Chapter Twenty Two: The Ancient Way

…

The first thing I decided to do was pen a letter to Inoru.

He had been an excellent trainer until now, but everything I knew told me I would have to seek the Umbreon on my own. Spirits led you to your destiny, that much was certain.

And whoever or whatever lied upon that mountain would have to be my teacher, at least for now. I would have to, for now, step aside from my learnings under the monks of Takujimi and the Sprout Order.

The following morning, I left the hotel room I was staying in with Ino and the letter explaining my journey to master Aura. He obviously knew the importance of my mission, and if that was the case, he and Toji should be willing to accept my judgment.

…

It was quick ride by the international high speed rail system to go from Goldenrod to Olivine, it only took about three hours.

When I reached Olivine, I decided to message Professor Oak and Chuck, letting them know I'd find an alternate teacher in the meantime before I sought knowledge from them to detect Mewtwo.

I began to hike west from Olivine with little more than a backpack, some Pokémon items like one I'd bought from a Goldenrod's Department store, my walking staff, and followed by Vigoroth and Growlithe.

Growlithe was good at spotting Pokémon tracks in case any wild Pokémon were nearby, and although he could more than hold his own in a battle. Vigoroth was the one I needed to scare or fight them away.

Oddly, the air in the forests was…calm.

Pidgeys twittered in the air, fluttering from branches to branches. The sunlight softly filtered through the expansive forest roof, the air was light and dry, even as hot as it was, I didn't feel it too much as hiked westward.

I felt like I was being watched.

After walking for a bit, I realized I was being followed by a Spinarak. A small bug Pokémon.

My Pokédex feature told me it was female and about as old as the rest of my team. A perfect fit, at least, it was worth catching.

As soon as I began to draw closer, the Spinarak shrunk into the shade of a tree, and soon completely disappeared from sight when I approached.

Shame.

After about half a day's journey worth of traveling, I found Li-Yan.

Most mountains west of Johto didn't have a name, but I talked to a few villagers who knew the area in a town I found a couple miles north just in case.

Li-Yan was an older name for a mountain people avoided pretty much at all costs. It was well out of the way from the few trade and travel routes, the Pokémon there weren't vicious, but it was just eerie. There was just no reason for going near it other than being seriously creeped out.

And I got why.

When I approached, the degree of silence and fear set in. I could tell there wasn't one Pokémon at all, but if there was its…signature, was muted.

Growlithe couldn't spot any Pokémon tracks of any kind, and there weren't any Spinarak nor Pidgey nests at all in sight. It was all just so quiet, and oddly a bit dark despite how much sunlight there was from Ho-Oh's remergence.

I had no signal at all with my Gear, other than general directions and a small compass I brought, I was utterly lost.

The mountain was difficult to see at all, I couldn't spot it from a distance, and the forest was so thick and expansive that it was difficult to tell where to go.

Around the campfire that night, Growlithe whined, curling up next to me.

I rubbed his head. "I know buddy, I'll figure it out soon."

At least I hoped I did.

Until now, I could rely on the general density of Pokémon activity for where the mountain was. Spinaraks, Sentrets, and Pidgeys were in the active zone just west of Olivine.

I was in what was called a huge 'dead zone' my initial location for where I thought Li-Yan was, and it was actually four and a half hours south in terms of hiking. I circled it in red on my map.

I would assume towards the dead center of the circle the mountain would lie, but there was nothing to indicate that. The mountain was supposed to be huge, like any, but the sheer amount of forest here was nothing except a vast ocean of trees.

The problem with being in a completely empty zone is that I had no spiritual signals to lock onto. In mostly populated areas of Johto, when I meditated or even just walked around, I could feel how alive everything around me was.

At least in terms of people and Pokémon.

Here, there was nothing, nothing but trees in all directions.

I thought I was completely lost until I realized something.

Umbreon and Espeon were Pokémon that were highly adept at viewing and understanding Aura, at least in Espeon's case. Aura was linked to one's spirit, and therefore their emotions.

If I could create emotions powerful enough, maybe I could send up some sort of Aura flare for the Umbreon to find me again. I doubt it had been following me all the way from Goldenrod City.

…

Throughout my dreams, I felt anguish.

That of barely saving Blue's life. The plight of Kanto and the entirety of humanity at the mercy of the Spirits, with an entire town blazed to nothing in the course of an afternoon.

It was there, that Umbreon found me.

I woke up, at just around sunrise, and I realized my plan had worked.

Umbreon was able to locate my spiritual signature with how focused and concentrated on my emotions I became. I went with sadness because it genuinely was the truest emotion I felt.

Kanto was in shambles, other than Surge's escapade to bring Rocket and Ho-Oh down with whatever he could scrounge up, everyone was relying on me, a fourteen year old kid to find answers to whatever the hell was going on.

Mewtwo. Ho-Oh, whatever.

Umbreon silently led me a bit deeper into the forest, south east ward according to my compass, and I arrived at the foot of the mountain.

It was there that I began to ascend, far less than the thirty thousand steps to Takujimi, rather more like three hundred.

Umbreon disappeared out of sight when I began to view what was a monastery hidden well out of sight.

It wasn't exactly a monastery, rather a. It was hard to describe.

Only through my deep understanding of martial arts in my prior life, did I understand what I was looking at. I found it odd how civilizations modeled themselves after another, much how Johto and Kanto looked very similar to real life Japan.

This enclave of monks appeared to resemble a Kwan, or rather a traditional Korean dojang, that lived in the mountains of Southern Korea where Tang Soo Do, Taekwondo and Korean karate was born.

There were a few kids training in the carved stone amphitheater below, none of them paid any attention to me when I arrived walking down the steps from the forest entrance to the Kwan below.

Nothing about these kids was particularly notable. Except how young they were and the traditional karategis they were wearing.

In fact, what interested me more was their teacher.

"Silver?"

He hadn't changed much from the last time I saw him, and I had only seen him last at SlowPoké well.

He was wearing a white Gi with black outlines and black karate pants, a small golden badge likely signifying he was the main assistant instructor.

"Stop. Attention."

The kids stopped practicing their strikes and sweeps, they looked forward and their hands snapped to their sides.

Silver looked at me up and down. "Haven't seen you in a minute. What brings you here?"

"A uh, Umbreon spirit led me here. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to start learning from this place."

"This place isn't for you." muttered Silver. "You're too much of a goody two shoes to learn from Master Yan."

"Yan? I'm pretty sure he sent me."

"Doubtful."

