I glared at my Pokegear, trying to burn it alive with my gaze alone.

Why?

Because it had two additional numbers on it.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was.

Crystal insisted that we exchange numbers and I of course denied that heavily…

But that damn Crystal said I already mentioned to Green that we were friends so it'd be suspicious if I didn't at least have their numbers recorded.

...She was smart.

My contactless phone, now had the numbers of a lot more people than I ever intended it to have and just about all of them were notable in some way.

I sighed and pocketed my Pokegear, choosing not to dwell on it. Having two additional numbers was probably the best case scenario for me compared to what else could have happened to me.

Well whatever. At least I didn't have to leave to like Kalos or Galar or something. I wanted to go there without being forced and they probably had a while before whatever tragedy struck their region happened. I didn't know what tragedy was gonna strike Galar but it didn't take a genius to know that one was going to strike it.

I had time.

My gaze shifted to the door, as Green quietly opened and slunk into the room.

She was surprisingly very quiet when she wanted to be. It was pretty jarring to know my hyperactive friend was stealthy —

My eyes narrowed and I abruptly stood up.

"You were crying," I said bluntly.

"Shit!" Green froze at that, red rimmed eyes wide, as she gazed at me with a shocked expression.

My eyes were narrowed suspiciously. It's not like I was naturally curious but I hated having questions unanswered and this was a question that needed to be answered.

Being confused was one thing I really disliked. The more in control I was, the more at ease I could be.

"I thought my small bathroom break was good enough at hiding the fact that I was crying... but he's really observant."

I stared at Green, wondering what was going through her head and hummed.

"What happened? Who made you cry?" I asked with furrowed brows.

She shook her head rapidly. "No one made me cry, Silvy! I was just a little upset earlier but Vee helped me out."

I gazed at her suspiciously but dropped it.

If Green wanted to talk about it, she would talk about it. It was in her blood to get things off her chest so I saw no reason to pressure her about it…

But since she had been crying...

I rustled in my bag and pulled the skates out, before handing them over to Green.

"Here. You can learn how to use them by watching me tomorrow," I said bluntly, dropping the green skates in her hand.

Green gazed at the gifts with wide eyes, repeatedly looking at me and then the skates and then me again.

"You got these… for me?" she asked hesitantly.

"You wanted to learn how to skate right?" I raised a brow.

Green said nothing for a while, before she let out a squeal of happiness and tackled me to the ground.

"!"

"You're the best, Silvy! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Green exclaimed happily, wrapping me in a tight hug.

I grunted at the hug but just shook my head. "Whatever."

"Do you think I can learn how to use them before the boat ride?"

"It's in a few days, so yeah. I got it down fairly easily so you should too."

Green was actually more nimble than I was so something like skates would be right up her alley.

"Okay! Let's go practice tomorrow while our team does light training!"

"Alright."

"And don't think I forgot that you called other people your friend before calling me that! From now on you'll call me your friend too!"

"Sure."

"...Why did you concede so easily?"

"I've gained the right amount of fulfillment from tormenting you on that subject. I can just torment you in other ways, Leaf."

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST CALL ME GREEN?!"

"See?"

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

The days had passed by quickly and the time for Green and I to board the S.S Anne had finally arrived.

It had been largely uneventful. There had been one day where Green had gone to go watch Ash's gym battle and she told me all about it.

Apparently he had actually won on his first try, using his Pikachu and abusing the fact that it was faster than the Raichu by a good margin.

...First try? Didn't he lose on his first try?

Huh, well look at that. I guess our battle really did motivate him and he had Brock with him too. That was a gold mine right there.

That reminded me of something else actually... it happened about a day ago.

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

"Silvy they arrested that Damian guy."

I snorted at that, turning towards the pajama wearing Green scrolling through her Pokegear.

"Yeah?"

Green nodded. "After I reported him, they kept silent about him but recently, a Nurse Joy reported that he abandoned his Charmander to die in the rain."

I raised a brow. "Attempted murder on Pokemon is a serious offense. What was he thinking?"

I didn't think he'd be a huge dumbass in this world too. Pokemon were quite protected by the laws and doing something like abusing your own pokemon, was immediate grounds to being detained.

To think that he'd still go through with it was awe inspiring. Good riddance.

She scowled ferociously. "Yeah, he's been completely stripped of his status as a trainer and thrown in jail for now. Thankfully, Ash was able to save the Charmander before its injuries got fatal."

I mulled that over. "I guess it's a good thing we reported him. That dude is a serious problem."

She nodded. "I feel bad for that Charmander but... if Ash was able to save him then that's the best we can ask for."

"Did he catch it?" I asked boredly, reaching out and popping one of the Pokeblocks in my mouth.

They were pretty good.

"Yeah and get this! He has a Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle!" Green exclaimed with wide eyes. "Can you believe it? He missed a starter and ended up getting all three!"

I snorted. "He's lucky, just like you. Maybe that's something all you Pallet kids have in common."

Green spluttered angrily at that.

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

Besides that, I also hung out with Gold and Crystal on the day that Green went to go watch Surges battle. I wanted to find something to do and we happened to run into each other...

Despite how awkward it was... that seemed to only be the case for me.

Those two spoke to me like I wasn't a criminal and that was the weirdest thing ever. How could they so confidently just put that past them?

They were all just too earnest... I wasn't used to such naive and innocence.

I sighed at the thought of my counterparts and just ignored it for now, focusing on moving for two people.

We had woken up damn early for this because I refused to be held up in a line and while I was fine… Green was practically dead on her feet.

I had to basically drag her to the ship and flash both our tickets to the amused, albeit stern, guy checking them, before we were allowed in.

The S.S Anne was enormous, eclipsing every single ship I had been on since landing here and it was luxurious to boot!

It dwarfed every ship there by a good amount and I have no doubt in my mind that the citizens who opted to board this ship, had a lot of money.

I couldn't stop the impressed look as I inspected it all. The design of the ship was calming, filling me with a type of serenity. The deck was made up of wood so smooth and clean, I could see my reflection on it. The furnishing looked so expensive, I thought I was in a 5 star hotel!

The decor was dominated by marble and decor of famous water type pokemon.

Blastoise, Dewgong, Lapras... they were crafted beautifully and I inspected each marble with an impressed eye.

Even the exhausted Green made a noise of awe.

"Wow," she awed, leaning on my shoulder for support. "It's huge… I can't wait to explore it after I have the energy."

I snorted at her, before one of the marbles caught my eye.

"What's this supposed to be?" I mused, gazing at the marble of a 4 legged creature. It seemed to be the most well worked on sculptures there but for the life of me, I couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Green perked up lazily, lifting her head off my shoulder.

"Oh... I think that's a sculpting of one of the three legendary guardians of the Johto region, Suicune," Green mused, scrutinizing it with a gaze.

I tilted my head at that.

"This was Suicune?" I asked incredulously.

No the hell it wasn't. I knew how Suicune looked and while this creature was 4 legged much like the water beast, it was missing a lot of details.

There were no diamond shaped markings, no crest on its head and most notably, no billowing cloak either.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Suicune. Right."

"It's not like anyone knows how Suicune looks," Green rolled her eyes, sinking back onto my shoulder.

Oh... that actually made a lot of sense. I knew how Suicune looked but it was still a legendary and legendaries were impossibly rare to spot.

So did that mean I was the only person who knew how a majority of legends looked?

I rolled my eyes. "Alright idiot. Let's go find your room. You're about to start drooling on my shoulder."

Likely because of the close proximity of when we beat Surge, Green and I had rooms right next to each other so when I eventually found hers, I dumped the half asleep girl on the bed and made my way to my room in a just a few seconds.

"G'night Silvy," she yawned happily.

"Night," I grunted, quietly shutting her door and letting her sleep in peace.

I could already tell from dropping off Green, but the rooms were insanely nice. They were fully furnished, with expensive looking furniture and I whistled at the luxury of it all. They really didn't hold back at all on how to design these ships.

How the hell could they afford to make not only a ship like this, but one that could fit all these people?

It was kind of nuts really. Just allowing people onto a ship like this for free just because they won a gym battle... trainers sure were valued.

I released my team into the spacious room and let out a tired sigh.

"We're on the ship now and for once… I'll actually be exploring it," I informed them all, taking a seat on the bed and grunting as I practically sunk into it.

"I woke up a bit too early today, so I'll get some rest because Green is probably going to drag me around everywhere and I need the energy for that," I sighed, falling back.

My team watched my body slowly disappear into the mattress, before Gaia cheered and leapt onto the bed as well.

"The beds big enough. If you all wanna sleep with me feel free," I yawned, shutting my eyes to catch up on sleep.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, I was almost immediately swamped by my entire team besides of course, Metang.

I adjusted as best as I could, until we were all in a fairly comfortable spot and I snorted.

"Ares, Freyja… I swear to all that is holy if you're arguing wakes me up, there will be hell to pay," I said blandly.

Ares thought about protesting but she was very tired herself.

"Gon," she replied eventually.

"Bas," Freyja nodded.

Loki and Metang were the only members, besides me, on our team who could properly function in the morning. The rest were not morning pokemon at all and Gaia in particular, threw some of the biggest fits if you woke her up early…

Gaia was already asleep, burrowing into me with a content smile.

Loki was right above his head, curling up and dozing.

Ares stared jealously at Freyja resting on his midsection and growled at seeing the smug smile she was shot.

She growled quietly at the Feebas and I rolled my eyes as she seemed to mutter something before sliding to my other side.

Her complaints immediately died as my hand instinctively began patting her and Ares fell asleep in bliss.

Metang's eyes flashed, as they gazed at the pile and the steel type resisted the urge to do something as uncouth as snorting.

"Make sure you get enough sleep, Metang. Proper rest is necessary for a healthy body. Don't overwork yourself."

"With how often you nag me, Blight, I don't even need to utilize my photographic memory to remember your orders."

"Yeah yeah whatever you say. For someone who prides themselves at maintaining their emotions, you sure are sassy."

"I do not know what you mean."

I rolled my eyes and fell asleep.

As I fell asleep, I did finally hear Metang let out the snort they had been holding back though.

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

By the time Green inevitably woke up and dragged me out the room, the ship had been filled and we had already set sail.

I had woken up fairly easily, refreshed from the nap, and I returned my team before following my companion out of the room.

She was dragging us to the all you can eat buffet because she was hungry and since I was also hungry, I let her take charge.

It's not like I knew what to do on this ship anyways.

As we headed there, I watched wide groups of people just mingling about, conversing with each other about every little thing.

It... was kinda disgusting. I hated being around large groups of people.

I took my focus off the people and stared instead out at the sea, letting out a sigh at the great expanse of water.

I could still see Vermillion from here but as time passed, it would just fade more and more into the distance, leaving just the sea.

"There's a big tourney happening on the ship, Silvy!" Green beamed, biting into a waffle with a delighted hum.

"Yeah?" I said in disinterest, slowly eating my scrambled eggs.

Green nodded excitedly. "Don't be so uninterested! It's being split into 3 groups!"

That made me perk up slightly.

