Chapter 11 – "Knowledge is Power!"

And with its last ounce of strength, Teppo finally unleashed the Fire Punch!

The punch connected! And Blaze went down!

"TEN…!" shouted Sodo, declaring the end of the Pokemon Battle.

Kay and Teppo beamed; everyone around Kay and Teppo cheered, while Leader Dempsey looked on from ring side, giving the two an approving nod. As Charles declared her and Teppo as the winners, the two of them turned their attention back to the ring, where Inez and Blaze had approached them. Once they stood face-to-face, the entire room fell slowly silent.

"That was an amazing Pokemon Battle, Kay Planer," said Inez, flashing a rare smile. "You have my respect…" Then Inez held out her hand. "… and I am proud to call you a 'friend'!"

"Inez…" That brought Kay's biggest smile yet. "Same here..!" And she soon extended her own hand, happily accepting Inez's. However, something seemed… off. 'Her hand is warm…' Kay thought, looking down at their handgrip. '… and… wet…?"

Kay woke up to find her hand inside a sleeping Teppo's mouth.

Groaning, she slowly pulled her hand out and rubbed the drool off on her pajamas. Kay then sat up, using her other hand to rub the sleep off her eyes, while her hair was pointing at several directions. She looked around her, still trying to adjust herself to waking up and that the dream of Inez calling her a 'friend' was nothing more than what it was: a dream.

But she did start to recall the day before – THAT wasn't a dream. She and Teppo battled Inez and Blaze, and they actually won! With that thought, Kay picked up her pillow and hugged it tightly against her chest. 'I can't believe we actually won…!' thought the suddenly excited girl. 'Even more, all that training actually paid off…!' She loosened her grip. '… I wonder if Inez is alright though…? We didn't get to talk again after that…'

But then Kay recalled the part of her dream where Inez offered her that handshake, and the mere thought of it caused Kay to drop back down on her bed roll, pressing the pillow against her face so she could squeal as loudly as she wanted to into it.

Teppo woke up moments later, eyeing bewilderingly at the sight.

"This is Dempsey," said Leader as he held the phone against his ear. "You wanted a talk with me about yesterday, Professor?"

Back at the Pokemon Gym, Leader Dempsey and the rest continued with their daily routine as usual, with the exception of Kay, who had to attend school, and Inez, who had not been seen or heard from since the Pokemon Battle the day before. Sodo, Tessa and Parker were downstairs, with Charles supervising them as usual. Leader Dempsey, of course, was in his office.

"Ah-ha, yes!" a familiar voice exclaimed from the other side. "I was eagerly waiting for your call, Leader Dempsey!" His voice was so loud that Leader Dempsey had to move the phone away from his ear that time. "Thanks to all of you yesterday, I was able to see a fantastic match! As always, Inez showed great promise – it was a shame that she lost though."

On the other side of the line, Professor Eucalyptus sat at his own desk, where he had propped his legs on it. One hand held on his phone, while the other held yesterday's picture of Teppo and Blaze doing battle. "It's ironic though…" he continued. "… that it was her Combusken's reflexes that caused it to lose."

"Are you saying the results would have been different if Blaze had not moved away?"

That got a grin on the Professor's face. "Who knows," he said. "Now, about that other girl… 'Kay Planer', was it? You make sure to look after that kid and her Pignite, okay? 'cause she just made a fan out of me. I'm sure that with more training, those two are going to go far."

"Hmph," scoffed Dempsey. "From what I was seeing those two made so many careless mistakes; that Pignite even threw a punch it never practiced on to begin with. If you ask me, they have a long way to go before becoming better Pokemon Trainers."

"Oh ho…? 'Better'? Last I've heard that girl doesn't even have her Pokemon Trainer License yet."

Dempsey went quiet for a moment. "… hmph, you've got me. The Pokemon Trainer License Test… is only a week from now after all."

"Ha ha…! Looking forward to it! Now before I hang up, I'd like to ask you for a little favor. Is Kay there yet?"

"Hm…? No, she's attending school, but she normally comes by after. What is it do you want?"

"Ah, perhaps maybe you could give me her mobile phone number? There's something I'd like to discuss with her about."

"…" Again, Dempsey went quiet.

"… what? Come on, you're not saying you don't trust me, do you?"

"No, it's not that…" Dempsey let out a sigh, bringing his fingers up to rub his temple. "That girl… doesn't have one."

