Felix resisted the urge to raise a hand to the blinding sun, as he was already wearing shades, and didn't want to draw extra attention to himself. The building across the street seemed to be made completely of windows, and that was annoying, because the sun was already in his eyes, but was made more intense from the extra sun. He checked the sky, searching for anything that might be following him. He found only clouds and buildings.

Felix walked down the street eastward. The size of the buildings made him feel insignificant as he walked passed. However, that did not stop them from blurring into one brown and red, and sometimes green due to trees, transition of clustered city life to open country air.

As he neard the exit of the city, a large, pompous gate, Felix stopped abruptly. He slowly turned, a bit apprehensive as to who, or what, was following him. He scanned all the people as they moseyed or hurried by, but none seemed to pay any direct or extended attention to him. Felix conitinued watching, waiting for the source to manifest itself, and he quickly found the source: a young man trying to hide behind a restaurant's street sign, but failing miserably.

The boy peeked out from behind the sign one more time, but was not prepared to see Felix within a foot of his hiding place. He stifled a short yelp, and fell over. The boy tried to pick himself up, and ran into another few people on his way up. Apologizing profusely, he finally seemed to get his act back together, and stood up straight. When he inhaled to calm himself, Felix could finally get a good look at him. The boy was no older than 18, at most, and had very light brown hair: the most noticeable feature. He wore a plaid shirt that seemed to have gone days un-washed. His jeans were a sky-blue, and featured a stain about mid-calf on the outide of his left leg, and a chain attached to his right-side belt loop and inserted into his front-right pocket. His...shoes, if you could call them that, seemed to be missing the threads that held them together, and now seemed to be a frankenstein project with ductape. his face bore no hair, and his nose was long and thin, but didn't protrude further than abnormal. The boy's eyes were the most intriguing thing, though. They were turquiose, a color not commonly found in this part of the country. His left ear had a small loop piercing, that, if any smaller, would hug the ear tight.

They stared at each other, waiting for the other to say something. The boy finally spoke, saying, "Ahem...so, uhhh..." He obviously couldn't pursue this thought any further. "So, what's your name?" His voice sounded...underdeveloped: almost finished, but not quite low enough.

"I'm sorry?" he said in a tone that wasn't offended, but a bit sarcastic.

"I just saw your scar, and I thought that...uhhh...I would like to know the name of the man who bore such an awesome scar."

Felix wasn't offended at the mention of his scar, but more caught off-guard by it.

The boy saw this, and immediately went into a flurry of stuttering and apologizing, which was silence by Felix raising his hand, and simply stated, "Follow me."

He then turned and headed straight for the gate. The boy was a bit troubled, but eventually decided he didn't have anywhere else to go, so he stayed close to the man with a scar.

As they neared a street which they had to cross, a bicyclist sped past, almost knocking Felix down. The man yelled some undiscernable things at the duo, and rode away. Sounded like Intargan, Felix thought.

"Do you know what he said?" Felix heard from behind.

"What?"

"He said some pretty nasty things."

Felix stared at him for a bit, then said, "You know Intargan?"

"Well, yeah, I also know Yomin."

Felix was astounded...but he would have been even more so if he didn't already know Yomin. Everybody knew at least a bit Yomin in these parts.

"Well, let's keep going," Felix stated, then kept walking to the gate.

They reached the gate, paid their toll to leave, then the guard whispered in Felix's ear, "So, you got another apprentice, huh?"

"If you want to call him that, hehe. I still don't know anything about him."

"Well, if he doesn't work out, just drop him off here. I'll take care of him."

"I can always count on you."

The guard nodded, then resumed his job.

On the other side of the gate was an expanse of grassy field, until it ended at the forest. Somewhere deep in the forest, a mountain range started, and the trees covered that, too. The blue sky slugged by, with an occasional cloud here and there.

They walked, and as they walked, the city shrunk into the distance. However, It never disappeared...that is, until they reached the forest. Felix walked with certainty through the trees, not taking a second thought about where he was going. Without warning, he stopped, then turned around and asked, "So, my name?"

"What? I di-"

"You wanted to know my name, I know, but first you must do something."

"What?" the boy asked, his fear and confusion completely disapparated.

"Tell me yours."

"Nils. My name is Nils. I'm from-"

"I don't need to know where you're from, I just wanted to know your name."

Felix turned, and continued down the path some more. Nils followed, and said, "You never told me your name."

Without stopping, Felix turned his head, and saw he was a bit disappointed, but hopeful. "I never said when I will tell you." With that, Felix took a sharp turn to the left, and disappeared into the trees.

Nils was right on his heels though. Good reflexes, Felix thought. He dodged around the maze of trees, left, right, left, straight, right, left, then knocked on a tree with a distinctive sound and rhythm. A shout was heard in the distance, "Clear," then they continued on. Felix stopped at a certain group of trees, kneeled at the base of one, brushed the grass and tree-debris aside, then opened the trap-door. He stepped aside, signaling for Nils to enter.