"Like I said, it was an Umbreon-"

"He must've made a mistake."

I raised an eyebrow. "Can I talk to him or? Are you just going to be sneering at me all day?"

I could tell Silver's class of kids looked extremely interested in what I had to say. But he barked at them, they bowed, and dispersed.

"Let's, get this over with." Silver rolled his hair.

I began to follow Silver who appeared to begrudgingly lead me towards the simple, but admittedly traditional buildings that weren't too far off from the monasteries I was used to at Takujimi and Violet City.

"So wait, you're a monk?" I could see older classes of students training in the background behind Silver.

"Not a monk," scoffed Silver. "Those who wish to train with Master Yan must obey his teachings. But only a few must actually adapt to training as a monk."

"So then who were those kids I just saw back there?"

"They were like me once. Either lucky enough to be born into the right family, or members of our dojo found them to be talented enough to learn. Some stay, others are brought in under special circumstances."

Made sense, it was almost impossible to find this place.

Two monks wearing darker robes than the ones I was used to, were standing guard near the front entrance by the main, three story tower bowed when we entered. I nodded back to them.

…

I walked into a small courtyard complete with a pond and tree hanging above it where an old man was sitting.

Next to him, an Umbreon appeared to be sleeping on a rock.

"Master Yan?"

"This must be important for you to interrupt my studies." he said in a calm voice.

"A traveler has come to learn from you."

His studies consisted of a few old manuscripts, nothing like what I'd ever read in my whole life. Not even the few restricted scrolls I'd snuck a tiny look at in the libraries of my old temples weren't this…old school.

He turned around, he was old. About as old as both Toji and Master Li from Sprout Tower, but rather a bit younger. His clothes were jet black, unlike the brown and occasional green and white robes the other monks tended to wear. He had a red mountain stitched into his robes.

Instantly, I could just understand the degree of power he held.

When he turned to look at us, the air appeared to shift. As if everything was calm when he was reading, to attentive when he saw me.

"You, you two know each other." he glanced between myself and Silver.

I nodded. "We've met."

Silver appeared to judge me for this.

"How did this meeting happen?" asked Yan.

"I was attempting to free SlowPoké from Team Rocket, they're, evil. I don't know if you've heard of them. Silver appeared and tried to fight me."

Yan stroked his long white beard.

He wanted to explain. "Well I was trying to-"

"I wasn't asking you." interrupted Yan. "I was asking our guest."

"We battled each other with Pokémon. I barely managed to win, and I was left with the impression he was a criminal. Except not one in league with Rocket itself."

Yan rubbed his chin, glancing at me. The man had dark eyes, and a very threatening gaze, but he ultimately looked harmless.

"You seem to have a question in mind."

I looked around the tranquil garden Yan was reading in. "I have several actually, but my main one is this."

I looked at Yan up and down with a shrug. "I thought Silver was from an orphanage. How could he have studied under you?"

"His orphanage was broken up when he was seven."

I was confused. "Broken up?"

"Silver's father was an evil man, unfortunately, I never met him. But I knew of his power, of his anger. He was trying to find Silver, and students of mine operating in the city he was raised in saved him and brought him here."

I kept listening.

"Silver reached a part of his training where he was ready to begin learning how to raise Pokémon. I sent him to find his own, and he stole one from someone else."

"That was Team Rocket, I-"

"Silence!"

I resisted the urge to laugh, the old man looked ready to slap Silver.

Yan seemed to take a deep breath, squinting at me thoughtfully.

"You…you have the Great Spirits following you."

Silver perked up, no longer ashamed, now interested.

"Come with me."

…

He led me, alone, towards the back entrance of the monastery, and through the wilderness a bit.

"Your name is Yan, why's that? That's part of the mountain's name."

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that yet," Yan mentioned.

I followed him through the stone steps until we reached the bank of a large lake, almost an ocean. It was beautiful, it must've been a huge body of water connected to all the ocean south of Johto, just far to its west.

"How could, how could a place like this not be known? How could your school be so secretive?" the hidden beauty of his monastery was unlike anything I'd ever seen.

It was shocking, even after creating a split in a river of Ho-Oh fire to save a world Pokémon champion's life.

"Anything is possible through Aura."

I looked at him, and one moment he was standing here, and another he basically appeared somewhere else.

"You can disappear from sight. Cast your voice for a thousand miles. Move faster, strike harder, and become stronger than any man alive, and be like a shadow all the same." explained Yan. "With Aura, it is possible to do almost anything."

Yan chuckled.

"You can even move across dimensions."

"Wait, you know-"

"I know everything about you, Nico."

Yan explained, Umbreon appeared out of the shade from the trees hanging over the river bank.

"My familiar told me someone had managed to win four Gym badges in the Pokémon league in their first year of training. They'd earned the ability to represent the Sprout Tower in competition. And recently, I learned you had saved Blue's life. You became able to channel the great spirit Lugia with nothing more than a feather and your wits."

"But how-"

I froze, shocked to my core.

Yan reached out, and the metal feather within my clothes floated to his hand.

He admired the Silver Wing, chuckling as he looked it over.

"How did you do that?" I asked, breathless.

Yan chuckled. "As I've said, with Aura anything is possible."

"Then how come the monks never taught me how to use it?"

"Toji." Yan shook his head. "He was never the best student."

"You knew Elder Toji?"

"I have something else to show you."

…

Within the tower, he took me to a room with a full tatami mat.

There were shrines to Mew, medals, trophies, and shockingly.

A picture, a picture in black and white.

A picture of three boys kneeling in seiza in front of a man sitting on a cushion. It took me a second, but I was able to recognize all three of them.

Toji, Li, and Yan were all sitting together facing the camera with whoever their old teacher was. The man who had sent me on my journey had a classmate completely omitted from every part of my school's history.

The other pictures were equally as shocking.

In the early days of the Pokémon League, Giovanni was battling Professor Oak, the two boys likely in their mid to late teens across a massive arena in what I gathered what either Viridian City or Goldenrod's main stadium.

"You, you lied to Silver."

"I'm sorry?"

I turned to Yan. "You know who Silver's father is. It's Giovanni isn't it?"

"Another old student of mine, yes, and how do you know who Giovanni is?"

"Um…I found out through-"

"You're not from this dimension Nico. That's why you're so powerful. It's why the spirits can follow you so well, why I know an Espeon is following you around. Your appearance combined with the emergence of Ho-Oh was no coincidence, which is why I sent Umbreon to find you. It was time to begin your training."

