(( "Within the next month or two," my behind. XD

Sorry this has taken so long. It's been... Quite a complicated ride. Life, I mean. But I'm back! The me that actually gets off their behind and writes, I mean. ANYWAY. Lots of stuff going on in this chapter. You might notice if you pay attention, but this entire chapter takes place within the span of just 24 hours. I know, my pacing is never consistent. D:

Anyway, it's quite an important 24 hours. I hope you enjoy~ ))

\/\/\/\/\/


Chapter 7

Family

"Alright, so now that we've all got settled, let's hear the story."

"What story would that be, May?" The Pokémon Master of immense fame elbowed her "twin brother" gently, causing a noise not unlike a squeak to release from the man.

"Demi, you promised we'd catch up."

"Well, yeah, but not in front of people," Levee said, making a gesture with his hand to Orca, Vanilla, Whisper, Shrimp, Ruth, Ice, Juniper, Kyle, and Piranha, all of which were seated in a circle with the two in the loft of the Cream family's barn. It was nearly midnight, and Cinnamon and Sugar, as well as their parents, were already asleep.

"Oh, I see what you mean by 'catching up'," Orca joked with a laugh, which was shared with Piranha. This caused a chain reaction of talking and gagging from May and Levee.

"It's not like that," May said, her tongue sticking out.

"Yuck," Leviathan gagged.

"Trust me."

"So nasty."

"We're just BFFs."

"It'd be like kissin' my sister."

"Which I kind of am."

"Y'all are sick."

"I've been saying that for years," Shrimp piped up. "Finally someone agrees with me!"

"We can all catch up," Whisper proposed. "Some of us haven't seen each other in much too long, and others have never met before today. Levee and May can start us off."

"Where would we be without you, Whisper?" Shrimp asked, giving her younger brother a kiss on the cheek.

"Dead," Orca answered for himself. "Or stuck in a dungeon somewhere in Team Rocket hell."

"Orange-less, obviously," Vanilla chimed in.

"Still the miserable old version of myself," Ice said.

"Same here," Levee said with a raised hand. "Sort of."

"So why don't you tell me all about it?" May asked with a wide grin.

"She's hard to shake off once she's set on something," Levee laughed before clearing his throat and beginning his account. "Well, I met up with these fine people, Orange, Kiwi, and Spring included in their numbers, who became fast friends with me. I kind of... started a cult."

"The Sea Monsters aren't a cult," Orca said fiercely, as he and Piranha glared at the older man.

"Down, boy," Ice said, waving his hand. "You'll get your turn."

"Like I told you earlier, I lost myself," Leviathan continued, taking a deep breath as May wrapped her hand around his much larger one. "Like I said, I made friends. But I had kind of become a pretentious cynical asshole."

"Not to mention judgmental and overly self-deprecating," Shrimp said with a chuckle.

"That too," Levee smiled. "And a lot of other things. I had a great time, but it could've been better if I hadn't been such a jackass, and actually appreciated it more."

"There's no use dwelling on-" May began, but he waved his hand in the air, already knowing the phrase by heart.

"I know, and I try not to. But that's gonna take time. Well, eventually I left."

"Right, the one thing you're good at," Orca said, earning him a smack in the arm from Shrimp, a chuckle from Vanilla, and a guilty look from the man in question. Levee bit his lip and diverted his gaze from his surrogate child. "What? Tell me I'm wrong. Your cousin said so himself."

"Well. I guess it's true. But how I look in the eyes of people who pretend to know me, doesn't matter at all compared to the opinions of those who actually do."

"Who does know you, Levee? I sure as Lugia don't. I don't know the first thing about you, other than what you've wanted me to see. Is Demetrius even your real name?"

"It's just Demi," Levee said, shaking his head a bit and letting his long brown hair fall in front of his face. "I got Demetrius from A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"I knew it," Vanilla scoffed. "Nobody with that kinda accent has a name like 'Demetrius'."

"Your accent is just as bad as mine, ma'am," Levee said, sticking his tongue out at the farm girl.

"Dammit, now I owe Stingray twenty Prize Money," Shrimp laughed.

"I'm not gonna deny it, I was a pretentious twatwaffle back in the day," Levee shrugged. "And a liar. And an elitist prick. And a lot of other things. I've been working on it. I'm still working on it. I don't think I'll ever be done working on it, really."

"The one thing I've always wanted to know, Levee," Shrimp said before taking a deep, slow breath. "Why did you leave in the first place? And why didn't you come back for the funeral?"

"Wasn't that because of your friend Cranberry's decision?" May asked, and most eyes in the room were suddenly fixed on her.

"What decision?" Shrimp asked slowly. "This is the first I've heard of it."

"I didn't tell any of you," Levee said, lowering his gaze once again. May chimed in for him.

"He said that his final wish was for Demi to stay away from his family for the next few years, and let his younger brother and sister grow up without his interference."

"You're lying!" Orca shouted, his angry glare now aimed at her instead of Levee. For some reason, instead of trying to defend herself, May ignored the outburst and continued with her story.

"Demi stayed with me for a few months, long enough to sort through things in his heart, I suppose. I did what I could to help him heal. And then, at some point, he left again. And I didn't see or hear from him again until just the other day. So... About three years." The room was silent for a moment, other than the sobbing of Ice, who was being comforted by Shrimp and Juniper. Eventually, Shrimp broke the silence, staring at Levee, whose face was still hidden.

"Is that true, Levee?" Her face was reddened, cheeks damp with tears. Leviathan finally relinquished his hold on May and faced forward, staring back at Shrimp, though there were tears in his eyes as well. He wiped them away and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could answer, she interrupted him. "It's true," she nodded, her tears finally falling down.

"Bullshit," Piranha said, blinking away her own tears which were just trying to emerge. "Great White would never say that! Not to Levee!"

"It's true, Spring," Levee said, which she answered with several punches to his arm and torso area.

"Fuck you! Fuck you, Levee! My name is Piranha!" She collapsed into his arms as she began to sob loudly, surprising everyone present. "My name is Piranha, do you hear me?!"

"I know, hon," Levee said as he embraced her and patted her back. "I know."

"Damn, Piranha," Orca whistled. "I haven't seen you cry since..."

"Orange," Shrimp cut her brother off, glaring at him.

"Alright, get off me," Piranha said in her usual tough-girl voice as she shook Levee off of her. She pointed to the rest of them one by one. "And all you bitches have never seen me cry. I dunno what the fuck you're talkin' about, Orca."

"It was when we took you to the hospital," Levee said without missing a beat. "Back in the early days."

"What? I didn't cry!"

"I'm not gonna fight you over this 'cause I really don't care," Levee exhaled with a short laugh.

"Do you not love us anymore, Levee?" she asked. "Why are you callin' me that name? I hate that name! You know that! I hate it and everything tied to it! I left it all behind me when I ran."

"And you don't have to run anymore," Levee said immediately with a nod, as if they were lines in a play the two had rehearsed.

"I quit runnin' years ago, when I ran right into you people. I didn't have to run anymore. I had a home. I had a family. For once in my life I had a mother, the Sea, a mother that's not a drughead, a mother that remembers my name. My real name. I don't know 'bout the rest of you fuckers, but I took the name Piranha 'cause I swore that as long as I had this family, I'd never have to run away again, that I would stand and fight for everything and anything! 'If anyone tries to hurt me again, I'll bite their arm before they have a chance to move, and I'll draw blood, and I will never let go!'" She paused a moment, remembering the night she had first shouted those words - what was, years ago, an aggressive vow to the ocean and her friends, as well as herself. "Are you trying to split us up? Do you not want us to be a family anymore?"

"We will always be family," Levee said, grasping her hand in his and swaying it side to side. "I beg to differ from the popular belief that 'family' has anything to do with blood ties. Family is made of those you hold dearest to your heart. You're all my family. Except you new people, I don't fucking know you," he said, pointing his finger at several of them, causing laughter to erupt. "But I wouldn't mind adding you to my family once that's remedied."

"You're so sweet, Levee," Shrimp grinned.

"Yeah, it makes me want to throw up," Piranha scoffed. "Get the fuck out!"

"For what it's worth, I'd call you my family, Kyle," Orca said. "Same for you, June."

"I don't really belong to any family," Ruth said. "Not that kind, anyway. My birth family is... there, I guess, but... They'd never..." She trailed off, staring down at her hands and smiling as she watched Shrimp's fingers dance around them. The Captain of the Brigade leaned in closer to her, finally letting go of her hands, and slowly slid her arms around the blonde girl.

"You're my family, Ruth." Though their faces were only inches apart, she didn't whisper this, but said it loud enough for the whole room to hear it. The blonde girl's face turned red at the sound of this.

"Um, Shrimp, is there something you want to tell me?" Orca asked.

"Not yet!"

"How long have you been...?"

"So yeah," Piranha cut him off after clearing her throat. "Levee! Finish your damn story so we can move this thing along!"

"Well, after that, I went to visit the Crew, dealt with some legal stuff about my house, which is now obliterated. Awesome job on that, by the way, everybody. Kiwi's got a hell of a team!"

"Wait, the beach house is gone?" Orca bellowed.

"Those were the ruins in the newspaper photograph," Whisper laughed. "They didn't look familiar to you at all?"

"Don't start, Whisper."

"I think it looks awesome like that," Levee said with a chuckle.

"Why are you so cool with this?"

"Because it was a Rocket base at the time of its destruction. And before that, it was practically dripping with negative energy, mostly thanks to myself. It was home, yeah, but I was miserable for a long time there, and besides... it wasn't the place that held us together. It was us."

"True," Piranha said, pulling the salvaged family photo out of her bag and waving it in the air.

