"So, we're hunting for Ralts'?" Helen asked as they walked through Route 102. "Aren't they super rare and hard to find?"

Arthur nodded. "Yeah - Ralts are very rare and grow up to be powerhouses. I'm pretty sure a champion had one - it was Diantha in Kalos, most likely."

Helen pulled out her Pokedex. "Okay… Ralts… let me pull up its entry, I want to see what the Pokedex has to say about it." After tapping around on her Pokedex for a minute, Helen managed to locate the entry for Ralts.

The Pokedex screen lit up with an image of the diminutive Psychic-type: "Ralts senses the emotions of people using the horns on its head. This Pokémon rarely appears before people. But when it does, it draws closer if it senses that the person has a positive disposition. They tend to search for happiness in collective blooms."

"... is that it? I can find out more about Ralts on my PC." Arthur asked, a little disappointed.

Helen shook her head. "No, that was only a little part of the summary. There's a lot more, but that covers the most important bits."

Arthur hummed. "Well, if we're going to find a Ralts, we'll need to be as happy as possible. Put on a smile, Helen!"

Arthur had been feeling very good. It had been a couple of hours since they met with Alex. They had bought some of the supplies they had needed. Stuff like, you know, food.

There, Arthur figured out the first difference between their spending habits. Helen was uncontrollable with her spending. Arthur had to drag Helen away from some of the stores.

"But it's a Seal, Arthur! How can I battle if I don't show off to humiliate my opponents?"

Helen was such a Meowth, to be honest.

After they - or to be more precise, Arthur - bought their supplies, Helen wasted no time in dragging him around town. She told him she wanted to see the sights with a guide. Arthur didn't have the heart to tell her that Oldale Town was as boring as you could get.

After an hour, Helen realized how empty Oldale was, judging by how hard she pulled her hair.

"Why is there nothing in this old town? You guys don't have anything! How did you live here?!" She screamed at him.

"Well, if I'm remembering right, the people who founded Oldale were seniors. You only come to Oldale to retire or if you're a stay-at-home mom with her kids. I'm pretty sure that you won't find tourism, Helen."

"But something has to be interesting!" She was begging. "Come on, do you have any idea what we can do in Oldale? You lived here your entire life."

"Helen, if you've already forgotten, I've lived indoors for the most of my life. I never walked around outside. Life is boring in Oldale, Helen. If you want to live here, you have to accept that."

Helen stared at him, gobsmacked, then grabbed his arm. "Yeah, okay, we're leaving. Sorry, Arthur, but I can't be in this lifeless town anymore. You were right, Arthur - the Dump is the most interesting part of town."

So they made their way to Route 102, to where they were now. It would take half a week to reach Petalburg at their current speed, so Arthur decided to take his time. They were going to slow down for this Route, as the pace they had been going at for Route 101 was exhausting.

In the meantime, Arthur figured he would get started on his job - he couldn't wait to get some of that sweet tech. There were a lot of fairly standard Pokemon in Route 102 - Zigzagoon, Wurmple, Poochyena, stuff like that. In the river beds, Goldeen swam about and Corphish scuttled on river rocks.

But Arthur wasn't concerned with them. If he captured every Wurmple he found, the spiky larvae would drown him before he made it a mile in!

Suffice it to say, Arthur wanted something more than the paltries. He wanted the rare ones.

The Poochyena, while powerful, had to compete with Lillipup for territory. Lillipup and Herdier. Wandering around the route were small covens of Gothita, staring at passersby. If you were lucky, you might be able to encounter a Surskit flitting over the water. Under the water lay tiny packs of Tympole.

Lillipup make great pets. Herdier and Tympole, once trained, made good guards. Gothita were sometimes used as mascots considering their dainty and elegant nature. Surskits were for pool cleaning and honey secretion.

All were useful Pokemon, and Arthur could tell that people would pay for them. Alex said he would get the tech after catching rare or powerful Pokemon. Given that he wasn't able to catch powerful Pokemon, he might as well go for the rare.

And which Pokemon was particularly rare? Ralts.

They weren't rare for the lack of population. Surskit were much less plentiful in the route.

Ralts were rare because of their defense - emotional telepathy. They could sense the emotions of those around them and use them to determine who was a friend and who was a foe. Combine that with teleporting, and you have a nasty duo to deal with.

"Okay, I get it Arthur, Ralts are rare." Oh - it seemed Arthur was talking out loud. "But how do you plan on finding one? Experienced Suppliers and Collectors only catch a few in their lifetime."

"Because they weren't happy, and I am!"

Infallible logic, Arthur knew.

In a peculiar way, it was true. As they walked on, Arthur felt himself filling with hopes and satisfaction. The happier and happier he got, the more he knew he was going to find a Ralts soon. The giddiness he felt upon that only made him happier.

Five whole hours passed with no sign of a Ralts appearing. Still, he and Helen carried on with gusto and pride.

Luckily, it wasn't a complete waste. A few Gothita appeared, intrigued. With no resistance, Arthur captured them with the special Balls Alex had given him. Arthur, after catching the Gothita, used one of the balls on a Lillipup who had passed by.

