Eight years ago:

Snow fell from the sky, landing atop the red on Inyssa's nose. She took a moment to scrunch up her face and shook it off, then returned to moving her arms and legs up and down against the snow, trying to make an angel. Behind her, the top of his head touching hers, Barry did the same.

"Hmmmmm..." Barry hummed out loud as he moved, like he did every time he thought about something very hard. "I wonder if you can eat snow."

Inyssa giggled. "You... probably can! But I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why not! It's just like shaved ice but without the... uh... you know the..."

"Flavoring?"

"Yeah, that!"

Inyssa stopped making the snow angel and pushed herself up, looking over her shoulder at her friend. She tried her best to imitate her sister's disappointed frown, but couldn't keep the laughter from her expression.

"There's probably some dirt mixed in there too," she said.

"Hmmm..." Barry pushed himself up as well. "Maybe-"

Just then, a voice rang out from behind them, past the line of pinetrees, closer to Inyssa's backyard.

"Inyssa! Barry! Are you two there?"

They both turned around toward the source of the voice. A tall, lanky girl no older than thirteen made her way through the few lines of trees and stopped in front of them, a bored look on her face. She wore nothing but different shades of black, a thick layer of eyeliner framing her eyes. Her voice was deep and raspy as she spoke.

"Mom asked me to check if you two were okay," said Shadi. "And I don't see any blood so... yeah. Keep having fun I guess."

She turned around to leave, but Barry hurried to interrupt her.

"Wait! Shadi!" He stood up, an excited look on his face. "You know a lot of stuff about stuff, right?"

"That's... one way to put it, I guess."

"Right!" yelled Barry, then pointed down at the ground. "So... can I eat snow?"

Shadi stared at him gormlessly for a few seconds, then nodded slowly.

"Sure, knock yourself out buddy," she shrugged, a tiny smile on her face. "But if you get sick, then we never had this conversation and it was actually Niss who convinced you, alright?"

"Sure thing!"

"H-hey!"

----------------------------------------

If nothing else, running through the city in pursuit of what Inyssa thought were circus performers certainly managed to wake her up a bit. She was still convinced that at least part of what was happening wasn't real, but decided to go along with it nonetheless.

She wondered if this was what it felt to take a dose of Gloom acid. If so, she wasn't impressed. Behind her, Lucas was having a hard time keeping up; his face was completely red as he tried to keep his beret in place with both hands.

"Hurry up!" She yelled. "We're about to lose them and I'm not looking through the entire city again!"

"I can't... my legs are shorter than yours!" Lucas replied through gasps. "Besides, we know they're going towards the trainer school, they mentioned it before."

She looked over her shoulder. "Oh, I haven't been listening for hours. Also, why are you looking at my legs?"

"Agh, stop doing that!"

Inyssa smiled to herself and moved her gaze forward. As fun as teasing Lucas was, she had to keep her eyes on the road if she didn't want to face-plant the asphalt. She also hoped these jackasses reached their destination soon because she was running out of air. As usual, her piece-of-shit body could barely run more than a few streets without feeling like it was going to crumble to pieces. It really was good for absolutely nothing.

"There!"

They took a right in one of the street intersections and ran for a few more seconds, until they saw the two weirdos standing a block away from where they were. A tall, burly man with a brown overcoat stood between them; Rowan's eyes studied the two, without any trace of fear in his expression. Behind him were the steps to Jubilife's trainer school, the biggest Inyssa had ever seen.

"I'm afraid you have no choice but to comply to our demands, Rowan." The tallest one pointed a finger at the professor. "Hand over that research of yours, now. It'll be of great use for Team Galactic."

The short girl elbowed her partner, face red with anger. "Oh my god Orion, stop explaining our plans! This is why Mars never sends us in missions!"

"Ah... yeah, you're right Pyxis."

"Anyway! Give us your papers now! Or we'll have to use force."

They both produced a Pokeball and pointed it at Rowan.

Inyssa and Lucas caught up just then, putting themselves between the professor and those two. The boy had to put his hand on his knees to catch his breath, his face flushed and covered in sweat, something Inyssa would've found funny if it weren't for the current threat in front of them. She helped him back to his feet and they both grabbed their respective Pokeballs, the boy's one being a worn out Cherish Ball.

"Professor, we're here!" said Lucas. "Don't worry, we won't let them hurt you!"

Inyssa gave him a small nod, too tired to be polite. "Hey, Rowan."

