I was back in the area of never ending darkness from before, but this time I had access to all my senses.

My brows furrowed, silver eyes gazing at the expanse of nothing with a tilted head.

What type of dream was this? Twice in a row?

Perhaps it was the work of a Darkrai?

But if it was a Darkrai, I wouldn't be waking up and this dream would be a nightmare... not to mention I woke up last time.

Also I don't think Darkrai had eyes that big. The last time I had this dream, two giant red eyes were peering at me right before I woke up.

Did Darkrai even have red eyes? I dunno. But I knew they weren't that big.

So whatever this was, probably not a nightmare from Darkrai. My thoughts were almost completely coherent too. I never dreamed so clearly… but then again I couldn't actually see anything.

This was so confusing. What Legendary was responsible for this bullshit?

"Hey," I called out into the dark. "If you're not gonna say anything, can you let me wake the fuck up? This place is creepy as hell and I hate being here."

Silence. No surprise, I didn't even feel a presence here.

I sighed and willed myself awake, groaning in frustration as that failed.

Just what was I dreaming of? Why was I so self aware in my dreams? Was I even dreaming?

As I mulled over the strangeness of it all, a daunting force, not unlike my previous dream and the encounter with Registeel, crashed into me…

But this felt… wrong.

Despite this being the same dream as the time in Meteor Falls. The presence in the room with me wasn't the same.

This was something… or someone different.

Was this… a different legendary? But I didn't even know who the first one was. Who the hell was this?

Before I could try and get a single hint… my thoughts were interrupted.

Forcefully.

I shut my eyes as a pressure pressed against my head and groaned in discomfort.

A feeling, not unlike when Bronzy and Beldum managed to speak to me, suddenly made itself known, before whoever was doing this established a connection to me...

While my guard was still up.

Ah son of a bitch, this was another legendary.

"How curious. Not once have I been unable to search a person's mind... yet I can only touch the surface of yours. To wield an almost impenetrable mind that not even I can glean into… Perhaps you are more."

No sooner was that random sentence said, did I forcefully wake up drenched in sweat.

Despite the prodding that had happened to my head, I felt perfectly fine up there and grunted in confusion.

Sucking in a deep breath, I grabbed my Pokedex, that went flying off my chest when I rocketed up from my sleep, and checked it for the time.

4 am… I just wanted to take a nap but I ended up sleeping for way longer than I thought…

I was still pretty tired too, I think I'm just gonna go back to sleep.

I idly reached a hand out and pet whichever of my members decided to sleep next to me today.

Before I sleep though, I guess I should think about what just happened to me.

This was second time I had a dream where I was being influenced by some Pokemon and now I could safely say (I already knew shut up) that it was definitely Legendary in nature.

But there was only one problem… the first dream and the second one…

Those were not the same legends. I was sure of it. I couldn't give proper reasoning because I didn't know how to explain it, but I know for a fact whoever just spoke to me was not the same as the wielder of the giant red eyes.

And its words…

"How curious. Not once have I been unable to search a person's mind... yet I can only touch the surface of yours. To wield an almost impenetrable mind that not even I can glean into… Perhaps you are more."

Was that a psychic type?

No I'm certain that was a psychic type. They tried to pry deeper into my mind but were met with resistance, likely by the foggy fortress...

Much like Beldum and Bronzy. I don't know if another type can do that... but the first legendary certainly didn't try to pry into my mind.

And if this was a psychic type… I had a good idea who it probably was.

The prized project of Team Rocket… Mewtwo.

Now I could be wrong and Team Rocket didn't actually have the means to make their own artificial god and this could be like Mew or some other psychic legendary… but I wasn't holding out on that.

Also there's the fact that I'm Giovanni's kid. At least this legendary made sense in the grand scheme of things.

I frowned in contemplation.

How much control did Giovanni have over Mewtwo? Was Mewtwo even apart of Team Rocket? Why was it looking into my head? Was it because I was calling out for someone in my dream?

Perhaps ol dad of mine was curious about me and made a request...

If Mewtwo was even half of what he was portrayed as by all media (seriously he was so fucking popular) things suddenly got a lot worse. Team Rocket had an actual legendary on their side… and it was likely one of the strongest legendaries that currently existed.

That was concerning. Would I still try to get rid of them?

Absolutely.

It was either deal with them now, or have Giovanni and Mewtwo come after me themselves anyways.

What a suddenly daunting thing to think of. My Father had a legendary at his command (allegedly) and he probably had no qualms using it to ensure I go back to him.

That's probably why he was letting me go on this journey of mine, Mewtwo would not have much issue looking for me. Where was it even at right now?

To be able to find and single me out in Pewter City... when Giovanni mostly resided in Viridian...

I frowned deeply. What was I going to do then? I didn't have the means to deal with a Mewtwo probably ever.

At the very least, I was given a little solace at the fact that not even Mewtwo seemed to be able to fully penetrate my mind. It seemed to be able to speak to me when I was asleep (probably because my guard lowered) but anything more seemed out of its reach.

Fascinating. This fortress in my mind was doing me wonders and I didn't even understand the details behind it.

I sighed.

So there was a high chance Mewtwo would target me soon. I still didn't know the identity of of the first legendary who showed up. My fortress was even strong enough to stop a legendary psychic from gleaning even further into my head…

I wonder if those big red eyes I saw, had a connection to my mind being so hard to look into.

Questions get answered, only to get replaced with different questions.

It was all so ridiculous.

Whatever, I'm going back to sleep —

The pokemon I was patting let out a pleased sigh and I froze at the very feminine noise of it.

I mechanically turned my head to the source of that sigh and bore witness to the sight of one Leaf Green sleeping on my bed.

She was smiling happily as she snored away. Clearly she was a fan of the patting I thought I was submitting Zorua to and I gazed at her with a disbelief that she couldn't feel at all, considering she was dead to the world.

...

Green let out a loud yelp, as a foot connected to her side and launched her off the bed.

She let out a tired groan and sat up, letting out a pained noise as the lights flicked on.

Angry silver eyes bored into her and she scratched her head at the redhead that was her friend, Silver.

"Why did you kick me?" she asked sleepily. She just wanted to go back to sleep.

Silver's eyes narrowed even further.

Green thought Silver's eyes were really cool. She never met anyone with eyes such a vivid shade of… silver (she wasn't even sure who had silver eyes!)! They looked good even with how cold he naturally seemed to be.

Green thought they looked best when he was happy… though she only just saw that. He really only looked at her with annoyance and exasperation…

Like right now.

"Why the fuck are you sleeping on the same bed as me?!" her friend snarled.

Green stopped being intimidated by that tone of his after the third time! The only thing she was really weary about was doing anything that evoked a physical response from the redhead… which normally meant touching him in some way.

He didn't like being touched very much but he was at least getting used to her!

Oh right, he asked her something.

Green rubbed her eyes and yawned. "While you were sleeping, I was talking to Jas and lost track of time. By the time we finished, I was so tired and I actually didn't uh… get my own room so I would have had to walk all the way to the front desk so I just fell asleep," she explained.

Naturally, Silver's expression didn't shift at all. Green was getting to know him pretty well because she was positive that he didn't care even a little.

"I don't care, get out. I already deal with you during the day," he groused, rubbing his really messy hair.

"We'll be sleeping! You don't gotta deal with me!" Green protested. "I used to have sleepovers with Ash and Blue all the time!"

"Go fuck yourself and have a sleepover with them then. Do I look like Ash or Blue to you?" Silver replied immediately, scowling.

"But we'll be gone in a few hours anyways," she countered tiredly. "Stop making a fuss about it! You have a big battle tomorrow!"

Whatever Silver was about to say (it was probably going to be very violent), died as the sleepy Gaia let out an annoyed noise and began waving a single vine around threateningly.

Green learned very quickly that Gaia did not like getting her sleep interrupted and Silver, despite his belligerent attitude, did not direct his rudeness towards his Pokemon.

It was night and day how he treated his team and everyone else.

So it was no surprise at all to Green, when Silver turned his gaze towards the grumpy Gaia and sighed.

"Don't touch me. Stay on your side. If you hog the covers, I'm tossing you off the bed. Oh and don't touch me," Silver said blandly, shutting the light and making his way back to the bed.

Green would have cheered triumphantly but she really was too tired so she just made her way to the bed and remained on her side.

Getting Silver to accept things was actually very easy. You just had to be insistent… but where things were not easy, was making sure you didn't overstep the boundaries he set.

That's when his belligerence felt real. Silver was actually fairly reasonable but he hid it behind a terrible attitude.

Green would know. He basically went along with everything she said despite how much he mentioned her being annoying.

Jasmine thought he was a great friend behind that tough exterior of his and Green was inclined to agree!

"Goodnight, Silver," she yawned.

"Shut up and go to sleep," he replied bluntly, facing away from her.

Green sweat a bit at that.

It was just really hard to see the nice part of him! Honest!

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

A lot more people were here to witness my battle than against Surge. It wasn't much, but they were in the stands, watching my upcoming battle with an eager look.

Some of these people looked suspiciously like the ones I battled yesterday. Even that Jason kid was there, sitting next to an eager Green with a reserved stance.

Besides them, there were at least 9 other versions of Brock there in the stalls too. Brock's parents sure were freaks. I'm surprised he's even here for this battle and not off making kid #34 with his wife.

I shrugged. Looks like everyone wanted me to lose this battle. I was quite the heel of this match, huh?

How unfortunate for them.

"You must be Silver!"

The one who said that, looked like an older version of Brock. He wasn't as tall as Surge, but still taller than me, with a set of shut eyes and a sleeveless yellow shirt that showed well kept arms.

