Adept

Silver Conference

Saying goodbye to the Den was hard. The ten years there overlapped all of my previous life in most ways that matter. I'm still silly about anime, old books, movies and such. That is a huge part of my fondest experiences back then. But I'm nothing like my old self. Effort is given easily now. My emotions are more prominent. I express myself without a hint of hesitation. The confidence I can bring out is staggering compared to the soft spoken person I began on Earth. Not better. Just different.

The Den and its inhabitants along with the Clan shaped me into Ella Mita, Guardian. Or at least I will be. In my head I've labeled myself an adept. Tru has only what she's heard from previous legends about true Aura Guardians. Only vague ideas of structure. When I establish my Order there will be ranks we assign purposefully as it won't be made of just aura users.

Getting ahead of myself though. There is so much work going forward.

Mom and I had a long, blunt talk. It was a lot of reviewing our fight. Good and bad. The good was what you would expect. My tactics were great and taking her out as well. Keeping myself safe? Not so much from her opinion. My little hut made of stone edges would last through one hyper beam. Any of the many that I hid behind. That Angel could get me out in an instant was certainly possible but frankly if not surrounded by lots of different cover or constantly near say Zaela who could tank a lot to protect me I was just a bit too vulnerable for now. Later when I could use say protect and barriers easier I would have more options. And speed. After the conference I'd be training with Tru more to learn extreme speed. Which will suck. I'm pretty positive it will break my bones if I'm not careful.

My mom more or less had two of her team always looking out for her with heavy dedication. I didn’t notice this as my job is to heal more than actually call out orders. Frankly, Query is more of a trainer than I am in team fights. I have the last word but he was the cause of our success in the battle.

I haven't told mom that I've killed besides that night where I lost my eye. Or rather let my family kill. Pretty sure she knows that I've done something like that again from how she's stressing in a life or death situation. That I shouldn't leave anyone alive behind me unless I've got support to guard prisoners. I forget that mom has dealt with criminal elements before. Her duties as Gym Leader mean she's called in when the Police come across high level trainers who break the law. There hasn't been a war in some time but mom would get called to it if such a thing ever happened.

The conversation takes some time.

What follows is another week of resting and truly saying goodbye to home. Things are packed, we set up ways to get back quickly for Tass and then its off to the Conference. Mom and ,surprisingly, Dad are coming along. Mom is all set to ride on Mars as opposed to her team to talk with her grandson of sorts. Interesting thing. Mars is so much of a dragon in spirit that mom can talk to him like one. Its not the direct talking I can with a team but its absolutely special. That kind of got me a bit emotional. Mars is a dragon. Well.

Silver Town is not nearly as impressive as televised shots I've seen of the Indigo Plateau. It makes sense. So much of the league is settled in the Plateau of Kanto as opposed to Johto. Its easy to see how Lance will be champion of both regions. A lot of the league is run from Indigo. Just a Johto champion wouldn’t have the dominance that our Clan tends to focus on.

That said, Silver Town also shows off why Johto is so lovely. Just behind Hoenn, Johto is a region that focuses on keeping a lot of wilderness protected. The mistakes made in Kanto towards pollution were instrumental for both Hoenn and Johto to learn how to work with clean energy as much as possible. Many pokémon are responsible for environment conservation.

Silver Town is a great example. Normally a small town for the most part, it holds significance for being at the base of the infamous Mount Silver. There are pretty much only seven or so buildings. One massive Pokémon Center that when the conference isn't being held doubles as a research facility to study the naturally powerful inhabitants of Mount Silver and its surrounding land.

The Grand Stadium has four smaller battle fields around it for preliminary matches but the stadium itself can hold everyone who makes the journey easily. A huge hotel-like dorm stands next to the Center and trainers are required to stay there. Hotels for family of the participants or fans are about a half an hour commute away and tend to be only open around this time of year. The league uses the hotels as extra housing for Ace Trainers and Rangers to deal with rampages that occur fairly often from Mount Silver territorial disputes.

Every street is split by trees down the middle and nature is just a brief walk from the small town for any trainer who wants to go do some last minute preparations in private. Being the daughter of a gym leader has its perks. We're given a suite that could hold most of my team and all of Mom’s. Sadly Aurora and Zaela are just a tad too big.

"Ella darling. Go get yourself registered and then its spa time." Its easily the most excited I see mom. Spas are her anime trope if she had one. The type where said character gets all drooly and wants their desire more than anything else. I leave most of my team and take Tru with me. Of all my pokémon her and Zaela are the most recognizable.

While I am going to mess with people my true fun will come with pokémon that haven’t been seen in public all that often. Aurora and Joker are the two I'm going to have the most mischief with as they are so rare to Johto (okay, Aurora is rare period) compared to the rest of my team. Query is as well somewhat but Hoenn is not that far away.

Walking around with a lucario gets me some notice. If I were in the various cities I traveled through certainly people might recognize the significance of Tru but here? Right before the biggest event in Johto's league? Everyone knows what it means to have a lucario partner. That I'm dressed in a custom made leather outfit that matches Tru's form starts people whispering a bit. My eyepatch with Query's colors? I’m hoping for people to match it later when my boy gets his due.

Its a big part of the Plan. To gain infamy. The big kicker won't be until the end of the conference but I have big ideas of how to reveal all of my pokémon. There might be rumors of a massive King Garchomp but by the end of this everyone will know Zaela.

Whistling happily at the idea of what is to occur I find my way to the giant Center. There are quite a few Joys here and they all are ridiculously busy. I wait patiently with Tru and we play a game trying to figure out what type of pokémon people have. We both notice a ghost trainer by the two signatures we feel in her shadow and we don't count a man in his mid twenties that has two psychics hovering next to himself. That's just too easy. It has to be by aura or observation that isn’t a big sign above their head. Metaphorically.

Eventually I come up to the harried looking Joy in my line and pass over my sadly rarely used pokédex. Registration of my entire team happens and but I only register Brightscales, Tasslehoff and Angel as possibilities for my first four matches. The plan is to use just Brightscales. Milotic are fairly rare and its not quite yet widely known how they evolve. Going to make waves. Heh. Pun. I doubt I'll come across anyone worth using Tass' trickery or Angel's unfair mobility but they are there just to be safe.

But then I feel it. A second after Tru stiffens. Someone strong in intent and determination. I turn around and yeah. There she is. My favorite champion. Not yet the pillar of amazing but definitely getting there.

Cynthia Shirona. She's a few years older than me but her hair is similar to her later style. The attachments give off her style but she's not yet in her Champion garb. Jeans, a sturdy shirt and a jacket to match that are in her classic darker colors. I can't help but stare as she gets up to her place in line to register. Holy shit. I'm going to face her. I'm sure of it. I've got a 100% record of fighting champions before they become champions.

For the first time in my life I'm terrified to talk to someone. Not in fear but...is this what being a fangirl is like?!

Ahh!

Okay. Okay. I'll play it cool. Yeah. Don't give me that look Tru. Its not funny! Right. I'll go wait outside and introduce myself. Or maybe she'll notice Tru and be like, hey, I got a lucario too! Does she have hers yet? Is it a riolu?

The next moments are not kind to my confidence but still amazing as I go to wait outside, pacing rapidly. The urge to release Zaela to truly get her attention strangles my thoughts but the Plan overrides my panicking. I can't let Zaela out till the finals. Which will probably be against Cynthia. Destiny is being nice. Or mean. I can't decide which.

"Are you alright? Your lucario is laughing at you so I assume it isn't bad but you do look quite worried."

I turn, horrified, to see Cynthia smiling faintly at me, amusement in her eyes as she watches me whirl my arms to regain balance. Did I just stop midstep and nearly fall over? Yes I did.

"Oh. She. I mean. Yes. She's laughing at me. Because of things. Right. Uhm. Hi. Er. Ella Mita?" Must not say her name. Must not say her name. I almost said 'pleased to meet you Cynthia'.

My hand goes out in a jerky motion towards her and I'm shocked to hear her giggle at me before taking my hand.

"Cynthia Shirona. Well met. I assume you're here for the Conference. I know everything is supposed to be secretive and such but I have a lucario as well. He's one of my closest friends. Is yours as well?" She speaks to me but she offers Tru a smile, offering her the chance to communicate herself. Most lucario can speak to humans but not all.

"Mistress and I have been together for quite a long time. She's everything to me besides my mate. I expect your partner feels the same from how bright your aura shines. My name is Truthseeker. Tru for short." Tru offers Cynthia one of the rare bows she gives out to those whose aura feels earnest and particularly soothing or with weight.

My brain must be mush as I haven't even felt Cynthia's aura. Just the impression. I tend to let my senses go dull with a lot of people around enough that only negative emotions spike my attention. When I forcus, Cynthia's presence feels full of potential. Lance, Clair, Bruno and Steven have similar hints of the same thing. Cynthia's though has definite edges of aura. Not enough to be as active as mine or even Liza's but it probably does a lot to make her team stronger than normal. Not quite active or directed. My aura is much like an anime source of energy. Able to flow and be put to use.

Cynthia’s aura suffuses her whole being. Weight as I mused. It just is there. Daring the world to move for her.