She grinned victoriously. "Yeah! It's being separated by amount of gym badges! One through four, five through seven and then eight!"

One through four you say…

"Now I'm a little interested," I admitted.

That would be easy. I can confidently say I was better than any trainer with four badges…

Green was too…

"You're joining the tournament?" a voice asked.

I scowled and Green lit up.

"Crystal!" Green beamed. "And you must be Gold!"

Gold and Crystal both smiled at her, plates of breakfast in their hands as well.

"Hi, Green," Crystal greeted. "Yes. This is my best friend, Gold."

Gold grinned cockily at that. "I hear your Oak's best trainer!"

A gleam entered her eyes at that. "I definitely am! Are you joining the tournament too?" Green asked, beckoning them to join us.

I glared at her and she effortlessly ignored it.

The 4 seat booth (Green wanted to grab a two seater but who the hell had time for that?) was quickly filled, as Crystal sat next to me with a smile.

Gold took a seat right next to Green and the two immediately began shooting into conversation like the battle freaks I knew Green was… and the battle freak I knew Gold probably was.

"It's like looking at two Gold's," Crystal sighed fondly, digging into her plate of eggs, pancakes and sausage with surprising daintiness.

"Nice way of saying two dumbasses," I grunted, dropping a sausage each in Loki and Ares mouth.

Crystal gazed at my two pokemon in blatant interest, giggling at my words.

I watched in some interest as she released that Croconaw of hers and a Growlithe, occasionally dropping scraps of her plate in their mouths.

Croconaw was glaring at me as per usual, up until that Misdreavus of hers materialized from thin air once more.

She said something and Croconaw let out a begrudging scoff, that transformed into another glare as Ares made a warning noise.

The Croconaw began sizing up my fearless Bagon and the two began growling at each other, before Loki and Misdreavus intervened and got the two away from each other.

Crystal watched the interaction with exasperation in her eyes before thanking her Misdreavus.

The ghost type nodded, clearly used to this before it noticed my gaze and immediately shrunk away from me.

I frowned and mulled it over.

"What's the deal with your Misdreavus?" I eventually asked.

Crystal pursed her lips at that. "I'm not sure. Misteree doesn't normally act like this," she said in confusion.

Misteree in question, gazed at me and simply shook its head, before vanishing from sight.

"Weird," Crystal muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't think too hard about it. I know I'm not," I shrugged.

She nodded reluctantly. "So you're planning on joining the tournament too?" Crystal asked curiously.

I shrugged. "I'm thinking about it."

She seemed surprised by my slight disinterest, tilting her head in confusion. "I heard there's a huge prize for first place."

Green, Gold and I all perked up fully at that.

"A prize?" I mused, eyes glinting with actual interest now.

"What is it?" Gold asked curiously.

"I'm not sure," Crystal admitted with a slight frown. "All I know is that top 4 gets prizes."

"First place will get the best prize… so I just have to get first place!" Green beamed.

"You think you're getting first place with me joining? I'd like to see you try!" Gold grinned competitively.

The two grinned at each other and I snorted, leaning back into my seat.

"First place gets top prize… guess I have to win," I muttered to myself.

So I would need to beat a lot of impressive trainers in order to get my prize...

Not bad at all. I could probably do that.

Crystal saw the dangerous gleam in my eyes and rightfully scooted away.

"All of them are freaks," she sighed.

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

"Ash! You didn't oversleep!" Green cheered happily.

Ash perked up at that and a grin made its way to his face.

"Brock woke me up on time! We had to wait in such a long line to get in!" he exclaimed.

Green beamed. "Silvy made sure we got here early so we didn't have to wait on a line. I was mad at him for waking me up but it was totally worth it!"

I rolled my eyes at that. "You tried to bite me," I reminded her flatly.

"You chopped me on the head!"

"After you tried to bite me."

"I'll try it again!"

"I know, this is your fourth time trying to do it."

"Next time it'll work!"

Brock sweatdropped at the two violent companions, before gazing towards the two unknown trainers.

"Who are these two?" the former gym leader asked.

"Leeches who won't stop following me," I retorted instantly, glaring at Crystal and Gold.

I don't know where the hell they got the idea that we were friends from but my group of two had turned into one of four and this was not how I expected it to go.

"This is Gold and Crystal!" Green introduced with a grin. "They're our friends! They're from the Johto Region!"

Crystal and Gold nodded, "It's nice to meet you —"

I zoned them all out and sighed, slinking away from the group quietly and deciding to go on a detour.

That group was getting a little too big and attention grabby and that meant eyes on me and I didn't want eyes on me right now.

A region with Ash, Gold, Green and Crystal…

What a disaster…

They were talented and if they all chose to attack Team Rocket in the future, it would be great…

But Team Rocket had Mewtwo and Mewtwo was not something that a bunch of kids would be able to handle…

Hell I doubted the League could handle Mewtwo. That was mostly me going on theory, considering I didn't yet know just how strong Mewtwo was but... something told me it was impossibly difficult to defeat.

Normally I'd be fine letting them take the attention off of me and using them for my gains… but there was a very real possibility they could die going after Team Rocket and like it or not, daddy dearest probably had no interest in killing me.

"Hey Foggy Fortress. I don't suppose you wanna help me more against a God and my evil dad huh?"

Silence.

Tch. Whatever. I was expecting to go at it alone anyways. Legendaries wanna harass me but as soon as I need their help, nowhere to be seen...

They better hope I never get the means to harass them because if I did? Yeah good luck legends.

"Oh, Silver! Where did you go?" Misty asked curiously, noticing my arrival. I noticed that there was a little Squirtle by her side and raised a brow at it.

"The winner of the tournament gets an egg," I told them easily, scratching Loki's head idly.

They all blinked.

"...How do you know that?" Crystal asked slowly.

"I figured out," I said blandly, utterly uninterested. "The tournament is gonna be a 3 on 3. It starts tomorrow morning."

Green yelped as I flicked her trainer id over to her.

"I signed us both up already, Leaf. For the sake of finishing it in the span of one day, the tournament isn't that big. I'd suggest signing up now if you wanna battle."

Green balked at that, gazing at me and her id repeatedly, before patting down her dress in disbelief.

"You… are a sick sick person, Silvy," she said flatly, pocketing the id.

"You scare me a little," Crystal admitted with wide eyes.

I snorted. "I'm here to win. If any of you meet me, don't be too sad."

"Zor," Loki said to them apologetically.

I looked at the fire in all of their eyes and smirked.

Maybe this would be fun.

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

The S.S Anne was kind of fun when I decided to just enjoy the vacation aspect of it.

At some point, Ash and his friends broke off from us (I wasn't paying attention as to why) and so, we had been reduced back down to the group of 4 colors.

It pretty funny that none of us pointed out that we were all named after a color but I wasn't going to be the one to start that strange conversation.

We walked aimlessly around the ship, me listening to Gold, Crystal and Green chat like they had been lifelong buddies.

Three chatter machines. That's what the hell they were.

We weren't on deck anymore, due to me growing tired of all the people there and when I made it known that I was about to go below deck, they unanimously decided to follow me.

"Hey! I think we found the game room!" Gold grinned eagerly.

Green's eyes lit up and the idiot duo immediately rushed into the room.

"It's just us again," Crystal shook her head with a small smile.

I sighed in exasperation and just walked into the room. "Not like we have anything better to do."

As I made my way through the section of the ship that seemed dedicated to games, I took in all the sights.

There were typical arcade games, fashioned and changed to fit into the thematic of this world... like a fighting game with a flurry of fighting types.

"Gold loves this game," Crystal commented as we walked past it. "His favorite character is Poliwrath."

I grunted. "And yours?" I asked, as we approached the rest of the group.

"Hitmonchan!" She exclaimed.

I mulled that over and nodded. "You don't strike me as a person to like Hitmonchan. You look more like a Medicham enjoyer."

"I'm pretty sure you just stereotyped me on purpose," Crystal sighed in exasperation.

"Guilty as charged," I shrugged, perking up at hearing Green let out a frustrated shout.

She was at a stall, one that I'd find at a carnival or fair.

There were a bunch of marks up all in the shape of pokemon and some fake pokeballs to the side that Green was holding.

"I can't win!" Green complained, scowling slightly at the apologetic man on the other side.

My eyes narrowed slightly at how unapologetic he actually was.

"That's cuz it's a scam," Gold said, shrugging helplessly. "You're not supposed to win em until you fork over a good amount of money."

"Gold! Don't say that out loud!" Crystal reprimanded as we approached the duo.

I said nothing, watching as Green gazed longingly at a plush of a Clefairy and I tilted my head.

"Lemme try," I said suddenly, walking up to the stand with a neutral expression.

I paid the fee and accepted the pokeballs, glancing at the game with a contemplative expression.

Then, I tensed my arm up and began rapid firing each ball with extreme force, knocking down each target with expert aim before that dumbass hidden Murkrow could blow it off course.

Hah, trying to trick a professional criminal was never going to work out well. I knew all the dirty tricks in the book.

The owner of the stall gazed at me with a slack jaw and I stared at him with an innocent expression.

"Give me the Clefairy," I demanded, holding out my hand.

"H-Huh?! B-But," the man stammered, clearly confused by what he just saw.

I guess a perk of being raised by Team Rocket is that I was practically a child soldier and so I was capable of physical feats that not many people my age were able to do. He clearly didn't expect me to be capable of knocking down each one that quick but hey.

He should just be glad I wasn't cheating with Loki, now that would be fun.

"The Clefairy. Now," I pressed, narrowing my eyes and glaring at him.

"R-Right!" he conceded easily, spineless dork that he was. He placed the Clefairy plush in my hand and I rolled my eyes, before tossing it over to Green.

She caught it and gazed at the plush with wide eyes, before she squealed happily.

"Wow! Thank you Silvy!" she gushed, hugging me gleefully and then hugging her plush.

I grunted. "It was nothing. Bad scams just piss me off," I told her.

"You did that pretty easy," Gold mused. "How good are you at these games?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. That one was just easy."

There was a challenging gleam in my counterparts eyes and I raised a brow.

"Wanna test that?" he challenged.

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

What followed after Gold's request, was a series of challenges between the 2 of us... that eventually transformed into the 4 of us.

I discovered that the carnival games were very easy for me! If it required anything remotely physical, I was good at it.

As a result, I completely dominated my little group in the stall games. Because I didn't really care for any of the prizes, I just handed them off to Green (I ignored the fact that I may have given some to the ecstatic Crystal).

I saw a little Steelix plush though that I got for Jasmine. She'd probably either love it, or already own it.

Knowing her, she'd own it but love it because it was a gift.

Despite dominating the fair games, I couldn't really feel too good about that... because I got absolutely smashed in every single arcade game.

It was honestly embarrassing how much better they were than me in them.

"That's that!" Gold grinned, watching as his Poliwrath flexed in victory on the screen.

"..." I scowled in annoyance at the prone body of the Blaziken that I was using.

Gold was the best at this game and I was the worst and it showed in the fact that I barely dented his hp bar.