"No shit," I said with a roll of my eyes, uninterested in inspecting him further. "Flint right? Let's make this a good battle."

Brock's father let out a hearty laugh at that. "Straight to the point and not one to mince your words either eh? Alright, let's not waste any time!"

The referee stepped up on cue and raised his hands.

"This is an official gym battle of the Pewter City Gym between the challenger, Silver of Viridian City and the Gym Leader, Flint! Each side is allowed 3 pokemon and only the challenger is allowed to swap. The match will be decided when all 3 Pokemon of one side are unable to continue!"

"As the gym leader, Flint must release first!"

Another 3 on 3 eh?

"I heard you requested it against Surge as well," Flint remarked with a kind grin, holding out a pokeball and tossing it.

The ball materialized into a sturdy looking pokemon that looked like a rhino, but it's skin was replaced by rocky plates.

A Rhyhorn...

I snorted and held out my own ball. "Aren't you all just accommodating? Though… you should have made it a 2v2, I was already going to win but now it's guaranteed," I remarked with a confident smirk.

With that, I tossed the ball and released Freyja.

A hushed whisper immediately rushed through the stadium at my choice, all confused.

No surprise. I didn't use Freyja yesterday, didn't wanna risk anything happening to her. They probably thought I was going to sweep this guy with Gaia… not an incorrect thought.

I could definitely do that... but where was the fun in that?

Flint's smile lessened a little at that, gazing at my water type with the same puzzlement as the crowd.

"Freyja, focus on my words," I instructed calmly, chilling over as my mind focused on nothing but winning this battle in the most efficient way.

My nervous Feebas gazed back at me, no doubt realizing that I had been serious when I said I was planning on winning a match with her.

"The contestants are set! Rhyhorn vs Feebas! Begin!"

"Rain Dance," I began with a focused expression.

The best way to battle with Freyja, was to be utterly composed. It was very easy for the nerves to get to her, so my calmness would seep into her and hopefully make her not panic.

"Horn Attack," Flint began.

Was that pity I heard in this old bastards voice?

Freyja summoned the customary tiny rain cloud, that hovered above her (she was getting really good at controlling it!) and at the same time, Rhyhorn rushed her position, horn poised to stab into my fish.

The name of the game, was making sure Freyja didn't get hit by Rhyhorn because if that rhino hit my poor fish, she was going to be knocked out immediately.

Unless in water, Freyja wasn't very fast… so avoiding hits wasn't easy.

That's why I was so big on her practicing her control.

"Freyja, Water Pulse on the ground in front of you. Launch yourself out of the way of the Rhyhorn," I commanded coolly.

For now, Freyja's battling relied heavily on Rain Dance. Not only did it make her water moves stronger and easier to use, it also activated her ability, Swift Swim.

Swift Swim was an ability that enhanced a pokemon's reflexes, so long as there was a sufficient amount of water on them.

The most notable, was that their speed increased dramatically.

Though Feebas wouldn't be moving much faster given her physiology… that did nothing to halt the enhanced reflexes.

Case in point, she used the rain from Rain Dance to form a small water pulse and launched it towards the ground, causing the mini explosion to launch her up out of the path of the running Rhyhorn.

The shocked gasps of everyone there, brought a satisfied smirk to my face.

What Feebas lacked in power, she would make up in control and precision. Until she became a Milotic, she would maximize the water she could use.

And when she did finally become one, she'd have all the power in the world to control and all the precision to be a truly flexible monster.

"Water Pulse, aim for the back," I instructed calmly, eyes narrowed as the Rhyhorn continued ts course.

My airborne Feebas (what a sight) turned at my command and formed another Water Pulse, this time for actual offense.

With only some hesitation, Freyja fired it off and it hit the confused Rhyhorn directly on the back.

Freyja landed on the rocky terrain at the same time Rhyhorn let out a roar of pain, feeling her confidence rise at seeing how effective her attack had been.

"Don't let your guard down. Focus," I instructed.

She nodded in determination, fully bought into my confidence at the moment.

If Flint was underestimating my Feebas before, he wasn't anymore. The smile was gone completely and his features sharpened.

"Rock Blast!" The Gym Leader barked frantically.

"Get outta there," I told her.

My calmness washed over Freyja and she followed my command far more seamlessly than before.

She once more summoned a Water Pulse and propelled herself away from the massive boulders trying to crush her.

"Hypnosis."

Rhyhorn was still in the midst of setting up another Rock Blast, before Freyja's eyes gained a slight blue sheen to them.

Much to my delight, and Flint's chagrin, Rhyhorn began sluggishly swaying. Rhyhorns were notoriously dumb so a move like Hypnosis would be a lot more effective...

Unfortunately, Freyja wasn't quite strong enough to put it fully to sleep. But just it being drowsy was fantastic for us.

Now, time to lay this to rest.

"Water Pulse. Sniper version."

Freyja let out a noise of confirmation and began to concentrate deeply.

A Water Pulse began to form, smaller than any she had formed before and I watched her shut her eyes tight to concentrate.

Flint had not been quiet during this entire exchange. He had been shouting to Rhyhorn to some success so we needed to wrap this up quickly.

"Bulldoze!" Flint replied frantically.

Finally, Freyja deemed her attack ready and I watched in satisfaction as she shot out a water pulse that was only slightly bigger than a water droplet...

But what a water droplet it was. It raced through the air at high speeds and connected squarely onto Rhyhorn's face.

The universal confusion turned into stunned silence as Rhyhorn let out a roar of pain the moment the droplet connected.

Power was nothing if you couldn't control it and my Feebas would become a master of control. If she couldn't shoot out big techniques, then we'd make the small ones hurt by concentrating as much of what little power she had.

That water pulse was so small because she concentrated all the power into it without increasing its size. It was like a bullet!

With proper control and precision, anything could be deadly... and when she did gain immense power, she'd be an actual force to be reckoned with.

But small steps. This was a marathon, not a sprint. Freyja was going to be a Milotic but for that to happen, she needed to acknowledge her worth as a Feebas and for her to acknowledge her worth as a Feebas, I had to make her worthwhile.

Only by acknowledging that I love her as Feebas, will she be able to shed her self inflicted shackles to become Milotic. At this point I didn't even care if that wasn't needed for evolution... I just wanted her to be happy with herself.

Freyja let out a squeal of pain as the ground shook beneath and launched her up with dreadful force, but Rhyhorn let out a pitiful whine and collapsed, unconscious to the world.

My Feebas gathered herself and had just enough mind to Water Pulse herself right before making contact with the ground to somewhat cushion her fall but she looked worse for wear.

Yeah taking a hit right now was not in our best interest.

"Rhyhorn is unable to battle! The winner of this match is… Feebas?!" The referee shouted in shock.

Freyja's eyes widened at that call and she gazed over at me in clear surprise.

I caught her eye and smiled smugly. "Believe me now?" I called out.

"Fee…" My Feebas said, at a loss for words, before she began nodding with tears pricking her eyes. "Fee!"

I snorted and held out my ball. "You can rest now. You took a lot of damage from that Bulldoze and you don't have the stamina to use all those moves so let the others deal with this."

Freyja nodded, relieved by my decision to pull her out of the battle because she truly was exhausted and that Bulldoze practically oneshot her.

"I'm forfeiting Freyja," I announced, returning her to the ball and pocketing it.

"The challenger has forfeited his Feebas! Please release your next Pokemon!"

Flint looked rightfully stunned by the affairs. After all, I just thrashed his Rhyhorn with a Feebas of all things.

Damn did it feel good to shut everyone up. I nearly laughed out loud at the only noise being Green's cheering.

"Surge wasn't kidding, you're really something," Flint remarked, gazing at me with his shut eyes. With just a bit more hesitation than before, he tossed out the next Pokemon.

"That win was personal. Had to prove a point," I shrugged, inspecting the next pokemon with a contemplative expression.

It was bipedal, with four arms on its round, rocky, body and it was rather short too, looking to be only 3 feet in height.

A Graveler… Weren't these Gym Leaders making me punch above my weight a bit here?

...That's not to say I didn't enjoy this. No, this was perfect actually.

"Beldum," I said confidently, releasing the steel type from the ball.

"A Beldum too?!" Flint balked in shock. What the hell was this kid's team?

Beldum, unlike Feebas, didn't look remotely bothered by the murmurs of the crowd. They just dipped into the connection between the two of us and I smirked.

It wasn't strong enough for prolonged conversation, so I was still mostly sticking to orders aloud but it would get better.

I was just pleased we were actually able to bond and there had been no negative side effects besides that first time he attempted it.

...I still didn't have an explanation for that.

"Both contestants are set! Graveler vs Beldum! Begin!"

"Iron Defense."

"Magnitude!"

Graveler jumped into the air and slammed its body onto the ground, causing the ground to begin quaking.

I couldn't tell what level it was, but judging by the slight tremors, I wouldn't put it above level 6.

Beldum's metallic skin took on a sheen and in the first place, he was kind of floating already so Magnitude didn't have much effect on him and the fact he was covered in Iron Defense, did wonders as well.

"Iron Head."

Beldum was on the move before I even finished my sentence, lunging forward to crash his metallic head into the Graveler.

"Rollout! Meet it head on!" Flint said without missing a beat.

"Rollout?" I frowned. "This must be some type of trap, right?"

Beldum sensed my slight hesitation but continued their course, preparing to deal with the trap as it came.

Graveler tucked into itself, turning into an actual boulder and with a mighty yell, began rolling towards the charging steel type.

Naturally, it failed. Beldum had been practicing Iron Head with a vengeance and it was super effective…

So where was this trap of his?

Graveler let out a roar of pain as Beldum overwhelmed his weak Rollout with the much stronger Iron Head.

