Pokemon Loud Version - Kanto

by SilverNugget

No Such Luck AU. After being accused by Lynn of ruining her championship softball game, Lincoln's family plans to send him away to live with his Aunt Ruth until the whole 'bad luck' mess blows over. However, a suggestion by Lisa leads to a different destination that will change Lincoln's life forever. New 'M' Rating due to language & content within the story. Cover by JaviSuzumiya.

34. Chapter 34 - The St Anne (Part 1)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or the Loud House. Those properties belong to Nintendo/Game Freak and (regardless of what happened to him) Chris Savino/Nickelodeon respectively.

Note: This story will be based primarily on the anime with aspects of the games, the Adventures manga and the Electric Tales manga mixed in (although I am considering using the CoroCoro Clefairy for Red's team). Also, for the sake of convenience, I will be using the following fonts for these particular parts of the story:

Translated Pokemon Speech

Pokedex Entries/Computerized Voices/Flashbacks

-=O=-

-Professor Oak's Laboratory - Oak's Office (8:00 AM)-

"Ah...there's nothing quite like a nice, hot cup of coffee to start my day." remarked Oak happily as he sat at his desk with a steaming mug of freshly-brewed coffee in hand. After taking a sip from the mug, he turns on the office's television, causing what appeared to be Lincoln's second battle with Lt. Surge to appear on the screen.

Taking another sip as he watched the match unfold to it's conclusion, he muses "To think that Mr. Loud and that Pikachu of his had only started their journey together a few weeks ago. It's amazing on how much progress they've made so far. Almost makes me wonder how well they'll do when the Indigo Conference comes around."

As he prepared to take another sip of his coffee before starting on his paperwork for the day, the sound of someone knocking at his office door rang out, stopping him for the moment.

"It's open."

As if on cue, the door opens up, allowing one of the lab's Aides to step into the office.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but there's a call waiting for you in the VideoPhone room, Professor."

Putting his mug down, Oak asks "Really now? Who is it?"

"Bill, sir. He mentioned that he wanted to speak to you about something important." replied the glasses-wearing man, causing a thoughtful look to form on Oak's face.

'Bill, huh? I wonder why he's calling me...' thought the gray-haired professor to himself before giving his aide a nod. "Tell him I'll be down shortly, will you? I'd like to finish my coffee first."

"Of course, sir." answered the aide before leaving the room.

After looking down at his mug of coffee for a moment, Oak shrugs before picking it up and drinking from it, intent on finishing the entire cup before leaving his office.

Important call or not, he wasn't going to let perfectly good coffee go to waste.

-=O=-

-Bill's Lighthouse - In Front Of The Lighthouse's VideoPhone (8:05 AM)-

While Oak was finishing off his cup of coffee, Bill stood patiently in front of his VideoPhone, waiting for the old professor to show up. As he waited, his thoughts turned to the earpiece that Lincoln had allowed him to use during his brief stay at Cerulean Cape.

'Such a wonderful piece of technology...but how in the world did he manage to get it? Who made it? And what kind of advanced technology was used to get it to function so well? I have to know!' thought the green-haired man to himself.

As all of those questions ran through his mind, Bill still remained in front of his VideoPhone, earnestly hoping that Professor Oak would be able to provide the answers to them.

Suddenly, the screen to Bill's VideoPhone flickered to life, displaying Professor Oak on it.

Seeing this, Bill smiled before saying "Good morning, Samuel. It's been a while since we've last spoken, hasn't it. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time..."

"Not at all. Besides, even if I was busy, I'd still be willing to speak with you since it'd give me a break from my paperwork. So what's on your mind?"

"I'd like to talk about Lincoln's recent visit to Cerulean Cape, Samuel. There's something about it that's been on my mind and I'm hoping you can provide the answers I'm looking for."

"I'll do what I can to help, Bill." answered Oak before taking out a notepad from his coat's pocket. "Now then, before you get started on what you'd like to talk about, I'd like to get your input on what happened during Mr. Loud's visit. I need to know for the progress report I'll be sending to his family in the near future."

"Certainly." said Bill before going over everything that had happened at his lighthouse in great detail, which in turn caused Oak to give him a bewildered look upon hearing about the giant Dragonite.

"...Goodness. It didn't harm anyone, did it?"

