With a renewed sense of purpose, we arrived at the Vermilion City Moemon Gym. As I mentioned before, it was in the southwest corner of the city at the top of a hill. A single path sloped up a hill onto the cliff side on which the gym was perched. The painting of Raichu was chipped, its color fading, and the lightning bolt had its tip ripped off. From the outside, it looked like an old, forgotten building overlooking a much more vibrant, modern city.

The inside was surprisingly much nicer. It was extremely bright, illuminated by numerous bulbs hanging from the ceiling. A giant light in the shape of a burning sun was the main source of light, and it hung down from the very center of the ceiling, rotating as it burned. Various pillars separated the bleachers from the arena, each of them connected by a bolt of electricity that created an impassable wall.

I'd come here the other day and beaten three trainers, each of them having a few electric-typed Moemon who were easily beaten. Today, Lt. Surge was my opponent. The man was a giant, standing at more than seven feet tall. His stature was commanding and intimidating, his face chiseled and confident, his blonde spike hair complementing the combat pants, vest, and camouflage boots he was wearing. He hadn't aged a day, and his muscles were as pronounced and bulging as ever.

I walked up to him and shook his extended hand. He grinned. His grip was tight, and even though my hand started to sting I knew that he wasn't using any of his strength. I was just thankful that it wasn't him I was fighting.

"I was watching your fights," he said. I'd had my suspicions. "Solid work beating my privates. Of course, you Challengers always seem to be more prepared when you get to me. Brock and Misty took care of the ones who didn't deserve to be here. They got all the glory as usual, while I won't beat a single one of you."

I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to talk back to such a strong man. "You do realize what 'beating' means, right?"

His face scrunched in confusion. "I win, and they lose?"

"And their Moemon die."

"Trust me, kid, when you've been around as long as I have, you'll see all kinds of deaths," Lt. Surge sighed sadly. "I may not beat them, but that doesn't mean I haven't killed them. I've seen a lot of charred corpses."

"You still talk about it as if it's a sport," I said. "Like all the other people in this region."

"You just haven't been around here long enough. If you were born here instead of wherever you're from, you wouldn't be insulted in the slightest." He thought a moment. "Unless you were one of those Mewtwo's Apostles, but I'd have to throw you out of my Gym."

"I don't know what that means," I said.

Lt. Surge barked a loud laugh. "Which is why I have complete faith that you aren't one of them, Challenger. Well, enough stalling. You ready to fight?"

"We are."

Lt. Surge nodded and pulled out a ball. "Then let's get this started."

I turned to my Moemon, placing a hand over the two nearest' shoulders. I leaned in close. "We have a plan. Let's carry it out."

"But it's boring," Christine moaned. "I don't want to do something so many times."

"It's safe," I countered. "I'd rather us be safe than risk anything. Just stick with the plan."

With statistics for all of the region's gym leaders in our Moedex – their Moemon, their stats, and their movesets – we had plenty of material to strategize. Quinton and I had spent a good part of our training by planning safe, optimal strategies against him. More than we had for Brock and certainly more than Misty. We were playing cautiously this time.

Quinton was the sole person in the audience, having arrived just before I did. He gave me the honor of facing the gym leader first. He gave me a confident nod when I looked at him. His Moemon's cheers echoed through the gym.

Lt. Surge sent out his first Moemon: Luxio. Jolts of electricity sparked from her cheeks as she glared at us.

"Annie, we're counting on you!"

Annie nodded, though she was clearly terrified. It was her first battle against a gym leader, and her first against an actual trainer since Eric. She was still shaken up from that fight, but I had faith that she would pull through. I'd given her a pep talk before we arrived, and seeing Olivia awake had helped reassure her.

She stepped forward, looking tiny compared to her opponent. Nevertheless, she pulled her backpack off and held it in front of her, her feet planted on the ground.

"Both trainers ready?" The referee stepped forward, flags raised. We both nodded. Our Moemon nodded. He threw the flags down. "Begin!"

"Bite!" Lt. Surge shouted, his voice booming through the gym. His Luxio sprinted forward, teeth bared, and jumped on Annie.

"Iron Defense!" I countered.

