Last time, on Tony's Journey...

Tony arrived in Striaton City with Skyla and Cress, and had a nice dinner at the Striaton City Gym. While there, he learned from Cilan and Cress, two of the Gym Leaders, that they needed his and Skyla's help to save their brother, the third Gym Leader Chili - who has become a member of Team Plasma!

What will happen next? Find out now!

Skyla managed to speak everyone's mind with six simple words: "Chili, you've got to be kidding!"

Sunny gave a shriek of fear and leaped into Tony's arms, hiding her face in his shirt.

There indeed stood Chili, third Gym Leader of Striaton City, a man who made a living with his Pokemon by his side, wearing a Team Plasma uniform. The young man had red hair and bright red eyes to match, and the white, medieval looking uniform covered his body. He gave a sigh as he saw Skyla. "Oh... Hey, Skyla. I'm guessin' these guys put you up to this..." He gave Cilan and Cress a glare.

Cilan shook his head. "We haven't put her up to anything!" he insisted.

"You tried, though..." Skyla murmured, arms crossed.

"Chili," Cress said with a sigh, "Skyla would like to speak with you."

"Guys," Chili said, "look, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I've passed out about fifty pamphlets today. I wanna go to bed."

"Well, Skyla came all this way just to talk to you!" Cress said. "Right, Skyla?"

Skyla just managed not to glare at Cress. "Y-Yeah... I'd like to talk to you."

Chili blinked. "...Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do," Skyla said, standing up and walking over to Chili.

Cilan smiled. "Chili will do anything for a pretty girl!" he explained to Tony in a whisper. "And Skyla's one of the prettiest girls we know!"

"This should work..." Cress said, crossing his fingers.

Skyla looked over Chili in his new uniform. Cilan and Cress crossed their fingers in unison, muttering "Oh, please, oh, please!" like a mantra. Tony remained silent - sometimes, it was better not to say anything.

Finally, Skyla spoke.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE LEGENDS IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU STUPID IDIOT?!"

Cress and Cilan fell over with a moan of despair as Chili backed away from Skyla.

"How could you join up with them?!" the Mistralton Gym Leader demanded. "You... you traitor! You're worse than Elesa!"

"Skyla..." Chili said, with a sigh.

"How could you join them?!" Skyla ranted on. "They're nothing but a bunch of protesting nutjobs who dress in stupid uniforms! Look at you! You look horrible!"

"Skyla..."

"You're a Gym Leader!" Skyla shouted. "Now you're just... You're just a..."

"Skyla!" Chili roared. "Sit down!"

Skyla backed away and sat. Chili was insanely scary when angered to a sufficient point.

Chili glared down at her, struggling to calm down. To Skyla's utter amazement, he did. "Listen," he said, "for almost two years now, I've been a Gym Leader. I've battled with my Pokemon and with other Pokemon. I've made Pansear fight to his limits. One day, I met up with some of those Plasma guys, and they asked me: 'Why?' I told them that I didn't know. I mean, why the heck did I train Pokemon to battle? I already have a job here at the restaurant, I already make good money. So, that got me thinking... And that afternoon, I had a Gym Battle, and I lost. Pansear got hurt... Seeing him there, lyin' there on the ground with a big bruise on his head made me think... Why am I getting Pansear hurt? What's wrong with me? So... The next day I joined up with the Plasmas, and I let my old pal Pansear go."

The room went silent after that: Tony kept quiet, Sunny was still quivering in his shirt, Lucky was speechless that he had actually let his Pokemon go and admitted it, and Woobat was still terrified at her own trainer's outburst. Cilan and Cress had fainted.

Chili groaned. "Look, I'm... I'm happier now! I'm helping people realize their mistakes, and now Pansear can be happy in the wild!"

Tony sighed, and he opened his mouth. "Chili, sir," he said, "how long have you had Pansear?"

"Uh... Since I was five, why?" Chili asked, raising an eyebrow. Who was this kid?

"Chili, Pansear has been with you for years," Tony explained. "He's reliant on you now. He looks up to you for food, for shelter... He may not be able to survive in the wild."

Chili glowered at Tony. "Well, what do you know?!" he spat. "You're just some kid! You wouldn't know anything about Pokemon!"

"Oh, shut up!" Skyla ordered. "Tony may be a kid, but he's Professor Juniper's protegé, and he knows ten times more about Pokemon than you will ever know!"

Tony wasn't sure to be grateful for the compliment, or upset that Skyla was dragging him into this even further. He chose the latter as Chili's glare of disbelief and anger fell upon him. "This little shrimp is Juniper's new trainer?"

"Yeah, he is!" Skyla said. "And he happens to know a ton about Pokemon, and he doesn't let his Pokemon go out into the wild to starve to death!"

