"Wait a second! You met who?!"

"He said his name was Black. He came from the future. Apparently most of the Earth is wiped out due to some monster. I'm not really sure on all the details. For all I know he could just be some kind of creep. The guy DID have powers like me though."

"Are you guys related?" Dawn asked.

Lucas shrugged. "It's what I thought too. I think he was like my student or something."

Barry dropped to his knees, screaming hysterically. "This is nuts! I can't die so soon! I haven't even gotten to become the president of the world!"

Lucas looked down at his palms. A faint glow quickly caught his eye. He clenched his hand shut and furrowed his brows. He had the power to change things. Black had said so himself.

"I'm gonna fix our future. I won't let anyone die to whatever the heck is out there. Not while I'm still breathing."

"Hmph! A good attitude to have. I for one refuse to be put down by some unknown threat." Sparks sneered with his arrogance on full display.

"Gotta say, I agree with fur ball on this one. I'm too handsome to die!" Grotle said as well.

Buizel scratched his head. "T-this is a lot to take in you guys! First, you all get into a fight, then Lucas meets Future Man, finds out we all literally DIE to something we don't even know about and then we just go back to our regularly scheduled journey?!"

"Yeah pretty much…" Grotle said with a nod.

"Oh okay.''

"We should be at Solaceon Town in about two days. That ain't too bad." Lucas said.

Barry scratched his head. "What's over there again?"

Lucas sighed. "Do you not read the map locations? Like at all?"

"Nope! I've just been gunning it this whole time."

"You know...That does explain a lot." Dawn muttered.

"Yeah a little too much…" Lucas returned to the map in his hands. "There's a daycare, a tower to commemorate the dead, and a Pokemon Center."

"Meh! Sounds kinda boring if you ask me. Is there at least a gym?"

"Nope…" Lucas grumbled.

"If there's no place to test my strength, then that town is utterly useless!" Sparks yelled furiously.

"Actually, it's perfect. Gives us time to practice."

"How so?"

Lucas took off his backpack and tossed it to the ground. He took off his damaged vest and cracked his knuckles. "Like I said, no more baby stuff! We're busting our butts this time around!"

Sparks smirked and got into a much more feral stance. "Excellent!"

"Do we have to?" Buizel whined.

"Absolutely you worthless water type."

Grotle glanced at Lucas with a bold grin. "Finally! Some real training!"

"All three of you! Come right at me!"

"I don't need back up!" Sparks yelled.

"No objections! Now attack!"

"As you wish!"

"So should we stand back?" Barry asked.

"Yes. We should." Dawn nodded.

A heavy bolt of lightning nearly struck Lucas in his chest. He avoided it and rolled under a thick orb of natural energy.

"Not good enough you guys!"

"Dumb cat! Hit your target!"

Sparks hissed violently at him. "You're one to talk. YOU MISSED HIM TOO!"

"I'm not the one shooting lightning from my mouth!"

"So you admit that electricity is better than pathetic grass type moves!"

"HA! Let's not get crazy!"

"FOCUS!" Lucas shouted as he punt kicked Sparks into a random boulder in the distance. He dodged Grotle's Razor Leaf and spit a few burning hot embers onto him.

"GET IT OFF!" He screamed as the flames grew around him. He frantically ran around in circles until he crashed head first into the same boulder as Sparks.

That left Buizel. The water type was quivering with fear and Lucas advanced. He wasn't sure of what he could possibly do to Lucas all by himself.

Lucas smiled. "You can do it Buizel! Just try your best."

"But I'm not tough like the rest of you guys. I'm terrible in a fight!"

"So long as you try, I'm happy. Besides, once we're done, we'll grab lunch."

"LUNCH?!" Buizel wasted no time sending a hefty stream of water towards Lucas.

The boy narrowly escaped the blast of water before getting tackled to the grass below. He looked up at his glaring Buizel.

"Hey now! That's not too shabby." Lucas quickly lifted both knees up and flung the water type off with a push of his legs. "You really can get serious when you want to."

"LUNCH!"

Lucas smirked. "Show me that you deserve it!"

