The Hidden World Within: Part 1

by AncientInfinity

Realism poke'world, takes place a few years before real series, separate; focuses on two characters intertwined by their histories and forced to battle in life or death against the powerful syndicate: Team Rocket. Criticism/comments wanted, part 2 next

The Hidden World Within

By Christopher R. Williams

Author's Note

This story is a work of fiction and loosely based on the created world of Pocket Monsters, collectively known as Pokémon of which is owned and created by the game franchise Nintendo. This does not reflect upon any person or organization in both the fictional Pokémon world and the real world of reality. This is simply pure fiction created for entertainment purposes (mostly for the entertainment of the author writing this), so if you are familiar with the world of Pokémon already, you may or may not find this an awesome prelude alternative to the shows you've seen or the manga you've read. This is simply a fan-based fantasy story incorporated into this world of magical creatures that can coexist with people in an alternate universe and time.

(Currently asking myself, what am I doing? And then I realize, I am fulfilling my self-gratifying fantasy.)

In dedication to the creator of Pokémon for making this world possible:

Satoshi Tajiri.

A New Beginning

"Everyone has a dream that fills their heart. A journey they must take. A destiny to fulfill. As close as your imagination exists a magical place, where wondrous creatures with incredible powers help make dreams come true. It's the world of Pokémon!"

Brock, from Pokémon Heroes the 5th Movie (2003)

Prologue

"Come on, we have to get out of the open before the storm hits!"

"Candice, wait! Don't run so far ahead, you know it's hard for me to see you with my busted glasses!"

Candice waved at her and pointed at an opening far above them on the side of the mountain. They were trekking in snow that came up to their knees. Dark luminous clouds were circling the mountain range, blocking much of the sunlight and obscuring the peak of Mt. Coronet from view. The first few snowflakes began to fall as a slow chilly wind blew, ruffling the hair on her neck. She shivered and put on her hood, making sure her jacket was completely buttoned up.

She looked up again and saw Candice eagerly enter the cave and move from her vision. She sighed angrily and yelled, "Candice! Come on! Wait up!"

Candice poked her head out of the cave and shouted several hundred feet up the slope from the cave entrance, "Just follow the path I made in the snow! You can't get lost doing that."

Then her friend retreated back out of view. She sighed irritably and wished for the twentieth time that she hadn't tripped and dropped her glasses when she was cleaning it while hiking with Candice. That was just dumb of her. She should really switch to eye lenses. At least that wouldn't break if she tripped over herself. Then she began complaining internally to herself. Sure, this was a great day to come sight-seeing the scenery in hopes of seeing rare and wild ice pokémon!

Suddenly she tripped over a rock hidden under the snow and she landed on her belly. She grunted and crouched on her hands and knees, and then she slowly realized that she couldn't see clearly. Her broken glasses had fallen off. Balls!

She padded around frantically for her glasses, looking blindly in the snow. But she couldn't find them. She couldn't find them! She called to Candice up the slope, hoping that her friend could help her search for her glasses.

But Candice didn't come out of the cave. The snowfall was falling faster and the wind was increasing in speed, cutting through her jacket. She shivered and began panicking, and she tried to calm herself down. She didn't need to find her glasses to follow the path carved out in the snow by Candice. She could feel her way. She would just have to get new glasses back in town later on.

The snowfall began turning into a full-fledged storm. After trekking for a few minutes, it slowly dawned on her that she was leg-deep in fresh snow. She suddenly realized that she was no longer on Candice's path. And then it was at that moment that she truly began to fear. She whimpered, her lips quivering, and tears formed in her eyes. The water instantly turned to ice in the freezing temperatures, and she wiped her eyes, willing herself not to cry. This was not how this trip was supposed to happen. Candice was supposed to be there.

She looked around blindly for the path, but she couldn't see past the falling snow. The precipitation was incredibly dense. In fact, she couldn't see at all without her glasses. She figured she should continue traveling upwards in hopes of reaching the cave.

She yelled again, "Candice!" She waited and waited, but she never heard her friend's reply. As she traversed the slope for several minutes, she realized that the distance she had walked was far too much. She must have missed it.

She turned around to go back and then just stood there in horror. Her own trail had been erased by the storm. She was lost in the white wilderness on the mountainside.

She sniffed and said softly, "Candice?" And all the while, the cutting wind howled in fury as the storm grew darker into a raging blizzard.

Chapter One Four Years Later

"The power you learned... I can feel it emanating from you. That's enough talking. Let's get on with why you're here. I, Cynthia, accept your challenge as the Pokémon League Champion! There won't be any let up from me!"

Austin grinned in reply and said, "Great! No foul play then." He took off his baby blue backpack, setting it on the ground. Then he adjusted his thick blue denim jacket with white fur underside over his white shirt, preparing himself. He took a tiny customized pokéball from the black belt on his blue jeans and pushed the button on the miniaturized center, suddenly blowing the pokéball up to full size.

This was a dangerous tournament for the pokémon involved to fight in it. Attacks were extremely deadly and if the participating pokémon weren't strong or prepared they could accidentally be seriously injured or killed. But this was a way for trainers to prove their worth to the strongest masters of pokémon as excellent leaders and companions to their own pokémon to gain fame and wealth. And only the strongest trainers who had defeated the eight elites of the region and acquired the specific type mastery badges, and surpassed the victory road obstacle, could enter and compete in the Pokémon League for that region to strive for the rank of master.

Cynthia, a tall blond-haired woman dressed in a black suit with frills and black pants, threw her first pokéball high into the air. Austin threw his own simultaneously into the air opposite from the League Champion. His pokéball opened first, and the bipedal sleek dragon pokémon Garchomp materialized first. The white light faded from his body as his essence became solid. He roared and took his battle position.

Opposite from the dragon materialized the gravestone pokémon Spiritomb. The vertically suspended purple whirlpool of gas and air was filled with green spots of light orbiting the green grin of the mouth and two eyes, marking the only indication of the ghost properties of the dark pokémon.

Garchomp snorted in contempt and waited impatiently for his trainer's command. Finally, after two seconds of quick thinking, Austin yelled, "Garchomp, dragon rush!" Without hesitation, Garchomp lunged at the motionless pokémon.

But before Garchomp halved the distance between himself and the opposing pokémon, Spiritomb suddenly glowed red and was abruptly recalled back into its pokéball in Cynthia's left hand. Then she threw out another pokéball in her right hand and summoned a Garchomp of her own, taking both Garchomp and Austin by surprise.

Cynthia yelled, "Dragon rush, Garchomp!" Austin's Garchomp was already charging at full speed across the huge auditorium battlefield, and Cynthia's Garchomp began moving at an equally fast speed. Austin's eyebrows narrowed as he waited for the inevitable clash of the two dragon titans, already knowing that one of the pokémon was bound to fall in this single devastating attack.

The two Garchomps finally clashed, and their collision created an explosion of air that prompted both Cynthia and Austin to shield their eyes from the shockwave. Austin dared to take a look at the field in front of him, and his eyes widened as he saw that neither of the two dragons was standing. Both Garchomps were knocked out from the recoil of each other's attack.

Austin held up his pokéball to recall Garchomp and quickly thought about what kind of pokémon he should send out next. Cynthia had a wide variety of types of pokémon at her command, all strong in their own areas of expertise. But Austin realized that whatever pokémon Cynthia sent out, Austin's most trusted pokémon could hold her own against any of them.

Austin pulled out another pokéball as Cynthia already held up hers into the air and he summoned Gardevoir onto the field. Austin smirked, knowing that it was highly unlikely Cynthia would send out the one pokémon strong against the psychic humanoid pokémon Gardevoir when Spiritomb had already been seen before and could be countered.

But Austin stared in shock as Cynthia summoned Spiritomb, the darkness enveloping the tombstone it resided in. Gardevoir's face grew stern as she too realized the true cunning of Cynthia's strategic skills as the Champion, not only counting on her own pokémon's strength. The psychic pokémon waited patiently for her trainer's command, knowing that it was almost hopeless for her to fight against Spiritomb when the dark pokémon's type essence nullified all of Gardevoir's purifying psychic attacks. But it was too late to switch out for another pokémon when Spiritomb was already building up a resonating dark pulse from inside its body at its trainer's behest, because the switched in pokémon replacing for Gardevoir would take the hit needlessly. Gardevoir had to win this battle for the sake of the long running in the match.

Finally Austin's voice rang out across the field as he called, "Calm your mind and summon your inner spirit, Gardevoir!" She nodded, seeing the tactical advantage of building up her strength over time to better fight a stronger opponent. She closed her red eyes and began running in an unpredictable fashion around Spiritomb as she concentrated on summoning her internal energy within her mind and body.

Cynthia shouted, "Fire your dark pulse now, Spiritomb!"

Spiritomb launched its pulse of dark energy at Gardevoir, but her running fashion induced the attack to sail past her and burn itself into the distant auditorium steel wall. Then Gardevoir heard Austin yell, "Gardevoir, magical leaf attack!"

Gardevoir nodded, and then suddenly stopped as another pulsing energy beam sailed past in front of her intended path and missed. Then she closed her eyes and put her hands together. Green aura appeared around her body, enveloping her as her hair began waving around as if ruffled in the wind. The frustrated Spiritomb screamed a high pitch wail from another dimension and fired another dark pulse at Gardevoir.

But Gardevoir's heightened senses from having a calm spirit enabled her to nimbly sidestep the speeding blast. Then shining rainbow white light appeared in the air out of nothing and began emanating in the shapes of leaves around Gardevoir. Tens, dozens of shining rainbow leaves appeared. Gardevoir suddenly opened her eyes, and a green hue enveloped her red eyes. She flung out both her hands in front of her, palms open at Spiritomb, and all the magical shining rainbow leaves sped towards the motionless tombstone.

