Young Writers Society

Katya | On top of the mountain, facing Team Rocket

“ALVA!”

The calmness with which Katya had operated up till now had gone, replaced with a murderous glint in her dark green eyes. She flung a few of the Jigglypuff out of her way as she strode forwards. (“SQUEAK!”) “Give her back, or I’ll turn you into a spot of grease where you’re standing.”

“Four!”

Mandy sniggered back at her. “If you want your Eevee back, you better hand over the meteorite, little girl.”

“Don’t give it to her!” A boy in the background shouted as a Paras leaped onto a Rocket goon’s Koffing, pecking it with a fury attack.

“Three!”

“Why...” She turned to the boy who had spoken last. “Should I listen to you when you obviously messed up my brilliant, brilliant plan?” The boy took a step back, eyes wide open. Katya’s hissing could sound remarkably like a snake when she wanted it to, after all. She turned to Mandy.

“Two!”

“I want Alva. If you hand her over to me, it’s a deal.”

“One!”

“Deal,” the woman chuckled. Simultaneously (though Katya waited that extra second for security), the two femme fatales traded--Mandy dropped Alva from the bag and Katya threw the meteorite towards Mandy.

“Launching Lure Rocket!” There was a blast beneath the ground that shook everyone off their feet except for the working rocket grunts. The Jigglypuff clones faded, and Mandy bent down to pick up the meteorite. In the center of the crater, a rocket only a bit larger than a person launched into the sky, leaving a vapor trail behind it that covered the top of the mountain in a shimmering silver fog.

“You are the dumbest little thief,” Mandy cooed, “giving into a hostage situation like the sucker you are...” She gave the meteorite a good dusting off before tossing it into Andy’s arms. “Place it.”

“VREE!” Alva suddenly launched onto Mandy from the ground, canine teeth glimmering evilly in the light overhead, and landed directly on the Rocket’s face, sinking her teeth into the latter’s nose painfully.

“EEYOWWCH!” Mandy gripped the Eevee by the neck and tried to sling her off, only succeeding in getting another bite, this time on her head. “OWOWOWOW! My BEAUTIFUL HAIR! GEDDIT OFF, GEDDIT OFF!!!”

“I’m coming Mandy!” Andy looked towards Gastly for help, but the Pokemon was, for some reason, snoring. “Gastly, wake up!” Andy aimed a kick at Gastly, only for his foot to pass through it. He landed squarely on his back. “Owowow...” A cloud of orange powder dusted over the man’s nose, making his muscles lock up like stone.

“Clefairy count to forty. Moon Ray warming up.”

“Moon Ray?” One of the boys who’d interrupted peered at the center of the crater where Clefairy were beginning to gather around the meteorite. It was the center of the vapor trail--the lure they had mentioned.

“Wait,” a girl said, “Clefairy evolve when exposed to a Moon Stone...”

“You don’t think the Doctor’s Meteorite could be--”

One of the boys hastily brought out a Pokeball. “Rose, return!” All the multiple Jigglypuffs disappeared, and Katya realized he was responsible for the main mess-up. She was going to have a word with him later...

“That’s,” Mandy began, staggering up from the ground while holding her face, “right.” She cut her eyes at the grunt working the machine and pointed at the Clefairy. “Boys and girls and twerps of all ages! We present to you the Night Of A Hundred Clefable!”

“Who are you calling twerps?” Katya towered over her prone figure--which looked rather odd, seeing as she had the shortest height of everyone present. “If I remember correctly, you just about had your face bitten off by an Eevee. Thus, you are less than twerps--you are a Pokemon snack. Alva, would you do me the honour of kicking her butt?”

Alva raised a paw. “Vree!”

Katya grinned wryly at Mandy. “See you later - or not. Alva, use quick attack!”

“Moon Ray--Firing!” Everything halted on Mt. Moon. Eevee, in the midst of her attack, was held suspended in the air. Katya couldn’t feel the ground beneath her feet, almost as if gravity had shut off.

There was a deep hum, a reverberating tone in the center of the crater just before a blast of light cut through the rocks, spouting into the night sky. Katya stared wide-eyed into the light alongside her floating Eevee.

“Wow,” said the boy who had interrupted earlier.

The ray of light swelled, blaring like sunlight at noon, forcing Katya to cover her eyes. The sound grew as well, roaring and echoing, and suddenly joined in by the sound of singing Clefairy.

And suddenly, as quickly as the light had come, it vanished, leaving the crater glowing a luminescent green--each jagged rock coated over in light like prisms.

And, as the fog cleared, gravity returned. Heavily.

Katya hit the ground with an abrupt Umph.

“They all evolved!” A girl shouted, followed by Mandy cackling.

“We know it and you know it too! Team Rocket! Prepare for trouble and catch those Clefable!”

“Ow ow ow...” Andy was still on his back. Mandy looked around - all of her squadron had, unfortunately, disappeared during the battles.

She called out again. “I said, Team Rocket! Catch those Clefable!” The remaining goons were either hiding behind rocks or dancing with each other in confusion.

“Give up, Mandy. They’re a bunch of idiots. We know it, you know it, we all know it.” Katya smirked, shooting back Mandy’s own phrase right back at her.

“You’ll regret those words, you smug little thief!” Mandy grabbed a Pokeball from her side and began running towards the Clefable head-on. Andy staggered to his feet and tried to do the same, limping after her.

But the weirdest thing happened as they both ran. First Mandy, then her idiot partner, then the other goons, began lifting into the air, stairway-style. When they realized it (which, to be honest, took way longer than it should have), they both flailed. “Mandy, I’m afraid of heights!” They air-swam towards one another until they embraced.

The Clefable were singing, chanting in unison while they held up their arms.

“What...what’re they doing?” The boy with shaggy black hair (she had to learn all their names soon) took a step back towards his group of friends.

“Fabellius Metronomicus.” The group all gave a weird stare to the source of the sound. Katya tried not to laugh.

“Fine, I’ll turn it off,” he said, dejected.

“Clefable’s Metronome. Using a mystic power, Clefable are capable of manipulating objects telepathically. Metronome may take the effect of many abilities depending on the skill of the Pokemon.”

“Sounds like they’re gonna have fun,” Shaggy said.

“Idon’twannadie.”

“NeitherdoIyouidiot!”

“Clefable!” the Pokemon shouted in unison as they launched the duo and their goons into the black sky.

“Looks like they’re blasting off,” said the girl with blonde hair.

“At the speed of light, I hope.” Katya inserted.

Nick | The edge of Pewter Town

The journey back down the mountain was a lot faster than the slow slog up. Thank goodness, really -- Nick didn’t think he could take much more excitement today. The morning was crisp and clear, though this didn't fill Nick with his usual energy and vigour -- he'd had a poor night's sleep atop the mountain where he had stayed awake to protect his prize.

He clung tightly to what remained of the meteorite. The rock’s rough surface had crumbled somewhat after its brief encounter with Team Rocket. In fact, it seemed to Nick that the meteorite was actually still crumbling -- small chucks of the rock were still flaking away even as he held it. Even more interesting, though, were the areas of glistening white that were becoming visible beneath the outer layer. Very strange, he thought.

“So let me check whether I have this right...” said the new girl, Katya. Her voice reminded Nick of ice, snow, and faraway places. By her outfit it was clear she wasn’t from Pewter City -- perhaps not even from Kanto at all. “Let me see: David, Eve, Art, Nick, and my rock.”

