Twisted Garden (Pokemon, Erika AU)

[Aleister Adair]

"Acid."

At Erika's soft call, Oddish's body inflated like a balloon as she began mixing chemicals, and the tips of the leaves on her head swiftly darkened. When Oddish was finally ready, she spewed a decoction of vile purple onto the wall, and the duo hung back as they let the acid slowly eat its way through. Although Erika knew the smell was surely foul, the cotton in her nose protected her from the noxious fumes.

The concrete of the wall started sizzling, visibly degrading before her eyes. It had taken only a scant few seconds for the ancient grout to wear thin, corroded away by the potent poison. With a deft hand, she slid a knife through the wall, and after observing minimal resistance, carved an opening large enough to fit both her and Oddish.

Excellent. They were finally through.

This had been a plan months in the making, and Erika could hardly contain her excitement as she balled up her fists in glee. The building they had just broken into was a front for the Celadon Claws, one of the city's most notorious gangs and pokemon trafficking rings.

Normally, Erika wouldn't have dared to mess with the Claws, no matter how highly she thought of herself. There was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and crossing one of the most powerful local tyrants just to steal a pokemon was definitely on the dumber side of the metaphorical line.

However, three months prior, she had overheard one of their grunts talking about an incoming shipment of goods, and on a whim, pickpocketed the unfortunate grunt for his phone. After fiddling a little with the password and realizing that she couldn't guess it, Erika dipped it in a little water and took it to a local shop for maintenance. They happily took out the old data to place into a new phone - which unbeknownst to them, Erika had stolen from the shop merely days prior.

Upon opening the new phone and reading through the massive backlog of texts, Erika discovered something truly extraordinary. The Claws were shipping in a snivy.

Snivy! Erika practically salivated at the word. It was Unova's premier grass type, and only given to a dozen or so graduating trainers every annual circuit. Each snivy was painstakingly bred to be as strong as possible, and the Unovan league itself restricted their breeding to a select few trusted farms. To steal one from under the Unovan League's noses was nothing short of implausible, yet the Claws had somehow managed.

More importantly, snivy were practically tailor bred for grass specialists. Trainers who bonded with snivy as their starters would enjoy a massive boost to their grass affinity, and they would gain the allegiance of a pseudo dragon.

For someone like Erika - a no name street rat from the back alleys of Celadon, even saving up enough money to purchase a pokeball was a farfetch'd dream. If she actually bonded a snivy as her starter… perhaps her ambitions could truly become reality.

With these blissful dreams in mind, she and her plant friend quickly hurried through the building, making sure to keep away from the ceiling cameras. Oddish bumbled alongside Erika with uncharacteristic grace, making short hops and taps with her diminutive feet. Although the cameras were probably dead anyways after years of disuse, Erika felt it was better to be safe rather than sorry, so she did her best to conceal her face with a scarf.

Despite the darkness of the interior, Erika could easily make out the shapes of broken chairs and tables strewn across the floor. There were old coffee machines, boxy computers, and what she thought looked like a beat up printer. It was hard to tell even if you squinted due to how dim it was. This was probably some kind of office building in its prime, Erika surmised.

The building had been abandoned years ago, and the city had never reclaimed the land for redevelopment because the surroundings had been contaminated by chemical spills. What little remained of the inside could hardly constitute a proper office in Erika's opinion, and it was easy to notice the graffiti and tags lining the walls.

Although the place looked empty, Erika knew there was more to this place lurking beneath. The schematics and floor plans for every building in Celadon were publicly available if you knew where to look, and she had made sure to download a copy from a computer in the local library.

By looking closely at the floor plans and comparing them to the building schematics, Erika would noticed that they didn't display an underground floor, while the schematics clearly indicated instructions for workers to clear out a space beneath the ground. This was the most likely location for the Claws to hold pokemon before selling them.

Erika had been ridiculously proud of herself for figuring that out.

The entry point where Erika had commanded Oddish to break through was at the back of the building behind the parking lot, and they had emerged onto the ground floor. To get to the underground section, she would need to shimmy down the ventilation shaft, since taking the elevator was a surefire way to commit suicide by Claw.

Erika took out her knife and wedged it into the iron grate blocking the vent, twisting and contorting it to warp the thin strips of metal so she could access the screws behind. It took some fidgeting, but the screws eventually came loose and the grate fell to the ground with a soft thump, landing on the carpet she placed beforehand to cushion the fall. Erika took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, and prepared to squeeze into the vent.

Unlike other would-be burglars and thieves, Erika was merely eleven, and could more easily fit into the cramped space of the vent. It took a little experimentation, but eventually she settled on entering headfirst while facing the ceiling, making sure to grab onto the metal strips of the grate for support as she hauled the rest of her body in. She made sure to carefully replace the grate, installing the screws back in and bending the strips into place.

Erika pressed her back against the cold metal of the shaft and her feet into the opposing wall, arresting her impending fall, and then began to slowly descend.

Oddish sat snugly on her head, unaware of what was going on, and Erika was forced to bop her on the head to quieten her merry hums. The warmth radiating from her made Erika's temples sweat profusely, and she nearly lost control of her descent several times.

Upon reaching the bottom of the vent, her knees immediately gave out from the strain. Erika took a few moments to calm her breathing and wipe away her sweat before beginning the long crawl towards the other side of the building. The horizontal section of the vent was far easier to traverse, yet also more annoying at the same time, since she had to drag Oddish as she wriggled through. The angled grate she was forced to crawl over also hurt her knees, but it was far more bearable compared to the initial descent.

"Say, how much do you think the dratini would sell for if we auctioned it publicly?"

Erika immediately froze upon hearing the voice. Even her plant friend knew to quieten down, her leaves drooping and curling up to minimize rustling.

She didn't dare to move her body, only craning her neck slightly to gaze down into the room below. It was brightly lit, unlike the floor above, and she espied four men lounging on mismatched couches. They were garbed in casual clothing - a tee and slacks, with slides for shoes. The sight of them was so absurd Erika was tempted to laugh, despite the seriousness of the situation. She never imagined that criminals would dress so domestically. It made a sort of strange sense, though. They were regular people too.

"Dumbass!" The man in white smacked the head of the person who asked the question. "You know what happens if we're caught selling a Class IX. I'm not risking life imprisonment over your stupidity."

He turned back to the assembly, glaring at each member as if daring them to make another stupid comment, still oblivious to Erika's presence. "Dragonite only breed once a decade, and most of their spawn die before maturing. In terms of rarity, it's definitely far greater than our other cargo." Through the alternating layers of the grate, Erika could see him motioning toward a group of stacked up cages. Most were regular cages with wire mesh frames, but a few were solid tanks of water.

She waited with bated breath as he pulled off the covers from one of the water tanks, revealing a serpentine creature with prismatic scales. It cowered from the light and curled up into a ball, exposing a tail with a jagged birthmark. In any other situation, Erika would have been marveling at and admiring the young dragon. However, the sight of the dratini's reflective scales only inspired terror within her.

Marvel Scale? That was Erika's first, horrified thought. It was the predecessor to an ability which only one dragonite in Kanto had.

As if reading her mind, the man continued speaking and answered the question she was hoping desperately wasn't true.

"We actually got this Dratini from the Champion's dragonite, believe it or not," said the man, his tone far too casual for the circumstances. "She likes to mate with pokemon on Mt. Silver, so we had our crew stake out the lower peaks until we came across the dratini. Almost every dratini egg laid is stillborn unless the dragonite's partner is another of its species, so I don't anticipate a dragon mother chasing us down to reclaim her young. They tend to mate and leave, and only check to see if their bastards survive once every few years."

This dratini was the spawn of Champion freaking Oak's dragonite.

"You're certain that it's a bastard right?" A gruff voice muttered. Erika turned her neck slightly to see a short man dressed in a loose purple tee. "If that's the case, there shouldn't be any risk of us being discovered then."

He gestured to the cowering dratini in the corner with an exaggerated motion before glancing back at his companions. "I just don't want heat from the League, much less a champion tier dragonite. As long as you can guarantee that its origin remains anonymous, I'll happily take the dratini off of your hands."

A third voice then chimed in from the right, projecting with a smooth baritone. "I can certainly assure you that no one knows of the dratini sir. I personally captured it, and transported it in person to you."

As the men talked, Erika's eyes suddenly goggled as she noticed the pokeballs on the third man's waist. He had a full set of great balls - but that wasn't what astonished her. It was more the fact that they were emblazoned with the letters ACE, with 3 tiny golden stars trailing the letters. The capture styler hung by his waist only cemented her shock further.

Erika felt her blood run cold. Trying to steal the snivy didn't seem as appealing anymore, when faced with a three star ace who was part of the ranger corps. Knowing that the Claws had stolen a Champion tier dragonite's spawn was one thing, and could still be explained away. Perhaps the league's rangers had been incompetent and let a few lucky poachers through.

Seeing an ace - no, a ranger as well, in front of her was another matter entirely. The implications alone made her shudder.

This man was someone who already stood near the peak of society. Never did Erika think she would ever get the chance to meet - for a certain definition of meet - such a high ranked ace. Even Celadon's chief of police was only a two star. Aces typically weren't willing to be bound by the government, and only enlisted if they were truly patriotic.

So why was there a bloody three star ace colluding with the Claws? Not to mention, he was a ranger as well. Did the league's corruption truly run so deep, that even a ranger was willing to collude with traffickers for a quick buck? They were supposed to be the face of Kanto!

All of a sudden, the method by which the Claws had managed to steal a snivy from a foreign region, and now apparently a dratini from Mt. Silver - a restricted zone where only league rangers were allowed to traverse - became clear to Erika. The Celadon Claws had their claws sunk deep into the league itself. She even suspected that they had managed to subvert one of Kanto's foreign diplomats, because they were the only people legally allowed to cross regions.

Erika frankly still couldn't believe what she was seeing. Rangers were paid incredibly well, and were supposed to be vetted by the league for loyalty. They had to pass multiple psyche tests, personality screenings, background checks, and were often incredibly patriotic. He had zero reason to sell the league out.

Furthermore, what was truly scary was the fact that the ace was behaving deferentially to the man in white. These guys were no grunts, of that she was sure. The white garbed man had no visible pokeballs on him, so he was likely a representative of the Claws, and that frightened Erika immensely. It implied that the Claws had stronger, more influential people in their pocket, to the point that it could deter even a three star ace from behaving arrogantly.

Four star ace… It was highly likely that the Claws had at least one of them backing up their operations.

Erika started to feel the urge to backtrack and leave the building.

The man in white suddenly spoke up. "Stop worrying about the league. They don't even know the dratini exists, and we've covered our trail well. Our contact in the parliament will also nudge attention away from Mt. Silver, in the unlikely event that anyone gets suspicious."

He pulled out a heavy-set briefcase and opened it, revealing rows of neatly bound paper bills. "Here's the fifty million pokedollars as promised." As quickly as it was opened, the briefcase was snapped shut and slid over to the ace. Erika wasn't even surprised at this point. She idled her time away, watching them hand over the dratini and the briefcase, waiting for the men to conclude their business.

She couldn't quite see their faces as they were masked, but she did her best anyways to forget what they looked like. The shape of their bodies, their height, hair color - Erika drove everything out of her mind. Aces were extraordinarily sensitive, and if she ever ran across them again, they would easily be able to pick up her fear. It was better to forget.

Only when the men finally finished and left did Erika dare to deeply exhale, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was definitely in over her head.

Still, she had already come this far, so she might as well pursue it to the end. The men had definitely left, and despite her fear, Erika was resolved to steal the snivy.

For her destiny, she was willing to bear much, suffer much, and plunge herself headfirst into danger like a moth to flame. The quality of one's starter determined a trainer's future achievements and potential, and she couldn't afford to pass up the chance to seize a first rate grass starter. Grass types weren't inherently powerful in the first place, and the number of pokemon which Erika felt suited her could be counted upon her fingers. The chance to bond with a snivy from a foreign region was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Erika waited patiently for another ten minutes to see if anyone came back, and then had Oddish spray more acid onto the vent. With a hissing pop, a section of the vent came loose, and she dislodged it carefully. She dropped down onto the floor with a rough thump, and Oddish quickly followed into her waiting arms.

Now that she was properly standing in the room, it was easy to find the snivy she was looking for. His was the only cage that wasn't made from wire mesh.

Snivy was trapped in a dense cage of thick steel unlike the other pokemon, and there were only a few openings from which she could see into. From what Erika could observe, his limbs had been bound by manacles, and his face was locked in a mask of anger.

It was telling that he still had his regal nose upturned, despite his predicament. Snivy was definitely a fighter, and that was something Erika could respect. The old scars lining his legs told Erika that he resisted the imprisonment furiously, and had likely shattered his legs multiple times trying to break free. Compared to the cowardly dratini Erika had seen previously, Snivy was far worthier of her respect. To be willing to break, but never bend was a truly admirable trait in her opinion.

The thump of her landing had apparently alerted the serpent to her presence, because he stopped struggling and bent his head towards her. When their eyes met, Erika involuntarily shuddered. She felt an electric sensation travel up her spine, like that of a thousand biting ants. And as if challenging her to take the measure of his being, Snivy raised his pointed head further skyward with the pride he could muster, straining against the chains that kept him rooted to the cage. He matched her stony gaze with ease, in spite of the pain he must have been feeling.

A special pokemon indeed. This snivy was no base creature. She was just about to order Oddish to melt the cage when a click sounded behind her, causing her to instantly freeze. A cold object pressed itself against her skull from behind, and Erika felt a warm breath land on her. "Don't move. What you're going to do is lie down on the grou-".

Erika immediately ducked on reflex and screamed for Oddish, "Acid now!"

By now, the cotton in her nose had already fallen out, so when Oddish unleashed her acid attack, the rank smell made Erika instantly light headed and woozy. She heard a terrible scream from behind her and a gunshot, followed by a loud crack as the bullet ricocheted off the ground. The bullet had barely missed, and Oddish had been responsible for saving her.

Behind Erika, the cages of pokemon erupted into cacophony, as all manner of beasts began to howl and whine at the realization that there was an intruder. They all desired rescue, and made as much noise as they could, much to her chagrin.

Erika leapt to her feet as fast as she could and screamed in an incongruously high pitched voice at the man, "Piss off! Oddish, spray him again and then drain him!"

This time, Erika saw firsthand the acid splattering on the man, and the horrific cries he let out. The acid quite literally ate through his flesh and bone, dissolving his clothing in a matter of moments and melting him alive.

The heart wrenching screams shook Erika on a visceral level, and she watched in gruesome fascination as his legs gave out and fell apart into corroded chunks, causing him to fall to the acid soaked floor. Oddish also began draining his body and absorbing his life force. What remained of his body began to shrivel and wither slowly, like a grape when exposed to sun.

The man was little more than a tattered corpse at this point, but his lips still appeared to be moving, and his eyes were wide open with obvious agony. Erika guiltily stuck her knife into his head, wincing at the squelching sound as her blade sank through acid-softened flesh. Although his head was relatively intact, his face could no longer be identified, the acid having shorn off almost every facial feature. Even third degree burn victims looked better than he did.

While most would have dropped to the ground in shock, Erika had grown up on the streets of Celadon, where violence was commonplace and death just around the corner. She had to fight for every scrap of food and drink, and Erika had been beaten by her fellow rats mercilessly whenever she let down her guard. Seeing a man melted by acid was just a little step up the totem pole of what she was used to, and she quickly recovered from her shellshock.

Erika was confident that this man was the fourth person in the room, who had asked the question about publicly auctioning the dratini. The fact that he had returned was a bad sign. Erika needed to grab Snivy and escape, and fast, before the other grunts - if there were any - were alerted.

She didn't dare to think about the man in white or the ace. If they came back, she was well and truly screwed. The only reason why she didn't immediately attempt to escape was because she was already exposed, so she might as well take Snivy with her.

Erika decided to be pragmatic and stop worrying, calling out to Oddish. "Release your sweet scent! Pacify the pokemon in the cages. That should buy us some more time." Oddish immediately inhaled and puffed out a fine mist of pink, and Erika could smell the bloody stench covering the room visibly dissipate as the sweet scent diffused thorough.

The rampaging pokemon became sedate quickly, and she turned back to the cage trapping Snivy. "Acid again, Oddish! Cover the left side of the cage," Erika ordered quickly. Oddish obeyed her command and spewed her poison, slathering the left side of the cage as comprehensively as she could. The steel began to hiss immediately, but it was clearly slow to melt.

Erika cursed, realizing that Snivy's cage was probably designed to resist corrosion. The designers had likely accounted for the fact that the snivy line learned Gastric Acid, and prepared for the eventuality that its prisoner might try to escape by regurgitating their stomach fluid.

While the metal couldn't fully ignore the potent acid Erika had taught Oddish to produce, it clearly had some level of resistance, enough to slow Erika down that she might be caught and killed by whoever came to investigate.

She hesitated momentarily. Surely her life was worth more than the snivy right?

Memories of hunger, beatings, cold nights spent under bridges, and eating stale food salvaged from dumpsters flashed through her mind. Erika remembered her weakness, her inability, and the feeling of helplessness that overtook her whenever she cared enough to think about her future.

No! She had already come too far. Regardless of what happened now, Erika was determined to risk it all. Life wasn't worth living as a filthy street rat. Erika believed, no - knew, that she was destined for far greater things beyond her current station. The mere thought of giving up disgusted her beyond reproach. She would seize her place in the world with two hands, and wrench it away from whatever stood in her path.

It was time to take a stand. Oddish was clearly exhausted already, her small body heaving and on the verge of withering, but Erika urged her to push on. "Keep using Acid! Keep going, and don't stop until the cage shatters!"

Erika felt somewhat guilty for refusing to bond with Oddish and pushing her so far, but she was unwilling to waste her first aura bond on what she viewed as a walking cabbage. Had Oddish been bonded to Erika, she was sure that Oddish would have tired more slowly, and recovered faster.

It was cold, Erika knew, to train a pokemon and refuse to bond with them. It was like adopting a child and ignoring them, refusing to ever acknowledge them as one of your own children. However, such was the way of the world. You couldn't get ahead in life by relying on sentimentality. A trainer's first bond was their most important one, and forging a connection with Snivy would give her an immeasurable future, one that Oddish couldn't provide.

"Faster Oddish! Again and again!" Erika roared. At her frenzied exclamation, the cage abruptly fell apart, collapsing into itself with a groan and revealing the chained serpent beneath. Oddish collapsed to the ground, withered. She would survive, of that Erika was sure. The extra energy she had drained from the man previously would ensure she lived.

Erika internally swore to herself that if they escaped, no matter how weak she thought Oddish might be, she would give Oddish her second bond for her loyalty. Although Erika was pragmatic, she wasn't heartless. Loyalty was to be rewarded, and Oddish's devotion was beyond comparison. She deserved a seat at Erika's promised table, no matter the weakness of her species or her limited potential.

As quickly as she could manage, Erika pulled off her jacket and used it to scoop up the remnants of acid from the floor, applying it to the chains binding Snivy. The metal was already weak from his previous attempts to escape, and it broke apart with a keening whimper.

At long last, Snivy was free. He strode out with confidence and arrested his movement, before affixing a cold gaze upon Erika.

Instinctively, Erika understood that he was unimpressed by her treatment of Oddish. She had used Oddish up until she was no more, and that surely spoke volumes as to her character. She was unworthy to command Snivy.

However, Erika knew she had to try anyway. This was the culmination of her efforts, the lever which would upend her life and uplift her into glory. She would move mountains, if only Snivy would give her his allegiance.

Erika knelt before Snivy, and though her pride screamed at her to get up, she forced herself to remain still.

This was the first time she had knelt before another, and it would also be the last. With begrudging reluctance, she picked up her acid soaked knife and raked it across her palm, barely holding in an anguished scream. The acid burned, but Erika knew it would not kill. This was a corrosive acid, one designed to burn, not to seep in and poison.

Her action seemed to do quite a lot to appease Snivy. Erika knew she had permanently ruined her left hand. Even if the acid didn't fully eat away at the nerves, she would be left with a horrific scar on her hand for the rest of her life. It was a shocking display of commitment that spoke to her willingness to change.

Only after Erika had fully cut open her palm and spilled her blood did she finally speak. "I swear this to you now, that I will obey the covenant of knighthood." While she didn't want to bind herself to the strict code of knighthood, this was the only way she could win Snivy over now. Offering a traditional knight's oath was the one thing she could think of that might redeem her in his eyes.

Erika paused briefly, hesitating, before continuing. "I will take virtue as my shield and honor as my sword, and never again spill the blood of an innocent. I will cherish innocence, and treasure modesty. I will uphold justice, and decry evil. I will never speak of falsehood, and truth will flow from my lips like a river. I will be beneficent and generous to all. From this day forth, I declare my allegiance to goodliness, and forever bind myself to become a knight."

She painfully gripped her hands and spurted out more blood, letting it trickle to the floor in congealed drops. The acid sizzled on her skin and made her tear up, but Erika refused to cry. This was the only chance she had of persuading Snivy to bond with her.

Erika knew she had overlooked the snivy lineage when she was researching them. She had forgotten the most crucial detail - Unovan snivy were ridiculously moral and honorable, and they categorically refused to bond with immoral trainers. In fact, some obeyed such a strict code of honor that they would rather commit suicide than do evil.

Before saying the final oath, Erika quickly amended her statement, and met Snivy's judging gaze. "I will do my best to uphold the virtues of knighthood. However, you cannot expect me to be perfect. Celadon is cruel, and I must sometimes bend my oath, if not outright break."

At her words, Snivy shook his head in disdain. Erika gritted her teeth, and continued speaking. "If you desire to continue living, then you must accept my oath. Already, our captors near us. Surely, you must have unfulfilled desires. Those who captured you, who betrayed you - I am confident that you must want revenge, no matter how ignoble." She watched Snivy closely, and the barest twitch of his eyes confirmed her suspicions.

"I know that Unova guards the Snivy breeders well. Only an insider could have smuggled you out. Someone definitely betrayed you," Erika spoke confidently. Snivy again reacted to her words, and she continued pressing him. "I'll make an audacious guess right now: it was someone close to you who sold you out." At this, Snivy began to tremble violently.

Erika knew she had hit the right buttons at his reaction, and continued earnestly speaking to him. "I cannot promise that I will be a true knight. What I can do is promise that I will obey the spirit of knighthood, if not the rules to the letter. This is the only compromise I can offer. If you cannot accept my oath, then let us both die here. Let the both of us die with regrets - me with my unfulfilled dreams of glory, and your miserly lack of revenge."

She held out her bloodied hand to Snivy, and with her right, dragged Oddish over. "My companion is not yet dead, merely wounded. If you take me as your liege, then you will give me the ability to save her." Erika hoped vainly beyond belief that this would be enough to convince Snivy. If appealing to his desires would not work, she would try his sense of honor.

"Please take my hand. Accept my oath, and my bond," Erika urged solemnly.

She trained her eyes sincerely upon Snivy, nudging Oddish closer to him. Snivy continued to hesitate, gritting and grinding his molars as if the decision pained him. All of a sudden, a massive slam sounded from the elevator and the doors were violently forced open. The wrenching noise alerted Erika to the fact that backup had arrived, and she knew it was now do or die.

Erika took the chance to shove her hand into Snivy's own and screamed at him, "Lend me your strength! I swear my oath!" The combination of their impending death, Erika's panicked words, and Oddish's rapidly withering body finally broke apart whatever reservations barred Snivy from taking her oath, and he extended a vine-like feeler to wrap around her arm.

Her arm felt as if it were lit aflame, yet Erika only exulted. Success at last, oh how sweet it was.

Erika spasmed violently in pain, before the world slammed back into her and she was awakened to potent new senses. The stench of the leftover acid smelt more acrid and fouler each passing second. The glare of the overhead ceiling light sharpened and became more pronounced. The itchy texture of her shirt became instantly more noticeable, and she could feel the fibers brush and rustle across her skin. Even her hearing began to subtly change, as Erika could now pick out the soft whistling of the wind as the enemy pokemon charged her and Snivy, encasing itself in a shroud of gray that she assumed was normal aura. It was likely Tackle, or Body Slam if they were really unlucky.

Thankfully, it seemed to be the former, and Erika was able to barely dodge what surely would have been a fatal strike. Human bodies were fragile compared to pokemon.

With an exuberant shout, she leapt backwards, and nudged Snivy through the bond of aura they had just formed. New vitality surged into his body, and the tiredness and weariness that he seemed so consumed by was banished by the overflowing aura that he now released.

Nothing could have prepared Erika for when she finally awakened her aura. The books all described it as a minor shock or jolt at most, but that was because average trainers only bonded with common pokemon. The lance of pain and following spasms she had experienced was proof that Snivy was the correct choice.

This was Initiation. She had finally achieved it. The first step to becoming a true trainer - establishing a bond with a pokemon, and attaining the initiate stage of aura.

"This is my destiny!" Erika cried jovially. "Today, I shatter my fetters in triumph! Whosoever tries to stop me, I shall shatter them as well!"

With her melodramatic declaration, Erika lunged for Oddish and called out to Snivy, "Leer at the enemy, and bash them away with Vine Whip!"

The serpent obeyed her order instantly, which Erika felt extremely gratified by. He unleashed three vines onto what Erika could now see was a raticate, and knocked it off course by slamming it with his feelers. He continued his assault by whipping the raticate, but each lash seemed to only annoy it, and its screeches grew in volume with its irritation.

Upon making contact with Oddish, she nudged her now awakened aura into her and formed the second bond. The withering halted, and Oddish's desiccated body began to rejuvenate itself as she poured all of her aura into her. Fresh new leaves sprouted from her head and spider veins crawled their way down Oddish, as her eyes snapped open with new purpose and life. She sprung to her feet and instantly charged the raticate without even needing to hear Erika's order, such was the extent of her loyalty and devotion.

The raticate had yet to be injured at all. Its skin was tough and leathery, and Erika suspected that it could only be hurt by cutting attacks. Blunt force trauma wouldn't be useful unless they were evenly matched or surpassed it in raw power.

From inside the elevator, the grunt laughed at Erika. "Old John here might not be competition material, but he's still a fully evolved second stage 'mon. I'd tell you to surrender, but seeing as you've killed three of my mates," he gestured to the fallen grunts, "I'm not in a very amiable mood. Kill the girl! Quick Attack!"

The raticate accelerated to superhuman speed and lunged for Erika. Erika was sure she was dead. Blast it! A Quick Attack user already? Baseline humans like her even when augmented with initiate aura couldn't hope to dodge that! However, her fears were unfounded, as Oddish courageously leapt between them and slammed into the raticate, changing its trajectory and sending it flying into one of the pillars of the room.

It was unfortunate, but Oddish wasn't made for physical combat, and already Erika could see terrible bruises lining her body. The raticate got up unfazed once more, without injury and angrier than before.

Still, it was quite odd that Oddish had managed to intercept the raticate at all. Oddish were innately slow, and fully evolved raticate were known to be agile and fast moving creatures. Her mind raced as Erika tried to puzzle out what was going on.

To her delight, Erika realized that the raticate was already old. Although it retained most of its fighting strength as a fully-evolved pokemon, its reflexes had long since dulled. The fact that it couldn't even dodge Oddish was irrefutable proof of that. She now noticed how its fur no longer shone, and lacked the characteristic gloss of younger raticate. There were even some patches of gray, and one of its eyes was a discolored milky white.

This was a doable fight, especially since it had become two on one. Erika didn't believe in notions like a fair fight, especially when her life was on the line.

"Stall the raticate, Snivy. Keep him away as long as you can manage and we'll come back for you!" Erika called out. "Oddish, come with me and take out the grunts!"

Two more men emerged from the elevator following the raticate and holding guns, causing Erika to immediately bolt for cover behind the cages of trafficked pokemon. They were precious cargo, and she was staking her life on the fact that they wouldn't be willing to blast her.

Erika made sure to conceal the gun she had swiped from the man Oddish killed earlier, holding it low to the ground beneath the covers of the cages, and coldly ordered Oddish, "Poison Powder. Spread it as far as you can manage and go help Snivy."

Hearing her command, the men trained their guns upon Oddish and began firing, but she was far too small to accurately hit as she weaved and bobbed around. Each jump and hop Oddish made released a potent cloud of toxins, and she began breathing out even more of the misty powder as she ran towards Snivy's fight with the raticate. Oddish paused on occasion to spit out acid at the elevator, scorching the doors and splashing the grunt who had spoken initially. He screamed as he fell, and his companions started to panic as they noticed the poison rapidly spreading through the room. After pumping out as much powder as she could manage, Oddish joined the fight against the raticate.

For Erika, the cloud of poison was also beginning to become a problem. Her eyes were already itching despite having previously built up immunity, and she hastily pulled out a prepared antidote from her pocket and injected it into her thigh, feeling instant relief. She then fired into one of the water tanks with her gun, and took out a cloth. Erika soaked it with the spilt water and tied it around her face, which would hopefully delay the onset of poisoning she was sure Oddish's poison powder would induce.

Looking up, Erika saw the ceiling fans begin suck up the powder and diffuse it through the room even faster. The pokemon in the cages wailed as they choked on the powder, and the poison spreading through their system began to stiffen their muscles and destroy them from the inside. Blast. She had definitely earned herself a blood feud with the Claws by this point, by ordering Oddish to indiscriminately release poison. Their entire cargo had just been killed.

The grunts were in full panic mode now, and began to hastily retreat into the elevator in the hopes of escaping the poison. Erika knew it was time to act. She waited patiently until they had all reentered the elevator before raising her stolen gun and firing it, hammering the trigger until the magazine was empty.

Erika was a terrible shot, having never held a gun before, but it didn't matter when your targets were two big men huddled in a cramped space. No matter how bad her aim, her bullets would surely hit. Sure enough, the men howled in pain as the bullets struck them, and they dropped to the floor while bleeding heavily. She winced a little at the recoil of the gun, and her wrist trembled from the sheer force.

Since the raticate was being tied down by her two pokemon, Erika was free to run towards the elevator and grab the guns from the downed men. She rifled through their pockets quickly before finding a few pokeballs, and finished the men off.

Behind her, Snivy was clearly much worse for wear, having no real means to injure the vastly more experienced raticate. However, he had the support of Oddish, whose searing acid could melt away the raticate's tough skin. It was remarkable, actually, how tough the raticate was. Erika could observe that multiple portions of its skin had been charred off, but the acid was unable to penetrate further and truly rend its flesh and bone, unlike that man earlier.

Seeing a potential opportunity to kill the raticate, Erika slammed her feet into the ground and began running towards it, as she summoned her voice that was rapidly growing hoarse from all the shouting to relay instructions for Snivy and Oddish. "Snivy, I need you to restrain the raticate with your vines, and hold it down as best as you can. Oddish, start draining its stamina and weaken the raticate."

Her pokemon obeyed, ceasing their attempts to attack the raticate in favor of tying it down. The raticate was lashed to the ground by several invasive vines, and it wriggled and struggled with a great fervor to break free. Oddish started absorbing, and the rat's skin began to wither and shrivel. Its struggles weakened considerably, enough for Erika to line up her new gun to its head and begin firing.

Most of her shots missed, and the ones that did land ended up sinking into its head. However, the raticate's skull was far too dense for the bullets to penetrate, and Erika only enraged it further. The pools of blood that formed beneath it were merely from surface wounds, and it violently twisted in an effort to escape.

Finally, one of Erika's shots hit their mark and burst its eyes, making its way through the sole weak point on its head. The raticate let loose a terrible squeal, writhing this way and that as it finally died. The bullet had turned its brain to mush.

Erika collapsed heavily onto the floor, panting deeply and trying to recover from the intensity of the fight. She had been so incredibly tense that even sitting down hurt. Despite the fact that the floor was slick with blood, Erika couldn't find it in her to care.

After a few seconds of deep breathing, she beckoned Snivy and Oddish over, offering them the pokeball and great ball that she had looted from the two men.

Oddish tapped her head against the ball without hesitation, vanishing in a blink of red light as she was instantly captured. It took Snivy a few more seconds to make up his mind, but in the end he dipped his upturned nose slightly, and tucked his stubby arms into a faux bow, before pressing his head against the great ball and disappearing. Now that Erika had properly captured them in pokeballs, it would be easier to transport and deploy them as needed.

She considered releasing Oddish from her ball to continue fighting, but decided against it in the end. Oddish was already exhausted beyond compare, and had squeezed out everything she had to keep fighting at Erika's behest. The initial surge of aura had helped her overcome her fatigue, but it wouldn't be good to continue pushing her. Erika herself was spent, having pushed all her aura into Oddish to suppress her fatigue and injury, and she wouldn't be able to support the burden of maintaining Oddish in another fight.

Snivy popped out of the ball onto the ground next to Erika, and she quickly analyzed the room they were in. There was only one entry point other than the vent she had come in through, and that was the elevator.

That was potentially very good, and also very bad at the same time. More grunts were sure to come down through the elevator, but it also gave Erika the chance to set up an ambush.

Rule one of being a trainer: never get caught in an ambush.

You might control badass pokemon that can level a building, but being shot will still kill you all the same. The lifeless bodies of the grunts Erika had just killed were proof of the veracity of this saying. There was no time to waste.

"Snivy, use your Vine Whip to set up a tripwire at the door! Make it as low as you manage, and then come hide with me behind the corner. We'll ambush the guards - I'll shoot the second guard that comes in, and you need to batter the first into unconsciousness," Erika told him.

Snivy bristled at her order, clearly thinking that such a dirty tactic was dishonorable. He couldn't actually talk, but the discomfort and vehement disagreement he felt was being expressed to Erika through their bond. He had obeyed her orders previously in the heat of the moment, but now that things had calmed down a bit, he was beginning to disagree with her.

Erika gave him an incredulous look, wildly pointing to the elevator as if he were mad. "More grunts are coming! We were lucky to survive the initial wave, but that's not going to happen a second time. We can escape through the vents I came in earlier, but we need to stall the grunts to do that. If you don't obey my instructions, we're both going to die! Are you really choosing this moment to bring up your honor?"

Snivy had nothing more to say at that, and wordlessly turned away from Erika to carry out her instructions. It was clear that he was unwilling, but apparently he still had enough survival instinct within him to realize that they would end up dying if he refused to listen.

He dutifully began stringing vines across the door, and Erika got herself ready to fire by swapping her spent gun for the last remaining one.

The elevator opened once more and five grunts came out this time, before promptly running into Snivy's tripwire and falling. Without hesitation, Erika took aim and sprayed, flexing her finger to empty the gun's chambers. Again, the narrow passageway and cramped space of the elevator worked to her benefit, ensuring that all her bullets hit their targets. Bloody flowers of red erupted on their bodies, causing the grunts to seize up and become still. She could feel Snivy's judging gaze from behind her, and resolved herself to ignore it.

Before running to the vent, Erika hauled one of the grunts over to block the elevator door, preventing it from closing and returning to the first floor. Thankfully, there were no stairs leading down to the underground floor. The man was inordinately heavy - at least for Erika, who had yet to even turn twelve. She heaved with all her strength to barely lever the man over the corpses of his friends, and wedged it between the opening.

Erika didn't bother asking Snivy for help with this particular task, already knowing that he would refuse out of some moral objection towards disrespecting fallen enemies or some such nonsense.

"Keep watch on the elevator for me," Erika told Snivy seriously. "If they're crazy enough to jump down the elevator shaft and break through the elevator ceiling, you're responsible for stalling them. I'll beam you once I cross the vent." With that, she wriggled into the passage, and began her painful journey across the grated surface.

Thankfully, it seemed like the elevator still hadn't managed to return back up, or perhaps reinforcements were slow to arrive; Erika honestly didn't care, and she didn't want to know. It took her nearly a minute to crawl to the other side, and Snivy finally popped his head in from the other end. At the click of a button, she returned him to his pokeball, and with shaking hands, clipped his pokeball to her wait.

The climb took even more out of Erika, but she was now riding an adrenaline high that came from knowing that she had successfully stolen from the Claws. Her excitement seemed to sweep away her soreness, and though her legs screamed, she was able to slowly force her way back up the vertical section of the ventilation to reach the first floor. However, this wasn't where she wanted to stop. It definitely wasn't safe to get out here.

It took five more painful minutes, but she finally ascended to the top of the building, where Erika knew she could easily escape from. The rooftop was connected to the other buildings, and she would be able to hop across buildings until she felt it was safe enough to descend and escape. It was cold outside when she popped out the vent, and Erika lay down on the ground, completely spent.

The wind chill of the night seared on her clammy skin, causing her to shiver involuntarily. Despite the cold, she found herself smiling victoriously. She had found her starter, outsmarted the Claws, and had now successfully escaped with her prize.

Erika turned around to begin building hopping and was met face-to-face with the masked ace she had spied upon earlier, his half mask revealing a teasing grin. She screamed.


AN: Twisted Garden server link - feel free to join
https://discord.gg/vVkwF89xgj

Please make sure to like and throw me a comment if you enjoyed reading! Its always great to see!

 

[Replicant]

This shit is good

 

[Kritter]

This is really good.

Hopefully there are more chapters to come.

 

[HatsuZ]

That was brutal. o.o

Very different from the Erika in the games.

 

[CausalityCircle]

I'm surprised the poison powder is lethal to the caged pokemon but seems to have no mentioned effect on snivy what with poison being super effective on grass

Did my eyes skip over an important line?

 

[Aleister Adair]

Erika tried to scramble backwards immediately, but the ace was far faster, bolstered by the might of his aura to the point that he seemed to blur as his fist closed in upon her.

Unfortunately for Erika, the enhancements she had gained by developing aura were limited merely to somewhat sharpened senses. While she could vaguely sense his movement, she could in no way react fast enough, and wasn't able to do anything but watch as the ace brutally jabbed her in the stomach, sending her ragdolling helplessly across the rooftop.

Erika cried out in pain, doubling over despite already being curled up on the floor and loudly dry heaving.

For all Snivy's misgivings about her, watching Erika get pummeled without reason wasn't something his honor would abide by.

This time, five vines arose, lashing out at the ace at a speed and intensity far greater than he had previously demonstrated. With an ease Erika didn't know that Snivy possessed, he manipulated the vines mid flight to change direction, forming a sort of encapsulating net that blocked off the ace's escape routes.

Sadly for Snivy, the ace remained entirely unruffled and leapt towards the vines - wait, what was he doing?

Erika watched in astonishment as the masked man performed a series of bizarre contortions, twisting himself into an inhumane posture and splaying his limbs, which enabled him to slide through the pincer attack Snivy levied at him. He sailed harmlessly through the air past the vines, and then pulled a pokeball from his pocket and launched it at Snivy.

Snivy twirled and brought his tail to bear, arresting his motion and adding spin to drastically enhance the force. Like a rapidash whip, his tail smashed the pokeball to pieces with a loud crack and sent the remainders flying back towards the ace, who promptly shielded his face with his arm and let the harmless fragments bounce off his chest.

Perhaps it was Erika's delirious state, but she could have sworn for a second that Snivy's tail glinted with a silvery sheen.

Snivy had been holding out on her, was Erika's first hateful thought. That bastard knew Iron Tail and was sandbagging the previous fight.

Her second, less hateful thought was the fact that Snivy had smashed apart an empty pokeball. Why throw an empty pokeball at Snivy?

Erika struggled to think, her body in far too much pain to facilitate her mind. That punch the ace had given her practically knocked the wind out of her, and she was still reeling from the agonizing blow.

Through the haze of pain, Erika noticed that the ace had stopped attacking and backed up to release a snarling white bear, which loosed a roar of chilling air. Erika was prepared to make a run for it and dive off the roof when she realized that it wasn't moving towards her.

The bear made no attempt to attack either Snivy nor Erika, only standing protectively in front of the ace who also had come to a still.

Her mind raced, trying to understand what was happening. Why isn't it attacking me? Is it because it's waiting for orders from the man? No. That can't be. He's an ace. Surely he must have trained it well enough to react instantly to different situations upon release. So what's going on?

The white bear towered over her, standing at a gigantic five meters in height. Its lumbering frame was rippling with explosive muscle just beneath the skin, and was covered in a rich satiny pelt. Spikes of saliva stained ice trailed downwards from the bear's chin, forming a facsimile of a beard.

I only read about these pokemon passingly while researching the grass starter variants. They called it Beartic.

Inwardly, Erika cursed her lack of knowledge. Kanto is too isolated from the other regions, and Johto is our only trading partner. If only I could get my hands on more books! Most Kantonians would have thought it some kind of mutated Ursaring, or failed to identify it at all, but at least I know it's called a beartic.

Snivy retreated back to her side, forcing himself to his full height in a classic intimidation posture. He wasn't very tall, standing at just over a meter or so, but the sight of him guarding her warmed Erika's heart a little. She did her best to remain unfazed, despite being menaced by a bear nearly five times her height.

That was when it hit her. The ace wasn't trying to send out a pokemon earlier. He was attempting to capture Snivy!

As if to confirm her suspicions, the ace suddenly spoke up. "Yeah, I thought for sure that the snivy would refuse to bond with you. You've got your hands soaked with blood, girl." He smirked as if he had just told an inside joke.

"How did you manage to do it anyways?" he asked curiously. "These justice freaks are supposed to be ridiculously intolerant, and you've definitely violated at least several of his core tenets. It's frankly quite amazing that you were able to convince him to bond."

Erika glared at him. "You wish I would tell you," she coughed at him wetly. "It's far too late now though. The bond has been formed, and Snivy is stuck to me from now on."

He considered what she said for a brief moment as if he were making a decision, before reaching into his pocket. Erika immediately tensed up, preparing to dodge out of the way and release Oddish no matter the consequences to her health, when he pulled out a thin vial containing a clear liquid. Her concentration broke as she stared in fascination, mesmerized by the fog trails rising from the solution.

That definitely wasn't water of any kind. Upon swirling the glass, the vapor cleared up and faded away, leaving behind only the solution.

"Here," said the ace. He tossed over the vial to Erika, who fumbled and barely caught it with her ruined left hand. The smooth, slippery sensation of glass on her scorched flesh made her tremble, but Erika refused to show weakness.

"What's in the vial?" she asked warily.

"Blissey serum," the man said. "Use it on your hand. It won't bring back the nerves that have already been destroyed, but it'll halt any further damage and help you retain most of your hand's functionality."

Erika's eyes bulged. Blissery serum? You could buy an entire house in the upper districts for the same amount of money it cost! Why was he giving it to her?

She left her question unvoiced and eagerly uncorked the vial, pouring it over her left hand. Since I can't escape, I might as well take a risk and trust him.

Erika winced at the lukewarm sensation of the liquid, and she did her best to smear it across every location the acid had seared. The relief was immediate. Her hands stopped burning straight away, and she felt a pleasant cool wash over her palms and digits.

Once she was done, Erika lifted the glass to her lips and drank deeply, savoring the slightly sweet tasting nectar. She began to cough, and hacked out several mouthfuls of black blood. Her body started to feel instantly less feverish as Oddish's poison faded.

The ace frowned at her action, but didn't try to stop her, opting instead to chastise her. "You're a very greedy girl, aren't you? That was three hundred thousand pokedollars that you just consumed. Furthermore, you didn't even think to save any for your pokemon."

At that remark, Erika's eyes widened. She had totally forgotten about Snivy and Oddish. At a glance, it seemed like Snivy wasn't judging her. He only stood rigidly between Erika and the ace, prepared to use his body as a shield if necessary, such was his chivalry.

However, the two were bonded now, and Erika could feel his disappointment through the empathic link. He thinks me self serving and selfish.

If they were being perfectly honest, Snivy wasn't incorrect in his thoughts, but it still rankled Erika anyways to be judged by him. She was the liege in the relationship, not him! Cautiously looking at the ace before her and still paranoid that he would attack her in spite of the gift he had given, she released Oddish from her ball.

Erika tipped out part of the remaining blissey serum onto Oddish, and watched as her injuries began sealing up and quickly scabbing. In actuality, Oddish would have healed quickly anyways, as most grass type pokemon were extraordinarily tenacious. What they lacked for in raw strength, they made up for in endurance and staying power.

It was a waste in Erika's opinion, but not using it on Oddish would lower Snivy's opinion of her even further.

After confirming that her withering and injuries had been comprehensively treated, she bent down to pour what little was left into Snivy's mouth. He brokered no objection, also inhaling the serum just as she had done to treat the poison in his system.

Previously, Erika had ordered Oddish to indiscriminately poison everything in the room to force the guards into a kill zone, despite knowing that Snivy would be caught in the cloud. This wasn't just her being uncaring - she had done her research well, and knew that the snivy lineage was bred to be resistant to poison.

The snivy were the traditional companions of historical Unovan knights, who often had to deal with palace politics and petty noble squabbles. It wasn't unheard of for many a knight to die from poisoned food or wine, and eventually they turned to their partners for help. Over the course of centuries, snivy had been bred to tolerate poison, and would drink of their lord's wine and eat their meat to check for poison.

It was with this knowledge in mind that Erika forced Snivy to charge into the poison, knowing that the raticate would be hindered even more than he. She hadn't meant to be cruel, for it was just simple pragmatism.

Sorry Snivy.

Erika didn't know if Snivy would have been able to hold the raticate off alone while she killed the guards, so it was safer to just poison the entire room - the raticate included - en masse.

The complexion of her starter improved quickly after consuming the serum, and he returned to standing vigil against the ace. He drew his chest up and jutted it out, affixing himself into a rigid position that Erika thought looked quite uncomfortable. He does take his duties as a knight seriously, I'll give him that.

"Your attempt at stealing the snivy was cute, by the way," the ace said casually. Snivy twitched at his comment, disliking the implication. "It was an admirable effort, but I can sense heat signatures. You and your pet cabbage looked like blinding suns to my eyes, and I actually had to stop myself from laughing."

He paused, and then looked at her directly in the eyes. "Still though, I must say that I respect you. Not many have the daring, nor the guts to do what's necessary in the pursuit of power. Even if you knew there was a great risk of death, you still went ahead with the theft anyways. That's something that I can admire."

Beartic snorted by his side, and the ace laughingly patted his fur. The scene looked comical to Erika, seeing a man pet a monster nearly three times his height like it was a domestic animal.

"Nanook here seems to agree. You see, I too risked my life in my youth to become strong." The ace pulled up his shirt for Erika to see, revealing a mass of horrific scars. There was a deep depression in the left side of his stomach, as if something had caved it in and never healed back properly. Dozens of brown lines trailed across his belly, which she suspected were scars from old lacerations.

"Let me tell you a story," the ace spoke, suddenly releasing a second pokemon.

This time, Erika was truly unable to identify the pokemon. She had done her best to look into as many pokemon as possible, but there was a limit to what was publicly shown. Even the boxy library computers hadn't contained any information on Snivy, and she was forced to dig through manuscripts and old seafaring journals to glean the knowledge she sought.

The pokemon the man released was nothing like she had ever seen before. It resembled a sort of broken mirror, only with fractal grooves and lines carved into its body. Beady crystal eyes - at least Erika assumed they were so - peered at her as it hovered above the ground. Whenever it turned around or moved, it made tinkling noises similar to the sound of the wind chimes Erika always listened to when she would pillage the Plaza Market for food.

Upon settling itself, it began shining, radiating soft greens and light blues in a beautiful display of controlled power. Astonishingly, the light it emitted began to warp and twist, forming into wispy, illusory figures that Erika could clearly tell were humans.

The ace pointed at the first human figure, which began to run around as if it were in a playground. "Imagine, if you will, a young boy of fourteen years old. He's happy and content with his life, and he's doing well in school. While he comes from a struggling family, he's always optimistic and cheery, and believes that good things will come to him in life as long as he works and studies hard."

"Whenever the boy isn't studying, he helps his parents run their restaurant. It was his dream to go to university, get a good job, and support his parents. He worked hard everyday for this simple dream, and believed with all his heart that it would surely come true." The ace sneered at this final sentence, as if the very concept sounded preposterous to him.

With an exaggerated, almost accusatory point, the man levied his finger at Erika. "Tell me, what do you think happened to this boy after he graduated?"

"I suppose he grew up, went to university, and got the stable job that he always wanted," Erika replied snottily, watching the ace for a reaction that never came. "Although seeing as you're telling me this story, I'm going to assume that this isn't what happened. You're that boy, aren't you?"

"Yes, I suppose so," the man murmured, sighing and looking up at the moon. "But I haven't been him for a long, long time. Not since my brother left, and everything changed."

To another, more emotional person, they may have found this conversation quite… saddening, perhaps. Even Erika could feel the melancholy rolling off the man in waves. However, Erika wasn't a very emotional person, so she thought he looked stupid. She didn't dare to voice her opinion though.

"Tell me," the man said, refocusing on her. "I want you to guess what my brother did. How did I go from being a poor, lower class boy who was destined to work a back-breaking blue collar job for the rest of his life, to being a three star ace that controls pokemon able to vanquish small armies?"

He clenched his fist at the memory. "Go on. Give me your best guess."

Erika didn't have to think particularly hard, if she was being honest. The man's story hit nearly every classical betrayal trope, and given the details that he had told her, it became obvious. "Your brother probably ruined your family financially in some way or other, right?" Erika asked carefully. The man's face was all she needed to confirm her guess.

"I can't figure out exactly what he did, but it definitely destroyed your chances of going to university," she said with an air of finality. "That's my best guess."

For a second, Erika thought she had guessed wrong, for the man said nothing in response. Was his face earlier just an act? She had been so sure of herself though.

After a brief silence, he spoke up once more. "Yes, you guessed correctly," he confirmed. "Let me show you what happened."

The hexagonal pokemon floating by his side continued weaving light, this time sharpening the resolution of the image until it became nearly photorealistic. Only the color remained unaffected, staying a dim shade of blue and green.

Erika watched an older looking version of the first boy walk into a bank, sign dozens of papers, and then walk out. The image cut to reveal him with his hands in the air, apparently in celebration, as he held up a sickly looking Bagon - yet another foreign pokemon that regular Kantonians shouldn't have been able to get.

More figures began to condense out of the light. She saw a man and a woman crying, and the younger version of the ace sitting morosely as his parents argued. Workers came into the house and began taking things away, and the residents only watched in silence.

The final scene ended with the older boy dead, lying in a pool of his own blood. The Bagon wyrmling was missing. At this, the lightshow faded into nothingness, returning the surroundings to dim darkness once more.

That was the most anticlimactic thing I've ever seen. Erika thought. Sure, it was pretty cool, but I'm still stuck here with him. How am I going to wriggle my way out of this?