Spiritomb wailed as its essence was sliced by the magical leaves that sped through it, and its tombstone acquired several slash marks before the whirlpool of the ghost was sucked back into its grave from whence it came, defeated.

Gardevoir put her hands together to recover from her attack, and Austin muttered, "Tch, this is a battle of one hit knockouts." His face hardened as the next pokémon Cynthia sent out was Heracross, a huge horned beetle strong against psychic type pokémon like Gardevoir.

Gardevoir's eyes narrowed as she watched the bug speed around the arena, realizing that her calm mind instincts couldn't help protect herself against the bug's sheer strength. Cynthia called, "Heracross, megahorn attack!"

Austin frowned, and then he said, "Gardevoir, psychic attack!"

Heracross zoomed across the arena at an alarming speed straight for Gardevoir, and she quickly flung out her hands to fire an invisible purifying psychic energy attack at the bug pokémon. The invisible attack made contact with the bug and made it stumble to the ground severely weakened, but Heracross leaped in a last ditch effort to reach its target and smashed into Gardevoir with its head.

Gardevoir yelled as she was flung backwards through the air into the auditorium wall. She fell onto her chest and laid there, stunned. Austin recalled Gardevoir before any more damage could be done to her, although she wasn't out of the fight completely. Then he eyed the Heracross still managing to stand in the center of the field. It was wobbling in position and was almost knocked out of the fight.

Austin quickly made a decision and held out another pokéball, shouting, "Do it Gallade! Just a little more!" Then the fighting knight pokémon materialized, and Cynthia nodded from her vantage point across the field.

Cynthia decided not to recall her pokémon and instead shouted, "Heracross, megahorn attack! Full speed!"

Austin shouted to his humanoid fighting pokémon, "Prepare for close combat, Gallade!" The psychic pokémon took a defensive fighting posture, holding both his white sword-like arms up in front of him in an X. He waited as Heracross stumbled at full speed towards him, and then Gallade leaped high into the air just as the huge bug lunged below him and missed. Gallade did a somersault in the air, slashing the bug with his glowing purple energy-charged arms when he was facing the ground in mid-flight. Then he landed on one knee and the opposite hand and remained in that position for dramatic effect for a few seconds as Heracross sighed behind him and fell to the ground face first.

Austin grinned. Show-off high class fighter. He and Gallade waited as Cynthia smiled ruefully and recalled her downed pokémon. Then she threw out another pokéball and the red beam shot out from the center of the capsule, materializing a person-sized flying white Togekiss in mid-air. A flying pokémon was at an advantage against a grounded fighting pokémon like Gallade, Austin knew.

He yelled to Gallade, "Swords dance now!" Gallade drew both his arms together horizontally and closed his red eyes calmly, concentrating on building up his internal energy into his arms.

Cynthia took the chance and yelled, "Aerial ace now, Togekiss!"

The flying blue and red triangle-dotted white pokémon called out with a soft yell and dove straight for Gallade in an unmissable path. Just as Togekiss was only a few yards away, Austin shouted, "Now Gallade! Psycho cut!"

Gallade opened his eyes, which glowed with a furious orange energy, and he jumped to slash the incoming pokémon. Austin watched anxiously from a distance as he saw Gallade successfully hit Togekiss's underside with his outstretched right arm. But Togekiss simultaneously struck Gallade full in the face with its wing and knocked him back several feet.

Togekiss screeched and flew out of control into the ground, bouncing on the floor and eventually slamming into a wall. Austin looked back at Gallade and saw that he was knocked out where he had landed on the ground. He recalled Gallade and watched as Cynthia recalled her own pokémon back as well. Austin smiled ruefully, seeing that he was one extra pokémon ahead now, a great advantage in such a close battle.

Austin wondered what kind of pokémon Cynthia would send out next. A champion like her would have at least every type of pokémon to counter every possible type known in existence, and so far every type except rock and fire was directly countered. Austin was betting that Cynthia would send out a strong water pokémon or as one of her last options for a final stand since water pokémon were known to have high defense and decent attack output.

With that thought in mind, and knowing that he still had Gardevoir in reserve for his own last defense, although she was weakened, Austin chose his next pokémon and threw the customized ball into the air. Gyarados, the huge blue limbless water serpent dragon, materialized into existence. He arced his back and raised his head high into the air, and roared mightily.

Cynthia threw out her own pokémon at the same time and a Roserade, a green plant pokémon with white petal hair, a green cape billowing behind it, and left blue and right red flowers for arms, twirled into view and eyed the looming Gyarados above it with beady red eyes. Austin grinned. He had guessed right this time.

He called to Gyarados, "Hyper beam and finish it off with one blow, Gyarados!"

Cynthia's eyes narrowed as she realized her predicament. She called, "Roserade, petal dance!"

A growing ball of white light began resonating in Gyarados' gaping mouth as he prepared for his powerful hyper beam of energy destruction. Roserade closed its eyes as pink and green petal leaves materialized into existence from its life essence out of the air and whirled around the flower pokémon in a tornado-like wind.

Roserade moved first, suddenly opening its glowing red eyes and flinging both its hands in front of it towards Gyarados as it shot the floating razor-sharp petals at Gyarados' huge bulk. The leaves cut into Gyarados and he roared in pain, but Austin yelled, "Do it Gyarados!" His face twisted in a snarl, Gyarados fired his hyper beam through the storm of petals at Roserade. The white energy beam struck Roserade full in the chest, and the pokémon was thrust backwards several feet, where it came to lie motionless and unconscious.

Gyarados hanged his head in front of him, but he managed to remain upright. Austin shouted, "Good job Gyarados!"

Cynthia saw that she was down to her last pokémon and summoned Milotic, a beautiful blue-tailed white sea serpent with deep-gazing red jewel-like eyes. Then she called to Austin in a friendly tone, "I can't remember the last time I was put in a bind like this!"

Austin chuckled, waiting for Gyarados to recover from his last attack before he gave his pokémon an order of attack, but Cynthia winked at Austin and called to her pokémon, "Milotic, use aqua ring!"

Austin stared as the pink limbless serpent summoned water from beneath itself and created a cylinder column of water around it. The water ring extended to the ceiling high above them in the auditorium, acting as a barrier.

Austin was unfazed and ordered his recovered Gyarados, "Take dow Milotic with one stroke!" Gyarados roared acknowledgement and lunged forward at the pillar of water where Milotic's shadow was visible.

But Cynthia had other plans, and she called, "Milotic, ice beam now!" Just as Gyarados' head broke through the water barrier, his fangs outstretched for Milotic, a clear and bright blue icy beam shot from Milotic's mouth to the water pillar, instantly freezing the water into one huge solid icicle. Gyarados roared as he found he couldn't move from where he had been frozen inside the water barrier.

Austin's eyes widened in shocked surprise after finding that he had taken the bait and led Gyarados into a trap. Cynthia grinned mischievously and said, "Finish it with an ice beam to the face, Milotic!" Milotic obeyed and fired another beam at Gyarados' face, and Gyarados was knocked unconscious from the force as the outside of his head was frozen into position with his mouth closed. Two pores for his nostrils were the only holes in the encased ice helmet.

Austin recalled Gyarados and the ice pillar around Milotic collapsed as the serpent broke it to summon another water ring around itself. Except this time it was a literal water ring that hovered around Milotic's body, granting it extra fluidity and energy.

Austin sent out his next pokémon, the purple starfish with a red jewel in its center mass. Starmie arced into existence and stood on its two legs, ready for battle. Austin yelled, "Thunderbolt, Starmie! End it now!"

Starmie obliged and fired an electrical lighting bolt from its red jewel, blasting through the water ring and striking Milotic's body, electrifying it. Yellow sparks emanated from Milotic's body as it laid there in position, grimacing from the pain with its dark red eyes closed.

Then Cynthia yelled, "Mirror coat, Milotic! You can do it!"

Milotic suddenly opened its eyes, which glowed pink from the burning energy within its body. Then pink energy mixed in with electrical yellow sparks expanded from Milotic's body and then condensed in front of it. Then the translucent beam shot straight for Starmie before the starfish could dodge the incredibly fast retaliation energy. Starmie was propelled backwards straight for several yards before skidding on its feet to a stop just inches before slamming into the wall. Austin grinned and said, "That's my Starmie! Survival of the fittest."

But he lost his grin as he saw that Starmie actually was no longer able to fight as it slumped on its legs and fell on its front. Austin's face hardened as he recalled Starmie and looked back at Cynthia's last pokémon. He hadn't expected this Milotic to be so troublesome as to actually be able to defeat two of Austin's pokémon. This was the strongest water pokémon Austin's pokémon had faced yet.

Austin had his doubts, but he threw out his own last pokémon and summoned Gardevoir. He called to her as she stood there unsteadily on her two feet, "You can do it Gardevoir! Psychic attack now!"

Both Austin and Gardevoir understood that Milotic could just mirror retaliate this attack if it failed to knock the sea serpent out of the fight. And Austin wasn't taking the chance of having Gardevoir calm her inner spirit for more concentrated power when Cynthia could simply take the chance to order Milotic to fire another ice beam at Gardevoir in her weakened state.

Gardevoir closed her eyes and put her hands together as she fired the invisible psychic energy pulse directly at Milotic. The air parted in front of the serpent pokémon as the energy smashed into its body, and Milotic was flung several feet backwards. Cynthia yelled, "Now, mirror coat, Milotic!"

Gardevoir panted from the exertion as both she and Austin watched Milotic anxiously, seeing if the last attack was enough to end the fight. The serpent slowly raised its head as its body glowed a purple hue from the psychic energy it had absorbed. Austin's eyebrows narrowed as he saw that he had failed to win the tournament league.

But suddenly Milotic wailed as it abruptly slumped onto the ground in utter exhaustion, unable to continue. Gardevoir sighed and put her hands on her hips as she bent over gasping for air. Austin whooped victoriously, no longer having any doubts about his team of pokémon, and he called to Gardevoir, "You did it, Gardevoir! You saved the match! Great job!" Gardevoir grinned weakly in reply and waited as Austin walked over to her to give a hug.