Alex was right - the Ball held more than one Pokemon in it. It felt strange - Arthur knew that Pokeballs were only supposed to keep one Pokemon. That's why you had to keep a separate Pokeball for when you evolved a Nincada into a Ninjask - for Shedinja.

As they were eating a lunch Helen made, Arthur mulled over the new technology. Arthur was altogether impressed. Devon had outdone themselves, revolutionizing Pokeball technology.

And to think - he was a beta tester.

Let's say his joy levels skyrocketed right after that realization. He recalled Mirage, who was eating her own brand of Pokefood. He then set off ten times more invigorated than before. To maximize his chances, he passed a few of the special balls to Helen, to catch any Pokemon that he missed.

As they traveled, Arthur was delirious with joy. Every so often, he would scream with ecstasy and run off screaming into the woods. His insane joy frightened any Pokemon that would approach.

"RALTS, RALTS, RALTS, RALTS, RALTS, RALTS, RALTS, RALTS, RALTS, RALTS!"

Pumping his fist in the air, Arthur chanted over and over again. Helen struggled to keep up. Even the most battle-hardened Mightyena fled from the loud and manic Arthur.

"Arthur...ARTHUR, SLOW DOWN!" Helen screamed. "Oh, I shouldn't have used it," she grumbled under her breath. "He'll scare any Ralts he comes across before he even gets a chance to catch one."

This would continue for some hours, in Arthur screamed for Ralts in a repetitive fashion. In the end, the sun had set with no Ralts in sight. Arthur had begun to wind down, his voice growing hoarse.

"I… WILL... CATCH... A... RALTS!" He screamed, before plopping down on the bare ground with a large smile on his face, asleep.


The bloom of Ralts that had been following Arthur in secret showed themselves at last. They could sense the boy's joy from miles away, the rapture that intense, and teleported near for a feast.

They didn't expect the boy's mania, though, and had retreated, trailing him. This kind of happiness didn't fade fast, not in their experience. A few of the younger Ralts in the bloom wanted to jump at him to extract as much joy as possible. The more experienced Ralts held them back. They knew how dangerous the boy could be, and that he was screaming their name.

Now that the boy had driven himself unconscious, they could get happiness from the boy's dreams. Oh, they couldn't use Dream Eater. None of the Ralts in the bloom were strong enough for those advanced psychic techniques.

They teleported close to the sleeping joy and began to empathize as much joy as they could.

Ralts didn't steal joy - that would have been altogether counterproductive. Instead, they used their emotionally-sensitive horn to sense a person's disposition. With practice, they could use it to sense desires and intentions. Wild Ralts needed to learn the technique before they could go scavenge for joy with the rest of the bloom.

Every Ralts in the bloom could sense the intention for 'capturing'. But they were reckless. That would last until the young Ralts came across the humans' tamed Pokemon. Then they would realize how dangerous 'capturing' is.

Any Ralts with a functional horn could sense the joy the boy radiated, though, strange and unreal it was. The boy's intentions… they weren't malicious. But then those like him rarely did have malicious intentions. Even the most amateur of Ralts knew that they weren't to deal with malice.

'Capturing'... wasn't malicious. Few Ralts actually knew what 'capturing' was, after the ball. All they knew was that once the humans found them, some of their kin left forever.

One would think they'd avoid humans at all costs- and for the most part, they did.

But humans were rich in positive emotion. Their emotions were much more refined, more palatable. The bloom didn't know why the humans were like that. Nonetheless, they lamented the dual nature of humanity.

As it stood, the bloom of Ralts would only feed when they were positive the humans wouldn't 'capture' them.

Such as now.


Helen stared at the bloom of Ralts, amused. To think - they would only come out when Arthur couldn't capture them.

She gripped her Pokeballs. Well, he gave some Pokeballs to her for a reason after all.

Helen threw a motley of Pokeballs to the empathic Ralts. Staying outside of their range of perception, they couldn't sense her until it was too late. Arthur's sheer joy blanketed all other signals. One by one, they began to get sucked into the Pokeballs.

Of course, some weren't hit by the Pokeballs, and once they were aware of the human, they immediately fled. Others managed to break out of the Pokeball Helen caught them in and teleported out of Helen's view as well.

But the others… the ball captured them completely. There was no hope for escape for them, as the ball clicked shut.

The crowd of Ralts disappeared into thin air or into Pokeballs. Helen walked up to the napping Arthur and woke him up.


'Uugghh… my head hurts....' Arthur began to whine in his head as he regained consciousness.

"Mom, I don't want to wake up, I want to still be asleep." He said to some female figure over him.

"Not your mom, Arthur. Get up and look at what I've caught for you." Caught for him? What the…

"Helen?"

Helen smirked as Arthur brought himself into a sitting position. "Wakey wakey, Arthur. How are you tonight?"

"Wh… what happened?" The day had been a blur for Arthur. He had concrete yet sparse memories of the day. He remembered his attempted escape from the Pokecenter. He also remembered the meeting with Alex. Thinking a little harder, he remembered the hour-long shopping spree. All else he could recall was catching the Gothita and the Lillipup.

Actually, he could remember everything until lunch. After that… it was an unintelligible blur. Now he was in an unfamiliar clearing with the special Pokeballs scattered everywhere. Altogether, Arthur was afraid.

