Team Rocket Base V-3, Vermillion City, September 25th, 1997

“Yer - hic - yer a real riot , Charles.”

Charlie Riot hid his grimace behind patting the back of the drunken man. For his own part, he had endured the jokes amongst the grunts within the basement over him being the sole individual not to drink.

Even though he did not have any particular wish to remain here any longer than necessary, there was still one piece of information he was missing after three days of piecing together offhand comments and overheard conversation.

Once the drunken man - who happened to be the man Charlie was extracting information from - calmed down, Charlie spoke slowly, “There’ve been rumours about R-1.”

The drunken man - Gregory, his name was Gregory Miles - gave a wry chuckle, “There’re always rumours of what goes down in R-1, Charlotte.”

“Of course,” Charlie conceded, blocking out the sounds of cheering as a group of inebriated grunts watched a recording of the ‘96 Indigo Conference, “I’ve heard from a few others that you saw what led to it,” He patted Gregory on the shoulder. A friendly gesture, or so Charlie’s told.

Regardless, the contact allowed for him to push a small amount of Confusion into Gregory, loosening his tongue with the aide of the drink, “Aye, I was there. Bloody weird is what it was…”

“ How so? ” Charlie asked in a harsh whisper, briefly cracking the mask he wore. Though the man beneath him was too drunk to notice.

“Y’know those rumours of finding Mew underneath that broken down truck by the docks?” Gregory asked.

“Yes,” Charlie confirmed. The Empress had one of her bases located underneath, after all.

Gregory chuckled, swirling his shot glass before downing, “Turns out it was true, in a sense.”

For a brief moment, Charlie’s eyes flashed black, “ Truly? ”

“Yep,” Gregory gave a slightly melancholic grin, “I was workin’ the docks when some of the lab boys dropped by and collected the oil,” He frowned, “They almost attacked me, thinkin’ I was one of those fuckin’ League plants.”

“Of course,” Charlie gave a few pats on Gregory’s back, both to act sympathetic, and to Detect the man’s heartbeat to determine if he was lying.

He wasn’t.

“ So, they found remnants of Mew in the truck oil? ” The Chariot asked, lightly gripping the man’s shoulder with Hypnosis .

Gregory hummed, slowly closing his eyes, “Suppose so…” After a few moments, The Chariot heard snoring, not just from Gregory, but from everyone within the basement.

Note to self: tone down the use of aura with drunks.

In the end, Chariot left them all there, asleep. They would wake up soon enough, after an anonymous report was filed to the Vermillion Police Department.

The Chariot roamed the streets for a few minutes, flexing his dark aura to ward off potential attackers. He was in the bad part of town, after all.

In the past, he would have welcomed such attacks. They had proven fun distractions, at least for a while.

Eventually, though, like with all things, their novelty wore off. Chariot hadn’t been truly challenged in years, and some rat from the streets wouldn’t be the one to reignite his flame.

After a while, his internal clock told him to turn skyward. Upon seeing the sun slightly off centre in the sky, he dipped into a side alley, extending an illusion with a negligent wave of the hand.

Given the difference in time zones, Chariot knew that he would be receiving a call within the minute.

This was proven not even a minute later, as he flipped open his old pokédex to answer a call.

“Did you get the information?” The voice, layered both with the static of the device and a modulator used by most of the organisation.

“Of course,” Chariot responded, idly knocking his right hand - whole, yet scarred - against the mouldy bricks, “This is me, after all.”

“Where did they find the Mew DNA?” Straight and to the point. If nothing else, Chariot could respect that about the old man.

“The truck right above Empress’ base,” He snorted, “I’d love to see her face when you tell her. Unless, of course, you plan on keeping this to yourself?”

There was a pause on the other end, confirming to Chariot that, yes, the overcontrolling old man was planning on keeping that himself, “Of course you would. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.”

“I have an important assignment for you,” Chariot couldn’t help but scowl at the wording, but he kept his counsel. There was no need to kick up a fuss when The Emperor spoke to him as if he was a subordinate.

“Talk,” Chariot replied, allowing his mind to absorb and memorise what he was about to hear. A moment later, his device buzzed.

“I sent the coordinates of the target. The operation is an interception, with the parcel intact. No casualties, if possible. The time is 1:00 P.M., October 5th.”

Chariot hummed as he read the coordinates, plotting them on a mental map, “That’s three days’ travel up north,” Chariot paused for a moment, “What face?”

“The true one,” Chariot grinned at the simple reply.

“ It’s been too long, ” Chariot whispered to himself, palming Dio’s greatball on his belt.

“I trust you will be able to do this to my specifications?”

Chariot almost scoffed, “Of course,” Before hanging up. The call had not even hit the minute mark, but he still felt that it was better to err on the side of caution. One never knew when the League would decide to tap into their conversation.

Dispelling the illusion, The Chariot walked further into the city, eventually transitioning from the bad part of town to the modernised centre of the city, containing both the Gym and the battling ring.

The man(?) dropped a pokéball, releasing Hephaestus, his Sudowoodo, as he stared for a moment at the sign advertising the Gym challenge showing, front and centre, the Gym Leader flexing his bicep with the caption, ' Think you're sharp as lightning? Think again! '

Surge was always full of himself.

The Chariot turned away from the sign, slipping one of his many faces - Karl Takashi, travelling battle extraordinaire - on as he waltzed towards the battling ring.

He had fought the lieutenant, both in the Circuit and on the battlefield. He was nothing special.

"Do you reckon we'll find someone worth our time, Hepha?" He asked in a murmur.

Hepha gave her closest equivalent to a snort, prompting Karl to hum, "Probably not. But still, there ought to be at least one person out there who can be my equal. "

Hepha remained doubtful - She had seen firsthand the Chariot at his greatest, and yet, she knew he had strength to spare - Still, she loyally trailed behind him, resig ing herself to an afternoon of steamrolling the poor saps who dared to challenge her trainer.

No, not her trainer. He was their God.

…

Fuchsia City Gym

Koga couldn’t help but sniff contemptuously as he strolled by the edge of the balcony.

On the floor below, Janine practised several basic katas with the crowd of this year’s initiates. Amongst them, only a few held any grace in their movements, while many others floundered as they tried to keep balance.

They did, in the end, which Koga could at least commend them for perseverance, if nothing else.

But for those who fell, he felt no such pity. Because, honestly, if they could not keep up with such a simple balancing kata, then they were not cut out for the far more intensive training it took to become a ninja underneath Koga’s tutelage.

Still, he would grant them two more strikes. He always gave three, no matter the background of the individual. They had just spent their first, and they must improve quickly if they wish to avoid a second.

Of course, it would be a mercy to strike them out if they weren’t truly prepared, and Koga wouldn’t hesitate to do so.

Memorising the faces of those who fell, Koga exchanged a subtle nod with his daughter, signalling to her to transition to the next kata.

As she did so, Koga felt a minute tingling in his nerves, prompting him to spin around, launching a volley of shurikens at his assailant.

Ghostly tendrils waved and laughed around him, redirecting the weapons to strike against the wood. A wavering chuckle, like that of a creaking floorboard of an abandoned manor, reached his ears as Agatha, the fourth and final Heavenly King, stepped forwards from the darkness.

“Hmm, do you aim to kill every person who comes to talk? Or am I just that special?” She asked, shadows creeping across her face.

“Only those who manage to sneak up on me,” Koga replied dryly, far too used to the old woman’s antics than he would care to admit, “Of course, there is a common courtesy known as ‘knocking’.”

“Yar, and do you honestly believe the old hag knows a thing about courtesy ?” From behind a wooden beam, Pryce hobbled in after Agatha, taking a seat across the woman as he glared at her.

Agatha snorted as Koga raised a questioning eyebrow at her, “He’s not very happy at the moment. Had to drag ‘im here kicking and screaming!” She cackled as the eerie shadow cackled behind her, forming into the hazy form of Gengar.

“I’m not as young as I used to be, yeh old bat!” Pryce yelled at Agatha before coughing. Koga patted him on the back until he regained control of his lungs, “Yeh can’t go teleportin’ me across the whole expanse of Indigo!”

“I can and I did,” Agatha smirked, before snapping her fingers, erecting clandestine purple walls as a ghostly Trick Room surrounded the three of them, “Besides, this is potentially rather important.”

Koga hummed as he considered this. For the most laid back of the three core leaders of the Indigo Aura Guardians, Agatha had more than enough experience to know how to judge a situation. The fact that she was erecting a Trick Room , which prevented anyone outside from listening in, spoke to the potential seriousness of what she had to say.

This, of course, didn’t stop Pryce from frowning, “You could’ve at least asked .”

“And save myself the entertainment?” Agatha bit back, shadows obscuring her eyes, “You forget who you’re talking to…”

“You said you had something important to share?” Koga broached in an attempt to move beyond the two’s long-standing quarrel.

“I do. But first, I would like to hear how things are going on your ends,” Agatha leaned back against Gengar’s wispy form, “It’s been a few months since we’ve met, after all.”

“In that case, I suppose I can start,” Koga began, seeing that Pryce didn’t seem too willing to speak at the moment, and it was a well-known fact between them that, as the longest standing Aura Guardian in Indigo, Agatha always gave her counsel last.

Koga crossed his arms behind his back, “My area, at large, remains normal. There was a minor amount of activity in Articuno’s cave when the power surge came, though the legendary bird calmed down shortly after. In regards to human activity, Team Rocket has increased their presence in Vermillion, Celadon, and Saffron-”

“Any word on that cloning project of theirs?” Pryce interrupted with a scowl.

Koga hid one of his own, “No, though there hasn’t been word of it being cancelled either,” Koga hummed, “I do have word from my agents down there that Sabrina has begun taking measures against the Team’s presence in her city. We could use this opportunity to reach out to her, if she doesn’t already suspect our existence.”

Agatha hummed, closing her eyes for a moment before muttering, “Allow her six months to handle it on her own end,” She opened her eyes, “If she has yet to diminish the rabble to an acceptable level, then we’ll do it ourselves.”

Koga nodded, “Janine would probably enjoy the opportunity. She’s been looking to prove herself as a fully fledged Guardian ever since I officially took her on as my apprentice.”

Agatha said nothing, instead raising a brow at Koga.

In response, Koga stated, “That is all that I have to report.” Agatha hummed, meticulously cataloguing the information that Koga shared. She turned her head to Pryce, who grumbled before straightening up.

“There’ve been a few things,” Pryce began, rubbing his brow, “Around two weeks ago, there was a report of a shiny Gyarados attackin’ someone.”

“Any photographs?” Agatha asked offhand, though they all knew the answer before it was said.

“No, only a few eye-witnesses,” Pryce grumbled to himself, “I tried callin’ Herren to investigate, but he wasn’t pickin’ up.”

“He was doing field-research for Elm, last I heard,” Agatha murmured, “Was Lorelei not available?”

“ Don’t you live next to her, woman? ” Pryce muttered to himself, though the crack of a cane against his back proved that he was not quiet enough, “No! She’s been absorbed in her research ever since the surge came.”

Agatha sniffed, “You have to remind her of her duties,” She glared at Pryce, “Lest she turn out like her mentor…”

Koga sighed to himself as he deftly stepped in front of Pryce before he stood to strangle the old woman, “Pryce, was there anything else?”

Pryce fumed silently, but eventually huffed and continued, “My scouts also reported some disturbances in Ilex Forest and the Ruins of Alph. Celebi’s apparently been acting ‘moody’, and the Unown are acting weirder than usual.”

Agatha held a hand in the air, stopping Pryce, “How exactly has Celebi been acting ‘moody’?”

Pryce frowned, “I haven’t heard much in that regard, asides from the scouts generally having more difficulty navigating the forest, along with Celebi actively avoiding them.”

Agatha hummed, “I may consider having Karen investigate if the issue persists,” She turned back to Pryce, “When did this start?”

“When do you think? The power surge,” Pryce scowled, “I’m tellin’ you, there was something wrong with that!”

“Is there anything else you have to report?” Koga broke in before Pryce could fall into a tangent.”

“Bah! Nothin’ of value. An attack by Team Rocket on Ecruteak Gym was stopped a couple of days ago. Aside from that, Johto’s been peaceful as ever.”

“ Peaceful as ever, ” Agatha muttered to herself, before cackling, “You and I are in two different worlds if you think y’all have been peaceful .”

“Agatha,” Koga said sharply, “Let’s remain civil.”

