Happy New Year, guys! I would have posted this earlier today, but I've been having too much fun playing Omega Ruby - which I just finished earlier today after getting it for Christmas, so...yeah. I spent a lot of time on that. XD

Aaanyway, I'm going to keep going with my version of the Hoenn region (I started it before I even knew there was a remake), and I might throw in a few things from the games. I'll have to see what I end up deciding on in the long run. *shrugs*

So, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 11 - Enter Rustboro

The next morning, Crystal awoke to the smell of flowers coming in through an open window. The Mewthree lazily sat up in bed and stretched, taking in a deep breath through her nose and letting out a sigh of approval at the smell of the flowers outside.

After that, it took her a moment to remember where exactly she was and why, which promptly got the girl to remember what she had done the previous night.

"I'd better get moving if I'm going to have a look at that Pokemon Gym in Rustboro," Crystal murmured to herself as she slipped out of bed in her clothes from the previous day. She quietly put on her shoes, then made her way out of the room and into the kitchen, which was on the second floor with everything else that humans needed for general living quarters.

Unsurprisingly, Daphne was already up and making breakfast.

"Good morning!" Daphne stated cheerily as Crystal sat down at the kitchen table.

"Good morning," Crystal responded calmly. She folded her arms in front of her on the table, watching the woman work at the stove over what smelled like scrambled eggs. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did," Crystal hummed in response. "Waking up to the smell of the flowers this morning was wonderful."

"Isn't it?" Daphne smiled at Crystal in a motherly fashion. "That's why I love living here so much - we have this entire area practically to ourselves, so we can plant as many flowers as we want in order to make this place look and smell beautiful!" Daphne gave a delighted sigh, looking like she was in heaven.

The action made Crystal giggle a little, amused at Daphne's actions. The Pokehuman did have to admit that Daphne was right, however - the flowers did look and smell beautiful.

"You have to have at least a few Pokemon come by and spend time in them," Crystal commented, smiling lightly.

"We have, but in recent years, they've been a little harder to come by." Daphne's voice became a bit more melancholy. "Probably because of those people who have been causing trouble all over the region. The Pokemon may be less trusting of most humans now than before."

Crystal's eyebrows shot up when she heard this, her invisible ears stiffening in shock. "Less trusting of humans? But...surely they know that not all humans are bad."

As soon as the words were out of Crystal's mouth, she reconsidered them for a moment, thinking back to when she had first gone out into the real world and interacted with the humans who existed in it. She had been a little nervous about it at first, but there had been something within her that had told her it was all right to trust Blaine, Red, and Professor Oak.

"I'm not sure what the Pokemon are thinking at this point, Crystal," Daphne responded, concentrating on what she was cooking on the stove top. "There's been a lot that's happened during the past what, ten years? Anyway, ever since Team Rocket and that Mewtwo fiasco, I think that Pokemon are rethinking what they know of the human race."

"It's been nine and a half years," Crystal corrected, coming out of her thoughts of her past. "And I suppose that some Pokemon might become a little more cautious of humans, considering what Team Rocket has done. But has Team Magnus done anything here that might shake that trust even more?"

Daphne paused, considering this, before sliding the scrambled eggs from the frying pan in her hand to a plate nearby. Coming over to the table, the woman stated, "I don't know, Crystal. As far as I can tell, everything that they've done has been concentrated further north. I have heard rumors of them coming down this far, but most of them stay close to the volcano."

Daphne put the plate of scrambled eggs in front of Crystal and moved to sit down across from the Trainer, rubbing her head as though she had a headache of some kind.

Crystal frowned. "Professor Birch mentioned that, too. Does anyone really know what it is that they're doing?"

"I don't think so. I certainly don't." Daphne let out an annoyed sigh and shook her head, looking down at the table. "There's a lot that we don't know about them - or the children that they've kidnapped. Norman must be heartbroken to lose both of his children."

Crystal let out a nervous hum, thinking back to when she had been in Petalburg. Norman indeed seemed to be distraught and was planning on taking out Team Magnus on his own, but he seemed to have enough trust in herself, Gold, Brendan, and May that they might be able to do at least something about the problem.