The bow Cynthia gives back to my lucario is just as respectful and I'm gaping a bit, still reeling from just...All of it. Sue me. Cynthia was my inspiration for a generalist team.

"Its great to meet you as well Tru. Perhaps we could compare notes on lucario after the conference Ella? I'd adore learning more of how you train Tru here. She looks particularly fit."

I wonder how she'll feel once Zaela is revealed. Okay. Calming down. The potential to troll her with my starter sparks my confidence again. Yeah. Yeah. Better living through memes. My smile turns a bit mischievous as I tilt my head. "Of course. Anyone who has a lucario is someone I would love to know. Don't think our budding friendship will keep me from mopping the floor with you if we compete."

This is better. She's not going to be the Cynthia I imagined when facing her but all trainers enjoy challenges. The way her eyes widen at my words and the way I stop bumbling about turn her own grin a tiny bit dangerous.

"That sounds perfect. Something tells me you're not going to disappoint me if we fight." Can she tell from a glance how strong someone is? I can do more or less the same with aura. Maybe its how she examines Tru. Her lucario probably gives her a good judgment as to her level. Its not arrogance that she has. Not at all. Its the same type of confidence that mom has. That I'm known to show. The knowledge that she is strong. Now I'm pumped up.

"Alright then. Here's my email. If either of us get knocked out early we'll meet and talk shop. But I hope I meet you in the finals Cynthia. Something tells me that we'll fight there." Now her smile truly is deadly and she takes my hand again in a shake before waving goodbye. Her emotions tell of excitement and a severe urge to go out and train. Probably lightly considering the first matches start tomorrow but I can't judge. I'm about to do the same.

We only talked for maybe two minutes and I can already feel that she's going to be everything I dreamed she would be.

The rest of the day flies by as I spar with Tru almost entirely. The rest of the team isn't told what happened but they sense my intensity and the clearing we find ourselves has to be repaired multiple times as we get in the last bit of training I allow. Its mostly just refining combos and a bit of a warm up for the morrow.

Mom is a bit pissed I didn't come back right away. She's mollified some when I say I found someone who I believe can give me a great fight. We still go the the spa as night comes though. Mom's obsession can't be denied! Frankly I'm almost as bad as her. Surprisingly, I sleep well. Get ready world. Tomorrow will be three single matches. The day after that will be one more one on one before the three on threes start. The Plan will not fail. All I have to do is step forward.

Next Day

Brightscales

This is going to be a glorious day! Glorious! Since I've gotten a trainer, which is beyond bizzare in itself, I've been able to prove myself to strong and worthy foes. The sea monsters of the Foundry call me Water Maiden. Why? Because none have shown themselves impressive enough to consider as a possible mate. Hmph! Zaela might be fine with someone beneath her power but I will not be! I don’t care if that big brute of a fire lizard has beaten her a few times. He doesn’t dominate the battle! Just barely scrapes by.

I spent many, many years in that cave waiting for something incredible to come along and it would hardly be battle maniac idiots who rampage on a whim who conquer my heart. Or prove their worth.

The title is nice though. It suits my beauty and majesty.

This conference confused me until I found out it would be shown to the world. That potentially most of the planet could see it on those box windows that Zaela spends so much time watching and yelling at. As if we needed more of her roars. She does it even without using moves.

A world seeing myself though? Yes. All the yes.

Ella surprises me by offering to let me travel at her side as we go to the first of our matches today. She already told me that she'd try to give me four matches that while probably not all that difficult would allow me to show off.

I must admit she knows me well. Strong fights are great. But to let everyone gaze upon me? More yes. This is much more enticing. Like how Sunny has told me of contests and that she has been working on a routine. If it is as she described I will insist I join her.

The first battle is against a green haired boy who is older than Ella but her demeanor intimidates him. I cover my mouth with my tail as I chuckle at his weakness. If he knew how Ella was in reality it would be well informed hesitation. As it is I think he simply doesn't know how to deal with her missing eye. Query told me she used to have much bigger of an issue with people staring at it but these days she properly puts people in their place by making them uncomfortable. Tass calls it 'trolling' but I must be honest. I don't know what that means.

It is pleasurable as the crowd hushes when I come into view. My visage is lovely so of course I forgive the lack of cheers but they haven't seen anything as I coil up and spring into the arena. Landing daintily I make sure that my scales ripple in the perfect way to reflect light as much as possible. Ella tells me I look like a living rainbow when I do this so of course I spent a week waking early in the morning perfecting it with the sunrise as my proper lighting.

My opponent sends out some grass type. Hmph! Predictable! Its large and has a fairly huge plant growing from the small of its back. Later I would find out it was a venusaur. Its a grass type though so I pull safeguard and mist about myself then add in a haze. Added together they shamefully cover my magnificence but being defeated by not using all of my gifts would be worse than a brief amount of losing sight of myself.

Besides. Mystery adds to beauty.

I make sure to toss out ice beams in a manner that reflects out more rainbows against the ethereal water that condenses in the air. Toxic spores and spikes litter the floor (dragged downwards properly by the water) as I slither closer under my protection, coiling and letting the mist and haze fade slowly until I'm close.

The grass type attempts to hit me with a fairly large amount of razor sharp leaves but I sniff at it. I've endured Aurora's full boosted freeze-dry. Surviving these bits of plant was not even able to bring me down halfway compared to that. A dragon tail shifts the big frog thing’s position and he's already staggering. Ella told me that sometimes trainers evolve their partners too fast. That Zaela wouldn't be as strong as she was without years in her previous forms. It makes sense. I myself was in my first form until I was strong enough to defeat the sea monsters as a feebas.

Wrapping my body around frog boy I continue to make certain that my scales live up to my name. Combining a disarming voice with an ice beam doesn't do much more damage for the effort but it does send my beautiful voice to the crowd over the grass creature's screams and reflect against my scales to make them gleam. I recover or ignore the frantic body slams and dodge the solar beam as I flow over his giant form, smacking him from every direction with ice beams that drag the clinging mist into a some what icy wind. Not a true attack but Ella did have good ideas about making my ice more draining by adding water beforehand.

The brute falls moments later and I slither over to Ella, jumping to her side in gentle arc. The cheers are my reward and due. Ella proves herself worthy again of being my trainer as she lets me bask in it then leads us out to the start of what would certainly be a massive crowd of admirers when we win more of the rounds.

An hour later finds us in another battle field across from another male trainer. This one at least is in somewhat impressive clothing. It glitters a bit like my scales but for some reason Ella dislikes it, staring at the sequins with a bit of horror? Again I take my place across from our opponent. Ella rarely says orders, trusting the harsh training and planning we go through to carry the team through anything.

It does well here as an electric dog shows up in front of me. Unlike the grass creature it seems a bit more experienced as it slowly circles me, taking its time. I dislike using this move but I won't be taken out by a lucky critical. Mud sport is rather droll so I add in a bit of ice to make glittering flower-like constructs on top of the mud I'm using to ground electricity. The electric dog moves immediately into a quick attack that sparks with yellow lightning.

How boring. I hit his path with brine and tag him straight in the chest with a dragon pulse as he attempts to adjust. Predictably this sends him out of control and I burst forward to stare into his eyes. I croon loudly enough to make it sound like I'm enjoying his presence. As is expected he falls into my hypnosis easily. Its child's play to send in a confuse ray along with it and I slither about him, coiling and keeping him asleep until I'm fully boosted.

Five slaps of aqua and dragon tail send him into the air and awake. His trainer has frantically been calling for a thunder attack but I simply catch his fall with a dragonbreath and one last strike to his spiky temple.

The roar of the crowd is larger this time as I leave. I suppose Ella gets some cheers too.

I would speak of the third match but the idiot girl there brought out a ground type. Sure, she had to pick first but it was so insulting I didn't even give the three headed mole a chance to fight back. Ella told me later it was a steel type as well but it didn't matter. Surf and water pulses took it out in short order.

The final match was at least interesting even if I had to wait till the next day. By now the crowd watching us was worthy of my grandeur. Flashes of cameras (which are wonderful devices by the way) greeted me and I posed prettily to show them my best sides. My opponent was a shiftry and was easily the most impressive of the four fights I was involved in.

Wicked blades flashed forward at speed and indeed I took much damage. Finally someone I could use tactics against! Water began to flow over my scales in an aqua ring and I froze parts of it to create armor in my more vulnerable areas as well as to potentially toss them at my opponent as a surprise.

This would show off my prowess! The fight became a dance. I made up for speed with precise movement and constant recovery. Every attempt the blade armed grass type made to replenish himself was interrupted with my attractive nature or captivating personality. It was a long dance. Of attrition. And I won it.

At the end of the battle I was at the center of a destroyed field. Ice and deep rends in the ground were scattered everywhere. Tired as I was I didn't let it mar how the roaring crowd saw me. Brightscales in the highlight.

Hmph. Ella wouldn't let me spend too much time there but it was enough. Already the masses were talking of the powerful, gorgeous milotic and the trainer who had only shown her so far in four fights.

Magnificent.