The grown man addressed the kids, his mustache twisting into a small smile. He grabbed his hat and bowed to both of them, completely ignoring his two assailants.

"Ah, kids! Nice to see you again." he said, to their befuddlement. "How is your Pokedex going, Inyssa? Are you enjoying your journey so far?"

"It's okay, though it could use more beds," she shrugged. "My journey I mean, not the Pokedex. That's going fine too, I already have four Pokemon."

"I see. And you only got your starter a day ago, very impressive." His eyes gleamed. "Perhaps being a trainer is second nature to you?"

Inyssa blushed; even though her brain was half asleep she could still appreciate being praised by the professor. The two grunts on the other side didn't seem too pleased by being ignored; the one seemingly called Pyxis looked about ready to explode from rage.

"Why do you have to be so difficult, gramps?" Orion asked, voice low and grumbly. "You shouldn't take us so lightly."

Pyxis growled, pointing at him with his Pokeball. "Do what we say before things get ugly!"

Rowan's eyes narrowed, and for the first time Inyssa saw a speck of annoyance cross his face. He turned around slowly towards the grunts, his presence as intimidating as a Tyranitar's.

"I would appreciate it if you two could stop being a nuisance," he said, shadows covering the space between his eyes. "I am attempting to socialize with my students, and your interruption is very impolite. You shouldn't raise your voice just because you are getting impatient," he told the shorter of the grunts. "And you shouldn't think yourselves strong because you are in a group. Moreover, what's with those outlandish costumes you're wearing? If you want to be intimidating, you should consider dressing with more class." His words carried such strength that the two grunts seemed to shrink at them. "I would be more than happy to have a pleasant with you lot over tea, but I will not let myself be threatened or intimidated, I assure you."

Inyssa smiled from ear to ear. If only she could roast people with such skill. "Sir, you are the most amazing old man I've ever met."

"Don't you have a verbal filter!?" Lucas shook her shoulder, eyes open wide in embarrassment. "It's okay sir, you can count on me to grow up to be a respectable adult like you!"

Behind Rowan, Pyxis' eyes went wide with fury, a stream of air bursting out of her nose.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Y-you piece of..." She closed her eyes for a moment, clenching her teeth. "A polite conversation, is it? If only I had a penny for every time I've been offered that by people like you. I wouldn't expect anything else from one of the Association's puppets."

Rowan did raise an eyebrow at that, though Lucas intervened before he could say anything.

"P-puppet? What are you implying!?"

Pyxis scoffed, shooting the boy a glare cold enough to make him shiver.

"Don't have time to deal with the hurt feelings of a couple spoiled trainer brats," she spat out. "Orion, come on!"

"On it."

They opened their Pokeballs at the same time, light erupting and pooling into the floor, forming the shapes of Pokemon Inyssa knew well; a Glameow and a Budew. The former's eyes were narrowed, and she was looking at everyone around her as if she were bored. The Budew simply smiled and danced in place, unaware of what was happening.

Rowan studied them for a moment, a sour look on his face, before turning to look at Inyssa and Lucas.

"Kids, would you be so kind as to take care of this for me? I'm afraid I don't count with my Pokemon at the moment," he said. "It will be a good opportunity to see what you're made of. As for you two..." He glared at the grunts. "I do not know what's caused this animosity you feel toward me, but again, I'd be more than happy to discuss it over a pleasant cup of tea."

Inyssa and Lucas nodded and stepped forward, their expressions determined. It didn't matter how wimpy these two were. If Rowan was watching then they were going to give it their all. Lucas sent his Turtwig to battle; the small grass Pokemon growled the moment he came out of the Pokeball, staring at his opponents defiantly. Inyssa deliberated for a second, then threw Steven's Pokeball in the air; the bird Pokemon came out doing a little twirl, as if he were in the middle of a performance.

"These stolen Pokemon are weak, but they should be enough for this," Orion observed. "Budew, Stun Spore on the Starly!"

"Not a chance, freak! Use Double Team!" Inyssa ordered Steven, who stopped doing his twirls for a moment to follow her trainer's order; but just when he flew off and started copying himself, Pyxis gave her order.

"Glameow, use Fake Out on him!"

The cat Pokemon disappeared in a flash, so fast that Inyssa could barely follow her movements. In the blink of an eye she appeared in front of Steven and before he could react she slapped him on the face, stunning him. The small distraction, while not doing much damage, was enough for the Budew's spores to reach him. The Starly started coughing, and his flight became slower and lanky.

