Just in case anyone was wondering, the armor Bardiel wears basically makes him look just like a human sized EVA Unit 03, pre-Angel infection. Also, the Production Series 0.3-8 drones under Bardiel's control resemble EVA Unit 08 from Rebuild 3.0 in the colors of Unit 03.

So, yeah, evil human-sized EVA look alkies. Pretty cool, right?


The sun was beaming down on the meadow trail of Route 415. The green grass was adorned with wildflowers and shrubs, the wind blowing softly over them. Miniscule Flabébé and Floette hovered without a care within the colorful plants just enjoying the beautiful day.

'At least they're enjoying it,' Shinji thought as he watched the tiny Pokémon, 'They don't have to deal with anything as bad as…'

"HEY!" the shrill yelling made Ikari flinch as he felt a muffin bounce off the side of his head, courtesy of Asuka. "I'm talking to you, Baka Shinji! Quit ignoring me!"

Shinji sighed, dusting the muffin crumbs out of his hair. They had only departed from Merganser Town less than an hour ago, and the girl had already forced them to stop and rest. It was bugging Shinji more than one might think. For someone who wanted to finish this delivery as soon as possible, Asuka sure was wasting time this early on. She had picked a good place to stop, though; the meadow was quite beautiful, and Riolu and Torchic quite enjoyed running through the tall grasses in a game of hide and seek. It was also a good thing the Professor had some food stored away in those bags, because Shinji would be lying if he said he wasn't even a little hungry...

"Yo!" Soryu loaded another muffin into her hand, tossing it up and down, "Earth to Shinji! Are you deaf or something?"

"What do you want, Asuka?" Ikari rubbed his brow in frustration, "I'm trying to watch the Pokémon out there."

"So I'm too boring for you, huh?"

'Not this again…' Ikari groaned silently, "Look, I'm paying attention now. What is it?"

Asuka puffed her cheeks up in a huff. "Forget it. There's no point in asking, 'cause I know what you'll say."

A twitch began to form on Shinji's right eye. Deciding it was best to let it go, he picked up the muffin Asuka had chucked at him and began to nibble at it. As he ate, he noticed the girl was looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"…Just say it, Asuka."

"Nope. You had your chance, but you pissed me off."

"Say it!" Shinji flung his arms out comically, "For God's sake, you have my attention now so just tell me!"

"Alright, alright, sheesh…" Asuka took a canteen from her bag and drank quickly, "So. What do you think the artifact looks like?"

"The artifact?" Ikari looked to his pack, picturing the black box the Professor had entrusted to them sitting inside, "You mean the case?"

"Don't play dumb, Baka Shinji. We both know damn well that's what's in the box. Let's open it and see just what everyone's fussing over."

Sensing the girl might lunge for the bag, Shinji carefully slid it behind him. "I don't think we should do that. What if it disintegrates when we open it or something? Then how will we explain ourselves?"

"Oh, you're such a baby!" Soryu rolled her eyes, "Besides, if that happened then the whole NERV vs. Seele war would probably end. Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"But then wouldn't NERV and the Professor hate us?"

"What could they possibly do to us? Lock us away for life?"

"…Maybe?"

Now it was Asuka's eye that was twitching. Slowly she reached for her canteen and took one long sip before calmly setting it down. "Well, Baka Shinji, I tried to be civil about this. But I guess if you won't open the damn case for me…" Her pupils dilated furiously as she gave the now shaking Shinji a menacing glare, "I'll open it myself!"

She lunged at Shinji, knocking him onto his back as her arms reached for the boy's pack. Shinji struggled to hold her arms away from the precious cargo as he lie prone beneath her. "Asuka, don't! The Professor said…"

"The Professor said squat!" she kneed him in the chin, focusing her attention from the bag to beating on him, "Come on! If you don't want me to open the case, at least try to stop me! Don't just lie there and whine!"

"I'm not in the mood for this right now, Asuka!"

"Fine then," Soryu plopped her butt down on his stomach, almost making Ikari burp up the muffin he had eaten, "Then I'll make you fight back."

