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    The white bird Pokémon cawed. Its cry was that of misery–you couldn't help but pity it. The color on its wings, it reminded me of some Pokémon I remembered seeing on my first day, the one I swore would bring me joy for days to come, but I never found out what it could really be? This new Pokémon, though, it didn't bring me much hope. There was a certain tension in the air that arose from it being brought out, as it flapped its wings, carrying pressure between us.

    Cianna gulped as she took a step back and pulled a pokéball from her bag. "Go, Docwah!"

    The curator sent out his own too, with sweat on his face. "Don't let them get away, Granbull!"

    The purple dog had the plushie's back as it took a hit from poisonous projectiles that came out of the unknown Pokémon's wing! "Ehehe!" the woman cackled. "My Suavornderm will bring doom to your sunrays!"

    "S–Suavornderm!" Jake quivered. He looked at me with wide eyes and back towards the Pokémon. He grabbed Cianna's arm. "Come on, stay back with us!"

    "Okay…Docwah, don't give up! I'll be cheering you on from here, you got this!" There was fierce determination from her eyes that I'd never seen before. Sure, it was an easy type match up if we guessed that this Suavornderm was a flying and poison-type, but then again, we hardly knew anything about it.

    Those wings, they shined bright, blinding all of us! The woman kept cackling. "Quick way of giving you false hope, ey!"

    Ergh…Docwah kept missing! I was about to go into battle with Pikachu, but Jake pulled out his pokéball and stopped me. "Ash, don't worry," he tried whispering. "I think we can cover this until the cops show up. Check the other side to find out what's going on there."

    "Got it." That other guy, the trench coat one–Alfred of Nimbasa City, was it? He held a smirk on his face, which made me more concerned about leaving them alone…

    "Watch out, Ash Ketchum! It's not easy breezing beyond this point, haha!" he taunted. "We know what you are…Sinnoh Slump!" I heard a grunt behind Jake's throat, but now wasn't the time to argue over that. Shoot, Alfred was way too keen with my stuff… "Better keep an eye open or we might just take that precious Pikachu of your's. Or maybe even his buddy, the Black Scyther!"

    "Grah!" I irked. Cianna, she was in the same room as us! She couldn't know about any of this…

    She mumbled that word to herself. "Black Scyther?"

    The mouse on my shoulder was getting ready to pounce again. "Pika…" he growled as his cheeks lit up.

    "What?" Alfred taunted. "Did I accidently pick a nerve on you too? Aw, what? Do you actually miss those Rocket-punks–"

    You know what, yeah. He actually might have. Before that crook got any more words to my bud, Cici stepped in. "Hey! I don't know exactly what you have against Ashy, but you're so not going to pick on his pokémon too!" she threatened!

    "Cianna?" I asked, surprised.

    She looked behind. "Take care…" she whispered, as I made my way down the large hall. "We're not backing out because of you and you're slimy words!" she kept shouting at the hunters. "And that trenchcoat is so last year, it's not even retro! Couldn't you have chosen a better cap for your crap?"

    "Yeah, let's go, Ci!" Jake continued. "Drifloon, gush that Suavornderm away!" he commanded, officially pumped for some action! Hm, now leaving, I thought they'd be fine.

    Those hunters, though, I just knew they had some mean tricks under their sleeves! Shoot, they could be trying to track down Shinji if this operation was as big as that hunter claimed it'd be. But who could have sent them, and how did Alfred get free? Man…I had to be silent with my steps down the hall as Pikachu clung onto my shoulder tight, because I just knew that somebody was out there, waiting to strike! All I saw as I kept passing through in front of me, what were supposed to be lively tourists and the such, had fallen asleep, laying on the ground. Some even had their pokémon be forced to rest mid-battle…

    It was getting harder to stay still and cautious. My sneakers, they almost slipped as I tried getting to the other side, but, my eyes…

    I held onto a statue of some ancient Blawsth hero or whatever as my eyesight grew hazy. I was steeping, tumbling, and trying to stay awake, so much so that it was beginning to hurt!

    I fell to the floor, crawling to reach the end point as Pikachu hopped off and tried doing the same. I could spot it, though–another group of hunters tried to take a massive Elego stone away, but they struggled with a glass dome system that was in place. I just needed one more step, just one more…

    Some guy cackled upon my miserable sight, and went on with his business as they kept trying to pull the stone out of its glass case, where its powers were being subdued. I was being subdued too…

    I heard something approaching behind. It came closer, and closer–I had to wake up! I struggled to get a hold of myself, but I did it! Whatever it was, though, took me behind an exhibit case!

    I felt a slap across my face. "Come on, I bet you crawled all the way here yourself, huh?" That voice, it woke me up immediately! Jo? Her Eevee was on her shoulder, but wearing some kind of weird mask? Pikachu was wide awake, and he had one too? Jo also had it on her face…and as I leaned against the case, she put it on mine too! "This mask should keep the Sleep Powder from dozing you off."

    "H-huh?" She acted like I carried a disease or something as her eyebrows unscrunched once she finally had a chance to stay a few inches away from me. I noticed my reflection on the case and huh, would you look at that? It looked kinda like the same mask Shafter used, only sliced in half! "Where'd you get this?"

    "I modified it after mining some ores myself. Bunch of dumb rules Shafter had listed–I was only interested in the filtering system."

    Wait, I remembered once that Miley wanted to go down into those tunnels, but they didn't let her because apparently we were all too young? So, how did Jo get a pass? "But I thought kids weren't allowed–"

    "Dumb rules, dumb questions." she answered bluntly. She yanked my hood and dragged me towards the end of the case. "Do you see those punks? I heard they got a rare Pokémon with them. I want it."

    "Want it?"

    "The only reason why I bothered helping you was because of your Pikachu. And Toshinmac."

    "Toshinma–"

    "My gosh, you're slow. I've heard about you from Shafter, and you seem to do more swell than every other eyesore in this league. I want this to go down faster, so I need your help. Besides, that Jake guy and that poor girl he's with look like they'll need help soon…"

    "What do you mean? How bad did it–?" 

    She kept yanking my hood! "Get out there and beat those guys now!" she commanded.

    Oh, well…Two of those hunters came straight at us as they chucked their pokéballs to the ground! "Go, Mandibuzz!" shouted the male one. The oversized bird quickly whipped up a tale-wind for itself, boosting its speed as the hunter launched some sort of performance capsule at it.

