It was truly incredible, Sabrina thought. These two had barely made it a few steps through the hallway and into the circular room it opened into before they started bickering like an old married couple.

"What are these threads?" asked Sammy as soon as they appeared from their chests.

"No idea," Ryan replied disinterestedly, looking away with his sword over his shoulder. "As if I needed to have you bound to me. Again."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh no, it's nothing," said Ryan. "Just don't ruin it like last time."

Sammy scoffed. "I didn't ruin anything; if I might remind you it was you who…!"

"God…" Ryan and Sabrina sighed simultaneously.

Sabrina was ready to turn around and strangle them both when a flash of light caught her attention. Immediately all three trainers shifted into position as something burst alight before them. Three dark flames, glowing with a purple hue, burned on the other side of the room for a few moments before materializing into the shapes of Pokemon they were all very familiar with.

The one on the left was a proud yet furious Scizor. The one on the right, desperately trying to stand as stall as its little stubby legs allowed it to, was a Chikorita identical to the one Sammy owned. And the one in the middle…

That lowered, ready expression, that air of violence emanating from its body… it was all very typical of the species, of almost all Scyther she'd seen. Sabrina froze, her mind traveling back with a flash. For a moment she truly thought that the Scyther was…

But no, that wasn't possible. Despite the unusual anger in her face, that Scyther was unmistakably Carrie. The scar across her left eye was proof of that. And yet…

"S-Sean?" Ryan muttered beside her.

"Fiona?" Sammy followed. "No… they're illusions. This must be part of the–"

On cue, an unfamiliar voice cut through the air, speaking directly into their minds. Sabrina flinched and grabbed at her head, the feeling of someone else using telepathy on her a very foreign one.

"Defeat the strongest one, and you will not have to worry about the rest. Choose wrongly, and you will only inflict more pain upon yourself."

Before them, the three dark Pokemon lowered themselves, ready to strike. Sabrina grabbed a Pokeball from her belt, but Ryan was faster than either her of Sammy. The sudden flash of light pooled into the shape of an enormous, bulbous-looking Kingler whose pincer looked about as big as either of the girls, and Ryan himself took a step forward as well, raising his sword in front of him.

Sammy rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, we're all very impressed by the size of your sword," she mocked him, shaking her head dismissively. "But I'd rather you not attack before we're sure which one is the strongest."

Ryan shot her a cold look. "You'd have to be an idiot not to realize right away. Leave the fighting for those who know what they're doing, alright?"

"Right, of course! Because your last Pokemon battle went so well, didn't it?" Sammy spat back. "How many hits did you land on that filthy Vulpix again? Oh, zero? And with one of your strongest Pokemon, too? What's the excuse guys usually use for these kinds of situations? Performance anxiety?"

"Hmph. Says the girl whose strongest Pokemon is an oversized bean with legs. How about y–"

Doing her damnedest to tune them out, Sabrina sighed and rubbed her temples. "Dear Mew give me patience, because if you give me strength I'll kill them both."

It seemed their opponents had gotten tired of waiting, and they used the group's bickering as an opportunity to attack. Both the Scyther and its red companion shot forward like bullets, the former going slightly faster, while the poor Chikorita tried and failed to catch up with her tiny legs.

"Here they come!" yelled Ryan, raising his sword. "Deep, Crabhammer on the Scizor, I'll block the other one!"

"Shsasha!"

To Ryan's credit, he moved a whole lot faster than she'd expected for someone carrying a weapon of that size. A cloud of dust exploded at their feet as both trainer and Pokemon jumped forward, intercepting the enemy's attack; Ryan landed in front of the oncoming slash from Scyther and raised his sword in front of him at the last moment, the Klang of metal against metal resonating throughout the room as they bounced off each other. Scyther was thrown back with a grunt, and that gave Kingler the time he needed to approach the oncoming Scizor.

The thick, heavy pincers glowed with a powerful white and fell upon the Kingler's head, but he was ready, probably used to sparring with a very similar opponent, and managed to block the hit by raising its own massive pincer on top of him. The clash was enough to throw his opponent's arms a few inches back, and that was all the time he needed.

"Shhhhaa!"