Adept

After Bri's last match I had a free day that I spent with dad of all things. It was...Weird. Forced. He'd been checking out the Ace facilities mostly. Together we watched a few fights that had me analyzing what was going on. One was Cynthia's and she destroyed her opponent with her roserade. So far she's only shown a milotic and the roserade. Oh. We share three of the same species. Did I let her team affect me that much?

Oh Arceus. I am a fangirl!

Moving on from this terrifying realization, Dad and I do one thing that gives me just a little bit of hope. Out of nowhere he suggest I get a tattoo.

"Your team is your family, right? Isn't something permanent and meaningful something you'd enjoy?" Dad's voice is surprisingly deep, but rather monotone. He's not very tall but I can see a bit why mom still loves him. Obsessed as he gets he can surprise a lot of people with his observations with very little data.

"Oh...Actually yeah. That's a great idea." It really is. I've been so focused on my team that Query often has to drag me away to do things I enjoy. Generally its reading since I can take books anywhere. We find a tattoo shop after taking a trip towards the hotels where most of the non-trainer guests reside. I'm very unsure what to get until Mars pops himself out, which is a tight fit in the parlor and points outside. I return him, apologize to the artist, head outside and see what he has to say as I release him with more space.

"Mother. You're thinking too hard. There will be twelve of us right? Here." With that he rummages in my expandable bag for his over-sized drawing kit and draws a twelve pointed star (Peter Keller version). "The inner circle should have the primary colors of your first six pokémon with the outer having the last half."

Great. Now I'm misting up again. Dad stays with me as I have the artist place it just over my heart and try my best not to blush at how exposed I have to be to get it. I'm only eleven but I'm growing pretty quickly. The artist, an older man, questions me quite a bit as well as dad to make sure that we're sure about it but yeah, I get myself my first ink in both lives. One of my twelve pillars isn't caught yet but I still insist her colors are put in.

Dad and I go back to the suite and I hope that we'll learn how to talk more. It doesn't take away from the fact that I am afraid its too late. The Foundry will be my new home the moment this Conference ends.

Mom freaks. Its great. Why? Dad and I both ignore it to grin at each other. Okay. A bit more hope. I got to sleep scolded about rash decisions and dad is on the couch but its worth it when Angel (who is on sleep with Ella duty. Something Query set up in paranoia ages ago) sees her colors on my chest as I change. When I explain what it all means she weeps at the idea of it. Both because of how much she means to me, as if she can't feel it, but mostly because Mars is the one who suggested it. Her effort to help him relate more is turning a corner. We all sleep well.

The next day is the first of the three on three battles and its Tasselhoff's turn to show how he’s moved forward.

Tasslehoff

I'm going to be honest. I was all set to just sleep in a shadow for this whole thing. I don't care about battles for sport. Ella, the bitch, pointed out something that made me very, very grumpy. Aaron is watching this. Which sucks. I'm not likely to go and be his partner for a while, or if ever, but...Well he'd be sad if I didn't try, right?

Crap. This is why Ella pisses me off. She's right. A lot. I hate that. I've participated in leagues before on my journeys but those were deals. To get help in finding a cure for...Bah. Its an old story. So fine. Here I am hiding away in shadows ahead of the time. If I have to do this at least I'll be fucking annoying.

Give me a battle of life and death anytime. That's exciting. Ella thinks its a hold over from my want to die with the last of her line. Aaron. Maybe so but only the excitement. Not the desire to fade away. Not since we cured Aaron. I hate it that Ella has this grip on me. That I willingly step towards. I can heal things no other pokémon can. Urgh.

The fight is boring. Idiot number one, some girl who looks all arrogant with her fancy hat and clothing sends out a luxray. Yaaay. Bet she thinks proud annoying lady is coming out. Bri. The ref calls for me to pop out and Ella tells him that I'm there already. Right. Cue the music.

I don't often fight one on one cause I'm a bit more frail than the rest of the team but Brightscales threw down a gauntlet. Bragged about how fucking pretty and amazing she was. Fine! Eat this bitch. I combine Lucky Chant...which I might have asked Sunny to help me tune a bit into screeching deep tones like a metal song...and flash with mystical fire to halo around me as I pull out of the shadow I was hiding in.

Its fucking epic and I can taste the luxray's fear. He's an idiot by the way. How did he not see me? They can see through walls right? The ref calls the start and I'm already snagging my fire to circle a hex around me. Magical leaves deny his approach and I constantly start sending out confuse rays tinged with spites and psywaves. Its an effort to keep up my discordant rocking metal music going but its worth it for the 'wtf' look on Ella's face.

Luxray have very good senses. Quite sensitive. So I blow the idiot's out of whack instantly with grating chords and flashing bursts of light. So its not hard to simply sucker punch up close and toxic the fool. The hex I was holding disguised as a will o’ wisp snaps forward along then another and he's down. No really. Shit. Ella really has been strengthening me. Well fuck. I'm going to have to be nice or take her down on the prank list.

Blah lady trainer says something annoying about 'unfair' and 'how did she do that? That many moves at once isn't allowed' . Okay now I'm pissed. Sure, mismagius are kind of feminine looking but there are differences! Some asshole dark type comes out. Uh. Bisharp. Whatever. I'm going to be fucking mean now.

I mean I was already doing that but now its personal! So yeah. I dodge dark pulses and let the taunt hit me. Give them just a biiiiit of some hope. Did she not see the mystical fire? I'm compelled to attack but who says I can't be a punk about it? Compared to fighting Joker this piece of shit is a joke. Dodge and toss out fire. I don't even stop doing so when the taunt fades.

This lady sent him out as a heavy type advantage but in reality the bitchsharp isn't ready for high level battles. The most I get worried about is admittedly kind of cool. A magnet rise that lets him move quicker than his steel form should, getting him close enough to try for a night slash buffed by assurance.

Still though. Yawn. Did he not see me sucker punch earlier? One more with a shadow sneak to get behind and another burst of mystical fire has him out.

More 'how did you do this?' and other whining makes me roll my eyes at Ella. I'll admit it. My latest trainer is fucking amazing compared to whiny lady. Out pops a snorlax. Okay! That's a bit better. But hey, why not be mean?

Oh noooo. Very slow elemental punches. Fine I'll act like I can't dodge them well. Oof! Damage! Toxic! Curse! Idiot opposing trainer chortling about using rest as soon as I'm down and healing everything. Hiding a destiny bond in the middle of my still continuing rock out. Might as well take a nap.

Is that a crunch? Yes it is. Let's just walk into that and-

Oh hey. Ella hit me with some healing in time to see that idiot trainer calling me names I'm absolutely going to tell Sunny to use. Oh yes. Anyway, since I didn't slack off and shit I get to sit out things until the quarterfinals. Yaaay. Time to go see if Wattson has anything fun planned. Heard that Tru, Aurora and Angel are going out to practice tonight so surely two upstanding gentleman as ourselves can cause enough trouble to make things interesting.

Adept

Tasslehoff didn't care but his fights ended up being even more impressive than Bri’s. People started asking me if I was actually a coordinator which was a bit less of a positive point. Ghosts aren't normally as straightforward as Tass was which is by design. Our scary combos are for true enemies. And with the power of friendship….Teamwork. Ahem. Who knew that Iron Butterfree was a band he liked though? He thinks I didn’t recognize his theme music. But I did.

The prank that Wattson and he set up was less than inspired though. I wouldn't have cared, which was part of the point but mom didn't appreciate the bright pink that my shampoo turned her hair. Stage two got my dad, whose skin turned pale white from borrowed body wash. He didn't care at all. And frankly the ribbons they braided into my hair while I was sleeping are just nice. Sunny, who is growing up, didn't in fact curse like I sometimes do as they wanted.

The joke was to turn me into the sylveon (ribbons) and her into the foul mouthed trainer. What ended up happening is Kingdra putting them into the ground and a trip to the Center. I may not be all girly at times but mom is a creature of habit. That said, she kept it pink for a while after until I asked if she was going to cosplay as a Joy. That led to a hurried dyeing but joke's on her! I got pictures while she wasn't looking.

Anyway, nothing particularly interesting happened save my plan was going along even more swimmingly. People have started recognizing me in droves and Joker, who roams constantly as new pokémn he's been seeing in the conference, has been listening to all sorts of rumors about the one-eyed girl with the stupidly strong team. They know of Tru, Bri and Tass so far as I still go everywhere with my lucario. Speculations are running rampant.

I might be stroking Sunny's back and channeling a Bond villan right now. Yes with the evil laughter. Angel is next tomorrow morning.

Angel

A pile of papers are set upon a desk within the Mita suite.

Images are packed one after another from the same artist. Most of them are highly stylized manga-like artwork. Angel the gardevoire stands proudly, heroically in the first picture on a standard pokémon battlefield. Her hands are lit with some type of power and her eyes are depicted as glowing with the same energy as she’s angled at a higher platform than the battlefield she stands upon.

