Author's Note: Finale time! I'll have most of my comments on the season at large at the end, but I do want to say here that i've really enjoyed writing this season, and I hope that you've enjoyed reading it just as much! It's been a lot of writing-and some curious cases of writer's block-but we're here all the same! Enjoy!


Episode 55: A goal in mind

The summer seemed to pass by with relative quickness.

Fay spent most of his time helping out Professor Oak as an intern, just like the previous summer. As a team, they made occasional trips to Johto, where Fay had reconvened with Clair on a brief occasion. It seemed that he was coming closer to figuring out what he wanted to do next, but was still unsure. He would occasionally see Niko and JJ, and on some occasions Jacob and Cody, who visited from Viridian City every couple of weeks or so.

JJ travelled to Johto for a few weeks to visit Maizie. Otherwise, he was helping his family at home and in their shop. Umbreon, chikorita, growlithe, and beedrill were all incredibly helpful in this capacity, and joined JJ on his miniature adventures, either to Johto or to Viridian City to see Jacob and Cody.

Niko spent most of his summer at home. He would run around and occasionally train with his 10 pokémon. On most days, Jake would join in, and the two would have mock battles. One day at dinner, Jake had expressed interest in going on a journey as well.

"Jake, you're still too young," Mom said worriedly.

"But Niko can go!" Jake protested.

"Sorry Jake, I have to agree with Mom on this one," Niko said softly. "I was 17 when I started. You're 11."

"Well, a lot of trainers start at 10!"

"True, but you also have other things to worry about first," Niko continued.

"I don't have to though," Jake said plainly.

"Anyways, boys," Dad finally spoke out. "Let's talk about this later. Niko, how's Brittany doing? Have you heard from her recently?"

"No, I haven't," Niko said rather quietly.

"Why not dear?" Mom asked.

"We're…not exactly on speaking terms…"

"And why aren't you on speaking terms?" Mom pressed further.

"We just aren't! We got into an argument after the Silver Conference and haven't talked in a while!" Niko said, slamming his silver utensils onto the table. His parents warned him to calm down, and he quickly did so. He had thought about Brittany every day since their fight. Nothing had changed; he still didn't have feelings for her, but he felt bad about how he reacted to it.

The following morning, Niko went to visit JJ at the shop. It was the end of August now, and the curly blonde was itching to go somewhere else.

"Where next, Niko!?" JJ said after they exchanged greetings.

"JJ," Niko said, chuckling a little bit under his breath, "I don't know, man. Fay's pretty caught up in his internship right now, and Brittany isn't speaking to me, so I don't know when."

"Brittany's coming back to visit today, actually. Forgot to tell ya."

"Why would you forget to tell me that?" Niko asked.

"Well, it didn't seem like you wanted to hear about her. She told me everything, though. That was messed up, man."

"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that, JJ," Niko muttered. "Well, when does she come in?"

"Now," a voice from behind them said plainly. Niko and JJ turned to see a familiar brunette face standing in the doorway. "Hi, JJ, Niko," Brittany said as she walked through the convenience shop.

"Hi Brittany!" JJ exclaimed, running around the counter to hug his friend. Brittany then looked over at Niko, who awkwardly reached his hand out.

Brittany returned it. "Hey, can we talk?" Niko asked as he stared into her hazel eyes. Brittany nodded, and the two exited the shop and sat on a bench nearby.

"What's up, Niko?" Brittany asked, pushing her hair back over her shoulder.

"I…I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For everything. I was an idiot, and I don't know why, and I know we'll probably not be friends again, and—what?"

A very confused Niko felt Brittany hug him tightly.

"What…Brittany…what?"

"I forgive you, Niko," Brittany said, releasing her friend and looking up. "Like I told you, we'll always be friends. I've thought a lot about you, and us, during the summer. We're not meant to be, at least not now. I accept and understand that you don't feel the same way. I hope maybe you will one day, but if you don't I get it. I'd rather have you as a friend than mope around about not having you as more than that."

