( Notes:

Not much to say here; just a lot of exposition on the Paul/Reggie/Brandon family feud, plenty of dialog for Maylene if anyone happens to be nuts about her, and a surprise guest recurring anime character who will be intermittently in and out of the story mainly because I really wanted to write for him, and I have a convenient way to fit him into the story that isn't totally contrived. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it, and hopefully the quality is relatively good considering I wrote much of this during the early hours of the morning. )

Paul was wise to take shelter before nightfall. After he finally dozed off in his hotel room, a system of severe thunderstorms loomed over Jubilife City. Major areas of business, including the Pokémon Center, readied their back-up generators once Sinnoh Now's weather channel issued a warning for the strong storms soon to come. Lightning crackled over the city menacingly as those who were still outside quickly took refuge. Many cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were reported, making the outdoors a hazardous place to be.

It was a rough night for many, but Paul managed to sleep through every second of it; he was never once startled by the flash of lightning and the rumbling, ground-shaking thunder that followed soon after. However, unbeknownst to Paul, one strike of lightning around the crack of dawn was fierce enough to cut off the power to Paul's hotel and the residential block nearby. Thankfully, the hotel had a back-up generator that would serve as a substitute while the worst of the storm passed by.

However, due to the power being off for even a short moment, Paul's alarm clock was reset when the backup generator activated. The time was no longer accurate, and the alarm's defaults were set back to midnight, rather than what Paul had programmed before going to bed: 9:30 AM. This would allow him enough time to have breakfast and walk leisurely towards Jubilife's port to catch the ship departing for Canalave City at 10:45 AM.

The sun could not shine its rays down upon Paul to tell him it was morning, as the rainy weather remained long after the thunderstorms had passed. Now it was simply raining; a massive downpour of rain, but the citizens of Jubilife gladly took it over the thunder and lightning.

On his own, Paul eventually woke up, yawned, and stretched himself out a bit. He had realized that he did not wake up to the sound of his alarm and looked to his clock.

After staring at it for a moment, he rubbed his eyes, grabbed the clock and took a closer look at it. "What the… 3:13 AM?" Paul said out loud. He looked out the window to check. "That can't be right."

Paul walked over to the window and looked at his surroundings. The severe storm had left behind a mass of clouds in its wake, making things relatively dark outside for a morning. "I see… there must have been a storm last night that caused a power outage." He began to back his things in preparation for leaving the hotel after a quick breakfast. "That must have been what woke me up. It still looks pretty early out. The rain's bound to slow me down a bit, so it's best I leave earlier than I planned. Hopefully they haven't cancelled the trip to Canalave…"

Once he was ready, he left his room and approached the restaurant on the other side of the building. Paul was pleased to find no line as he went to the entrance and waited for a hostess to seat him. Once he was at a table and ordered his Oran Juice, Paul looked through the menu and quickly decided on what he wanted. The waitress returned to his table, ready with a pad of paper and a pen.

"Are you ready to order now, sir?" she sweetly asked.

"I am," Paul affirmed. "Some scrambled eggs and biscuits with gravy should suffice."

"Oh, ah…" The waitress looked uneasy. "My apologies, sir, but we stop serving breakfast after 10:30."

That was a cause for concern. "Wh… what? But that can't…" Paul looked to the window outside briefly before glaring at the waitress. "What time is it?!"

The waitress looked down at her Pokétch . "10:35, sir. I'm sorry, but you just narrowly missed breakfast, so…"

"Nevermind that!" Paul shouted abruptly, standing up and throwing down five PokéDollars on the table and grabbing his bag. "I have a boat to catch; this should cover the juice and the tip. Now, get out of my way!"

Paul was true to his word, as he would have trampled over the confused waitress had she not moved to the side just in time. In a blink of an eye, Paul was out of the restaurant and dashing outside while it continued to rain heavily. The waitress looked on, having no clue why it was so necessary for him to behave in such a manner, but collected the pay and tip, as well as the half-finished glass of juice and continued about her duties.

Meanwhile, outside in Jubilife City, Paul was running as fast as his legs could carry him to the port station on the other side of the city. It was fortunate that he always wore a coat, as it came in handy for the downpour he was racing out in; something very few others in the city dared to do.

"Only ten minutes until they disembark…" Paul muttered to himself as he kept running. "I have to make it. It would be easy to use Honchkrow right now, but that's not a good idea in a thunderstorm… they'd better have a delay, or I'm not going to make it…!"