"He nearly closed down his gym, but a friend of mine and I managed to convince him to stay there for a while longer," Crystal stated finally. "I hope he hasn't changed his mind by the time I go back to challenge him later."

"You can never really tell with Norman." Daphne chuckled. "At least, according to what I've heard. Some say that, as soon as he moved from Jhoto, he set up his Gym almost as though it was a dojo."

"He moved in from Jhoto? Why?"

"The old Gym Leader retired, and Petalburg needed a new one. Norman was at the top of the waiting list for Trainers who wanted to become Gym Leaders. He ended up moving in about...three years ago now, I think."

Which means that he only heard about Crystal's antics from the friends he still had in Jhoto, probably. However, Norman didn't really seem to show any recognition when he saw Crystal - or heard her name - which made Crystal wonder just how much Norman knew about what had happened with the Rocket incidents.

"Why can't you challenge him yet, by the way?" Daphne asked, bringing Crystal out of her thoughts again.

"He wants to see if I'm worthy, I think. He said that I should probably take on...four other Gyms before going to him."

"Four Gyms? That's half of the League, isn't it?"

"I think so..." Crystal frowned. "This is my first time going through a challenge like this, but the Kanto and Jhoto Leagues have eight badges, too, from what I remember."

"It's the same for other regions," Daphne confirmed, nodding. "Norman must have high hopes for you if he said you have to defeat half the League first."

"I think I'll be able to handle it, but it's going to be a bit difficult with Team Magnus running around. If it wasn't for them, then I probably wouldn't be leaving Ven and the others here."

Crystal looked down at the scrambled eggs on her plate for a moment; they had probably gotten cold by now, and she wasn't about to leave without being a good house guest. The Mewthree picked up a fork nearby and started to eat, clearing the plate in a moderate amount of time.

"Well, I wish you good luck," Daphne stated as Crystal ate her breakfast. "If anyone could juggle a League challenge and taking on Team Magnus, I think it'll most certainly be you."

Crystal swallowed the last morsel of food. "Thanks. I'm still a bit unsure, but I guess I'll be figuring that out as I go along." She got up from her place and moved over to the stairwell, where her green backpack had been left leaning against a nearby wall. The Trainer grabbed a strap with one hand and threw it over one shoulder before turning to look at Daphne.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night," Crystal stated, giving Daphne a slight smile. "And for keeping an eye on Ven, Kaz, and Esmeralda."

"It was no problem," Daphne responded lightly, smiling. "If you need anything, you can always look us up in a Pokemon Center."

"I will do that," Crystal promised.

The Mewthree then went down the stairs into the shop, then walked out the back door and into the flower field that was behind the flower shop. The dew on the grass and the flowers started to soak through her jeans, but Crystal didn't mind.

"Morning," Crystal greeted her Pokemon cheerily as she approached them. "Did you guys sleep well?"

Ven gave a greeting hum, shaking out the flower that was on his back. Dew drops were scattered all over the place, hitting Crystal in the shirt. "We got a little wet, but we were fine."

"It seems that Hoenn is more prone to having gentle rains in the night," Kaz commented, raising one of his feet and shaking it in order to get rid of some of the water that was clinging there. "I wonder if this climate holds true for lands further north, as well."

"There's a volcano up in that direction, from what I remember when we flew here," Crystal responded, coming to a stop.

"A volcano?" Esmeralda repeated in amazement. "There's a volcano here? Like the one you said you explored once?" She looked over at Ven, who looked somewhat nervous.

"The only reason we did that was because we were helping a friend out," Crystal commented. "Otherwise, I think Ven and I would have avoided going there at all."

"I hope we don't have to go there," Samuel muttered from where he was sitting on the wet grass. "That's not going to be fun at all."

"We'll have to see," the Mewthree responded gently. She looked around the group, a slight frown coming over her face. "Where's Richie?"

"Here." The little Psychic-Type came out from under the shadow of Ven's flower. "I don't like getting wet."