"So… your brother wrote his name on some papers and your life fell apart?" Erika tried. Seeing the veins crawling over the man's head, she stopped being sarcastic immediately.

"He sold off your home to buy a bagon as a starter, and ruined your family," Erika said hurriedly, berating herself for her lack of restraint in mouthing off. "The bank repossessed the house and took away everything that your family owned."

"Everything," the man agreed, echoing her words. "That fool brother of mine was so desperate to become a trainer - a famous one, that he approached black market vendors in the hopes of acquiring a rare starter. To this day, I still don't know who it was that sold the bagon to him. He agreed to use everything our family owned as collateral in getting a loan to buy the wyrmling, promising that he would soon earn the money back."

He clenched his fist in terrible anger. "My brother was an idiot. Who would willingly sell a random kid a dragon, even if they had the money? All dragons are at least Class VII, but the fool still went ahead with the deal anyways. They never intended to let him keep it. Before he could even bond with the damn thing, they killed him, and I came back to find our home gone, my parents distraught, and my brother dead."

"What's more, even if he did bond with the bagon, he likely would have died on the spot. They're Class VII for a reason," the man muttered angrily. "Before getting your first starter, you don't even have a smidgeon of aura. It's the affinity that catalyzes the bond - but you already know that, don't you?" He turned towards Erika, who could only nod.

Information on bonding was scarce, but Erika had long studied every publicly available book and guide on the topic. The ace was right. His brother was stupid - if he actually did succeed in forming a connection with the bagon, his lack of dragon affinity would have made his head implode. In her case, Erika had only dared to bond with Snivy because she knew her grass affinity was powerful. Otherwise, she would have never even dreamed of doing so.

"Not too long after, my mother died of shock, and my father drowned himself away with alcohol. He became a shell of a man, and I was left working to provide for him," the man said. His voice was completely flat, and became grating like sandpaper, as if each word had to be dragged out of his mouth. "What was left of my dream? My entire family was broken apart, and the sole survivor became a raging, incoherent drunk. I couldn't even go to university."

Beartic lumbered over after hearing these words, scaring Erika a little. The ice bear evoked a feeling of raw, primal fear in her, and she struggled to stand still. "That was why I decided it was time to risk everything, just as my brother had done," continued the man. "I had no family left to live for, so from then on, I would live only for myself. But how? I had no money, nothing to my name, and no education. How on earth was I to live for myself when I had nothing?"

"Pokemon training," Erika replied easily, without needing to be prompted. The martial path was one which didn't need education, at least not to a specialized level, and anyone with good instincts and a brain for strategy could do it. She'd be more surprised than anything if the man said otherwise.

He nodded his assent at her words. "Right. I decided to become a pokemon trainer, just like my brother had dreamed of doing. However, I couldn't even take the first step without a starter.

A slow smile began to climb up his face. "It was then that I decided to do something utterly crazy. If I was going to become a pokemon trainer, then I wanted to become the very best trainer possible, since this would be my life from then on.

Erika could already guess what was coming next, because his story sounded nearly the same as hers. "You went into the wilds to search didn't you?" she said softly, her tone lower and now less mocking than before. That's something I definitely can respect.

Rather than answer her question, he pulled up his shirt once more, showing Erika the scars that she already knew lay beneath. "Nanook gave these to me by the way," he said casually. The bear snorted and turned away, embarrassed.

"I lived in a small border city along the Sinjoh Demilitarized Zone, and opportunities to find pokemon were scarce. The city was heavily fortified, and every wild area near the DMZ had long been decimated by Johto and Sinnoh's border skirmishes." The man paused briefly to think, recalling old memories. "This happened long before I was born. I remember my mother telling me that the militaries of both sides firebombed the forests along the DMZ, and left the earth desolate and barren. Only one place was spared from this fate - Aachen Mountain."

Hearing that, Erika's eyebrows rose, as did her estimation of the man's daring. She was very familiar with that name, because it turned up several times in many of the trainer handbooks she had pilfered from the public library.

Aachen was a forbidden zone which hosted an esteemed Titled Pokemon called the Ice Father, a giant lapras that had apparently survived since the last great extinction. Military scouts who ventured deep into the heart of the mountain reported a slumbering lapras the size of a large island, resting peacefully in hibernation.

The aura readings alone indicated that it had legendary-tier combat power. Sinnoh and Johto wisely decided to never disturb the mountain in fear of the great beast awakening, and kept their conflict to a minimum in Aachen's vicinity.

"You actually went in?" Erika asked disbelievingly. That was even crazier than even her attempt to rob the Celadon Claws! Even though most of the information regarding forbidden zones was classified, a decent chunk of it was still reported to the public - like warnings on what pokemon would appear along the edges and why people should never go near.

The ace looked at Erika as if she were stupid and ignored her question. "I only brought with me enough food for a week's time. If I couldn't find a pokemon to bond with by then, I would freeze to death anyways, and I didn't care enough to live longer if I didn't become a trainer."

A week's time? That's hard to believe, given the rumors about Aachen's magical temperatures. The cold is supposed to seep into your bones, disregarding everything and anything you wear, Erika thought to herself. Her craving for knowledge in the pursuit of power had led her to read through every article and publicly available book on the forbidden zones in Kanto and her neighboring region Johto, and Aachen was one of the more famous sites.

There were chilling reports of scouts returning frostbitten despite wearing heavy clothing and snow equipment, and even standing atop a roaring flame supposedly did little to stop the freezing. One of the old veterans at Roko Square talked about it once. His son was part of the Ranger Corps and died during the second attempt to map out Aachen.

It was creepy how on point the ace's timing was. He pulled out a thin, waxy looking paper with a circle inked into the center, and held it out for Erika to see.

Affinity Paper. Erika had only seen it once in person before, and that was when she had been given it by the veteran who told her about Aachen. The man wanted to thank her for coming to talk with him when no one else would, as she would always sit and patiently listen to his stories. Erika was always glad to talk to him regardless, for his stories were full of rich detail and information one couldn't normally find through public channels. Out of the blue one day, he pulled out a strange paper from his bag and told her to grasp it tightly.

When she touched the paper that first time, it became wet with sap, and sprouted tendril like roots that wriggled out like snakes. Erika grinned at the memory. She had been so freaked out that she dropped it onto the ground, and the paper took root deep in the earth, spearing through the concrete straight into the soil beneath. A mere few minutes later, it had grown into a sapling, and the next day, it began to flower and bear fruit, having already grown twice as tall as herself.

That moment had been the beginning of it all for her. Up until that point, Erika was just another street rattata, albeit a very educated one with an interest in pokemon. She scavenged dumpsters for food by day and slept under bridges by night, working only to survive to see the next dawn. Hers had been a sad and pathetic existence, and Erika lived like a truly base creature with neither ambition or pride.

The revelation that her affinity for Grass was so powerful that it could trigger a reversion in the paper and return it to life marked a turning point in Erika's path. From that day onwards, Erika knew she was special. It was her destiny to be great, and that knowledge gave her the courage to commit even more daring crimes and plunge herself headfirst into danger to seek a suitable starter to match her potential. The world would bend to her whim, and if it did not, Erika would force it to do so.

Through their bond, Snivy communicated his disgust at her narcissism, and Erika winced. She had forgotten again that they were connected now, and her feelings would overflow to Snivy. I definitely need to work on controlling what I send through the bond, she thought exasperatedly. Snivy's patience might wear thin if this keeps happening.

Erika felt a profoundly uncomfortable sensation as she explored their bond, feeling it quite literally weigh upon her soul. Her bond with Snivy felt like a heavy chain wrapped around her neck, pressing and dragging her down, such was the strength of his aura. In comparison, her bond with Oddish was light and airy, and felt as if it could be easily snapped if she willed it so.

It was a good thing that Oddish didn't have a strong auric presence, because Erika didn't think she would be able to support their bond otherwise. Snivy was simply too heavy for lack of a better term, and even with her incredible grass affinity, Erika still felt a little suffocated. This should hopefully go away once my aura grows in strength, but I'll have to be careful not to let Snivy's aura growth outpace my own. She grinned at the thought. If even I'm struggling this much, what about those Unovan trainers who get snivy legally? Forget making a second bond, they probably struggle to even support their first!

A few moments after the ace held the paper out, it began to slowly frost over, as the moisture in the air condensed and froze into thin icicles. Erika began smirking instantly, seeing the pace at which the ice appeared. My affinity is far superior than his.

On the surface, she merely voiced her understanding to the ace. "It makes sense now. You were able to bear Aachen's mystical cold because you had a strong Ice affinity! That's why you succeeded where so many others failed."

He smiled, gratified at her deduction. "That's right. With my Ice affinity, I plunged deep into the heart of the mountain itself, and walked for days in search of my promised starter."

"However, I caused an avalanche when I carelessly stepped onto a section of loose snow, and lost all my prepared food," the ace said solemnly. "I would have surely died if I didn't stumble upon a cave, where I found a hoard of berries and pokemon carcasses. But I was too happy at finding food to the point that I neglected to think about why there was food in the first place, and nearly died again when Nanook emerged from the depths of the cave."

Nanook sheepishly looked away, making annoyed growling noises. The man only laughed at that, scratching his muzzle and continuing the story. "Even as a cub, Nanook was already twice my size, and nearly disemboweled me. I tagged him with a pokeball after he crushed my ribs and pressed me into the ground of the cave, and thankfully, he was caught on the first ball. I'm not quite sure what I would have done if it didn't work the first time. Probably get eaten I suppose." The man laughed again at his own words.

He continued to speak. "Nanook-"

"Why are you telling me all this?" Erika interrupted in confusion. She had been indulging the man so far so she could recuperate and try to restore her aura, but her curiosity won out eventually. "By all rights, you should have eviscerated me by now, yet you've held off, given me serum, and are now spilling your life story to me. Why do all of this?"

"I want you to join me," said the ace, to her surprise.

…what? Erika knew he had an ulterior motive, but she hadn't expected that.

"What are you prepared to offer?" Erika said quickly, trying to stall for time to plan an escape. She knew it might be inevitable, but joining Fulton would definitely earn her Snivy's reproach and disdain. He wouldn't be willing to shatter their bond for fear of crippling his own potential, but Snivy might do something extreme.

Hearing her words, the ace frowned.

Suddenly, he formed a claw with his hand, plunging it into the floor of the rooftop. To Erika's utter shock, his fingers cleaved through the floor like butter, and he wrenched out a fistful of stone the size of his palm with a smattering of concrete dust.

The ace paused, perhaps for dramatic effect, and then violently squeezed his hands shut, crumbling the rock into fragments. "What am I prepared to offer? That's a hilarious statement, girl," said the ace. "You don't have any bargaining power, and it's impossible for you to escape. I know you aren't stupid, but you have no idea what a real ace trainer is truly capable of."

He beckoned his beartic even closer, making Erika feel nervous. Snivy stood firm, like a sturdy tower. "Despite inheriting Ice, I've already progressed my aura to the point that I can crush stone with my bare hands. If I really wanted, I could wrestle your snivy down with nothing but my body, and rip you limb from limb. Give up on escape. It's not happening."

Erika fell silent at that.

"I'll humor you though," he said. "Here, I'll throw you a bone - what I offer is legitimacy." At that word, Erika's eyes narrowed. Seeing her interest, the ace continued speaking.

"I don't know what you planned to do if you actually managed to get away after stealing the snivy, but you surely would have run into trouble with the League. Snivy are Class IV restricted, and a foreign regional starter," he lectured at her, drawing on his ranger training. "The moment you try to register for a trainer license and they scan your starter into the system you're going to get flagged down and detained."

She had nothing to say to him on the surface, only calmly listening to the ace speak. However, Erika was raging inside. That blasted fool. I DID have everything planned out! I was going to go to the media and be welcomed as a hero for 'busting' a crime den, and then legitimize myself as a rising star. It would have worked perfectly too, and would still work, if only I could get away. Being in the public eye would give me protection from those in the league who want to take Snivy away as well. Damn him.

Erika noticed Snivy looking at her oddly, and refocused her attention back to the ace. "If you join me, I can arrange an identity for you as my niece. As the niece to a three star ace, you won't get many odd looks if you're ever questioned about having a snivy. You can just give them my contact, and I'll talk it through with them. Simply telling them that I gave you the Snivy as a starter for your birthday is sufficient to ward off most officers."

Erika didn't want to admit it, but the ace was making a lot of sense. That was, if she didn't already plan to go to the media.

As if reading her mind, the ace smirked and laughed at her, saying "you won't be able to go to the media. I've already informed them that Ace Trainer Fulton has raided the building and successfully cleared out the den of Claw members hiding inside."

What the - how does he know that? Was he actually reading her mind? This time, the ace - Fulton, did confirm her guess. "I have a Jynx on the floor below who is scanning your surface thoughts. Now I'm no psychic, and Jynx can barely send what she's reading to me, but I caught the relevant parts about going to the media."

Ah, blast. Her plan had just gone up in smoke.

Jynx must have sent Fulton a general empathic impression of what Erika was currently feeling as well, because his grin widened like a shark. "Also, did you really think that you'd be able to get away? As one of the few people in Kanto with a snivy - a young one, no less, the Claws would be able to identify you immediately. By joining me, you'll gain both protection from their wrath, and legitimacy with the league."

"I also need to resolve this incident in a way that doesn't get me in trouble, Fulton said, distracting Erika from her growing feeling of dread. "The Claws do have a four star ace heading them like you suspected, and I report directly to him. It reflects badly on me, you see, to just let you escape after attempting to kill our entire cargo of trafficked pokemon."

"By the way," Fulton smirked, "ordering your oddish to poison everything was really ruthless. I didn't think you had it in you to attempt to kill off hundreds of pokemon. They were all either newly hatched pokemon or younglings with great potential, and you cut their lives short like a farmer scything through wheat. I don't think your Snivy approves, does he?"

Snivy in fact did not approve, Erika could confirm. Through their bond, she could feel disgust, condemnation and guilt - mixed guilt, both because Snivy couldn't do anything to save the poisoned pokemon, and because he ignored his instincts to tackle Oddish. If Snivy had done so, perhaps he could have saved the pokemon in the cages. However, his own life would be forfeit to the raticate, and his revenge was still unfinished.

How does it feel to be a hypocrite, Snivy? You could have saved those pokemon, if only you put them before your desires. At least I'm honest about my nature, Erika thought viciously. She hated being judged, and the schadenfreude she felt now was marvelous.

While they were being honest, Erika did feel a little guilty, but she quickly rationalized it away. Life wasn't fair, and those pokemon just had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least their sacrifices wouldn't be in vain, for they would enable her rise.

"They're not all dead," he spoke suddenly, interrupting Erika's thinking. "I wouldn't actually let you kill off our entire cargo, because I would be in real trouble if that happened. You took out maybe a tenth of the weaker pokemon, but most survived despite being badly poisoned. A tenth of the cargo, especially the weaker and less valuable pokemon is still something I can waive off. Even then, it's not a good look for me to just let you walk away unscathed."

"Join me," said Fulton, holding out his hand. "I see great potential in you, and have already confirmed it for myself after watching you steal Snivy. I need capable subordinates, and you would number among the very best that I have recruited so far. Your ruthlessness, daring, creativity - it's rare to see such traits in someone so young. With my help, you could go far."

Erika was already convinced. She was a pragmatic person, and Fulton offered only benefits. Working with him would likely be a carrot and stick relationship, but she was content to bite the carrot. At least for now.

She was sure Jynx was still spying on her thoughts, but Erika was confident that Fulton expected her to betray him anyways in the future. Snivy agreed, sending her his impression of her as someone immoral and easily capable of betrayal. She snorted.

"You can't force me to do anything immoral, though," Erika said, "lest my relationship with Snivy be ruined any further. I'm willing to work with you, not under you. Let me propose a counter offer."

Although annoyed, Fulton seemed curious enough about what Erika had to say. "You mentioned that you wanted capable subordinates right? Tell me about your goal then. I need to know more before I can make my proposal."

"Very well," he said amusedly. "I plan to work my way up through the League, climbing the ranks until I become League Minister. As for why, I'm afraid I can't share that."

Erika's mind started to churn furiously, the great wheels of her brain cranking and turning as she tried to think of something worthwhile. She knew that she would only get one chance to convince Fulton, so she couldn't mess it up. Cmon, brain! All those years I spent reading and studying couldn't have gone to waste. Think Erika think! Finally, a brilliant idea blinked into existence in her head.

"Gym leader!" She finally cried out. "I want to become Celadon's gym leader. You already know that I have potential, and I'm smart and capable enough to make it as a trainer. We both are ambitious, and you said that you needed supporters. If - when I become Celadon's leader, you'll have the help of a gym leader in your bid to become Minister, and my eternal support in any political campaign or politicking."

Erika's words instantly caught Fulton's interest. His eyes gleamed at her statement. "How very audacious. Scheming to take over the gym leader position already? I like it! However, how can you guarantee that you'll succeed?"

What did Erika know about Celadon that she could use to convince Fulton? I know that there's been a divide in recent years. None of the rats were ever involved because people didn't care about them, but the veterans at Roko kept talking about it. Argh! What was it again? Something about bugs? Oh right!

"The conservatives!" Erika said quickly. "Celadon has always historically been host to a Grass type gym - it was only in the past two decades that no new grass specialists emerged to take up the role. Plenty tried, but they were too weak, and were swept out by the progressive faction's new bug specialists who enjoyed type advantages, and faster growth speeds."

Erika drew upon the bits and pieces that she picked up by talking to different people around Celadon to build her argument, and started connecting the dots. "The conservatives and progressives have completely opposing pokemon types and philosophies," she declared. "Grass types are slow to grow, but they can live extremely long lives and accumulate great power once they grow older and more experienced. Bug types live fast and die fast, but that also means that their growth speed is monstrous in comparison. For years now, the conservatives have been running out of grass specialists to fight against the progressive faction's bug users. They simply can't train their youth fast enough, and are being drowned in a tide of bug catchers and bug specialists who number in the tens of thousands each circuit."

She paused to breathe deeply, inhaling a massive volume of air. Erika had been talking rapid fire so long that she didn't get the chance to breathe. "I'm different! My grass affinity is first grade! With my talent and work ethic, even if Grass types are slow to grow, I'll surely erect a towering forest with my own efforts by the time the next general competition for gym leader comes around in five years time. Furthermore, I have a key advantage most trainers from the conservative faction don't have!"

"It's mentality," Erika said confidently. "I grew up on the streets, and had to be pragmatic with everything I did. I'm not stuck to tradition, and I'm willing to adopt radical new policies that even the conservatives might balk at. I can easily draw in moderate radicals to support me, and my battle style is fresh and new. I never received classical training in grass specialization, which will enable me to create brand new, never before seen strategies and tactics that will blow away the current generation of radical bug trainers."

Even as she spoke, Erika began to fantasize and imagine her future. "I can gather grassroots support for a Grass revival movement, and use them to push out the current gym leader! People want change, but they're too weak to enact the change they desire. The current head of the Celadon Progressives is bent on industrializing Celadon, but he's moving too far and too fast with his policy changes. Forests are being shredded, the city is being covered in smog, and rivers are being tainted black with chemicals. Even the building we're standing on was abandoned because of a nearby chemical factory explosion!"

Everything that Erika said was true, and more. She'd been born during the Progressive Faction's reign over Celadon and didn't know any better, but those old veterans complained constantly about the bug users. They had fought in an uncaring war on behalf of the Kanto League, and expected to return home to a woodland paradise. What they came back to was a monstrous metal city with factories that churned and spat out black smoke, and all their old haunts and childhood playgrounds obliterated to make room for new buildings.

"People are tired of industrialization, and they want a return to the old days of Conservative Grass rule. They want to restore the deforested regions of Celadon, and drive out the industrialists. They want to Conserve again, not Progress. As a powerful, young trainer and rising star, I'll be able to wield my popularity like a lance to pierce through the bug movement! The law of the jungle is the only law that is true, and he who holds the bigger fist is the most righteous," Erika declared grandiosely. "When I become strong, I'll smash the current Bug gym and use the support of the disenfranchised to ascend to become Celadon's new gym leader!"

Fulton was stunned. He hadn't expected her to say something so outrageous. He gave Erika a weird look, before grinning in amazed excitement. He could feel goosebumps and hair rising on his skin, and the air felt charged with electricity. Erika's passionate speech was so moving that even he had been convinced.

How very unexpected. Erika was more ambitious than he had given her credit for. Prior to this, he had just been humoring her. Hearing someone declare they would become a gym leader was one thing. It was something any random kid on the street could do.

Hearing a detailed plan to take advantage of local politics to raise a grassroots revival movement, gather disenfranchised political supporters, and use violence to suppress the Bug movement and forcefully oust the current gym leader was another thing entirely.

It only took him a moment to come to a decision. Seeing him loosen his posture, Erika heaved a sigh of relief, knowing she had convinced him completely.

"It seems like we will be partners after all," Fulton spoke excitedly. "Who could have thought things would end this way. I think I'm going to have to prepare for my political bid earlier than I previously thought, if you're truly going to attempt to seize the position of gym leader in five years time."

From what Erika presumed was the floor below, Jynx teleported up and appeared before her. She held a small, rugged backpack made from Tauros leather, and offered it to her trainer. Fulton unzipped it and rummaged through it and pulled out a sheaf of papers. "Here," he said, handing it over to Erika. "It's a league registration form. Take it home and fill it out."

Erika felt a little insulted to be honest. "You were that confident I would end up becoming your subordinate?"

"Well, I wasn't really going to give you a choice. If you refused, I would have had to do things the hard way. No one likes doing things the hard way," he said snarkily.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what the hard way involves?" Erika asked him curiously.

Fulton only laughed heartily at that. "No. Forget about the hard way. You don't want to know about it. Either way, things worked out! We're partners now, so don't worry about it."

That was a little creepy. No, scratch that. It was very creepy. Even though Fulton said it in a joking tone, Erika felt her new instincts screaming at her not to press the matter. Aura really was a wonderful thing, she mused, especially when you had a lot of it.

There was one final problem to resolve, so Erika turned to Snivy. "I promise you too, Snivy, that I'll make good changes. The current Celadon is a hellhole ridden with crime, and people suffer everyday. When I become gym leader, the first thing I'll do is rid the city of criminals. I'll reverse Celadon's industrialization and restore the forests for the pokemon and people who grew up in it. You already have my oath - and you'll be by my side always to check my actions. With your power and my brains, we can make real change!" Snivy was shocked.

Erika continued to press him. "Think about it! On your own, your chivalry saves only the few. If you help me become leader of Celadon, we can save the many! You'll honor your ancestors by protecting and improving the lives of millions of people and pokemon! You'll be venerated forever as a true knight!

Snivy only scoffed. He couldn't trust Erika. Hadn't he just seen her order oddish to knowingly poison hundreds of pokemon? If he joined her, she would drag him down to her level and he would disgrace his family and honor by succumbing to vice.

Erika felt his emotions through the bond immediately, and gritted her teeth and continued to speak. "Alone, neither of us can get what we want. However, if we work together, even the sky cannot limit us!

She spread her arms wide. "Look at me Snivy. You know me as well as I do, perhaps even better because of our bond. I'm selfish, I'm egoistic, and I'm prideful. I'm aware of all my faults, and I'm not ashamed of who I am. You may despise my character, but you can't look down on my talent. Who else in this world would be able to bond with two pokemon - you included, within minutes of one another? I had no aura before, and only by the virtue of my affinity alone did I succeed in bonding with you."

"Those pokemon back there, what happened to them was truly a tragedy," Erika said sincerely. She did feel guilty, even if it was only a smidgeon. "But it was life or death for the both of us! If Oddish didn't force them into the elevator, they would have been able to surround and kill us. If you aid me, this need never happen again!"

"Believe in my ambition!" Erika shouted. "I swear, on my name, on my pride, on my very ambition, that we will climb to the top together! I have nothing to gain by working against you, and everything to lose. If you truly desire to help the world, then place your trust in me!"

For a second, Erika thought she had managed to convince him. Then, all of a sudden, her throat felt as if it had been seized by a great vice. Her bond with snivy seemed to instantly multiply in weight, and she began choking and gasping for air. What's going on?

Erika nearly keeled over upon the ground as she retched and retched, struggling against an invisible weight no one apart from her could feel. With terrible, heaving coughs, she struggled to force life-giving breaths of air into her lungs and continue breathing. It took momentous effort to inhale even once or twice, and the pressure seemed to get worse and worse as time passed. Her face began to turn blue and she was no longer able to support herself, falling to the ground with a heavy thump.

Erika was beginning to pass out and slip into unconsciousness when a chilly hand slammed onto her back, and she felt a sliver of aura seep into her body. It was unbearably cold - not like the pleasant cool of water splashing upon a face, but like the horrible chill of long winter nights spent huddling beneath bridges. She hated the reminder of her ignoble past, even as the aura relieved her from the crushing weight of the bond.

"It looks like Snivy doesn't approve," said a voice from behind Erika. Fulton stepped over and squatted to reach eye level with her, and then made a fist in Snivy's direction. Moisture in the air instantly condensed and froze into interlocking chains of ice, which then rocketed towards Snivy and bashed him into the floor.

The ground instantly depressed as the chains slammed him down, and the ice crept over him like hoarfrost, trussing him like a torchic. Through their bond, Erika felt him scream in agony as the chill dug into his very bones.

"Why… why attack Snivy?" Erika managed to force out. She couldn't understand what was happening. Her breathing was still labored despite the help Fulton gave her, and she forced herself back up into a standing position, leaning against the wall.

Fulton didn't answer her question, merely turning to stare at Snivy, who was still writhing in pain. "Examine your bond with him," he told her carefully. Erika turned her gaze inward and gasped.

The bond between a trainer and pokemon - especially the starter bond - was more than just a means to communicate or a method of gaining supernatural powers. It was a metaphysical bridge that connected their very souls, and was supported by both of their auras. At least, it should've been supported by both their auras. What Erika saw horrified her.

Like a great dam, Snivy had choked off the flow of aura from his end of the bridge in the analogy, turning what should have been a mighty ocean into a thin trickle. Their bond was now being supported nearly entirely by Erika. The burden of the bond was meant to be shouldered by both partners, and was symbolic of friendship, but Snivy had just forced the entire thing onto Erika's shoulders to bear alone.

You rat bastard. After all I did for you? I rescued you from the Claws! Erika thought angrily.

Hypocrite, Snivy seemed to be saying. Even now, you still try to lie to my face. You only rescued me so you could use me. And now, you're working with a Claw. You disgust me.

"Stop suppressing your aura and put it back into the bond," Erika furiously said to Snivy. "Cut out whatever it is that you're doing right now!"

No. I refuse. Snivy's intentions were clear as day. I won't bow to a craven liege who puts herself above others.

She continued to demand Snivy release his block on his aura a few more times, and each time she was met with a stony refusal. She didn't consider pleading with him any further, for her pride was much too great to allow that.

Erika pulled out her great ball and recalled Snivy, furiously clipping the ball back onto her pants. It hurt. A lot. Not just her body, but also her pride. Everything was supposed to work out! Snivy should have bent to me, and I should have walked out the victor in this! Damn him. Damn him!

Despite recalling her starter, Erika could still feel the bond pressing down her neck. The aura Fulton had generously donated to her was quickly fading, as her own aura rejected the foreign intrusion and tried to wipe it away. The terrible pressure of her starter bond returned slowly but surely, and her neck felt as if it were constricting and tightening like a turning screw.

This time though, Erika was prepared. She marshaled her aura and heaved, forcing the bond to release its grip upon her and give her breathing room. The deep jade of her aura swept through and away what little aura Snivy deigned to leave her with, until Erika felt that she had achieved a sort of equilibrium, and the bond finally stopped trying to smother her.

"That was a fairly mild reaction," Fulton told her as he leaned onto his beartic. He rubbed his hands together, miming an explosion. "I've seen people's heads explode when that happened. You really do have a monstrous grass affinity!" He started laughing uncontrollably. Erika was tempted to spit at him, but the eyes of Fulton's beartic followed her every movement, warning her not to try, and promised a swift vengeance if she did so. Erika wanted to do it anyway but held back.

"Supporting a bond of this level alone is impossible. Your affinity must have catalyzed part of it, reducing the pressure enough that you were able to survive." Fulton's face wrinkled in thought.

Fulton beckoned his Jynx over. "Carzi, go and grab one of the standard ranger kits for me if you please. Take a primer on aura from the corps library as well." At his words, Jynx vanished on the spot. Erika waited patiently for Jynx to return, counting down the seconds in her head as she continued to adjust to the new pressure bearing down upon her.

Jynx returned in a flash of purple, bag and book in hand. She levitated the items over to Erika and then returned to her master's side as if she had never left.

Erika turned the book over and looked at the title. "A Treatise on the Mechanics of Aura," she read aloud, turning to Fulton. "This isn't what I think it is right?"

"Oh certainly," Fulton smiled, "it most definitely is. That's one of the ranger corps' internal guides on aura training and manipulation. The league doesn't like it when the public knows too much about how aura works, so stuff like this isn't easy to come by unless you're from one of the old clans or great factions. They use it to incentivise people to join the ranger corps, because they wouldn't know how to progress their aura otherwise."

Sneaks, the lot of them, Erika thought. Withholding knowledge so they could recruit more people was a genius but scummy move. No wonder I couldn't find anything more than a basic introduction on bonding.

"Read the book and train your aura. It should ease your problem with bearing the bond alone, and maybe, just maybe it might let you bond with a third pokemon." Even Fulton seemed unsure at that last statement. "Your grass affinity is the strongest I've ever seen. I've never heard of anyone bonding with a snivy and then connecting to a second pokemon straight away, much less supporting a bond with a snivy alone. Most require months, if not at least a year of training before their aura grows strong enough to bond again."

"Your life is going to be tough until you can break in your snivy," Fulton told her. "But I expect great things from you anyways, even with your starter currently unwilling to obey. However, if you prove unworthy of my partnership, then I'll turn you into a subordinate and bring you to heel. Until that happens, you'll be free to roam unhindered."

Erika glared at him for his comment, but Fulton was undeterred. "Three days from now, meet me at the Celadon Embassy. We'll get you a passport and papers forged, and have you officially registered as my niece."

"Actually," Fulton corrected himself, "maybe it would be better to get you a change of clothes first. It would definitely look suspicious if I brought a scraggly looking girl into the embassy and claimed she was my niece. Meet me at the center of the Plaza Market at the pidgey fountain. You know which one I'm talking about right?" Erika shook her head at his words.

Fulton considered it for a moment and then called his weird hexagonal pokemon out again, and it began shining. The illusory light it emitted wove itself into a still image, which showed Erika a fancy looking porcelain fountain. "I don't recall ever seeing that," Erika admitted. "I only go into the Plaza Market to steal, and I don't go in very far. The guards might catch me if I can't run away in time."

"Fine," he mumbled. "Just wait at the front of the market. It's gonna be a pain to walk through the crowd, especially since you're not allowed to teleport, but whatever. Be there or be square. Farewell!" At that, Jynx enveloped her master and teammates in a concentric ring of purple, and they all flashed away, leaving Erika alone on the rooftop.

She was cold, miserable, tired, and hungry. But most of all, Erika was angry. She had held in her rage while Fulton was in front of her, not wanting to act immature, but now that he was gone she completely cut loose to vent the rage in her heart.

Erika grabbed Snivy's pokeball and violently smashed it against the door and threw it as hard as she could, watching it ricochet off the metal and onto the ceiling, and back down once more. She picked it up and noted how it was completely undamaged, the specialized casing completely absorbing the shock. Erika howled in anger at the realization, and began jumping up and down and beating her fists against the wall.

I can't even scratch his pokeball. Ah.

Erika had never lost her temper like that before. Ever since discovering her affinity, it seemed as if the world bent itself to accommodate her, and she had been riding a perpetual cloud nine ever since. From training Oddish and studying in the libraries, learning tricks from veterans and planning out her heist, to successfully stealing Snivy and negotiating with Fulton, Erika had never truly failed before.

She had succeeded in everything she did, which was why this failure hurt so much more.

Seeing Snivy reject her made Erika want to rage and scream and cry and do so many more things she couldn't voice aloud. He should've been convinced! I put so much passion and effort into that speech. I used an appeal to emotion to target his desires as a knight, an appeal to logic for him to believe in my ambition, and even an appeal to authority as a trainer with an amazing grass affinity! What went wrong?

Erika didn't know, and at this point, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

Three types of argumentative rhetoric my ass. I knew those dusty old books weren't worth reading. Erika slammed her fist into the wall once more for good measure, and released Oddish onto the ground in front of her with a click.

Oddish was still bruised and exhausted despite the healing powers of the serum, but Erika ignored it as she walked away and her plant eagerly followed.

"Cmon Oddish," she muttered. "It's time to get to work."

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[nmWarden]

Cryogonal, woo! What a fun choice, they're a proper pokemon in my book.

wonderful start for the potential lotus of Celadon. In the anime, Gringey City is located between Celadon and Fuschia. It sounds like this expanded Celadon has taken on some of its traits... Which means Snivy will encounter urban poison types (Grimer, Koffing) and the occasional rat-with-wings, of course. This isn't a green city anymore.

I wonder how the Kanto Power Plant could exist at this point in history. Given the power and versatility of pokemon, such a thing COULD be built in a few short years... But by the stat of canon, the factory was abandoned. There's some potential there, depending on what Cerulean factories produce...

So we know the leader of the Claws is male from Fulton's comment. And we might be able to suspect that Fulton views some crimes as more permissible than others, given the mess with his brother. Fulton seems interesting, I wonder what could distract him from his goal... And frankly what he intends to use the money he's gathering for. Aside from amuse himself by throwing money around in front of Erika.

 

[Aleister Adair]

Somewhere in Celadon, KMT 5:00PM

"Imbeciles, all of you!" An aging gentleman in a well kept suit swept his hands across the table before him, knocking all the papers atop it to the ground in a flurry of sheets. The table splintered instantly upon contact, and Fulton winced as he watched the beautiful mahogany crumble. The other Claws averted their eyes, with only Fulton daring to look at the boss.

Winfred was as if cast in marble. Like the statue of a hellenic legend, his body rippled with bulging, barely contained muscle, and he stood in repose as if unbothered by the failure of his subordinates. Only the mask of rage twisting his face gave away his emotions, and with it, a tangible aura of violence which pressed down upon everyone standing nearby.

Despite being a three-star, Fulton still felt suffocated by the overbearing pressure. Winfred continued to stomp around the room, glaring in people's faces and daring them to argue back, as if he were looking for an excuse to punish them further.

Is that gray hair I see on his head? Fulton wondered. The boss is finally beginning to grow old. I can't believe it took this long.

Inwardly, Fulton smirked, but he didn't dare to show it, unwilling to be next in line on the chopping block. His failure had been by far the least egregious, having successfully captured the dratini and concluding the handoff. Although he had lost some foreign cargo, it was in no way as bad compared to screwing up the negotiations with the Viridian Rockets.

Fulton felt a foreign intrusion of aura attempting to worm its way into his mind, and he immediately crushed it on instinct, summoning his Ice aura to freeze and shatter it to pieces. To his left, a short woman started to bleed profusely from the nostrils, the blood forcing its way out like the spray from a pressure hose as she quickly tried and failed to cover it up with a handkerchief.

These new hires are dropping in quality by the looks of it. Fulton sneered. Is Talia mentally disabled? I didn't think I'd ever see the day that a freshly minted ace would try to read the mind of a three-star. Serves her right for trying.

"-and you!" The gentleman roared, snapping Fulton's attention back to him. He sweated for a second, before realizing that the voice wasn't aimed at him. "How could you kill the messenger the rockets sent? I ordered you to open up talks, not shut them down!"

Carnet - the taller brunette on the right - winced, her youthful eyes wide with fear. "I, sir-"

"I what?" Shouted the gentleman. "Shut your bloody mouth and be quiet for once woman! You fucked up the talks! The Rockets are our enemies now! And now, because of your stupidity, we won't be able to trade with Viridian anymore!"

Violent. Temperamental. That was how Fulton would describe his boss. The only reason he still obeyed Winfred's instructions was because the man was a true four-star. He might be getting older, but he could still easily crush Fulton.

However, in five years time… that might not be true any longer. Winfred would be seventy by then, and entering into his twilight years. His reflexes would dull, his physical form would weaken, and his aura would slowly begin to erode.

Regular men entered their prime at twenty five, and their bodies would begin to degrade after forty. The fact that Winfred could still maintain his physique and fighting strength at sixty five was already miraculous. However, like all things, there had to be a limit.

An ace who was bolstered and nourished by the mystical force of aura could maintain their peak physical and mental state until their late sixties at most - and Winfred wasn't getting any younger.

Five more years… Erika would be gym leader by then, and Fulton would kill his boss and seize his position. Then, it would be time to start campaigning to become Minister.

"Fulton! You did well on the Mt. Silver job." His boss barked.

"Thank you sir!" Fulton responded instinctively. "I made sure to take the utmost precaution. The league won't know a thing, and I concluded the handover successfully."

Evidently pleased at his response, his boss leaned in to give him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "I knew I could trust you, boy. You're my best subordinate. With this deal under our belt, we'll be able to make inroads with the Corner Consortium, and finally start driving out our rivals from Celadon. Those bastard Medici and Iron Arbok won't have a place any longer on our turf!"

"As for you," Winfred growled, turning to Carnet. You've disappointed me for the last time. Because of you, all the work I've been doing for the past decade in Viridian has just gone up in smoke. Fulton, kill her!"

Time to put on a show again. Soon, it'll be your turn Winfred.

"You'll be getting the cloyster special," Fulton cheerily told Carnet, to her horror. She tried to break away and release her pokemon, but Fulton was faster, releasing his cloyster onto the floor with a heavy crash, depressing the floor and soaking it with seawater.

His right hand released an arterial spray of ice, stiffening Carnet's limbs, and from his left emerged a brilliant crystal spear that flew and struck true, pinning her hand to the wall and stopping her from grabbing a pokeball. It was truly a shame, but Carnet wasn't nearly as fast as him, and not nearly as paranoid.

Thank you for screwing up your job, Carnet. Winfred will have to take his attention off me to go deal with Viridian, and I'll be free to keep subverting his organization.

Cloyster began inhaling, drawing moisture from the air into his mouth in order to make a spectacle as Fulton had trained him to do so, and condensed a lance of ice the size of a wall pillar. He slammed his mouth closed and fired the ice spike with a whistle, which splattered through Carnet's stomach and blasted her through the wall.

Horribly messy, but extremely effective, Fulton mused. Her aura isn't tough enough to withstand a single blow from a three-star pokemon, let alone boost her reflexes fast enough to release her own pokemon.

Despite serving Winfred for over ten years, Carnet was unable to progress beyond the External. Even reaching this point had been difficult for her since she wasn't taught the core secrets of aura progression until it was too late, and unfortunately decided to generalize instead of specialize. One of the worst mistakes a generalist could possibly make was to bond more than two pokemon before externalizing their aura.

Doing so would pollute their aura and increase the difficulty of externalization, and that was exactly what happened to Carnet. She slaved away for years to earn even a single aura purifying elixir from Winfred, which she used to assist her progression into the External.

However by then, Carnet was already far too old to possibly have any chance at Inheritance, and her potential had been wrung dry.

Perhaps if she had been a member of one of the great factions or old clans, Carnet could have gotten access to an elixir earlier, but Fulton didn't think it likely. For one, the old clans tended to be specialists anyways, and two, they wouldn't waste an elixir on someone like her who had already run out of potential.

Winfred clapped slowly in front of Fulton. "Good job. Now clean up the mess you made. As for the rest of you louts, get back to work!" Everyone immediately scattered in fear, afraid that they would be punished next.

With a sigh, Fulton had his cloyster start spitting water onto the floor, and he grabbed one of the mops lying against the wall.

Technically speaking, he could have had cloyster manipulate the water to scrub the floor too, but Winfred liked displaying his authority and seeing people subordinate themselves to him, and Fulton knew that grabbing the mop would please him, as much as he hated doing so.

As Fulton scrubbed and scrubbed away at the blood on the floor, he let his mind wander towards Erika. I wonder how my new protege is doing.

—————————————————————————————————————————

Erika struggled to keep a straight face as she planked on the ground. She had been in position for nearly three minutes now, and every subsequent second that passed brought with it a fresh new wave of agony. Perspiration streamed down her steaming face in rivulets, and her abdomen trembled with the exertion.

Each time Erika noted a drop of sweat falling from her face, her willpower grew ever so slightly more eroded. Like water tunneling through rock, the sweat drops were slowly chipping away at her ability to stay in proper planking form. Drip by drip, drop by drop, Erika forced her body to remain still, and she held out for two more minutes before at last her arms and legs gave out, and she slumped to the floor in defeat.

Five minutes, fifteen seconds. A solid record, Erika thought.

She lay there for a while, contemplating her day. Snivy still refuses to budge, and growing my aura is a long term solution. It's working, but not as fast as I would like.

To her left, Oddish heaved as she walked forwards, dragging along with her an old mini fridge tied to her round body. It was a little comical to see a cabbage pull a fridge around, but Erika knew it would be good for her to develop her back muscles. The scene was made even weirder by the fact that Oddish was walking in reverse - her stubby frame faced the fridge she dragged, which was tethered to her body using old cable lines.

Due to the spherical shape of Oddish's body and her lack of arms, it would be impossible to execute the pulling motions that humans normally did in order to train the back. Squatting with heavy weights piled onto Oddish's back was a good alternative, but Erika knew that there were certain muscle groups that couldn't be trained through squatting alone - hence the contrived set up she built for Oddish.

Some might have questioned the wisdom of training a plant using human bodybuilding techniques, but Erika knew better. Oddish wasn't a true plant - for one, she wasn't a sessile organism. Wild Oddium Wanderus were known to walk hundreds of meters each night as they sowed their seeds and roamed the earth, and the specimen in front of Erika was no different.

Scientists who dissected oddish discovered that their cells contained both protoplasm and cellulose, which only provided more evidence to support the argument that the oddish line were not true plants. What was even weirder was the fact that their movements were driven by protein-based muscle contractions as opposed to polysaccharides, yet their cells still contained hallmarks of true plants like cell walls and chloroplasts. Oddish were rather odd, and no one could ever pin down exactly why.

All of this was leading up to say that the Oddish line did have a rudimentary musculature that could be developed, and Erika was exploiting that fact right now.

"Thirty second rest!" Erika barked at Oddish, who immediately stopped straining against the fridge. She slumped to the floor to join Erika briefly, quivering and shaking like a leaf in the wind. Erika took note of the swelling on Oddish's root-like feet, and recorded the distance she had managed to pull the fridge in the time allotted. Even minor observations like the intensity of Oddish's shaking and her recovery time were written down for later.

Erika checked her watch, waiting for the seconds to elapse. "Back to work, Oddish! Thirty squats!" With a painful squeak, Oddish slowly squirmed her way loose from the cable tethering her to the fridge, and slipped into a harness beneath a slab of concrete. She shook herself ever so slightly and moved forwards, dragging the concrete off the table which it had been placed on and onto her back, which immediately pushed her downwards.

She watched coldly as Oddish moved up and down, bruising her feet against the floor to shove the slab on her back upwards. Oddish is tenacious, I'll give her that. Erika thought. By all rights, she should have collapsed by now, especially since I already increased the weight from the last session. I'll have to up her load again to keep putting on the pressure.

Absent-mindedly, Erika took a glance at her bond with Snivy, as if hoping to see something different. The bond was devoid of his aura, as usual, and was suffused only with Erika's own jade green. If she concentrated extremely hard, she was able to faintly feel Snivy from the other end, but he did such a good job of suppressing his own aura that Erika usually wasn't bothered to try to sense him.

You know what? Screw you Snivy. I'll name Oddish first. Forget tradition. You don't deserve a name yet, not unless you're willing to bow before me. Erika smiled nastily at the thought. It would be a blow to Snivy's honor, being denied the First Name. While there was no real benefit to being named first, to someone like Snivy who cared about his honor above all else, it would surely sting to be denied the traditional first spot.

However, if Erika wanted to name Oddish first, she couldn't just choose a name casually. The naming was a significant ceremony especially for members of the Conservative faction, who cherished tradition above all else. If she walked into their recruiting hall with an oddish named Pear or Leaf, or something to that effect, they would surely boot her out without hesitation, nevermind her incredible talents as a grass specialist.

Besides, Erika wouldn't do that to Oddish anyways. It would be a disgrace for Erika to own a casually named pokemon, and her pride wouldn't abide by that. No. She had to think about Oddish's name carefully. Erika would bestow her with a worthy name commemorating her virtues, and she would bear it with righteous pride.

Three more excruciating sets of squats later, Oddish finally collapsed to the floor.
Erika helped lift the weights off her back, and opened the lid of a styrofoam box filled with ice, nudging it in Oddish's direction for her to climb into. The chill would sting badly, especially since she was a grass type, but the cold would stimulate Oddish's recovery.

Oddish slowly crawled towards the box, using her stumpy feet to inch her way across. She was so fatigued that even the smallest motions appeared to require immense effort, and it took nearly a full minute to reach the base of the box. Her attempt to climb into the box took even longer.

It was a sad sight to see, and Erika felt tempted to help her up, but she refrained from doing so, only coolly watching as Oddish tried and failed to heave her body over the styrofoam walls. All things in life had to be seized with one's own hands, and Erika wasn't about to hand Oddish a free meal. If Oddish wanted to get in the box, she would do it on her own merits.

With apparent herculean effort, Oddish made a second, third, and finally a successful fourth attempt at climbing the box. Her spherical body teetered on the edge dangerously, and then plopped down into the ice bath with a gentle splash.

Erika watched her approvingly as she succeeded, penning more data points into her notebook on Oddish's current training progress, before grabbing a UV torch and taping it on top of the box. The artificial light would help accelerate Oddish's recovery - even if it was inferior compared to true sunlight, while the ice would loosen her muscles and reduce fatigue. Come morning, she would be ready for battle once more.

Excellent progress, Erika thought. I didn't expect that an oddish I picked up casually from a farmer's market would be able to push herself so far without breaking. She's got grit, perseverance, loyalty… that's it! I know what I'm going to name Oddish.

Erika considered her choice of name for a second before committing, brushing a hand over Oddish's head leaves with unusual gentleness. Oddish leaned into her touch and sank deeper into the ice, as if comforted by the sensation of Erika's coarse hands.

"Guinevere," Erika proclaimed, savoring the word like a particularly delightful meal. It was a fitting name, considering what Erika had planned for her. "From today forward, you'll be Guinevere! You are she who is royal, the namesake of the wife of Arthur, and the most beautiful across the land, rivaled by none! Power shall be both your virtue, sword, and shield! Bear this name with pride Guinevere, and we shall claim this world together!"

The newly christened Guinevere, or Gwen for short, yawned from within the ice bath, and Erika poured more ice into the box. She would leave Gwen to rest and recover, and come dawn, they would test themselves in battle. There were only two more days until Erika had to meet with Fulton, and she wasn't going to waste a single one.

Erika blew out the sole candle which kept the room lit and let the darkness crawl in. The only remaining source of light came from the flashlight affixed to the ice box, and Erika stared at it until she too finally succumbed to the abyss of sleep…

…and immediately woke up moments later, gasping for air.

Erika's skin was clammy with cold sweat, and her mouth was painfully dry. There was no water in sight save whatever might be in Oddish's ice box, so she groggily stumbled over and dunked her face in, inhaling the melted remainders of the ice. Strange. The ice shouldn't have melted this fast. I poured it in moments ago!

She glanced at her wristwatch, and turned away in shock at the realization that it was already six in the morning. What's going on? I could have sworn my eyes closed just now.

Erika took a few moments to recollect herself, before realizing what had happened. So it's true after all. The curse of aura - dreamless sleep. I didn't think it was real.

From within the alcove Erika had dug her home out of, she could see the first rays of dawn beginning to peek through the inky cloud layer covering Celadon's polluted skies.

She held her hand out to the light, letting the sun infuse her with its strength. Erika's grass aura, although still intangible, reacted instantly. Like a sunflower turning its head, her aura snapped towards the direction of the sun, and Erika felt a potent vitality invigorating her small frame. She felt more alive than she had ever before.

It was one of the benefits of being aligned to Grass that Erika had read about. From now on, whenever she bathed in the rays of the sun, Erika would feel her fatigue and soreness be washed away. With more training, her aura would be able to accelerate the healing of minor cuts, and help her wounds scab up faster. At higher levels, Ace grass specialists could even regrow severed limbs with enough exposure to the sun.

Erika looked forward to that day. One of the greatest benefits to specializing in grass types were their ridiculous stamina and endurance, and potent recovery abilities. Barring immediate fatal strikes, any crippling wounds or injuries incurred by a grass specialist could slowly be overcome with time and patience. As long as you were willing to wait a few months, even a lost leg could be entirely regrown.

These were just rumors, but… Erika had heard farfetch'd fables of mythical grass specialists tearing their hearts out before legendaries to prove their devotion, and surviving to tell the tale. To progress your aura to a point where you could ignore the destruction of your heart was absurd, but Erika was confident she would one day achieve those same lofty feats.

A soft rustle from behind Erika alerted her to Gwen's presence. Erika spun around to see a guilty looking oddish, who curled her leaves up in embarrassment at having been caught attempting to sneak up on her trainer. Just a mere day prior, Erika would never have heard such a quiet sound. However, she had since awakened her aura, and the potent sensory boost she gained as a result ensured her ears were sensitive enough to track Gwen's attempt at stealth.

Erika snorted in disdain. "Don't sneak up on me next time, or I might react badly. I don't take kindly to people who try to go behind my back, Gwen." At her words, Gwen bobbed her head up and down in understanding, and made a show of backing off slowly.

"Oh yeah," Erika said offhandedly, "dial down the potency of your acid. We're not fighting to the death anymore, and our opponents today will all be run of the mill trainers." Gwen looked affronted at her statement, and sent a trickle of emotion through their bond. Erika felt something faint brush against her through the bond, but it quickly unraveled and faded.

Erika strained her mind to try to sense what Gwen was trying to communicate, but she couldn't feel anything anymore. Their bond was so thin and fragile that it was difficult for Erika to feel anything through it, and the fact that her own aura was massive in comparison to Gwen didn't help matters either. It was like searching for a very specific droplet of water in a huge ocean. Erika shook her head in frustration, and signaled for her oddish to try again.

She felt the same faint sensation brush against her aura, but Erika was prepared this time. The emotions were fleeting, but legible, and she furrowed her brows as she tried to parse out what Gwen was currently feeling.