"… Seriously…?"

Kay was in her classroom, currently seated as she and the rest of her class listened as their teacher went on about the history of their country. However, Kay's eyes kept shifting back and forth from her book to the clock, waiting impatiently for dismissal time. Speaking of her book, however… Though she was holding up her textbook, what she was actually reading was a magazine she hid inside it. Of course, the magazine was on Pokemon Battling.

'Wow… These are some great pictures,' thought Kay. 'I've never heard of the names here but it sounded like a lot of people enjoyed their Pokemon Battles. Hm…?' Then her eyes caught sight of a familiar face in the next page, where there was an article featured on an interview with one particular Pokemon Trainer: … Sodo!? "Ehhhhhh…!?"

She was so startled that she stood up from her seat, and her little outburst in turn startled everyone else.

The teacher blinked. "W, What's wrong, Planer…?" he asked. "Is it that surprising?"

"Y, Yes, it is-…" Unfortunately her grip on her books loosened… but the book that fell off was her History textbook, revealing the magazine underneath! "Ah…"

Everyone in the classroom started laughing, with the teacher obviously not as amused. "What are you reading during my class…!?"

"S, Sorry…!"

Kay groaned as she walked out of the school, and as usual she was on her own – she chose to let Teppo rest at home for the day. She got scolded by the teacher and her magazine was confiscated, but she was more disappointed on not having had the chance to read that article on Sodo. She walked past the front gate, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.

"Hiyo~!" It was Tessa! "I was waiting on ya, Kay."

"T, Tessa…!" Kay gasped. "What are you doing at my school?" But her question only got her a quick flick on the head. "Ow... What was that for, Tessa?"

"You're the one who doesn't have a mobile phone," Tessa pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest. "Leader Dempsey had to send me to give you a message before you decide to head to the Gym. Seriously, something like this is more of Parker's thing… Anyways." She shrugged and pocketed out a piece of paper. "Apparently Professor Eucalyptus wants to see you at his Pokemon Lab today. Here are the directions."

"Professor Euca- Eh? That's the famous Pokemon Professor…! The one who's always on TV or in newspapers…! W, Why would someone like that want to see me?"

"Hey, quiet down… You're embarrassing me." Tessa looked around, noticing some of the passing students looking at their direction. "Heck if I know… Maybe it's something to do with that Pokemon Battle with Inez yesterday."

"Yesterday? But… how would he know about that….?"

That silenced Tessa. Until…

"Um… Kay?" she asked, sweat-dropping. "You… do realize that he was there with the rest of us yesterday, right…?"

"What…? Since when?"

Tessa fell over! 'Was she so focused in her Pokemon Battle that she didn't realize someone like Professor Eucalyptus around…?' thought Tessa. 'Guess I shouldn't be surprised… but how the heck do you MISS someone like that..?!' Tessa sighed and gave Kay a little smile. "Well, never mind… Anyways, he wants to see you at the Pokemon Lab. Must be something important. He's a busy man so maybe you should go and see him as soon as possible."

Kay then looked over the directions Tessa just gave her, before nodding quietly.

It didn't take her long to arrive at the Pokemon Lab from her school – it was probably the reason Leader Dempsey didn't just wait to give her the message himself at the Gym. The Pokemon Lab was located at the heart of the city, and not very often did Kay get the chance to step foot there. The Lab itself stood out among the rest of the buildings there however, being that it was mostly shaped like a giant Pokeball. Kay stepped in front of the door, which automatically slid open for her entry.

The place was a lot bigger than she imagined, and there were a lot more people despite it just being on the ground floor. She approached the counter, where a lady standing behind it was more than happy to greet her.

"Hello there," the woman said, giving a polite bow of her head. "Are you here for the tour?"

"Tour…?" Kay blinked and then shook her head. "No, I… I was told that Professor Eucalyptus wanted to see me?"

"The Professor? Oh! Yes, he mentioned something about that. Let's see…" She looked over a small note on her desk. "Are you… 'Kay Planer'?" Of course, Kay nodded to that. "Oh, wow… I didn't expect you were this young. Give me a moment, please." The receptionist picked up a phone after pressing a button. After a few seconds… "Ah, hello? Professor Eucalyptus, Kay Planer is here to see you. Alright, will do." She looked back at Kay and motioned her hand to what looked like a camera lens on the desk. "Could you please look over here for a bit?"

Kay blinked at it. "What is it…?"