"Besides, everything can be replaced. What was important in that house, material-wise, anyway? Photos, art supplies, video gamesAAAAAAAAHHHHOHNO MY NINTENDO 64!"

"We'll get you a new one, Levee," Shrimp said, while Leviathan calmed himself down with a few deep breaths and shook his head.

"You are too good to me, kiddo. I mean, it's just a material object... A sacred material object, or as sacred as they can get, but... Still replaceable. Still not as important as any of y'all." The Sea Monsters present nodded their heads at this. "Anyway, then I left again, this time to visit my relatives. They had a lot of troubles. Half of it was with finances and the other half was them always being at each others' throats. I tried to stick around and help with the latter for a while - a futile effort, really - until I woke up and realized that it's not my responsibility to fix my family. I have my own life, and I need to live it, for myself."

"Ben says he couldn't agree more," Whisper said a moment after Levee paused. The older man grinned upon receiving the message from his fellow coffee addict.

"So that's what I did. I won a ticket to a cruise from a radio station, and instead of giving it to someone else, like I usually would, I actually went. That's where I had a lot of time with my thoughts for the first time in a long time. I sorted out a few things with myself. This was also when I first met Raspberry, later to be nicknamed Penguin. Once the cruise was over, I started traveling in other regions, and didn't come back until September of that year, what, 2011?"

"That's the one," Orca said with a nod. "And then we went camping for a few months, after my birthday."

"And after we got back, I left again. Only I didn't come back for more than a year this time."

"To anyone?" Shrimp asked, receiving only a nod from him.

"I had to work on myself," he finally said. "Fix some things. Get rid of a lot of... sickness. I'm sorry I worried everybody, and I'm sorry I haven't been there for a lot of the things the Crew's gone through. But I'm not sorry I did it. Because I actually like myself now. Starting to, anyway. And it's a nice change of pace." He fell silent for a moment, and when no one else spoke up, said, "Well, that's it from me. May?"

"I think everyone here knows my story," May chuckled. "As for since the last time we saw each other, I'll tell you all about it in private."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Levee said. "You made me talk in front of people!"

"Demi, there are people here who love you and care about you. They needed to hear all of that." Leviathan did nothing but quietly grumble and cross his arms, which made May grin. "Go ahead," she said to Orca while she patted her friend's back.

"I think you all know what I've been up to lately," Orca said. "A whole lot of nothing. Laying around prison for a year, annoying my family... So instead, I'll ask questions."

"I see no harm in that," Whisper said.

"Levee, first of all, why would Great White tell you to stay away from us?"

"Because he said I was bad for all of you. And I must say, I agree."

"But you're not now...?"

"I'm not saying that. But you're grown. Living your lives like adults. Kiwi is almost eighteen now."

"But you kept popping in on us anyway. Because you 'couldn't tell yourself no'?"

"That about sums it up."

"So all the shit you told me back when you visited in Violet was a lie."

"Most, not all," Levee said with a finger pointed upward.

"Whatever," Orange said with a roll of his eyes. "I don't even know what's real and what's a lie anymore. I hate you. I hope you know that. I hate all adults. All they know how to do is abuse and lie."

"You shouldn't say such things about yourself, kiddo," Leviathan said, earning a glare from the young man. "If you've got a problem with how those older than yourself conduct themselves, the only thing you can do is conduct yourself in a different way, hopefully setting a better example for everyone else. Do you think you can handle that?" Orca ignored this paragraph and turned to his sister.

"Shrimp, your turn to be interrogated."

"Joy," the young woman seethed, blowing her bangs out of her face with a puff of breath.

"First of all, how's Mom?"

"Good," she said with a sidelong glance at her brother. "Abusing and lying. Being an adult."

"Shut up. Second, what's up with all... this?" He gestured with his hand to all of Emery's Brigade.

"These are my peeps," she said, which brought forth much cheering and laughter around the room.

"I meant what you're all doing. Fighting the Rockets. Showing your faces on national TV. Which, by the way, is a dumb thing to do when a criminal organization-turned-army wants you dead. What are you thinking? Do you want to die? They can do it! I know what they're capable of; I used to be one of them!"

"All this coming from the guy who blew up a Rocket base?" Shrimp retaliated.

"To save Whisper."

"Or broke into another one to use himself as bait?"

"To make sure Narwhal didn't get himself killed."

"You even went into the Goldenrod base, without any weapons to defend yourself, just to say 'I quit'. Now that's stupid."

"So they wouldn't hurt Mikey and Rebecca, the only good people I met in that place! All those things I did, I did to take care of my family!"

"Well, what in the name of Lugia do you think I'm trying to do?" Shrimp shouted, jumping to her feet. "Mom watches the news every day, Orange. Every day. That's all she ever does for fun, is watch TV! She is constantly reminded of all the shit going on out there." Her voice carried more weight than usual, more than he was used to; everyone else in the room had fallen completely silent, feeling the pressure of her words. But it was more than her sudden emotion or what they were talking about that affected Orca. Somewhere deep in his mind, for the first time, he was starting to realize that the baby whose crib he nightly guarded just the blink of an eye ago, was growing up. Changing. Becoming stronger. And somewhere, perhaps in that same part of his mind, he struggled to find a way to stop it from happening, because Lugia knew he wasn't ready to accept it.

"And every day, I would see it in her eyes," Shrimp continued. "The same questions everyone else is asking. 'What if it's my city next time? What if it's my family next?' She's scared, Orange. She's angry. And she knows somebody needs to stop this. Somebody needs to do something - she wants to do something." Here she stopped, laughing while she wiped away her tears. "And you and I both know that Mom has never been a fighter. She let a really fucked-up person brainwash her into thinking nobody cared about her for twenty-something years. And hurt her children. And herself. She can't fight. But I can, and I will. For her. For Emery. For Cran. For you. For Whisper. For everyone who's ever been wronged. For everyone who's been stepped on or abused or made to think that they're worthless or broken or undeserving of happiness. I'll march right up to the front door of the Goldenrod base if I have to, with a whole army of those wronged people behind me, and shout at the top of my lungs, 'You will not hurt us again!'" There was a moment of silence following this, and Shrimp realized that she had been pacing around the loft and was standing there with her fist raised into the air. Eventually Juniper and Ruth began to clap their hands, breaking the silence. The rest of the Brigade, as well as most of the others, soon followed in giving her a round of applause while she sat back down in her spot, her cheeks red.

"Alright then," Orca said after a long moment of silence. "You're obviously going to do what you want, so all I can tell you is to be safe."

"Thank you for allowing me to live my life," Shrimp said, giving her big brother the best fake-curtsy she could manage while sitting down. "I know how hard it must be for you."

"Whatever. Now that that's taken care of... What about this girl?"

"My name is Ruth," the blonde girl spoke up. "I'm the Captain's personal lockpick. What's it to you?"

"Are you two...?" he trailed off, making a waving gesture with his hand, as if waiting for Shrimp to finish the sentence.

"Are we what?" Shrimp asked.

"You know what I mean!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, crazy person."

"Whatever! I know you know. If you're not gonna talk to me about it, then I'm not talking to you anymore. The only other question I have..." Here he stared at Kyle.

"Uh-oh, what did I do now?" the younger man asked with a laugh.

"How've you been, Kyle? And you too, June?"

"Eh, raising Pokémon," Juniper said with a shrug.

"Fighting battles," Kyle said.

"The usual," they finished together, laughing.

"It's nice to see you again, at any rate," Kyle said. "It's been so long since we used to all get together at Beedrill's in Goldenrod. Like it was another life or something. How is Dawn, by the way? Have you seen her?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't ask me that," Orca said, right eye twitching.

"Sorry," the younger man said, scratching the back of his head with an apologetic smile.

"I guess that's it," Orca said, but then slapped his palm to his forehead. "I forgot! June, have you met Levee?"

"Yeah, like, today," Juniper said. "And then we came here together. Remember?" This earned several laughs from the group, and even Ice shouted a comment.

"Damn, Slice, she got you pretty bad!"

"No, I mean, have you been formally introduced? I've been wanting you two to meet forever now."

"I have someone already, dude," Juniper said, catching on to his intent quickly enough.

"And I'm not looking," Levee chuckled. "I appreciate the thought, though."

"Yeah, that was sweet, Orca," June grinned at her friend.

"Well, at least I've got that going for me. I'm done now. Nilly, your turn."

"I ain't takin' part in this therapy thing. I got nothin' to tell, 'cause I ain't gone anywhere or done anything. Just stayed here, workin' the farm. Wisp, I think it's your turn."

"Well, let's see," Whisper said, getting up for a moment to stretch. "I went to Violet for Emery's funeral..."

"She was buried in Violet?" Orca asked, his voice cracking. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Only the ceremony took place there. Her grave is in the House of Memories, in Lavender, as is usually the case, at least in the Kanto-Johto area. And we will go to visit it one day, I promise." Orca nodded, closing his eyes, while Vanilla placed her arms around him.

"What then?" she asked, prompting Whisper to continue his story.

"I stayed with Mom and Shrimp for a while. Ben visited a few times. This was during the time that he first signed on with the Ghosts. Not long after, Mom adopted me, and I changed my name completely. That's when I started dying my hair random colors."

"You changed your whole name?" Orca asked. "What is it now?" Whisper's face turned red, and he promptly sat back down. Shrimp, sitting to his left, gave him a hug.

"It's alright," she said slowly. "You should tell them. It'll be okay." After a long moment of silence, Whisper finally spoke up again.

"...Lemonade Juice."

"You..." Orca trailed off, giving his adopted brother a soft smile.