Buizel shot fourth another burst of water from his mouth. Lucas mimicked his actions and shot out his own mouth blast. A line of hot flames collided with with the steady spray of chilled water, causing a cloud of steam to rise up.

"Oh crap! Where is he?!" The water type searched around aimlessly for his trainer. "FIGHT ME ALREADY! I'M STARVING!"

Directly above him, the thick steam had separated and down came Lucas with his cocked back fist crackling with intense lightning.

"GET READY!" He shouted.

"No no no no NO NO NO NO!!!

"TRY TO STOP THE THUNDER PUNCH!!!" The boy yelled as his decent picked up more speed.

"I refuse to starve!" Buizel sent out another blast of water upwards. This particular blast wasn't like his water gun. It was a more distorted shape.

Lucas moved his electrically powered fist in front of him and easily cut through the water.

"OH COME ON! THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!"

With a loud cry of power, Lucas slammed his knuckles across the water type. Buizel bounced roughly against the grass and smashed into the already groggy Sparks and Grotle as they both attempted to get back to their feet.

Lucas stood there and stared at his hand. He watched the electricity fade away with a small grin. "That was actually kinda fun." He looked at his fallen team. "GET UP YOU GUYS! IT'S TIME FOR ROUND TWO!"

Grotle let out a painfilled groan. "I take it back. I don't want him training me anymore."

"Don't be such a pansy…" Sparks muttered.

"How's about you GET OFF OF ME!!!"

"I would if the useless water type would wake up!"

"Lets go guys! CHOP CHOP!!!"

"Do we have to? You really hurt!"

"Don't care Grotle! Get up!"

"Hey Lucas!" Barry called out.

Lucas instinctively glared but decided to relax himself. "Yes Barry?"

"Why don't you go head to head with my team? Could be fun."

"Are you nuts? Why would you want me to beat up your pokemon?"

"Ah, don't worry about it man! My squad can hang with you! Give them a chance."

Lucas scoffed at Barry's bold statement. "Fine, but if they end up mortally wounded don't blame me."

"AWESOME!" He brought out a pokeball and chucked it up into the sky. When the capsule opened, an orange pokemon came bursting out. "Alright Monferno! Your opponent is Lucas! Don't hold anything back!"

His pokemon flashed a thumbs up before readying himself. A wild look burned into its eyes.

"Let's get this going!" Lucas shouted.

"Monferno, use Mach Punch!"

The flaming monkey dashed faster than the eye could see. He stopped directly in front of Lucas and delivered and a punch to his midsection.

Lucas briefly winced. "What the heck was that?!"

"Hit em' again!"

Another punch was sent to Lucas. The boy moved his head out of the way and kicked Monferno back a few feet.

"That's pretty fast. I'll give you props for that." Lucas charged up a small amount of electricity in his hands. "Let's see if you can take a real attack though."

Barry narrowed his eyes. He had to think. If Monferno got hit by a direct attack like that, he'd probably be out of commission. "MONFERNO!"

The orange Pokemon glanced back at his trainer. He saw Barry pointing to the ground in a circular motion and automatically understood the order.

Lucas felt a light tingle in his hands as the electricity grew brighter. "I hope you're watching Barry!" With a loud BOOM, he shot forward with a raised fist. "What happens next is your fault!"

"HIT IT FULL TIME!!!"

The fire type sped away with his flaming attack. He circled around and struck Lucas in the back. This sent him tumbling across the grass with an even more charred than before shirt.

"What attack was that?"

"Flame wheel. It's an attack we practiced for like three days. Pretty solid right?"

"Tch...What a pain."

Barry let a grin spread across his face. He took a slight glance toward his right and saw Dawn looking on in amazement. His heartbeat quickened as he looked at his childhood friend. He wanted nothing more than to impress her.

"ALRIGHT MONFERNO! LET'S KICK IT UP!"

Monferno let out a loud yell as he pounded his chest.

"Bring it!" Lightning crackled around his fist. The boy tried to mask his growing irritation but was slowly starting to lose his temper at Barry's sudden confidence.