She sniffed, not repentant in the slightest, “Not all of us have such short memories, my dear Koga,” Her eyes gained another shadow, much more sinister than before, “Some of us still remember the Butcher of Johto…”

“He’s dead ,” Pryce snapped, standing up, “It’s time you stopped digging up graves Agatha, though I know you have a fetish for it-”

“ That’s enough! ” Koga snapped, extending his poisonous aura to slow the nerves of the other two, stopping Agatha before she could do anything to Pryce. Koga took a deep breath, allowing his hold on them to dissolve as he pinched his brow, “One more outburst, from either of you , and I’ll kick you out of my Gym!”

“I’d like to see you try,” Agatha snarled, twisting her wrist as she regained control of her movements, “Do that one more time , and your Gym would be the least of your worries.”

Koga breathed in and out, thinking to himself that he had at least gotten Agatha’s ire away from Pryce, even if it was on him in return. After a moment, he said, forcing his voice to be calm, “Your report, if you please.”

Agatha held a hard stare on him before snorting, “Lance has been entertaining. He worries almost as much as you did, Pryce,” She flashed her teeth in a cruel smile, “He’s going out to meet with his Elders in two days to see if he can make the Sinnoh Summit,” At the two’s interested faces, she chuckled, “I think he wishes to avoid it. The poor kid doesn’t much like crowds, when he can avoid them,” Her smile returned, no less mean, “I expect they’ll make him go, to teach him how to bear with the fame, if nothing else.”

Pryce scowled, though for once it wasn’t aimed at Agatha, “I never liked the publicity of being Champion. The media are bloody vultures.”

“Hah!” Agatha gave a sharp laugh, “Ole Sammy used to complain about the same thing, which is ironic, given where he is today,” She shook her head, “Last piece of League business is Flint’s return. I’ve already sent a scout to reestablish contact with him. Aside from that, as you both said, the legendaries in my domain have gone up in a tizzy.”

Koga hummed, “The other two legendary birds?”

“Both,” Agatha confirmed, “Lance went down to calm Moltres himself, while I took care of Zapdos.”

Koga hummed as Pryce butted in, “You still have more to say. None of what you’ve shared has been groundbreaking.”

“Oh please,” Agatha gave a self-satisfied smile, “Every step I take shakes the world. No need to limit it to words.”

“In all seriousness,” Koga said, “You did say that you had something important to share.”

Agatha tapped her nails against the wooden benches, “Karen has found a Rogue Aura Guardian.”

As she saw both Koga and Pryce’s eyebrows rise, she gave a mildly proud smile, “It only took my apprentice two months to find something actually useful , take that!”

“Did she share this person’s name?” Koga asked.

“Red Satoshi,” Agatha frowned, “Red’s an odd name, possibly fake. Though, Satoshi has roots in old Kantonian,” She smirked, “Maybe he’s of good stock?”

“Hold on,” Pryce scrunched his eyebrows together, “I met him a couple weeks back. He challenged my Gym with my 5-Badge Team,” He began to mutter to himself, “I knew somethin’ was up when that rat started rainin’ hell.”

Koga broke in as Pryce’s voice lowered to a whisper, “Karen has determined that this individual is an Aura Guardian?”

“Yes,” Agatha steepled her fingers, “Based on her report, he is of Dark and Fighting typing,” She barked a laugh at Koga’s silent show of surprise, “A fascinating combination, I’m aware. Though, she did say that he wasn’t averse to using moves outside of those bounds.”

“Moves?” Pryce asked, aghast. Koga also raised an eyebrow at that, given that pushing aura past its raw form into actual moves was a highly advanced technique that was only possible with dedicated instruction, as far as he was aware.

“Yes…” Agatha hummed in thought, “She witnessed him using Heal Pulse on injured folk, along with having the fortitude to block an Amnesia attack from her.”

“Hold on,” Koga sighed, “Karen tried using Amnesia on someone of interest?”

“She slipped up and said too much,” Agatha explained, a sharp note entering her tone. She smiled, though it wasn’t kind, “I’ve already spoken to her about it.”

“Wonderful,” Pryce muttered, “From what I could tell, the man was harrowed. Having his first exposure to us be a mental attack isn’t all that conducive to a good relationship.”

Koga cupped his chin in thought, “Harrowed, you say? Is he a war veteran?”

“Not like us,” Agatha interrupted, a frown marring her features, “He’s too young.”

“A mercenary, then?” Koga proposed, “Perhaps he travelled through Orre and the badlands?"

“He didn’t strike me as a merc,” Pryce spoke slowly, drawing up a mental image in his mind, “He seemed more… lost ,” He shook his head, “I don’ have the words for it.”

“Whatever the case,” Agatha brought the topic back at hand, “Karen has reported that she has started following Red along with the man’s protégé. I’ll share any pertinent updates as I receive them.”

“The recording of my match against him will be published tomorrow,” Pryce added, “I’ll see if I can identify anything odd in the match.”

“Good…” Agatha stood up, audibly creaking old bones, “In that case, I bid you adieu,” She snapped her fingers once more, dispelling the Trick Room . She and Gengar swiftly left the balcony as Pryce shakily stood, cursing her name.

“Damn you, Agatha! Don’ go without me!” Koga assisted the old man in catching up to the surprisingly limber woman.

She turned around, grinning in an eerie mimicry of Gengar, “Why, Pryce, I thought you didn’t like teleporting?”

“Yeh brought me here, you damn better take me back!” Pryce hobbled up next to her, growling, “Just get it over with, woman.”

Koga watched as Agatha cackled as they wisped away in a ghostly haze, Teleporting presumably to Mahogany Town, or perhaps another location, depending on how much Agatha felt like tormenting Pryce.

Koga took a few calming breaths - which he found were always needed after dealing with Agatha - before heading back into the Gym.

He passed by a small number of failed initiates - he made a note to bar the rude ones from trying again in the future - as he strode down the hallway leading to the balcony. Upon seeing that Janine was about to lead the remaining initiates in a final kata, Koga decided to join them, if only to relieve some stress from the evening.

…

Route 39, September 27th, 1997

"You're in a cave, surrounded by all sides. Zubat and Gastly are out of commission, and Croconaw is not far from it. Amidst your enemies, the most immediate threat is an Onyx. Surrounding that is a hoard of Geodude and Graveler. What do you do?"

Red stopped his pacing, directing a hard stare at Salvare as the kid unconsciously clenched his fist in thought. To his side, Zubat and Gastly floated aimlessly while Croconaw sat in rapt attention. Magnemite also hovered in attention, if the unblinking stare was any indication.

"I would have Croconaw use Surf , or shoot him forward with Aqua Jet and Watergun the Onyx if he couldn't," Salvare began slowly.

"Croconaw faints. Onyx and the Gravelers retain minimal damage, though are still wet. The Geodude are considerably weakened. What do you do now?" Red asked, pacing around Salvare as if he was the enemy surrounding him in the scenario.

"I use Discharge for its area-of-effect, using the water from the previous attack as a conductor," Magnemite perked up as Salvare gave his response.

Red nodded, "The Geodude have fainted. 50/50 chance with the Onyx and Graveler. In the case that they have not gone down, what do you do?"

Salvare thought for a bit, cupping his chin, "...Hit it with another?"

Red hummed, speaking without inflection, "Onyx is a slow Pokemon. Strong, but slow. However, it has yet to attack in this scenario," he raised an eyebrow, "By this point, ten seconds have passed. Would Magnemite be able to land another hit within 3 seconds of using his last?"

Salvare grimaced, " The fastest he could do is a 5 second wait, back-to-back."

Red nodded, adopting a thoughtful expression, "Impressive, but not fast enough. Not counting the attacks the Graveler would no doubt throw at you, Onyx would finally use its own. Since your Magnemite would be busy preparing its next attack, it would be very likely that Onyx's attack would hit ."

Salvare winced, "That wouldn't be good… what would you do?"

"In your situation, I would run," Red crossed his arms, "Part of survival is knowing when to choose flight rather than fight," he cast an eye on Salvare, glistening dark, "There is no valour in fighting a lost battle, after all."

Salvare frowned, "Isn't that, I dunno, a little cowardly?"

Red couldn't help but laugh at the naivete - Salvare reminded him of Ash at times - though, it wasn't out of humour, "You can't help when you're dead, kid," it was a lesson he learned in blood, " Best you remember that. "

Salvare's visage darkened as he nodded. Though, Red continued with another thought, "However, there may be cases where you can't run," he hummed to himself, "Arguably, the situation I described to you would fit this category, which is why it's advisable that you always carry an escape rope," which was another lesson that would've served him well as Ash.

Salvare nodded, filing away the information, before asking, "And if you don't have one?"

Red grinned - It wasn't a good smile - " Then you rip them apart until one of you drops dead, " Red shook his head, dispelling the red haze that momentarily overtook his vision, "Who knows? You might get lucky, and survive."

On this, too, Red had experience.

After all, The Chariot had a free shot at Ash as he escaped the lake. Red didn't know quite how to process that fact just yet.

Red forced his thoughts away, turning his eyes skyward, "Karen should be on her way back by now."

Salvare grumbled, not having the greatest of relationships with the woman, "I don't know why she's so adamant about following us. She's been complaining about the lack of Pokemon since we left Ecruteak."

Red hummed, neither agreeing or disagreeing with Salvare. While she often took detours to find wild Pokemon because Red was, in her words, 'a human repel', Red was aware of the fact that she was following them - or rather, him - because of his knowledge of aura.

Of course, this was ironic in that the only reason why Red didn't forcibly drive her off was because of her knowledge of aura.

As the only one in the group who had no clue what aura was, Salvare could only wonder about the whole thing.

Red hummed to himself, before releasing Froakie and Charmander from their pokéballs, "We have some time for a battle, if you so wish?"

Salvare immediately perked up, "Yeah!" He stood right up, pumping his fists in the air as he asked, "Who am I fighting?"

Red couldn't help but give a small, yet genuine, grin at the kid's excitement. Ever since Red took Salvare under his wing, the kid had looked forward to every chance of fighting Red.

Red didn't quite understand why he inspired the kid.

"Both," Red answered, smirking lightly as Salvare paused, "Knowing how to fight in groups is a vital skill when your life in on the line."

Salvare accepted that with a nod, before shaking his head, "Why do you know these things?"

"Don't ask any questions, and I will tell no lies," Red murmured to himself before pointing towards Salvare's Pokemon, "Choose two to start off with. You may not have a choice in the future, but I'll give you a bit of leniency since you're just starting."

Salvare grumbled lightly to himself before separating Croconaw and Magnemite. Red remained blank faced at these choices, not revealing his thoughts of them.

The two and their Pokemon stepped towards a grassy plain for their battle. Red patted Pichu on the head to satiate the small rat for not participating.

They stood forty paces apart, with Salvare's Pokemon remaining in attention while Charmander and Froakie held themselves loosely.

Salvare narrowed his eyes as Red stood casually, hand in his pockets as he yelled, "You have the first move!"

Taking a moment to consider his opponents’ positions, Salvare yelled out, “Croconaw, Aqua Jet to Charmander!” As the crocodile shot forward like an aquatic missile, he turned to Magnemite, “Magnemite, use-”

Before he could finish the command, an Ember of blue fire nailed Magnemite in the eye, causing the magnetic pokémon to drop in pain.

As Salvare fumbled with Magnemite, a yelp of surprise rang out as Croconaw tripped on a Grass Knot laid by Froakie. Before Croconaw could recover, Froakie kept it down with a sharp Smack Down .

Salvare could only gawk as - within ten seconds of the battle beginning - Magnemite was writhing on the ground with Charmander keeping a foot on it, while Croconaw submitted to Froakie’s glares.

Across the battlefield, Salvare could see Red looking mildly disappointed, as if he was nothing.

And how could Salvare blame him, given that performance?

Salvare grit his teeth, locking away the looming voices of waste, failure, disappointment , and called on Croconaw, “ Thrash him off!”

Upon hearing the conviction in his trainer’s voice, Croconaw roared as it shook Froakie off, bursting towards it with twin Aqua Jets .

A sharp command of, “ PR! ” prompted Froakie to erect a polygonal shield, absorbing the brunt of Croconaw’s attack, and redirected the kinetic energy into a resounding Counter , blasting Croconaw away.

Salvare sighed as Red called out, “Break!” He recalled Magnemite before running up to Croconaw with a potion in hand.

Infuriatingly - At least in Salvare’s opinion - neither Charmander or Froakie seemed harmed in the slightest, as Charmander gave a few smug barks while Froakie solemnly hopped up to Red.