Annie closed her eyes and began to shine. Luxio's teeth bit into her skin, and Annie yelped in pain. I worried that I'd called too late, but then the Luxio released her grip. Annie pushed the Luxio away and scrambled to her feet, glowing a dull grey.

"Fine, we'll play a different game," Lt. Surge scoffed. "Spark!"

"Protect!" I shouted.

Annie lifted her backpack up to protect her chest. A ball of electricity shot out from Luxio's arms, flying toward Annie. It crashed upon the green shield that had materialized in front of her, completely dissipating.

"Now Take Down!"

"Spark again, Luxio!"

It was Annie's turn to charge forward, running straight at her opponent with her backpack in front of her. The Luxio released her spark, but Annie was able to maneuver her backpack to absorb most of the blast. She continued forward, crashing hard into her opponent. Both of them were sent sprawling to the ground.

"You okay, Annie?" I asked.

She nodded, rubbing her head. She looked over and saw her opponent getting to her feet, breathing heavily. She got up her selfish.

"Now, how many times can she do that?" Lt. Surge asked. "She's a tough little Moemon, but those Take Downs will take their toll."

"As many as it takes," I muttered. That was a lie. She couldn't do too many more, but Annie was looking proud after the compliment. "Annie, Take Down."

She charged forward again. Luxio charged another Spark before her trainer could react and fired. The last Take Down had also affected her, though, because the Spark completely missed. Annie had a clear shot, and her attack crashed into her opponent. Luxio flew through the air and landed on her back, unconscious. Annie managed to stay on her feet, but she was so exhausted she couldn't hold her grip on her backpack. It landed on the metal battlefield with a loud boom that caused the entire building to shake.

"That's one heavy backpack," Lt. Surge whistled impressed. He recalled his Luxio and pulled out a replacement.

"She's a strong fighter," I replied. Annie dragged her backpack back to us and collapsed on the ground. As Rose and Stacy tended to her, Christine stepped forward. She gave a disappointed look at me before stepping forward.

"Zebstrika!" Lt. Surge threw his ball, and a women in a black and white skirt materialized. She stood a full head over Christine, but her opponent didn't look the slightest bit concerned. "Your Moemon all seem confident, Challenger. I'm glad they have so much faith in you!"

"I have faith in them, Lieutenant!" I replied. "We're going to win this!"

The next battle began. I couldn't even speak before Christine jumped back. Her mouth was open and glowing blue.

"Thunder Wave!" Lt. Surge shouted.

His Zebstrika threw her hands out, and a wave of yellow lines shot out, bending the air around them. As they closed in on Christine, she fired a ball of blue flames. She dropped to a knee, flinching, as her Dragon Rage collided with Zebstrika and sent her to her knees as well.

"Now Spark!" Lt. Surge shouted, not deterred in the slightest.

"Dragon Rage!"

Christine opened her mouth to charge her attack, but her body shuddered violently and she stopped. Meanwhile, her opponent had no such condition, and her attack struck her helpless opponent. Christine took the blast, recoiling, her hands firmly on the ground, but she kept on her knee and didn't fall over.

"Do you need to sit out?" I asked. I wanted to commend her for taking the attack so well, but I felt it would've been inappropriate. She shook her head, so I said, "Then try another Dragon Rage!"

This time, her paralysis didn't affect her, and she was able to charge another attack. Her opponent had ran closer, ready to throw out another Spark. They fired simultaneously, and their attacks struck each other in midair. The spark was completely dissolved, and to her surprise the Zebstrika was hit full on by the blast. She didn't take the attack nearly as well, and she collapsed on her back.

"Zebstrika, come back," Lt. Surge said. He had a Hyper Potion in his hand.

"No way!" Christine shouted in frustration. She got to her feet and ran forward.

"Christine, no!" I shouted.

But Christine was on the Zebstrika before she was able to get to her feet. Christine's fangs were bared and covered in flames, and she bit down hard on her neck. The Zebstrika shouted as she struggled to shake Christine off, but Christine refused to let go. While she had her grip, Christine raised her hand in the air and sliced down. That was the finishing blow. Zebstrika fell down, unconscious, and Christine released her grip on her singed but otherwise undamaged opponent.

"Christine, no?" Christine repeated, looking at me strangely. "I'm sorry if I didn't follow the plan exactly, but I wasn't going to let her heal."