"Graveler!" Flint shouted in concern, as cracks appeared across its body.

...No trap?

That's when I realized something.

Flint sucked at battling. No goddamn wonder Brock was the Gym Leader.

"Iron Head," I bit out with a scowl.

Graveler had no time to recover, as Beldum crashed into it once more with the steel energy, causing even more cracks to appear across the middle form of Geodude.

It tumbled across the ground from the blow, groaning in pain as the injuries began quickly piling up.

"Graveler! Magnitude!" Flint shouted in worry, feeling the battle slipping out of his hands by the second.

My eyes narrowed. "Iron Defense. Then finish it off with Iron Head."

Beldum followed my command easily, sheathing himself in the metallic energy, right as Graveler shakily pulled himself up, before wearily jumping into the air once more.

My discontent, turned into shock as the very gym itself began shaking from the tremors. I actually stumbled from how strong they were and the screams of the spectators were justified.

The battlefield where Beldum and Graveler were battling, had become a warzone as the ground cracked from the efforts and I steadied myself with wide eyes.

"Did this asshole actually manage to hit a level 10?" I thought in disbelief.

"Not bad! A level 8!" Flint laughed, unbothered by the effects.

"This was only level 8?!"

Magnitude was a problematic move and this Graveler needed to faint now.

"Beldum are you good?" I asked in some concern.

If not for Iron Defense, Beldum would have been done for and even with it, it still looked like they had taken quite the hellish beating.

The sheer difference in power between the Magnitude's was baffling and I had no idea it could be so destructive... Are you serious?

Fucking ground types.

Beldum shook from the power of Magnitude, the super effective tremors causing heavy damage to it but Iron Defense at least saved it from getting completely obliterated.

"Bulldoze! Don't let it get close!" Flint commanded, knowing Graveler didn't have much left in the tank.

"Iron Defense! Dodge to the right!" I instructed with a frown.

Graveler took two of its arms and slammed it into the ground, forming an orange shockwave that launched towards Beldum in a way that was impossible for them to dodge.

The Bulldoze crashed into Beldum's body and it let out a groan at that.

My eyes were narrowed in annoyance and concern as Beldum began faltering.

"Iron Head," I tried.

Flint was quick to respond. "Rollout to get away!"

Beldum attempted to crash into Graveler, but the boulder tucked its legs in and began rolling away from them at quite the impressive speeds.

"Son of a bitch," I scowled.

"Now, Magnitude again!" Flint said, intent to finish this.

Mid roll, the Graveler actually leapt into the air and crashed down into the ground again.

The tremor was weaker than the previous one, but it was still plenty strong and at this point, Beldum hadn't yet released Iron Defense so telling them to use it, was just a waste of my breath.

That's why I'd use it on something else.

The moment Graveler sprouted out of that ball shape of his I struck.

"Don't give it time to recover! Iron Head right now!" I barked to my visibly exhausted steel type.

Too many hits taken for my liking… I refused to have Beldum lose their first gym battle.

The psychic must have sensed my resolve because without any hesitation, it charged the surprised Graveler, who probably thought this match was over, and crashed directly into it with ruthless precision.

"Grav!" Graveler roared in pain, as even more cracks appeared on his body.

"Graveler!" Flint shouted in surprise. "Quick, try and use Defense Curl! Then Rollout!"

My eyes were narrowed like a predator who smelled blood. "Iron Head again. Don't let it get away from you or it's all over."

Beldum's eyes reflected my expression as it shone.

"Understood."

With that, it crashed its skull into the Graveler that attempted to curl up to get away.

Graveler let out a final pained cry, before going limp on the ground beneath it.

I was too shocked by what I just heard, to register the referee announcing my victory because Beldum just spoke to me.

Would you look at that…

"Did you just speak to me?" I asked curiously.

Beldum did not respond, utterly still after that battle…

"Magnificent."

Before they finally began to glow white.

My eyes widened dramatically and an excited pulse began to thrum through my body, as before my very eyes, Beldum began to change.

It grew in size, small but heavy body growing dramatically. Whereas before they had no limbs, two arms sprouted from its side, adorned with deathly sharp claws that helped in hunting prey and probably cutting me in half if it held a grudge.

More spikes formed on the side of its body and one more formed in between their, now two, red eyes.

Finally the glow settled and I bore witness to the Metang in all its flesh.

I didn't even realize I was grinning but even when I did, I only reduced it to a real smile.

"I didn't even know you were close to evolving," I remarked, looking completely pleased with the outcome.

A Metang! An actual Metang! That meant I was one step closer to reaching a Metagross!

"I require very little to no sleep. I spend my time training and honing my capabilities. The results were my inevitable evolution."

My eyes widened. "You can speak to me? Can I speak back without destroying your mind?" I asked curiously.

Metang floated over to my side and regarded me with those red eyes of his.

"If you are regarding the first time I attempted to bond to you… I will explain it after this match but for now, your voice is not unbearable to me. Do not return me, I would like to test my power."

I smirked with a wild glint. "Alright. One more fight."

"Understood."

"Wow!" Flint laughed, scratching his spiky head as he held out his final pokeball. "An evolution huh? That throws a bit of a wrench in the plans!"

"For you maybe," I remarked with a surge of confidence. "I always intended to win with just two!"

The Gym Leader grinned at my confidence. "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!"

Must have been talking about Blue. We were both fairly arrogant...

But Blue had a Larvitar? Huh, go figure. He sure put that Oak money to good use.

"Alright, time for the last one!" Flint shouted, throwing the last pokeball.

Metang and I watched the final red beam of the match coalesce into a gigantic silhouette and gazed at the snake like pokemon with searching eyes.

After seeing Jasmine's Steelix, I wasn't as intimidated as I'd probably be if I hadn't seen it but that did not change the fact that Onix was a big big pokemon.

It roared it's name and I grunted at the grating noise of rocks scratching against each other.

"Still wanna battle it?"

"A foolish question."

I actually grinned and inclined my head.

Pokemon battling was so fun.

"Both contestants are set! Onix vs Metang! Begin!"

"Rock Tomb! Cut off it's movement and don't let it close!" Flint barked.

"Don't let yourself get trapped. Keep moving and Iron Head when you get the chance!"

Metang began spinning its arms, floating across the fields at quite the impressive speeds as Onix tried to trap it in between the large boulders.

"Sand Tomb, Onix! Don't let it hit you!"

Onix conjured a whirlwind of sand but was too slow to fire it, as Metang crashed into its midsection with Iron Head.

The rock snake roared in pain, Sand Tomb wavering a bit, before it came to its senses and fired it off.

Metang instinctively wrapped itself in Iron Defense, as the sand wrapped around its body, trapping him in the clouds of dirt.

"Bulldoze!" Flint shouted.

Onix roared in affirmation and raised its tail up high to smash it down on the ground.

"Float high!"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

It wasn't possible as a Beldum, considering they didn't have high psychic abilities but as Metang and Metagross, they could actually further utilize their innate magnetism to float higher than they normally did.

Case in point, Metang rumbled and floated out of both the Sand Tomb and the Bulldoze with ease.

Then, without my input, a blue shine formed in its eyes.

"I have the necessary power to attempt this now."

Onix suddenly began roaring in pain, much to everyone's confusion and the rock snake began thrashing about.

Metang was utterly merciless. While Onix trashed about, my steel type floated even higher and slammed a hellish Iron Head directly atop its skull.

The snake groaned and collapsed on the floor with a thunderous noise.

I blinked in confusion at how swift that had taken place.

"Did you just… lobotomize him?" I asked slowly.

"That is reserved for prey I intend on consuming," Metang replied, a hint of amusement in its voice as they floated over to my side.

Creepy… but kinda cool too.

"Onix is unable to battle! As a result, Metang and Silver are the winners of this match!" The referee shouted.

"WOOOO GET EM SILVER! HELL YEAH!" Green cheered, being the only one to clap for me.

I distantly noticed a Pokegear in her hand but ignored it, merely rolling my eyes at her antics.

Everyone else was stunned silent and I turned towards them, before bowing mockingly.

"I'm not like any of you. Pray on someone else's downfall or else you'll end up real disappointed," I sneered with a superior gleam, turning away from them to inspect my pokemon.

As Metang came closer to me, I peered at the evolution with fascinated eyes, idly touching its cool armor.

"Are you gonna try to kill me now?" I asked offhandedly.

"Likely not. You are fulfilling your obligations well and I've grown to appreciate something besides the monotony of my former hive," Metang replied, allowing me to inspect it.

I smirked at that, patting its head with a satisfied sigh.

"Still don't want a nickname?"

"No. I will accept one when I have become my final form."

Ah so that's what it was… Alright, that was fine with me.

"We'll talk more later, especially considering you're talking to me clearly with no signs of agony that Bronzy showed. For now, I'm returning you for inspection at the Center."

"Understood."

I returned Metang to the ball and placed it next to my others, watching Flint approach me.

"Incredible!" The Gym Leader praised. "You kids are getting even more talented as time goes by!"

I zoned him out completely.

"You suck at battling," I said bluntly, gazing at the old man with narrowed eyes. "Is that on purpose? That would have been a complete stomp if I chose to use Gaia."

Flint laughed sheepishly at that. "I'm a bit of a failed trainer but I'm still good enough to be a Gym Leader! I'm just not used to using these Pokemon! If you'd ever like to face my true team, show up again for a rematch! I've always been bad at using the loaned pokemon! My son is way better than me!"

I tilted my head at that and nodded. So Brock had likely been the Gym Leader in this timeline too… but Flint took it back.

Interesting.

"I'll think about it. Hopefully you don't rely on Magnitude luck to help your ass."