Despite the odds, Paul would not let himself be discouraged and continued to dash across Jubilife City to the port. He was soaked from head to toe by the time he finally reached the port, but that was the last thing on his mind at that point. Upon arriving at the station, he was able to see a ship sail away. In a panic, he ran to the checkpoint with his now-soggy ticket in hand.

"I'm here for the 10:45 departure to Canalave City!" Paul stated sharply. "Has it left yet?"

"Son, that ticket is all washed up," the ticket manager noted. "And the ship to Canalave left port five minutes ago. Sorry, but you're too late."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Paul complained, glaring out at the water. "In these conditions, there wasn't even a delay?!"

The manager shook his head. "The thunderstorm portion of the system passed over Jubilife quite a while ago. It's safe to voyage out now. Sorry you didn't make it. But since you had a ticket and went all this way, how about you stay the night at the station and we'll get you on the next ship to Canalave tomorrow morning. You're gonna catch a cold staying outside as wet as you are, kid."

"I'm not waiting until tomorrow to get to Canalave," Paul growled lowly. "I did not come all this way just to be even further behind schedule than I already am. If there isn't another ship that will take me there, I'll just catch the boat myself."

"W-wait, what are you talking about?" the manager asked, looking appalled at the idea. "You need to stay right where you are! You're talking nonsense!"

"The only nonsense I hear is coming from you, old man," Paul replied in a scathing tone. "Now, get out of my way!"

With that, Paul burst through the checkpoint area and dashed towards the dock area. The sudden intrusion caught the attention of quite a few sailors as well as the ticket manager, but Paul acted fast before anyone could catch him. He opened up his bag and put the soaked ticket inside and took out a Pokéball. Without hesitation, he pressed the button and threw it.

"Weavile, standby!"

The Sharp Claw Pokémon came out of its ball, and like Paul's other Pokémon, was in a battle stance as it was usually only called for battling. Seeing no battle taking place, Weavile looked questioningly to Paul. "Weavile?"

Paul shook his head. "You aren't battling. This is an emergency. We need to reach Canalave City and we've missed our boat. It just left, however, so I believe you're fast enough to catch it." With his bag still open, Paul brought out some rope and quickly tied himself to his Pokémon. "You need to Surf along the water while using Ice Beam simultaneously for me to travel along conveniently behind you. Are we understood?"

While the order was complex, Weavile had been with Paul long enough to know his routine and had been through more difficult trials in the past. "Weav!" it affirmed, nodding to Paul.

"Good, then hurry up and use Surf! They're about to capture us!" Paul shouted out, noticing the group of people coming his way very quickly. He clung on tightly to the rope as Weavile started to venture over the water in the form of a large tidal wave. Inwardly, Weavile hoped the journey to the boat would not be a long one, knowing it had its limitations, especially while doing two things at once. A continuous Ice Beam was quick to follow to allow Paul to stand while Weavile essentially water-skied its partner across the water. By the time the sailors reached the edge of the port, Paul and Weavile were long gone, leaving only a quickly-melting trail of ice behind them that no sailor was brave enough to take on alone.

Paul looked back briefly and smiled slightly in acknowledgement of his plan's success. "We've lost them, Weavile. Keep it up; that boat can't be too far ahead of us."

As Paul's journey took a wild and exciting turn, the elder brother Reggie had a relatively mundane start to his morning. He was able to spend some time training with his original Pokémon team the previous night, but not as much as he would have liked. After taking care of his usual duties as a breeder, Reggie sighed and looked out the window, as he was not fond of dreary days like these.

He was thankful that the storm had bypassed Veilstone City completely, at least, which made it much safer for him to train with his Pokémon, even if the conditions were not to his liking. He had expected Maylene to come by at some point today, as she agreed to look over Reggie's breeding center while he was away doing the advanced training (as well as his father's challenge). It surprised Reggie that the Gym Leader would so readily agree to take on such a responsibility when she had other duties to fulfill, but began to doubt that she would be coming by today after all. Not that Reggie blamed Maylene; it was a long walk from the Veilstone Gym to the breeding center, and in the rain, it would not be a pleasant journey at all.

Reggie was taken by surprise when he heard a knock on the door and found none other than Maylene herself at the door with an umbrella in tow.