"Pansear will not starve to death!" Chili shouted. "He'll be fine! He's better off without me, anyways!"

Skyla's rage had reached its boiling point. Her face bright red, she shouted, "How could you ever join with them!? They're the ones who are responsible for my banishment!"

Chili growled. "You are the only one responsible for that!" he snarled. "You were irresponsible, you were selfish, and you weren't taking your responsibilities seriously! You only have yourself to blame!" he said, jabbing Skyla with his finger.

Tony stood up. "Alright, alright!" he said, pulling Sunny out of his shirt and placing her on the ground. "That's enough! Stop arguing!"

Chili and Skyla glared at one another, heedless of Tony's pleas.

"Ugh..." Cilan groaned from the floor. "What happened?"

Cress's blue eyes flickered open. "Did we miss anything?" He looked up hopefully. "Did Chili agree to come back to the gym?" he asked.

"No!" Chili snapped. "I am not coming back! I'm happy with Team Plasma! In fact, I'm HAPPIER THAN I'VE EVER BEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! SO LEAVE ME ALONE!" And with that, the red-haired trainer stormed away, kicking open the doors to the gym and slamming them shut.

An awkward silence filled the air as the doors slammed shut. Finally, Tony managed to speak. "That went well..."

Cilan groaned as he helped Cress off of the floor. "Darn it..." he muttered. "His devotion to Team Plasma is stronger than his devotion to pretty women!"

"Who would have thought it possible?" Cress murmured.

Tony looked at the two brothers. "So, that's why the Gym is closed!" he deduced.

Cress nodded in confirmation. "Yes. We normally have three Gym Leaders here. Cilan specializes in Grass-types..."

"Cress is out Water-type user..." Cilan continued.

"And Chili is our Fire-type specialist, naturally," they finished in unison.

"I get it..." Tony said. "To counteract the three starters of this region!"

"Correct!" Cress said. "This helps us educate beginning trainers easily! They learn about strategy..."

"And typing..." Cilan said.

"And they'll learn to catch more Pokemon to add to their teams," Cress said. "We may be at the bottom of the Gym Leader ladder, but we educate trainers who have just begun, helping them down the long road to perfect their recipes of training. I use my Panpour, whom you have met."

"I use my Pansage," Cilan said.

"And Chili used to use Pansear," said Skyla, with a nod. "Where is that little guy, anyways? He was really close with Chili, right?"

"Indeed," Cress confirmed. "We all spent most of our lives with our vintage Pokemon. As such, we're all very close, and we try to do what is best for one another. But... I'm afraid Chili's desire to help his partner has resulted in him making a foolish decision."

"He let Pansear go," Tony said.

"Indeed," both brothers said.

"We're naturally quite upset..." Cress said.

"And while we know that Chili is free to make his own choices..." Cilan said.

"Well... This choice was very foolish, to be frank," Cress said.

Cilan nodded. "Poor Pansear... It's supposed to rain tonight, too," he said, looking out the window. Grey clouds were starting to drift in front of the setting sun. "I hope the little guy finds someplace warm and safe to sleep."

"So," Tony said, "why do you need me then?" he asked Cress.

"Simple!" Cress said. "You're clearly a capable trainer. So, I'd like you to search for Pansear and bring him home. Maybe once Chili sees just how miserable the poor thing is, he'll come to his senses and return to the Gym!"

"An excellent plan..." Cilan said. "But, what if it doesn't work?"

Cress sighed. "Then our three course meal..."

Cilan gave a nod, understanding. "Is reduced to two."

"H-Hey now!" Tony said, nervously. "You can't put this all on me! I mean, I'm nothing all that special!"

"'Not all that special'!" Cress said, shocked.

"You rescued that Larvesta!" Cilan said. "You took out a Braviary! With a Bug-type, no less!"

Skyla gaped. "He did what now?"

"Juniper has the utmost confidence in you," Cress said. "As such, we, as Gym Leaders and friends of the Professor, place our trust in you."

"Please, help us find Pansear!" Cilan said.

Tony looked out the window. The sun was setting, and it would be dark soon. "Well... It's getting late... But I guess I could help..."

"Oh, thank you!" Cilan said, gratefully. "Thank you very much."

"You don't have to search tonight, of course," Cress said. "You can wait until tomorrow, and then we'll get started. My Panpour is still tired from the search before, not to mention my battle with that Cheren boy."

Tony blinked. "Cheren? Black hair, red glasses, never smiles?" he asked.

"You know him?" Cress asked.

Tony sighed. "Well... He's been one step ahead of me since I started this journey."

Cress nodded. "Yes, he was here. We battled, and he won the badge, fair and square!"

Tony gave a nod. "Alright then... I can't let him get too far ahead of me! Now I'm totally gonna help!"

