"I'll be honest Vard, this is probably not the best idea we've ever had."

Vard jumped at the sound of Ñako's voice as he appeared inside the cage. He didn't even make a sound; as a good ninja shouldn't.

"I understand and appreciate your concern, my good ninja, but there is no reason to fear," he declared, giving him a thumbs up. "This is nothing compared to the Odyssey of Derangement of 86'"

Ñako raised an eyebrow, and then turned his attention towards their opponents on the other side of the cage. A man and a woman somewhere in their twenties, wearing heavy leather jackets and smoking something that smelled truly foul. Other than that, the only thing they had in common was a tear shaped black marking, just under their right eye.

"Not to be a downer," he said, "but I'm pretty sure those punks are going to kill us, and then piss all over our corpses."

"Humbug!" yelled Vard, grabbing a Pokeball from his afro. "It will take more than twenty points of damage to kill me!"

"Where did you get that number?"

"The internet. But this is no time for diatribes; we must teach these vagrants a lesson!"

From the combined light of their Pokeballs emerged Pikachu and Gordolfa the Bulbasaur, the latter of whom stared at her opponents with her unfocused eyes, each of which looked at a different direction.

Their opponents did the same; the man released what looked like a pile of purple sludge with a mouth and two eyes, while in front of the woman appeared a bat looking creature with a long, segmented pink stinger at the end of its tail.

"You're pretty brave going up against us," said the man, smiling widely. "But you're pretty off if you think we'll let you reach Misty."

"How about we make this more interesting?" added the woman, taking a drag of her cigarette. "The winner gets to take a Pokemon from the loser."

Ñako smiled. "Heh, a pile of shit and a Gligar, hard choice. But fine, we accept."

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

On the northwest outskirts of Cerulean, on a small, empty field next to the big road.

That was the place mentioned in the letter, and Mycroft headed towards it as fast as he could, not wishing to make his sister wait. Looking around, he saw nothing but grass and bushes, as well as the ominous shape of Mt. Moon in the horizon.

"She must be about to arrive," he told himself, gripping the straps of his backpack. "She's always been very rigid about punctuality."

On cue, he saw a shape approaching from the horizon. At first all he noticed were the two Ponyta next to each other, their fur so pristine it almost shone and the flames bursting from their manes burning proudly. They were tied from the torso and snout, pulling forward the carriage behind them. It was a pearly white, with ornate decorations of his family's flower all over it.

Mycroft gulped as the vehicle stopped next to him. He didn't like to admit it, but he felt a bit more nervous than during his talk with Sammy.

The door to the carriage opened, and from within stepped out a beautiful young woman, a few years older than him. She wore a sleeveless, close fitting white dress with pink outlines and a sash around her waist, tied by a broach with the shape of the family's flower. Her hair, a similar dark grey to his, was beautifully braided.

She closed the paper fan in her left hand as she approached him, eyebrows knit together in a way which made Mycroft more than a little nervous.

"C-Clotty…" He bowed to her, muttering as he did so. "How lovely to s…"

She raised a hand to interrupt him. "For you it's Lady Clothilde Hiragizawa-Sproutsbury, soon to be Lilycoveshire, you inept brat. And don't think I'm here for a pleasant family reunion; the only reason I came is because Mother asked me to."

He reeled back, eyes going wide. "M-mother? What could she…"

"Mycroft, I hope you haven't forgotten why you're here, smearing our dear family's name" she cut him off once more. "We need that money desperately; our funds are practically nonexistent at this point."

"Y-yes, I know that," he nodded, almost bowing. "I'm in the middle of a job… You see, the people working with me…"

"Calling them people is a bit too generous of you, ne pensez-vous pas?" she scoffed, looking to the side. "Mercenaries more like it, a bunch of failures not unlike you. All I ask is that those filthy criminals don't implant their habits on you; Mother is counting on you after all, despite my best warnings against it. I certainly hope you don't disappoint her again, as you've done for all of your life."

Mycroft unconsciously shrank into himself with every word his sister spoke, looking down in shame. Heat rose to his face, and he wished the ground would just swallow him already.

"In any case, that's not why I'm here," she sighed, fanning herself. "I came here to give you this."

