Chapter 4:

Irrationality

…

She broke into the darkening cluster of pines, deactivating her 'quick attack', and slowing down to a walk with her claws crumpling the dry forest bed.

Left and right, there were only trees and their shadows mingling together to contradict the light of a dying day that spawned them. Sprinkles of pine needles fell occasionally, silhouetted by the few obscure light rays struggling to shine through the thick conglomerate of trees.

She tried following his scent, but somehow, it was scattered on several different tree trunks.

Where is he?

A branch snapped and her head spun in its direction, only for her sight to be showered with a clump of dust flung at her by a figure she barely saw. Recoiling from the abrupt attack, she cried out from the sting in her eyes as she attempted another glimpse before getting peppered with even more dust, now blinded—

"Gah! Son of an ass!"

She attempted a swipe with her claws in the direction of the attack, but they only whistled through the air.

Shit! What the hell—

"Did you think I'd forgive you so easily, bitch?"

It was Grey's voice.

Huh?

In her blindness, she turned about, trying to pinpoint his direction, alarmed and confused by his statement. "W-wha—"

Her cheek was flattened by a solid object, her mind shook and her body whirled as she lost balance, crashing and scraping her chest onto the needly ground with the impact driving some air out of her lungs.

She hissed at the pulsating pain from the attack. What the hell was going on!?

Feeling for her surroundings on the ground, she clambered to her feet, still woozy from the surprisingly strong impact. "What the fuck Grey!? What's gotten into you!?"

"Oh, so you know my name? Looks like we have ourselves a little eavesdropper here."

She flushed at her accidental confession, and at being called an eavesdropper, which wasn't inaccurate.

Footsteps rushed from her left side, then a thump from her right.

Gah, Damn it! Can't open my eyes!

What was he up to? Was he upset about something? Was he still brooding from what happened? Questions upon questions cascaded her mind at light speed—

"Guess we're not so even after all."

A hard, round object smacked her in the back of her head with flaring, sharp pain. In that instant, it could only have meant one thing...

Oh shit! I should've known. He wanted me all for himself, and now I'm about to get captured...Again. By another abuser—

Yet nothing happened. She didn't get dragged and pulled or weirdly contorted with that nauseous sensation that came from being put into a ball prison.

Wha—

The air rushed out of her lungs as another object collided with her. She whooped into a groan, sinking to her knees as she clutched her gut, before getting shoved to the ground on her back.

She had enough.

"Rah!"

Ignoring her abdomen's protest, she flipped to her feet, outstretched her arms, and spun while igniting the gas from her belly along with the air, coating herself in a mantle of fire, like a flaming twister as she released gouts of fiery glowing gas.

"How do you like that!?" She roared in fury...No answer.

Oh shit, did I...Did I kill him?

As she released her attack, she panicked at the thought that she might have offed' him with that attack. She tried to remove the dirt from her eyes to get a visual—

She yelped as something hard clipped her leg, causing her to buckle onto her other knee—

"Not bad. Close one. But If we're gonna' be even, I expect a name from you." Came his voice somewhere to her right now. How was he doing this? And why?

"You have some nerve asking for 'my' name after the shit you're pulling!"

'Konk!'

She hissed as yet another smaller object knocked her on the head. A stone of sorts, she assumed. She whirled around, trying to concentrate and listen for his location.

"Ah, ah, ahh. You wouldn't want a nameless gravestone for yourself, now would you?"

Quick light steps around seven meters to her back were circling to her left before they stopped...Nothing.

Then a hard step flattened the dry needles next to her—

Desperate, she whirled around with her claws, whipping in its direction. The light filtering through her lids vanished for a moment as her claw had a distinct vibration on it—

What the...

Again she hit nothing but air, her swing going wide though with a shing, something heavy cracked and crashed to the ground, rumbling it under her feet...Did she do that?

What was that—Gah!

Another thick rock struck her shoulder and landed next to her.

"Damn it!"

"Shit, nice move, but that was your last chance, wouldn't want to go out without a name for your killer to remember you by, would we?" His voice echoed to her left, where he supposedly was meant to be. The rock...

...So that's his game. Bastard.

Her instincts told her to run. Blinded as she was, even a weak human could take advantage of it. She sprinted with a hand out in front, carefully making out the light amongst the shadows of the trees through her lids, brushing roughly against bark as she almost collided with a trunk several times, with their many shadows making her flinch for every step.

In her rush, she could make out Grey's sprinting footsteps crushing the dry pine needles from a distance in pursuit. She ran faster, at one point tripping on something and landing harshly on the ground.

She got up again and listened for any other noise. Taking advantage of his absence, she attempted to remove the dirt from her eyes, before getting struck by a speeding pebble, nicking her side—

Shit!

She broke into a defensive stance, brandishing her claws.

No movement. Nothing. But the dirt in her vision was clearing a bit from the wind of her sprint having blown some of it off. She could only make out the tall, blurred figures of the pines. So she'd entertain his earlier request and attack the moment he reacted.

"My name is Ginger." She announced.