Then they both looked to Cynthia as she walked over with a rueful smile. Cynthia addressed Austin, "Enough. Just a few moments ago, you were the most powerful challenger I had come across yet. And just now, you became the most powerful of all the trainers in the Sinnoh Region. You are now this Pokémon League's newest champion! Congratulations!"

Austin shook her hand with his right hand as he draped a friendly arm around Gardevoir's tired shoulders and nodded his head, saying with a grin, "Thank you very much, Cynthia. It was the hardest battle my team and I had ever faced."

Cynthia led Austin to a healing machine at the end of the room and Austin recalled Gardevoir back into her pokéball so every pokémon could be healed by the machine inside their capsules. Then the pokémon were recorded as part of Austin's champion team.

Cynthia left Austin with the remark, "I'm sure a harder battle will come in the near future that you must face and overcome with an even greater strength not to be found outside the soul's heart. There is always another obstacle."

Austin pondered about that thought as he summoned all six of his pokémon and took a victory picture portrait with them for the history book records.

Chapter 2 Spark of Adventure

"You see, kid, people can capture pokémon to be more than just pets. Just as you've seen on television or at stadiums, human trainers and their pokémon can compete against others in contests of skill, power, and strategy. The best trainers become Pokémon Masters, like me. I may be a bit young for my achievements, but that's because I got an early head-start on my adventure when I was only five years old. But that's because I was orphaned when my parents died."

He grinned and then said, "But that's another story. Anyway, you get to qualify to begin your own journey when you turn ten years old! How cool is that? When that happens, you will want to have an idea of what starter pokémon you will want to partner with when you travel the whole wide world. And that's why I travel around with my pokémon, to show to others and inspire them to do great things. One day you can become just like me."

The young man smiled at the boy's awed expression and then patted the five year old's straight black hair. Then he stood back up to face the crowd of locals that had gathered around him. Someone shouted, "Show us your pokémon"

He bowed and grinned, thinking he could get used to this celebrity status. Then he announced, "Here are my most cherished pokémon. If you wish to see them, behold!"

The crowd ooh'ed and ah'ed as the young man released his six pokémon from their varying pokéballs that acted as mobile containers of their spirits when not active and participating in the world.

Gallade, a green humanoid fighting and psychic pokémon with white legs and two red spikes sticking out of the front and back of the torso, whisked into existence from its friend ball in front of the crowd while whipping his blade-like arms around in an intricate dance-like fighting pattern as he twirled on his feet in a fighting stance. Then he posed, bowing his spiked helmet-shaped head and closing his red eyes, and the crowd applauded excitedly.

Gallade's co-evolution and psychic companion, Gardevoir, appeared in the normal bright flash of red and white light that came from releasing the premier pokéball. She dazzled the crowd with her beauty and grace. Her curly green hair fluttered over her face and she looked out at the world sideways with her sharp deep-red eyes and dilated vertical black pupils that quickly adjusted to the bright light of the day. Similar to Gallade's appearance with two red spikes sticking out of the front and back of her torso, Gardevoir had more of a feminine look to the species, with slender shoulders and thin green arms and a white gown attached at the waist that hid her graceful legs. The crowd gave another round of gracious applause.

The third pokémon to be released from her luxury pokéball in front of the crowd was the menacing dragon and flying Salamence. She was larger than most others of her species, standing on her four legs at a height of six feet. Her head had three spikes protruding from each side. Her blue body was beset by red-colored portions such as her wings, her eyebrows, and the undersides of her neck, limbs, and tail. She possessed grayish white portions on her belly and lower jaw. Salamence yawned, exposing her sharp fangs, and then she snorted two clouds of gray smoke from her nostrils. She stretched her two blade-like red wings on her back and flapped them, ignoring the attention of the wide-eyed crowd. She never bothered with her trainer and companion's celebrity-like status, never doing anything for these times when she could show off to the public.

The master trainer held up a dusk ball and tapped the pokéball, releasing his fourth pokémon. Out from the black shadows of materializing light sprang Garchomp, the monster land shark, dragon and ground type pokémon. He stood at seven feet tall and roared, raising its two fin-like arms and exposing the sharp talons at the ends by reflecting the light off the bone. He wiggled his dorsal fin to stretch it, exposing the cut on it that was found only on males, and he smashed his thick shark-like finned tail into the ground, creating a cloud of dust. His dark blue appearance was offset by his red chest and underbelly, and a golden diamond shaped portion under the red at his abdomen. He also had a gold diamond shape on his snout, and he stared out at the crowd with a threatening glare from his eyes, which were black scleras punctuated by the gold-colored irides and located below the gold cross on his forehead. He swung his hammerhead shark-shaped head from side to side and clamped his sharp teeth together, and posed for the cheering audience. Garchomp snorted arrogantly and gave a devilish grin to re-expose his teeth, knowing that he was a popular Pokémon among the hard-core trainers and rockers.

Then the crowd waited anxiously as the master trainer smiled knowingly and held up a dive ball and tapped it. Then light shot out from the center button on the pokéball to an area in front of the audience, and a spinning purple Starmie materialized. The starfish-shaped psychic and water type pokémon, spinning its second star on its back 360 degrees, arced around in the air to reflect rainbow colored light off its red jeweled stone core. Then it landed on two of its feet, standing at three feet tall, and posed while still spinning its back star. The crowd wildly applauded again in excitement of the spectacle.

Then the master trainer held up the heavy ball containing the last pokémon he had with him, the final member of the cherished group of six. Then he tapped the ball, and out shot a massive blue dragon serpentine Gyarados, landing on its yellow belly and arcing himself up towards the sky while roaring for effect, exposing his four huge canine teeth in his gaping mouth. The water and flying type pokémon's three-pointed dark blue crest on its head blocked the overhead sun and cast parts of the crowd in its shadow. Gyarados wiggled his four white fins on his back and flapped his immense finned tail, causing a mini earthquake that rumbled the area.

The master trainer bowed and said, "And there you have it. The gallant fighting Gallade, and his quiet, caring and heart-warming companion Gardevoir. If they want to, they could talk with us in our own language through telepathy! It's amazing! However, they won't talk with you unless they really like and trust you, so they won't be starting any conversations with you strangers."

The couple pokémon bowed, and then Gallade wrapped a friendly arm around Gardevoir's shoulders.

"The menace Salamence-"

Salamence snorted in amusement, and the master trainer laughed and continued. "Well, she won't talk words, but she'll convey to you what she is thinking all the same, even more so. Careful with this baby."

Salamence just eyed him, and the trainer grinned. Then he waved at another pokémon.

"Garchomp, the land shark who can destroy a building, although heaven forbid he would for any reason."

Garchomp snorted and stomped his feet, then jabbed his finned blade-like hands into the ground to create a tiny fissure in front of him to demonstrate his power.

"Yup. A bit uncontrollable, but a good pal in a tight spot. Then you have the amazing Starmie, and also a quiet companion."

Starmie jumped into the air and arced around again for effect, and the master joked, "Careful with this tiger, people. This pokémon knows at least four different move types and can counter pretty much any other type of pokémon in a battle. You don't want to be going up against this miniature guy in a fight."

Then the master waved his hand at the towering pokémon behind him and said, "And this is the ferocious monster Gyarados. Although, contrary to his looks, he's one of the gentlest pokémon there is. Ironic, one could say."

The crowd applauded for the finale, and then the trainer thanked the audience and said, "I, and all my pokémon, thank you for your friendly town's hospitality tonight. My purpose for being here is to visit Professor Oak, who I need to discuss several subjects with. Until then, please feel free to keep any of my pokémon company. I'm sure they will all enjoy some company other than me once in a while. After all, even a best friend can get bored of their trainer."

The crowd chuckled at the joke and the master trainer turned around and apologized to the group of gathered pokémon quietly, specifically Salamence and Garchomp, saying, "Sorry about all this. I didn't mean to accidentally make my presence known here. Can you please bear with the attention for a while? It would help me reestablish good ties with this small city of Pallet Town. You're all free to do as you please, of course. Have fun."

Salamence snorted at the last remark and sat on her haunches, determined to take a nap while basking in the hot sun. Kids began climbing on and running around her, but Salamence ignored them all.

Garchomp shrugged in understanding, and then began wandering slowly around the town to explore the place with a few teenagers following him cautiously.

Gallade and Gardevoir went off hand in hand to visit the Pokémon Center in the city to get some grub and alone time together.

Gyarados leaped into the nearby water outlet to the sea, creating a huge splash that sent tidal waves several feet high onto the shores and startling several other fish pokémon as they leaped into the air in fright.

Starmie was the only pokémon to tag along with its trainer as he walked towards Professor Oak's wind turbine laboratory at the center of town. The crowd dispersed, the celebrity show over, and returned to their duties or past times.

The trainer looked behind him at the kid tailing him. It was the boy he had talked to earlier. The trainer halted in amusement and the kid stopped short as well, looking up blankly. Then the kid's mother came out into the yard from a house nearby and called to her son, "Ash, it's time to come back inside. I have your favorite sandwich ready for lunch."

Ash looked back at his mother and then snuck one more glance at Starmie, who gave a slight bow, before he ambled back to his home. It was normal to have trusted pokémon travel with their trainers outside their pokéballs. The trainer smiled, thinking back upon the time when he was just like that kid, and then he continued on towards the building that stood out from the rest of the town.

Walking through the residential area of the city, the trainer recalled the peacefulness and quiet of this place where it all began for him. He shook his head and smiled, while Starmie walked beside him and looked up at his face silently.