"I caught the Ralts you were looking for." Helen gestured on the ground. "They were sensing your happiness and came near once you were sleeping." She picked up a Pokeball from the ground. Unlike the other Pokeballs, this was your average Pokeball. "I even caught one for myself - Ralts looks like an interesting Pokemon to train."

"Hu… What happened?" Arthur was coming to his senses. "Why… How did I get here?"

Helen averted her eyes. "I hope you'll forgive me, Arthur."

"Forgi… What did you do to me?" Arthur was more confused than anything.

"I… take a look at this." Helen searched around in her bag and brought out a small capsule. Opening its cap, she brought out what looked to Arthur like a pinch of silvery dust.

"This… is Sparkle. It's a… seasoning." Helen shifted her eyes around. "A very special seasoning."

Arthur felt like he wanted to throw up. "You… you put that in the lunch, didn't you?"

Helen nodded. "Sparkle was a secret concoction invented by my family. I stole some before I left on my journey. Mom and Dad haven't taught me to make it on my own yet. I thought it might come in handy, and it looks like it did."

"What does… 'Sparkle'... do exactly."

Helen's eyes became glassy and distant. "Sparkle is a chemical, Arthur. It manipulates the brain a little bit. Once you take it, you'll be happy, hopeful, and optimistic for a couple of hours. Of course, it does make you go a little crazy while you're under the influence. It's not addictive if you're wondering."

Arthur wasn't worried about that at all. He felt sick looking at the capsule.

"Why… why do you have it? Why did you use it?"

"Our family uses a pinch when we've lost something precious. Not enough to go crazy, of course. Only enough to help us remember the good times and speed the grieving process a little bit so we accept the death."

Helen turned her eyes away. "They warned me not to use such a high dose - only ever a pinch. I dumped a quarter of the bottle into your lunch. I'm… sorry, Arthur."

In a strange sense, Arthur found himself calm. "You… you used it to make me happy, to attract the Ralts, right?"

"You were already happy, Arthur. But I could tell you weren't happy enough to attract the Ralts. I gave you a boost, that's all. If a little Sparkle makes you happy, a lot of it would bring Ralts to you like honey" Helen turned to him, tears in her eyes. "I… didn't know that would happen!"

Arthur, head pounding, sighed. "It's… it's alright. You said it wasn't addictive?"

Helen nodded. "Sparkle isn't addictive, as once you've had a dose it becomes ineffectual for weeks." She poured a little bit of Sparkle on her finger then swallowed. She looked no different. "I had some a week ago, to try it out. I was happy for a couple of hours, but when I tried it again the next day it didn't work."

She handed Arthur a little bit, and he tried it. It tasted like glitter. Arthur felt as confused and unhappy as he did before. "Oh… well, that's good."

"I figured that using it today was a good idea." Helen gestured to the rest of the Pokeballs. "And because of it, you attracted a lot of Ralts. These all have Ralts inside them." She tossed the one she caught up and down. "I even got a new Pokemon out of it. I… I'm sorry, but at least you have your Ralts now?"

Arthur wasn't particularly happy or sad right now. He stared at the balls on the ground. They had the Ralts he wanted. There were seven on the ground, which meant that he had, at most, seven Ralts with him.

If he felt normal, he would have been ecstatic if he only caught even one, but right now all he felt was empty.

He felt violated.

And if she had any other stuff like 'Sparkle'...

"Can I… Can I… Leave me alone, Helen!" He demanded, voice quavering.

Helen walked away and released her Ralts across the clearing, doing what Arthur asked.

Arthur gripped a stick nearby with a powerful grasp. Hands shaking he released Spring.

With a flash of light, Spring appeared in the middle of the air. Once Spring appeared, Arthur grabbed him tight. Spring resisted for a second, but let Arthur do what he wished.

Arthur began to sob. "Wha...What am I going to do, Spring? I… I'm scared!"

And that pretty much encapsulated what he was thinking. When he first met Helen, he thought she was going to be some normal Rival. He would only have to battle every so often to figure out his strength, nothing else.

Now? After their first battle? After the fight last night? After her return, and her gluing to his side?

After the Sparkle?

Helen… she scared him. More than his mother, more than the Poochyena, more than the Sparkle. Helen knew how to push his buttons, how to make him do whatever she wanted. She wanted a battle, she'd get her battle. She wanted his lunch, she'd get his lunch. She wanted him as a Traveling Companion, she'd get him as her traveling companion.

She wanted him to be unable to escape, and he'd never be able to. She wanted him crazy, she'd get him crazy.

And Helen… she was smarter than he was. Arthur knew how to program and build like nobody's business, and he was fine with that. Helen, though. could think three steps ahead of him. If she didn't want him to escape, he wouldn't be able to escape.

What was he going to do?

Arthur stared at Helen. Helen had named her Ralts already and was going through some early training with it.

Now that she had a Ralts, all distance was meaningless to her. There was no chance of him outrunning her.

Arthur… he had to step up. Helen was too strong - he had to regain some ground, force her to respect his wishes.

Arthur relayed all this to the ever-patient and emotionless Spring. He had no one else to talk to - no one that he could trust. Mirage trusted Helen too much - Mirage loved Helen's petting.

