorelei explained carefully.

  "W-well... it's just, I told Silver things I shouldn't really have gone into detail about," she admitted.

  The Elite 4 member placed a hand on Jasmine's shoulder with a soothing expression.

  "Don't worry Jasmine. This will be our secret, okay? You will not get in trouble for this. Of course you won't, you're one of the most competent Gym Leaders in Indigo after all," Lorelei assured.

  Jasmine nodded slowly.

  "Well, when I was talking to Silver about the ramping Team Rocket attacks, he had the angriest expression I had ever seen on his face. Silver... I wouldn't say he has an aloof personality because of how mean he can be. But most of the time his expression is distant and stony. He'll rarely make an out of turn face that isn't him smirking or neutral but that anger was... scary," she admitted, frowning sadly just thinking about it.

  "Truly?" Lorelei whispered.

  Jasmine looked distraught as she nodded. "I asked him if everything was okay and... he told me Team Rocket did something unforgivable to him. That's all."

  Lorelei said nothing for a bit, mulling over the information she received.

  "Thank you, Jasmine. I'm trying to help Silver in anyway I know how and you've been a great help," Lorelei said.

  Jasmine lit up. "I want to help Silver too! If he's really being targeted by Team Rocket... we can't let them get him!"

  "We won't," Lorelei said firmly. "Come, how about I share some of my findings with you? In the meantime, we can exchange more lighthearted conversation."

  Jasmine nodded vigorously and Lorelei smiled fondly.

  She could see how even Silver was unable to be too harsh to this girl. Jasmine was rather adorable.

  Lorelei was bothered by something and try as she might, she simply could not ignore it any longer.

  "H-Hello?" A voice stammered slightly in confusion.

  "Professor Elm," Lorelei greeted professionally, gazing at the man with a cool expression. "How are you feeling?"

  The Professor blinked owlishly, before he seemed to realize what she was talking about.

  "Oh I'm completely fine now! Fully recovered after all these months!" he assured.

  Lorelei nodded. "Good. I'm glad you've managed to completely heal. I won't waste anymore of your time so I would just like to ask if you could recount anything you know about that encounter."

  Elm looked a little puzzled but he nodded all the same.

  "Well, I don't know much to be completely honest... but I heard the sound of a child screaming and I went to check what it could have been... and then I woke up in the hospital bed."

  Lorelei pursed her lips at that.

  "Whoever attacked me, didn't seem to be inherently malicious. From what I've seen, they likely would have preferred to not have anyone show up and attacked me out of panic. They then took an inconsequential amount of supplies and... one of the starters. Oh but I was only going to give out two starters this year!"

  "..." Lorelei furrowed her brows.

  Was Professor Elm... perhaps trying to protect the assailant? The words he were saying sounded as if he were making excuses for the thief.

  "And the starter stolen... was a Chikorita, correct?"

  Elm laughed nervously and nodded. "Maybe little Chiko would be better in the hands of someone who actually wanted her. Chikorita is typically the last chosen starter and my two little trainers, Gold and Crystal, were quite set on their picks. It's a bit unorthodox but if the thief willingly chose her, I suppose it may be good for the both of them."

  So he truly was trying to protect the assailant. Did he suspect foul play at hand?

  "Right. Thank you, Professor Elm. The thief has managed to cover their tracks incredibly well but that doesn't mean the League has given up," she assured.

  Elm scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Take your time! Though, if you do ever catch this thief, I'd like to speak to them."

  "Of course. Have a good day, Professor Elm," Lorelei nodded.

  Almost as soon as the call hung up, Lorelei's expression cracked and the woman let out a deep and exhausted sigh.

  "...Fuck."

  Lorelei's entire team stopped what they were doing, in order to gaze at their trainer with wide and disbelieving eyes.

  She did not notice of course. The Ice Master was too busy massaging her temple.

  When Jasmine had mentioned that she met Silver in Olivine, Lorelei's brain began itching in a way that demanded she delve deeper onto such a strange encounter.

  Silver was in Johto... and he hadn't used a Pokemon Center until entering Kanto. It was just too strange to hear that he had been in Kanto's sister region.

  And now that she finished her conversation with Elm, Lorelei could say with some confidence that little and feisty Gaia, was the same Bayleef that once belonged to Professor Elm.

  Silver was the thief. The same thief that kidnapped Chikorita and attacked Professor Elm.

  "That fool," she whispered to herself, holding her head as a pounding headache formed. "What was he thinking?"

  Actually, Lorelei could see exactly what he had been thinking. The Ice Master had spoken to her nephew... she had a somewhat keen understanding of her little troublemaker.