"Son of a...!" She exclaimed, gritting her teeth. That girl was good. She turned around to her partner, elbowing him to action. "What are you waiting for!? Attack one of them!"

Lucas gulped, his legs trembling. Slowly he raised one of his fingers and pointed it at the Budew. "R-right! Archimedes, use Tackle on him!"

The turtle Pokemon ran as fast as he could towards the Budew, and with a big thumping sound he send him flying a few feet with his attack.

"What are you doing?" she questioned him. "Attack the cat! Budew already did all he's going to do this battle, there's no point in focusing on him right now!"

Lucas lowered his head to the girl, avoiding her eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm just not used to this..."

"Then maybe you should spend some more time with Pokemon instead of just reading about them!"

Across from them, Inyssa heard as Pyxis let out a derisive laugh.

"So these are the kinds of trainers the Association's fucking over Sinnoh to promote?" she asked, shaking her head. "Guess that's the problem when rich brats get priority over actual talented trainers, eh?"

"What the fuck did you say?!" bellowed Inyssa, ears turning red. "Steven, Wing Attack on the Glameow!"

"Knock him out of the sky with Scratch," Orion ordered calmly.

Starly flew high up and dropped from the sky towards the Glameow, compensating for his lack of speed with the momentum of his fall. Inyssa smiled, the small bugger was pretty smart. His wings started glowing white, and his eyes were set on his opponent, ready to strike. The cat Pokemon crouched, preparing herself to jump at the right moment.

Steven was only inches away from the Glameow when the paralysis took hold and he felt his wings not responding. His opponent gave him a sly smile and jumped like lighting towards him, claws out. With a resounding hit she sent the bird Pokemon flying towards the floor, where he collapsed. The Starly was still conscious, but he was badly hurt and struggling to get up.

"Good job, shortie," smiled Orion. "Now finish him off! Then we can take care of the boy."

"You too Budew, use Absorb on him!"

Both Pokemon launched their attacks at the same time, racing towards Steven with the intent to kill. Inyssa's heart skipped a beat, and she started looking desperately through her bag for Steven's Pokeball. She hadn't expected to need it, she thought the battle would be a piece of cake...

"Archimedes, Protect him!"

The Turtwig threw himself in front of Steven, taking both hits directly. He managed to stand his ground, being able to resist attacks much better than the Starly. He stomped his feet and growled aggressively towards his opponents, eyes full of fire.

"I'm not dead weight, and you shouldn't leave me out of this." A blushed formed on Lucas' cheeks. "A-and you should stop being such a jerk sometimes! Archimedes, Razor Leaf!"

Archimedes' back started glowing, and from it emerged a torrent of sharp, glowing leaves. The projectiles flew through the air like arrows, too fast to dodge. Glameow and Budew were ruthlessly pelted all over, their bodies now covered in cuts and scratches.

"I... you..." Inyssa didn't know what to say, she hadn't expected Lucas to stand up to her. "Like I care what you think of me. Steven, Wing Attack again!"

Starly finally got on his talons, covered in dirt and with a notable cut across his chest. He flapped his wings and flew up, determined not to let that Glameow humiliate him again. With the wind behind him he once again dropped directly towards the cat Pokemon, pain shooting throughout his body. His wings glowed once more, this time so brightly that they were blinding.

The attack sent a small cloud of dust flying up into the air. Once it cleared, Inyssa could see Steven barely able to stand, one foot on top of a now unconscious Glameow. There was a gleam of pride in the bird's eyes.

Orion smile disappeared, and he returned the Glameow back to her Pokeball. "Well, that was disappointing."

"Agh! Could they have really not given us something better than these two!?" Pyxis glared at her Budew, then threw his Pokeball to the ground. "To hell with this. Orion, we're getting out of here now!"

"Oh man, Mars is going to be so disappointed."

Inyssa cringed at the sight of that jerk abandoning his Pokemon like that. A part of her knew that it was stolen, but she didn't care in the slightest.

"Hey, come back here! I'm not done with you two incompetent cosplayer losers!" She took out Enma's Pokeball, ready to continue the fight. "You're not escaping on my watch, not after leaving that Budew behind!"

She took a step forward, despite the professor and Lucas' complaints that she should calm down. She was about to let Enma out when something came out of the bushes near them, and flew towards the grunts fast as lightning.

