"So the way old Brucie tells me, you need to get back in shape." The legendary boxer gives me a critical look. "This… might take a while."

"Hey, screw you!" I said back, hurt. Robin broke out laughing, the closest thing to a deep belly laugh he could do.

"Sorry kid, I call 'em like I see 'em." Ted Grant crossed his arms, the toughened skin on his knuckles easy to see. He smirked just a bit. "You've got some training before, right?"

"Yeah." I tried to reign back my annoyance. And my fanboy tendencies. Ted Grant was awesome. A badass boxer who had fought everyone from Ali to Foreman, had thrown punches into the chins of some of the worst in history, and trained some of the world's greatest heroes.

"I was trained for six months." I answered.

"Probably one of those big classes, lots of people getting trained by one teacher?" Ted guessed. When I nodded, he continued. "Did you get some one on one training? Maybe a bit of sparring?"

At that, I had to shrug. Most of my classes had been, like he said, large room affairs. Not a lot of time was spent on one-on-one focus.

"That's okay as a base," Ted said rubbing his knuckles against his chin. "But you're still going to need to put some serious work in. We need to find out what you've got, go from there."

"What about my Pokemon?" I asked. "I want to make sure they learn some new tricks, you know?"

"Poke the what?" Ted asked, scratching his head in a befuddled manner. As he did, a massive bicep on his arm curled upward and threatened to rip his shirt sleeve in two. I felt a shot of envy, then hope.

I may have be a Pokemon Trainer, but here's hoping I would end up looking more like Bruno of the Elite Four, and less like a Mountain Hiker. And what does it say that I was making these references in my own head?

"Pokemon." I answered with a smile. "Monsters I can bring out in a fight, each with their own powers."

"Huh." Ted rubbed his head, turning to Robin. "How about it Dick? You ever see one of these Pokeyman? What are they like?"

"Hey, secret identity, remember!?" Robin said, a bit fruitlessly.

"Dick, I already know your secret identity." I reminded him, trying to hold back the laugh that popped up at the semi-whiny tone he'd taken.

"Besides, how are you going to team up with someone you can't even trust with your name?" Grant growled. He shrugged. "Whatever. I'll remember next time. Spill, what are these things like?"

Blunt as hell. Still, I reached into my bag and grabbed a simple Pokeball, held in a holster on my belt with the rest. Seeing the six, I suddenly remembered that I had to contact Latias soon.

Pushing that aside, I threw the ball out, the three of us watching as it popped open and the red light brought out my Pokemon.

"Wildcat, meet Chesnaught, the Grass/Fighting type." The lead of my team blinked blearily, stretching his massive arms outwards. "Chesnaught, meet Wildcat. The Boxing type."

Chesnaught looked over at Ted, who was looking over the bearlike Pokemon with interest. Chesnaught lifted a hand to his head and gave a jaunty salute.

"Chesnaught."

"He said wassup." I translated glibly.

"That's… big." Ted said slowly. He turned to me. "So these are the kinda things you need to fight alongside?"

"Basically, yeah." Chesnaught came next to me, and growled happily as I scratched a spot just under his armor. "Though they have all sorts of powers and shapes."

Ted considered that. He turned to look at Robin, then back at me. Then he smiled.

I felt chills at that smile, seriously.

"Fine then. If I'm going to train you, I'm going to need to see you in a fight." Ted turned away and walked towards the boxing ring. With agility that would have made much younger athletes weep with envy, he hopped inside, and turned towards me and Chesnaught. "We're going to spar."

He panned his eyes to Chesnaught. And then, to Robin. "All of us. You and that bear take on me and the youngin."

"… Monday." I nodded glumly, coming to a conclusion. "This is a Monday. No other explanation."

Chesnaught had a different opinion, a wide grin sprouting on his face. He growled with joy, eagerly stepping forward.

No less eager was Robin, who seemed to take a bit of joy in the look I gave him as he took his belt out from inside his jacket and slipped it on, following Chesnaught. I took a deep breath, trying to control my fear.

"Do we really have to do this?" I asked, semi-desperately. "Cause I have to be honest, I've never had a tendency for masochism. You might be mistaking me for every other guy dumb enough to step into the ring with you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere kid." The old boxer said with a chuckle, taping up his hands as Robin and Chesnaught took spots in the ring. Ted became sober, looking at me with slightly sad eyes. "Listen kid. You said you want this life."

He finished taping up his fists, tapping his knuckles together as he strode over to lean on the rings and talk to me. "Well step one is knowing how to jump into the fights that need fighting. Your partner is in here, ready to take me on. All you need to do is decide what happens next."

