Aliana was an exception, though. Derek's mind drifted towards her; his great, wonderful, perfect sister. Of course, she was brilliant, unlike him. A saint, an angel, heaven's blessing to Earth, a prodigy, everything that he wished to be but couldn't—

'Stop that,' he told himself, ridding himself of the bitter tone his thoughts had gained. 'What's the point in hating the only person who treats you decently?'

He felt the tears gather in his eyes. It was just too much, this was. Loneliness he could handle, and all the fantasy books, all the history books, and all the Pokémon information books explained that loneliness was the worst pain. If loneliness was a pain that caused madness, then Derek had already accepted that.

But they were wrong, he thought viciously. Loneliness wasn't the worst pain. The greatest pain was forever being in another's shadow—to never be accepted as your own self.

-.-.-

He was, quite literally, blinded by the bright lights coming from inside the lab. After being in the dark so long, it was like someone had just put the sun in the very room itself. Actually, he thought, no. That was a horrible comparison. More like...someone had flashed a light right into his eyes, or something similar to that.

Either way, he blinked in pain, eyes stinging, wondering whether this would be bad on his eyesight or not. It didn't really seem like an immediate problem, though, as his eyes soon regained their vision (though his sight was, admittedly, blurry).

"Why hello there boys! Is there something wrong—it's the middle of the night!"

Words came to mind, but nothing that could really describe the old professor. His hair was gray, but the color hinted at a darker shade, which Derek guessed was due to the old man's hair once being brown. His black eyes shone with a bright enthusiasm, a curiosity that age couldn't seem to affect. His smile was, quite frankly, nearly the exact same as Chris'; kind, understanding, and bright, as if his smile itself could rid the world of the dark and shadows.

Derek felt as if he should start running.

"Sorry Pro," Chris said with an apologetic look. "I found Derek—that's your name, right?—alone on Cinnabar island, so I kinda brought him here."

"Derek?" the old man echoed, staring at him with widened eyes. He turned towards said boy, seeming to almost jump back in surprise. "Derek, my boy! I was quite worried when I heard from Aliana that you were—"

"Professor Oak, please don't mention my family," he forced out, voice calm. He surprised himself with his attitude, as he normally would have either stuttered or stood there horrified.

Regardless, the professor simply smiled again. Derek rather wished he wouldn't, but it was pointless to say "I really hate your smile, so please stop smiling at me." The old man said to them: "Well, while normally I would tell you two to go home and sleep, I can make an exception for two...ah, exceptional people." He laughed at his own joke.

Chris' smile seemed to widen. "'Scuse us for the intrusion," he said cheerfully, walking in past Professor Oak into the lab.

"You too, Derek," the old man said kindly, holding the door open for him.

The child grimaced, forcing himself to walk forward. The silver chain seemed to catch the professor's eyes, but he said nothing. The old man closed the door when everybody was inside.

Derek wished he hadn't. It was bright inside, with regular furniture and everything, but it didn't look very comforting. He realized it wasn't just a lab—it was also a house. But the comforts of being in an adequately spaced house again (as Setsora-ojisan's was quite tiny in comparison) did not last long. He felt as if he were a Rattata in a cage, locked inside with no escape.

The small group went up the staircase, one at a time, until everybody was up on the second floor. It was astounding, in some ways, and strange in others. There were machines and gadgets and all sorts of strange, metallic objects against the walls of the large rectangular room. There was a small table near a wall of computer-like machines, on top of which lay some papers and research books. In the center was the Dome.

There probably wasn't an official name for the Dome, but that was how Derek referred to it. It was a cylinder of metal (another machine), standing on four legs like a round table. It had a dome of glass over the flat top of the metal. Inside were held three Poké Balls, each with a small sticker with its Japanese name in large characters.

As he turned towards the other two with him, he noticed odd looks on both of them. Chris was staring at the glass dome with a look of bliss, as if he were remembering fond memories from the time he himself had chosen a Poké Ball from the Dome. Professor Oak wore an expression of awe, an expression that read that no matter how many times he saw Poké Balls, they never ceased to amaze him.

'Weirdos,' he thought. He realized that he, too, was a weirdo, but pushed the thought aside.

"So, Derek. Your brother and sister have chosen Pokémon before, and have proven that they are amazing Trainers," Professor Oak began. Chris glanced at him, probably due to the mention of Derek's siblings. "Which path will you choose?"

A speech-length amount of words filled Derek's head. Michael was one of the greatest Trainers to have ever lived, and was already forming legends of himself. Aliana had been chosen as Grand Coordinator previously, and was obviously one of the best. They had chosen Bulbasaur and Squirtle respectively as their partners.

Obviously there was only one choice for him.