A vortex of sharp, swirling water formed around the enormous pincer as it slammed against Scizor's stomach with incredible force. He only had a moment to look surprised, pain wracking through his body. Then he was thrown back as though shot out of a cannon, flying half the length of the room before falling on his back.

Ryan chuckled proudly to himself. Sammy and Sabrina both breathed a sigh of relief.

Then the threads connecting them glowed red, and the pain hit them like a bolt of lightning to the stomach.

"GHJK!

"F-FUCK!"

All three of them fell to their knees, an explosion of pain and sharpness bursting from their bellies outwards. It was sudden, dizzying, overwhelming. Quickly, Sabrina placed a hand under her hoodie and over the skin on her stomach, but didn't find any cut or bruise there. Only the dull ache of the pain remained.

"T-that attack… it hurt us too," she muttered, eyes wide.

"Agh! I k-knew that was too obvious!" complained Sammy, then she glared at Ryan. "What did I tell you about attacking recklessly!?"

"Wh–the strongest has to be Scizor! Who else could it be!?"

It was then, perhaps fueled by the sudden pain and dizziness and growing desire to fucking LEAVE this place, that an idea formed in Sabrina's head.

"I… I can check."

While Deep tried to keep the Scyther at bay, and while both the Chikorita and the Scizor were approaching, Sabrina stood up again and grabbed a pair of Pokeballs from her belt, forming a forced smile.

"I knew I was right to save you from that train," she whispered to one of them. "Gouda, do your thing!"

Both the Drowzee and Rokon the Vulpix materialized in front of her, but it was the former who acted first. As though reading Sabrina's mind, she looked over the battlefield and studied their three opponents carefully, before nodding to herself and raising a finger toward one of them. She could've sworn she heard the electronic voice in her mind.

Forewarn: Activated.

Unfortunately, her moment of genius was somewhat diminished by the fact that Gouda ended up pointing at Chikorita. The only foe that hadn't even made it to them yet.

"What?" Ryan asked flatly. "You can't be serious."

That's when Sabrina heard a sound that could only mean disaster. Sammy gasping with panic.

"Shit that's right!" she yelled out, taking a sudden step back. "Fiona can–"

But it was too late. Sabrina noticed the sudden, powerful verdant glow emanating from her tiny body and instantly knew that they were fucked. She tried to jump back. Tried to shield herself behind the other Pokemon, but it happened too fast.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"SHIT!"

The roar of wind shook the walls as swirling cone of knife-sharp leaves exploded in front of the Chikorita, falling upon them in an instant, swallowing them whole. For a few seconds, there was nothing but pain and disorientation. All three of them fell to the ground like sacks of potatoes, shaking and covered in cuts all over, blood pooling around the outline of their bodies.

But that wasn't the worst part, no. Sabrina didn't only feel her own pain; she felt Sammy and Ryan's as well, delivered to her through the threads connecting their chests. It was agony. By the time it eased up, she could barely breathe.

Yet of course she found enough strength to curse at Sammy.

"Why the FUCK didn't you tell us she knew Leaf Storm!?"

"What!? She knows Leaf Storm!?" Ryan echoed, eyes wide with both pain and surprise.

Against the anger and reprimand in their voices, Sammy could do little except stand up and look away, face flushing with embarrassment.

"T-that just means we have to take it out quick," she said. "Geek, come out! Use Absorb on her!"

The Treecko jumped toward the imitation of her companion without hesitation, although Sabrina didn't need to look to know the attack wouldn't do much damage. She pushed herself to her feet fueled by anger alone and shook her head dismissively.

"Absorb? You'd do more damage by breathing on it!" she growled. "Ugh, Rokon!"

Luckily, the Leaf Storm hadn't taken out her partners, although it'd left them with about as many cuts and scratches as her. It seemed that Curly's Kingler had shielded them at the last second, knowing that he would go down anyway because of his weakness to grass.

"We can't let that bean with legs attack again" she said. "I want her well done!"

It was a matter of seconds. This first test was clearly intended to give them a fast scare and nothing more, because a single Ember was all it took to bring the Chikorita down, the burst of heat dissolving her into black mist. Her two dark companions followed a moment after, finally giving them a moment of peace and quiet.

It would've been enjoyable, were it not for the sharp pain still wracking through their bodies.