"You sure don't hold back your words!" Flint replied, handing me the Gym Badge. "Congratulations, Silver. Due to your display and skills, I hereby grant you the Boulder Badge."

I accepted the boring looking badge and opened my badge case, placing it inside with a satisfied smirk.

Not bad at all. I was doing relatively well and since I got my badge so quickly, I'd be at a good pace to Cerulean.

Good because the trip from Pewter to Cerulean was really long, especially because of Mt. Moon.

Speaking of which…

"That was amazing, Silvy!" Green cheered, rushing up to me with a huge grin and a look of excitement. "You were so cool and controlled and you had Freyja flying around like a flying type and then you totally owned him with Beldum… or Metang now! We have to battle them sometime! That'll be so fun!"

"Shut up," I said blandly. "We'll battle after Metang gets used to their body."

"Kay!"

"I knew I recognized that voice," Flint remarked, gazing at Green with a smile. "Green! You're traveling with this young man right here? I remember you were alone for a while!"

"Old man Flint!" Green beamed. "Yeah! I was alone for a while because there was no one I really wanted to travel with but then I met Silvy in Vermilion and we hit it off really easily—"

"No we didn't."

"— So we trained together and now we're traveling through Kanto too!"

"A decision I regret every single day."

"It's only been like… two days!"

Flint looked at the two starkly different children and sweatdropped. Green was a ball of energy who couldn't stay still and Silver was… the opposite.

Well, considering how talented the two were… it was good that they were traveling together. They'd elevate one another to a much higher level.

I rolled my eyes at Green. "Anything else to say, or am I free to go?" I asked the Gym Leader.

"You're free to go," Flint said with a lighthearted laugh. "It was a fun battle! You two have a bright future ahead of you!"

I scoffed. Bright future. Right.

"We're leaving Leaf. We can start preparing to leave the city now," I informed her, making my way out of the gym.

"Wow, you really waste no time!" Green replied, keeping step with me. "Alright, we can make it to Cerulean through Mt. Moon. It'll be like a week long trip but at the pace you like… I'd say we can reduce it by a few days."

"That's what we'll do," I grunted, grabbing my ringing Pokegear.

It was vibrating so damn much. What was the deal with that?

"YOU HAVE A BELDUM?"

"YOU HAVE A METANG?!"

"Why did you never tell me this! I cannot believe you, Silver! Oh I have some choice words to say to you about this! You caught a steel type and didn't even think to consult this with me? Just you wait until I see you!"

I stared blankly at the messages from Jasmine, noting that there was even more messages that she sent.

Mechanically, I turned my head towards the Green peeking over my shoulder.

"Oh… I uh, showed Jasmine your battle! She wanted to see it!" my companion laughed. "I didn't know you didn't tell her about Beldum… you should stop being so secretive all the time!"

"I'm going to kill you, Leaf," I said calmly.

She squeaked in horror and stepped back.

"We can talk about this Silvy! Silvy, you wouldn't hit such a cute girl like me right?! Oh my Mew, you totally would! I don't even know what I'm thinking!"

Green wasted no time and immediately ran away at rather admirable speeds.

She was damn fast actually.

Yeah… no.

I took off and chased the girl, intent to give her the meanest noogie on the planet because she was so goddamn annoying.

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

"I cannot believe you, Silver! I just now realized I hardly know a member of your team!"

I sighed. "My bad Jas, never occurred to me and you know how I am. I don't really mention things without being asked."

Her frown vanished and she nodded. "I realize I don't ever actually know what you're doing. I mean I kind of assumed you were in Kanto but I never actually verified with you…"

"Yeah, I was mostly just moving around and catching new teammates," I informed her. "I didn't have a set plan in mind but because I wanted to give you a good battle in the future, figured I'd start the gym challenge after being satisfied with my team."

Not the complete truth, but I couldn't just tell Jasmine I was in Hoenn now could I?

Jasmine's eyes shone at my words, just happy that she presumably inspired me in some way. "I get that! You're doing fantastic yourself! At this rate, you really are gonna be scary! A Metang?! I'm so jealous of you!" She gushed.

I chuckled. "I was surprised myself. I'll make sure to let you check them out one day."

She nodded happily, thinking of saying something but holding her tongue.

I perked a brow but my attention was dragged away by the struggling under me.

"Silvy! Get off of me fatass!"

Green got another noogie for that and squealed, trashing to attempt to get me off her.

"Fatass? Look at you cursing. You got corrupted by me way faster than Jas did. She still refuses to curse," I remarked.

"Silver, you shouldn't be so rude to Green! You've been sitting on her since before this call!" Jasmine admonished.

"Yeah I know, I've had Ares punt Togy like 5 times now," I remarked, smirking infuriatingly at the Togepi giving me the death eye.

Fun fact, Green's Togepi was a little villain in the making and she had no idea why he was like this.

Togy had steadily began growing more violent as the days passed and I actually saw the little shit attempting to steal from my bag.

That had gotten it the very first punt from Ares because she did not give a damn that he was only a few days old.

...Oh wait a minute. Did Togy… Oh, Togy totally inherited my personality didn't he?

Yeah... the stealing, violent attitude, death stare...

Poor Green. It would only get worse.

He was already causing her more stress and she had profusely apologized to many people already after his multiple failed stealing stunts.

Amateur. He had a long way to go… If he wasn't so goddamn antagonistic to me, I'd even have taught him a few things but for now, Ares and I would settle for bullying him for character development.

"Stop punting Togy!" Green protested beneath me. "He's only 6 days old! You can't be such an ass!"

"Says who?" I retorted with a smug smile.

"I'm sorry Green. No one can tell Silver anything. I'm also a victim to his twisted personality and I can only imagine how worse it is in person," Jasmine sighed, knowing it was hopeless.

Green sighed miserably. "I hate you Silvy."

"You signed up for this," I replied easily. "Alright Jas, I'll call you some other time, alright? I'm gonna chat with my team for a bit then Green and I are gonna start heading to Mt. Moon."

Since she wanted to know more but was too nice to ask me, I'd go out of my way to tell Jasmine more stuff.

Even if I didn't, her and Green got along way well so she'd tell her everything anyways.

"Okay! Bye Silver, Bye Green! Make sure you show me your gym battles from now on! I know I can watch the replays but it feels more authentic this way!"

"Sure thing," I said.

"Of course!" Green beamed.

As she hung up, I finally stood up off Green and she let out a strangled cheer, rushing away from me with frantic eyes.

"I'm gonna get away from you for a bit!" she exclaimed, patting down her black dress and rushing out of the door. "Meet back up in an hour! We'll leave before night!"

"Sure," I waved her off, no doubt smirking in an insufferable manner and sneering at the Togepi doing a very suspicious gesture that looked eerily similar to flipping someone off.

Maybe it was a good thing I didn't keep it. Having to deal with myself would have been a chore and a half.

I snorted and released my full team (Ares was already out), taking a seat on the bed of the Pokemon Center rooms and gazing at them.

Almost as soon as they all gained clarity of their surroundings, everyone locked onto Metang's form and the following noise was thunderous.

The most loud, was Ares' incredulous roar. Despite being out, she had not been listening to my conversation at all, so she was just as blindsided by Beldum's evolution as the rest of the team.

"We won our Gym Battle," I began, catching all their attention.

I ruffled around and pulled out the case to showcase the second badge and grinned in a pleased manner at Freyja and Metang.

"Freyja and Metang pulled their weight really hard this battle and I didn't even have to use Gaia," I informed them.

Gaia grumbled a bit at that but smiled affectionately, latching vines around Freyja and hoisting her up.

My Feebas' eyes widened as all eyes turned to her from the action and I felt my smile widen.

"Freyja here managed to beat a Rhyhorn one on one in combat and she only got hit once in the process!" I announced.

I bore witness to my Feebas blushing in embarrassment, at the cheers from Loki and Gaia. It even came with Gaia lifting her up and dropping her over and over again.

"What did I tell you girl?" I grinned, running a hand against her scales. "I told you, it's a marathon, not a sprint but you kept doubting me! Sure you're gonna lose some, but you're gonna win even more," I promised.

"You handled that battle like a pro. You were nervous, but you didn't let it slow you down even a little. You're getting great at using Rain Dance, you're even better at Water Pulse but we won't stop there. I'm never giving up on you, girl so fuck all the doubters, understood?"

"Bay!" Gaia agreed firmly, excitedly shaking Freyja back and forth until the Feebas began protesting.

"Fee! Fee!" she conceded helplessly, unable to escape Gaia's impossible grasp.

I would know, Gaia was a cuddler and she loved using her vines to make sure I couldn't escape. Damn sleepy menace.

Ares, stared at Freyja suspiciously and gazed back at me with a puzzled look.

"Bag?" she asked incredulously, pointing at Freyja with a disbelieving eye.

I chuckled. "Yes, Ares. Freyja managed to beat an opponent on her own. Of course she did, who do you think you're trainer is?"

Ares expression turned contemplating and she eventually nodded.

"Gon bagon," was all she said.

"The dragon with dreams of grandeur says that it's expected that her vassal can even bring the potential of trash out."

"Fee! Bas bas!" Freyja growled.

"The fish who is full of doubt says that the dragon should jump headfirst into a deep hole."

Huh… well damn. Good to know Freyja and Ares were still getting along great.

But still… I gazed at Metang with a maniacal glint in my eyes.

"Metang. Well done, you executed our plans with minimal issue and you even evolved off of it," I praised truthfully.

"I figured you would only have been able to beat the Graveler… but you caught everyone by surprise by not only taking it out… but by surgically eliminating that Onix too."

Metang remained stationary in their spot, allowing my team to once more inspect it.

"Metang," was all he said.

"The battle was sufficient. It has allowed me to verify that your claims were not false… and I find myself enjoying this new life."