"Maylene!" Reggie exclaimed, looking overjoyed. "I was about to think you weren't coming due to the rain! Oh, you didn't have to force yourself. If it's going to be like this all day, I doubt I'll be leaving today."

Maylene smiled and shrugged. She was also joined by her close training partner, Lucario. "Actually, Reggie, your request couldn't have come at a better time!"

"Really?" he said, amused. "What do you mean?"

"Let's discuss it in the kitchen," Maylene suggested. "Lucario gets cranky if he gets too soggy," she said with a laugh, prompting her partner to grumble in annoyance.

Reggie smiled and stood aside to let his guests in. "By all means, then! Tell me what's been going on with you; it's been a while."

After being settled at the kitchen table with cups of tea (and some berries for Lucario), Reggie and Maylene resumed their discussion.

"So, what makes this so timely and all?" Reggie inquired. "Aren't you normally tied up with your duties as the Gym Leader?"

"That's the thing," said Maylene. "They've temporarily shut down the gym for renovations. Apparently they're revamping it and giving it a whole new look. And it's not just my Gym that's getting reimaged; Gardenia and Fantina are getting theirs renovated as well. It was a decision made by the Pokémon League, and if it's working to improve my Gym, I really can't turn down such a generous offer."

Reggie nodded, understanding. "So that's why you're able to look over the breeding center… well, you ought to be able to take on challenges from trainers even with the Gym unavailable, Maylene. I have a wide, open field for a backyard that's perfectly suitable for a battleground should you need it."

"Really? I didn't think about the possibility of getting challenges while the Gym's under construction…" Maylene pondered out loud. "You think I can legally do that here?"

"Sure, why not? Fantina travels often and takes on challenges outside her Gym whenever one is issued to her," Reggie pointed out. "And I'm not sure if you're familiar with her, but there's a Gym Leader from Johto named Whitney who's also been known to take on official Gym battles outside her Gym. I don't think any trainer will have a problem with trying to earn a Cobble Badge here. You may want to post up a notice at your Gym letting the trainers know where you are now, though."

Maylene nodded. "Thanks for telling me that… I feel a lot better about this now. Looks like this'll help both you and me. I'll give Connally a call; he's helping out with the Gym's renovations, so he can put up the notice about where I'll be until the Gym's finished."

Reggie smiled. "Looks like we have everything set, then. I was feeling guilty myself about dragging you away from your Gym, but this should work out perfectly. Just remember: don't hesitate to give me a call if you've having trouble caring for any of the Pokémon here," he said, holding up a PokéGear. "I offered to share one of these with my brother, but he declined. Since I'd hate to let them go to waste, I'll let you have this one. There's no telling where I'll be while I'm training and when I meet my dad, so this'll come in handy should you need anything. If I stop by a Pokémon Center, I'll be sure to give you a call and check up on how things are going."

"Wow… thanks," Maylene uttered, shyly accepting the PokéGear. "How's Paul doing, anyway?"

"Ah, well…" Reggie looked up and sighed, yet did so with a smile. "He's the same as always, so don't worry; according to him, he treated Gardenia way worse than he did you. I just exchanged Pokémon with him yesterday; said he was on his way to Canalave City. Looks like Byron's his next target."

Maylene nodded. "No offense, but I hope Byron can knock him down a peg or two. If he hasn't changed a bit, someone needs to knock some sense into him."

"I wouldn't waste my time hoping for that," Reggie warned. "Even if Byron does beat him, Paul will win eventually. He's gotten extra incentive to get eight Sinnoh badges and get through the League now, so he'll be working overtime to make sure he's ready."

"Ready for the League?" Maylene asked.

"Ready for dad," Reggie corrected. "He sent me a letter recently issuing a challenge to both of us…"

Maylene's eyes widened at the revelation; being familiar with Reggie, she of course knew much of Pyramid King Brandon. "So that's why you're going out to train… I thought something was weird about you doing that after you chose to be a breeder…"

Reggie sighed and looked to his mantle, where he kept frames of all the badges he won in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kanto's Battle Frontier symbols. It was a complete set… all except for the final Symbol in the Battle Frontier; the Brave Symbol. "A lot of people weren't supportive of my decision considering my accomplishments in battle… and don't get me wrong, Maylene; I'm not considering a career change. I still have my heart set on being the best breeder in the Sinnoh region."