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!" Sparks growled. "That stupid fire type actually landed a hit!"

Grotle simple gasped at what used to be a Chimchar that he knew all too well. "...No way…"

"Monferno! Mach Punch!"

With a burst of speed, the pokemon swung it's fist once more. Unfortunately for the fire type, Lucas grabbed its arm and quickly applied pressure.

"No." The young boy smashed his electrically enhanced fist into its stomach and flung it into the air.

"Hey Monferno! Use-"

Lucas blasted off into the sky and smacked it back down with another brutal punch. The fire type slammed directly into the ground leaving a small crater.

Lucas landed down softly and folded his arms. "Recall your pokemon before things get any worse for it."

"Nice job buddy. Take a good rest."

"You sending out something else or are we done here. I planned on training MY team. Not yours."

"You're really strong dude. I had no idea you could move that fast."

Lucas was caught off guard by Barry's mild praise. "Oh...Th-thanks…" He tried to fight back his growing embarrassment.

Dawn walked up to the two with her wide eyed Piplup in her arms. "You and Monferno were awesome Barry. You were too Lucas."

Barry smiled brightly. "YOU KNOW IT!"

"Thanks." Lucas simply nodded.

"Um...If it's not too much trouble, could you battle me and Piplup as well Lucas?"

"Huh? You want me to fight your Piplup?"

"Well it's doesn't have to be you necessarily. You or one of your pokemon."

"I see." He looked at his crew and narrowed his eyes perceptively. "Alright! Who to choose…"

"ME! PICK ME! I WANNA DO IT!" Sparks ran up and shouted. Grotle wasted no time shoving him to the side.

"NO WAY! YOU GOTTA USE YOUR STARTER! I'M THE STRONGEST! Plus I'm pretty effective against water types if I do say so myself."

Sparks simply rolled his eyes. "Electric type standing right next to you. I can body a weak water type too."

"Meh, I do it better."

"NO! YOU REALLY DON'T!"

"YEAH I DO!" Grotle shouted.

Sparks sneered. "YOU DON'T!"

"I DO SO!"

"YOU DO NOT!"

Lucas looked at the quivering Piplup in Dawn's arms. "Buizel! How about you step up to the challenge."

"Me?! But I just lost to you."

"Come on Buizel. You're so much tougher than you think. I'm sure you can teach Piplup some things."

"Oh alright…You still owe me a meal though."

Dawn kissed the top of her water type before placing him on the grass. "You can do it. Just try your best."

Buizel unfolded his flipper like arms. He stepped forward and stared down at the sweating Piplup. It made a nervous chirping sound as it tried to stand up to the taller opponent.

Buizel noticed this and sighed. "Hey take it easy. I'm not like those two battle hungry boneheads arguing over there. I'm more of an eater than a fighter." The Piplup eased up a bit. This made Buizel crack a grin. "I'll tell you what. I'll practice my form of defense while you try to attack me. That sound good?"

The small blue bird nodded with a much more determined look on its face.

"Looks like they're ready to go! Alright Buizel, show them what's up! Use Water-" Lucas paused as he watched Buizel close his eyes. "Y-you alright there buddy?"

Dawn was confused as well but decided to roll with it. "Piplup! Hit him with a peck!"

He nodded and blasted forward with his now glowing beak.

"Buizel! Stop him with Water Gun!"

Buizel didn't listen. He just kept breathing with his eyes shut. "Just like the others…Concentrate..."

"What is that useless water type doing now? He's gonna get hit standing there like that."

"I don't know Sparks. I can't really tell."

Grotle chuckled. "He probably just fell asleep. That is Buizel we're talking about."

"Breathe…settle your heart...Imagine the flow of water...Every drop pouring from a waterfall…"

Piplup was ready to collide with his target. That was until he seemed to visibly faze right through his foe. He started panicking as he smashed head first into a tree.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?!" Barry shouted with awe.

Everyone saw it. Piplup had passed through the still Buizel. He hadn't made a single move to avoid the hit.

"Lucas what attack was that?"