"You're good at all the carnival games but man you gotta up your game in arcade!"

My scowl deepened. "It's not like I ever played a video game. Of course I suck at them," I replied with a grunt, putting the controller down before I could smash it.

I stood up. "Someone else can take my spot. I'll just watch," I decided.

Stealing a portable video game was now high on my list. I refused to let this embarrassment happen again.

I paused, noticing that the silence was carrying on and gazed at my group.

"What?" I grunted, frowning at how awkward the air suddenly was.

"...Sorry bout that," Gold said slowly. "We didn't realize you didn't play."

"Yeah... sorry Silvy," Green said guiltily.

I blinked at them before an annoyed feeling coursed through me. "Stop fucking apologizing. When did I tell you to apologize?" I scowled.

Who cared if I didn't play? If I was really offended by it, then I would have mentioned it the first time I got stomped in one of the arcade games.

"We've been in here long enough," Crystal suddenly said. "We should go get dinner early before it gets too packed."

Green nodded eagerly. "Good idea! If it gets too crowded Silvy might choose to go hungry!"

She yelped in pain as I effortlessly chopped her head and I sneered at her.

"C'mon then. Let's go then," I decided. "Afterwards, I'm retreating to my room. I've been too social today."

"You're a social guy," Gold said dryly.

"And you're shorter than me," I replied just as dryly, looking at the boy that I barely inched out.

Before he could reply, I was already off and I heard a rush of footsteps, followed by complaints from my counterpart rival.

Honestly, it was just too easy.

"H-Hey wait up! I have too many plushies!" Green complained.

Crystal pinched her nose, holding her smaller amount of plushies with a sigh.

"If you can catch up to me, I'll put it in my bag."

"Y-You're such a dick, Silvy! I can tell you're speeding up!"

"I'm the only one with the foresight to have brought my bag. Get to running."

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

I calmly adjusted my black gloves and fiddled a bit with my hair, before ultimately deciding to leave it like this.

"Maybe I'll change it's style up another time," I mused, running a hand through it in contemplation.

The time of the tournament was here and I was ready to win it all.

Green and I had separated before the tournament to prepare so I was in my room making those final preparations.

I… enjoyed it a little. We had some fun but now it was time for me to win it all.

I slipped on my long sleeved black jacket with red trims, dark trousers, some black boots and black gloves.

"Time to win," I muttered to myself, returning Loki to his ball.

It made sense that the tournament for 3 badges only went up to 3 on 3, considering we were still relatively new trainers…

It was the most fair way to regulate these battles. Some trainers might not have 6 and it also saved time… not to mention, swapping wasn't allowed which added to the saving time aspect.

But I really wish it wasn't 3 on 3.

Why?

Because the less pokemon used, the more favorable a match went towards Green.

Naturally, the more pokemon used, the more favorable a match went towards me.

Green and I did friendly spars with each other a lot and it was pretty obvious that my team was a lot more balanced than hers.

Two of her pokemon were practically unusable right now, though Larvee could still be used against weaker opponents.

As time passed, our teams would eventually balance out and we'd become equally dangerous at 6 pokemon by the time we became formidable but for now, the amount we used matter.

That didn't mean I was discounting Gold and Crystal either… nor was I discounting the trainers with 4 badges… but I was going to crush them all and if I wanted to win it all, that meant I was eventually going to run into Green.

No biggie. I just needed to beat her.

The tournament wasn't that big, so I just needed to win 3 matches to win it all.

Easy.

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

I calmly took in the arena underdeck I was currently in, watching as people in the crowd cheered at the festivities of this tournament.

My tournament group of 1-4 badges was in the smallest arena and people were obviously more interested in the higher tier badges, so our crowd was the smallest.

1-4 badges also had the least amount of trainers which was why my tournament was the quickest. Quite frankly, any trainer with Surges badge that had under 7 badges, was quite notable...

Which was why I wasn't surprised at all to see that my opponent was my rival counterpart at all.

"Wow, first round!" Gold grinned eagerly, glaring at me with those molten eyes of his.

"Unfortunate that you have to make such an early exit," I mused, mulling over who I was going to use in my match against him.

"I could say the same to you! I wanted to meet one of you in the finals, but I guess it'll be Green or Crys!" Gold exclaimed.

"I already know who I'm meeting in the finals," I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Welcome everyone! We're about to witness the second battle of the first round! On the right side, hailing from Newbark Town of the Johto Region, we have Gold! And his opponent, hailing from Viridian City, Silver!"

I tuned out the noise of the speaker and gained a look of concentration.

"Trainer Gold! Please send out your pokemon first!" The referee requested.

Gold wasted no time, clutching a Pokeball and grinning as he launched it.

"Let's go Ataro!" he exclaimed, sending out his very first pokemon.

The Aipom cheered, soaking in the crowd's attention much like his trainer did.

I pursed my lips at that and nodded, tapping one of my balls.

"Metang," I said eventually, sending out my choice.

Gold's eyes narrowed and I felt the curse he let out in his mind.

Based on my team, Gold could probably tell that this was the worst matchup for his Aipom.

"Astonish!" Gold shouted immediately.

"Agility," I said immediately after. "Dodge it."

Metang said nothing as they slipped into Agility, rocketing away from the little monkey.

"Catch it and then Beat Up!" Gold ordered.

Aipom began chasing after Metang with dark energy coursing through its body.

But much to its confusion, it wasn't making as much headway as it expected.

Gold's brows furrowed in confusion due to how fast Metang was moving... and I pressed my advantage.

"Blitz it," I commanded.

On a dime, Metang whirled around and smashed into Aipom, launching the little thing back with expert precision.

"Ataro!" Gold shouted, still looking somewhat confused. "Use Agility! Catch it!"

Ataro huffed and nodded, attempting to slip into Agility... only to fail completely.

"Extrasensory," I instructed.

Gold's eyes widened in realization. "You sneaky bastard! That's not Metang!" He shouted, right as the strong beam of energy crashed into Aipom.

I smirked smugly. "The jig is up, Loki," I shrugged.

Metang snickered, Illusion fading away to reveal Loki in all his glory, posing as my steel type.

"Ugh, I should have known something was up when it was outspeeding Ataro!" Gold scowled furiously, watching as his Aipom shakily stood back up.

Metang didn't quite know Agility yet. He could tap into it very slightly, but it wasn't nearly enough to be called Agility. Just a tiny speed boost is what it offered.

I didn't say anything that would incriminate Loki posing as Metang and I relied on the fact that Extrasensory being a psychic type move, would distract my opponent from the fact that Metang couldn't learn it.

Sadly, Gold wasn't as stupid as I was betting on and he must have remembered our first battle very well.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Pity. Oh well, the damage was long done. Aipom was battered and Loki was fresh.

That didn't mean I'd underestimate him any further.

"Snarl, don't let it get close," I ordered.

"Avoid it! Don't try and use Agility either!" Gold barked, eyes frantically trying to think of a way to claw back from this.

Ataro yelped and ran from the wave of dark energy.

"Swift!"

Then it turned on a dime and fired off stars of energy, getting a groan of annoyance out of me.

Everything had a tracking move! I'm convinced!

"Destroy them!" I barked in annoyance, watching as the stars careened towards Loki.

Loki didn't need to be told twice, he lunged away as dark energy began forming in his mouth and launched another Snarl, this one far more widespread to take out the stars that were locked onto him.

"Quick Attack," I ordered.

"Get away!" Gold barked.

I watched with an impressed expression, as Ataro began booking it with speed that surpassed even Loki's normal output.

Now that I thought about it, Ataro was very agile. It was capable of practically dodging any long ranged ability, it was almost as good at dodging closed ranged and it was a freak at getting away...

All of this was probably attributed to the fact that it had Run Away as its ability.

"Pursuit," I grunted. "Don't let it out your sight."

Loki growled in affirmation and lunged forward at blistering speeds, tailing the speedy Aipom with increasing speed of its own.

Much like how I imagine an encounter in the wild would go if a Zorua was hungry enough, Loki chased Aipom across the entire field with a vengeance, powered up by the relentless Pursuit that would ensure he reached his target eventually —

"That's it Ataro! Use Counter!"

My eyes widened in shock at that but before I could even give the order to back off, Loki slammed right into Aipom.

The dreadful force of the Pursuit, was only second to the devastating Counter and I couldn't stop my mouth from opening as Aipom's tail that doubled as a hand, curled into a fist and punted Loki, blasting him away from the surprise move.

"Hah! That's our style, yeah Ataro!" Gold grinned viciously. "Lure em in and hit em where it hurts!"

Ataro let out a tired sigh and but his tail waved victoriously.

I was still stunned, recalling Loki to his ball with pursed lips.

A oneshot. Counter played perfectly into that Aipom's playstyle of luring you in with its expert nimbleness.

Seems like even someone like Gold had a bag of tricks up his sleeves...

"Metang," I said coldly, ignoring the referee telling me to send out my next pokemon.

The order for the match to begin only lasted for a split second, before Ataro was wrapped in a purple sheen and slammed into the wall.

There was a brief silence, as Ataro was slowly peeled off the wall, right before a beam of red light returned him.

Gold pursed his lips, gazing at the real Metang with a frown.

"Explotaro! Let's go!" Gold shouted, sending out his starter this time.

The Quilava growled, flames exploding out of its head and butt. It gazed at me, before its flames exploded even more in a clear desire to defeat me.

"Smokescreen!"

"Useless," Metang and I both said in unison, even as the smoke began covering the field.

Metang's eyes began glowing purple and I was satisfied to hear the Quilava cry in pain.

Gold sucked his teeth. "Ember!" he barked.

"Outta the way," I grunted.

Metang rumbled and floated aside, letting the flames sail harmlessly past him as his eyes flashed purple again.

"Quick Attack Explotaro! Don't let it use that psychic move on you again!"

Quilava began dashing across the field, not giving Metang a solid chance to lock on and capture him in its psychic energy and I pursed my lips.

"Bullet Punch."

"Be careful. It's going to use a fire move as soon as you close the distance. So use Iron Defense right before you connect," I grunted.

"Noted."

Metang effortlessly cut off Quilava's path of action, charging the fire type with fists at the ready.

"Flame Wheel! Collide with it!" Gold instructed, a hungry glimmer in his eyes for a win.

Quilava matched it, rushing Metang with an urge to finish the battle quickly.

Gold's starter leapt into the air and began spinning, flames converging around him as the momentum carried it right into Metang.

Who let out a grunt, body sheening with the effects of Iron Defense. The super effective move no doubt still hurt, but Iron Defense did it's job well in shielding them from the full effects...

"Zen Headbutt launch it up."

...And gave Metang ample time to bash its skull into the airborne Quilava's underside.

Metang followed my order to a T, launching the Quilava up higher into the air, before its eyes began glowing purple.

"Shit! Explotaro use Incinerate!" Gold urged, eyes wide in a panic.

Quilava struggled and opened its mouth, but before it could fire the attack, Metang forcefully smashed it into the ground...

Explotaro let loose a pitiful noise, right before exploding in flames that tagged Metang due to their proximity.