...Laughter echoed in the forest. "Ha! 'Ginger'!? As in from the fucking movie 'Chicken ru—"

Ginger launched herself in the direction of his voice, toward an obscure shape, completely certain his lean figure was right there—

Stars filled her vision from her beak embedding itself against bark, with her body thwacking against the tree. She gasped, struggling for breath from her sunken gut as she fell backward on her bottom. Ginger inched forward, slow as a slug, toward the tree to bring herself to her feet, but she yelped as her head was yanked back by her feather crest, with something cold and thin pressed against her neck.

His earthy wild scent filled her nostrils, fusing with the iron running down one of them, as his breath tickled the plumage of her cheek when he spoke—

"Now that's gold...Any last words? 'Ginger'?"

She shuddered and couldn't say anything due to her lack of breath. He had her pinned down.

I guess he never really was any different. He just wanted to kill me...For vengeance? Because I followed him? Because he can't trust me?

To think the very same weapon I safe-kept for him, will be the instrument of my demise...

"I'm sorry…" Ginger whispered. Her spine shivered from his hard labored breaths so close to her. She was aroused by the adrenaline rush the sensation brought her, with a sick feverish heat rushing through her chest in contrast to the cold blade at her jugular.

"Saying sorry to your opponent isn't enough, because 'they' sure as hell won't be."

What?

His grip disappeared and she fell back against the tree. What was happening 'now'?

She flinched when water splashed her face, making her wipe at her eyes quickly.

Her sight cleared up at long last, and they landed on a pair of sneakers and black jeaned legs. She craned her vision upward to the white hoodie, meeting Grey's amber glower through his messy locks. It was then she took note of a small scar on the top of his right brow, having missed it earlier due to his raven hair having hidden it before. He stood a meter away, looking down at her with a plastic bottle in one hand, and the gleaming kitchen knife in the other.

"You're dead, miss Ginger. That's one point for you"—he pointed the tip of the blade at his neck with a pretend slash motion and stuck his tongue out—"and one for the 'piece of shit human'..."

She was speechless.

"Now, we're even." Grey declared with a steely edge to his voice as he placed the knife into his hoodie pouch.

"What…What the…Are you fucking crazy!?"

"Are you? You're the one that followed me."

"Because you waltzed in here without any protection!"

He laughed. "Ha! And 'you' were going to provide me with that? Case' you haven't noticed, I just dropped your feathery ass. I told you I can look after myself."

That stung her pride. "You cheated! You could've damaged my freakin' eyes with the dirt you threw! Talk about unfair!"

He scoffed. "Say's the flaming, naturally weaponized pokémon who knows 'Sand Attack'."

What!? How did he—

"I've got news for you, lass." Grey crouched down and glared at her. "The concept of 'unfairness' is irrational. If one needs to survive, they need to use anything at their disposal. There's no 'fairness' in a dog-eat-dog world, especially when it's an unsanctioned 'battle'."

Ginger couldn't believe it...When did he get the balls!?

She got up slowly, patting down her messy plumage as the pain in her gut faded. She leered at him in suspicion. "What happened? You're different. You were a hysterical mess several hours ago, and now you're as 'tentacool' can be. What gives?"

"'Tentacool'? I'll have a look at that one later…As to your question, I had a chat with the professor," he stated with a shrug.

"Pfft, is that all? Is that why you were able to dodge my attacks?"

Grey smirked as he pulled out a red device, pointing it at her. A sheet of blue light projected from the device, phasing through her from top to bottom before disappearing.

—"Bio-metric scan complete!"—Said an artificial male voice, as Grey faced the horizontal screen at her with a blinking blue light next to it:

On the screen, it displayed a picture of her genus, though her doppelganger had orange eyes unlike her crimson. This particular one was frozen in a stance, suggesting it was launching a kick.

—"Combusken, the Fowl pokémon. It is the evolved form of Torchic. As both a Fire and Fighting type pokémon, Combusken battles with the intensely hot flames it spews from its beak, and its legs possess both speed and power, enabling it to dole out 10 kicks in seconds. This Pokémon's cry is very loud and distracting."—

The robotic voice finished as Grey pressed on the screen and again showed it to her—

—"This particular mature, female Combusken seems to have a minor eye discoloration, possibly inherited from one of its parents. Aside from the Torchic family genome of its mother, this particular Combusken also carries the genetic makeup of a—scanning—Error. Unknown pokémon father genome. Please update."—

Huh? No information on her father? What could that—

"'Mature' my ass...Now, as to your question from earlier, I already did an early biometric scan on you when you used that insane attack you did earlier. Hell, you chopped a whole fucking tree down with it! Almost got me too…"

"Wha? I…"

Ginger was so befuddled with everything that she couldn't keep up.

"The move list. Says' here, according to your little demonstration, that at this stage you should, or most likely know: Ember; Quick attack; Feather Dance—Ha! What is this, a fucking disco move? Who names these?—Double kick—hoo yeah, felt 'that' one earlier today—Flamethrower—almost got me with that too, the first time we met—Flame charge; Sand attack—And you said 'I' was a cheater? Pfft—Aerial Ace—bwha!? Excuse me? What, now you're going to tell me you can freakin' fly too!?"

"Obviously not, dumbass…" She growled out.

"Hey, I'm not the one that names these. Let's see, there're two more and they're both 'gene moves'...Counter...Huh? What, as in 'counter-attack'?"