Reaching the front door of Oak's place, the trainer opened it to find an empty lobby with no one attending the front desk. He paused and looked down at Starmie. Starmie tilted slightly in question, and the trainer shrugged silently. Then they went inside and closed the door behind him. They walked to the far door and opened it, finding no one here on the research floor as well. Sunlight shined through the far glass walls on the other side at the second-story balcony.

Looking around for a bit, the trainer then called out, "Hello in here! Anybody present? Professor, are you in here?"

They waited silently, and then they soon heard a familiar weathered voice call back through the open door up the stairs on the second story. "I'm here, just wait a minute right there and I'll get right to you."

The trainer and his Starmie waited patiently, and then they watched Professor Oak in his white lab coat climb down the stairs and traverse the room confidently towards them. The trainer held out his hand and Professor Oak shook it.

Then Oak grinned and asked, "So what brings you back here after all this time, Austin?"

Austin smiled and replied, "I haven't been to the Kanto region for a couple years now, so I wanted to come and say hello as I was passing by on official business. It's not easy traveling the world and recording all the pokémon I've seen, which you assigned me to do in my journey."

Oak laughed and motioned for Austin to follow him, and said, "Yes, yes, I'm sure of it. I've had my younger days too. Speaking of which, I've heard you became a Pokémon Master recently, defeating the League in the Sinnoh region. Very impressive."

They went to the living room and sat down on the couches. Starmie hopped onto the seat beside Austin and bent its two legs to lean against the back rest in a sitting position. Austin nodded and said, "Thank you, Professor. I couldn't have done it without you starting me off."

Oak nodded and asked, "So how did you like the town greeting? Cynthia called ahead and told the town mayor of your pending arrival today."

Austin gave a crooked smile and said, "Well it was unexpected for sure. I didn't expect the people to be aware of my achievements."

Oak shrugged and pointed out, "Every pokémon master is reported on the news when they achieve the rank. Your name stood out because you were a master that belonged to a rural, secluded town instead of an urban city. That's why you're so popular around here."

Austin smirked and then changed the subject. "So how goes your never-ending research on pokémon?"

Oak inclined his head and then replied with a wave of his hand, leaning back, "Oh, you know, it never ends like you said. But it is always fascinating of course, learning about the wonders of pokémon and the intertwining communities of this world. So you came in on the ferry instead of flying on your pokémon? What kind of work are you keeping yourself occupied in now, since you are now an officially established master trainer?"

Austin said seriously, "I've been invited to join the international police. I told them that I am already an honorary member of society who upholds the law and will continue to do so, but I joined them anyways. I've been assigned a covert mission that I'm currently undertaking, along with my other work. But it doesn't really concern me. My pokémon are top notch fighters if it comes to a fight, and they can take on anyone or anything. They are at their maximum potentials, after all."

Oak nodded and Austin continued. "So, because the prize money from defeating the League and the salary of an international policeman won't be enough to keep me satisfied for the rest of my life, I've turned to capturing and selling pokémon to dedicated trainers and researchers like you to make my living. Not much in the means of a real job, but I think I'll be able to do decent field work while keeping an eye out for thieves and bandits who poach on these same pokémon."

Oak pointed out, "Sounds dangerous. It reminds me of my own young days when I was venturing out in the neck of the woods."

Austin grinned and said, "Well, I got my pokémon to take care of me. And for the job, I don't just catch pokémon randomly, I come to befriend them and learn their ways, then eventually ask them if they will allow others to be their trainers or do research on them. It's the way I've caught all of my companion pokémon so far, besides my starter pokémon Ralts that you gave me all those years ago, which evolved into the Gardevoir I have come to cherish so much."

Oak nodded again knowingly and then stated, "That's how all trainers should feel for their pokémon. They are real living creatures and not just simply pets. Your line of work sounds promising for people like me, although I may not have much in the way of spending. I take it you have some pokémon to sell to me?"

Austin said, "At this point I'm giving pokémon out freely to researchers as I'm still sustaining myself and my pokémon on the prize money I won. And I can get by on contest money as well for quite some time too if I participate in those. Three million pokémon dollars is a lot of money for a conservative person like me who doesn't spend frivolously. If you want to take a look at my electronic box, which has all the stored pokémon in my home in Sinnoh, you're welcome to look at and take any pokémon you wish."

Oak smiled and said, "Why thank you very kindly, Austin. I'll be looking forward to taking a look then. But first, I have immediate things that require my attention. My crew is on an extended break this weekend, so I'm doing everything myself for the time being, which is keeping me quite busy. So where can I find you later this evening?"

Austin answered, "I'll be sleeping at the Pokémon Center tonight if they're allowing. Got a girl to see too, you know."

Austin winked, and Oak laughed loudly. "She's grown since you were last here. I'm sure you two will have a good time. Well, until that time then enjoy yourself."

They stood up and shook hands again, and Austin said, "Of course." Then they walked back to the research floor. Austin held up his hand to wave and then he and Starmie walked towards the lobby and the exit.

As they reached the door, a thought crossed Austin's mind and he turned around. He called to Professor Oak who was climbing the stairs back to the laboratory, "Do you know that boy Ash? He seems like a promising trainer in the future. His mother looks like she'll raise him well."

Oak looked off into the distance and muttered to himself, "Ah yes, Ash Ketchum. Good honest person."

Austin thought that Oak's remark was strange, seeing how Ash didn't even have a personality yet at his age, but he didn't think about it as Oak turned back to Austin and replied, "Yes indeed, Ash is promising isn't he. I'll be looking forward to starting him on his adventure when he turns ten in six years. Did you know, my grandson, Gary, will also be turning ten that same year?"

Austin grinned and said, "I didn't know that. Looks like you'll be having a fun time then. Well, see you around Professor."

"All right, Austin. Enjoy the town's hospitality while you're here in the mean time. It's a nice and quiet place, as I'm sure you've discovered already while walking here, and it's the reason why my laboratory is here as well."

Austin nodded and then turned around to walk out the door with Starmie, back into the bright sunlight of the day.

Chapter 3 Rendezvous

Austin walked into the Pokémon Center next to the fields to find Gallade and Gardevoir waiting for him. Gardevoir motioned with her arm for Austin to follow her without saying anything as usual, and she led him to the back of the center to a vacant room with two bunk beds and a couple closets. Austin grinned and gave Gardevoir a hug in thanks, and she smiled and rejoined Gallade back in the lobby while closing the door behind her.

Austin talked aloud to Starmie without looking down, walking over to the window and opening the shades to let the light in, "This is a nice room. I think we can enjoy comfort tonight under a roof for once instead of under the sky."

Starmie hopped onto the windowsill and looked over at the fields near the water outlet, where they could see Gyarados in the distance enjoying himself and swimming luxuriously while giving some people joy rides. Salamence was at the edge of the fields on the far side of the town, sleeping under the shade of the bordering trees of the woods. Garchomp was nowhere to be seen. He was probably terrorizing some kids for amusement.

The door opened behind Austin, and he turned around and grinned to find an auburn-haired, slightly tanned young woman about seventeen years old and wearing a pink nurse uniform peeping in. Her ponytail draped down to her shoulders on her back.

"Why hello there, Ma'am. Can I help you in any way?"

The young woman eyed him critically with her big hazel-colored eyes and then nimbly hopped into the room. She teased, "Actually, no you can't, good sir. I'm simply here to check up on your Starmie here."

Austin laughed and Starmie played along, quickly arcing himself towards the trainee nurse and waiting next to her for check ups.

The girl bent down and patted Starmie, and it twirled its back star in delightment. Then Austin said, "It's good to see you again, Dana."

Dana stood back up and walked forward. She leaped the last couple feet and hugged Austin happily and said, "Good to see you too, Austin."

Austin returned the hug in full and then he stepped back to look at her. "My, you've sure filled out in all the right places, if I may say so. And no glasses either."

Dana blushed and turned to the side, pouting, "Sheesh, don't say that. You make me feel embarrassed. You're a guy, you know. And I grew out of wearing glasses. Eye lenses for the win!"

Austin laughed and pointed out, "We've known each other since you were a kid and I rescued you and Candice when you two were trapped on the outside of Mt. Coronet in a blizzard. You were lucky I happened to be in a nearby cavern close enough to hear you calling for help. I was passing by to visit Snowpoint Temple in Sinnoh if I remember. Anyway, come on. Just because I'm a hero and all doesn't mean There's a law I can't joke around with a girl's looks."

Dana gave a quirky smile and asked playfully, "Really, didn't I tell you before that I never believed in those fairy tale hero stories?"

Austin grinned and said, "Of course. I never doubted it."

Then Dana raised her eyebrows and smirked, "Do you really believe everything I tell you? I mean, seriously?"

Austin gave a wink and then put his hand on his chin in a thoughtful position. He looked at the ceiling and thought aloud dramatically, "Hmm, that is a problem. I know I shouldn't believe you a hundred percent of the time, but I guess I'm too serious a guy."

Dana stuck her tongue out and said, "Just because you're four years older than me doesn't mean you're more experienced and knowledgeable. And you should know never to joke around with a girl about her looks by the way."

Austin nodded and smiled wickedly. Then he said, "Quite true. Oh, and you have to tell me sometime why you left your family and hometown of Snowpoint, and your childhood friends Clandice and Zoey, to come to my hometown of Pallet to study nursing."

Dana looked sideways and frowned. Then she muttered, "No I don't have to tell you. Besides, isn't it obvious why?"

Austin laughed and shook his head. "Sorry, nothing's obvious for me. You have to spell it out for poor old Austin."

Then Dana looked at the floor, shielding her eyes from Austin's stare. Austin raised his eyebrows in confusion. Did he detect sadness in her expression? Then Dana looked up again, the cheer back in her eyes. Austin wasn't even sure if the cheer had even left her at all. That was weird.

Austin broke the silence, "So how did you find out I was here?" He wondered if Dana had seemed to have a serious moment there or not.