"Wha- NO." Shinji looked up in horror as Asuka stuck her index finger in her mouth, then pulled it back out covered in spit. Perfect to stick into his ear. "Not that, not that! Anything but that! You know I hate that!"

"It's like someone once said," an evil grin spread across Asuka's face, her finger descending towards the side if Shinji's head, "The best way to make a man fight for his life is to make him fight what he fears most."

"NOOO!"


Out in the meadow Riolu poked his head over the tall grass, the sound of his master's cries catching his attention. Torchic soon appeared beside him, pecking him once in the arm.

'Found ya,' the bird chirped, 'You know Riolu, it's not really hide-and seek when you pop out of your hiding place.'

'This is no time for playing, Torchic,' Riolu answered seriously, 'It sounds like Shinji is in danger.'

'Dude, him and Asuka are just wrestling again. And by the sound of it, I think he's getting his butt kicked.'

'Impossible. Shinji would never lose to a girl. He is a tough young man.'

'…What in the name of Arceus are you smokin', man?'

'Joking about human drugs is not funny, Torchic. Addiction is a serious medical condition in their society, I believe.'

'Well, aren't you just most righteous Pokémon-WHOA!'

Suddenly a large bounding object dashed between Riolu and Torchic, knocking the two little Pokémon to the ground. The Fighting type was the first to sit back up, looking around for what had almost run him over.

'There it is!' Riolu pointed as Torchic joined him, shaking the dirt from his feathers, 'It's heading straight towards Shinji and Asuka! It's a…'


"It didn't have to come to this, Baka Shinji," Asuka sighed. She had been put in a very awkward position: after trying to wet a second finger to shove into Shinji's ear, the boy had stopped her hands with his, holding her by her wrists as her digits sat inches from his ears. "All you had to do open that case. You're so stubborn!"

"I'm not the one who's stubborn here!" Shinji yelled. His eyes were closed so he wouldn't accidentally look down Soryu's shirt, the collar hanging open right in front of his face. "Now get off me!"

"What's the matter?" Asuka smirked, "Don't like having a girl on top of you? I didn't think you were on that side of the fence, Baka Shinji."

"W-what're you talking about?!"

"Oh come on, you're not that stupid!"

And then Shinji proved her wrong with one short, impossibly stupid sentence.

"If anything, you'd end up bending it!"

The meadow fell deathly silent as Asuka's face blushed just about as red as her hair at his perverted comment. Poor Shinji sat there for a second, clueless, before realizing himself what he had said.

'Oh, shit…'

"YOU LITTLE PERVERT!" Asuka roared, pulling her wrists from his hands and immediately reaching for his neck, "I'M GONNA THROTTLE YOU!"

"I'm sor- GAK!" Shinji tried to apologize before Soryu's tight grip clasped his tiny neck. His arms flailed around as he gasped for air, his eyes shooting back open. The first thing he saw, however, was something he never even thought of seeing at that moment.

"A… su… ka…" Ikari rasped, slowly pointing up at something, "Lo… ok…"

"Trying to say something else, pervert Shinji?" Asuka snarled, "Why don't you just get everything off your chest right here and now?!"

'B-AAAAAA!'

The sudden unexpected sound made Asuka freeze in place. She slowly looked up and came face to face with a furry, horned brown and white head that was smiling at her. "…What the hell?"

'B-AAAAA!' the creature bleated right in Asuka's face, causing her to fall back off Shinji who took a huge breath the moment her hands left his neck. Air back in his lungs, Ikari gazed up at the goat-like Pokémon looking cheerfully down at him.

"Uh… Hi?" Shinji gave a small wave to the wild Pokémon, "Can I help you?"

"Get away from that thing!" Asuka yelled, pulling Shinji by his ankles, "It's not a domesticated Skiddo, so it could have fleas or something!"

"A Skiddo?" Shinji held his Pokégear towards the Pokémon, activating the Pokédex. The device scanned over the goat's body before the voice of Professor Akagi read its Dex entry:

'Skiddo. the Mount Pokémon. Thought to be one of the first Pokémon to live in harmony with humans, it has a placid disposition. If it has sunshine and water, it doesn't need to eat, because it can generate energy from the leaves on its back.'