Then, Quilava slumped over and shut its eyes.

"Flame Burst," I scowled in annoyance. "Are you alright?"

Metang grunted, hiding their discomfort at being hit by 3 consecutive fire moves.

I frowned at the burn marks on Metang's steel body and deduced that he probably couldn't take too many more of those.

It was a good thing that Quilava was unconscious.

Gold returned his starter with a frown and cupped his final pokeball.

"Alright Larvitaro! Let's wrap this up!"

I paused in some shock at that.

A Larvitar?! Gold had a Larvitar?!

Wait a goddamn second...

"You've got a lot of confidence! Reminds of a kid I fought a while ago! He had a rare pokemon too! A Larvitar of all things!"

That stupid old bastard Flint was comparing me to Gold! What the hell?!

Oh that solidified it. Didn't give me a TM, sucked at battling and compared me to Gold.

I was gonna trash him if we ever rematched. I'm sure of it.

Metang rumbled, looking worse for wear but wanting to continue this battle.

I grunted and stared evenly at the scowling Larvitar. "Confusion," I instructed.

"Payback!" Gold immediately countered, eyes narrowed.

Larvitar grunted, channeling the dark energy and immediately breaking the psychic hold on its body. The stubby little thing lumbered across the field and my eyes narrowed.

"To the right, Iron Head when you see the chance," I said.

When Larvitar eventually reached our position, Metang simply moved to the right like I said, floating out of its way and dodging the super effective dark type attack.

Metang began glowing, ready to cave in little Larvitar with extreme efficiency.

Larvitar let out a pained roar as it was nearly lifted off its feet but before it could get sent flying, the ground type clamped its teeth around one of Metang's arms.

"Yeah that's right Larvitaro! Don't let go!" Gold encouraged, as dark type energy began flooding its teeth.

My eyes widened and I felt my connection to Metang grow weaker.

"Bullet Punch! Keep hitting him until he lets go!" I demanded.

Metang let out a roar, free right arm glowing with steel energy as it bashed its fist over and over into Larvitaro.

Still, Larvitar did not let go. It winced in pain every single time it got hit but the little thing actually looked too angry to let go...

"Payback! Knock it out quick!" Gold shouted.

I clenched my jaw. "Iron Head! Drag it closer!"

In a last ditch effort, Metang used the fact that Larvitar refused to let go and swung the trapped arm wildly towards its body, head glowing once more.

At the same time, Larvitar's body gained a black aura once more and the two crashed into each other.

I watched with a stiff expression as Metang lost the ability to float, falling towards the ground to signify that it was unconscious.

Meanwhile, Larvitar groaned and stood up, spitting out something and glaring fiercely at me.

I returned Metang to their ball and mulled over it.

This match was as good as over. I just needed to send out Gaia and wipe out this feisty Larvitar...

But that was just the easy option wasn't it?

"Freyja," I said calmly, sending her out of the ball.

I heard an audible gasp in the crowd that sounded suspiciously like Misty, as my Feebas took to the field.

Besides that though, I felt the mass confusion in the crowd, none more confused than Larvitar.

Gold's eyes were narrowed, no doubt realizing that I could have used Gaia to end this match in an instant but I didn't.

Then, he shrugged and accepted it as it was.

"Sandstorm!" Gold said instantly.

I scowled in irritation, as Larvitar conjured up a vicious sandstorm that would soon become its innate ability once it evolved. It bashed against the psychic barriers and I turned my gaze towards the uncomfortable Freyja.

"Rain Dance girl. Don't let the sand bug you," I instructed gently.

Freyja looked back at me and nodded nervously, summoning her customary rain cloud even in the face of the powerful sand.

She didn't get a chance to fully soak in the effects of the rain, before a plethora of rocks were launched her way.

They pelted her with ruthless force and she squealed in pain.

Larvitar burst onto the scene, swiftly following up on his Rock Slide with ruthless precision.

"Icy Wind!" I shouted, watching as Freyja recoiled from the pain.

She whined and shut her eyes, before blasting the lunging Larvitar right in the face with a cold gust of ice.

It clung to his skin and he roared in annoyance, but before he could reach out and grab Freyja, he was blasted in the face by a Water Pulse that also helped launch her away.

Larvitar howled as the water connected to his icy body, causing the cold to seep further into him and causing the ground type to convulse.

"Larvitaro! Focus on my voice!" Gold shouted.

The downside of using Sandstorm, was that the winds were quite loud in it and as a result, it could be slightly difficult to hear orders.

When Larvitar was already screaming in rage, it made hearing very very hard.

The ground type pawed furiously at his face and glared bloody murder at Freyja, then stamped the ground repeatedly, sending a wave of rocks and dust soaring towards Freyja.

She swelled up and launched a Water Pulse at the ground again, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge all of the Stomping Tantrum and some tagged her again.

Freyja let out a cry of pain and I knew she couldn't take more of this. She was my most frail pokemon by far, lacking even more durability than Loki so one more hit and she'd probably be unable to continue.

"Freyja! To the right!" I shouted.

She heeded my order and it was right in time, because a giant boulder flew through the air and tried to crash into her.

Larvitar scowled as his Rock Tomb missed and he looked poised to pick up another boulder...

Well, until a swift line of water slammed right into his chest.

The Larvitar let out a confused rasp, before scalding hot water slammed into it next, getting it to scream in pain.

I whistled in shock, not expecting that out of Freyja and the Larvitar tried to push itself up, before it lost all the power to do so and slumped over in defeat.

"Larvitar is unable to battle! As a result, Gold has no usable pokemon! Silver is the winner!"

"I-INCREDIBLE! WHAT A PERFORMANCE BETWEEN THESE TWO YOUNG TALENTED TRAINERS!" The announcer screamed, stunned by our display.

"You used that Sniper Pulse and Scald without me telling you too," I mused slightly, picking up Freyja with a small smile.

She needed the most guidance in battles. Loki was the most independent fighter.

"Fee," Freyja mumbled tiredly.

"The Larvitar reminded you of Ares so you felt an unexplainable rage take over?" I asked in amusement.

She nodded and I chuckled genuinely at that.

"Holy shit!" Gold exclaimed. "I was a little skeptical at you sending out a Feebas but she showed me," the boy explained with wide eyes.

I turned towards him and mulled that over.

"That was a good battle. You improved... but not as much as I expected," I told him.

Gold didn't look too upset that he lost, taking it well in stride and he simply put a hand to his backwards hat.

"You're saying you expected me to be better than that?" He asked in surprise. "Does that mean you actually don't think I'm a terrible trainer?!"

I rolled my eyes. "You have a lot to improve on. That Larvitar is a loose cannon. Get it under control before it becomes a Tyranitar... or hell even a Pupitar," I said harshly.

"That sounds more like you," Gold said, nonplussed by my harsh words. "I found Larvitaro on the way to Viridian! He was a ways away from Mt. Silver but that didn't stop him from attacking us! It was a tough battle but we won and I caught him... he's still warming up to us but he loves battling!"

Ah... so I was the direct reason Gold had a future Tyranitar now. He found it enroute to Kanto...

Huh, did that mean I changed both him and Crystal's future teams?

"You're tough but not unbeatable," Gold grunted, a fire in his eyes. "I knew it was right to make you my rival. Next time, it'll be even closer."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Good luck with that. I won't be waiting for you to get stronger."

He grinned competitively and despite myself, I felt a sort of fire get lit.

Gold was good. Gold was a real good trainer...

And I was better than him.

That didn't mean I was way better than him. He was just as talented and would only get better... so that meant I couldn't slack off. If I slacked off even a little, he'd catch up and win.

Why did the idea of staying ahead sound so exciting?

Probably because as a rival, it's my job to lose and now I'm winning against the one who ensured I remained second place.

I wanted Gold to continue to get stronger... so that I could continuously beat him at his best.

That sounded fun.

"You have a twisted smile on your face right now," Gold told me.

"Good," I replied, turning on a dime and walking off the battlefield.

There should be a few more battles coming up. I guess I could watch them.

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

One of the battles I opted to watch worth mentioning, was between Ash and Green.

It was actually a little surprising because Ash actually put up a fight.

The battle started off with Green sending out Larvee and in response, Ash had sent out his Pidgeotto.

The ease at which Pidgeotto had dispatched of Larvee had even left me surprised. Ash knew exactly what to take advantage of and made the match look like what would happen if a Pidgeotto actually ran into a Larvesta in the wild.

Gusts, Wing Attacks, using its speed to avoid the little bug... it was quite tactical of him.

Judging by Green's surprise, it was not something she expected either.

But now that she was expecting it, well... the battle turned into what I kinda expected it to be.

After Larvee fainted, Green had immediately sent out Lapee to take the reigns of the battle.

Despite her best efforts, Pidgeotto was only able to leave a few marks on Lapee before a well timed Freeze-Dry, froze her wings and rendered it useless.

With that problem dealt with, Ash returned Pidgeotto and after a few seconds of mulling it over, sent out a Bulbasaur.

It was a tiny thing but it had a fierce glare that contrasted the stoniness of Saury.

It fought fiercely too, with a sense of urgency that contrasted Saury's ruthless precision.

Razor Leafs, Vine Whips, Leech Seeds... it was throwing out a barrage of attacks...

And none of them were capable of denting Lapee.

I scowled at that. Lapee was a problem of a pokemon. I know I called Green a two pokemon team, but her Lapras was very strong too.

And one of the most annoying things about it... was that Green literally took a page out of my book and taught it Life Dew so that it could stay in battle for a lot longer.

It showed here perfectly. Lapee was a machine and even after Ash's Bulbasaur exhausted its options, she just healed right back up and finished it off with an Ice Shard that was too fast for it to escape.

Surprisingly though, Pikachu was almost able to take her out. The little rodent was far faster than it had been when I battled him and it managed to evade all of Lapee's attacks, while peppering it with nonstop Thunderbolts.

It was putting up a great assault... up until Lapee used Sing, then Life Dew... then Water Pulse and Freeze Dry.

I don't know if Green had a direction with Lapee before, but I'm pretty sure I gave her one.

But still, Ash put up more of a fight than I was expecting. He actually looked like he was beginning to tap into that potential of his...

Hah, did he really take the shit I said to heart? What was it with people wanting to prove me wrong?

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

"I saw your battle with Gold... it was really good!"

I stood across from my opponent with a focused expression and Crystal smiled at me.

She had battled a 4 badge trainer earlier in the first round. I don't know the full specifics of it but I do know that she managed to win with one pokemon left.

"I underestimated you a lot," I said truthfully, gauging her with a contemplative look. "I won't do that in this battle."

Her smile turned a bit challenging at that and I saw a glint enter her eyes. "Alright then. Show me what you've got!"

"Welcome everyone to the semi finals! These two trainers battled amazing opponents to get here but only one can continue! On the right side, hailing from Newbark Town of the Johto Region, we have Crystal! And her opponent, hailing from Viridian City, Silver!"

I paused, hearing the cheers and noting that the crowd was a lot bigger than before.

Were the other tournaments done? That didn't seem right...