I stared up at the face of Ted Grant, the man somehow seeming larger than even than the monster behind him.

And I scowled, though I felt a grin pulling at my lips. "Ah, shut up old man. I'll hop in. I was just worried you'd break your hip or something."

Robin and Chesnaught stared at me, horrified. Ted laughed, a big belly roar of glee.

"Oh kid," He said as he chuckled. "I'm gonna have fun training you."

The chuckle turned into something dangerous.

"Now get in here so I can show you what an old man can do."

I hopped into the ring. And without warning, Ted was rushing towards me. I yelped, instinctively raising my arms to block.

Have you ever been in a fight with a master?

Because if not, then it's hard to understand the feeling I felt at the sight of Wildcat rushing towards me. He was so massive, muscles layered thickly like armor. And yet, he moved so smoothly, his speed and grace incredible to watch. It was something between a blur and slow motion, his tank top fluttering in the wind of his passing. His first jab was pure artistry, quick and clean, massive fist slamming into my raised right arm like a brick smashing into wood.

I nearly bit my tongue as I fell back, my right arm screaming in pain. Ted didn't follow, simply watching me. Measuring me.

At the same time, Robin, in a move that in most universes would have screamed for a Darwin Award, back flipped onto the ropes behind him, and used them to slingshot above Chesnaught. Chesnaught roared in challenge as Robin threw several shuriken that barely dug into the Pokémon's armor, before each golden disc exploded. Chesnaught to each explosion like a summer rain, lashing out at Robin with his right fist as the Boy Wonder came towards him.

The acrobatic young tapped his fingers against Chesnaught's fist, using the bearlike Pokémon's attack as a springboard to kick Chesnaught in the face. Chesnaught took the hit, responded by grabbing Robin's leg to throw him back. Robin's smashed his back on the floor of the ring, then rolled to his feet, a devil may cry grin on his face.

"Pay attention." Ted said as I watched the others battle from the corner of my eyes.

I focused on Wildcat long enough to try and dodge back from one of his attacks, a left cross. Only to realize, in a moment of slow motion realization, I was just too slow. I barely had enough time to get my other arm in the way, only for him to twist his fist around to 'gently' tap it into my ribs.

I kept myself from gritting my teeth, and focused instead on punching back. It took three punches to show how freaking outclassed I was.

He barely moved his body, dodging with the minimum amount of distance to keep from being hit. I tried to speed up, tried to put more focus. I felt rage as every punch I threw hit air, even as I tried to focus, to keep from losing my temper.

I felt even more humiliated when Wildcat began to throw his own punches, teasingly, showing me the opening I kept leaving in my offense, his taped up fist coming inches from my skin before pulling back even as I kept trying to hit something other than air.

While I was getting schooled, Chesnaught was getting frustrated. Robin was using his natural speed and agility to dodge and dance around Chesnaught, tapping him with little blows that, while ridiculously powerful for someone his age and size, were irritants to a creature with Chesnaught's constitution.

Chesnaught was getting annoyed though. Robin was using his smaller size to his advantage, laughing in an irritating fashion as he dodged and leaped around.

I felt a strong bond with Chesnaught then. In that moment, we were both annoyed as hell with someone who really damn well wanted to hit. It was beautiful.

And then Ted slammed a fist into my forehead.

As I staggered back, stars in my eyes, I felt an idea percolate in my pain filled brain.

After all, the fight was two on two, right?

"Chesnaught, Spikes!"

Reflexively, the bearlike Pokemon followed my orders. With a growl, he covered the floor of the ring in spikes.

"Whoa, what the-!" Robin staggered from where he'd been about to land on the ground, avoiding some pointed spikes to his shoes. He backed off from Chesnaught, who stood proudly in the center of the now far more dangerous ring.

I'd started moving even as I yelled, leaping to land alongside Chesnaught in a scramble of movement. Ted had gone to follow, only to stop as well, cocking an eye at the sight of the floor. I stared at him, panting heavily as sweat dripped from my brow. Ted looked up at me. Then, he stepped forward, the dangerous footing not even slowing him down.

Damn. I'd hoped to buy more time with that. Still, now I had a plan to at least impress Wildcat. I knew I wouldn't be able to win, but I had to showcase what I knew, and one thing I knew was how to use my Pokemon.

I couldn't go all out. If I wanted to, I could have Chesnaught blow away the entire gym. Inside that bear was enough power to make a neighborhood shatter. But no. I had to think like a hero. And that meant strategically, without collateral damage.