Its framed so that it shows an opposing trainer, faceless, and his meganium looking at the posing Angel. The next frame has them charging at each other. Two massive attacks range forward. One obviously something fairy oriented from Angel and the other a grass beam from the meganium as carefully placed sunbeams are shown in the drawing to highlight the intensity. A few smaller frames show Angel teleporting so fast that the images of her are indistinct, as if she's barely within the same dimension. Meganium looks confused but firms himself and tosses out a wide bit of leaves to hit many angles, motion lines showing that they don’t just fly in a single direction. Then a startled look as Angel is suddenly inches in front of him, her hands in front of her, fists clenched. Angel's mouth opens in the next frame and massive shockwaves (hyper voice and such) and icy winds flow about them in close range, her hands now thrown out to show how hard she is yelling. Meganium's face shows great pain as small light screens wrap around his head to make the sound waves bounce constantly back and forth with each new frame obscuring the burly grass type more and more.

A few more boxes show the crowd waiting for the ice to clear and its to Angel standing over a spent meganium jumping up and down in excitement at her victory. Before meganium's trainer can return him though shows Angel holding up her hands in a 'wait' gesture. Pulses of healing flow down, reviving her opponent. He looks confused but an 'ah-hah' expression comes over his face and he nods to something Angel communicates and returns himself.

The faceless trainer's mouth is exposed and just a hint of confusion is depicted before another ball lands. This time its a steelix. Angel puts her hands up as if ready to box and grows determined! The start of this battle begins with a massive sandstorm that only has hints of the two pokémon within. A few images of dust covering everything along with clanking sounds written in blocky letters on the paper. Giant explosions of air streaks make a massive burst of force toss the steelix a bit out of the sandstorm which fades in the next panel to show a battered Angel. One half of the next panel has Steelix rear up, his tail gleaming with sharp looking energy with the other half of the panel cut down the middle to show a close up picture of Angel's eyes glowing with purple energy. Each characters faces look towards the other through the panel, suggesting that even if they are far from each other in the moment, all they can see is their opponent.

Steelix is halted in place, disabled in the next shot, the face shocked. The next shows a wider picture of Angel’s eyes glowing similarly from the last picture but now with concentric, expanding circles that hone in upon the now sleeping Steelix’s form. The next frame is of a chibi Angel picking out tiny thought bubbles from the sleeping Steelix's head. They each have a tiny steelix doing epic things. Angel eats them (still chbi) in the next shot and her wounds start to heal rapidly. Each new steelix dream starts to become more and more horrible. Nightmares. This just makes Angel eat faster, getting a cartoonishly large stomach.

Steelix ends up with swirls as his eyes and again Angel jumps around, victorious, various lines showing she’s even more happy with her victory. The frame coming next has a healed Steelix being patted on the snout by a pleased Angel, halfway returned to the still as of yet shown trainer.

The opposing trainer's mouth is agape and their final pokéball even as they somewhat awkwardly throw their last pokéball into the field in the next box.. Angel appears a little scuffed with dirt on her image, denoting how tired she is but also with a fired up expression as a charizard appears. She appears to be very excited in a mini box and her thoughts float into a thought bubble, showing a slightly bland looking chibi Mars fighting her own chibi. An opening!

The female charizard looks confused in her image even as she bathes the whole area in flames from a viewpoint form under her, the intensity of the image showing how powerful the attack is. The next panel has almost the exact same framing but with Angel shows up in the air, hovering, slightly singed directly behind the still flaming charizard. The next entire page is constant images of Angel dancing around charizard in what appear to be taunting teleports and actual dancing. Every box has charizard using flamethrower, then panicking as if they can’t stop. All while Angel steadily grows brighter and brighter.

Finally, buffed fully, Angel lets the encore go upon the last panel of the page. A close up on the next shows charizard’s face quite frustrated as it soars through the air, streamers at its wing and tail showing how fast its exploded towards Angel.

Angel just gets a slightly apologetic look on her face with her close up panel, half see through to show her mid-teleport. The next shot shows Angel arriving on top of charizard, who is half transparent as it shows both are being teleported. In the exact same pose, they now are perpendicular to the ground, with charizard’s head only a foot away from the ground. Another close up shows charizard's face has massive panic and can't pull up at all. In a similar look to the sandstorm from steelix earlier, another dust cloud forms from the perspective of staring straight down at it, as Angel pops into existence, panting, back hovering where she plucked charizard from.

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A frame of her hand goes to her chest, over her heart and she appears to be listening from the tilt of her head. The next box has her chest expand in a deep sigh even as her hands pulse with power. Once. Twice. Five times she tosses massive blasts of psychic energy into the cloud from an over the back shot. Her hands seem to blur with speed as she makes the cloud larger. The next frame again shows her face, one hand above her head with a yet to be thrown attack. Her listening face clears and a slow series of mini panels have her float back down, very tired to find the charizard unconscious, cratered in the center of the field.

Too tired to celebrate, despite the massively cheering crowd drawn in the background, Angel's face shows her usual compassion as she heals her opponent once more. It almost takes all of her remaining energy from how her form appears shaky. The next shot has charizard waking, claw raised to attack with wild eyes. A few small echoes highlight the claw, as if slowing down. And the next visage shows the gently smiling face of Angel not appearing to defend herself. The charizard halts in the next box, obviously realizing what happened.

Discussion is made with charizard looking a bit annoyed but also has admiration on her face, gazing at Angel as they don’t seem to pay attention to the wide shot they are in, crowd still going crazy. Claw to hand shake, prominent and with no other image in the next box.. Angel turns in the next panel again halfway visible, vanishing to appear at Ella's side who is finally shown. For once she appears completely full from the teleport as she stands with Ella. Ella's gaze is proud and she embraces Angel that dominates the second to last box.

The last shot is of Angel with her eyes closed, asleep. Circling her are the rest of the family in a big pile. The are solid and without the comic nature of the previous pages. The first true bit of art that is hyper realistic. Angel’s face is utterly content.

Signed upon the last page is the name of the artist. ‘Mars.’

The title, written almost as if it is unsure it should be labeled in the first bit of shaky work by the artist, is Hero.

Adept

Well. Now everyone knows us. Angel's display stole many hearts. The cuteness and power she could bring out at the same time has captivated imaginations. Split second teleports, amazingly strong psychic abilities and her unfailing compassion provided such a huge contrast compared to Bri's pride and Tass' casual distaste.

Things are picking up and mom is starting to see what I'm planning. A few reporters have tried to pin me down but I'm not going to give them anything yet. After the conference? Oh yes. Absolutely. But for now the mystery is what I'm after.

Joker is next and holy shit is the world not ready. The things he can do now makes me a bit giddy with what will occur. Dad is back to ignoring us. Bill showed up and they're talking shop. The one good thing about that is that Sunny gets to spend the day with her father. I watch after them and its beyond fun to watch her tell him of her life. He obviously is pleased to see how happy she is and thanks me for taking care of her.

Which is a bit silly. Sunny does more for us than we do for her. I tell him as much and he beams at me.

Sunny sleeps with me that night, tuckered out. Tomorrow Joker is going to ruin some fools. Though I expect it'll be difficult for him at first to deal with the crowd I can't wait.

Joker

Situation uncomfortable. Guardian insists. Challenge. Be very tricky or be exposed. Accepted.

Query offers advice. Also rules. Allowed to use any illusion of team only. Very annoying.

First enemy. No. Treat like spar. Do not kill. Normal type. Looks lazy. Slaking. Must not get hit.

Imitate Angel. Double teams and be friendly. Hide dig while substitute sends off one attack. Cannot risk more than one. Too tiring. Hone claws. Hone claws. Hone claws. Single attack is a taunt as I come out under massive body. Timed for pause in attacks. Strike with dark.

Roar of pain means much hurt. Slaking knows I am not angel but substitute fools crowd to thinking it was mental attack. Perhaps not fully accepted. Doesn't matter.

Come up away from slaking. Grass knot. Grass knot. Every attempt to reach close. Taunt. Grass knot. Sense deep annoyance.

Double team. Dodge many ranged abilities. Slaking not just up front pain. Ranged pain. Dark pulse and night daze disguised as confusion and psywave. Kick up dirt to hide flashes. Trainer may know something odd is going on.

Slaking nearly out. Dash forward, shadow sneak that is really a sucker punch. Take hit and u-turn to knock out opponent. Guardian suggested she hold up pokéball and act. Deceive. Back on battlefield almost immediately. Now Tass. Slaking gone. Pride.

Honchkrow. Fast. Ingenious. Night slash combined with wing attack and tailwind. Splits into double team are not enough. Torment to break combo. Dark pulse and thunder wave hit second substitute formed. Only two more before too dangerous to use.

Bounce and feint attack imitate phantom force. Not fully perfected but enough. Flamethrower is magical flame. Curl it. Curl. Success. Lucky that honchkrow doesn't use punishment. Honchkrow now knows of deciete. Physical body on back of dark bird. Fury swipes.

Pulse of energy hits hard. Illusion gone. Pain. Hidden power? Act again. Growling. Savage appearance. Must intimidate. Bring claws down over and over. We both crash. Honchkrow out. I am still able to fight. Returned though to cause confusion and provide new illusion.

Back on battlefield against machamp. Challenge. Refuse to be returned. Angel imitation again. Bounce constantly to focus blast and shadow ball. Both attacks hidden as moonblasts. This is done well. Train against Angel often. Angel can learn both attacks. But would use moonblast.