"That's fine," I muttered, more annoyed with myself for trying to stop her. "You did well. You know I just want you safe."

"I know," Christine muttered back.

"Rose, finish this."

Rose stepped away from Annie and entered the battlefield. Lt. Surge's final Moemon was thrown out: a Raichu. Their battle soon began.

"Thunder Wave!" Lt. Surge shouted immediately.

"Stun Spore!" I countered.

As Raichu sent out the familiar yellow waves, Rose banged her flowers together to spread yellow powder everywhere. Both Moemon were hit, and both were paralyzed.

"Leech Seed!"

"Double Team!"

Raichu attempted to clone herself, but the paralysis hit her quickly and forced her to shudder. Rose got lucky, and she threw her seed onto her opponent. It hit her and spread quickly, surrounding her in vines.

"Double Team!" Lt. Surge shouted again. "You won't go down that easily!"

Raichu managed to pull off her attack, splitting suddenly into multiple clones, all of whom were surrounded in vines and barely able to move. They surrounded Rose, so identical that she couldn't tell which was the real one.

Thankfully, she didn't need to. "Magical Leaf!" I shouted.

Rose spun around, leaves shooting out of her outstretched flowers. They flew around the arena, phasing through the clones and striking the original out of the circle. As she moved, her clones disappeared.

"Damn, then Volt Tackle!"

Raichu sprinted forward, her entire body becoming engulfed in electricity. She gained speed by circling Rose, and when she had enough she charged, blasting into Rose. She skidded to a stop, while Rose fell to the ground.

"Are you okay, Rose?" I shouted.

"Volt Tackle!" Lt. Surge shouted before Rose could reply.

"Shit, Magical Leaf!"

From the ground, Rose fired her leaves at the sprinting Raichu. She couldn't spin fast enough to catch up to the Raichu, so after a few seconds of trying she turned and spun in the opposite direction of her opponent. As the Raichu circled, it got hit with the leaves, lost her momentum, tripped, and crashed into the ground. She skidded to a stop on her stomach.

"She's not done yet," I said. I hoped that luck was on my side. "Magical Leaf!"

Rose didn't flinch. With an easy, motionless target before her, she had no trouble aiming and firing a barrage of leaves. They struck Raichu mercilessly until she couldn't take anymore and fainted.

"Way to go, Rose!" I ran forward and hugged Rose. She smiled and hugged me back, and soon the rest of my Moemon joined us.

Lt. Surge walked up to us, waiting for me to pull away from the group. I shook his hand and took the Thunder Badge with my other.

"Congratulations," he said. "You certainly weren't disappointing. I hope you fare as well against the other Gym Leaders."

"Thanks," I grinned. My plan wasn't flawless; it didn't account for everything, but we all survived. The best part was that none of my Moemon were in danger of dying; they'd all survived the fight with minor injuries. It wasn't a close battle. We did fantastic!

Quinton faced Lt. Surge an hour later. I had healed my Moemon at the Center, told Olivia the great news, and returned. Some of the other Challengers had been paying attention and questioned me while I was healing, but I gave them vague, unsatisfying answers and hurried back to the Gym. They followed, and so Quinton had a small audience.

As was expected, Quinton beat Lt. Surge even more decidedly than I had. Barely any of his Moemon took damage, and he had a much faster fight as well. People had started to trickle in, but before many of them could find seats it was all over. Quinton got a small applause as he collected his badge, and some of us ran down to confront him.

"How'd you do that?" Max asked in disbelief. "The way you were able to fly over the Raichu's Volt Tackle and hit her from above. I had no idea you could do that!"

Quinton smiled proudly at Melody, the one who'd done the deed. She smiled back, thanked Max, and replied, "It was a simple manner of levitating myself safely above the possible range of the Raichu's attack."

"Simple?" Max repeated. "I mean to a flying Moemon, sure."

"Psychics will surprise you," said Garrett. "You should get one."

"I should," Max said thoughtfully.

"I should too," agreed Thomas, admiring Melody. "They seem really strong."

"No, but seriously guys, congrats," Garrett grinned. "I guess you're going to be leaving, soon?"

Quinton and I glanced at each other. We'd promised not to tell Garrett. Quinton looked back and nodded slowly. "Soon."