Dana raised her eyebrows and pointed out, "Come on. Gardevoir? Really? I knew the instant I saw her that you were here too, since she used to come with us when we played around. She was your main pokémon."

Then Dana grinned and ribbed Austin with her elbow, teasing, "Hey, she got a boyfriend now too I see. You're slow!"

Austin glanced away and barked a laugh. "Sorry for my being slow." He felt glad that whatever had just happened before with Dana was nothing serious.

Dana put her hands on her hips and asked deliberately, "Besides all that, why did you take so long in Sinnoh? I haven't seen you for two whole years! I've gotten, what, a monthly letter? That's hardly a substitute for your physical presence here, you know. You used to visit at least twice a month before you embarked on your crazy adventure to become a Pokémon Master."

Then Dana switched moods and suddenly grinned, asking, "Oh yeah, so did you become a Pokémon Master?"

Austin smiled at her quick change of personality. She would do that kind of thing a lot. "Of course. I wouldn't be back here otherwise. Nothing to tie me down, you know."

Dana pouted again and said, "Hey, watch yourself my friend. You just might find a foot up in your precious spot."

Austin shook his head and laughed. "Yes, yes, I know. So now really, look at you. Trying to become a nurse, eh? Learning the ways from the fabulous Nurse Joy?"

Dana shrugged nonchalantly and said distractedly, "Oh, you know, I thought it was a respectable line of work to get into, since I'm not going to become a crazy pokémon trainer like a certain somebody. Someone has to be there to clean up and heal pokémon after those fights, you know."

Austin held up his hands and smirked, "Of course. It's not like I like to fight or anything. It's just all in the line of business. Thanks for that. Speaking of which, have you gotten your own pokémon yet?"

Dana shook her head and said, "No, I won't get a pokémon to raise until I become a full nurse in at least a couple years. But I'm going back to Sinnoh to pay someone a surprise visit."

Austin raised his eyebrows while grinning and asked, "Really? I thought with your duties as a nurse you wouldn't have time to go sight seeing on vacation."

Dana winked and said, "Truth is, I was assigned there to be a nurse in a week. I'm just about finished with my training with Nurse Joy here. Oh, did you hear? Candice became a teacher, and even a Pokémon Gym Leader at Snowpoint City!"

Austin smirked and said, "I wonder. I just saw her a few months ago to obtain my badge from her."

Dana pouted and teased, "Way to ruin my punchline, jerk. We don't get much news out here in the middle of nowhere."

Austin looked past Dana thoughtfully and nodded. Then Dana gently nudged Austin backwards and waved her hands at him to back up out of the room, saying, "Out out, this room is getting stuffy with us all in here. Let's go to the only diner in this town and catch up on things. I'm going to change to a more comfortable outfit in this hot summer weather, so hang on."

Austin nodded and said, "Sure thing. I'll see you in front of the center then. It's fine if Starmie comes along, right?"

Dana nodded and addressed Starmie, "Of course. From what I remember, it's a good, quiet, and companionable Starmie unlike someone we know. Right Starmie?"

Austin rolled his eyes, pretending to be exasperated, and Starmie made a grinding noise by twirling its back star, sounding similar to laughter. Dana hopped out the door and down the hallway towards the locker room, saying, "Hold your horses then. I'll be out in a moment."

"Well, would you look at that. I'm falling over from having my heart stricken by all that beauty!"

Dana blushed and playfully slapped Austin's shoulder as they walked down the street. "Hey, come on." She was wearing a light blue gown that exposed her shoulders and emphasized her beautiful figure.

Austin sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder in a friendly brotherly gesture. "All right, all right, no more beauty jokes about your overflowing beauty for the rest of the night."

Dana poked Austin at that last joke and he danced away laughing. Then Dana looked away thoughtfully and said quietly, "Seriously though. You should take a hint."

Austin asked nonchalantly, "Hmm?"

Dana shook her head and said, "Never mind. Anyway, I only remember you having Gardevoir and Starmie, along with a Magikarp, those two years ago before you embarked to Sinnoh on your adventure."

Then she sidled up to Austin and poked him again, emphasizing, "Without me."

Austin laughed and lazily wrapped his arm around Dana's shoulders again. "Well, couldn't help that. You still had to attend school here, and I was already planning this trip to continue my training. Besides, the last time you accompanied me on a trainer's journey was when I went to Saffron City here in Kanto to get some supplies for my training. And that was hardly an accompaniment if you ask me."

Dana's eyes became slits and she peered haughtily at him. "Ho ho?"

Austin continued daringly, seemingly oblivious to her reaction, "Those were some fun times though."

They stopped in front of the small diner open to the locals as well as travelers passing through, and Dana smiled. "That's more like it."

Austin opened the door and held it for Dana, and she grinned and bowed gracefully before entering. Then Starmie followed her and Austin came in last, following them to a table in a corner booth next to the windows.

The waiter, wearing a white mini skirt gown with brown edges, came over and took their orders. Then she put two waters on the table. Starmie didn't want any since it was going to dive into the outlet where Gyarados was afterwards.

Dana put her head on her hands, leaning her elbows on the table, and she sat forward intently. "So tell me how you got your other pokémon, especially Gallade. I'm dying to hear his story, since our best friend Gardevoir seems to have struck up a relationship with him."

Austin smirked and nodded. "Okay. So, for Gallade, I met him in the woods around route 208 in Sinnoh, to the east of Mt. Coronet and to the west of Hearthome City, right? We were out camping and Gardevoir was taking a stroll with me at the time around sunset. We were on our way to Hearthome to get the Relic Badge from Fantina, the Ghost Gym Leader. We totally ended up coming across Gallade by chance, and There's actually quite a story behind this. It ended up like this..."

Chapter 4 Test of Internal Strength

"Hey, Gardevoir, you think we should get back to camp soon? It's growing dark. I don't want a flock of Zubats to overwhelm us and nag us to death."

Gardevoir glanced at her trainer and close friend Austin and nodded yes. She didn't like being out in scary woods at night either. She may be psychic, but there was so much life teeming in this area of the woods that it was hard for her to focus on any single life form. She was working on it though, to please Austin for when she would be needed in the gym battle up ahead. Defeating ghosts was her specialty, with her shadow ball attack, although Gardevoir also had a weak defense against ghosts in a trade-off.

But she and Austin were new to this neck of the woods, and Gardevoir didn't know what pokémon lived around here. She really didn't want to find out, since she wasn't sure if she was up to the task of defending Austin against a pokémon threat. She wasn't feeling a hundred percent after a day of working out and training.

They began making their way back to camp and as they neared the grounds, Gardevoir began to relax. Suddenly, a pair of Sevipers leaped out at them, their fangs bared and ready to kill. Austin and Gardevoir both leaped back out of reflex, and one of the snake pokémon managed to grab Austin's belt and slice the front apart. The belt fell to the ground, along with the other pokéballs and the pokémon contained inside them.

They backed up slowly as the Sevipers stalked them silently. These snake pokémon shouldn't be attacking humans, let alone a trainer and his pokémon. The Sevipers must be desperate. Gardevoir felt the nervousness emanating from her trainer. She felt the same way and thought, Oh crap. She prepared a psychic attack, unsure if she could attack two targets at the same time. But before she could get ready to defend them against the snakes, the closer Seviper launched itself at Austin.

Gardevoir screamed both out loud and in her mind and shoved Austin out of the way, putting herself in the Seviper's way and danger. But she wasn't about to just let herself succumb to those poisonous fangs of paralysis and death. Gardevoir launched her own invisible psychic attack and immobilized the Seviper in midair, flinging it to the ground and smashing its head against a rock. But right as she ceased the attack to recover, the second Seviper launched itself over its fallen compadre straight for Gardevoir's throat, and her eyes widened in horror, not even having time to throw up her hands to defend herself.

Suddenly a blade of air slashed the Seviper right in front of Gardevoir, flinging it against a nearby tree and knocking it unconscious. Gardevoir just stared in shock at her near-death encounter and stumbled slightly. A pair of strong arms helped steady her, and she looked up, not to the face of Austin, but to the face of a stranger pokémon. It was a Gallade. She was completely taken by surprise, which was rare for a psychic pokémon of her quality.

He was carefully looking her up and down, making sure she wasn't bitten anywhere. Gardevoir blushed at being in such close proximity with the strong male of her species, and looked away so he wouldn't see her expression. She thought she might have some inkling of liking this Gallade. But she scolded herself, thinking that her feelings were born simply out of gratitude. First impressions weren't everything in a relationship. After all, look at herself and her trainer, Austin.

She saw Austin get up and pick up his ruined belt holding all the other pokémon, then run over to them. Austin was looking warily at Gallade. Gardevoir nodded thanks and closed her eyes happily at the Gallade, and then she left his embrace to hug Austin in relief.

She allowed her emotions to get the better of her even though she usually held them in, because she was tired and hungry after a hard day of work training and she was forced to deal with the dangers of the forest when she didn't want to nor have to. She sniffed softly and leaned her head against Austin's shoulder, shaking from the released tension. Austin wrapped his left arm around her and held her close, providing solace to Gardevoir even though she knew he would think he, a human, should be the one protecting her, a pokémon, which was clearly reverse thinking. She could sense his emotions clearly, she knew his aura so well. Austin really was the best, most caring trainer there ever was, to want to protect her like that. Human devotion like that to pokémon was rare and uncalled for, since pokémon were the creatures with powers.

Gallade looked at them, uninterested, and stepped back to continue on his way, seeing that the Sevipers were eliminated. He walked across the trail to the other side, but Austin called out to him, "Please, will you join us for dinner? It's the least I can do to thank you for saving Gardevoir and me. She was the one who saved me, you see, and I would have felt... well, let's just say, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she had been downed by those animalistic Sevipers."

Gallade continued to stare at them dully, wholly uninterested in Austin's invitation. But Gardevoir turned around and begged him with her large moist eyes, and Gallade reconsidered and nonchalantly accept the invitation, if only to appease the pokémon he just saved.