For his own part, Red’s face, though still frowning, wasn’t nearly as severe. “Not bad,” He said, walking up to Salvare.

Salvare could only sigh. At the beginning of his travels with Red, he would have scoffed at that, berating himself for not landing a single solid hit .

Now, though, he learned to take what praise he could receive. It only became more apparent by the day, but he had learned that, despite their differing progress in the League, there was a very steep difference in power and skill between the two of them.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed at every loss.

“Given that this was our first battle using more than one pokémon each, I’m not terribly surprised at the outcome,” Red remarked, recalling Charmander as he slipped into a miniature hibernation - which the lizard was doing in increasing amounts - “Your opening gambit with Croconaw was solid, but you weren’t fast enough to command Magnemite.”

No, duh. Salvare didn’t say that out loud, but he had a feeling that it was written across his face given Red’s amused expression, “And Charmander nailed him before I could.”

“Exactly,” Red nodded, “I assume your idea was to engage Froakie with Magnemite while Croconaw took on Charmander,” He tipped his head in thought, “A solid, if basic, strategy. The type advantages would work to your favour, at least, though there are ways I would have worked around it.”

“How so?” Salvare asked. Of course, he didn’t doubt Red, but he wanted to improve, regardless.

“Given your lack of experience in this type of battle, I could have simply commanded Charmander to run towards Froakie. From there, your two pokémon would be locked in fighting both of mine at the same time, which would significantly tip the scales into my favour,” Red explained, methodically moving his hands in battle positions to illustrate his point.

Salvare leaned back, crossing his arms, “How exactly would that help?”

Red gave a grin, which, for once, was more good natured than not, “I could combine attacks, cover each other’s backs, or if I truly wanted you laid bare, I could have fought dirty ,” He shrugged, “You’re just beginning with this type of battle, so I’ll hold off on those until you get the basics down.”

Salvare nodded resolutely, before asking, “What do you mean fighting dirty?”

Red’s face became blank, “...Not everyone is a saint, Salvare. Most aim to defeat their opponent. Some aim to kill … Sometimes, you have to descend to their level to kill them first .”

Salvare couldn’t help but to shudder. Sometimes - not as often as it had been in the beginning, but still - Red would… Salvare had a difficult time describing it. It was almost as if Red was gone in those moments, and in his place, another being spoke in his voice.

Salvare gave Red a moment to come back, before starting to speak, only to be interrupted by an incessant screech behind him.

“There you are!” Beside Salvare, Karen almost stumbled as she slowed her sprint into a brisk walk, plopping unceremoniously beside Red, “Whatcha talkin’ about?”

“Fighting tactics,” Red answered drily, not bothering to grace her with his gaze, “Did you find anything?”

“Aside from some Pidgey and Rattata? Nothing much,” Karen answered, laying on her back, “I found a small herd of Tauros a couple kilometres out. Umbreon had a fun time chasing them.”

Red hummed, idly petting Pichu as the small mouse gave a noise almost akin to approval. After getting past the brief reminder of The Chariot’s Umbreon, Red was able to see that Karen’s own was actually far more spirited, in its own way.

Amazingly, after their match, Pichu actually conversed a small amount with the dark pokémon. Without any stray sparks, no less!

As if on cue, Umbreon broke out of her pokéball, nuzzling Karen’s cheek briefly before uttering a short bark to Pichu. As the small mouse hopped off of Red's shoulder, he couldn’t help but smile as they went a small distance away.

He was glad that Pichu had found a friend, of sorts. Especially since Pichu trained day and night to overcome his sudden weaknesses.

Which had recently led to a breakthrough.

“Soooo…” Karen drawled, rolling around so that she laid on her front, “Fighting tactics, huh?”

“Red was introducing me to battling with more than one pokémon at a time,” Salvare grinned, remembering Karen’s battle at the Burned Tower, “Maybe you could learn a thing or two from him?”

“Please no” “Piss off!” Red and Karen deadpanned/exclaimed at the same time. Karen took a moment to glare at Red as the man shrugged, not repentant in the slightest, “I mean it, she’s too mouthy,” He said easily.

“Oh please,” Karen scoffed, before wringing in her latent dark aura with an over exaggerated serious look, “ ‘Always remember, everything’s terrible, and you gotta be too.’ Honestly, did you get your sense of humour shot off in a war? Even Pryce can smile, on a good day at least.”

She knows Pryce? Probably something to do with Aura Guardians. It took some effort not to scowl, if only to avoid contributing to her point. Instead, he turned to Salvare with an eye roll, “See what I mean?”

“Yeah,” Salvare nodded solemnly, “I have some stitches in my pack. You hold her down and I can shut her up for good.”

The two were silent for a moment before Red snorted, prompting Salvare to lose his control as well. Perhaps it was due to both of them training all day for the past few days. Perhaps it was the stress from having to travel with a new, and unwanted, partner. But in the end, they both lost themselves in laughter after their… less than funny joke.

At least, Karen didn’t find it too funny. Though, she was the only one at the camp who wasn’t laughing, so who was she to judge?

“You both done?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, watching Red with a stink eye as he recovered from his (almost hysterical) laughing fit.

Red coughed a bit, “ Arceus , I needed that,” He took a few breaths, “Did you say something?”

“Nevermind,” Karen shook her head at their antics - she was secretly glad that Red was smiling, at least once; the man was so severe - “I was actually thinking of having that discussion about aura we were talking about.”

Red stopped, “Really?” He gave a brief glance at Salvare, who raised a questioning eyebrow at them, before turning back to Karen, his face apprehensive, “Right now?”

“What better time is there?” She asked, not entirely sure why Red suddenly seemed so hesitant. She doubted it had to do with trustworthiness, given that he was willing to discuss fighting tactics with the kid.

One didn’t give potential enemies pointers on how to defeat them in battle, after all.

Red took another look at Salvare, who was looking increasingly annoyed at the attention, before scowling to himself. Karen watched as the man’s face set itself into a scowl, one far more intense than she was used to, even for him, before his lips set in a grim line, “ It’s probably for the best. ”

Jeez, what has him so worked up? Even though she was slightly hesitant on sharing information about aura outside of members of the Indigo Aura Guardians, her two new travelling companions seemed to be good people at heart, even if they were rough around the edges.

“You know,” Salvare snapped, breaking her from her thoughts, “I’d appreciate if I had a say in this,” to Karen’s slight surprise, his exclamation seemed mostly directed to Red.

Karen winced reflexively, seeing the parallels between her relationship to Agatha. At the beginning of her education about aura, she, too, acted somewhat… impatiently when it came to learning.

She learned rather quickly to develop patience, or a shadow of it, at least. Not to mention that she got very familiar with ‘Wacko’, Agatha’s beloved walking stick.

In the end, though, instead of snapping back, as Karen expected, Red appeared resigned, “I know but…” He gave a brief glance to Karen before continuing, “Aura is…” Dangerous? Destructive? Beautiful? Terrible? In the end, Red chose a word that encompassed all of these things, and yet still felt inadequate, “Complicated.”

Karen leaned back as she let Red take the reins of Salvare’s introduction to aura. He was spitfire’s Aura Master after all . Even if it was obvious to her that Red wasn’t as knowledgeable about the technicalities of the mystical force as her own Master, she could see in his eyes the years of experience he had with it.

Both Beautiful and Terrible.

“Aura is…” Red paused as he recalled the many lessons he received from Lucario. Not once did he consider the difference of the jackal’s teachings to that of colloquial Guardians . “Everything. Everywhere at once, yet nowhere at all.” Red waved a hand in agitation, “I can’t exactly define it in a way that would make complete sense. Just know that it is all around you, all before you, all after you, all you , yet far beyond.”

Red didn’t notice Karen’s mystified expression as he focused on Salvare, grasping at one of the things that allowed Red to comprehend aura, even if it was only a little bit, “Have you ever felt like you were drowning in darkness? That one moment not spent kicking would cause you to sink?” He leaned forward - his mind so focused that he missed Karen’s flinch from his glowing eyes - “Have you ever felt that, yet seen a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light… became your light? And you use it to prevail against the darkness?”

Red paused for a moment, only dimly hearing Salvare whisper “...Yes,” before he moved on.

“That light. That darkness . They are aura, both of them. They are your salvation and doom,” Red leaned back, eyes glossed over as he recited, “ Whether in destruction or creation . Aura doesn’t care which. It’s up to you to determine which end of the spectrum you fall in.”

For a moment there was silence, before Red put his hands to his face, groaning, “ That made no fucking sense .”

“I-I think I understand?” Salvare muttered unsurely, “Aura is like - I dunno - your soul?”

“Close,” Karen butted in, “Aura is the energy of the spirit!”

Red scrunched his eyebrows at that description, “That sounds… far too simple.”

“Well,” Karen crossed her arms - she’s becoming defensive - “Your definition was too broad. We can’t really understand certain aspects of aura without narrowing it down.”

Red narrowed his eyes, recalling Lucario’s teachings of the art, “You end up limiting yourself if you ignore the wider mystery.”

Red heard Karen mutter something about Agatha before Salvare cut back in by clapping his hands rather loudly, “Great! Excellent! This really explains why you both acted so weirdly earlier,” He gave a smile, which was surprisingly sharp, “If you could both actually explain it to me, that would be greatly appreciated.”

Red and Karen eyed each other, before giving a silent agreement to continue their argument later, before Red waved for Karen to take the reins.

She seemed oddly nervous at having the attention to her, as she fiddled around with her hands before starting, “Aura is the thing that separates a good trainer from one of the greats,” She directed Salvare’s attention to Red, who returned to being blank-faced, “Take him for example. When we fought, we were both using aura to empower our pokémon in their battle.”

Karen leaned forward, becoming somewhat more relaxed as she asked in a low voice, “Have you ever wondered how Red seems to always win, even when he uses pokémon that are objectively weak, like Pichu?”

Red couldn’t help but wonder if she would have said something like that if Pichu wasn’t out of hearing range.

Salvare shrugged in response, turning to Red, “Red has more experience.”

“Yes, yes,” Karen waved a hand in agitation, “But have you ever wondered what that experience entailed?”

“Not particularly,” Salvare answered, surprising both Red and Karen, “I’ve just assumed that he’d tell me eventually. Or not, if he didn’t want to.”

Red sat back in thought as Karen continued with a scowl, “Well, that’s rather passive, in my opinion,” She shook her head, dispelling the small layer of darkness she was accumulating, “Whatever. The point is that Red uses aura to help in battle, just like myself.”

“...And that allows you to do what?” Salvare asked.

Karen waved her hand repeatedly, before growling, “You answer him, Red!”

“You can use aura to aid in battle, communicate with your pokémon, or any number of other things,” Red answered easily, before asking Karen, “Weren’t you told this by your little group?”

She scowled, “It’s not a ‘little group’!” She barked, “And I’ve never had to teach about aura before! I don’t see you doing all that well either!”

“My education on aura focused much more on using it in battle than anything else,” Red shrugged, “I didn’t have time to learn much else.”

Karen’s scowl remained, though it lessened slightly, “Well that didn’t seem to stop you from waxing poetic about it earlier,” She sneered at him, “Fancy being a philosopher, Red?”

“ I’ve had far too much time to think, ” Red whispered, the sinister undertones of his voice halting Karen in her tracks, “But that doesn’t matter.”

“Can I see an example of aura?” Salvare asked, a childlike curiosity entering his voice, “I might understand it better if I see it.”

Karen smirked before turning to Red, “Yeah, Red. Care to show him something cool?” She lowered her voice to a sing-song drone, “You are his Master, after all.”

“The hell do you mean by that?!” Salvare snapped before Red could respond. Karen could only look wide eyed as Salvare stood in a sudden - but very deep - rage, “No-one’s my master !”

“ Good ,” Red spoke, stopping Salvare from advancing further. He turned to him, “Keep it that way, and you will go far.”

As Salvare cooled down, Karen’s face became disgruntled. She opened her mouth to say something - probably provocative, given her nature - but paused as Red shot her a warning glare.

He waited for her to back down before turning to Salvare, “I can show you…” He thought carefully for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of what he was about to share before he nodded to himself, “A move I can do.”

“A move?” Salvare asked before snapping his fingers with an exclamation, “You mean a pokémon move?”

“Yes,” Red sat up, Salvare and Karen mimicking him, “If you have enough discipline, you can perform some things usually only done by pokémon.”