"Oh! That's...!" Piranha shouted, but shortly fell silent. "Her favorite... My wittle... My wittle Emery... Whisper, you fucker! I'm gonna cut you!" She jumped to her feet, only to run up to him and fall onto him in a painful embrace.

"Ow! This has to be the most comfortable laceration I've ever had," he tried to joke after she attacked his ribs.

"Shut it, fool! I'll kill you when I'm good and ready!" Before they knew it, everyone else had joined in on the hug.

"Do you think she'd like it?" he asked Orca.

"She'd love it."

"Alright, now everybody get offa' me before I smack some act-right into y'all!" Piranha shouted, and the crowd dispersed, everyone taking their original seats, none too gracefully. After making sure everyone was situated, Whisper continued his story.

"I eventually went back home to Blackthorn, and Ben and I spent the rest of the year together, sometimes visiting Orca in prison or hanging out with friends and family. I've opened up a lot in that time, as most of you have noted."

"Yeah, and you're more of a smartass, too," Orca said.

"Your turn, Shrimp," Whisper smiled.

"I haven't really done anything," Shrimp shrugged. "Stayed home most of the time, visited people. Then at some point I randomly decided I was sick of Team Rocket's shit and wanted to do something about it. And now here we are."

"And I'm glad it turned out that way," Vanilla said. "You're always welcome in my home, Kiwi." This made Shrimp beam, and she turned to the master thief beside her.

"Your turn, Ruth."

"I'm not even gonna."

"Aw, come ooooon."

"Noooooo!"

"Okay, you go, Ice."

"I... Well," the eldest Cream child stammered. "I ain't got much to tell," he said, using the fingers of his left hand to brush his blond hair out of his eyes. "I get along better with Mama and Dad. We understand each other now, I guess. And... I had fun with Chili and his friends, but. It's good to be back on the farm, looking after my sisters, though they've obviously gone and got all grown up while I was away." Vanilla gave him a warm smile upon hearing this, which he returned with a calm sigh. "Life goes on. I didn't want it to for a while, when... When I lost Cran. When we lost him. But it goes on just the same. And now I'm glad I held on. I have no idea how I did," he added with a humorless laugh. "But here I am. I hope he's proud of me..." He trailed off, no longer wishing to speak, as he was beginning to sob again.

"I know he is," Orca said.

"Okay," Ruth suddenly said, letting go of Shrimp's hands and turning to her left to squeeze Ice with an embrace from the side. "I didn't wanna talk about my past, but I can spare a story for you, just because the Captain's always talking about how much she looked up to you as a kid."

"Not always," Shrimp said, her cheeks turning pink.

"I haven't really been honest with the Brigade," Ruth said, waving a dismissive hand at Shrimp. "My family didn't come to Johto to run away from Team Rocket. My family is IN Team Rocket. That's why I know how to do the things I can do." She got various stares from the group for this. "I know, kind of a bad thing to be dishonest about. But that's why I'm in the Brigade to begin with. I was 'Mommy and Daddy's perfect child', doing exactly what they wanted of me. I would've made a great addition to the newest generation of Rockets. But when I got to a certain age, I didn't want anything to do with the way they did things. I didn't want to hurt anybody. But I had to. They made me steal Pokémon. I even had to hurt them, because it was part of their plan to 'train the perfect Pokémon'. My heart hurt over all of it. Then one day, I got pushed over the edge. My best friend died. Or... I guess I could say he was killed. What's the difference? He's gone now. And they didn't care. I couldn't cry on their shoulders. He didn't matter to them; he was just another Pokémon 'too weak to make the cut'. So... I bailed. I ran as far as I could, and never looked back. I didn't know how I was going to live, or even if I wanted to in a world I perceived as so fucked up and without hope. Eventually I ran into the Brigade, and I guess it changed my life. My perspective's changing, but nothing I do is going to bring my best friend back. He's gone forever, and it tears me up inside. It sucks."

"...And...?" Ice prompted when she said nothing else for a long time. His sobbing had calmed down while listening to her story.

"And what?" Ruth asked, her eyebrow raised, as she finally let go of the older man. "That's the end of the story. There's no moral or whatever. People die, and it sucks. It sucks a lot. Life just... sucks sometimes, you know? I'm just a stupid fucking kid who doesn't know anything, so don't come to me for life lessons. I just thought I'd empathize with you for a while." This made Ice guffaw.

"Fair enough. I guess it's your turn, June," he said shyly.

"Well, let's see," Juniper said. "The first time I met any of you, was in Azalea Gym. Like I told Orca a minute ago, I've been doing fine since then. Still traveling around Johto, found myself a boyfriend, and was gonna head back to Hoenn, but then the train station got held up by the Rockets and all that..."

"So, Emery's Brigade never would have been formed," Kyle said. "At least, not the way it is now, if not for that one event coming together the way it did."

"That's spooky," Shrimp said.

"That's perfect!" Levee said, pulling out a notebook and pen and scribbling for a minute. "Now I'm really inspired! That's gonna be a huge plot point in my new story!"

"Oh boy, there he goes again," Shrimp laughed. "Kyle, you have a story to tell?"

"Not really," Kyle said, shrugging. "I haven't really done anything in the past few years. Got a few more Badges... But it hasn't been exciting as you'd think."

"Piranha?" Shrimp asked. "You're the last one. Might as well not hide anything."

"I didn't do nuffin' either. All I have to report is that this kid right here is my bitch now." Here she threw her arm around Kyle's neck. "And if anybody tries to take him, I will fuck you up!"

"What?" Orca exclaimed, a puzzled look on his face. "Is that true, Kyle? You're with her now?"

"What's that mean, bitch? I will cut you!"

"Yeah, she's my man," Kyle said, earning him another suffocating hug from the redhead.

"Everybody's getting together," Levee said, looking in Orca's direction. "It's like 2007 all over again." This earned him another sidelong glance from the Sea Monster Captain.

"You and I seem to remember 2007 very differently."

\/\/\/\/\/

"So, let's talk about this," Turtle said, trying to break the nigh-impenetrable silence at the center of the base camp. Several tents were set up in a symmetrical patterned circle around them, and there they lay next to several round wooden seats around a small fire. Most of their small army was given the night off to finally get some rest, while she, Hammerhead, and Chase stayed up to watch over them all.

"Talk about what?" Chase asked.

"You crying, for starters."

"You cried?" Hammy asked, finding this hard to believe.

"No, I didn't."

"You totally did, but it was while you were away at your grandma's. What happened?"

"I just have a lot on my mind," Chase shrugged. In response to this, Turtle rolled over on her side until she was lying right beside her, and wrapped her arms around their leader.

"Whatever. Hammy, help me out here." The bald man also scooted closer to Chase, forming a bundled-up group hug. Chase grumbled under her breath for a moment, but didn't give any objections or make any movement or gesture that signified that she was uncomfortable. "You can tell us anything, Chase. We're your friends. If you hold things in, they'll fester and grow into something much worse, adding power for every other tiny thing that you bury inside."

"And no one can face that darkness by themselves," a fourth voice added. They all sat up and saw that one of the survivors was approaching - the older sister of the little girl called Mosquito. Her body had many bandages covering places she had suffered incisions, but much of the uncovered skin was heavily bruised. She was supported by crutches, her left leg being unusable.

"Iggy, right?" Turtle asked, as the three rose to their feet to greet her. The newcomer nodded as she gently sat down with a hand from Hammerhead, who rose to his feet to assist her.

"What most people call me," the woman known as Iggy replied. "Moss told you about me, huh?"

"Moss, short for Mosquito?" Chase asked. "She told us a few things."

"We tried to keep her talking in hopes that it would keep her relatively calm," Turtle said. "How is she doing?"

"Fine now," Iggy said. "She's asleep. I wish I could go join her, but I've been rotating between being passed out and lying down unable to move with pain deafening my senses. It's been... crazy. And now I'm restless."

"I'm surprised the medicine hasn't knocked you out yet," Hammerhead said.

"Oh, no, I'm not taking anything like that. Usually I would, but I'm tired of not being able to do anything. And I definitely don't want to give up control of myself to some drug. So, Chase is your name, right?" she turned to the leader of the bunch and received a short nod. "I have to thank you for finding us. And the rest of you for getting us out of there."

"We're just glad we managed to save someone," Turtle said.

"Tomorrow I'm going to Fly back there and search again," Chase announced. "I'll leave the camp to you two for the time-"

"Stop torturing yourself," Turtle cut her off. "We're lucky we even found these few survivors. Everyone else is dead. Accept it."

"I can't!"

"I know you want to save everyone. I know you want to make a difference. But you're trying to run yourself into the ground, and I'm not gonna let you."

"You just..." Chase trailed off for a moment before going on. "You don't understand! I have to try! Even if there's only the smallest chance. I have to do the best I can!"

"And what about your health?"

"What about it? I'm not important, I can-" she suddenly stopped when Turtle smacked her left cheek, and the older girl gasped and began to tear up once she realized what she had done to her friend.

"I'm sorry," she exhaled, wrapping her arms around Chase, who simply stood there giving her a confused look. "I didn't mean to do that! I'm sorry. Im sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"Dude, it didn't hurt. Calm down."

"That doesn't matter," Turtle said as she squeezed her tighter. "What matters is that I did it, and it was wrong, and I shouldn't have."

"Alright...?"

"I don't ever want to hear you say that about yourself. You matter. You're important. Without you, our lives would be different. Me, Hammy, and yes, Lobby. We all care about you and want you in our lives."

"I just... You don't get it," Chase said, her eyes beginning to tear up, and, having her arm bound by Turtle's arms, wiped them on her friend's shoulder instead.