Foresight ruins plans. Double teams seen through. Illusion broken from smack down and rock tomb. Flamethrower is met with same attack. Dig fails as earthquake causes great damage while underground. Fall within machamp's range. Attacks come quick. Unable to retaliate. Try to use u-turn to escape for real. Things go black.

Wake up later in building. Told Angel came in and made machamp 'a ping pong ball' from how angry she was that injury was somewhat severe. And surprise. Small child saved at ranch is here. Knows of illusions. Still likes me.

Amazement.

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

Adept

Joker does what I had hoped. While not perfect, he copies the fighting styles of Angel and Tass enough that I didn't feel confusion from the other trainer for quite some time. Fooling people with pokéball switches was hilarious too. When he was finally found out in with honchkrow the battle went downhill quick and he ended up with a broken arm.

This provided terror. As Angel got mad. The first time since I've known her. Not from the injury but because apparently the machamp wanted to make Joker hurt out of revenge. He knew that their team was likely to lose because of how effectively Joker tricked them. Angel came in, silent even with her mental images. The next few minutes needed a censor bar from how brutal she became. Pulling power that I thought she only achieved in mega form, she gripped machamp in psychic and used him to plow the ground, evening out the earthquake. Anytime he attempted to use anything to resist or break free she teleported in close, hypnotized him, took them both up one hundred feet and smote him from the sky with a fully boosted moonblast.

Machamp are physically sturdy but even he was out after the third time she dragged him upwards. Mom told me that she heard people in the crowd wondering at her neck injury and if it created a trigger if something serious happened to those she cared for. That actually makes a bit of sense. She always went very quiet whenever we dealt with such cases in the Foundry.

When Joker came to it was to a bit of a surprise. I didn't know that he had saved Daisy during his time at the Ranch. Professor Oak and his family came by to see Joker at Daisy's insistence. I knew Professor Oak and Professor Redwood were attending the conference but I must admit meeting Blue and Leaf Oak was a bit of a shock.

Daisy looks almost exactly as I remember except younger, obviously. As Joker was spending his time in the Center I was told the tale. Three times no less. Once from Daisy, which had hilarious potential for pranking Joker. The second was a smaller tale from Blue that had a hint of guilt in it. Leaf, who is surprisingly chatty, just waved off her husband's negative feelings and asked a ton of questions about Angel and her lack of voice. Not in an intrusive way but more figuring out how that changed her development. In response I just released her and Leaf was wide eyed at how Angel communicates.

The last story was from Professor Oak and the bit of pride he had towards me for how Joker behaved made me a bit misty eyed. Not for me. Joker has always been like that. I told the Professor as such and he was even more impressed.

"So Mr. Joker. Its fine if you're not a lucario. I like you anyway! Thank you for saving me." Daisy is staggeringly cute. She's in a mini-professor outfit of sorts and has a notebook. Tru is nearby, translating, so Daisy can quiz Joker about all sorts of things. I sense that the good professor will be attempting to find a zorua as a partner for Daisy if this keeps up.

"Welcome. Duty. Strong. Save those not as strong. Yet. Potential. You. Show you first family. Perhaps partner with. Protect each other." The funny thing is, Joker has a handful of dark types with his first family now and he doesn't see the divide that other zorua tend to have about packs. Once they proved loyal he regarded them just as much his responsibility as his older family. Tru faithfully translates, as its a learning experience for Daisy to realize wilder pokémon tend to not be as communicative.

"That sounds great! I'd love it. Now! What type of foods do your kind like?" Showing that her last name means something I let her prattle on to Joker, who takes it as he does everything. With quiet acceptance. I've never really seen him panic.

I change that later that night at the clearing. I asked Daisy if Angel could take her memories of the rescue so I could watch them. The first reason is to see how far he's gone with his new trick to have substitutes actually use moves. The second and vastly more important was to perform my first prank on Joker. Why? I'm mean I guess. He doesn't deserve it really but its too hard to pass up.

"Zaela. If you could come over here? Angel has something interesting to show you."

Cue a few minutes of ominous quiet here. The only one who truly feels the pressure is Wattson who carefully takes Tru's hand and starts leading her and Sunny away slowly.

Angel knows what I'm planning and is letting me but she's got that feeling you get when someone you love is making a stupid decision. Not a huge one but one that has you shrugging and sighing at their lovable flaws.

Zaela finishes going through the memory and asks to see it again. By now Tass has slunk into my shadow and Aurora has managed to get Mars to make popcorn. Joker, bless him, is simply observing, utterly blind to his approaching doom. Query is off with the two Professors. He's gotten involved with Mars about all the internet applications. Tonight was bringing in the Professors to possibilities of research being shared globally in easier ways. Also he took about seven board games with him. I'm sensing that's for after the presentation.

"Joker? If you could come over here? I've a question for you?" Oh wow. Zaela has pretty good control there. Not a waver of anger or irritation in her voice.

Joker, bless him again, moves over dutifully and looks way up at my starter then hops onto her shoulder. He tends to do this with her when they have conversations. Usually its him telling her where nearby herd animals are then she flies off with him on board that way. Its as terrifying looking as you'd expect.

"So Joker. Angel just showed me Daisy's memories of you saving her." Okay. Now Joker realizes what is going on. He's still not at all socially capable. Even Mars is better off than him. But he can tell that this is precipice.

"Meant no disrespect. Only wished to help child." Good attempt. Massive pride or not, Zaela and all pokémon have soft spots for children and eggs.

"You think that excuses this? That you could get away with it?!" There's the anger. Ouch. I don't look at her aura. I'm not going to sleep with her draconic will getting me all antsy.

"Yes. Did not harm you. Denied Daisy fear." Whoa. I've never actually heard Joker say a name besides our family before. Good going Daisy. Made an impression.

"I don't CARE about that! I care about the fact that there were no fucking kaiju noises! Where was the lightning breaht?! Couldn't you have made me more exaggerated? Maybe give me a few more claws?! What the hell man? I thought we were friends! Why were they plain old draco meteors?! Make them a different color! The lighting sucked too! We're teaching you flash or some shit! I should have been outlined in shadowy, evil energy or some shit! We're not resting until you get this right."

What.

The.

Fuck.

Mars lets out a deep sigh and returns himself. Aurora makes sure to leave Joker and Zaela the popcorn and follows suit. Angel just sends me an image of her shaking her finger at me and a feeling of 'that's what you get' before leaving me alone to stare at Zaela lecturing Joker about how to make it 'just fake enough that its somewhat funny' but also be able to add in true terror if needed.

I lose a bit of sleep at the realization that my starter is a fangirl in her own way. Fuck. Wattson's turn tomorrow. I haven't talked about his new ranged abilities a lot, mostly because he's been keeping it a secret. He kept calling me 'Boss' and 'Bro' a lot though. Something about inspiration from Earth making everything 'uber epic.' I'd be worried but then Zaela pulled what I think is a screenplay from my bag. The worst Wattson can do is make a single match awkward. Zaela might possibly create a movie with all the awful she’s trying to teach our dark butler. Damnit Aurora. Now I’m thinking of him as that.

Wattson

Its finally my time! Yeah! Its been too long since I've gotten to shine. More light based things! Puns galore! Alright. Got that out of the way. Today is going to be epic. Tru's got her banner ready and Sunny promised to cheer along as well in the stands. Ella didn't even mind that it is showing her off possibly to opponents.

Oh man do I have some new moves to share! Ella might roll her eyes at me sometimes, for good reason! But if she isn't amazed by how far I've come after this? I might need to enlist Tass for some payback. More successful payback. Nah. Probably not. My girl is getting a bit annoyed by all the fun I'm having with Tass. Might have to dial that down a bit. Its weird that mons say that having a mate shouldn't mean you change.

Fuck that! I love changing for Tru. Not that she asks for a lot. But seeing that I respect her wishes and...Tru-ness or whatever? The way she gives me a soft smile only I get to see? Its worthwhile. What's a tiny bit of fun compared to that? That shit means something.

Whoa. Is this what Query talks about when tells of how Ella finds things out about herself by writing in journal-kun? Wicked. I might need to start my own! But with an weirder name. Actually I should ask what the -kun part means. She’s always writing in that thing. So it must be some amazing title.

All the fights so far have been gearing up in glam and swag. Time to show what it means to be beyond that! I've been a bit of a one-trick pony. Punching things and dealing with things I have a type advantage for. Enough of that. I'm not sure I can take four mons down myself alone but I've been with the team a year now. Almost. Everything I'm about to show will be new to Ella in a lot of regards. Its my gift to her.

She doesn't know how much it meant for her to offer me that ball. This place in the family. I've got a mate. Who I love more than anything. Once we get back to the Foundry we're gonna see about having an egg. I had thought my life was over. Just a hermit in the woods.

Now I have everything. I jive to have fun but this fight is going to be a love letter to my trainer.

Fuck yeah.

Being in a pokéball is comfortable but a tad boring at times. Its worth it for now. We're at the main stadium. Quarterfinals. This won't be a cakewalk. Not at all. Ella gets picked to reveal first and out I pop. I work the crowd, cheering, raising my fists and screaming my name towards Tru and Sunny sitting next to Ella's mom.