"You're angry?" Erika asked Gwen hesitantly. "I'm getting that right, correct? You're angry and indignant. But why?"

"Oddish dish dish!" her pokemon squeaked in confirmation. The sounds made zero sense to Erika, but their bond facilitated the emotions behind the words, and Erika soon picked up on what Gwen was trying to say.

Erika's face was pensive for a moment. "You want to challenge yourself through riskier battles to grow faster? Are you certain?"

Gwen's eyes began shining, and she nodded aggressively.

"That's definitely possible, but I don't have a trainer license yet," Erika considered thoughtfully. "Fulton will probably get me a youngster license with his connections, but that means we won't be able to register for local tournaments of any kind until then. I wanted to go battle the lurkers on the 43rd, but if you feel up to the challenge, we could go fight some bug catchers."

Upon hearing the words bug catchers, Gwen's eyes hardened. Erika felt a flurry of emotions - fear and anger principally at the forefront.

How interesting, Erika thought. Gwen looks like she's got a grudge against the bug specialists too. I don't have anything against them really, but they're standing in the way of my path of conquest. To take over Celadon, I'm going to have to crush them. If I have a pokemon that hates them fervently, fighting them might be easier actually.

"It's settled then," she decided. "Let's pack up my stuff and leave. We'll seek out the younger bug catchers at Harvest Park, and we'll beat them up together. This is gonna be great!"

Gwen cheered at her words, and began bouncing up and down in anticipation. Erika was quite amused at her reaction.

Erika packed up what little belongings she had, and then drew a thin green lighter from her waist pocket. The transparent plastic of the casing was old and battered, the years having shorn away at its once pristine coating. It was covered in scratches and oil stains, and part of the striking flint was chipped. Erika seriously doubted that the lighter would even work, but old man Selby had given it to her as a good luck charm for listening to his war stories, so she had kept it with her in an unusual display of sentiment.

She didn't like mushy stuff like goodbyes, so Erika hadn't said anything to Selby before she went off to attempt her heist on the Claw base.

Erika knew going in that there was a very real possibility that she would die, or end up crippled for life. However, she just couldn't bear the thought of remaining mediocre. Listening to Selby's stories only affirmed her belief that it was power - hard power, that moved the gears of the world. It was through the virtue of power that one controlled their own destiny, and it was through power that Erika would seize the reins to Celadon and attain glory.

She thought of telling Selby goodbye and almost went through with it, but ultimately decided against it in the end. Erika was just another street rat, and he surely wouldn't miss her if she vanished one day.

Still, the fact that Erika kept the lighter he gave her made her feel uncomfortable. She tried to throw it away several times, but she always found herself scrambling to get it back, and even had to dig through the trash once to search for it. Erika's pride was terribly hurt at having to rummage through the waste like a common urchin, but she put up with it, because losing the lighter pained her in a way that she had never felt before.

Now, she was going to light it for the first time.

Erika flicked her thumb onto the steel, striking it against the flint, and waited for a spark that never came. This might be harder than I thought actually. The damn lighter doesn't even create sparks anymore.

She tried to spark the lighter a few more times, failing each time. Finally, it came alight on the eighth attempt, and a thin orange flame flickered into existence. Erika took a few tissues out from her pocket and lit them on fire, waiting for the flames to engulf the paper more than halfway before she hastily flung them onto the ground of the alcove.

The flame quickly grew in size, and it started to roar as it picked up more and more fuel to sustain its existence. Erika withdrew Gwen into her pokeball as she backed out of the alcove, jumping down onto the street below and bracing her knees to land on the hard concrete of the outside world.

I'll miss this place, Erika thought drearily.

Erika watched from below as the flames consumed the entirety of the place she once called home, and she turned around and started to make her way out onto the main road.

While she could have left the alcove alone instead of burning it to the ground, Erika knew that it wouldn't be home anymore. Without her there to defend it, the other street rats would come to claim it as their own, and they would inevitably mark the place with their own tells. She wasn't interested in sharing her home with others, and Erika would rather burn it to nothingness than let someone else take it.

Perhaps it was selfish of her to deny the other street rats the safety of shelter, but Erika didn't really care. What is mine will always be mine, and that will never change. No one is allowed to have designs on me and mine.

Erika glanced back at her still burning home for the last time, right before she turned the corner of the alley and emerged onto the main street. Farewell.

With that, she had cut off the last connection to her old life as a street rat. Erika looked back no longer, and walked with purpose. She strode onto the cobble of the road imperiously, as if informing everyone else of her presence, and marched her way down towards Harvest Park.

The park wasn't far from where she had carved out her home, but it was in one of the nicer parts of the city, so she would need to keep her battle with the bug catchers civil once she got there. Erika herself looked down on the thought of a safe battle, for battles were never truly safe, but she would do her best to comply with the league rules, especially in a place that was heavily monitored.

She breathed deeply, trying to soothe her nerves, and immediately began coughing. Blast. I forgot that we were still in the lower districts. The air quality here is terrible. Erika paused at a water fountain to clear her throat, drinking the slightly coppery water in large gulps. She didn't mind the taste, for she was already used to drinking poorly filtered water anyways. Although warm, the water helped ease the itchiness she was feeling, and her cough went away.

Life might be tough for now, but it wouldn't always be this way. Erika had already taken the first step towards greatness, and soon her momentum would begin to rapidly build. The coppery water she was forced to drink everyday would soon turn crystalline and pure, and she would garb herself in lavish dress and home.

The implication that she was currently homeless sat in that back of Erika's mind, but she steadfastly ignored it. Homelessness is just a state of mind, she thought. I'm different from those who scrabble in the mud and ash. I've always taken the sky to be my roof, and the expanse of the world as my home. If I live amongst the heavens and earth, how can I possibly be considered homeless?

Erika smiled. It was not a nice smile. This world already belongs to me. I just need to reach out, and seize it from those who currently occupy it.

As she walked, Erika noticed a few other trainers milling about on the street. However, the presences of their auras were so incredibly faint that she could barely feel them, and her grin grew ever larger as she came across more and more trainers. The overpowering presence of her own aura dwarfed every other person on the street, and Erika could feel jealous looks pointed her way. However, upon noticing the great ball attached to her waist, the envious looks that were directed towards her swiftly turned to fear, as people began to look away.

Erika flared her aura as brightly as she could, drinking in the attention that she received from everyone staring at her. There were a few glares, some of jealousy, some envy, and some annoyance, but she ignored the latter. They were all lesser than she, anyways.

Those whom were annoyed with Erika, she brought her aura to bear upon, inflicting the same suffocating pressure Snivy had forced her to experience. They choked and started to cough.

Technically speaking, flaring her aura as Erika had just done was a form of trainer etiquette. Doing so indicated to other trainers that they were open to a battle, and it was a polite way to tell people to come challenge you. However, it was considered rude to flare weaker trainers, and even more so with civilians, but Erika didn't care.

This is addicting, Erika thought headily. I walk as is a dragon amongst man.

"Hey! You rich bitch, stop using your aura to bully them!" shouted a person from across the street. Erika paused her walk to glance briefly at the person who dared to besmirch her name. Rich? How dare he!

She sneered at the boy. "I am in no way rich," Erika said crossly. "I came into this world with nothing, and it is to this world whence I shall return with nothing. Everything I have, I took with my own two hands! You'd do well to watch your words."

"Sure, right," he said disbelievingly. "Even the way you walk screams 'look at me, I'm better than you'. Your language is fancy as all heck, and you're using your aura to bully people."

He paused for a second to look at her clothing. Erika's clothing was well worn and simple. She was garbed in green and khaki, and had boots on. Her clothing clearly didn't fit the image the boy had constructed of her, but it didn't deter him.

"Regardless, that still doesn't give you the right to bully people, and especially civilians!" The boy said hotly. "Flaring your aura at civvies is illegal! In fact, I demand you withdraw your aura right now!"

"What are you going to do about it if I refuse?" Erika asked coldly.

He didn't answer her question, reaching for a pokeball clipped to his waist and clicking it open, releasing a furred mankey covered in vicious scars. That either means he's extremely experienced, or the mankey was so before it got caught.

"I think you should try to pick on someone your own size, instead of going after civvies!" The boy shouted at her. "If you're man enough, then fight me!"

Is he mad? Erika wondered, scowling. This dickhead was going to get them both in trouble!

The mankey screamed, announcing its presence, and it began furiously hopping up and down as if it were bouncing on a trampoline. "I'm going to beat you down the old fashioned way, and make you stop!" The boy declared to her. "I won't let a bully like you have your way with innocents!"

Erika felt a headache coming on, and a vein beginning to manifest itself on her forehead. Great. Another one of those justice obsessed freaks. I've already got to deal with Snivy, and now this dickhead too? I should beat the crap out of him for his impertinence.

"You are aware that fighting in public is illegal right?" Erika asked him. "The League doesn't let trainers battle in the city, and definitely not out on the street. I think you should back off before someone gets hurt - you." She said, jabbing a finger at him.

The boy only snorted, looking at his mankey in disbelief, as if he were asking it if Erika was being serious or not. I'm watching a damn monkey show, Erika realized. This fool is trying to make fun of me. Screw it, I don't care anymore. I'm going to pummel him to the ground.

"Tell me your name then before we battle," Erika said to him imperiously.

The boy was surprised at her question, but he answered her anyway. "It's Lloyd! Why do you wanna know anyways?"

Erika swung her fist at Lloyd's face in a roundhouse, knocking him cleanly onto the ground in a sudden, unexpected strike. "It's so I'll know who I beat to a pulp, of course!"

Mankey loosed a shrill war cry of rage at the sight of his trainer being attacked, and he leapt for Erika, hissing with his fangs out. Already prepared, Erika flicked the button on the pokeball clipped to her waist and released her oddish onto the ground, and immediately ordered her to intercept the flying monkey. "Gwen, block him with your body and start absorbing!"

Gwen leapt upward to meet the mankey, throwing her body into the path of the descending karate chop and taking the blow meant for Erika. She was flung to the ground in a violent tumble, but got up relatively unharmed, her poison typing providing resistance to the effects of Mankey's fighting aura.

Mankey backed off to try to help his trainer up, but he began to screech uncomfortably in pain as Gwen started to drain his energy. The energy drain was horribly slow, but Erika had taught her oddish to maintain it constantly, and Mankey would slowly be withered to nothingness as the battle continued. Mankey fought through the itchy sensation and lifted his trainer up, propping Lloyd up against his back.

Lloyd struggled to stabilize his footing and glared indignantly at Erika. "That's cheating! League rules state that trainers aren't allowed to be attacked!"

"League rules don't mean anything in the real world, you stupid bastard," Erika said with disdain. "If you want to back up what you said earlier, then prove it with your fists!"

He listened to her no longer, ordering mankey to concentrate his mind and focus. Erika observed the tell-tale signs of focus energy being used and cursed loudly, jumping back and signaling Gwen to spray a heavily weakened version of her poison powder into the air.

Unexpectedly, the mankey struck the pavement instead of lunging for Erika or her oddish, and she watched in brief confusion before realizing what it was doing. That damn mankey is launching concrete at us!

As astonishing as it was, Erika could only watch as Mankey's palms smashed the ground into pieces. His mind was concentrated to a near laser-focus thanks to his use of focus energy, and it enabled him to accurately pinpoint the structural weaknesses of the concrete forming the pavement. Upon making contact with the pavement, the concrete splintered, and a massive piece shot out towards Gwen.

Calculating the exact angle and trajectory needed to strike the ground in order to break it apart and launch it at Gwen is ridiculous! Even with focus energy, that shouldn't be possible!

The concrete shard bashed Gwen to the ground, and she began to wobble, the inertia of the attack shaking her body. "Growth, and then sweet scent!" Erika shouted immediately, seeing her pokemon in distress.

Gwen ballooned up in size and inhaled, puffing out a massive cloud of sickly pink mist and dousing the area with her pheromones. The sweet scent dissipated into the air instantly, diffusing towards mankey, who was about to launch more concrete. When the mankey inhaled the sweet scent, he visibly lost control of his palms. Although he managed to strike the concrete again, it merely broke apart instead of flying towards Gwen.

Erika knew that the sweet scent had disrupted the mankey's cognitive functions. Focus energy put his mind into a high-stress state in order to enhance his concentration, and that couldn't be done without shutting down some of the active processes in the brain. There was only so much space after all, and to enhance his calculation abilities, the mankey must have traded away his sense of smell and likely taste.

However, one of the active chemicals in sweet scent's composition could directly trigger the olfactory nerve, and force the brain into registering the smell anyways. With more processes in the brain active, mankey wasn't able to maintain his calculative abilities, and lost control of his next attack. Launching concrete like he previously did demanded extreme precision, and even a slight loss of control was enough to prevent him from doing it again.

"Razor leaf!" Erika cried. "Cut him up and strike him down!"

Gwen whirled her head and scattered the leaves atop, animating them with her aura and sending them flying at mankey like darts. New shoots immediately emerged to replace what she lost, and she continued to send more and more leaves straight at Lloyd's pokemon.

To his credit, Lloyd didn't panic. "Crane Form!" He shouted at Mankey. "Do as we trained!"

Mankey took a pose and lifted one of his legs above the ground, and a shroud of gray blazed into existence on his limbs. When the razor leaves arrived, he lashed out with all four limbs as he twisted his body midair, intercepting them all in a flurry of spinning motion. His claws dug through the animated leaves and shredded them apart like old newspaper, the keratin being enhanced by a film of aura.

Upon landing, he resumed the same pose, and then leapt towards Gwen with hands splayed, legs bent and coiled back ready to explode outwards. However, something appeared to happen to him mid flight, and his body suddenly began seizing up and convulsing.

Erika smirked at the sight, realizing that the poison she subtly told Gwen to release was finally working. She didn't dare to release a concentrated poison powder unlike with the Claws, because she didn't want to get in trouble for killing Lloyd, so only a weaker version was used. It took longer to take effect, but she would be seeing the benefits now.

The dual impacts of being slowly drained and also poisoned at the same time finally made Mankey's muscled form collapse to the ground, and Lloyd cried out in horror as he too noticed the signs of poisoning afflicting his beloved pokemon.

"You poisoned Miyagi!" Lloyd accused her angrily.

Erika only grinned. "I did," she admitted easily. "By the way, you should be feeling the effects of the poison too now. In three, two-"

Sure enough, Lloyd's face started to rapidly purple as he fell to his knees, and he started wheezing uncontrollably. Erika pulled out an antidote from her pocket and jabbed it unceremoniously into his thigh, ignoring his gasp of pain as the needle pierced his skin. She pressed down on the plunger and waited, only stepping back once she noticed that his face had begun to ease up as he started breathing normally again.

Sadly for him, he would probably have a headache for the rest of the day. Erika took out a second antidote and plunged into her leg as well, feeling instant relief. I should really train Gwen in a third poison move, Erika thought, one that isn't so indiscriminate, or I'm going to have to buy antidotes for every single fight. At least the pedestrians are far away enough that they won't be affected.

Erika turned around to leave when Lloyd suddenly grabbed her leg, clutching it tightly and refusing to let go.

"Hey!" Erika said indignantly. "What gives? Let go of my leg!"

Lloyd didn't say a word, only stubbornly clinging on. Erika tried to shake him off, but he only gripped harder, doing his best to shake her body and make her fall. She quickly got tired of their game of tug and war, and Erika called Oddish over to forcibly remove him.

"Release me right now! Unless you want Gwen to douse you with acid!" Erika told him.

She didn't realize it because she was so preoccupied with Lloyd, but his mankey had shrugged off its poisoning just long enough to lunge for Erika. With a ferocious cry, the mankey threw its meaty fist around and aimed for her head, making sure to come in on an arc to increase the travel time. Force was the product of mass and acceleration, and curving the trajectory of its fist would drastically enhance the force behind the blow.

Erika saw her life flash before her eyes. If that fist connected, she would surely be literally splattered across the ground. "Gwen!" She cried out, calling for her to block the blow - but there was no need to.

Gwen had seen the attack coming and already dutifully leapt into the way to intercept, bringing her razor leaves to bear and slinging them at the mankey. This time, the mankey had no recourse, and was forced to let the leaves sink deeply into his flesh. He let loose an agonizing howl as the leaves lacerated his flesh and bit deep into his muscle, and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Erika panted in nervous tension, feeling the adrenaline coursing through her veins and turning her jittery. I nearly died just now. Blast! Good thing I trained Gwen to body block for me.

She waited a few more seconds to see if the Mankey would get back up, but it seemed like this time, it was down for good. That final attempt it made to attack Erika hadn't been a second wind - it was just a sudden burst of willpower. She checked the still body of the Mankey to make sure that it wasn't dead, and stuck an antidote into it for good measure.

A weak tugging from her leg informed Erika that Lloyd was still clinging to her, and she shook her head in exasperation. Erika didn't bother trying to tell him to release her any longer. She used her right leg to deliver a swift kick to his head, forcing him to unclench and let go.

Lloyd groaned in pain. Erika just watched him. "If you had minded your business, this wouldn't have needed to happen," she told him rather flippantly. "Your mankey is half dead, you're on the floor, and now, I'm going to steal all your stuff. This could have all been avoided, but no, you just had to play the hero."

She knelt down and shoved her hands into his pockets, pulling out a wallet. Erika counted out half of the bills and stuffed them into her own, before returning the wallet to Lloyd. "I'm leaving with half your money, as is traditional. Be glad that I didn't take more."

Erika was about to turn around and continue walking to Harvest Park when she heard sirens blaring, and the tell-tale colors of blue and red that signified the police. She groaned and raised her hands above her head, already knowing that attempting to resist would be a bad idea. Stupid pedestrians. They probably called the cops on us when we started to battle in the middle of the city.

The police officers sent to respond with trainer threats definitely had pokemon of their own. Erika wasn't interested in trying to test her strength against an officer specialized in taking down rogue trainers, nor did she want to cross the law. Even if she did beat the officer behind her, the police force would just send more, and she didn't want that kind of trouble. It was better just to go with them, and have Fulton deal with the problem.

Gwen returned herself into the pokeball in a flash of red, and Erika felt her hands being grabbed and cuffed from behind. Ah shit. This was not how my day was supposed to start.

"Young lady, I'm going to need you to lie down on the ground next to the trainer you just fought," said the officer, as he talked into his walkie talkie. "Hand over your pokeballs and desist peacefully."

Erika fully intended to comply, but she needed to name drop her one contact before she did so. "Please contact my uncle," Erika told the officer. "He's Ace Trainer Fulton, three stars."

Hearing the title unnerved the officer a little, but he remained professional, and continued talking into his walkie. Erika slowly removed her pokeballs and handed them over, and laid down onto the ground. Satisfied with her compliance, the officer turned away to unlock his car door and grabbed a second pair of cuffs for Lloyd, who was lying on the floor.

Erika grinned at the realization that they would both be taken into custody. Serves you right, you meddling wanker. When Fulton arrives, I'm going to have you arrested. I hope you realize that you started the fight first by releasing that mankey.

The unfortunate mankey in question was riddled with razor leaves, and the officer ended up leaving it completely untouched out of fear that removing the leaves would cause it to bleed out. He started dialing for a Center ambulance, and Lloyd finally managed to get back up into a standing position. He was promptly forced back down onto the ground by the officer, and Erika burst out laughing when she saw that.

"Screw you," Lloyd said weakly next to her. "We're both in the pits now. You didn't have to flare your aura at those civvies. Why did you do it?"

Erika thought about his question briefly. "Have you considered the fact that you were the one to escalate the fight by releasing your mankey?"

"That was because you were bullying those people!" he said hotly. "I had to do something! Now answer my question! Why did you do it?"

"I did it because I could, alright!" Erika burst out. "Is that enough for you?"

Erika wriggled her body and pivoted herself until she was face to face with Lloyd. "Actually, I resent your comment about being man enough! I'm not even a man!" Lloyd looked shocked at her entirely truthful statement. The absurdity of the situation made Erika want to laugh.

"In fact, you're not a man either!" Erika proclaimed, devastating Lloyd. "The league doesn't acknowledge you as a man, and won't until you reach eighteen years of age! You're just a little boy, poor little Lloyd who-"

A heavy slam shook the floor and stunned both Erika and Lloyd, disrupting their argument. A massive Arcanine growled down at them, and atop it, a police officer dressed in blue. "Both of you shut up right now! I don't want to hear anymore yammering!"

The sight of the snarling beast made the two of them go silent. The police officer heaved a sigh of relief and pressed his hands to his temples, closing his eyes as if their conversation had pained him. "Thank fuck. Peace and quiet at last." The irony of that statement was not lost on Erika, considering that his police car was still blaring and belting out its siren, but she didn't voice her objection to the officer.

Erika just closed her eyes and waited for the transport car to arrive.


AN: I have final exams next week so the update might be a little delayed. Also, pls like the chapter and recommend this fic to other people lmao. It would really help out. Enjoy the chapter!

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[Shin]

Pretty interesting story but the MC is just a little too much.

 

[Kaizuki]

I have only read the first like 500 words of this but I NEED this fic.

 

[guisniperman]

Where's that Granpa Erika was talking about? He need to sit her and Snivy down and put some sense into both of their heads. Seriously, I'm on a phone but I want to rant at both of them for being idiots.

 

[Aleister Adair]

The ride to the station was not a smooth one by any means, Erika noted irritably. Even if she took it upon herself to ignore the horrible bumpiness of the asphalt, the gristly leather of the seat made her itch to no end. Her hands were bound by handcuffs so she couldn't even scratch herself, which annoyed her a lot. Erika fidgeted a little before sighing and giving up, opting instead to pass the time by staring at Lloyd.

Lloyd sat just across from her with a glum look, his smooth skin wrinkled in a grimace. When he finally noticed her gaze, he scowled, and Erika fought off the urge to burst into hysterics.

His attempt to glare at her was disrupted by a large bump beneath the car, which violently shook the vehicle and knocked the two of them into each other. Of course, there was a mesh of steel between them so no contact was actually made, but it got them close enough for Erika to make a face at him. "Loser," she mouthed silently.

Lloyd bristled at that, but he held in his anger. Erika too had been angry initially, but as time passed, her anger gradually changed into a sort of twisted amusement, and she began to poke fun at Lloyd in ways that the officer couldn't notice, such as sticking her tongue out or mouthing insults.

She could see him slowly beginning to crack, with the way he clenched his fists, and how the veins on his forehead trembled, but before Lloyd could explode at her, the transport car came to a screeching halt and the sliding doors were thrown open.

A different officer carefully helped Erika step out of the car, and she winced, blinking her eyes to clear away the glare of the sun. I can't believe it's eight in the morning. Fulton is gonna be so pissed, she realized suddenly.

The two of them were brought to a small waiting room inside the station filled with chairs. Erika took a seat on one of them casually, observing how the windows were unbarred and the door was made of flimsy wood. Lloyd only followed her, searching for a seat opposite and leaning back to stare at the ceiling. This is a low security waiting room, if I had to guess, Erika thought. I name dropped an ace trainer, meaning I definitely won't try to escape. Lloyd probably has something up his sleeve too, with how unbothered he looks.

"Give it half an hour," said a voice from the door, jarring Erika out of her reverie. "We've contacted Ace Fulton, and he'll arrive soon. He's busy dealing with some league business right now, so just be patient, young lady." The voice came from an officer dressed smartly in navy blue. His hair was done up in a crew cut, and a curved sword hung attached to his waist. The sword was unusual for a police officer, but Erika supposed officers were given a few liberties with their choice of dress.

"What about my mother?" Lloyd spoke up suddenly. "When is she going to get here?"

As if already expecting that question, the officer sighed and took off his jacket, hanging it up on the wall, and then did the same for his sword, stashing it in the corner of the room. He dragged a swivel chair into the room with a sharp flick of his wrist, and sunk into the plush facing her and Lloyd. They're familiar with each other. That was the conclusion Erika came to after watching them. This could either be really bad, or really really good.

"Look, Lloyd, I'm sorry, but I didn't call her over this time," the officer told him. Lloyd looked outraged, but held it in upon seeing the officer raise his hand. "I just can't do it. I'm sorry. She doesn't deserve to go through this process again."

"I wasn't doing anything wrong! You've gotta believe me this time Uncle Cato!" Lloyd burst out furiously, pointing at Erika, who only shrugged. "She was bullying the trainers around 42nd! This girl was flaring her aura everywhere and smothering all the people around, and when I asked her to stop, she refused! I was fully justified in stopping her."

Cato's face was pained. "See, that's sort of the problem Lloyd. You didn't 'stop' her. You started a brawl in the middle of the street by throwing out a pokemon and endangered nearby civilians, and then you proceeded to smash up a road that people use to commute to work. You kinda did the opposite."

Erika began smiling when she heard that, although she quickly flattened her face back into a more neutral position. Cato didn't see her grin, although Lloyd clearly did. Like a cat which had its tail stepped on, Lloyd nearly leapt out of his chair at her. Only Cato's warning glare stopped him from doing so.

"Didn't you hear what I said about her?" Lloyd asked stubbornly. "She deliberately flared her aura to smother people, and then refused to shut it off when I told her to do so."

With a long, dragged out groan, Cato reached for a book on a wall shelf and threw it at Lloyd, who caught it in surprise. "Read the cover."

Lloyd began flipping through the pages on instinct, before realizing it was the cover he had been asked to focus on. He turned the book over and read it aloud. "Fundamentals of Aura. So? Everyone's read this book. The league hands it out to every new trainer."

"That's where you would be wrong," Cato said with finality. "Erika here clearly hasn't. In fact, she isn't even properly registered as a trainer yet! I checked the usage date of her pokeballs, and it shows that they were activated for the first time yesterday. Do you know what this means Lloyd?"

Now looking far more nervous, Lloyd gulped and answered Cato's question. "That she was negligent and forgot to read the introductory guide to aura?"

"No! You dumbass, it means you attacked a new trainer who hasn't even had her pokemon for a full day!" Cato said furiously. "She probably didn't even know how to control her own aura!"

That realization dawned upon Lloyd just as swiftly as it did Erika, who now understood that Lloyd was probably a serial offender. He's probably been in here multiple times for attacking people on the street, Erika thought vindictively. Cato has just given me the perfect excuse too. No one would expect a fresh trainer to know how to control their aura, especially not if their aura was as large as my own.

"What about the battle?" Lloyd was desperate now, frantically searching for anything he could use to justify what he did. "That girl - Erika, she used mass area poison attacks! She poisoned me too! She was putting everyone nearby in danger!"

"I think that's more because she had no other options, if I'm being honest," Cato observed mildly. "Do you, a trained martial artist with a Mankey experienced in Crane Kick, seriously have the gall to say that you were justified in attacking a girl younger than you? She has an Oddish, for Pete's sake! They're literally cabbages! It probably just released its poison powder on reflex when your mankey tried to maul it."

Cato's face was growing dark now. "Security cameras from across the street captured the last part of your fight. Do you wanna know what me and the guys at the station saw?"

Lloyd shook his head dumbly. Cato swiveled his chair to a computer on the desk and started tapping, pulling up a grainy video file. He clicked it open and turned the computer towards Erika and Lloyd.

Much to Erika's delight, and to Lloyd's growing apprehension, they watched a blurry video recording of their fight on the street. Erika watched with immense glee as Lloyd's mankey tried to splatter her head, only for Gwen to intervene and barely save her from what surely would've been a fatal blow.

The worst part was the angle at which the camera had taken the video from. You could clearly see Lloyd pinning Erika's leg as his mankey leapt to smash her head in, and the panic on her face as it approached. To anyone watching the video, it looked as if Lloyd had deliberately held Erika down for his mankey to strike.

"Lloyd, look at me," Cato commanded. Lloyd obeyed with teary eyes, having just realized how much trouble he was in. "This nice young lady approached you to give you an antidote for the poison her oddish released in self defense, and you responded by pinning her so your mankey could attack. Can you really honestly tell me that you didn't plan this?"

"Of course not!"

Cato reached for a sheet of paper in a drawer beneath the desk, and slammed down in front of Lloyd. "If that's the case, I'm afraid I'm going to have to temporarily suspend your trainer's license, Lloyd. You've just admitted to losing control over your mankey, a dangerous Class III pokemon with violent and aggressive tendencies, which you were only allowed to train due to your father's specialty as a martial arts instructor. I've tried my best over the last year to keep you out of trouble out of respect to your late father, but this is the final straw. I can't do it anymore."

Lloyd was dumbfounded. "Huh? But-"

"Shut up!" Cato thundered. "Don't say anything more. If you claim to have control over your mankey, that's even worse! In that case, you'd be admitting to knowingly ordering your mankey to attempt a fatal attack on an eleven year old girl! It wouldn't even be suspension anymore, that's juvenile detention at the very least, if not outright prison!"

Poor guy. Even Erika was feeling bad for him now. Lloyd was getting grilled by the officer, and it looked like he wouldn't be able to wriggle his way out of it. It fits, though. He's probably been attacking trainers left and right in cases where he shouldn't have intervened. Too bad for him. This time, his motivations were actually justified, but no one believes him anymore.

"I need you to apologize to Erika right now, Lloyd," Cato urged him. "Even if she doesn't press charges, your license would still be revoked for at least a month or two. If you can honestly tell me it was an accident, then I want you to sincerely apologize. I know Ace Fulton, he's a good man, and he wouldn't ruin your career as a trainer over something like this. As long as Erika accepts your apology, I can convince him to help you get a lighter sentence."

"No way!" Lloyd shouted. "I know what I saw. She was bullying those trainers!"

A loud crunch sounded as Cato's hands slammed down onto the table, startling both Erika and Lloyd. Part of the wood splintered, but the frame held. Cato's face was twisted. "Lloyd, listen to me! All the evidence is against you! And it has been, for the last seven times you tried this! I'm asking - no, I'm telling you, as your Uncle Cato, that you are wrong! If you don't apologize to Erika and end up arrested, what am I going to tell your mother?"

Cato buried his face in his hands. "How am I going to face your father when I die, if I let his only son get arrested and ruin his career? Answer me!"

Lloyd was silent.

Erika kept her face stony, but she was nearly in hysterics inside. Oh this is just too good. The Hero of Justice gets a dose of reality.

"Suppose I do apologize to her," Lloyd asked carefully, "what's going to happen from here on out?"

Cato looked immensely relieved at his willingness to give in. "Well, we're going to have to wait for Erika's uncle to arrive. Fulton is busy right now busting a Claw hideout downtown. I really admire how dedicated he is, but the Claws are just too slippery. Despite his best efforts, he only ever catches a few before they escape. In fact-"

A sudden cough interrupted Cato's talking, and he turned to see Erika covering her mouth, as if she choked on her own spit. "Are you okay Erika? Is something wrong? I can get you water if you want," Cato offered her. Erika cleared her throat and gave him a big grin and thumbs up.

"Oh, it's quite alright sir," Erika said smoothly. "The air here isn't too good, and I'm not used to it. I think it should pass soon."

"Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything," Cato told her seriously. "Fulton saved my life once during a raid on a Claw hideout. It would be remiss of me to neglect his only niece."

Cato turned back to Lloyd. "I think you should apologize to Erika now. Just get it over with, before Fulton arrives."

Lloyd's face was so horribly scrunched up that it nearly set Erika off again. It looked like he was squeezing every single facial muscle all at once, as if he were in great pain at just the thought of apologizing. If Erika were a cruder person, she may have likened his face to that of a person suffering from great constipation and terrible bowel movements.

Let me hear it, Erika thought gleefully. Apologize.

"I apo-," Lloyd's voice caught in his throat as he spoke. He swallowed nervously, gritting his teeth.

"Yes?" Erika leaned in toward him. "I didn't catch that. Can you speak up a bit more?"

"I'm sorry, okay!" He burst out, sounding like he had just sold his soul. "I misunderstood the situation, and escalated it to a fight. I was in the wrong. I apologize! Will you accept my apology?"

Erika took her time. She reached out and grabbed Lloyd's hands, and sincerely looked into his eyes, ignoring how he flinched at the contact.

"Of course I accept your apology!" Erika exclaimed with fake cheer.

"I know you didn't mean it. Trainers like us should get along, and I definitely won't press charges. I wouldn't want to ruin the future of a 'promising' trainer like you," Erika said, leaning on the word. "I'm just glad this misunderstanding was resolved peacefully."

Lloyd clenched his teeth even more. If he clenches any harder his teeth will probably shatter, Erika noted amusedly.

"Let go of my hand," he forced out. "I don't like being touched."

With a look of mock surprise, Erika released her grip and bowed at him. "I'm really sorry, Lloyd. I'll make sure to respect your boundaries next time. I was just really happy that we were able to clear up the misunderstanding. You'll forgive me, won't you?"

Cato looked expectantly at Lloyd, missing the subtext behind Erika's words.

"Of course…" Lloyd forced out. "I forgive you."

"Well," Cato said, beaming, "this matter has come to a close. I'll escort you back to your home, Lloyd, and you can reflect there for a month while your license is reinstated. I trust that Erika and her uncle won't push for anything harder, so just make sure to stay out of trouble."

A steel key was drawn from under the table, and Cato helped Erika unlock her handcuffs, and then proceeded to do the same for Lloyd. Erika waited to see if he would attempt to punch her, but he held himself in. Smart boy.

"This is the last time I can help you out Lloyd," Cato warned seriously. "Everything I do is out of respect for your father. I'm already getting complaints that I've been abusing my power to keep you out of the system, but the other force members have tolerated it for now because they all remember your father's heroism. If you keep committing crimes like this - and yes, they are crimes, then eventually you're going to have to do the time."

Cato stood up, patting down his pants, and motioned for Lloyd to follow him. "Erika, you don't mind waiting alone for Fulton right? I think he's bound to arrive soon anyways."

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Fulton's voice interrupted them. "I'm already here."

Erika spun around in shock, but not fast enough, because she felt two hands grab and hoist her up into the air. She wriggled futilely, glaring down at Fulton who was now laughing uproariously. "Put me down!" Erika shouted at him.

"Of course, of course," Fulton said, still laughing at her predicament. He dropped her abruptly, causing Erika to wobble and have to steady herself. Fulton started tousling her hair, ignoring the burning glare Erika was giving him.

Erika felt her face heating up in embarrassment as even Cato started laughing, clearly taken in by the picturesque scene of family taking place before him. Lloyd had a vicious smile on his face, and she knew he was enjoying her humiliation. You better watch your back Lloyd.

"Fulton!" Cato exclaimed warmly, reaching out to hug him. "How have you been? It's been so long since we last caught up. Lloyd, I'd like you to meet my friend. This is the man who dragged me out of a burning warehouse while fighting off multiple Claw aces. He saved my life."

To his credit, Fulton at least looked a little embarrassed at the praise. He waved it off and shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "I was just doing my job, Cato. I'm glad to be of service. How have you been by the way? Is the wife well?"
"Mariko is doing great!" Cato said, smiling. "She's actually expecting now! I'm going to have a son next year!"

Even Fulton seemed caught off guard by the news. He smiled genuinely and grabbed Cato by the shoulders, shaking him. "That's great to hear! I knew you could do it, you old dog!"

Erika watched the two men reminisce with great interest. Fulton seems to know Cato and his wife pretty well, actually. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that he chose to save Cato during the Claw raid.

While Fulton might have saved Cato to get an in with the local police, Erika was confident that there was more to it than just that. She got the sense that Fulton wasn't the type of person to do things without a reason. It kind of fit the stereotype too, about ice specialists being cold and calculating, even if it didn't have any basis in reality.

"Well, it's been great catching up with you Cato, but I've got urgent business to do," Fulton said. "Erika needs to get registered in the system, and I have to get her a trainer card. She only got her pokemon yesterday, can you believe it?"

"Now that you mention it, I did find it hard to believe at first," Cato admitted, "but the pokeball registration dates don't lie. Give me a second."

Cato briefly left the holding room, and returned with two pokeballs - a blue great ball, and red standard pokeball. He handed both over to Erika who eagerly clipped them back to her waist, delighting in the proximity to her pokemon once more. While being separated from her pokemon wasn't a big deal, it still felt uncomfortable to Erika who had bonds so strong she could quite literally sense the movements of Snivy's pokeball even from another room.

"Your grass affinity is ridiculous," Cato told Erika seriously. "Bonding two pokemon within the same day, and a snivy at that, means your affinity has to be in the top percentile of all trainers. Have you ever considered signing up for the Rising Stars Gauntlet?"

"Rising Stars?"

"Yep," Cato said. "It's a government sponsored initiative to draw in fresh talent each league season. The format is 2v2 singles, and entry is restricted to badgeless trainers under sixteen. You fit the requirements perfectly. Look, there's a poster on the wall right there!"

Erika turned toward the direction of Cato's finger, now noticing a vibrant poster stuck loosely to the wall. She didn't see it previously because it was hidden behind Lloyd's chair.

Erika swiped the paper off the wall and held it closer to see the contents. It read 'RISING STARS', and listed a series of requirements beneath the title. However, what truly drew her attention was the promised reward.

"The winner will be interviewed live on the Morning Sun, and will be given admission to the Corner Charity Gala," Erika read aloud. "Each of the top three will be awarded high-grade technical machines produced by Silph. The two runner ups will receive random machines, while the winner will be given a selection from a catalog. "

Wow. That's pretty generous of the hosts. High-grade technical machines aren't cheap by any means. This is good stuff, Erika thought.

"It's on May 20th as well, so you've got about a week to prepare," Fulton interjected. "That should be ample time for you to get ready, given your talents."

Erika beamed and stuffed the poster into her pocket, saving it for later.

"Thank you Cato," Erika told him. "I think I'll definitely be attending this." She risked a glance at Lloyd, and couldn't resist adding a little jab towards him. "It is a shame though. I was hoping to be able to rematch Lloyd some time later, and the Rising Stars Gauntlet would've been perfect, if not for his suspension from training."

Erika was content to leave it there, but Fulton interrupted her again. "You know, maybe we could lower Lloyd's suspension time to a week."

Fulton looked at Lloyd with an appraising eye, watching the looping fight scene of his fight with Erika. "I'm sure his intentions were good, and I wouldn't want him to miss such a big event. It would be good for Erika to have someone she knows there alongside her."

What? Fulton, you bitch! Erika glared at him, but Fulton only shrugged. Thankfully, Cato remained adamant about punishing Lloyd.

"While I appreciate your attempt to be lenient with Lloyd, I still think he should spend this month off," Cato said. "Regardless of his intentions, he still nearly killed your niece. I know that you're more desensitized to this sort of stuff, but we shouldn't excuse his behavior. Thank you for the offer though."

"Oh well," Fulton shrugged. "Either way, Erika and I should really get going now. Catch you later Cato!"

Fulton released his jynx onto the floor of the holding room with a hiss of icy air, instantly lowering the temperature of the room and making frost crawl up the window. "Take us home," he told the jynx.

What happened next was quite indescribable. There was a brief but horrible twisting sensation, and then Erika witnessed the world snap back into place. The holding room she stood in just a moment ago was replaced by plush leather, and the hard concrete she stood on became soft carpet.

The transition was so sudden and jarring that Erika felt the urge to vomit. However, she held it in, unwilling to sully herself like that.

Erika was just about to plop herself down onto one of the reclining chairs when her instincts started screaming, warning her to get out of the way of something. She leapt to the side immediately, trusting her gut, and watched as an icicle flew towards the chair she was about to sit down on, splintering and collapsing the wood.

Erika reached for her pokeballs, but an overbearing aura pressed down onto her, stopping her from doing so. She felt breathless from the pressure of the aura, and drew struggling, rasping breaths. Then the cold hit, and Erika started shivering.

That's Fulton's aura. Erika turned around to see him leaning against the wall, wine glass in hand, and she glared at him. It feels like my blood is turning to ice. Even those nights huddling beneath the bridge last winter didn't feel this bad.

"Doesn't feel good, does it?" Fulton asked, sipping his drink. "That's what those trainers experienced when you flared your aura next to them."

That's what it feels like? It felt like I was being squeezed into paste.

"So what?" Erika said in challenge. "Why do you care? What's your problem anyways?"

Unsatisfied with her answer, Fulton flicked his finger at her, sending a spray of snow chips into her face. "My problem, girl, is that you're fucking up your reputation!"

At these words, Fulton angrily smashed his wineglass onto the floor. The intensity of his aura began ramping up even further, and more and more frost crept up the windows of the room. The carpet glaciated, the pristine fabric wrinkling up into icy clumps, and the wooden furniture started groaning due to the sudden change in temperature gradient.

Erika fell to her knees with a gasp. Still, she didn't panic. It's way too cold. The cold might be worse than the lack of air actually.

She became steadily colder and more breathless with each passing second, and her lips began to turn blue as the oxygen left her body. Erika felt herself growing faint even as the cold tried to keep her mind active, but she pushed through the pain, gritting her teeth and maintaining her presence of mind until at last Fulton retracted his aura, allowing her to cough and start taking deep gulps of air.

Fuck. I hate this feeling. I know he's doing it to punish me, but would it kill Fulton to come up with something new?

"I'm not punishing you by the way," Fulton said casually. "This is chastisement. I am reprimanding you for your completely stupid actions today."

"Fuck you Fulton," Erika snarled. "Stop reading my mind." There was a little noise above, and Erika jerked her head upwards, only now realizing that Fulton's jynx was standing upside down on the ceiling. It waved hello to her, before returning to its task.

Fulton only sneered at her words. "Maybe you should start learning how to hide your surface thoughts with aura. Ever considered that?"

Erika was horribly offended. "It's been one day since I awakened my aura. Cut me some slack, will you?"

"One day," Fulton agreed, echoing her words. "You've had an aura for one day, and you went on a rampage straight away. Legendaries know what you'll be doing in a week's time."

"Winning the Rising Stars Gauntlet?" Erika said sarcastically.

She was about to continue aggrandizing herself when Fulton put his palm to his face and shushed her, clearly unwilling to hear anymore. He threw out a crumpled paper ball at Erika, who let the mass hit her and fall to the ground. Erika picked it up and unraveled it, smoothing out the creases. It was a picture of her face, along with a list of information like her name, associated pokemon, and relatives.

"It's been one day," Fulton said, repeating her earlier words, "and you already have a police record. What the hell? Care to explain how this is part of your grand plan?"

"It's a victim's record," Erika said, waving it off. "They make one for anyone even tangentially involved in a crime, whether that's as a participant or as a victim. How do you expect me to become a gym leader if I'm not battling trainers? Why are you so concerned anyways?"

"I'm concerned," Fulton snarled, "because the conservatives do NOT like people with questionable backgrounds! You were lucky today that Lloyd was a serial offender. No one took him seriously, and the camera angle was in your favor too. What do you think would have happened if it was a random trainer who you instigated, and not Lloyd?"

Erika was about to answer when Fulton sealed her mouth with ice. "Shut up! I don't want to hear you speak right now! Stop and think for once about the consequences of what you're doing! Our entire partnership revolves around your future potential as a member of the Celadon Conservatives, and your becoming a gym leader. Do you think the conservatives will look well upon a delinquent with a criminal record? Answer me!"

Oh shit. Erika finally realized that she had fucked up. Fulton's right. I really did screw the poochyena there.

"It's a little too late to realize!" Fulton shouted at her. "Think before you act, girl! Actions have consequences, and your image is paramount! You might as well throw your lot in with the progressives at this point!"

Erika ripped the ice binding from her mouth and winced, before shouting right back at Fulton. "Look, I'm sorry, alright! I was having a moment. That was my first day as a trainer! I was just commemorating it by shocking the people around me and announcing myself!"

"Yeah, you shocked them alright," Fulton sneered. "With how utterly stupid you were! If this is how things are going to be, I might as well call off our partnership now!"

"Too bad," Erika smugly told him. "We both need each other, me perhaps more than you, but that doesn't change the fact that you need me! So stop trying to intimidate me! I promise I won't do it again, okay, so back off!"

Fulton's face grew dark, but Erika knew she was correct. "I bet you've already started the process of making my documents," Erika asserted confidently. "It's too late to stop it now! The fact that I'm your niece is already probably registered in some parts of the league system, and undoing all of that will raise red flags."

Erika's mind was running at full speed once more. Previously, Fulton's icy aura sapped and slowed her down, but now that he had retracted it, there was nothing holding her back any longer. Erika made deductions and quick guesses, eliminating wrong answers and joining dots at incredible speed to suss out what had happened in the intervening day after she proposed her partnership with Fulton.

"Since you're a ranger, your background must have been checked thoroughly!" Erika continued speaking, ignoring Fulton's twisted expression. "You only had one sibling, and he died years ago, which means that you must have informed the league that your brother had a child out of wedlock before his death! There's no way to forge an identity on short notice that will stand up to league scrutiny, especially an identity that belongs to the niece of a powerful ace and government ranger!"

She slammed her hand down to emphasize her next words. "In conclusion, you must have gone through official channels! You didn't go to some syndicate forger to get my documents done. You went straight to the League's Department of State! There's no undoing that!"

Erika waited for Fulton's reaction, panting slightly due to how fast she had spoken. Take that, Fulton!

There was a long pause, and then Fulton threw his hands up into the air. "Sure, why not. You got me. Your reasoning skills are as impressive as always," Fulton complemented her.

"Since it's come to this, I'll just admit it," he said casually. "Yes, it is impossible for me to revoke your identity as my niece. However, that doesn't mean I can't call off our partnership. You do recall what I said at the beginning right? If I'm not satisfied with you, then I'll bring you to heel and turn you into a subordinate. Are you sure you want that?"

Erika snorted. "I doubt you can. But for the sake of argument, what would I need to do to get back into your good graces? I've already promised to behave properly in public moving forwards. What else do you want me to do?"

"Be self aware," Fulton told her. "Image is your most crucial asset. When it comes to integrating with the conservatives, they care most about image. You have the talent to be a rising star and a peak ace, that's for certain, but the conservatives won't care about that if you don't fit their ideal. I want you to think before you act next time in public."

Couldn't you have just spared me from all the drama? You could have just told me what you wanted from the start. I already apologized anyway.

"I could have," Fulton admitted, reading her mind once more via jynx, who was likely hiding somewhere in the room. Erika scowled. "But I need you to understand the consequences of your actions. What you felt just now was just a taste of what you did to those trainers. I find that it's easier to think about the consequences once you experience them yourself."

"Just cut the shit next time," Erika grumbled. "I get it okay. I won't do it again."

Fulton gestured for her to sit down, but Erika remained standing. Do you think I'm dumb? The entire fucking room is iced over. I'm not going to freeze my bum by sitting down. Fulton shrugged and took a seat on the recliner, unbothered by the cold thanks to his Ice aura. Bitch.

"We're partners," Fulton said seriously. "I'm not going to restrict you from doing what you want, or stop you from moving around freely. However, you have to understand that this is a relationship based on mutual benefit. I am throwing my support and money behind you to raise you into an asset which will help me politically. You are receiving my support and money and can more easily climb the rungs of society."

Fulton leaned forward, clasping his hands together and placing his elbows on his knees. "However, right now, you are damaging your image, your most valuable political asset, and you are therefore lowering your worth in my eyes. It is my duty as your partner to tell you that you are being stupid."

I know what I did was stupid. Ugh.

"Let us make something clear," Fulton declared. "I am not ordering you to behave. I am advising you to behave. Your prosperity is my own, and you nearly ruined your future just now, and by extension, my own. If you had died to that mankey, what do you think would have happened to me? I have taken a risk in bringing you on. Do you understand?"

Erika nodded.

"Then I won't speak on this any further," Fulton told her. "Let's move onto something else - your documents. I've taken care of the legitimacy of your identity, but we still need to get you an official passport and trainer license. By the way, I wasn't kidding about needing three days to get your passport and license."

Fulton threw out two metal discs onto the table before him, beckoning at Erika to pick them up. She complied, holding the discs up to her face. They were flat, with irregular black grooves on the side. Are these discs some form of advanced communication system? Perhaps its secret technology only league rangers get access to.

"What is this?" Erika asked him curiously.

"It's an appointment token," Fulton replied. "They buzz when it's your turn to enter the passport office."

Erika looked at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? Aren't these just the same tokens that the food courts use? Like the food court in the Plaza Market? The bloody league uses food court tokens for official appointments?"

"No, yes, yes, and yes," Fulton said cheekily. "You are also responsible for not losing the token. You'll be fined a thousand pokedollars if you fail to return them. I advise you to take care of it."

Erika only hesitated briefly before she grabbed the tokens and shoved them unceremoniously into her pocket, letting the tokens join the Rising Stars poster that was already there. My pocket is getting kind of full actually. Maybe I should invest in deeper pockets.

"You've got one week before the Rising Stars Gauntlet," Fulton told her pointedly. "I suggest you make these next seven days count. If you don't have anything else to say, then we're done here. Don't forget to meet me for the passport and license creation."

"Why three days?" Erika wondered. "Aren't you a ranger? I thought you guys were given priority in government matters, no?"

Fulton only sighed. "It's true, we do get priority. Sadly, three business days is already the fastest the league's Department of State can do. They have to file everything in triplicate, and then pass it to multiple different offices, before it finally goes to the Passport Office. The league likes to keep records of everything, and they even make records of the records they make." He scowled, clearly unhappy with the bureaucracy.

Erika just thought that it was wild that it took three days even in the supposed 'fast track'. How long does it take for regular trainers then? A month?

"It's instantaneous," Fulton told her, leaning back in his recliner and staring at the ceiling. "Yes, I am still reading your mind. That's not going to stop, by the way, until you learn how to shield your mind. Think of it as a little bit of extra incentive."

Erika scrunched her face up in discomfort, but she held her tongue. "How come it's instantaneous for regular people? Wait - never mind, don't answer that. They had their passports done since they were young. The Passport Office doesn't need to wait for their file to go through the bureaucratic process and they can just get a trainer license on the spot."

"If you're done here, you can see yourself out," Fulton said, spreading his arms. "Carzi will teleport you to wherever you want, provided it's within Celadon. Just tell me where you want to be dropped off."

It took her only a few seconds to figure out where she wanted to go. "The Plaza Market," Erika told Fulton. "Drop me off inside the market if you can. I don't want to try to beat the morning traffic."

No sooner than she had spoken, Fulton burst out into uproarious laughter, nearly falling from his chair. "Are you kidding me? You want to go shopping dressed like that?"

Erika felt her face burning. "Of course! What else am I going to wear?"

"Nope," Fulton said, wiggling his finger at her in a metronome. "The Plaza Guards are going to start asking questions if you go shopping in one of the nicer parts of the Plaza, especially if you're underdressed like that. You need to dress the part too if you want to convince people you come from money. See that door there?"