Crystal chuckled lightly, then came over to the Venasaur in order to give Richie an easier time scrambling up onto her left shoulder. Below, the Shroomish scowled and muttered something under his breath, but didn't do anything else.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure that you don't get wet, then," Crystal commented. She looked down at Samuel. "I suppose you're ready to go, too, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Samuel muttered in passing, scowling.

"It's probably going to be a while before we run into each other again," Crystal added, turning her attention to the other, stronger Pokemon that made up her team. "We're in the same region, though, and I know that I can call on you whenever I need the help."

"Just send the word," Kaz stated with a nod, "and we'll come."

Crystal gave a nod in return, then turned her attention to the two Hoenn Pokemon. "All right, you two. Next stop: Rustboro."

Samuel looked up at her, and Richie looked over at his Trainer from his perch on her shoulder. The Shroomish and the Ralts both nodded at once before Crystal turned and started to move around the flower shop in order to get onto the main route between Petalburg Forest and the city beyond.

"Are you sure it's okay, leaving like this?" Richie asked as Crystal got around the shop and onto the dirt path. "Don't you think that you should say goodbye to everybody?"

"Daisy and Rose are watching from the second floor," Crystal replied calmly. She glanced up at the second floor of the shop, and caught sight of a window curtain sliding shut. A slight smirk came over her face, and she turned around again and started on the path, Samuel waddling to his Trainer's right.

As it was early in the morning, the plants were all covered in dew that caught the sunlight like a million jewels. If there were any Pokemon around, they were out of sight - most likely still sleeping or thinking that there weren't any humans around to challenge them. Crystal wasn't sure which one was true, but she wasn't about to try and find out by making a lot of noise in the trees around them.

"So, what's going to happen now?" Richie asked, looking at Crystal curiously as they moved towards a lake and a bridge at the end of the dirt path.

"Now we're going to go into Rustboro and find the Gym Leader," Crystal responded. She looked out over the lake and over the wooden bridge that ran across it. On the other side of the lake, she could clearly see a collection of buildings clustered together, with what looked like a cathedral-like building that towered over everything. It looked pretty important, making Crystal wonder if that was the Gym of the town.

No, Crystal corrected herself, shaking her head as she started across the bridge. The Gyms of Kanto and Jhoto were just regular buildings, not giant cathedrals. Gyms aren't places to worship or places to go and marvel. They're places to train. That cathedral-like building must be something else.

Crystal crossed the bridge without getting jumped by anything in the lake - not that she was worried about that happening, but after what had happened in the Petalburg Woods, the Mewthree was considering being a bit more careful than she had been in the day before. Magnus might have a Water-Type team in their ranks somewhere; you never really knew, but it was possible.

Crystal kept her senses alert as she stepped off the bridge and onto solid ground agin, Samuel muttering what sounded like a sigh of relief as he got off the bridge. Maybe the Shroomish didn't like the water much, either?

The Mewthree decided against dwelling on it.

"Where to now?" Samuel asked, looking at Crystal with a curious expression. If he had a nose, Crystal was sure that it would probably be scrunched up. "I don't want to be in this place for long."

"Well, it kind of depends on what's going on around here," Crystal responded easily. She walked at a slow pace up the main street of Rustburo, looking around at the buildings and the few people who were actually out and about. "Daphne suggested that I go to the Trainer School first, since the Gym Leader might be there. It might be a good idea if I polish up on a few things while I'm there, too."

"What kinds of things?" Richie asked, sounding curious.

"Mainly status effects - like the Poison effect that I was hit with back in the forest yesterday. I haven't been hit with effects like that for some time, so I want to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything about healing from them."

"Confusion was scary," the Ralts added with a shudder.

The grim statement brought a shudder from Crystal at the memory of what had happened back in the woods. "Yeah. Let's try to avoid that one for as much as possible."

Crystal spent a good hour working through the streets of the city, looking for a building that might look like a Trainer School. She ended up finding the Pokemon Center in this way, though - and was able to make sure that her team had full health as a result - but both the Gym and the School somehow managed to evade her. As the time went by, as well, more people started to fill in the streets, making it hard to navigate the streets without almost losing Samuel in the crowd at first. The Shroomish ended up returning to his PokeBall, but he wasn't necessarily too happy about it.