"Here I come you jerks prepare to- Oh shoot!" Barry friend tripped a few feet from them, going straight towards the floor between Inyssa and the two grunts. "Ugh... that didn't work like I planned."

Inyssa and Lucas froze in shock, and Rowan simply raised an eyebrow at the boy's flashy entrance. The girl kneeled in front of him and helped him get up, still not understanding what had happened. When she looked towards where the two grunts where now there was only a single Pokemon; the Budew was still happily dancing, not aware that his owners had fled.

"Hello again Barry," Inyssa whispered in his ear, voice full of poison. "So, do you want me to kill you now or later?"

He gave her a sour look and shook his arm away from her grasp.

"Kill me? That's weird, I would've thought you would just leave me behind and run away in the middle of the night. Oh wait, you already did that," Barry put his face so close to hers that she could count his freckles. "Wanna explain that, Niss? I had to run double time to catch up with you here! I barely had time to find those clowns to get my new Pokétch!"

Inyssa opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. A wave of shame washed over her as she lowered her head and tried to avoid her friend's eyes.

She didn't have an excuse. Not for him.

She raised both her hands dismissively. "Alright, let's say we're even."

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this one that easily," Barry bopped her in the nose so suddenly that she was stunned. "You owe me all your money now. You can pay me once you're the Champion."

"Ehem..."

Both kids looked up to Rowan, who was watching them intently, the shadow of a smile across his face.

"Nice to see you join us Barry, though next time please choose a more formal method of introducing yourself." He tipped his hat to the boy. "As for Lucas and Inyssa, that was an excellent battle. You could still improve your teamwork, though."

Both kids looked at each other, and Inyssa frowned and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh yeah, what was that about?" Barry asked, looking in the direction the two grunts escaped towards. "Who were those creeps?"

"They introduced themselves as Team Galactic," Rowan mentioned, curling his mustache. "I don't recognize the name, but they, or at least the girl, seemed to have quite a grudge on all of us. They were also quite interested in taking my research, for some reason."

Lucas frowned, making a face that was unquestionably adorable. "You mean your research regarding Pokemon evolution? They could be trying to learn what you discovered about that energy that Pokemon release when they evolve..."

"And you lost me again," Inyssa whispered, all the excitement from the previous battle gone.

"It could be," Rowan nodded. "But we should not worry about that right now. You two should continue on your journey, and Lucas must accompany me towards my lab again. I have some thinking to do."

"Yes sir, about that..." Lucas scratched his ear, embarrassed. "Can I talk to you about something later?"

"Of course Lucas, whatever you want," Rowan looked at Barry and Inyssa, and tipped his hat to them. "Goodbye children, I hope we meet again under better circumstances."

The youngsters both bowed to the man as he walked away with Lucas. After a couple seconds Inyssa turned away and put Steven back in his Pokeball, she then approached the happy dancing Budew, and grabbed the other Pokeball in the ground next to him.

"Well, I guess I have to take care of you little buddy," she said, and the Budew jumped towards her, smiling. "Great, another misfit for my team. Welcome aboard, Bret."

And with that she put him back in the ball, leaving only Barry left with her. She stood there for a while, not wanting to turn around and look at him.

"So hey, how's your team doin..." She started speaking but was quickly interrupted.

"Don't do that again," His voice was devoid of any humor, and his expression was unreadable. "I was worried. I thought something happened to you and the Kricketot."

Inyssa's smile froze, and something cold set in her stomach.

"I... felt that I had to get out of there." Her voice came out wavy and weak, barely above a whisper. "And... Shadi, too." Barry's eyes went wide at the mention of the Kricketot's name. "She wanted to travel with me. You would've just objected to it. I just... sometimes I have to be away for a bit, you know that."

Barry smiled weakly, but she could see the hurt in his eyes, clear as crystal.

He stretched his arms to appear calm and smiled widely. "That's okay, we all need some alone time now and then. Just, next time leave a note or something, jeez."

Inyssa walked towards him, and smiled as brightly as she could. She wanted to say sorry, she wanted to hug him and tell him she did trust him, she wanted to tell him so many more things than it would be smart to. She knew what happened when you didn't appreciate the people around you, and yet...

She gave him a pat in the back, not looking him in the eyes.

"Wanna come with me to the Pokemon Center?" she asked, voice almost a whisper. "We can grab something to eat, and maybe I can get some rest for once."

"Yeah, sounds good," Barry replied, and from so close she realized that his voice felt deeper than before, "I'm starving, and it's your turn to pay."