"I think they do," Iggy said, then fell silent again, not wanting to intervene on the moment.

"I just never feel like I'm worth anything. I have to do everything I can. Do you have any idea how many times I double-check things? The processes I go through in my head twenty-four seven? Everything has to be perfect, everything has to-"

"Ssshhhh," Turtle shushed her softly as she began to sway side to side with Chase still in her arms.

"Um... What are you doing?"

"I don't know who hurt you," Turtle said after much hesitation, still dancing with her friend as if she could hear music. "I don't know who made you feel like you're never good enough, or got it into your head that you have no worth. I don't know who in the name of Lugia was a bully to you when they should have given you love instead. I have no idea, and honestly, it's none of my business unless you make it my business. Honestly, I'm glad I've never met them, and they should be glad they've never met me, because my vengeance would be swift and bloody. But I do know this: they're wrong. You're not worthless. You're not a fuck-up. Are you perfect? Hell no. No one is. But you're not any of those things you keep saying about yourself, the things they put into your head. How would they know what you are? They don't even know you. I know you. Maybe not as well as I'd like. But I've watched you. I've seen the person you are. Somewhere, deep down, beneath all that bullshit you keep reinforcing in your mind, your true colors shine through. The good that you refuse to see inside yourself. But I see it."

"What's so good about me?" Chase breathed, rolling her eyes.

"You have probably the biggest heart I've ever seen," Hammerhead spoke up. "Sure, you try to cover it up with the whole tough-girl act, but those who really pay attention to you have seen it. That's why our team would rather follow you instead of joining a bigger, more efficient and stable army like Marowak's Ghosts. That's why all these people, from here to Pallet Town, believe in you. It's not because you're strong or brave or know how to strategize. Yes, those are great qualities, really admirable in a leader. But your heart is the reason those people are willing to follow you to death's door and back."

"Right," Turtle nodded. "And we're not saying that being tough is bad, or that all of it is an act. We know how strong you really are. But you don't have to put on that you're invincible to protect yourself. Not around us, anyway."

"Security blankets are great," Hammy nodded. "Important. Coping mechanisms and stuff. But that's also what friends are for."

"Hammy," Chase fumed in an annoyed tone. "Get your ass into this hug."

"Yes ma'am!" Hammerhead jumped up to his feet and threw his arms around both of them.

"I think I'll join you guys in this thing," Iggy said with a smile as she slowly got up to her feet. Turtle tried to drag the other two closer to the girl so they could make it easier for her, but before she made much progress with that, Iggy had already made it over to them, and was welcomed into the group hug by having the arms of the others squeeze her gently.

"Ooh, me too!" called another voice, and Mosquito soon popped out of the shadows to crash into the group.

"Moss, what are you doing up?" Iggy asked. "Get back to bed." Once they all dissolved the group hug - all but Turtle, who refused to let go of Chase - she restated her order to go back to bed, which the leader of the group waved off by flapping her hand, her arm still bound by Turtle's embrace.

"It's alright, Big Sis. Your little sister's done a truly amazing thing, these past few days. She deserves a spot at the big kids' table, if just this once." Mosquito beamed upon hearing this, and her sister conceded.

"Alright, you can stay up a while."

"Take a seat, Bug Girl," Chase said, gesturing with her arm in a limited fashion, since it was still pinned down by Turtle. "You've earned it. You'd make a hell of a warrior." Mosquito let out a loud whoop and danced her way to one of the round wooden seats around the fire.

"I love you, Chase," Turtle said. "Thank you for being my friend."

"Pffft," Chase breathed. "You're weird."

\/\/\/\/\/

"You again?"

"Yep," Lobster nodded, panting, as he jogged up in front of the South entrance to Saffron City. The gate was wide open, the only break in the wall for miles, but the old man sitting at the entrance had warned him that passing through without authorization would be a death wish. "I guess I missed you."

"Did you run around this whole damned city looking for a way in?" the old man asked, eyebrow raised. Lobster nodded while catching his breath. "Well, I have to admire your persistence, at least. But you wasted a lot of time. Go home, kid."

"I can't. There's someone in there I need to talk to."

"Suit yourself," the old man shrugged. Lobster took in a deep breath and, letting it out slowly, kept walking. Soon the bright lights at the gate were out of reach, and he was shrouded in the darkness of the night once more, with only the moon and stars for light. He gazed up at the high wall and sighed.

"Let's do it, buddy," he said, pulling a Poké Ball from his belt and throwing it through the air. The Ball released his Delibird, who chirped energetically. "Ready to fly, Voices?" he asked, receiving a similarly ecstatic response.

"You can't get in that way," a familiar voice declared. He spun around and searched through the darkness.

"Dawn?"

"I'm right here," she said, stepping out of the shadows. As soon as Voices saw the Rocket leader, he let out a jubilant chirp and waddled over to her as fast as he could, before jumping up to give her a hug. She caught him in her arms with a laugh. "Voices! Hey, buddy!"

"Voices, stay away from her," Lobster barked. The Delibird looked back at him with a sad cry. "Yes, I know it's Dawn," the blond man replied. "But she's the enemy now." Voices made even more sad sounds and buried his face in Dawn's shoulder.

"It's okay, Voices," Dawn said, petting the Pokémon before putting him back down on the ground.

"You'd better not try to steal him!" Dawn gave Lobster a look that suggested he had just stabbed her in the chest.

"He's my friend. I wouldn't do that to my friends."

"'Friends'," Lobster mocked. "Like you believe in such a thing?"

"Don't listen to grumpy Lobby," Dawn said to Voices as she petted his smooth feathers. "He's just angry because we have differing lifestyles."

"'Differing lifestyles'? Dawn, you're the leader of a criminal army!"

"I thought so too," she laughed, as she released her Sandslash Thursday from his Poké Ball. The two Pokémon, upon seeing each other, ran to embrace and chattered cheerfully among themselves. "But apparently the 'Army' is a bunch of idiots. So I've sent some of my actual soldiers in to keep tabs on them."

"Oh, what, they didn't obliterate Vermilion well enough for you?" She took in a quick breath and lowered her gaze to the ground.

"That wasn't me, Lobby."

"How am I supposed to believe that? How can I believe anything you say?"

"Because we're friends," Dawn said, finally looking him in the eye again. "Or we used to be. Shouldn't that be enough? It used to be enough." He had nothing to say to this, and simply stared her down. "How's Orca?" she asked, trying another conversation angle.

"Oh, you mean the guy you dumped on the side of the road?"

"Harsh," Dawn winced. "But fair. I deserve that." Silent glaring again. "Lobby... You know I-"

"It's your fault she's dead, you know!" Lobster suddenly blurted out, unable to keep the anger from his voice, and not really caring. Dawn gasped and raised her hands to her face, covering her mouth, as tears filled her eyes.

"That's not fair," she sobbed. "L-Lobby, that's not fair!"

"Fair? What is fair, Dawn? Losing one of my best friends? No, her sacrificing her life to save your thugs, would be a better way to put it." Now it was Dawn's turn to have nothing to say for a moment. She wiped her tears away and took a few slow breaths to calm herself.

"I can bring her back." Lobster stared at her in bewilderment, trying to piece together her meaning, as well as his own sudden tidal wave of feelings, which he quickly dismissed back into the ocean.

"What are you talking about, Dawn?"

"My main project is coming along nicely. I've been able to replicate living subjects with 89% perfection. Starting to work on replicating deceased subjects now. It's... considerably harder."

"So, you're cloning," Lobster said, nodding slowly. "So that's what you want fossils for. You know that's illegal now, right?"

"Lobby, I want you to think real hard about what you just said, and who you said it to," Dawn scoffed.

"Right, criminal," he said, rolling his eyes. "So, you're making copies of living things, and now you want to try to bring the dead back to life."

"That's pretty much the plan."

"Who did you lose?"

"...What?"

"We have a mutual friend who's unable to let people go. He's got a lot of growing to do. You've obviously got the same problem, or you wouldn't be trying to bring people back. So... Who was it? Who did you lose?"

"Fuck you, Lobby! You don't get to be my therapist."

"You two really were perfect for each other," he scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. "You're not a god, Dawn. I hope you're ready to take responsibility for this power you're wielding."

"I've got this," her gaze turned to steel once again. "Don't worry about me."

"It wouldn't really be bringing her back, anyway."

"What...?"

"Emery. If you did manage to make a clone of her, that's all it would be. A copy. It wouldn't be the little girl who sang into my guitar or got your paint all over her fur." Dawn laughed softly, wiping another sudden tear from her eye.

"She loved 'helping' me with my art," she said, letting out a long sigh. "I haven't drawn or painted in so long."

"You should. I once had a niece who said it was good for her health."

"Oh yeah?" she grinned. "What happened to her?"

"I think she got caught up with the wrong crowd. She hasn't been herself lately. I'm hoping that can change." Dawn nodded and crossed her arms.

"I'm not giving up, Lobby. I'm going to change the world."

"So be it, then. We're enemies."

"I guess that's the way it is," she sighed, returning Thursday to his Poké Ball. "Hey. There's a secret hideout about a hundred feet to the East, in the woods. All you have to do is lift up the hatch. There are some beds in there, and a few other basic comforts. It's connected to a tunnel that leads into the city. It's pretty well-hidden. These idiots don't even know it exists, so you'll be safe as long as you don't actually go through the tunnel." And with that, she returned to the shadows.

"How well-hidden?"

"Just look for a tiny wooden handle in the grass," her voice called back to him. "It's a pretty straight line from here." He didn't have to see her leave to know that she was somehow gone.