That piqued her curiosity...She could do that? Weird…

"Though the last one that I scanned on you is clearly your bread and butter."

"Bread and...Butter?"

His eyes glinted with gleeful savagery. "'Night Slash'...If you ask me, at the moment that's currently—and clearly—your strongest physical move. Also, the only 'Dark-type' one you have...The' fuck is a 'Dark-type' anyway? sounds like a morally biased term for a pokemon's element—"

What? Night slash? Dark-type? How? That doesn't make any sense! I'm a fire-fighting type...The tree...Is that what I did earlier—

"—But it's probably the move that suits your psychotic little bird-brain the most, ha! 'Talk about unfair' says the walking killing machine, armed literally to the teeth."

Ginger was too overwhelmed with the information to register his quip. "It can't be...I'm part fighting type, we're the natural enemy of the dark-type," she muttered under her breath.

Grey raised a brow at that, before shrugging as he eyed the pokédex screen. "Meh, most of the information is tentative anyway. Those moves are only statistical averages based on your species, except the last two."

"What? What do you mean by—"

"And the other half of your genealogy wasn't even detected, so that's caput. The only real useful information here was your set of 'gene abilities' based on your genetic makeup...First is, 'Blaze', which dramatically increases the power of fire-type moves...Ok, so your usual fire elemental attacks are stronger than the average? Is that what it means?"

"Hey—"

"Next, is a gene ability from 'daddy'…'Guts', raises the ability bearer's Attack dramatically when inflicted by a major status ailment, examples: poison, burn, paralysis, freeze or sleep?...The' fuck? How the hell can a pokémon attack when paralyzed? Or sleeping? Freeze? As in frozen? The fu...Ugh, gonna' have to look that up too."

"Grey—"

"And finally, hidden ability? 'Speed boost', speed stat is gradually boosted in battle...Well, simple and to the point, at least it explains why you're so fucking fast—

His ignoring of her pissed her off. "Oi! Asshole!"

"Huh? Oh sorry, trailed off there. What is it?" He just gave her an expectant look.

"Are you and that contraption done with the ogling or what!? I wanna know how you somehow went from helpless to psycho-suicidal mode!" She yelled, frustrated at the ridiculous tangent his answer took.

He put away the device, giving her a sly gaze.

"Well, that's a different question. You asked 'how' I dodged your attacks, I merely answered with the device. Your attack pattern is stupidly telegraphed, the only thing saving you from that, is your gradual speed-up, though you almost got me with 'Night slash'. I didn't expect that. As for your new question…Well, I've accepted my reality, for now. That, and..."

He raised his fringe to now fully reveal the jagged scar that marked a gap in the hair of his right brow and trailed to his hairline, "I've had my fair share of trouble-making myself back in the day. I'm no stranger to the streets of a fucked up neighborhood...Or a fucked up household at that…" He mused, trailing off at the last part as he allowed his fringe to fall back.

So...He's had it rough…But what does he mean by 'accepting reality?'

Despite the last bit, now it made sense. His manic disposition and his very presence, as well as the intensity of his eyes...

"So you employed dirty tactics against me. Is that it?"

"More like 'guerilla' tactics, but yeah, that's right. Payback's a bitch ain't it?"

Ginger folded her arms, with her ego bruised and still in disbelief at getting caught off guard by a human of all things. Admirable, but annoying...It also meant he was going to be insufferable.

"Whatever...So what was the point of all this if you weren't going to kill me?"

"It depends. Why'd you follow me?"

Ginger's crossing of arms shifted into a nervous self-embrace, avoiding his eyes.

"I...Eh…Well, you were walking into danger…"

"It seems you're just as vulnerable if you got your ass handed to you by 'me' of all things. Maybe 'you're' the one that needs protection? Try again. Why did you follow me? Why care?"

"Care? I don't…"

Now it was Grey who crossed his arms and tapped his feet coyly.

"I'm waiting, or do I have to answer for you?"

Ginger couldn't answer something even she didn't understand.

"Ok, let's try something else...Your move-set, according to this pokédex, is somewhat unusual, and quite advanced for a recently evolved pokémon."

She gasped at the last part. "How did you know about my evolution!?"

"Birch told me."

"Figures...That's how he caught me, bastard…"

"You gave him a hard time."

"He had no right to catch me in the first place!"

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He tilted his gaze. "Oh? Even though you were in bad shape? I'd say you should be thankful."

"S-shut up." She snapped her gaze away, annoyed at the counter-interrogation.

"Ahh, so 'that's' what this is about...Now it makes sense."

"Huh? What does!?"

"Nothing." He turned around and strode into the woods.

The nerve!

"Nothing? What do you mean!? Hey!"

She clambered after him, reaching his side, but he kept walking.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you!"

"I said it's nothing. I won't pry into your personal matters, obviously, you don't want that."

"Where are you going?"

"To get my stuff, I left em' hidden behind a trunk."

"No, I meant after that."

"I'm heading to Oldale, I need to get my bearings and think about my...Future."

Ginger eyed him closely as he avoided her gaze. She sensed the fear creeping back into him as his breath skipped a beat in deep thought.