"But how am I going to do it, Spring? Helen can push my buttons - I can't do anything to stop her!"

Spring floated in the air. It gave him an unamused glance as if to ask him why he was letting Helen walk all over his heart.

"But she controls me too well! She makes me feel things, Spring! She scares me too much for me to fight her!"

Spring did not dignify this with a response.

Arthur took a deep breath. He had an idea. "I'm going to go show Helen that she can't walk over me. If I look like I'm getting walked over, shock me. Got it?"

Spring nodded.

Arthur took another breath. "Okay - I'm going in."

He walked up to Helen, who was busy teaching her Ralts how to weaponize her psychic powers.

"Helen? We need to have a t-talk."

Helen looked at him, a somber stare upon her face, and nodded.

Arthur took a deep breath. "I- you've been scaring me, Helen."

Helen adopted a confused look. "What do you mean, I've been scaring you."

"You… you're in control way too often. This… needs to be an equal relationship, Helen. You can't make me feel whatever you want me to feel - it's not right."

Helen's breath hitched. "What do you mean 'feel whatever I want you to feel?" She asked, her voice snapping.

For a second, he felt a shred of fear before it disappeared. "I… you play with my emotions too much, Helen. You made me too angry last night, you threatened me this morning, and you… the Sparkle."

Helen started sweating. "Wh… What's going through your head, Arthur?" She challenged, her face turning dark. Arthur felt a torrent of terror crash upon him. He shrunk back, not wanting to continue this conversation.

Then Spring shocked him back into remembering. "Like now. Stop it."

Helen began to glare, and the torrent of terror multiplied, and it wasn't natural. Helen was scaring him with force.

Arthur stood his ground.

Helen sighed. "Alright. I'll stop it." The torrent of terror disappeared and Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Helen took the opportunity to leave, crossing the clearing to continue training.

Then Arthur asked a question. "How?"


(The Next Day)

Arthur and Helen had been avoiding each other all day. Arthur didn't know what to think of Helen. Somehow, she had some supernatural way to control his emotions.

If you had asked Arthur whether emotion frightened him or not before now, he would have scoffed. Arthur was calm, cool, collected, and a stoic! Nothing could shake him!

Then he met Helen, and that whole perspective changed.

Arthur hadn't realized how much his emotions controlled him. He didn't know his way around his emotions and was at their mercy - and by proxy, Helen's mercy.

Helen wanted him helpless? All she had to do was multiply his fear, and he would be a quivering wreck on the ground. Helen wanted him to not think? Increase his rage and confusion. Helen wanted to humiliate him? Make him fall in love with a tree.

And if the rest of her family was like that…

Suffice it to say, Arthur kept his distance. Arthur wouldn't leave, because he didn't know if he was able to escape from her, especially now. But that didn't mean Arthur wouldn't be wary.

Arthur didn't know Helen very well. Oh, she was nice enough, when she was making him pee his pants or turning him into a happy insane maniac. But… yeah, he needed to watch them both.

Oh, and never let Helen near the food ever again.

Fool me once, shame on you, he thought darkly, Fool me twice, shame on me. I won't let that happen.

He, of course, caught some Pokemon for his job. He caught a few more Gothita, some Lillipup, and a few Poochyena that annoyed him. None of them could fight hard against the stronger variant of the Pokeball.

They did come across some trainers, though.

They were walking across one of the rivers in the route - well, hopping (Arthur) and leaping (Helen), but you got the gist. They were about to get on their merry way, dusting themselves off, when they heard a voice.

"Oi, kids!" It came out of nowhere, echoing throughout the trees. Arthur spun about, trying to pinpoint its location, but failed and fell onto his butt. Helen, though, immediately looked to her left. Arthur, following her gaze, found a tall blue-haired woman tossing a Pokeball up and down.

As Arthur picked himself up and patted himself down, Helen responded. "Uh... yeah?"

"You kids are trainers, right?" At their nod, she let off a self-satisfied grin. "Fresh off the block, huh. You kids look like amateurs."

Helen's turned red. "Amateurs? We look like amateurs?" Helen hissed. "What's your name?"

The woman smirked. "Call me Dawn. It's been a while since I've had a serious battle. Come on kids, show me what you can do.:

Helen lit a fire in her eyes. "You bet!" She turned to Arthur, and he felt excitement rise up inside him. He knew that this was the result of her powers, but at this point, he couldn't care less. The excitement drowned everything else out.

Arthur sighed with an unbidden grin on his face. "I know you're making me want this, but what the heck. Let's do this."

Dawn grinned. "Double battle, 3 on 6. You'll need all the help you can get."

Helen frowned. "We only have 4 Pokemon total." She gestured to her two enlarged Pokeballs.

Dawn pouted. "Aww… fine, double battle, 2 on 6, until someone knocks out the opposing team's Pokemon." Then, for good measure, she added, "Spoilsports."

She grabbed one of her Pokeballs. "You two ready?"

In response, Helen and Arthur grabbed one of their Pokeballs.

Dawn grinned. "Perfect."


Arthur decided to release Mirage, as Spring already had his first battle yesterday.

Mirage appeared on the ground, napping. Of course, it was only for a few seconds, before she opened her eyes and got ready for battle.