Nick hugged the meteorite a bit closer. He had removed it, hot and still glowing, from Team Rocket’s machine -- that made it his. He needed it to trade for a trainer’s license. Katya’s only claim was that she’d seen it first.

“I think you’ll find it’s Nick’s rock now,” said David.

“But I did have it first,” she countered with a sly smile. Nick couldn’t pin it down exactly, but there was something he didn’t trust about her.

“This isn’t getting anywhere,” said Eve. “But we’re taking the meteorite back to someone who owned it before even you. So the matter isn’t up for discussion.”

“And,” said Art with unrestrained glee, “my Pokégear says we’re almost there!”

He was right, of course. Ahead the track widened and shifted into the classic marble of Pewter City road. It had taken almost half the time to descend the dizzying heights of Mt Moon than it had to climb it! While the others were feeling the distance, Art appeared to have enough energy for all of them.

Perhaps it was the new Pokéball, or the new Pokémon, or some of the other great luck that Art was enjoying at the moment. He was utterly undeterred by the second encounter with his old friend, the shiny Venonat, and was still riding the high that always came after a successful capture. Nick was happy for him, but at the same time he couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. It must be nice to be so sure you can even keep the Pokémon you catch, he thought.

They walked quietly for a bit until David broke the silence.

“How’s Rose holding up?” he asked. “She battled well against those Rockets.”

Nick felt himself fill with pride at the mention of his Jigglypuff. Even he had been impressed with her abilities -- it reminded him that Pokémon battles weren’t just about brute strength and raw power, they could be about surprise, maneuverability, and tactics too.

“Yeah,” he said, a smile finally returning to his tired face. “She’s grown pretty tough for a Jigglypuff.”

“Oh really?” It was Katya again. “So you are the one whose Pokémon disrupted my brilliant plan, eh?” Her voice tripped slightly, like she was trying to suppress an accent.

As quickly as it had arrived, Nick’s smile vanished.

“You see, I’d quite like to ask you about that,” said Art, coming to Nick’s rescue. “Please tell me exactly what your so-called ‘brilliant plan’ consisted of. Because it looked to me like you were causing as much chaos as those Rocket Goons back there!”

“Well.” Katya sent a stark glare at Art that made him shiver. “I had the meteorite and I vas - was, going to get a Clefairy as well. And because of Nicky--”

“It’s Nick.”

“--because of Nicky here, I lost both.”

“Seriously?” Art looked at Katya in mock terror. “You were taking on an entire group of Rockets just to capture a Clefairy?”

Katya smiled at Art, baring her teeth at him in a rather vampiric manner. “Silly little boy. Who do you think scared away most of them in the first place?”

David nodded cautiously, an almost subconscious sign of approval. Nick clung tighter to the meteorite.

“I wouldn’t sound so surprised about that,” said Eve, ignoring Katya’s remark. “Team Rocket have evolved just about every Clefairy on Mt. Moon. Can you imagine how scarce those Pokémon are now?”

“Sorry Nicky, but it is true.” Katya patted him on the back condescendingly. “Maybe I can teach you how to create less trouble, no?” Unseen to him, she quickly reached into his pocket and lightly flipped out some berries.

By general consensus the group ground to a halt. David had stopped beside a Pecha berry tree. The others followed his stare as he broke into laughter.

“I don’t believe the things we find in trees,” he managed between giggles.

There in the tree was, quite possibly, the last Clefairy on Mt. Moon. It was fast asleep on one of the higher branches and, by some bizarre twist of fate, had somehow avoided the Rockets’ ritual. The group gathered round the base of the trunk and stared.

“The odds,” Art said with a this-day-cannot-get-any-better grin, “the odds are miniscule -- near impossible!”

“The only one left of a mountain of friends,” Nick murmured.

Katya clapped her hands together in delight. “Ah, this is better than I could have hoped for!” She brought out a dodgy-looking Pokeball. Before the others could react, Katya pitched the ball perfectly at the Clefairy. It descended to the ground, creating an awful amount of racket. Both Nick and Art stared at her, aghast, as it settled.

She’d caught the Clefairy!

“Sweet mother of Magikarp...” said Art. “You didn’t even weaken it!” A moment’s pause. “I’ve got to have a look at that ball.”

“Listen,” said Nick, finally a frown creased across his forehead, “I know you’re only travelling with us to Pewter, but there are a few things you should learn. Like teamwork, and respect for others!”

“Oh, indeed.” Katya walked to the ball and picked it up before turning around and facing the group--with a slight smear across her cheek. “I do know those values. What are you implying?”

Nick said nothing. He just stared at her face.

“Is there something on my face, Nicky?”

“You’ve been eating Rawst berries,” he said with slow realisation. “They don’t grow for... for miles -- where did you get them?” It was mere seconds before his free hand reached his recently emptied pocket. “Did you steal them from me?”

Katya shrugged at the incredulous looks of the entire group directed at her. “I was hungry. What do you expect?”

Nick turned away and started walking quickly towards Pewter Town. His head was down and his eyes scrunched up. David glared at Katya before moving to follow him.

“Come on Katya,” he called as he walked away. “Let’s get to Pewter so we can say ‘goodbye’ to you.”

Art and Eve followed him without a word, leaving Katya trailing after them. “Oh come off it. It was just a joke...” She muttered to herself. “Everyone takes things so seriously!”

Kristine | Vermilion City

"Ow! Stop kicking me," Jason snapped, shoving Hayden's foot away. Hayden muttered an apology, wrapping his arms around his legs to keep them from slipping. Though the blush wasn't seen in the dim light, Kristine could easily detect his shyness and resumed their game.

"I spy something pink!"

"Pink's the dumbest color to come up with," Jason said. "The only pink in here is you."

"Nope! That would be incorrect!" Kristine said, her eyes sparkling. Jason grumbled, not wanting to get into that sort of debate.

"Your earrings?" Sin said.

"Bingo!"

"Yachtzee?"

"Uno!" Kristine giggled when she and Hayden said it in unison again. Jason seemed to be losing patience and pulled out his pokedex in an attempt to find some distracting entertainment. "Alright, Sin. Your turn again!"

"I spy something..."

Jason spoke up during the pause. "If you say pink, I swear to--"

"--pink."

"Kristine's shirt?" Hayden asked, holding back his laughter. Kristine couldn't seem to control herself this time however.

"Indeed, Hayden!" Sin said, smirking at the stressed Jason next to him, who hung his beating head. "If it bothers you so much, you should go buy yourself some pink gear. It would certainly provide some more options in our exciting, Cloyster-trapped games."

Jason ignored the quiet laughter and got up on his knees to peek outside. That was rather awful timing on his part, as he toppled over at the sudden movement of the entire Cloyster. Everyone held their breaths, Kristine nearly paralyzed on the spot, as they felt a couple guys carry them off, complaining about how the apparent heaviness of a simple Cloyster shell equaled a Snorlax.

"It hasn't been six hours already?" Kristine whispered uneasily.

"Only about an hour," Hayden replied, checking his watch.

"Guess they're getting a head start on the loading," Jason said. Amazing how his attitude dramatically changed in a serious time of crisis. Not that being carried off in a Cloyster shell was very cataclysmic.