They traipsed back to camp in silence. Gallade was wary of the surroundings at all times, but especially of the duo he was following in front of him. Gardevoir noticed this and tried to talk with him through telepathy to convey her emotions and try to relax his tensed mood. But the Gallade shunted the telepathy and refused to communicate through those means. Gardevoir frowned and thought how rude that was. It was an honor for others, especially pokémon, to communicate and talk through telepathy with her that she initiated.

But, giving another look at the Gallade behind them, Gardevoir realized the hard truth that there was no manners out in the wilderness, and that whatever dignity Gallade had initially was now gone as a result of nature's influence on his behavior. She realized that they had merely been saved as an amusement detour bonus instead of out of concern for their safeties. Gardevoir turned to Austin, who was frowning as well. He must have realized that as well.

Gardevoir became angry, but she refused to believe that. She wanted to believe that this Gallade had not saved her from death, not out of boredom, but out of honor and self-respect. This Gallade couldn't be so cold-hearted.

But as the dinner progressed and Austin gave Gallade some of the finest poffins of their current batch of food, Gardevoir felt her mood become increasingly sour as she watched the Gallade pick through the poffins carefully, determining which of them was worthy to be eaten. How could he be so picky when they were given to him out of gratitude for his actions! This was simply uncalled for. She could barely withhold her anger inside, but she saw Austin give her a sharp glance, telling her to hold on for a little longer. She could tell he was ticked too.

But, being the kind gentleman he was, Austin waited patiently for Gallade to finish poking through the poffins and then handed back to Austin the ones he didn't want. Then after they were done eating and washed up, Gallade stood up and bowed.

Before the Gallade could be on his way, Austin asked the usual question of most pokémon they had encountered and befriended, but the same question Gardevoir had hoped Austin wouldn't ask of this particular one.

"Will you join my team and journey with us to your liking? Will you consider this? I'd be very glad if you came along, even for a little while. I'd feel much safer, that's for sure."

Gardevoir shot her trainer a dangerous look, but he ignored her and continued talking to Gallade. "We are traveling throughout Sinnoh to become a great Pokémon Master team. This here is Gardevoir obviously, and I have many other strong pokémon that are accompanying me of their own free will. You are free to do as you please while you accompany me, and you can leave the party anytime as you wish. But please, come along with us and see for yourself. You might just decide to permanently join the team after all."

Gardevoir continued to coldly stare at Austin, but Austin waited anxiously for Gallade's reply. Gallade just stared at Austin in a sort of stare contest, but Austin held the stare. Gallade tilted his head, seeming to consider his offer. Then he looked at Gardevoir and saw her fury, and pointed his arm at her. Then he shook his head and turned around. He walked away briskly into the falling night without a backward glance.

Gardevoir's eyes widened in disbelief. Did that Gallade just refuse the offer, not because of what the journey entailed, but because he saw Gardevoir's anger towards him over his own damn pathetic excuse of manners? Unbelievable! It was so frustrating that Gardevoir began to feel the tears forming in her eyes again.

Austin sighed and shook his head, then motioned to Gardevoir. "Come, let's just ignore him and get some rest. Let's go to bed. It's dark already."

He began unrolling the sleeping bags, but Gardevoir continued to stand there, feeling wholly annoyed and drained. Austin noticed and called to her, "Come on, don't shed tears over that indecent Gallade. He's not worth it."

Gardevoir looked down at the ground but still didn't move. Then Austin said quietly, "You know, I didn't get a chance to properly thank you for saving my neck back there. It was really decent of you. To be honest, it moved me deeply, knowing you cared about me that much."

Gardevoir let out a half-sob and then looked at Austin, grinning a silly smile. Austin nodded and joked, "Yes, that's right. Guys like me can't take hints and understand these kinds of things when it comes to relationships. But you made it clear for me, and I love you all the more for it."

Gardevoir shook her head and didn't comment on it through telepathy with him. But she wiped her eyes and stretched out in the sleeping bag Austin had laid out for her, and tried to go to sleep.

An hour after the fire had died down, Gardevoir had still not fallen asleep. She kept rolling that Gallade over and over in her head, and thinking about that encounter. She had been really close to him at that one point, feeling exposed to him. She probably, actually had felt a small crush on her savior after all.

But how he actually dealt with their gratitude only crushed her feelings. It made her feel so pathetic to even be called Austin's friend, let alone a guardian pokémon. It made her feel worthless.

Gardevoir couldn't help but cry silently into her pillow. She turned on her side to make sure that, in the unlikelihood that he was awake, Austin wouldn't see her in this state again. She didn't want to deal with him right now. She just needed some alone time.

With her back to the smoldering fire now, she began to feel a little cold in her sleeping bag. The embers from the fire was losing their heat quickly now. Gardevoir coughed and zipped up the side of her sleeping bag to the smallest hole possible, only allowing her head to poke out. Then she sniffed and continued to cry silently, her tears falling into her pillow and making it damp.

As she lay there, the fire crackled and sparked and then completely died out. Gardevoir shivered and then tried to get more comfortable on the hard dirt ground. But it was getting colder.

Suddenly she felt an arm wrap around her in the darkness, lending her warmth from the body heat and completely taking her by surprise. Gardevoir tried to turn around to see who it was, but the arm was firm and refused to let her move. Then she heard a soft whisper in her air. It sounded like 'shh'. She really wanted to see if it was Austin doing this, even though she wondered at herself why she would even think it was anybody else in this middle of nowhere. At the thought of Austin's kindness, she stopped struggling since she didn't sense any malevolence.

The warmth coming from whoever made her so comfortable and drowsy, she couldn't stay awake anymore. She was tired after all. After another moment of futile struggle against consciousness, Gardevoir finally succumbed to a restful sleep.

Dana's mouth was open so wide Austin thought it actually might come loose and fall on the table. Dana exclaimed excitedly, "Are you serious? It was that Gallade that kept Gardevoir warm that night? That is so touching! That is just... beyond epic or amazing."

Austin laughed and said, "Keep it down, Dana. Technically I shouldn't even know about this. Gardevoir doesn't even know I wasn't asleep and was actually awake. I don't want her to know I was keeping a close eye on her since I was caring about her, seeing as how she had nearly had a mental breakdown that day after the Seviper episode. I didn't want her to suffer alone all night. So I was only pretending to be sleeping. Gardevoir probably knew I was awake and looking out for her, what with her psychic prowess and all. But in that state she was in... I don't know if she remembers or not."

Dana smirked, "Oh, how noble of you, the useless trainer watching out for his pokémon. You know, that Gallade reminds me a lot of someone I used to know."

Austin barked a laugh and looked sideways, saying, "Yeah, well, that's the past. Things have changed somewhat."

Dana smiled knowingly and said, "Yeah, for the better. That's for sure." Then she shifted her body, and Austin wasn't sure if Dana was showing off to him or just simply shifting to a more comfortable position.

Dana thought aloud, "Gardevoir has always seemed human for a pokémon. It's easy to see you and her have always been close friends. So what happened after that?"

Austin smiled and said, "Well, the next morning I pretended to wake up and saw that Gallade was sleeping next to Gardevoir and keeping her warm. Seems like he was used to the temperate cold of those woods. Anyway, Gardevoir woke up not long after and, would you believe it, was actually not surprised at all! She must have been so mad at Gallade before that she was actually expecting Gallade to return and apologize. Although Gardevoir could just as easily been completely wacked out that morning since it had been a hell of a night."

Dana laughed and shook her head. "Sounds like Gardevoir all right. Stubborn and proud."

"Anyway. So Gallade conveyed to us that he was only going to take us as far as Hearthome city past the woods. Why we ever took a detour through the woods, I have no idea. I think it was to change things up and get off the main road, to take the path less taken. But it was for a change of events, because otherwise we would never have met Gallade nor been attacked by those Sevipers. Not to mention it is completely rare to find a fully evolved and powerful pokémon, let alone Gallade, around those parts. It must have been destiny or something that made us encounter each other."

"So I think Gallade took a liking to Gardevoir during the trip. As a result, once we reached the Pokémon Center at HeartHome and Gallade watched Gardevoir perform beautifully at defeating Fantina's ghost pokémon, Gallade told us that he would continue to accompany us after that. And now, he and Gardevoir have gotten together. At least Gardevoir forgave him for that time Gallade was so un-gentleman like. I personally never forgave Gallade for wasting all those good poffins I gave him that day."

Dana laughed uproariously and slapped the table. Austin chuckled and drank some water, and Starmie twirled his back star around, preferring not to comment and only listen. Then Dana wiped the tears from her eyes and laughed, "I'd want to start a close relationship like that. It's so unbelievable it's amazing."

Austin shrugged and put his water glass back on the table. Then Dana looked outside and saw that the sun had fallen in the sky a considerable distance. She looked at the front counter and complained to Austin, "Hey, you think they're taking a while with our orders? It's been at least thirty minutes."

Austin waved a hand at her and said, "Ah, it's a slow day. Cut them some slack. They are taking it easy."

Dana pouted and stated, "That's exactly why they shouldn't be taking it easy. Because there is no one, they should come out with our food much more quickly."

Then she called to the front counter, "Hey! Where's our food?"

Austin laughed and patted Dana's hand, telling her, "Calm down girl. Give them a break. The food will come, don't worry. Besides, the dinner is on me tonight, and I don't think you have anywhere else you'd want to be at the moment. Right?"

Dana looked to the side and Austin poked her. "Right?"

Dana relented and gave a half-smile, although she still refused to let up her sour mood. Austin smiled and shook his head, and then said, "Well, since we've still got time, I'll tell you about how Gyarados came to be."

Dana became fired up again and looked intently at Austin. "You mean that big overgrown dragon serpent racking chaos all over the sea outlet?"