So first, both Robin and Wildcat were above my league, both having fought super-villains for years with nothing more than a wise crack and a right hook. So, I had to destabilize them.

"Chesnaught, Tackle Wildcat!"

"Ah hell." The old boxer groused when the bear-knight turned and charged, roaring.

The ground shook as Wildcat hurriedly dodged aside, and lashed out a fist into Chesnaught. The crack of his fist slamming into Chesnaught's arms resounded, but Chesnaught stood up a hell of a lot better to it than I had.

While Chesnaught charged Wildcat, I stepped forward to intercept Robin as he tried to help Wildcat. I knew it wouldn't work for long. Robin was too damn strong and fast for me to be more than a temporary distraction. But I needed it for just one second.

True to form, the most my interference did was force the Boy Wonder to leap up, land his feet on my shoulders as I stared in awe, and leap upwards once more, sending me to the ground in a pained heap.

As he laughed, I cheered inside.

"Chesnaught, Vine Whip on Robin!"

"Oh man!" Forced into mid-air by my interference, Robin couldn't dodge nearly as quickly on the fly. Vine Whip, the signature beginning move of all Grass Starter Pokemon, lashed out at Robin, slamming into his chest.

Unfortunately, while I had managed to send Robin flying for the moment, I'd had to make Chesnaught ignore Wildcat. The old boxer leaped into Chesnaught's range. There was a blur, so fast I thought the pain from the earlier blows had made me dizzy.

Chesnaught fell back. He wasn't downed. He wasn't even scratched. But he fell back.

And I couldn't help but notice the grin on Chesnaught's face. He was loving this.

Damn. So Pokemon really are Blood Knights. I'd kind of known that, but seeing Chesnaught smile in the midst of this spar was a true reminder.

As I lay there, Chesnaught stepped in. With his arms raised.

"No way." I breathed out.

In a perfect copy of Ted's stance, Chesnaught released a short jab. Wildcat dodged it, but grunted as the blow barely scratched his chest, before countering with an uppercut.

Chesnaught dodged, in a perfect cop of the way Ted had.

"He's learning." I leaned in, awed. Chesnaught had always been a good fighter. But he'd never shown the kind of polish that I had seen in most martial artists. He was a brawler, something that I think resonated with Superboy, who fought in much the same way. Taking hits over and over, lasing out with powerful blows as he allowed his recovery abilities and enormous bulk to cover him.

Now though, even as I watched, Chesnaught was slowly changing. His punches became jabs and hooks, not just powerful blows lashing out. He was dodging, not just taking a hit.

My Pokemon was learning how to box. In the middle of his first spar.

Wildcat seemed to realize that as well, quirking an eyebrow. After another exchange of blows, Ted stepped back.

"Hey Bear." Wildcat said simply. "I get what you're feeling. But I still need to test the kid. Mind stepping aside?"

Chesnaught stared at Wildcat. Then, with a disappointed groan, he stepped back and relaxed his arms.

"What the hell?" I stared at Chesnaught. "Dude! Why?"

Chesnaught huffed.

"I can learn later, but damnit that was awesome!" I yelled, annoyed at the interruption of yet another theory being proven.

Then I was under assault. Even as I rose up and tried to dodge and weave while getting pounded like a drum, I was thinking.

Chesnaught's response to Wildcat's boxing was not unprecedented. In every Pokemon universe, they are capable of learning and evolving at an incredible pace. Teaching techniques without a TM/HM was a matter of a few moments, and Pokemon could become amazingly strong with only a few battles.

However, Chesnaught had done something incredible. In a single fight, he'd begun to break down and understand the principles of boxing, emulating the moves perfectly.

Well, not perfectly, even an amateur like me could see that. He didn't have the rhythm down, dodged when he should have blocked for a counter attack for example.

Even so, the implications of that sight were enough to distract me for a bit before I forced myself to keep fighting.

Finally, as Robin leaped back into the ring, Wildcat stopped kicking my ass and nodded. "Okay. That's good enough for me."

"Ohthankyougod." I spat out, falling to the ground in pain. "Ah! Agony! Pain! Why?" I screamed, pulling several of Chesnaught's Spikes out of my ass. They began to fade away as we all rested.

"Ahhhhh, suck it up kid." Wildcat said easily, walking over a water bottle.

"Ouch." Robin winced even as he laughed his ass off, Chesnaught chuckling as well. "I guess this spar was a real pain in the butt for you, huh?"

"When you least expect it brat." I groaned good-naturedly. "Get Chansey will you?"