"The crowds been spreading information about 5 trainers who were really impressive in the 1-4 circuit!" Crystal shouted to me over the crowd. "The only thing as exciting than seeing a high stakes full badged match, is watching new trainers with potential on their journey!"

I hummed at that and nodded. So Gold, Crystal, Green, Ash and I had managed to catch people's attentions?

Not bad. I guess paying attention to potential rising stars did sound fun for both the fans and the haters, in case they failed.

"I don't care about their attention," I said truthfully, clutching a ball as I was instructed to release first. "I'm just here to win and get my prizes."

Crystal grinned at that. "Let's make this a good battle! I won't lie and say I haven't been looking forward to this!"

With that, I tossed my ball onto the field, releasing Gaia in all her glory.

Crystal bit her lip, inspecting the Bayleef and trying to run through the odds that it was Loki in disguise.

It filled me with satisfaction to see people so wary of me even before the match started.

"Archeree! Let's go!" She shouted, sending out her Growlithe.

The puppy yipped and I grunted as I gazed at it.

"Poison Powder," I began immediately.

"Ember into the powder!" Crystal retaliated.

Gaia shot out a dusky purple cloud of poison but before it could make it far, a flame was spat into it, causing an explosion to take place.

My eyes widened as Gaia squealed in surprise, shooting back slightly as she was caught in it. There were burn marks on her and she began coughing, the ignited powder doing a number on her.

"Flame Charge! Don't let her recover!"

"Reflect!" I barked back, filing away the dangers of using Poison Powder against a fire type.

Growlithe shot across the field, flames covering its body.

It leapt at Gaia, ignoring Crystal's shouts of warning and crashed headfirst into a Reflect. The blue wall cracked at the impact, but it completely halted Growlithe's momentum, allowing vines to immediately wrap around it.

Gaia squeezed tight, glaring at Growlithe through the screen of Reflect before she yanked forward.

I winced as she repeatedly began banging the Growlithe onto the blue wall over and over again.

Crystal had a look of horror on her face at that, probably not expecting Gaia to just start ragdolling Growlithe against a Reflect like that but she recovered.

"Archeree, Flame Wheel! You need to burn those vines!"

"Drop him Gaia!"

Gaia dropped him, vines getting slightly singed as the Growlithe erupted in flames. She growled in anger and without prompting, summoned razor sharp leaves that soared after the fire type.

"Agility! Run!" Crystal urged.

Growlithe began running for its life, even as the Magical Leaf chased him down.

Crystal grit her teeth at the sight of Gaia beginning to glow and said, "Pivot! Run to her now with Flame Charge!"

I narrowed my eyes as Growlithe immediately pivoted, rushing to Gaia's position with a single-minded focus. Flames began surrounding its body and then it began circling Gaia at high speeds, not giving her a chance to react.

She whirled to one side and Growlithe was on the other in an instant, choosing right then to attack and launching himself into Gaia's side.

"Bay!" Gaia squealed, tumbling to the ground as the fire type attack struck her.

Growlithe whined as the leaves finally reached and cut into him but he ignored it, shaking his head and glaring at Gaia.

"Don't let up! Fire Fang, grab her neck!" Crystal ordered.

He was on her like a rabid dog, fangs burning as he sunk his fangs into her.

"Gaia!" I barked in concern as she squealed. "Listen to me girl... Use Poison Powder and then Synthesis!"

Crystal's eyes widened in horror.

"Wait! Archeree get out of there —"

She didn't expect Gaia to follow that order without any hesitation. Crystal thought there would be some slight pause at that... but maybe now she was beginning to realize just how much Gaia loved me.

A massive explosion ensued, as Gaia blew a poison powder directly into the flaming Growlithe. She squealed as burn marks covered her body and I promised myself that I was going to spoil her rotten for the next few days because of what I just did.

But thankfully, she began glowing with the familiar energy of Synthesis that made our risky play worth it.

It didn't get her to mint condition but it was better than the state Growlithe was in.

"Wrap this up! Body Slam!" I ordered, watching as Growlithe limped back to its feet.

"Run away!" Crystal urged with a look of panic. "Get out of her way!"

Growlithe tried to obey the order. The half conscious dog turned on a heel and attempted to run, only to be met with a Reflect that blocked off its path...

It's confusion didn't last very long as Gaia slammed her full body into him that looked more like a Take Down than a Body Slam, pressing and crushing Growlithe into the solid blue wall.

Gaia panted before letting out a triumphant battle cry that made the crowd go crazy.

"Good job," I praised, watching as Crystal returned Growlithe to his ball with a look of surprise on her face.

"You... made Gaia really scary," Crystal complimented with a somewhat disturbed expression.

Both Gaia and I puffed up at that. "Thanks. She's got a talent for it."

"Bay!"

The girl shook her head slightly, before a focused expression came back on and she immediately shot out the next pokemon.

"Misteree, let's go!" she shouted with a glare.

I grunted as the Misdreavus stared at us. She tucked away her wariness for me and instead fully focused on the panting Gaia.

"Magical Leaf," I ordered, wasting no time at all.

Gaia agreed with the sentiment because the leaves were already flying after the Misdreavus with expert precision.

"Blow them away with Ominous Wind! Then Shadow Sneak!"

Misdreavus let out a cry, summoning a cyclone of purplish wind that crashed into the leaves, ripping the psychic properties out of it and making them clatter uselessly to the ground.

Then, she vanished from Gaia's sight, putting us both on alert.

We didn't have to wait for long, because the Misdreavus popped out of the shadows directly behind Gaia with a sinister gleam in her eyes.

"Hex! She's burned!"

My eyes widened in shock, as purple energy surrounded both Misdreavus and Gaia.

Misdreavus' eyes began glowing and then Gaia let out a shriek of agony, as she began to get assaulted from all angles leaving her no room to escape. The purple energy surrounded her and tormented her with force that didn't give her much chance at all to fight back.

A beam of light returned her immediately and I stared at the spot she was at in shock.

Ah, so that's why Crystal was a strong trainer... Okay then.

Noted.

"Loki," I said with a frown.

Misdreavus and Loki stared off and before any orders were given, they were off.

Misdreavus immediately dipped into the shadows but Loki rocketed forward, a black trail of energy trailing him as he seemed to chase something that wasn't there.

Right before he reached his target, Misdreavus popped out and let loose a shrill shriek that cause him to freeze up.

Then, she summoned an orb that she shot directly at Loki, who opened his mouth and let loose a Snarl.

The Confuse Ray was instantly destroyed by the dark energy and Loki launched another Snarl, this time targeting Misdreavus who yelped in a panic and dashed away.

"Will-O-Wisp!" Crystal shouted.

"Don't let her!" I replied.

Misdreavus began conjuring up mystical flames filled with energy that was more ghost than fire but right before she fired them off, Zorua began mocking her.

A look of annoyance crossed her features, as the dark energies unknowingly washed over the ghost type and she banished the flames in her anger, before rushing Loki with a vengeance.

"Misteree no, wait!" Crystal shouted but it was too late.

The ghost had already fallen for the provocation and Loki watched with a victorious glint as she vanished into the shadows, only to appear directly behind him.

Right as Misdreavus lunged, Loki lifted himself on his hind legs and slammed downwards, erupting in a dome of crimson energy that caught the Misdreavus by surprise.

"Dreavus!" Misdreavus shouted, as the Night Daze consumed her.

I rolled my eyes. Loki was upset about the battle with Aipom so he did more than was necessary. We didn't have Night Daze mastered yet so it was still a massive drain of energy.

But it got the job done, that's for sure.

Crystal returned Misdreavus to her ball with a surprised frown.

"Misteree is really hard to rile up. Taunt is effective," she muttered. "We'll have to work on that. She's gonna be embarrassed to have lost in such a manner."

I snorted and watched in interest as she released her final pokemon.

Croconaw let out a roar at his arrival, that got louder as he realized just who his opponent was.

I gazed at the Water type with a tilted head, before nodding to myself.

Loki turned towards me and beckoned towards my belt and I snorted.

"So you remember that too huh? No complaints?" I asked curiously.

"Zor," he said with a shake of his head, allowing me to return him to the ball.

"Alright then," I nodded with a smirk. "C'mon then girl, looks like you're getting that battle you wanted."

Ares let out a roar on her arrival, that only grew more in intensity as she saw that her opponent was that Croconaw who really liked giving me the death eye.

According to Metang, Ares saw me as her vassal... and as such any slight on me was a personal slight on her.

That was pretty damn adorable.

"Dragon Dance!" Both Crystal and I shouted at the same time.

Both our eyes went wide at the order but our pokemon followed it without hesitation.

"Water Gun!" Crystal shouted.

"Rage! Absorb it!" I retorted. "Afterwards Dragon Breath!"

The Water Gun splashed uselessly on Ares, just fueling her more as Rage took effect and she opened her mouth, letting loose a giant Dragon Breath that careened towards the Croconaw.

"Aqua Jet! Get away!" Crystal ordered.

Croconaw grunted, water converging around him as he launched himself out of the way of the Aqua Jet.

"Now get close and use Bite!"

Still with the watery aura around him, Croconaw rushed towards Ares with a hungry glint.

He opened his mouth, jaws at the bit to clamp around the smaller pokemon —

"Shut its mouth with a headbutt, then Dragon Breath."

—And promptly regretted it as Ares viciously swung upwards with her head, forcefully shut its mouth.

Then, a Dragon Breath hit it directly in the midsection and launched it away.

"Bite, don't let it get too far," I ordered with narrowed eyes.

Ares rushed forward, powered by her Dragon Dance.

"Ice Fang!" Crystal ordered.

My eyes widened as Croconaw lunged forward, teeth glowing with icy energy.

He growled furiously as Ares clamped onto him and it was then I noticed that there was a familiar red tint in its eyes.

Rage?! This thing also had Rage?!

As Croconaw ignored the pain of being bit, his own sharp fangs clamped ruthlessly onto Ares, making her cry out as the super effective attack hit her.

Croconaw practically ripped her off of him and began furiously shaking his head, Ares in his mouth the whole while.

"Dragon Breath!" I shouted in concern, watching as she struggled weakly.

Ares heard my order and began charging a Dragon Breath that Croconaw took notice of.

Before she could fire it, Croconaw launched her away, disrupting the attack.

Ares rolled along the floor and I frowned as I watched her shakily pull herself up.

She was panting and as if sensing my hesitation, she turned around to face me...

With a smile.

My psychotic Bagon was smiling in joy despite the weakness in her body and the fact that she just got ragdolled by a Croconaw.

Despite all that, she was still enjoying this battle.

And it was all made clear to me as she began glowing white.

My mouth opened in shock at that and I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Nope, Ares was glowing white and going through a metamorphosis right before my eyes.

Her shape turned into that of a sphere, reminded me of a pupa as she turned quadrupedal before my very eyes. Her helmet seemed to have changed, transforming to cover her whole body and I watched grey legs begin protruding out of the shell.

I contemplated wiping the stupid grin off my face, but as two big yellow eyes gazed at me, reflecting the eagerness in my smile I let out a laugh.