"Even more than your previous one?"

"I believe answering that question will only foster the ego that you have been steadily accumulating."

I grinned and placed a hand on their cool metal body.

"Perfect," I said aloud. "Alright guys, we're not wasting anytime. We're going straight for the third badge and we should be there in a little less than a weeks time…"

My silver gaze landed directly on Loki.

"I'll be using you for this battle, Loki," I announced. "I don't know what the stipulations will be, but you're getting used no matter what, so be ready."

He was the only one on my team now who hadn't had a proper gym battle and I'd be damned if it stayed like that.

Judging by the look in his eyes, Loki understood that fact too and growled challengingly. There was a fire in his eyes and I nodded in a pleased manner.

"Whoever else I use will be flexible," I announced to them.

I could use Gaia and probably wreck shop… but where's the fun in that?

I'd still likely use her, since she had a blatant advantage that my other members didn't have but steamrolling with her wasn't how I'd do things.

"Alright, we're going in an hour. You guys are free to do whatever. I'm gonna get you guys started on some new moves because you've made good progress with your current ones," I announced.

My team all made noises of confirmation and began handling their business.

I sighed fondly at them and idly tossed everyone a snack, getting various noises of thanks, before flipping open my Pokedex.

My team was progressing fantastically and it was up to me to make sure we kept that pace.

I decided when it was time for them to add a new move to their repertoire and despite not mastering their previous moves (mastering moves was not as easy as I thought), they had displayed enough for me to add more for them.

Now which ones would I pick…

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

"Getting used to your body?"

"...It is, more difficult than I would imagine. The sudden gain of limbs, the growth in size. It will take me another day at the maximum to get used to such changes."

I snorted. Another day only?

Guess that's what being the pre-evolution of a pokemon smarter than a supercomputer did.

I couldn't wait to see him as a Metagross. That went for my whole team too.

Zoroark, Meganium, Milotic, Salamence, Metagross...

Seeing them in their final forms… That was something I looked forward to the most. Seeing them reach the apex of their respective forms... being the proud trainer of that team.

It was going to be awesome.

Speaking of which...

"How can you speak to me so clearly, Metang? A psychic spoke to me earlier before I caught you and said I have some sort of foggy fortress up here so how are you immune to it?"

Currently, I was at the outskirts of Pewter and I shared my location with Green, so she could head to my location.

Right now, I was sitting atop Metang's floating body while we conversed with each other.

Metang didn't take long at all to answer my question.

"Ah this foggy fortress… Yes, I'm aware of it. I encountered it when I first attempted to bind to you. I recall you attempting to assist me when it made its presence known," they began.

I nodded my head. "Yeah... I realized too late what binding to me could do to you... I'm just glad that it didn't seem to permanently damage you."

"Your efforts are appreciated. I do believe that if I ever try to sever the bond I have formed between the two of us, my mind will shatter beyond recognition."

"What?!" I said aloud in shock, jolting at that. What the hell did they just say?

"It is as I say. This fortress protecting your mind, has completely trapped me in. In fact, the moment I tried to pierce the fog, the shroud wrapped around me and attempted to destroy me from the inside."

What the fuck…

"How are you alive then?" I asked in shock, a nauseating feeling coursing through me at the idea that I had nearly killed one of my Pokemon.

I guess that meant I was not catching another psychic. Good thing I probably had no intention of getting one.

"The fog seems somewhat sentient. I do believe it acts on your will to some degree and thankfully, you didn't want my mind to shatter. I believe if you do not want someone to pierce your mind, they will suffer far worse than I have."

I wonder if even Mewtwo wasn't immune to these effects... after all, they claimed my mind was impenetrable...

"As for how I am able to communicate with you so easily, that is due to the psychic stores inside of you. It has given me enough power to speak to you and the Fog no longer restricts me any further."

A chill washed over me.

Psychic what now?

"Did you say psychic stores?" I asked hesitantly, dread welling up inside of me.

"That is correct. You have an abundant amount of psychic energy. Though, trying to access them is impossible because of the fog stifling it."

Silver… Silver had never once been confirmed to be a psychic. I didn't show a single sign that I was psychic.

"Metang, can you… explain the feeling of these psychic stores?" I asked hesitantly.

He did not even hesitate.

"Cold, heavy and imposing. Exactly like the fog but less supernatural in nature."

Cold, heavy and imposing… exactly like the dream I had last night.

That's… no fucking way.

Considering who my dad was… there was a way.

Suddenly, Giovanni's vested interest in me made a lot of sense.

That son of a bitch… just what exactly did he do, that I had some connection to fucking Mewtwo of all Pokemon?

Judging by the fact that Mewtwo was a clone of Mew… I was inclined to think that I maybe got injected with something I didn't want to be injected by.

What type of sick fuck experiments on his own goddamn son?!

The extents of what Giovanni had done to me… I had no idea but the more I learned, the more concerned I became about myself.

I thought it was just mental damage... Giovanni didn't seem the type to get physical with me but...

My life must have been rough, maybe it was a good thing I forgot.

And if I wasn't sure before, I was now. This foggy fortress of mine was completely separate from Mewtwo and Team Rocket in general.

This fortress was all me... and I think that actually helped me figure more things out.

"Silver, are you alright? You're pale."

I jolted at the sound of concern and gazed at the worried green eyes of Green herself.

"I'm fine," I said tersely. "Just… thinking about a nightmare I had."

Her eyes widened and she nodded sympathetically. "Normally, when I have nightmares, mom makes me feel better but now I rely on Vee!"

My mom was probably a massive bitch. I doubted I would rely on her for nightmares.

I wouldn't be surprised if I used to have nightmares and both my parents told me off for being weak.

I scowled at that.

Don't worry body of mine, I'd keep us safe from those assholes. There would be no more running away from my troubles.

Getting rid of them was a far better, and more permanent, solution.

After that, depending on how much time I had... I could probably find the one behind this fortress because I'm 90% sure it was —

"Are you sure you're alright, Silvy? We can call it a day if you want… You don't look so good," Green muttered, placing a hand on my forehead.

I swatted it off with a roll of my eyes, ignoring the way my heart warmed at her kindness.

"I'm fine, Leaf. Let's go, we can't waste time," I grunted, beckoning Metang forward.

"Do you have a problem with me sitting on you?"

"If I did, you would not be sitting on me."

"Sweet."

Green rebounded quickly and glanced jealously at me using Metang as a mount, but kept pace with us as we headed to Route 3.

"So when do you wanna stop for training?! I gotta admit, ever since you introduced me to it, I've been addicted! I love training! I say we walk for a few hours before taking a break. What do you think?"

I was too used to this word vomit machine to be affected by it anymore and nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Route 3 was quite a big route and it was only made bigger by the fact that it was connected to Route 4.

The two routes connecting, followed by traversing Mt. Moon, and then the final stretch of Route 4 afterwards…

Yeah it was going to take a few days to navigate it all.

If I didn't get a good time frame to go against the Gym, we might have to shelf the idea completely and just come back after the S.S Anne.

Depending on where the S.S Anne left us, that'd probably just be shelved for later. I didn't particularly care which order I battled the gyms in.

"What gym do you want to battle after I get this badge?" I asked Green suddenly.

She blinked at my sudden question before lighting up.

"Well…" Green began, opening up a map to show me. "Based on my team, I wanted to actually battle Erika next in Celadon! The time frame should help me train up Larvee a lot more for that battle! I would like to go through Rock Tunnel because I was interested in maybe catching something in there… but I'd also like to catch a ghost."

I nodded at that. "So you wanna go to Lavender Town through Rock Tunnel, then path to Celadon?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I'm getting confident in using Larvee but she's still a little naturally weak so I wanna help her more!"

I mulled it over and eventually nodded. "Alright. But that depends on where the S.S Anne drops us, unless you plan on skipping it."

Green frowned and nodded with my words. "Yeah, the S.S Anne kinda threw a wrench in my plans and I thought you would have too but we'll figure it out as we go. It's not very rigid but I do have an order I wanna fight the Gym Leaders in," she explained.

I raised a brow at that. "Who do you want to fight after Celadon?"

"Fuchsia," she replied immediately. "The Gym Leader is Koga, he's a poison specialist! I hear he's one of the stronger Gym Leaders of the region!"

Was that so… From what I remember, Koga joins the Elite 4, but in this world Sabrina and Giovanni were both stronger than him from Kanto and Claire was stronger than him from Johto.

Maybe they just didn't want the position? Giovanni was obvious but I didn't know much about Sabrina or Claire.

"Alright, I'm fine with that then," I shrugged, content to go with her plan. "By the way, what do you wanna evolve Vee into?" I asked suddenly.

Vee, who was buried in her hair, perked up at that and gazed in interest at being mentioned.

Green pursed her lips. "We haven't discussed too much about it. He doesn't mind any form really. It's a serious topic though so I don't want to pick a form he might hate…"

That was the thing about me owning an Eevee that I didn't really appreciate.

I had a very specific form of Eevee I'd want it to evolve to, that being Espeon and I very much disliked some of the others.

But I wouldn't deny my Eevee the chance to become a Flareon if that's what it wanted to become… Flareon may be my least favorite Eevee, but robbing it of choice would just lead to resentment.

Luckily, Green didn't seem as picky as I was so her having an Eevee, probably wasn't as disastrous as me having one.

Besides, if I caught an Eevee, I would not evolve it into Espeon. I wouldn't subject another psychic to my presence... So I guess my goal of Eevee probably didn't matter anymore.

"A wise decision. Fret not, I am the only one you shall need."

"You're fairly arrogant."

"That is called confidence. You are the arrogant one."

...Asshole.