“Hold on a moment…” Salvare scrunched his brow before turning to Karen, “Were you the one making everything seem dark at the battling ring?”

Both Red and Karen were internally astonished at the question, though only Karen showed it on her face, “You could sense that?!”

“Kinda?” Salvare shrugged, “The air kinda felt heavier around you, and I noticed shadows where there shouldn’t be any,” He paused for a moment, beginning to feel slightly dumb, before mumbling, “I thought it might’ve been your pokémon.”

Karen remained silent for a moment, before snorting, “Well, that’s a pleasant surprise, I suppose,” She turned to Red, “Should make it easier for him to understand what you’re about to do, right?”

“Right,” Red replied slowly, a small feeling of doubt clawing its way into his mind.

This was beginning to feel too easy. Too coincidental.

Where has he seen Salvare before?

Red stopped, locking those thoughts away. He had already chosen what he was going to do, and he seldom acted against his instinct.

Breathing in and out, Red reached out for his aura - far, far more chaotic than before - tapping into the familiar solid feeling of his fighting-type energy. He brought his hands back, grasping onto an invisible sphere, before it erupted into blue light, akin to flame yet far colder. Far sharper .

With a burst far more powerful than he ever had in the past, Red shot an overwhelming Aura Sphere into the nearby woods, barreling through several trees before it sizzled away.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Red breathed in and out for a few moments, allowing the red haze of his eyes to recede, before turning back to Salvare and Karen.

He took in Salvare’s impressed look before focusing on Karen’s pale visage. He knew she was afraid of him, on some level . Based on what he saw from her, though, he learned something important.

She isn’t able to use aura on the same destructive level as I. Perhaps not at all.

She knows this, and yet she’s been tutored by Agatha herself, who Karen so obviously reveres.

Yet, this frightens her.

Red couldn’t help but give a slightly cruel smirk as Karen turned away, not able to meet his gaze after his showing.

He looked back at the destruction he left in his wake, taking in the downed trees - almost in a perfect line through the woods - and compared it to his capabilities before.

There was no comparison.

Before he could ponder that, Salvare stepped up and asked, “Can all aura users do that?”

“ No ,” Karen broke in with a harsh whisper, her eyes darting towards Red, accusatory, “We cannot.”

“We?” Red asked, noting the wording.

There was no response. When Red turned back to face Karen, her features were stretched in determination.

“You’re dangerous,” She whispered, as if it was a revelation she missed.

Red couldn’t help but roll his eyes, “A rattata can be dangerous, depending on the circumstance.”

“No, you don’t understand ,” She spoke with a pained emphasis. She pointed at the line of downed trees, “You don’t just do that and walk it off like it’s nothing!”

“Yes you can,” Red answered immediately, images of The Chariot’s rage fresh on his mind. That train of thought reminded him of the images he had seen of the Great War when he looked it up, and the carnage left in the wake of battlefields, “It happened all the time during the Great War.”

“From pokémon !” Karen screamed, throwing her hands into the air, “Only the Elder Guardians could hope to match that! And you aren’t one of them!”

“ So? ” Red responded, voice layered with something terrible beneath. Something growing. He stepped closer to her, causing her to shrink back slightly, “Just because I didn’t learn from one of the oh so wonderful ‘ Elders ’, I’m wrong?” Images of Lucario’s burnt body intermixed itself with his vision.

His heart rate began to increase.

Karen’s face became fearful, her skin so pale it was almost bone-white, before she snapped. Her dark aura burst as she struck Red in the chest, knocking him back, “ Get the fuck off of me! ” She screeched. The wild waves of darkness surrounded her to make her appear as if she was feral.

Before she could advance on Red, though, an impact on her shoulder caused her to stumble. Spinning to her left, hair flying wildly, she saw Salvare staring at both of them in…

Fright?

A part of her returned, only for her to stumble, nerves seizing up. She blinked a few times before falling onto the floor, the darkness beginning to overtake her vision. Belatedly, she realised that Red had also fallen down.

She stared up into Salvare’s now-worried look, a sudden pit of remorse lodging itself within her. She didn’t have the strength to say it before going unconscious, but she whispered to him in her mind.

‘Sorry ‘bout that.’

…

Salvare set Red down next to the campfire his Charmander started, small wisps of pinkish energy twisting around the man’s arms and legs. On the other side, Karen was wrapped in a blanket with her Umbreon curled in her arms.

About half an hour had passed since… Salvare didn’t know what to call it. A meltdown?

He shook his head, idly watching Froakie converse in low tones with Pichu, both of them occasionally peeking at both Salvare and Karen.

Salvare was aware, at least implicitly, that Red had… problems . For his own right, Salvare wasn’t a stranger to such things, having his own set of demons that would likely haunt him for the rest of his life, and he didn’t deign to question his mentor on his own demons. Salvare didn’t like people prying into his own life, after all.

In that way, Salvare was thankful that Red was the same way. But Salvare could see flashes of darkness in his mentor’s gaze, occasionally when they trained, and almost always when Red had to recall what happened before Salvare met him.

Oh, he was curious. Who wouldn’t be? Red was a man he had never heard of with a small set of - like Karen said - traditionally weak pokémon, who had an uncanny ability to not only emerge victorious in every battle he had seen so far, but to prevail , to conquer .

At first, Salvare had far more shallow reasons for following Red. He hadn’t hidden them, as he had stated his reasoning for learning and protection when he first proposed the idea to the man. But now, Salvare was following Red because he was one of a kind .

Salvare first saw this when he watched the recording of Red’s first Gym match when they stayed the night at Mahogany. At first, Salvare had thought that, surely , Red must have gotten past Clair with other pokémon he hadn’t seen, or perhaps the Gym Leader had made a fluke.

But no, with nothing more than a Froakie, a Charmander, and a Pichu , Red had won against Clair’s team.

And it wasn’t as if she was holding back, either. Salvare had fought Clair six times before defeating her, and that was with her 4-Badge team . He was intimately aware of how powerful the pokémon he fought against were. It had been the cause of Croconaw evolving from Totodile, after all.

Yet, they seemed far more driven when fighting against Red.

As limited as viewing the battle on the screen was, something within Salvare seemed to click upon seeing the mountain of power that Red stood atop of.

It was the type that could only be found once in a generation.

This feeling was only reinforced with the battle at the Burned Tower and the use of Aura Sphere earlier this day.

The worst part was that Red himself didn’t view his own skill as a blessing. Not like Salvare would have.

No, the man seemed to treat it like a curse . A weight on his soul. Salvare couldn’t fathom why, but then again… such things were Red’s own demons, and not Salvare’s own.

Salvare couldn’t help but sigh as Karen rustled discontentedly in her sleep. He took a moment to check her forehead, silently giving thanks that she hadn’t developed a fever… maybe? Her head seemed slightly warmer than it should be, but he didn't exactly have a baseline to compare it to.

Salvare wasn’t that well-versed in first aid outside of his pokémon’s injuries.

He should have intervened sooner. Even if he was used to Red being the voice of reason between them, he should have seen their growing conflict and stopped it. While Salvare wasn’t overly fond of the woman, he was aware of Red’s greater distaste for her.

Oh, sure, Red hid it well - He hid lots of things well - But Salvare liked to think he had developed somewhat of a psychological profile on his mentor (Not his master, never his master).

Karen… didn’t have a lot of tact, which would normally just be annoying, but with someone like Red, who even Salvare had to sometimes tiptoe around, it wasn’t an ideal combination.

Salvare had briefly wondered how Karen had survived without angering the wrong crowd. It didn’t take him long to realise that she likely hadn’t interacted with anyone besides Agatha for quite a while.

Salvare snapped out of his musings as Red’s steady breaths halted. He took a few paces back, shielding Karen’s prone form from Red’s view as the man shot awake, eyes blazing a malignant red with ripples of pure energy shattering around him.

Salvare stood there, face set in a calm mask as Pichu frantically took to Red’s shoulder, nuzzling against him aggressively. Red stood perfectly still as his baleful gaze began to lose its shine, dimming down as both Red and Salvare regained their breath.

And, remarkably, Salvare hadn’t been afraid.

Salvare stood over Karen’s form as Red’s breathing became more regular. He remained unflinching as Red’s glowing eyes snapped onto his own.

He only faltered when the voice came afterwards.

“ What did you do to me? ” Came the question from Red’s mouth, yet Salvare couldn’t help but wonder if it was Red’s voice he heard.

“I stopped you from hurting Karen,” Salvare answered, keeping his eyes focused on Red’s, “I punched both of you on the shoulder, out of instinct, I guess. You both became unconscious shortly afterwards.”

Red’s eyebrow rose as he took this in, the glow of his eyes receding as he peeked behind Salvare to see Karen behind him, Umbreon guarding her prone form with a growl, “For what it’s worth, I apologise.”

“Apologise to her, when she wakes,” Salvare replied in monotone - which, along with other habits, he was beginning to pick up from Red - “Is there a reason why you snapped?”

With anyone else, Salvare would have expected them to be defensive. As expected, though, Red didn’t show such misplaced pride, instead looking vaguely remorseful. Though, it looked as though Red didn’t exactly remember how to look remorseful.

A moment passed, and as Salvare accepted that Red wouldn’t answer, he heard a whisper, “People like her get others killed,” Red’s eyes darkened, “They turn away from everything that runs opposed to what they know - what they accept - and allow others to hurt, others to die because of it.”

Red breathed in, eyes softening for a moment as he saw Karen’s unconscious form before hardening, “I don’t know much about being an Aura Guardian, not like her. But from what I heard and seen of them, I’m glad that’s the case.”

Red shook his head, his expression changing from remorse to shame - which Salvare could tell came easier to Red - “I can make camp for myself elsewhere if you’re worried that I’ll do something again.”

“No,” Salvare shook his head, “You won’t do anything to purposely harm us, now that you’re back ,” Red grimaced at Salvare’s emphasis on the word, but they both understood what he meant.

Red rubbed his forehead as he slumped back onto the ground, his pokémon surrounding him in an attempt to comfort him, “ Fucking hell …” He opened his eyes after a moment, staring towards the lowering sun, “If you want to learn from her rather than me, that’s fine. She probably knows more about aura than me.”

At this, Salvare couldn’t help but snort, “I’ve been travelling with you for a couple of weeks, Red. If you think something like this will stop me… well, it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

That was probably the wrong thing to say, given Red’s grimace. Salvare grasped at another subject, “I noticed that you were glowing a little pink while you were unconscious. I take it that’s another use of aura?”

“I was?” Red asked, gaze still forlorn, but marginally more interested. He turned to Pichu, shaking him lightly to wake the rat from its dozing, “Was I glowing pink earlier?”

Pichu glared slightly at Red for waking him up, making a point to yawn as loudly his little body could handle. As Red’s nose scrunched from Pichu’s bad breath - which Pichu would readily admit gave him a considerable amount of satisfaction - the small mouse muttered a few chirps while tapping Red’s wrist before falling back asleep.

Salvare watched the byplay, recalling Red’s description of aura as allowing for enhanced communication with pokémon. After a moment, Red spoke up, “I think I may have used Refresh ? Or something similar,” Red blinked a moment, turning to Salvare, “You said you punched me on the shoulder… Did you feel anything unusual?”

Salvare thought for a moment, recalling a slight tingle in his nerves from that moment, “Yeah, though it was small,” He shrugged, “I attributed it to nerves.”

Red paused for a moment before turning to Froakie, “Could you fetch a pecha berry for me?” He stood up and slowly walked to Karen’s form, not reacting to Umbreon’s rising growls, “I’m taking a look at something, Umbreon. Will you please move so that I can help your trainer?”

The dark pokémon regarded Red with distrust, but ultimately stepped off of Karen’s body, remaining at attention as Red carefully pulled down the blanket to reveal Karen’s bare shoulders, “Which shoulder did you hit, Salvare?”

“The left one,” Salvare answered before asking, “Was there something I missed? I tried to see if there was any injury.”

“... Would you look at that? ” Red breathed, leaning in next to Karen’s shoulder. He pressed her pale skin to reveal a subtle purple tone in the shape of a fist. He removed a gauze pad and took the pecha berry Froakie offered him, squeezing it into a paste that he spread across the gauze pad.

As he wrapped the pad onto the injury with medical tape, Salvare asked in growing dread, “Did I do that?”

“Yes,” Red answered without preamble, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t severe. She was already worked up, and her increased stress and blood pressure allowed the poison to be more potent than it would have been otherwise,” He shook his head at Salvare’s look of shock and guilt, “She would’ve been fine, given a couple of days and a waste bucket. The paste should speed it up so that she’s ready to go by tomorrow morning.”