From the folds of her dress she grabbed a white letter, just like the one he'd received earlier, and handed it to him. The seal looked like a bird's wing, and on top of the envelope was a single word: Scarmiglione.

"What is this?" he asked, studying the outside of it.

"Fortunately, we've been invited to the most prestigious wedding in all of Johto this year; all the important families will be there," she explained. "It will be a good way for Mother to forget her worries as well. Personally I don't think it's a good place for you, but I've been ordered to give you this invitation nonetheless."

He looked down at the letter once more, incredulous. Did Mother really… want him there?

"If you still have any respect for our family, I suggest you don't show up," she said. "Though that is up to you, je suppose. And now that I've done what Mother told me, I bid you farewell, little brother."

Without saying another word she walked back to the carriage, not even bothering to look him in the eye.

Mycroft stood still for a few minutes after she left, staring down at the letter being held by his shaking fingers.

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

After a few moments of consideration, Sabrina decided to promptly fuck off from the makeshift Gym and go back to the city, where there was less of a chance to end up dead.

Or at least she planned to, until two people cut her off while she headed for the exit.

"Hey, you."

She looked up at the man blocking her path, silently cursing her own existence. He was at least a head taller than her, with a prominent beer gut and the voice of someone who'd eaten fifty pounds of sandpaper. The other one looked like a punk teenager who'd spent a few years inside a washing machine. She noticed the distinct tattoo of a black water drop beneath their right eye.

"Your face and that grubby hat… I know you, brat." He smiled, showing his stained yellow teeth. "From Saffron, you're S-"

"You must be confused, I'm just a traveler and nothing more," she said, trying to sound casual. "Step aside; your smell is making my stomach turn."

He let out a throaty laugh, soon followed by his bald friend.

"Kitty got claws, eh?" His hand went to something in his belt. "If you're so brave then…"

His voice trailed off as he stared toward something behind her. The sound of steps made their way to her, and as she turned around she saw Silver approach, his scythe on one hand and Molly on the other.

"What's going on here, Flaca?" His smile grew bigger. "Hey fatty, if you wanna get out of here with all your limbs then you better let us pass."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

She saw as fear clouded their expression for a moment, before they could gather their wits and reply.

"That's nice, but in here we solve things with Pokemon battles," said the bald one, forming a lascivious smile as his eyes set on Molly. "Oh, I like this one. If we win you're gonna have to lend her to me for a while, y…?"

Silver grabbed the man's wrist as he extended an arm towards her. His eye twitched for a moment as he lowered the scythe, placing the edge just below his arm.

"Careful with that hand there," he said, furrowing his brow. "It'd be a shame if you lost it."

To say baldie looked like he was about to shit his pants would've been putting it lightly, and Sabrina would be lying if she said she didn't greatly enjoy his terrified expression.

At least until Molly intervened.

"P-please, don't!" she tugged at Silver's shirt, lower lip trembling. "You already got hurt once… I don't want to see any more blood, please…"

He glanced towards her, smiling in a way Sabrina had never seen before, dropping his usual demeanor for a moment.

"You're too good," he said, shaking his head. "These assholes don't deserve your pity."

Letting go of baldie's arm, he placed the handle of the scythe against his shoulder again, sighing as he did so.

"Though I guess it's fine this time. I don't like making Pokemon fight my battles for me, but if that's what you want…"

Baldie stumbled back toward his partner's side, relief clear on his face.

"Fine then, you and beanie against the two of us," he spat out, his pride wounded.

Sabrina really wished she still had a cigarette with her. She wasn't exactly in the mood for a battle, especially so close to Misty's joint, but she figured she'd at least get something out of it besides the sweet taste of victory.

"We accept, but only if we get to add a wager." She grabbed a Pokeball from her belt. "If we win you'll pay our stay in the best hotel in the city, for me and all my traveling companions. Breakfast included."

The taller one grit his teeth, spitting to the floor. "Fucking brat. You're pretty insolent for just a traveler, don't you think?"

"That wager's fine with me," shrugged the other one. "But if we win then you'll have to spend some quality time with us, got it?"