"What kind of training, tell me exactly?"

Yan moved past some candles, muttering. "Long before humanity developed the tools and technology to master Pokémon, they lived in competition with them to survive."

I listened.

"They had no weapons, no Pokéballs, no swords, no armor. Humans and Pokémon weren't always friends, in fact, Pokémon could've destroyed humanity."

"I know, Mew saved them."

"No, I'm talking about before that. Far, far before that."

My eyes widened.

"The only tool humanity had was their bare hands, and Aura. To defend themselves from the elements, plague, famine, and of course Pokémon. These teachings have been kept from you Nico, from the world, every Elder in every temple on this planet knows this secret. And these teachings are how to master Aura."

Yan spoke. "Have you studied Biology?"

In my prior life but yes. I nodded.

"Anything that is alive, be it a plant, a Pokémon, a person. A tree, anything. Anything has Aura, it is the vital signature of life, not a purely spiritual connection. You can draw from this power, move objects that contain it, channel it, and transfer it. Do almost anything with it."

I replied, calmly, almost begging. "Can I learn this power?"

"Not from your old Masters Nico." Yan muttered. "You want to learn the ways of Aura? You wish to become a Pokémon master? It starts with one thing alone. You must abandon almost everything you've learned until now. And swear to me, swear to me you'll do as I say."

I knelt on the tatami before him, in seiza, and I touched my forehead to the floor.

"I swear I'll learn from you, Elder Yan."

"Rise Nico, your training begins this afternoon."

…

In the days that followed, I learned a very different, albeit admittedly similar version to what Elder Toji taught me upon Mount Takujimi.

All of humanity existed in the present of spirits. Pokémon weren't just animals, but were like us, except that the spirits gave them superior and extraordinary abilities.

There was a method and a philosophy behind just why Pokémon battled, why they existed, what our duty was to train them. Toji taught me were had to be humble, we were blessed that Pokémon obeyed, that they lived in harmony with us.

That our world prospered so much in their presence, because of Pokémon like Mew to begin with.

What Yan taught me little by little, was that humanity at one point wasn't so different in power and ability from Pokémon themselves.

He revealed this to me by having me observe matches between Pokémon like a wild Darmanitan captured from afar brought into spar with one of Yan's decently experienced fighters.

What followed would forever change me.

Yan's monk was able to defeat the wild Pokémon. With strikes, the man, only in his thirties, was moving with the speed, power, and skill of a mid-level fighting Pokémon. Moreover, the monk was able to unleash attacks similar to those I'd seen Lucario use.

Such as Aura Sphere.

It dealt the finishing blow.

A few of the students watching flinched, Yan's student stepped forward and struck the Darmanitan's leg. His hand flashed blue for a second, it was clear he had punished the Pokémon for losing.

As I watched Silver mutter something to the younger kids observing nearby from stone benches, I spoke to Yan.

"Why did he attack him again? His opponent was disabled."

"It's a lesson repeated through generations. Defeat leads to destruction, humanity was not powerful enough to stop Giratina. We had to rely on Mew's salvation."

Yan walked with me on the nearby ridges near trimmed hedges and bonsai, his beard waving slightly as he walked. "We can be grateful yes. Or we can ensure we never need to rely on the spirits for anything ever again."

I was surprised. "But the spirits govern almost every aspect of our existence. The earth, sun, moon, time, space, we-"

"Society may not ever find a way to control things like the flow of time. But with Aura, there are ways that even threats like Giratina and Ho-Oh, would never affect us the way they did before."

I looked at Yan, slightly confused, but still trying to process the lesson.

"You mentioned this special Pokémon, the one designed to destroy and control anything it can. With the right training, you can not only locate this Pokémon. But challenge it directly."

Fight Mewtwo, the Mewtwo in a one-on-one? Not yet, I doubted I ever could actually.

"How did Giovanni end up running off to become the leader of Team Rocket? Could he use Aura as well?"

"Giovanni was talented, very talented actually. But he never had the ability to manipulate Aura himself. It was something he passed on to his son too."

Right. I hadn't seen Silver able to do anything like that yet, even with how skilled his Bayleef was.

"You raised him then? Trained him from youth the same way you raised Silver?"

"No, Giovanni had his own home, even if it was a trouble one. Students with their own parents and homestead travel by boat to nearby villages where their parents drop them off for daily classes."

I was curious, walking by a class practicing their forms as I followed Yan. "Drop them off? Wait, like a daycare?"

"Consider it a school of several sorts, for almost all ages. Families have visited Li-Yan since the foundation of Mount Coronet's school."

He turned to me slightly, leading me around the elegant and ancient monastery. "Have you heard of Mount Coronet's protector?"

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Vaguely. It's an Umbreon isn't it?"

"Yes. The same way schools like Mount Takujimi formed with Espeon as their emblem, their sigil and spiritual figure. Other dojos sought Umbreon."

"Well why's that? I get Umbreon are only slightly less rare than Espeon in most cases, but still."

Yan smiled a bit, the students nearby kiai'd when they practiced their strikes in unison, in long lines of six for a class of two dozen on a large stone floor.

"Espeon and Umbreon have extremely similar abilities. Only that Umbreon cannot manipulate minds through the same methods Espeon can."

I listened quietly.

"You see, while Espeon can only be evolved through only the most intense, trusted, and spiritual of bonds between any Eevee and their trainer. The same must be said by Umbreon, only their birth is at nighttime, not the daytime like Espeon's."

"Right." I said.

Yan turned, stopping underneath the shade of a hanging tree. "This is not merely coincidental, Umbreon's bond is built on fears and anger, anguish and strife. Not love nor passion, the emotions Espeon feed off of to bond with their trainer while still an Eevee."

I nodded. I didn't think this meant Umbreons were evil, there was no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher.

"Where there is light, there will always be dark. Umbreon admits the truths we lie to ourselves constantly in. The apathy towards the hopeless, a carelessness and vanity that led to the creation of Rocket in the first place. Umbreon admits these faults, they see the darkness within us. And they're not afraid of it."

That was actually…beautiful now that I thought about it.

Yan smiled, looking around the monastery. "The secrets of Aura, behind the spirits. I can teach you all of these things. And if you're patient enough, there is something else I can teach you."

"What is that?"

"To follow the steps necessary to raise the spirit that follows you constantly. Espeon."

I don't think the old man could see Espeon following me, I realized it was something else.

Umbreon told him. Yan's Umbreon.

…

As the weeks progressed, I became infatuated with everything Yan taught me.