"Look at you girl!" I exclaimed. "What the hell?! I didn't even know you were close to evolution!"

"Shelgon," Ares rumbled, voice significantly deeper.

The Shelgon before me looked magnificent... actually...

Hold on.

"Ares... why the hell are you so big?" I asked in confusion, scratching my head as I gazed at my Shelgon.

Shelgon while quite heavy, weren't the tallest pokemon around. The average one was about 3, almost 4, feet tall.

Ares looked like a solid 4 - 5. No seriously, why the hell was she so big?

I scratched my head in confusion and just shrugged.

We'd figure it out later.

Evidently, Ares didn't care nearly as much as I did and just turned towards Croconaw and Crystal.

"Well, this isn't what I was expecting," Crystal said in surprise.

"You and me both," I shrugged truthfully. "...Ares, use Dragon Breath."

Crystal spluttered at that, eyes going wide as I abruptly ended the temporary lull of the battle.

"Aqua Jet into Ice Fang!" she shouted, watching in shock as a gargantuan Dragon Breath left Ares mouth.

Croconaw frantically coated himself in water, dashing away from it as he rushed the giant Shelgon with a purpose...

Only to run into a sphere of green energy.

My eyes widened in interest as Ares used Protect of all moves and I remembered that this was a move Shelgon's innately learned.

Seems that was true... though the sight of Ares of all of my members willingly using Protect was a little shocking.

Still effective though.

As Croconaw recoiled, Ares lumbered about and glared at him, before opening her mouth (oh she still had one!) and firing point blank at him.

The following explosion was giant and I watched as Croconaw's body was sent soaring away.

Crystal returned him with a look of acceptance, gazing at me with wide eyes.

"I... wasn't really expecting to go against a freshly evolved pokemon," she said bluntly.

"That was a good match. I enjoyed it," I said truthfully.

I was in way too good of a mood to get sassy so I just nodded, inspecting Ares' new form with eyes full of wonder.

She preened under my attention, big yellows eyes gazing at me expectantly.

Seriously, she was huge. She was only a little below my chin and while I wasn't the tallest guy around... still.

"I'm proud of you girl. We gotta get you checked up," I muttered, returning her to her ball with a satisfied smile.

"C'mon I know you still wanna talk so just walk," I said, turning towards where the Nurse Joy was kept and making my way to her.

Crystal scratched her head and nodded, following after me with a somewhat scared expression.

She probably wasn't use to seeing my visibly happy...

It was a valid expression.

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

"You're forfeiting the match?!"

I nodded easily, not missing the disappointed look on Green's face.

She was the other finalist after all. She was probably looking forward to battling me.

"I'm satisfied with this tournament and I'm tired," I shrugged simply.

"B-But I wanted to battle you," Green said glumly.

"We travel together Leaf, you can battle me whenever you want."

"But it would have been so fun with the crowd watching!" she exclaimed.

I smirked, patting her messy head. "Then we'll just have to meet in the League. I dunno why but I'm extremely tired," I explained to her.

I had just finished getting Ares checked on and she was perfectly healthy with no complications...

But there was no explanation as to why she was so huge.

Eh, maybe Lance would know.

"Professor Oak might know too!" Green had told me. "It might be that same thing with Saury!"

Oh right... but I didn't want to talk to Professor Oak.

"Promise me we'll have an all out battle after this boat ride," Green demanded, accepting that I had no intention of playing this last match out.

"Promise. I'd be sick to my stomach holding back against you anyways. I will always fight to crush you," I said truthfully.

"That's the way I like it!" Green beamed.

Soon, Green, Crystal, some random who had lost to Green in the Semis and I were called to the podium. My sudden forfeit was met with heavy disappointment but... since when did I give a fuck what the people wanted?

I wanted a life of peace and I had to earn it myself. If they wanted some excitement, they should take up battling themselves.

The random and Crystal both received a hefty cash prize, a bundle of potions, including hyper and max potions, and a bundle of pokeballs, great balls and ultra balls.

I got the exact same things as them, with a bigger cash bonus, along with an assortment of 10 of each kind of Pokeball.

Finally, Green got all the aforementioned gifts the others got, with the largest cash prize, along with the prized egg.

It was a black egg (sick), looking drastically different in scheme to Togepi's own and I peered at it with visible interest.

"I wonder what it is," Green mused in awe, peeking at it with blatant curiosity.

I shrugged, only to blink as the egg was shoved onto me.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Take it!" Green exclaimed.

I blinked even more. "Uh, nah I'm good. You're the one who won," I denied easily, yawning as another wave of tiredness hit me.

Seriously, why was I so damn tired?

Green shook her head insistently. "In the first place, I joined this tournament so I could win the egg and gift it to you!"

...

"Why? I already forgave you for the Togee thing," I grunted.

"That doesn't change the fact that I took him," Green whispered to me, refusing to concede. "Please just take it? Consider this me returning the favor for you getting me Togee."

I opened my mouth and then shut it. I would hate having to return the favor to someone and she must have been holding this over her head for a long time.

"...Alright fine," I sighed, accepting the egg and watching her grin brightly. "You can change your mind at anytime before the egg hatches and I'll give it back," I reminded her.

"I'm good!" she denied.

"I thought Crys and I were good… but you two are crazy strong!" Gold exclaimed with wide eyes.

Crystal nodded, a little humbled by the battle that took place. "You two are so ahead of us… I've never felt more motivated to get stronger..."

Green beamed. "I wouldn't have gotten this good without Silvy!"

I grunted, rolling my eyes and feeling embarrassed by the gushing going on.

"Just train with each other," I muttered, placing the egg away into the incubator.

For my own maturity, I'd actually watch over this egg and make sure we didn't get a repeat of the Togepi thing... though I wouldn't really care if it happened.

"Next time we battle, I'll give you more of a challenge. I was only close to winning because you returned Loki and let him do his own thing against Misteree," Crystal said in determination.

"I look forward to it," I muttered, nodding towards the two. "Now, I'm gonna go sleep. This dragged on for way too long."

"Good idea," Green yawned. "I'm tired too."

With some farewells, Green and I departed heading to our respective rooms to get some much needed rest.

I sighed and landed on my bed, sinking into it and feeling drowsiness quickly consume me.

Sleep sounded good right about now.

I took a deep breath and fell unconscious, slipping into my sleep far too easily.

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

Mewtwo is near.

My eyes snapped open and I rocketed up, a cold sweat forming on my face as I was rudely awaken by some unseen force.

I leapt off my bed with a sense of urgency I never felt before.

Mewtwo was near me. I don't know how I knew that but I could tell that the legendary was startlingly close to me.

"Zor…?" Loki muttered quietly.

I jerked my head towards him and my first pokemon jolted wide awake, at seeing the alarm in my eyes.

Why the fuck was Mewtwo here?! Was it here for me?

"Loki," I hissed, beckoning him over and having him leap into my jacket. "Something's not right here."

Loki's eyes sharpened at that and he nodded.

I huffed and grabbed all my essentials (and extras from the ship), securing them to myself with a grim expression.

We were in the middle of the ocean with a legendary looming and Freyja was not a Milotic yet so swimming wasn't quite an option —

Wait, am I stupid?

I needed to get Green and not leave her for dead. She had Lapee as well so we could definitely get out of here.

Fuck... but doing that would draw Mewtwo's attention to her. If it really was here for me, I'd be painting a massive target on her back.

Wait, fuck I'm getting too ahead of myself. I needed to verify the situation first.

I ignored the way my body thrummed, sensation appearing and reminding me of the looming danger, and slunk out of the room quietly.

Almost as soon as I stepped out, I saw a man in a dark outfit, tampering with the door that led to Green's room.

The guy never saw the way my eyes flew open in murder, nor did he hear me charging him…

But he certainly felt the hand gripping the back of his head and slamming his face brutally into the wall.

It was probably a good thing for him that he fell unconscious because that meant he didn't feel the vicious foot that further broke his gushing nose.

I glared at the body in disgust, wondering how a pervert like him made it onto the ship… before my eyes honed in on the giant R on his black outfit.

…

…

"Fuck," I hissed in realization.

The reason Mewtwo was here, was because Team Rocket was on the damn ship!

Ah fucking hell, they were raiding the S.S Anne? In the middle of the ocean? With a legendary on the prowl?!

"Champion. Team Rocket are on the S.S Anne. I don't know when you're gonna read this but it'll probably all be over by then," I messaged Lance, glancing back and forth periodically.

I rang his number for good measure, but I didn't have any intention of actually speaking to him. Just needed to potentially bring it to his attention.

I glared at the unconscious body and dragged him into my room, giving him another stomp for good measure to make sure he stayed unconscious (is what I told myself).

Then, I stole his hat and placed it atop my head.

"Loki, you know what that R means right?" I asked quietly, securing it and hiding my hair.

Loki nodded with a grim expression.

"Wrap me in an illusion for now. We'll pose as these assholes for the time being," I grunted.

Loki nodded effortlessly, using Illusion to wrap me in its ability and donning the attire of Team Rocket.

I let out a cool breath and my eyes narrowed.

That's why Team Rocket had been so silent… because they had been planning something big with the S.S Anne. Something like this probably required a lot of resources and planning to account for...

I wasn't expecting this. I didn't know that they would attack the boat…

A scowl made its way to my face and I immediately dialed Green, Gold and Crystal.

To my surprise, they all answered.

"What?" Gold and Green groused.

"Silver? You don't seem like the type to call ever. What's the matter?" Crystal asked, a bit more worry in her sleepy voice.

"Don't be loud," I muttered. "Team Rocket are on the ship."

There was a tense silence at that, before I heard rapid shuffling.

"What?!" Crystal hissed in shock.

"They're here?!" Gold hissed.

"Yeah. There's an unconscious one in my room right now. He tried to break into Green's room so I dealt with him."

"W-What?" Green said in disbelief, wide awake now. "One tried to break into my room?"

"What type of freak?" Gold snarled.

"Don't let your anger get the best of you," I scolded harshly. "You guys need to understand the situation. We're in the middle of the ocean, getting raided by Team Rocket. You understand what this means right?"

There was a tense silence.

No one wanted to say it.

"They're aiming to kill us. This is the perfect scenario for them to do so. Our lives are in danger right now and to be honest, I think the ship is going to go under by the end of it so we need to plan escape routes."

There was a nervous silence and I sighed.

This is why I didn't want to drag them into this because at the end of the day, we were all just kids at the end of the day —

"So what's the plan?" Green asked seriously, stepping into my room.

She was decked out in her black dress and flinched at seeing me in the Team Rocket getup, before her gaze went over to the unconscious man on my floor.

"I'm going to pretend like I'm in Team Rocket. You, Gold and Crys meet up and stay as a group and make sure you find Brock at all costs. Bring awareness to the ship as best as you can," I instructed slowly.

"You're going alone? Are you crazy?!" Crystal asked in concern.

"It's fine," I retorted with a scowl. "I'm gonna try to slow them down in anyway I know how and I have Loki so I can blend in."