"I just hope they don't drop us," Kristine said, holding her breath.

No one seemed to find any reassuring words to that, though they probably didn't care either. Everyone kept quiet and held their weight in place as much as possible so as not to get caught -- or throw them off-balance. The men seem to take much care though as one of them dropped Sin's and Hayden's end of the clam. The gang fell on top of each other as they appeared to slip downhill. Kristine made a small shriek, curling up in the fetal position to protect her neck ('cause that's what the schools taught you, right?), but when the other guy got a grip on the weight, they waited with bated breath--

--except Peach, who popped out of his Pokeball, whether by Kristine accidentally falling on top of it or his own free will. The Pidgey wasn't afraid to voice his opinions. Jason wasn't afraid to jump on him and silence the Pokemon.

"Did you hear that?" the guy still holding the Cloyster managed to ask. He kept readjusting his grip, slightly jostling the Cloyster every now and then.

"Hear what?" the other one asked rhetorically, sounding exhausted. With a deep breath, he heaved the other end and they continued on.

Eventually, they were finally set down onto the ground, Peach still wriggling in Jason's grasp, Kristine still completely stiff. The men walked away, mentioning something about "loads more to load".

No one dared to breathe, listening intently to what was outside. Kristine wanted to get out of that shell if it was the last thing she would ever do, but she also wasn't going to make the first move. She was watching Jason and Sin's focus thinking through the conditions of their environment. Even Hayden seemed to listen intently, but no one had to stop breathing to hear another pair of guys speak and drop their item nearby.

They had to get out of here before their way was blocked for sure.

Eve was glad to be off the mountain. The whole way down she had been sure she could still hear bats squeaking, and had to stop herself from ducking at imagined movements of air. To get back to the flat path had been one of relief- but a resigned one. Eve wasn’t sure what to make of the girl they found on the hilltop. Something about Katya put her on edge, and she didn’t seemed to be the only one with reservations.

Soon enough, they were back in town, and Eve could smell something appetizing.
“Nick,” Eve ventured, “do you want something to eat? I can go grab something, it’s no trouble-”

Nick didn’t look up. “I’m not hungry.”
Eve cast a glare at Katya, but the girl didn’t seem to notice. If she did, she certainly wasn’t phased. Why did she have to eat Nick’s stupid berries? Now he’s all sad.

“Could we maybe buy some more?” Eve didn’t need to explain what she was talking about.

“They’re not from around here.” David explained quietly. “If there is any around, they would be very expensive.”

Eve blinked. “So there might still be some around?”

“In a specialty store maybe. They’d be expensi-”

“Oh, who cares.” Eve waved a hand, shaking her head. “If it makes him happy, I’ll pay.”

Nick perked up a little. “Really? I’ve heard about this little shop around the corner from the pokecenter, I hear it’s very good.” He paused, and shook his head slightly. “I hear they are really expensive, too though- honestly, I can wait till we get somewhere Rawst berries grow. There’s no point wasting funds on things I can find later, right?”

Eve smiled a little, relieved to get Nick talking again. “Don’t be silly, I’ll replace the ones you lost.”

“Are you sure?” he seemed hesitant to accept.

Eve rolled her eyes inwardly. Why is it so hard for people to just take what they want from those who are willing to give it? “You can call it a favour or something, if it makes you feel better.”

Nick paused, and nodded. “Okay. I’ll find some way to pay you back.”

Eve beamed. “Perfect. But you,” she swang around to meet Katya in the eye, “can’t eat them. Got it?”

Being used to getting her way, Eve didn’t bother confirming that the new girl understood and agreed before turning around to face the others again. If there was muttering from behind her, Eve certainly didn’t notice.

David nodded once. “Good then. But we can do that after we get your license, buddy.” He grinned at Nick, pointing to the looming academy.

Nick visibly swallowed. “O-okay.”

Nick | Pewter City Pokémon Academy

All five of them stood in Dr. Bernstein’s Pokémon-less office and shivered in the cool clinical air. Only Katya seemed truly at home in the air-conditioned climate while Nick, again, felt tendrils of despair reach up inside him. How could this man hope to understand anything about Pokémon if all he did was sit at a desk and read research papers?

“Remind me of your name again,” said Dr. Bernstein, pointing at Nick with the end of his pen. “Mick or something, wasn’t it?”

“Nick, sir.”

“I thought so,” said the doctor. He was still staring intently at some photocopied sheets on his desk. “You were the boy who gave me these fascinating observations of flora and fauna encountered in the field, correct?”

Nick nodded. He still cradled the meteorite in his arms, but Dr. Bernstein had been too distracted so far to notice. Every now and then Nick took a sideways glance at Katya. She appeared to be committing larceny in her mind by the way she was looking around the room. Just her presence made Nick uncomfortable now, and he was trying his best to ignore her.

“Actually,” Nick managed, “I was only lending them to you. To show that I’m competent enough to earn my trainer’s license.”

Dr. Bernstein frowned and gestured to the pile of notebooks on the side of his desk. “Well I can’t steal them from you, Nick.” Art gave a barely concealed snort at this. “If you want to take them away from Science then it is only a loss to both you and the general public.”

Nick, as before, surprised the arrogant doctor by slamming something down on his desk. This time, it was the meteorite. With his hands now free he scooped up his notebooks and silently stuffed them into his bag.

“My meteorite--!”

“Impressive, isn’t it?” said David, nodding in Nick’s direction. “And you only have Nick to thank for that.”

Katya looked as if she was about to say something, but a cool glare from Eve stopped her in her tracks. Momentarily, at least.

“My meteorite--!”

“That’s correct,” said Art raising an eyebrow. He didn’t seem impressed with this scientist either. “It is, indeed, still your meteorite.”

Dr. Bernstein opened and closed his mouth like a startled Goldeen. His face had paled and he appeared to be in a state of shock. Suddenly colour rushed back to his cheeks in an impressive transition from white to red.

“What the blazes have you meddling kids done to my meteorite?!” The transformation would have been terrifying if it wasn’t so comic. The doctor’s eyes bulged and his hands clenched. He stood up quickly, his chair tipped backwards and fell to the floor with a crash. Apparently, he was not a happy man.

“We found it and returned it to you,” tried Nick, his eyes searching for the best in the doctor, hidden as it was. “Like you asked? For my extra credit?”

“Extra credit?!” Dr. Bernstein shouted. “Extra credit? You incompetent children have ruined an invaluable scientific find! Look at how much rock this has shed! Just look at it!”

The meteorite was in a pretty poor shape. Most of the crumbling outer shell had fallen away to reveal a milky white core. For some reason it still seemed to glow -- that alone made Nick think the rock was actually more interesting now, but it appeared that Dr. Bernstein didn’t exactly share his enthusiasm for the unknown.

“And to think,” the doctor spluttered on, “to think that I was going to give you all Advanced Trainer cards today!” He produced a set of laminated cards from his pockét and threw them onto his desk, hard. Nick flinched and noticed his friends doing the same. All, that was, except David and Katya.

Nick felt David’s arm around his shoulder. “Come on,” he spoke slowly and comfortingly. “This is going nowhere. Let’s leave the idiot to mess up his own lab. At least we tried.”