Salvare could only stand there, speechless for the first time that evening, “Wha-?”

“Congratulations, Salvare,” Red began, packing his medical supplies back into his back, “You’re a Poison type.”

…

Dragons’ Den, Blackthorne City

For several moments, only the sounds of gentle waters could be heard within the caves. Ice-laden stalactites dripped in a slow, melodic rhythm, dispelling perfect rings within the water before evening out, as if there was never any movement at all.

Lance breathed in deeply, feeling the smoke of the candles, internalising it, before breathing out of his mouth, small sparks of draconic energy wisping into the air.

Beside him, Clair fidgeted slightly as she repeated the same process, though her breath came out with a slight mist. Lance knew that she had never particularly enjoyed this type of meditation that the elders emphasised, but she persevered nonetheless.

Surrounding the back of them in a semi-circle were several candles, which periodically flared before diminishing to a near extinguish. Such had been the case since Clair had reached adolescence a decade ago. For every breath of Lance, the candles roared, but for Clair, they dimmed.

The two had learned rather quickly how to balance their breathing against each other’s, lest they incur the wrath of the elders.

After several minutes, in which the candles methodically blazed then lowered, a sharp voice rang from above them, “That’s enough.”

Lance opened his eyes - which briefly flashed into slits - and felt Clair minutely sag in relief beside him.

Lance allowed his eyes to travel upwards, revealing the Blackthorne Elders seated on the other side of the den. Five thrones of stone, carved with glyphs of various dragon pokémon, both alive and extinct, rose in a pyramidal structure.

“Rise, Lance Blackthorne, He of Indomitable Will, Champion of Indigo,” Elder Yama commanded, her voice neutral, remaining still on the central throne.

“As you command, my elder,” Lance murmured as Elder Yama turned to face Clair.

“Rise, Clair Blackthorne, She of the Rising Tide, Baron of Blackthorne,” Clair rose, far more composed than Lance had seen in recent years.

The two stood as they were scrutinised by the elders. Strong as they were, even among the best of the Blackthorne Clan, the elders were still the greater authority amidst their people.

After a moment, Elder Hana, who had always been the kindest of the elders, spoke up, “May I just say that it’s wonderful to see you after so long, my child?”

The comment was obviously directed to Lance, who hadn’t been able to travel to Blackthorne for nearly a year, which was when the last clan meeting had been held. All the same, Lance was flattered that she was glad of his presence.

“I’m glad as well, Hana,” Lance replied warmly, “Even if I’m Champion, Blackthorne will always be my home.”

“Of course,” Elder Yama broke in, “How are you with filling the Champion’s role?”

Lance refrained from grimacing - such was unacceptable in the face of the elders - “Busy. If I were anyone else, I would almost be overwhelmed.”

“Ah, but naturally He of Indomitable Will will persevere, no?” Elder Hebi croaked, his ancient features twisting into a faded sneer, “After all, there are benefits to being the Champion, are there not?”

“I don’t appreciate your connotations on my cousin’s character,” Clair interrupted, her voice steady, but not without an undercurrent of danger within, “If you have something you want to say, please, do share with us.”

“Power corrupts,” Hebi droned, not fazed in the slightest by Clair, “And I have seen it happen before, and I have no wish to see it happen again,” He levelled a glare at Lance, “I do not hope it will happen, but I will not hold back if you are to be taken by the Madness.”

Given that Hebi, as an elder, had spoken directly to Lance, he was obligated to respond, “For the sake of the clan, I hope it never comes to that,” He regarded the den at large, “Far too many of our sister clans have fallen to the Madness. I would sooner take my life than doom my own blood, by my pride and honour.”

This was met with hushed silence, before Clair snapped, “There, you happy now!”

Just as she finished, a force struck her on the cheek, causing her to stumble. None of the elders had moved, though Elder Arashi spoke up, “Watch your tongue, child. Do not let your emotions cloud your judgement.”

Lance decided to step forward as Clair fumed silently - she always had the shorter temper between the two - “I have already made inroads towards correcting injustices performed against the clan by previous Champions. Legislation such as the excessive restrictions on dragon breeding made by Pryce are unpopular across Indigo, not just with our clan. Once that is successfully repealed, we may redirect our focus towards the Treaty of Pallet.”

The elders didn’t outwardly express any emotion at his report, though Lance could feel the subtle feel of satisfaction from a few of them.

Hebi, though, spoke up, “How do you expect to make any headway of the treaty when you are in regular correspondence with one of the main signitaries?”

A pervasive silence met the question, waiting for the answer. After careful consideration, Lance did so, “Professor Oak is a valuable correspondent, given his expansive knowledge of many fields of research. However, I refrain from talking politics with the man, and his influence in the League has severely diminished in the years after his retirement as Champion.”

While it was obvious that Elder Hebi wasn’t pleased by there being contact at all , he merely grumbled to himself.

“May we move onto something else?” Elder Kaze, the most soft-spoken, asked.

Elder Yama gave a nod, “We may,” She turned an eye to Lance, “As I understood it, Lance wished to share a few things with us.”

“Two things, Elder Yama. Although, I believe Clair may have beaten me on the first one,” Lance said, noting the sudden appearance of red on Clair’s ears.

She must’ve embarrassed herself, then.

This suspicion was just about confirmed when Elder Hana gave a light chuckle, “Why, if you’re talking about that Red fellow, we’ve heard all about him from Clair!”

“H-Hana!?” Clair yelped. Lance was astonished to see her actually blushing in embarrassment, “I was just excited of him being a potential survivor of the Draconid Clan!”

“And I’ve already spoken with Elder Aster of the Draconids,” Elder Yama interrupted Clair’s ramblings, her features stretched in what could be called exacerbated fondness, “And she has confirmed with me that she has no recollection of this individual,” Her face saddened, “Her clan has been reduced to such small numbers that I wouldn’t be surprised if she was intimately familiar with every clan member. Red is no Draconid.”

“That leads to my question, then,” Lance said as Clair squirmed, “Why does he appear to have a draconic Charmander? To my knowledge, they became extinct when the last one died with Zeverithe Draconid in their Madness.”

“We cannot answer that,” Elder Yama responded, “There are numerous possibilities surrounding this mystery,” She leaned back, staring at Lance with a blank gaze, “Of course, we know very little about him at all. Clair has been unable to dig up any information on him aside from his place of origin.”

Lance hummed, “I searched through the League records as well, and I have been unable to find any reference to him before the date of his registration application, which was sent on August 31st,” He turned his eyes back to Elder Yama, “However, I’ve received word from the rangers that Red displayed aura capabilities in Ecruteak.”

A hush descended in the den, which was broken by Clair’s astonished voice, “He did?”

“Yes,” Lance nodded, brow scrunched in thought, “He apparently used Heal Pulse on a number of victims from the explosion at the Ecruteak Gym a few days ago.”

“What!?” Clair squawked, turning to Lance, “You mean he’s a Master Aura Guardian?”

“Not necessarily,” Elder Yama broke in, looking far more intrigued than she had before, “He may be a Psychic type, or Poison. Both are known for their affinity towards healing moves. Using a move, while inherently impressive, does not denote a Master if it falls within their natural capabilities.”

Clair slumped, before perking back up, stars in her eyes, “But what if he isn’t!”

“Then he may well be a Master Aura Guardian, darling,” Elder Hana smiled, before it turned slightly mischievous, “Which you would just love , wouldn’t you?”

As Clair squeaked - which Lance didn’t entirely understand - Lance frowned, “...I have a feeling that you’re leaving something out, Elder Yama. If I may ask, what is it?”

Elder Hebi rose to snap at Lance, but Elder Yama held up a hand, “You’re right, Lance,” She sighed, “Unfortunately, I do not believe it will be as simple as him being an Indigo Aura Guardian. His description does not match any potential members of that organisation, so he is very likely a Rogue.”

“So we have a Rogue Aura Guardian with a draconic Charmander of unknown origins,” Lance crossed his arms, muttering, “Wonderful.”

“We will get our answers soon enough, child,” Elder Yama spoke up, turning towards Clair, “You said that this individual would be attending the Silver Conference, yes?”

Clair remained tongue-tied for a moment, before nodding, “He said so. He’s even gotten his third badge a few days ago.”

“ He has? ” Lance whispered to himself, somewhat astonished. It wasn’t necessarily unheard of for someone to earn three badges in a month, though it was impressive.

However, he was aware that, since Clair sent out a missive to each of the Gym Leaders in Johto, they wouldn’t be holding back against Red.

“He has!” Clair confirmed, confidence returning as she recovered from her embarrassment, “I originally doubted him when he said it, but I believe he’ll easily make it to the Silver Conference!”

“Why, you’re very confident of this man,” Elder Hama spoke with a teasing lilt in her voice, “I’m glad that you finally found someone that interests you!”

“Anyways!” Lance interrupted, finally understanding, on some level, what Clair was getting so embarrassed about - and she was as bright red as a tomato at the moment - “I presume you want me to question him at the Silver Conference?”

“Clair will first,” Elder Yama commanded, “She will be a familiar face, and therefore more approachable than the Champion himself,” She smiled, “I’m sure she has no objections to that.”

“N-No…” Clair shuffled her feet.

“In that case… You had something else to share, Lance?” Elder Yama asked with a tap of her finger.

“Yes…” Lance petered off as he switched to the subject that he was dreading, “In one week’s time, a delegation of various leaders across Indigo will travel to Sinnoh to finalise the negotiations for them joining the World League,” Lance paused for a moment, noting the blank looks on each of the elder’s faces, “Mr. Goodshow has requested that I am part of this delegation.”

“You made it known that the time of our clan meeting conflicts with this event, yes?” At Lance’s nod, she hummed, “It is a rather important event for the Champion to miss…”

“Absolutely not!” Elder Hebi snapped, “It is the obligation of every clan member to make the meeting!” She rounded onto Clair, “That Claw girl is flying here from Hoenn, correct?!”

Something indecipherable flashed briefly in Clair’s eyes, “Yes…”

“If that girl can make it, you have no excuse!” Hebi yelled at Lance, who began to feel the hairs on his arms prickle with the last remains of his patience.

“I think he should go,” A meek voice rang out. The other elders turned to see Elder Kaze raising a small hand, “We knew that being Champion would mean having responsibilities that don’t align perfectly with ours.”

“But to miss the meeting?” Elder Arashi asked, “To defy tradition is to invite in us the Madness.”

“Not necessarily,” Elder Yama spoke up, though her voice was slightly hesitant, “We didn’t hold clan meetings during the Great War, and we survived.”

“Not all of us did,” Elder Hebi rumbled, though his voice was far more remorseful than angry, as it had been earlier, “It tore apart the Tao Clan into the abomination it is today.”

“There were very different circumstances with the fall of our sister clan,” Elder Yama intoned darkly, “I hardly worry that the Madness will take for something like this.”

“So you want him to go?” Elder Hana asked, appearing neither for or against the decision.

“It would be good for Lance,” Kaze said softly, regarding him with something akin to fondness, though it was hard to tell with her, “He’s always hated crowds.”

Lance couldn’t help but feel a spike of annoyance as Clair giggled at his side. It wasn’t wrong, though, he never had much love for great masses of people, and he had only grown a greater aversion to it since ascending to Championship.

“If that is the case, why did he ever pursue becoming Champion?” Hebi muttered, though it was loud enough for everyone in the den to hear.

As the elder engaged in hushed conversation, Lance watched Elder Yama, who remained silent. Ultimately, as the senior-most elder, the decision was on her.

At his side, Clair watched her as well before leaning next to Lance, “She looks like she’s considering it.”

Lance couldn’t help but grimace, “I hope no-”

“You will go,” Elder Yama spoke, cutting everyone off, “To Sinnoh. It is your duty as Champion after all,” She had a light to her eyes that Lance didn’t like, “Who knows, perhaps in your off time you can uncover any remains from the Celestic Clan?”

Lance stuttered for a moment before Clair elbowed him, prompting him to kneel, “It will be done, elder.”

“Good,” Elder Yama said, though it was clear her sentiments weren’t shared by every elder present, “You can always make time for the meeting next year,” Her eyes turned sharper, “Make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”

“I will,” Lance muttered, still kneeling.

“You may rise,” Elder Yama said in a slightly softer tone. Once he did so, she snapped her fingers, erupting a small wave of draconic energy, “You may leave us, and spread glory for the clan.”