Sabrina frowned, already regretting not going with the lethal solution for these guys.

"It's not like you have a chance, but fine," she said.

Silver let out a dry chuckle, "Ha, you guys really have to go to those lengths to get laid?"

"You're not gonna laugh so much when you lose," baldie growled. "If you'd known before that we were trainers officially recognized by Misty you would've…"

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Just start the battle already before I throw up."

The man's eye twitched. "Fine then, I hope you won't regret this!"

They threw their Pokeballs to the ground, their light blinding them for a moment. The bigger one looked like a rugged boulder with legs and four muscular arms, and at its side was a short, humanoid looking creature with gills on its ribs and three sharp protrusions coming out of its head.

The Machop and Graveler smiled in a similar way to their trainers, staring them down.

"Whoa there, these ones are pretty grown," said Silver, not a hint of worry in his voice. "What do you say, Flaca?"

"Hmph."

Molly walked in between them, grabbing Silver's arm to get his attention.

"Sir, that Graveler is very strong against your Spearow!"

"Forget the Graveler," Sabrina said. "I hope the hotel's breakfast is Unovan."

"Heh, I'll be happy with warm water."

Another pair of lights shone below them, materializing into their Pokemon. The energetic Spearow flew up and began flapping his wings furiously, while the yellow duck in front of Sabrina held his head with his hands. He turned towards his trainer and let out an adorable sound of appreciation. She could almost imagine the sparkles and hearts coming out of his eyes.

"Hey, I haven't seen this one," Silver smiled, looking down at the Psyduck. "When did you get him?"

"Back in Saffron. It was…"

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

》Sabrina put both hands in front of her face to block the torrent of water, which filtered through them and threw her back a few feet, almost sending her tumbling to the ground.

She looked up at the Pokemon who'd attacked her, hiding within the tall grass. Two big, beady eyes stared at her full of false innocence. The duck was surely messing with her.

Gouda turned to look at her trainer, and naively she thought maybe she was worried, but her expression was blank. She wasn't smiling, but neither did she show any sign of worry towards her.

She supposed that, compared to the things she must've seen while working for those masked bastards, this had to be a joke.

We have a lot in common, after all.

After gaining back her balance she took off her hat and wrung it as to get the water out.

"After failing your attack so pathetically, are you sure you have time to look somewhere else?"

Gouda looked at her with spite -and maybe a bit of shame- and turned towards the Psyduck with both arms raised.《

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

"…irritating," she frowned. "But it's the best option for this fight."

Silver scratched the back of his head. "Ah, back where I'm from that weakness thing doesn't matter, you either hit or you get hit."

"But sir, Spearow will be almost useless against Graveler," Molly said, biting her thumb. "You could have him use a special attack, it won't be very strong but at least it'd be more effective!"

"Jeez, you really like these things, huh?" he sighed. "Fine, why don't you tell him what to do, then?"

"Thank you so much!" she smiled, turning towards the battle. "Pogo, use Swift!"

"Van Damme, Water Gun!"

Pogo dove downwards, spiraling around Machop as it threw a punch against him, emerging just in front of the Graveler. Extending both wings- he chirped loudly, forming beams of energy in the form of stars and shooting them forward. The shower of stars pelted the rocky body of his opponent, barely making him flinch. Graveler smiled and readied himself to attack.

Only he didn't get much of a chance to. Van Damme took a deep breath and spat up a gigantic torrent of water forward, not only dousing Graveler from tip to toe but pushing him back towards the wall, where he crashed unconscious.

His trainer's Pokeball fell to the ground as he stared at what had happened, incredulous.

"Whoa!" Silver yelled, eyes going wide. "Molly, write this in the notebook."

"Uh… what notebook?"

"Never go up against the Flaca."

Baldie frowned, clearly upset by how easily his partner's Pokemon had been defeated. She could see the gears spinning inside his head, wondering how he'd pay his part of the wager. She couldn't help but smile.

"You bitch…" he whispered, sending his hand forward. "Machop, Rolling Kick!"

Pogo flew down in an attempt to intercept him, but in reverse of what happened before Machop slid under him, appearing in front of the Psyduck before he could do anything. Rotating on his hand he threw his body backwards and kicked up, hitting his opponent in the chin and sending him flying towards his trainer.