"Flames...to rid the darkness, and cast me into my own, private glow," he mumbled to himself. When the old man and young Trainer glanced at him in confusion, he said aloud, "I'll choose Charmander, Professor."

"Excellent! I knew you would. Though...maybe you would prefer to meet the other two, just in case?" The professor seemed to be fighting his own excitement with practicality.

Derek, however, shook his head. "No. Charmander is the only one I want."

A smile tugged at Oak's lips. He didn't show it, but instead opened the Dome and took out one of the Poké Balls. It shone as a ray of light struck its shiny metal, casting a glow. He showed it to Derek.

The boy examined the glossy orb. The stick on the front displayed the Japanese characters ヒトカゲ, which he figured was the Japanese form of "Charmander." He watched as Professor Oak pressed the button, enlarging the ball to the size of a baseball. With a gentle toss, the Poké Ball soared a few feet into the air, bursting open with a flash of white.

"Char?"

"How cute," Chris said, laughing.

The small, orange, reptilian creature gazed at the figures with large, green eyes. It waved its two clawed hands and waddled on its stubby legs, waving its tail around in a combat-like style. Derek realized it was a male by the way it was showing its physique. It, or rather, he, had an interesting look in his eyes, Derek noticed. The Pokémon showed a strange understanding of the world, and seemed to accept the two strangers' presences, though warily.

Derek held out his empty hand in the form of a handshake. He wasn't sure whether a Pokémon knew what a handshake was, but before he could consider changing his mind, he found himself holding the Charmander's tail. Unfortunately, a Charmander's tail has a flame on the tip, which isn't necessarily something you want to hold.

"Dear Arceus!" Derek cursed, jerking his hand back from the Pokémon. The movement had probably put out any flames that had been on his hand, though he sincerely hoped there hadn't been any in the first place. The pain had caused him to fall a few steps back, and he gripped his wrist with his right hand, checking for any visible damage. The palm was burnt, true, but only to a degree of tender pain.

"Ah...that looks like it hurt," Chris said sympathetically.

Derek spared him a glance, holding back a string of curses.

"This Charmander is still young, so his flames aren't strong enough to cause any permanent damage. Though," Professor Oak said, stepping forward and taking Derek's hand by the wrist and examining the burn, "we should still put some ointment on this."

"I've got a Burn Heal and a Potion," Chris said, taking said objects out of his bag. "Want some gauze as well?"

"That would be good," the old man answered, nodding.

His lips pulled into a frown as Derek glanced at the Charmander. Derek knew he was laughing, as though he had known that such an annoying ordeal would follow. It wasn't painful, but it sure was irritating, Derek thought.

"Ow," he muttered. The Burn Heal stung his burnt hand, despite Chris' light motions. A Potion and a wrapping of gauze later, he could feel his hand already beginning to heal—or rather, simply recover? The pain from the burn was already disappearing, rather like how pain from bumping your head does.

"I guess it really is true," Professor Oak said, watching Derek curiously.

'What the hell could possibly be examined from this situation?' he asked himself internally. What came out was: "What is, sir?"

The old man looked surprised, as if he hadn't meant to say it out loud. "Oh, just that you and your family really are resilient."

The fact he had said "you and your family" relieved Derek. Professor Oak was trustworthy, and didn't seem to be planning on spilling Derek's little family secret. He didn't want to be known as Derek Risque instead of simply Derek.

Still, something about Professor Oak worried him. That obviously hadn't been what the old man was going to say—there had been a moment's hesitation before answering. Derek knew that no matter how fast somebody came up with a response, there was always a moment's hesitation when an unintentional moment leads to a lie.

His train of thought stopped for a moment, and once again, Chris spoke. "So anyway, here." He tossed a Poké Ball—an empty one—towards Derek, who caught it with a slight amount of difficulty in his left hand. "This is a good chance to show you a capture."

Derek said nothing about already knowing, wanting to keep on an oblivious facade. "I thought I just had to throw it and the Poké Ball snapped open?" he asked in fake curiosity.

"Well, the Poké Ball snaps open when it comes in contact with a Pokémon. Something like aura readings and stuff. All that you need to know is that when it touches, it catches. So yeah, just throw it, or something."

Derek sighed. He aimed the Poké Ball and gave it a halfhearted toss, watching as it soared through the air. The Charmander, however, knocked it back with its tail, straight into Derek's hand.

"Goal," the boy sighed.

"Not funny," Chris muttered.

"Fine."

Derek threw the Poké Ball with his full might, watching it once again whip through the air. This time, the Charmander simply dodged, and the Poké Ball ricocheted, once again back to its owner. However, before Derek could try again, the Charmander leapt forward and grabbed Derek's back, holding on as if for dear life.

"O-oi, get off," he grunted. Twenty pounds of weight on his back was not something he wanted to feel.