Katya, however, had other ideas. She drew the attention of the whole room when she stepped forwards to meet the doctor’s ire. There was no particular melodrama in her actions, but when she looked up and met his eyes, Nick felt the electric crackle of tension in the air. Finally, when the suspense became unbearable, the girl in the green jacket spoke.

Katya | Inside Dr. Bernstein’s lab room

“You seem to think,” her eyes pierced sharply into the older man’s as she spoke slowly and quietly, a dangerous hiss ever-present in her voice, “that we are your little errand-boys and girls. You also seem to think, that after sitting and snoring here as comfortably as a Snorl-ax on vacation, and letting us do all the work, letting us face an entire group of Rocket goons, that you can talk to us in that way. Well, let me tell you something. If it was not for us, you would not have that meteorite back in the first place.”

As Katya spoke, she sidled slowly towards the cards, unnoticed by anyone else in the room. “Don’t you dare sit there, and tell us we are incompetent, you oversized bag of leftovers.”

He spluttered angrily, turning even redder if that was possible. “Listen here, you little--”

“His head looks like a Tamato Berry,” Eve whispered to Art.

“Did you call me little - ?!” Katya growled, her face heating up to the colour of a Pecha Berry. “You have some right to talk, you slow-witted - ”

“Now they look like a fruit salad next to each other.” Art murmured back.

“You’re...” Nick fumbled his words in his very best attempt to sound intimidating. “You’re nothing but a cheat and a liar!”

Katya turned around and glared at Nick. “Leave the trash talk to me, country boy.” She sidled even closer to the cards, almost bumping against the table on which they lay, before turning back to the doctor. “Personally, old man,” she clapped a small but rough hand on the man’s shoulder, “I think you are more idiotic than even any Rocket I have ever met.”

He suddenly reached up and brushed her hand off rather sharply, and Katya bumped against the table. “OW! That hurt!” She closed her eyes as if she was in pain. “I will make sure you are fired for this, old man. How dare you raise your hands to me!”

“What - but - I didn’t - ” He spluttered, clearly confused. “I was just - ” He took a deep breath and stared right back at her. “I will not be insulted in such a manner in my own lab! Get out before I report you to the authorities!”

“How dare--” Katya started, before David grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the room, followed suit by the rest of the group. She squirmed violently. “Let go of me, I have more to say to that old man!”

“Stop making such a racket!” He whispered back at her. “There’s no use in standing there and arguing. It’s not getting us anywhere anyway.”

“Says you!” She hissed back. But before he could ask her what she meant, they were already in front of the reception. David immediately let go of her just as Art nodded with a small smile at the girl sitting at the counter.

“Bye then!”

A few moments later, they stood outside of the Academy, back in the freshness of the daylight.

“So...”

“...yep.”

“Look, a penny!”

“That’s a rock, Nick.”

“...oh,” he sighed, but put the pebble in his pocket all the same. “This really isn’t my day, is it?”

“Maybe it is, maybe it is not,” Katya slung an arm around his shoulders. “But I have something that might cheer you up!” With that she flashed a bunch of cards right in front of his face.

The entire group stared at her.

“The cards!” Art slapped his forehead. “Of course.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, when she hit the table after that tiny brush-off he gave her, I knew she must be faking it,” he explained. “I couldn’t figure out what she stood to gain from it, though.”

“Very smart of you!” Katya nodded approvingly. “You did not think I was standing around and arguing for nothing, did you?”

“So that’s what you meant.” David rubbed his head sheepishly.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Art
Pewter City

“And done!”
Art pressed print and watched as a photo of Nick inked its way onto the blank trainer card. It was a pretty good job, really, even if he did say so himself. He handed the print to Nick and added in an undertone, "As far as the Kanto government is concerned, you and Katya are now officially Trainers."
“I guess,” David announced with a grin, “it’s Gym o’clock!”
Everyone (aside from Katya, who simply smirked as she looked down at her new card, and Nick, who was holding up his new card and admiring his photo) cheered and scrambled after him, except for Art who looked at his PokeGear muttering “What on earth are you talking about, it’s only a quarter past two...”
“Figure of speech, homeboy!” Nick exclaimed with a smirk, flinging an arm around Art’s shoulders. He was clearly out of the doldrums and back to his usual cheery self.
“I’m not at home, Nick. I’m wandering Pewter City with you.”
“Oh, wow.” Nick winced. “You’re kind of a lost cause, Artie.”
“Right back at you... um... dude?”

Nick lowered his voice. “Come on, I think I know why you’re a little down.”
Art raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”
“It’s that receptionist at the Academy, isn’t it? The one who complemented you on... on... talking not so much.”
Art went slightly red. “That’s a unique way of putting it. Also, I have no idea what you are referring to.”
Nick nodded slyly. “Ok, but I’m right here if you wanna talk about it.”
“I can assure you,” Art muttered, quickening his pace to catch them up with the rest of the group, “that there will be no need for that.”

You guys know better than I do what happens at the Gym, so I’ll leave it here. Sorry it’s so short.

David | Pewter City Gym

“TEN-HUT!” There was a clap of thunder as boots slammed into the floor. The cadence continued deeper into the gym, coupled with the sound of firing rifles down a long corridor. David was the first to enter the gym, and his protective instincts told him that it may have been wiser to get everyone--at least the girls, man--out of there.

Nevertheless, it was Gym O’clock. Time to party.

“Excuse me, sir...” David found a man in a complete camo outfit, hands folded behind his back and feet spread apart precisely square with his shoulders. He wore sunglasses and had most of his blond hair shaved off in a buzz cut. When he didn’t respond, David considered the chance that he was made of stone. His face definitely could be. “Sir?”

“May I HELP you, son?!” His voice was remnant of a barking dog--a big dog--and carried the distinct smell of gravy.

“Er, yes.” A quick glance back at the others, and David was urged (by Eve) to continue. “Right. We’re here to challenge the gym lea--”

“You may have COME here looking for a GYM, son, but you’ve found the SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS.”

The man didn’t move. His expression didn’t change. David imagined that the gravy on his breath was made from infant tears.

“Hard knocks, sir?”

“Hard Knocks, private.”

David turned back to the others who, together, shrugged.

“Do y’all have a gym leader, sir?”

“Yes we DO, priVATE. But an ATTITUDE like THAT will not get you AUDIENCE with Miss ROCKMAN.”

The man’s spit landed on David’s nose. “Right. Uh, I apologize, sir. How can we face the gym leader?”

“FIND HER.” Without missing a beat, the army man slammed a hand into a button on the wall, opening the door behind David where a trio of soldiers stormed him, robotically removing his clothes, shoes, socks--everything but his boxers.

David’s face reddened as the men replaced each article of clothing with full camouflage, black boots, and a hat to match. The army man turned to glare at him.

“Welcome to the SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS, boy.” He turned to the others. “WHO ELSE will be STUPID enough to face MISS ROCKMAN today?!”

Kayta shoved Nick and Eve forward without missing a beat and stared off into the direction of the firing rifles while stepping forward herself.

Army Man nodded. “Privates. Dress Code this pretty boy and show our Daddy’s Girls to our changing facilities.”

Nick squirmed as the men attacked him with clothing--and before long, he matched David from head to toe. He looked at David, and David just shrugged. “I hope I’m allowed to keep this,” he whispered, “it’d be useful for specimen hunting!”