Robin walked over to my bag and rummaged around before pulling out Chansey's ball. As she appeared, she looked around, and immediately spotted my bruised and beaten from. Frowning, she immediately walked over and activated her Heal Pulse, the psychic energy flowing over me as I sighed in relief.

"Are all these things so weird looking?" Ted asked idly, staring at the pink creature healing me.

"You should see the one that looks like keys." I groaned, feeling blood vessels shift as they snapped together. I patted Chansey, smiling. "Thanks girl. You've always got my back."

"Well, at least I know which one is Chansey." Wildcat said with a smile. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a paper. "Because I need her to get this thing started."

"What?" I blinked, even as Chansey left my side to waddle over to Robin and look him over with a critical eye, getting a nervous chuckle from the young man. "Why?"

"Take a look." He walked over and handed me the sheet. I started reading it. Then I stopped and reread. And again.

Wondering why I was frozen, Chesnaught, Chansey, and Robin walked up behind me to read over my shoulder.

"Oh whoa." Robin whistled.

"Chesnaught." The bear-like Pokemon agreed in a tone that was somehow more jealous than I felt appropriate.

"Chans, Chans." The pink healer sighed, apparently resigned.

"Batman," I whispered slowly. "You son of a bitch."

PYJ

"You cuss a lot." Robin said jokingly as we left, Chesnaught and Chansey safely in my bag.

"I didn't used to." I said with a sigh. "I was never clean as a whistle or anything, but it seems I've turned into a real potty mouth. Truly, I have long since taken my first step into the dark side. Soon I will take the horrific monsters under my control, rule this world with an iron fist, and institute mandatory nude day for the hot people of the world."

"Mandatary nude day for the hot people?" Robin asked as we walked down the street, sounding absolutely giddy at the thought. "I guess you'll never get to celebrate with the rest of us."

"Oh, good one." I grinned at him. "By the way, why don't bad guys ever have fun plans like that? It's always blood and fire or something. Never free pasta, or awesome amusement parks."

"I couldn't take a villain seriously if he told me he was taking the city hostage for free pasta." Wally said idly, shoving one hot dog into his mouth afterwards as he held another ready.

I was going to concede his point when I realized who had made it. Robin and I stopped, turning to stare at the redhead.

"Where have you been?" Robin asked, shocked to see Wally.

"I got bored waiting," Wally replied, giving us a grin. "So I ran around. Sped into Broadway, went to the Statue of Liberty, saved some kids in Queens from falling off a water tower, and made some bad guys in Brooklyn into a nicely pummeled gift basket."

He gave us a smug grin, voice teasing. "How about you two? Get bored waiting for moi?"

I and Robin shared a look.

"Nah, we were good." Robin said slowly. "Met Ted Grant. You know, the guy who is not only one of the best boxers in history, but also a founding member of the JSA."

"And then we sparred with him." I added, playing along. "Me and Chesnaught, versus Wildcat and Robin. Fists flew, explosions went off. It was awesome."

Wally stared at us for moment. Then he slumped, pouting. "Aw man! That does sound awesome!"

Laughing at the future King of Speed acting like a little kid, I patted him on the shoulder. "Well, tomorrow I'm meeting him for my first workout session. You can come then if you get permission again. Meet the man himself."

Wally sighed. "I'll try. But man, I wouldn't have left if I'd known you guys would go without me."

"We did wait for you." Robin reminded him. "And you responded to my text, remember?"

Robin lifted his Waynetech cell to display a messaging screen. On it was him asking where Wally was.

The reply was, "Lol, kicking booty, wywh!"

My inner English teacher died just a bit.

"Let's get back to the cave." I said idly. "I need to get back to work."

"And I need to get back to Gotham." Robin said.

"And I need to go home for… back-to-school shopping." The grim tone of voice Wally took on tugged at my heart strings. I sighed sadly.

"God help you my friend." I told him. "For no one else can."

PYJ

"This world is full of threats." I told my audience, trying to sound professional. Robin and Kid Flash had left already, and most of Pokemon were now spread throughout the cave. Heatran and Jirachi had stayed however.

My personal volcano was acting as a pillow, her warm body thrumming as I leaned back against her. I scratched that special spot just behind her mask and smiled at the growl of pleasure I got in return.

Jirachi was sitting in M'gann's lap, the pair listening respectfully from the couch in front of the TV. Superboy was on his own chair, not seeming to pay attention.

In front of me were my journals. I had worked on them consistently for a week, and was now organizing them. M'gann, being a curious sort, had asked what I was doing when she caught me working on the floor while Superboy watched static (What was up with that?).