Austin grinned and said, "The very same. So, that puny Magikarp I had with me when I left this place? He evolved not long after Gallade joined the team."

Chapter 5 Code of Honor

Austin laughed as Gallade grinned and demonstrated a joke to them about his encounter with a really feisty Linoone, a badger pokémon that had attacked Gallade to defend its territory. Gallade simulated the scene and dramatized his emotions of surprise when Linoone leaped out of the tall grass he was passing through, and then began dodging the attacks while running away. Gardevoir chuckled and clapped, and Gallade bowed for his theatrical fighting performance.

As they moved towards a bridge passing over a small pond on route 209, they saw a heavy-built man on the other side. Austin and his team paused at their end of the bridge to let the hiker pass through. But the hiker had other ideas.

He called out in a gruff voice, "Hey you! Your pokémon there look pretty decent, but I bet they can't defeat my rock-hard pokémon. How about we settle who gets to cross over this bridge first through a battle?"

Austin rolled his eyes and muttered to Gardevoir and Gallade, "Eh, novice trainers. All they want to do is battle."

Then Austin called back to the hiker, "That's about the stupidest reason to have a trainer battle. I'll just let you cross the bridge first without any trouble. We're not in the mood to fight."

The hiker's eyes narrowed and he shouted, "Ha, you pansy. I wasn't asking for the battle. Scizor, go!"

Out from his standard red and white pokéball emerged a red Scizor, a bug and steel pokémon resembling a preying mantis and having crab-like claws. It landed on its two-toed feet and retracted its two-lobed wings in preparation for the land battle.

Austin sighed and yelled to the hiker, "This is really unnecessary. We don't want to battle, don't you understand? Just let us go on our way. I'm sure you'll find another person who wants to battle you soon enough."

The hiker was caught up in his excitement and ordered Scizor, "Scizor, use X-Scissor on that Gardevoir!"

Gardevoir's eyes narrowed, and Austin shouted, "Stop, damn it! I said stop! Gardevoir, dodge and then use psychic!"

The Scizor lunged for Gardevoir, but before it reached the group, Gallade stepped in front and performed close combat, beating back the Scizor with its superior fighting prowess. The Scizor, however, was unfazed by the attack with its heavy defense abilities and deflected the blows. It backed up to prepare for another lunge. Then Gardevoir used an invisible psychic attack. The only indication of the attack was the light bending in the air like waves. But the attack was largely negated by Scizor's natural steel defenses. Austin frowned, seeing that his psychic pokémon were having trouble against this steeled bug.

The hiker laughed and taunted, "Two of your pokémon can't even take on my one! All right, two can play at this game. Steelix, come out!"

Out from the hiker's second pokéball emerged a snake-like serpent pokémon, composed entirely of steel and ground. Austin rolled his eyes and muttered, "Typical for a mountain hiker to have that."

Then Austin shouted, "Gallade, use your close combat fighting type move on Steelix while Gardevoir distracts the Scizor!"

Gallade looked at Gardevoir, and she nodded. Then Gallade leaped forward and engaged the Steelix. Gardevoir, in the mean time, looked back at the Scizor as it stalked her slowly and carefully. Gardevoir backed up to the field next to the bridge to get some open space, and she looked at Austin for help.

Austin was sweating, knowing that Gardevoir was no match type-wise for the Scizor, and he shook his head, not knowing what to do. Gardevoir frowned and nodded, understanding the situation. She just had to dodge the Scizor's attacks while Gallade, a superior pokémon to Steelix, finished and came back to help her.

But the hiker saw what was going on and shouted at Steelix, "Steelix, use stone edge on Gardevoir! Scizor, use x-scissor on Gardevoir as well!"

Austin's eyes widened in horror as Gardevoir panicked at the onslaught. Gallade saw the cruelty and attacked the Steelix. He then rebounded off the pokémon steel to land on his two feet in front of Gardevoir. He held up his arms in a defensive posture, determined to protect Gardevoir.

The hiker laughed at the scene and shouted, "Attack now!"

Scizor lunged forward at the same time Steelix hefted up a huge rock from the ground and shot it straight at the duo. Gallade shoved Gardevoir out of the way and dodged Scizor's bug slash and leaped into the air. In midair Gallade performed close combat on the stone hurtling at him, smashing it into tiny bits and rendering the attack harmless. But as Gallade landed on his feet, he didn't have time to react as a second stone hurtled straight for his head.

Suddenly Austin yelled as a pokéball on his belt suddenly released a pokémon uncalled for. Magikarp appeared in front of Gallade and splashed in between the stone and the pokémon. The sharp stone smashed into the Magikarp's side and sent it flying to the side of the field near the bridge, but it was enough to deflect the stone to pass by Gallade's head harmlessly and smash into the ground with a heavy thump. Then magical leaves soared through the air and cut across Steelix's body, finally knocking it unconscious and out of the fight.

Austin yelled, "Hey, that's rough play! Stop trying to kill my pokémon and just fight to win!"

The hiker laughed, ignoring him, and waved a hand motion at Scizor.

Gallade saw that the Magikarp wasn't completely dead and was flopping weakly near the water, and turned around to spot the Scizor already moving to slash Gallade's throat. Gallade deflected the attack and began parrying with the Scizor. Gardevoir moved towards the Magikarp and then used her psychic powers to propel the Magikarp into the water, where it might survive until the end of the battle.

Austin looked at Gardevoir with a torn expression, not wanting to leave them in the middle of battle. Gardevoir nodded at Austin and turned back to help Gallade from a distance, and Austin ran towards the pond and Magikarp to help the fish out. Austin smiled to himself, thinking that Gardevoir and Gallade really were the best pokémon, not needing his orders or advice and knowing what to do.

He knelt at the water's edge and looked down into the blue water. But he didn't spot Magikarp anywhere. Austin wiped the sweat from his brow with his arm and then held out the pokéball to call back Magikarp, wherever it was. But the recall command didn't work, and Austin was afraid Magikarp had already died. After how many years he had lugged that fish around, it had to end like that in order to save another pokémon. Damn that idiot fish.

Suddenly a bright light flashed from the depths of the water and blinded Austin's eyes. Austin yelled and fell backwards, and suddenly a Gyarados leaped out of the water, sending water droplets splashing everywhere. The Gyarados roared and looked at the paused battle as Gallade, Gardevoir, and Scizor took stock of the newly evolved pokémon.

Gyarados suddenly had a circular ball of light form in his gaping mouth and then he shot a hyper beam at the Scizor. The Scizor, already beaten up a bit by Gallade, didn't have the energy to dodge the attack and took the full intensity of the hit in the chest. It was flung across the meadow and smashed against a distant tree, coming to rest at the base of the trunk in a fainted daze.

The Gyarados roared and looked menacingly at the hiker trainer, whose eyes were wide open in fright. The hiker called to Gyarados, "Easy there, man. I'm just going to recall my pokémon and call it a day. You win."

Then the hiker recalled his two pokémon and ran across the bridge, jumping in fright as Gyarados roared at him. Then the hiker ran towards Hearthome City like a dog with its tail tucked behind, not glancing back at Austin or Gallade and Gardevoir.

Austin grinned and looked up in a shocked daze at Gyarados as it brought its massive head towards him. He called to the Gyarados, "About time you evolved, you damn idiot! Glad to have you with us, Gyarados. You came at the nick of time."

The Gyarados closed its eyes in content and rested its head next to Austin. Austin stood up and patted the side of its head and looked over to his other two pokémon.

He watched as Gallade suddenly grimaced and gripped its right arm. It was bent at a wrong position and broken from the fight with Scizor. Gardevoir quickly ran over to him and then performed healing wish on his arm. The arm popped back into its proper position, but Gardevoir stumbled from the amount of energy spent and Gallade quickly wrapped his arms around Gardevoir to steady her. Then Gardevoir sighed and looked up at Gallade, and he simply grinned at her in thanks.

Austin and Gyarados watched the duo, and then Gyarados grumbled. Austin chuckled and patted Gyarados' head, saying, "Yeah, I know. We're falling behind in finding girls, aren't we."

Gyarados nodded and then looked critically at the pokéball resting in the grass next to Austin's feet. Austin noticed his pokémon gaze and then laughed, saying, "I'll get you a bigger heavy ball for you to rest in while we travel, okay?"

The Gyarados blinked his acknowledgement and then wiggled himself. Then he self-recalled back into his pokéball, and Austin picked it up and secured it firmly to his belt.

Dana smiled at the story and commented, "Sounds like your fish evolved into a really noble water dragon, didn't he?"

Austin nodded and said, "Yeah, he's actually the most docile male pokémon of the group. He's on the level of courtesy as Gardevoir, which is bloody crazy if you ask me. It may sound ironically cliche for such a huge pokémon to be gentle, but that's my Gyarados for ya."

Dana chuckled and watched the waiter come over with their orders. Dana muttered under her breath, "About time."

The female waiter apologized profusely, and Austin laughed and said, "I forgive you. At least you came with our meals. And they look delicious!"

The waiter smiled at him in gratitude and laid out two bowls of pasta for Dana and Austin. Then she laid out a huge bowl filled with water and food particles in front of Starmie. Starmie twirled its back star happily and nimbly stepped into the bowl. Then it fully submerged itself in the water and began filter feeding.

As they ate with gusto, the sun began to set and cast its orange light across the table in streaks punctuated by the shades. Dana then asked, "Do you have any other pokémon you picked up along the way in Sinnoh? I know that Gardevoir evolved from the Ralts Professor Oak gave you when you started your journey, and that you caught Starmie off the coast of Cinnabar Island."

Austin nodded and said, "That's right. I also have Salamence and Garchomp, my two dragon pokémon. They work well together in a team battle, due to Salamence's flying abilities and Garchomp's earthquake power, so they don't hit each other as collateral. Anyway, I picked up Salamence when it was still in its Bagon form not long after Gyarados evolved. We were passing through route 210, heading north after stopping at the Cafe Cabin there to get to Celestic City. We got moo-moo milk for Gardevoir to recover from her loss of energy."