"See?" Shinji turned to Asuka as the Skiddo turned its attention to his pack, sniffing it for food, "The Pokédex says it's nice to humans. I don't think it wants to hurt us. He just wants to say hi, I guess."

"Oh, really?" Asuka gave him a sly smile, "Is that why he's stealing food from your bag then?"

Ikari turned to see the Pokémon shoving its furry head into his bag, obviously after the food stored away inside. "Wha- Hey! Get out of there!"

'BAA!' Startled, the Skiddo leaped up into the air, caught in the act of thievery. As it jumped, the straps of Shinji's bag became entangled in its horns.

"Whoa! Calm down there, buddy!" Ikari raised his hands passively as Asuka laughed hysterically at his misfortune, "Let me get that bag off your head!"

'BAA! BAAAA!' Frightened and scared by the voices seemingly coming from nowhere, Skiddo stumbled backwards and dashed off across the meadow towards the woods, Shinji's pack still stuck around his face. As a flabbergasted Shinji watched the bag carrying the precious cargo disappear into the trees, Riolu and Torchic came onto the scene.

'What is wrong, Shinji?' Riolu asked, 'You have a strange look on your face? Did the girl do something to you?'

'So it's automatically her fault now, eh?' Torchic huffed, 'Keep accusin' her of stuff and I'll torch your ass right here, man.'

By this time Asuka's laughing fit was coming to an end as she wiped the corners of her eyes. "If only *snicker* you could see the look on your face right now, Baka Shinji!"

"…It… got it…" Ikari stammered, eye twitching yet again.

"What're you blabbering about now?"

"Th- the bag… it's got…"

Soryu grabbed the boy by the shoulders, shaking him violently. "Spit it out! What's it-

"The artifact… was in that bagon his head…"

The girl's eyes widened tenfold as she realized just how serious things had gotten.

"Scheiße!" she cursed in German. Only rarely did Asuka swear in her native tongue, and when she did it usually meant something seriously bad had happened. "Stop stammering and get your ass up, Shinji! We gotta go catch that thing now!"


'I can't see! I can't see!' Skiddo bleated as he dashed through the trees blind, stumbling over logs and hilly terrain as his fellow forest Pokémon watched him in confusion. This was so embarrassing! Why did he have to stick his head so far into this accursed bag?! And why did there have to be such a heavy case inside it too?!

'I gotta get this off of me!' Quickly stopping in place, Skiddo thrashed his head back and forth trying to dislodge the human object from his horns. A couple minutes later his prayers were answered as the parcel flung off his head into the treetops above and fell straight back down after colliding with what Skiddo figured was branch.

'Ahh,' the Grass type let out a sigh of relief, happy to see the light of day again, 'Much better. All that running made me kinda hungry though… I should probably eat something in that bag. Or I should just eat the bag; it does look kinda appetizing… Yeah, let's just do that.'

His goat instinct of eat-anything-in-sight kicking into overdrive, he trotted up to the bag drooling from the mouth. Before he could get any closer, however, there was a loud buzzing sound coming from the tree above.

'Huh?' Skiddo looked up to see an angry wasp-like Bug type hovering down towards him. Unluckily for him, he knew this approaching Pokémon all too well. 'Oh, crap…'

'What'zz zizz?' the Pokémon, a Beedrill, buzzed, 'If it izzn't my good friend Zzkiddo. Izz zizz your bag here zat hit me in ze head a moment ago?'

Skiddo's legs began to quake as Beedrill flew closer, the Bug type's large stingers gleaming in the light shining through the leaves above. 'Look, Beedrill, I didn't mean to do that, honest! I know this is the third time I've bugged you since yesterday, but this time was a complete accident! You gotta believe me!'

'Tzzk, tzzk, tzzk,' Beedrill shook his head, 'You muzzt know better zan to poke ze nezzt of a bee, even if only zer izz only one bee rezziding. But you, my friend, have done ze unzinkable! You zrew ze equivalent of a rock at ze nezzt! And now…'

Suddenly Beedrill lunged at Skiddo, stabbing at him with one of his large stinger hands. The Grass type narrowly dodged the Twineedle attack as it collided with the dirt beneath his feet. The Bug type pulled his arm out and prepared another strike with his opposite side.