    "Get the ginger ale, Zoroark!" shouted the female one next to him. Jo had Eevee ham at it, with the Pokémon to leave an impression on her. She rolled her eyes as the hunter tried heckling her. "You will not stop our operations this time, little girl."

    "Little boy either!" the male hunter added as Madibuzz grabbed Pikachu while he jumped into the air! "Starry-eyed kids willing to jump hoops of fire only to get burnt again make me sick. Mandibuzz, give that little rat Punishment!" Oh, man, it sent Pikachu soaring high after that one, and he was falling to the ground!

    "Pikachu!" I called.

    The hunter pointed at the Mandibuzz. "See that? That's what you get for overstepping boundaries!"

    "Just who overstepped your boundaries?" I tried jumping forward before that bird could get him again, but then I felt something wrap around my arms and legs as a massive drilling sound was made in the background. "Gah!"

    "Ash!" Jo shouted as I was tied around a string, being reached from the grappling hook of the hunter! These guys, they all had the same device around their arms, and even Jo was caught off guard. She had to stick to her goal though as she kept tackling the next set of hunters that left the stone alone.

    So much for help…

    Some of the Elego ore being drilled flew all over the place. A piece was laying on the ground across my face, radiating toxic electric energy that jolted around the stone. "Well, I guess we really do have luck on our side!" congratulated the female hunter as she went to mine the stone out of the exhibit herself. Jo tried reaching for her next pokémon, unsure whether to fight these guys or her…

    The male hunter walked forward towards me as Pikachu kept shocking Mandibuzz from above, without my commands. The grunt stomped his foot just a few millimeters too close to my face! He squinted into my eyes and stuck his face below towards mine. "You're Ash Ketchum, aren't you?" he shouted aggressively. "Since when was the last time your face ever made it to the big game? If I was you, I would have quit from day one!"

    Yada, yada, I heard this one so many times that it made me want to grab some trainer licenses and break them apart. If I wasn't tied like a Wurmple, he'd never see the end of it. Thankfully (for his case), his eyes widened as he took a few steps back before he could ever nab Doragin's pokéball from my belt holster, with his grappling hook finally letting go of me. The man gulped as he realized that all that gloating was about to get him nowhere.

    I heard footsteps. "Hey! Just what the heck did he do to you!" Cianna shouted!

    "Yeah," Jake added. "No wonder lamos turn to pokémon hunting at the end, they can't even get any real love without stealing from others. Twendeche."

    "Oh, shoot, backups!" the hunter fidgeted. "Why isn't the powder working!"

    "The powder?" asked all the hunters.

    "We found out that you've been getting those sunflora on the roof to work overtime," Jake explained. "And hey, man, no Pokémon would care for somebody treating them like that, if it wasn't their own trainer! Of course, we wouldn't have found out without…"

    Those glowing lenses. Shafter came through the grand hall with Kilnswarda on his shoulder. Behind him, were a couple of angry trainers that just woke up from a short slumber. "You yield an army, you get what's coming." the gym leader scoffed. "Klinswarda–"

    "Suavornderm!" shouted the hunter controlling the poison bird, just behind them all! Whatever damage Cici and Jake did to the Pokémon never affected it in the first place. My heart skipped a beat as it soared through and tried striking Klinswarda, who deflected it with its hammer! It still kept flapping like nothing happened.

    The hunter looked more deranged than I ever imagined her to be. And her sleeve was rolled up to reveal that tattoo… "There it is!" Jo shouted as she sent her pokéball out. "Keibirv, get that thing!"

    The whole room was shouting, "Who's that Pokémon? It's Suavornderm! SUAVORNDERM!!!" People panicked, who was this pokémon? It must have been from some kind of legend because in my eyes, some of these guys were overreacting a little too much!

    They hid in the tanks, behind cases, whatever fitted the bill as Jo went on to challenge the hunter to a full on battle. "Bring it on, bring it on!" she taunted.

    Shoot! While all this was going on, I needed to check on Pikachu! The other hunters were ready to go up against everyone else, but whatever happened to that guy's Mandibuzz? I couldn't believe I was doing this again, but it was for Pikachu's sake! Cianna and Jake's teams must have been so tuckered out by now, with the way they kept sticking by Shafter during this mess. Gah, where were the police when you needed them?

    I lowered my mask as I tried running around to spot them. I finally saw Pikachu and the vulture, right on the tailfins of one of those airplanes that hung up! Pikachu was hanging on the bare edge of it, getting tired and losing his grip. Shoot! And that Mandibuzz flew over and sunk its claws onto me! It sent me across onto a seat of one of those planes, and as much as I always wanted to pilot one, I needed to save Pikachu from that thing!

    Argh…But it'd be too stupid to even try jumping over there, it was way out of my reach. And Mandibuzz was too smart to not fly anywhere close to me, so I didn't have a chance at riding it. I knew Gary warned against it, but now I wished Shinji was in the museum with us…

    Pikachu was just four, three fingers away from falling. I leaned against the dashboard, desperate for somebody–anybody to save him. This had to be the worst day of my life.

    "Pikachu!" I kept crying out. "Please, hang on!" Doragin got out of its ball, surprised at the new sight that awaited it.

    "Dory!" it croaked as it looked down.

    "Doragin, good timing!" I quickly devised a strategy as I explained, "Try making a leaf bed for Pikachu, I know you can get down there, just be careful with that thing flying around…"

    "Dor…" It flapped its wings to make sure it didn't crashland, and I thought it'd be a swell plan of getting Pikachu to safety. He knew what gig was up as he noticed Doragin and was good at taunting Mandibuzz, making sure it didn't notice the other bird making the long, dangerous glide down. Even at his own risk, Pikachu still sent some bolts at Mandibuzz as he hung on.

    Right when it was about to land, though, Doragin got tackled! Argh–it was one of those Zoroark, who already launched it into a full on battle with an instant K.O.! Its trainer mocked Doragin and me as she trapped the bird into a cage. "Hey, everyone! This is an early-evo Doragin, and even it can't get past our schmucks! And its trainer, see up there? All locked like a little damsel in a castle!" Damn you!

    "Ash!" Cianna and Jake started shouting, trying to move forward, but much to no avail as the hunters kept hammering them with their own teams!

    The people fighting below who noticed I went missing wanted to help so badly, but whatever that guy fed Mandibuzz made sure that they just continued fighting their own wars. Any pokémon that had wings would instantly be scoffed off by hunter extras! Shafter, though, had a plan as he went through the battlefield and towards Pikachu's direction. "Klinswarda, hop to it and don't miss!"