Erika looked to her right, finding a glass sliding door. The glass was frosted so she couldn't see inside, but she could tell that the floor in the room behind it was made from marble.

"That's a bathroom," Fulton told her. "Go shower. I've prepared a decent garb for you to wear temporarily, and it should roughly match your size. It's on the sink. You won't be questioned if you wear that into the Plaza."

"What sort of clothing is this?" Erika asked warily. Fulton didn't deign to answer her. Guess I just have to find out for myself.

She pulled the sliding door open and stepped into the room, feeling a blast of warm air invigorate her. Erika made for the sink and noticed a pile of neatly folded golden fabric to the side, picking it up and unraveling to reveal… What is this? It's just one big piece of fabric. Is that a sash?

"It's a kimono," Fulton said from behind her. Erika flinched a little, still not used to being snuck up on so easily. "The conservatives love this dress. Many of their men wear it too out of tradition, but it is especially popular among the women. I'll leave the room for now. Try it on and see how you like it."

He shut the sliding door behind him with a bang, and Erika moved to lock the door, before slipping out of her dirty clothes. It took some effort because of how coarse her clothes were, not to mention covered in mud, but she was finally able to remove it all. When she stepped in and turned the handle of the shower, Erika was blasted by freezing water.

"What the fuck?" Erika shouted. "Why is it so cold? I turned the handle to hot!"

From outside the bathroom, Fulton shouted back at her. "My bad! I'm used to showering cold! I don't feel the temperature at all, so I save on money by only having cold water!"

"You're a fucking league ranger and a three star ace!" Erika bellowed back. "Are you seriously telling me that you're a scrooge and a penny pincher? What about all the furniture in your room then?"

"Personal choice!" Erika heard being shouted back. "I don't care if you spend a lot, but to me it's important that I maintain my state of mind! The furniture is also a personal choice! I can't stand having an empty room! Just shut up and shower!"

Erika just closed her eyes and tried to get used to the icy water. Ugh. It's freezing. I hate the cold. She pressed the soap dispenser multiple times and lathered her entire body in it, scrubbing away relentlessly to get the mud and grit off. Shampoo was next. Erika took her time working the shampoo into her long hair, untangling the strands and thoroughly washing the entire mass. She applied a liberal amount of conditioner too, softening her hair so it wouldn't clump together like it had done previously.

The cold was getting better over time Erika realized, but she also knew that it would be far worse when she stepped out. She had tried swimming in Lake Shogi once, and while the cold faded after a few minutes, getting out returned the sensation to her threefold.

When Erika was finally done, she cranked the handle and stepped out, reaching for a towel as fast as she could, wrapping herself in the soft fabric to try ward off the cold, shivering as she did so. This might be worse than how Fulton's aura felt.

Erika grabbed the waiting hairdryer and started blow drying her hair, using her fingers to comb it straight as she did so. It took her a few seconds to work out how the kimono was meant to be worn. Are you kidding me? Is this a bathrobe?

Erika put the kimono on, and used the sash to tie it together, and she turned to admire herself in the mirror. In doing so, Erika felt something in her kimono rustle and fall to the floor, and she instinctively reached to pick it up.

It was an instruction booklet. Erika turned it over and read the description. Kimono and Obi set. Steps listed on the back. I didn't put it on wrong, did I?

As it turned out, Erika did indeed put it on wrong. The sash - the obi, was meant to be folded first, and then wrapped around backwards, before looping to the front and then tied at the back. It took a few more minutes to wrangle the obi, before Erika finally got it perfectly into place and admired herself again.

Much better this time. Erika turned around, noticing how the bow stuck out from behind. It's quite elegant, in a strange sort of way. I can understand how the conservatives might like this.

She slid on a pair of prepared wooden sandals next to the exit and stepped out of the bathroom with a flourish, only to find Fulton watching the news on a recliner in the opposite direction. "Am I fit to go shopping now?"

Fulton leaned around to look at Erika, unwilling to get off his recliner, and gave her a nod of approval. "Much better. You actually look like a wealthy young miss now, and not some random street rat. The Plaza Guards won't bother you at all."

"Oh right, here, catch!" Fulton threw her a wad of bills and a thin card. Erika snatched them both out of the air and started flipping through the notes. Are these notes all hundreds? And the card - heavens above, is that Indigo Platinum?

He waved towards his jynx. "If you're ready to go-"

"Wait!" Erika cried. "I don't have any pockets. How am I supposed to carry my stuff?"

Fulton thought about it for a moment before replying. "Check your sleeves. There should be a gap where you can put personal belongings. To Erika's surprise, he was indeed correct. It was cleverly hidden, and she was able to fit her card and a few notes into the gap. She then folded her poster and slid it into the sleeve as well.

"I'll send you off now," Fulton said, returning back to his television. "Ciao!"

Erika felt the world contort and twist once more, and she found herself snapped back into place at a totally different location. I think I'm going to be sick.

Erika pressed her hands to her stomach gently, crouching down and trying to dispel the bout of queasiness that had overtaken her, before exhaling and getting up again. She took a moment to clear her throat before finally taking a look around.

The inside of the building she was in was immaculate. The onyx floor was so spotless that it shone brilliantly, and Erika could see various chic looking shops scattered across the floor. She espied a ritzy tea shop advertising tea blends she couldn't even begin to name, a camping equipment store selling collapsible tents, and - was that the Argrave Emporium?

That's a trainer store! They sell pedigree pokemon and specialist grooming equipment. Wait a second. That means-

Erika quickly peered out one of the nearby windows and gasped when she realized that she was nearly seven stories above the ground. Fulton's jynx had dropped her right in the Glass Helix, one of the trainer exclusive areas in the Plaza where you couldn't get in without a trainer license. From the fifth floor upwards, the entire building was made entirely out of expensive types of glass.

She checked the floor below her again instinctively, and marveled at the translucency. Erika leaned down to feel the floor with her finger, dragging a line across the onyx and observing the luster. No way! Is this actually obsidian glass? And it's tempered too!

"Young lady, is this your first time in the Helix?"

Erika snapped her head at the voice, before realizing it was one of the gentleman caretakers. "It is!"

"Don't worry, miss," the man said, reaching out to shake her hand vigorously. "My name is Drexel. I'm the butler in charge of the third trainer floor - that's the seventh floor of the building. It's a little weird, yes. The Glass Helix part of the building starts at the fifth floor," Drexel said, noticing her confusion. "I can see that you need help, so I'm happy to offer my services."

Drexel helped Erika to her feet and handed her a brochure. "First things first, make sure to stick to floors five through seven," he advised. "The upper floors are restricted to six badge trainers and above, and you won't be allowed upstairs even if you tried to sneak up."

"Do you have any questions for me? I'm happy to answer anything or help you find whatever you need." Drexel tugged a little on his lapel, adjusting his suit until it was crisp once more. "It appears to be your first time in the Helix, so don't be afraid! I'm here to help."

"Well," Erika said, considering, "can you give me a rundown of the recommended items a new trainer should buy? I'm already planning to buy a collapsible tent and camping supplies, but if you know anything else, that would be nice too."

"Certainly!" Drexel answered, beaming. "First off, I need to know your budget. What is your price range? How much are you willing to splurge?"

Erika thought about hiding the amount of money she had briefly, before realizing that she was in one of the most exclusive and ritzy buildings in Celadon. Erika already looked and dressed the part, so there wasn't much point in pretending otherwise. She had the money to back it up, after all. Time to splurge, Erika thought with a grin. Fulton gave me this card for a reason. I'll make sure to use his gift wisely - by spending as much as I can.

"No budget," Erika told Drexel honestly. "Just find me the best quality stuff possible."

Drexel's eyebrows rose, before he nodded with a grin. "Excellent! I love customers with money. Right this way please, young miss."

He led Erika away, and she followed, trailing after him. Erika took her time walking, even asking Drexel to slow down several times so she could admire all the shops they passed by. There were shops that sold stimulants, technical machines, vitamins and superfoods, multiple restaurants, the list went on and on. Some of the prices listed on the menus of the restaurants made Erika's heart wrench, before she realized that she had an unlimited Indigo Platinum credit card now. Definitely coming back here to eat later.

The entire seventh floor was beautifully decorated with potted tulips and marigolds, harkening back to the older days of grass rule. There was even a miniature park in the middle of the floor covered in flower beds and a marble golduck fountain, which spat out sparkling clear water. Erika ran up to it to get a closer look, running her hand through the water and gasping at its clarity. I don't think I've ever seen water this clear before. This is amazing!

Erika stared at the flower beds a little longer, before realizing that they spelt out a single word.

Roko.

A crest of green and white tulips were artfully arranged to form the letters in the word 'Roko', which Erika thought was quite odd. That name sounds a little familiar, she thought.

"Hey, Drexel, do you know why this mini park has this here?" Erika asked, pointing out the flower bed.

Drexel had to peer a little closer to clearly see what Erika was pointing at, before he let out an "aha", of surprise.

"Of course I know!" Drexel exclaimed. "Let me walk you through the history of this park actually. Have you heard of the Roko Family by any chance?"

Erika thought about it for a moment. Roko, roko, roko. Where have I heard that before? Well, there is Roko Square.

"Roko Square?" Erika ventured.

"That's the one," Drexel confirmed. "The Roko Family are staunch conservatives, and they built Roko Square for veterans and retired rangers to enjoy. Homeless veterans without a place to stay are also allowed to camp at the square, provided they act in a becoming manner and stay cleanly, and do not cause disruptions."

He spread his arms wide, gesturing to the entire floor. "The entirety of the seventh floor of the Glass Helix was sponsored by the Rokos. That's why you still see these flower beds and older architectural styles. See that archway there?"

Erika tracked his hand and focused on what Drexel pointed at, noticing a marble archway with inlaid grooves and interlocking ridges. "That one?"

"Yes, young miss." Drexel confirmed. "See how the patterns on the curvature of the archway connect? They form a cherubi. This entire floor is actually modeled after a traditional basilica."

Erika gasped. Now that Drexel had pointed it out, she could indeed make out the image of a cherubi, painstakingly carved into the archway by hand. There were four cherubi locked together in a cluster, but their faces… it just looked wrong. There's something off about this. It doesn't look right. The cherubi aren't smiling for one. Are those wings?

It was indeed a wing. Or rather, four wings. From the backs of the cherubi cluster, four brilliant wings sprouted. The tips of the wings were curved, and wavy lines trailed upwards from each section. Flaming wings. That's beautiful, Erika thought, transfixed by the mural.

"Is this some sort of reimagining of the Cherubi line?" Erika asked curiously. "This doesn't look like a Cherubi at all, mutated or not."

"Well, being perfectly honest, I don't know too much about it," Drexel admitted. The archives we maintain say that the mural was inspired by a poem written over a thousand years ago, but the source for this was lost a long time ago. I can tell you about the artist of this work though. He's a famed sculptor named Lachica who lived about five hundred years ago. We actually hold a few of his other works here as well, but this archway is one of his best pieces. Sadly, time has worn away at the material, and a lot of the original carvings have been chipped away and grinded down."

Drexel checked his watch. "Oh dear. We've spent nearly half an hour touring the floor. I think we should get back to finding the items you need, young miss."

Erika nodded her assent, and tore her eyes away from the mesmerizing mural carved onto the archway. I didn't think I would ever appreciate art, but there's a first for everything I guess. This Lachica guy really is something.

"Thank you so much for indulging my curiosity," Erika said, cupping her hands towards Drexel in respect, and bowing slightly. "I'm extremely grateful that you took the time out of your day to show me around."

"Of course!" Drexel exclaimed. "I'm always happy to help people out, and especially trainers like you with an interest in art and history. Let's go grab those camping supplies now, shall we?"

This time, the two of them wasted no time at all and headed straight for the camping store. Erika picked up a self filtering water canteen, water purifying tablets, a flint stick, all purpose seasoning, and a few other camping essentials that the store claimed would be helpful for a beginning trainer.

She took her time studying the backpack selection, before Drexel advised her to grab a forest green compression pack designed to minimize bouncing while on the run. Erika agreed with his selection. This will definitely come in useful if I need to run away from any strong pokemon. The backpack won't bounce up and down and impede my movement.

Tent shopping was a little harder due to the extreme variety on display, but Erika eventually settled on the Model RX-78-2, a super collapsible tent that could be folded down to the size of her arm. There was a latch that could be pulled to trigger the folding mechanism, and the tent would automatically unravel and fold as needed. Erika's jaw dropped initially when she watched the shopkeeper fold down a tent the size of a truck into a tiny roll. It would easily fit into her backpack, and could be carried around with ease.

Grabbing vitamins was less fun, but equally as important. Erika picked up multiple casings of nitrate, phosphorus, and potassium tablets for Oddish, and some more specialized vitamins for Snivy. Each tablet in the bottles was compressed heavily, and the dosages were massive. The tablets were slow release, so she could feed Gwen and Snivy one each week instead of having to do it daily, meaning a single bottle of vitamins could last up to a year.

Expensive as shit though. That cost me nearly ten thousand pokedollars a bottle.

Swiping her flashy new Indigo Platinum card gave Erika an indescribable sense of happiness. The respectful look on the face of the cashier also inflated her ego further, and Erika strolled out feeling like a princess.

After Erika parted ways with Drexel, she ended her shopping session at one of the fancy restaurants she saw previously, named The Glass Rapidash. Erika gorged herself on dozens of bitesize meals worth hundreds of pokedollars, eating without care.

Twice, the head chef came out to personally thank her for her generous patronage, and even conducted the display of the food personally. Erika tipped the man a few thousand for his efforts. As she munched on yet another seaking cream filet topped with asparagus and saffron, Erika leaned back contentedly and smiled. Truly, this was life.


————————————————————————————
AN: I have changed Oddish's name from Penelope to Guinevere (Gwen), since Penelope was a little too long winded for my tastes. Other than that, enjoy! Make sure to leave a like and comment too if you like this fic.

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[Ziel]

Erika is exactly the kind of protege that Fulton deserves. Such a little shit.

I like that this feels... dark without going grimdark. The levity of her thing with Lloyd helped break up the tone and helped hammer home that not everything is this gritty, it's just where she's at in life and society.

And the conflict with recruiting Snivy and how quickly it falls through because of who she is, and that she completely doesn't understand why, is so perfect.

Continuity-wise, spotted a couple errors: in ch1, when the Claw with the Raticate first speaks to her, Erika makes reference to multiple felled guards, but she's only downed one at this point.

In ch2, when she speaks with Fulton on the roof, the first time his name is used is before he actually introduces himself, so she knows his name before it's used.

 

[Aleister Adair]

In the end, Erika stuck around in the Glass Helix for another few hours. She couldn't resist the urge to spend, and bought even more vitamins and supplements for her pokemon. Snivy was uncooperative, sure, and he was a little bastard, but Erika needed him to be in top form for when he inevitably decided to fight for her. Erika was confident she would be able to break Snivy in, and she didn't want him to be behind on his training when that finally happened.

It wasn't like he could read her mind - the most he could do was sense her emotions, and use that to judge intent. Erika was fully honest about wanting to work with him. Snivy was just unwilling to do so because of her perceived character.

By the time she was done shopping, Erika needed to stuff everything into her new backpack to carry it. Her backpack was practically straining at the edges as all the goodies she had bought tried to burst free. Erika tightened the strap on the backpack to secure her items to ensure nothing fell out.

The itemized list of her new purchases included the anti-bounce backpack, a Model RX-78-2 (Rex) Tent, slow-release vitamins, combat stimulants, chansey healing extract, antidotes, pokeballs, a flint stick, a self purifying canteen, compressed protein bars, a rebreather, various low-grade technical machines, and a miniaturized Silph Scope A2 to detect concealed entities.

Her last purchase was a lucky find. Erika hadn't intended to stick around much longer after eating until full at the Glass Rapidash, but in the end she went back to find Drexel. When Erika asked him if there was truly nothing else she could buy, Drexel informed her that while most of the higher end personal gear could only be bought from the upper floors, it was possible to pay a premium to acquire a Silph Scope.

Erika was puzzled why he didn't tell her initially, until she saw the outrageous price listed. The Silph Scope cost her over 500,000 pokedollars. It was the best model available on the first three trainer floors of the Glass Helix, and Drexel kindly informed her that it could even penetrate the veil of a one-star ghost, so long as Erika maintained her presence of mind.

By the time Erika was finally done shopping, it was evening, and the sun was beginning to set. As the horizons lowered, beautiful red rays spilled from the sky and doused the helix in light. She watched in fascination as the entire glass tower lit up and shimmered with resplendent red, refracting the light in each and every direction. Soft oranges and pinks mixed in as the sun continued to sink, weaving a beautiful celestial tapestry in front of her eyes; she was almost unwilling to part with the tower.

Erika ordered a transport service from the Glass Helix for safety, unwilling to carry her stuff out on the street for fear of being ambushed. She might be great, but Erika knew that the current her wouldn't survive a bullet to the head. Perhaps that might change in the future, but it wasn't particularly relevant at the moment.

For young trainers like herself who didn't have the protection of externalized aura, a gram of prevention was worth a kilogram of cure. For now, it was better not to risk the chance of an ambush. Her current attire practically invited attack from urchins and petty thieves, and Erika knew this extremely well because she too had once been such a petty thief. They loved to target naive rich kids, and she looked exactly the part.

The hotel the transport service pulled into was no less fancy than the Glass Helix. Drexel himself had recommended the Grand Verdant to Erika, citing impeccable service, and that it would be 'suited' for someone like her.

The secure taxi escort she ordered from the Glass Helix stopped in front of an opulent marble building covered with golden accents, and as Erika stepped out, she couldn't help but goggle at the excessive display of wealth. Giant white pillars held up the overarching entrance of the roof, with each pillar being lovingly engraved with intricate golden designs and patterns of various grass type pokemon like Bellossom, Vileplume, Victreebel, and more.

The inside was even more ridiculous. Erika could see flowers of every shape and kind decorating the interior, with each species carefully chosen to accentuate the best aspects of the hotel. Marigolds and sunflowers were most prominent, being scattered around the room to highlight the white and gold coloration of the hotel's marble, while tulips were planted in flower beds for hotel patrons to pick as they walked around. Beautiful paper lamps with floral designs were artfully placed next to plush chairs and mahogany furniture topped with grafted bonsai.

However, the most astonishing thing to Erika was the ceiling. Is that… Wisteria?

Much to Erika's shock, the ceiling was covered in glowing wisteria. The trailing flowers were colored a soft pink, adding a dab of lightness to the otherwise harsh whites and golds of the hotel, which she felt really improved the nature aesthetic. The ceiling also featured a spiraling mural depicting various grass type pokemon, which was intermittently broken up by patches of carefully cultivated wisteria, and a brilliant sun in the center.

Erika also saw names engraved onto the ceiling, and she squinted to try to read them from the ground; the most prominent of which was the name "Belding", followed by other names of what she assumed were conservative families.

This is breathtaking, Erika thought. She was so fixated by the beauty of the hotel's interior that she didn't even continue walking in, holding up the entrance for a few other people hoping to enter. The other patrons shot her a glance as they excused themselves and pushed past, and Erika whispered a soft "apologies," as they walked by.

When she finally entered the hotel, her skin began tingling, and she shivered, despite the May heat. What's going on?

It took her a few seconds to figure it out. That's a fucking artificial sun! And the light - it's so intense!

The mural on the ceiling which featured a sun in the center was not just an artistic piece, as it turned out. Somehow, the hotel had managed to capture sunlight and project it down through the sun mural. She knew the sunlight was real, because the light that shone down triggered a response in her grass aura, meaning it had to be genuine ultraviolet light.

Erika closed her eyes briefly to soak in the warming light, feeling her fatigue be cleansed and wash away. This hotel is practically made for grass type trainers! Even just standing here is making me feel better.

"May I take your bag, young lady?" Erika heard a voice in front of her say. It came from an immaculately dressed bellboy who wore a crimson-fitted waist length jacket and band collar, which was double-breasted and trimmed with golden thread. The cuffs of his jacket featured rows of brass buttons, and he wore a smart looking cap. He dipped into a deep bow toward her, leaning forward and jutting his chest out.

Despite the professionalism of the bellboy's tone and his outfit, Erika still clutched her backpack closer to her anyways. "Sorry." she said apologetically. "I'd prefer to carry my own stuff. Thank you for the offer though."

I'm too paranoid for my own good, Erika thought. There's no way a hotel like this would hire untrustworthy staff. Despite knowing this, she was still unable to shake her instincts, which had been honed through years of brutal street life. Erika would rather play it safe rather than be sorry, and unless she knew for certain that her stuff would be safe, she would never entrust it to anyone.

While waiting for the counter to call her over, Erika sunk into a plush white sofa and leaned back, gazing up at the ceiling. This hotel is seriously nice, she thought happily. Not only were the decorations chic, but the welcome she had been given was also good, thanks to her kimono garb. She hadn't noticed it on first inspection, but there was a subtle logo woven into the fabric of her kimono which read 'Ferragatr'.

Ferragatr was a designer brand most well known for their leather shoes, but they also apparently did textiles, as Erika was discovering right now. Erika had mugged many a rich kid wearing Ferragatr shoes, but seeing clothes made by them was a first. Nevertheless, wearing what was presumably a designer kimono helped add a little extra oomph to her image as a young miss from a big family, and the treatment she was afforded increased correspondingly.

The concierge and waitstaff bowed slightly less toward Erika compared to the bellboy, but their expressions were still friendly and approving. Although the difference in treatment was minute, Erika knew that the depth of a bow was something significant. A slight nod was to be given to indicate respect, while a deeper bow was something given to elders and social superiors. Some people might have missed this fact, but Erika's eyes were razor sharp, and she caught the difference immediately.

It filled her with a sense of indescribable happiness, and she was just about to continue leaning further into the sofa when she was interrupted by a harsh female voice.

"How ungainly," Erika heard the voice say. "Have your parents taught you nothing of etiquette? You should never lie down like that in public."

Erika popped an eyelid open and lazily looked at the girl in front of her. She looked a little older than Erika, but not by much. The girl wore a frilled dress and had blond hair curled into ringlets, with rich purple eyes colored the same as the wisteria which hung from the ceiling. Erika glared at the girl, trying to project as much disdain into her gaze as possible. Before she could speak, however, she flinched in surprise as a voice rattled through her mind.

A wise voice whispers to you… Erika! Don't be a dumbass. Be polite.

Erika whipped her head around trying to look for the origin of the voice, before identifying it as Fulton. Did that bastard put a fucking psychic suggestion into my mind?

"I wasn't aware that lying down was a crime," Erika told the girl politely, deciding to listen to Fulton's voice.

The girl crossed her arms, tilting her head and letting her ringlets fall to the wayside. "I think you'll find that the Grand Verdant demands a certain level of manner from its guests. So long as you patronize these halls, you must obey the rules of my family."

"Your family?" Erika asked apprehensively. Ah, shit.

"Yes," the girl replied. "I am Millicent Belding, of the Celadon Beldings, heiress to the Great and Noble House of Belding. We own the Grand Verdant, the hotel which you are currently standing within. I'd like to ask you to comport yourself properly, as befits a patron of the Grand Verdant."

Erika thought about backtalking Milly and giving her a sarcastic jab, but Fulton's voice rang through her mind once more and she begrudgingly decided to comply with Millicent's request.

Erika clasped a fist and palm together and dipped her head ever so slightly with gritted teeth, uttering as polite an apology as she could manage. "Sorry for being unaware. I didn't have any parents to teach me manners growing up, since I was an orphan until my uncle took me in. I will make sure to conduct myself properly from now on."

"Do you speak truly?" Millicent looked extremely surprised at Erika's words. "If so, then I have been remiss. I apologize."

Millicent imitated Erika's earlier action and clasped her hands together, dipping her head slightly towards Erika in apology. That was a pretty fast turnaround, Erika thought. Maybe Fulton is right. I should be less abrasive.

"There isn't any need for you to apologize," Erika said, waiving Millicent off. "I was out of line just now. Can we start again?"

"Of course we can!" Millicent replied. "I am Millicent Belding of Celadon, heiress to the Great and Noble Family of Belding. What say you?"

Erika thought about her response briefly before speaking up. "Erika Caldwell, heiress of none, and a genius of pokemon battle. Well met, Millicent."

"Let's be friends," Millicent said, extending a hand to shake with Erika. "You may call me Milly, like all my friends do."

We're friends already?

Noticing her confusion, Milly gestured for Erika to sit down. "Your grass affinity is truly marvelous. The elemental density of grass in this hotel is already extremely high, but your presence still shines like a candle in the dark. I sensed a powerful aura of grass while having tea with friends, and decided to come investigate out of curiosity."

"That is most definitely me," Erika said, smiling at her in gratification. "I even bonded a snivy as my starter!"

Milly looked quite caught off guard at that statement, and she reevaluated Erika with a more appraising eye. She swept her eyes across Erika's attached pokeballs and focused in on the great ball holding her snivy. "I see! That is simply wonderful. Would you care to join me and friends for tea?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose," Erika said politely. "I'm sure you and your friends wouldn't want an outsider to join in on your private gathering."

Inwardly, Erika was cheering. Already making connections.

Milly smiled good-naturedly and placed her hand onto Erika's own, tugging her along. "Please don't worry. You aren't imposing at all! In fact, I insist that you join our gathering. I recently acquired a rare blend of jade dew, and it would be terrible of me not to share it with you. After all, we are friends, are we not?"

"Of course," Erika replied. "I would be thrilled to join you for tea. I must ask though, does my background as an orphan not disqualify me of your friendship? I have heard that the old families frown upon people with less than stellar backgrounds."

"Oh, that isn't a concern at all," Milly told her, waiving away Erika's question. "I admire and respect talent, and you are definitely one of the most promising trainers I have ever seen. Regardless, I should still ask: who is your uncle? What does he work as?"

Erika pulled out her Indigo Platinum card for Milly to look at and handed it over. Milly turned the card over and examined the casing, expertly checking it for the proper markers which indicated legitimacy. "Fulton Caldwell," she read out. "Three Star Ace; League Ranger. Fairly respectable. That makes you one of us, does not it?"

"One of us?" Erika asked her quizzically.

"A conservative," Milly replied. "Practically every affiliated ranger in Celadon is a conservative, simply by way of their job. So, what brings you to the Grand Verdant?"

"I'm waiting for my uncle to get me a passport and trainer license," Erika said honestly, mustering as much sincerity into her tone as possible to draw out Milly's sympathy. "I lived on the streets up until a few days ago, so I don't have any papers – but don't tell anyone I told you this!" Erika quickly said. "It may be public record after my uncle registers me, but I still don't like telling the story."

Milly looked horrified at the mention that Erika had once lived on the streets.

"That is outrageous!" Milly declared. "It must have been dreadful. I am glad that you have maintained your dignity and pride, if not your manners from your stay on the streets. This simply won't do.."

Milly grabbed Erika's hand gently and started dragging her away. "Come, follow me. I'll introduce you to my friends. You can consider this your formal introduction into polite society." Checkmate. Now I have an in with the Beldings, Erika thought gleefully.

Before following Milly, Erika made sure to sling her backpack across her back, even though the material of the backpack felt uncomfortable on her smooth kimono. Milly noticed what she was doing and promptly stopped her in her tracks.

"You can give your stuff to the waitstaff," Milly assured Erika. "My family owns this hotel. All the waitstaff of the Grand Verdant have been thoroughly vetted for loyalty, and I grew up alongside most of them. Their loyalty and trustworthiness are without doubt."

Upon hearing that, Erika didn't bother trying to carry her stuff anymore. If Milly's family truly owned the hotel, they could probably buy the contents of the backpack a hundred thousand times over. The items she had bought were expensive, but that was only from the perspective of the average person. To someone like Milly, she could probably buy out entire shops on a whim from the lower levels of the Helix if she wanted.

Milly called over one of the waitstaff and had him take away Erika's backpack, and the two continued walking toward wherever Milly's friends were, and Erika found herself before a private room barred by a door. Two waitstaff stood before it protectively, and only relaxed upon seeing Milly. They moved to open the door, swinging it open with a mighty displacement of air.

Erika followed Milly into the room and noticed a circular table covered in white tablecloth. She saw a well-dressed butler pouring tea for the other people sitting at the table, who sat upright, prim, and proper. There was barely a hint of a slouch in their posture despite the presumably private nature of the gathering, and Erika found herself unconsciously straightening her own back despite it already being perfectly straight. The sole exception to this was a dark haired boy who slouched in his seat, and immediately righted himself upon noticing Milly.

"Keta!" Milly snapped. "Can't you sit properly for once? It's not good for your back, you know."

Erika took a seat next to Milly at the table, waiting patiently for the butler to come round and pour tea into her cup. Erika observed the fracture lines on the porcelain of her teacup, studying how gold was mended into the cracks and formed golden spiderweb veins. This looks… weird. And interesting. There's no way a family like the Beldings will keep damaged cups, so why the fractures?

"That's called Kintsugi, by the way," Milly told Erika casually, answering the question she knew Erika was sure to have. "It's a new cup design which has been all the rage recently. The Muramachi family came up with the design. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of it, but some of my friends like it. Erika, I'd like you to meet Keta, Aisling, and Ender. Say hello, everyone!"

"Hello!" Everyone took turns greeting Erika, who responded in turn. The dark haired boy who slouched was Keta - he had a sharp crew cut and flinty black eyes, and wore a brown vest on top of relatively casual clothes. Aisling was similarly dark-haired like Keta, but the similarities ended there. She wore a festive yukata adorned with orange and black spots similar to the prized koi that Erika used to see swimming around in the Plaza Market's ponds, which matched well with her off-green eyes. Ender wore a simple tee and slacks, with only his brown hair breaking up the monotony of his otherwise drab clothing.

Erika shook hands across the table with them all, before righting herself in her seat once more. She was going to break the silence by asking a question, but Keta beat her to it first, training his dark eyes upon her with a little disdain. "So, Milly, who is this girl anyways? What family does she come from?"

"Erika here isn't from any of the great houses," Milly told Keta politely. "She's the niece to a local ranger in Celadon, but I think she has great potential. Play nice, Keta."

"Fine, fine," Keta muttered, leaning back into his chair. Milly gave him a sharp look of disappointment and he shot back up into proper seating posture, groaning as he did so. "Why did you even bring this girl here Milly?"

"Well," Milly said diplomatically, "this is Erika's first introduction to polite society, and I thought it would be nice to introduce her to my friends. What about you guys? Aisling? Ender?"

The brown-haired boy to the right smirked. "I think she's interesting," Ender drawled, smirking at Milly. "You don't typically bring other people into our gatherings, so Erika here has to be very special to catch your eye. I'll trust your judgement on this one."

"Aisling?" Milly asked.

"…how good is she at pokemon battling?" Aisling asked finally. "I'm always excited to battle someone new."

"She claims to be good," Milly told her. "Actually, why don't we have a battle right now? Erika, call your pokemon out. This room has a built-in arena." She turned to her butler. "Hector, can you bring up a containment barrier?"

Battle? Now that is something I can do.

"I challenge Erika to a fight," Aisling said abruptly, as if she had made up her mind.

"Sure, that works! I'll referee the match then," Milly declared. She blinked briefly before looking around the room, and turned back to Erika and her friends.

"The elemental density of this room is relatively neutral, unlike the rest of the hotel. This room was built using elementally inert material, with the exception of the steel in the rebar," Milly told Erika. "I can see that neither you nor Aisling are attuned to Steel, so there shouldn't be any unfair advantages."

"You can see?" Erika asked her curiously, noticing her strange choice of wording. "I didn't know that it was possible to see aura, only sense it."

Milly looked at her in confusion. "Of course it's possible! This is a common trick all inherited stage trainers teach to their relatives and children. Has your uncle not taught you this yet?"

Oh shit, Erika realized suddenly. I forgot the ranger corps booklet on aura at Fulton's house. I need to go grab that next time I see Fulton, and properly go through it. I didn't have time to read and only skimmed the first few pages.

"He hasn't yet," Erika told Milly. "Can you explain to me what my aura looks like?" I know my aura is green, and I can sense that it's green, but I can't see it.

"It's hard to explain if you haven't seen it yet," Milly said, deep in thought. "Let's call off the fight for now. You don't mind, right Aisling? Erika?"

Both shook their heads no. Milly returned to the table and beckoned them to sit back down. "I can't let you fight Aisling in good faith when you can't even see aura. Has your uncle seriously not mentioned this at all?"

"Never," Erika replied. "He may have been busy the past few days. I've only been reunited with him recently. I think he was probably meaning to get around to teaching me after he got some free time."

"I'll teach you it then," Milly said. "I would be honored to help you unlock your second sight."

At these words, she flared her aura, carefully restraining it just enough that it spread out to blanket the room, but still pressed down on Erika. "You should flare your own aura too. Let it interact with mine."

Erika followed and flared her aura, letting it spread outwards. When it met Milly's aura, Erika felt gentle warmth and a sense of great age, almost as if she were standing before an old oak tree. "Is that your aura?"

"It is," Milly confirmed. "I'm a grass specialist from Celadon, just like you. But ignore that for now. Close your eyes and sense what my aura feels like."

Erika shut her eyes and focused. Milly's aura was… calm. Although Erika could not yet see aura, she could still sense it, and she instinctively understood that it was green. How she knew this, she couldn't say. Erika felt the rustling of leaves, the grainy coarseness of wooden bark, the fine sensation of a plant's new roots, and observed how placid Milly's aura was in comparison to her own. Milly's aura never seemed to fluctuate or move, while Erika's own aura was rampant and chaotic, much like the shaking of trees within a storm.

"Prepare yourself for a little pain," Milly said casually, as she placed her palms on Erika's eyes.

Erika felt Milly discharging tendrils of her aura right into her eyes and she winced in pain. Although their auras were still immaterial, the sensation was profoundly uncomfortable, just like when Fulton imbued his ice into her. The sensation of Milly pushing aura into her was like feeling roots dig into her eyes, scraping out the iris and embedding itself into her brain.

When Milly released her hands from Erika's temples, Erika stumbled backward slightly and shook her head. She slowly opened her eyes and observed the differences.

Everything was… off. In some parts of the room, it was as if the color had been bleached out, while in other parts the colors were sharper and more distinct. Erika paused and looked at Keta, noticing a corona of crackling electricity around him that obscured his body and face. He gave her a thumbs up and withdrew his aura, letting the golden hue around him fade into colorless gray.

"This is incredible Milly! What was that?" Erika asked.

"I stimulated your eyes with my aura after getting you to sense it closely," Milly told her. "That usually forces the target to start seeing aura."

"How clear is your sight?" Keta interjected. "You should be able to see some faint color differences, right?"

"Everything is gray," Erika said in amazement. "You were blazing golden just now, and Milly and Aisling are covered in green. Ender looks like he's covered in brown crystal. Thank you so much, Milly!"

Keta's eyes widened in alarm. "Are you serious? Your second sight must be pretty powerful then. Describe it to me again. Was it just faint gold? What did I look like?"

"Gold," Erika repeated. "I couldn't even see your face. You were just covered in crackling lightning and golden color." Is that a good thing?

Keta turned to look at Milly and the others. Even Aisling looked interested now. "You've picked up quite the prodigy, Milly. Say, Erika, have you heard of the Rising Stars Gauntlet?"

"Of course," Erika replied. "I was going to join it and win. Also, how do I shut off my second sight?"

"Focus on your eyes," Milly told her. "You can shut off your second sight by withdrawing your aura. Imagine your aura leaking and draining out of your eyes, and returning to your chest."

Erika listened to Milly and tried to imagine it leaving her eyes. She felt immediate relief when color surged back in, restoring the room to its original look. Erika blinked a few times to get the spots out of her eyes before turning back to Keta.

"Why are you asking about Rising Stars anyways?" Erika questioned Keta.

"Naturally, I'm going to join it," Keta replied to Erika's surprise. "How could I not? This is far too interesting to miss out on. I hope to fight you there, Erika."

"I can't join," Aisling said glumly. "I got my first badge already from a different city."

"Same here," Ender chimed in. "What about you, Milly?"

"I'm preparing for my first badge challenge against the bug gym," Milly said. "I can't waste my time on the Rising Stars Gauntlet. I need to be in peak form for the match in June."

Everyone turned to Milly in surprise except for Erika.

"Are you serious Milly?" Aisling asked. "You're gonna get crushed. I'm great at battle, and even I had to travel to a different city for my first badge challenge. The bug leader hates grass specialists. Do you really want to start your circuit off with a loss?"
Milly was quiet for a second before she exhaled and let out a sigh. "My family demanded that I challenge the bug gym here first. We'll be seen as cowards and traitors to the conservatives if we don't at least make the attempt at the bug gym for the first badge. It'll look like we're scared of the progressive bug."

"That's ridiculous!" Aisling burst out. "No grasser has been able to get their first badge in Celadon for over two decades! It's practically an open secret by now that the challenge is rigged against us. No one is going to care if you travel to a different city for your first badge!"
While the others argued, Erika was uncharacteristically silent. No grass specialist has ever gotten their first badge from Celadon's bug gym? And it's been over two decades since the last victor? That sounds like a challenge to me.

Erika started grinning. I think I know how I'm going to make my name now. And – I know how I'm going to get in the good graces of the Belding family as well.

"I've got a better idea," Erika spoke up suddenly, drawing the attention of the others. "Milly, why don't you delay your match a bit? I'm willing to fight the gym leader first."

"What good is that going to do?" Milly asked forlornly. "Even if you win – which you won't, it's not going to change anything for me. No. I have to face this challenge with honor. Win or lose, I can't bring shame to my family."

"If I fight him first, you'll be able to study the replays of my fight against him," Erika told her.

"And how is that supposed to help?" Milly asked quizzically. "Thousands of grass specialists attempt the first badge challenge against the bug gym every year, and each year, they all go home crushed. The gym is built to maximize the advantages of bug users, and it's indoors, so we can't even use the sunlight to our advantage. The gym leader brings out his toughest first badge challenge team for grass challengers too. I can go and watch the replays for any of those fights. What makes your fight so different?"

"It's different because I'm going to win," Erika declared.

Aisling snorted and nearly choked on her cup of tea. "You? Win? Even I didn't have the confidence to do my first badge challenge in Celadon. What gives you the confidence to try? What makes you think you're going to win when everyone else couldn't?"

Even Milly and Ender seemed to agree. Only Keta looked otherwise. He stared at Erika as if seeing right through her, before turning away as if in thought.

"Fight me," Erika said suddenly. "Aisling, we'll each send out one pokemon. I'll prove it to you right now. Since I've gotten my second sight, it shouldn't be an unfair fight anymore."

"Sure," Aisling answered, disbelievingly. "Don't blame me when I crush you though, since I've already gotten my first badge. Milly, you can referee right?"

"Of course!" Milly replied.

The others made space for Erika and Aisling. "Hector!" Milly called out. "Set up the arena and barrier!" Her butler released an exeggutor and it raised a circular psychic wall enclosing an area. The ground of the room began to rumble, and a thin layer of the floor slid away to reveal a small arena. That's barely 10 meters across, Erika noted.

Milly stepped forward. "Both of you, release one pokemon each! No substitutions, and fight until surrender or unconsciousness! Begin!"

Erika picked up Gwen's pokeball and aimed it into the arena, releasing her oddish with a flash of red. Aisling opted for a sportier look and threw her pokeball into the air, letting her pokemon be beamed down and materialize in the arena to reveal a skiploom.

"Be warned," Aisling said confidently, "I fought through all the preliminary matches at the bug gym with Troy. Although I didn't challenge the gym leader in the end, my Skiploom still was able to outfight all the first badge gym trainers. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

At her declaration, Skiploom burst into motion and flew straight towards Gwen, body outstretched and ready to strike.

"Double growth!" Erika shouted ruthlessly to Gwen. "Then razor leaf!"

Aisling's eyes widened. "Dodge, Troy! Get out of the way right now!"

Despite her warning, it was too late. Skiploom tried to avert his flight back, but he had already committed to the attack, and there was too much momentum riding on his body to feasibly slow down or turn in time. The best he was able to manage was slightly shifting his body to the right, but even that wasn't enough.

Aisling could only watch in horror as Gwen ballooned up in size nearly two times, expanding her spherical frame until she was almost as tall as Erika. When she swung her head to unleash a razor leaf, what flew out was not a leaf, but rather a whirling blade of death the size of a car tire that sheared through and nearly severed Skiploom's wings, despite the elemental resistance his flying type afforded him.

"No!" Aisling screamed. "Stop the match! Lower the barrier!"

Hector had his exeggutor drop the barrier as Aisling ran through to her downed pokemon, and she rummaged through her pocket before pulling out a full restore. Erika watched as she pressed Skiploom's limp wings together before dousing the severed point with full restore spray, and she injected a vial of what Erika assumed was chansey extract. After Skiploom's condition stabilized, Aisling returned her to her ball and glared at Erika.

"How could you do that?" Aisling said to Erika reproachfully. "That was brutal!"

"Shouldn't you be prepared for the possibility of your pokemon being injured or dying?" Erika asked her in confusion. "This is a pokemon battle."

"I'm not referring to my Skiploom!" Aisling shouted at her. "Look at your own pokemon!"

Gwen looked destroyed. After the boost from her growth ended, Gwen shriveled down to her original size. However, her body was marred by terrible bruises and stretch marks, and parts of her skin wrinkled up and began browning. Through the bond they shared, Erika could feel a portion of the horrifc pain which Gwen felt, which developed within her a greater sense of respect for the oddish.

However, despite her injuries, Gwen stood tall and proud. She barely even wavered, despite the brutal backlash she had just suffered. Gwen slowly hobbled over to Erika's side and leapt up into her arms, and Erika gave her a pat on the head. Just to be safe, Erika pulled out a vial of chansey extract and jabbed it into Gwen's side, letting her absorb the healing liquid.

Aisling and the others only watched in amazement.

"How is your pokemon still okay?" She asked Erika intently. "That shouldn't be possible! She should be writhing on the ground in pain right now!"

"It is possible," Erika replied easily. "You should already know that the bond is a two-way street. Just as a trainer gains aura and added affinity from his pokemon, so too does the pokemon gain from the trainer. My grass affinity is great enough to stimulate a piece of paper into growing back into a flowering tree within hours! How big of a gain do you think my oddish has gotten? Furthermore, Gwen isn't even my strongest pokemon! Watch!"

Erika grabbed her great ball and released Snivy for her new friends to see. Erika hadn't been able to see it previously, and she suspected those grunts she killed weren't either, but now that she had gained second sight, it was possible to see Snivy's aura with her eyes. Grass energy practically overflowed from him, almost as if he were the center of a blazing emerald corona. His aura flooded the room and draped it in thick green, smothering the other colors and forcing them to assimilate into his presence.

As quickly as he did appear, and before he could react, Erika recalled Snivy back into her pokeball. "Do you believe me now? I was able to bond my oddish within minutes of this snivy. How high do you think my grass affinity is?"

"I'm going to level with you Aisling," Erika said. "I've only been a pokemon trainer for two days. I bonded with both my pokemon just the day before." Strictly speaking, that isn't exactly true, since I trained Gwen for months before actually bonding with her, but they don't need to know that, Erika thought.

Aisling looked highly disturbed. So did the others.

"Using a boost move once is already straining on a pokemon," Milly ventured. "It's almost considered self harm to boost twice within a short time frame. Weaker pokemon have been known to implode from boosting twice, and you did without any regard at all!"

"I did," Erika admitted. "But look at Gwen! She's fine!"

Erika cradled Gwen in her arms and held her up for the others to see. Gwen shook her head and dislodged a few withered leaves from her head, revealing the fresh shoots of newly sprouted leaves beneath. "Gwen does this willingly," Erika told them. "I have never forced her into doing anything."

"I'm not in the habit of abusing or crippling my own pokemon either," Erika said, before Aisling could speak up. "I know Gwen's limits. Do you know why I dare to do this?"

Aisling shook her head dumbly. "It's because Gwen is a grass type," Erika said confidently. "With enough time, the concept of a crippling injury simply does not exist! If you have the guts, you can engage in reckless, life-threatening training as many times as you want, and use any manner of dangerous strategies or tactics! After being bolstered by my grass affinity, Gwen's self recovery abilities have grown so potent that she can easily take advantage of this self destructive boost strategy."

Milly had a curious expression on her face now. After she got over the initial shock, she now found herself fascinated by Gwen. "Can you let me examine her?" Milly asked Erika. "This is incredible!"

Erika let Milly hold Gwen, and watched as she pinched Gwen's muscles and pressed her leaves, doing a thorough examination of the resulting backlash from using growth multiple times. Gwen wriggled and thrashed around as Milly held her, and she eventually had to drop Gwen due to her struggling. Upon hitting the ground, Gwen rolled briefly, and then hopped back into Erika's waiting arms where she instantly calmed down.

"How on earth did you figure this out?" Milly asked in horrified fascination. "Can any grass type do this?"

"Probably not," Erika told her. "The pain of even a single boost is terrible, although still manageable. A double boost causes unimaginably excruciating pain as you already probably know. Gwen is quite special. Her willpower is so great that she can largely ignore the side effects of a double boost in battle and still keep fighting."

As for using a triple boost in real battle without collapsing, that'll probably have to wait until Gwen evolves, Erika thought to herself. Willpower can take her a long way, but it won't stop her body from shutting down. Even this double boost was risky. I definitely can't do it twice in one battle for now.

Erika returned Gwen to her pokeball so she could continue recovering. "Now do you believe me? I've only been training for two days. What do you think I can accomplish in a month's time? I promise you, if you give me a month, I'll crush the bug gym for you to see. I'll humiliate the gym so thoroughly that you'll be able to exploit the gym leader's ruined mental state to win, and you can even study my replays!"

"Do it," Milly said suddenly. "Go and crush the gym. I'll challenge the leader immediately afterward. Can you teach me how you got your oddish to boost multiple times instantly? I've never seen someone do that either."

"I definitely can," Erika replied, "but what do you have to offer in exchange?"

"Access to my family's private training facilities in the Grand Verdant." Milly answered after thinking momentarily. "You can use it to prepare for the Rising Stars Gauntlet and your gym challenge."

"That sounds like a plan then," Erika said, smiling, reaching out to shake Milly's hand.

"I'm still not sure what to think," Aisling spoke up. "I can't ever imagine treating a pokemon that's bonded to me like that. Still, if your oddish is truly doing this voluntarily, then I'll trust your judgment."

"You have to attend etiquette lessons with me though!" Milly interrupted sharply. "I've put up with your awful manner for now, but you've simply got to improve. I brought you here initially to introduce you into polite society and socialize. That's been accomplished. If you want to keep associating with me, then you need to learn proper etiquette."

"I was actually meaning to ask you about that," Erika admitted. "This is perfect then! I'll coach you in battle, and you can help me with etiquette."

"Also," Erika said, turning to Keta. "Do you still want to meet me in the finals for Rising Stars, even after seeing that performance just now?"

"I have never been more excited in my life," Keta answered honestly. "When I beat you and take the trophy at Rising Stars, I'm going to rub it in your face."

"You wish," Erika smirked at him. "I think you'll find that you'll be the one who gets crushed."

Milly took out her phone and offered it to Erika. "What's your number? I'll add you to the group chat so we can stay in touch."

Erika took Milly's phone and entered her number – from the same phone which she used to read the Claw grunt texts, and then waited for Milly to add her.

Erika waited for a notification that never came, and she groaned after realizing that she hadn't brought her phone with her. It was probably still back at Fulton's place, just like her booklet on aura.

"Sorry, Milly. I think I forgot my phone at my uncle's place," Erika said, apologizing. "I don't think I can join the group chat just yet."

"That's not a problem at all, actually," Milly said. "Here, follow me! You guys wait here. I'll help Erika check in; I just realized that we've been here for nearly half an hour. She probably missed her check in time."

Erika followed Milly out of the room down the hallway, before realizing that they were headed in a different direction than the way they originally came from. "Hey, Milly, are you sure we're going the right way? I'm pretty sure that the check in counter was in the other direction."

"Don't you worry," Milly replied. "We're going to a different place."

Milly led Erika to an imposing elevator entrance further towards the back of the hotel, and swiped a key card to unlock the doors. There were only three buttons - Training Center, Recreation Room, and Suite Level. "This is my private area," Milly told her with a smile. "All my friends get a suite on the top floor, and you won't be any different."

The ride up the elevator was spent listening to The Offspring - it was an odd choice for elevator music, Erika noted, but not an unwelcome one. She hummed along to the drum beats as the elevator ascended, and turned her attention to the city below. After passing the eighth floor, the elevator emerged into a transparent glass column which gave Erika and Milly a beautiful view of the skyline and city.

The elevator finally stopped ascending around the thirtieth floor. Milly led Erika to one of the doors at the back, stepping to the side to let Erika open the door for herself.

Being friends with the owner is definitely a huge perk, Erika mused, as she swiped her card against the door and swung it open heartily. She gave Milly a huge thumbs up upon seeing the huge bathtub in the center of the room, and the silk covered sheets of the bed. "Thanks Milly!"

"No worries!" Milly replied. "Get settled in, and you should come grab dinner with us later this evening. Your stuff should be on the table. Since you don't have a phone on you right now, I'll call you through your room."

With that, Milly shut the door, leaving Erika to explore the room on her own. Like the rest of the hotel, the room Milly gave Erika featured a color palette largely consisting of white and gold. The central room hosted a massive 20ft wide marble bathtub, which was engraved with floral patterns and designs, and came pre-filled with hot water. It stood in stark contrast to the rest of the room's furniture and furnishings, which almost seemed pushed to the side in order to emphasize the tub. Erika found it odd, until she flipped her second sight on and realized that the water in the tub wasn't regular run of the mill purified water.

When Erika drew aura into her eyes, she could see that the blue of the tub water was stained with splotches of sparkling brown and lustrous white. Erika dipped her hand into the water and swished it around, and then scooped up a handful to drink on a hunch. Spring water! The brown stuff I saw with second sight must be elemental rock energy from the minerals within. What's the white luster from though?

No way, Erika thought all of a sudden. She searched for the room's mini fridge and opened it, searching for the Joy brand fresh-water that she was sure would be inside. A high end hotel like the Grand Verdant definitely had fresh-water, and she wasn't disappointed. Erika uncapped the bottle and tipped it out, watching it spill onto the marbled floor of the central room. Blue, brown, white. Just like the bathtub. There's no way. Surely not, right?

As much as Erika didn't want to believe it, the evidence was right before her eyes. The white luster in the hot tub was elemental life energy, just like the kind the Joy Clan bottled in their signature medicines and fresh-water products. The tub in the room Milly provided her wasn't a recreational tub. This is a healing spring!