Niko nodded. "Yeah, I feel the same way. About being friends, that is."

Brittany smiled warmly. She really did have a nice smile. "Great."

"Anyways," Niko began, setting his arms to rest on his legs as he looked out at Pallet Town. "I've been thinking a lot recently."

"Oh dear," Brittany said teasingly.

"Oh c'mon!" Niko replied. "I mean…about the Silver Conference. I'm not sad about how well I did…at all, actually."

"And you shouldn't be! You did amazing!" Brittany said, throwing her arms up in emphasis.

"Heh, thanks. But because I did better than I had expected, it made me think about what I want to do now. I don't just want to travel, you know? I want to make something of it.

"I want to be a pokémon master."

Brittany stared at Niko for a few moments, studying him. Then, she simply said "You can do it."

That seemed to be all the affirmation that Niko needed. "Thanks, Brittany. I mean it, though. I'm not the best at battling, obviously, but I want to keep improving. I want to travel and see new lands, meet as many pokémon as I can, and improve my battling skills so that I can be the best trainer that I can possibly be."

"Then do it, Niko!" Brittany exclaimed, slapping her friend on the back. Niko laughed a little as JJ ran out of the shop.

"What's going on?" The curly blonde boy asked, looking at the two. "Are you two friends again?"

"Of course, JJ, why wouldn't we be?" Niko asked quizzically.

"Well, yeah! But seriously, what's up?"

Niko turned to Brittany again. "JJ has been hounding me about when we're going to go on another adventure."

"Oh, well that's just great! Because I actually brought my things with me!"

"Wait…what?" Niko asked once again. Too many times that day he had been confused. This moment was one of the many.

"I figured we'd be going to do something, just didn't know where. So, I talked with my parents and they seemed fine with it. Nothing's happened to me yet, so they're pretty trusting of you three."

"Well, that's good to know…" Niko replied, grinning. "But that doesn't solve the question…where do we want to go?"

The three thought for a moment before JJ finally said something.

"How about Hoenn? Remember that guy from Olivine City, Norman?"

"You mean the dude that you spilled coffee on?" Brittany teased.

JJ sighed heavily. "Yes…that guy. Why don't we go check out that region? They have a league, too, so you can compete in that, Niko!"

"Yeah, that's true. After all," he looked at Brittany, "I do want to be a pokémon master."

"You never told me that…" JJ gave his friend a bemused look.

"Well, I just told Brittany. Anyways, let's go pitch it to Fay! He should be at Professor Oak's doing some work. I'm sure he won't mind the visit."

Fay was typing away on one of the lab computers, doing some research online about pokémon abilities. Ever since charizard and feraligatr's incident in the Silver Conference, where both of their "abilities" had activated, Fay had wanted to learn more. Professor Oak, who himself didn't know too much about them, set his new intern to work on a project detailing the different kinds of abilities and their effects on pokémon.

"Hey, Fay!" Niko said, walking into Fay's office. The black-haired trainer turned around and got out of his seat to greet his friends and hug Brittany.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Fay wondered. He was now clad in a dress shirt, slacks, and a lab coat, similar to what Professors Oak and Elm wear.

"Well, Niko wants to be a pokémon master and we were thinking of travelling to Hoenn. Oh, and uh, Niko and Brittany are friends again!" JJ said, summarizing the past half hour to his longtime friend.

"Oh…wow. Well first off, congrats, Niko and Brittany, glad you're on speaking terms again. Second, glad you found a calling, Niko! I figured after you beat Clair that something had changed inside you. I chalked it up to simple courage, but your performance in the Silver Conference sold me on the idea of you pursing battling as a goal now.

"And, as for Hoenn…I don't think I'll be joining you."

"What!?" Niko, Brittany, and JJ all said in unison.