"You don't know what you want, do you?" She asked. It was more of a statement than a question. She was familiar with such a feeling. He hesitated.

"It's not that, exactly...But I can't explain it to you right now."

They were nearing the area where their little skirmish started. "Why not?" She pressed.

His stride came to a dead stop as she skidded on the spot to find herself under his intense glare again. The fear vanished and it was replaced with animosity, the gravity of which sent her instincts squirming again, even more so than before. It was almost as though he grew several inches taller and loomed over her at an impossible angle, like a column of murderous intent threatening to crush her. How the hell did he do that?

"Because I said 'we're even'. 'You' tried to kill me. 'You' inadvertently attempted to fuck with me. And I just proved that I can fuck right back with 'you', lassie. The fact is...I don't trust you."

She shrunk at his scolding glower.

But…

"But I said I was sorry."

He chortled. "You act like you all you did was step on my toe. You don't just lose your shit and near-stab someone to death, say sorry, and expect them to just trust you after that. Forgive? Maybe, and in 'this' case, that's a big 'maybe'. But 'being even' or forgiving you, doesn't really mean I can trust you. If 'May Haruka' hadn't shown up when she did to distract you, I'd be dead, impaled by your claws, and you'd be on your way to get put down for murder...It's ironic, really..."

Ginger looked down, again a pang of guilt eating at her.

He continued. "Speaking of whom, I'd like to be on my way to meet the girl. I haven't exactly thanked her for being the only reason I was able to pull out my knife against you at all, being unconscious and all."

But I...

"Alright, I get it! I'm...I was a bitch…But..."

"Hmm?"

Ginger recalled how he made her use that attack in her desperation...She was never able to do that before…Her smashed ball prison came to mind, with Grey's bleeding hands…

Why is it so hard...Just say it!

"I…"

He rolled his eyes and went over to the roughed-up patch of shrubbery and picked up his backpack. Ginger followed, again swallowing her damned pride. He gave her an annoyed side glance. "What is it now—"

But—

"I-I tr-owe you! I owe you! There I said it."

Once more he kept still and turned completely. His animosity was gone, now shifting into something else she didn't quite understand. Or were her nerves playing against her instincts?

"You 'owe' me? What does 'that' mean?"

"Damn it, do I have to spell it out for you? You broke my prison! You freed me...Not to mention you just made me stronger than…"

No. I can't tell him about 'that'...Ever...Or maybe not yet.

"'Than'?" He pressed on.

"...Than, before. I had no idea I could do what I did. You proved that my abilities are lacking. That I—"

"So in short, you want to come with me?"

"Yes! I...I mean...I…Have...Nowhere else..." She flushed at her initial reaction.

"Fine, sure." His gaze softened before he continued walking.

W-what? That' easy? That...Casually? But he said he didn't trus—

"Just don't stab me in my sleep, 'Ginger'."

Oh...Well…

"Ah, ha...Sure…"

Ginger quickly matched his stride, elated at the fact that, although starting at the low end of his trust, she was...Accepted. At least for now.

I mean, there had to be a reason why he bothered reading up about me in his 'pokédex' thing...Right? Maybe…

After two and half hours of forest bed crunching through the trees, with the sun setting, the night was beginning to creep its way above the horizon...And not a word was said between them.

To say the silence was awkward would be putting it mildly.

Ginger had no idea what to say, their previous 'interaction' was already odd to begin with. From getting a beating to an argumentative interrogation, and now suddenly they were traveling buddies...For now at least.

At the corner of her eye, Grey was focused and reserved in his head, with a bead of glimmering sweat crawling along the side of his pale face. For a human, he could certainly keep up his pace for as long as they have, and she didn't remember the last time she had walked this much herself...Since being in a ball meant one didn't have to expend their energy. The least one could do was break the ice, right? She cleared her throat, catching his attention...

"...So...What did you mean earlier about 'my moves are only statistical averages based on my species?" Ginger asked him.

...Grey resisted the malevolent urge to grin.

Ha! Gotcha' bitch! Hook, line, and sinker! I almost can't believe I'm pulling this shit off! And on a fucking murder machine of a pokémon! Of all the things...I almost feel bad.

First, guilt-trip her into apologizing for her outrage earlier. Check.

Then, pretend like 'we're evenʼ and not make too much of a big deal out of it, leaving her on the bench. Check.

Pfft, did she actually think I was going headfirst into a forest with no protection and completely ignorant? Although, that last part sums up my knowledge of this freakin' world, sadly...But still, c'mon.

Out of her guilt-tripped state, he near-completely expected her to hesitate for the first few moments, giving him time to enter the forest alone and to stress her out on the spot, not giving her enough time to think. Check.

Set up the ambush and assert dominance...This one was dangerous. Considering his self-imposed banning of the use of those fucking pokéballs, he needed to rely on three things to keep her tagged along...Anima—Err—Pokémon instinct, obviously these sentient beings were not animals. They were too smart and way too powerful. He needed to eliminate that word from his vocabulary. Begging the question, did actual powerless 'animals' similar to those from his Earth exist here? Question for later…

Loyalty...Or in other words, again, 'guilt-tripping', that was almost a given.

And finally...Respect.