"So why are you taking up the challenge?" Maylene asked out of honest curiosity. "You've shown us all that you have amazing battling prowess when necessary… it just simply isn't you. I've accepted that… and several others have, too. It's just your dad and brother…"

"I'm doing this for closure," Reggie assured. "To me, the Brave Symbol means so much more than just… completing my collection. If I cared about that, I never would have stopped trying to win it. But my dad… well, you've seen how he can be. I'm fighting for this symbol because to him, it says that I truly am his son. I can win all of the badges and Leagues in the Pokémon world… but none of it means a thing if I can't defeat my old man in battle. I don't expect you to understand it completely, but ever since our family was broken up, I've been determined to mend it back together the best way I knew how…"

Maylene, paying close attention to Reggie's words, blinked at the last part. "The best way you knew how? Surely you don't mean this…?"

"It was wishful thinking on my part that I could show my father that breeders have a place in the Pokémon world just as much as trainers. But he sees this profession as an insult to his own… and Paul shares the same opinion. The only way I can make amends with my father is to defeat him in battle and earn his Brave Symbol. I've tried it before many times and failed. Because of the path I've chosen, I honestly haven't gotten much stronger since the last time I faced him. That's why I need intensive training as soon as possible. I'm afraid I might not get another chance to battle him after this time, and if that happens… this family will never come together again." Reggie slumped, with his eyes failing to make contact with Maylene's. "That's not what mom would want…"

"She'd want you three to be happy and unified, like you were before she…" Maylene paused when she noticed Reggie's expression. "O-oh, geez… sorry; I didn't mean to bring that up…"

Reggie faced her again, shaking his head and resuming his usual smiling expression. "I was the one who brought it up first. Besides that… it's nice to reminisce about mom now and then. Paul was young when she died, so he honestly doesn't know enough about her… and dad's been evasive about the topic since she passed away."

That detail made Maylene concerned. "That's a long time to shove a loved one out of your memory. I don't know much of her myself, but… judging from what others have said, she used to be a breeder too, right?"

"That's right," Reggie affirmed. "So you think it'd be weird for dad to shun me when I'm following in mom's footsteps… but the fact of the matter is that Paul and I were both young when mom passed on. We relied on him for strength to move past it… but there was no one to help dad through his loss. He changed after she died…"

"Does he… see her in you?" Maylene asked meekly. "Maybe that's why…"

Reggie sighed; this time no smile could cover up what he honestly felt inside. "The thought had crossed my mind. And that's even more reason why I feel I need to win this Brave Symbol from dad. It feels like I'm a living reminder of what he's lost, and since he never properly got over that… it disturbs him. So he shuns me… but if I can defeat him in battle, I can show him proof that I am my own person. I can show him that I can be as skilled as him in battle if I wanted to be. And maybe he'll even see that he's been ridiculous to cast me away just because I remind him of mom. So yes, Maylene… there are many reasons why I took up this challenge, and that's why I want to take my training seriously without any distractions. I have to bring everything I have to the table when I face him, and… I don't think I'm at the point where I can do that yet."

"Then don't worry about this place at all!" Maylene said with confidence. "I wanna see you stick it to your dad and bring you guys together again! I think all of the Pokémon here would agree with me, too. You're a great breeder, Reggie, but what would really put them at ease is to have a real family living here again."

Reggie nodded, but remained firm. "I'm not letting myself get too idealistic about this. The odds are well against me, and even if I win, that won't make dad quit being a Frontier Brain. It's my fault that dad's stuck in Kanto as a Frontier Brain to begin with… he has a major responsibility to uphold in his position."

"That's true," Maylene concurred. "Frontier Brains are a pretty big deal… I'd ask why it's your 'fault', but I think I've dug deep enough into your personal business as it is…" She blushed in embarrassment after saying that.

"Like I said, it's nice to have someone to talk to about these matters for once," said Reggie. "It's best you get it out of your system before I leave; after that, I'll be too busy to answer many questions, you know."

Maylene looked conflicted. "You've got a point there… but there's another thing that's got me curious. You said your dad issued a challenge to Paul too, right? Why is that, since he hasn't even challenged Kanto's Battle Frontier yet? Don't you need the other six Symbols in order to find Brandon and challenge him?"