"Oh, it's just a camera. He just wants to confirm that it's you is all. Can't be too careful these days, you know?" She waited for Kay to look directly at the camera before turning her attention back to the phone. "Is that Kay Planer, sir? Understood; I'll send her right up." She hung up on the phone after. "Alright, Professor Eucalyptus will see you now. Just take this pass…" She handed Kay a card. "… and take the elevator to the fourth floor. His office should be straight down the hall to the right."

"Thank you," Kay said, politely bowing her head. "Let's see… The elevator is…"

"To your right."

"O, Oh, thank you again…!" And Kay would bow her head once more before finally leaving for the elevator.

Professor Eucalyptus was typing something in his personal laptop when he heard knocks from his door. "Come in, come in!" he said cheerfully. "I was expecting you!"

Kay Planer slowly pushed open the door, taking a peek inside. Seeing that it was indeed Professor Eucalyptus waiting for her inside, she suddenly felt extremely nervous! "Y, You wanted to s-see me, Professor Eucalyptus…?" she asked, still sticking her head from behind the door. "I, It's me: Kay Planer."

"Yes, yes, I know. Come on and have a seat here! Don't be nervous now!"

Despite that, Kay stepped in walking as stiff as ever… In fact, both her arms and legs were completely straight the whole time that she looked more like how a robot would walk! This caused the Professor to sweat-drop, but Kay eventually sat herself down on the chair in front of his desk.

He cleared his throat before sitting straight himself. "Alright, let's get down to business, shall we? I saw your battle with Inez yesterday and thought you did amazing for someone so new. Tell me, Planer: do you actually wish to become a Pokemon Trainer?"

"Y, Yes, sir…!" said Kay.

"That's the spirit," he said. "I could see that you've trained your Pignite very well. But let me ask you a question… How much do you know about your Pignite?"

There was that question again, Kay thought. But before she could answer, she was stopped by Professor Eucalyptus, who held up his hand at her.

"… I mean, how much do you know your Pignite AS a Pignite?"

Kay blinked. "Um… I… I don't… really understand the question."

The Professor chuckled at that. "I can tell you and your Pokemon are very close with each other, but I'm not asking if you always know what it's thinking or saying, no. See, Pokemon are majestic creatures… They're full of mysteries – mysteries we may have yet to completely understand. They're very similar to us humans in some ways, but very different in others. Discovering these secrets dates back to centuries ago, and in most, it's related to Pokemon Battling in one way or another. That's why the sport is very popular among Pokemon lovers."

Kay didn't know that in all honesty.

"Did Leader Dempsey tell you that Pokemon Battling can improve a Trainer's bond with their Pokemon?"

"Y, Yes, sir! Because… Trainers and Pokemon train together, right?"

The Professor chuckled. "That's one thing, but there are other ways too." He started typing something on the screen. "One of them is by understanding and learning what your Pokemon is. Is your Pignite here by the way?"

"No… Teppo's resting at home now."

"Ah, never mind then. Tell me though… Did you know that your Pignite could get faster… just by eating?"

"What?"

"Ha, that's the reaction I expected – Leader Dempsey told me how your Pokemon only evolved three months ago. You see… A Pignite is a dual Fire and Fighting-Type, and is referred to as the 'fire pig' Pokemon. Despite its size, the Pokemon can be pretty fast in Battle by making use of the fire in its stomach."

"Teppo's stomach is on fire?"

"It's… not as a big deal as it would have been for humans, no. Pignite are still Fire-Type Pokemon so something like that isn't surprising. Anyways, the fire in its stomach is what it uses to fuel itself. With the right amount of food, your Pignite would have been able to move faster than it did yesterday. Of course… there's still no way for it to catch up to Inez's Combusken's speed, but knowing things like these can help you as a Pokemon Trainer."

"I… never knew that… Sorry."

"No, no, don't apologize – it's not uncommon for people these days to forget the little things. I just think you have a lot of potential as a Pokemon Trainer and wanted you to know that. You see… two years ago… Inez sat exactly where you're sitting right now." Kay looked surprised at that. "And she didn't know something about her Pokemon either. Of course, knowing something about their Pokemon's anatomy or biology affects people in different ways. Didn't you ever try to look it up on the internet?"

Kay shook her head in guilt. "No… We… don't have internet back at home."