My opponent is a rather blank faced girl with dark, almost marsh green hair. Weird. What's with the doll? Oh neat! Her pokéballs are hovering around her head. Whatever! Look! A claydol. How predictable! Right. I need to survive a bit until I've set up. Hope Tru believes it when I tell her how I’m following her advice more. She'll be impressed by me thinking!

Who am I kidding? She probably feels me thinking about her right now. Hey there babe.

First off, tank the first earth power to propel me up into a magnet rise. I can't quite get it set up yet without a boost. Thank you claydol! That hurt my tails but it was worth it. Now to toss a flamethrower down for thrust. Ooooh. I can hear the gasps from the crowd. Yes! Fuel my powah!

"Hey! Mud action figure! You're..Uh. Stupid! And your face looks weird!" Taunt successful. Or he's confused. Whatever! Now to light it UP!

Dancing is a joy. This one Ella taught to me one night when everyone was a bit silly. She said a comedian named Risk Marley or something danced like this so well that a game company she loved put it in her favorite game at the time. World of Boardraft or something. You could ride boars in racing I guess? Whatever the case my dance is strong. Rain starts up, I'm meditating, cause dancing is spiritual man. Plus! I have so much swagger that it hits mud boy.

He's raring to smack me down and rocks flow up, then straight down at himself. I'm peppering myself with thunderbolts to raise my speed. Rain clouds give me a lot to work with! Claybutt snaps out quicker than expected and switches to psychic blasts while spinning about like a top. Fucker shoots rocks out like a machine gun but its too late!

The DANCE is my first surprise for Ella but here comes step number two! Due to all the excess electricity I have now I'm able to blast back all the rocks and do some nifty flexing. But its for purpose! I'm charging constantly until I can use my new attack!

"PRISMATIC SPRAY!" Wizards sound awesome. I'm totally going to have Query create a real dungeons and dragons campaign for the family. Prismatic Spray is this. One part thunderbolt (won't affect mud idiot I know but it looks cool so it stays) , one part flamethrower (not effective and dulled by rain but it stays!), one part newly unlocked psychic powers (also not effective but you guessed it, looks cool so stays!) one part focus blast (same deal) but the part of it that I've overclocked with all my extra energy? One part signal beam. Its tiring as fuck but I've layered an electric terrain up in the small storm I've got going. I'll be topped off in a few moments. Pity mud-face can't use sunny day cause of taunt!

So I get hit a bit from some rocks. Its fiiiiiine. Cause the overpowered signal beam cuts through every psychic blast and hits clay butt dead center. I shoot a thunder at myself directly into my tails to rocket myself after the beam. I'm fast enough I nearly catch up to the impact of the bug move smacking claydude.

The PUNCH is a classic that must be used. Dropping from up high, boosted and using the ice version of the PUNCH detonates the earthquake portion with authority and I've got just enough magnet rise to make sure I don't take the hit too. I'm speeding like a demon and start in on ice punches. I keep a low level signal beam to keep him from teleporting. Something about bug buzzing fucks up psychic moves. The only way I can use prismatic spray is if I fire the psychic beam a little ahead of the signal beam.

Claybrain goes down pretty quick and I dance my way back to center. Oh yeah. The crowd is jamming. Wish I could bring music to this! Weird blank faced trainer's eyebrow twitches just a little. Hah! Oooh. A hypno. This is not going to go well for them!

I rush forward at speed and stagger as hypnosis comes out. They're plotting something too! Nasty like! I can tell.

Such! A! Struggle! More hypnosis! So close! Sleepy! I fall! Out! Zzzzz

Psych! (heh, get it? Cause psychic?) I unlocked Vital Spirit a while ago! It was an act. Watching the hypno try and fail to eat my dreams almost breaks my cover. The point blank thunder that comes down on us both makes the crowd gasp and I'm up. I might love my new ranged abilities but a good old simple thunderpunch is my bread and butter. Hypno can't stand up to it. He tries very hard to disable me but I snap thunder waves at him anytime it looks like he attempts to truly concentrate. Poor dude falls super quick. Should have used a confusion or quick psychic to create space. Hell. Skill Swap would have ruined me.

Anyway! More dancing. I do a moonwalk. It took three months of an extra hour of practice every night but I can do it. Its a fairy move! Hah! Cause the moon. Right. Next guy! Kadabra! Nifty. Oh she's a psychic trainer. Shit. Of course. The floating balls. Ehehe. Tru would roll her eyes here.

Oh fuck! Shadow Balls! Teleports! Psywaves! And fast! Not me fast but this is rough. Okay. Discharges to keep him honest. There. Now he's defensive. Rock tombs. Gotta predict! I go left, he goes right a few times. Give him a blind spot! There! I got this. Wham! That had to have hurt. Oh. He's faster now. Is that Psych Up? Fuck! Well he's got my speed now. Shit.

Eww. He's using his spoon to mess with my vision. Not cool bro. Oh. Irritated look there guy. Gal? Gal. Crap buckets. I'm not screaming here! Its not scary seeing rocks fly at me by someone’s mind being angry at me! Time to spam shock waves. They lock onto her electrical signal. The one present in all lifeforms with a nervous system. I take a hit to continue watching where my shock wave flows. There! Thunderpunch might be my favorite way to dish out the damage but the thunderbolt I hit this gal with fries her fur something fierce.

Its irritating as fuck to see her start to heal but it also forces her to teleport and stay in one place. Signal beam surprise is her gift! Then I go for surprise number three!

I can only form one double team right now. But I use it to do something I've waited ages to do. My double team starts waving his hands over one of mine and a giant electro ball is formed. Can I do it by myself? Yes. But Ella has gone on and on about the rasengan she can use but she does it without a clone helping her! Its not really a rasengan! Electro ball works best if I'm way faster but who the fuck cares? It looks awesome as I add in a bit of focus blast to give it that blue tinge. The urge to give Ella a shit grin is devastating but here's where I take a huge dip in power.

My clone can use helping hand for myself. Not at full power. But I'm getting there. I'm just that confident in myself. Yep. I can help myself. This all takes a second to charge and how might you ask do I keep kadabra in one spot?

"You look like a man!" The people who can understand me go quiet. I can hear Ella slapping her face with her palm. But kadabra ceases recovering and starts flinging scarily powerful blasts of psychic everything. I'm tough though and while I could toss the electro-ahem, rasengan, I choose to remain faithful to the source material! Running forward I yell out as you should when using a finishing move and shove it into my opponent's chest. Do I get tossed around and hit with a shitton of attacks? Yes. Is it worth it when I connect and add in the strength of a thunderpunch and flash a signal beam from a foot away to make the rasengan look like it did all the damage itself? You better fucking believe it is.

Sad to say I go out like a light after that. Joker took on the slowbro after me. It was a boring, long, drawn out fight. Slowbro wasn't quick enough to lock down Joker with water moves and shite. Joker didn't have the strength to take out his bulk even fully buffed for a while. Eventually slowbrow failed to notice that he'd been poisoned because Joker kept distracting him with flashy movements. The thing is, the creepy girl returned slowbro before he was done fighting. Or so I was told. Weeeeeeird. But we won!

What matters is that Ella was suitably impressed and disappointed at the same time! I live for her shaking her head at me! Its great! Wonder why I got revived so long later and that weird blank faced girl is smiling in our room. Seriously. Creepy. Can she read my mind? Oh shit. That grin is way scarier! Uh. Query! I need an adult!

Adept

I'm going to take what Wattson says more seriously when he says he has a bunch of surprises. The whole fight was horrifying. Normally I'd adore seeing him go nuts but that was Sabrina across from us. Sabrina Natsume. Whose aura already feels so muted. Sad. So alone. Holy shit. Its an effort not to ask for the match to be postponed or something. Wattson going nuts on her team distracts me a lot. It takes a long time for psychic pokémon to mature and it shows. They aren't as quick as I expect nor pack as bit a punch anywhere near Query or Angel.

The reaction time they show is amazing however. Even slowbro, for his species. Wattson seems to break reality with his joy at showing off and later my fame has grown even more. Its a bit sad how my team seems to reflect mostly on me and not purely themselves but I suppose us humans are a bit self centered that way. (Bri in particular is a tad livid at this) I may train and guide my family well, at least in my opinion, but the true effort comes from them. Then again, growing up able to talk to them all may make me very biased.

But yes. Sabrina. I remember how much she wants to laugh from the anime. That was the big deal right? And Wattson almost does it there. His...dance. Oh Arceus. What was that?! His dance almost breaks her. She looks annoyed but her aura tells of her unfamiliarity with the emotion she's experiencing. Its a laugh! Watching my crazy electrivire demolish most of her team in increasingly silly ways paves the way forward. I'm intensely impatient for Joker to take down her slowbro so I can talk to her.

Its then I realize she's been staring at me for a while. Mental shields are a must for me. For now. Someday I hope I find someone I can trust besides my team with my secrets. To share it. I might not be interested in romance yet, physically, but mentally the idea of having someone who I can share my burdens with is stupid appealing.