"Maybe you should try in there," Richie suggested, pointing towards the cathedral-like building that was looming over the other buildings.

"It's probably not either the Gym or the School," Crystal commented in response, frowning. "It's too elaborate for either one."

"But someone in it might know where the school is," Richie countered. "We can try, right?"

"I guess so." Crystal mentally steeled herself, then started towards the cathedral-like building, moving around people walking through the street. The Trainer wrinkled her nose a little at the stiff business suits that the people around her were wearing, but she didn't say anything to them about it. Within moments, Crystal had arrived at the building and had disappeared inside.

Crystal moved away from the doorway as she looked around the inside of the building, looking around at the room that she had stepped into: a lobby with bright red carpet and walls with gold crown moulding, as well as gold trim in the carpet. People wearing red and green were weaving in and out of the area, looking like they were in some kind of a hurry.

"Welcome to the Devon Corporation!"

Crystal turned her head, and she caught sight of a woman standing behind a counter at the other end of the room. She quickly crossed the room over to the counter. "Devon Corporation? The people who made the PokeNav, right?"

"That's correct," the secretary confirmed, nodding. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Uh...yeah, actually, I have a couple things that you could help me with." Crystal rubbed the back of her head, feeling a little nervous at talking to someone in such a busy area. "I was kind of wondering just how much a PokeNav might cost for a beginner Trainer like me."

"Well, it depends on how many Gym Badges you have," the secretary responded. "In Pokemon Marts, for instance, the more Badges you have, the more you have access to by way of medicines, PokeBall varieties, and general technologies. We took that the same way."

"Oh..." Crystal bit her lower lip; that meant that she would probably have to pick up a few badges before she went ahead and bought a PokeNav herself. "I don't have any Badges yet; I had been planning on going to challenge Roxanne today. By how much does the price drop?"

"Initially, not by much."

"And the price is..."

When the secretary stated the price, Crystal's invisible ears snapped down as she flinched; Richie didn't look too happy, either.

"Sounds like I have to save up a lot," Crystal commented miserably.

"I'm sorry that we weren't able to equip you with one," the secretary stated. "Is there anything else that you wanted?"

"Well, I'm having a hard time finding the Gym that's supposed to be in town...could you point me in the right direction?"

The secretary gave a slight smile. "You mustn't be all that familiar with city settings, are you?"

"I'm afraid not." Crystal gave an embarrassed noise and rubbed the back of her head.

"The Gym is actually right across the street from here, but I doubt that Roxanne is going to be in there at the moment. Because the Gym leader is also a school teacher, she only opens her Gym in the afternoon to challenging Trainers."

"And the school is..."

"Right next to the Gym. Roxanne has been known to use it for the sake of teaching her students how to battle in a formal setting."

"Okay. Thanks." Crystal gave the woman a nod.

"It was no problem. Is that all that you needed?"

"Yeah, thanks. If I manage to save up, I'll come back and get that PokeNav."

The secretary gave a wide smile in response, then returned her attention to her computer as Crystal turned and walked out of the building.

"She seemed bored," Richie commented when they had gotten back out into the fresh air again. "Do you think she likes doing that?"

"You mean talking to people?"

"No. Sitting there all day."

Crystal nearly stopped to consider that, but she was already out in the middle of a busy street, so she kept moving so that she could get across and reach the buildings on the other side. "Well, I certainly wouldn't. I like being able to walk around and do things outside, not be stuck in a building. She probably goes out and does things when she isn't working. Most people do, I think."

If Crystal's conversation with her Pokemon made anyone look in her direction, the Mewthree didn't notice.

When Crystal and Richie finally made it through the crowd and to the other side of the street, the two noticed a distinct change almost immediately.

"It's a lot quieter over here," Richie commented, looking around. He put his paws on Crystal's head and pulled himself up a little so that he could get a better look around from a different height.