Again, she wasn't an animal. She might have displayed certain traits of 'animals' from his world like many other pokémon, but she was certainly not an animal. No sentient being with their own intact ego, capable of such incredible power—pokéball or not, the prior only making it significantly easier—would respect a mere human being unless they proved themselves in some way.

In this case, while she was still a meter shorter than he, he would attempt dominance. The situation and her explosive personality practically demanded it.

But Grey was fully aware, from the only holy-grail of a biblical guide in 'this' world given to him that was the 'pokédex', his asserted dominance would be temporary, while she was still shorter than him...Because when she evolves again...His dominance would come to a fiery end. And there was no telling when she might evolve, her move-set was fairly advanced according to average statistics of 'Combusken'. It could be anywhere between now, or a day, week, or month…Well, he'd deal with that along the way.

For the time being, it wouldn't be too soon, as she only just evolved into her current form, according to Birch when he 'caught' her.

But he still had to act now while he could, to mentally condition her...Hence his aggression and guerilla warfare against her. She was clearly 'shell-shocked' from his sudden attack. And he made damn sure his intent to kill was very believable.

Assert dominance and win all three key elements? On top of getting her to follow him? While training her and testing her limits at the same time?

One stone and three birdies, Check. Fucking. Mate...For now.

"Glad you asked, I'm gonna' go on a whim here and assume that the 'Fire-type' move you used back there, was a combination between 'Flamethrower' and 'Flame charge', due to your self-immolation to keep me away while attacking me at the same time."

He waited for her reaction.

Aaand mark—

"How the hell did you know that!?"

He waved the pokédex, amused at her predictable reaction. "Remember?"

"Right...That's quite a tool."

Oh you have no idea, sweetie. I'm going to abuse the absolute shit out of this pokébible.

"Yep. I must say, combining the two moves right then and there, effectively forming a decent offensive defense, was an incredible display of instinctual ingenuity." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Uh-umm, t-thanks…" She looked downward sheepishly while scratching her cheek with a claw and embracing herself with her other arm.

Her reactions are...So human.

Good. Gotta' keep up the occasional stroke of the ego. Keep her motivated.

He continued. "Because of that, you basically created a new move, which is not named in your move pool. Also, any physical or special limit described by the pokédex on your genus, is again, based on statistical averages. At least that's what the pokédex says. That's what I mean. Speaking of which, do you have a name for that move?"

"Umm...That word you used…'Immolation'? Was it? That sounds good."

Grey disguised his unsettlement with a smile. Although the word was associated with many prior concepts, he remembered 'demon hunters' ability from Warcraft. Immolation: 'A toggled ability that engulfs its caster in flames, causing damage to nearby land units per second'...

Creative too...Just like a human…

It was only barely a day, and already he was discovering just how human pokémon were...No wonder his cheap psychological trickery was working so well...Now he felt kind of bad. Was she genuinely—

No. Trust no one Grey…

"Well, it's your creation, but I think it's a great name."

"Cool. Guess that settles it huh?"

"But why the question in the first place? You plan on being a battler or something?"

She faltered in her step, "Eh-um...I mean, isn't that why you looked me up on the pokédex?"

I see…

"Nope. That is simply the basic information it grants me. 'Pokémon Training' from what I understand, is a career that stemmed from taming pokémon in the past, though historically questionable and quite vague...Today, it's a broad term, mainly used for people that 'capture' pokémon, train them and battle with them for a variety of reasons, though most notably...To enter the 'Pokémon League'...Which is something I, personally and very literally...have no reason to do."

Again, she tripped on her step and came to a stop. "What?"

Uh oh. What's this?

He turned. "What 'what'?"

"You don't...Want to be a trainer?"

She asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"I never said that. I specifically mentioned the 'Pokémon League'. I have no interest in participating in it. Not unless it rakes in a huge amount of money or something. But then again, I don't have any intention of capturing any pokémon into one of those balls, just to self indulge myself in senseless cock-fighting, like everyone else. Does that make sense?"

"I...I see. I'm just surprised, is' all."

Oh?

"Why?"

Once again she scratched her cheek, idly glancing to the side. "You seem...Smart. The way you speak and analyze things. I thought maybe you were into the notion of pokémon training or something. With how you scanned me and all..."

Talk about stroking the ego.

"I don't plan on abusing your 'I.O.U' and using you to 'battle' other people's poképets. Unless it's absolutely necessary or we're attacked, or if it's our last financial option that happens to be the most effective."

"But...I can do that if you want."

It seems like she's already been mentally conditioned 'long' before 'I' came along…

"I want you to know something, Ginger." He knelt to be eye level with her, causing her to ruffle her feathers nervously and be avoidant.

"Look at me."

She hesitated, but did so; her crimson eyes were like rubies under the twilight stars.

I might regret this. But the 'Loyalty' factor requires it.

"You might think you 'owe' me. But you don't. And most importantly, you're free. You belong to no one. I. Don't. Own. You...Ok?"

Her breath shuddered at that, and she broke contact.

"So you think I'm weak now...And that I'm useless in battle...Despite what you've said."

What!? That's not what I...She completely took that wrong! Ugh, never mind. Talk about mental conditioning! Fuck I've got a slew of work cut out for me…

Ginger looked like she was about to cry now.