"Correct," affirmed Reggie. "Paul's a special case. He's more similar to dad, if you haven't noticed. He wants to go a similar route to dad, only achieve what dad failed to do in the past. I think dad admires Paul's initiative, even though he's still just as cold and distant to him as he is to me. According to dad, a new Battle Frontier is opening up soon. He wants Paul to earn all of the Medals in this new Frontier, and when he does, dad will consider it a special case and allow my brother to fight him for a Brave Symbol. "

"Interesting," Maylene remarked. "I had no idea a new Battle Frontier was opening up. I guess he's not making you do it since you conquered Kanto's, right?"

"I assume," Reggie figured. "So I don't need to earn anything to battle father; he's on the hunt for another legendary Pokémon. He says this one's the alleged leader of the Regi trio that he just captured a while back. He's still searching for clues, but he says it goes by the name of 'Regigigas'. When he captures Regigigas, I'll be invited to battle. So it's impossible to determine how much time I have before the time comes, which is why I need to start as soon as possible. I'm counting on you to give me a call if dad contacts this place so I'll know when to head to Kanto."

Maylene nodded, understanding fully what she needed to do. "If that's the case, Reggie, you should start training right now! Just leave the Pokémon to me; you can't afford to waste precious time on what's gonna be an important milestone in your life!"

"Are you sure you can run things here without me telling you the specifics?" Reggie asked, feeling unsure. "It's not like this is good weather to be training out in, anyway…"

After hearing that, Maylene's Lucario grumbled and glared at Reggie. Maylene nodded her head in agreement with her partner. "Unless the conditions are severe, Lucario and I train day and night, rain or shine. If you're really committed to your training, you'd better start packing right now!"

Reggie was happy to see the burning spirit in the young Gym Leader; he had last heard that she was having issues with her confidence because of Paul, but was sure a certain boy with his Pikachu helped greatly in reviving Maylene's enthusiasm. "I'm already packed up for a long journey," he assured her. "I just need to double-check which Pokémon I'm taking with me. No doubt I'll be taking my starter…"

Soon after saying that, Reggie brought out a Pokéball, pressed the button and tossed it out, revealing the Pokémon he was given by Professor Rowan many years ago.

"Infernape…!"

"An Infernape, huh?" Maylene mused with a grin. "Look, Lucario: a fellow Fighting-type!"

Lucario looked to Reggie's Infernape briefly with a stiff nod before looking back off into the distance.

"Aww, come here, you," Reggie cooed as he hugged his Infernape. Like many of his Pokémon, his Infernape was a friendly, almost overly-affectionate partner. Reggie looked back up to Maylene. "Yeah, in addition to being one of my strongest partners, his type combination can work with Regirock, Registeel, and Regice with ease, so he's basically my trump card in the grand scheme of things." He grabbed a few other Pokéballs, but did not release the Pokémon inside. "Aside from Infernape, I'm also taking my other longtime companions: Staraptor, Bibarel, and Swalot."

Maylene nodded. "So that makes four. You guys are doing a full six-on-six battle, aren't you?"

"That's right," said Reggie. "So that would leave Marowak and Ampharos. Really, from raising so many Pokémon, the possibilities are endless for me… but my dad's selection outside of the Regis is going to be pretty unpredictable. I have to be very careful about who I choose. Thankfully, I've worked with these six for a very long time… I trust they'll do their best, and they understand what this battle means to me."

"Infer, infer!" Infernape chattered, as if it were agreeing with Reggie.

Reggie smiled, giving Infernape a pat on the head and feeding his starter a treat. "Much as I regret to do so… I may have to be a bit tougher on them than I'm used to being."

"They'll understand," Maylene assured him. "You can take solace in the fact that you can't out-do your brother in cruelty, so there won't be any worry of you making the wrong decision. This is the path you've chosen, Reggie. You're very good at it. Now's not the time to be having self-doubts."

Returning Infernape to its Pokéball, Reggie chuckled under his breath a bit before facing Maylene. "You're absolutely right. You've gotten a lot more confident over a short period of time, you know?"

"Well, uh…" Maylene blushed in embarrassment again. "I can't take all the credit for myself, but… I'm supposed to be like this all the time anyway! I'm a professional trainer, just like you. And you know what they say: every path of life in Pokémon starts with training, no matter which route you take. You aren't betraying your dreams, Reggie; you're just going back to your roots to prove a point to your dad that he should've gotten on his own a long time ago!"

"In that case, I think you've proven to me that you can handle things here as well as keep up the good work in being Veilstone's Gym Leader," said Reggie, winking to Maylene as he grabbed his belongings. "I'd better head out, then, while it's still… relatively light outside. Remember to give me a call on the PokéGear if you have any questions or problems, alright?"