I was his personal student, something that instantly arose the jealousy and eye of Silver and many around him. Yan's assistant instructors shut down any talk that this was special treatment, instead stressing this was to help the situation of the world around us with Ho-Oh's attack.

It became a well known secret that I carried Lugia's feather, a symbol and conduit for the power of Ho-Oh's opposite.

I learned a lot about opposites. How everything had an opposite, Ho-Oh reflected the sun, while Lugia reflect humanity's connection to the moon.

We ate pork and beef within the temple, at least, their farm raised equivalents. I wasn't sure monks were supposed to eat anything with their rice, at first I was hesitant, but then I grew to love it.

And realized why. Muscle building wasn't crucial, but it was viewed as a necessary part of training like any other within Li-Yan.

Ho-Oh was the reason why the sun shined, giving life to the entire planet. Why the waves moved, why so much of life was kept in harmony, was because of Lugia. And for some reason, one that no one really knew, not even me, Lugia's blessing had saved many lives.

My life, Blue's life, and with the results of the battle against Ho-Oh, several thousands with the glowing white waves and stopped what would've been the most unstoppable wildfire in world history.

Unlike Elder Toji, Yan hid barely any secrets from me.

There was no restricted section to the library. Any techniques were allowed during sparring, victory was paramount above honor, friendship, anything else. This was showed in training, and everyone was tougher and better fighters for it.

It was a philosophy harsher than anything I was used to, but I felt myself become better for it. Far better.

My Pokémon didn't understand nor like the change at first, but I felt them grow. I wasn't able to fight Vigoroth just yet, but from what I learned and taught to them, they understood and Vigoroth would be able.

Ursaring's sheer physical strength was able to increase tremendously, and Growlithe became fiercer and larger.

In just a month, Growlithe's flames were strong enough to resemble slightly weaker Flamethrowers and my pup was now maturing well into the largest physical stage it would ever be. This, I found out through my studies, meant that it was likely that Growlithe was reaching the comparative levels of the late 40s and early 50s in the video games where Growlithes typically evolved without damaging their potential growth.

I didn't want to use the Firestone just yet, I preferred to wait and see just how it worked out later.

Regardless, I was in the best physical, mental, and spiritual state I had ever been.

I hadn't been able to pinpoint Mewtwo's location even during my dreams. Just to understand how he felt, what he was up to, and his pain. Which should've been quite powerful, but I found nothing.

From Lugia's slumber however, I could feel it snoring from the Whirl Islands.

The Great Moon Spirit, able to control the weather with just its wings, was sleeping. I couldn't exactly see where, but I could feel its presence.

Not just from the Silver Wing, but in my mind. I meditated peacefully, after hours of concentration, able to feel every breath the Great Spirit took.

With every breath, I could feel the water around the pond I sat in move, my eyes still closed. Every inhalation, the water rippled towards me, and every exhalation, it rippled out.

I tried matching Lugia's breathing itself, timing my breath to how Lugia breathed. The effect on the water was stronger, I could feel it from where I sat amongst the carved stones.

When I opened my eyes, I reached out.

I barely felt the Silver Wing glow in my chest, just by reaching out, I could feel how the water flowed in my palm, as if it was a part of me.

The water in the pond formed a ball, as if I was able to carve and control it with my bare hand. And the ball floated upwards, dripping slightly.

I released it, then bowing to Lugia.

"Thank you, for giving me this gift."

…

I was walking towards a lesson with Master Yan when I saw someone else walking up ahead through the path made of stone tablets.

It was Silver and another Initiate in Yan's order.

All three of us were in our GIs, Silver wore a black belt, and his buddy a few year less experienced than me wore a brown belt. Like in traditional Shotokan karate, at least, the most traditional kind possible, there were no colors for the belts.

Everyone wore white as a Novice for their first few years of training, and then when becoming brown and preparing to take a test to become an Initiate after three or four year, and black belts were awarded to those who had passed Yan's test.

"So, off to another lesson you never earned eh?"

I ignored Silver's buddy chuckling, trying to ignore them.

Silver stopped me, standing in my direct path.

"Trust me Nico, this isn't the place for you."

"My acceptance into your clan here says otherwise."

Silver snorted. "I voted against it."

"Because you're jealous man, leave me alone."

"What's there to be jealous of?" Silver spoke up calmly. "Where are all your friends?"

"What?"

He crossed his arms. "Gold, Inoru, even that ditzy girl Crystal. They're not here with you anymore."

"And what's your point?"

"My guess is they didn't want to spend time with you. No one likes you Nico, at least not here."

"If you're just gonna childlessly insult me Silver, no point in-"

Silver looked at me angrily. "I said you don't belong here! You didn't earn your spot, that mess at Fuchsia City was a fluke. You have no connection to Master Yan's teachings, nor the spirits."

"Have more of one than you."

Silver raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?"

"I said you're jealous of me. Jealous I'm skilled enough to draw Yan's personal teachings, because he doesn't want to bother with you anymore. I'm off learning how to save the world because I earned it dude. Go teach kata to a bunch of little kids."

Silver balled his fists. "You. Me. Sundown, we finish this. Bayleef versus any one of your three Pokémon. Or we battle ourselves. I don't care how, but we do this."

Why bother?

How would Elder Toji react? That used to be how I used to ask this question like when I met Mikey in that village at the bottom of Takujimi.

I hated this guy. He'd been nothing but rude and obnoxious since the day I met him. He was willing to overlook the murder and mutilation of innocent Pokémon just for his personal gain, and now he was insulting my journey to try to save the goddamn planet. Just because he was jealous.

You know what?

Fuck that.

With a single breath inward, I was able to sense all of the water in Silver's body thanks to my training. Quite a lot of it, most of the human body was water.

In a single blow, Silver went flying off of his feet as if he was stuck by a cannonball. The moment my fist made contact with his chest, I sent every bit of water I could sense, in the same direction as my strike.

The reverse punch to the midsection, or right cross to the body.

His friend stepped aside, speechless as Silver groaned on the ground, crumpled after hitting a tree.

"I'd be jealous in your shoes too. But that's not my fault, I told you to leave me alone."

I walked over towards him as he struggled to get up. I gripped his uniform by both lapels and socked him in the nose with my forehead.

Then I ripped off the golden badge Silver wore on his chest, keeping the metal pin for myself.

…

I walked into Yan's garden, who was reading scrolls. He was always reading, I never saw him away from a manuscript unless he was teaching or meditating.

"You attacked my top student."