What is this? First, she was a psycho-killing machine, then she yells in petulant anger, and now 'this'!? Talk about inconsistent...Who the hell did this to you? Tch, make me look like a saint, why doncha'...

"No, I didn't say that. Cutting down a fucking tree with a single attack isn't something I'd call 'weak'. Hell no. What I meant is, I won't abuse you or your 'I.O.U' for solely my benefit. Get it?"

"So...Does that mean I can battle for you? It's really all I know, a-and you already taught me a new move."

Oh for the love of—

His hand twitched in a titanic effort to stop himself from facepalming. Instead, he sighed. "Correction, 'Night slash' is something you already knew, and 'Immolation' is your own creation. I might've incited you to use those, but I never 'taught' them to you. Give yourself some credit...But, we'll see. It's your life after all. For now, I'd really like to get my bearings first, and in a few hours it'll be total' dark out, so let's get going."

"Sure...Will you at least...Think about it?" She asked with hope in her eyes.

Oh not the 'look', please not the 'look'—

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to discuss your moves and tactics for now, in case we get attacked or whatever." He settled on that for the meantime, and it seemed to have a positive effect on her.

Grey got up and resumed his trek through the forest, with his…'Travel companion' alongside him. But now he was worried.

Fighting 'and' Fire-type…

Whatever Ginger's past was, her particular duo-typological composition wasn't helping at all. Telling an elemental entity, who had some apparent battle experience as well as being composed of both a conceptually fighting spirit and a literal fiery passion, that they didn't need to fight; was like telling a crack addict not to 'sniff a line' sitting in plain sight...And in this scenario, Grey got the impression that he was the line of crack...Shit.

What the hell have I gotten myself into…

After a few more hours of hiking and some, surprisingly, enthusiastic conversations about tactics and Ginger's moves, the twilight had morphed into near-total night, though the moon was fairly large in this world, illuminating the area a bit more than he was accustomed to.

The duo came upon a clearing through the pines and spotted a wooden structure in the middle of it.

Hmm? A cabin?

Though it showed signs of its rushed construction, it did the job. But who would even bother doing such a thing in the middle of a pine forest? And, according to the pokédex map, only a couple of kilometers from Oldale? Something wasn't right.

Ginger kept her rhythm, but with an outstretched hand, he stopped her, "Wait. See if you can sniff out the cabin from here."

"Sniff? What am I, a growlithe?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "No, you're a clever girl that has ridiculously good senses, and that cabin looks suspicious. No reason to waltz into trouble if we can avoid it."

"Oh so now you want to avoid trouble?"

"Just do it, please."

She harrumphed triumphantly. "Helpless without me...Joke's on you, already got their scent. There are four humans and a single pokémon in there. But I'm not sure how good that pokémonʼs sensory skills are, it might already be onto us—"

With a slam, the door was smashed down by a boot, and out came four people. Two men and women, dressed in an odd parody of pirate or sea dweller outfits, with blue and white striped stockings matching their shirts, black shorts with jagged ripped sleeves that matched their bandanas, which had a bony white 'A' emblazoned on them.

This was definitely the late 70s…

"Hey! Who the hell are you!?" Pointed one of the men, as a rotund, light-blue pokémon with a fair colored underbelly, resembling a young sea lion, hopped into view with its body fat jiggling and its long white whiskers bobbing as it whiffed the air, before turning its bold head to the duo, and giving an angry glare of its beady black eyes.

"Dylan, why'd you break down the door?" Asked one of the female members in a morose tone. She wore a dark blue vest in contrast to the other two members.

"Eh, uh, sorry ma'am, got caught up in the moment. Heh." He scratched the back of his head in apparent embarrassment.

"Moron…"

"Now, now, Lisa, don't be too hard on them, they are trying to prove themselves, after all." Said another member from behind with a nasal accent, being the vested male counterpart. It seemed the vested pair were superiors to the other two in the chain of command from some kind of organization.

Either that or pirate-anime-cosplayers doing LSD in the middle of a forest while role-playing…If he wasn't within the universe of a world-famous Nintendo franchise, Grey would have easily bet money on the latter. But these individuals were too fit to be your average anime-game binge consumers. The toned midriff of the women's uniform indicated as much—

"Whatever, Nate. You two!" Snapped the vested woman.

"Yes Ma'am!" Saluted the two grunts with a nervous jolt.

"Deal with them, us two still need to finish our planning and preparations against 'Team Magma' before they arrive at the Oldale Ruins. Go."

Jesus, punch first, ask questions later? Talk about irrational...

"Aye! Ma'am!"

The vested individuals proceeded back into the cabin, along with the sea lion pokémon and with 'Nate' picking up the door and leaning it back on its hinges, leaving the other two grunts outside.

"You! What's your business here!? Were you sent by the cops!?" Demanded the girl. She couldn't have been older than eighteen.

"And now 'this' is happening." Muttered Grey under his breath, annoyed at the cheap anime drama unfolding before him—

"Hey! Are you deaf!? Cloey asked you a question!" hollered out 'Dylan'.

A stupid one at that.

"Tch. Do I look like I've been sent by the cops?"