Sabrina is supposed to be the strongest psychic alive. Human at least. Is she able to get a bit from me? Her aura...Its almost like a watch dog peeking out a mound in curiosity. Immediately she doesn't care about the fight and returns slowbro. Which is crazy. It had a mega stone. I'm positive she was about to use it. Sure, slowbro is poisoned and she's down three mons but...Right! After her!

I ignore people screaming my name and the congratulations. I make a motion to mom that I'm heading after Sabrina. She just quirks an eyebrow but returns Tru (Who was yelling some rather rude things at Wattson's opponents by the way. I don't think he could hear it over the explosions but I'll tell him later) and Sunny to take back to our room.

People see a bit of my ability as I jump over a few of them and run along the walls. Normally this would be calculated into the Plan but right now Sabrina matters more. Who knows if she can teleport or some silly shit right now?

The rushing was hardly needed as it turns out. She's waiting for me in one of the many park-like areas that litter Silver Town. Her doll is in her lap and the floating pokéball trick is done. They're attached to her waist save four. Likely already off to being healed.

"Who are you? I can't enter your mind fully but its...Different. Odd." This would sound all neat and shit if it weren't in a monotone voice of shiver inducing timber.

"Ella Mita. Aura guardian in training." Am I going to poach one of Kanto's strongest gym leaders? Yes. But even if that isn't an option I'm going to save her. She's very delicate looking. Distinct and pretty despite her blank face. About a year older than me and with almost waist length hair. Odd pink eyes. "The shielding is likely my gardevoir. Her and my metagross switch off protecting my mind each week. I've a lot of secrets with what my dream is. You're psychic yes?"

She looks at me and the barest hint of emotion flows over her face. Its a 'are you an idiot' look towards me and I find myself blushing. Of course she's psychic from her displays. Look. Its a bit awkward! She’s always been one of my favorite characters. And now she’s here. And I can help her.

"Okay. I'll get straight to the point. Not sure how much you know of aura but I sense emotions like you sense thoughts. They call to me. I can read a lot from someone. Not all aura users can do that. Its kind of my specialty among a few other things." Its been a while! But cue showing off an aura sphere in my hand.

The interest she shows isn't that large but it is a start. "Dream?"

Huh. Don't speak much do you? And you skipped pasty my abilities? Guess they are normal for her.

"I'm going to create a world order of guardians. To protect people. From crime, disasters or whatever it is we can help with. I've already started." Why am I trusting her with this? Its a leap of faith. In the anime she turned around a lot but they didn't really show after what she became or at least what I recall. This is what I came to this world to do though. "If you promise to keep my memories to yourself I'll let you look at my dream."

This is less of a gamble. Her aura will tell me if she lies. What it shows now is shock. Most people hate her being able to read their minds. She sees that everyday. That I, who she can't read, would willingly show what might be my deepest desire to her? It hits her hard. Another bit of emotion pops up physically. The tiniest biting of her lower lip.

"...please. Ella. I would...like that." Drat. Still the same monotone voice. I release Angel, who more or less knows what is going on and she lowers a bit of the barriers she's placed around my memories. My reincarnation and all that stay locked but I urge Angel to leave everything else open.

Smiling a bit, hopeful, I move forward and offer her my hand. My calloused, nicked and rough hand. Hers is soft and smooth as she takes it. She probably doesn't need touch to peer into my memories but Angel and Query always seem to find it easier to shield my mind while touching me.

What follows is like Angel communication on crack. It feels like watching a slideshow of my life while stuffed in a dryer at full speed and trying to hold in laughter, a massive sneeze and keep in tears all at once.

Its exhausting but it only lasts what feels like a split second. After? Sabrina is staring at me, mouth agape. Angel is nearby and she forgoes her usual images and all I feel is a bit or worry and awe in equal parts. Sabrina's hair is green in the anime. Its black, almost purple now like the games. What's more? Her aura is normalizing. Emotions flood her that she has context for.

Something I did has changed her. I'm looking at you aura! The BS that it is! Later I get a theory. That Ash's aura in the anime helped change her as much as haunter did. That his genuine urge to see her better reached out. It would make sense considering he befriends fucking everything. That's all later though. What happens then is she springs into my arms and starts crying.

Deep fucking sobs. What do I do with that? Its never happened to me before in either lives. That someone would get so close to feel comfortable sharing that. Her emotions are all over the place. Gratefulness and confusion. Massive regret and such pure hope that Angel almost starts dancing to it. Yeah. Angel dances to happy emotions. She probably doesn’t even have the understanding that its not natural to open up this much.

I can only assume that having the memories of my emotions so present and open to aura gave her much needed perspective. And her mind processing it all in however long that was brought something forward to this resolution. Honestly. Fuck if I know.

I still suffer from awkwardness at time so I just hold her and pat her back until she can talk. She's still doll like but… Different. Something was off about her and I thought it was her inner problem. It was more. She really has dark purple hair. She's even prettier. To make herself less of a person she's been mentally projecting herself getting plainer. I vaguely remember that from the anime. I'm really lucky she takes time to get a hold of herself because holy shit is my body reminding me that its got hormones that are overriding my good sense.

Gonna need to talk to mom about some things tonight.

"Th-thank you. I...I can feel now. You pushed it away. My mind. Just a bit so I could connect. Your family did it. Such love. Is this what you feel all the time with them?" Oh. I'm sharing my aura. Probably instinctively did that when she entered my head. I'm about to pull it away but she grips me tighter, hard. "Don't! No! It...Its so soothing. Please. I..I don't think I can live how I did before. So cold. Can you teach me how to do this?"

Oh. Well. Let's go with the easy stuff first.

"Yes. That's how much I love my family." Angel sends ups warm pictures of a snuggly blanket at that. Interesting description of affection there but she just sticks her tongue out at me. "As to the other part? Likely not. However...I..Well okay. You could find a pokémon who uses aura to bridge the gap for you. Lucario, togekiss and meinfoo are examples. Medicham have a bit I think? They're part psychic. "

"But none are around here! Please. Your dream. Its bright. I could help. You had plans to incorporate psychic types along with others. Its a good plan!" Holy hell. Did I overload her? I guess years of not being...whole can do it to you. Was this when she started to split her personality? When she could still see a way out of her issue?

"Alright." I can't say no. Desperate girl with now blue eyes staring at me with hope aside, the pragmatic part of me can't deny that she'd do so very much for my cause….And frankly her story has always been a sad one. To save her from almost a decade more of stunting herself? "If you can wait till the end of the tournament I'll take you along with me to the Foundry. At least to see how things are. Did anyone come here to see you compete?"

She blanches a bit at that. Faking not knowing she has parents that she eventually abused is a bit weird in my gut. Did she start that already? Her emotions read more regret than guilt so probably not quite yet.

"My parents. They left though. We had a fight. Do you think...I don't want you to leave me." The broken tone in her voice is pretty heart breaking and I just hug her into my shoulder. I'm a little taller than her despite being younger. "What if I go back to...that? Would you come with me to meet them before you take me to the Foundry?"

My heart. Well. Mom always wanted me to have more friends my age that weren't my monsters.

"Of course Rina. Come on. Lets go get you a treat. You're staying with me until we leave." Fuck it. Screw the consequences. This girl is mine now. Sabrina sticks to me pretty hard the rest of the night. I don't think I have to worry about her regressing but she doesn't have years of being one of the most competent and scariest gym leaders in an entire region behind her. Or likely of her full powers as a psychic come to think of it. Angel hides my thoughts again which actually relieves Sabrina a bit more. Before we get to the suite I pause, licking the mint ice cream cone I chose carefully. It almost dripped on my hand! I hate sticky hands.

"If I'm Rina, does that mean I get to give you a nickname? Maybe...Roughhands!"

Well. There goes my treat. On the ground. Cause of whipping my head to stare at her.

"Really? That's the best you got?" Don't glare at her. Just steal take some of her strawberry! Its almost as good.

"Hey! Stop that! What? You do have rough hands! Fine. Maybe..Uh. Goldiehair." Oh sweet Arceus.

"Rina. I think I'm going to adore you but you have shit imagination."

"Foulmouth! That's another good one!"

Mom opens the door to us wrestling and pulling each other's hair a bit when she calls me 'Duskull.' I know she didn't mean it in a negative way but some things have to be punished. Mom simply stares and closes the door. Blushing hard, we stop fighting and knock.

This time she peers at us dangerously and lets us in. Introductions are made and I leave Rina with Angel and a promise to just be in the other room. Explaining everything to mom has her staring at me hard. It gets pretty intense and I take a peek at her feelings. Amusement and worry. Okay?

"Alright Ella. So when a girl and a girl like each other..." Oh fuck.

"Nonono! Okay. Stop! I know how sex works! Shit! I. Shit! Stop!" Cursing is usually a no no in front of mom but I have to keep her from giving me this talk. That she bursts out in laughter as I panic doesn't stop me from punching her shoulder. "Evil! Sure...I think she's pretty but I'm still too young for all that."

Seriously. Way too young. I hate puberty. Go away.

"I know, but I couldn't help myself. I've known for a while there's no boy out there for you Ella. Unless there is something you're not telling me?" The glare I give her sparks another laugh. "Just be careful. I'm sure you can see it but she's this close to depending on you for everything. I don't know what happened to her but don't make yourself her drug."