Maylene nodded with enthusiasm. "And if Paul calls, I'll let you know about that too if you want!"

"Of course," said Reggie. "I can't help but worry about that kid, no matter how many times he tells me not to. Anything else you need me to cover, Maylene?"

After looking around briefly, Maylene shrugged. "Nothing I can think of, really! Just make sure you take care of yourself, Reggie! Do your best, but don't overdo it, okay?"

Reggie shook Maylene's hand before turning around to exit from the front door. "It's a promise. Until we meet again, then…"

"Hopefully that'll be sooner than later!" Maylene called out as Reggie left his home and out to parts unknown to train for the battle of his life. After a while, Maylene's enthusiasm faded into curiosity as she looked up, as if trying to recall something.

"Regigigas…" she muttered. "Something about that name sounds familiar… maybe I should look into that…"

As Reggie left to begin his rigorous training session in solitude, Paul was still water-skiing with Weavile in hot pursuit of the boat en route to Canalave City that he was supposed to board. By this point, the boat was within sight, which made Paul grin.

"Weavile, keep up what you're doing and don't slow down! We're getting close!" Paul ordered. At this point, Weavile was well on its way to becoming fatigued due to the constant use of Surf and Ice Beam. The heavy rain pouring down on both of them did nothing to help matters, either.

Instances like these were where Paul's intense training paid off, as Weavile's speed was likely the sole deciding factor in whether or not Weavile and Paul could reach the ship in time before Weavile's energy gave out. Weavile dug its claw into the steel of the ship just enough to maintain a grip on it without having to continue the Surf/Ice Beam combination. Energy-wise, Weavile was now spent and barely had the strength to maintain its grip on the ship. By stopping Ice Beam, Paul no longer had a solid surface to slide upon and was now dragged in the water, rendering him helpless as he had no choice but to cling onto the rope of which the knots were quickly loosening.

"Weavile…!" Paul spat, trying to keep himself above the water. "D-don't you dare quit now! All you need to do is climb the ship and we'll both be safe! I trained you to be stronger than this, didn't I?!"

Unfortunately, after all of his years of Pokémon training, Paul still lacked insight on just how far a Pokémon can go before completely giving out, and Weavile was putting all its remaining energy into hanging onto the ship.

"Weavile, what are you doing?!" Paul shouted impatiently. "Climb, already!!"

But Weavile had no means of recovering when it had to focus not only on sticking to the ship, but also maintain a grip on its trainer as the ship moved swiftly across the lake.

"This is not a choice you have in the matter!" Paul coldly reminded his Pokémon. "Climb up this ship right now or we're both going to die!"

No amount of threatening could change their situation. Paul himself could no longer find himself able to shout orders at Weavile as he found it harder and harder to keep his head above water. But in what seemed like a miracle, Paul was suddenly consumed with a light and was lifted up above the water on his own. Slowly, his body seemingly defied gravity as it hovered higher and higher into the air, and since they were connected by a rope, Weavile was eventually dragged along with this mysterious phenomenon, though it was not consumed in the mysterious light that Paul was.

All too conveniently, Paul was raised high enough to be landed onto the deck of the ship along with Weavile. After taking a few moments coughing out the water he had inadvertently swallowed, Paul realized that he had indeed succeeded in boarding the ship to Canalave City. Weavile too was with him, but borderline passed-out. Freezing cold and soaking wet, Paul reluctantly hugged himself to retain what little body heat he had left as he look up at his apparent saviors: in Paul's case, said saviors were actually quite familiar.

The answer to Paul's ability to float on his own was answered when a tall, pink Pokémon made its presence known: Slowking. It had used Psychic to manipulate Paul's body to its will; in this case, raise Paul's body from the water to the ship. Since Weavile was partially a Dark-typed Pokémon, Psychic would not work on Weavile; it was simply lucky enough to be attached to Paul with a rope in order to be pulled along with him.

Standing next to Slowking was the trainer whom noticed the incident and ordered Slowking to save them: the green-haired bespectacled human PokéDex himself… Conway.

"And here I thought I was simply imagining things when I heard a familiar, cold-hearted and militant voice asking a Pokémon to do unreasonable things," Conway said in his standard analytical tone, complete with amusement.

"You're welcome, by the way."

(TBC)