Helen released Boom, and the happy-go-lucky Cyndaquil appeared hopping around in the battlefield.

Dawn whistled. "Wow, you two are amateurs." She threw the ball in her hand. "Go, Bronzong!"

A large metal Bronzong appeared in the clearing. Arthur then realized how experienced Dawn must have been. He also wondered whether he could give up now to save himself the pain.

Helen thought otherwise. "Boom, Ember!" Boom shot a volley of embers straight at the Bronzong, who made no move to dodge it. The Embers splattered and splashed across the Bronzong's metal. It made no visible impact.

Dawn laughed. "That's the best you can do? How many days have you been on this adventure - one, two, maybe three?"

Helen turned pink. "I… shut up." Then Arthur felt it. A flood of emotions like fear and worthlessness started to course through him. All he wanted to do was to curl up into a ball and cry.

Dawn's grin immediately fell. "You…" She shook her head and grinned. "Figures." She waved her hand. "Bronzong, use a bunch of Confusions. That'll be enough to take the Cyndaquil out."

"Boom, dodge!" Boom could not dodge.

The Confusion barreled through the air at an incredible rate. While the first Confusion missed, the second one intercepted Boom in the air.

The force of the Confusion sent Boom flying backward, and he landed in a pile of dust next to Helen. A few seconds later, it was clear he wasn't going to get up any time soon.

Helen gritted her teeth. "I'll show you!" She pulled out her other Pokeball. "Ginny, you're up!"

The Ralts she had caught yesterday appeared in a flash of light. Dawn smirked.

"Wow, you managed to catch a Ralts. I'm impressed." She turned to Arthur. "Aren't you going to call out an attack."

Helen turned to him, peeved. Arthur felt himself go pink. "Uh… Mirage, Pursuit!" He remembered type advantage at the last second, thank Arceus.

Mirage ran up to the Bronzong, wreathed in crackling blackness. She slammed into the Bronzong with full force, knocking it back a couple of inches. Mirage retreated and began to circle Bronzong, looking for an opening. Arthur grinned.

Dawn laughed. "Ha!, You already managed to do more damage than she did!" She continued to laugh. "Oh, that's rich… Bronzong, trap it."

Mirage, who had been circling the Bronzong, found herself trapped in the Bronzong's metal arms. She struggled and strained with Pursuit, but the Bronzong held tight.

"And now, Payback."

Dark-type energy started flowing into Mirage. Her defiant growls transformed into weak whimpers.

"No, Mirage!" Arthur felt powerless. He could do nothing to stop Bronzong from hurting Mirage.

"Throw her to the ground, Bronzong." Bronzong stopped the Payback and flung Mirage to the ground. She would have hit the ground if Arthur hadn't recalled her at the last second. Mirage dissolved into light an inch off the ground and flew back into her Pokeball.

"Two down, two to go." Dawn stretched. "You know, Bronzong is stronger than any Pokemon you have. I can tell by the strength of those two. Cyndaquil are starter Pokemon, and the Zorua species is only found on Route 101. You two came from Littleroot, then."

Upon looking at their obstinate faces, she smirked. "Nice fire you got going there. You should actually, you know, team up. You can't touch Bronzong as it is - if you have any chance of winning, it's together, not apart."

The trouble was, Arthur didn't trust Helen, not enough to cover his back in the battle.

Arthur sent out Spring, who appeared in a flash of light.

"Ginny, use Confusion!" Even Arthur knew that would have no effect. Sure enough, the Bronzong took the Confusion Ginny sent his way head on. It had no discernible effect whatsoever.

As Helen commanded Ginny to use Confusion, again and again, Arthur thought as fast as he could. Spring didn't know that many attacking moves. It only knew Thundershock and Tackle as attacking moves. Both of those were nigh useless against the Bronzong.

Then Arthur's eyes sharpened.

"Spring, magnetize yourself to Bronzong!" Spring flew toward the stationary bell Pokemon and stuck to it like glue.

Dawn adopted a confused look. "What are you…?"

"Supersonic!"

What happened next was a pure marvel. The Supersonic waves, for lack of a better word, echoed in the Bronzong's bell. The gongs became louder and louder.

"No!" Dawn cursed. "Not this issue again! Bronzong, I thought we had worked it out already." Dawn then tried to recall the Bronzong, but Bronzong wouldn't dissolve into light. "Magnet Pull too?!"

Helen grew a grin on her face. "Ginny, focus on the confusing aspect of Confusion and keep going!"

Ginny agreed, the different colored confusions fired at the Bronzong making more damage.

They, along with the Supersonics, began to take their toll on the Bronzong. The Bronzong struggled to use moves, flailing it large metal arms. It could do nothing, though, and it finally fell to the ground.

"Ugh! I thought that issue was behind us! Of course, the enemy that uses that move has Magnet Pull as well." Dawn sighed. "That was such an issue when I was first working with Bronzong. I figured that once a Confusing enemy joined the fray, I would recall him. Magnet Pull prevents that, though."

Dawn then smiled. "Although most of Bronzong's damage was self-inflicted, you two pulled yourselves together. Glad to see where your priorities are." Dawn then grinned again. "But lightning doesn't strike the same spot twice. Go, Quagsire!"