"Yeah, it is," Crystal agreed, deciding against nodding for fear of knocking Richie off. "That woman said that the school and the Gym were around here, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to find them." Her blue eyes started to scan the area, trying see if there was anything that looked like a school building or a Gym.

"Those two buildings have a PokeBall on them," Richie piped up, now back on his Trainer's shoulder. Crystal glanced over at him and followed his pointing arm to their left. Sure enough, side by side, were two buildings with a PokeBall positioned directly above the doorway. One looked like a two-story building that was clearly kid-friendly, while the other building was very much reminiscent of buildings that Crystal had seen before.

The Mewthree gave a slight nod. "That's better. I was wondering how the Gyms in Hoenn looked. If they look so much on the outside like the ones in Kanto, then it shouldn't be too hard to find them again." She glanced over at the other building. "Well, Roxanne is supposed to be a teacher, and since I wanted to refresh my memory on a few things..." Crystal glanced at Richie. "You up for going in there?"

The Ralts gave a nod. "Yeah."

"All right, then."

Crystal walked into the school and looked around at the area that she had walked into: an area that had lockers lining the walls, as well as a door that was marked with the word "Principle" in black letters across the window.

"Um..." A slight frown appeared on Crystal's face. "I haven't really been inside a school before. Where do you think we should go first, Richie?"

"I don't know. This is the first time I've been in a school, too."

It was at that point that the door marked "Principle" opened up, and a figure stepped out into the locker-lined hallway: a tall, young woman wearing what looked like a school uniform for girls - and the only reason Crystal knew that was because she had seen little girls wearing them across Kanto and Jhoto.

"You look a little lost," the woman commented, looking at Crystal curiously.

"Uh...yeah, I guess you could say that I am," Crystal replied, giving a helpless expression. "This is the first time that I've actually entered a school building, so I'm a little lost as to where I should go in order to find the person that I'm looking for."

"Oh?" The woman's dark eyes appeared to be surprised. "And who is it that you're looking for?"

"The Gym Leader, Roxanne." Crystal rubbed the back of her head. "I wanted to let her know that I was challenging today, and I kinda wanted to look over and review a few things to make sure that I wasn't slipping when it came to knowing about status effects."

"Well, that can be easily arranged." The woman smiled. "We have a small library here that Trainers can have access to if they want to read up on something. It's this way." She turned to Crystal's left and started down the hall, the Trainer right on her heels.

"You look like a beginning Trainer," the woman commented.

"If I can challenge and defeat the Gym Leader, it'll be my first Gym Badge," Crystal responded. She knew she wasn't lying, as this was also her first time challenging a League in any region.

"Really? I'm glad that you're deciding to start here, rather than anywhere else."

That statement surprised Crystal a little. "Do Trainers start with other Gyms?"

"Some do. They want to take on Gyms that may have a disadvantage to their Pokemon, and completely forget that sometimes location is the best option. Those with Water-Types as their beginner Pokemon discover that the road to Lavaridge is treacherous if one doesn't have other Pokemon to help guide them." The woman glanced back at Crystal. "Considering that you have a Ralts on your shoulder, I might have thought that you would have tried to go straight to Brawly on Dewford Island."

"There's an island nearby with a Gym on it?" Crystal's eyebrows rose. "Is there a ferry that goes there?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

Crystal frowned slightly. "Okay, then...then what Pokemon does the Gym Leader use?"

"I happen to prefer Rock-Types."

It took a moment for that statement to sink in. "Wait - you're Roxanne?"

The woman turned around and looked at Crystal with a delighted expression. "Indeed I am. Who might you be, challenger?"

"I'm Crystal, and this is Richie." Crystal motioned to the Ralts on her shoulder. "I have a Shroomish named Samuel, too, but I don't know if you'd let me bring him out in a building."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Roxanne agreed. "Shroomish have been known to release spores, and the young children in this building may end up having a bad reaction to that."

"I was wondering about that. The Pokedex mentioned that it released spores, and he does know the move Stun Spore." Crystal looked around the hallway. "So...what do you do here? I heard that you were a teacher, but-"

"I teach occasionally, but I more run the school and observe the classes more than I actually lead a lesson. Although, from what I understand, you are looking for one."