"That's the response I expected," Fay admitted. "You see, after battling Clair and competing in the Silver Conference, I realized that battling just wasn't my thing. Yeah, I'm good at it, but I began to reflect on my time in Johto, and sometimes I felt like my heart wasn't totally in it like it was when we travelled through Kanto."

"Well, then what do you want to do?" JJ questioned.

"Well, two things. I want to continue training dragon pokémon. Clair made me realize my affinity for them, and has given me pointers on them since. I'm going back to Blackthorn in a month to practice with her and the Dragon Master. I also want to go into pokémon research. Professor Oak has put me on this project to learn about pokémon abilities. Niko, that's what happened to charizard and feraligatr during our match, when they began to glow. It was their hidden abilities—blaze and torrent—that had activated," Fay then went into a brief explanation of the abilities and what he knew so far. "Ultimately, I think that this is my plan for now. I get to do research and still train, just not competitively."

"Well," Niko finally said. "We're gonna miss you, man."

"I'll miss you guys, too. Niko, if you make it to the Hoenn League, I'll be sure to come and watch."

"I expect you to," Niko said. The two friend's exchanged a firm handshake. "Now, we need to get going. I have to explain this all to my parents, and I'm sure JJ does as well."


That evening, Niko was up in his room packing. As he did so, magneton was sitting on his bed watching him, as were a few of his smaller pokémon.

"Hey guys, I know it's sudden, but I'm going to be back. I promise."

His pokémon seemed to understand, or at least his Kanto pokémon did. Delibird and yanma were downright distraught by the news. Noctowl, even though it didn't want to admit it, was very sad as well. Feraligatr, who was sitting outside with venusaur, didn't seem to take it well either. Even Niko felt some pangs of regret, but he made the choice to start fresh in Hoenn. It was a tradition for him now, and he wanted to keep it up. It worked well enough for Johto, anyways.

As he finished packing, he looked up and saw Jake standing in his doorway.

"Oh, what's up, Jake?" Niko asked, turning around.

"Can I come with you?" The 11-year old boy asked.

"Didn't Mom and Dad say you couldn't travel?"

"They never said anything about travelling with you though," Jake replied.

"Did you already ask them?"

"Yeah! They said I'd have to ask you, but they seemed okay with it. They trust you, obviously."

Niko thought for a moment. His little brother, joining him on his journeys. He always looked out for his brother growing up, and at times been overly protective.

Niko hesitated for a moment before coming to a decision. "Sure. You can come with us."

Jake went through the roof in excitement. He then ran back downstairs to tell his parents and ran back upstairs to pack his things. Niko smiled. He knew that his responsibilities were now two-fold—he was responsible for him and Jake now.

The following morning, Niko awoke to Jake jumping up and down on his bed in excitement. Getting up, Niko went to take a shower and gather up his things. As they did when they left for Johto, everyone was there to see him, Brittany, and JJ off: Niko's parents, their pokémon, Professor Oak, and now Fay and his pokémon.

The large group gathered at Oak's lab, where the Professor needed to give them instructions.

"Now you four, I contacted Hoenn's regional pokémon professor, Birch, on your travels. I suggest you head to his lab in Littleroot Town, where he can help you get started on your journey from there, got it?"

The group nodded, Jake extra eagerly.

"Also, here are your tickets. You'll be taking a boat from here to Vermilion City, and then from Vermilion City to the port in Littleroot Town. And most importantly, enjoy yourselves."

"Thanks for everything, professor," Niko said, shaking the elderly man's hand. Brittany, JJ, and Jake all did the same. They then turned to their friends and family.

"Take care of your brother, Niko," Dad said as he hugged his two boys. Mom said the same thing. Niko then looked at his pokémon.

"Bye guys…I'll miss you all."

Delibird and yanma couldn't handle it, and tackled Niko to the ground, urging him to either not leave or take them with him. Niko got back up, feeling like he crushed something in his backpack.