I was surprised. "That was almost two minutes ago. How'd you know?"

Umbreon slipped into sight from the shadows of the rectangular shaped brick walls of the back patio. "I see everything that goes on here."

True. There was nothing Umbreon's red eyes couldn't see. A bit creepy, but I had no real need for privacy on this mountain any more.

"You're a bit early for today's lesson." muttered Yan.

"I had something to ask."

"Questions aren't patronizingly shunned here boy, ask away."

I nodded. "I know. But this one's a bit personal."

"Hm." Yan waved a hand, going back to his scroll.

"Elder Li of Sprout Tower. He's your brother isn't he?"

Yan froze, looking back at me. "Where did you gather that?"

"Your names, the name of this mountain, the line of work you're both in. Logically, I gathered the two of you were brothers."

Yan nodded slowly, as if thinking it over.

"Who was your teacher?" I asked quietly.

"Our father," admitted Yan. "We were trained together in Takujimi many years ago. Toji was the only boy of our class able to hold our level of talent for both the martial arts and the spirits. So he taught the three of us personally."

"So every monk I knew back home, they were just as skilled as the ones I met here. Able to battle far more than just Bellsprout, and do some kata and archery?"

"He lied to you and kept you weak." Yan looked at me, turning around on his chair. "Toji didn't want to swallow his pride and admit the Sprout Order would hold you back. That your powers are far too great to spend hiding away in a mountain studying everything just the way he wanted to, or chipping away at the Pokémon League."

"What's wrong with the Pokémon League?"

"Nothing. Considering the greatest Pokémon champion of all time disappeared without a trace, following in his footsteps wouldn't be the most worthwhile endeavor."

He had a point but Red was. That was- Anyway.

"Are you mad about Silver?"

Yan merely shrugged. "He challenged you. You defeated him. Now, even though you lack his experience, you can teach classes in your own time outside of our studies the way you see fit."

"But, I'm just a white belt. I just took this badge because I hated seeing him wear it."

He chuckled.

"What is it?"

"You need to stop being afraid of your abilities Nico. Your powers are a gift, they should be used for your own benefit. Your path is a righteous one, to reclaim your own power."

I was curious. "My own- Power?"

"This whole time since you've left Takujimi Shrine you've only wanted to bring glory for Toji's sake. To become a monk, to spread publicity about the Sprout Order by rising through the Pokémon league. What for?"

I was silent, watching Yan leave his seat and speak to me quietly.

"Outside of the trio I was raised in, your connection to the spirits is unlike any I've seen. Why try to hold that back, why not try to set things to be shaped in your own way?"

I was confused. "You mean. Stop looking for Mewtwo and try to stop Team Rocket?"

"No I mean abandon the Sprout Order entirely. You're already my student, you've grown smarter, tougher, better."

I shrugged. "I was taught that was all a means to an end. Not something to be proud of, nor a weapon."

"Taught by who?" Yan asked. "A man who squandered your talents? Who, after you desperately needed it. Refused to teach you how to harness your powers to save the entire world?"

"He was afraid I could use it for my own benefit, not the greater good."

"Greater good." scoffed Yan.

He suddenly tapped the center of my chest with his right index finger.

"You make your own greater good Nico."

"I will do it, but first you have to answer another question of mine?"

Yan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Your Umbreon. It's pregnant isn't it?"

Yan looked at me, slightly impressed. "How did you know?"

Because cats in the real world who were pregnant had very similar behavior. Not to mention every scroll I tore through on Eevee, Umbreon, and Espeon led me to believe his Umbreon was carrying kittens.

"There is a price for everything, my price for using everything I've brought here is an Eevee. Toji taught me everything I know, he offered guidance when I first came here. If I'm going to betray him fully, I need assurance."

I nodded a bit to myself. "And that assurance is the open-ended purity of a newborn Eevee."

Yan chuckled. "I've taught you properly. Very well. Umbreon is due next month, you will continue your training then I take it?"

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt."

…

I decided to keep the pin, but not wear it. I just let Silver's friend teach classes when I tossed him the badge without another word at dinner.

They could teach classes however they liked for all I cared, I was here at Li-Yan for me.

That was what Yan taught me.

I did pushups on concrete until my knuckles bled.

Yan glanced at it, scoffing. "Pain is only a sign of those too weak to understand our teachings. You grow strong, the pain leaves."

"Yes, Master."

After some time, I grew strong enough to be able to split boards apart with flying spinning kicks. I could strike through some bricks.

Victory was all that mattered here, and that was right.

I needed victory. Humanity was in shambles at the hands of Ho-Oh, caused by letting Team Rocket run rampant, and after hours of meditation, I could barely find any hint of Mewtwo, in my dreams or elsewhere.

I never in my life would've imagined Lugia's blessing would allow me to bend water to my will. It was only scratching the surface of what I could accomplish with Aura.

I could form small balls of energy able to explode and strike others like Aura Sphere, I could feel people walking and talking through walls.

I could hide in plain sight wearing regular clothing so long as I sensed that the person's Aura needed to be completely disconnected from mine. That one was tricky, but Yan taught me to understand my own Aura and those of others so well, that I could form a temporary bubble around me where my entire life force, my entire existence.

My clothes, limbs, organs, all of it, were completely out of the eyesight of someone walking by. It simple required a deep amount of studying on how Aura worked in light, eyes, and the way the human body perceived the world around it. Because Aura was simply my life force, it could be projected to control and manipulate someone's eyes.

Yan did it to me the day I met him. Now, I knew how to do it.

Aura could power my body, I actually grew able to battle Vigoroth.

It was a battle everyone anticipated so much that almost the entire monastery came to watch.

I had watched Vigoroth grow for months, and now, it was time for him to grow for us both to grow.

Vigoroth was hesitant at first, but after the first blow, he engaged fully.

However, I taught him just about everything he knew. I was there for every battle.

Still, I ended up losing all things said and done, but Vigoroth failed to knock me out. Despite being able to disappear from Vigoroth's sight despite standing directly in front of him, and having his speed and strength.

Vigoroth appeared confused, not knowing what to do when I was down.

I caught him off guard when he walked towards me and I struck him with a spinning kick I built off the ground.

I panted, getting ready to strike again. To finish the fight.

But when I looked into his eyes, I didn't see a beast that had tried to kill me. I saw the same pair of eyes, belonging to the baby Slakoth I held in my arms that Elder Toji gave to me.

"What are you waiting for?"

I paused, still holding Vigoroth down.

"Finish!"