Dawn then released what looked like your average Quagsire. Helen suppressed a snort. "That's what you have next? Quagsire's a joke."

Quagsire reacted with an oblivious smile. Dawn laughed. "Oh, I pity you. Kids, unless you want an impromptu bath, you should get the high ground."

"What do you me-"

"Quagsire, Surf Level 1!"

Then both of them realized what was about to happen. The recalled their battlers, before immediately scrambling up the nearest tree.

The river they had crossed ten minutes ago began to overflow. It resulted in a fast and large wave crashing over the entire field. The area became swampy, and only place untouched was a small circle around Dawn

Dawn smiled. "Oh, look - you guys recalled your Pokemon. Guess that means I win."

The two companions jumped down from their tree. "That's not fair!" Helen shouted, face red. "We had no choice, you fired a Surf at us!"

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Kids, what does Article 2, Section 1 of the Pokemon League rulebook say?"

"Article 2, Section 1? Um… Arthur?" Helen was sweating bullets. "You know what that is, right?"

Arthur did remember, actually. "Uh, yeah. Article 2, Section 1 says that a Pokemon's trainer is liable for all damage the Pokemon causes." Arthur recited.

Dawn nodded. "Now, thinking about that, what would happen if that Surf hit you?"

"We'd get hurt, and you'd get into a lot of trouble?" Helen offered.

"Exactly. Which is why I trained Quagsire to not hit people when he uses Surf. It took a bit of time, but with a little training he can redirect the Surf to not hit people." Dawn smirked. "I wanted to see your faces as you dove for cover - it gets people every time."

She then pointed to the circle of dry ground around her. "See?"

"But! But!" Helen was having trouble forming words. "But that's not fair!"

Dawn raised the eyebrow. "What part? Using the Surf or telling you to take cover?"

"Both!"

"Well, Helen, some moves have more of an impact than others. While it's a costly move, Surf is a great attack for flushing out enemies. It also forced the battlefield to work on your terms. Don't worry, by the time you can get around to using Surf you'll already have figured out some counterattacks for it."

"And as for telling you to take cover? In sanctioned matches, you won't be seeing stuff like that. In the wilderness, you'll find plenty of trainers willing to lie and cheat their way to some quick victory money. You'll have to figure out which ones are actual threats and which ones are only hot air. The swindlers will bank on your survival instinct, in the end."

Helen was silent. "Uh…" Arthur's eyes shifted around. "Do you… want your prize winnings, or…"

"Nah, you can keep it. I already have plenty of cash as it is, with all my sweet wins, and you guys will need the money more than I do. Plus, I had forgotten all about Bronzong's weakness until you showed me it in battle. I'll have to make some adjustments to Bronzong's fighting style. You know, buy some Persim Berries, teach Bronzong some more counters, that stuff. That was worth more than the money I've earned." Dawn flashed another grin. "Thanks!"

The grin fell away to something more somber. "Anyway, you two are traveling together?"

Helen nodded, motioning at Arthur to shut up.

"Well, then, you should work on your teamwork. Attacking at the same time is a start, but it's not enough. Taking turns whaling on an opponent is asinine as well. Figure that out as soon as possible. Oh, and uh… what's your name, you two?"

"Helen."

"Arthur."

"Arthur, nice move with the Supersonic. It's a little refreshing, seeing someone innovate like that. Work on it. Nice capitalization too, Helen. As I said, you pulled yourselves together." Dawn walked past them and over the overflowing river. "See you two soon!"


"Helen, we need to have a talk."

Helen sighed. "Yeah, we do."

Arthur and Helen had put up camp for the night. They were a day from Petalburg and would make it the following day, most likely. Once they had found a nice campsite, Helen took the time to train while Arthur set up.

After an hour or so, Arthur called Helen over for dinner. Sitting by the fireside, they talked.

As they ate food, Helen sighed. "You know, no one's ever found out before."

"Your power?"

"They all figured it was some irrationality. They didn't realize that I was actually controlling their emotions." Helen inhaled some of her food, a bowl of grub. "How did you find out?"

"I didn't - I thought you played with emotions like a normal person."

Helen set the bowl down. "Huh. Figures that I was the person to tell someone, in the end. You know, everyone made that assumption. Everyone who has known me for any long period of time thinks I'm manipulative. Even my parents haven't figured out the truth. I don't know how I would tell them, anyway."

"You know, you are a little manipulative - the Sparkle, remember?"

Helen sighed. "Sparkle isn't real, Arthur. That was glitter - it was my last resort. I used my power on you to its limit- no magic mind powder required. Heck, those tears I shed? Krookodile tears."

She gripped her bowl and stared into it. "I'm not going to stop, you know. I've tried, many times, but if I try to stop I do it by accident. It's like a valve - I can hold back my power for some time, but I'll lose control at some point." She looked up to the sky. "What do you plan on doing, Arthur? I don't feel like lying to you anymore - I haven't been able to tell this to anyone before."

Arthur didn't know what to do. He should do the rational thing (or follow his gut). His gut was going to be an incorrigible liar as long as Helen was around. Something told him that he would regret dismissing her, leaving his rationale confused.