"So we were on our way and then we stumbled across this Bagon, who was laying across the trail. It looked like it was asleep, but Gardevoir was the one who realized that it was sick. We still had some moo-moo milk leftover, since Gardevoir didn't drink much from the stock I bought for her, and we gave some to the Bagon. It recovered in a short while and then we bid it farewell after leaving it some food."

"But, wouldn't you know it, it seems like we were popular people in Sinnoh. The Bagon began following us that night, and when we stopped for the night, it walked into camp and participated in dinner. I was incredulous at its boldness, but Gardevoir and Gallade laughed and accepted the baby dragon's presence as part of the camp. So the next day I asked the Bagon if it wanted to unofficially tag along with the group for a while, and the Bagon accepted. But as we passed some cliffs and waterfalls, we saw a house in the fog, high atop the cliffs to the east of the bridge. I didn't know it at the time, but it was Grandma Wilma's house, an old woman who teaches especially powerful dragon moves to dragon-type pokémon like Bagon."

Dana nodded and Austin grinned and said, "So we learned this from the elders of Celestic Town, and of course Bagon wanted to learn so it could survive better in the wild. So, I won't go into detail, but we strained ourselves for three days and three nights to get to her place up on the cliff. It was bloody annoying. At any rate, when we reached the place, Wilma declined teaching the Bagon any dragon moves, deciding that it wasn't experienced enough. Now, we were all in grumpy moods, but even with all our protesting, we still couldn't convince her to teach Bagon any moves at all. So we left in defeat, and then Bagon conveyed to us that it wanted to tag along to gain the necessary experience to learn the all-powerful dragon moves from Wilma later on. We acquiesced of course, me being the easy-going trainer and all."

Austin winked, and Dana simply raised her eyebrows. Starmie released some bubbles in his dish to say, bollocks. Austin laughed and then said, "So basically we traveled with Bagon around, and even ended up at the victory road with Bagon still in tow. During our cavernous journey there, Bagon evolved into Shellgon, and shortly thereafter into Salamence. She was a beauty of a flying dragon when we first beheld her, and I think Gyarados took a liking to her."

Dana laughed and Austin drank some water, almost choking on his own laughter. Then he said, "My, Gyarados was so awkward towards Salamence that it was hilarious. He still is, you know. And sadly, Salamence has fended off all his moves towards her. Seems like she doesn't respect him a lot. Anyway, we also encountered a Gabite in victory road. Salamence actually evolved after defeating that Gabite in a test of power, which prompted Gabite to want to join our team in order to become stronger and maybe in the distant future eventually defeat Salamence. I think though he wants to leave the team after he accomplishes surpassing Salamence, since that was the only reason he came along. He has his own agenda."

Dana said, "And that made your sixth pokémon."

Austin nodded and continued talking in his story-telling voice, "So, we all get through victory road and make it to the league, and battle the Elite Four. Now that was a long and grueling challenge."

Dana nodded and smiled. "I'll bet."

"I saw many other trainers there who couldn't defeat the Elite Four. It was after defeating the Elite Four that Gabite evolved into Garchomp, which helped us defeat Cynthia, who was the current League Champion participating at the time I was there. And then Salamence gave me, Gallade, and Gardevoir a joy ride back to the Pokémon Center in Veilstone City to show off her flying prowess. We went back to Grandma Wilma's house and she acquiesced to teaching Salamence draco meteor. It was then I thought that Salamence would leave us and be on her way, but I guess she liked staying with us and officially became a permanent addition to the team."

Dana filled in the rest, "And then, with all the prize money you won from becoming a Pokémon Master, you got Gyarados his heavy ball and reserved first class ferry tickets from Canalave City to come back here."

He nodded and Dana finished her pasta. She stared at Austin across the table. She thought about it and then asked, "So what are you going to do now, besides do odd jobs for the international police?"

Austin finished his own pasta and replied, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "Well I was invited to join the international police at the time, which I accepted only on the condition that I was allowed to travel freely. Besides that, I'm a Pokémon Trader. I trade or sell pokémon to trainers and researchers alike. But of course I don't do this in an immoral fashion. I make sure the pokémon I come across want to be a part of a trainer's team or be researched by scientists and professors before I catch them. I've been refused many a times, but you get the occasional pokémon willing to try a different lifestyle. And there are insane regulations and rules I have to follow."

Dana grunted and twirled the straw in her water glass. "Hmm. Are you sure about joining the international police? You remember why you were orphaned, right?"

Austin sighed and pondered seriously about it. "I know, but I figure that if I have the power to uphold the law, I ought to in an official manner."

Dana nodded and continued to twirl her straw. Then she thought aloud, "Well at least you're not a poacher. Can't say I like your new job too much, though. Too many inherent risks. Not to mention you might be taken for a poacher by someone else."

Austin shrugged and said, "Yeah, but I don't really see myself doing anything else at the moment. I'm a free-spirited kind of guy who likes to travel everywhere and explore new places, so certain jobs that force you to hole up in one home all the time wouldn't work for me. And that eliminates pretty much most jobs out there. And I already became a Master Trainer, so that adventure is finished. Not much else to do out there besides help researchers gather research on rare pokémon that I'm going to try and find in the most remote places of the wilderness."

The waiter came over and Austin paid the bill. Dana gave a courteous nod and said thanks, and Austin smiled. "Don't mention it." Then Starmie stepped out of the bowl and dried itself on a towel given by the waiter. They stood up and walked out of the small diner into the fading sunlight.

Dana stretched her arms and yawned, then asked, "So you have any plans for tonight?"

Austin shook his head and said, "No, I'm just recuperating from my journey for the evening. I'll be holed up at the Pokémon Center, so if you want to visit anytime you know where to find me."

Dana nodded and said, "Mm, okay. I'll drop by whenever then. I'll be heading back home. I'd invite you, but you just want to relax I take it?"

Austin nodded and then Dana sighed and said, "Okay, but you have to come visit the family tomorrow then. They'll be looking forward to seeing you again after such a long time."

Austin smiled and acknowledged with a bow. "I will be there, Milady."

Dana smiled sleepily and said, "Good. Well, good night."

"Night."

Then Austin watched as Dana slowly walked down the street back home. He sighed and then told Starmie, "Well, shall we get the gang together and go to rest for the night?"

Starmie nodded and they set off towards the outskirts of the city to gather up his pokémon.

Chapter 6 Secrets

Austin woke up to the moonlight of a bright full moon streaming through the open window. A soft summer breeze blew through and ruffled the thin parted curtains. Then a shadow blocked the moonlight, and Austin looked to find Salamence's head being silhouetted.

Austin yawned and got up, walking towards the window. He saw Salamence sitting on her haunches, looking out over the distance of the fields with a yearning expression and emotion in her eyes. That was strange to find Salamence expressing herself so vividly. Was she missing home or something? She never gave any hints or notions that revealed her own past.

Austin decided to keep her company and put on a coat over his pajamas. Then he tip-toed towards the door, careful not to disturb Gardevoir and Gallade above her sleeping on the bunk beds across the room. He never really cared much whether his pokémon were in their pokéballs or not.

He closed the door softly behind him and then padded down the hallway towards the main lobby. He found Nurse Joy reading a book behind the counter, although she was nodding off to sleep. Then he walked to the sliding double doors and exited the building.

Austin walked around the side of the building and approached Salamence. He called out softly to her, "Hey, you. Mind if I keep you company for a bit?"

Salamence looked away and snorted, hiding her face and not really feeling in the mood to. Austin held up his hands and apologized, "Okay, well, don't mind me then. I'm just out for a breath of fresh air, and I'll be going right back in."

Salamence looked at Austin and then wrapped her tail around him, bidding him permission to keep her company. Then she sighed and put her head on her two front legs, stretching out on her belly. Austin took the cue and sat down on the grass, leaning against Salamence's tail as a backrest.

Then they stayed in their relative positions for a while, just enjoying each other's company in silence. A huge splash sound drifted across the air and Austin saw Gyarados in the far off distance thrash the water with his tail in his sleep. Garchomp was the only one who wanted to spend the night in his dusk ball. Seems like he liked it in there.

Austin broke the silence and thought aloud to Salamence, "We should get going tomorrow afternoon to accomplish what we came here to do. The package should be arriving in the morning. We don't want our targets to get early warning of our presence."

Salamence closed her eyes and didn't remark. She didn't care much for the job and would only help out if she was needed. Austin sighed and thought about things seriously, and why he was here in the first place.

"Are you sure you want to join the international police? You know what you are doing right? Your parents-"

Austin retorted, "My parents died so that they could uphold justice and the law. Now recently I haven't been seeing you people doing that, and I won't just let my parents' work all fade away for nothing. I won't let them die in vain for such a righteous cause."

The man nodded thoughtfully and then pushed a button on his desk. Then the man said in a deep voice, "Bring me the papers and a badge."

Austin nodded and said, "Thank you sir."

The man simply said, "I hope you know what you are getting yourself into. I worked with your parents in the field, and they were the best there was. And then that happened to them. We've been trying to crack down on this organization for quite some time, but have been unsuccessful. I don't know what you plan to do to bring them to justice, so just be careful Austin, okay?"

A secretary walked in with a blank badge and papers for Austin's commission. Austin quickly signed them and had his name inscribed on the badge, then he equipped it on his belt. Austin stood up and shook hands with the Chief of International Police and then the chief said, "For starters, we've gotten word of a job by the organization taking place near your home town. I see you already made plans to visit there again, so that's convenient. Well, you know what to do I presume, when you find them."

Austin walked to the door and then paused to turn around as the chief called out without looking up from his desk, "Hope you find your battle suit useful."

Austin nodded, not saying anything, and then exited the room without looking back.