Erika snapped her eyes closed and open to dispel the second sight, and started to unpack her belongings. Milly had assured her that she could use the room for the next two weeks, since she didn't have any other friends coming over until then, which meant that Erika could sort her stuff into the drawers and live from the suite until the Rising Stars Gauntlet was over.

Out of curiosity, she unfolded the Rex Tent and triggered the latch mechanism, and watched in fascination as it quickly expanded to full size within a matter of moments. Despite the large stature of the tent, it was still dwarfed by the ceiling of the room. Erika stepped inside to check out her new home away from home likely for the next several years of her life, and then neatly packed the tent back up by triggering the latch once more.

Erika was just about to go take a dip in the hot spring when she noticed a plastic bag magically appear onto her bed. The arrival of the plastic bag was so sudden and unexpected that Erika nearly leapt back out of instinct. She opened the bag, and much to her shock, found her phone, booklet on aura, and other personal belongings that she had forgotten at Fulton's house. There was also a folded note tucked inside, which read: "Here's your stuff. Cheers, Fulton."

This is incredibly creepy. Fulton can track my location at any time? At least I have my stuff back.

After getting her phone back, Erika went into her messages app and accepted the group chat invite Milly sent her. She was instantly barraged by a stream of messages from Milly, and Erika had to turn notifications off because of how loud it got. Apparently, texting etiquette is not a thing Milly's family has covered.

Milly and Friends (7) 50 UNREAD MESSAGES
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------
…
[6:39 PM] - Millicent Belding
You got your phone back?

[6:39 PM] - Millicent Belding
Erika why is your text bubble green?

[6:39PM] - Hamza Yarrow
Wow new member.

[6:39 PM] - Samantha Joy
Milly made a new friend? Gimme the stats. Oil magnate kid? Battle prodigy?

[6:39 PM] - Aisling Shogi
The latter. I got destroyed 😭

[6:39 PM] - Aisling Shogi
I think fliphone text bubbles are green.

[6:39 PM] - Millicent Belding
Don't tell me you're still using a fliphone.

[6:39 PM] - Millicent Belding
Erika?

[6:40 PM] - Erika Caldwell
I'm here. My uncle teleported my phone to me.

[6:40 PM] - Millicent Belding
Good to hear. Also, I can't believe you're using a fliphone.

[6:40 PM] - Erika Caldwell
Any chance I can get a smartphone from the Grand Verdant? Do you have shops?

[6:40 PM] - Millicent Belding
Dinner at 7PM btw at the Titanium Gardens.

[6:40 PM] - Keta White
Yeah there should be a few shops that sell smartphones. Milly can prob get you some for free.

[6:40 PM] - Millicent Belding
Just get over here to dinner lol. We're having slowpoke tail and taurus sirloin.

[6:40 PM] - Ender Rackham
Oh shit we're having taurus sirloin?

[6:40 PM] - Millicent Belding
Language!

[6:41 PM] - Erika Caldwell
Gimme a minute I'll be over there.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Erika didn't waste any more time. She released both Snivy and Oddish from their pokeballs next to the healing spring and chucked them both in. "Both of you, play nice," Erika told them, before grabbing her phone and shoving it into her kimono pocket.

"This is a healing spring, so you can relax here while you recover. Make friends," Erika said to Gwen, who nodded fervently. "Snivy here needs to unwind a little."

She looked around the room briefly and spotted a casing of bath bombs, and grabbed a few for Gwen and Snivy. Erika turned the bath bomb over and read the label.

"Elemental Grass Salts," she read. The second bath bomb read: "Elemental Life Salts." Erika threw them both into the healing spring, watching the bath bomb fog up the originally clear water. Snivy watched her cautiously like a hawk, narrowing his eyes at her every action. Erika only rolled her eyes when she saw him do that.

Flipping her vision back into second sight let her observe how the bath bombs discharged grass and life energy continuously into the spring, enriching it further and drowning out what little rock energy there was. Gwen and Snivy seemed to physically loosen up as the bath bombs pumped ever more energy in, and Erika shut off her second sight, satisfied with conditions.

With that, Erika made for the door and left the room, heading towards the promised dinner with Milly and her new friends. Just thought of slowpoke tail alone made her salivate. Technically speaking, the league frowns upon the creation of this dish, kinda like sharpedo fin soup, but no one actually follows that rule. I can't wait to try it!






Author's Note: I just got back from a 22 hour flight home. Life is pretty good. I'd like to rec a few fics if any of my readers are interested. The first fic is Catastrophe 23 by Dom Noct, a friend of mine on my server. His fic is well written, and the grammar is impeccable. Go give it a try if you're looking for something new to read. The other fic is I Will Touch The Skies by Soussouni, which I've been meaning to read this summer. I've heard great things about it, and the author updates every day, so check that out if you want!

I have also increased my squat to 310 pounds, which is a new personal record. Hopefully I can break 400 pounds by the end of this year.

Lastly, if you guys want to make some fanart, I'll happily post it on this fic's media thread. You should join the Twisted Garden discord server too! We have 70 members already, and it's a pretty fun place.

Join the Twisted Library Discord Server!

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[Aleister Adair]

Snivy visibly relaxed after Erika left, sinking into the healing spring until only his head remained visible. Gwen hopped out of the spring with some difficulty and dried herself off by rolling on the floor mat, and then bounded towards the hotel room's bed. Snivy raised an eye at her actions, but ignored her, content to just soak in silence.

"Do you want some food?" Gwen called out to him from across the room. "I know Erika bought some for us."

Snivy just looked at her with a bemused expression, before finally deciding to speak. "Yes please. I would appreciate some food."

"You're gonna have to come help me then," Gwen said pointedly, twirling around. "I don't have hands. Erika has protein bars and vitamins, but they're all in sealed containers. I can't open them myself."

He hesitated a little, but in the end Snivy clambered out of the spring to join her. He's got to be hungry too, Gwen thought cheerfully. It's been nearly two days.

Apparently, drying yourself on the floor mat wasn't a dignified thing to do, because Snivy ignored the floor mat that Gwen used and rifled through the bathroom's various cabinets for a towel. Eventually, he got fed up with searching and used his feelers to grab the towel hung on the shower rack meant for Erika, scrubbing himself down until he was dry.

Gwen waited patiently for him to finish and walk over, and he helped her crack open the casing for the vitamins which Erika bought. They each took a compressed protein bar and their designated set of vitamins - which were thoughtfully labelled by name. and returned to the spring to continue healing.

Without any regard for Snivy, Gwen immediately began crunching on her own bar, savoring the rich chocolatey taste she had come to know and love in the months that Erika had trained her. Chocolate bars were one of Erika's favorite snacks, and she stole them often from the markets to share with Gwen.

Although Gwen was hesitant initially, the richness and creaminess of the chocolate won her over, and she now gobbled them down at every possible opportunity. This is way better than sunlight, Gwen thought with happiness. Even morning dew drops can't compare. This chocolate tastes even better than what Erika usually gets. It's definitely higher quality.

It was quite difficult to eat without hands, but Gwen managed by using her leaves as a sort of substitute. They weren't quite as flexible or versatile as true digits, but when she flexed them, they were still able to provide enough grip to hold her chocolate protein bar.

"You like chocolate too?" Snivy asked suddenly. He had a wistful smile on his face. "I used to love getting chocolate strawberries at the chocolatier with my family. The Laroche Breeders kept cooks on hand so we could eat whatever we wanted."

"It's my favorite food," Gwen told him. "I mean, if I eat too much I might get sick, but it's too good to pass up."

"I agree." He said immediately. "Although, I think lemon curd meringue pie is even better. Nothing really compares to the sweet sourness of a good lemon pastry, especially when you make the curd properly. It's delicate and light and fluffy, and it just melts in your mouth."

"What a meringue pie?" Gwen asked.

Her question stumped Snivy. Gwen nearly burst out laughing at the look on his face due to how confounded he looked. Snivy's normally regal and upturned nose was scrunched, and the yellow lids of his eyes were quirked. It made him look almost comical.

Snivy opened his mouth to try to explain, before realizing that Gwen didn't have any frame of reference to compare it to. "I'll explain it to you later," he said eventually. "If I get the chance, I'll try to find an actual meringue pie for you to try."

Apparently, his inability to explain what a meringue pie was frustrated Snivy, and he shoved his tail back into the water, sinking the rest of his body in. The protein bar had been summarily devoured, and one of his feelers chucked the wrapper into a trash bin outside the spring.

Gwen watched him curiously, observing the splash his fan-like tail made as it disappeared into the water. He matched her gaze calmly, and instead of continuing to stare, Gwen opted instead to recline and dip her head-leaves into the spring.

With both her leaves and her stubby feet firmly underwater, Gwen resembled a floating blueberry, rather than the oddish which she actually was. She was about to doze off, immersed in the gentle warmth of the spring, when she heard a puff of escaped air from Snivy's direction and opened her eyes.
"What's the matter?" Gwen asked curiously. Although it was quick, what she heard did sound like a snort. "Is there something funny?"

For his part, Snivy clammed up quite quickly, falling back into silence. Gwen just stared at him until he looked away. "You." he said finally. "I find you amusing."

Gwen quirked her head. "Me?"

"Your posture," Snivy said after some thought. "It's ridiculous. I thought you stoic and stern, and seeing you mimic a blueberry tickled me. I apologize for my rudeness."

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Gwen smiled, spinning around the spring. "You're a friend! I don't mind at all."

"Are we now?" Snivy asked curiously. "The only previous interactions we had were during the initial bonding, and most of it was fighting. This is the first time we've ever talked. How on earth are we friends?"

It didn't take even a second for Gwen to respond. "You're one of Master Erika's pokemon, and her starter to boot! How could we not be friends?"

Snivy's face visibly soured at her comment. "Please don't bring Erika up right now," he said, grimacing. "I'd rather not think about her."

"Why not?" Gwen was fully upright now, and she was peering at Snivy with a curious expression. "Erika is the best! Even if I'm not her starter, I'm still grateful to be her second."

"I'm just a caged beast," he sneered. "What good is it being Erika's starter? I have traded away a smaller cage for a larger one, this time with a chain attached to my neck. My nobility is forfeit to the whims of a deceitful girl."

Gwen manipulated the leaves on her head to scoop up a mound of water, and flicked it over Snivy. He flinched in surprise at the droplets, before giving her a deadpan stare.

"Stop thinking that way, dummy," Gwen told him seriously. "Are you actually telling me that soaking in a luxurious spring like this is worse than being trapped in a cage with literal manacles and a mouth binding?"

Gwen knew what she said was true, and Snivy did too apparently. Still, he refused to admit it and turned away with a scoff. "I wouldn't expect you to understand my troubles. At least I had my personhood in that cage. Now, I live in bondage to another."

"Everyone lives in bondage to something," Gwen said with a surprisingly profound tone. "No matter how great or lesser you are, it doesn't change the fact that we live caged lives. Most people just don't notice it because their cages are very large."

"Are you kidding me?" Snivy snorted. "I was a free pokemon before Erika forced my hand into bonding with her."

"Are you sure about that?" Gwen asked rhetorically. "Cages are just limitations, restrictions on what we can and cannot do. Here's an example. Even before you were caught by the Claws, if you came across an injured pokemon, would you help them out?"

Snivy didn't even need to think about it. "Of course I would! I would never abandon anyone in need. My chivalry demands it so."

"Then you are caged," Gwen informed him triumphantly. "It may not seem like a cage, but your actions are bound by your morals and chivalry. You won't - no, cannot abandon anyone in need. It may not be a physical cage, but it still binds you all the same."

"What even is the point of all this?" Snivy said exasperatedly. "I choose to be honorable. I choose to be chivalrous. It isn't a cage."

"That's where you'd be wrong," Gwen told him. "Let's use Erika as an example. Do you think she's caged at all?"

Snivy's face couldn't turn any greener, even if he wasn't already a grass type. Gwen nearly laughed at his scrunched expression. "She's a child prodigy well on her way to success. Bonding with me has probably boosted her already monstrous affinity even further. I'd say she's already left her cage behind, if she was ever in one."

Gwen shook her head again. "Erika hasn't left the cage either. She's just swapped it out for a larger one." She spread her head leaves, gesturing towards the beautiful decorations engraved onto the walls of the hotel room, and at the bath bombs which were still discharging elemental life energy into the spring. "Look around, Snivy. What do you see?"

"Success," he answered confidently. "Erika has schemed her way to power, and has made inroads with a powerful family."

"That may be true," Gwen allowed. "But you're still fundamentally wrong. Erika hasn't achieved success, nor has she truly broken out of the cage which binds her. Do you know what this cage I've been talking about for so long is? For Erika, her cage is ambition."

The spring was getting a little bit too hot, so Gwen emerged briefly to sun herself on the UV ceiling lights, before climbing back in for a second dip and continuing the conversation. "Tell me, do you honestly think Erika is the type of person to be satisfied with what she has currently achieved? I love Erika, but I'm still able to see her faults. Do you honestly believe that she'll be content just to stop at becoming a gym leader?"

"No," Snivy responded instantly. "She's greedy and ruthless. Erika will keep reaching for more. She won't ever be satisfied."

"Exactly my point," Gwen replied. "Just like you, Erika's actions are bound. She lives in bondage to her ambition, and will slave away to grasp at constantly greater and greater heights. Erika will never know success, because her definition of success will continually expand and change. You're the same. You'll never give up on your chivalry, because you consider it your duty."

"What's the point of you telling me all of this?" Snivy asked her again in exasperation. "You live in a cage too!"

"Well, of course, that's true," Gwen admitted. "Just as you now do, I live in bondage to Erika. However, the difference is that before she blessed me and took me in, I lived in bondage to death - for I was a crop pokemon destined to end up as soup in some kitchen. From the moment of my birth, I lived in the smallest and tightest possible cage you could ever imagine. My sole existence - my very purpose, was to be harvested and consumed. Everyone I knew despaired. For a time, so did I. What even was the point of my existence?"

Snivy couldn't answer that. Gwen looked meaningfully at him. "I'll tell you what it is," Gwen said confidently. "It's living. I appreciate my life. Being able to eat every day, see the sun, accompany Erika. This is the purpose of my existence."

"That's a sad existence," Snivy told her contemptuously. "You have no ideals greater than yourself, and you don't strive for the betterment of others."

"At least it is an existence," Gwen retorted. "Better than what I had before. Privileged pokemon like you couldn't possibly understand. Have you ever seen your parents butchered before you? Your siblings - their guts torn out, leaves shredded and eyes gouged, entrails spilled on a floor made slick with internals. Can you claim to have seen the same things I have?"

Snivy shook his head, no, eyes wide with horror.

"Then don't tell me what constitutes a sad existence," Gwen shot back at him, equally as contemptuous as he had been before. "Being chosen by Erika is the greatest blessing of my life. The food I eat every day at her behest, the wounds I suffer battling at her behest, the terrible pain I endure, all of these things are reminders that I still live, and will breathe another day. To me, this is already the greatest reward."

By now, the fizzing of the spring finally stopped because the bath bombs had been fully dissolved. Gwen scooted a little closer to Snivy. "The reason I'm telling you all of this is so you can snap out of it!" she exclaimed. "Count your blessings! Stop thinking about cage this, cage that. We're all caged beasts at the end of the day. Even the freest man and pokemon in existence is still caged, for the world they live in itself is a cage! Just stop worrying, and slow down. Appreciate what you have, and be grateful."

"That is remarkably insightful," Snivy admitted eventually. "Aren't you supposed to be a common oddish though? Where on earth did you learn about all this philosophy? Did you have the fortune to study under a sage? A great thinker of the ages? Who elucidated you?"

Gwen nearly spat out the water she was drinking. "Are you joking? I'm just a random crop oddish human farmers cultivate for soup stock. Wherever would I get the chance to meet one of the eastern sages or a great philosopher?

She shook her head with a wistful smile. "I've had a lot of time to think," Gwen said calmly. "When you're born as a crop pokemon, life is dull and short. Everyone knew they would be butchered one day. I didn't have much to do either. All I did was watch my friends and family slowly get harvested, and wait for my own coming death. Naturally, I had a lot of time to think."

"...I'll take what you said into consideration," Snivy said finally. "You make sense, but I'm still unwilling to budge on this. I won't fight for Erika, but I will admit that I appreciate what she has done. That was your goal right?"

"Yup," Gwen replied. "Whether you fight for Erika or not, you should at least acknowledge what she has done for you. Intent matters less than action. At the end of the day, she risked her life to rescue you, and you repaid her by nearly killing her. I won't stand for it, not to someone who saved me from being chopped up into soup stock."

"Noted."

"I'm very jealous of your position though, you know," Gwen said sadly. "I know I don't have enough potential to carry master Erika forwards."

"That's not true at all!" Snivy burst out. "I sensed your fight through the bond we share via Erika. How can you say that you have no potential?"

"It's true though," Gwen said with a downcast expression. "Erika chose you over me. I don't blame her for it. I'm just a random cabbage who was supposed to be made into soup. Lady Erika blessed me already by rescuing me from that fate. I don't dare to dream for more. Just being near Erika is good enough. I appreciate the simple things in life."

"Are you kidding me?" Snivy snorted. "You can activate growth twice in battle and still keep fighting. I can't do that."

"That's impossible," Gwen said disbelievingly. "Your constitution should be more than enough to handle a double, or even a triple boost. Maybe your pain tolerance isn't good, but I can't see how you wouldn't be able to do what I did."

"It's not my pain tolerance at all," Snivy replied in frustration. "It's - oh, never mind. You wouldn't get it."

"Get what?" Gwen asked curiously.

Snivy ignored her. "Let's just move on, okay? I don't like talking about it."

He extended his feelers to Erika's bag from the spring and ripped out another few protein bars, tossing one to Gwen. Snivy was about to munch on his bar when he realized that Gwen couldn't open the packaging, and he grudgingly helped her tear it open.

Snivy shifted the topic of conversation, unwilling to keep talking about himself. Although Gwen wanted to continue pressing the issue, Snivy refused to answer her question and returned to their previous topic.

"Appreciating what you have is all well and good, but you should still keep striving forward," Snivy argued. "I agree that ambition can cage and trap you, but that doesn't mean that you should become entirely passive. It's okay to have dreams!"

"That's a nice sentiment and all, but the issue is my dream is just to stay by Erika's side," Gwen said, looking pained. "And as Erika grows stronger, so does the likelihood that I'll be replaced. You know it as well as I do right? Only the starter bond is truly irreplaceable."

Gwen shoved one of her leaves into Snivy's chest playfully, poking him and knocking him in the water a little. "That's okay though. I don't blame you for taking the starter bond. I'm just livestock pokemon, and you're a prince. Although it'd be nice, I would question Erika's intelligence if she really chose me as her starter when she had way better options."

Gwen was about to continue talking when she felt an immense pressure bearing down on her from Snivy. He glared at her murderously, tail raised in an aggressive posture. "How do you know that I'm a prince?"

"You aren't?" Gwen asked in confusion. "Erika talked about it all the time. I've been with her for nearly half a year, and she ranted and raved about how she was getting a future monarch as her starter constantly."

"How does Erika know then?" Snivy said, ignoring Gwen. "No one should know about this! Least of all a street rat like Erika! How did she identify me?"

"Glare," Gwen offered. "Your ability to paralyze at a gaze. Some of the older history books which Erika dug up on Unovan history about King Arthur and his Serperior described it as able to 'lay low not only minds, but also the bodies of enemies.' Other historical sources corroborated your ancestor's ability to inflict paralysis on enemies with a look, but most argued against, since it's common knowledge that the snivy line doesn't learn glare."

Snivy looked at her with a confused expression. "I only used Glare during the breakout. How did Erika figure out that I was a monarch descendant beforehand?"

Gwen leaned back against the walls of the spring. "The text messages on the phone Erika stole detailed all your attempts to escape, and included warnings about past incidents. There are reports of your handlers dropping your cage after their muscles froze up, and you bashing your way out with iron tail. They figured out that you were using Glare too, but didn't put two and two together. The ekans line in Kanto also learn Glare, so they didn't think too much of it, given that you're also a type of snake."

"Even Fulton didn't notice initially," Gwen continued. "There were other high-value pokemon in your shipment like absol, so your handlers had to split their attention multiple ways. Most of the cargo handlers were grunts, and they didn't pass that information up the chain because they didn't think it important. No one with actual knowledge about the significance of Glare learned about it before Erika swooped in to steal you. That dratini hogged all their attention."

"That still doesn't explain how Erika knows glare is unique to royal descendants!" Snivy shouted in frustration. "Practically no one knows about this. Most people don't even know that my lineage can learn glare. She might have suspected I was a prince, but there's no way she should have been able to confirm it."

"She didn't know for sure," Gwen informed him. "Besides, even if you weren't a prince, your species is still one of the most suitable starters for a pure grass specialist like herself. Had you been a regular snivy, Erika still would have benefited immensely. How's the bond by the way? How much did your potential get boosted?."

"A lot," Snivy admitted grudgingly. "Starter bonds are the best in terms of enhancing innate potential, and even among prodigies Erika's affinity for grass is monstrous."

Snivy clenched his stubby hands, releasing a wave of tremendous pressure which ruffled Gwen's head leaves before he composed himself.. Grass aura overflowed from him, drowning the room in a tide of green. "This is the strongest I've ever felt in my life."

"I don't doubt it," Gwen said enviously, giving him some side eye. "I tried extremely hard to impress Erika in the hopes of becoming her starter, but she was dead set on bonding with you. I can understand her reasons why now, even if it doesn't make me happy."

"I'd be more than glad to let you have the role of starter," Snivy scoffed. "But the starter bond cannot be reformed, once broken. It's unique."

"You know, maybe I do have another dream," Gwen said suddenly, interrupting him.. "I want to become Titled."

Snivy was taken aback at her abrupt declaration. "Titled? That's…crazy."

"That's what makes it such a great dream," Gwen replied in sing-song. "Wouldn't it just be amazing? Just imagine it - someone like me, a livestock pokemon, becoming Titled. It would be such an outrage."

"Is that why you're training so hard?" Snivy asked her suspiciously. "I thought it was weird before. Why would you push yourself to such lengths? Even if you wanted to stay by Erika's side, there isn't a need to go that far. You genuinely want to become Titled, don't you?"

Gwen crunched on her third protein bar. "Yup. I know it's a crazy dream, but I want to live an exciting life! I want to fight in awesome battles, defeat dastardly villains, and look cool while doing it! Don't you think it would be fun? How many pokemon get the chance to adventure like that? Especially with someone like Erika? My odds of becoming Titled are significantly better while bonded to her, compared to literally any other trainer."

"You realize that Erika is the dastardly villain in this story right?" Snivy told her.

"So what?" Gwen replied. "People can change. So can Erika. Besides, even if she doesn't change, I would still fight for her all the same. She saved me from becoming soup. I don't think anyone can top that grace."

She paused briefly to continue eating her protein bar, dunking her head into the spring to gulp mineral water to wash her food down. "Cmon, wouldn't it be fun? The Rising Stars Gauntlet is coming up too! Just imagine it - we could be the greatest tag team ever in the history of grass pokemon, if only we worked together."

The worst part was - it did sound fun to Snivy. It was just like the old fairy tales and chivalric stories his aunt would tell him when he was younger. Challenging the world, having exciting battles and adventures with a noble partner and liege, slaying evil as a sword of righteousness… he wanted to do that too!

"I can't," Snivy said, gritting his teeth. "Erika goes against everything I represent. It would be a betrayal of who I am to fight for her."

"Is it really?" Gwen asked. "I'm aware of your misgivings. You know that she didn't mistreat me at all right? Erika has never done anything to me that I didn't ask for."

"That's part of the issue, but not the main one," Snivy said in frustration once more. "My problem is that she's working with Fulton! He's a trafficker, a kidnapper, and a criminal. I despise people like him, and it doesn't look like they're going to be separating any time soon."

"Things can change," Gwen declared confidently. "Erika could be - is a great trainer, and you'd realize that, if only you gave her a chance. You didn't know her before she awakened her affinity and developed an ego. Erika was actually quite a nice girl. I think she still is deep down, but you definitely wouldn't agree."

The idea of Erika being nice seemed so preposterous to Snivy that he had to put down his protein bar to cover his mouth, because he laughed so hard that he coughed out his food. "Nice? You're right, I can't agree with that. Even if she was nice before, she clearly isn't now."

"Power changes a person," Snivy said darkly. "I've seen it happen to my family, and it evidently happened to Erika. Whatever she was before, Erika isn't ever going to become that girl again."

"I think differently," Gwen told him. "But regardless, you still care for Erika, no? Even if it's just a little, you still showed a smidgeon of care for her."

"You must be delusional," Snivy said in disbelief. "What on earth would give you that impression?"

Gwen mimed falling over, pretending to be paralyzed. "That raticate - you paralyzed it with your glare, didn't you? I'm not an idiot, you know. Even if it's old, I shouldn't have been able to outspeed that raticate which was lunging for Erika. It was using quick attack for goodness sake! I wasn't sure at first, but now I am. You subtly paralyzed it, just enough for me to intercept it in time."

"That was to save my own life," Snivy denied vehemently. "It was in the heat of the moment."

"That means you comprised," Gwen declared. "You put your life before your chivalry. If you can compromise once, why not again?"

"Because that would go against everything I stand for!" Snivy shouted angrily, unwilling to hear her out any longer. "I am ashamed of what I did! A true knight would have died standing!"

"A true knight wouldn't let a young girl get mauled to death either," Gwen countered. "What's it gonna be? Does a true knight care more for his ideals, or the lives of children?"

"That's just semantics!"

"I don't think it was semantics for Erika," Gwen observed mildly. "Also, don't you think it's miraculous that you were willing to compromise? If even you, the most hard headed pokemon I know can compromise and change, don't you think Erika can too? She's only eleven. If you're there by her side to influence her, won't she grow up with a more positive role model? As it stands right now, the only adult figure in her life is Fulton, which I don't think you like very much. Why don't you influence her to change for the better?"

"I-," Snivy slammed his mouth shut. "You know, let's stop talking about this. I don't want to talk anymore."

"You do realize that Erika was forced to join Fulton right?" Gwen kept pressing Snivy. "She intended to escape with you and me, and then legally join the circuit. Everything that happened after your rescue was her making the best of a bad situation. If she didn't join Fulton, he would have killed her. How's that for your chivlary? Is it worth it to force someone to their death because they don't conform to your rigid beliefs?"

Snivy opened his mouth to argue, but realized he didn't have any defense. He scowled and grit his teeth. "Erika was far too enthusiastic to join Fulton. Once she realized that she couldn't escape, she jumped to discussing benefits and plans immediately."

"That's just who Erika is," Gwen informed him. "She couldn't see a way out, and she wanted to make the best of a bad situation. Why don't you actively try to change her for the better? I'm being serious, you know. If you leave things as they are, Erika is heading straight down a path I'm pretty sure you don't want to see. And consider this: you're stuck with her for life. Don't you want her to become a trainer you're happy with?"

C'mon, Gwen thought. This should be enough to convince him right?

Snivy hesitated.

"Fine," he bit out. "I'll think about it."

Snivy almost physically deflated when the words left his mouth, as if took him all his energy to say that. "Just give me some time okay? I need to think about it."

"That's fine with me," Gwen told him, reclining back into the spring once more. "I just want you to keep an open mind about Erika. This world is vast, and even if it might seem like a cage, that doesn't mean you have to treat it so. If you treat it like a cage, then it will be a cage."

Snivy just turned away from Gwen and closed his eyes, returning the hotel room to silence. Gwen followed suit and covered her eyes with her leaves, but not before grabbing another already opened protein bar and shoving it into her mouth with a crunch.

Another day, and another meal, Gwen thought gratefully. I need to get Erika to buy more high quality chocolate. She owes me, big time. Snivy should be a little more receptive to her, even if it doesn't happen straight away. The seeds of change have already been planted. Erika just needs to clean up her act, and wait for them to sprout.

—————————————————————————————————————————

As it turned out, one of the room doors on the private thirtieth floor didn't lead into a hotel room, but rather out onto a sprawling open air patio. Erika almost expected to be blasted with wind due to how high up she was, but it was surprisingly calm outside, and she could only feel a mild breeze. A cream colored table was set out with wooden chairs and small candles, with a set of silverware and plates for each of Milly's friends.

Wow! Is that a sashimono style table?

Erika took the time to appreciate the craftsmanship of the table as she approached. Unlike other tables, the one she saw before her was fully lit up green in her second sight. The interesting thing about this implication was that the table didn't incorporate any forms of artificial adhesives, or metal joiners such as screws.

Milly saw Erika and waved her over. "Hey Erika! Glad you could make it! I'd like you to meet one of my other friends which you haven't met yet, Hamza!"

"Glad to meet you Hamza," Erika told him, shaking his hand.

She took a seat opposite to Hamza and made herself comfortable. Before she could even speak, Milly interrupted Erika and started pointing at the table. "You're interested in the joinery of this table right Erika? I saw you looking at it through second sight earlier. I'm glad! Not many people appreciate carpentry."

"I am interested," Erika said with surprise. "Although, I didn't know it was possible to tell if a person was using second sight or not. Can you teach me the technique later?"

"Sure thing," Milly replied casually. "Before we get side tracked though, I'll tell you about the craftsmanship of the table since the others haven't arrived yet.

Hamza groaned. "Milly, just give it up already. I've heard about this table already like ten times. Can't we talk about something more interesting?"

"That's gonna have to wait," Erika told him pointedly. "I want to hear about the table first."

"It's good that you're not a philistine," Milly said, shuddering at the thought. "Hamza here is already more than enough for me. We need more people who appreciate art and culture."

Milly began tracing a line down the edges of the table, drawing Erika's attention. "Anyways! Take a look at the corners. Can you see how the wood here isn't seamless? There are breaks in the wood which form thin lines, and if you focus your second sight, you should observe some gaps in the green."

Erika did as instructed and began admiring the table. "I can see the lines, but they're not very clear."

"That's natural," Milly informed her. "My family takes carpentry very seriously. We try to make our products as seamless as possible. Now, this is the important part. I want you to focus on sensing the two pieces of wood around the joint. Try to imagine them as separate instead of being a whole piece, and use your aura to feel it. Which one is older?"

"The left piece," Erika responded after a moment.

"Good senses," Milly told her. "Now, picture that piece gradually becoming a darker shade of green. Once you've done this, do it for every other discrete piece of wood in the table. Then, you can open your eyes."

Thanks to Erika's natural sensitivity and affinity, it didn't take very long to finish. She opened her eyes to a drastically different looking table, one colored by splotches of criss crossing light and dark greens, which were interconnected each and every way. Some parts of the light greens were circular and poked into the darker sections, while some darker greens were curved and locked together with light green grooves. It was both mesmerizing and beautiful.

"Can you see it now?" Milly asked her excitedly. "Look at the internals of the table. Admire how complex the joinery is."

"I see it!" Erika said, returning Milly's enthusiasm. "Wow! This is great!"

"This is one of the traditional crafts of Celadon, known as sashimono," Milly lectured. "Instead of using foreign adhesives or screws to join the discrete pieces of wood, we carve intricate joints and matching grooves into the wooden pieces so we can slot them together like jigsaws. Each and every piece has their purpose, and they all fit together nearly seamlessly. However, this table goes much further beyond the norm for sashimono. Look deeper at the internal structure of the flat of the table."

Erika urged her sight on further, trying to peer past the uppermost layers of the table. What she saw inside made her gasp. There's dozens of discrete pieces in the table!

"72 pieces, to be precise," Milly said, confirming Erika's thoughts. "This table isn't just made from four legs and a board. That would be much too simple. The craftsmen who carved this table used 72 different types of painstakingly gathered wood, and fit them all together like an interlocking three dimensional jigsaw. Each leg alone has 10 wooden pieces, each piece has up to eight different joints and grooves, and they all slide together perfectly. Is it not amazing?"

"I can't imagine how long it must have taken to make this," Erika exclaimed. "This is incredible! Does it have a name?"

Milly took her hand off the table where it previously rested, uncovering a curly scrawl which was clearly done with a smooth chisel. "The 72 Earthly Trees," Erika read aloud. "Made by grandmaster craftsman Higuchi Belding."

"Although it's one of my family's lesser known works, this table is my favorite," Milly said brightly. "The art of sashimono places great emphasis on working in tandem with nature, rather than against it, which led to the rejection of external joiners like adhesives and screws. My grandfather made this specific table just for me, and I use it to host all of my friends. Just like how this table was built in harmony with nature, I hope to be in harmony with my friends."

"Thank you for walking me through the history of this table," Erika said honestly, giving Milly a sincere nod with cupped hands. "This has been an eye opening experience."

Maybe literally eye opening too, Erika thought with some amusement. I even learned a new trick on how to use my second sight!

Milly returned the gesture, and then gave Erika a surprisingly informal thumbs up. "I'm glad you appreciate my grandfather's work! I just wish Hamza here would feel differently," she said, giving him a pointed look. "I don't mind though. Everyone has different interests."

Hamza could only spread his hands helplessly. "Sorry Milly. I just can't get into art. I really tried, but it's just too boring."

"Don't worry about it," Milly said, waving him away. "Besides, we've known each other since we were kids anyways, so it's not like this is anything new. Hamza, why don't you introduce yourself in more detail to Erika? Before the others come - especially Samantha."

That last name seemed to trigger a nerve in Hamza, because he got to business immediately without any more fuss. "Hamza Yarrow," he said, shaking Erika's hand once more. "Good to meet you. Uh, I'm here because Milly and I are childhood friends. I'm kind of an oddball in this group because I'm from an old Celadon House, but my speciality isn't grass."

"Not grass?" Erika raised an eyebrow. " What's your strongest affinity then?"

As she said that, Erika flicked on her second sight, but couldn't observe anything abnormal from Hamza. He's either auraless, which isn't possible for one of Milly's friends, or he's really good at suppressing his aura.

Instead of answering her, Hamza stopped suppressing his aura and let it rise, turning him nearly radiant silver. "Steel type then," Erika said thoughtfully. "That is really weird."

"I know," Hamza smiled. "My parents freaked out at first, but they eventually realized that I was an abnormal case. If they just got me just any random steel type as my starter, they wouldn't be able to guide me during my youth, so they procured a rare dual grass/steel starter for me to train. Look!"

He uncapped a pokeball and released an egg like pokemon - if said egg was made from metal plates, and was covered in vicious green spikes. That looks familiar, Erika thought. I've seen it in the journals I read somewhere before. Argh! Was it Tes something? I think it ends with seed?

"Tesseed?" Erika ventured. "I recall reading about this. It's like a spiky seed right?"

"Sort of," Hamza explained. "I'm surprised you know that name. Tesseed is the Old Kantonian name for Ferroseed, which is what the Unovans call it. It's a cave dwelling pokemon, and doesn't like bright lights. Usually, he just sticks to iron rich ores and doesn't move."

He returned his ferroseed to its pokeball before shoving it into his pocket. "Anyways, enough about me. Why don't you tell me about yourself Erika?"

"Honestly, there isn't much to know," Erika shrugged. "My parents died and I was homeless for a bit before my uncle took me in. I discovered that I liked battling and met Milly just an hour ago at the hotel reception."

"That fast?" Hamza looked at Milly. "Even for you, that's a new record. There's got to be more to it than that."

"She beat Aisling soundly in a one on one," Milly offered. "I thought it was seriously impressive. Her grass affinity is nuts too, which I'm sure you've noticed by now, and Erika seems like someone I'd want to be friends with."

Hamza opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud crash and a burst of smoke.

Erika started coughing from the fumes. "Hey! What's going on?"

"That's definitely Samantha," Milly sighed. "She's… an interesting personality. Just do your best to ignore her, or put up with her.."

Why ignore her? Was the question Erika wanted to ask, but before she could say anything, a girl draped in long black robes with an eyepatch covering her right eye emerged from the smoke. Her left arm was heavily bandaged with black gauze, and strange runes were scrawled on every part of the fabric.

With a dramatic snap, the smoke receded into the floor vents, revealing that she was flanked by two smeargle, each of whom still had paint on their tails. The first smeargle carried a sheathed sword hilted to its waist, and wore a mixture of chainmail and hard plate. It had ridiculously spiky hair, almost like the protagonists in shounen manga which she used to read from bookstores, and the typical smeargle beret was nowhere to be found on its head. The second smeargle wore white robes dotted with golden stars, and a pointed hat with a tinkling bell. They looked almost illusory and had flickering afterimages superimposed on their bodies, and moved totally in sync.

Double Team and Smokescreen? And the ability to control smoke particles too! She seems quite interesting already. Is that what Milly meant? The eyepatch is definitely weird. Did she lose an eye in a fight? Is her arm hurt? Why are there symbols drawn onto her bandages? Erika tried her best to guess at the girl's background.

What happened next made Erika spew the tea she was drinking out of her mouth. "Kekekekekeke!" The girl literally shouted. "Witness my mighty powers and tremble!"

She looked at Erika and gasped. "Can it truly be?"

The girl struck a pose and splayed both her hands dramatically on her face, casting a shadow over it and concealing her mouth. "Another hero of justice has come to join us! Rejoice, brothers and sisters, for the Artisan of Chaos has gained another companion!"

What. The. Fuck. Is that Samantha?

"White Mage!" Samantha shouted maniacally. "Attend to me, my sworn servant! Fetch me my throne of power!"'

The smeargle with the white robes by her side promptly ran away, and Samantha stood in position calmly for it to return. No one said anything. Hamza just looked away as if he had already been expecting it, while Milly tried her best to smile with gritted teeth, but obviously looked like she was struggling to do so. Erika just stared in astonishment.

Finally, the smeargle returned with a tattered office chair, and Samantha sighed dramatically and sat down. "I have longed for this day," she declared. "Destiny told me so! It foretold of the arrival of a new adventurer! Is that you, Erika?"

"What the…?" Erika looked at Milly, asking her for help. "Is she okay?"

"I didn't befriend Samantha for her personality," Milly said as she winced. "She's like you - a tactical and strategic genius. Her current team is composed entirely of smeargle, and they've sketched almost every single basic move you can find locally. I watched her beat down a one-badge trainer in a doubles match and invited her into my group."

"I-," Erika was at a loss for words. She looked around at both Hamza and Milly again and tried her best to ignore Samantha's eccentricities.

"What happened to your arm?" Erika asked her curiously. "Were you injured by a pokemon? Or is it a training injury?"

"The truth is-" Milly started to say.

"The truth is far sadder than you could possibly imagine," Samantha interrupted ominously. "Within this left arm of mine, I have sealed the power of chaos!"

Erika tried to recall if she had ever read anything about the power of chaos during her studies, but couldn't come up with anything. "Is that some kind of weird elemental energy?"

"No, it's far worse!" Samantha declared. "This power is so terrible, that even I don't know what it is! Kekekeke, I must not remove these bandages, lest my greatest chaos be released upon you! The power sealed within this arm can only be released when destiny commands it. Do you dare to try to take my bandages off?"

Erika switched into second sight immediately, alarmed by Samantha's statement. She strained her eyes to the limits to try to observe the so-called chaos energy sealed in Samantha's, staring until her eyes were nearly bloodshot. "I don't see it. Where is it?"

Milly took a deep breath and then forced a smile onto her face. "That's because there is no chaos energy. Samantha just has tattoos on her left arm, which aren't allowed in my family's establishment. She has to wrap her arms up to enter the Grand Verdant."

"What about the eyepatch then?" Erika asked in disbelief. "Is that cosmetic too?"

"It seals-,"

"No it doesn't!" Milly exploded at Samantha, her patience finally fraying. "I need you to stop before you scare off my new friend, okay?"

"This artisan understands," Samantha said solemnly. "Not everyone is qualified to see the dark, mystic truths behind my origin."

Third person too? She was definitely dropped on the head as a child, Erika concluded. This girl is batshit crazy.

"I see what you meant when you asked me to ignore her," Erika commented to Milly. "I didn't think you would keep such company."

"Life takes you to interesting places," was Milly's response. "I didn't expect to make friends with you either, but here we are anyway. Just don't let Samantha get to you."

"How did she end up like this anyways?" Erika asked Milly curiously. "Isn't her last name Joy? I thought they were all healing specialists."

"You're right. The Joys are usually healing specialists," Samantha interjected.

Erika was surprised by how normal she sounded at that moment. Maybe all that stuff earlier was an act. Is she actually normal?

However, Samantha's next words dashed Erika's hopes. "However, this artisan holds only chaos within her heart! This artisan left her clan to pursue her destiny, rejecting the path of medical mediocrity."

"Of course," Samantha added, "healing is still a very noble profession. However, this artisan just wasn't fated with that path."

Erika felt a headache coming on again just by listening to Samantha speak in third person. First Lloyd, and now this crazy bitch. What is wrong with me? How do I keep running into these people?

Thankfully, she was rescued by the timely arrival of the rest of Milly - and her own friends, Erika supposed, who all promptly sat down and greeted Erika.

Milly clapped her hands and stood up once everyone was properly seated, which was apparently a signal to bring in food, because two smartly dressed servers pushed a trolley with food out onto the patio. Erika watched them with eager eyes, staring hungrily at the slowpoke tail. Everything else can be found outside. But slowpoke tail is basically exclusive to the connected. I've gotta eat as much as I can.

"Thanks again everyone for showing up," Milly addressed her friends. "I know you all want to eat, so I'm not going to bore you with a speech. Let's eat."

Erika nearly savaged her food, before remembering her present company. Fulton's annoying voice echoed through her head even though she hadn't even dug in yet. Fuck. Is there no end to this? Erika thought annoyedly. Actions don't even matter? His damn mental message triggers based on intent. This is ridiculous.

Erika carefully ladled a spoonful of what she assumed to be shellder chowder into her bowl and was immediately faced with a problem. There's too much silverware. Three spoons and two forks. Which one do I even use?

Fulton's voice did not make a reappearance, which also annoyed Erika. The one time I need his damn help, his voice doesn't come to bug me.

She deliberated briefly before settling on the round spoon, and noticed an approving glance from Milly who sat across. Erika took that as a sign that she had chosen correctly, and started carefully sipping her soup. It's pretty great. The soup is rich and creamy.

Erika chewed thoughtfully on the shellder meat in her bowl, putting another spoonful of soup into her mouth as she did so to enrich the meat with more flavor. In between mouthfuls, she also took the time to study her new friends, and which types of silverware they used when eating. In the next five minutes, Erika learned that the round spoon was meant for soups, the ovular spoon was meant for food, and the short spoon on the small plate was meant for desserts.

That last bit of knowledge came from Keta, who decided to ignore convention and begin digging into a creme brulee before even finishing his main course. Erika gave him a thumbs up and ignored his confusion. He gave her a weird look and returned to talking with Hamza and Aisling. Samantha just ate silently. Probably fantasizing about her dark powers or something, Erika thought.

"Enjoying your food Erika?"

"It's awesome," Erika admitted to Milly. "The shellder chowder was wonderfully done. How is it so fresh?"

"We own the rights to a small section of the Andorsi Bay," Milly informed her. "My family farms all the seafood we eat personally, and we have dedicated fishermen who rear the shellder. Our products are considered much higher quality than what you'll find outside."

"I can tell." Erika grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth. "By the way, Is this dinner you host a regular thing?"

"It is definitely a regular thing," Milly confirmed, noting Erika's grin. "You're welcome to attend every dinner from now on. I host it once every month. You're actually quite fortunate to meet me today, since everyone was gathered. I do smaller gatherings too, but we have a scheduled event every month."

"Where did you get the idea from? Is this one of your family's traditions, or is it just something you came up with?" Erika chewed thoughtfully. By now, she had made her way onto the taurus sirloin, and was eagerly dicing it into bite-size pieces. There were two knives to be chosen as well, but this time, the choice was obvious. Erika went with the serrated knife.

"It's modeled based on an eating club actually." Milly passed some olive oil to Erika, and she began drizzling her steak with it. "If you ever decide to attend a university, you'll find that there are exclusive groups called eating clubs where the rich gather to mingle. My father was part of one. He told me a lot of stories about what happened inside them. There's an obligation to attend the dinners, but it's a great way to network and make friends. Plus, you get great food for free."

"That sounds grand," Erika said honestly. "Although, seeing as I'm pursuing the martial path as a trainer, I don't think I'll have time to attend university. I want to break through the entire Indigo Circuit within a few years."

Milly sliced a slowpoke tail in half, and Erika obliged by moving her plate towards Milly. She generously pushed the meat onto Erika's plate and returned to conversation. Erika was so distracted by the glistening slowpoke meat that she nearly missed Milly's next words.

"Universities offer distance learning enrollment actually," Milly said. "It's hard to juggle training and learning at the same time, but they do teach you useful information. Otherwise, you'd have to wait until you complete the circuit and then take a year off to do their compression courses. That's also another good option."

I'll probably go with the latter option, Erika thought. I can't let anything distract me from the five year plan to become gym leader.

Erika felt the pressure just from thinking about it. Most trainers take over a year to even finish the first three gyms. Some can't even break past the second. If I actually want to become a gym leader in five years, I'm going to need to smash the first five gyms in under a year. The remaining three will have to be done by the second year. That leaves me three years to try to get 3 stars as an ace trainer, and then make my martial challenge against the bug gym.

"Something on your mind?"

"Nothing at all," Erika said, waiving Milly's concerns away. "I was just occupied by the slowpoke tail."

Erika sliced a tender piece of the meat off the tail and placed it onto her tongue, and immediately understood why the league banned the sale of slowpoke tail. This is incredible. The meat just melts. It's extremely sweet, but savory at the same time. A delicacy.

In Erika's opinion, this was the best tasting food she had ever eaten. Even the Glass Rapidash couldn't compare. Erika found herself feeling suddenly very grateful for the dinner, which was a strange feeling for her, and she reached out to shake Milly's hand.

"Thank you Milly," Erika said sincerely. "I really appreciate this."

"Don't worry about it Erika. You're one of my friends now, and I treat my friends well." Milly grabbed another platter of slowpoke tail, and hefted it towards Erika. "If you really want to thank me, eat another plate. Here, try some osmanthus tea!"

The rest of the night proceeded in a similar fashion, with Milly offering Erika more and more food to try, and eventually Erika had to refuse her offer of food, since she was so completely full. Erika returned to her room feeling incredibly drowsy and with a contented smile on her face. Snivy and Gwen were already fast asleep, having forgotten to leave the healing spring.

Erika didn't want to wake her pokemon up, but leaving them in the spring meant that they might drown, and as miniscule as the possibility was, Erika refused to risk it. Her pokemon represented her potential and her power, and it would be remiss of her to neglect them. She returned them both to her pokeball, ensuring that she didn't have to physically move and wake them up. Erika showered and then got in bed, quickly falling asleep after she pulled the covers over herself.




AN: I've been super busy with College stuff. I had to get some files done and get a Visa for travel, and I haven't had much writing time these past two weeks. Thankfully, that should all be done now, and I'll be back to regular schedule.

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[Katzen sind life]

Galaxy brain oddish? I never thought I would say that but this might be my favorite character in any Pokémon fic…

 

[Aleister Adair]

Erika woke up feeling unexpectedly light hearted and refreshed. It was both a welcome and bizarre sensation, and Erika couldn't quite pinpoint why she thought it felt so weird, until she realized that Snivy was standing on her chest and staring straight at her, his hooded amber eyes peering ominously into her own like a noctowl.

"Snivy sniv sniv…" Snivy said, waiving his arms around as he spoke to Erika.

Erika nudged their bond and focused, letting it transcribe the noises Snivy made into something which she could understand.

…'need to talk.' Hearing her pokemon speak was actually quite jarring. What she audibly heard was 'Snivy sniv snivy', but her mind registered it roughly as 'need to talk.'

The aura bond was convenient for a lot of things, but it wasn't all powerful. Their current bond was strong and facilitated basic communication, but it still couldn't replace true speech. That would come later.

"Get off me first," Erika said flatly.

Snivy hopped off Erika and landed smoothly on the floor beside her bed. One of his feelers extended across the room and pulled a trolley over, revealing a sumptuous breakfast platter on top.

'Ate your bread.'

Erika looked at Snivy appalled. "You ate all the french toast? That's my favorite! How could you?"

"There's eggs?" Her starter shrugged. "At least you didn't take everything."

There weren't any signs a French toast had even existed on the breakfast platter, so Snivy must have thoroughly devoured it. The 'egg' that Erika mentioned was actually placed on top of a piece of bread and some salmon, so Erika assumed that they were meant to be eaten together. She dug in, cutting the egg open and letting the yolk spread over the smoked salmon and bread. She also noticed a yellow sauce coating as well, and liberally scooped it up and poured it on the bread.

With a crunch, Erika bit into her breakfast. This stuff is good, was her conclusion.

She leaned back onto the bedframe and continued to munch on the egg toast, staring at Snivy as she did so. Snivy just stared back expectantly, almost as if waiting for her to initiate conversation.

"What's the name of this sauce?" Erika asked. "Surely you must know."

Snivy's face was incredulous. '…you serious?'

"Yes," Erika said bluntly. "Now, name. What is it? I'm not talking until I get a name."
'Irrelevant. Why do you want?'

"I'm going to ask for it and eat it again obviously," was her response. Erika marked her statement with an extra loud crunch of the bread, letting the yolk drip onto the plate.

Snivy put his hands to his face. 'Egg butter lemon sauce.'

Huh? Erika blinked a little at that.

'Yes,' Snivy reiterated. 'Bond not translating well. You don't know real name. Bond works on own knowledge.'

Erika gave him a thumbs up in understanding. "Forget about it then. What was it you wanted to talk about?"

One of Snivy's feelers dunked a glass cup into the healing spring, and he brought the glass to his face to sip the water. 'Relationship needs change. Current situation bad for both.'

"I'm glad you're seeing sense finally," Erika said perfunctorily. "But what does that have to do with me? You've been the uncooperative one this whole time."

Even as Erika said that she winced, realizing how combative her statement sounded. Am I just unable to be abrasive? Erika wondered to herself. I really need to work on that.

Snivy gritted his teeth, almost as if regretting even bringing the matter up, but he powered through. 'Move on. Time to move past.'

Is he serious? Erika's eyes widened. While she was happy that Snivy was suddenly willing to talk, things seemed to almost be moving too fast. This is almost too easy. How did Snivy's attitude overnight? However, Erika didn't voice her concerns to him.

"Let's talk then," Erika said eagerly, spreading her arms. "You already know what I want - cooperation, and a willingness to obey my instructions during training and in battles. Name your conditions."