“On our honour,” Both Lance and Clair responded, as was custom. The two of them left the Dragon’s Den to hike towards the mouth of the cave as they heard Hebi begin to shout from within.

Once they reached the surface, Clair stretched her shoulders against the moonlight, muttering, “That was exhausting, wasn’t it cousin?”

“Yes,” Lance replied, preoccupied with the last-minute adjustments he would have to make to his schedule.

“Well,” Clair began to trek down the mountain towards the city, “We have a few hours before morning comes, come on! I haven’t seen you in ages!”

Lance sighed to himself as he resigned himself to another sleepless night.

At least this one is spent with family, if nothing else.

…

Pokemon Center, Cerulean City, September 30th, 1997

“I could’ve totally beaten you if Team Rocket didn’t show up!”

“Oh yeah? Why not battle now then! Prove it!”

“Maybe I will!”

Brock broke away from staring at Nurse Joy - And wasn’t she just a beauty? - to see that Ash had returned from challenging the Cerulean Gym, Misty trailing behind him.

“Brock!” Misty ran up to him, placing her hands on her hips, “Tell Ash that I’d beat him in a battle! Easy!”

“I dunno,” Brock leaned back, cupping his hand in his chin, “I don’t know if your water pokémon could take on Pikachu. He is an electric type.”

“See?” Ash exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air, with Pikachu mimicking the move, “You have nothing on Pikachu and me!”

Brock broke his gaze away from them to notice the small crowd beginning to form from the racket. He noticed Nurse Joy begin to step away from the counter and deigned to stop his friends’ rowdiness. Even if he had been rejected by her, he didn’t want to give her more work than she already had.

After pulling Ash away from Misty’s claws - And seriously, did she sharpen her nails. Feisty woman - He calmly asked, “How’d the Gym match go?”

Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say, because Misty snapped “Ash cheated! He got the Badge before we got to finish our fight!”

“Hey! I didn’t cheat!” Ash exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air, jostling Pikachu off of his shoulder, who growled in response, “It’s not my fault Team Rocket started sucking up Pikachu!”

“They did?” Brock asked. He was beginning to wish he hadn’t spent the whole day accepting (definitely not moping) over being rejected for the first time. “Are you both alright?”

“Of course!” Misty proclaimed haughtily, “I had my Starmie with me. Even if she was slightly hurt, she’d be strong enough to beat them!” Brock noticed her voice becoming slightly wobbly.

“Your Starmie was in the middle of getting sucked up into that vacuum thingy,” Ash deadpanned, picking Pikachu back up onto his shoulder, “Besides, Pikachu blasted them off… again. Why do they keep blasting off?”

“It seems like I missed a lot,” Brock said instead of answering Ash’s question, “But based on what I heard, Ash’s Gym Badge is valid, since he protected the Gym from an attack.”

“Hah! Told you!” Ash stuck his tongue out at Misty, who responded by tackling him. Brock couldn’t help but shake his head as he was forcibly reminded of their age.

Still, as a sixteen-year old who took care of nine siblings, he had more than enough experience to deal with a 10-year old and 14-year old respectively.

“Misty, get off of Ash now, or we will be visiting your family… For a week ,” Brock commanded, channelling his inner big brother voice.

Misty gasped, retracting her claws off of Ash, “You wouldn’t!” Perfect, it seems he was correct in guessing that she had issues with her siblings, which was just wrong to Brock, but he could work with it.

Brock crossed his arms, channelling the inherent virtue he saw in boulders: unyielding and stubborn.

After a moment, Misty squirmed before scowling, “Fine!” She stomped away and pouted on one of the benches, reminding him of Yolanda when she was in one of her moods.

His gaze turned to Ash, whose smug gaze turned pale when Brock said, “Ash, lower your voice to acceptable levels and quit antagonising Misty.”

Brock didn’t even have to threaten Ash before the kid capitulated, visibly deflating, “Alright… Sorry ‘bout that, Misty.”

Though her face was still red with anger, her features softened ever so slightly, “...Fine, I forgive you,” She looked uncomfortable for a moment, glancing a moment at Brock’s unyielding face before adding, “I’m sorry about hurting you as well.”

“Huh?” It seemed to Brock that Ash had just registered the scratch marks along his arms. He looked at them for a moment before shrugging, “Eh, it’s not that bad. I’ve gotten hurt worse by Pikachu.”

The mouse snorted before hopping off of Ash’s shoulder and onto Misty’s lap, cooing as she began petting him behind the ear. Brock uncrossed his arms once it seemed his friends’ argument had passed.

And he hadn’t even needed to threaten Ash with limiting the amount of pokéballs they bought here. Such were the benefits of being the group’s financial manager, he supposed.

As Ash and Misty talked about the Gym Match more civilly, Brock jumped when he heard a voice behind him say, “Thank you for getting them to quiet down. I didn’t want to kick them out for disturbing our patients.”

He turned and - as expected from the angelic voice - saw Nurse Joy, “O-Oh… You’re w-welcome, Ms. Joy.”

She smiled at him - and, Mew above, why did she have to look that perfect? - and returned to her place behind the counter.

Brock stood there for a moment before turning back towards Ash and Misty, perfectly aware of the dopey smile he wore on his face, and not caring in the slightest if anyone saw it.

When he returned to the pair, Ash perked up and scrambled out of his seat, “Brock, look!” He shoved the Cascade Badge into his face, “My second Badge!”

“Congratulations, it’s a big accomplishment,” Brock said kindly, lowering Ash’s hand away from his face, “Was there anything you wanted to do in Cerulean before we continue up north?”

“Nope!” Ash answered, while Misty muttered ‘ Thank Mew ’ to herself.

“In that case-” Brock was interrupted from his thought when Ash’s pokédex began vibrating in his pocket.

“Huh?” Ash asked to himself after removing it from his pocket, “Professor Oak’s calling me,” He answered the call, bringing up the image of the region's most decorated professor.

“Good evening, Ash. I trust you are doing well,” Professor Oak greeted.

“Hi, Professor!” Ash greeted back excitedly before presenting the Cascade Badge, “I just got my second Badge!”

“Oho! Congratulations, Ash. Truly. Delia will be pleased to hear your progress,” The professor turned his attention to the girl behind Ash’s shoulder, “And it’s a pleasure as always, Miss Waterflower. Tell me, you didn’t go easy on Ash, did you?”

As Ash squawked, Misty smirked, “As if! We didn’t get to finish our match because Team Rocket interrupted. But I’ll flatten next time we battle, just you wait!”

On the other end, Professor Oak hummed, “It seems that this Trio has been rather adamant,” He gave Ash a questioning look, “Have you seen about notifying the League that you have a pair of stalkers, Ash? They would help out if they knew.”

“Naw,” Ash waved it away with a roll of his eyes, “Doing that would just slow me down, and I need to catch up to Gary!” At the professor’s dubious look, Ash shrugged, slightly more sheepish, “Besides, they’re not dangerous. They’re more of an annoyance than anything.”

Professor pursed his lips, but elected not to pursue it further, “Fine, I’ll give you agency on it since it is your journey, but please remember that it is an option,” Professor Oak briefly rubbed his hands against his face - a gesture that Brock felt oddly sympathetic for, and he had only met Ash almost three weeks ago - before casting a questioning glance at Ash, “I believe I do see someone new in the background. Have you acquired a new travelling companion, Ash?”

Ash lit up like a lightbulb, “Yeah!” He repositioned the pokédex to show Brock more prominently in the camera, throwing the spotlight onto Brock far more suddenly than he was prepared.

“Oh, uh, hello Professor Oak sir. My name’s Brock,” Brock waved his hand somewhat awkwardly, not exactly knowing how to greet one of the most famous - and feared - people in Indigo.

“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Pebbleman,” Professor Oak nodded before adding, “I had heard that Flint returned to his post.”

Brock felt his eye twitch - which he knew for a fact was near impossible for others to see. Small blessings, he supposed - as his smile became slightly sharper, “That’s right.”

There was a momentary pause before Ash brought the camera back to himself, not aware in the slightest of the somewhat icy mood they had fallen into, “Anyways, what did you call me for, Professor?”

“Well… In truth, I had called for a favour for the lab,” Professor Oak sighed softly before continuing, “I know that you may have had plans, but-”

“I can do it,” Ash interrupted, before realising he did so, “Oh! Sorry, what were you saying?”

Professor Oak paused for a moment, “You accept? Just like that, without knowing what the favour is?”

“Yeah?” Ash replied, sounding a bit more unsure, “Was I not supposed to?”

“I think Professor Oak is trying to make a point about accepting things before knowing what you’re doing,” Brock explained, crossing his arms as he leaned back.

“Yeah, you do have a bit of a habit of running into things without thinking about it, Ash,” Misty added, reaching over to grapple Ash into a noogie, “We gotta bash it outta ya!”

“Hey! Get your mitts off me!” Ash scrambled out of Misty’s grip, scowling lightly as Pikachu handed him back his cap, muttering, “Thanks Pikachu.”

“What’s the favour?” Brock asked, interested despite himself.

“Oh, nothing dangerous. Well, not for Bill’s standards anyways…” Professor Oak grumbled to himself before perking up, “It’s merely a delivery. Bill has a highly valuable piece of research that needs to return to the lab.”

Ash blinked to himself, “Why me? I mean, I’m honoured… I guess. But couldn’t one of your lab aides get it?”

Professor Oak sighed, “Unfortunately, I’m heading off to Sinnoh in a couple of days, and my aides will be busy watching over the lab,” Professor Oak leaned forward, a slight mischievous glint entering his eye, “I would ask my grandson to do this for me, but he’s on his way to Celadon City for his fourth Badge.”

Ash growled at the mention of his rival, but shook his head, “Alright, where do I go?”

“Bill lives at a lighthouse a couple of days’ travel north of Cerulean. He should be expecting you sometime on October 5th, so I would recommend leaving within the next few days,” explained the professor.

“Where are we taking this thing?” Misty asked, pushing past Ash, “I don’t feel like carrying around something for a while if it’s fragile.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Waterflower. There’ll be an aide stationed at Cerulean when you stop by there again,” Professor Oak assured.

Meanwhile, Ash cupped his chin into his hand, “I don’t see why not,” He cast an inquisitive glance at Misty and Brock, “What do you guys think?”

Misty shrugged while Brock responded, “We were already planning on heading up north, so the timing works out fine.”

Ash nodded, “Alright! In that case, consider it done, Professor!”

Professor Oak nodded, though he appeared slightly apprehensive, “Please do be careful with it Ash. It is rather valuable.”

“I will,” Ash nodded before yawning, “Sorry ‘bout that, it’s been a bit of a long day.”

Professor Oak’s face expressed a form of begrudging sympathy at the yawn, “You and me both. Have a good night, Ash.”

“Have a good night, Professor,” Ash responded just before the call ended. He stretched and scratched his side, “Huh, I’m more tired than I thought I was, what about you two?”

“I could go with some sleep right about now,” Misty said, standing up, “I’ll find us some rooms.”

“Thank you!” Ash called out after her as she walked up to Nurse Joy. He picked up Pikachu, cradling the mouse in his arms as he yawned again, “Today was a good day, wasn’t it Pikachu?”

Brock heard Pikachu yawn in response, effectively shutting up Ash. For his own part, Brock cast one final glance at Nurse Joy before heading up to the rooms that Misty found.

It had been a good day.

…

Olivine City Gym

“Challenger Salvare Razzo of Orre has challenged Jasmine Aciera of Olivine City to a 7-badge Gym Battle!” The announcer called out to a lukewarm response, “This will be a 3-on-3, with only one switch allowed on both sides! Gym Leader Jasmine will begin by sending out her pokémon!”

On one side of the arena, Jasmine, a willowy timid woman, called out, “Go Magneton!”

On the other side, Salvare stood ready, throwing his pokéball with a sharp yell, “Croconaw!”

There was a small amount of tittering from the crowd, no doubt believing the match to already be won from the bad match-up alone.

And that likely would have been the case, before Salvare learned under Red.

In the same moment that Jasmine commanded Magneton to use Thunder Wave , Salvare shouted, “ Aqua Jet into the air, and get close!”

He was well aware that it was a risky move, even compared to his usual aggressive style. However, upon going into this battle, Salvare remembered one of the key lessons that Red had emphasised on their way here.

When backed into a corner, attack as hard and relentlessly as you can.