'Ze dizzobidient lamb muzzt feel my zzting.'


'B-AAAA!'

As they ran through the forest in search of Skiddo and the backpack, Shinji, Asuka and their two Pokémon heard the bleating cry for help pierce the silence. The sound didn't seem like it came from far away, so they were much closer than they thought.

"This way!" Asuka said, vaulting over a boulder in her path, "Hurry up you Slowpoke!"

"I'm trying!" Shinji snapped back as he clumsily crawled over the rock his friend had traversed with ease, "Sorry I'm not as athletic as you!"

"Well try harder!" Asuka skidded to a stop to wait for the poor boy. Before she could even hurl another insult at him she heard the sound of hooves clomping behind her. "Wha- WHOA!"

The girl jumped to her left in the nick of time as Skiddo dashed through where she once stood. Shinji was not as lucky, for the goat Pokémon crashed into him just as he finished climbing over the rock, pinning him to the hard object.

'Are you okay Shinji?' Riolu asked, rushing to his master, 'You're not hurt, are you?'

"I don't think so…" Ikari rubbed the back of his aching head. He looked down at the Skiddo laying over him and noticed that it was trembling. "Hey… What's wrong? Why are you shaking?"

'He's coming!' Skiddo bleated nervously, 'He's coming to get me! I gotta run away!'

Unable to comprehend his language, Ikari looked to Riolu as he gently petted the frightened Pokémon's head. "What's he saying, Riolu?"

'He says that he is being pursued by something… But what could it be…?'

Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of buzzing as Skiddo's attacker hovered onto the scene. The revengeful Beedrill looked at the humans and Pokémon around his target, surprised to see that the annoying Skiddo actually had friends.

'Zzo, Zzkiddo,' the Bug type brandished his stinger hands, sharpening them on each other, 'You zink you can hide behind your comradez, eh? I zink not!'

Without warning Beedrill dove straight towards Skiddo and Shinji, not even caring if he impaled the human boy with his lethal stingers as well. Skiddo closed his eyes as he waited for the stingers to hit, but was surprised to feel the boy squeezing his body tight. This boy, whom he had tried to steal from earlier, was now ready to protect him from danger! What the boy said next to him, however, made his eyes light up in awe and gratitude.

"Don't worry, little guy," Shinji whispered with a smile, "We'll make sure this guy never bothers you again!"

'Time to bring the heat!' Seeing himself as the perfect counter in this situation, Torchic leaped into action and fired off an Ember at Beedrill, hitting the wasp right in the abdomen.

"Get 'em, Torchic!" Asuka cheered, clenching her fist, "Scorch that bug!"

'Zzhha!' The flames catching him off guard, Beedrill spiraled off course towards the ground. Riolu ran to meet the descending bug and fired off a rapid flurry of Bullet Punches directed at its face. Beedrill quickly pivoted his spiraling body so the poisonous barb on its abdomen was ready to strike the little Fighting type with a Poison Sting attack.

"Watch out Riolu!" Shinji called as he saw the attack coming his Pokémon's way. Riolu also saw the attack and grabbed Beedrill by his antennae, vaulting himself up and over the wasp.

'You little pezzt!' Beedrill snarled, thrusting his stinger hand upwards to try and catch his smaller adversary by surprise. But to his surprise, Riolu had vanished from sight, no longer behind him but below him. The little dog had transitioned into a Quick Attack to avoid the Twineedle strike and was now in prime position to hit Beedrill in his small, frail chest area.

*WHOOM!*

Riolu's kick struck hard, the impact rattling throughout Beedrill's exoskeleton. The force was so great that it sent the wasp hurtling straight into the trunk of a tree. Beedrill slammed into the big oak torso-first, seemingly glued to the tree for a few moments before sliding down the trunk and into a pile of bramble, down and out.

Riolu dropped back to the ground and glared in the direction of his defeated opponent. 'You tried to be powerful by inducing fear into those weaker than you, and now you have been served your justice. Let that be a lesson to you.'