"That's an obvious statement of course." I said with a shrug. "But it's worse than most people think. So what I'm doing is thinking of every possible threat I can think of and categorizing them by how dangerous they are."

"Doesn't Batman do that?" Superboy asked idly, proving the static-filled screen didn't stop his super-ears.

"He does." I admitted. "But because of who I am, what I am, I have access to knowledge of certain threats he doesn't. If I can list them off, let him know who they are, he can prepare for the future."

"And of course," I felt I had to add. "This is my job as a Pokemon Trainer. It's what I do."

"What does that mean by the way?" M'gann asked, patting Jirachi, who had been eerily silent for a while as she listened to me. "A Pokemon Trainer."

"Oh boy." I let out a breath of air as I clucked my teeth. "It's a lot of things I guess. But, for me personally, a Pokemon Trainer and their Pokemon are a team. They live, train, and fight together. My job is to lead them. And to do that, I need to be smart. I need to know not only how they fight, but how my opponents do."

I tapped my head. "I may not have the personal muscle just yet. But I have a whole bunch of knowledge in this brain o' mine. So I might as well back it up."

I lifted a journal and opened a page. "Here's an example of a pretty big threat we might face down the road. His name is Trigon." I winced. "Might want to avoid his name though. He's a magic force. A dimensional being of immense power, a creature the size of planets, one who has eaten thousands of worlds, with his sights possibly set on Earth."

"What!?" M'gann leaned forward, startling Jirachi, who flew up and looked around frantically in confusion. "We should do something!"

The fierce look of determination on her face was adorable, and made me fight to smile in the face of her earnest wish to help.

"We will." I said firmly. "But like I said, he's an example. I wouldn't know how to find him, and Batman would need time to figure out how to tear him down."

"The size of planets…" Superboy said the words slowly, like they would make more sense if he did so. "That doesn't sound possible. The physics wouldn't work. No living creature can be that big."

"No living creature according to what we know of the universe." I reminded him as firmly as I could. "Trigon is just an example, as I said. But there are a hell of a lot more things out there. If I can put them on paper though, they stop becoming mysteries. The key to conquering fear is understanding it. Confronting it."

I tapped the journals spread out before me. "These are my way of doing that. The biggest advantage most of the big bad's in the universe have is that no one knows enough about them until it's too late. But I do know about them. I can at least name them. And once I name them, I can tell everyone how to beat them."

"…How do you know about them?" Superboy asked, his voice a bit rough as he turned to look at me curiously. "How do you know so much?"

M'gann was also staring at me. Jirachi landed on top of her head, the pair sharing the same expressive curiosity.

Put on the spot, I couldn't think what to say. This whole time I'd been talking, I hadn't thought of how to explain my knowledge. Saying it came out of nowhere meant making the information suspect. Even if Batman told them to trust me, it wouldn't be the same as them truly doing so. And if I told them the truth, it meant possibly revealing everything.

Why didn't I just tell them? Their elders knew. Why shouldn't they?

But considering the mistrust, anger, and outright hostility I'd gotten from some of the League…

"I'll tell you soon." I said finally, trying to sound nonchalant. "But only after our next mission. I want to make sure I have more facts before I tell you guys."

That satisfied no one. Superboy turned back to the screen, growling in frustration. M'gann seemed disappointed, looking up at Jirachi on top of her head. Jirachi looked down at her, and shrugged, floating over to land on my head.

We sat in awkward silence for a while. Heatran was cooling just a bit against my back, a sure sign that the sudden weirdness in the air was making her nervous.

You should tell them Master.

I didn't react. I continued to work on my journals. Still, I was surprised. I suppose I knew, on an intellectual level, that my Pokemon had the same experiences as me, and so would know about this world and its secrets, or at least would know that I knew. But there's a difference between knowing, and knowing.

I responded in my own thoughts, confident Jirachi had kept the link between us.

I can't. I thought to her. Not now.

Why? Jirachi asked innocently, nestling into my hair. Don't you trust them?

Goddamn it. From the mouths of babes.

…You don't have to be scared. Jirachi hugged my head. We'll protect you.

I had to shut down my thoughts immediately. If she knew, for a fact, that I was at best an imposter, and at worst a liar, that the closest claim I had to her was that I'd played a video game that had her in it, I'd lose her.

I'd lose all my Pokemon.

Why the hell did the thought make me so sad?

Oh Master, Jirachi thought to me sadly, apparently responding to my shutting her out. You dummyhead.

Later, when I realized the true power of the small being on my head, I'd realize what she meant by that.