"I have no idea. Let me get out my dex." He did just that and scanned his pokemon. "What? That can't be right."

Barry glanced over his shoulders. "What is it?"

"Water Gun...Quick Attack...Pursuit...then Water Sport. Those are what he currently knows. I think he also tried an off version of Water Pulse too. Even still, there's no move that should do something like that."

Barry scratched his head. "You sure it wasn't just Quick Attack? He was probably just moving too fast for us to process."

"No way it was just a simple attack like that. I'd be able to pick up on it. Instead of a move, I think it was more of a personal technique."

"Technique? Isn't that the same thing."

"Close but no. Think of it as more of a style. I read up on stuff like that when I was really little." Lucas spoke as he watched Buizel's still form.

Piplup had finally managed to rip himself away from the tree. He turned around and glared daggers at his opponent.

"It's okay Piplup! Try using Bubble." Dawn called out.

He opened his beak and fired off a group of large glowing bubbles. Buizel had made no movement to evade. He just stood there.

Sparks stared long and hard at the orange water type. "Let's really see this technique in action."

"Concentrate...Let the water flow gently down the river…Breathe in through the nose…"

Everyone watched as the attack passed through his body just as the first one did. This left Piplup growing aggravated. He blindly ran forward and swung his little flippers at Buizel who still managed to avoid getting hit.

"Out through the mouth…" Buizel exhaled deeply and grabbed Piplup's incoming chop and flung him over towards a wide eyed Dawn.

"W-what was that?!?! How does he not have a scratch on him?" She asked while holding her fuming pokemon.

Barry laughed a bit. "That's some Buizel you've got there. I still can't believe what I just saw."

Lucas and his team walked over to the water type who had just opened his eyes.

"Buizel! That was awesome! How the heck did you even do that?"

"Do what?"

"Are you serious?! You just did it a second ago! The whole going through moves, thing! What was it?" Grotle asked with much more impatience.

"As much as it pains me to say it to a water type, I would like to understand that ability as well. It may prove to be useful one day."

"Sorry guys but I really can't say. It's something I just can't tell you about."

Sparks sent him a nasty look. "And why is that?! Don't think you're better than me just because you've got some little parlor trick! I could still beat you easily if I wanted to!"

"I don't think you understand. I am sworn to secrecy. I gave my word to my division leader that I would keep the knowledge on our hidden art a secret. Besides, I haven't even perfected it. I actually only got it fifty percent."

"Fifty percent? How are you only doing half of a technique?"

Buizel looked up at his trainer and narrowed his eyes. "Well I never got to learn the other half of it because some human and his deranged cat decided to electrocute the entire riverbank I was scheduled to watch over and capture me. My commanding officer is probably so mad at me right now!"

"YOU were actually on guard? That's hard to believe." Grotle said aloud.

"Well for what it's worth, I'm sorry Buizel. If you wanna go back then-"

"HEY HEY HEY! Let's not jump to conclusions here! Those guys back at base were a group of jerks. Even more than the psycho cat and the walking bush. I'll go back whenever I feel like I can beat my commander."

Sparks sighed. "As much as I want to rip you to shreds for that cat comment, I somewhat respect your ambitions."

Lucas cracked a small smile. "Well then let's keep working on that hidden talent of yours. I know you'll get it down real soon.

"Sure...but can we PLEEEEEEEASE get something to eat. I think I'm gonna pass out."

Lucas, Barry, Dawn and all of their current team members decided to set up camp. Sparks, Turtwig and Barry's Roselia all left to go search for meat, wood and berries respectively. Back at camp, Buizel was delivering fresh water from a nearby stream with Piplup following behind. Both engaged in some sort of conversation. Dawn and her most recent team member Buneary was adding more ingredients to a large pot that Lucas and Barry's Monferno kept heated.

Barry was finishing up the tents before grabbing a town map. He paced around as he read it to himself.

I say we end up in Solaceon Town by noon tomorrow. We can stop at the Center and push forward to Veilstone.

"Slow your roll there Barry. Can't you see the clouds forming. It's gonna rain pretty darn badly tomorrow. We should chill at Solaceon for a little bit and then go when it's clear out." Lucas said to him.