  Silver was someone who would go to any lengths, to achieve whatever it was he desired. No matter what the cost may have been, if Silver was the only one in jeopardy, he would take that risk.

  Lorelei always knew that Silver was completely and utterly insane, the moment she heard about his raid of the Game Corner. It didn't even sound out of character, to hear that he had broken into Professor Elm's lab to take the final starter.

  It said something that instead of being confused, Lorelei had already completely figured out the reason he would do such a thing.

  To get stronger of course. The starters distributed by the Professors were stronger then their wild counterparts, bred to be captured by a trainer.

  So in his unhinged crusade against Team Rocket, Silver decided he needed a strong team to help him.

  She just truly wished, he hadn't jumped to the conclusion that he should steal one because something like that, might actually have been considered child's play to her skilled nephew.

  "Goodness, I don't even want to know how he managed to capture Metang and Ares," she muttered, standing up and making her way to the kitchen.

  The Elite 4 member opened a cabinet and stared at the full bottle of wine in her cabinet, before grabbing it and a cup.

  "Ninetales," she requested, pouring a drink and holding out the cup for Ninetales.

  Her ice fox peered at the cup and manifested two ice cubes, dropping them in the cup.

  Lorelei immediately took a swig of her drink as she contemplated the situation.

  Gaia didn't just accept Silver as her trainer. She absolutely adored him. The only reason Gaia's love for Silver wasn't out of place, was because all of Silver's pokemon loved him.

  Silver absolutely had not abused her at all. It truly seemed like he took her and forged a bond with her. Like Elm had said, it was unorthodox but perhaps this truly was the best outcome for a pokemon like Chikorita?

  Gaia wouldn't have had a trainer otherwise so was any harm truly done beyond the professor being hurt?

  Not to mention... Lorelei just truly realized who Elm's sponsored children were.

  Gold... and Crystal. Two friends of Silver.

  Was it a coincidence? Did those two just happen to befriend Silver, after deciding to travel through Kanto instead of Johto, while not suspecting that he was the thief?

  Lorelei was sure not even an infant would find that convincing.

  ...

  Lorelei took another swig of her drink, before realizing it was done. She poured herself another cup and exhaled.

  "Never has someone filled me with so much stress," she muttered to herself.

  Her nephew was ridiculous. Did he truly raid a professor's lab just to take a pokemon? Not many people would risk such a thing for a Chikorita of all things!

  What was he even thinking?! Was this truly his resolve to eliminate Team Rocket? He would incriminate himself to such a degree, just to get rid of the bigger villains?

  Did all the adults in his life truly fail Silver, to the point where he realized he needed to be bad to deal with the bad guys?

  He attacked them whenever he could... he stole a starter... she didn't even know how he acquired the rest of his members.

  And despite that, he managed to perfectly hide his tracks. Silver was not a suspect at all in the league database.

  His skills in espionage, were unnatural for a child. He was more skilled than most adults, because not even Lorelei had gleaned how good he was at them.

  "I heard the sound of a child screaming."

  ...

  She would talk to him after this mess with Team Rocket was over. Lorelei would get answers out of him at a later date but for now, she would... not do anything too hampering to their relationship.

  Silver was a loose cannon. If Lorelei approached this wrong, there was no way the situation wouldn't end in anything less than nuclear. Whether that meant Silver ended up in prison... or disappeared off the face of the planet.

  Or even worse, back into the arms of Team Rocket.

  Lorelei told Silver he could rely on her and she knew he didn't believe her... so she would prove him wrong.

  Silver was a troubled child but he was not a bad one. Her nephew was just a person who would go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals... but it was not at the cost of anyone he seemed to cherish. He did everything he could to protect Green (did Green know about these things as well?) and he seemed to be keeping Jasmine at a safe distance so she couldn't be incriminated with him...

  Perhaps that was why she thought he didn't trust her before. Silver was protecting her by keeping her ignorant.

  "Silver's prickly on the outside but he has a heart of gold deep down."

  Lorelei sighed, massaging her temple and finishing off her drink.

  "I'm going to take a break for an extended period of time... I will visit Silver soon," she said decisively.

  Was it smart to go to the target of her stress? Likely not... but Silver had caused her this stress so it was up to him to alleviate it.

  Thank you all for the support shown! I really appreciate it. If you have any questions, I'll try and answer them to the best of my ability! If you want a higher chance of an answer just ask me on Discord :)!

  The code is discord.gg/BFFtXAXFU7 so don't be shy! Whether you lurk or not is totally fine with me, you'll probably find answers to questions you have that way too!