"Just a refresher on different status effects," Crystal responded easily. "I'm not really looking for much else to learn."

Roxanne looked somewhat surprised at the statement, but then gained an interested expression. "For a beginner Trainer, you seem to be extremely confident."

"I had good teachers before I came here," Crystal replied. "It's just that I had a run-in with a strong Poison effect that threw me off a little back in the Petalburg Woods."

Crystal wasn't about to tell this woman the real reason - that she had been poisoned herself - until she had a good reason to reveal who and what she was in complete confidence.

However, maneuvering the Gym Leader into the position of saying what might happen if someone like Crystal managed to get themselves into a similar situation would be a little bit more difficult.

"Well, considering that you have a Shroomish on your team, that might be a good idea," Roxanne conceded. "Since we're on the way to the library anyway, I'll be able to lecture you there in quiet."

Roxanne led Crystal and Richie through the halls, occasionally passing by open doors leading to classrooms and the various levels of noises that happened to be within them.

"Most of the classes we hold here are for younger children, before they can go off on their chosen journeys," Roxanne explained when a particularly loud shriek caused Crystal and Richie to flinch. "They tend to be rather rambunctious."

"I can hear that," Crystal commented, making as though to rub the top of her head. In reality, she was rubbing the inside of one invisible ear to make sure that the pounding ache could make itself disappear.

The rest of the way to the library was much more quiet, which was some consolation for the Trainer.

As soon as Roxanne had led Crystal and Richie into the small, but well-stocked library at the end of the hall, she closed the door behind them. Crystal's invisible ears twitched nervously when she heard the door click shut.

"Status effects are divided into several different categories," Roxanne stated, moving away from the door to stand in front of Crystal. "Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, Frozen solid, and Burns. Confusion has been considered to be one of them, but I think that one is still being debated, mainly because it doesn't affect any of the specific "stats" that we've given Pokemon: Attack, Defense, or Speed."

"Freezing and Sleep don't affect a Pokemon in that way," Crystal pointed out.

Roxanne gave a slight nod. "True. But we have considered them nuisances in the manner of status effects, and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon." She motioned for Crystal to come over to a wooden table with two chairs near it. The Gym Leader sat down in one of them as the Trainer came over. "Do you have any status effects that you're worried about, Crystal?"

"Poison," the Mewthree responded instantly. "We had a bit of a bad run-in with it back in the Petalburg Woods yesterday."

Roxanne gave a slight nod. "All right. Poison...let me see...that one is actually considered to be among the more dangerous of the status effects, because it can lower a Pokemon's health even when they're outside of battle. On some occasions, it can even affect humans if they breathe in a Poison Gas attack, or were attacked by a Poison Pokemon. In either instance, it's best that a Pecha Berry is eaten before the poison goes too far into the bodily systems. Even then, it's recommended that a check-up is arranged at the closest Pokemon Center to make sure that you're all right."

"What if a Pokemon uses Refresh?" Crystal asked. "Doesn't that usually take care of it?"

"Yes, but I've heard that it can be somewhat painful if there's a lot of poison in the Pokemon. Depending on how powerful the poison is, it can spread either quickly or slowly through the body, creating an extremely dangerous situation."

That would explain why it hurt so much when I used it, Crystal mentally noted. That must have been a powerful poison Lauriana attacked me with.

"You mentioned that Burns don't affect a Pokemon outside of battle," Crystal commented, steering the conversation to the next status effect.

"It seems PokeBalls can cause the burns to stop spreading pain, but they can't halt a poison's spread," Roxanne responded. "It may have more to do with internal vs. external injuries, but no one has been able to do enough research on it to be fully sure."

Crystal gained a thoughtful expression at that statement, nodding slightly. "I guess that makes sense. What about the other status effects?"

"Paralysis is only brought on by a strong electrical attack or a spore of some kind that mimics a Thunder Wave. It scrambles the nerves of the body and makes it harder to move. Freezing and Sleep have the effect of completely halting all body movements for a short time - Freezing by encasing the Pokemon in ice and Sleep by forcing the Pokemon into a deep slumber. I've heard that, occasionally, sleep-inducing attacks can be used to give the mind hidden commands through hypnosis. The person or Pokemon affected doesn't usually remember what happened afterwards, however."