When Eve and Katya, also matching the two boys, returned moments later, the trio of army men were dismissed, and General Hatesyourguts grinned a yellow, toothy grin. “TO REACH Miss Rockman, you will have to BATTLE your way THROUGH the ARMY BRANCHES.” He shook his head. “Should you FAIL, as I presume you WILL, you will be DISMISSED from our TRAINING GROUNDS and posted on the WALL OF SHAME.”

“Wall...of shame...”

“WALL OF SHAME, PRIVATE.”

“Oh,” Eve said, “okay.”

“Whilst BATTLING through the three ARMY SQUADRONS of LAND, AIR, and SEA, you fill FACE Miss Rockman for your BOULDER BADGE.”

“Are there rules?”

“The rules are SIMPLE,” he said. “Win.”

From his neck, he pulled a whistle, blowing it with all the power in his lungs. David jumped, almost instinctively, the others thought, and took off in a manly run down the first corridor marked LAND. Katya didn't hesitate, and took off right after him.

Eve gathered herself, and, noticing the label of SEA, took off towards AIR before Nick could have any say in the matter.

Nick took the remaining route towards SEA, and towards the array of shotguns firing.

Art stood awkwardly in the entryway, staring at the army man.

He said nothing, just simply stared back.

Hayden | S.S. Anne

His mother's voice was in his head again. And he was not arguing.

"They're gone," Jason said.

Kristine suddenly got much less stiff. "Let's get out of here!"

"Quiet!" Sin hissed. "We don't want to get caught."

Jason cracked the shell open to the inside of a ship's cargo hold. There were only dim lights visible in the back corner.

Yes, it would be a Good Idea to get out of here now, before anything was put in front or beside this shell. Unfortunately, with the hold nearly empty, there wasn't much else to hide in.

Jason didn't seem to care and crawled out. He was, however, smart enough not to stand up completely.

Sin was the hesitant second. "Where to?"

"Dunno," Jason said as he looked around. Hayden kept eyeing the boys' shadows.

"We should be safe in the supplies area," Sin began. "Once we find them."

Hayden finally crawled out after Kristine. She looked around, having taken some time to put Peach back in his pokeball. "Let's just get out of here before those guys come back."

She had to jinx it.

All four of them jumped behind the shell, Hayden getting half-smushed under the space around the spikes, along with Kristine. Hopefully the light bouncing off the walls wouldn't give them away.

They were still grumbling about heavy containers and didn't notice the group as they put another oddly-shaped container quite a few steps away. Hayden felt the whole group holding its breath.

After a few moments, they were gone.

Jason and Sin practically popped out of the confined space. Kristine, being closer to the open space, wiggled her way out first, leaving Hayden to come out last. By the time he was out, Jason was looking down the hall and the other two were waiting for him.

But instead of going to follow them immediately, he called out Kaze from his pokeball. He bent down to be closer to the kit's eye level. "Think you could use Confuse Ray if you see anybody come down the halls?"

The vulpix just barked in reply— which earned him Hayden's hand on his muzzle before Kristine, Sin and/or Jason got ahold of Kaze for being loud. Hayden just Looked Kaze in the eye. "And be quiet."

Jason was getting antsy. They were running out of time before the crew came back. Hayden and Kaze didn't stick around to see if they'd be longer this time.

Of course one wrong turn would get them face to back with the movers.

"Confuse Ray!" Hayden hissed, hopefully not loud enough to draw attention to himself.

Kaze steadied himself and started glowing, then its tails started twitching. Two of its tails twitched, sending a glowing cloud towards the two men... who had just turned around to see a Vulpix in the middle of the hall.

"Hey...!"

Hayden looked around the corner to see them swaying and looking around. His job done, Kaze ran back to the group as they took off the other way down the hall.

Jason | SS Anne II Corridor

Except for Jason, everyone was crouched.

Paint the scene more. They were in the upper hallways--the actual rooming hallways--and they were still crouching. But Jason wasn’t going to say a single word. By then, there were actual people walking around instead of movers and guards. And every last one of them stared at his idiot group of tagalongs like they were a bunch of stowaways.

In fact, Jason had heard one man call it--Damn Stowaways, he’d said. He was never going to let them live it down.

“You know,” Jason said eventually, “I think I’m ready to catch my next Pokemon.”

“Good luck doing that on a ship,” Sinclair murmured.

“You never know what you’ll find in the Pokemon world.” Jason grabbed a door handle and slung it open as they passed by, leaving a woman shrieking about being exposed.

As they walked, and they really had no destination, something snuck up behind them. It was a tiny something with large fists and big, sneaky eyes. No one saw it, though, because they were being sneaky.

Jason opened more doors. More women shrieked.

“You’d think there would be more people on this ship than just women,” Hayden mused.

“I’m not complaining.” Jason sighed and looked at his belt as his Pokedex began dinging. “Thing must be busted,” he said. “Cheap old man selling cheap old Pokedexes.”

The little thing following the group crouched down like most of them and tagged along further. Jason led them down a flight of stairs into what looked like another storage hold. In the center of the huge room, though, was a large boxing ring.

“HEY!” The group jumped as a man’s voice echoed in the storage hold. “What’re you kids doing down here?”

Despite the massive urge to run, Jason straddled the rail on the metal steps and slid down the stairwell, falling squarely on his face on the floor below.

The man who’d called out walked over to the group. He wore a leather jacket and had spiky black-and-blond hair, along with a goatee on his chin. His arms were crossed and he tapped his foot on the metal floor. “Come to fight?”

Jason stood up, brushing off his shoulders. “Fight?”

“That’s right. This room is where Fighting-Type Pokemon duke it out for the championship belt.”

Sinclair and Jason had stars in their eyes just at the word championship.

“But only Fighting-Types are allowed.”

They both snapped out of it instantly. “Dangiiiiit,” Jason breathed. “I haven’t even seen a Fighting-Type Pokemon yet.”

And, in one of those moments that probably only happen in movies, Jason was hit with an intervention--a flying Hi-Jump Kick to the face. Or something.

“TYYYYY!”

Jason hit the floor, face-first of course, as a Pokemon bounced off of his head and onto his back, standing with its arms crossed.

“Ty.”

Jason’s Pokedex began beeping again, madly this time.

“Oh, so that’s why it was beeping...”

Without removing his face from the floor, he took out his Pokedex and aimed it over his shoulder.

Tyrogue
Species: Scruffle Pokemon
Type: Fighting
To brush up on its fighting skills, it will challenge anyone. It has a very strong competitive spirit. It is famous for its eagerness to fight, and always nurses injuries from challenging larger foes.

“Looks like you found one,” the man said. “The name’s Tyler. I’m a busy guy. Come back and find me if you want to challenge The Fight Club.”

Kristine, Kristine, Where in the world have you been hiding? Really, you were perfect! Apparently | SS Anne

“Looks like you found one,” the man said. “The name’s Tyler. I’m a busy guy. Come back and find me if you want to challenge The Fight Club.”

Kristine could only giggle at Jason’s and Sin’s eager faces, but the thought of battling made her ears ring like Lady Gaga’s Telephone. Still, though her head was still affected by the previous gym, Jason seemed way more inclined to keep up the battling. He watched Tyler leave with sparks in his eyes.

“It sounds like fun,” Kristine piped up. Her aim was to get Jason to just admit he wanted to try it out, but that appeared to be misdirected when Sin spoke.