    The armored octopus tried sucker jumping from a wall as Mandibuzz pecked Pikachu's last finger! As it pulsed enemies in its way, backwards and towards the ground, I was sweating at this moment, watching, hoping that Pikachu would fall onto it instead! And right there, at that very moment…

    Klinswarda missed, from about a short few centimeters. "Pikachu!" I shouted! Shoot! His fall, it triggered my reflexes as I almost jumped out of the airplane…

    I shouldn't, I knew I shouldn't…

    Because the last thing he'd want would be me in danger…I knew, but I waited so long for him to get out of the hospital too–I just couldn't bear to go through that again! I just needed one grain of luck, just another chance! Right? Right?

    I held onto the edge of the door of that airplane, hanging onto it as I watched Pikachu fall…almost all the way…

    And he did the unthinkable. Right there, midfall, he lit up! All yellow, bolting with electricity, at that moment, he managed to supercharge his way towards the other wall! "Pikachu!" I shouted back as he kept running against that wall across from me!

    "Pika, pika, pika…" he kept muttering as he boarded onto my airplane instead and kept running. "Pika-chu!"

    He got that Mandibuzz and everyone below into a trance as he jumped and bolted towards it! He chucked it towards the other wall while that Suavornderm Jo was fighting couldn't take it any longer and flew towards the glass ceiling, shattering it from above.

    Some pieces were falling towards the ground as Jo watched it fly far, almost hitting her! "Joanne!" cried Jake as he pulled her away from the hazard.

    And, gee. Pikachu may have been safe as he sent Mandibuzz crash landing towards the center where he got off just fine, but I was still stuck. My grip may have been strong but I was not going to pull a strain from this stunt. "Um… help!"

    "Offiche polizo emorah! Skarmory!" shouted another familiar voice from below. "Get that boy now!"

    And there was the silver bird, who cawed as it helped my other arm wrap onto the door. I got up and immediately hopped onto the Pokémon. "Hey, Jensen!" I waved back as we swooped below.

    He only shook his head as the criminals finally got apprehended (gosh, and they were all getting lucked out by the police force!). "Ketchum, you sure are a magnet for trouble…" Jensen commented as the others met up with me, including Pikachu!

    "Chu!" he said as he nuzzled his cheek against mine! Jensen also retrieved the case containing Doragin, freeing it! "Pikachu!" he greeted.

    "Dor…" it replied back, rolling its eyes, all tired as it hopped back into its ball to rest.

    "Hey, Ash! What was that?" Cianna asked in pure astonishment. "Oh, hey, Officer Jensen!"

    "Oh, well hello there, Ms. Dyer, sorry that you managed to get dragged into all of this…I have work to get back on to, so I suggest that you all move to it!" he commanded to not just us, but to everyone else getting in the way of the police tape. Me, Jake, and Cianna scooted along with Jo as Jensen only stared back at the ones with the tired Pikachu and Eevee. "Ash, Joanne," he warned as he apprehended who was once the Suavornderm trainer, now looking entirely weak beyond belief. "Stay out of trouble!"

    "Hey, you got beef with Jenny too?" Jake asked Jo, who kept up that scowl on her face.

    "None of your concern, Meyer," she uttered as we exited the doors.

    That sure was a real warzone in there, I was impressed with the fact that she managed to keep the fight up for so long! "Joanne!" Ci asked enthusiastically. "The way your Doragin fought that thing was so cool, you even drove it off!"

    "Yeah," I added. "Say, since you said that I was good enough, don't you think we can battle soon–"

    "Heck no–" Jo tried answering back as she got interrupted by something pretty disturbing…

    We heard a large set of coughs from inside the museum and peeked back, through the windows as people were finally leaving. That woman who used to control Suavornderm, she was vomiting black spew all over the floor… "Ugh, what was that?" Cianna asked, squeamish.

    "I bet she had a pretty bad meal, ey? Ey?" Jake tried covering as he punched my shoulder.

    "Oh, yeah! Must be some of that Octillery Spaghetti I saw a store down here sell!" I tried fibbing.

    "Oh, yuck! No thanks, then…" Cici said, all in a disgusted manner.

    "So…" I said as I went back on my conversation with Joanne. When I turned around to face her, though, she had her bag on the ground as she pulled out roller blades? "Jo, when can I battle you?"

    She got up as she finished strapping those wheels to her boots. "Defeat Urie. Then you can fight me."

    "Urie?" I asked, curious.

    "You'll know when you meet him. Last time I had to run into him, he told me he's been waiting for you. But…" she said as she trailed off. "You're always late, Z-face. And he's probably another inch closer to Verdori City. That Pikachu of yours, though, you might give his a run for its money…" And she finally rolled off down the street, not giving a care for anything in her way as she almost bumped into a woman pushing a stroller.

    "Say, did somebody say Verdori City?" Miley asked as she was accompanied by Shinji and her other pokémon.

    "Hey, Miles! Shinji!" Cianna said as she went to go hug them.

    "We came because somebody wanted to see the champion up close," Shinji remarked as he looked back at Miley.

    "Yeah, it was so amazing, he was beating up some bad guys near here and the news caught all of it, so we had to see him! Guess we didn't come soon enough, though. I bet the police are all inside, huh?" she asked with disappointment.

    "Aha," Jake replied back. "I was wondering if he was actually with them or not, but, dude, I bet he was so amazing…"

    "Aw, Shuckles!" Cianna remarked. "I wanted to see Lucille again. But oh my gosh, you guys just missed it! We had to go fight some bad guys in there and guess what?"

    "What?" Miley asked back as concern rose in her face.

    "We had to fight a Pokémon we've never seen before! It was so pretty…" Cianna remarked as she clasped her hands. "And scary!"

    "New Pokémon?" Shinji asked quietly.

    We heard the exact same caw again, now right in front of us! Miley gasped. "Quick, Gothita, Psybeam!" Cianna stood behind me and Jake as Miley kept doing her thing. The Suavornderm kept cawing, and somehow Miley or her pokémon didn't mind!

    "Suav!" the bird said as it flapped towards the ground, not yielding another poison dart, but calling for a surrender.

    Shinji's face squirmed as Miley went through her pockets. "Miles, no–"

    "Go, pokéball!" And there she had it. In one fell swoop, Suavornderm was caught. "Yes! See that?" she boasted to Cici. "Whoo! So, what Pokémon is this? It's gotta be from some other region–it's like that Ho-ho-ho thing or whatever, right?"

    "Miles, that's a Ho-oh…" Jake corrected her. "And we don't know what it is either."