"Don't worry about me. I'll meet up with you all again because we're probably gonna need Lapee's help if worst comes to worst."

"Don't worry about him, Crys. We just have to do our part," Gold said strongly.

I felt some relief at that and sighed, before grunting at the crushing hug.

"Be careful," Green whispered in worry. "Remember what I said okay? If something happens to you, I'll cry a lot."

I frowned at that, before returning the hug for once.

"Don't worry, Leaf. I'm having fun traveling with you so I'll maintain it," I said truthfully. "Besides, I hate when people cry."

She nodded shortly, before a look of determination made its way to her face.

"There's a lot of civilians, but there's also plenty of trainers. Try and wake up as many as you can. Ash and his group should be around here somewhere. If you can get Brock awake, it'll be smooth sailing," I ordered, eyes narrowed into cruel slits.

"Right," Gold and Crystal said in unison, hanging up at the same time.

Green nodded and we rushed off in opposite directions.

I grunted as my phone buzzed.

"I'm on the way."

That's all the message said and despite the situation, I couldn't help but feel relieved that Lance saw my message.

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

"Having trouble getting these open?" I asked curiously.

The Team Rocket grunt looked at me with some annoyance.

"Hell yeah I am. Another minute and I'm just gonna have Mankey break these down," he snorted.

I nodded my head at that. "We don't wanna make too much noise idiot. One sec, lemme handle it."

He looked a little affronted at being called an idiot, but made way for me to greet the door.

I gazed at it, before pulling out a lock picker.

It didn't take me more than 30 seconds to break into the room and my "fellow" grunt gazed at my handiwork with wide eyes.

"Dude, what the hell?" he said in awe.

"Easy once you get the hang of it," I nodded, beckoning him in with a nod of my head.

"Awesome, I wish I learned that skill."

"I'll teach you after this is over," I said offhandedly, turning towards him and beckoning him in.

"Remember the plan right?" I asked.

"Course I do. Loot as much as you can, silence any strugglers and leave before the whole thing blows," he retorted, stepping into the room.

The lone person in there began stirring, before they eventually woke up.

It was an older girl, a trainer by the looks of it but her pokeballs were on the desk, quite a ways away from mher.

As clarity reached her, I saw her recognize the R's on our shirts and I grunted as horror made its way to her face.

"T-Team Rocket?!" she stammered in horror, looking back and forth rapidly before locking onto the Pokeballs at her desk.

"Ah, ah. Don't take another step," the grunt warned. "If you do you're gonna be in a world of pain."

I said nothing, crossing my arms.

"Hey... this one's kinda cute actually," he whispered to me.

"I guess," I agreed, gazing at her features.

No one I recognized but I guess he had a point, she was pretty.

"You guess?! Well maybe you wait outside for a bit while I have some fu —"

I swung my leg upwards, connecting directly with the dumbasses crotch.

The pitiful noise he let out was music to my ears and I delivered a roundhouse kick to his head.

"Would you just shut the fuck up," I said with a sneer, looking at his unconscious body without a shred of mercy in my body.

I mugged him of all his pokeballs, stripped him of his clothing and tied his limbs together with it, making sure he couldn't reach for anything.

"W-W-Wha…?" the girl said in confusion.

"How many badges do you have?" I asked her with a frown, kicking the dudes unconscious body for good measure.

"...Seven?" she said in confusion.

"Great. Team Rocket is invading the ship. We need all the help we can get. Put some clothes on, grab your team and try to wake up as many people as you can," I instructed, ear twitching as I began hearing noises.

Seems like more and more people were becoming aware of the Rockets. Hopefully Brock was one of them.

But things were going perfect so far. This was like the fifth rocket I had taken out.

"Disable it, Loki," I grunted, watching as my illusion faded away.

"H-Hey wait!" the girl called out in confusion, rushing out of bed before squealing as I pointed at her lack of attire.

"I told you to put some clothes on," I said with a scowl.

Without even waiting for the girl to say anything, I dashed out of the room at a brisk pace.

Since it seemed like more and more people were waking up, I could ditch the disguise and focus on meeting up with Green and co again.

I did my part as a person trying to save the asses of myself and whoever I liked. Everyone else could fend for themselves—

My eyes fluttered, as something smashed against my head and shattered.

"Been tailing you this whole time and you finally left an openin for yourself," a grunt said, holding a glass bottle in his hands.

"Perfect. Best to just take you out right now — A-AGHH!"

Whatever the grunt was about to say, cut off as a feral Zorua crashed into him and began clawing at him with murder in its eyes.

I groaned, as flashes went off and realized my entire team had released themselves.

I tentatively reached for the back of my head and winced at coming back with red liquid and glass shards.

That didn't feel good at all. It actually hurt a lot and I was very quickly losing focus.

A vine held me up and I watched Gaia's worried eyes gazing at my red matted hands.

She began glowing with the familiar power of Heal Pulse and while it helped dull the fogginess and pain a little, it wasn't perfect by any means.

I pushed myself up and grabbed a gauze from my bag, shakily wrapping it around my head.

A blue sheen wrapped around it, courtesy of Metang and I watched my steel type use the gauze with an almost jealousy inducing amount of precision.

"It would be unfavorable if you died of blood loss. We have many more concerns at our life currently."

I agreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment and stood on my two feet, gazing at the body of the rocket with some shock.

Even the smallest of pokemon, were more dangerous than say... running into a lion in the wild and this guy learned that first hand.

All you needed to know was that he was almost certainly not alive.

I grunted, opened the nearby window and heaved, both from the concussion I was probably suffering and the dead body next to me.

"Zor?" Loki asked in concern, fur matted with blood.

Ares was no better, blood dripping from her newly evolved fangs and I smiled shakily at them.

To the side, I saw an unconscious Zubat and Raticate, both drenched in water and writhing from what was probably psychic tampering.

"You guys are filthy, gonna have to get you cleaned. Freyja wash them off a bit," I said after a moment. "Thanks for protecting me."

"Bag!" Ares snarled, gazing at the corpse with disgust in her yellow gaze.

"...Zor," Loki said in relief.

"Metang, throw that body out of the window please."

"Understood."

As Metang wrapped the body in a psychic sheen, I sighed and reassessed my plan of action.

"We've done our job. Everyone should be aware of the rockets now. I've done my part now it's time for me to focus on staying alive," I said shortly to them all.

"We're gonna find Green and get out of here. Eliminate any Rocket who gets in our way. Prioritize the human first," I sneered.

That was one thing I didn't get. Why didn't people go for the trainer first? This wasn't sanctioned battling anymore.

I didn't give a damn about the Rockets drugged up, mess of pokemon. The humans were the real issue and we could deal with the Pokemon after.

"I'm returning everyone but Metang and Loki. Look alive you guys. We're making it off this ship," I grunted slowly, head throbbing as a headache bloomed.

My team made noises of affirmation and I returned them.

A wave of dizziness hit me, as an explosion rocked the ship and I took that as my queue to begin fleeing now.

"Green, where are you?"

"I'm with Gold and Crystal. We've done our part and evacuations are being held, while most of the Rockets are being dealt with. Are you alright? You called me Green."

"I took a shot to the head. Glass something. I might have a concussion."

"?! Please come to me quickly, Silvy! We've done our part. Lapee is ready to go so just get over here."

"Right, I'll do that. If I don't show up in the next 3 minutes. Leave."

"W-What?!"

"I'll be fine Green. You need to ensure you stay alive."

No sooner did that text leave me, did another gargantuan explosion rock against the ship, sending me tumbling.

I gasped as my back crashed against the wall and saw stars in my gaze.

"Bombardment of the ship has begun. We must go."

I shakily pulled myself up, dragging myself atop Metang's body.

"I feel weak," I admitted with a raspy breath, struggling to get my breath under control.

"That is why you have us."

With that, Metang dashed off, heading to the balcony of the ship…

But we didn't make it very far, because a massive explosion rocked the ship and blew open a hole to the ship.

Fuck —

My eyes widened and I only had a moment to return both Loki and Metang, before I was plunged into the cold water below.

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

Ariana oversaw the mission of Vermilion with a bored expression.

She was located on a helicopter that flew above the ship, a Ninetales resting next to her with an equally bored expression.

A mission as simple as this, should have been handled by Proton. A simple mission for a simple man.

It was his job to be upset at the useless grunts raiding the ship. The trainers aboard were rallying it looked and there was utter mayhem taking place on the S.S Anne.

"Human."

Ariana jolted at that and resisted the urge to scowl.

"What is it?" she asked with a frown.

"The odds have dropped considerably against us."

Ariana raised a brow. "And why is that?"

"There appears to be a formidable trainer aboard. A deeper search confirms that they used to be a Gym Leader."

Ariana pursed her lips at that.

Well that would explain why the grunts and officers were failing then. A Gym Leader?

"I suppose I'll go deal with him then. Is it Lt. Surge?" she asked with a frown.

That one would cause her some issue, especially if his full team was with him.

"It matters not who it is. I will deal with it. Remind them of their time limit. They have approximately 2 minutes and 47 seconds remaining before the bombs placed are set."

Right. That's what Mewtwo was here for. A casual flexing of power, while ensuring the mission didn't completely fail and of course, keeping Ariana's identity a secret.

"All Rockets, you have 3 minutes to flee," Ariana muttered into their comms, not caring if they couldn't hear her. "Failure to escape in that time frame, will likely result in your death. You've been warned."

That was all she offered them and Ariana shut the comms off.

"Prepare for takeoff. We're done here," she ordered the pilot.

What a waste of time. Why was she even here if Mewtwo was just going to solve every issue?

Oh she knew why, it was because Giovanni finally grew tired of her complaints about the whereabouts of their fucking son. So as a solution, he tacked her onto some random stupid mission, labelled it as important and made her pour attention onto it.

Ariana cursed under her breath at that, contemplating slowing down the destruction of the ship just to vent some frustrations.

Alas, things were not to be.

She watched as Mewtwo prepared itself the exact moment the third minute had passed, that cold and oppressive sheen covering its armored body, before the legendary psychic outstretched its strange hand. She ignored the explosions already going off and gazed at the legendary in some trepidation.

It mattered very little to it if there was anyone on board. It did not care if there were still grunts, officers or executives on board.

No... all it cared for was ensuring its task was completed.

Ariana couldn't stop the shudder at watching Mewtwo in action.

A monster. That's what it was. A monster that didn't yet realize how monstrous it truly was.

The first blast of power from the psychic, tore a hole into the ship, which made Ariana furrow her brow because she was well aware of the legends power.

She was further proven correct, when the second burst of power from Mewtwo, obliterated the gigantic ship completely.

Just a release of psychic power… and the job was done.

"What was that first attack for?" Ariana couldn't help but ask.

Mewtwo said nothing for a long while, merely gazing at the few survivors escaping.

It's job was to ensure that the S.S Anne was destroyed no matter what, all while ensuring the mission succeeded and the executive's identity was kept secret.

Fleeing passengers meant nothing to it... but one thing did.

"Are you aware that your spawn, the one named Silver, was aboard that ship?"