“Yes, I think it would be rather enjoyable.” He pulled out one of his pokeballs and tossed it mindlessly. “Especially since we’re stuck on a blasted ship, we might as well use our time efficiently.”

Jason didn’t say anything. He just walked away without a word in Tyler’s direction with the kidlet Pokemon trailing on his heels.

The group took a moment to figure out what just happened.

“Okay, so...” Kristine’s voice trailed off before she laughed. “Took care of that then.”

“He’s in for a bashing,” said Sin. “If he knew what’s good for him, he’d turn on his heels and wait.” Hayden and Kristine stared at him. “Tyler looks like a strong trainer...he won’t go down without one dazzling brawl.”

“We could always just let him go,” Hayden remarked. “It’s not like he needs us breathing on his ears every time he wants to have a battle!”

“Well, I suppose we are the ones who followed him from the festival,” Kristine added.

Sinclair nodded and caught his Pokeball, stopping his juggle. “True. Though I’m sure he’s convinced he’s unbeatable now...though he’s only had a few battles.”

Kristine shrugged. “Maybe he is unbeatable, but I’d rather see the ship than watch him turn into a mop...”

“Then let’s just casually walk the other way.”

“Right,” said Hayden, “casually.”

Then, giggling, they ran up the stairs.

Later, they were back in the first cargo hold, loitering in front of the Cloyster shell like bosses. Hayden sat on the floor cross-legged and ran a brush through Vulpix’s fur. “Fine,” he said, “is it that brown wooden box in the corner?”

Sinclair sighed. “No, Hayden, for the last time, it is not the brown wooden box in the corner that I spy.”

Kristine was lightly scratching her fingers on her jeans rhythmically, keeping time with something Sin figured was in her head. However, after a while, it really got old.

“What in Blue Dragon Rages are you doing?!”

“Can’t you hear it?” she asked, voice as melodic as her rhythm, “the itty bitty dinging-and-scratching in the rafters.”

She stopped, and the two boys beside her turned their noses up to the rafters, almost as if they could smell the sound. Sure enough, it was there. It sounded like raindrops falling on a tin roof while a tree branch brushed the side. Almost soothing.

“So...what is it?”

“I bet I can find out!” Kristine sang. From her belt, she drew a Pokeball and released Peach. After making cutesie faces with the tiny Pidgey, she looked it in the eye and nodded towards the rafters. “Wanna have an adventure?”

The Pidgey, as eager as ever, cawed in reply. “I’ll take that as a yes!” The redhead pointed towards the sound. “Go find out what’s making that be-a-utiful music!”

Peach circled above their heads a few times before flying straight up above, obviously thrilled to do something for Kristine (let alone get out of that lousy pokeball). The Pidgey was out of sight a few times, looking around for what was up there. Eventually, minutes passed, and everyone resumed their mindless antics down below.

So when a yellow ball of energy plopped into her lap, one can only imagine the high-pitched scream--

--of excitement.

“A PIKACHU.” Kristine scooped the Pikachu right into her arms, bouncing onto her feet again. Pidgey soon swooped down, but he looked a bit damaged. Kristine tried piecing the two together, but Sin cleared that up in a matter of seconds.

“Looks like your Pidgey here found the source and got nicked.”

“Your efforts are so much appreciated, Peach,” Kristine said, admiring the electric bundle in her arms.

While she was all googly-eyed over the Pokemon, it didn’t seem to return the feeling. Its cheeks sparked up, and Kristine was zapped, dropping the Pikachu in shock. (lolshocklol)

“Catch that Pikachu!” Kristine squealed. The Pidgey was reluctant to do so, and the other Pokemon seemed a bit confused still as to what exactly was happening. The Pikachu, meanwhile, was scurrying off on all fours. That thing was quick. Kristine whirled around and looked up at Peach. “Please, you can do this. Go after him!”

One could almost see the Pidgey roll his eyes before it struggled back onto its feet wings and flew after it. Kristine followed.

“Your Pidgey’s not going to make it,” Sin said almost too willingly, but he still ran over to see what would happen as did the rest of the gang.

“Peach will be fine,” Kristine said abruptly. She lost sight of the Pidgey as it flew over some cargo, so they turned corners to try and catch up. But when she found him, seeing him get a huge electrocution from the mouse pokemon was the last thing she wanted to see.

Kristine panicked, all thoughts of the Pikachu leaving her mind. Peach was down, and he wasn’t moving.

The Pikachu didn’t seem convinced, still watching the Pidgey in case it was playing dead. Sin didn’t make any effort to assist, but he was trying to wake up Kristine from whatever coma she seemed to be in.

“Cu-Cubone!”

Thonk!

The pikachu went down after a headshot from the Cubone’s ultimate weapon. Everyone looked down at the Cubone who only seemed pleased with her actions. “Cubone!”

Kristine, who was already close to tears, looked back at the Pikachu. It didn’t seem to be moving, but Sin held her down. “Just throw the pokeball.”

“No way,” she said, removing her arm. “You have your way, and I have mine.” She was panicked, she wouldn’t deny that. But she was not going to own a Pikachu. Befriending it was her style.

Creeping up to the Pikachu and Pidgey, she didn’t make any slight movements that could panic the Pikachu, in case it was still awake and well for battle. Kristine scooped up her Pidgey first, her best friend and wounded Pokemon. It barely budged though. Only a small squeak told her he was done battling electric Pokemon for a long time. She returned him to his pokeball--

“Pika...”

Kristine stiffened, squeezing the Pokeball in her hand. The Pikachu stood itself upright, a bit dizzy from the hit. (Good one, ‘Felia!)

“Not feeling so good, huh?” Kristine asked, smiling. The Pikachu blinked, looked up, then bounded backward as if ready to strike again. Kristine raised her hands. “Hey, now! I can help you out with that. Not like I want to hurt you. That would be downright silly of me.”

“...Chu?”

“Kristine, back up now,” Sin warned. “Pikachu are not typically that friendly.”

“But this one is, aren’t you, boy?”

The Pikachu never took his eyes away from her, even at Sin’s voice. Hers was so much more pleasant to listen to. Kristine held out a hand. “What do you say we fetch you a berry? I’ve a friend who told me quite a bit about them. Back at the festival.”

There was a pause. A very tense pause. From every single inhabitant.

“Pikachu!” The mouse pokemon bounded up to Kristine and jumped onto her arm. She pulled out a treat from her pouch and handed it over, the Pikachu taking it greedily. Kristine grinned.

“And that, my friends, is how I roll,” Kristine announced to the others (mostly Sin) before turning back to the Pikachu. “What do you say, Lumichu?”

“Pika Pi!”

CLANG

BASH

BOOOOOONG

“...sounds like Jason’s ready for us to return.”

Eve, Air route, Pewter City Gym

Eve burst through the door, somewhat glad she hadn’t been forced to take the sea route. Her relief was short lived, however, as she burst into a room of men in wrinkle-less uniforms. She stopped dead in her tracks, confused and bewildered- it felt as though she had burst in on the wrong classroom- if classrooms had lots of adult men with rifles.

“Ahh-Ten..Shun!”