"W-well, no, I guess not, but—"

"Then that settles it. We're just heading to Oldale and stumbled upon this...Eh, cabin. Sorry to have bothered you lot, we'll just be on our way. Let's go, Ginger."

He turned to leave but—

"Hey! You can't just leave!"

With Ginger in tow, Grey just gave the grunt a side glance. "Watch me."

He continued walking, hoping that was the end of it. But when it came to villain logic, obviously they wouldn't just let them go, they were already seen.

As if to confirm his thoughts, the popping of two pokéballs caused the duo to stop, as the familiar ringing of energy de-condensed the occupants.

Great...

"Grey, I don't think they're going to let us go." Warned Ginger, a little too enthusiastically for his taste. It was evident she was dying to see some action.

"I figured as much, I've never been an optimist."

He sighed as they both turned to face their opponents.

One of them was a bipedal stoat-like cat with dark teal fur, close to Ginger's height but looking like it weighed close to sixty pounds. It had three red feathery tails and a single short red feather on its left ear, with its right being a normal short pointed one, as well as two golden oval-like gem-protrusions, one on its forehead, and the other in the center of its chest. Its limbs had retractable claws, the ones on its arm being exceptionally long and deadly. It glared at him with vicious and narrow, heavily lashed red eyes as it brandished its natural blades.

Jesus-fucking-christ that thing looks vicious, it kinda' gives Ginger a run for her money in that department…

The other was a primarily dark gray bodied, and black-headed lizard pokémon on all four black limbs, around half a meter in height if standing; it couldn't weigh much more than ten pounds. There was an iridescent orange line along its tail that ended in rounded split ends at the base of it. The base of its neck had two spines sticking out, eerily resembling bandana tips, like its trainer's. Several sharp teeth-like protrusions lined its top jaw, with purplish-black fumes seeping out from its lips as it stared at him with curious and coy, amethyst purple, slit-eyes.

It winked at him, alarming and unsettling Grey.

What the...This one seems...Less aggressive, and comically amicable compared to its teammate...

He flashed out his pokédex as it made biometrics scans of both of them, first the catty one.

—"Sneasel, the 'sharp claw' pokémon"—

Yeah, and its real name is 'Shit Sherlock', first name 'No', seriously, the creator made this shit up as they went—

—"Its paws conceal sharp claws. If attacked, it suddenly extends the claws and startles its enemy. It has a cunning yet savage disposition. It waits for—"

Oh my—Really!? Enough with the 'claws' and obvious notes! I'm looking right at it! You'd think this fucking thing was made for the blind! Screw this.

Ignoring the rest of the pokédex entry, he took quick mental notes from actually useful info:

—'Ice' & 'Dark-type'.

—Average height-weight: 0.9 mts & 61 lbs.

—Mother Gene ability: Inner Focus. Unrelenting and incapable of 'flinching' in the face of its obstacles.

—Father Gene ability: Slush Rush. Speed is increased during a 'Hail storm'.

—Move list: Requires demonstration to gauge individual's current strength from statistics.

Ok...Apart from its name reminding me of a nasal pharmaceutical drug, judging from its build and overall description, 'Sneasel' is built for speed and deadly precise attacks, heavily oriented to a cut and dry 'offensive' style.

Next, the Lizard.

—Data not found—

...Ok, after this, I'm calling Birch for a fucking update!

"Oi! Eyes over here!" called out the grunt.

Grey observed the trainers and their pokémon once more, putting away the pokédex.

Ginger should be able to handle Sneasel, but I have no clue what the other pokémon is...And she has to face two others, considering the leaders in the cabin and 'if' they only have one pokémon each…

"Bitches first." Called out Grey.

"What'd you say!? Oh you're gonna' get it now! 'Salandit'! 'Smog'!"

So that's its name, but how did 'they' get the name of the pokémon, but not a regional pokédex...Regional...Oh, 'pokémon smuggling'?—

The salandit opened its maw and bellowed out a hissing cloud of purple-black smoke that rolled and spread across the field, obscuring the area between the two parties.

Are they stupid? They've effectively blinded themselves. Nope, not wasting time with these morons.

"Ginger…'Flank 'n' Taliban'." He commanded, eyeing her reaction to see if she remembered the tactical brevity code they discussed during their hike.

"Aww man, really?" She whined.

"You'll get your chance with the next pair, you're the only partner I've got and I can't afford to exhaust you with these two, especially with that poisonous smoke, now move."

"Fine…"

She bent her knees, with the muscles in her powerful legs rippling in tension under her plumage, and sprung forth in a whooshing blur around the expanding smoke, ripping up grass and dirt with every step of her clawed feet and disappearing behind the toxic fumes...

A few moments later, the enemy trainers let out a panicked cry.

GG. Good game.

"H-hey what gives man!?" Called out Dylan.

"Y-Yeah, what is this!?" Demanded Cloey as the smoke cleared out to reveal the two grunts, held at knife's edge by Ginger and her claws, with the two enemy pokémon gawking at the sight.

Grey ignored them and gazed at the fowl pokémon. "Nice work, I told you they were a waste of your time. Those two didn't even see you run right around the smoke. Pfft."