Gritting my teeth, I chopped Vigoroth on the shoulder.

Then, I returned him to his Pokéball.

I half expected Yan to be mad, but instead, he just smiled, tapping his staff against the ground to where he sat.

"You learn more quickly than most others. Especially in how to remove your mercy."

I was curious. "Why is that? I get that's been part of the lesson until now, but why never show mercy?"

"Did Ho-Oh show you any mercy when it tried to kill you outright for no reason?"

I thought for a second. "No?"

Master Yan stood up, knowing the entire school was listening.

He began to pace about on front of me in sparring deck of concrete.

"Did Team Rocket show the world any mercy? Corrupting Mew's own image for selfish power? To enslave the minds of others, to create a super weapon only they controlled? One capable of destroying anything in its path?"

"No," I repeated, and everyone muttered in agreement.

Yan raised my hand, speaking as he lifted it up with his staff. "This boy is the only hope to find Mewtwo. To find any semblance of hope. There is only one way forward to destroy the enemies of humanity and usher in a new era of peace."

Yan spoke calmly. "Without mercy, without weakness, without pain, nor any sort of fear, nor allowing for any feelings of doubt towards our enemies. When you seek to fight someone, you destroy them. That is all, there is nothing else."

"You hesitate, you die. Society, with all of its technology and mastery of Pokémon." Yan shrugged and scoffed. "Hesitated. And it stands to die in the face of the rage of the Great Spirits. We either return to our roots, or we die too."

I barely looked at the Pokéball in my hand containing Vigoroth when I put it away.

…

I thought for a moment in the passing weeks in my training.

About what Yan said. About mercy, about weakness, and survival.

Were we really living life as if it was a constant war? A hopeless battle? Was winning the only thing that really mattered at all in life?

Prior to when I fought Ho-Oh? No. I had no idea things were this dire.

But they truthfully were now. Ho-Oh razed a whole town because Mewtwo was created without the consent of almost the entire planet.

And now, both Team Rocket and the Gods were going to basically take over and or destroy everything if we didn't come up with a solution fast.

I had never treated Vigoroth like I did before today. But Yan's teachings were harsh, harsher than any I've known of, but they were fair.

How was humanity supposed to defend against Pokémon with nothing but their bare hands during prehistoric times? A pack of cavemen would last three seconds against a pair of Houndooms using clubs and rocks.

Even though that was when Pokémon and humanity alike were such savages they had to kill and compete for food to stay alive, things were that serious now. Humanity had no defense of any kind against the wrath of Ho-Oh.

This was the hottest summer in history, breaking records by over ten degrees and a summer that technically hadn't even ended. The sun was working improperly, let's say Celebi stopped working and they were upset too.

Days would last longer, if hours could function at all. Time wouldn't function the same. Maybe certain historical figures were transported around time itself, creating paradoxes the likes no amount of technology from Bill could ever fix.

Thousands have died, and it would appear like nothing compared to those who would die if I couldn't find Mewtwo.

That was the night that I focused on my mission. That I used Yan's mission.

I channeled all the hate towards Team Rocket, towards the pain Fuchsia City suffered at being burnt to ash for nothing.

I thought of the sorrow I felt having to rub Blue's face while trying to clean it, a Pokémon World Champion, second to only to the mythical figure of Red, the greatest trainer who ever lived.

He was in a wheelchair, I needed to enchant some water with Lugia's feather to clean his face. Who knows the kinds of effects Ho-Oh's ashes would have on people's lungs or eyes?

That all broke my heart.

And I used that pain to focus myself, my dreams as I meditated before bed every night. My anger became my weapon.

…

I was standing across a massive lake. With crystal clear water, one that stretched for miles, as far as the eye could see.

But in the center where I stood, laid a green island. The grass, almost comically fake, completely green, greener than any grass I'd ever seen. The wind flowed through it, created from gusts I could not know how.

Out of the water, I felt with my Aura sense, something, a being, unlike any Pokémon or person I'd ever been around.

One more powerful, more strange, more dangerous.

This was Mewtwo.

He was young, younger than I could've ever imagined.

Mewtwo possessed the same features I remembered from the games, anime, and films, but was actually shorter and smaller. I imagined he was still in his infancy, in some test tube pod of some kind hooked up to all sorts of machines.

The brazen, calm, and fierce purple eyes of the most powerful Psychic being to ever exist, next to Mew itself, looked at me.

"Who are you?" I asked. "Are you the being I've been looking for?"

I heard Mewtwo's masculine, soft, and yet, strong voice echo in my mind. "I believe so. My name is M2, designed as the world's first Psychic supercomputer for humanity's betterment."

"Betterment? Do you have any idea of the pain you've caused?"

"My creators view society as a failed state. Pokémon are seen as humanity's friends, when they possess far greater speed, strength, power, and numbers than anyone."

"And your solution is to have Team Rocket take over the world and enslave Pokémon and people alike? Or set them free and set chaos alike?"

"Rocket's plans are proper Nico."

"You know my name?"

"I've never met you. But through every mind I've crossed, you're the most talked about teenager on the planet. Many news outlets covered it up or switched the narrative, but you're responsible for saving Fuchsia City."

I crossed my arms as Mewtwo floated nearby. "You're aware of your existence. And that you abuse of the minds of dozens of people, leading to political instability and subterfuge. Is what caused Ho-Oh to attack in the first place?"

"He attacked for several reasons. The first is that humanity has no respect for the spirits, only one in one hundred people are religious today. And your rise to fame didn't change that."

I was still frustrated with him. "You do realize Team Rocket's ways won't fix anything right? It'll only make problems with the spirits worse right?"

"I don't care, and don't need to. Team Rocket's world is the only one where I can reign supreme. It's what I was designed to do, it's what I learned."

I felt like yelling. "Your, your image your original. Was the kindest, sweetest, most powerful being to ever exist. If it wasn't for Mew, every Pokémon on Earth would be either dead, or a slave to Giratina. And so would every person."

"That's a story forgotten to time Nico."

Mew turned and faced me, his strange, pale, almost feline features a bit nauseating to look up at up close from how strangely he was designed. "One no one bothered to believe no matter how well you told it."

"Excuse me?"

Mewtwo was able to project news streams and coverage of Fuchsia right into the strange mindscape he resided in. "The truth was, again, obscured."

He was right.

"You were the one who saved the town. Not local authorities, not the Pokémon League, not anything else. It was you. And not a single person knows that you were the one who stopped Ho-Oh that day."

"Wh-What?"