Fifteen shiny boots lifted off the ground, only to land next to another with a loud CRACK. Eve was sure she could see up one guy’s nostrils, he had his chin pushed up so high. Twenty rifles were pulled up from the floor, thrown up and hanging for the shortest moment before being caught again at waist height. Mechanically each solder brought his weapon across his chest, transferring the weight of the rifle to their left soldier. They look like toys, lined up in a row.
Eve would have laughed, if they didn’t look so serious.

A large man with three chevrons on each shoulder overlooked them like a very grumpy hen over her brood. Eve cleared her throat. “Um. Mister Army man?”

The man did not look at her, and instead raised his voice, speaking in the same stilted manner the first man had. “You will ASK PERMISSION before coming onto MY parade ground, private. You are speaking to a SERGEANT of the AIR FORCE, and you will CALL ME SERGEANT, not ‘Mister Army Man’, IS THAT CLEAR?”

Eve blinked, surprised. No-one had ever raised their voice at her like that- when her father was angry he would do the opposite- his voice would become low and soft, slowly and gently wrapping her in shame. But no-one, not a single person, had ever dared to yell at Eve Blackwell. Blood rushed to her face, and her fingers started to dig into her palms.
“Well, Sergeant,” Eve struggled to keep the anger out of her voice, “I am not sure how these gym things work- but I am here to earn the right to challenge the gym leader.”

“Fine. LANCE-CORPORAL HEWETSON. FRONT AND CENTRE.”

A man from the second row stepped back smartly, turned on the spot, and started a stiff march to the front. As he reached the Sergeant, he stopped, snapped to face the sergeant and stared not quite at his left shoulder. “Sir!”

“YOU will face Private Blackwell in a Pokemon battle. One pokemon each. Both of you. IS THAT CLEAR?”
“Sir, yes sir!”
“How did you know my n-”
“I SAID IS THAT CLEAR?”
“SIR, YES SIR!”
“Sir..yes sir.” Eve was a lot less enthusiastic about this yelling thing than her opponent.

“THE REST OF YOU. DIIIIS-MISSED!”

The rest of the squadron turned simultaneously and marched off the ‘parade ground’, which was revealed to be a pokemon battle ground. Eve gladly took up her side of the field. She was still agitated, and wanted to show this ‘lance-corporal’ and his bully ‘sergeant’ (whatever that meant, she hadn’t taken any notice of the military before) what she could do.

The lance-corporal swapped out his weapon for a pokeball, and stood across from her.

“ON the order of ‘GO’, you will release one pokemon. READY...GO.”

The lance corporal relaxed, tossing out his pokeball. Eve selected one from her belt and did the same.

“The match is PIDGEY versus SEEL. WHEN YOU ARE READY. START.”

Lance-corporal Hewetson didn’t waste his time. “Pidgey! Sand attack!”

God. Even their Pokemon are stiff and formal. “Ellie! Dodge!”

Ellie did her best, but on the dry dusty ground, seels aren’t very fast. Ellie settled for huddling with her flippers over her face, closing her nostrils tight. It wasn’t perfect protection, but the sand attack wasn’t very effective either.

“Seel! Water gun!”

Ellie’s retaliation came hard and fast, the poor pidgey didn’t really stand much of a chance. It dodged once, twice, but with the third blast, it was blown back towards the lance-corporal.

“Hold your ground, Pidgey! Now go for a Peck attack!”

Again, seel’s lack of mobility was a hindrance as the battered bird swooped in to take beak-filled revenge. Eve almost cried out with her Pokemon- she wasn’t used to seeing them get hurt. I have to win this, Eve realised. Or she’ll just get hurt more.

“Ellie! Ice shard!” Seel was evidently as annoyed as Eve was at this point- she started firing before Eve finished giving her command. Chunks of ice slammed into Pidgey, knocking it to the ground.

“Pidgey is INCAPACITATED. Congratulations, private. You are worthy to move on.”

Eve called Ellie back, already trying to remember the number for her father’s doctor. Her regret at Ellie’s pain only slightly dimmed the glow she was feeling, however- her first real battle, and she won!

“You’re damn right I’m worthy.”

[Um, hi. This is Stella of Stoctavella Enterprises. I do hope my services will be acceptable to you all.]

Sinclair- SS Anne

The three of them ran down the stairs to the storage room where they had met Tyler again. "Why Jason couldn't simply join us for a game of 'Eye Spy' is beyond me," Sinclair muttered to Cade, hurrying after Kristine. "He won't get very far if he keeps getting into these scrapes."

Cade growled, but more out of pleasure than anything. After being cooped in his Pokéball and then in the cargo hold, the Growlithe was enjoying all the running.

Downstairs was not a pretty sight. Jason was rather red in the face, facing up against a man. Mountain might have been more appropriate. The guy was more than two metres tall, and about the same in width, ripples of muscles and veins running down his arms. Sin sniffed at the way in which the sleeves had been ripped off his black t-shirt to reveal these. So unbecoming.

Tyler was leaning on a crate and chuckling to himself. "Your friend didn't make a wise decision, choosing to fight Butch first time."

"Butch." Sin repeated the word disbelievingly.

"Uh-oh..." Kristine said in a tone that suggested she agreed with him.

If Jason was dwarfed by Butch, then Tyrogue definitely was by the Hitmonlee that he was facing. More to the point, Tyrogue looked worn out. To complete the image, however, he and Jason wore identical expressions of determination.

"Tyrogue! Use that kick thing you hit me with!" Jason shouted. Sin cringed.

"You don't even know what its moves are called?" he said to Jason. Jason turned momentarily to see them all there.

"I don't need your help," he said. "Go, Ty!"

Tyrogue obeyed and dealt the Hitmonlee a flying kick.

"Tyrogues aren't generally able to use that move," Hayden said quietly, nervously. Sinclair thought Fight Club didn't agree with him. "I-it must have had a Hitmonlee parent."

While this nugget of information may have been interesting under different circumstances, Sin and Kristine were too concentrated on the match. "Jump Kick!" Butch roared.

While the move wasn't quite as impressive as that which Tyrogue had just performed, it did the trick. The poor, exhausted Pokémon fell to the ground. Butch roared again in triumph and, with a grimace, Jason pulled out a Pokéball and put Tyrogue in it.

"That was stupid!" Kristine said angrily. "You shouldn't have made him fight so hard his first match!"

"He wanted to fight-"

Sinclair, not wishing to hear this argument, turned and smiled at Hayden, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable. Sinclair thought it would be the good and gentlemanly thing to do to offer the poor boy a snack. After all, they hadn't eaten since the Cloyster shell, which was hours ago, or so it seemed. Pausing to pat Cade, Sinclair slung his rucksack off his back and opened it to find the snacks...

Only that someone had found them instead.

"There is a mouse Pokémon in my rucksack!" he said, dropping it in disgust. "Your mouse Pokémon!" he added scathingly to Kristine.

Kristine laughed and went to pull it out. "Lumichu, you shouldn't do that, oh, I AM sorry, Sin," she said, not even looking at him.

"You're not sorry," Sinclair said. "You care more about that rat having enough to eat than me!"

"But he was hungry!"

"He's greedy, that's what-"

Kristine put the Pikachu down again and put her hands on her hips. Sinclair didn't like the look of that. His mum used to do that. It was scary.

"He's my Pokémon, maybe if you shared your food instead of keeping it all to yourself-"

"I was just about to give some to Hayden!" Sinclair said indignantly.