"I think Blue is turning his Eevee into an Umbreon," Green muttered with a contemplative expression. "That's what Vee thinks at least, so we wanna avoid that form."

Ah right, Blue and Green's Eevee's were siblings that they bonded with before selecting their starter.

Makes me wonder why Vee hadn't evolved yet… perhaps it was also a power thing instead of just loving your trainer?

Guess that might apply to Freyja as well.

"Hey! Wanna battle?!"

Both Green and I paused our conversation at the voice and gazed up at the trainers in question.

It was a couple of campers. Two young kids, a boy and a girl with eager gleams.

I shrugged. "Sure, who wants to battle who?" I grunted, jumping off Metang's head.

The duo looked at my Metang with a hint of trepidation before jolting at my snapping fingers.

"O-Oh! We wanted to have a double battle!" They exclaimed. "We're trying to improve our duo skills so we figured —"

"Not interested," I denied instantly. "Have at it Green."

Green gaped at that and rounded on me. "Is the idea of having a double battle with me that repulsive to you?!"

"Yes. You can beat them both alone. Have fun."

Green stamped her feet on the ground and puffed her cheeks out. "They want to battle both of us! Let them battle both of us! It'll be good training! We can even use our weaker members!"

I raised a brow at her and snorted in amusement. "They're right there you know. You shouldn't be such a dick," I taunted.

Green spluttered and rounded on the kids, bowing profusely. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! This guy just brings out the worst in me!"

"You know… I can see that," the camper girl sweatdropped a bit.

"Suddenly, I don't have anymore complaints about you," the camper guy told his companion.

I rolled my eyes. "Double battle right? You two vs Leaf and I?"

They nodded eagerly and I nodded after a short sight.

"Alright then," I muttered, grasping a pokeball.

Green grinned eagerly and grasped her own pokeball.

At once, we launched our balls.

"Loki."

"Larvee!"

Both our pokemon materialized at once and Green gazed at me.

"I thought we said weaker pokemon?"

"When the hell did I say that?" I mused, taking a seat on Metang again.

Loki gazed at his opponents, both the Male and Female Nidorans, with a fierce look. It was rather uncharacteristic of him but at the same time, he probably felt like he was getting left behind by the team.

I'd need to start upping his offense. Sometimes, it wasn't about teaching the best moves, but the right ones and Loki wanted to learn a move that could cause damage.

"Nidoran use Poison Sting!" Both the campers said at once.

"Agility. Get away," I ordered calmly.

"Flame Charge. Move outta there," Green instructed calmly.

Loki followed my orders instantly, slipping into the Agility with only a bit of struggle and sped away from the poisonous darts.

At the same time, Larvy shrouded itself in a fiery aura and dashed away at… what might have been impressive speeds by Larvesta standards.

Loki completely avoided the Poison Stings, while the few that connected to Larvy got burned to the point where he wouldn't be poisoned anyways.

"Get behind them. Extrasensory."

"String Shot, make sure they can't run and hold them together."

Both Nidoran's went alert, at the sight of Loki blurring past them but as they tried to whirl around, a white silken string shot around and began tying the two together.

They let out twin noises of surprise as they were forced to hug and the two poison types began struggling to remove the String Shot off of them…

But it was not to be. Due to Larvy's efforts in tying them up, it left them perfectly still and clumped to take the full brunt of the Extrasensory.

"Nido!" They both cried out, forcefully dislodged from the rope tying them together.

"Nidoran!" Both Campers cried out in shock.

Loki huffed, not satisfied with that match and trotted over to my side with a slight frown.

"W-Woah! You two are so strong!" The female camper awed.

Green smiled politely at the two and hoisted up Larvy, completely unbothered by its ridiculous heat. "We're just a bit too strong for you guys but you definitely have potential! Are you two new?" She asked gently.

The male nodded. "We haven't officially started our journey yet! We're too young! But we like to camp just outside Pewter and build up experience when we can! Nidoran are our only pokemon!"

I ran a hand through Loki's fur and ignored the conversation happening.

"The Underhanded Trickster is upset at his perceived lack of power."

"Quite the rude nickname you have for him."

"I would implore him to attempt a sneak attack on me now."

So Metang was still pissy about that… good to know.

"I get your frustrations," I murmured. "You want more power. I get that."

Loki looked a bit embarrassed that I was calling him out so freely and I merely let out a tiny snort.

"Power isn't always about raw strength, Loki," I informed him. "If you think you'll ever have more raw power than a Metagross or a Salamence, that's just naive."

My Zorua flinched but I wasn't yet finished.

"But that's why you have more options to circumvent that. If I only relied on increasing your raw power, you'd notice way sooner, how much your lacking. That's why I'm tapping into your talents. Trying to compare yourself to one of them… is like comparing a warrior to an assassin."

I ruffled his fur. "All of you have different roles on the team, remember? At the end of the day, you will be the most effective member on our team in your role. No one will be able to match you at your niche, so don't try and surpass them at theirs. I'm the one training them after all so they'll be the best at theirs too," I chastised with an amused gleam.

"That, is arrogance, Blight."

"Bite me. Also why are you calling me Blight?"

"You are one touched by things no one would desire being touched by. Your existence is unnatural."

If only Metang knew.

Loki pondered my words, before his tense stance went away and he nodded in satisfaction.

It was good dealing with a Pokemon so agreeable. I loved Freyja to death but she really wasn't making it easy for me.

"Good, your next move is gonna be a strong offensive one. We'll discuss it more later," I muttered to him, watching Green finish up her conversation with the two kids.

"Zor," he said in agreement, poking his snout against the Pokeball and returning himself.

"Keep it up you two! You've got a lot of synergy already!" Green waved at the duo heading back into Pewter.

"Thanks a bunch Green!" They waved back.

She watched them go with a fond smile and I rolled my eyes.

"Done?" I mused, as Metang began moving forward without any prompting.

"Yeah! They were nice kids!" Green beamed. "Why didn't you say anything to them?"

"No interest."

She rolled her eyes. "What a surprise."

Was that sarcasm? Was she already using it? I was impressed.

I snorted. "Let's just go. We have a lot of distance to make... Let's try making it to the Center by the end of the day."

She nodded eagerly. "Kay!" she beamed.

"Wait!"

I let out a sigh of aggravation at that and Green paused, recognition in her eyes.

"Mason!" She waved happily. "What's up?"

Mason? I thought his name was Jason…

The worst of Oak's trainers, flinched as I met his gaze and he quickly averted it, focusing on Green instead.

"Um… I have a battle with Flint in 3 days and I wanted to know if you were interested in watching it?" He asked nervously.

I rolled my eyes as Green's expression fell and she glanced back at me, noticing my utterly unwavering features.

"He's asking you Leaf, not me. I have no reason to stay here," I said blandly, looking her dead in the eye.

She flinched at that because even though Green was an incredibly nice person, she wasn't nice enough to compromise her enjoyment.

And she was going to have to learn to be less nice traveling with me. I was not interested in helping people like she were and if it got to the point where I'd be getting compromised, then I'd leave her behind.

"Sorry, Mason," she said quietly, rubbing her hair nervously. "Silver and I are on a pretty tight schedule… I'd love to watch, but we really can't stay here any longer."

"O-Oh… right," Mason mumbled, looking utterly crushed at her reply.

Green smiled awkwardly and I let out a groan of annoyance.

"Does your Charmeleon know Metal Claw?" I suddenly asked, just wanting to get out of here.

Mason jumped at my sudden question and gazed at me in shock.

"U-Um… no, he doesn't?" The boy answered hesitantly.

I scoffed. "You have 3 days, teach it Metal Claw. Rock types are slow, utilize speed to run circles around it. What other Pokemon do you have?"

"A-A Sandshrew and a Spearow," Mason replied quicker this time, gazing at me with wide eyes.

"That Sandshrew should be useful. What does it know?" I asked, flicking open my Pokedex.

"U-Umm... Defense Curl, Rollout, Fury Cutter, Poison Sting, Dig and Rapid Spin," he listed.

At least he had good memory.

I frowned. "You haven't taught it another ground type move? What the hell are you doing?"

He flinched back and I rolled my eyes.

"Teach it Bulldoze or Magnitude. Bulldoze if you want consistency, Magnitude if you're bad enough that you need to rely on luck. Stop using Dig against Flint, Magnitude does twice as much damage to it," I instructed harshly.

"Use Sandshrew and Charmeleon in your fight… and make sure you actually sit down and talk to them about the game plan instead of winging it. That Charmeleon especially, doesn't respect how bad you are but I'm sure you can earn its loyalty if you stop being so trash," I told him harshly.

"Now let's go Leaf, I'm tired of being held up. We've got a lot of distance to travel."

Green looked stunned, before a large smile split her features and she nodded.

"See ya, Mason! I know you can win this time! We'll see you later and tell me how it goes," my companion waved.

"Silvy, lemme get on Metang too!"

"No."

"But whyyy?! They won't even register me! I'm as light as a feather!"

"You never stop talking do you? Fine get on."

"Yay!"

Mason watched the duo go with a confused expression on his face.

"Did he just... give me advice?" he asked in shock.

Well... it sounded like really good advice despite how rudely it was delivered...

Maybe he should follow it...

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

Funnily enough, Metang's were actually pretty fast. By rotating it's arms backwards, they were able to speed themselves up to quite the respectable degree.

That didn't change the fact that we were still traveling such a giant route.

Due to the amount of people who stopped us for battles, Green and I postponed our training for when we entered Mt. Moon and committed to traveling the Routes instead.

We actually found quite an Ace trainer while traveling too.

Ace Trainers were the leagues foot soldiers basically. They weren't the weakest, ranking above Rangers and Gym Trainers, but they were far more numerous than both.