"You guys keeping secrets or something?" Garrett asked, looking at us strangely. "I mean, you can tell me. I won't gossip."

"We can tell you," I agreed. I glanced at Max and Thomas beside us. "But, you know."

Garrett nodded slowly, seemingly getting what I was implying. "You want to talk later?"

"Sure, sure," I said noncommittedly. "Later. In a bit, actually."

"The others aren't going to be happy," mentioned Max.

"Yeah, they're going to be suspicious," agreed Thomas.

"Let them," I said. "They've been suspicious for days."

But I had no idea. In the time between our matches, most of the others had gathered in the Center. As the five of us arrived, we were faced with our classmates staring at us accusingly. A whole crowd of angry people.

"Why are you fighting the Gym Leader?" demanded Sam. "None of us are even ready!"

"We're growing impatient," Quinton replied. "We felt we were ready, so we fought him."

"You're planning on leaving," said Eric. "You're going to leave us all behind!"

"No, we aren't," I said. "We just wanted a good fight."

"What? You're saying I wasn't good enough?" asked Eric.

"That's not it at all!" I said, glaring. "We aren't planning anything."

"You have to admit, it's really suspicious," said Drew.

"It is," agreed Jack. "I don't know why you couldn't have just told us."

"We would've found out eventually," added Connor.

"We didn't want to waste your time," said Quinton. "Should we have called each one of you individually and told you that we were fighting?"

"Haven't we always done that?" asked Jack. "We wanted to see your fight!"

"You didn't miss much," said Thomas. "It was over in no time. I barely learned a thing."

"That's no excuse!" said Sam.

Laura had stepped between us. "Guys, please," she pleaded. "Can we not fight? We've done so much of it!"

"He needs to tell us why he fought Lt. Surge!" said Eric. "Quit defending him!"

But Laura glared at him. "To get the badge, you idiot! That's why we all fight the Gym Leaders."

"Why'd he do it so quickly?"

"Because we're spending so much time fighting instead of training," said Max, stepping beside Laura. "We're friends. We need to work together-"

"Friends?" Eric repeated. "A friend wouldn't kill your entire team!"

"A friend wouldn't tell strangers our secrets!" I countered.

"And friends wouldn't accuse friends of trying to run out on them!" added Garrett.

"But friends wouldn't run out on friends in the first place!" countered Drew.

It was a peculiar thing. I felt attacked, oppressed, and antagonized. I felt like I was in the minority, like the entire world against me. I was defensive and upset. I'd just achieved something amazing and was getting attacked for it.

But looking back, I had so many people on my side. Five people were defending me; six were attacking. We were evenly matched. I couldn't see it then… but reflection is such an interesting thing.

That's my justification for my next remark: "You people are all against us! We've explained ourselves so many times, but you're always going to be suspicious of us!"

"Arthur?" Max asked, turning to me. His face a mixture of confusion and sadness.

Before I could respond, the doors opened, and those who were facing the doors gasped. I turned around to see someone I certainly didn't want to see. Hunter X, looking us up and down. His eyes scanned the room until they fell upon me.

"Ah, there's the kid I wanted to see," he grinned. He completely ignored the others. I couldn't. I glanced to see them all whispering to each other. Even those who'd been on my side. "Good to see you're still around. You wouldn't believe the things I've heard."

"That's him," said Eric. "That's the Hunter who's friends with Arthur!"

"A Bounty Hunter?" Sam asked.

"What do you want?" I muttered. I wanted nothing more than for him to disappear and everyone to forget he'd come.

"To talk," he moved to the door. I had little choice but to follow him. Everything I'd just said to defend myself was completely nullified by this man's arrival. He chose the worst possible time. When we were safely outside, he stopped. "I see you all were having a chat."

"An argument," I corrected through clenched teeth. He seemed amused at my anger.

"Well, I'm going to make your day a whole lot worse, kid," he said. He didn't seem the least bit apologetic. "We know where all you Challengers are. Every one of you. Even the ones not in Vermilion. How's that for bad news?"

That was a punch to the gut. They found Hannah and Molly… they knew us all…

"Fuck… so we're fucked," I whispered. "That's what you're saying."