"Just because you and Jason don't care about your Pokémon-"

"Yes we do!" the boys said in unison. Sinclair turned to Jason.

"That's a complete lie, Jason Mason, if you did you wouldn't have made that Tyrogue faint!"

"I didn't have any other options-"

"Maybe if you had listened to the advice I gave you-"

Jason laughed mirthlessly. "I'm sure that would have been helpful! Would Tyrogue have fought better if he were wearing a hat?"

"Yes, actually, he would have-"

"Guys." Kristine's voice was suddenly calm and serious. "Where's Pikachu gone?"

Sinclair turned around red in the face. He would be even angrier if that little mouse had gotten away without his rebuking it.

There was, however, a much greater problem, which Jason deflated enough to voice.

"Where's Hayden?"

David opened the door to the LAND room and instantly regretted it.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU.”

More soldiers.

Another general.

Why were there so many generals with loud bulldog voices?

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN TOLD.”

He remembered singing this song as a kid, and it always ended in something either silly or dirty.

“MY KINGLER’S CLAWS ARE HARD AS STONE.”

Oh, well that wasn’t so bad.

“Pri-VATES.” The thunderous clash of boots rang out again and David winced. Katya fumbled in beside him and leaned against his camouflaged shoulder.

“SIR yes SIR!” They called out together.

“MAN your cannONS!”

“SIR yes SIR!” And they swarmed out, down staircases lining the walls. David wasn’t sure what to expect. Cannons. Terrifying arsenals.

“Challengers! Privates BIRCH and FAELANE.”

David shot his eyes at Katya and whispered, “How’d they know our last na--”

“Prepare for battle!”

A soldier ran out to the sidelines with a snare drum around his waist. With a quick snap of cadence, it was time to battle. The general took out two Pokeballs. David narrowed his eyes. Time to party.

More men joined the drummer on the sidelines--a trumpet, violin, and trombone. As the man released his Pokemon, they all began blaring together. In flashes of light, a little blue Pokemon and a mouse hit the field. David whipped out his Pokedex and aimed.

Sandshrew and Machop
Species: Mouse Pokemon and Superpower Pokemon
Types: Ground and Fighting

David cut the Pokedex off before the entries could complete. “Alright,” he said. “Ready, Katya?”

“As ready as I wanna be,” she said.

Together, they threw out their Pokemon--Poliwag and Clefairy.

General Whatshisface slammed down his right foot. “Attack pattern Delta!” Machop and Sandshrew split ways--Sandshrew tunneled beneath the ground and Machop started in a massive run towards the challengers. David clenched his fist and nodded.

“Poliwag, water gu--”

With a blast of noise from beneath the ground, chunks of earth heaved into the air, randomizing the field. David and Katya, both with the same expression, looked on with confusion.

They had control over the field. Across the field, the general grinned. “Scared, Private Birch?”

David sneered. “Not yet, sir! Poliwag, make me some mud pies!” Kiwi took in a deep breath, gushing out streams of water all around him in circles. Clefairy, with a glint in her eye, took to the air to avoid Machop. Katya hadn’t even ordered it to do so--it was just running on...light? Light screens!

Machop seemed confused--not sure how to reach his opponent. He reached down, and, going against his orders, heaved up a muddy rock from beneath him, chucking it into the air. Clefairy hopped onto another light screen as the one she had stood on burst into a thousand pink shards. Machop’s eyes grew huge as he ran out of the way of the falling light-glass.

That, of course, gave Katya an idea.

“Clefairy! Give it a--uh--broken glass attack!”

Clefairy began hopping--stomping on the light screens--and blasted down the light screen pieces onto Machop, pinning him in a circle of light. The little blue-man Pokemon grimaced as Clefairy jumped, did a backflip in the air, and flew down square into his head with a Pound attack.

David could’ve sworn there was a freaking comet trail flying after her.

Machop, dazed, confused, and nearly unconscious, sunk down into the mud as another cannon blast randomized everything--Pokemon, the mud, and the glass--leaving it mostly in one enormous mess.

And David’s plan had worked. Sandshrew, upside-down, was stuck in the mud, its tail and feet waggling, trying to get out of its trap. “Put it to sleep, Kiwi!” Poliwag hopped around in the mud, clearly happy to be around wet things, and hopped over Sandshrew, the spirals on its belly glowing a beautiful light blue. Lightly, he touched down on Sandshrew’s tail, passing the hypnotic energy, and Sandshrew stopped wriggling, asleep.

The fanfare ended. Together, the soldiers in the band shouted, “BIRCH AND FAELANE ARE VICTORIOUS. HOO-RAH.”

Hayden | S.S. Anne

Following Ophelia, who had followed Kaze, who had followed Pikachu, out of Fight Club was, for once, something Hayden didn't quite mind. It meant getting out of that argument and away from pokemon that seemed a bit too eager to get into a fight for his liking.

Hayden trotted after the trio of pokemon and tried not to lose any of them. Pikachu had taken off like he wasn’t tamed at the sound of that argument between the three of his teammates. His pokemon had decided that it would be a Good Idea to follow.

Why, he had no idea.

But it beat staying around that group and the fight about to break out.

It was getting unnerving how far Pikachu was running. “Slow down!” Hayden hissed, hoping to get some reply out of the often temperamental breed.

Pikachu, however, didn’t listen.

“‘Felia...”

He didn’t even have to finish the command.

“Cu-bone!”

THONK!

Kaze caught up to Lumichu first, sniffing the mouse-type as he slowly got up and rubbed his head from the Bone Club. Hayden was slightly hesitant to go beside Lumichu. He seemed a bit too ready to spark.

He knelt down, glad the halls he’d just chased three pokemon down were relatively empty. “C’mere, Lumichu.”

Lumichu just stared at him. “Pika?”

Hayden opened his arms. “C’mon. Kristine’s going to wonder where you went.”

The pokemon’s head turned to the side. “Pika-pika.”

Ophelia decided to try. “Cu, cubone cu.”

That seemed to help. What didn’t was Kaze’s yip-like “Vulpix!”

Felia’s bone got put to use again.

“Pikachu!”

Well that seemed to be working. Now Lumichu was being entertained by Hayden’s two pokemon. Kaze looked surprisingly pleased with himself.

“Hey!” a loud, male, authoritative voice yelled from down the hall. “What are you doing here?”

Despite that working to get the Pikachu to come to Hayden, jump right next to him, in fact, this was most certainly Not a good thing.

An equally loud but female and hyper voice sounded behind the man. “Lumichu!”

Pikachu looked up and took off down the hall, around the man, and jumped into Kristine’s arms.

Hayden gulped. Not out of the woods yet.

“He was looking for my Pikachu!” Kristine said without missing a beat. “Lumichu took off and he would’ve been lost had he not gone after him.” Kristine’s gestures between Hayden and Lumichu made her statement slightly less confusing. Her attention, however, was firmly on Lumichu. “Silly little guy, running away like that and almost getting lost.”

It’s “Pika-pik!” was far too innocent.

Hayden got up and dusted his pants off. “Uh, yeah. I wanted to make sure they were alright.”

The explanation was more for the man than Kristine, as she was still firmly entranced by the mouse pokemon and was now walking back from the direction she’d come. Hayden quickly trotted after her, almost glued to the wall in some attempt to say out of the man’s reach, his two pokemon on his heels.