'...take your oath serious,' Snivy informed her. 'You act disgraceful. No more. Break oath more than once a day, I won't work with you.'

"Three," Erika said immediately. "One infraction per day is much too little."

Snivy shook his head. 'Impossible. Three too much. Compromise at two.'

"Fine," Erika replied. "I can deal with that. What are your other conditions?"
'No murdering innocents.' Snivy raised his hand and clenched it. 'I will break the bond.'

Erika scoffed. "I wasn't planning on doing that anyways. The League looks out for their own civilians well enough, and I don't want investigators on my trail. However, trainers who attack us in the wild with the intent to kill don't apply. Scratch that - anyone who attacks me first, or has the intent to harm me will not be considered an innocent."

'Only innocents count.' Snivy affirmed. 'Malice holders and provokers not innocent. I will judge.'

Now, here was the real kicker. Erika prepared herself to hear an instant rejection. "What about my partnership with Fulton? Please keep in mind that if I break off my relationship with him, Fulton will immediately silence me."

It took Snivy a good while to think about it. Erika swigged her glass of orange juice and ate some grapes that came with the breakfast platter while waiting for his response.

'I can deal with it.' Snivy responded eventually. 'I want you to leave eventually.'

He paused momentarily to gather his thoughts. 'Fulton cannot be permanent. Betray when you are stronger.'

Erika smirked. "Betray, huh? That's ironic, coming from someone who was betrayed."

Snivy ground his teeth and reaffirmed his statement. 'When stronger, betray him.'

"That's probably never going to happen," Erika told Snivy honestly. "Just like how I now know stuff about Fulton he would never want to become public, he also knows the same about me. I'm going to become a high-profile trainer and gym leader in the future, and Fulton will drag me down with him if I choose to break off our partnership. This request is impossible for me to fulfill. Like it or not, Fulton is probably here to stay."

'Discuss later.' Snivy said. 'Ignore for now until see Fulton's motives.'

Erika extended a hand to Snivy expectantly. "If you don't have any other conditions, then restore the bond," she told him. "We should start training for Rising Stars."

There was a sudden movement from the bond, and Erika felt Snivy's speech rapidly turning clearer. His next words were the most compererable yet, and Erika could almost hear it in human language.

'I want a traditional knight's name,' Snivy said. 'Don't you dare name me something like Greenie!'

Erika burst out laughing. "I wouldn't do that to you anyways. Have some faith!"

Snivy hesitated a little but ultimately reached out to shake with her, sealing their deal. 'Remember your word,' he warned her. 'No second chances.'

"Oh I will," Erika said, her eyes sparkling. "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, I can just tell!"

With that, the immense pressure from the bond that had been trying to crush her instantly vanished, and Erika felt goosebumps everywhere on her skin. Her hair rose involuntarily, and she felt power surging through her body once more.

Her vast aura, which had been stagnating in growth suddenly exploded outwards once more, expanding in size and quality at the same time. I'm finally getting auric feedback from the bond again! Erika cheered internally.

"I name you Mordred," Erika told Snivy cheerfully, watching his face instantly darken. "I think it's wonderfully appropriate, since you did try to instigate me into committing betrayal."

'Hate it.'

"It's a traditional name," Erika reasoned with a smirk. "How much more traditional can you get than being named after the legendary King Arthur's son?"

Mordred glared at her, clearly unimpressed.

"We're going to be great friends," Erika repeated, clasping his hands. Mordred wriggled, trying to break free from her grip, but Erika was undeterred. "If you've nothing else to do, then we should get to training. You've missed out on enough as it is."

'Only three days.' Mordred stated flatly. 'Nothing missed.'

"That's three days too many," Erika told him cheerfully, stilling riding on the adrenaline high from regaining feedback from the bond. "Glory awaits! Let's go train!"

'Wait. Chocolates.'

Erika had already begun to march off when she was suddenly halted by Mordred's words. "What do you mean, chocolates?"

'Chocolates,' Mordred repeated slowly. 'You owe Gwen good chocolate.'

—————————————————————————————————————————

Water roared down from above, pouring in thunderous waves which deafened Erika's ears and blasted her off her feet, sending her careening across the rocks and into the pool below.

Fuck! Icy water surged into Erika's mouth and nose from the speed of the fall, and she gasped from the extreme chill which invaded her body. Erika could barely move her limbs due to the cold, which stiffened up all her muscles and locked them in place. Furthermore, the violent downpour of the waterfall stirred up the basin, creating turbulent waves which threatened to drown her.

"Mordred!" Erika spat out water and shouted as she struggled to stay afloat. "Where are you?"

From out of nowhere, several vine like feelers extended and grabbed her, lashing Erika up and dragging her out of the basin and back onto land. She coughed violently and hacked water out of her lungs, and covered herself with a towel which Mordred proffered to her.

"Beginning with Level 4 was a mistake I think," Erika admitted, shivering from the cold. She winced in pain, noticing the cuts which covered her arms and legs where the rocks had dug in. "I think we should go back to Level 1."

Mordred snorted. 'You think? Told you so.'

The rocky platform attached to the base of the waterfall where the water crashed into the basin was meant for trainers to stand or sit on. Erika had just tried standing on it previously on the Level 4 setting, but she was instantly blasted off her feet. Good thing I didn't try go for a higher setting, Erika sweated. I might not have gotten away with just some surface cuts.

Erika cranked a nozzle on the wall and watched as the roaring of the waterfall noticeably quietened, observing how the waterflow began to decrease to a trickle compared to its previous state. The room temperature started to rise as well, returning to a more manageable chill instead of the flash freeze which Erika had just experienced. "This should be more manageable for us to train in."

She released Gwen onto the rocks beside Mordred, letting her plant get accustomed to the challenge in front of them. Gwen appeared with chocolate wrapped in her head leaves, and she was visibly chewing on a huge piece. Erika smiled involuntarily upon seeing Gwen, suddenly very pleased that she had decided to give Gwen her second bond.

Gwen said something which Erika couldn't quite catch even with the help of the bond, but the intent was communicated anyways - Gwen liked the chocolate. My bond with Gwen isn't strong enough to translate intent into language just yet. That's gonna have to wait until she evolves. Incidentally, her ability to communicate relatively clearly with Mordred was another big advantage she had over new trainers. Most trainers were stuck at the Intent stage of the bond and had to guess at what their pokemon wanted to say, but she and Mordred were already able to talk and exchange ideas on a more detailed level, and he would be able to easily give feedback and suggestions to her training plans.

The room which Erika and her pokemon were situated in was the Icefall, a specially designed training chamber which featured a giant waterfall and basin. The temperature of the water had been artificially lowered to become extremely cold, and the basin was over a hundred meters (328ft) deep. The depth was apparently completely natural, and was formed over time due to the crashing water from the waterfall tunnelling through the rock beneath.

Erika marveled at the towering waterfall before her. Behind the arterial spray of mist and pouring water was a sheer cliff face of a hundred meters in height, standing tall and proud despite somehow being located inside a luxury hotel. The rock composing the cliff face of the waterfall seemed to be entirely black granite, and had been polished by years of erosive water currents until it had become reflective and glossy. Patches of lichen and plant life poked out of crags in the sheer cliff, and Erika could see a faint rainbow forming from the vapor in the air.

Milly generously offered Erika an access token into the Grand Verdant's special training rooms, which Erika found out was a big part of the hotel's services. Other than functioning as a luxury hotel, the Grand Verdant catered to high-end trainers and provided unique resources like the Icefall which could give their patrons an edge over competitors.

Yesterday, Milly had told her that she would give Erika access to her family's private training rooms. While the Icefall was undoubtedly one of them, it was usually reserved for extremely important and rich guests who paid a ton of money to use the room, or internal family members. There were less important training rooms that were rented out, and the fact that Erika was given access to the Icefall meant that Milly considered Erika a very close friend, and an important connection.

Erika peered into the basin and shuddered. It looks bottomless. Training under the basin must be insane!

Indeed, the bottom of the basin was actually meant for training as well. Prior to entering, Erika had flipped through a brochure about the Grand Verdan'ts training rooms, and studied the Icefall's services.

It served three main functions: body tempering, aura training, and mind training.

By standing or sitting on the rocky platform, trainers could use their bodies to resist the downpour, which would temper and help strengthen their musculature and bodies. The same was true for their pokemon. If you were strong enough, then you could even practice training katas or martial arts beneath the downpour, and do exercises like pushups, or even meditate beneath the waterfall. This sort of resistance training would greatly enhance your stamina and endurance over time, and promote good muscle growth evenly across your body.

However, the real benefits of the Icefall would only be revealed at the external aura stage. The realm of the External marked the point at which a trainer's aura became corporeal, and further aura progression from this point onwards would involve increasing both the quantity, quality, and thoroughness of your aura. The first two were easy to do, and could be accomplished just by battling constantly. However, thoroughness was tough.

Once in the External, a trainer would develop a thin film of solid aura on their skin which could protect them from injury and attack. However, the layer of aura was thin and the protection offered was extremely minimal. Progression beyond this point demanded the trainer push aura into their skin instead of just covering it, letting it seep in and fully integrate until all the skin on their bodies contained aura. Further progression was done in a similar fashion, requiring the trainer to push in and integrate aura into different layers and parts of their body until their entire bodies contained aura. The key point to this process was that aura had to be evenly integrated into each part of the body. However, doing so was extremely hard.

With no other means to help, a trainer would be limited to force injecting aura manually into different parts of the body, and they would be unable to evenly cover every part. Some areas might get too much aura and become oversaturated, while other areas might become undersaturated with aura, creating hidden problems and bottlenecking their future aura progression. These areas of over and undersaturation would also create exploitable weak points in combat which canny enemies could exploit.

This was where the Icefall came in. While submerged beneath the crashing waterfall and in the glacial temperatures, a trainer only needed to drive their aura to resist the force of the falling water, and the extreme chill would invade every part of the body, forcing their aura to instinctively defend against it. In this magical state, the entire body would be stimulated, and you could evenly temper and push aura into your body without mistakes. It both trained your muscles and helped progress your aura at the same time.

Even though Erika hadn't yet externalized her aura, the Icefall was still a brilliant means of resistance training for physical conditioning - especially since she was a grass specialist.

Through her second sight, Erika could see vibrant tendrils of water and ice aura, which threaded through the downpour like snakes. The booklet on aura Fulton gave her had been very clear about the benefits of absorbing water aura for grass specialists.

Grass is tolerant of all things, she remembered. Like all plants, grass aura has a bizarre tendency to adapt and overcome, and water aura is extremely nourishing for a grass specialist's own aura progression.

Erika breathed the air in and plunged back into the downpour, feeling her aura become invigorated and suddenly active. "Mordred, Gwen, jump in! We're going to be doing some light resistance training as a test run! I want you both to run around without stopping, and jump up and down!"

Her pokemon dutifully followed, and Erika could say no more, as the water crashed down onto her head and muffled her voice. The water was crystal clear, and surprisingly didn't irritate her eyes, so Erika could still see her pokemon on the rocky platform beside her. She imitated their training and started doing sprints and jumps, letting the water press down upon her and increase the difficulty of her task.

Erika had no doubt that the Icefall was special. The water is definitely subzero. However, it hasn't frozen. Despite being brutally cold, it still remains a liquid.

And to think, she thought, this is a real waterfall. The Beldings must have been crazy.

According to the brochure, the Icefall was a naturally formed waterfall from Tohjo Falls, a special demilitarized zone separating Kanto and Johto. The Belding Family uprooted one of Tohjo Falls' original three waterfalls during the Great War, relocating it to their family grounds and heavily modifying it until it became the present day Icefall training chamber.

The brochure was very proud to announce that the Beldings had been given the honor of defending Tohjo Pass - a blockade set up on the Kantonian side of the DMZ, even though Kanto ceded the area to Johto as part of the negotiations to form Indigo. After the Belding family's tenure of service was over, they audaciously had their 7-star ace and his titled pokemon steal the entire waterfall from under the noses of the Johtoan government, uprooting quite literally a third of the land.

As more and more water crashed down, Erika felt herself growing weaker and more tired. She persisted with the sprints and jumps, and switched to doing planks and pushups, copying her pokemon beside her. Her skin was bright red from the cold, and her entire body was shivering intensely.

Finally, she decided to get out. Erika couldn't speak due to the crashing water, so she signalled with her hands for Mordred and Gwen to dive into the basin.

Erika cried out when she hit the basin as she met unexpected resistance - it almost felt like the water hardened upon impact, and she nearly pancaked on the water surface. This doesn't feel like water! What's going on?

She didn't notice it previously when she fell due to her shock and adrenaline, and while she was training beneath the downpour, it wasn't obvious either. However, now that she was properly swimming in the basin, it immediately became apparent that the water contained a bewildering resistance. Whenever she moved her arms, they felt sluggish, as if she were trying to swim through a particularly dense jello or slime.

"It's like mercury!" Erika shouted out to her pokemon. "Let's try to dive! Swim down as far as you can!"

Mordred was the first to sink beneath the turbulent basin, exhaling deeply and plunging himself downwards. Erika followed next, expelling air from her lungs so she could sink properly and diving down, only seeing Gwen briefly before the waves consumed her.

Barely a meter down, Erika was already encountering fierce resistance due to the abnormal density of the water. The more she tried to swim down, the more the water tried to repel and reject her, forcing her back up. At two meters, Erika's body gave out before her lungs did, and she let the water propel her back up to the surface.

This is absurd, Erika thought. The brochure says that ace trainers can swim to the bottom of the basin and use the terrifying water pressure to sculpt their bodies. I can't even make it down three meters on the easiest setting!

She broke the surface with a gasp and coughed, clearing her nose and looking around for her pokemon. "Mordred! Gwen! Let's swim to land for a quick break!"

The group reconvened back at the entrance to the Icefall, huddling together for warmth. Erika exhaled deeply and watched as her breath instantly misted over, such was the chill of the room.

"I think I have a good grasp on the benefits of the waterfall now," Erika told her pokemon seriously. "We should focus on physical conditioning for now. Building a solid foundation is important, and the body is the linchpin of all combat forms. We're going to be training endurance - both physical and mental."

Gwen eagerly bounced up and down despite the freezing cold, proving that she was a true glutton for punishment, and Mordred just gave her a solemn nod of agreement.

For the rest of the training session, Erika focused on having Gwen and Mordred do resistance exercises like planks, squats, pushups, and jumping up and down beneath the downpour. She grabbed a pair of weighted belts and strapped them onto Mordred and Gwen, forcing them to endure greater pressure beneath the waterfall on the rocky platform.

Gwen didn't have arms so Erika excluded her from the planks and pushups, but made her jump extra and do more squats than Snivy.

Each set lasted over ten minutes initially, but Erika gradually shortened the durations as the training progressed, and slowly decreased their weights as well. It was a style of training called drop-setting, where you drew out your maximum potential by lowering the weights burdening your body so you could keep exercising even when fatigued.

The only time you would be allowed to quit was when you physically collapsed, or fully removed all the weights after dozens of sets. Training to failure, Erika nodded. The most optimal training method.

It was a brutal method of training, but extraordinarily effective if you could withstand it. Erika didn't leave her pokemon to train on their own, however. She believed that solidarity was important, and training alongside her pokemon - especially Mordred, would help earn his acknowledgement faster, so she strapped on some weighted belts and followed her pokemon in exercising beneath the waterfall.

When they were finally pushed to collapse, Erika dragged herself and her pokemon to shore and she sat down heavily, her body shivering from the cold and her head spinning.

The worst part of this training wasn't even the drop-sets, Erika reflected. It was actually the cold. She thought it would have gotten better as time passed, but her body never got used to it, and she just felt profoundly uncomfortable the entire time. Given her immense grass affinity and proclivity towards grass types, her dislike of cold was enhanced even further.

However, that means that Mordred and Gwen must have hated it too. Erika looked at her pokemon lying down on the pebbled shore, both gasping and heaving and shivering all at the same time. As if sensing her gaze, Gwen perked up and struggled to her feet, displaying a radiant smile as if inviting more training.

Erika could only give Gwen a thumbs up at her willpower. Mordred clambered to his feet shortly after as well, and Erika had them continue their training after a five minute break.

Phase 2 of training was move training. After the physical portion of their session was done, it was time to move onto training moves.

Now, today's focus wasn't on power, but rather technique. While Erika was good at coming up with orders on the fly and adapting to different situations, it definitely paid to be prepared for any circumstances, and honing your techniques and coming up with new ones was a big part of that.

In an empty training room outside the Icefall chamber, Erika set up dummy human and pokemon targets for Gwen to spray her acid at, and pushed her to her limits. Whenever Gwen collapsed due to the strain, Erika would splash water onto her body and force her upright again to keep spraying.

If Gwen's accuracy ever dipped, Erika would splash her with icy water. She wasn't even doing it as a means of punishment - it just helped to shock Gwen back into focus.

Erika taught Gwen how to focus her acid into a thinner line, increasing the spray distance and intensity over time. Furthermore, they worked on having Gwen spray her acid while in motion, being extremely careful to limit the spread of the acid in the air since hitting unwanted targets or civilians would be inadvisable in real combat outside arenas.

Thanks to months of prior physical conditioning with Erika even before bonding, Gwen already had a good physical foundation compared to Snivy, even though his body was innately superior. Her extreme pain tolerance let her keep pushing even after her poison gland ran out of acid to spray and her aura could no longer induce the gland to keep generating poison beyond her limit.

After seeing Gwen entirely spent, Erika assigned her to throwing razor leaves as fast as she could manage, having her work on her body's natural regeneration of her head leaves, and her accuracy in throwing the razor leaves while extremely fatigued and tired. Of course, she had Gwen do this underneath the waterfall, where it would be three times as hard.

It would be of good use, Erika reasoned, if they ever had to fight in prolonged battles or battles of attrition, which was a likely possibility in the near future, especially since the Rising Stars Gauntlet was coming up.

For Mordred, Erika had him cough up all his secrets - every move and ability he had previously concealed from her, which she knew he was concealing, since she witnessed him use iron tail against Fulton during the escape from the Claw hideout.

"Contrary? Wait, aren't you named Mordred?"

Erika burst out laughing, nearly having to wipe out tears from her eyes. "You really do suit your name, Knight of Betrayal!"

She was glared at a lot by Mordred for the rest of the training session for that comment, but he eventually had to give it up. For her part, Erika was overjoyed with the ability, even if she didn't voice it aloud. It's gonna be hard initially, she calculated, especially since Mordred won't be able to use growth or other boost moves. However, it's going to be a different story once he matures.

Imagining Mordred at his full potential made Erika's mouth run dry.

It also raised an important point. "If you bonded with a weaker trainer it definitely would have killed them. Your ability makes it inherently harder to bond with you, to the point that it can cause auric backlash!"

Erika's smile was growing by the second. "You really must have been a wastrel in your family, Contrary Snivy can't boost early on, and there's no way a rookie would ever have enough aura or affinity to bond with you as a starter. Bonding with a veteran trainer means you can't get the potential boost from becoming a starter, and you would never settle for that. You were fucked from the start!"

Mordred gave her another annoyed look. 'Know that already. Others don't have enough affinity.'

"That means I'm the only one who can bring out your true potential," Erika continued, visibly preening and fanning the flames of her ego. "Aren't you lucky Mordred? I'm quite literally the only person you're able to create a starter bond with."

He turned away to leave, upset at Erika's words, and she had to run after him in apology. "Oh come on Mordred! It was just a little joke! Indulge me, won't you?"

After she brought him back, Erika had to remind herself not to tease Mordred too much from then on.

The discovery that Mordred held Contrary as an ability was momentous. It was traditionally useless not only for the aforementioned reasons, but also because it inhibited evolution. Mordred would find it extremely difficult to evolve, and failure meant that both his potential and lifespan would be heavily damaged.

However, what does that matter to me? Erika sneered. I've already formed the starter bond and received the corresponding benefits. With my affinity and talent, I'll help him smash open the bottleneck holding him back from evolving, and I have Fulton and Milly's resources backing me up. Who can say that they're in a better position than me? In my hands, I'll turn both this ability and Mordred into a super legend of epic proportions!

A violent snap on her leg jarred her back to reality, and this time it was Erika's turn to glare. "What?"

'Narcissist.' He snorted. 'Save the monologuing for someone who cares.'

Erika embarrassingly realized that she had said the last part aloud - the fact that Mordred could feel her emotions to some degree probably didn't help either. With a rapidly reddening face, she had him continue divulging his move pool and skills.

When Erika heard Mordred's full repertoire of inherited and acquired moves, her eyes began steaming with happiness. "You're telling me you know every egg move for your lineage? How convoluted is your family bloodline?"

Mordred just shrugged. 'Moves can be learned without lineage with effort. Not necessary.'

"Yeah, but it's nearly impossible," Erika retorted. "Why else would breeders go to the effort of crossbreeding for inherited egg moves? You need specific bodily adaptations for certain moves - like how sweet scent needs a special type sabeceous gland, and a certain degree of corresponding type affinity for others - like water affinity for aqua tail. I definitely need to get you scanned. The list of affinities you have must be crazy!"

'Aqua tail isn't inherited.'

"That is true," Erika paused. "Do you know it by any chance?"

'Yes. Uncle taught me how to do it.'

Erika had Mordred swim in the basin the entire time after finding that nifty fact out, having him learn how to wield water through his aqua tail. He wasn't too familiar with its usage, but Erika knew it would come in handy.

Given her nature as a grass specialist, she was bound to come into contact with Fire specialists eventually, and she needed one of her pokemon to learn water moves to suppress them. Otherwise, she would need to devise a glass cannon strategy to immediately take out fire types before they could spew their flames. Hit and run strategies wouldn't work as well against fire types due to the wide area of effect their moves could reach, and flames could be indiscriminately blasted across an entire arena to corral her own pokemon's movements.

Learning aqua tail was a priority, since it would not only help defeat fire types, but also eliminate the threat of being cornered in a battlefield that had been set ablaze. Mordred would be able to put out fires if needed, and take out fire types quickly with this move.

Erika ordered Mordred to train his lungs as well by diving frequently further downwards, using his tail like an aquatic pokemon to swim via water displacement and propel himself downwards. Simultaenously, he would try to manipulate the water in the basin to move himself faster.

It was a brilliant method of training which would hone Mordred's lungs, tail strength, and ability to control water all at the same time.

The only issue is the lack of water in land based arenas.

This was a huge concern for water specialists, and a big reason why water types couldn't ever dominate in competitive battling. Pure water arenas were rare, and almost always resulted in a steamroll fight where the water types crushed their enemies. The water type was very situational compared to its elemental cousins, and couldn't display its true power unless a body of water was present.

Or, unless you learn how to condense water out of air moisture and wield that, Erika thought, thinking back to the numerous battle VODs she watched of ace trainers in tournaments battling, and how Fulton had been able to wield his ice. He condensed air moisture into water, and then rapidly cooled it to create ice he could use.

Thankfully, a decent number of standard arena types featured at least one decorative body of water like a puddle or small pool, even if it wasn't extremely common. Unless we're unlucky enough to fight on the Desert Field or Volcano Field, we should be okay.

Two hours later, Erika fed both her pokemon the slow-release vitamin tablets she bought from the Glass Helix and gave them chansey extract to speed up their recovery, and returned them to their pokeballs. It was exceedingly wasteful to blow chansey extract on mere recovering mere fatigue, but Erika was now filthy rich - at least until Fulton pulled the plug on her card, so she remained willful with her spending.

Erika was also completely knackered and gave herself a jab of chansey extract, and she stumbled across the hotel back up to her room to rest.

She was barely able to grab a hot shower and change of clothes when her phone started ringing loudly. Shit. That's Fulton. He's probably here to grab me to go make my passport and trainer license.

Erika couldn't find the will to move after the training session she had just done. She was completely out of energy.

However, she still forced herself to her feet and towards the phone to pick it up. "Fulton? Is that you?"

"Meet me downstairs at the hotel entrance," was his curt reply. "Your room is warded against teleportation."

Erika started smiling before realizing something was wrong. "Didn't you just teleport my stuff into the room yesterday?"
"Yeah, but that was teleporting in," Fulton told her over the phone. "I have my own ways to teleport stuff across a Ward, but getting out is impossible. You're gonna have to meet me outside where I can actually have my jynx transport us to the passport office."

Erika groaned and clicked her phone off.

It took her nearly ten minutes to make it down to the lobby, and when Fulton saw her state of fatigue, he chucked her a mint.

"What this supposed to do?" Erika asked annoyedly. "Freshen up my breath?"

"It's a power mint."

Fulton threw one into his mouth as well, crunching on it loudly. "They don't have much effect on me anymore, especially after I became an ace, but the effects should be quite pronounced on you."

Erika did as she was told and put in the mint in her mouth. She didn't even have the chance to bite on the mint when the worst brain freeze of her life hit her, causing her to drop her phone onto the ground. "Fughr! Wha the fugg!"

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that," Fulton said casually, enjoying her discomfort. "They're designed for ice specialists. Whoops."

Erika glared at him, but the brain freeze quickly ran its course, and she found herself reinvigorated with energy once more, her mind sharpening and her body visibly filling up with power as the mint flushed her system of lactic acid and stimulated her endocrinal system. The training in the Icefall also helped her withstand the cold of the mint better, and even Fulton was surprised by how fast she recovered from the brain freeze.

"That usually gets everyone," he commented. "Anyways, let's get get going."

Carzi, Fulton's jynx, appeared next to him and wrapped them both in a loop of psychic energy, and Erika found herself experiencing the horribly jarring sensation of being twisted through space once more.

When the world finally snapped back into place, Erika was in an ovular room with a high ceiling covered in boring grey panels. When she finally stabilized her stomach, Erika saw Fulton talking with a dark haired woman in a professional looking suit.

He was apparently very familiar with her, since he didn't retaliate when the she leaned in and socked Fulton in the stomach. Fulton doubled over in mock pain and burst out laughing. "Don't tell me you're still angry at me for ditching on you last time Amy!"

Amy scowled. "You left me with a huge bill!"

"It really was an emergency," Fulton defended himself awkwardly, holding up his hands in apology. "There was a massive Rocket raid going on nearby, and I was called to go since I was the closest to the attack.

"You better compensate me at the next gathering!" Amy said fiercely. "It wasn't even my turn to pay!"

She turned to Erika with smile after saying that, suddenly having noticed her presence. "And who might you be? Fulton, where you hiding a kid this whole time?"

"Niece, actually," Fulton replied smoothly. "My late brother turned out to have had a kid before dying, and I only found out recently. I'm here to get her registered for a passport and trainer license since she didn't have any documentation before I found her."

"I'll handle that, don't you worry," Amy said dismissively to him before looking at Erika again. "What's your name kid?"

"Erika Caldwell," was her prompt reply.

"I'll get right on it then!"

Amy started typing away on her laptop and quickly entered Erika's details, and then pulled Erika towards a camera room with a blank white wall for a backdrop. She had Erika smile for the photo and snapped the camera with a flash, which made Erika blink. Amy measured Erika's height, weight, and other biometric details using a scanner, and then plugged the scanner into the computer and shooed her off to go stay with Fulton.

This is quite fast, Erika observed.

"It is fast," Fulton spoke up, making Erika twitch at the reminder that he was reading her mind. "Ranger dependents can skip the entire process of booking an appointment and submitting details and just bring their dependents in for a quick registration. It's one of the benefits offered by the league to their military personnel."

Fulton saw Erika give him a look, and he nodded. "You're gonna ask about Amy right? We're just old friends from ranger basic training. Don't worry about it."

Amy called Erika over to hand in her pokeballs for registration, and had her fill out a few more forms declaring her status as a legal citizen of Celadon and sponsorship by an ace, and finally a form called the Y-3, colloquially known as the Youngster License.

"Every trainer below the age of thirteen needs to fill this out," Amy informed Erika. "Normally, you have to pass a battery of tests and certifications to prove you can handle training at a younger age, but Fulton vouched for you and let you skip all the steps. It's nice to have him as an uncle, right?"

"Definitely." Erika gave Fulton a thumbs up for his contribution.

"Put in your specialization if you have one here, and fill out this form too please."

It took a few more minutes for Amy to get the passport made and the trainer license printed, but eventually Erika found herself staring at a shiny new golden-green passport emblazoned with the letters IL - for indigo league. She flipped to the information page and found her smiling face staring back, with all her biometric details like latest height, weight, hair, and eye color recorded on the passport. The printer next to them started whirring loudly and ejected out a rectangular card, which Erika promptly snatched out of the air.

"Good reflexes!" Amy praised. Erika turned the card over and admired it.

————————————————
Erika Caldwell | GRW-777311
Grass Specialist, Initiate

Mordred - Snivy - LV.18 ♂
Guinivere - Oddish - LV. 15 ♀
————————————————

It was emblazoned with the same IL letters as her passport, and was beautifully decorated with artwork of various different flower types like magnolias and bluebells. The material of the card felt like wood, but it was astonishingly polished and far too heavy to be wood. Erika turned the card over again and again, playing with it and getting a feel for its weight.

"This doesn't look like your average trainer card," Erika murmured, tracing her fingers across the wood-adjacent material.

"Special treatment," Amy informed her. "All grass specialists in Celadon get complementary benefits like this regardless of your affiliation. It's part of an initiative by the Celadon Conservatives to draw more of the youth into becoming grass specialists."

A quick glance at the card through second sight revealed that it contained grass aura - and it looked suspiciously similar to her own. "That's my aura inside, isn't it?"

"It's a confirmation of identity thing," Amy said. "When you first picked it up, it took a wisp of your aura to store and scan. From now on, that card is a unique identifier for you and your identity can never be stolen."

She and Fulton left quickly after getting her documents done, but not before Fulton promised to treat Amy to two more dinners on his tab.

Erika studied Mordred's evaluated level as they left the passport office, noting how Mordred was already past the average level where his species evolved but still showed none of the signs of an impending evolution. Contrary is working overtime already, it seems. Mordred must have wanted to evolve to break out of captivity, but it was never going to happen.

For the next five days, Erika and her pokemon trained furiously for the preliminary rounds of the Rising Stars Gauntlet (RSG). She sped up their training both as individuals and as teammates, forcing Mordred and Gwen to quickly adapt to working together under pressure and learning each other's weaknesses and strengths.

Although the RSG would be in singles format, both Mordred and Gwen needed to learn how to cover each other's weaknesses, and to take advantage of the gaps and openings they each created in enemy defenses.

For example, if Gwen sprayed acid onto an enemy with a mammalian skin type, the effects would be much more pronounced - and painful. Upon being switched in, it would be effective for Snivy to viciously whip the acid soaked areas, since it would trigger even more pain from the exposed nerves and distract the enemy. This was but one of many possible scenarios and examples where knowing your teammates's attack methods and weaknesses would come into handy.

The combination attack that Erika conceived during her first battle against the Claw-owned raticate was also honed and developed further. She would have Gwen indiscriminately spray weakened poison powder into the air and acid onto the enemy, and then start absorbing at a distance to wear down tough enemies. Depending on the strength of the enemy, Gwen could opt to overexert herself by creating more powerful poison, but this was a last resort since it would make her wither quickly.

It was a very effective tactic for dealing with tougher opponents, since Gwen only needed to keep her distance and wear them down in attrition battles - and with the dual effects of a passive absorption and airborne poison, they would be finished in no time.

Erika made sure to dose Mordred with a good vial of Gwen's poison every single day, building up his immunity to her specific brand of airborne poisons in the case that he was switched into a heavily poison-powder covered battlefield. Nothing could be done for his resistance to acid unfortunately, but she wasn't planning on having Gwen attack Mordred with acid anyways.

To ensure that Mordred didn't feel bad, Erika also poisoned herself on the regular to build up her own immunity. While this didn't make much sense from a competitive standpoint, official tournaments and competitions were only a small part of being a trainer. If Erika ever came across an enemy who tried to kill her, she would be able to indiscriminately poison the entire area - herself and the enemy included, and she would be able to walk out unharmed. It also minimized the risk of dying to her own pokemon's poison, which would terribly embarassing for everyone involved.

Every morning at 5AM, her team would go through their physical conditioning routines at the Icefall, with Snivy practicing his tail strength and water control using aqua tail in the basin and iron tail on dummies, while Gwen honed her accuracy with acid and her speed at regenerating her head leaves when using razor leaf. She also participated in an abusive regimen of self harm Growth sessions, learning how to tolerate the pain of double boosting without flinching and incurring too much backlash damage.

During this abusive training, Erika also realized why growth had such a devastating effect on Gwen's body. A single round of growth didn't only boost Gwen's bodily strength, but it also increased her aura reserves at the same time. Growth was a staple move for grass specialists due to how versatile it was, but it also brought greater strain with each use.

Erika went out and bought tennis balls and collected rocks to throw at Mordred, and he had to batter them back at her using only his tail. Not only did this practice increase the stability of his tail movement, but it also taught him how to be accurately deflect attacks in different directions. At the start of their training, he could only hit the attacks straight back, but as they progressed, he started to become able to hit the rocks and tennis balls roughly in any direction which he wanted.

Mordred also starated working on learning his newest move, Leaf Tornado. Despite already being level 18, Snivy hadn't been able to practice his leaf tornado since he was stuck in captivity with the Claws. It was a good control move for denying movement, and would help with his longevity in battle. Erika knew that the preliminary rounds of the RSG were free-for-alls, so he would need a method to defend himself or deter enemies from approaching in favor of easier targets to take out. Leaf tornado would fill that role perfectly, and even though Erika knew the move had more potential, five days simply wasn't enough time to learn anything more than a basic grasp of the move.

Mean Look was another move which Erika had high hopes for. It complimented his natural talent in the use of Glare - even though they wouldn't be able to reveal it publicly in case someone figured out Mordred's uniqueness. Mean look could be used both as a trump card, and as a way to cover up the effects of glare if things really went south. Erika could claim that Mordred used a jumped up version of mean look to intimidate his enemy into freezing out of fear, instead of their muscles literally locking up when glare was used. In addition, at critical moments, using a mean look could disrupt the concentration of an enemy, so it was another card that Erika was able to add up her sleeve.

Erika also borrowed a few reusable technical machines from Milly's private stock, which could download rudimentary knowledge on how to use their moves into a pokemon's brain. She was very careful only to pick out the truly useful ones, since there was an acclimation period the pokemon had to go through in order to properly absorb and learn the move to a very basic degree.

She didn't have Mordred focus on anything else, since it would be detrimental to his progress. The other inherited moves were interesting, but with a five day schedule, it was impossible to do anything meaningful as previously mentioned. Erika prioritized Aqua Tail the most, since she needed an anti-fire asset in the worst case that she got matched up with a fire specialist.

All meals were eaten quickly as possible, and Erika mashed sitrus and lum berries into Gwen and Mordred's food to slowly build up their vitality and abnormal status resistances. Even during their training breaks, Erika called over some hotel staff to bring pokemon with status moves to poison and paralyze her pokemon in new and interesting ways. Some training breaks saw Mordred and Gwen fully paralyzed and unable to move, so Erika just lectured them on battle strategy and team plans that she had come up with.

During their sleep, Erika had her pokemon chilled in icebaths using water from the healing spring, and hotel masseurs would help massage her pokemon to work out the knots in their muscles and speed up their recovery. While they slept, Erika would also meditate to get more in touch with her own aura and enhance her sensitivity to aura, training herself according to the guidelines in the ranger corp aura manual Fulton had given her. Her reflexes and instincts were already naturally sharp, and getting more in tune with her aura would increase it further until she had a nearly supernatural sixth-sense for danger.

Throughout the entire training process, Erika spared no expense to work her pokemon as hard as possible, making them consume vitamin tablets every day and giving them chansey extract after each practice. She literally treated money as paper, and blew close to 500,000 pokedollars worth of chansey extract so that Mordred and Gwen could hold up to five intense practice sessions everyday, disregarding the need for muscle regrowth and repair from the intensity of the sessions. Even when their auras ran dry after the first two and three sessions of training, she still worked their bodies to the bone running extreme physical and coordination drills for the rest of the day.

—————————————————————————————————————————

Finally, it was the day of the preliminaries for the Rising Stars Gauntlet. The pre-stages of the RSG were held in the Oberlin Stadium, a smaller stadium typically used for local tournaments with minimal stakes. Due to the massive numbers of preliminary round participants, it was necessary to conduct the test here since there wouldn't be enough space anywhere else. Erika studied the bland architecture of the Oberlin Stadium as she walked in, thinking about what she would do during the actual tournament after the preliminaries.

The real RSG would be held in the Corner Stadium, a massive battle stadium used to organize important competitions and tournament which was also owned by the the Corner Consortium, an economic giant which managed nearly all of Celadon's many arcades and gambling dens. The reason for the choice of location was because the Rising Stars Gauntlet was a joint initiative between the local government and the Corner Consortium - they each provided a part of the first place prize, admission into the Corner Charity Gala and a live interview with a government news network.

Both Erika and her team were confident that they would win. The only question now was how overwhelmingly they would do so.

Erika wasn't satisfied with just winning, given her talents and the efforts her team had put in.

By nature, she was a vain and greedy person, and Erika knew that she wanted more than just a measly first place. She was going to win, and do it with style. She wanted to utterly crush her enemies, and sweep them so thoroughly that she would become an overnight sensation. That was the only outcome that Erika was willing to accept from the RSG.

Next to her, Mordred was rolling his eyes, but Erika didn't even care.

This was the second turning point in her grand and momentous destiny, and she was determined to send out a message to the world announcing her presence.

Five days ago, Erika registered herself into the RSG preliminaries. While she could have skipped the entire process by getting a seeded position through her connections, Erika disdained doing that. In her opinion, it was far more worthwhile for her pokemon to experience the chaotic free-for-all of the preliminaries, since it was both a valuable learning experience, and a chance to warm up in a real fight before the actual tournament.

She narrowed her eyes as more and more trainers flooded into the room, making sure to track and follow interesting or strong looking characters.

Keta was nowhere to be seen even though he said he would come fight her in the RSG. He was probably a seeded contestant anyways, so Erika gave up on looking for him after a certain point.

Apart from physically conditioning her pokemon and honing their moves, Erika herself had been busy with devising battle tactics and strategems. She didn't idle her time away, and instead devoted hours towards researching potential enemies that could threaten her and refining the strategies which she came up with.

Just by looking at the gathered crowd, Erika could already see multiple fire specialists and flying specialists. However, her smile only grew larger at this sight. There wasn't any glory to be gained in beating up a trainer using type suppression. Only by challenging fire specialists and flying specialists with her grass team could she truly earn glory and respect for herself. Now that she had a chance to train up her team properly and devise strategies for them, she no longer feared elemental weaknesses as much.

"Gather round everyone!" The announcer shouted. "We will be beginning the preliminaries in three minutes! Please grab your token and head to the corresponding field!"

Erika followed the shambling crowd and stuck her hand into a bag, pulling out a wooden chip with the number 3 on it. She ran off to the designated room and pushed the doors open, grabbing the closest trainer podium and waiting for her arena matches to arrive. While the preliminaries were free-for-all, having hundreds of people in the same room would be too much to handle, so the organizers broke each preliminary match into groups of 12 people.

As more trainers filed in, Erika immediately pinpointed three major threats to her team using her second sight - which, funnily enough in hindsight, was a huge advantage others didn't have. Without being able to see aura, no one could tell who specialised in what except for Erika. Of the trainers in the room, only four had pure auras, while the rest were heterogenous.

They're either generalists, or people who have no clue about aura progression, Erika thought silently, closing her eyes to think. There's a flying, ground, fighting, and water specialist. Good matchups for me. While it's not likely for the people with heterogenous aura, there's a good possibility that the specialists have second sight too. I'll need to observe carefully, even if I can suppress half of the major threats using elemental matchups.

Erika opened her eyes intending to let Gwen sit out the melee so she could guarantee a safer victory, but accidentally met the eyes of the flying specialist standing opposite to her. He was handsome, wearing a blazer and sporting a messy haircut, but it was his eyes that Erika really focused on. There was a barely visible glint to them hinting at the supernatural, and when Erika opened her second sight, she could see his stormy grey aura gathered at his pupils, a telltale sign of someone actively using their second sight. Shit.

Her instincts that were honed from years of brutal street life were loudly going off, and Erika's aura reacted in confirmation. He's probably devised original moves like me. This preliminary is too chaotic. I can't let him target me with his flying types.

Even as the referee counted down, Erika was already changing her battle plans. Having to face off against an elementally superior enemy with second sight was not a good start, and it meant that he was well informed and well trained. She would need to expose one of her cards to take him out quickly before he did the same for her. The fact that he was several years older didn't help either, since it meant that he had more training time than her.

"..two…one…begin!" The referee shouted.

Erika skipped the theatrics she was planning and didn't toss her pokeball into the air, merely clicking it and beaming Gwen down onto the field. "Come forth Gwen!"

Her second appeared in a flash of red light, much like eleven other pokemon, and the arena instantly devolved into chaos. The flying boy released a terrifyingly large Skarmory for their badge-group, and Erika knew she had to commit, as she could literally see flying aura gathering in its body for some type of mass area attack, judging from how its aura moved.

"Fume Hood!" Erika snarled loudly. "Wipe them all out!"

Amidst the chaos of the infighting, Gwen rapidly swelled up in size. Despite the speed at which everything happened, two of her enemies still spotted what she was doing and warned the others, probably to try to get them to jointly suppress her.

"Be careful! That's an original move!" One of them called out. "Let's join-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Gwen deflated and puffed out a truly massive poison cloud into the air. The cloud of poison remained relatively put together until it ascended ten or so meters upward, and then it violently detonated in a horrifying display of purple, suffusing the nearby air with its color.

"Shit!"

"Fuck you man!"

"Beat her down!"

With that stunt, Erika had instantly become public enemy number one. However, it didn't matter anymore after Gwen had pulled of the Fume Hood.

A terrible wind was whipped up immediately following Gwen's poison attack, and Erika's face grew grim.

"Plan D!" Erika shouted to her pokemon, fighting to be heard over the chaotic noises of the arena. "Bury yourself!"

Gwen sliced and diced up the ground using her sharp head leaves and squeezed herself into the cracks, wriggling as deep as she could before the inevitable Flying attack came, which it did. Horrifying gusts of nearly visible wind currents were released from the Skarmory in every direction, cutting up all the pokemon caught in its effect. Gwen luckily evaded it due to Erika's anticipation of the attack.

No one was in any shape to continue fighting after that. Not only did the wind shred most of the weaker pokemon into near fatal conditions, but it also dispersed Gwen's brutal poison concoction into every part of the arena. The psychic barriers separating the arena from the trainer area prevented them from being poisoned, but the same could not be said for the pokemon inside.

At first, the pokemon inside only felt their bodies becoming slightly numb. However, that effect quickly changed to become a stiffening of their muscles, and then their lungs followed, constricting their throats and making it prohibitively difficult to breath. No one was bothered to try attack Gwen after that, since they were all busy trying to eliminate the nearest pokemon to each other.

The RSG preliminaries was of free-for-all format, and only the last three could advance into the actual tournament ronds. There wasn't any point in trying to target the far away and difficult to catch Oddish, or the skarmory that just patiently waited high up in the air. Maybe if they had more time, the trainers in the arena might have given it a go, but with the terrible gashes and wounds left by the skarmory's cutting winds and Gwen's terrible poisons, everyone knew that they were living on borrowed time. The smartest thing to do was to take out everyone nearby and hope that they were among the top three.

Things happened exactly as Erika intended. The rest of the trainers devolved into infighting while Gwen continued to dig deeper and deeper using her head leaves as a shovel, and the skarmory continued waiting in the air above the danger zone.

Erika met eyes with the flying trainer. "Nice day we're having, isn't it?"

Her unexpected small talk made him laugh. "I think the preliminaries have basically been settled. Let's just wait it out."

And wait they did. Erika stood stiffly in position waiting for the other pokemon to kill each other off or be recalled, thinking about how she could better optimize the Fume Hood. She had specifically chosen the Toxic technical machine to experiment with, and helped Gwen devise a fast acting and virulent poison that could be sprayed into the air. It was extremely hard to hold the mass of poison together while releasing it, but Erika was able to take advantage of Gwen's proficiency with acid by borrowing its framework, keeping the poison in a semi-liquid state that could clump together before scattering at the desired height for better spread. Improvement is impossible in the short term. This is already the limit of what I can do with this little time.

"The preliminaries have concluded!" The referee announced through his megaphone, blasting his canny voice across the room. Erika could see the shock in his eyes at how fast and brutally the preliminaries for group 3 had ended. "Falkner Mistral, Erika Caldwell, and Aster Williams have advanced to the next round!"

In the end, none of the pokemon battling on the surface made it past the first round, having all either succumbed to the poison or from infighting.

Falkner's skarmory was still lazily flapping its wings far above the surface, and Erika nudged the bond to signal Gwen to dig back up. She poked her head out, looking like a real planted cabbage. On the opposite side of the arena, a graveller emerged from the earth smoothly, having also apparently fled below ground to avoid the brutal wind bombardment of the skarmory. It wasn't like it needed to avoid the wind, Erika complained silently. With a physique as dense as that, and its elemental advantage, it would have been fine.

Hidden ventilation fans started sucking up the poison spread through the contained arena, pumping as much out as possible before the psychic barriers dropped. Every trainer other than the winners had already returned their pokemon and were rushing off to the EMT, leaving Erika, Falkner, and Aster in the room.

Aster took the initiative to speak first. "So, second sight anyone? I'm guessing we all have it."

"That's an amazing judgement," Erika clapped sarcastically. "How else were you supposed to predict the move?"

"Probably really rich battle experience," Falker offered to her left. He scratched his head and readjusted his shirt, crossing his arms after he was done. "Although, that poison cloud was brutal. If my pokemon couldn't fly or resist poison, it would have been over."

Erika rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up you. Both of you resist poison! How am I supposed to attack your skarmory? Plus, that wind attack was monstrous. If my oddish didn't dig down in time, how was she supposed to survive that? That's kind of fucked."

"We all play with the hand we're dealt," Falkner shrugged. "Also, aren't you too young to be swearing?"

"I'll say whatever I want." Erika crossed her arms. "What are you, my dad? You're not that much older than me either."

"Thirteen is a little too young to be a father," Falkner agreed wryly.

Aster just shook his head and laughed. "I think it was inevitable for us three to end up advancing. Ignoring the fact that everyone else lacked the means to predict the wind and poison, no one would have been able to escape it anyways. The wind literally shredded everything on the surface, and the poison would have finished the rest off. Unless you were able to fly above the poison or dig below the ground in time, you were screwed no matter what."

"You would have been fine even on the surface," Erika nodded sagely. "Your graveller can ignore both the wind and the poison to a large degree."

"Well, that's just the heart of the cards I guess. Good matchups for me, not so much for everyone else. Say, do any of you want to grab lunch? I hear there's a shop nearby that makes a mean pidgey sandwich. You guys down?"

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"I'm hungry."

"It's settled then," Aster clapped his hands. "Give me your contacts while we walk and let's go grab lunch."

Graveller rolled towards him, nearly knocking Aster off his feet before he laughingly recalled it, and the skarmory swooped down to try perch on Falkner's shoulder. Falkner collapsed instantly due to the weight, and he shooed the terror bird off in annoyance. "Stop it Titania! You're not a chicklet anymore, and I can't bear your weight!"

Erika amusedly recalled Gwen and followed her new friends to get food.





AN: We're finally moving into the Rising Stars Gauntlet! These past few chapters have been so slow lately, and I've finally reached the section with tons of battles. This is going to be very exciting! As always, make sure to hit the Watch button if you want to read more. Seeing the number of watchers go up always makes me happy, and it makes me want to write more. Enjoy!

(After 5 days of training for the RSG)
————————————————
Erika Caldwell | GRW-777311
Grass Specialist, Initiate

Mordred - Snivy - LV.21 ♂
Guinivere - Oddish - LV. 18 ♀
————————————————

 

[Spectrum]

Throughout the entire training process, Erika spared no expense to work her pokemon as hard as possible, making them consume vitamin tablets every day and giving them chansey extract after each practice. She literally treated money as paper, and blew close to 500,000 pokedollars worth of chansey extract so that Mordred and Gwen could hold up to five intense practice sessions everyday, disregarding the need for muscle regrowth and repair from the intensity of the sessions. Even when their auras ran dry after the first two and three sessions of training, she still worked their bodies to the bone running extreme physical and coordination drills for the rest of the day.

Click to shrink...

Ah yes, the greatest superpower rears its head: money. I wonder if someone will think she's taking a little too much advantage of her current relationships?

 

[Replicant]

I love gas warfare

 

[Aleister Adair]

Ah yes, the greatest superpower rears its head: money. I wonder if someone will think she's taking a little too much advantage of her current relationships?

Click to shrink...

I should also mention that pokedollars are not equal to US dollars in terms of value. I based it on my country's currency, so the 500,000 pokedollars of chansey extract she used is closer to like 20,000 USD in real life.

i might change the currency to make it clearer or release an informational post clarifying it

 

[Spectrum]

I should also mention that pokedollars are not equal to US dollars in terms of value. I based it on my country's currency, so the 500,000 pokedollars of chansey extract she used is closer to like 20,000 USD in real life.

i might change the currency to make it clearer or release an informational post clarifying it

Click to shrink...

I assumed as much, but 20k USD in 5 days on consumables is still pretty nuts.

 

[Aleister Adair]

AN: If this is confusing, I might just make up an original currency instead of calling it pokedollars.

---

So, I just wanted to clear some stuff up in case there was any confusion.

Pokedollars are NOT equal to real US dollars.

I am not from the US, so I didn't base pokedollars on the US dollar.

Erika spending 500,000 pokedollars on chansey extract over a time period of five days does not mean she spent the equivalent of 500,000 USD.

I would say that 500,000 pokedollars is roughly equivalent to 20,000 USD.



The exchange rate would be about 1 USA Dollar : 25 PokeDollars

 

[Aleister Adair]

Lunch with Aster and Falkner was incredibly tense.

It became immediately obvious to everyone involved that they were all shamelessly studying each other using second sight. Although the pidgey sandwich was indeed excellent, it didn't distract Erika from scoping the competition out, nor did it distract Aster or Falkner.

So much grass aura was concentrated into Erika's eyes that she was sure they had turned radiant green, and a quick glance at her reflection in her spoon confirmed that. Her second sight was fully activated to peer into Aster and Falkner's second pokeballs, letting her see the aura types emanating from the ball. The contents of the ball were a black box to Erika, but even the aura types gave her a good hint as to what could be inside.