    She scanned her PokéDex over it, only for the results to amount to nothing. "Huh?" One thought led to the next as she turned to the only "person" in the group that would know about it. "Hey, Shinji? You know a lot about–"

    "Eh, not a thing! I've never seen anything quite like it before. Hey, I know, let's get those folks over at the Institute to investigate it, I bet it's a rare Pokémon that nobody has ever seen before!" He walked over and nudged my shoulder. "I bet that's a gazillion points for Sammy too, ey? Ey?"

    "Um, yeah!" I answered back as we played answer roulette with Cici.

    "Wow!" Cianna said, astonished. "We may have discovered a new Pokémon, that's awesome. Way to go, Miles!"

    "Eh, aha, aha!" She still wasn't sure if she should celebrate the fact that she caught it like it was held on a silver platter for her, or be more worried over the fact that Cici may be stepping towards the wrong location…

    "Okay…" I said as I put my hands into my pockets. "So, what do we do now..?" I just realized that my bandage was getting super loose! I had to wrap it extremely tight; I needed to get a new strand soon…

    "Hey Ash, why do you wear that all the time?" Cianna asked innocently.

    "Um, really bad accident!"

    "Wait, really?"

    "Yeah–really bad accident!" It felt so awful to interrupt her, especially after what she just went through… "Anyways, we gotta get to the Pokémon Center, right? I bet Docwah and the others are all tired."

    "Yeah, let's go…" Fwoo! Coast was clear. At least, I thought so…She kept her hands clasped, but I could tell the whole situation was really bugging her as we got closer to the Center near the hotel, which was just around the corner from the museum. She then spoke up as she realized I was walking a little faster than the others! "So, Ash, is it true that you have a Black Scyther?"

    "A–what now?" That freaking hunter! He could not keep his mouth shut! "I didn't know what that guy meant with that. I swear I've never met him before."

    "Hm, are you sure about that? He called you a Sinnoh Slump, so, what happened?" She noticed it, it wasn't adding up.

    Jake sighed and rolled his eyes, slowly getting annoyed by the interrogation and couldn't wait for a disaster to potentially happen. "Come on, Ash, just show her your arm already."

    "Huh?" I asked. "No way," I was not going to let her know about the game! And I was so not going to let this be a chance for these guys to find out what was really behind the curtain. Shoot! And there was Shinji, leaning against the wired fence as this all happened, having his head tilted away from us.

    "Hey, Jake, I really don't mind…" she explained shyly. "If it's that bad, then it's alright, I'm fine– "

    "No, it's not alright." he kept insisting. "Cianna, you have every right to know! Shinji?"

    Grr…that Reaper! He put his hands up. "Well, guess we're busted, ey? Kid, just show her the arm–"

    "I said no!" I shouted in my hoarse voice. My decision was fully fixed and you could not convince me otherwise.

    Miley spoke up. "He's right. Cianna, you shouldn't be digging any further than this…"

    "Miley, really?" Jake responded back. "You know how much it affects us–"

    I decided, at that moment, to run off! Then I felt somebody run up in their platformed boots and grab my arm. "Hey, let go–!"

    "Wait, Cianna!" Miley shouted from down the street.

    Cianna almost tore the bandage right off. I wasn't going to let her have it, no matter how badly she wanted to know! I shoved her hands away. "Stay back," I warned, pathetically.

    Her eyes widened as she hid behind Jake. "Ash, I just wanted to know what's wrong…I want us to be friends! But I can't really be good buddies with you if you're hiding something important from me." She decided to walk forward again. "And I don't care how much it hurts, I want to know right now!"

    I gulped. And the look on Jake's eyes told me that he wasn't going to look away from this either, and I didn't want him to pick a fight with me. My arm, the free one, kept bobbing against my side as we stood in front of each other, silent.

    "We could battle it out if you want, since we're going to the Pokémon Center anyways. If you win, then it'll be fine…I won't mind…You're a good battler anyways…" Oh, you poor girl. She already knew that she was picking a losing battle. I just–I just couldn't stand it anymore!

    I showed her the arm as I tore the bandage off right in front of her. "Secret's out, you win."

    She gasped, as she recognized something similar from the woman she fought earlier. "Oh my gosh. Ash…not you too…"

    "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Cici…it was just too dangerous." I admitted, with my head tilting low.

    At that moment, Shinji finally explained himself as he zipped by me. "You see, he played a game once, a pretty rotten one at that! And without him, you wouldn't be meeting your's truly…Allow me to properly introduce myself, Cianna. I am, the one and only, Toshinmac." he tried admitting playfully.

    "No way…" she said as her whole world changed at that moment. She really couldn't believe it–I could tell there was that part of her that sincerely doubted it all, but we all had to face it at some point. Ugh, how would I get myself out of this one?

    "Don't worry, I'm nothing like the legends!" Shinji kept explaining and explaining as I began walking away. "Kid, you going somewhere?"

    "Back to the hotel…I'm willing to bet that Pikachu needs an actual Nurse soon–he probably got exposed to some of that Elego stuff. I'll be there if you need anything." I said as I could feel the abundance of static sitting in my shoulder, which usually wasn't a good sign at all.

    After leaving my pokémon behind at the Pokémon Center, I sat all alone on the sofa in our hotel room, as I heard the laughter once more. "You're the one?" that ghost kept mocking. "You run off like a wee Torchic and play circles around girls. You should be ashamed of yourself, twende–"

    "Argh…shut up!" I said as I tried covering my ears, hoping whoever it was would just pipe down already. I looked back at my bag, which was already packed and set for adventure.

    An idea started brewing in me, a really stupid idea at that. I knew that it was so tempting, but I could never try that again. "You can never run from your duty, hero. Or should I say, zero?"

    "What do you want!" I kept asking out loud.

    "Silence, as everyone else does," There was a knock at the door and the cryptid, I swore almost evil voice, ended.

    "Hey, Ash?" Cianna?

    "Pika-pi!" Pikachu?

    I opened up. "Oh, hey, Cianna," I greeted as Pikachu jumped onto my shoulder again. She gave me Doragin's pokéball too.

    "Nurse Joy said she couldn't find anything all that wrong with him. In fact, he seems as lively as ever!" she explained.

    Hm, that did put a smile onto my face. "So…what brings you here?" I asked awkwardly.

    "I just wanted to see if you were alright. And...I just wanted to say sorry for pushing you like that."