Torchic rolled his eyes at his pal's attempt at an epic speech. 'That was so corny, dude.'

"Good job, Riolu!" Shinji congratulated his Pokémon, "You too, Torchic. That Beedrill didn't know what hit him."

"Ah-Hem!"

"Oh, you too Asuka… Wait a minute! You didn't do anything!"

"W-What!" Asuka flinched when he stated the truth. Even though he was right, she still didn't like being left out of his little gratitude speech. In fact, being left out of anything bothered her just as much. "How dare you accuse me of not helping! That's so like you, Baka-Shinji!"

Much to Ikari's benefit, Skiddo took this moment to give his utmost appreciation to his saviors. 'Thank you! Thank you!' he bleated over and over again, nuzzling up to Shinji, 'You have no idea how thankful I am for what you guys did for me!'

"Um," Shinji looked to Asuka as the wild Pokémon continued to rub against him, "I think he's pretty happy for us saving him."

"I hope that thing gives you fleas."

'Oh!' Skiddo sat up in a flash, rolling off Shinji and prancing towards the direction from where he came. 'Stay here for a minute, okay? I've got something to give back to you!'

Riolu translated the wild Pokémon's bleating to Shinji. The boy complied with the goat's wishes and waited with Asuka at that spot for a couple of minutes. Before long, Skiddo was running back with the pack containing the artifact around his horns.

"Hey!" Shinji exclaimed happily as Skiddo began to talk again, "He brought the bag back!"

'I'm sorry for taking this from you guys,' the goat said as Riolu translated, 'I saw you were eating food and thought I could snag some for myself. I never wanted this whole thing though, just a little bit to munch on. I'm very, very grateful to you for protecting me even after I took this away from you. I really hope we can be friends after this.'

"Well?" Asuka asked, hands on her hips, "What did the little fleabag say?"

"Riolu says that Skiddo's really sorry for all this," Shinji said, ignoring the girl's mean insult and turning attention to Skiddo, smiling at the grassy goat, "And that he wants to be my friend. I don't see anything wrong with that!"

'Really!' Skiddo beamed at the boy's kind words, 'Oh boy! I've never had a friend before! This is awesome! Hey, do you wanna play in my meadow sometime?'

"Well… I was thinking you could come along with us on our journey," Shinji looked at Asuka and the two other Pokémon, "If that's okay with you guys."

'I see nothing wrong with that.' Riolu smiled in response, 'The more of us, the better.'

Torchic nodded his head in Riolu's direction. 'What he said.'

Hesitantly, Asuka let out a small sigh. "… As long as you check him for fleas first."

"So, what do you say, Skiddo?" Shinji reached into his bag and pulled out a Pokéball, "Do you want to be my Pokémon?"

'I… I'd love that!' Suddenly, Skiddo bumped his head on the center circle of the Pokéball, activating its capture sequence. A white light enveloped the goat's body as his form was transported into the capturing device. Shinji looked deeply into the red sphere in his hands, his newly acquired friend inside.

"Well, wasn't that sweet," Asuka said mockingly, heading forward into the forest, "Come on, Baka-Shinji. Let's get out of these words before we get attacked by any more bugs."

"Not even a 'congratulations', Asuka? I just caught my first wild Pokémon!"

"No, you didn't; it caught itself. If you actually battled it like a normal trainer I might actually be a little impressed. Now get your ass up so we can go."

Sighing, Shinji stood up to follow her, attacking Skiddo's Pokéball to the side of his waist.

'Don't fret, Shinji,' Riolu patted Ikari on the leg, 'I am happy for you.'

"Thanks, Riolu," Shinji answered, even though he would have rather heard it from Asuka. What he didn't know was that she was happy for him, but not just for his accomplishment. Now that Shinji had a Grass type, her Torchic would eventually have a perfect type advantage over his entire team once his Riolu evolved. Asuka would be at the top, just as she should be.

'Don't worry, Mama. I'll make you proud… Wherever you are up there…'


Next Stage:

Time to Stock Up!

A Visit to the Traveling Market!