Chris began to laugh. "Man, and I thought my starter Pokémon gave me trouble."

"You did destroy the entire lab," Professor Oak recalled, also laughing.

"That's it," Derek grumbled, grabbing the Charmander by the arm, "we're going outside."

He rushed to the door, sped down the stairs, and raced past the clean surroundings of the lab. Almost knocking into the wall, he jerked the door open and jumped out of the lab/house, making sure to dodge anything that came into his path.

Panting, he came to a stop, some twenty feet away from the lab. The weight on his back seemed to have grown, and he was quite sure he might have accidentally bumped the Charmander's tail into some stuff. Still, he didn't smell or see any smoke, so it was probably all right.

The main problem was that he was still carrying the twenty-pound weight. Frustrated, he slipped both of his arms out of the jacket simultaneously, letting the Charmander's weight pull it off of him. The surprised Pokémon let go of the cloth upon hitting the ground, allowing Derek to steal it and put it back on immediately.

"Soran, let's do this," he growled, whipping out the Poké Ball and releasing the Eevee inside. She hit the ground, her sleek brown fur glinting in the light. Derek fervently hoped neither Professor Oak nor Chris saw her. "Shadow Ball."

The orbs of shadowy light shot from out of her mouth, flying towards the Charmander like eerie ghosts. The young Pokémon simply slashed through them with a unique attack Derek had never seen before—something between a Scratch and a Fire Punch. The ignited claws easily shredded the Shadow Balls, and soon were going straight for Soran.

It was his first battle, and strangely enough, it was with two of his own Pokémon. He had no idea what to do. Use a status move? Tell Soran to dodge? Counter with an attack? Something crept into his mind. Probably from all the video games Setsora-ojisan had coerced him into playing (for reasons unknown), a sudden glimpse into the battle told him exactly what to do.

"Leap to the left and then use Tackle," Derek commanded calmly.

Just as expected, Soran's fluid movement dodged Charmander's right-claw's strike. Derek wasn't sure how he could tell, but somehow he could see the movements of the Charmander. It was like watching the movement of flames: it was unpredictable, yet somehow had a certain movement to it that he could catch.

Soran's Tackle hit the Charmander hard in the side, sending the Lizard Pokémon skidding away. However, he quickly regained his balance, and leapt forward with another fire-enhanced Scratch. Derek could see his movements once again, and saw he was going straight for Soran's neck.

"Jump and Shadow Ball!" he shouted.

Soran obeyed instantly, soaring straight into the air as gracefully as a Kirlia. Spinning slightly, she sent down a rain of Shadow Balls. The attacks swirled like a vortex, following their creator's movements. The Charmander was trapped in the blast, and was soon hidden in a cloud of smoke that erupted from the ground.

Sensing where the Charmander was, Derek gripped the Poké Ball tight in his hand. "This time, it's over," he said to himself confidently, and threw it as hard as he could. It whistled in the air, swerving slightly, but still hit where he could feel the heat source. A flash of red light followed by the sound of clattering metal was all he could decipher.

A gust of wind blew away the smoke. He glanced up, but was blinded by a brilliant white light from something he couldn't see. A voice—Chris' voice—said, "Ah, an Eevee! This yours, Derek?"

When his sight returned for the second time that day, Derek could see Chris holding a Poké Ball in his hand, and Soran in the other. The older boy quickly put away the ball to stroke the Eevee with his hand. Soran purred in delight.

Content with Soran's safety, Derek turned towards where the Charmander had been. To his relief, he saw there was nothing but a Poké Ball, glistening in the moonlight. He picked it up and gripped it tightly. The Poké Ball answered to the pressure by opening.

"Char, Charmander..." he said, appearing on the ground with a bright light. He glanced up at Derek, who stared back. "Char?"

Something told him that the Pokémon had accepted him. He held out his hand again, trying for a smile. It wasn't a real smile, true, but the Charmander seemed to understand that Derek was actually happy about this, and shook his hand.

"Good to have you on the team, Charmander. Let's win the Indigo League together—you, Soran, and me."

The Charmander smiled, and though all he said was "Char," Derek knew what he really meant was "You bet."

"Well, Derek," Chris said, walking up to Derek and putting his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "I think it's about time we got to bed. Professor Oak's got some spare rooms if you'd like. The new League year doesn't officially start for another two months anyway, so you can take some time to train and relax."

Derek nodded, to show that he accepted the offer. Still, though, somewhere in his heart, he knew that he would need the extra time to complete the journey.

It was all a matter of time, he realized. It was all just a matter of time before he was on his way to defeat Michael—and find Yuki.


A/N - Well, there's your stinking chapter. Hope you enjoyed, and if you did, be sure to leave a review! =)