    "Sorry? Cianna, you did nothing wrong. You just wanted an answer. In fact, it's probably all just my fault anyways–"

    "Well, technically, Shinji blames himself for that. He said that he was sorry for putting that mark on your arm." she said as she wrapped her hands against her skirt. "Er, I guess I should say Toshinmac. I never knew he was a Pokémon either–that's, like, super duper awesome! You know, I was always afraid of Toshimac growing up, but I never knew how sweet and kind–"

    "Cianna," I asked as I turned back to her. "How much do you know?"

    "Um…he only explained your arm, that's all…"

    "How much did he know about my arm?"

    "Um, that you got that because he's a Pokémon from some other world and needs your energy to stay afloat here, that's all. But he won't stay forever though, so it seems pretty fine for the most part! It's like having a temporary friend almost!" she explained with relief. "It also explains why none of us have ever seen a Suavornderm before. I never knew that there really was a whole world living right underneath our noses! I want to learn more about it!" she said in glee.

    "Cianna, you're a really good person. But I think it's best if you stick your nose somewhere else; he hasn't told you the full story either."

    "Huh? What do you mean?"

    "There's a reason why we never told anyone about this–"

    "Yeah, ‘cause it's Freaky McDeaky!" she tried explaining.

    "If he ever told you anything else about how to access that world, stay out of it."

    "Oh. please, I tried asking him, but he avoided the whole question and told me to check up on you instead. I gotta leave, though. Nurse Joy said all of my pokémon should be healed up by now–"

    "Wait, Cianna!" I said before she closed the door behind her. "We're still friends, right?"

    "Oh, ho, ho! Friends? Of course we are!" She hugged me then pulled out her Dex to send me a message. "See, I just sent you a whole lotta smilies, L-O-L! We're B-F-Fs, Ashy!" Phew! We were still buddies! "Anyways, let's head back to the others! I think they're still worried about you."

    "Alright, just let me get the–"

    "This?" She held the bandage.

    "Thanks!" I was about to wrap my arm again, but then the ink under my skin squirmed as I felt it poked against that thin layer of tissue on me. I gasped, and so did Cianna as she must have noticed something more than me.

    "Oh my gosh. Ash, are you alright?" she asked with concern. "That thing, does it hurt?"

    "No, I just never felt it before…" I said as I continued trying to reapply the bandages. "Let's get going, Cici!" I smiled back at her anyways. She nodded as we walked through the door.

    We ran back down and the others greeted me. "Hey, welcome back!" Jake shouted as I hopped off the last couple of steps. "All our pokémon are healed up, so I guess we better start heading on–"

    "Oh, don't worry, I already got everything set up while I was gone!" I explained.

    "Everything?" he asked strangely. "Even all my styling product and–"

    "Oh, no. Just for myself…"

    "Youch, selfish much?" Miley inquired suspiciously. "Well, whatever, at least you're ready!"

    We packed up and bid our goodbyes to Cianna by the gate. "Bye-ah! I'm gonna go berry picking over at the village up north, but we can meet up again at that contest!" she explained.

    "You bet! Goodbye!" I said as she hugged us all. While she left, I texted her something.

To Cianna,

I'm seriously sorry for what happened in the museum earlier, I really hope you don't deal with more hunters after this. You've been too kind, let's really have a battle when we meet up again, ‘kay?

- Ash

    I got a beep back immediately.

heya ashy!

okie, okie! btw dat next gym is gonna be against vndanna and shes like, totes crazy abt grass pkmn powders liek shes gonna make em sleep, poisoned, whateva! they say dat shes esy tho but leik, watch ur bacc…if any of u guyz strggle tho, u can alwys catch dat mrkrow dat keeps flying round u guys! nnyways, gotta go, buh-bye!

:) :) :) :) :) :D

8(>▽<)つ   (z^▽^z)^•w•^z

<3 cici!

    "Hey, how come she never sends me any smilies?" Miley complained.

    "Hm, I wonder why?" Jake joked.

    "Anyways, we gotta get going to Verdori City if we're ever gonna catch a glimpse of that contest!" She started running before us.

    Despite all this, I seriously didn't want Cianna to get any deeper to this like we had. I didn't need somebody else worrying about me, and at the same time, I didn't need that person to come into the clutch of the Reaper. Cici was such a sweet person, she didn't deserve to go through any of this! I had to get to the bottom of this before anybody else decided to play that game! Toshinmac too, what did Shinji do all those years ago?

    As we travelled to Verdori City, eventually the gang wanted to rest in an actual building for once, so we decided to enter a local village and booked a stay at a small, yet humble motel. I guess when it came to coming from rock royalty, Jake got all the dibs on all the best establishments Blawsth had to offer (and food)! Never have I ever had a bad night or a stiff bed in the region–we always got the best balcony views and services! Man, I just knew it was going to be wild for him to book a hotel in Verdori–I mean, that was the place where random celebrities and top trainers liked to hide in sometimes? Yikes, as much as I wanted to see a familiar face, I just really hoped that nobody recognized me in that metropolis. Although...they did have a nice Game Center which I really hoped I could sneak into!

    Anyways, this motel had a private telecommunicator device for us to use, so we could talk about whatever we wanted to Professor Oak without raising suspicion! He was back at his lab and gained data from our recent findings, particularly of that Pokémon we found at the museum.

    "Hey, Professor, this is the Suavornderm I caught!" Miley said, pushing me aside as she let the Pokémon perch along her arm, showing it off to the screen.

    "Well I'll be darned!" Professor Oak said with wide eyes. "Seems like there's a lot more of these stories to be worried about. Colt may have had a point…"

    Of course, with him needing to catch up to everything, he had to hear the news of another incident I involved myself in from Gary. He was surprisingly more lax about it than I thought he'd be. Oak was actually pretty excited over what this card game business could mean for the future of pokémon research?

    As I learned from Sammy, back at the Institute, that place wasn't really ran by a stand-alone professor, rather a bunch of real well-qualified researchers. It was sort of this hub for any major research that went on in this part of the Pokésphere, as well as being a top destination to officially get licensed as a professional researcher and just being a really good starting point for anybody who wanted to get into the field. A good amount of the trainers we ran into from Blawsth were already students that got a leave from school! Sam mentioned once that due to current events, he was now more aspired to become the Professor for the region.

    It was so much easier for somebody who lived in Blawsth to enroll instead of a foreigner like Gary though–there was a reason why they've kept the language up for all these years. So much was confidential research, and they didn't want anybody spilling the beans over new material. It could attract more hunters, like the ones we fought earlier, so it was best to have an entire language barrier up instead of potentially risking something. However, there were some exceptions (like me!), where sometimes, you're allowed to have one translator if it was an emergency.