Arthur took a deep breath, then made a decision. "I… I've had some time to think about it. We… have gotten off on the wrong foot. It's been only two days - I didn't think it would be this… draining."

Helen gave an acerbic laugh. "To tell you the truth, 'Travelling Companions' are something I made up. It was something based off those fairy tales, you know. Gallant knights working with wise wizards and crafty rogues to save the world. It would be a big group of friends on an adventure. I would keep up spirits with my power, and we would conquer everything in our path"

She adopted a rueful smile. "I… didn't realize how hard it would be to keep a secret when you're always so close. I… didn't trust you, Arthur."

"To tell you the truth, I get it." Arthur offered his hand. "Can we … I don't know, start things off again on a new foot?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." They shook hands, and Arthur felt something warm crawl into his chest. Whether it was genuine or Helen's power, Arthur didn't know.

Arthur didn't care, either.


The next day was much more lively than the previous day. Helen, discarding the ridiculous buoyant persona, was much more fun to talk to. Arthur caught a few more Pokemon for his job. As he worked, he found himself a little more engaged in his conversations with Helen.

Her commentary made everything funnier. Arthur reckoned it was her power at work.

Either way, the hours soon flew by.

"Is that Petalburg?"

"Arthur, what else would it be? Oh, I don't know, it's a three-thousand square foot shack in the middle of nowhere. Who knows?"

Of course, a lot of Helen's humor was caustic and derogatory. She seemed to enjoy ridiculing everything she came across and threw a few jabs his way. Arthur retaliated in a good humor.

They walked up to the guard gates. After getting their trainer IDs checked, they walked into Petalburg.

Petalburg was… quaint, for such a big city. Oh, there were streets, but they weren't like the bustling motorways Arthur had seen on the internet. It was something that felt somewhat familiar to his country soul.

Large trees lined cobbled sidewalks with little kids hanging from branches. The few roads were dirt rather than concrete, and there was grass everywhere.

Asking some of the locals, the two of them found their way to the nearest PokeCenter.

After dropping their Pokeballs off to a dozing Nurse Joy, Helen stretched. "Hey, Arthur, do you mind if I look at some of the sights around Petalburg? Oldale didn't do it for me, and I want to visit the Gym, see what sort of battles I should look forward to. Norman only accepts challengers that have half of their badges, so I'll only spectate."

She waved goodbye to Arthur. "See ya!" And with that, she was off.

Soon, Arthur was alone in the PokeCenter. With a little bit of time to himself and with a degree of privacy, he decided that he would work on his skills. He would have to find a way to get scrap in the wilderness for his projects, though. Once every couple of days was too little of a time frame for him.

He was busy putting the finishing touches on the code when the Pokedex began to spark.

"What on…" his mouth managed to get out before the Pokedex let out a large puff of smoke.

"Baa." Then Arthur heard some crackles, and he turned to find himself face to face with a Mareep. A couple of electrical arcs crisscrossed through the Mareep's skin. "Baa."

"Why hello!" Someone shouted near his ear. Arthur spun about, feeling his heart race and beat. There, a blue-eyed boy his age stood, grinning.

The boy put out his hand. "Hey there! My name is Connor!" Nervous, Arthur shook Connor's hand, only for Connor to multiply the power in the shake.

"Glad to see there are no hard feelings! Sorry about that, Merry tends to fritz out electronics when she goes near them. I'll lend you the reparation bills for the… uh, what is it?" Connor asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Pokedex. A Professor-grade Pokedex." Arthur answered, more amused than anything.

"P… Pokedex?" Connor's face whitened. "Well, I mean, he can fix it, right? You won't need my help, right?"

Arthur didn't need or want Connor's help with reparations. But Arthur decided to mess with him - he ruined his code, for goodness sakes. Does Connor even know how much data he wasted with Merry's electricity?

"Oh, no. We need… oh, I don't know, at least a million Poke to repair it. I mean, as you were the one to break it…" Arthur shrugged. "I guess you will be the one to pay me back."

Connor's face whitened even further. Then it changed back to normal, and Connor began to laugh. "Pff… yeah, you got me. Take me away officer!" He held out his arms so Arthur could take him away in faux handcuffs.

They stood like that for a couple more seconds. Then they started snickering, falling to stitches.

"Arthur? Helen? Your Pokemon are ready?" The local Nurse Joy called. Still chuckling, Connor walking behind him, Arthur picked up his and Helen's Pokeballs.

As he returned, Connor wiped away his tears. "Oh… so, no hard feelings?"

"Buy me an ice cream, and we'll call it even." Arthur was feeling rather merciful. Plus, he now had somewhat of an excuse to take apart the Pokedex and reverse-engineer it.

"Deal!" The two of them then proceeded to walk to the cafeteria, where Connor ordered the two of them some ice cream. Arthur decided to release Spring and Mirage as well, for fun.

As they ate food, they talked. "So, what's your deal?" Connor asked. "I mean, that's a Professor-grade Pokedex, right? How'd you get your hands on a beauty like that?"

As Arthur had some funny tasting ice cream, he answered. "Well, I know a guy who knows Professor Birch. I don't know from where or when, but they seem pretty well-connected." Arthur slurped some of his ice cream. "I managed to get a cool Pokedex out of it, too."