"Agh… great. First test and we're already wounded," said Ryan through his teeth. "We'll be dead for sure by the time we make it to the end."

"Stop talking and heal your crab already," replied Sabrina, returning her own Pokemon to their balls. "A trainer of you caliber must have some healing items on hand, yeah?"

"Hmph."

They took a moment to look over their wounds, which luckily didn't seem very deep, and by the time they were done an entrance had opened up on the other side of the room, leading toward yet another dark hallway.

"Hm. I guess we better get going," said Sammy, squinting. "I doubt that was the last of it, so we should be ready for more fighting."

There was silence. Sabrina and Ryan exchanged a quick, listless look, and then the former sighed.

"Yeah, about that… how about you leave the fighting to us? No offense but Pokemon battling doesn't seem like your forte, and you'd probably be more useful running around healing our Pokemon while we take care of business."

Sammy frowned in her direction, lips stretching into a thin, pale line. If she didn't outright despise her before, then she definitely did now.

My greatest talent.

"And while you're at it, you two might want to talk about your issues," she pointed out, grabbing a cigarette from the pack and lighting it. "I'm not a psychologist or anything but there's clearly some UST in the air, and it's inconveniencing our work environment. Or, well, it's inconveniencing me. I'm prone to migraines, you see."

Both Ryan and Sammy turned in her direction, identical looks on their faces.

"I don't really care what is or was your relationship, but you either resolve it here and now or you shut the fuck up until we're done with this and we can go back to killing each other like we all know we want to. Capisce?"

The anger in Sammy's face didn't shift one bit, but for whatever was worth, Ryan did look away ashamed. He lowered his sword and let out a tired sigh.

"I don't think this is the best place for it, but…"

However, just as he turned to look at Sammy, she let out a sharp, derisive scoff.

"Are you serious? You don't have to do this just because she's asking you to."

"What? That's not… I'm doing this because I want, just like…" Ryan bit her lip and looked away. "Just like last time. No one forced me to do it then, but…"

"But you ended up screwing everything over just so you could help me."

Ryan laughed weakly. "I risked it all to save a hysterical girl, don't you mean? I didn't do it for anyone but myself. Like now, I just… I mean, I still…"

"You're still the same childish brat you've always been. You're always being manipulated by anyone who shows you pity," she spat out, cutting through him before folding her arms and looking away. "The two of you make a good couple," she concluded.

Up until then, things were going well, or at least as well as Sabrina had expected. Sure they hadn't made up, but they sounded pretty close to some hatesnogging at least, which would at least shut them up. She'd even turned around and was ready to start walking… when she heard that last sentence.

Ryan fell silent. Sabrina stopped in her tracks. She closed her eyes, breathed in real deep and somehow convinced herself not to strangle Sammy.

"Alright," she whispered, voice full of danger as she turned toward her. "Since you clearly have the emotional intelligence of a Persim berry, I'm going to explain this to you like I would to a toddler," she told her. "This guy just admitted that he's still…" She stopped herself. "No, that's not my problem. But let's make one thing clear, because you're really sapping at my patience here. I know it must be hard for a stupid teenager like you, but try not to involve other people in the cheap telenovela that your brain thinks your life is, alright?"

Then she turned to look at Ryan.

"And you, Curly…!"

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

》Two people argued candidly in the middle of a poorly-illuminated hallway between two houses. Only the outline of their bodies could be made out; a boy and a girl.

"D-did you lose your mind!? Flee with you…?" The girl yelled out, panicked. "Where would we even… I have responsibilities here, I can't just…!"

"You can't stay bound to this Gym!" the boy begged. "Please, you can't keep doing this. This place is killing you!"

The girl clenched her teeth, swallowing her words, and the boy took the opportunity to keep going.

"They'll never find us!" he assured her. A silver gleam was visible hanging from his chest; a cross. "And even if they do… I'll protect you, always!"《

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

The anger in her voice vanished in an instant, leaving her voice weak and quiet, almost a whisper.

"…don't be so naïve, alright?"

And she smiled sadly, despite herself.

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

Vard held his chin and nodded to himself.

"I don't want to frighten you, my good Mike, but I believe there is plot happening in the other dungeons."