"Ah, that's understandable then… Well, that's one of the reasons why I've brought you here. Ta-da…!" And out from his sleeve, he took out what looked like a handheld device of red and white. At first Kay thought it was a mobile phone, but it wasn't like any that she had seen before. But the lack of surprise in Kay's face told Professor Eucalyptus one thing: "…. You don't know what this even is, do you…?" And then came the expected shake of her head, to which Eucalyptus sighed to. "This is called a 'Pokedex'."

"'Pokedex'…?" Kay asked. "I think I've heard of it before…"

"It's actually widely popular among Pokemon owners, but it's also a very useful device to have as a Pokemon Trainer." He offered her to take it from him, to which she eventually did. "A Pokedex, invented by THE Professor Oak, is a digital encyclopedia for all things Pokemon. To put it simple: it has a lot of info on the different kinds of Pokemon you'll be facing as a Trainer."

"Really? E, Even Inez's Combusken?"

"Well, yes! Though… not specifically Inez's Combusken, but Combusken in general. Just flip it open and press the power button." He waited for her to do so, and watched as the screen lit up. "That's it! Now click on 'List'."

It took Kay a while, but eventually her finger would find it, and in a split of a second a long list of Pokemon names started scrolling into the screen! "W, Wow…!" Kay exclaimed. "There are a lot listed here…!"

"That's right!" the Professor exclaimed, propping his feet on the desk again. "Years back, that Pokedex you're holding would be empty and Trainers were left to discover each Pokemon on their own. Buuuut…. These days you can find information like that on the internet, so recent models of the Pokedex now includes all the existing Pokemon known to man. For convenience. That one you're holding happens to be one of the older models I once worked on – I'd like you to have it."

"W, What?" flustered Kay. "I can't receive something as valuable as this…!"

"Haha, don't worry about it!" The Professor waved his hand. "It's better than just leaving it to gather dust anyway. Besides… I gave Inez one not too long ago too."

"Inez…?" Kay then looked and thought hard over the Pokedex in her hands. If Inez had it, then it must be because she believed it would make her a better Pokemon Trainer. "… alright." Of course, she felt it was appropriate to thank the man first. "Thank you very much…!" Kay exclaimed, bowing her head. "I will make sure to take really good care of it…!"

"I am sure you'll put it to good use. I'll even give you the instructions for it as a bonus! But remember, Kay Planer… Knowledge and strength are two things that can lead to great power – use it wisely. Pokemon Battling is just as fun as it is dangerous; don't forget that we're not the ones putting our lives on the line for it."

"…" Kay couldn't say anything to that, but she couldn't help but agree as well.

"Now, don't put on such a serious face," chuckled the Professor. "I'm just telling you to be sensitive to your Pokemon and give them the respect and love they deserve. Now if you'll excuse me, there are people I have to meet. Thank you for coming over today by the way!" He stood up and gave the girl a thumb's up. "I'm confident that you and Inez will be great Pokemon Trainers!"

"Thank you, sir!" Kay quickly stood up, and bowed her head as usual. "I, It was a real honor meeting with you…!" It wasn't long before she turned away to head back out of the room, but she kept her new Pokedex close to her chest the whole time.

"What an interesting kid," said the Professor to himself. "Now… All I hope is that she's ready to hear what her victory yesterday had led to."

At that time, back at the Gym, Charlotte was sitting in front of Dempsey's desk, with the Gym Leader himself sitting behind it. Charlotte looked apologetic, but both Dempsey and Charles looked visibly surprised.

"Inez…?" Charles muttered. "She-….?"

FazzEagle: I had this started a long while ago but I didn't get to finish due to other obligations. But! Here you all go! The Pokedex makes its debut this time to remind us that this is still a story based on Pokemon, but it serves as another hint of depth of the Pokemon Battles here. I think we can all admit that some of us, when we catch new Pokemon, we tend to not read or remember what the Pokedex say about them, and it's true for this story's world too! Kay now has a Pokedex to help her learn about her own Pokemon and the ones she and Teppo will be facing in the near future, but rest assured that other people will do the same about her - though not necessarily with a Pokedex of their own (probably through internet or books?). Next chapter, we find out what happened to Inez! Dun dun dun.

Also, just to clarify one thing: when I use this " symbol, it's definitely spoken dialogue; when I just use this ' symbol, that means it's within their thoughts. No one said anything about them but I just wanted to make sure :) Some people have different ways on how they have their characters convey what they're thinking about.

As always: please leave a review!