But against the likes of Green and I? They may as well have been Gym Leaders.

It was the first time since traveling with each other, that we actually lost. Though, we mostly expected to lose so we just did it for practice.

Still pissed me off something fierce.

"Do you normally patrol these areas?" I asked, watching the Ace trainer return their Exeggutor.

"Yeah. My schedule is really flexible but when I'm on patrol I come here," he nodded in a friendly manner, not taking our money because it was just an exhibition match.

"Alright good," I muttered. "I'll be sure to remember you… What's your name again?"

Both Chase (the Ace trainers name I learned!) and Green sweatdropped deeply.

Besides that battle though, we mostly steamrolled our opponents in our path to Mt. Moon.

There were a lot of trainers and both Green and I were using it to get our weaker mons even stronger.

The area around Pewter, were normally inhabited by newer trainers because experienced trainers hated traveling through Mt. Moon. They'd much prefer to fly or just find another route to go.

So trainers typically got the badge and just flew out of the city or went to Viridian. New trainers didn't have much choice but to eventually traverse through Mt. Moon, unless they just opted to fight Flint or the Cerulean gym much later in their journey.

Night was swiftly approaching as Green and I chatted about anything.

It said something that I was actually responding in turn... Jasmine had done nothing but sing Green's praises so I suppose that helped me warm up to her.

We were almost to the entrance of Mt. Moon and we were going to call it a night due to the Pokemon Center being stationed right next to it.

"I actually wanted to catch a Clefairy," Green admitted to me as we made the final stretch.

"Yeah?" I asked in interest. "Why didn't you?"

"Never found one!" She laughed sheepishly. "I was going to camp in there for even longer until I found one but then I had that encounter with Team Rocket and decided to just head to the next city. My team was in pretty bad shape after how much of the grunts I beat."

I sobered at that. "There were only grunts there? That's lucky of you."

Green nodded seriously, glancing at her hands with a frown. "Yeah I know… I didn't wanna push it. It didn't seem like they were doing a big scale project but if an executive was there, I might have been in a lot of trouble."

I frowned at that. For all her talents, Green was still a new trainer just like me.

She hadn't yet grown into the formidable behemoth I already envisioned her as. If she ran into an executive at this level, I doubted it'd be as easy as the games made it out to be.

That went for me too. I'd need to go about this carefully. I had been planning on taking it easy in Kanto, but seems daddy dearest forced my hand.

A stronger Team Rocket… a legendary at their beck and call…

Just another day I guess.

"Let's get some sleep," I offered, as the light of the Pokemon Center beckoned us towards it.

Traveling with Green turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I wouldn't actually involve her too much because at the end of the day, Mewtwo was Mewtwo.

"Alright!" Green beamed, finding a new surge of energy and rushing towards the Center (I returned Metang earlier to let them get some rest despite the claims that they weren't tired).

I was far more sedated, enjoying the coolness of the night and gazing into the sky with a tired sigh.

"Problem after problem," I muttered, looking directly at the full moon.

Oh well, I'd just knock them off one by one. That's all you could do.

In order to achieve the life you wanted, you needed to get rid of all obstacles that made your goal more difficult.

So I would get rid of all of them in anyway I knew how.

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

Much to my chagrin, the Pokemon Center stationed right outside Mt. Moon, had a rule that companions traveling together had to share a room.

This was to save on room considering these Centers tended to be smaller than the ones in main cities.

Thankfully, as a caveat, there were multiple beds in the room.

I yawned and idly threw my pillow at the sleeping Green's face from across the room, connecting solidly with her face.

She let out a strangled shout and I snorted tiredly.

"Rise and shine. It's morning," was all I said.

"I… think I hate you," Green muttered tiredly, pulling the pillow off her face and tossing it to the side, unintentionally hitting Vee in the process.

What followed was Green and Vee getting into a morning fight that was very good for waking everyone in the room up.

I snorted and ran a hand through Loki's fur, watching my dark fox do his stretches to wake up.

Vee and Green were the complete opposite of Loki and I when it came to mornings.

They were both terrible at waking up, compared to us who only needed a few minutes to be ready to start the day.

By the time I was ready to go, Green was finally getting out of her sleep funk so I made it my mission to wake her up at the same time as me.

Seeing how bad Green was during the morning, made me all the more appreciative at my rigid mannerisms.

"Hurry up," I grunted. "Go bathe first. You take forever so I'll do a small workout in the meantime."

"Kay," she said lazily, rolling off the bed onto her two feet. "I'll be fast. Don't eat breakfast without me."

"Yeah, yeah."

I flicked open my Pokedex, as Green grabbed essentials, and began plotting the next moves my team was going to learn.

I wasn't too worried about the Cerulean Gym because allegedly, their best battler, Misty, was no longer with them and that meant I'd be facing off against one of the "Sensational Sisters".

They were the original gym leaders, but they also appeared to hate battling.

That wasn't to say they sucked at it… they were still one of the strongest trainers in the region, but they also didn't have a passion for battling.

They much preferred to do their beauty shows or whatever and unless it was one of the higher tier badge battles, they scarcely gave in any effort.

I frowned at that. The sisters were talented, they had to be because this world was far stricter to Gym Leaders and they held the position for years.

I wonder if all three of them had their own main team. If that were the case, then they might be far more formidable then I initially gave them credit for.

Ah well, it was just a third badge battle. They probably wouldn't put too much effort into this one —

A gentle knock on the door, was soon replaced by much louder ones and both Green and I froze in what we were doing.

We exchanged a glance towards each other, confusion clear in our gazes.

"Togy steal something important?" I asked curiously.

"No chance, Saury's been making sure he behaves," Green frowned. "Did you assault someone? Ares attack someone?"

"Nah, I've been thinking too much to attack anyone," I replied, pushing myself to my feet.

I gave a hand signal to Zorua, telling him to be prepared to attack whoever was on the other side and at the same time, Green beckoned for Vee to be on guard.

"Who the fuck is it?!" I barked with narrowed eyes.

Nothing, the person on the other side was completely silent.

My eyes narrowed into something dangerous and I released Metang from the ball.

I wasn't too concerned about who was on the other side, but it never hurt to be careful.

Team Rocket wasn't bold enough to continuously attack Pokemon Centers, not with how fast an Ace Trainer would come bearing down on them.

I wonder who the hell was so interested in speaking to me.

Without hesitation, I flipped open the door and glared at the person behind it…

Or well, attempted to. I was met with a clothed chest for my efforts.

"What the fuc —" My thoughts were cut off as I realized the reason I was staring at a chest… was because the person across from me was that fucking tall.

The first thing I noted, wasn't the black shirt with the blue dragon logo on the front, nor was it the red jacket with scales on it, nor was it the carmine colored hair of his, that was a definitive worse shade than my own...

It was the actual cape.

Champion Lance, because who else could this be, cut an imposing figure, towering over me and maybe being the same or a little shorter than Lt. Surge.

I idly heard Green drop something as I gazed at the man grinning confidently at me.

"You must be Silver!" Lance boomed, holding out a giant palm for me to shake. "I've heard a lot about you from Jasmine! I've been eager to meet you!"

My stunned gaze was brought to a much shorter figure peeking from behind Lance with a nervous smile.

A nervous figure with a familiar head of brown hair.

"...I have a strong feeling you don't like surprises…" Jasmine said behind the giant of a man.

My expression went from stunned to utterly incredulous, as I locked eyes with my best friend.

"...But surprise?" She said sheepishly.

…

"What the fuck?" Green said intelligently, jaw dropping to the floor.

I couldn't blame her for that one… that was exactly what I was thinking.

"U-Um," Jasmine stammered, noticing that my silver eyes never left her person. She slowly vanished behind Lance's figure again.

"Don't worry, Jasmine!" Lance laughed, completely unaware of the millions of ways I planned on assaulting her. "I get this reaction a lot! It's nothing new!"

Jasmine peeked her head out again and squeaked as she noticed my blank gaze was still focused on her.

"Champion Lance… I don't think that's quite it," she explained, ducking behind him once more.

The champion's smile turned confused at that.

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

"Silver sends his regards."

Ariana jolted up at that in surprise, whirling around and making eye contact with Giovanni himself.

He had an amused smile on his face, as if being told a joke that only he knew the meaning of...

She wouldn't say what she thought about that look. Instead, she'd focus on what he just said.

"You ran into Silver? Where is he?" she asked.

He gazed at her and raised a brow, walking towards his office. "Concerned about him?"

Ariana had no choice but to follow after him, natural smirk on her face disappearing in favor of a frown.

"He disappeared for about 3 months and you randomly found him again. Is it not natural for me to be curious about his whereabouts?" she asked, stamping her frustration with Giovanni down.

It would do no good to show visible frustration against him.

A sleeping Persian awoke, as Giovanni entered his room and it lazily stalked towards him, purring in content as the gym leader palmed its head.

"I suppose your curiosity is warranted," he said slowly, methodically.

There was always a motive behind everything he said, always a goal. Whether it was to get information, or subtly show his power over someone.

Giovanni was a master of his words. Ariana would know and she was sure that other wench knew too.

"He is currently traversing through the Kanto region, building his power by challenging the Gym Leaders," Giovanni informed her, eyeing a document on his table and picking it up.

"That's it? You didn't bring him back?" Ariana asked, frown deepening.

"There is no need."

No need? What did he mean no need?

"Are you going to elaborate? Our son ran away on his birthday and we had no clue where he went until just now," she pressed.

Giovanni didn't even glance up at her. His eyes just continued to rove over the document he was reading.

"He is doing an exceptional job. His actions have opened my eyes and realized that journeying is a requirement to gaining more experience. He has accrued a good team and his growth is exponential. Forcefully retrieving him will only lead to further resentment. He will escape again."