Crystal stiffened a little bit when she heard this, the statement bringing her back to the Petalburg Woods, and the man who she and her two Pokemon had encountered. A concerned frown came over her face. "Magnus..."

"Magnus?" Roxanne repeated sharply. The statement caused Crystal to look at the Gym Leader in alarm. "Why did you say Magnus just now?"

Crystal blinked a couple times, then regained her composure. "In the Petalburg Woods, there was a small group of people who were connected with that organization. One of the people we ran into acted extremely confused after we managed to release him. It...it may be possible that he was hypnotized in order to work with them."

Roxanne gained a concerned expression when she heard this. "No...that's impossible. Hypnosis has never been able to work well enough that a human would do what they didn't want to do. If a man was hypnotized in order to work as a member of Team Magnus...there must be something else going on here."

"Probably," Crystal agreed in all seriousness. "What really scared me, though, was that the leader of their unit was..."

Crystal trailed off, realizing that she was starting to stray into an area that she rather shouldn't be talking about. She glanced away from the Gym Leader, an uncertain expression crossing her face.

"Crystal?" Roxanne asked, a concerned frown coming over her face. "What is it?"

Crystal bit her lower lip, considering what exactly she could say. A moment later, she opened her mouth and started to speak carefully.

"The leader of the group that was in the Petalburg Woods," Crystal stated carefully, "was a human who had some Pokemon DNA in her - a Crobat's. She...it took a lot for me and my Pokemon to take her down."

Richie cooed nervously at the memory. "It was scary, when you were Confused, too."

"I know. It scared me, too." Crystal reached up and patted the Ralts on the head in a comforting gesture.

"You faced a human with Poison capabilities?" Roxanne asked, surprised. "How? That shouldn't be possible."

"I saw her," Crystal responded seriously. "She was turning the entire forest into a poisoned wasteland. I wasn't about to stand by and let her get away with it."

Roxanne frowned, her eyes going over Crystal's form for a moment. The expression on the woman's face made Crystal feel nervous, like she was getting picked apart and put back together by the Gym Leader's gaze.

"As soon as I saw you, I was certain that there was something different about you from other Trainers I have seen," Roxanne commented. "Almost as though you had some kind of power within you."

"Gym Leaders can sense that?" Crystal asked, skeptical.

"Only those that possess a certain fighting spirit within them." Roxanne gave a warm smile. "That's why they are Gym Leaders, some of them. It's because of my rock-hard stubbornness in the past that I was able to become a Gym Leader and push through, but recently, I've found that there may be more to it than that."

Crystal paused, considering the Gym Leader's statement. If that was true, then it was possible that some of them might have the Aura Sense, like Rukario and she did. If that was possible...there was no way that she would be able to hide what she was from them.

It might make things easier in the long run...

Crystal quietly steeled herself, then let out a sigh.

"When we attacked that woman in the Petalburg Woods, she dug her fingernails into my arm and poisoned me," Crystal stated carefully. She pulled her left arm out of her jacket and showed Roxanne the area that Lauriana had dug into. "It was only through a combination of Refresh and a Pecha Berry did I manage to flush it out of my system."

Roxanne's eyes widened, and she looked between Crystal's arm and her face in bewilderment.

"Richie doesn't know how to use Refresh," Crystal continued, glancing at the Ralts, "and I don't know if his kind can learn it. Truth is...I used it myself." The Trainer looked back at the Gym Leader. "That power you think you sense? I know that it's there. It's kind of been there since I was born...about nine years ago, now."

"Nine years? But you look like you're fifteen."

"Yeah...there's a reason for that..." Crystal rubbed the back of her head with her right hand. "Ever heard of the Mewtwo incident that happened back in Kanto? I'm kind of connected with that."

Hope you guys enjoyed that! I'm going to get back to writing more for this story - playing OR really got my inspiration back by the ton!