That's some pretty amazing advice.

"Got it. Balancing that with the obvious care I can give her will be...Demanding. If she is a part of the Foundry things will be easier. We'll both be too busy to give her enough time to dwell." Oh. Oh. I really want to see her team beat the shit out of Bruno. Oh yes.

The rest of the night is as normal as can be for my family. Jokes are said and some movies are watched. My new guest (ward? Teammate?) is amazed at her own voice. Laughing. Sabrina begs for me to come with her to pick up her team which has mom's advice ringing all that much more in my ears. Still, I can't resist. Her aura is opening up into a glorious flower. Its pretty breathtaking to my sight.

Query and Angel take her under their wing with Tru and they start to reassure her that she's going to stay as she is if she just tries. Logically she sees it but her emotions are so new and everywhere. We sleep in the same bed and I'm cuddled. Its...Nice. And weird. Okay. A little creepy at how quickly she's pushed into my life. Everything is so out of whack that I don't even look to see who I am facing tomorrow.

Its good I didn't. When I see who it is? All emotions flow from me but one. Rage. The semifinals have me against Kyle Ansen.

There is no mistaking the aquamarine hair nor the cap. He may not wear the Rocket colors but Proton stands across from me. Death, sadism and cruelty flow off of him in waves.

While I can't murder him in public, I'm going to add him to the Plan. Compete and utter humiliation.

Its the fight that makes Query famous.

Its also the start of hunting Team Rocket.

Sabrina

From birth Sabrina was aware. There was some understanding but there was absolutely surety. Her ability to use psychic energy was just another limb. Something that her parents were astonished by but not unprepared for. Her father was strong in his own right after all. But she was aware. From the moment her brain developed. That was not known.

Maturity came quickly. An enlightened mind was her greatest gift and it rapidly pulled her forward. School came easy. Pulling answers from her teachers would have been child's pay but genius was a byproduct of her abilities. Exceptions could have been made to send her out early on her journey if she wished but the focus of her life became furthering her skills.

It was when she was eight and her first fight against a pokémon that had her changing her path. Dark types are the natural predators of psychics. While they may not eat them for food, dark types still enjoy terrorizing psychics for sport. Some at least. A houndour that stalked her going home from school was not going to kill her but to Sabrina it was life or death. So used to plucking intentions out of the minds of everyone around her, the void that was the fire dog's mind became a living nightmare for her once it started to attack.

That it would likely attract its pack just added to her terror. Logic faded and pure instinct came about. Pulling earth, benches and mail boxes to distract the houndour led to a chase. Sabrina teleported, hovered and projected her own thoughts for the first time in her panic. It was so strong that her father's Mr. Mime was out the door of their home in an instant, arriving to drive off the original houndour and its approaching pack.

What it taught Sabrina though? That she was weak. That her focus had to be on her abilities. Her mind adjusted and shifted from her will. Emotions faded. School lost its appeal and she tested out to start her journey early. Her parents were worried at the change but ultimately let her go with her abra. She could not be denied and promised to check in often.

She did not for three years. Her parents sent out investigators, put her up as a missing person and called in many favors owed to them for past services in the League. It was but by chance that they found out she was competing in the Silver Conference. Arriving, they found her quick enough in Silver Town. She could not hide her psychic presence from her father who knew it so well.

Their daughter, when she left, was colder but still showed her generally lighthearted attitude. She was always a bit serious but could joke and tease. Somewhat. Not easily but it was there.

The daughter they found was emotionless. Her hair was green and even her face had changed subtly. Her father was barely able to sense that their perception of her was being manipulated. It was no wonder that she couldn't be located. She simply made people forget that she was she.

Words were said. Demands. Tears. Not hers. Emotions ran high for her parents but it didn't touch her. All they asked was why. In many different forms.

Her response? They made her weak. They coddled her. Didn't let her grow into power. This was not the daughter they knew. Even now she was stronger than her father. It was a struggle for him to keep her from erasing their memory of her.

It was too much. They had to flee. To gather other psychics and attempt to balance her at least a bit. Her father despaired. Even if they succeeded she'd be neutered mentally. Unable to use her gifts safely without a miracle. So far was her persona overwritten by the split to come. The idea of it alone locked out his ability to reach the girl he remembered. A decision that was a core to her being. Of a fear that was never really properly realized and worked through.

For Sabrina it was validation of her path. She defeated the last authority in her life. Only hers remained. That power was the only goal worth going forward with. She disliked battles. There was so much noise going into her mind. Yet, she had to become stronger through it. Her place in the Conference continued. Once she could decide things for herself she’d make thing silent around her. And push others to be as silent as she preferred.

Things went easily to start. Not many could deal with her split second commands to her team. She knew she was disconcerting to face with her blank eyes and equally blank demeanor. Showing off a bit of her power drew more attention but also caused her opponents to be intimidated quickly.

Then Ella Mita stood in her path. She'd been picking up stray thoughts about her since the first day of the tournament. Each subsequent day added more and more outrageous rumors. That she had a skilled zoroark was particularly troublesome.

What really cased her to pause was the feeling of her. The presence. It was power but different than hers. That and she couldn't read Ella's thoughts. This would make the fight a bit more difficult but not overly so. The electrivire was an interesting choice but claydol would make short work of it.

Peering into this 'Wattson's mind was blinding. Emotions overruled his thoughts and something touched her. She couldn't concentrate. Snap decisions were too late. Claydol, so used to only obeying her mental voice, was unable to effectively counter Wattson.

Hypno, a poor choice against a speedy electric type, fell quick. She couldn't believe she sent him out. She had so many more options.

Kadabra, her starter, fared somewhat better as she was panicking as much as she could. Her emotions were still locked but her confusion was rampant. The electrivire showed such..Frivolity. It was...Funny?

Was that something she knew before? Kadabra fell and she couldn't even see how it happened. Slowbro was her next choice as Ella was unlikely to have a second counter to water. The zoroark was expected but her slowbro had great defenses.

She decided to push at Ella's mental barriers a bit, knowing she had likely lost this match. Ignoring the slow, drawn out battle, her mind reached and reached.

What she found was even more confusing. Emotion, but as a source of power. What was this? A different path to strength? It was just a hint but she could sense it. It was foreign to her. But also familiar. Like she forgot but still knew. Contradictions abounded. She needed answers and it would not be found in battle.

Returning her last pokémon she walked out. What little she got from Ella was intent to speak with her. Private things would be said so she found an area that had little people. Gentle nudges to their minds had them wander away and Sabrina waited.

Ella Mita found her and the next few minutes changed her life just as profoundly as the houndour did three years past.

How could she forget to laugh? To cry? To love and feel despair? She was awful to her parents. Regret. So much of it. Lost years. The power Ella wielded had a name. Aura. She'd heard a few stories of it but her focus was always upon the strength of her mind.

So central were her goals that everything Ella shared with her was beyond surprising. That she could be as close to her team as Ella was with hers seemed almost a decadent goal. Yet, it wasn't hard from how Ella showed her. Simply time and communication.

She could talk to her pokémon too. Hope sprang from her and it centered around this girl who walked into her life with an honest desire to help her. Oh, she was certain that Ella wanted the abilities that Sabrina could bring to her Order. That was to be expected. Still, Ella's thoughts also showed that she'd give up Sabrina too if she didn't want to join the Order.

What mattered was the feeling! All of them! If Ella was going to create an entire organization that were based on these ideals? To share such things with others? It was addicting. Frightening. Sabrina was always single minded in her interests and this was no different.

Ella Mita was special. So as long as she was wanted, Sabrina would follow her. Learn from her. That she was terrified to regress into the monster she could see herself becoming was a priority, yes. But the dream. The Dream. When did she forget to dream?

What Ella let her feel was the true gift. If she could learn again what it was to find empathy and retain her psychic potential? Sabrina couldn't imagine that her previous path would lead to more power.

She still wanted to become strong. That's a goal of every trainer. But now she had hope and the start of compassion to temper her path.

The day became one revelation after another. Ice cream. How long had it been since she even allowed a good meal to be eaten? Her team. They loved her. Not as intensely as Ella's did her but enough that Sabrina could tell. A stunted girl could see how her team kept her from going too far. That they had been slowly failing didn't matter.

They tried. Slowbrow most of all. His slow thoughts never left her face. Always seeking to steady her. Leaking out his stability to help slow her down. So that the others could work on getting her better.

Seeing Ella's family was even more intense. Sharing their thoughts. Laughter followed if not out loud yet. Some. Some out loud. Watching Ella turn at the emotion of her amusement made her blush for some reason. She knew how to blush!

The desperation to keep Ella in her sight was...Vexing. Confusing. So very frightening. As much as she enjoyed opening up it was on its own nerve wracking. Angel, so aptly named, kept her from breaking down. Soothing emotions and understanding flowed through her and she desired heavily to find a raltz.

When she fell asleep, curled up next to her first true friend, Sabrina….Rina knew.

Ella Mita was where her future lay. It was not simply a feeling. The future opened in her mind's eye and it was bright. So many possible Sabrinas became clear and others displayed the ability to shift to and fro in smaller ways.

But in all of them she stood behind Ella.

And she, Rina, was smiling.