    "I can't believe people in this region really made those stories up about this Pokémon?" Oak continued. "Winchester said something to me once about ancient Blawsth trainers being able to tame almost everything, but most likely some stories were greatly exaggerated to explain certain heros' attributes. This is really some fascinating stuff we're seeing about Suavornderm though–a poison-flying-type Pokémon that shoots projectiles as a means to attack? People from ancient Twinling City thought that the Ho-oh from the Johto region followed them over there, so at some point the legend merged with whatever Suavornderm was capable of, back then…" he thought as he ate his noodles. "It's funny, people around here claim they see Ho-oh flying sometimes too, haha! It really is a good time to be a pokémon researcher!"

    "Yeah," Miley exclaimed. "And I can't believe I'm at the front of it!"

"Hey, Miles," Gary said from the background of the lab. "Better be careful about it! You could have gotten into some serious trouble if the Suavornderm stories were true."

    "What can I say? Sammy said it was a symbol of peace, all the way in Stahlotoh City!"

    "Yeah, because it was trying to clear up the mess of enemies…" he brought up.

    "Well, don't be a pessimist, Gary," the Professor chastised. "You should be more like that Sammy-Boy. He's got a lot of vigor and passion for this sort of research–I'm betting that he's going to make a great researcher some day! Maybe even a full-fledged professor; he even has the same name as me…" he pondered as he tipped his chopsticks to his chin.

    "Grandpa…" Gary sighed as he face-palmed.

    "Oh, sorry! Got a little ahead of myself here, son. Either way, there are some great things hidden inside whatever's in that inky goop that Toshinmac fellow–er, should I say Shinji is hiding." The Professor reclined back on his chair. "But you know, I can't believe I actually got a chance at it, meeting the Terrible Beast of Blawsth himself, right from my camera. He's really a Pokémon? From what these reports Sammy keeps sending say, he appears to have a human cloak on almost daily. Ash, do you still not know anything about this?"

    "Um…I don't really know yet…" I answered honestly. "Isn't it like those zoroark though? Sometimes it's to not attract attention?"

    "Yeah…" Gary thought too as he leaned over his grandpa's chair. "But couldn't he have picked anything else to disguise himself as? And why that form…"

    "Who knows?" Miley added. "Hey, do you think he's dated anybody in that form?" she joked as she laughed. Sweat collected upon mine and Gary's face as she told that cruel joke. She didn't know half of it, and I was pretty sure the Professor was unaware too.

    Professor Oak simply laughed alongside that remark. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time a legendary Pokémon was said to be caught in an act like that! Which makes me wonder, though…" he started pondering again. "If it's all true, then how many are currently sleeping in society as humans?" He got up from his chair as his alarm clock pinged. "Well, I guess that's a question for another time, because it's time for me to take my medication. I'll see you two some other time–good luck on the league, Ash and Mileson!"

    "Miley," she irked.

    "Oops, sorry, I've been struggling with bad memory recently! Well, looks like I better get to it with the bottle then, bye!" he said as he left the screen.

    Gary only shook his head. "Gee, is it true that the Professor's memory is going into flunk?" Miley asked. "Sam said something about being worried in a text message once…Ash, how bad was that accident–"

    "Oh, bad," I uttered.

    "So bad…" Gary reinforced. "Gosh, even Pikachu was all screwed…Hey, Ash, where is he?"

    "Oh, with Shinji." I explained.

    "Yikes…Can't believe he really trusts himself all that much with that thing…"

    "Hey, if he's all good with him then I'm fine."

    "Well, I'm not going to stick around for this…" Miley said as she exited the door. "Let's go, Suavornderm! I promised Gothita that I'd buy it that parasol we saw at the little boutique here, remember?"

    "Oh, yeah," I recollected. It was all goth and stuff, with white bows and black velvet fabric. It was a little pricey, but of course Jake lended her his wallet for this occasion. "Better not buy it anymore bows though, ‘cause it's got plenty of those…"

    "Don't worry, I know what's best for my pokémon!"

    "Well," Gary said as Miley shut the door. "I wasn't planning on saying much except to return to Mahtverin ASAP once you beat Vendanna. We need your vitals, Ashy!"

    "Don't worry about it, I'm just wondering if these guys wanna take it the long way, or short way?"

    "Which way is the rocky way?" he asked, curious.

    "Long." I said, stretching my arms.

    "Gee you never change. I feel bad for those guys sometimes, even Jake. Seems that he wasn't built for the outdoors." he said with a voice I couldn't tell was either told in pure sarcasm or riddled with concern.

    "Yeah, he breaks after a mile, but he's been adjusting well! You can get them to send me a car instead if it's that important, though."

    "Oh no, you do you–just know those vitals are important in case the Institute ever needs to mangle with the law to catch any potential hunters. A good test could help us detect people who've played that game more easily…and it's funny that Toshinmac tore all that evidence up! An Institute fellow has leaked that Jensen has stockpiled some files and assumed that they were all just gang members, just a bit more scattered than they usually are. Like they're in different sectors, teams, and uniforms, which is gonna make it a much tougher shell to crack open!"

    "Jeez, I didn't know that the hunting stuff was getting this bad. But you can count on me to get those vitals done soon!" I saluted.

    "Well, good luck on the gym battle then! Goodbye and don't let the Reaper strike!"

    "Sure won't, bye!" I heard a caw outside as the call ended and knew exactly what to do next.

    I went back to our motel room and put a bag of pokéfood into my pocket as I walked out again, to the deep crimson and violet hues of the leaves on this route. I pulled out the bag as I knew, somewhere around here, that little crow Pokémon was hiding within the shadows of the leaves.

    "Murkrow!" it said as it saw me opening the bag.

    "Here you go!" I replied back, letting it perch on my shoulder. "Hm, you're weirder than Shinji."

    I made a habit of feeding it while it followed us. I thought I had it clear as I chucked a pokéball at it the other day and it still wouldn't go in! What was its deal? Was it some pokénomad or something? Miley and Jake had a go at it, but it never wanted to go inside! They fought to the bitter end for it, and it still broke free and flew away! It was nice to have a bit of company, though, as it scared off some hunters from us once.

    As I kept giving Murkrow pebbles, the grass crinkled. Jake just came back from a battle with Ponyta coming out on top as usual. He seemed a little more depressed than usual, so surely either Ausgabby or Looney ended up at the Pokémon Center again. Ponyta tried cheering him up, but then spotted the bag. "Oh, hey, Ash. See that you're hanging with Murkrow today, ey?" he guessed.