The combusken smirked at him. "Guess you were right."

"Hey! Don't ignore us—Eek!" The grunt was silenced by a growl from Ginger.

Grey leered at the pair under hostage. "I won. What's the problem?"

"Huh!? But...But that's not how a battle works! You're not supposed to target the train—"

"Oh? So you'd rather your pokémon pets get slaughtered—by an evolved opponent no less—rather than yourselves? How noble, obviously you don't care about them and you're clueless on the situation."

"What do you mean!?"

"I mean, this isn't a league-sanctioned battle, not to mention you attacked me, and you're some kind of criminal organization avoidant of the authority, yet you expect 'me' to follow some imaginary rules? Please, as far as the situation goes, you've been beaten at your own game."

"Th-That's bullshit! No one beats 'Team Aqua' at their own game!"

Team Aqua?

"Ha! What's bullshit is you two morons double-teaming me, not that it did any good. Tch." Grey eyed the two still gawking pokémon, standing stiff watching their trainers helplessly, aware of what'll happen if they move. Though the salandit didn't seem to care too much.

He glared back at the Aqua grunts. "Now...Call back your pokémon, or be treated with the sight of your own blood pooling on the ground as you drown in it." He threatened with a venomous narrowing of his eyes as the two grunts visibly blanched.

The two pokémon snapped their gazes at him, shocked at his dark threat.

"O-O-Ok man, ch-chill, Sneasel, return!"

"S-Salandit, return!"

The pokéballs shot a thin red light at their respective residents, morphing them into red plasmatic light, though not before the salandit had one last look at him, before getting absorbed and condensed back into its pokéball.

"Good. Now light's out."

The grunt whimpered at the statement, as with the side of her hands, Ginger smacked the back of their necks, instantly knocking them out cold into a heap of unconscious limbs, with the pokéballs rolling out of their hands. Grey walked over and picked the round contraptions up, checking the grunts for any others, coming up with nil.

He gazed at the two shrunken spherical devices rolling on his palm. "And that's battle number one. Pathetic, but unsanctioned, so I guess that really doesn't count."

"Damn right it doesn't...I didn't get to do much," grumbled Ginger.

"Oh don't worry. You'll get your chance. By now the other two are aware of what's happened."

'Clap...Clap'

The loose door of the cabin was knocked aside, and out came the duo of the higher-up Aqua members, though how superior in the 'Team Aqua' chain of command? Grey didn't know, but for them to be doing fieldwork, he estimated it wasn't very high.

Nate came out, with Lisa strutting next to him in slow applause, and the sea lion pokémon bouncing back out to their side, looking a bit shocked, but mimicking her clapping while barking like its animal counterpart, before Grey heard it say: "—pressive, yes!"

Lisa put a hand on her chin in thought. "I must say, stranger, you caught us by surprise. While Nate was busy, I watched from the window. And the way you won that and threatened them, real dark. I'm impressed. You'd make perfect 'Team Aqua' material, we could use people who can think 'outside' the box."

Who are these people?

"Getting' a bit ahead of ourselves, aren't we? Usually, when you recruit people, you ought to mention the business vision first. What's your goal?"

She laughed. "Hehe, true. Ultimately, 'Team Aqua' seeks to return the world to its beginnings, with most of humanity out of the picture. We want to restart the world with a great flood, so that pokémon can live untainted by humanity's harmful influence!" she declared with a zealousness that matched her manic eyes.

Her partner gave a false clearing of his throat. "Lisa, I think you're telling him too much."

"Oh hush, Nate."

Great flood? Return the world to its beginnings?

Grey gazed at them in suspicion. "How do you plan on doing 'that'?"

Lisa gave him a sly grin as she put a hand on her hip. "Well, I can't give you the details...You'll just have to take my word for it."

Well shit. If this were my old world and they actually had such power...Having the confidence to simply attack other people on a whim...Either they're wackos, or...They've got the right idea…And considering the kind of universe I'm in, maybe they have pokémon or weaponry powerful enough to achieve such a thing?

"Who's this 'Team Magma' I heard you mention before? They don't seem like your kind of people"—Grey waved a hand at their uniforms— "with the opposing theme, name motif and...all that jazz."

Her grin grew wider. "They're a group of morons who are trying to do the exact opposite. They want to dry the world's oceans to expand the land as well as the human influence, to allow for further expansion of its malefic civilization, and under Team Magma? I'd make a safe bet that it'll be a tyrannical rule over everyone, especially over the power of pokémon, with pokémon. Cruel, and typical."

Oh my God, these people are 'eco-terrorists'...And extreme ones too. And, she's speaking for her opposition, so there must be more to their vision. But their overall idea seems equally destructive.

She continued. "So you see the difference? Our existence as an organization is imperative for the sake of pokémon. We must stop team Magma and anyone else who gets in our way...And for someone skilled like you, you'll easily climb the ranks, privileged to be one of the 'saved' who gets to live to see the 'new world'...So what'd you say?"

Pokémon and humans...Humanity's harmful influence…Great flood? Sounds like God's genocide of humanity's corruption all over again...But this time, self-imposed by a group of transparently misanthropic humans...Huh.

Grey put a hand on his chin.

Interesting…

…