Ariana went cold, eyes flying wide in horror.

"What did you just say?!" she shouted loud enough to make Ninetales jolt up.

"It's as I said. Your spawn was aboard the ship."

"Is he still alive?!" she asked in horror.

"For now."

Ariana felt horror welling at that. Without even thinking about it, she returned Ninetales and released two pokemon from her ball.

"Gardevoir, teleport us to the water. Lapras, swim until we find what I'm looking for," she instructed with wild eyes.

Gardevoir's eyes flashed at that, glancing in terror at where Mewtwo remained stationary, before it nodded shakily.

Ariana mounted the sullen Lapras and the three were teleported directly atop the water, aways away from the S.S Anne.

Silver was on that ship?! That wasn't… that just wasn't possible! Why was he on that ship?! Was Giovanni aware?

Was that damned bastard trying to kill their son?!

She returned Gardevoir and released Zoroark.

"Wrap us in an illusion," she ordered, even as Lapras began swimming towards the wrecked S.S Anne.

That fool! Why was he even on that ship? If he just stopped being so stubborn he'd know that this ship was being targeted by Team Rocket!

That… that fool!

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

As I sunk, I suddenly gained all my clarity and realized that I was dangerously close to dying.

There was no way I could let that happen. Drown? After everything I've been through? No.

Not happening.

I ignored the freezing temperatures, held my breath and began swimming towards the surface because I refused to drown here.

My head was on fire, my lungs were on fire, my body ached but I refused to die here.

I swam against the heavy currents, I ignored the curious Goldeen and Magikarp, I ignored the Tentacruel contemplating if I was worth eating over the other fish, I ignored it all.

I just continued to swim with a single-minded focus.

But it felt so far... it felt like no matter how hard I swam, I was just sinking right back down...

Terror welled up in me at that.

I didn't want to die. I couldn't die to this... but how could I get out —

I was brought out of my hysteria, as something desperately tried pulling me towards the surface.

My eyes went wide at seeing the panicked Freyja attempting to save my life and I regained my senses.

At the sight of my little fish, trying their best to save me with a look of pure determination and fear… I mustered up all the strength I could and pushed.

Die? To fucking drowning? After all the things I prepared myself for... drowning was going to be what knocked me off?

Absolutely fucking not.

My alertness went up tenfold and I could see everything so clearly.

That clarity —I don't know if it was the breath of death— helped me see a shadowy figure near the surface and I desperately reached my hand out to grab them, feeling a well of relief at seeing it clench tightly around me.

As I was dragged out the depths of the ocean, two slender hands pulled me with a surprising amount of force.

I coughed harshly, clutching onto the person who saved me and letting out a small and shuddering sigh as I was immediately wrapped into a tight hug.

I never felt as small as I did until now, clutching the person like if they let me go, I'd sink to the bottom of the ocean and it took me a while to gather my wits.

As I steadily cooled my nerves, I took a deep breath I was hugging someone with too much vulnerability that I would never be comfortable showing...

But right now I had more things to worry about like being thankful that I was alive and the Lapras I was atop of.

It swam through the waters at a steady pace, bringing my panic to a steady lull.

Did Green find me…? Was she waiting for me this entire time?

But no… this wasn't Green. This person was taller than Green and older too judging by the figure that I was crushed again.

Considering I was still being hugged (I didn't realize the person was reassuring me with soothing words) I could only make out red hair a similar shade to mine.

Was this…?

"Better now?" the voice asked, soft in nature with a strong hint of authority in it.

I didn't trust myself to say anything wise, so I just stayed silent. I inclined my head and felt relief at watching Freyja steadily following the Lapras.

"Thank you so much, girl," I held out her pokeball and smiled shakily at her, returning her to the ball.

Finally, I turned towards the person who saved me and properly gauged them.

It was dark, but I could make out a head of red hair, that was no doubt on a woman's body, along with what may have been red eyes?

She was gazing at me like I were a ghost…

"Silver," she breathed out.

Wait... I knew who this was…

"I know this may be a lot to take in, especially considering what just happened to you..." the woman began.

"...But I'm Elite Four Lorelei and I'm… your aunt," she revealed. "My sisters name is Ariana… she's your mother, right?"

I stared dumbly at her and then just let the wave of exhaustion consume me, falling blissfully asleep in her grasp.

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

Lorelei gazed at her unconscious nephew with soft eyes, taking his light body and putting him in front of her, before she once again took control of the situation.

"Cloyster, Dewgong, Slowbro. Regroup with Lance's Gyarados and Kingdra and save as many people as you can. Reinforcements are on the way," she ordered.

Her pokemon nodded and rocketed off into the depths, giving her enough time to inspect the Champion himself, atop Siegfried as his dragons flew across the entire area.

Lorelei sighed and removed her glasses, before gently cleaning them with her woefully unprofessional attire.

Then, she gazed at Silver's unconscious body and ran a hand through his matted hair.

Her first meeting with her nephew and it was right after saving his life from drowning.

What a great start.

She had been sleeping, when Lance had abruptly woken her up with news that the S.S Anne was being attacked.

Seeing as she was the one most equipped with dealing with Water situations, Lance brought her along with him and on Sigfried's back, they soared over to a location that Lance was using his Pokegear to track.

It was as she was searching for survivors on Lapras, did her first pokemon inform her of a figure underwater rapidly attempting to swim to the surface.

It was a twist of fate that the person swimming up to her, happened to be her nephew...

She was glad she made it in time to save him... just thinking of the alternatives...

Lorelei frowned as she removed her hand from his head and gazed at the red matting her hands.

"Lapras, continue surveying for survivors," she instructed, releasing a Jynx from the Pokeball.

"Jynx teleport us to Vermillion then teleport back to Lapras. Inform Lance of what I'm doing."

Jynx sang in agreement, eyes glowing as she grabbed onto her trainer and Lorelei sighed as the three of them were teleported to Vermillion.

Silver was in dire need of medical assistance. Lorelei had no idea how long he had been underwater... but he also sustained a head injury in the process.

"Thank you... Jynx?" Lorelei asked, noting that her Jynx looked far more exhausted than she should be.

Jynx panted, gazing at Silver with wide eyes that prompted Lorelei to gaze at him as well.

She sighed and carried him inside of the Pokemon Center.

So many questions.

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

Ariana stared in total disbelief, as her younger sister Lorelei hugged her son and soothed him.

Silver clung to her body, shaking and shuddering in her grasp as she ran a hand through his soaked and terrified body.

…

Ariana felt a well of true rage flow through her and nearly threw caution to the wind, by lunging at her sister and taking her son back.

Unfortunately, or fortunately for her, things were not to be.

"Human. Our job is complete. We are leaving."

Before she could protest the decision, a blue sheen wrapped around her and she was transported away from the scene.

Ariana scowled and whirled on Mewtwo with fury in her eyes.

Legendary be damned! She would give this thing a piece of her mind —

"Compromise of the mission is unacceptable. I already hid your presence from the other humans, hid your identity from the grunts that are being captured and prevented you from getting captured. You have little room to be upset."

"My son nearly died," Ariana hissed.

"Your spawns safety was not apart of my mission. That is yours."

Even despite that, Mewtwo accounted for his presence. The one named Silver was far too curious to let die right now.

The Psychic was even aware enough to guide the woman, who this red haired human harbored resentment towards, to Silver's location.

But they did not need to know that. For now, Mewtwo's interest in Silver would remain… secret.

Ariana bristled at Mewtwo's cold words.

"Silver was on the S.S Anne?"

She stilled at that voice and whirled towards the neutral expression of one Giovanni.

"Correct. He was assaulted by a Grunt as well," Mewtwo intoned.

The psychic's purposeful words elicited the reaction he was looking for and he watched as Giovanni twitched.

"Assaulted by a simple fucking grunt?!" Ariana shrieked in rage.

Who did these grunts think they were?! Whose child did they think they had the right to touch?!

She'd have every single grunt cleaning Taurus shit for the rest of their lives!

"Where is Silver now?" Giovanni asked, lips almost forming an invisible frown.

Mewtwo spared Giovanni a single glance, already getting everything they wanted from this conversation.

"The city where the ship set sail. His alleged aunt served as an escort."

Giovanni raised a brow and gazed at Ariana, who grit her teeth.

"Yes. Lorelei," she grit out the name of her little sister.

"Interesting… is she aware of your relationship with Team Rocket?" Giovanni asked.

"Nobody is," Ariana retorted with a scowl. "But Silver and I look identical. It won't take a genius for her to realize who's son he is and by the way she hugged him… she probably already knew."

Giovanni said nothing at that and then nodded "Very well. He's accounted for and safe. The raid of the S.S Anne was not as smooth as I expected, but you did an admirable job salvaging the situation, Mewtwo."

"Naturally. This is beneath me. There is no reason to believe I'd perform any less than my intended role."

"Entirely correct. You are free to go partner."

Mewtwo said nothing, teleporting away from the two.

Ariana huffed and walked off.

"An excellent mission for you as well, Ariana… but where are you going?"

"You are not the only one who should be allowed to visit our child," she sneered.

Giovanni gazed at her for a moment.

"That is reckless. The S.S Anne sank, there were sightings of not only the Elite 4, but the Champion as well. Going there carries many risk."

"Then I'll take a page out of his book," she bit out, stressing her point by showing Zoroark's pokeball.

"…" Giovanni said nothing.

"Very well. Do as you wish. I shouldn't have to say this, but ensure no one makes any connections."

Ariana nodded tersely.

The door shut.

Giovanni watched it for a moment, before leaning back into his seat with a contemplative expression.

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

Mewtwo gazed down at the buzzing of Vermilion city, so high in the sky that no one would even be able to sense it.

Despite the thousands of people in the city, it was very easy for Mewtwo to pinpoint anyone it so desired...

None were like Mewtwo. Mewtwo was the strongest.

Even now, it would take but a small exertion to snuff out every life force in the city below him.

Yet Mewtwo did not because… because Mewtwo was curious.

About the spawn named Silver.

What Mewtwo purposefully omitted from Giovanni, was the fact that it was Silver himself who caused the plans to go so awry.

Mewtwo of course felt when Silver woke up. Mewtwo felt Silver recognize their presence. Mewtwo used the mind of one of the other humans to understand that it was Silver who set the plans failure into motion…

But why? What was the reason for Silver to sabotage something that was going to be handed to him so long as he listened?

Silver was aware of Mewtwo's superiority… yet that did not stop him from opposing Team Rocket. In fact, it seemed as if Silver was willing to oppose even Mewtwo themself.

Why did he not care about Mewtwo's might?

Giovanni cared much about his might and Silver was the spawn of him.

The armored legendary mulled over its thoughts more, unable to reach an answer when they would normally have an answer for everything.

It would continue to observe.

They were… curious, to see what Silver's motives were.

Mewtwo could end it right here… but this… rebellion was it? Yes. This rebellion of Silver's fascinated them.

Yes. They would watch this unfold unless told otherwise.

After all, Mewtwo was curious to see how Silver would ever manage to stop his strength.