"Cool! So you on the gym circuit or something?"

"No, my friend Helen is on the gym circuit - well, I'm supposed to be on it too, as I'm her Rival. Still, I don't care for Gym Badges, so Helen and I will only battle each other every so often. Nothing too big. I'm only a Supplier, after all!"

It felt strange saying that. Being a Supplier was still a weird experience for him.

"Oh! I should transfer the Pokemon I caught to Alex!" Arthur jumped out of his seat and ran toward the GTS machines. He connected to a number Alex gave him.

Luckily, Alex picked up. "Hey, Arthur, nice to see you! You're in Petalburg?"

"Yeah, and I've got plenty of Pokemon for you!" Arthur placed the balls of the Pokemon he had caught on the transfer machine. "Will this work?"

Alex nodded. "Yup! I'll be able to take the Pokemon you caught now." The Pokeballs flashed a light a couple of times, before dimming. "Alright, the Pokeballs are now empty. Let me check what we've received… Cool! You got a Ral- six Ralts! How did you catch them - no, how did you find them?!"

"I… uh… had a little bit of help." Arthur admitted.

"Either way, this is magnificent! Nice job, and with a whole bunch of other Pokemon to boot. This is a good haul, Arthur. I'm wiring the money to your account right now! Keep it up, you'll get benefits in no time!"

That helped to cheer Arthur up.

"Either way, I'll be seeing you soon!" The communication link cut out.

Connor whistled behind him. "Six Ralts? What are you, a Pokemon magnet?"

"No, as I said, I had a little bit of extra help." Arthur waved Connor off. "Nothing too big."

Connor looked a little intrigued. "What kind of help did you get?"

"Well, my friend and I baited them with some positive emotions, that's all."

Connor nodded. "Cool, coo-" Connor grabbed his stomach. "Oh, you… you…"

Arthur grabbed his stomach as well. "Don't try to pull a fast one on me, Connor."

Connor grinned with pain. "Bathroom?"

"Bathroom."

The two of them proceeded to run straight to the nearest bathroom. They then vomited for several minutes. Green bile spewed everywhere.

Once they finished and were weak in the knees, they sat down.

"Ugh… so, how did you get the ipecac into my ice cream?" Connor asked

"While we were over at the transfer machines, Mirage took a bit of time to drop a load of it into your ice cream. Don't complain, Connor." Arthur threw up a little bit more. "You dropped a load yourself into my ice cream when we picked it up, didn't you?"

"I was…"*hoooolp* "messing with you. Thought it would be a little funny to see you vomit, even tease you a little bit."

"Well, you reap what you sow." Arthur's face turned a little green. "Oh, dear Arceus, it feels even worse now."

Mirage, who was next to them in the bathroom, started yipping and snickering. Spring didn't do anything, as usual.

They threw up for a few more minutes to get all the ipecac out. Afterward, they collapsed on the tiled ground of the bathroom, wiped out.

"Oh… oh, that was… " Arthur couldn't finish. "Ugh…"

"Can we not talk about it now?" Connor replied, worn out.

"Yeah, yeah… so, uh, you a native?"

"No - I'm from Floccesy Town, in Unova. My Mom thought it would a good idea for me to travel to a foreign region, see the sights you know. It's been… pretty boring. I mean, I've only been in Hoenn for a couple of hours, but still…" Connor grew a weak smile. "Anyway, I've decided that while I'm in Hoenn, I'll do what the Hoenesse do - become a Showman."

"Cool, cool, sounds great."

Pokemon Showmen were a larger class of trainers called Pokemon Entertainers. This included people like Coordinators, Actors, and Performers. They were the people who put on fun costumes and wowed the crowds. They had impressive stunts with their Pokemon.

The male Showmen were the Hoenesse's response to the female Performers in Kalos. Especially among women, they were popular. Wearing spectacular outfits, they would show off complex moves with their trained Pokemon.

Arthur had watched a Pokemon Show online once when he felt bored. It was nice, he guessed. Connor, with his general affability, would make a great Showman.

"Ugh… anyway, we should get up. Helen might be looking for me." Arthur checked himself in the green-tinted mirror. He needed to…

"Uh… Connor? Why is the mirror green?" Arthur asked, a little worried. The mirror was clear and colorless when they first came in.

"The better question is, why is the air green?" Sure enough, the air was green. In fact, Arthur was feeling a little light-headed.

Arthur dropped to the ground, dragging Connor down with him. Gas rises, so he would be minimizing the amount the inhaled… he hoped.

He and Connor crawled to the door, hoping for some answers.

Budging the door open, Arthur saw uniformed men walking around the trainers. They seemed to be reaching into the (unconscious?) trainers pockets.

"Man, is this easy pickings or what? Pump some sleeping gas and they're ripe for picking." One of the uniformed men commented to another, his voice altered by a gas mask.

"Pipe it down, you could wake up a trainer. Fighting isn't our business. Put the Pokemon in the bag so we can rewrite the Trainer ID."

"Fine, fine…"

Then he said something that gave Arthur chills. For ten years, a power vacuum in the Hoenn underground went unfulfilled. But...

"Team Regal better pay me extra, you know."