The man raised a concerned eyebrow. "I'm… not entirely sure what you're talking about, friend."

This particular test had proved most unworthy of Vard's greatness so far, consisting of nothing but a series of double battles against random Pokemon made of mist, chosen purely by luck as well as the roulette next to each one of them. Currently, their opponents consisted of a big, lumpy rock with legs and arms and an ornery-looking Nidoqueen.

"This one might pose a slight challenge" Mike deliberated. "I believe Micky will be able to take on the Graveler. Do you think you could handle the Nidoqueen until we're done?"

Mike's Machamp smiled and punched his four fists together, muscles bulging out in preparation. A truly majestic creature, thought Vard, but nothing compared to the beast of darkness accompanying him.

"Worry not, Mike! If Murkrow are signs of bad luck, then Yamikarazu is a sign of absolute doom!" he declared. "He shall chomp on his opponent as though he were a tasty breakfast!"

"A…ha," muttered Mike, frowning. "Not to rain on your parade, but I don't believe Murkrow learn Bite or Crunch."

"What!? But what kind of bird doesn't have teeth!?"

"I think you should reconsider your knowledge of biology, friend."

Tired of waiting, the opponent Nidoqueen let out a roar and slammed her hands against the ground, summoning a sudden wave of water that rose high into the air before crashing down upon them.

"Micky, Protect!"

"Agh, damn you!" yelled Vard, fear tinting his voice for the first time. "Secret Technique of Vard Nº 31: Cape Shield!"

Vard turned sharply in place, raising his cape over his head and the rest of his body as the top part of the wave crashed against it. He only narrowly escaped getting wet himself. If he hadn't acted quickly enough…

No, this wasn't good. Vard could feel his smile drop, his nervousness rising. Even Mike, who'd taken the wave head on, raised an eyebrow toward him, confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "No offense but you look as though you've got some critter running around in that hair of yours."

"That's because I do."

Instantly, Vard dove into his afro and pulled out a live Linoone. He showed it to Mike, then shoved it back inside.

"… Do that again."

"It needs time to recharge," Vard said. "And as for your question, Vard despises water, almost as much as bureaucracy. It is too slippery."

But judging by his expression, Mike could tell that there was more to it than that. Luckily, he didn't press on it. Perhaps because they were in a middle of a battle to the death, or maybe he really was more polite than anyone in their team could've imagined.

In fact…

"Tell me, Mike," said Vard, paying no attention to the fight unfolding before them. "What is a powerful, handsome and educated man like you doing working with those other miscreants? I do not judge, my robust friend, but know that there are always other options. If your heart beats for justice as I believe it does deep down, then know that there will always be a place for you in the Team of Vard."

Despite the perilous situation before them, Mike actually turned to look at Vard, eyes wide in surprise. His statement seemed to have caught him off guard.

"Ha… trying to recruit me, eh?" There was no accusation or anger in his voice, only a hint of regret. "You seem like a good bunch, truly, but I'm sorry to say that there is something in this world I find more precious than justice. I wouldn't be here otherwise," he whispered to himself. "I only took this job because my family needed the money. As soon as it's done… I'm done. For good this time.

"…However. There is someone in my group… a friend that might look more favorably upon that offer than myself. Someone who truly does not belong. Someone who… I would rather see doing good, if I must be honest."

Vard's eyebrows went up with interest. "I see… who is this individual, if I may ask? You see, the Team of Vard is no daycare; we often confront dangers which would horrify even Death itself armed with a crossbow. However, if I consider them to have the necessary valor, they would be more than welcome within us."

"Ha… dangers, eh?" Mike looked more amused than offended. "Friend, I assure you that this companion of mine is no coward. Au contraire, he is a noble warrior, willing to… give his life for those around him." He spoke those words with a hint of sadness in his voice. "That's why I'd prefer him to stand on the side of those who would value his loyalty."

A few feet from them, the Machamp fell upon his rocky opponent with a well-timed chop on the top of his head, cracking his body slightly and leaving him completely unconscious. Mike smiled proudly to himself, then raised his hand and gave another order.

"Good job Micky, now Ice Punch!"

And as his Pokemon obeyed, Mike turned toward Vard once more.

"This friend of mine… is named Ryan. Please, look after him if you could."