"I'll help, too!" Skyla shouted. "I... Ugh, I cannot believe I'm saying this... I miss the old Chili... Not to mention it might help me on my quest!"

Cilan bowed. "We are in your debt. With a brilliant protegé and an esteemed Gym Leader at our side, we have the perfect recipe for success!"

Tony nodded. Inside, he felt like he was being buttered up - which he was - and he knew that while Cilan and Cress seemed to be genuinely nice, they were being nice to him in hopes of getting his help. Whatever Juniper had said about him must have painted him as some sort of Pokemon Master, or something.

Tony grinned to himself. As much as he appreciated it, that was a picture he would prefer to paint himself.

They returned to their meal.

The night was a cold and bitter one. The wind blew a chilling breath, lighting danced in the sky, and the stars seemed dim and distant. As the lightning flashed, is illuminated that broken husk of the Dream Yard.

Built several decades ago for a lab for Professor Cedric Juniper, the Dream Yard was a respected facility devoted to Pokemon research - in particular, the research of Psychic Pokemon. Munna, a Psychic Pokemon, and its evolved form Musharna, lived nearby. These Pokemon emitted a strange mist known as Dream Mist, which could project illusions, and naturally, dreams. It was the subject of heated debate and study. However, an accident one day caused a fire in the lab, and it was destroyed. All what remained now was a burnt husk, surrounded by a heavily wooded area with thick trees and tall grass.

Wild Pokemon and trainers often inhabited the area, including the now quite rare Munna. But there was a Pokemon there, that bitter evening, who was not wild.

Inside a several decades old wooden crate, struggling to keep warm, was a small, red Pokemon with large ears and a long tail. Rain, blown by the wind, cruelly pelted his face as he shivered alone inside his crate.

"Chili..."

Pansear felt tears of pure, horrible sorrow stream down his cheeks as he huddled his arms and legs to his body. His trainer - his best friend - had abandoned him. He was alone now, and he might be forever.

Another boom of thunder filled the air. Pansear shivered again as the rain splattered against his face.

Something splashed in a puddle, surprising the Fire-Monkey. In a flash of lightning, he saw a shadow on the wall, approaching him.

"W-Who's there?" he cried in the language of Pokemon.

Slowly, a small figure, smaller than even Pansear approached. A black face on a blue, insectoid body, with bright eyes and sharp teeth. He stared at the Pansear, topaz eyes gleaming in the lightning.

"Who are you?" Pansear asked again, nervously. He couldn't put up a fight, not in this frigid weather.

Another Pokemon approached, and then another. A Blitzle, trotted up, followed by two Patrat, a Whimsicott, and a Tranquil.

The first Pokemon walked forward. He was a Karrablast, a male, and had a determined look on his face.

"Greetings, my poor friend... I have heard that you were abandoned... Because of the mortal enemy of all Pokemon!"

Pansear blinked. "W-Who?"

The Karrablast's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Team Plasma," he snarled. "We all have had trainers before," he said, gesturing to the other Pokemon, "but we have all been abandoned because of the Plasmas." He looked up at the Blitzle. "Eh... May I?"

The Blitzle nodded. "Certainly," she said.

The Karrablast leaped on top of the Blitzle. "My fellow Pokemon!" he shouted. "Team Plasma has made the foolish decision of making us their enemy! Tonight, we shall take our trainers back! Tonight, we shall begin our war!"

"War?" the Whimsicott asked. "Really?"

"Of course!" the Karrablast said. "We cannot allow our rights to have our own trainers be taken away! Tonight, we end this!"

The Pokemon all cheered - and Pansear did too. Team Plasma took Chili from me... Now, I'm gonna take him back, no matter how many of them I gotta go through!

"Tonight! We ride!" Karrablast shouted dramatically.

BOOM!

The thunder exploded in the air above them, terrifying the Pokemon, who swiftly took shelter in Pansear's crate, bunching uncomfortably together. Blitzle was the only one unafraid, and she trotted happily off as the lightning flashed above her.

Karrablast looked outside. "Uh... Upon reviewing my tactics, I've realized that morning tends to be a better time for attacks. We'll do it tomorrow."

The Pokemon all moaned in agreement.

Author's Note:

Well, Chili was about as temperamental as you would imagine. Will he be able to mellow out? Will Tony and Skyla be able to help Cress and Cilan find Pansear? And will these Pokemon do anything rash in an attempt to defeat Team Plasma?

Find out next time!

Reader Question: What do you think I could do to make this story better? Let me know after you review!

Tony's Party:

1: Lucky, female Butterfree

Ability: Compound Eyes

Move Set: Silver Wind, Confusion, Sleep Powder and Dream Eater.

2: Sunny, female Larvesta

Ability: Flame Body

Move Set: Ember, String Shot and Morning Sun