After Nils climbed in, Felix followed, and descended into a tunnel. They walked, their vision illuminated by an occasional hanging lamp, which were all hung lazily, and then a fork in the road opened up. Felix walked left. Another fork, and Felix walked right. This continued for another two forks, then Felix suddenly stopped at a wall, which he stuck his hand into. And further into, until it had eaten his whole arm. He performed the hand motions with the man on the other side, and pulled his arm out, which started swinging in, until they could pass. Felix looked behind him, and Nils was still with him, thankfully. He allowed Nils to enter, and told him to go wait at the first sign he saw. Nils had no idea what to think of this, so he just went.

"So, is that your latest victim?" the man asked, jokingly.

"No, I think he's my first apprentice," Felix said with as much humor in his voice.

"Boy, you know where to find them and where to get rid of them, huh?"

"As do you, Marcus. Now tell me when anybody enters, It's important. I can't risk this place being discovered. I don't think the kid is in that kind of a situation, but one can never be too sure."

"Would you like me to send scouts?"

"Ghost Pokèmon? Other than that, no."

"Got it, I'll keep an eye out, sir."

"Good."

Felix walked to his companion, and led him to the opening of the arena.

"Now, tell me why you really wanted to know my name."

"What?"

"Your true motives. It's not because of my scar, you wanted to know something else about me. What is it?"

Nils tried his best to look dumbfounded, and when he noticed it wasn't going to work, he sighed and said, "I noticed your necklace, and I wanted to know if you were a Trainer."

"I am," Felix stated flatly.

Nils had an undiscernable emotion displayed on his face, a mix of understanding, regret, and awe. "So...who were the others?"

"Friends. Now, you wanted to know my name, right?"

Nils' face went from that weird combination of feelings to excitement, and said, "Yeah!"

"Then beat me in a Pokèmon match."

Nils' face went from excitement to blank, but his features were still stuck in excitement. "Is that a joke? Hehehe..." His laughing and muttering became indiscernable.

"I'm no God at Pokèmon battling, so it's possible to defeat me, one on one, one Pokèmon each. You win, my name is your prize."

Nils sighed and finally accepted his fate. "I'll duel you."

Felix smiled with half his lips, and asked, "Do you have any Pokèmon?"

"Just one, a Vaporeon."

"I'll use Scyther."

After that exchange, they entered the arena, and squared off at the regulation-sized duel area. "Nice place," Nils commented.

Felix looked around, and noticed just a small, circular, flat area, barely big enough to fit a duel arena and a stand for an audience. The cieling was high, to allow room for the flying Pokèmon. Easily, this was the room that his team spent the most time on. "I guess you're right. Ready?"

"Yeah."

They stared at each other's eyes for a few seconds, then Nils shouted, "Vaporeon, emerge!"

"Scyther, go!"

The Pokèballs were flung into the air, leaving a Vaporeon and a Scyther in their wake.

"Vaporeon, hit 'im with a watergun!" Nils pointed dramatically.

"Scyther, use double-team! Then go with a quick attack!" Felix shouted, as he assumed the position of fighting an invisible foe.

Scyther split into two figures of himself, and Vaporeon became confused, choosing to attack the left one. Wrong choice. Scyther then sped over to slash Vaporeon, but he dodged before Scyther could do any damage.

"Good job Vaporeon, now use sand attack!"

"Scyther, use agility! Don't let that Vaporeon hit you!"

Scyther's eyes were splashed at with the dirt and sand mixture on the ground. Scyther's first instinct was to dodge away, but was too late. "Vaporeon, quick attack! Don't let him escape! Then use hydro pump!"

"Scyther, fly! Get off the ground!"

Scyther flew away just soon enough, but was hit by Vaporeon who leapt after him. Scyther plummeted to the ground. Vaporeon ended up standing over Scyther, and was about to use Hydro Pump. Felix saw his opportunity.

"Scyther! Use razor wind!"

Vaporeon's attack was interrupted by the whirlwind Scyther had started up. Vaporeon could do nothing about the situation, as it was being lifted it into the air. After a while, the wind started to cut Vaporeon in random places.

"Vaporeon! Move! Get away!" Nils' shouting didn't help his Vaporeon.

"Alright, Scyther! Use Slash!" Scyther stood, and took one last deliberate action: he reeled his arm, and then lunged at the Vaporeon. Nils' Pokèmon fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Vaporeon!" Nils yelled, as he ran to his fallen Pokèmon. When he reached Vaporeon, he comforted it, spoke to it softly, then pulled out a potion.

"No need, we have a Pokècenter here. We can heal your Vaporeon, don't worry."

Felix'es words comforted Nils, who said, "You are a good fighter. I thought I was actually going to win, hehe."

Nils recalled his Pokèmon, and gave it to a man who appeared on the spot, ready to go and heal Vaporeon.

Felix looked at Nils. "Felix."

"What?"

"My name is Felix."

"But I di-"

"Don't worry about that. I am going to make you my apprentice, and I will help you catch some Pokèmon." Felix crossed his arms. "But only if you want to fight for the cause."

"What cause?"

"The Revolution."

Nils' eyes grew bigger than Felix had ever seen them...which isn't saying much, as Felix doesn't know him very well. "Really? Y-you want me to be a part of the Revolution?" Nils' mouth was working as if he was still talking, but he didn't make a sound.

"Yes. Starting today," he began, pulling out a Pokèball trinket on a thread from his pocket, and offered it to Nils, "you are in preperation to become a Trainer."