"O... kay," Lobster shrugged. He pressed a few buttons on his PokéGear, bringing up the pedometer function, and grabbed Voices' Poké Ball. "Come on, buddy," he said before returning him to the Ball.

It wasn't as hard to find as he had thought - a small handle on joints, like a door knocker, seeming to be growing out of the grass. There was enough tree cover around so that there was little chance of anyone seeing him. He pulled the handle hard upward, and a large trap door rose up with it.

'Fake turf, eh?' he thought to himself, touching the fake grass "planted" on top of the wooden door. There were stairs leading down into darkness, and he used the light of his PokéGear as a flashlight to get a better view. The stairs were made of wood, and the walls were bare dirt and rock. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking, realizing he probably should have done that earlier, and descended into the cellar, pulling the door closed behind him.

The hidden chamber was cozy, with three simple beds crammed against one wall. On the opposite side he found a lamp, which fortunately worked. He put his PokéGear to sleep once the lamp's dim light filled the tiny space. There was also what looked like a wooden wardrobe or cabinet, and a large storage trunk that reminded him of a treasure chest. The entrance to the tunnel was clearly visible, though it was partially blocked by a large plank of wood. He released his party from their Balls, and they all yawned and stretched and roamed about the room.

"Well, guys, this is where we'll be staying for now. Feel free to explore, but please don't go into the tunnel. Not yet. The city will be dangerous. We'll have plenty of time to risk our lives tomorrow." They all responded positively to this, assuring him in their own words that they would stay in the room. He nodded and let out a content sigh before flopping down on one of the beds. Some of his best friends joined him, while the others continued to race around the room energetically. "I never thought I'd sleep in a bed again," he half-sang before slipping into unconsciousness.

\/\/\/\/\/

"Anyway, he asked me if I knew any powerful Trainers to recruit, and of course I immediately thought of you."

"Gee, I don't know why," Ethan laughed, prompting Lyra to give him a few soft punches in the arm. The two were sitting under the shade of a large oak tree as the first morning light turned the sky a golden cream color.

"Whatever," she said. "You know the two of us could probably take on the whole Rocket Army by ourselves."

"That's a strange thought," the man said, his smile fading. "Fighting Team Rocket again. It's been so long..."

"Come on, Ethan, don't tell me you're thinking of saying no. I've been running around the whole world looking for you."

"No one asked you to..." He trailed off, thinking better of his statement. "I... Thank you, Lyra. If you believe we can do it, then of course I'll stand by you. Is there anything else you need?"

"Yeah, turn your phone on, jerk!" She grabbed the bill of his cap and yanked it downward quickly to cover his face and disrupt his hairdo.

"Fair enough," he chuckled, taking off the hat and smoothing out his black hair.

"We could use his help, too," she said, her tone completely changed.

"Yep... Do you know where he likes to wander these days?"

"He doesn't leave home much any more."

"Well, that'll make it easy."

"C'mon, we need to get going," she said, patting him on the shoulder before rising to her feet. "The Rockets aren't going to defeat themselves. Do you have Noctowl with you?"

"She's living with my mom these days," he said with a grin as he stood up as well and grabbed a Poké Ball. "You wouldn't believe the kinds of Pokémon they have around here."

"Maybe we'll save that for another time," she said as she released a Skarmory from a Ball. She caressed the bird's metal neck and gave it a hug. "Good morning, my dear. It's finally time to go back home."

\/\/\/\/\/

"So are you ready to take Olivine Beach by storm?" Shrimp asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Leviathan said with a shrug. The two were walking into Olivine City with their entire gang of friends that had met up the previous day: Vanilla and Ice, Whisper, Orca, and the entirety of Emery's Brigade. They even had Cinnamon and Sugar, the middle twins of the Cream family, tagging along.

"I'm sorry about your beach house, Levee," Shrimp cringed again, but he waved it off.

"It's for the best, hon." The group received many greetings and a variety of looks from passersby as they made their way through the city. Some came up to talk to them, while others went along their business without a word. Eventually they reached the remains of the beach house, where Leviathan promptly took out his PokéGear and started snapping pictures.

"Didn't you already do this?" Shrimp asked him.

"Well, I took legal pictures for the legal people in the horrible evil world of legal things," Levee explained. "But. These are for me." He turned around and started snapping pictures of his friends as well, some of which smiled for the camera, while some, including Orca, shook their head and walked toward the shore.

"Ready to swim, Whisper?" Orca asked his younger brother as he threw off his own shirt.

"I guess I'll give it a shot," the younger man said, gently taking off the purple cloak he had worn since leaving Blackthorn. He stepped closer to the water, tugging at the bottom of his spider-design shirt, and slowly dipped his toes into the cool refreshing waves washing up on the beach. "It's cold!" he laughed. "It feels great."

Just as he was about to take off his shirt, he stopped and stared off into space, seemingly distracted by something, before a smile formed on his face. In the next instant, an older gentleman with long black hair appeared in the air above him to drop down and glomp him, pushing him down into the water.

"Hey, dirty boy," Ben said with a smile before plunging his face toward that of the younger man, pressing lips over his and breathing deliberately, first outward then inward. He breathed so slowly and relentlessly, as if he were trying to pull Whisper's essence into his own soul by the mere force of air.

"Whoooooo!" several of the gathered friends cheered, which gained a middle finger from Whisper, though his attention remained on kissing the older Psychic who had him "pinned down" in the shallow lapping water. He knew that Ben would never actually try to force anything he wasn't okay with, and the same went the other way around. Which was why he was in no fear of making the older man upset when he pushed him upward and hurled him to the side. Ben hit the water with a loud SPLASH, and Whisper jumped up to his feet, only to reach down and scoop his hand through the shallow water, sending it flying at his boyfriend.

"Oh, so that's the kind of game you want to play," Ben chuckled, splashing water in retaliation. They had broken up the splash fight by the time the rest of the gang joined them at the edge of the water.

"I'm glad you could make it, Ben," Orca said. "Ready for Summer vacation?"

"I don't have a beach body, I'm afraid," Ben said. "I mostly came here to give you all news. Demetrius, I'm guessing you've filled Orca in?"

"Filled me in on what?" Orca asked, glance darting between his surrogate father and his Psychic friend. "Filled me in on what, Levee?"

"Well, it's about Lobby and Hammy," Leviathan said, as Ben shook his head at him in disappointment. "They - and Turtle, and some people from Kanto-"

"A lot of people from Kanto," Ben corrected.

"They formed their own group. Kind of like Emery's Brigade, but much bigger. They call themselves the Northern Kanto Liberation Front."

"It's just the Kanto Liberation Front now," Ben said. "That's part of my news. They've joined with many more resistors around the region. The only areas that are still technically under Rocket control are Saffron, Celadon, and Fuschia."

"Technically?" Kiwi asked.

"Well, it's complicated," Ben said. "But I'll let Demi fill in the rest of his piece."

"Wait, how are there only three areas of the region under Rocket control?" Orca asked, trying to reel them back to the topic at hand.

"Your friends have been busy this year," Ben began, before smiling at Levee when he gave him a look. "Alright, alright, it's all yours."

"Their army - because that's what it's become, pretty much - has apparently disappeared from the Ghosts' radar, for the moment, anyway," Levee said. "The last time the higher-ups checked in with me, the group was seen heading in the direction of Rock Tunnel, so we can only guess they're in Lavender by now. But we don't have any scouts that go that far East. Yet."

"So they're doing alright," Orca said, hope gleaming in his eyes as he fed a tiny snack cube to Sunday. "Is what you're saying. They're okay. We don't have to worry."

"They're preparing for full-out war, is what I'm saying," Levee said, giving his illegitimate son a stern look, which quickly melted away into a painful frown as he lost an internal emotional battle. "I'm sorry, son. They could get hurt. Bad. They could-"

"I get it."

"That's not all. Joe, or Narwhal as you like to call him..."

"Oh no," Orca said, bracing himself for the worst as he remembered for the hundredth time that his friend Joseph was one of the most active members of the secret group. "He's okay. He has to be okay. Please tell me-"

"He's alive," Levee said, and Orca let out a slow breath. "He almost didn't make it, but he's fine now. He's healing. He... was there when the remnants of Vermilion were destroyed. One of his Pokémon... didn't make it. He's not doing well emotionally, but..." Leviathan sighed heavily before continuing. "He's a tough one. He'll be okay." Orca gave Levee a look that suggested he had just killed someone in front of him, but eventually shook his head and mumbled a "Whatever."

"This is the state of things," Ben picked up the conversation, killing the awkward silence. "We know now that the KLF are definitely in Lavender, or at least a great amount of their forces are. The other forces are spread between the other remaining free areas. Technically, that doesn't include Celadon. But we've heard about a small resistance starting up there as well. We don't know how true that is yet. And there's one other topic of discussion, which is why I'm here, though I had hoped Demi would have given you his proposition by now..."

"Hey, it's not MY proposition," Levee said. "It's the Ghosts' idea. The top ones."

"What is?" Orca asked, petting Sunday gently as the baby Sentret climbed up and down his chest carefully.

"They want you to join," the older man said, giving Orca a blank stare.

"Join? Marowak's Ghosts?"

"Yyyyyep."

"I take it you're not a fan of the idea."

"You're..." Levee stopped himself and took in a deep, hissing breath, and let it out completely, slowly, before speaking. "You're old and responsible enough to make your own choices."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Levee," Orca yelled. "Tell me how you really feel."

"It doesn't matter what he thinks about it," Ben said, jumping back into the conversation while the two men stared silently at each other. "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it. It's your choice."

"I mean, what do they want me for?" Orca asked slowly. "I can't do much, in case you haven't noticed."