    "Jake! How did the rest of your team do?" I asked, running up to him.

    "Huh? How'd ya' know?"

    "Well…" I continued as I fed his Ponyta too. "You're always down whenever one of your Pokémon ends up in critical condition. I thought you'd get used to it by now."

    "Used to it? Ash, how did you get used to it?"

    "It's like what that Nurse said, they're all sturdy! But, man…that first day I got Pikachu, I wasn't sure he was gonna make it."

    "What on earth happened on that day?" he asked, morbidly curious.

    "We got attacked by a bunch of Spearow because I threw a rock at them," I laughed. "Big newbie trainer mistake! It was during a storm too and Pikachu let out so much energy that we all fainted in the end!"

    "You fainted?"

    "Yeah–thought it'd be the end of it. Thankfully, I woke up and was able to get to the nearest town and got to Nurse Joy pronto!"

    Jake stood there with silent aghast. "Jeez, you're a lot more durable than what I'd imagine…" He scratched his neck. "Where's Pikachu right now?"

    "With Shinji, heh. I'll be honest, I rarely see him by me anymore…he's always hanging out with him instead of me these days…"

    "Yeah, Pikachu got really attached to him. Hey, Ash, you ever get scared that one day you'll lose him?"

    I blinked twice. "Excuse me, what?"

    "Oh, nothing. I guess I was thinking too loud…" He went back into the motel while Ponyta stayed behind.

    "What's up with your trainer?" I asked it. Ponyta snorted back as it ate the last of the food. "Hm, hey, Murkrow, Ponyta, let's check on Shinji and Pikachu!"

    Shinji said that they were going to a well near the town since that was one of his favorite places to go whenever he dropped by our realm. They weren't there, though. In fact, I saw sparks behind a tree! "Pika!" Pikachu shouted. Were they fighting? I didn't feel funny at all, so was it just Pikachu? What were they up to?

    We ran behind and Pikachu was attacking a trainer's Lucario while Shinji stood behind him and…gave commands? "Alright, now get under him and do that attack again!" That attack again? At superspeed, Pikachu did as Shinji told him, and just like that moment he fell at the exhibit, he charged in the air and went forward into Lucario's back! "Now, finish it with Iron Tail!"

    Lucario turned and tried blocking but Pikachu forced its palms to split open for his attack! And right on the snout, Lucario was done! "Just what the heck was that!" shouted its trainer.

    "What you just saw was a special move he whipped up. Courtesy to his real trainer, of course!" Shinji turned to me. "Kid, I think Pikachu discovered something truly special!"

    That trainer stared back at me, with his jaw wide open. "You? Oh, shoot!" He froze his palms into place. "I'm all outta Pokémon, so I gotta run to the Center–hasta luégo!" he said as he stored his Lucario back and ran!

    "Hmph, bet that guy's confusing you with that other trainer, ey?" Shinji asked, chuckling.

    "I can't tell. I guess we're both menaces!" I laughed, trying to brush off the embarrassment that came with being mistaken for the other guy over the past few days…I had trainers go up to me the other day, all while eating some of the best takoyaki outside of Kanto…Was this because they thought I was the Pikachu-Bike-Guy, Urie?

    Well, I had just about enough of him! I had to meet my match–my most formidable rival yet, and I was planning on catching up to him quick, so quick that I wanted to put his motorcycle out of commission! Once we met, we could truly see who had the better Pikachu! Y'know, I thought one of my former rivals, Ritchie, had a more competent Pikachu, but Urie may have been the real deal…I was going to be the one to challenge that man…and live!

    Or you know, win.

    "So, Pikachu, you really want to practice what you did back in the museum?" I asked.

    He scratched his neck bashfully. "Chu…"

    "It's a little reckless, so he's been trying to do it in small doses." Shinji explained. "If he sees that other Pikachu, he'll take him down with him! Right, ammeni?" he said as Pikachu playfully sparked his cheek against his after getting on his shoulder.

    Sure, I felt that spark too as Shinji did what he does best and transcended any damage he got down to me, but I thought that I was the only person Pikachu did that with…I thought back to what Jake tried saying earlier, "You ever get scared that one day you'll lose him?" Thankfully, that fear went away as Pikachu jumped onto my shoulder and sparked at me! "Aw, Pikachu! So, how was that well in the woods?" I asked Shinji.

    "Well, well, well, I loved that well! He didn't, much…" Shinji pointed out.

    "Pi, pika." Pikachu shrugged.

    "It was something one of my first trainers built! He was so inspired by the stories of my other trainers before him that he managed to solve the town's reservoir crisis. I'm still proud!" He weeped a little. "Shame that he got arrested for money laundering later on and was put on execution after trial…I can still hear his voice, deep down!"

    "Pika…" Pikachu said weakly.

    "Well, well, well, you haven't had to deal with so many losses over the course of the years–"

    "Pi!" he corrected him!

    "Well, those don't count ‘cause they were temporary! I'm talking about casualties, the plague, famine, war, the usual. They were all such brave men and women…And I can never see them again."

    "Pi, Pika-pi!" The mouse pointed at me while chattering.

    "Eh, that really happened? I guess Ash is way more sturdier than we all thought he'd be–who knew! Y'know, kid, that just makes the card falling into your hand a whole lot more reasonable!"

    "Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.

    "Well, everytime this guy talks about you, it just blows my mind that such a person exists!" Shinji answered sincerely. "And you never talk about it. You're barely fifteen, collecting checks since ten, ammeni! Now I feel way more obligated to say libs aran kroi…"

    "What did that mean again?" It was a while since I last heard that phrase, and I never got around to asking for a translation (but, hey! It made for a great Nuvantics tune!)…

    "Life is too good, but that's just the shortened answer! The full verse is 'Libs aran kroi, torah riftah', meaning, 'Life is too good, to waste in such short notice'."

    "What? I'm not wasting life!" I scolded.

    "You never were until you picked up those plane tickets, kid. You had so many amazing feats, and you were going to throw it all away because your mommy told you to rest for another two months? She sounded very worried for you y'know. Or how about at Mt. Silver–"

    I raised my voice. "Pikachu, you told him about Mt. Silver!"

    "Pika-pi!" He played innocent as he hopped back onto Shinji instead, hiding underneath his hood.

    "If you thought I knew everything back there, then, boy, oh, boy, mi brenshon, I know…" he taunted.