"Tsk… that attack better not have knocked you out, Van Damme."

The duck got to his feet with difficulty, wobbling as if about to fall, and yet he turned around and winked to Sabrina. Once again she could swear she saw sparkles appear around him.

"Hey Pogo, the hell are you doing with all that flapping?"

She turned her attention back to the fight, especially to the Spearow in the middle of the field. For some reason he'd flown upwards and was now flapping his wings furiously, gathering a strange white energy around them.

"Oh, oh!" Mollyput both hands in front of her chest, smiling. "After defeating that Graveler Pogo must have learned a new move!"

She punched the air in front of her, looking livelier than she'd ever seen the girl.

"Pogo, use Aerial Ace!"

Sabrina glanced at Silver, without much subtlety. She found the way he smiled warmly at her both kinda touching and extremely cheesy.

"She really likes this Pokemon stuff, huh," he whispered to himself.

The battle was pretty much over by the time she set her eyes on the field again. Silver's Spearow flew down at incredible speed, dodging the Machop's Rolling Kick by flying under it and slashing at his chest with his wings. The impact threw him backwards onto his trainer, knocking both of them to the ground.

"Yay!" Molly punched the air up, giggling. "It's my first time doing this and I won!"

Silver gave her a thumbs up. "Nice one Flaca!"

Though somewhat taken aback by their cheery reactions, Sabrina couldn't help but smile. The fight had been very high stakes, and still…

It'd been such a long time that she'd almost forgotten… these things were supposed to be fun. She returned the thumbs up, rolling her eyes a little. In front of them, the Spearow flew down to them and raised his wings, giving Van Damme a high five to celebrate their victory.

Then, forming the biggest shit eating grin she could, Sabrina approached the two men and extended her palm forward.

"I will be taking that prize in cash, thank you very much," she said. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

After she was -reluctantly- handed the money she saved it inside her pocket, and would've seriously considered keeping it for herself if it weren't for the fact that Silver heard her talking about the hotel she was going to pay.

She didn't have much time to lament that, as they felt a vacuum of air between them followed by a bright flash of purple light. From it appeared Vard and Ñako, the latter of which held his Abra with one hand and a Gligar with the other.

"I assume your fight didn't go very well?" she asked, noticing the copious amounts of blood covering both of them.

"Yeah we should probably go like… right now," said the ninja, cracking his neck painfully. "Because we kinda stole that guy's Gligar and he didn't take it very well."

Silver smiled. "Yo, you've got some nice chocolate all over yourselves. Had a fight without us?"

"It turns out the whole thing was a battle to the death, and also we kinda suck at Pokemon fighting," the ninja shrugged. "But hey, I got the Gligar so we technically didn't lose."

"Even in defeat the Team of Vard emerges victorious!" Vard raised two fingers in a peace sign. "Though I do admit that I'm seeing blurry. We should probably retreat for now."

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

Cerulean slowly shrank as Rhin and Wolfswift made their way through the desolated route, the sun rising behind them.

"Thanks a lot for coming with me," Rhin smiled at his companion, the sound of his excited steps resounding around them. "I appreciate you realizing that staying with that band of criminals was not a good idea, Wol… Wul… uh…"

"Wolfswift," he corrected him, voice hoarse. "And I won't lie, I thought you were the ninja. I think my lack of vision is playing tricks on me."

Rhin gulped, not accustomed to being around such a silent and serious man, especially not one with a pistol hanging from his belt.

"Oh well… while we're at it we should take the chance to travel ahead a little bit," he said, pointing forward. "Ahead is Mt. Moon, which we'll have to cross to reach Pewter."

"Shouldn't we wait for the rest of the group before continuing?"

"That's okay, friend!" he patted the man on the shoulder, smiling brightly. "We'll just go ahead a bit, I'm sure they'll catch up to us in no time."

Wolfswift didn't argue further, and as they kept going forward they failed to notice that, at the side of the road, there was a rusty sign which had fallen down, covered in grass and dirt. The inscription in it was barely legible:

Rock Tunnel ahead – 5 km.