"Well, originally they wanted to throw you into an intensive training program along with a few other newbies," Ben said. "That was what Demi was sent to recruit you for. But plans have changed. And that's why I'm here now."

"Okay, so...?"

"We can't afford to send any of our Ghosts to Lavender right now. Our forces are spread pretty thin. But we need someone in there. We need communications with the KLF. If just one person were to travel there-"

"That sounds dangerous," Vanilla said. "You can't get somebody else to do this?"

"Nilly, it's okay," Orca said, turning to the blonde woman and taking her hands in his. Sunday took advantage of this moment to cross the makeshift bridge made by their arms and nestle on Vanilla's shoulder. He crooned peacefully into her ear, bringing a smile to her face. "Really. This way, I can go visit Emery." Her eyes softened for a split second, and she nodded.

"You need to do this," she said. "You need to go."

"Well guys, my keeper has given her approval," Orca said with a smile as he turned back around to face Ben, Whisper, and Leviathan. This earned him an elbow in the ribs from Vanilla, and he groaned as he reflexively reached his hand to the attacked spot. "Aahhh!"

"Excellent," Ben said as most of the present company laughed. "I can teleport you to HQ whenever you're ready."

"Actually... I'd rather walk."

"Walk?" Ben asked, scoffing. "It would take you at least a week to reach Indigo, let alone Lavender."

"No, no, I think he's onto something," Whisper said. "It would be a personal spiritual quest kind of thing."

"I don't think we have time for that."

"It's the best thing for him right now," the younger Psychic persisted. "Well, second-best, but since you're screwing up my plans..." Ben sighed upon hearing this.

"What do you want from me?"

"What I want?" Whisper said, taking Ben's hands in his own and pulling him in closer, slowly. "Let my brother go on his spiritual quest. Get someone else to set up communications for now. And... Take a break."

"A break?"

"Yes, a break. You've been zapping around the country for the past week, doing whatever they tell you."

"Please don't call it 'zapping'," Ben cringed.

"Tell them your man demands that you have a break."

"I'l put in for it."

"Better than nothing," Whisper shrugged.

"Now that that's taken care of," Shrimp jumped in, stepping closer to them. "Are you up for a day at the beach, Ben?"

"Sorry, I've got to zap," Ben said with a mocking grin aimed at Whisper.

"Shut up," the younger Psychic said with a smile.

"But you guys have fun in my absence. I'll keep in touch."

"Oh, before you go," Levee said. "I thought I'd let you know I'm taking a break from Ghost missions for a while. I'm going to be doing things with the Brigade."

"Sure thing," Ben nodded. "All of you stay safe, okay?" After receiving many nods and cheerful acknowledgments, he leaned in to kiss Whisper's cheek before vanishing without a trace.

"It always feels so weird when he leaves," Whisper said with a short laugh. Orange and Shrimp nodded and gave him pats on the shoulders. "Anyway, this is the first time I've been to the beach. Do we throw a frisbee around or something?"

"Actually," Orca said, "I was planning to take you out to Umbrella Beach today. I promised her that I would someday." Whisper nodded his understanding.

"Yes, awesome!" Shrimp shouted, jumping up and throwing her fist in the air. "I've missed Umbrella Beach so much!"

"Just Whisper today, Shrimp," Orca shook his head. "At least for right now."

"Oh," Shrimp slowly said, nodding. "Right, that makes sense. The Sea would probably want it that way." She ran up to give her younger brother a hug. "She's gonna love you."

"...Okay," Whisper said with a nervous smile.

"And for everybody else," Piranha shouted, running toward the water, "let's party! We're wasting high tide!"

"It's low tide right now, dear," Kyle pointed out.

"Shut up! I knew that!"

\/\/\/\/\/

"Beautiful," Whisper said, for not the first or last time, as he stepped barefoot onto Umbrella Beach. The sun beat down on the clean sand, except for the spot where the rock walls that surrounded the island came together into an upside-down bowl shape that arched over the Northwestern end of the coast. Within this shaded area, and along the rock face, there were several small cave openings, only one or two large enough to walk through.

"Hey Whisper, come over here," Orca called, gesturing for him to sit down at the shoreline, a little to the West of where they had left the boat. Sunday had crawled under the man's shirt and stayed there singing songs to his human during the ride from Olivine Beach; while he didn't share his mother's fear of water, crossing a seemingly infinite amount of it on a tiny boat was not his idea of a good time. Whisper followed his brother, and after a moment's hesitation, took a seat where the water gently swept onto the sand. Orca knelt down and removed the younger man's sandals, earning him a raised-eyebrow look.

"Um... What are you doing?"

"I have no idea why I did that, either," Orca laughed as he rose to his feet and threw the abandoned footwear into the boat. He walked farther onto the shore as he continued. "I guess because you're my little brother. Or maybe just because it's been such a long time."

"The water feels great on my feet," Whisper noted, stretching his legs out.

"Mhm," Orca agreed, nodding.

"So... What are we doing? Are you going somewhere?"

"Just listen to the waves. Close your eyes." Whisper shrugged and did as his brother said, while Orca found a drier place to sit. The Psychic listened intently to the sounds of the ocean, tuning his breathing with the waves. The whole experience was truly hypnotizing; Whisper had never been so close to the ocean before this day, and he found it easy to lose himself in the sensations and slip into a trance.

He could easily envision the ocean, as if he were looking at it with his eyes open, with the various tiny islands spread out in the distance. He could imagine diving below the water's surface - in fact, he felt as if something were compelling him to do so in his mind's eye. He used his imagination to see himself below the waves, to "feel" the sensation of being underwater, which he had only barely experienced at this point. Now he was sure he could hear something calling out to him, from somewhere far off in the distance. To the West? But also deep under the sea, farther than he could fathom. He felt as if it were a person sleeping, but somehow singing while they dreamed. A Pokémon, maybe? The song reached into his heart, filling it with emotion, and he reached out with his mind to try to touch that of whoever was calling him. He could barely make out the image of a creature resting at the bottom of the ocean, farther away than he could comfortably reach with his psychic abilities. He stopped trying to reach out to it, feeling as though whatever it was that was singing to him didn't want him to break his trance. The being sang one final refrain of the song in his direction, sending it to wash over him like a tidal wave.

He opened his eyes, which were flooded with tears, and turned around, flipping over onto his hands and knees and trying to rise to his feet.

"What's your name?" Orca asked with a smile. Whisper didn't even fully register that he had been asked a question, he was so blown away.

"O... Orca, I... I..." He fell backward into the water as he stammered.

"No, that's my name," Orca said with a grin as he stepped forward to help his brother to his feet.

"I... It was beautiful," Whisper sobbed, throwing his arms around Orca, now that he was standing on his own two feet. "Orca, it was amazing. There's some kind of... person. A Pokémon or something, I'm not sure, but it felt like the ocean was singing me a song, but not just to me, to everyone and everything, and different parts of the song were for different people, or Pokémon, or trees, or stones, or stars, or..." He trailed off when Orca patted him gently on the back.

"I know, brother. She's amazing."

"She's... amazing. And part of the song was for me. For me! I don't even know why, I haven't, I mean..." Orca stifled a joyful laugh, not wanting to make his brother feel embarrassed, though his smile grew wider.

"What's your name?" Whisper fell silent, his lungs trembling slightly as he calmed down. Was the being in the ocean supposed to give him a name? That didn't make any sense to him. Somehow, he felt as if the wave of the song was resonating in his heart, telling him to pick a name, compelling him, reassuring him that the name was already inside of his mind.

"Starfish," he finally said, letting go of Orca and looking into the older man's eyes. He had no idea why that word, of all words, would be the first that came out of his mouth, but there it was. "Starfish," he repeated, laughing uncontrollably. "I've never even seen a starfish before. Isn't that hilarious?"

"It's a great name," Orca said, wiping tears of mirth from his adopted brother's cheeks. "Starfish. From the moment you depart this shore, to the moment you depart this life, nothing can ever take this away from you." And Starfish smiled.

\/\/\/\/\/

"Well, here it is." Orca gestured with his arm at the main cavern that was once the frequent hiding place of the Sea Monsters, before flopping down on an old cushion. "We literally used to come here and just talk all night and day. Listen to our CD players sometimes, but mostly just the sound of the ocean. You can hear it so close in here, like it's all around us."

"Yeah," Starfish said slowly, taking his own seat, eyes slowly sweeping around the room, as if it were taking him longer than usual to perceive everything around him. Orca smiled at him.

"You're still hearing the song, aren't you?" Starfish nodded at this.

"In my heart. And... There's another voice, but it's a lot closer than the other one was. In a different direction. I'm only now hearing it. But it's not the same."

"That's Lugia," Orca nodded. "He doesn't sing to us the same way the Ocean does. Y'know, resonating in our hearts or whatever. I don't know why. None of us do. Maybe he will someday."

"He?"

"Well, I guess no deities have official genders or whatever, but we think of Lugia as a he."

"What if I want to think of her as a she?" Starfish asked with a grin.

"Well then, you'll just have to live with being wrong."

"You are a little bit of a cult, aren't you?" the Psychic asked, laughing, and Orca gave him a weak glare.

"I will fight you. I'm not even messing around."

"Oh, brother."

"Yes, yes I am. You're the one who chose to be adopted into this insanity." Starfish had another laugh at this, though his face soon straightened into a more solemn expression.

"The song of the Sea... Is it going to go away...?"