"Not yet," he replied. "We're still thinking about what to do. It was hard enough getting all of your identities, but that was confirmed just an hour ago. The organization loves planning attacks against groups of Challengers, and those plans haven't begun yet. You're all safe for now. I just wanted to give you a heads up, so you're prepared when it happens."

"How could I possible by prepared? I don't even know what'll happen!"

"We'll attack you," Hunter X shrugged innocently. "I figured that was obvious."

"Yeah, but how many? When? Who'll we be facing?"

"Kid, we haven't even figured that out. We don't know much more than you."

That was a lie. "You know all of us. Tell me all about you. All about you Bounty Hunters."

But he snickered. "I'm risking a lot telling you this much. Everyone already knows that you're my target. If I told you too much, then they'll say I'm playing favorites." He lowered his sunglasses and winked. "I am, by the way, but don't tell them that."

He chuckled to himself, even though he saw the clear lack of amusement on my face. He added, "When it all goes down, kid, you'll know. That watch of yours will be flashing all sorts of colors."

I looked at my watch. The very thought of it lighting up again made me feel nauseous. Nothing good came fromt hat.

"I'll see you later." He waved and turned to go, but he stopped and wagged his finger in the air. "That's right! I heard the argument when I was entering. They sound like they're furious with you for some reason. Honestly, the attack will probably just help clear the competition. Otherwise, they'd attack you first. You might just want to get out of town while you can. Just some advice from someone who's seen stuff like this happen before."

With that, he left. I barely got a chance to consider what he'd said when Quinton and my Moemon walked out. Among them was a surprising companion.

"Hello, Arthur," Olivia smiled gently.

"Olivia…" My mind was reeling, and of all things I was seeing this girl who'd been unconscious just a few hours ago walking up to me by herself. Her wounds still hadn't healed. She had a fresh gauze over her eye. Her face was still pale, and she looked like she was close to fainting. I shook my head. "Go back to bed. You need your rest. You just woke up!"

"I tried to stop her," said Quinton. "As soon as I saw her. She wouldn't let me take her back."

"I heard the fight," Olivia said, her voice as weak as she looked. "I heard them talking about you. They were saying scary things. I… I don't want to stay here with them. I'm scared they're going to attack you!"

"Don't worry about us," I said. "we'll be fine. You just rest."

"But I'm scared they'll attack me, too," she added. "They were mentioning me too."

That made me pause. They were talking about attacking a helpless, unconscious Moemon to get at me? That was too much. That was horrifying!

"Were they?" I asked Quinton. I needed to know.

To my horror, Quinton nodded slowly. "The moment you left, they started talking about everything you'd done. Every single mistake you'd made was somehow construed into sabotaging us all. They believe you're conspiring with the Bounty Hunters to attack us all when we're defenseless."

I nodded silently. Amazing how quick their opinions changed.

"I really think we should leave as soon as we can," Quinton continued. "When we left, they seemed furious. Their anger is only going to grow as they talk about you."

"We can't leave until Olivia recovers," I said.

"Don't worry about me," Olivia argued. "I'll be fine. I feel fine."

She faked a smile, but even though she wasn't moving she was visibly shaking. Her smile subtly shifted to a grimace.

"We can't leave her alone in there," said Stacy "And we certainly can't leave while she's in this condition."

"We could bring her in her ball," suggested Christine. "She wouldn't have to walk, but we'd still be able to bring her."

"That's an idea," I nodded. "And we could get to a Moemon Center within a day, right?"

"If we head East and North to Lavender Town," said Quinton.

"I'm fine-" Olivia began, but Stacy placed a firm hand on her shoulder, nearly causing her to buckle over.

"Don't argue," Stacy advised. "You're in pain. We want you to get better."

Olivia placed a hand on Quinton's shoulder to stabilize herself. I couldn't see her in pain anymore. I pulled out her ball and recalled her.

"She won't be in pain for long," said Quinton.

"We'll leave tonight," I said. "Let's meet by the Eastern gate at eleven."

Arthur:

Christine the Charmeleon

Stacy the Staravia

Rose the Roselia

Olivia the Dewott

Annie the Aron

Quinton:

Melody the Metang

Wendy the Quagsire

Lucia the Riolu

Willow the Sudowoodo

Mary the Flaaffy

Minnie the Mienfoo