"You really didn't think not giving a public statement wouldn't hinder your cause? Even if you did manage to get anyone to listen to you now. It wouldn't matter. If you'd have said your piece back then, no one would've believed you either."

"Believed what? That Lugia's Silver Wing and I could-"

"That a fourteen year old, or anyone for that matter. Has these kinds of abilities, that the Spirits are real. Team Rocket doesn't run any news stations Nico, you're the one who truly seems capable of stopping the Spirits. And you've been scorned."

I saw news footage pushing Lieutenant Surge and his warband as heroes. And his cause had gained loads of traction, I'm pretty sure he was either used a figurehead, or part of this directly.

I heard Mewtwo speak in my mind as he floated behind me. "I could've been designed as a Psychic superbomb. Designed to just crush anything that crosses my path with my mind. And while I think I can certainly do that, I was also designed for something else."

Mewtwo explained. "Every mind on earth is connected through Aura. Mew, at one point, was able to keep everyone, and their Aura by extension. Safe. They bonded Pokémon and mankind together."

"Right."

"My mind was designed to access this Aura network, that everyone lives in by merely existing, at will. To be able to control any mind at will, to cause simple errors in people's memories, and even disable the powers of almost any Psychic Pokémon."

And I thought the Legendary Pokémon were powerful. I was right about part of this, but I had no idea just how much he was capable of.

I turned around, and spoke. "Mewtwo- Er. M2. Let's make a deal."

"I don't think you're in a position to negotiate. But I'm all ears anyway, you're the first mind I've come into contact with I can't unfold nor infiltrate."

"I think humanity's at least worth a shot."

"Really? After all they've done to you? The little they've done for you?"

I shrugged. "You're too powerful to exist as a pawn in Team Rocket's game."

"Admittedly, so are you to be in someone else's too."

Touche.

"Look. One day we can battle, settle this dispute between us. Just, not soon."

Mewtwo crossed his arms, I could hear the strange Pokémon noise he made when he grunted and looked at me, his tri pronged feet resting on the grass below him. "I aim to take over the world actually. As soon as I please."

"You don't have to. The same way you think you're entitled to power, the same way you can choose whatever you want."

"What do you mean?"

"Did it never occur to you with your abilities you could just live out your existence on a private island of some sort? Almost like this one. Create a society, or even just a home however you want? Team Rocket brainwashed you, or at least, they sold you a story that would serve them perfectly."

Mewtwo sounded very much like a child again. A very intelligent, almost hyper-intelligent, but very emotionally immature child.

"Live life? Without power?"

"Exactly! Seek the world the way you want to. With your abilities, you choose your fate. If you live sickened by what you see, all bunched up and bitter over everything. Then yeah, you'll want to destroy everything because from your point of view, everything you see is worth destroying. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Mewtwo was blank.

"There is beauty in this world, you just have to want to try to see it. I promise, just look for it. Experience life outside of that tank you're floating in, with your own two hands and feet. Maybe you'd be happier for once seeing anything outside of this mindscape."

"I'm not too sure on this yet Nico. But I'll be willing to at least consider it."

"See you around then?" I asked.

"Hmf." Mewtwo turned his nose up at me.

…

I found Yan in his study, deciding to skip breakfast altogether just to tell him.

"I found him."

"What?" the man asked, looking up from his notes.

"I found him, I found Mewtwo." I said quickly.

"Where is he?" Yan asked.

Great question.

I looked at Yan calmly. "I don't know yet, but I think I sped up the time it would take for him to realize that still working for Rocket is a mistake."

"Doesn't fix the fact that Mewtwo still must be destroyed." Yan stood up, "Come with me."

His nursery for his Umbreon was actually a small room next to the tatami where the pictures of Giovanni and Li, Yan, and Toji were.

I had seen many Pokémon over my journey so far.

Powerful Pokémon, small Pokémon, powerful Pokémon, Pokémon of all sorts.

But I don't think anything ever would compare, not even seeing Growlithe with his parents, compared to seeing Yan's Umbreon nursing newborn kits.

She was licking the back of the head of a tiny Eevee. Their sibling was sitting right next to them in the basket.

Eevee was probably the cutest Pokémon I'd ever seen. At least, the most innocent looking, the most pure, the one who just appeared…

The most open ended.

Any Pokémon I'd ever seen had a predetermined path, not just for evolution, but for their personality and types. Some Pokémon were a bit more mischievous than others, but ultimately, they shared many similar characteristics.

Guess this litter was smaller.

But just by looking at Eevee, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen. I had no idea what sort of Pokémon, or just what this Pokémon could become.

It was called the Evolution Pokémon, because from what I could tell, it was more open ended than anything I'd ever met. It could evolve into just about any Pokémon type, its tiny light brown eyes so filled with life, its light brown fur.

I understood now why this was one of the rarest Pokémon on Earth. Because no one had any idea where they came from, I guess now I had to ask.

"Where's your Umbreon's mate?"

"It was another Umbreon, I'm afraid they disappeared months before your arrival."

Another Umbreon? Yeah that made sense. You needed not just one, but two of a super rare kind of Pokémon to not only find each other, but also be compatible enough to produce an Eevee.

"You've earned this Nico. We do not like prizes nor awards at this temple. But if you're to ever master the ways of the spirits. You will need a guide like Eevee."

Equal size, equal personality given they were both two weeks old and equally coddled by their mother. Hard choice, both male too according to Yan.

I just went with the one I saw first.

"Him."

"We don't fully appreciate the use of Pokéballs, but you're welcome to use one now."

"Er. Hi."

With a tiny nod, Yan asked Umbreon to permit me to hold her newborn.

Eevee felt safe in my hands, he was so small he fit perfectly within my left forearm. I'm not sure why, maybe because it was too young to understand much else, but the Eevee looked happy.

"Return."

The Pokémon did not refuse entrance into the Great ball I'd brought.

"Well done. You've reached the final step in your training."

"Which is?"

"You'll see tonight."

…

At dinner, I was randomly blindfolded.

My blindfold was removed, and almost two hundred people sat surrounding me. The only lights on the main courtyard were four torches, it was well into the night.

Every single student of the monastery was there, either in GIs or wearing monk robes.

"Nico of Takujimi."

I turned.

Every major monk or karate student of Yan's, Silver, Yan himself, and a dozen others were sitting at a long stone table.

"It is time for you to resume your conquest of the Pokémon League. Not in our name but in your own," announced Yan.

I looked around at all the monks and students, silent.