"No, no, it shouldn't," Orca reassured him quickly, putting an arm over his shoulder. "It never has for any of the others. I don't think so, anyway." He sighed slowly. "It did for me. When I got all caught up in my heartbreak and started drinking all the time to kill my pain. And... other things. Bad... Bad things. It started again for me when Levee came out of his self-imprisonment in the house and we all came out here together for the first time in forever. It stopped again when Great White..."

"Died," Starfish finished for him, and Orca inhaled sharply, before letting the breath out in pieces.

"Don't. Do that."

"Sorry."

"When I came back here after saving Emery..." He paused for a moment, bringing his fingers to his eyes and taking in slow, deep breaths. "When I... Yeah. Me and some of my friends came here, and two of them heard the song, and became Sea Monsters. And. I spent some time here. Prayed a lot. Cried a lot. And eventually the song started again. And then it stopped again when she... When I..." His breathing sped up, and he wiped away tears while Starfish put his arms around him. "I love her... I loved her so much."

"She knew."

"I should have told her more... I should have made sure she knew how important she was to me." Sunday, sensing his human's distress, finally crawled up from his shirt haven and patted Orca's face playfully with his padded paws, singing him a calming song. The young man wrapped his arms around the Sentret and squeezed him gently. "I love you, Sunday. You're a wonderful person. You're my precious baby. I'm gonna take care of you forever. You don't ever have to worry about anything. You're gonna grow up to be beautiful and smart and kind, just like your mother. I will never hurt you. I promise. I promise. I promise." The Sentret gave him an amused look and a few loud squeaks before slipping out of his human's grip and poking around the cavern.

"I think he gets it," Starfish said with a smile.

"You know what I just realized? This thing's not working." Orca pointed to the purple metal bracelet resting around his wrist, a gift that came with the Pokédex his sister had bought for him.

"Maybe it's out of battery power," Starfish shrugged. "I guess you'll just have to start listening with your heart."

"Whatever that means."

"What if the song never stopped for you, Orca?" Starfish asked, bringing them back to the original topic. "What if you just lost track of it?"

"I guess that makes more sense. I think it's really easy to lose track of the important things in life."

"Like the people we love."

"Yeah... Don't I know it."

"Orca..."

"Yeah?"

"I think... I think I figured out the answer to the question."

"Question?"

"I never had a great family. People didn't really care about me. Dawn didn't even remember I existed for most of her life. But. Ever since I met you, I keep developing bonds with people that have changed my life. Like, literally changed everything about my existence. I never had anyone, no one was ever there for me. I used to wonder what friendship could be. I would read about it in books, but it seemed just as much a faerie tale as magic beanstalks and golden eggs. But now... I'm not even the same person because of all of you. I don't even look at the world, or life, or myself, in the same way. And it's because my heart has changed. Because you're all in it now. What was it Levee said?"

"Family is made of those dearest to your heart?" Orca suggested, shrugging.

"Exactly. I have a family now. A real one. And maybe that's all I need. I think that's it. I think that's the answer."

"That's awesome, little bro. So... What was the question?" Starfish leaned forward, letting out a loud laugh.

"Don't worry about it."

\/\/\/\/\/

"Orca." The young man opened his eyes when he heard his name being called by a voice. A voice he knew, that he had heard once before.

"Emery?" He saw the young human version of his departed friend out of the corner of his eye, and fixed his gaze on her immediately. She was sitting on top of the Crew's old treasure chest, the one that now contained another lifetime's worth of letters, and she was smiling at him. "I'm dreaming."

"Is it a good dream?" the phantasm, or whatever it was, asked him.

"I'll let you know when I figure it out," Orca sighed from his place on the cushion. Starfish was asleep on his own large cushion, and Sunday was cuddled snugly into his arms. The two wouldn't be waking up - not that they were actually there.

"You showed up," Emery said, wasting no time. "You came here just like I thought you would. I'm glad."

"I had to. I mean... I don't know how to say it. My heart told me to, or whatever."

"You can't go wrong, following your heart. I seem to remember someone saying something like that."

"Probably Shrimp. You know what a dreamer she is."

"Right, Shrimp," Emery said, her smile growing wider. "Hey, let's go up to the surface. I want to see the water." Orca shrugged his willing indifference, and let her pull him up to his feet and through the caverns. The afternoon sun was still shining on the sea outside, though it would soon start to set. "The ocean is so beautiful, isn't it?" she asked as they watched the endless dance of the waves. "I think it might be the most beautiful thing in the world. Remember the times when we would swim out here? Your hands were broken. Well, your right one, anyway."

"Why are you making me remember all of this? It's bad enough on my own."

"You're never on your own, Orca," she said, taking his hands once again and pulling him with her as she sat down on the sand. "You've got a lot of people who care about you."

"You know what I mean. It's hard to deal with myself... I..." He trailed off, shaking his head as they both sat cross-legged. Emery took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Vanilla's looking great these days."

"Why bring up Nilly all of a sudden?"

"I like Vanilla. I never spent much time with her, but I love her for the sole reason that she loves you in a way that I never could."

"What do you mean?"

"She loves you like a person who really, truly knows you should love you. Not like a dumb little girl who worships you and ignores it when you treat her badly or manipulate her, or makes excuses for you in her head. You know, like me."

"Well..."

"She truly knows best how to be there for you, because she knows you. The real you. She supports your dreams and doesn't put up with any of your bullshit. Can you do the same for her?"

"I... I can try."

"Good," she sighed, glancing toward the waves rolling peacefully onto the beach. "You'd better. She deserves it."

"Does it make you sad...?"

"Who, me?" Emery threw her head back and laughed, not in derision, but in honest amusement. "Orca, I will probably never stop loving you. That much is true. But like I said, it was an unhealthy love. You can't worship people. That's what the gods are for, right?"

"Right..."

"And now, my love is more like... I don't know, one of those guardian angel kind of things," she chuckled.

"That's not funny."

"I'm sorry you think so," she said, placing her palm against his cheek. "Orca. You'll always be my 'Sweet Scent'. But to someone else, you're 'Counting Petals'."

"Ah, Vile Plumes songs," he said with a grin. "I see what you did there."

"I'm glad you approve," she laughed. "Are you ready to wake up?"

"Wait...! Um..." He racked his brain for something to discuss. This couldn't end already. He wished she would turn back into a Furret and hug him like she used to, though that was probably not what she would want. "Sunday hatched. Yesterday. I named him Sunday."

"I always was a big TBS fan," she said, nodding. "And I'm glad you're taking care of him. But you can't dwell on dreams forever."

"I guess not..." Emery threw her arms around him and patted him on the back, which almost made him break down crying, though he held his composure.

"Go be with your family, Orca. Forget about me for a while. They love you. You need them. And they need you." She let go of him, and poked his chest with her index finger. "I'll always be right here."

He woke up with a gasp, and sat up on the cushion in the cave as tears filled his eyes.

"Have a good nap?" Starfish asked with a smile, which quickly faded when he saw Orca crying. "Oh... Damn." He rushed over to hug his brother, who quickly wiped the tears away.

"I'm fine," he said, patting his brother's arm before shrugging off the hug. "I'm great. She, um... Yeah. I'm awesome. Let's, um... Let's head back. Me and the crew should throw you a party."

"That's not really necessary; I don't want anyone to go to any trouble."

"Oh, trust me, we won't be spending any of the money that we don't have."

"I guess that works," the Psychic laughed.

\/\/\/\/\/

Shrimp tested the metal gauntlets one more time to confirm that they were securely fastened to her arms. The precious technology of the Devon Corporation fit comfortably enough, thanks to padding on the inside, and the plastic patches she now wore on her skin, connected wirelessly to the gauntlets, were only a slight irritation. There was a wheel connected around the right gauntlet, with six slots she had already placed Poké Balls into as per the instructions. The six friends in question, she had already released from their Balls, and five of them were watching safely from a distance: Charcoal, her Murkrow; Lightbulb, her Ledian; Preeny, her Pidgeot; Barry Cade, her Onix; and Marshmellow, her Wigglytuff. The sixth party member, a Togetic named Ivory, stood only a few yards away from her human, staring intently into her eyes. They were gathered in the wooded hills north of Olivine Beach, Ivory facing East and Shrimp facing West. The sun had already set to the point where its bright rays were no longer blinding, and night was approaching quickly.

"You ready, honey?" Shrimp asked, and the Togetic nodded, releasing a wavering musical sound into the air. "Okay, here goes." The young woman spun the wheel on the gauntlet until it reached the slot holding Ivory's Poké Ball, then pressed down on it, and the apparatus clicked into place. "Start off with Faerie Wind." The Pokémon summoned up a glistening wind that roared toward her human. Shrimp ran quickly to her left and tucked into a roll, barely avoiding the attack, which soared past harmlessly. She then opened her hands and fired her own version of Faerie Wind from the gauntlets. The attack rushed toward Ivory, who flapped her wings and rose into the air, dodging it rather easily. Shrimp rose to her feet and gave a thumbs-up to her friend, who nevertheless kept a worried frown on her face.

"I'm fine, Ivory, we're doing great," Shrimp said with a smile. "Now let's try Magical Leaf." Ivory released many leaves from behind her wings, shining all colors of the rainbow, which twirled in midair before zooming toward the human at high speed. Shrimp knew there would be no dodging this attack, so she went ahead and released her own rainbow leaves - these made of the energy built up by her gauntlets. Several of the opposing leaves destroyed each other, but two of Ivory's managed to pass through and slice Shrimp's arm. Ivory let out a panicked squawk, which Shrimp waved off as she groaned painfully. "It doesn't hurt, honey, I'm fine. Come on, let's finish up with Metronome. I want to see if it actually works with this thing."