"Aw what?! No way dude! I can't wait any longer than a day to get there! We gotta go tomorrow."

"Do you ever like...relax?"

Barry shook his head. "I can relax when I'm six feet under! Time's wastin' you guys!"

Dawn halted her stirring and let her Buneary take over. "Why are you in such a rush anyway Barry?"

"Yeah! If anyone is gonna be in a rush, it should be me. I'm the one that really needs to see the gym leader."

"Huh? Oh...No reason! Just really wanna see the sights."

The other two looked skeptically at the blonde. "That's such a load of crap."

Barry faked a yawn and walked over to the tent. "Woo I'm beat. I might turn in. Goodnight!"

"Night? The sun hasn't even gone down all the way yet…" Lucas huffed.

Dawn looked at the bubbling pot. "You haven't eaten either."

He stared at them with moisture building up on his forehead. "...Going to sleep now." His Monferno tried to go with him but Barry motioned him to stay and have fun with everyone else.

Lucas rolled his eyes and gave up. "Whatever man."

"Goodnight I guess…"

The two watched as Barry zipped up the tent. Lucas was annoyed while Dawn was a little down that the three of them couldn't hang out a little more.

Lucas stretched out his limbs and reclined back on a stump. "Where the heck are Grotle and Sparks?"

"They might be in trouble. Should we go look?"

"Nah...They're idiot's sometimes but I know they can hold their own out there if they use a little bit of brains. I mean Sparks went on a rampage as a little Shinx and Grotle hates being outdone by his comrades. They'll be fine."

"You've got a lot of faith in them. That's nice to see." She gave him a smile with a slight hint of sadness.

"I have to. After what I've put them through so early on in our journey, I have to do better. To think that I almost gave up and left them..." The boy angrily pushed his hand through the blades of grass below him. "I'm a disgrace! Never again!"

"Well you know what you have to do now so I'm positive you'll be fine."

"What about you?"

Dawn looked at him confused for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"Well, have you thought about what you really wanna do?"

"Kinda. Nothing to confirm yet though."

"Well if you ever want to be a trainer, I'd be glad to help you." He paused for a bit. "I'm sure he could help you too." Lucas said as he pointed to the tents.

Buizel and Piplup walked over to the fire with their final bucket of water. "You'll definitely get the hang of it! I'll tell you what! Let's make a bet. Whoever masters their secret skills first get rights to the other's special ability. Sound like a deal?" Piplup looked at him and nodded. This made Buizel grin.

"Thanks for the water you two. You guys did a great job." Dawn spoke with gratitude.

"Yeah seriously. We got enough for everyone now."

Just then, Grotle came bolting out from the trees with multiple branches on his back. "I've got WOOD!"

Barry's Roselia came out with a bag full of berries. She set them to the side and bowed to everyone.

"Hmm, so that just leaves Sparks."

"Come on Lucas! We gotta get outta here! RELOCATE! HURRY WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!"

"What the heck are you talking about. We're not leaving with Sparks!"

"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS THE STUPID GRASS TYPE?!?!"

Lucas glared below him. "What did you do?"

"So I might've ticked him off by scaring away his targets."

"Why and how?"

"Long story..."

"Then shorten it!" He hissed though his teeth.

Lucas was only answered by a stray bolt of electricity hitting him in the dead center of his body.

"Ah crap! LUCAS!!!" Grotle shouted.

Sparks scanned the area and saw a paralyzed Lucas on the ground glaring. "S-sorry Lucas..."

Meanwhile, from inside the tent, Barry was blocking out the antics from his fellow campers. He was too busy gripping a small, wrinkled up piece of paper. The words on it driving him mad with rage and hatred.

'Meet your hero! The one and only King of the Frontier. The Tower Tycoon Palmer! Catch him at the Veilstone city square during the tenth annual Veilstone tournament. All trainers are welcome!'

"The tournament is in two days. I won't miss you again. You're done running from me!"

He crumbled up the paper and tossed it aside. Before forcing himself to sleep.