Unlike previous Gym matches, in which Salvare was more likely to repeatedly hammer their defences until victory (which, in the case of Blackthorne Gym, took six times), this match held more importance for him to finish quickly.

First off, while Salvare only had two Gyms left in the circuit, Red still had a little over half. Although the two had agreed that they could stay here for a week, two at most, if Salvare didn’t win, he really didn’t want to be the reason why Red had to slow down.

Secondly, and more importantly to Salvare, was the fact that this was a test .

Sure, Red never explicitly told him so, but with the man standing directly behind him in the incoming challengers’ booth, watching the battle with rapt ( almost obsessive ) attention, it was hard to think otherwise.

That didn’t make it any easier for Salvare. However, he had planned for this ever since leaving Ecruteak. He had become the man’s apprentice proper after leaving the city, and Salvare wanted nothing more than to prove himself worthy of the man’s teachings.

This was why, after learning the bombshell that was Salvare’s latent aura potential, he pressed Red on continuing their pokémon training, rather than focusing on aura.

Karen was slightly miffed by that after she reawakened, but she didn’t say anything… Nearly at all.

Salvare knew that he was going into this battle with a disadvantage, considering that half of his team were almost entirely useless against Steel types, and Jasmine often employed Electric Types in her battles, which directly counteracted his ace.

This was why Salvare commanded Croconaw to dodge rather than attack Magneton head on. While there was a decent chance that Croconaw might be able to down the steel pokémon, it would likely result in his ace fainting shortly thereafter.

Given that Croconaw was his only reliable source of damage against Steel types, Salvare didn’t have much room to work with.

Thankfully, because Croconaw blasted himself into the air, the Thunder Wave passed by directly beneath him. Seeing that Jasmine was about to prepare another attack, Salvare took a little bit of a gamble, loudly clapping his hands before yelling, “ DIG! ”

Croconaw oriented downwards towards the ground, closing his mouth - so far so good - Salvare kept a determined mask on his face - In the corner of his eye, he could see Jasmine watching him with a small, almost-hidden smirk - Croconaw began to fall, positioning as if it was about to dig into the ground, though his head craned sideways, cheeks puffed as if stuffed - Which brought a shadow of a smirk on Salvare and Red’s face, though Salvare didn’t see that.

“ Electric Terrain! ” As Jasmine’s voice rang out, Croconaw erupted a burst of water in a bastardised Aqua Jet , narrowly avoiding the now electrically charged ground.

Salvare couldn't help but smirk at the trickery. It had taken a bit of practice, but Croconaw could now feint into Aqua Jet when he clapped his hands before a command.

While the crocodile’s movement through the air wasn’t graceful, it wasn’t meant to be, as it finally closed the distance between him and Magneton. As Jasmine fumbled, Salvare pointed forwards in confidence, “ Mud Slap! Aim for the eyes!”

Croconaw bellowed as it drew mud into his claws, attacking Magneton’s eyes. As the crocodile wailed against the magnetic pokémon, Salvare sent a silent ‘thank you’ to Red for covering terrain altering moves in one of his lessons, particularly focusing on those such as Sunny Day, Rain Dance, and Electric Terrain .

Salvare couldn’t help but notice the flinch Charmander hid at the mention of Rain Dance.

Jasmine recovered shortly after, sharply commanding, “ Discharge! ”

“ Endure! ” Salvare shouted shortly before Croconaw was blasted off with an explosion of electrical energy. He grit his teeth as Croconaw impacted the ground, quickly hopping to and fro from the charged floor.

Casting a quick glance at Magneton - Damaged, two eyes covered in mud, and the other quickly blinking - Salvare extended his pokéball and recalled Croconaw. After confirming that Croconaw hadn’t fainted, Salvare announced, “I use my switch for the match!” He threw a different pokéball, “Gastly, Hex !”

Given that Salvare’s command had been immediate, Jasmine hardly had any time to react. Even though Hex was largely meant to pair with status effects, Salvare used it as a blunt attack.

It proved to be enough, though. Given that Magneton had already been weakened and partially blinded by Croconaw’s earlier assault, Gastly’s attack hit it straight into its core.

It was one of the few lessons Red gave that Salvare could wholeheartedly say he already knew. There were times when precision mattered in a fight. In the same vein, there were times when the best thing to do was to attack your opponent with the blunt force of a sledgehammer.

Magneton fainted from the attack, causing those in the crowd to cheer in excitement - And now that he noticed it, Salvare felt the edges of Karen’s aura quivering in approval. It seems she was watching the match.

Jasmine remained serene as she recalled Magneton, “Very impressive, Mister Razzo. Though it was very risky. How did you teach your Croconaw to fly with Aqua Jet ?”

Salvare paused for a moment as he considered for the first time that, yes, Croconaw was flying, in a sense. He shook his head, “Practice, and a goal,” He pointedly did not look at Red, “I want to be the best I can be.”

Jasmine nodded, “I can see that,” Her normally sweet face cracked briefly as she sent him a vicious smile, “Just remember that to be the best, you have to fight the best.”

Salvare couldn’t help but compare what she said to why Karen chose to fight Red.

“Go Skarmory!” Jasmine called, heralding a quaking cry as a steel-winged beast took to the skies.

“ Agility !” Salvare couldn’t help but grimace. A Skarmory was already an intimidating pokémon to fight against. A fast Skarmory would be a nightmare.

“ Disable !” Salvare commanded, putting a stop to Jasmine speeding up the pokémon any more.

Unfortunately, this had the side-effect of forcing her into attack, “Fly up and use Steel Wing! ”

“ Sucker Punch !” Having seen Karen use this move against Salvare when they had a practice battle a few days ago, Salvare became aware of the move taking priority when the opponent was directly attacking.

After learning this, Salvare devoted a full day to teaching Gastly the move. Even though Gastly wasn’t well-suited towards physical attacks - Which was an attribute that Salvare paid much more attention to ever since Red pointed out how taking advantage of these strengths and weaknesses could determine a battle - the ghost’s Sucker Punch succeeded in hitting Skarmory before the avian’s attack could hit.

Thankfully, the bird flinched, allowing Gastly to place more distance away.

Jasmine grumbled lightly to herself, “That was awfully lucky! But-”

“ Curse! ” Not allowing Jasmine time to talk - or monologuing, as Red called it. Apparently people loved to do that on occasion - Salvare watched in satisfaction as the ghostly apparition of a bloody nail was hammered into both Gastly and Skarmory’s bodies.

Skarmory visibly stumbled while Gastly drooped, obviously nearing the end of its rope. Knowing that Gastly wouldn’t last much longer, Salvare commanded, “ Confuse Ray! ”

Jasmine frowned when Gastly’s attack hit, but appeared satisfied once the ghost fainted after Skarmory hit it with another Steel Wing .

Salvare recalled Gastly, promising himself that he would treat the ghost to a Dream-in-a-Jar™ after the battle was done. Unclipping the third pokéball on his belt, Salvare threw it forward, calling, “Magnemite, Electro Ball !”

“ Protect! ” Jasmine shouted at the same time, allowing Skarmory to successfully defend the attack. Salvare grumbled to himself, supposing that, in hindsight, it was obvious that she would expect the same trick twice in a row.

Red wouldn’t have made that mistake.

“ Metal Sound! ” Salvare commanded, preemptively placing his hands over his ears as a sound akin to chalk being dragged against a chalkboard radiated across the arena.

Jasmine apparently didn’t seem too affected by the sound, as she called, “ Night Slash! ”

As Skarmory descended upon Magnemite with dark energy - which Salvare was becoming quite accustomed to - Salvare commanded, “ Spark! ”

The two pokémon collided in a mixture of electric and dark energies. Skarmory cried out as electrical currents ran across its wings, while Magnemite seemed mildly dazed, but still focused on the bird flying ahead.

Preparing for one final attack to finish off the Skarmory, Salvare commanded, “ Charge !”

Magnemite closed its eye as it drew in electrical energy, glowing a dull yellow as more and more electricity was stored into it.

Jasmine scowled before commanding, “Skarmory, use Brave Bird ! Don’t let it finish!”

Skarmory cried out in rage as it descended onto Magnemite, slamming against the magnetic pokémon just as its eye snapped open, a screech emitting from within the pokémon as a pulsating Discharge shook the arena.

It took a few seconds for Salvare to blink away the stars in his eyes. He caught the tail-end of Skarmory’s unconscious form being recalled before turning to Magnemite…

No. Way.

Hovering where Magnemite once was, a newly-evolved Magneton emitted a screeching sound of jubilation. Salvare couldn’t help the grin that took his face, turning back to Jasmine to see her face, which contained a mixture of surprise and happiness for him.

“Congratulations on your evolution!” She called out amidst the din of the crowd - Salvare noted that they seemed much livelier than they had at the beginning of the battle - “It’s always a special thing to witness a challenger pokémon’s evolution!”

Salvare returned her smile, “Thank you!” His face turned more competitive - And perhaps more than a little cocky - “But we have a battle to finish!”

Jasmine returned his look, detaching her final pokéball, “In that case… Go Liaron, use Double-Edge !”

Looks like she was using his own tactics against him.

“ Electro Ball !” Magneton shot a rippling ball of electricity at the beast, though Salvare was quickly dismayed to see that it had minimal effect.

“Get out of there!” He commanded as Liaron rammed towards Magneton with its head. The magnetic pokémon barely managed to avoid it, though it was too slow to avoid the beast when Jasmine commanded, “ Metal Claw! ”

Liaron roared at it tore into Magneton, slamming the magnetic pokémon against the ground. It became quickly apparent to Salvare that, despite the brief boost in power that came from evolution, Magneton was already weakened from its fight against Skarmory.

With this in mind, he yelled out, “ Metal Sound! ” Already knowing that Magneton would likely faint within the next few moments, he used his last attack to weaken Liaron’s already minimal defence against non-physical attacks.

Liaron grunted before finally slamming into Magneton with Headbutt , causing the magnetic pokémon to finally faint.

Salvare recalled Magneton as the cheers in the crowd rose to a crescendo, apparently convinced that, with Salvare’s final pokémon already being severely weakened, that it was an assured victory for Jasmine.

For his own part, Salvare remained confident - he had to be, he had gotten this far already - as he called forth Croconaw, immediately commanding, “ Scary Face !”

Liaron was too slow to avoid the attack, and became far slower as a result. Due to the beast’s already abysmal speed, the further reduction of its movement allowed Croconaw far more leeway in commanding the battlefield.

Still, this did not mean that Salvare was completely safe, as Jasmine commanded, “ Earthquake !”

“ Aqua Jet into the air!” Salvare yelled sharply, though Croconaw didn’t seem to need reminding, as the crocodile had already boosted itself into the air as Liaron slammed its body into the ground.

However, upon seeing Croconaw falter slightly as he burst across the air, Salvare knew that Croconaw was losing his stamina. With this in mind, Salvare waited for the moment that Liaron finished stomping into the ground before commanding, “Land and Water Pulse its back!”

Jasmine tried to command Liaron to Protect , but it was far too slow to react, allowing Croconaw’s Water Pulse to impact the beast’s back. Given that it had already been severely weakened by Magneton’s Metal Sound , Liaron hollered in agony from the single attack.

As if he was a Sharpedo who smelled blood in the water, Salvare pressed his advantage, “ Water Pulse one more time! Put everything into it!”

The crowd could only watch in astonishment as Croconaw blasted another Water Pulse onto Liaron’s back, causing the beast to stumble once, twice, before giving a pain-filled cry as it slumped onto the ground defeated.

The Gym was silent for a moment, as was Salvare. It took him a moment to register his victory before the crowd erupted into cheers.

Jasmine walked up to him, a demure smile in place (which contrasted heavily with the confidence she showed in the battle), “Congratulations, Mister Razzo,” She presented the Mineral Badge to him, “You have proven yourself deserving of the Mineral Badge.”

He took it from her, eyes flicking back to Red for a moment - who, dare he say it, looked proud - before thanking her, “You were a tough challenge.”

She smiled softly, “You did say you wanted to be your best,” Her eyes flicked towards Red, “I suppose it’s good that you’ve found a good mentor.”

Salvare became somewhat alarmed, “You know about that?”

“Word travels,” Jasmine breathed easily, “I look forward to fighting the man who could impress someone like Clair.”

Salvare remained silent for a moment, idly watching the Gym staff repair the arena for Red’s upcoming battle. “I think he’ll surprise you,” He muttered.