"To become the ultimate Pokémon master, skilled in Aura, Pokémon, and anything necessary to achieve total unification and harmony between mankind and spirits. You must return to the path you once sought, but by your own methods. This time, not blinded by pain, fear, mercy, or weakness."

I could see my things packed already.

I listened. "I'm ready."

"Not yet. There is one final test that remains."

Wearing a karategi, a monk appeared, walking up, bowing, and holding a black belt kneeling in front of me to my left.

The other appeared to my right, holding a scroll and a knife.

I read the scroll, it appeared to be some sort of sacrifice ritual involving Aura extraction.

I turned towards Yan. "What is this?"

"Your final test," he said. "Those with Aura must pass this test in order to reach their true potential and become invincible. In order to tap into your power, you must sacrifice your humanity. Your weakness, down to its last shred. You must become only a conduit of your abilities, driven fully by your desire to restore balance to the world."

Yan stroked his beard, nodding to me. "Nothing can stop you."

"Okay. How do I do that?"

A pair of monks brought someone they had kidnapped before me. I was uneasy already.

They brought the man to his knees right in front of me, and then, removed the hood from his head.

It was Inoru.

"Ino?"

I hadn't seen him in months, how did he-

"Let go of your past Nico." Yan said calmly. "Embrace yourself. If you absorb your true potential, with Aura, you can lock someone within their own their dreams forever. You can take the power of their own soul, and add it to yours. You can do almost anything, your amount of and control of Aura is that great."

I looked at the knife in my hand and at the person he aimed to have me cut into.

"You've already learned so much. This is the apex of your Aura training. Make your choice. Let your friend live, or achieve limitless power. Let your friend live, or stay weak forever."

This should've been an easy no right?

I mean as dire as things had been, I never had to kill someone.

Ino had always been there for me, for months. Until recently, that is, but that had actually been my own choice to leave him behind.

But despite all I've learned, and that I certainly wasn't the same person I was when I started this. I had never had my fullest doubts until now.

I realized what I just told Mewtwo earlier applied here.

This whole time, Yan was conditioning me. This was likely how Giovanni ran off, even a man as evil as him must've been terrified at tests like these. A school this merciless, this cruel, it made sense that Yan was teaching incredible amounts of power in exchange for becoming like him-

Evil.

From small things at the beginning, eating meat, technically breaking my movement away from only eating rice when in the monastery.

To accepting Yan's lessons. To striking Vigoroth, and Silver. To constantly doing knuckle pushups until I could condition weakness out of my body.

The whole time, I was learning how to abandon any kindness within me, any pity of any kind.

On the one hand, Yan had a point.

I had no family within this world. I'm not sure if I ever belonged here. And power and perfection could be mine, with just one use of a knife and a few choice words from this scroll. If I didn't act quickly or swiftly enough, Fuchsia City would only be the beginning.

All the pain and suffering recently could be stopped.

But on the other hand, Yan was wrong.

I had abused my Pokémon to get here. I wouldn't abuse anyone else to get further. I would not kill anyone or anything for power, or for anything else. The ends did not justify the means if I had to abandon who I was to get there.

And I almost did until now.

I had saved Blue's life, I wasn't the kind of person to take the life of one of the few friends I'd made until now for power, and I also made a promise when I started this journey:

I would always help someone who needed me.

Clenching my jaw, I bent the water in Yan's body to my will, to toss him to the side, and began to free Ino using the knife.

"Foolish boy!" he yelled, getting up quickly from the ground. "Seize them!"

Chaos and confusion began when I started to release my Pokéballs, keeping Eevee safely tucked in my belt.

As Vigoroth sharpened his claws looking around I apologized. "Sorry about hitting you before-"

"Oro!"

My three Pokémon were ready for battle. No questions asked, no need to draw in the environment or situation, they just knew they were needed.

A few monks began to run, a few others stayed and fought, drawing Pokéballs or just getting into a fighting stance.

I drew my backpack towards me away from the high table.

"Hey boy, catch!"

Growlithe snatched the Firestone I'd been glad I kept from all those weeks back from Goldenrod within his jaws.

I didn't know how this was supposed to work or-

Growlithe, like always understood the gravity of the situation, unleashing as much firepower as he could with just his evolution.

A few enemy Kwan members gasped, reeling back.

A huge blaze of fire erupted from Growlithe's body, spewing fireballs everywhere as his body began to contort. Growlithe's body began to grow.

Taller, longer, his paws increased in size, as his tail.

His entire body erupted in fire, and Growlithe became Arcanine.

Sparks and embers erupted off the massive dog's hide as he pawed the ground.

To prevent Pokémon and enemies from stepping on the platform as easily, he created a giant fire ring around us.

"They've betrayed the dojang! Stop them!" I saw Yan order.

Then another betrayal I wasn't remotely expecting happened.

I saw Silver appear behind Yan, and despite how shitty of a person he was with his manipulation and violence, I didn't want what happened next to occur.

"Think I can find well enough what happened to my father now on my own you old shitbag."

Then he Bayleef pelted him with Razor Leaf, I realized that whether on accident or not, Yan was failing to get back up.

My eyes widened, that was.

"You didn't have to!-" I cried.

I saw Yan reeling, rolling over on the ground. In a bloody mess, he stopped moving after a moment. The shock of seeing me choose the right path must've blinded Yan to Silver suddenly killing him, whether intentionally or not.

Silver appeared a bit shocked by this, but given the gravity of the situation I don't know if murder was what he was going for. Just a very powerful attack from his Pokémon at least for sure.

Then I was confronted by a new choice.

Either save Silver's life, or let Umbreon tear him to pieces.

Seeing her owner slain, watching him try to heal his own wounds aimlessly with Aura, Umbreon shrieked and flew out of the tower of the monastery.

She battered aside Bayleef who had burst to the rescue in seconds. Bayleef barely was able to put up a fight against Umbreon for a few moments until-

Her red eyes glowed, and ripped giant stone statues out of the ground the size and weight of cars with her mind.

I wondered if we were going to win this.

"Hey."

Inoru had my back, punching and kicking a few monks out of the way when they managed to jump over the fire ring Arcanine created.

"Thanks for saving my neck!"

"All my fault, I think we're trapped here."

Inoru raised his fists. "If we die, we die with honor."

Hell no I wasn't dying here.

But seeing the sheer number of monks, karatekas, and Pokémon I was facing, yeah he might've had a point.

I seriously wondered if I could escape Umbreon's fury over the death of her master, and if I could escape the temple with my life.

…

…

…