Erika chewed thoughtfully on her sandwich while making small talk with Aster and Falkner, enjoying the cool air of the Celadon morning. The staggered architecture and tall buildings in the city helped break up the wind, minimizing wind chill and letting her enjoy a gentler breeze. Their little impromptu lunch group broke up swiftly afterwards, and they promised to meet up again during a later round.

Although Erika was confident she would win, seeing that Skarmory still made her feel slightly nervous. It's a monster of a bird, she mused, finishing up her leftover pidgey wings. Fully armored in steel, and almost twice my size. That dual steel/flying typing is going to be a pain in the arse as well since it elementally resists grass.

The actual tournament rounds were tomorrow, so Erika ordered a cab back to the Grand Verdant for an extra round of training. Before she could board however, she was intercepted midway by Fulton, who teleported over and appeared suddenly next to her.

"She doesn't need the cab," Fulton informed the driver. "Here's a tip for your wasted time."

His jynx wrapped Erika in its psychic grasp and pulled them both through the void, shuttling them to Fulton's house. By now, Erika had already gotten used to the jarring sensation of space being stretched and compressed, so she didn't take long to recover from the journey.

Fulton sat down and pulled out a plush chair for Erika to sit. She obliged, and he poured her some tea from an old iron kettle. "Before you get into anything, I'm going to break some of your bad habits."

"First off, ignore levels."

"What do you mean by ignore levels?"

Instead of answering, Fulton pulled out his trainer card and offered it to Erika. It looked fairly standard to Erika, outside of the three golden stars emblazoned on the side which signified his status as a three-star ace. Erika didn't understand what Fulton wanted until she saw the section listing his pokemon.

Nanook - Beartic ♂
Shelldon - Cloyster ♂
Carzi - Jynx ♀
Janus - Cryogonal
Bathory - Weavile ♀
Manfred - Mamoswine ♂

"You've removed your system evaluated levels," Erika observed. "You want me to do the same thing? What's the point of doing that anyways?"

Fulton shook his head and made a tsk tsk noise at her words. "That just shows your inexperience. All seasoned trainers remove them from their trainer cards, because it builds bad habits. When you see these levels everyday, you start assuming that they're measurements for strength, rather than just another statistic, and it messes with your perception of strength. When you're unable to accurately judge your own strength, you overestimate yourself - and that's how trainers end up dying."

"Why?" Erika asked curiously. "Isn't a system evaluated level a good measure of strength? You see it all the time in popular adventure manga."

Having said that, Erika immediately realized how stupid she sounded. Adventure manga? Her face burned. Out of all the examples I could have chosen, I went with manga?

"That's where you're wrong," Fulton said, disabusing her. "Levels are a measure of growth, relative to the average estimated growth rate for your pokemon species. It's just another statistic that you can use to gauge strength and progress, similar to measuring your pokemon's change weight or height."

He called out to Carzi and had her teleport a bathroom scale to him, and stepped on it. The arrow on the scale tilted to the side, and settled on around 90kg. "See that? What does it make you think?"

"That you're 90kg heavy?" Erika tried. However, seeing Fulton's frown, she quickly backtracked before he could decide to implant more mental suggestions in her mind. "Err, it tells me you've worked hard to build muscles?"

"Sort of," Fulton explained, stepping off the scale and collapsing back into his chair. "You were right the first time as well, by the way. That 90kg you saw was a measurement of my weight, and it does tell you a lot of things - like the fact that I'm heavier than the average person and that I have a good physical foundation."

He paused, turning to stare meaningfully at Erika. "However, there's one thing it can't tell you."

"Skill in combat," Erika realized suddenly. "Your weight is one of the considerations I should make when thinking about your skill in combat, but it doesn't actually tell me how you'll perform. It tells me you might be able to take a punch better, or throw a heavier punch, but it doesn't tell me if you're going to throw a good punch, or whether you'll know martial arts or not. It's just a statistic!"

"That's right," Fulton agreed. "And there's nothing more to it than that. If you fall into the trap of thinking of levels as strength, you'll swiftly be defeated."

Erika sipped some tea and sunk into thought. "Why do we even have levels then?"

"Because it helps provide a frame of reference that's easy to understand," Fulton informed her. "Don't get me wrong – it is useful, but it is in no way representative of your pokemon's capabilities. Let's use a relevant example: your snivy. If it were at the same level as another trainer's snivy, do you think he would be stronger? Would his aura be denser? His affinity to grass greater?"

"Of course!" Erika responded hotly. "Why do you think I went to the effort of breaking him out of captivity?"

Fulton nodded in agreement. "Since you've acknowledged that your snivy would be stronger and better at the same level as another snivy, that should tell you that levels are useless as a metric of strength, and that you should just treat them as another statistic like weight or height. If you understand that, then I have no need to elaborate any further on this topic."

After that, Erika pulled out her own trainer card and imbued it with some of her aura, willing it to change. The wood transformed before her eyes, warping slightly and modifying the contents of the card. When she next observed its contents, the level evaluations next to her pokemon were gone. Fulton nodded approvingly.

"They really gave you the good stuff from the start," he sighed. "A modifiable card made from livingwood is quite convenient. I had to get my card reprinted, you know?"

Fulton pulled a lever on his couch which made it recline backward, stretching the leather taut and bringing up a footrest. He leaned back and adjusted his pillow to make himself comfortable. "How's your progress with basic meditation? It was explained on the first chapter of the aura booklet I gave you."

"I'm having trouble getting into the meditative state," Erika admitted. "It takes around an hour to properly sink deeply into meditation, and I slip out of that state quickly too. Do you have any advice?"

"Sit down," he instructed her. "I'll show you right now."

Erika got off her own chair and made herself comfortable cross legged on the floor rug, and closed her eyes. Fulton put his hand on her back, and Erika flinched instinctively from the deep chill that emerged from his palm. "Although there are many benefits to meditation, the only one we trainers care about is its ability to enhance your sensitivity to aura. Stop focusing on what you feel with your eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue. Open your mind and concentrate on sensing the aura around you."

Erika did as instructed, trying her best to ignore her five senses to fully focus on feeling aura. Apart from her own aura, she could sense Fulton's glacial chill overpowering and crowding out all the other types of aura in the room. She sensed a handprint shaped mass of aura on her back, which she knew came from Fulton.

"I'm sensing the aura around me right now," Erika informed her mentor. "What next?"

"You're done," Fulton said bluntly. "The meditative state is bullshit. There is no meditative state. All you need to do every night is close your eyes and sense aura. If you do this every night, your sensitivity to aura will increase over time naturally. The only thing that matters is consistency."

Erika's jet eyes shot open in astonishment. "That's it?"

"Yup," Fulton replied, popping the p. "Although, this is only basic meditative training. Most people have trouble sensing aura if their natural five senses are active, since the brain doesn't have the capacity to process a sixth sense. They need to blindfold themselves, plug their ears and nose, soak their skin in a solution that reduces their sense of touch, or consume special medications that eliminate their sense of taste in order to free up processing power in the brain so they can begin sensing aura properly."

He gave her a deep look. "You on the other hand seem to have been able to sense aura even after immediately bonding with your starter, so you can skip that first step. Your meditative training now will focus on sensory overload."

Fulton rummaged around his pocket and strained the fabric, eventually pulling out a piece of wrapped candy branded in red and green. "Eat this."

Upon popping the candy into her mouth, Erika's face viciously contorted and she spat it out. "What the fuck? What was that?"

"Extremely sour candy," Fulton responded. "Pick up the candy from the floor and put it back into your mouth - I don't have any more on me currently. Now try feeling the aura around you."

Although it was disgusting, Erika picked the candy and put it on her tongue again. It was horribly sour, and her cheeks wrinkled up and her face scrunched. When she tried to sense Fulton's aura, Erika surprisingly realized that it was much fainter, to the point that the chill wasn't noticeable. I can't feel it!

Her mentor nodded. "What you've just done is called sensory overload meditation. By massively activating your taste receptors and forcing your brain to dedicate more resources to your sense of taste, your ability to sense aura will be weakened. Your job from today onwards is to meditate with a piece of sour candy in your mouth every night until you can clearly perceive aura again. This training will allow your brain to expand its capacity, and you'll find that your sensitivity to aura will be drastically increased afterwards."

As if reading her mind - which he was, Erika reminded herself, Fulton spoke up. "I'll teleport a batch of extremely sour candies to your room tonight. You can begin straight away. Once you're done with that, I'll introduce more extreme flavors like bitterness and spice into your nightly routine. If you can master all of that quickly, we can proceed to honing your aura sensing under touch, sight, sound, and smell. Then, we'll do all five at once."

"And then my training will be done?"

"Yes," Fulton agreed. "If you can do all of that, your sensitivity to aura will be raised to its natural peak, and you'll be qualified to break through to the External, provided that you've grown your aura to a sufficient degree. The latter, you'll only be able to accomplish by battling constantly, and receiving auric feedback from the bond. I estimate that it'll take you at least a year to achieve the External. Any other questions?"

That's plenty to work on already, Erika thought.

"Then go back." Fulton called his Jynx over. "Carzi, send her to the hotel."

Erika went straight to the training room after being teleported.

There wasn't much more training that Erika could realistically do for her pokemon, given that the first tournament round was the next day, but she still figured some technique practice couldn't hurt. Heavy physical conditioning was left out of the practice plan, since her pokemon needed to rest up to ensure that they were in peak physical condition for the tournament.

Erika assigned Gwen to razor leaf throwing and had her hone her accuracy, and practice spraying stun spores and sleep powder. Incorporating them into the payload of the Fume Hood was fairly easy, since the framework was already there.

Fume hood didn't change anything fundamental about it's payload - whether it was a poison powder, stun spore, or sleep powder. The core of fume hood was the delivery system.

That's right. Fume hood was a move which Erika designed with Gwen to more efficiently deliver and spread poison through the air. Instead of spraying it directly upwards, it was more efficient to send it into the air as one giant mass, and then have it burst and scatter at a high elevation, where it would more easily spread around the room.

The beautiful thing about fume hood was that it was highly modular. Since the move itself was just a way to efficiently spread poison, the actual payload being delivered could be adjusted as needed. Fume hood = delivery system, payload = whatever Erika asked Gwen to fire. For example, if Erika wanted to paralyze the entire room, Gwen could just switch the payload for stun spore. If she wanted to put the whole room to sleep, then sleep powder it was, and so on. This method would work on variant poisons that she cooked up with Gwen as well, like a particularly nasty Toxic based poison they had been experimenting with.

For Mordred, five days definitely wasn't enough to come up with anything original like Gwen's Fume Hood, which Erika had been helping her design ever since she picked her up. However, Mordred's physique was devastatingly powerful, and it was also bolstered by his bond with Erika. She was sure that he would be able to sweep the competition just on the basis of his body. After he stopped sandbagging and revealed his full capabilities to Erika, she realized that his fight with the Claw raticate was a complete and total sham.

Furthermore, while there wasn't enough time to design a meaningful original move and practice it until it became combat worthy, modifying and slightly adjusting preexisting moves that Mordred had practiced with wasn't as hard.

"You're going to need to forcefully stop your leaf tornado from moving away," Erika told Mordred seriously. "We've already practiced this a lot the past few days, so I won't explain any more. This is going to be your only method of active defense, so you better make it count!. Raise a tornado and show me your progress."

He complied, condensing and hardening leaves made from his grass aura, and began animating them to whirl around in a circle. Erika smiled, seeing his proficiency with the move.

When it came to moves which involved controlling or firing natural objects/things, like leaf tornado and water gun, there were generally two paths you could choose.

The first was actually having the source on hand - like a water pokemon drinking from a lake and maintaining their water reserves internally to shoot out, or a grass pokemon having fallen leaves from a tree nearby to control and use in the leaf tornado. Another alternative was growing the leaves from your body like Gwen did, and then detaching and regrowing more.

The second, less common path, required more mastery, since it involved converting and transforming your aura into the thing which you wanted to shoot or control. For example, a water pokemon low on water reserves without a nearby water source could transmute their aura into real water, and then using it in their attacks. Mordred could do the same, transmuting his grass aura into actual leaves, and then hardening them to be used.

Despite the convenience the second path offered, it was still disadvantageous due to the increased aura consumption. If you already had a preexisting water source on hand, why bother transmuting your aura? The same went for Mordred's leaves. It cost far less aura to manipulate something that already existed compared to transmuting it. Furthermore, even after Mordred transmuted leaves from his aura, he still needed to expand more aura to harden the leaves until they were suitable to be used in combat. The end result was that he expanded far more aura, compared to if he just used leaves that had fallen from a tree.

The only reason why this method was good was due to the versatility it offered. If you lacked a natural source, like water pokemon having to fight on land, then this could help you make up for it. The same went for Mordred. If the arena they fought in didn't have any trees at all, he would be able to condense his own leaves and use them and wouldn't be caught off guard. Knowing how to transmute aura was an invaluable skill, and one which Erika was glad Mordred had already mastered.

Regardless though, having a natural source on hand was always superior, since you could save on aura. After all, that was the reason why water specialists were so heavily suppressed in competitive tournaments - almost all water moves involved controlling a natural source. The only way to get around the need to transmute water was to condense water out of air moisture, which required a high degree of skill, and could quickly turn the air dry and ripe for fire type pokemon to take advantage of.

Grass specialists fared a lot better in this regard, since they had a wide variety of moves which either didn't require natural sources, or methods which could be used to circumvent the need for one. Growing what you needed was both conservative motto, and a literal technique for grass pokemon. If pressed, it was aurically cheaper to just grow the leaves you needed in an attack from your body, like what Gwen always did with her head leaves. Snivy could do the same thing, but he was showing off for Erika.

Erika watched Mordred swirl the leaves around himself and grow quickly more proficient with the leaf tornado. "Now, I want you to run around and have the leaf tornado follow your position. Let me see how far you've gotten."

"Snivy!"

Mordred ran around the room left and right, jumping and sliding and spinning in the air to show Erika that he had truly become proficient with moving the leaf tornado. He zigzagged and made sudden halts and stops, and kept running until Erika finally stopped him, satisfied.

"Great job!" Erika said excitedly. "You're definitely ready to go. When your opponents try to harass you from range, you can raise a leaf tornado to block their line of sight a little and interfere with their attacks. Projectiles will have to make it through your swirling leaves if they want to hit you, and close range enemies will suffer from the constant impact of leaves biting and cutting their flesh. Great job Mordred!"

He preened, clearly pleased by his progress. "Just make sure to transmute more leaves or pick up more leaves from the ground if your leaf tornado defense ever gets pared or worn down!"

"Now, let's see your progress for the other things we've been practicing."

Erika pulled out her notebook that she often scribbled and made plans in, and flipped through it towards the section she had on Mordred.

"If everything goes right, we should have three trump cards that we can play," Erika told Mordred mysteriously. "Now, here's what you're going to do…"

---

RISING STARS GAUNTLET DAY 1

The first round passed by in a flash.

According to the combat doctrine which Erika had created for this tournament, Mordred was to be kept secret until the last moment. Although it seemed obvious, information asymmetry was a huge advantage in warfare, and something that Fulton heavily emphasized over the phone. Mordred was Erika's true ace, and his capabilities needed to be concealed.

On the other hand, Gwen was already a known factor, so Erika would keep using her to battle in order to keep her enemies in the dark about her other pokemon.

Gwen easily dodged the telegraphed attacks of the enemy trainer's rattata and sprayed it with mild acid, leaving it stinging in pain and forcing the trainer to immediately recall it.

The second pokemon fared little better despite being a flying type. Gwen was too nimble for the bird to properly peck, and after dodging a few more attacks, she downed the unlucky bird with a single acid attack that struck true on its wings, leaving it semi-crippled on the arena floor to be recalled by its trainer. Gwen's accuracy training clearly was put to great use, as she was able to easily track a small flying bird and hit it with her acid while in motion.

She was almost baffled at how easy it was. There's no way this is the standard of trainers being admitted into Rising Stars. Right?

As it turned out, it was. Erika was so confused that she had to see for herself in person, and showed up to watch another in progress round one match. She was given the benefit of watching a pidgey try its best and fail to maul a metapod, and almost had to turn away from the second hand embarrassment.

It's just round one, she chanted silently. This can't be real.

Erika's second round was a little more interesting.

"Doduo?" It was an interesting choice, Erika could admit. Doduo were one of the few landbound flying types native to Kanto, and possessed startling agility and running speed. While their physical strength left a lot to be desired, Gwen wouldn't be able to easily dodge its attacks like in the previous round.

However, Erika had already calculated a path to victory. The doduo's fate was sealed. When the referee blew his whistle, she threw her pokeball up into the air in a stylish manner and released Gwen onto the arena, seeing no need to take the fight seriously.

"Stun spore!" Erika commanded instantly. "Blanket the area around you!"

As the doduo charged at Gwen, she inhaled deeply and puffed upwards, scattering a mass of paralyzing spores that suffused through the air around her. The opposing trainer obviously didn't predict that Erika would have her pokemon douse the area around her, but his doduo luckily stopped itself before entering the yellowish spore cloud.

It looked at its trainer helplessly, unable to do anything. Checkmate, Erika thought. You don't have any ranged attacks.

Gwen began to spray acid at the doduo, and his trainer had the sense to order it to run away towards the other end of the arena, outside of Gwen's effective acid spraying range. He was smart enough to realize that his pokemon couldn't attack Gwen while she hid in the spore cloud, so he was trying to bait Gwen out.

"You've got good judgement," Erika remarked to her opponent from the other side. "However, what made you think that the spore cloud can't be moved?"

His eyes widened and he tried to call out to his pokemon, but Erika was faster again. "Fan the cloud towards the bird Gwen! Expand and fan!"

Gwen's head leaves tripled in size and spread out wide, increasing their surface area to the maximum as she whirled her head and sent a gust of wind through her spore cloud. The wind pushed the spores forwards towards the Doduo, and this time, it had nowhere to run.

"Charge through the spores!" Doduo's trainer shouted desperately. "Hold your breath and power through it!"

Sadly, the doduo couldn't hold on. After charging through the spore cloud, its muscles seized up mid run and its face planted into the ground, tumbling in a heap of feathers.

"How!? Dodi held his breath!"

Erika wasn't bothered to answer him. Transdermal poison, she thought silently. There was a book in the Belding Family's collection that detailed methods to concoct skin-permeable poisons, and how to teach your pokemon to produce them.

"You've lost," Erika said calmly.

The trainer returned his doduo with an unresigned look, replacing it with a stern looking meowth with spotted fur.

Gwen just puffed out more stun spores in response, and the trainer admitted defeat straight away after he realized that he didn't have any method to attack Gwen without running through the spore cloud.

No ranged attacks again, Erika shook her head. I feel like this is going to be a recurring theme with a lot of the tournament members.

By now, she was beginning to realize that her preliminary group was just abnormal in comparison to the others. The people who make it into the actual tournament rounds should be the top three contestants from each preliminary group. If the top three of preliminary groups can bear rattatas and metapods, then I've truly got nothing to fear. How on earth did I end up with Falkner and Aster in the same group? Shouldn't they be seeded contestants?

The irony of this logic was that Erika herself should have been seeded, so she didn't really have much room to talk.

Her third and final round for the day took place on a variant arena this time - Factory Field. The room was covered in rusted metal implements and ruined machines, with sparks of crackling electricity arcing from point to point every now and then. There was a central generator in the middle of the arena obscuring Erika's vision of her third opponent, although it thankfully seemed to be defunct. Second sight informed her that the entire place was teeming with steel and electric energy, which would drastically enhance the performance of pokemon of those types. It also informed her that this time her opponent had second sight of her own, and was close to attaining first-badge level strength.

Since she's Sighted, I should be able to cut loose a little bit more, Erika figured. Official tournaments like the RSG forbid purposeful killing and maiming, but in a fast paced and intense battle, it was generally understood that severe injuries were inevitable. So long as you gave your opponent an out to surrender and didn't purposefully go out of your way to cripple their pokemon, the organizers would be fine with almost anything that happened.

After all, that's what waivers are for. I signed one too, saying that I wouldn't pursue legal damages for anything that happened in this tournament.

The referee had been replaced with an older and sterner looking man in his fifties who wore a smart blazer and pair of slacks. He gave Erika and her opponent a charming smile, and raised his flag to signal them into position. "On mark, get set, begin!"

Both trainers threw their pokeballs up at the same time, and Erika's lip curled. A confident enemy. I look forward to crushing her spirit.

Erika started smiling when she saw her opponent release a plusle onto the field, having finally found someone interesting to fight.

Gwen leapt into action immediately, having squatted down to coil her legs like a spring, and releasing all that pent up force the moment the referee announced the start of the match. She rocketed forwards at a speed which you wouldn't expect from a round, ball looking plant pokemon and raised her head, bringing down sharp leaves that would rend the plusle into mincemeat.

The plusle expertly dodged what would have been a disabling slash, utilizing its even lesser frame compared to Gwen to curl up and roll underneath Gwen's bladed head leaves. The friction generated from the rolling of the plusle helped it build up a static charge, and it immediately released it all upon Gwen - who tanked the hit without flinching and retaliated instantly by slashing at the plusle's arm.

However, the expected blood spray didn't happen, and Gwen's head leaf instead met a shining swift star composed of electrical energy. "Rebound it Gwen! You know what to do!"

Electricity from the swift star was discharged into Gwen's body, but she stoicly tanked the blow again, and didn't let it distracrt her from her retaliation.

Gwen spun around, using the rebound force from impacting the swift star to aid in her spin, and this time, she brought to bear an even greater force upon the plusle. When her head leaf cleaved down, it shattered the swift star protecting the plusle and tore out its knee, making it crumple onto the floor.

Erika's opponent withdrew her plusle with an angry look, sending out a minun to replace its fallen comrade. "You'll pay for hurting Misha!" She cried. "Take out the lights!"

Through second sight, Erika witnessed the telltale signs of a massive electrical buildup in the minun's body, and she ordered Gwen to fall back.

That's way too fast, Erika observed. For such a high level move, it's gathering electricity quite quickly.

Previously, the plusle was unable to take advantage of the Factory Field due to Gwen's lethal attack, and was forced to defend itself with swift. The minun in front of Gwen had no such compunctions, releasing a textbook discharge in record time and knocking out all the lights in the arena-field.

The few onlookers spectating their match let out a few shouts of surprise at the lost visual, before a low-light camera restored their view.

With uncharacteristic grace, the minun tore through the air towards Gwen and tried to punch her in the face, having realized that direct electrical attacks didn't affect Gwen badly. However, Gwen read the attack easily and hopped out the way. The minun continued its rampage and tried to batter Gwen with electricity-covered fists, briefly lighting up the dark every time it made an attempt, but its attacks never connected.

Gwen danced through the arcs of lightning like a leaf fluttering through wind, gracefully twisting and twirling her way through every attack, much to the frustration of her beleaguered enemy.

"It's just as blind as you are," Erika suggested. "Fill the arena with razor leaves."

Her pokemon obliged and began throwing razor leaves, scattering them like frisbees towards the unfortunate minun. The leaves sailed through the darkness and ricocheted off the walls, turning the entire arena into a death trap for the minun. It was instantly forced onto the defensive, now panicking and giving its commands to back up and focus on defense.

Erika sniffed when she saw the minun summon electricity from the apparently not so defunct generator, bringing up a veritable torrent to shield itself from all the flying leaves.

Her earlier comment about the minun being just as blind as Gwen was a joke, and both she and her opponent knew it. How else were both parties moving about and attacking and dodging in pitch darkness? Erika suspected that the minun was doing something fancy with sensing electrical current, and using the natural current in her pokemon's body to track its movements.

As for Gwen, well…

Turns out living as a slum rat in the Underbelly of Celadon has its benefits, Erika sneered. Over half a year of living with me and exploring the underground slums has honed Gwen's low light vision to a tee. Imagine trying to challenge me on my home ground!

Gwen leapt for the minun again, weaving through the storm of bouncing leaves with ease and rapidly approaching the minun. Amidst the panicked glares of the minun and its trainer, Gwen spat out a mass of acid through the electrical barrier, watching it sizzle and boil and ultimately make it through to scorch the minun's skin.

"I surrender!" Erika's opponent shouted as she recalled her pokemon. She only had time to glare at Erika briefly before rushing out to get her pokemon to the EMT. In comparison, Erika found the time to do a little curtsy and bow, and elegantly returned Gwen to her ball. I sure hope the VODs of my battles will be interesting.

As Erika walked off the stadium to go grab a drink, she heard the sound of clapping from the bleachers, and turned her head to see none other than Keta.

"Well well well," Keta said, smiling at her. "To the victor, the spoils. That was an excellent fight Erika."

Erika preened, playing at false modesty. "Well, it was a hard won battle. I had to try very hard… not."

Both she and Keta had a laugh at that. "So, why were you here to spectate anyways? Did your matches finish early?"

"I'm still waiting for my third actually," he admitted. "I came over since I heard you were fighting in your third, and surprise surprise, I found you battling my cousin."

"That's your cousin?"

Keta spread his hands. "You got me. That's my cousin Andraste from Vermillion. We're from the same clan technically, but I never liked her anyways."

"Is she just here for fun?" Erika wondered. "Doesn't Vermillion have youth tournaments of their own?"

"Well, we do, but they take place at different dates. Andraste probably wanted to get some experience before competing for real, and doing her first gym challenge," Keta told her. "On a sadder note, it seems that I will not get to fight against you unless we both make it to the finals, since we're on the opposite ends of the bracket. That's looking less and less likely, considering I got paired up against that freak Aster who has a graveller, and that this tournament is single elimination format."

By now, the arena had been cleaned out and the next round's competitors were walking in, so she and Keta had to exit. Keta escorted Erika out before bidding her farewell, having to rush off to fight in his third match.

Rising Stars stipulated that only three rounds would take place each day, in order to provide enough time for trainers to recover in between matches, so Erika didn't have any reason to stay any longer. She took a hotel cab back to the Grand Verdant and resumed her training with Mordred and Gwen, giving her second some extra chocolate for her efforts in the first three matches.

After getting a complete physical and treatment for her electrical burns, Gwen was all good to join Mordred in practicing techniques with Erika, and soaking in healing spring after hours. Erika avoided sleep altogether and instead meditated the whole night, something that the ranger corps booklet claimed to be a superior replacement compared to regular sleep, since it kept you aware of your surroundings, functioned as training, and let you recover all at the same time.

---

RISING STARS GAUNTLET DAY 2

Erika showed up to the tournament venue in a crisp jacket and snug boots, both of which had been acquired from her shopping adventure in the Glass Helix. She was pleasantly surprised to discover that her fourth round opponent was a man named Carter Kane, a bug specialist belonging to Celadon's progressive faction.

The two of them glared at each other and butted heads, but it was only for show to Erika. Carter seemed to take it to heart.

Truthfully speaking, she frankly didn't care about the petty conflict between the Celadon Conservatives and Progressives.

The hogwash which she spouted to Fulton about the progressives destroying the wilderness for city expansion and industrialization was very much true, but the conservatives weren't much better in actuality. They were very elitist and detached from the populace, and their policies reflected that.

The heavy pushes for industrialization by the progressives would eventually lead to greater prosperity for the middle and lower classes, but that was far down the line, and the people living in the present had to suffer the effects of choking smog and seeing their beloved wilderness be destroyed. On the other hand, the conservatives stood staunchly against change, and enforced a strict system of social hierarchy which had persisted for centuries. As of recent years, they were beginning to become more meritocratic as they lost more of their voter base to the youth-appealing progressives, but change was slow to happen.

However, none of that really mattered for Erika, who only cared about her own personal benefit. Even if I didn't manage to draw Milly's attention, my skill in battle and monstrous affinity eventually would have garnered respect. Coupled with my grass specialization, becoming part of the conservative inner circle was already a done deal.

Even though they were meant to be factional enemies, Erika needed to keep up her image for the cameras, so she stuck out her hand and offered it to Carter. "Let's have a good match."

Instead of shaking her hand, Carter ignored it and turned his nose. "No match with a highborn daughter like you could ever be good. You grass specialists enjoy so much privilege in this city that us commoners can barely keep up, and you still come to try take our spots in tournaments that you don't need to attend."

While Erika couldn't exactly refute the statement that she had been privileged, the privilege that she was able to enjoy had only lasted roughly a week. Prior to that, she had spent over a decade wallowing in the mud and silt of Celadon's Underbelly.

"I wasn't born to money," Erika told Carter politely. "But regardless of whether I was born to money or not, the end result of this match is still going to be me utterly destroying you."

Since you're refusing my toast, then I'll force you to drink a forfeit! Never let it be said that Erika was a magnanimous person. For his insult, Erika was going to thrash him.

She too turned her head away and walked up to her podium, settling in and palming Gwen's pokeball to ready herself.

Erika counted down the timer on the tv screen and studied Carter patiently. He's Unsighted. No wonder he's so bitter.

Not everyone could awaken their second sight. For some like Erika, the process was easy and took a scant few seconds. For others, they might need to meditate for years and practice controlling their auras before finally being able to peer through the veil of reality. Carter was obviously in the latter group. Furthermore, type specialists typically found it much easier to awaken second sight due to their purer auric compositions, so the fact that Carter remained Unsighted was a testament either to his incompetence, or his laziness. Erika didn't care enough to figure out which.

The seconds on the timer ticked down, and Erika tensed as the referee blew his whistle and sharply cracked the air with his flag.

Both trainers launched their pokeballs at the same time, and Gwen appeared on the field along with a combee. A good counter to grass types - but not Gwen!

The arena was set to Rocky Field, which yielded no elemental nor environmental advantages to either side, so Erika commanded Gwen to spit acid immediately at the combee.

Thanks to its small frame and agile wings, it easily dodged the mass of acid, zipping and zooming this way and that in an attempt to confound Erika. When flying energy began gathering in its wings, Erika capitalized on the combee's momentary pause to have Gwen spew acid at it. Although it tried to dodge, the acid still clipped its fragile wings and downed it.

Carter recalled his pokemon quickly and threw out his second with an angry look. "Pineco, use Pin Missile!"

"Leaf up!" Erika roared at Gwen. "Then punish it!"

Gwen grew her head leaves and then slammed her head to the ground to detach them, erecting a large wall like leaf in front of her just as the pineco exploded outward, ejecting its frontal spikes and shuttling them toward Gwen. Many of the spikes and pins which would have put holes through Gwen were intercepted by the triple layered leaf barrier in front of her, and what little got through posed minimal risk to her.

She coiled her legs and pounced, getting as close to the pineco as she possibly could. Carter's eyes widened as he recognized the attack Gwen prepared to use, and he screamed at his pokemon. "Light Screen! Block it!"

"Too late!" Erika shouted. "Acid, maximum potency!"

This time, Gwen didn't hold back. She concentrated the poisons in her body to their absolute limits, to the point that she started withering again, and spewed the same steel melting, bone dissolving concoction that utterly thrashed the Claw grunts from the week prior. Despite the light screen being raised in time, the acid still managed to reach the pineco.

Angry purple drops of liquid hissed and steamed through the psychic shield, corroding the barrier and paring down its integrity until it finally collapsed, and the acid began to drip down onto the pineco which had shed its frontal pins. The pineco began rattling and screeching, which Erika took as screams of pain, and encouraged Gwen to spray even more acid down.

Carter didn't hesitate to order his pokemon to run away. "Get out of there and regrow your pins!"

The pineco bounced away using the tip of its cone like body, and started secreting a sticky fluid that instantly hardened upon contact with the air. Erika watched in fascination as it formed a facsimile of its former shell and spikes with the crystallized fluid, and it made to shoot them at Gwen once more.

However, Erika was having none of that. "Go for the kill Gwen! Target the regrown parts of its body!"

Carter began panicking after hearing her say that, and Erika smirked. She had studied the local pokemon species extensively, and knew that the fluid which the pineco secreted was a form of sticky proto-resin. Wild pineco utilized it to attach tree bark onto themselves, and used internal pressures to compress the bark into their bodies to form their signature shells. The fluid itself hardened quickly and could be used as a substitute shell, but it was weak and would collapse upon encountering a strong enough force.

With a high pitched war cry, Gwen homed in on the pineco and twisted, levering her body around to add momentum to her descending blow. Thanks to her accuracy training with Erika, she accurately struck the newly hardened resin covering the pineco's internals and cleaved through, her head leaves' bladed edges slicing it like a hot knife through butter. Her blow sent up an arterial spray of green blood but halted midway instead of cleaving through, thanks to the extraordinary density of the pineco's internals. Carter recalled his pokemon quickly.

"I admit defeat!" Carter shouted as he ran. "Stop the match!"

"Victory in round four goes to Erika Caldwell!" The referee announced.

Carter gave Erika a look which promised something along the lines of 'this isn't over,' and stormed away, off to the EMT like all her previous opponents.

Erika flashed the victory sign at the camera. "That's four for four!"

Having dominated the previous four fights, Erika was beginning to rapidly build up her confidence and momentum. There was an unstoppable air about her as she moved, as if demanding people to part for her, and knowing that they would do so.

Erika's walk to the round five arena was the best walk of her life, because she did it with unashamed and unabashed confidence. Even though Erika knew that each proceeding round meant harder and tougher trainers, she still didn't care, because she had absolute certainty in herself and the surety that she would triumph.

Now that she had made it to round five, the number of in person spectators sky rocketed. Since the RSG had eight rounds, each proceeding round meant that the number of participants sharply dropped, and the concentration of spectators per match would increase.

As Erika waited for her fifth round opponent to appear and the arena bleachers to fill up, she grabbed an apple and a bottle of soda from a nearby vendor and sat down to think.

Gwen is still holding strong, but there are still more than four rounds left. Sooner or later, I'm going to encounter someone who will force Mordred out.

Erika wasn't looking forward to that. She wanted to hold him up her sleeve until the very last moment, but there was a high likelihood that she would be forced to utilize Mordred to win in this round or the next. Obviously, the best case scenario is Mordred being able to hide until the eighth round, but that's not going to happen, given that I saw multiple fire specialists, and Falkner's skarmory.

The matchups displayed on the overhead tv screen informed Erika that she would meet with Falkner in round seven if he continued his winning streak - which she was confident he would, and either a bug or a fire specialist for her eighth round.

Her seventh round would be the hardest, possibly even more than the last, since Falkner's skarmory countered her team in every single aspect. Its dual steel and flying type provided twice the elemental resistance to her team's grass, and long range movies like leaf tornado and razor leaf would be practically ineffective. Acid - Gwen's staple long range attack, could very slowly char away at the metal on the skarmory's body, but the steel typing of the bird would resist the poison.

Acid, like all moves, had two components - a physical component, and an auric component. In the case of acid, the physical component was the literal acid being sprayed, while the auric component was the poison aura within.

Erika had the pH of Gwen's maximum strength acid tested once - it came out as something around 2, which definitely wasn't enough to quickly dissolve metal, even though it would happen with time. However, as evidenced by her attack on the Claw base, Gwen was able to easily corrode a meter-thick metal wall in under a minute. Why was the acid stronger in actual practice than its pH suggested?

This phenomenon could be attributed entirely to the poison aura inside the acid. Under the magnification of poison aura, the acid gained in strength and potency hundredfold that of what its actual qualities might enable it to do.

The unfortunate part of this situation was that when dealing with steel type pokemon like Falkner's skarmory which were innately filled with steel aura, the poison aura inside Gwen's acid would be elementally resisted and unable to magnify the acid attack. The auric component of the attack would be taken out, leaving only the physical part - the actual acid itself, which could only slowly eat away at the metal. In a similar vein, if you ever ran out of aura, your moves would lose the auric empowerment behind them and just behave as they would normally.

Even if Gwen accurately hit the skarmory with acid often, it would take hours to even strip off a few layers of its dense metal armor, let alone disable and down the bird. That wasn't accounting for the fact that the skarmory could fly and soar through the air, and easily dodge all of Gwen's attacks.

Gwen wouldn't be able to seriously hurt the skarmory, of that Erika was sure. She would need Mordred's help for that. A glare boosted mean look might be enough to down the skarmory, Erika considered. Mordred could seed the bird with life draining leech vines and pin it on the ground to eliminate its aerial advantage... But that would require being able to hit the bird first from the ground.

Erika was certain Falkner would just have his skarmory bombard her pokemon with air cutters and obscene wind attacks from the sky. She already had a few countermeasures in mind to try out, but that would have to wait for after she got home.

Her fifth round opponent finally arrived as well.

This time, Erika's opponent was a normal type specialist. The boy was practically brimming with normal aura, which manifested as a sort of pale white under her second sight. He wore sandals with a casual tee, but the thing that threw Erika off was the fact that he only had one pokeball clipped to his waist - a great ball, just like she did for Mordred.

Great balls were expensive proprietary technology developed to increase overall capture rate for all types of pokemon, unlike the other pokeball variants already in existence which targeted specific groups of pokemon. Erika was lucky to find a great ball among the Claw grunt's possessions when she was raiding the base, and she figured that it was probably being prepared for one of the pokemon in the cargo.

Having a great ball was usually a good sign that you had influence or money, and Erika had received many envious looks at the ball clipped to her waist. On a few forum sites, her mysterious great ball was apparently already being discussed since she never revealed its contents despite her winning streak.

The question now was: what was inside her opponent's sole great ball?

Erika critically examined the name of her opponent on the tv-screen, committing it to memory as someone to take note of. Hayato Nikos. An odd name, combining both Old Kantonian and Sinnohoan influences. His last name rang a bell in Erika's memory, but she struggled to place it initially, until she remembered his normal type specialization.

A member of the Nikos Family - an old clan based in Goldenrod, Johto. Erika's eyes narrowed. Clan trainers tended to be much better battlers on average. Her third round opponent was also a clan trainer from Vermillion's White Family, and she put up a good fight - better than Erika's fourth round opponent.

Making it to the fifth round proved that Hayato was competent and definitely powerful. He's someone worth befriending.

"I hope we have a good match," Erika told Hayato politely, taking the initiative to reach out and shake his hand. "I'm looking forward to having an exciting match with a fellow specialist."

She took note of his relaxed posture and casual attire, thinking about how greatly it contrasted with her own garb. He had flip flops and a blue tee on in comparison to Erika's kimono and wooden sandals, and his face practically screamed laid back and lazy. It's almost as if he's unbothered by everything. Is he just confident in himself, or is it something else?

Hayato scratched his head bashfully at Erika's words. "I hope so too, but I fear that it won't be as exciting as you want. My pokemon is… special."

Is he saying he's going to crush me easily? With his one pokemon?

Erika narrowed her eyes. "We'll see about that."

The referee called them both up to the podium to stand, and the opaque psychic barrier shielding the arena was turned transparent, revealing a rocky expanse with a small hill and some trees. Mountain Field. I can work with that.

Erika readied her herself, grasping at Gwen's pokeball and palming it. She rested her index onto the pointer, preparing to toss the ball into the sky the moment the cameras started rolling.

There was a brief motion from the referee and a whistle blow, and the match had begun. "Start!"

With practiced grace, Erika hit the release button on her ball and threw it sky high, letting the pokeball send Gwen down onto the arena in a dazzling line of red. What came next shocked Erika. A second mountain… had appeared. No - it was a snorlax!

The hairs on her body started rising involuntarily as adrenaline flooded Erika's system, and her brain started running at full speed. Snorlax?! Already? That thing is a monster! It's larger than the arena's miniature mountain, and it's probably still prebuscent!

"Fume Hood!" Erika shouted immediately. "Douse it with maximum strength amnestics and run around until the snorlax falls asleep!"

Gwen's body enlarged like a deflated football having air pumped in, swelling up multiple times until she finally belched out a greenish mass up into the air. It sailed upwards as high as it could possibly go and then detonated, scattering sleep powder particles absolutely everywhere within the arena.

The audience immediately began laughing.

"You didn't have to do that girlie!"

"That damn thing was going to sleep anyways!"

Huh? Erika looked at the snorlax more closely. Its eyes were tightly shut, and its mouth was curled into a goofy smile, as if it were having a nice dream. That damn thing is already asleep! Were Gwen's amnestics that effective? The snorlax is so large though! It should take way longer for the sleep powder to work its way through its system!

"Was your pokemon asleep even before the match began?" Erika asked in disbelief. "This is an official tournament! What are you doing?"

Hayato shrugged helplessly. "That's just how Larry is. He sleeps almost 23 out of 24 hours a day. Don't worry though, he can still fight. Let me show you right now! Larry, sleep talk!"

Erika tensed up as she saw a buildup of psychic aura in the snorlax and immediately called out to Gwen. "Evasive maneuvers, like we practiced!"

Gwen shot towards the mountain and dove behind, using the artificial rock formation as cover from the snorlax's inevitable attack. Erika braced herself… and braced herself some more. Very quickly, she realized that nothing had happened - again.

Did it use rest?

Many of the audience members were visibly in tears and laughing at the comical sight. Erika suddenly understood that they had already been witness to this scene multiple times. They're probably fans from Hayato's previous rounds. But that means he must have been able to attack his enemies somehow, since he's here now. The snorlax must have other moves!

"Sleep talk again!" Hayato shouted. "Get up, you lazy oaf!"

This time, the snorlax moved. Its huge, lumbering frame shook the ground as it shifted position, leaning back to lie down on the ground more comfortably. Erika was about to cuss Hayato out from messing with her again when the snorlax lifted one of its arms and dug it into the soil, clawing out a massive chunk of rocky earth.

Her eyes widened when she saw the snorlax draw its arm backwards. "Evade Gwen! Go into the ground!"

With a mighty grunt, the snorlax flung the chunk of rock towards Gwen's position. As it sailed through the air, part of the soil and rock fragmented and broke off, spilling downwards in a shower of dirt particles and loose sediments. Gwen had disappeared underground long ago, so when the rock finally came down and exploded into pieces, she remained uninjured.

"Fume Hood, stun loadout!" Erika ordered. "Target its nose and mouth, and then cover with acid!"

Gwen obliged, inhaling and enlarging, and belched out a yellow blob towards the snorlax. It came in on an arc and burst into fine particles upon making contact with the snorlax's face, covering it completely in yellow. That should inhibit its movements somewhat.

She ran up to the artificial mountain peak and started spraying down acid onto the snorlax below, watching its fur sizzle. However, the acid didn't seem to make any progress other than burning away at the snorlax's fur.

Hayato remained unperturbed. "Sleep talk again! Cmon Larry, stop sleeping! I know you can fight!"

The snorlax was fully unresponsive. It raised an arm weakly, then slumped back to the ground.

"Ugh, fine!" Hayato pulled out a credit card from his pocket and started tapping it. The tap tap noises from the card made the snorlax suddenly pay attention, turning its head towards the sound even though its eyes remained closed. "I'll spend this month's entire allowance on any food you want! All you can eat! Just lift your arms a few more times, please!"

Finally, it clambered into a sitting position, and uprooted an entire tree to throw at Gwen.

"Dodge and counterattack with acid!" Erika shouted to her companion. "Aim for the eyes!"

Gwen dodge the flying tree and accurately spat acid onto the snorlax's eyelids, and Erika watched with satisfaction as the acid began eating away at the thin piece of skin, until she noticed that it was rapidly regrowing. Even the fur which Gwen's acid had previously scorched away was now pristine once more.

"Is it using rest constantly?" Erika said disbelievingly. "That's disgusting!"

Hayato burst out laughing, now joining the audience. "Yes! With Larry's size and constant healing, he's invincible as long as you don't take him out instantly! How's that?"

Erika scowled, trying to think of a counter play.

The snorlax remained completely immobile, even as it grasped for more nearby trees to hurl at Gwen. It physically won't move. It's too lazy. In that case…

"Seed the snorlax with leech seeds!" Erika called out. "Cover it's entire body and hide yourself away!"

From behind the mountain, Gwen inhaled once more and spat, sending leech seeds flying across on an arc to hit the snorlax. The seeds buried themselves in its dense fur and began absorbing its life force, transmitting it back to empower Gwen. In response, the snorlax shut its eyes tighter, and uprooted another tree to throw.

The fight had become a long range artillery war, with Gwen sending out ocassional globules of acid and leech seeds, whilst the snorlax threw tree after tree and rock after rock from its fixed position.

Gwen had been trained to accurately spit acid and seeds, and the snorlax was so unbelievably large that even if her attacks normally would have been off the mark, they still landed anyways and took root in its fur. On the other hand, due to the mountain blocking the snorlax, it was forced to throw all its rocks and trees on an arc, and most of its projectiles missed Gwen, even if she didn't dodge.

At the same time however, Gwen's leech seeds didn't have much of an effect on the great beast due to how fast the snorlax healed. Even after the seeds sprouted into strangling vines and drained its energy and life force, the snorlax simply slept it off, snoozing soundly and recovering without care.

Neither Erika nor Hayato could do anything to break the stalemate.

Oh right, Erika nearly smacked herself in the head. I could just substitute in Mordred and have him use worry seed to give the snorlax insomnia. That would neatly solve the problem and stop it from healing. However, that means I have to expose his existence. Aargh! This sucks.

The snorlax didn't seem to be slowing down either, showing no signs at all that Gwen's stun spores had affected it. Given how massive it was, even a lethal dose of paralyzing spores probably didn't faze it all. It still seemed to be sleeping soundly and its breathing was regular, and Erika couldn't see it suffering from constricted lungs or airways at all.

Before Erika could do anything though, the snorlax slumped back to the ground from its sitting position and completely gave up and throwing. Hayato's head hung in shame, and he sighed, withdrawing his pokemon. "I surrender!"

"What?"

"You heard me right," Hayato answered her. "Larry is too lazy to keep fighting. He probably realized that the reward I promised him wasn't worth the extra effort, and no matter what I do, he's not going to attack anymore. If we continue the match, he's just going to lie there and do nothing."

"Aren't you a clan trainer?" Erika asked him suspiciously. "You should have more money than that. Just offer your pokemon more!"

"I'm afraid I don't have the money," Hayato laughed. "The Nikos Family is big, and there are many poorer sub branches, like the one I hail from. My monthly allowance is already mostly being spent on feeding this big oaf, and I can't afford to spend any more on convincing Larry to fight."

The referee brought his flag down and whistled, signalling the end of the match. "Victory to Erika Caldwell!"

Even though she had won, Erika felt cheated. It wasn't a true victory which she earned by her own efforts, even though it was relieving to have won. She was sure that with enough pressure, she would have been able to devise a winning strategy against the snorlax's seemingly unassailable healing factor, but Hayato resigned before she could do that.

She exchanged numbers with Hayato before exiting the tournament venue, feeling very mixed about her victory.



AN: Rising stars has begun! Make sure to hit the watch button and drop a like and comment, I love seeing them. As always, there's a server link to my discord for Twisted Garden, if you want to discuss the fic with other fans.

Join the Twisted Library Discord Server!

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[Spectrum]

"If everything goes right, we should have three trump cards that we can play," Erika told Mordred mysteriously. "Now, here's what you're going to do…"

Click to shrink...

Ah good, Erika understand the Unspoken Plan Guarantee.

"I'm afraid I don't have the money," Hayato laughed. "The Nikos Family is big, and there are many poorer sub branches, like the one I hail from. My monthly allowance is already mostly being spent on feeding this big oaf, and I can't afford to spend any more on convincing Larry to fight."

Click to shrink...

While Snorlax is hilarious, I can't think that it's a great choice for your first main pokemon. Great power but poor efficiency seems like it would hamstring you over the long term.

 

[Aleister Adair]

The skin on Erika's left hand burned. When she plunged that acid-soaked knife into her own hand during her oath to Mordred, Erika underestimated the amount of acid left over on the blade. If it wasn't for Fulton's medicine, what she would be experiencing right now wouldn't be searing pain, but nothingness, owing to the probable destruction of the nerves in her hand.

I mean, it's not like I'm complaining. At least I can still use my hand.

The unfortunate downside to keeping her nerves was that Erika could still feel pain - and after over a week of bliss granted by the concentrated blissey egg extract, the medicinal efficacy of the drug had finally run out. Although her left hand was horribly damaged, Erika didn't notice the pain previously since the blissey extract numbed her wound.

Fulton's medicine had done more than prevent total nerve destruction. It had drastically alleviated the pain from driving an acid-riddled knife into her hand, and she was only just realizing this now. Erika was suffering.

Erika anguishedly clenched her fist, doing her best to stifle the raw, nerve-ending pain that made her arm convulse each time she dared to unclench.

Mordred stood to the side with zero sympathy, and through the bond, Erika understood his intention. 'This is your oath. Bear it.'

"Fuck you," Erika said aloud for him to hear. "I didn't mean to put that much acid onto my left hand. It was only supposed to be a few drops, not a fucking puddle!"

Her starter merely shrugged, apathetic to her pain, the little twerp. Erika knew for a fact that he could feel it too, given their deep bond. Little bastard, she thought, as she smeared burn cream and bound up her hand with gauze.

The burning pain that spread through her hand could only be described as exquisite. It wasn't the pain of a cut, nor that of a burn, although Erika had been fortunate to only experience the latter once. No, it was like holding fire itself - the sensation came in waves, billowing across her skin like air currents on palm leaves, sending ripples of pain and shock down her arm every time she moved it even slightly.

Bennet's Burn Cream was a patented burn heal derivative that Erika's hotel room kept stocked, but even that wasn't enough to suppress the pain fully.

In fact, Erika's aura sense actually grew faint because of it; the sensation crowded out all the space her brain had, drowning out her ability to perceive aura. I guess this means I don't need that sour candy, Erika thought morosely. I'll be meditating without burn cream each night.

While she had initially wanted to express-order a shipment of blissey extract, Erika's irascible pride had won out in the end again. Would this really put her down? Her? Someone destined like her, succumbing to a minor acid burn? The mere thought disgusted Erika so much that she swung her fist into the wall in rage, holding in her scream as she did so.

No! She would master her pain, and use it to grow. The pain of her oath, of her bond - she would use it, and let it push her perception of aura to the next level. This was the only thing that Erika would accept. Nothing less.

Erika sunk deep into the meditative state, letting her mind wander amidst the expanse of multicoloured aura around her. It was a strange sensation for sure, feeling the aura and knowing that it was coloured, but being unable to see that colour due to having her eyes shut. Erika could sense the colour, could practically feel it - and then it vanished with the spike of pain that shot up her arm.

Her eyes flew open as she relaxed her arm, letting the pain fully engulf her.

Some blood dribbled down her lip, and Erika realized that she had bit down hard. Calm. Patience. Relax.

Slowly, Erika began to loosen up and sink down. Her breathing grew steady once more, and the pain numbed, and the bright world of aura began to reemerge within her perception.