“I suppose we’ll see in a moment, won’t we?” Salvare grimaced at the cadence in her voice. She definitely had something planned for Red .

He shook his head, heading towards the spectator ring to sit with Karen. Even with Jasmine’s plans for Red, he didn’t doubt that he would prevail.

…

“ Iron Head !”

“ Fling. ”

Salvare watched in rapt attention as Red battled - no - played with Jasmine.

To his side, Salvare heard Karen mutter, “Fuckin’ hell Red, people call me sadistic.”

For the past few minutes, The crowd had been subject to something that could almost be called the direct opposite of what Salvare’s match was.

Salvare’s match was a thrilling battle of wit and trickery.

Red’s match was just straight up bullying.

Jasmine had sent in a Mawile as her starting pokémon, which was deceptively strong, based on its cute appearance.

Yet, the pitiful creature was running in circles after Froakie, who had been exclusively using Dark-type moves against it.

Interestingly enough, at least to Salvare, these moves seemed to have minimal effect on Mawile - which was interesting, because as far as Salvare was aware, Mawile didn’t have any resistance to Dark-type moves - aside from annoying the piss out of the creature.

Of course, the fact that Red commanded Froakie to use Taunt three times - oh, nevermind - four times didn’t help matters.

Honestly, the more Salvare watched, the less it seemed like Red was treating this as a battle .

Instead, it just looked like… Practice.

Several Froakie duplicates hopped around Mawile’s growling form - courtesy of several Double Teams - taking potshots at it with Flings , Steals , and the occasional Night Slash (which Salvare noticed caused Red’s eyes to momentarily glow with… satisfaction?).

As Salvare stared for a moment at Jasmine’s increasingly frustrated expression, Salvare began to understand what Red meant by ‘dirty tactics’ in battle.

Salvare didn’t know if he liked it all that much. It just seemed… cheap.

“This seems wrong,” He muttered, catching Karen’s attention, “He wouldn’t do this without having something else in mind.”

“Maybe he’s a sadist and needs an outlet?” Karen snarked, still bitter at Red three days later.

Salvare shook his head as Froakie finally used an attack that wasn’t Dark-type, though it seemed to be a bastardised Water Pulse that Froakie wielded like a blade, “He’s not like that. There must be a reason. ”

“Maybe he’s trying to piss her off?” Karen pointed at Jasmine, “Could be an attempt at psychological warfare. She gets too mad, and she might start making mistakes.”

“Maybe…” Salvare muttered as Froakie took Mawile down, almost gently, with nary a scratch on its body.

Salvare grimaced as the crowd gave a mixture of cheers and boos at the defeat. Though he wasn’t entirely happy with how it happened, he was even less happy with people disparaging the man he had quickly grown to respect.

For his own part, though, Red seemed unfazed, instead muttering in low tones to Pichu on his shoulder. What they were talking about, Salvare could only guess, but he could tell that Red wasn’t paying particular attention to the battle itself.

He could see it in his eyes.

Jasmine scowled as she stared across at Red, “I appreciate that you are aware of your strength,” Her tone clashing with her normally kind face, “But I would highly appreciate it if you didn’t unnecessarily drag that out, it was unsportsmanlike.”

“My apologies, I was just testing something,” Red answered in monotone, which visibly did nothing to curb Jasmine’s frustration, “Besides, Froakie’s part of the battle is done.”

“Oh?” She asked, though she didn’t lose the biting tone, “I suppose you feel rather confident in yourself?”

“Yeah,” Red answered back, appearing somewhat resigned, He whispered to himself, almost too low for Salvare to hear, “ Why act modest when you are strong? ” It almost seemed to him that Red repeated it as if it was a quote he had heard.

Jasmine, who apparently hadn’t heard Red, threw her next pokéball, “Go, Sparky! Electric Terrain !”

As Jasmine’s Ampharos overcharged the battlefield, Red recalled Froakie, using his one switch to send Pichu off of his shoulder, shouting, “Like we practised!”

What followed next was almost too quick for Salvare to track. While the previous battle was a slog to watch, the fight between Pichu and Ampharos was fast-paced, brutal, and awe-inspiring .

Salvare knew that Red’s Pichu was unusually strong for its species, but he didn’t know it was this strong.

The one similarity between this battle and the last was that it seemed to be more of a test run than a Gym match. However, instead of focusing on a specific type of move, Pichu focused on redirecting Ampharos’ electrical attacks.

The first few times, the electric discharge from Pichu impacted random areas. After a few times, Salvare couldn’t help but shudder as Pichu gave a bloodthirsty grin as it expertly aimed them towards Ampharos.

While Jasmine had quickly changed tactics, using a mixture of Dragon Pulse and Cotton Spore , Pichu just fried the spores with electricity and used his speed to weave in between the pulses of draconic energy.

Shortly after thirty seconds passed, Pichu ended the fight with one final Volt Tackle , knocking Ampharos out. Pichu gave a triumphant war cry, ignoring his bruises and cuts in his bloodlust.

There was muted applause, not nearly as spiteful as it had been previously, but still not very enthusiastic.

Salvare watched Red for any indication on what was going on in his mind. Yet, past the dull glow of Red's eyes, Salvare could only see something approaching boredom.

As if he was vaguely disappointed.

Across the arena, Jasmine frowned as she recalled her Ampharos, "I've been hearing about that Pichu of yours. A member of that species that's capable of matching a dragon, it's an incredible achievement."

The words, while complimentary, were delivered in a remarkably dry tone. Red idly palmed his final pokéball, unused, replying, "It's his achievement alone."

Salvare frowned at that, particularly at Red's emphasis, which implied no contribution on his part.

Jasmine took a few moments to school her face, regarding Red with an intent stare, "Know this, challenger, you have been noticed ," Her eyes blazed, though not as much as Red's were at the same moment. She unclipped an ultraball from her belt, "This farce of a battle ends now."

With that, she threw her ultraball, revealing one of the pokémon from Jasmine’s main team.

“Steelix! Rock Polish! ”

Red’s eyes blazed ( in Anticipation? Surprise? Delirium? ) as he commanded for the first time to Pichu, “ Wild Charge into Thunder Wave !”

“ Protect! ” A resounding gong echoed across the Gym as Pichu rammed headfirst into the shield that appeared less than a second before, “ Rock Polish again!”

And for a moment, Red hesitated. To everyone around Salvare, including Karen, the pause was too short to catch.

However, unlike the others who were watching the match before them, Salvare was paying attention to Red.

And that excitement from before...

It was gone.

Null.

“ Encore. ” Red spoke lowly, disappointedly, as if he expected to be let down, and yet held onto ill-advised hope.

Pichu did as commanded, forcing Steelix into repeatedly using Rock Polish . The entire Gym fell silent as Pichu stopped, flaring his electrical reserves in bastardised Thunder Waves .

Which returned.

And were redirected with more power.

And Returned.

And were redirected with even more power.

And Returned.

And began redirecting with enough power that the Gym staff had to set up psychic barriers to protect the crowd.

And with each pass of electrical energy, Salvare saw Red’s eyes glow in tandem. To him, it almost seemed that Pichu and Red were passing the electrical charge between each other, building it up with each turn.

Eventually, Steelix broke out of the Encore , and a red-faced Jasmine commanded it to use Iron Tail on the damned rodent.

But by that point, Steelix had electrical currents shattering across its frame, burning and scalding its metal hide. Its movements were slowed, choppy, as Paralysis took effect.

In the end, Red won using only two pokémon.

In the end, Salvare learned just how steep the mountain was between them.

The Gym remained silent as Pichu collapsed after Steelix fainted - though it was still conscious, just barely . The Gym remained silent as Red walked across the battlefield, stone faced as he gathered Pichu into his arms. The Gym remained silent as he stood next to Jasmine as she handed him the badge.

She exchanged words with Red, clipped, low, resigned. Salvare had no idea exactly how they sounded or what she said, because they were too far away.

Salvare leaned back as the crowd began to disperse, the shocked silence finally erupting into overwhelming chatter at the match.

Though, Salvare wouldn’t call it a match.

It was a slaughter.

Karen’s eyes were pinpricks of darkness, staring at Red as he stepped towards them.

Salvare could feel the fear rolling off of her in waves.

However, upon seeing Red’s blank stare, Salvare knew he couldn’t fear the man.

He almost pitied him.

Why?

“Did you have fun?” Salvare found himself saying, not exactly knowing why.

Red’s lips twitched - There was no humour in his face - before he replied, “ We’re done here. ”

Salvare nodded easily - he ignored the stare he was getting from Karen, oh, and Jasmine was watching from the corner as well - “Alright,” His lips stretched into a smile of his own, though it was more genuine than Red’s ever was, “Want to go train?”

Red paused, eyes flashing briefly. Salvare could swear that he heard Red mutter ‘protégé’ .

“Alright,” He turned back, eyes remaining a glowing crimson, “ We’ll train. ”

…

Archived Code_Crystal Audio Recording, December 21st, 1987

“What are you doing up so late, my little moonlight?”

Distant crashes of waves. Silence aside from the creaking of old wood. A small cry is heard, asking for something. Asking for someone.

“Here-”

A pokéball opens.

“-Say hello.”

Slight popping sounds. A small child babbles. The pokémon chirps in low tones, loving tones, sad tones.

Silence.

“Figures.”

Silence. A small hum and a pop. A question without words.

“It’s done.”

An intake of breath. Another series of pops. A chuckle from the speaker. His voice of gravel, of death.

“They’re avenged.”

“...”

“You may grieve.”

Waves.

A hiccup.

The child sniffles.

She blinks away tears.

“It’s okay to cry, my little moonlight.”

“We all do.”

Another hiccup.

The tears flow.

She remains silent.

As does the speaker.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...Do you feel better?”

A sniff, then a chirp.

An eerie mimicry of the pokémon.

The pokémon chirps in response.

It’s sad.

More so than before.

“Revenge… It tastes bitter, does it not?”

Silence, then a single pop.

Affirmation.

The speaker chuckles to himself.

“For one so young, you are remarkably intelligent.”

A chirp and a pop in response, then a happy giggle.

“She would’ve loved you.”

Silence. Waves crashing. A rumble, then a boom.

Rain begins to fall.

The speaker hums.

“I suppose that’s one way to extinguish the fires.”

A small babble. Inquisitive. A question.

“I burned them down. I’ve never believed in Arceus' judgement, so I made my own."

A delighted giggle.

“Oh, you just love that, don’t you?”

“...”

“You shouldn’t.”

The young girl. The toddler. She goes silent.

“She wouldn’t want you to be like me.”

“You’re innocent.”

“I never was.”

The girl remains silent. She reaches out and grasps one of his hands with her tiny fingers. She babbles a series of questions only he can understand.

“...I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to drop you off at the orphanage tomorrow.”

“I’m not fit to care for a child.”

“That would’ve been her job.”

Another rumble of thunder. The wood of the shack groans. The little girl coos. She goes silent. Concentrating, before babbling.

“Unc.”

“Uncle.”

A wheezing laugh. Tears fall onto the wood. Shaky tanned hands pet the girl’s hair as she succumbs to sleep.

The man is still laughing softly.

The man is still crying softly.

A chirp is heard. The pokémon flinches back as the shack begins to ripple in waves of darkness.

“You play a cruel game…”

“I suppose, in that way… you and I are alike.”

“You know what you are…”

“I know what I am.”

A crack. Thunder. The man cradles the child to his chest, petting her hair.

His tears stop falling.

His eyes are as dark as the void.

“Perhaps if I never saw past the veil…”

“Saw what laid beyond the void…”

“...”

“Perhaps I would forget.”

A small chirp. The pokémon nuzzles against the man. Calming him.

“But we both know I never will, don’t you?”

“Even in my death, The Chariot will live on.”

Waves crash. Soft breaths from the child mixes with the ambient noise of the rain.

The thunder has stopped.

“I don’t care how long I have to wait.”

“We both know that I’m a patient man.”

“But know this.”

“I will not rest until your head is under my heel.”

One final flash.

The wrath of Arceus cracks the sky.

Yet the girl sleeps.

She, who has walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and lived.

She sleeps.

The man laughs.

He sees something that no-one else sees.

“Hmm… I suppose you would, wouldn’t you?”

“But that doesn’t matter…”

“...”

“Perhaps, in time, we’ll speak again.”

“But for now, I would rather keep a few secrets from the old man…”

“Code Crystal: 1 Hour.”

End of Recording - Code_Crystal Protocol - ‘1’ Standard Hour Length