"Yanma, delibird, you guys will be fine. Just keep practicing your moves. Noctowl…" Niko said, turning to his owl pokémon. "Thanks for everything. I'll see you when I get back. Feraligatr," Niko then turned to the big jaw pokémon, who was busy trying to deny reality. Niko walked up and put a hand on the crocodile's shoulder. "See ya, buddy," the trainer said, embracing his pokémon. Niko then took a step back and said good-bye to his Kanto team. Venusaur nodded, tacitly saying its farewells. Niko smiled softly at his first pokémon as he then turned to Fay.

"Kick ass, pokémon master."

"Heh, thanks man. See ya soon," Niko said before pulling Fay into a hug. He let go and began to walk backwards, waving to the group as he and his three friends walked south to Pallet Town's small port, where they would travel to Vermilion City and begin their next journey.

"So…you two are bringing your pokémon with you?" Niko asked as he looked at Brittany and JJ, both of whom had pichu and azurill in their arms, as per usual.

"Yeah, I left beedrill back at the shop to help out. Otherwise, I've got the same pokémon!" JJ exclaimed. Brittany nodded, indicating that she had kept her three pokémon with her for this journey.

As they set sail for a new adventure with his close friends, Niko had never felt happier.


Author's note: Alright y'all, Season 2 is over! A few logistical things first: Season 3 will start next Friday, May 19th. Also, since I realize it was a bad idea to even consider writing two episodes a day, i'm toning it down to one per day, and publishing as such. It's a lot of work to put together an episode. Make no mistake-I enjoy it a lot, but it's a ton of work. So, with the exception of the first two episodes, I will only publish once a day. I really can't do more than that anymore.

Now, I want to thank people for following, favoriting, and reviewing:

Thanks to Eeveefan1290, Zeus007, abdulmoizshahzad83, and herefordsnowmad12 for following (and for also following!). Thanks to Athios, Elphis, PhenioxMaster, Poosa-ard, and nahor295 for favoriting. And thanks to a couple of guests, pokemaster3164, zelda23, and wyldclaw for reviewing.

Speaking of reviews, I got a couple that addressed the character of Fay. I would like to take a moment to respond to those reviews, since i'm sure they're not the only ones:

Admittedly, I may have messed up on his character from the start, and didn't realize it until later. Let me explain: Fay was meant to be, in some ways, Niko's opposite. While Niko is new to the idea of training pokemon, and isn't the best at it at first, Fay is. That's why Fay wins every gym battle, and Niko doesn't-he is just naturally talented at it. This is ultimately Niko's story, of how he develops his goal to become a pokemon master, as you just read in this episode. Fay was originally designed as a way to get Niko to this point by challenging him, from the Indigo League to the Silver Conference, Fay was meant to make Niko a better, more ambitious trainer. And I wanted to do this from the perspective of a friend, and not a rival, like it is in, say, the anime, with the relationship between Ash and Gary, or Ash and Paul.

With that said, I also originally planned on having Fay in for only the first season, but I didn't quite want to let him go just yet, and felt I could add more to his character. This is where I think I failed. In creating this character, I left him with few major flaws. It's by nature of his design. If I went back to re-write this (which, due to its sheer length, I doubt I will ever do), I would add more depth to his character. That's why I was trying to include more of his thoughts after his battle with Clair, to make him question why he is even challenging gyms at all. This season really toned down his character a lot, and I'd like to think it set him up well to leave the group at the end. Again, I recognize my faults in his character development. This is all really an exercise in me practicing my writing and story-telling skills, as I have always had an interest in writing, but never had the time to do it. This is all a learning process for me, and I can guarantee that for future seasons of this, I plan to improve my character development writing, starting with Brittany and JJ (who, admittedly, need it a little. I focused too much on Niko, expect this to change slightly in Season 3).

I hope that clears things up. Thanks again for the comments, follows, reviews, etc. I appreciate them all. Talk to you all later.

-Evanibble.