Ivory made some upset sounds, but followed her human's command. She wagged her finger back and forth, keeping perfect time, while Shrimp did the same. The gauntlets released their energy in the form of Leech Life, an attack which barely affected the Togetic, to the point that it might as well not have done any damage at all. Meanwhile, Ivory's Metronome took the form of Vicegrip, and she came rushing forward while forming a large claw out of her own energy. The claw clamped down on Shrimp's body, just below the ribs, before she could move out of the way.

"Ah!" Shrimp writhed in pain for a moment, grabbing at the magical claw, before it disappeared as Ivory let out a distressed cry and lost her focus. Shrimp fell to her knees when she was released, and clutched her sides while Ivory fidgeted around, flailing her arms and wings while she cried out. "No, no, no, honey, you're not bad," Shrimp said, forgetting her pain and wrapping her arms around the Pokémon. "You're not bad, I promise. You are such a good person. Shrimp loves you, okay? You did great. It doesn't even hurt anymore. Look." She raised her shirt up enough to show her abdomen to her friend, and the Togetic could see that there were no cuts or blood in the place where she had been grasped by the Vice Grip. Ivory still let out upset chirps and squawks as tears filled her eyes, and pointed her stubby arm toward the cuts, now bleeding, left on Shrimp's arm by the Magical Leaf attack. "Oh, yeah, you did get me there, but it's just a few scratches. I'm fine, honey, I promise. You did so great. Thank you so much for helping me. It means a lot to me." But still Ivory continued with her cries of despair. "Okay," Shrimp said, throwing her arms around her once again. "Okay. I won't make you do it again, okay? I promise. I promise. I'm so sorry, honey. Please forgive me. You don't have to do it anymore. I promise."

At this point, the rest of her team had drawn closer, and were now surrounding the two, most of them patting Ivory with their wings or hands to help calm her down. Without Shrimp realizing it, a human had also approached the forest battlefield, and he now knelt down beside her and opened up an old, beat-up first aid kit.

"Levee," Shrimp greeted with an annoyed stare when she saw the brown-haired man, who quickly ripped open a sterile wipe and used it to clean the blood from her arm. "I thought I told all of you not to follow me."

"Sorry, Captain," Leviathan said with a grin as he dropped the cloth and picked up a roll of adhesive bandage, which he began to carefully apply to her arm. "I'm not good at staying in one place. Especially if I'm told to. If you don't believe me, ask my mom."

"You don't have to call me 'Captain'," Shrimp laughed. "You're the father-figure of the Sea Monsters. Doesn't that grant you seniority or whatever?"

"Nope, this is the Brigade, not the Crew. I'll follow you as long as I'm welcome."

"You're always welcome."

"Good to hear," Levee said absent-mindedly. He tore the strip of bandage he had wrapped around her arm from the rest of the roll and patted it down gently to make sure it was secure. He then gave the bandaged spot a light peck with his lips. "There, that should do it. I kissed it better and everything. Try not to upset your babies again, hon."

"Oh, trust me, we won't be repeating this exercise with Ivory," Shrimp said, caressing the feathers of the Togetic, who was still clinging to her human, though her sobbing had calmed down. "I should've known better than to put her in the position to potentially harm me. Her heart might as well be made of glass, poor darling."

"Live and learn, is what I always say," Levee said, packing up the first aid kit and rising to his feet. He extended a hand down to Shrimp while petting the Togetic with the other. "Shall we return to the beach? There's a party waiting for you."

"A party?" Shrimp asked, taking his hand and standing up.

"Your brothers have returned. And one of them has a new name~"

"Yes!" Shrimp jumped up, raising a fist into the air. "I knew it! I'm so proud of him. What is it?"

"I'd rather he have the chance to tell you himself." Shrimp nodded, and gestured for her Pokémon to follow her before looping Leviathan's arm in her own.

"You love your big family, don't you, Levee?" she asked cheerfully.

"I do," he nodded. "But can you keep a secret?"

"Sure, of course." Levee leaned in super-close to speak directly into her ear, as if he were dispensing some secret of the utmost importance. Of course, she knew the eccentric dork well enough by now to know that it would be something silly.

"You're my favorite daughter," he whispered, unable to keep himself from giggling.

"Levee, I'm your only daughter," she rolled her eyes. "And Orca is your only son. The rest of the Crew are your brothers and sisters, remember?"

"Hm... I guess that's true. Well, there is Squid and Dawn." She gave him an angry glare, and he laughed nervously. "Whooooooooo we won't talk about right now."

"Children of the Sea, and all others present for this beautiful celebration!" It was Orca's voice, greeting everyone gathered around a large bonfire on the beach. It only took Shrimp a few seconds to realize that the fire was where the remains of the Crew's beach house used to be, and this made her cackle wildly, Levee joining in immediately. The entirety of the group that had come down to Olivine Beach that morning were standing in a circle around the fire. "We hold this celebration tonight, to welcome my brother - and yours - as a Sea Monster. He has heard the song of our Mother, and now he holds it in his heart... forever!" Orca and Piranha let out their best wolf howls, and Shrimp and Levee joined in while they covered the rest of the distance across the beach. Soon Juniper, Kyle, May, and Ice all joined in, followed eventually by Cinnamon and Sugar. The only two who remained silent were Vanilla, who crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, and Ruth, who quickly found Shrimp's side and held onto her arm. She kept her head down, face blushing. Once the chorus of howling calmed, Orca used his hands to drum rapidly on a plank of wood for a moment before speaking again.

"Tell them your name, fellow child of the Ocean," he said calmly. Starfish hesitated a moment, glancing back and forth into the eyes of his friends.

"Starfish," he finally said, barely above a whisper.

"Come on, man, you've gotta be louder than that," Orca whispered to him.

"St... Starfish," the younger man said, louder this time. "Starfish!" Shrimp, Piranha, and Levee let out loud cheers.

"Welcome, STARFISH!" Orca shouted, drumming on the plank once again, before he and his fellow Sea Monsters began another revelry of howls. The others joined in again, even Vanilla and Ruth letting loose one quick howl each this time.

"Did you say the thing?" Levee asked Orca once the howling ceased.

"Of course!" Orca said, his cheeks turning pink. "But... I wouldn't mind saying it again, though. It has only been twice."

"Alright," the older man shrugged. "Kiwi? Sp... Piranha? Might as well." The two young women joined them in making a semicircle around their new initiate, and they joined hands with him together. All at once, the four spoke to Starfish:

"From the moment you depart this shore, to the moment you depart this life, nothing can ever take this away from you."

"Yeah, nothing, including our asshole godfather," Piranha said, jabbing Levee in the ribs with her elbow, which prompted a painful groan from the man.

"Right," he said, letting go of everyone's hands to massage his attacked side. "Including me."

\/\/\/\/\/

"Thanks, old man!" Wyatt shouted as he hopped out of the bed of the grey pick-up truck and ran around to the driver's side window.

"'Old man'?" the driver started, casting an offended glare in Wyatt's direction. "See if I help you out again. Wahaha! I'm just kiddin'."

"Sorry," Wyatt said, bowing his head, his lips barely curving up into the smallest traces of a smile. "I really appreciate your help, though. Are you going to make it back to Viridian okay on your own?"

"Oh, don't you worry about me and old Beldum here." He leaned out of the open window to whisper, "Between you and me, he's the old one." Wyatt couldn't help himself - he let out a loud cackle that echoed through the mountains, but quickly subsided. "Well, blessed Moltres," the older man said. "That's the first time I've seen you smile this whole trip."

"I don't really have much to smile about anymore."

"A young man like you? Shoot, you might have more than you think. You take care of yourself, you hear? I don't want you getting yourself killed on my conscience. You're sure your home's not too far away?"

"It's not far," Wyatt said, shaking his head. "A quick swim, a quick walk, a quick climb... I'll be there in no time."

"Alright. Take care of yourself," he said once again, before turning his truck around and heading back toward the Pokémon League gate and Viridian City.

Wyatt turned his attention to the West, where a quick swim along the southern coast was the quickest way to pass over the border from Kanto to Johto. He noticed now, for the first time, that a deep trench had been dug out of the side of the mountain to the North, and a large wall was being built within it. By its appearance, he guessed it had to be at least thirty feet above the ground at the highest visible point - which meant it would have to be completely impassable at sea level.

"Better move along while you can, kid," shouted one of the workers, staring down at him from his position on a piece of scaffolding. "There's not gonna be any more crossing when we finish."

"Why are you building a wall?" Wyatt shouted up to the man.

"Because Kanto belongs to the Rocket Army now," the worker laughed. "Don't you read the news?"

"You mean watch the news," another worker chimed in. "You read a newspaper, you watch the news."

"No, the news in newspapers is news too," the first one said matter-of-factly. "That's why it's called a newspaper."

"But nobody reads newspapers anymore anyway," the second man argued. "I mean, it's the twenty-first century. It's not like we're in the 1950's."

"Lots of people still read the news."

"I never see anyone reading newspapers."

"Oh, you never pay attention to anything."

"O...kay," Wyatt said to himself, ignoring the ridiculous argument and continuing on his journey. After a few quick stretches, he dove into the water and swam his way into Johto, taking the time to notice the Magikarp swimming about their lives. For only a brief moment, he allowed himself to wonder what it would be like to have a life as simple as a fish swimming through water. Right at the end of that moment, one of the Magikarp was swallowed up by a passing Quagsire. Well, maybe nobody really had it easy.

\/\/\/\/\/


(( Let me know what you think, I guess? I'm hoping this actually-writing state of being lasts a while for me, so maybe I'll actually update soon this time. Who knows? I know I can't wait to write the next chapter. I hope you liked this one. Catch ya on the flip side~ ))