    I gasped. "You–you–you–you don't know anything about me! "

    "Yes, I do. When the card chose you, it was because you were actively thinking about it. Tsk, tsk…remember what I said? You wanted things to end–"

    "Yeah, bu–but, not like that! You, you!" I kept shouting. "I bet all those things they said really were true, huh? Well, guess what, I'm not like you, I'll never be like you, and if what I'm getting at what you're implying, then, you're just more messed up than me! You monster!"

    He raised a brow. "Kid, where did all that energy come from?"

    I thought back quick…to that radio call with Gary, back in Stahlotoh–I thought back to her! "Alice Belmout." Shinji's eyes widened. Now I had him… "Does it ring a bell? I know, you're the reason why she's gone–"

    "No, you don't! Don't be so pretentious–you don't know a lick about me…" he growled.

    "Oh yeah? Explain that car accident then."

    "..." He stood silent as Pikachu went back to the other pokémon.

    "Or how about anything that happened the last thirty years–"

    "You know what? You really are pretentious! Don't pretend that you've been here your whole life, because you were off on a different path until you decided it was good to come here!"

    "And I've been regretting it since I came! Shinji, I already did my–"

    "Mom, I already did my time!" he mocked with a slightly raspy voice. "It's just a cast, get over it! Let me come over there right now! I'll come back home, I pro–"

    "Shut up!" I shouted at him.

    "How long will it take for you to admit it?" he continued. "You're still a reckless child, no better than day one–" I growled and his eyes widened again as I tackled him onto the ground! He turned into that thing again as he overpowered me, sending me backwards as he pointed his scythe towards my face…He changed back though after a drop of ink fell on me. "You're a real stupid kid, you know that? You can be real smart too…Ketchum, you confuse me. You really do."

    "..." He got off me and brushed some dust away from his hood. I stood up. "Hey, you never answered who Alice was to you–"

everything to me! Everything…You don't know how much I mourn her. It's everyday…" He turned around to face me again as I felt those cold, dead eyes that haunted me the first day I met him. Those angry pupils full of nothing but darkness. "I loved her, Ash. I loved her!" he shouted as he trailed off, zipping far through the trees, and I'd imagine back to the motel.

    "Urgh!" I said as I really felt it. Curse him, he really did take her! "Freaking punk! Come on Pikachu, let's–" All the other Pokémon, they already left without us…I guessed they went back to the motel before him. I started heading back too but…that'd be the same direction Shinji, A.K.A. Father of All Absol, Duskull, Murkrow, and Darkness, Plague Bringer Toshinmac went off to. Curse my luck…

    I decided to go forward anyway and knocked on the door. Thankfully, Miley was back to greet me, with no Shinji in sight! "Ash, where's Pikachu and Ponyta?"

    "Huh?"

    "Shinji passed by and Jake wanted to have a word with him. He said that you two had an argument, what's up with that?"

    "Huh? None of that's important–"

    "Yes, it is! I bet that's why the other pokémon aren't here with either of you, getzoot! We gotta go find them anyways, c'mon!" She dragged me by the hoodie as Prewhammie shoved its horn in front of me.

    "Gothita!" said the little pokémon as it tipped my cap down with its psychic powers. It got on the water pony and opened its parasol up.

    I readjusted myself. "What did Shinji tell you?"

    "Not tellin' since you love keeping quiet to yourself! Y'know, you seemed better than our own champ at first, but you just keep getting lamer and lamer the more you try hiding from us. Give it a break!"

    "Can we just not bring up whatever the heck is wrong with me for one second? "

    "Or what? Scared of showing your true colors off? Maybe you are a real criminal mastermind…" she scoffed.

    Just as we were about to cross the road, Shinji and Jacob were already on the other side. "Oh, hey, ‘sup guys–Oh…hey, Ash." Jake said in a flat tone. "Look, if you're going to bring something up, just zip it. I'm not in the mood to hear more whining. Especially on the road; you know that we gotta pack up soon."

    "Hey, kid, where's Pikachu and Ponyta?" Shinji asked, neutral.

    "That's what we're trying to figure out…" Miley answered. Thankfully, Murkrow was flying about again, as a feather fell onto her shoulder. "Oh, sweet! Ash, it's that Murkrow, maybe it'll know!"

    "Oh, hey! Where's Pikachu and Ponyta?" I asked.

    "Muuur-krow!" It flapped onto Shinji's shoulder.

    "They found a trainer match outside the Center and decided to go watch," he answered for it. "Come on!"

    "Pikachu!" I shouted as we got there. He shocked both me and Shinji!

    "Ugh…" Shinji muttered. "Hey, I know we're not in the mood, but–"

    Cianna was in town! She was petting Ponyta, and she looked a little sad… "Oh, hey, guys." she said depressingly.

    "Cianna, you sick?" Jake asked.

    "Oh, no, no. Just got my butt kicked for the third time in the row…All my pokémon are at the Center…But, hey, since we're all here, let's go to Verdori together! It's just right after the next route, then we'll catch that contest right on the knick of time!"

    You know, this did help lighten the mood a little… "Alright, but once your pokémon heal up, we gotta battle!" I challenged her!

    "Alright–wait. I have an even better idea! How about we do tag battles? Jake and I are on one team while Miley and you can be on the other!"

    "Sounds like a great idea! How about it, Ponyta?" Jake tried suggesting. It breyed in delight. "Yeah! Just no Pikachu…"

    "Yeah, sorry, buddy…" I answered.

    "Pika…" he groaned back at me.

    "Hm, tag battle? I've been itching for one for a while now…" Miley had her arms behind her neck. "Let's demolish them like a herd of Durant, Ash!"

    "Yeah, and we'll come back at you like a Night Slash on your Gothita!" Jake teased. With its psychic abilities, the Pokémon messed his hair up like a bunch of wind blew on it. "Hey, I can't see anything like this!"

    We laughed and had that match once her pokémon were ready to battle. Somehow, Ci and Jake got the best of us!

    We headed back to pack up. While everyone else were outside, with their stuff ready, I was putting the last of my things away as Shinji got off the sofa. "Kid, before we go, let me ask you something: Since you're the type of guy who likes to make a bunch of promises, promise me to never mention Alice in a conversation again. And I'll never mention the incident, to the best of my abilities." He held out his hand as I zipped up my bag. "Deal?"

    "Deal." We shook firmly and went on outside with the others. I wasn't sure how long this deal would last, but I guessed it was a good enough stalemate, for now…

▶TO BE CONTINUED

►NEXT CHAPTER