When Erika next came to, the sun was already shining, spilling its golden rays through the gaps of her curtains and illuminating her pale face. Mordred was missing.

Erika felt both her bonds stretch out beyond the confines of the room, tugging her down a few floors to what surely was the Icefall. Morning training probably, she concluded. Mordred and Gwen are diligent as always.

She made sure to carefully move her left hand, ensuring that it didn't brush hard against the coarse gauze it was wrapped within and rang up the front desk for breakfast. She left the phone hanging by the cord and stepped into the transparent shower, disrobing and steaming herself with hot water until she felt alive once more. Her hand was suspended high above her head, angled away from the showerhead - because Erika was pretty certain that if hot water got onto her wound right now, she would be miserable for the rest of the day.

Although Erika had a match coming up soon, she took her time in the shower. For the final three rounds of the RSG, each match was scheduled to take place in the evening, and there would only be one match per day to maximise viewership. Since there was no rush, Erika carefully scrubbed herself down using the exfoliating soap provided until her skin was red and cleaned it off with warm water.

When she stepped out of the shower, the ceiling grew transparent and let solar light beam down onto her, supercharging her healing factor and numbing her left hand even more.

Erika was about to head down to meet with Mordred and Gwen when she noticed a sheaf of neatly bound papers stacked by her bed, so she picked it up to examine the cover page.

SWORD PSYCHIC - LEAGUE THREAT ANALYSIS
One of the three major psychic aura groups, sword psychics belong to an ancient school of sword practitioners who blend inherited psychic abilities with swordsmanship to create so-called 'flying swords' which can be remotely controlled via the mind. Before transcending the external and reaching the inherited, sword psychics cannot use their signature sword kinesis, which allows for free-form remote control of swords, and instead rely on their psychic pokemon to wield blades in their place. Out of all the psychic schools, sword psychics prioritize telekinesis the most, disregarding the need for other applications of psychic aura in favor of the 'way of the sword. [see more at Psychic Classification Vol. 3, p.155].

Unlike other psychic schools, sword psychics are not information hazards or security threats and are not societally dangerous. However, their frontal combat ability rivals dragon masters. Should an unlawful sword psychic need to be confronted, rangers are advised to call in specialized hit teams with anti-domain training for assassination strikes instead of engaging on their own.

The following pages showed images of various people enveloped in glowing light and controlling flying swords that revolved around their person. One image in particular astonished Erika, depicting a flying sword decapitating a man from over a few kilometres away.

Her eyes widened with every page that she flipped through. Did Fulton send me this?

Erika was confused for a second before realizing that her sixth-round opponent was likely one of the aforementioned sword psychics, and Erika's face grew grim.

"What the hell is a sword psychic doing in a newbie tournament?" Erika cursed loudly. "Does he have too much free time?"

The final page in the stack of papers was clearly a profile of some sort, with an attached image and description. Fulton had clearly meant for Erika to study her opponent before fighting with him, and her face grew even darker at the thought. That means Fulton isn't confident I'm going to win, or at least thinks that I need more preparation.

Only one pokemon was listed on the profile below the image of dark-haired boy in loose robes - an abra. There was a question mark where his second, or possibly first pokemon should have been, indicating that he hadn't revealed it yet.

A horrifying thought suddenly entered Erika's mind.

Erika remembered a scene from the slums where one of her rivals stole her food. He had somehow scrounged up a pokeball and caught an abra with it, and chased her away. Although his pokemon was still young, the telekinetic blasts it fired at Erika could easily batter her to the ground and send her flying. She had barely escaped and vowed revenge on him.

Heaven for the strong. Hell for the weak. The Underbelly of Celadon was not a nice place, and one had to be ruthless to survive - not only toward enemies, but also yourself. Because of that boy, Erika was forced to abandon months worth of food that she had painstakingly scavenged - clean food, the likes of which street rats like her shouldn't have been able to eat.

There was a common saying in the slums - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. While most street rats lived by this basic principle of give and take, Erika preferred a different version. What was the point anyways, in returning enmity?

If someone stole from her, should she just steal back? Obviously not.

By stealing from that boy, it would incite him to take revenge on her. She was just creating future enmity and trouble for nothing. What then, was the correct solution here? Peace? As if.

Her solution was simple and direct. Kill him.

Erika herself knew that she couldn't touch him after he managed to bond an abra, but his pokemon was still young and weak, and most importantly - untrained. To repay her enmity with the boy, Erika went around spreading rumors about how he had several months worth of clean food - her own food, which she had amassed previously. Erika knew the hiding place exactly since she had been the one to stockpile her food there, so it didn't take long for her to whip up a crowd of street rats and incite them to go raid the stockpile.

The temptation of that much food drew in street rats like a moth to flame, and under the ambush of dozens of kids, the boy and his abra couldn't hold on and was eventually killed.

Erika's principles had always been clear. Whatever someone did to her, she would return hundredfold, regardless of whether it was enmity or kindness. Milly had already been marked down as one of her benefactors, and once Erika rose to prominence, she wouldn't forget to help Milly out. As for those who harmed her… she would pursue them to the ends of the earth.

During that chase telekinetic blasts the abra released weren't strong enough to severely injure her - only bruise, let alone kill. However, what if that abra had been controlling a sword? An image of a flying sword spearing through Erika's abdomen flashed through her mind, making her snarl. I need to revise our training for today.

Erika headed straight for the elevator to meet with Mordred and Gwen, and continued going through the profile as she descended.

Her opponent was named Kong Hou, born in Northeastern Kanto, Pewter. He was recruited as a child into a sword psychic school called the Jie School, and had just recently been sent out to gain experience in the world. Like Erika, he had yet to gain his first badge, but Fulton's report estimated that he was beyond one-badge strength, similar to Erika.

No other mention was made of his fighting style or abilities due to a lack of available data. Although he did fight in the preliminaries and advanced through five rounds, his abra only demonstrated basic telekinesis and didn't reveal any sword kinesis. Fulton was able to infer that he was a sword psychic based on his habits - Kong Hou always used his right hand to reach for his waist every match unconsciously, and he would stand in a stance clearly meant for drawing a weapon, despite not having one on hand. From there, he had sent people to investigate Kong Hou's background, and sent the results to Erika.

Fulton underlined a sentence beneath the question mark on his pokemon team saying, 'likely to have a variant psychic honedge as his starter.' Erika didn't question the validity of Fulton's information, even despite knowing that honedge were ghost pokemon. It wasn't until she got down to the training floor that she saw Kong Hou's aura type.

Aura Type: Sword Aura (Psychic/Steel)

What the hell is sword aura?

When she swung the doors to the training room open, Erika was unsurprised to see Mordred standing beneath the torrential downpour of the Icefall next to Gwen. He was exerting his will over a group of soaked leaves, forcing them to move through the falling water and fight against the downpour. Gwen was training her legs again, squating and leaping upwards repeatedly before whirling her head to train her neck.

Erika nodded approvingly, and was about to call them over when she spotted Milly sitting at one of the tables on the artificial beach beyond the basin of the Icefall.

"Milly? What are you doing here?" Erika asked in surprise. "I didn't know you got up this early!"

Milly's face brightened, and she took the chance to explain a bit more of her family history to Erika.

"It's a family thing. The Beldings observe ancient customs," Milly explained patiently. "We rise together with the sun everyday, and not a moment later. It's also the period of time at which-"

Milly hesitated, as if realizing she was about to blurt something out which she shouldn't do. "Actually, I don't think it's appropriate for you to know about the last part. If you were willing to join my family as a vassal then I could tell you… but you're probably not willing right?"

"Definitely not," Erika agreed. "I have big plans."

Her friend just shrugged in a 'oh well' manner. "I thought as much. Having you as a friend is good too. Anyways, your pokemon are doing great! Even my own pokemon aren't as diligent. I usually have to coax them into morning training."

"They're pretty good yeah," Erika replied absently mindedly, still thinking about her sixth opponent. Inspiration struck her after saying that, as she realized that she was standing before an extremely knowledgeable and well learned heiress. "Say, Milly, have you heard of sword psychics before? I've got it on good authority that I have to fight one next round."

"Sword psychic?" Milly blurted out. "Those guys are nuts. Who told you that you'd have to fight one?"

Erika hesitated a little, before deciding to be honest with Milly.

"My uncle saw one of the competitors in my bracket reach for his waist at the start of every match," Erika told her. "He also took weird stances instinctively, before correcting himself. My uncle guessed that he was probably used to wielding a sword, and coupled with the fact that he has an abra, it wasn't hard to draw a conclusion."

Milly didn't respond immediately, and she had a strange look on her face. "Have you ever heard of variant aura, Erika?"

"No, should I have?"

"Definitely not," Milly responded. "I'd be much more surprised if you did know. Only real Initiates who have bonded at least one pokemon are allowed to learn about concepts like variant aura, and even then, most of the time no one is there to tell them about it. Knowing about it is basically useless, because the vast majority of people don't have variant aura."

Erika looked at Milly carefully before speaking. "I'm guessing that my opponent this round is one of those rare trainers with variant aura then?"
"Not just your opponent," Milly corrected quickly. "All sword psychics have what is called a variant aura - sword aura, to be precise. It's formed from a precise ratio of steel and psychic aura, and requires multiple supplementary materials to induce the fusion. The precise ratio and materials needed are a tightly guarded secret kept by each Sword School, and even I can't tell you anything about it."

"So that's what it is!" Erika burst out. "Wait a second, wouldn't having two types of aura make them generalists? Why would you give up the advantages of being a specialist just to have two weaker types?"

Milly simply pointed at Erika without explanation. Before she could even ask a question, Erika felt herself becoming violently ill, and her skin started burning before the sensation subsided. She nearly leapt backwards out of instinct from the feeling. "What the hell was that?"

"It's my family's signature Nightshade aura," Milly casually told explained. "We blend grass and poison together, and catalyze it to create a unique variant aura."

"Also, watch your language," Milly admonished, although half-heartedly.

Erika was dumbfounded. "You've got a variant aura too?"

And as if trying to back up her own statement, she activated her second sight to peer through Milly, and found nothing but a dense gathering of green grass aura. "How are you not a grass specialist? I can't see anything except grass aura on you at all!!"

"Even if you look harder, you won't see anything different," Milly said to dissuade her. "Nightshade aura is impossible to tell apart from regular grass aura. If you actually could see through it, I'd have to silence you," Milly joked.

Mordred's head poked out of the Icefall at the threat, and he and Gwen wandered over to sit next to Erika.

Milly smirked a little. "Stop worrying, I was kidding."

"Wait, you haven't answered my question yet," Erika said hurriedly, her mind burning with curiosity. "Are you a specialist then? Are the sword psychics specialists?"

"Let's start from the beginning," Milly told her, pulling out a deck chair and beckoning Erika to sit. Erika forced herself down despite her impatience and waited for Milly to get into lecture mode.

"Do you know what the fundamental difference between a generalist and a specialist is?" Milly asked directly.

"It's purity," Erika declared with confidence. "A mixed aura with multiple types makes you a generalist, while a pure aura devoid of all but one type makes you a specialist."

Milly shook her head with a smile.

"You're wrong," she said, shocking Erika. "Although, you're not entirely off the mark. You're thinking about it the wrong way. Generalists don't have mixed aura - they have a heterogenous aura. Specialists don't have pure aura - they have a homogenous aura. Would you like me to explain why I'm still considered a specialist, or can you guess that yourself?"

Erika's mind spun. "You mean…"

"Yes!" Milly was grinning eagerly now, enjoying the look of shock on Erika's face. "If you can blend two types of aura in a precise ratio such that they become completely homogenous, you can become a specialist of multiple types! Not only will it not interfere with advancing into the External, but you'll also be able to bond multiple types of pokemon like a generalist, and receive the boost from being a specialist! That's precisely what a variant aura is!"

"Sword aura must be formed from psychic and steel!" Erika realized suddenly. Shit. I need to watch out for both steel and psychic type pokemon now. My sixth round opponent can bond with pokemon from both types!

"You told me already that your nightshade aura is formed by melding poison and grass… are there other variant auras out there?"

"Certaintly, although you should slow down a bit. I haven't even finished talking," Milly admonished her again.

"How much has your ranger uncle taught you about the Inherited?" Milly quizzed. "He's an ace, which means he's definitely transcended the External and reached the Inherited. Give me your baseline. How much do you know?"
"Not much," Erika admitted straitforwardly. "I know the basics. I know that upon reaching the Inherited, trainers will be able to attain supernatural powers related to their speciality type. Are you telling me that variant aura trainers get multiple powers?"

"Nope," Milly corrected again. " All specialists will only ever have one main power which defines their type - and this is an unvioable rule, even for a variant specialist like me. However, what a variant specialist can do is obtain auxiliary powers from different elemental types."

Even Mordred and Gwen were listening intently now, having been drawn in by Milly's fantastical explanation.

"What's the difference between a main and auxiliary power?" Erika asked directly.

"The main power for every type is the same," Mily answered after thinking for a moment. "For example, all flying specialists who reach Inherited will gain the ability to fly, which is actually how their type got their name. Otherwise, they would have been called Wind specialists, or something else."

Milly pulled out her phone and searched up a video to show Erika. She saw a man levitate off the ground and soar through the air, performing loops and twirls and backflips while guided by an invisible power that kept his body aloft. "This is the flying type main power - flight."

Erika wasn't too shocked by the video, because flight was one of the more well known abilities, since it featured in many comics and manga books that she used to read. "What's an auxiliary power then?"

"Anything that isn't a main power is lumped into the auxiliary power category," Milly explained. "That goes for everything from bodily adaptions to your type, to type-specfiic powers that can be practiced and learned. If we continue with the flying type example, some auxiliary powers might include hollow bones and air sacs, an adaptation for more efficient flight, and the ability to control the wind."

"Our ability to absorb light from the sun might be an auxiliary power then," Erika realized. "It's a bodily adaptation resulting from our grass specialization right?"

"Spot on," Milly remarked. "Even before reaching the Inherited, trainers will begin to mutate and develop unique bodily adaptations beneficial to their specialization. However, this is already the limit - to gain a main power before inherited is impossible, nor can the more advanced auxiliary powers be practiced. The only changes you'll see happening are bodily ones during the Initiate and External stages."

After punching in a few keys, Milly passed the phone to Erika again. It was a wiki page with a table listing of auxiliary powers. "Each elemental type has a wide range of known or possible auxiliary powers that you can acquire or learn. Specialists from other types will not be able to acquire the same auxiliary powers - you won't ever see anyone other than a grass specialist photosynthesizing or healing in sunlight like us."

"So when you said that variant specialists can obtain auxiliary powers from different types," Erika said slowly, "that means you can get poison type auxillary powers and grass type auxiliary powers?"

"That's correct," Milly agreed. "However, our main power is unique. Us variant specialists will not get a main power from either of our types. Remember what I said about specialists being homogeneous. I have a single aura type - nightshade. Therefore, I will also inherit only one main power, just like a regular specialist. The only difference is that the power I inherit is unique to nightshade aura users. You won't ever find a grass or poison ace trainer with a main ability like my family's.

"Could I become a variant specialist?" Erika asked curiously. "There seem to far more advantages to doing so than becoming a regular grass specialist. You get increased type coverage and a unique main power, and a wider pool of auxiliary powers. What do I have to do to turn my aura into a variant one?"

"I don't think you could ever develop a variant aura," Milly told her honestly. "Your grass aura is so ridiculously vast that it would drown out any other elemental type. Quantity wise, even if you forced yourself to develop other types of aura, the ratio of grass to other types would huge, and there are no variant aura formulas which call for 99.99% grass aura and a miniscule amount of other aura types."

That's certainly a shame, although it doesn't change my plans. I'm still confident I can charge to the top with my grass specialization.

"If I did think you could form variant aura, I would have offered you a temporary vassalship," Milly added. "My family's nightshade aura is actually very compatible with you."

"Since, we've covered specialists and variant specialists, what do you think about generalists?" Milly continued. "What sort of main power do they get?"

Erika thought about it. "Multiple weaker powers?"

"That's generally the case," Milly agreed. "We consider generalists to be crippled Inheritors. They inherit weak, fractional main powers, compared to the mighty power that specialists can all attain. If we use our earlier example, a generalist who has bonded flying types might only be able to hover a few meters off the ground, or glide slowly, compared to a specialist who can fly at extreme speed."

"That can't be," Erika said suddenly. "What's the point of being a generalist then? Reaching the External as a generalist is harder, you inherit weak abilities after advancing to Inherited and becoming an ace trainer… even your pokemon grow more slowly as a generalist due to your mixed - I mean heterogenous aura. Why would you ever become a generalist?"

Wait - no, there is a reason!

"It's combat strength, isn't it?" Erika's eyes blazed. "Generalists can always fight with a type advantage due to their diverse team and versatility of movesets. They're weak in the early stages because of their slow growth speed, but later on they can dominate in battles. Wait a second…"

Milly patiently waited, enjoying Erika's rambling thought process.

"There has to be a downside as well," Erika declared suddenly. "Otherwise, everyone with money and resources would commit to being a generalist instead of a specialist. Who doesn't want to be better at battling? Correct me if I'm wrong Milly, but your personal strength declines as a generalist right? That has to be the case, since you inherit weaker powers!"

This time, Milly gave Erika a standing applause and clapped her hands. "I'm impressed. That was a good chain of logic. You're right Erika, your personal strength does decline as a generalist, but in return, you get an overwhelmingly powerful advantage in competitive settings if you build your team properly. However, what if you aren't in a competitive setting?"

Milly released a bulbasaur onto the ground next to Erika, and made a mock-vicious face. "What if I order Sauron to attack you right now?"

"Mordred would protect me," Erika said confidently. "I have pokemon for a reason."

"Sure," Milly shrugged. "What if I had a gun though? What if Mordred and Gwen were busy? Or what if they were occupied with fighting other pokemon? If you were a generalist with weak inherited powers in a real world, life or death situation… you'd die!"

"So that's why!" Erika mumbled feverishly. "It makes sense now! That's why you don't see many generalist aces - it's because they all die while exploring the wilds or fighting against other aces!"

"They don't have many personal life preservations means," Milly agreed. "Outside of the protective shield of their aura, they can only order their pokemon to assist them. If you're smart, you can definitely make it as a generalist ace, but if you're ever separated from your pokemon, you're basically finished."

"What I just explained to you was one of the many arguments between the Generalist and Specialist Schools of Thought, by the way. There are a lot of purists in the Generalist School of Thougth who argue that pokemon training is all about the bond - why pursue personal strength when the true meaning of training is about teamwork? Obviously, the Specialists School of Thought always shouts back that generalists can't bond with their pokemon to the same degree as a specialist due to their heterogenous aura, and won't be able to grow their pokemon to the same degree, and so on, so forth. The arguments are endless."

We're wildly off track, Erika thought suddenly. Still, that was extremely useful knowledge.

Erika turned to Milly and cupped her hands, giving her a slight nod of genuine respect. "Thank you once again Milly. I appreciate the lesson, but I have to go prepare for my evening match. Can you send me whatever information you have on the Jie School's sword psychics?"

"Of course," Milly said warmly. "Don't forget to come celebrate with me after you win!"

"I definitely will," Erika vowed seriously. "I owe you one. Mordred, Gwen! Let's go!"

Her two pokemon snapped to attention and formed ranks behind her, standing ramrod straight as they filed out of the Icefall chamber and toward one of the empty training rooms.

"This is all theoretical for now," Milly reminded Erika as she left. "Don't worry about the nuances of main and auxiliary powers. The only thing relevant to your fight is your opponent's ability to bond steel and psychic pokemon, since the both of you are still Initiate trainers."

—————————————————————————————————————————

Fulton's face was grim.

A ranger had been murdered - and gruesomely.

Far out from the inner city and near the wilds bordering the Outskirts, Fulton found himself staring down at a badly mutilated corpse with little to no remaining identifying features. The only thing that served to elucidate the dead body's status as a ranger was his capture stylus, which lay half shattered on the ground, its circuitry and battery exposed for him to see.

Now, if the man had died in a clash with one of the local gangs, Fulton might not have been so concerned. After all, quite a few local gangs harboured ace trainers as bosses, including his own organization, the Claws. However, most of those gang leaders tended to be newly rated one-star aces, and the stars branded on the dead ranger's capture stylus indicated that he had already earned his second ace star.

It can't be Winfred, Fulton thought, giving the crime scene a deep look. His fighting style is brutish and straightforward. He utilizes blunt force strikes and overwhelming force to destroy people. The wounds on this body indicate that it was lacerated apart.

Anyways, Fulton was sure that even if Winfred had been the one to commit the murder, he wouldn't have been careless enough to leave the corpse behind. While Fulton's boss was a violent and barbaric man, he was also intelligent and ruthless. Such a man would never leave incriminating evidence like this behind, even if his body was deteriorating from the double hit of age and a five-star ghost's curse.

The old coot probably can hold on for another decade at most, Fulton thought viciously. Fighting-type aces like him should normally be able to maintain their peak physical form until they die, but he's been cursed so badly that he can't even hold on until 70 years.

The only question now was: who killed the ranger?

Given the rather limited number of rangers within Celadon, seeing one of their number perish was a terrible sign. Even though Fulton's loyalties didn't lie with the League, he was still technically part of the government and was thus obligated to follow up on the murder. Quickly pulling out his own Pokedex, Fulton jammed in a few keys and sent a notice to HQ to pick up the body.

Fulton waited a few seconds for a response, but none of the dispatchers said anything.

Weird. HQ Dispatch is usually pretty fast. What's going on?

He was about to try sending another notice when his pokedex released a burst of static, startling Fulton and nearly making him drop the device. Fulton gave his pokedex a good dose of old-fashioned percussive maintenance by smacking the shit out of it a few times, but it failed to resolve the underlying issue. The static persisted, and with a sigh, Fulton turned it off and tucked it back into his jacket.

Wait. Where was the body?

Oh fuck.

Fulton looked around himself in confusion, before realizing where the body was. It was crawling up one of the walls of the dilapidated houses nearby, wriggling and violently convulsing as it did so. Its ashen skin had become waxy and rubbery, and when Fulton made eye contact with the corpse, it began shrieking madly, and then leapt from its perch straight towards him.

Sadly, it never made it close. A dark claw scythed out from the void and cleanly bisected the corpse in twain, sending the two halves flying past Fulton. Bathory had done her job well.

Through his second sight, Fulton could no longer see any residual traces of aura on the corpse. Whatever had given animation to his dead comrade's body was now gone, and with it, any possible clues he could have gleaned. Rest in peace, friend, Fulton sighed. Whatever you went through doesn't sound like a fun way to die.

Fulton had a burst of paranoia and decided to double-tap the corpse for safety, extending his foot and giving the right half of the body a good whack to see if it would keep moving. Nothing happened. Maybe check again just for fun?

This time, when Fulton's foot made contact with the left half, it shimmered, and his foot passed through it like a mirage. He felt minimal resistance, and then his mind was suddenly overwhelmed with hundreds of screams and wails, and dark tentacles and mirrors leading to-

FUCK.

Fulton snapped out of whatever had trapped him the moment Carzi telekinetically slapped him. Not this shit again.

Fulton was beginning to have an idea of just what had killed the ranger in front of him, and he didn't like the idea one bit.

He briefly contemplated taking an impromptu leave of absence from his job to go vacation in Alola, before being interrupted by the sudden reactivation of his pokedex.

After a brief bout of static, the radio on his ranger-issue pokedex crackled to life. "This is a level 3 red alert. All nearby rangers, please rendezvous at the 50 meter safe zone of the Whispering Woods. Agents from Lavender have been dispatched. I repeat. This is a level 3 red alert…"

"I knew I should have fucking stayed home," Fulton groaned, uncaring of anyone who might have been listening in. "Why did I pick up that distress call?"

He had been showering and trying to shave, when his phone started blaring and screeching out the familiar tune of the ranger distress call, and Fulton was forced to scramble out with his mustache half shaved, and his body still covered in shower gel.

Fulton didn't like using his powers to clean up, but in dire times like these, he could freeze the water droplets on his body and shatter them off. The mustache was a different problem, but he could still get by. His solution involved flash freezing the hairs on his mouth down to the follicles, and breaking them while they were brittle. It hurt - a lot, but such was the price of quick fix solutions.

He had shown up half-showered expecting to see an injured ranger he could joke around with, and instead came across a not-so-dead body. To make matters worse, The league had put out a Level 3 red alert, and all nearby rangers had been called in.

Fulton didn't expect many to respond to the call, since Celadon was a political minefield. Celadon's two great factions, the Progressives and Conservatives, both hated the government - it was practically the only thing they could agree on - and they had suppressed the league's local authority into the ground. For legendary's sake, the fucking police chief of Celadon was a two-star ace! Even Fulton was ranked higher!

After marking down the corpse's location for clean up, Fulton sped further out of the city and towards the edge of the Whispering Woods, only stopping right before crossing the 50m sign denoting the forest boundary.

Fulton could already hear strange noises. Whenever he turned to face them, the sounds would abruptly stop, and the moment he turned away, he would begin to hear rustling and creaking again. Awesome. I love forbidden zones.

Doing his best to ignore the eerie scratching noises that always showed up behind him, Fulton released his jynx. Carzi wrapped Fulton tightly in her telekinetic grip, and the two of them levitated towards the meeting point designated on his pokedex.

Fulton was not the highest-ranking ranger to show up. That honor belonged to an intimidating man named Brutus, a powerful five-star ace and ghost specialist which his pokedex flagged down as the designated operation leader.

Brutus wore a simple black cloak adorned with purple feathers, and carried a crystal ball with his right hand. A fully sealed mask covered his eyes, and when Fulton tried to peek at him through second sight, he found that the man was completely devoid of aura. At least, he appeared so.

The mask probably blocks aura emission, Fulton analyzed. It's creepy as fuck though.

He had heard of Brutus before. Brutus was a famous ace who served under General Agatha during her glory days, back when her Ghost Legion was at the height of its power. Fulton, who wasn't even 30 years old yet, could scarcely imagine what it would be like to hang around a legendary trainer like General Agatha who had lived for over two centuries.

Although reaching the Inherited would bolster the lifespan of a trainer, there were still differences between the different elemental types. Trainers specializing in one of the four great types - dragon, grass, ghost, fairy - could easily live exaggeratedly long lives, while those who specialized in elemental types like bug and poison would actually see their lifespans shorten and reduce.

General Agatha was a ghost specialist that Fulton knew for a fact had surpassed the Inherited, and reached an unbelievable realm that was rumored to let her live up to three entire centuries. Seven-star aces like her had already broken the scale - the league gave up on trying to classify people like her a long time ago. If you could get the league to rate you as a seven-star, it meant that you were officially on the list of "people not to fuck around with."

Trainers like her couldn't even be called Aces anymore - they were respectfully termed "Sovereigns", as a way to pay homage to their exalted status. The only reason people still called Agatha by her General title was because she preferred it that way.

Brutus was just one of the many subordinates she had accrued over her multi-century career as a Kantonian General. For him to show up to this meeting did not bode well.

I'd say it bodes fucking horribly, Fulton thought. For a direct subordinate of General Agatha to come in person only means one thing - we're dealing with the Cult of Distortion.

The only thing undying old freaks like General Agatha hated more than other undying old freaks, was even more undying and even more ancient freaks. Namely, the Cult of Distortion's High Priest, a fellow Sovereign. Although they were based in Sinnoh, the Cult of Distortion operated like a global terrorist cell, and had sub-cults everywhere across the Seven Regions.

And as if reading his mind, Brutus gathered all the rangers present to make an announcement.

"We're dealing with the Oblivion Rift this time!" Brutus shouted loudly, as if they weren't literally all standing next to each other. Fulton winced at the volume of his voice. "I would like to ask all rangers who have fought cultists before to stand up, and form ranks behind Eliza!"

He pointed to a sickly-looking woman to his right. "She is one of my trusted subordinates and a skilled spirit medium! To all who go with Eliza, you will directly assault the cultists, and shut down the Rift they have opened! Eliza can channel five-star ghosts, and she will be responsible for taking care of the cult's strongest pokemon!"

"Now!" Brutus turned, "For the inexperienced! Form ranks behind Samuel, the man in the blue polo on the left. You will maintain the perimeter at the edge of the Whispering Woods, and contain any escaping cultists! Samuel is a barrier psychic who can seal a four-star pokemon! Listen to his instructions, and do NOT wander off on your own!"

"Use extreme prejudice! Do not show mercy, for they will not give you any!"

Fulton took a deep breath and made his choice, stepping towards Eliza and joining the group going to directly attack the cultists maintaining the Rift.

He had always been a risk taker at heart. Even in his youth, he had made the insane choice to venture deep into Mt. Aachen for his starter, and he'd recently decided to gamble on Erika's future growth, pouring years worth of resources he'd accumulated into her to accelerate her growth and potential.

Some of the rangers Fulton knew balked at the prospect of fighting the cultists. He even recognised a few who had battled cult members before, and decided to join Samuel anyways to avoid doing so again. Fulton was different though. He didn't see the attack on the cultists as a great danger, but rather oppurtunity.

With Eliza's protection, I won't need to worry as much about the corrupting influence of the Rift. I should take this chance to kill as many cultists as I can to earn merit, and increase my influence in the Ranger Corps.

Obviously, if push came to shove, Fulton was also prepared to say "fuck everyone" and bring down a massive snowstorm. He would then have his cryogonal cast multiple layers of aurora veils and light screens before running away. That's a last resort though. My reputation would go up in smoke if I actually did that.

He was prepared to stick it out through thick and thin with his ranger comrades… to a certain extent at least. As to what extent that was, even Fulton didn't know for sure.

After each assigned group split up and set off, Fulton found himself carefully trekking through one of the most inhospitable areas in the known world along with a group of complete strangers.

Eliza led the group at the front, shrouding the rangers in a violet light which seemed to ward off the strange paranormal phenomena of the Whispering Woods. Fulton didn't quite know how she did it, but he suspected it was related to the small wooden branch which she tightly clutched in her hand.

He knew she could channel five-star ghosts, but that didn't mean that she was limited to her own pokemon. I heard it's possible for genius spirit mediums to take on the powers of even stronger ghosts as well.

Fulton toyed with his pokeballs idly, thinking about what he ought to use to fight the cultists with. Nanook would probably be the main fighting force, due to his great size and ability to wield elemental ice in large scale attacks. He had Bathory for ambushes and assassination strikes, so the only thing missing in his lineup would be a battlefield controller.

It was time for Janus to make an appearance.

Fulton's cryogonal released itself from its ball and hovered silently next to him like a sentinel, giving him some much-needed reassurance that he wouldn't die horribly on this league mandated suppression mission.

Bathory was already out of her pokeball - just hidden within his shadow. She was one of Fulton's proudest achievements, because he had managed to train a dark type to the point that it could master a ghost technique, which was elementally opposite to her own type. Anyone or thing who tried to sneak up on Fulton would be in for a big - and probably very bloody surprise.

"What's your name kid?" A voice from behind asked suddenly.

Fulton jerked instinctively at the noise. Given their proximity to the Whispering Woods, it wasn't such an outrageous reaction to have.

"I'm almost thirty," he snapped back irritably. "I'm not a kid."

The man in front of him burst out laughing. "Shut the hell up, kid. I'm breaking a hundred this year."

Hearing that, Fulton did indeed shut up. It's another old freak. I mean, I could live that long as well, but I'd be old and feeble. He specialises in one of the four long-lived types, doesn't he?

"If you didn't know, my name is Gavin. I'm a fairy specialist," the man replied, his eyes glittering, as if reading Fulton's mind. He felt the irony keenly, given that he did it to Erika all the time. "Would you like to make a deal?"

"I'm not selling you my fucking soul," Fulton told him directly. "Yes, I know it's a stereotype. No, I don't want to keep talking."

Gavin's violet eyes flickered, and Fulton felt his hairs rise involuntarily. He nearly stepped back, before the sensation of danger faded. Wait a second. There aren't any fairy specialists on the payroll in this area of Kanto. Shit.

"I don't recall any fairy specialists among the local rangers," Fulton said heavily, raising a pokeball up to the man. "Who are you?"

Nanook tensed up in the ball.

"You're right!" Gavin laughed. "I'm not a ranger!"

He seemed far creepier than before, and the sensation of danger which Fulton felt previously returned tenfold. He immediately released Nanook from his pokeball, and the giant 16ft polar bear emerged, rumbling the ground and startling all the rangers in their group further ahead.

"Don't attack me!" Gavin screamed hastily. "I'm taking the piss. It's a joke! Calm down, mate."

Fulton breathed heavily, his face nearly red from the tension. "Are you serious? What the fuck?

"Yeah, I'm a foreign consultant hired by the Ghost Legion to deal with stuff like this," Gavin admitted. "Sorry about the prank."

Fulton was about to give Gavin a piece of his mind when he saw his immediate superior storming over, and he immediately retracted whatever he was going to say.

"Please don't joke around." Eliza had made her way over to the both of them. "This is a serious cult suppression mission, and we must hold ourselves to a standard," she said softly. "Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" They both responded. "We understand ma'am!"

Fulton immediately moved as far away from Gavin as possible, doing his best to assimilate into the group of rangers in front. I'm going to pop a blood vessel if I spend any more time around this loon.

It didn't take long for them to get close to the Rift.

Even from a distance, it was possible to see the jagged tear in reality suspended high in the air, rippling and discharging higher dimensional energies into the surrounding area. One hundred or so cultists were gathered around the Rift chanting in an unintelligible language, and with every word they spoke, the air seemed to vibrate and hum, causing the grass and trees nearby to scream and wither.

All the local pumpkaboo and phantump had already uprooted themselves to run away. The ones which didn't escape in time seemed to have melted into the forest floor, their bodies becoming nourishment for the evil ritual being conducted.

Eliza raised a hand to stop the group from advancing, signing for them to get ready to attack. Under the protection of the violet light emitted by Eliza, the rangers moved undetected into position, and steathily began to prepare to attack.

Once all the rangers had gotten into position, Eliza's shadow began trembling. Fulton began backing away out of instinct as he watched the shadow come alive, writhing and contorting until a giant Cheshire grin appeared. The mouth on the shadow continued to grow, enlarging itself continuously and making it so that you could see the serrated teeth lining the mouth.

Then, the shadow leapt out, becoming three-dimensional and swallowing Eliza whole.

Whatever was left of Eliza began laughing madly. Her once soft-spoken voice gradually grew more deranged and unhinged as what was clearly a ghost fused into her form, and eyes of all shapes and sizes started opening on her body, dripping bloody tears that scalded the grass below with a hiss. These eyes glowed with an evil purple light, and all of them swivelled in unison to glare at the cultists.

"Attack!" Eliza shrieked. "Kill them all!"

Everything broke into pandemonium as the rangers charged. Nearly instantly, the chanting of the cultists ceased as Bathory appeared, slitting the throats of several of the ritual hosts and disrupting the expansion of the Rift. Dozens more ranger pokemon also made their appearance on the battlefield, striking out to instantly ambush the cultists.

Nanook emerged with a savage howl, depressing the ground of the forest beneath him along with the emergence of dozens of other gigantic pokemon. Fulton could see an enormous golem, a nidoking, a bisharp, and many other species of pokemon he didn't bother to identify in the heat of the battle.

A few more unaware cultists had their heads decapitated instantly or their throats slit by Bathory, their ghost auras falling victim to her suppressive dark. Nanook charged through enemy lines accompanied by the other frontline pokemon released by the rangers, soaking up the brunt of the enemy retaliation and giving the rangers room to unleash devastating ranged attacks.

The entire forest became a warzone in an instant, lit up with colorful elemental attacks and the occasional spray of gushing arterial blood from hidden pokemon waiting in ambush. Many cultists had their limbs blown off by the descending artillery strikes, but many more managed to avoid the attacks by phasing through and shifting into an immaterial state.

The head cultist threw out three pokeballs instantly in response, and three pokemon emerged - a tyranitar, a liepard, and a bisharp. The first was probably his starter, Fulton surmised.

The great beast stood at over 45ft tall and resembled a small hill. Each step it took made the ground shake, and when it turned, the spikes on its back rippled like a sea of blades. Before it could even do anything, however, Eliza charged at them, her many eyes bulging with barely contained savagery and murderous intent.

"Don't let any of them escape," Eliza shouted, struggling to speak. She had begun drooling at the sight of the enemy pokemon. Each word seemed to be a struggle in itself, and Eliza had to slap herself to barely stay conscious. "I'll deal with the tyranitar…"

Five malicious gengar trailed Eliza, having released themselves from their pokeballs, and began merging into Eliza, increasing the number of eyes on her body manifold, and thus the power she could exert. However, it seemed that the fusion was not without side effects. Eliza seemed to lose even more of her rationality, degrading into a mad beast who only knew how to attack and savage the creature in front of her.

"Let your flesh become my nourishment!" She roared madly once more, her rationality taking a backseat. "Submit to me!"

Rings of concentric purple light coalesced into grinning skulls, and they shot out towards the tyranitar, sinking into its flesh and cursing it. Eliza raised a single palm wreathed in purple mist and slammed it down, sending the tyranitar flying away like a ragdoll. The frontal spikes making up its sternum armor shattered with a loud crack, falling to the ground and impaling a few unlucky cultists. Fulton could only watch in astonishment. Has she approached six stars? And with her own body no less!

Fulton looked on with horrified fascination. His pokedex had evaluated the tyranitar as being at nearly six-stars in terms of strength - and Eliza was beating the shit out of it. Fusing six five-star ghosts into her body made her lose her mind, but it elevated her effective strength to a whole new level.

Even as he admired Eliza's handiwork in suppressing the cult admin's starter, Fulton wasn't idle. He had three pokemon active on the battlefield doing their best to kill off the pokemon of the enemy cultists, and he himself had personally engaged the enemy cultist trainers while wielding a longsword of ice which emitted chilling air.

With every swipe of the sword, Fulton claimed a head - and if he didn't, the chill from his blade would invade the bodies of his enemies, necrotizing their flesh with extreme cold.

This was how battlefield combat normally worked. Your pokemon would go occupy the enemy pokemon, and the trainer would engage with the enemy trainers. Only freaks like Eliza could fight a pokemon as a human.

Fulton moved gracefully through the battlefield, literally skating from place to place by instantly deposing water moisture into the ice beneath his feet. His skating left trails of ice behind him, tripping up unaware cultists every time they tried to approach, and Fulton would lunge in to stab them with his longsword.

Twice, he was forced to condense icy armor, transmuting his aura into ice to block what would have been fatal blows, and he even had to summon Carzi out to intervene a few times.

"I need backup!" Fulton heard someone shout from across the trees. "On my six, there's an aggron!"

Fulton locked eyes with him and saw the burgeoning water aura surrounding the man's frame, and they both acted in unison.

"Rain dance!"

"Hail!"

A storm began to brew in the sky, causing nearby clouds to swirl and gather faraway deposits of water moisture above their heads. Fulton could see the water aura in the aura thicken and multiply even as the aggron charged at the man who asked for help, and he clenched his fist to invoke his ice.

"Ice Meteor!"

As an ice specialist, the hardest part about fighting in an area without his element naturally present was obtaining the water necessary to freeze into ice. Since Fulton was a pure ice specialist, he couldn't control water - the most he could do was freeze it. When it came to utilizing water moisture, he was forced to directly depose it into solid ice, and couldn't gather it in the liquid state.

However, that man had done exactly that just now for Fulton. All the water nearby had been agglomerated into one huge mass - which had just been flash-frozen into a meteorite of ice.

The ice meteor hurtled down and smashed into the aggron, borrowing the force of gravity to blast the aggron's skull apart and send its corpse flying. Multiple trees were smashed in the descent of the ice meteor, and the aggron's corpse was rendered into frozen chunks. Two-star, maybe three-star, Fulton judged. Even using this attack and borrowing gravity, I still wouldn't have to strength to wound a four-star without my pokemon.

"I'm Hill!" The man shouted at Fulton from afar as he engaged another cultist. "Thanks for the help!"

"No worries!" Fulton shouted back. "Buy me a drink if you survive!"

This was unfortunately where Fulton's good times came to an end. Fulton was just about to return to killing the weak External cultists when the cult admin personally arrived, his face a mask of fury and carrying the bodies of several ace rangers. Oh fuck.

"Aurora veil!" Fulton shouted, projecting his voice over to his three pokemon on the field. The strain of maintaining three active combatants made his voice tremble a little, but Fulton powered through. "Lower the temperature as far as it can go together!"

Waves of powerful ice-type energy were released, covering the expanse of sky above the forest in a myriad of boreal color. The forms of all active rangers and their pokemon on the field began to shimmer and become illusionary, causing the attacks of the cultists to miss or hit their own number.

The cult admin raised a hand draped in a purplish-black aura and plunged it at Fulton, making Fulton's eyes widen with shock. Demonic aura!

Gritting his teeth, Fulton ignored the strain and summoned Manfred to block the attack, leveraging his powerful body and thick fat reserves to absorb the lethal blow in Fulton's place.

However, Manfred groaned from the strike, shocking Fulton. How can a human possibly wound a pokemon like Manfred with just a punch? He's got to be close to the peak of Inherited! If I get hit even once, I'm dead!

Marshalling the deep icy aura within himself, Fulton directly deposed water moisture in the air into ice, sending a flurry of ice shards and snow towards the cult admin to distract him. He kicked up as much snow as possible and then exploded, his body scattering and reforming into dozens of copies of himself.

This was one of Fulton's greatest life preservation skills - ice clones! It demanded an insane ability to parallel process since the clones Fulton formed were not truly autonomous - they were just constructs of ice, and he had to manually control them all to mimic his body to deceive enemies.

"Go kill off the weaker cultists!" Fulton screamed at Manfred. "I'll bring the admin away!"

The admin attempted to block Manfred's charge, but he was bowled over this time due to the momentum Manfred accumulated, and Fulton directly turned to flee. Eliza still occupying the admin's pokemon on the field, but it didn't mean that he couldn't bring out more. Furious, the admin threw out an ultra ball and a massive Hydreigon roared into existence.

Oh fuck.

The dragon inhaled and built up a charge, then blasted out a terrifying black beam which direclty vaporized Fulton's body.

Or so he thought anyways. That was just one of his decoy clones. The aurora veil he had set up earlier masked the minute differences between his real body and clones, allowing Fulton to pull a fast one on the cult admin. Even though his clones contained ice-aura, Fulton wasn't sure if that would be enough to escape the perception of the cult admin, which was why he had cast the aurora veil.

The real Fulton was much further away. He had given one of his ice clones Manfred's pokeball, and used it to draw away the cult admin to relieve some of the pressure on the main group. Eliza was now fighting one against three, wielding the combined power of six different five-star gengar to combat a tyranitar, banette, and hydreigon.

Fulton said a small prayer for Eliza and moved his real body as far away from her as possible, unwilling to get caught up in the crossfire between multiple five-star combatants and six-star combatants.

Fulton noticed the cult admin beginning to return to the main battlefield and prepared to go lure him away again when the Rift started acting up and emitting scorching black light.

Hundreds of gastly and haunter began spilling out of the tear in reality, flooding the forest with more ghosts and weakening the boundary between worlds even more.

Half of the surviving ace trainers ceased trying to kill off the cultists and their pokemon and turned to go tackle the army of ghosts. Fulton wanted the credit for stalling the cult admin, so he directed Nanook to go deal with the ghost fodder in his place.

Manfred couldn't use earthquake on a battlefield filled with so many friendlies, so Fulton had him use his awesome power to crush all the weaker cultists one by one. Bathory was still hiding in the shadows, lashing out with her dark claws every now and again and reaping the life of a haunter or cultist whenever she moved.

Fulton prepared himself to engage with the cult admin once more when the sky started brightening, and he paled.

Hundreds of basketball sized fireballs were raining down from the sky, coming in on an arc like artillery shells and setting fire to the gastly and haunters pouring out form the Rift. At first, the ghost's ignored the burning flames, but their expressions gradually turned to fear and then pain as they wailed in horror.

All the External rangers on the field retreated instantly, and the Ace rangers bunkered down, waiting out the artillery bombardment. Fulton created a rampart of ice and covered it with an igloo, letting the spherical shape of his dome disperse the impacts of the artillery.

Eliza paid no heed to the fireballs, howling madly and continuing to beat the shit out of the three pokemon blocking her path. The many eyes on her body swivelled continously at high speed to track the enemies around her, and then discharged brilliant purple rays which began chipping away at the three pokemon. Each ray seemed to briefly stun them, before the pokemon returned angrier than ever to attack Eliza again.

What happened next, Fulton wasn't quite sure, but he heard a shattering noise as his igloo deformed and broke apart, and the next thing he knew, he was struggling to breathe. A scaled hand was clenched around his throat and had lifted him off the ground, and was squeezing hard to asphyxiate him.

Bathory emerged from the shadows to slash at the cult admin, but to no avail, as he stoically tanked the hit and ignored it. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Fulton deposed water into ice around his neck to create a collar of ice, displacing the hand clenched around his neck slightly and letting him slip out.

"Switch!" Fulton shouted quickly.

The world around him warped as he was ejected through space, and Fulton found himself next to Carzi. "Thanks, girl," he muttered, rubbing his hands around his neck in pain. "I almost died just now."

By now, the battle was coming to a close.

Nearly all the External cultists had been slaughtered, and the surviving Ace cultists were either fleeing or had grouped up next to the cult admin.

Many of Eliza's grotesque eyes had been blinded and permanently shut, leaving blister-like holes and sores within her skin that deformed what otherwise would have been a great beauty. Next to her feet lay a dead tyranitar, and the banette's mouth had been torn open, it's stitching hanging limply. The hydreigon had taken a beating, with two of its six wings completely ripped off, and one of its heads smashed in.

While Fulton knew it could regrow its heads given time, the sensation of having your head smashed in was surely not a pleasant one.

With the decrease in bloodshot eyes open on Eliza's body, some of her rationality had apparently returned.

"Everyone, regroup on me!" Eliza weakly shouted. "We shall close the Rift now!"

"Says who?" The cult admin sneered. "You're nearly dead, and you're still thinking about trying to close the Rift? Stop dreaming!" He took a step forward to intimidate the rangers gathered, before finding himself unable to walk any further.

Brutus exited from the Rift dragging a bloodied body behind him, and he tossed it to the ground in front of the head admin. "Says me! I'm closing the Rift!"

The cult admin gaped. "No!"

He lunged towards Brutus, but before he could get there, Brutus stomped down viciously, exploding the head of the man on the floor.

Instantly, the Rift began trembling, and it's cavernous maw began receding and slowly closing. The stream of ghosts stemmed, and the remaining rangers were able to pick them off one by one.

Eliza limped towards Brutus and took up formation, cornering the cult admin.

"You'll never take me alive," the admin sneered. He moved to kill himself, but before he could do anything, Gavin appeared out of the blue and pressed his palm upon his hand, rendering the man powerless.

"You won't be going anywhere, pal," Gavin smirked. "I was hired for a reason you know? We can't have all our captives committing suicide."

The cult admin paled at the realization that he couldn't commit suicide, before glancing at Brutus. Fulton's captain had a nasty smile on his face.

"Just wait until General Agatha gets her hands on you," he said nastily. "She's going to pull your soul out of your body and let you experience a lifetime of torture. Those who dare to open Rifts must be prepared for the punishment."

Without much more fanfare, Brutus knocked the cult admin unconscious and had one of his gengar place a curse on the man.

"Good work ranger," Brutus said to Fulton. "Good job on distracting this guy while I was taking care of the Rift."

Fulton gave him a sharp salute and a small nod. "Just doing my job sir."

Fulton had his eye on the strange branch Eliza carried, but before he could swipe it, it merged into the ground and vanished.

"That's a branch from the Soul Tree which resides in the Whispering Woods," Brutus explained, seeing Fulton's attempt to nab it. "Are you really sure you want to steal from a Titled Pokemon?"

Hearing that, Fulton paled a little and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Is it really? If I may ask, sir, why was Eliza carrying that?"

"Just a little contingency," Brutus said, waiving Fulton off. "If she was truly unable to fight off the cult admin, she could have channelled the branch of the Soul Tree to summon a fraction of its power. General Agatha is a Ghost Sovereign, and has made an alliance with the Soul Tree which resides in Celadon's Whispering Woods. It hates Rifts as much as we do, and it would have lent a helping hand if we couldn't deal with it."

"Truthfully speaking," Brutus continued, "One of the local great clans here, the Beldings, also have some kind of deal with the Soul Tree. I'm not aware of the specifics, but their Grass Sovereign has been alive even longer than General Agatha, and he's apparently got some sort of relationship with the Soul Tree. He might be on the verge of dying, but if we actually let the Rift get out of hand, he would have stepped in himself to contain the problem."

"Should I call in some cleaners from HQ?" Fulton asked. It was standard procedure to clean up bodies from battlefields, and the Ranger Corps had dedicated fixers who handled this.

"No. Leave it for the forest."

"The forest sir?"

"You'll see," was Brutus's response.

Brutus turned to gather the other rangers and departed.

Fulton glanced back behind him as they left and saw something shocking. Some of the trees further away were walking - yes, walking closer to the battlefield, and their roots tore out of the ground, exposing giant mouths. They began to consume the dead bodies, and the spilt blood of the cultists sank into the earth as if it was never there.

Unbeknownst to anyone - except for perhaps the Soul Tree, the seal on an extradimensional prison was beginning to loosen. Although unintended, the opening of a Rift in the Whispering Woods had weakened the boundaries between the material world and foreign dimensions just enough that someone else was able to take advantage of it.

Deep within the forest, the air around a stagnant pond shattered like glass and a young woman came tumbling out, rolling across the forest floor like a ragdoll. She exuded a boundless fairy aura, and her mere presence made the world around her shake. A small smile crept onto her face. She was free once more.





AN: Wow, has it really been a month since I last posted? Jokes aside, I should be back to posting more regularly. I had to deal with a ton of university stuff, and ranging from visa applications to what not. It is good to be back!

The RSG is beginning to heat up, and you've all gotten a glimpse into Fulton's hectic life. More fun awaits next chapter! We'll be back for Erika's final few rounds.

EDIT: I have noticed some people confused with the term "four great types". When I used the word "great" I wasn't implying strength, only lifespan. Grass, Dragon, Ghost, and Fairy tend to be the longest living types, and grant the most benefit to trainers in terms of prolonging their lives. I drew it from their associated myths/concepts. Trees live a very long time, ghosts are undead, fairies are immortal, dragons live a long time, etc...

As usual, come join the discord if you want! Link below.

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