"So now you want to be a good parent?" Ariana thought heinously, holding her tongue in case she said something reckless.

"You should know how capable he is. He is my son after all. Your worries are unwarranted and they detract from how effective you are. Another useless thing he inherited from you," Giovanni said coldly, placing the document down to finally regard her.

"I've deemed his status to be an acceptable one. You have a mission you need to be focusing on. This conversation is over."

Ariana resisted the urge to scream in frustration and merely sneered. There was no point going against what Giovanni said and she did have a mission to focus on.

"I nearly forgot to mention. I informed Silver that you missed him and he told me that you may go "fuck yourself"," Giovanni mentioned, looking terribly amused by the prospect.

Ariana felt a spike of rage and whirled around. "He said what?! And what did you do about this?"

Giovanni raised a brow. "Should I have done something? He said even worse things to me and I saw no need to reprimand him. I find this rebellious phase of his refreshing."

"After the mission in Vermilion, I will be paying him a visit," she said tersely, shutting the door and walking off before he could say anything.

She silently walked to her private room, white heels clacking against the smooth tile.

Finally, she shut her door and immediately punched the wall with a fierce scowl.

Ariana ignored how the reinforced walls made her fist throb and inclined her head towards the Zoroark that materialized in view.

It looked at her with a tilted head, no emotion in its predatory eyes and Ariana felt her scowl deepen.

"Your child was the reason Silver was able to escape in the first place," she pointed out.

Damn Illusion...

"Zor," Zoroark said softly.

How dare he say such a thing to her?! The audacity of —

Ariana took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

Giovanni himself should have known that raising Silver the way he had been raised was a bad idea.

Silver was his son after all and Giovanni would never accept this... but Silver clearly had her temper and he seemed to finally have grown tired of his parents treatment.

To think he actually stood up to his father... Ariana had never seen such a thing.

She frowned deeply.

After ensuring the mission in Vermilion went well, she'd find her son's whereabouts and pay him a visit.

But for now, she needed to find Lapras because her fist was bleeding.

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

The spawn of Giovanni went by the name Silver.

Mewtwo had been aware of them before, but had not bothered to pay attention to them until very recently...

Because the one named Silver was not normal.

There was no human alive that could resist Mewtwo's mental probing. Most weren't even aware that they were being probed because Mewtwo was exceptional.

But not only was this Silver resistant... he could sense that Mewtwo was there...

How interesting.

Whatever forces protected this Silver from Mewtwo's administrations... was something the psychic was not aware of.

Perhaps they should discuss with their partner about the one named Silver... Giovanni was sure to know more about his spawn.

But that was for later. For now, Mewtwo would continue to hone their capabilities and remain on standby for the mission with Vermilion.

"You don't get to decide the life I live. No one gets to decide the life I live except for me."

Those were the words the one named Silver said to his creator... the same one who was apart of Mewtwo's own creation.

The entire conversation had been on the forefront of Giovanni's mind, to the point where Mewtwo barely needed to prod him.

Perhaps he should prod Giovanni further. Seeing as they were partners, Mewtwo didn't pry into his mind but there could be exceptions made.

It's not as if Giovanni would be able to tell.

Mewtwo was exceptional. They were a master at all that they could do...

So why was Silver allowed to decide his life? Why did Giovanni allow him to wander around.

They were both creations of Giovanni, so what was the reason?

If Giovanni didn't have a sufficient answer...

Well then Mewtwo would just ask Silver himself. They had many questions for the one with the mind guarded by forces not even Mewtwo could penetrate.

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

Bonus!

Jasmine let out a nervous breath as she knocked on the door that led to the main office of Indigo Plateau.

"Come in!" a deep and boisterous voice called out to her.

She nodded to herself and gently opened the door.

Champion Lance Wataru gazed at her with a wide grin. To the left of him, in his giant room, a giant Dragonite (by the name of Siegfried) lay next to him, a tiny Dratini curled into its chest.

"Jasmine!" Lance greeted, standing up from his seat (he looked rather thankful for the distraction) and making his way to her.

She rarely looked Lance in the eye and normally found things to distract herself with on the scheduled Gym Leader meetings... but Lance was very tall... and he also rather young too.

"I think this may be the first time since you became a Gym Leader, that we spoke one on one," Lance pointed out with an amused grin. "I was beginning to think you were scared of me!"

A look of horror crossed Jasmine's features. "N-No nothing like that! I just... prefer to keep to myself and I don't want to waste your time."

Lance shook his head. "Waste my time? Don't be ridiculous! I love the distractions!" he grinned, putting a massive hand on her head and ruffling her hair.

Jasmine squeaked and ducked her head in embarrassment.

The Champion of Indigo had a look of amusement in his eyes but decided to help her out. "So what brings you here? Like I mentioned, you don't normally want to speak to anyone much so I knew this was serious."

Jasmine nodded nervously. "Well it's just..." she nervously began, taking the seat offered to her by Lance.

How was she supposed to do this again? This felt so...

"But it's just… the moment I mentioned Team Rocket… you had the most angry expression I've ever seen on your face… and I don't even think you realized."

"They've done something unforgivable to me is all."

Jasmine's expression hardened.

"Please keep this conversation between just us. I have reason to believe that there is a traitor in our midst, supplying Team Rocket information."

Lance blinked.

That... was not what he was expecting to here at all.

His expression immediately hardened because Jasmine was not the one to joke about something like this.

"That's a lofty claim to make, Jasmine. I'm sure you have reasons to be saying this," he replied seriously.

To the side, Siegfried popped open an eye.

Jasmine nodded and channeled her best Silver impression.

"We have been on the backfoot dealing with Team Rocket the whole time. We've never captured an executive. The grunts we do capture never know anything and quite frankly, we face a serious risk if we don't figure something out," she listed.

"Isn't it suspicious that the Executives only show up to places that we don't have the necessary power to stop them? Or places where we aren't aware they'll be?"

Lance frowned thoughtfully at that, expression not displaying anything.

"You're right."

Jasmine paused at how quickly he conceded.

"Everything you're saying makes sense, when I think of a traitor in our ranks," Lance admitted with a deep frown. "I never thought of it before but that makes a lot of sense."

The Champion nodded to himself before gazing at her, sharp expressions softening. "Thank you Jasmine. You opened my eyes to a new possibility... I'll take steps on how to handle this."

Jasmine nodded, relief on her features and Lance's yellow eyes peered at her.

"I'm surprised you're the one bringing up such a unique perspective to me," Lance pointed out.

"Oh that's because a close friend of mine brought it up!" Jasmine beamed, nervousness immediately forgotten.

The dragon master was rather surprised at how swiftly her mood shifted.

"A friend?" he prodded gently.

She nodded enthusiastically.

"Is this why she's been coming out of her shell more?"

Everyone had been noticing that super shy Jasmine was getting more and more outgoing. She didn't stutter every sentence and she even accepted an invitation to go hang out with Whitney!

Guess Lance figured out the reason for that. She made a new friend! What a shock! Jasmine, while a sweetheart of a child, was introverted to the core.

"Tell me about him," Lance requested with a large grin, watching how elated this person made her feel.

"Mhm! His name is Silver and he's my best friend!" she gushed as if she were talking about steel types.

That let Lance know this Silver kid was special because Jasmine only talked about Steel types like this.

"He's a new trainer. He's very rude and antisocial like me! He doesn't spend a day not tormenting me! When we first met, he didn't even want to accept my number!"

"...This is your friend?" Lance asked, a little appalled that someone as nice as Jasmine managed to get a friend like that.

"My best friend!" she corrected. "Even though he's really rude, he's actually really nice underneath it all! He's been helping me get more confident with myself!"

As she gushed over her friend, Lance listened with a smile.

"I'd like to meet him! You said he's the one who broke you out of your shell and brought up the traitor?" Lance mused.

Jasmine nodded proudly. "He's really smart! He may be new but he gives me that feeling that he's... going to be a really exceptional trainer! He beat Lt. Surge for his first badge!"

That got all of Lance's attention.

Someone beat Surge for their first badge? Was this recent? To be frank, someone with no badges wasn't supposed to be capable of beating Surge currently.

He was going hard on all manner of badges for the S.S Anne boat trip... and someone beat him with no badges?

"Jasmine!" Lance called suddenly. "I want to meet your friend!"

Jasmine jumped at that with wide eyes. "Silver? You want to meet him?" she asked in shock.

He nodded with an eager grin. "Of course! I've never heard you praise anyone like this! I'll have to arrange someone to stand in for Olivine for the time being, but once that's settled, we can go visit him!"

Jasmine blinked. "W-We?"

"Of course! You miss him, right? It's probably been a long time since the two of you saw each other," Lance smiled, patting her head. "You should get to see your friend when you want, so we'll visit him together! Besides, with what you're saying about him, you'd be great for calming him down."

She nodded. "That is true... I don't think he actually cares that you're champion... I don't think he acts differently with anyone. Silver's rude through and through."

So she'd... get to visit him?!

Jasmine beamed and nodded enthusiastically. "Okay Champion Lance! I'll take you up on your offer! I'd love to visit Silver again!"

Lance grinned, abnormally sharp fangs gleaming, and nodded. "Alright, you can stay in Indigo for the. We'll fly over there soon."

She accepted the offer gratefully. "It's good that you're bringing me! Silver can be a bit unhinged... but he at least likes me," she said.

Lance just laughed boisterously. "He's an interesting guy!"

He really was. Jasmine couldn't wait to see him?

Should she surprise him? Silver seemed like the type of person to hate surprises...

That mean she should do it! Silver always tormented her, it was time to repay the favor!