"Aside from a bit of damage to the lighthouse and those awful Rockets that tried to attack him, no. We were able to calm him down once the skirmish with them was over."

"That's good to know. I'll have to speak to Mr. Loud about this giant Dragonite when I get the chance." said Oak, nodding. "Now then, let's talk about why you're calling me. It must be for a good reason if you want to speak to me personally."

"It's about the earpiece that Lincoln uses to understand Pokemon speech, Samuel. I've never seen technology like that before." answered Bill before letting out a sigh. "And I'm having a difficult time trying to recreate it so I can make one for myself to use. The last one I tried ended up self-destructing."

Wincing slightly, Oak mutters "That must've been unpleasant. So are you still trying to recreate it?"

"Yes. However, I'm not having much luck with that particular endeavor." admitted Bill, sighing. "I do know that Lincoln's Pokedex seems to be connected to the functionality of his translation earpiece, though. And since you're the one who made the Pokedex for him, I'm hoping that you'll be able to provide the answers I'll need to make a working one for myself to use."

Giving Oak a hopeful look, he adds "Please tell me how you managed to create such a wonderous device, Samuel! I implore you!"

Instead of the answer he was hoping for however, Oak simply sighed before shaking his head.

"As much as I would like to help you with assembling something like that, I can't. I'm not the original creator of Mr. Loud's earpiece."

"You're not the creator?"

"Unfortunately not. I wish I could take credit for creating something like that, but I cannot." replied Oak, shaking his head again. "However, I can tell you who did make it for him if you can look into something for me in return. It's something that Mr. Loud had raised concerns about during one of our earlier conversations with each other."

"And that is?" asked Bill, eyebrow raised.

"A way to transfer Pokemon without needing to use a Transfer Machine." said Oak, arms crossed. "Originally, Mr. Loud has asked me about how to extend the carrying limit, but had compromised with the ability to send and retrieve Pokemon on the go since I told him that his earlier inquiry would be a difficult one to address. That's what I would like for you to look into, Bill."

"A way to transfer Pokemon on the go, huh? It's actually funny that you mention that. Precisely two weeks before I had met Mr. Loud and his friends at Mt. Moon, I was looking into that particular subject." replied Bill before holding up what appeared to be a small SD card-like device. "Which led to the creation of this - the 'Pokemon Box Link' program, or 'PBL' for short."

Interested, Oak answers "Fascinating. How far along are you with completing it? Or getting it to work, for that matter?"

"Admittedly, it's still in it's beta stage and hasn't been tested yet. However, I believe it should work since I've worked out a fair number of the kinks it originally had when I started the project. And nobody knows the Pokemon Transfer system better than I do."

"So how long will it take for you to complete the finished product?"

"Another year or so, I'd say. I intend to introduce this to the public once the final version's been tested successfully. However, in order to complete it, I'll need data on its functionality first." answered Bill before smiling widely. "And our arrangement gives me the chance to acquire that data. I believe that a trade is in order - my program for your information on the creator of Lincoln's earpiece."

"It does seem like a fair trade for the both of us..." mused Oak, eyeing the small card with interest. "Still, are you sure about giving away something as valuable as this? This program of yours must've taken a lot of work to complete..."

"It's no trouble at all, Samuel. Giving away something like this is a small price to pay in order to acquire the means to be able to speak to Pokemon and hear what they have to say in return." answered Bill simply. "Besides, I've got plenty of backups of the program here at the lighthouse, so giving away this one shouldn't be too much of an issue."

Giving the other man a glance, he adds "Besides, I do need someone to test the program for me and who better than the very person who helped me with meeting the Dragonitus giganticus?"

"I see. Well in that case, I suppose since you're offering something like this, I should uphold my end of our bargain. Do you remember meeting Mr. Loud's younger sister during the second progress report?"

"I do...wait...she's the one who made the earpiece?"

"Indeed. Miss Lisa Loud has a remarkable mind for someone her age." said Oak, nodding. "I'm certain that if you ask, she'll be more than happy to assemble one for you. I doubt she'll be willing to share the schematics to make one so easily."

"Considering that I've had so many failures in trying to recreate it for myself, leaving the task to someone who knows what they're doing would probably be for the best. I'll contact her as soon as possible." replied Bill before giving Oak a smile. "Thank you, Samuel."

"Anytime, Bill. So about that program of yours..."

"Of course. Give me a moment and I'll have this sent over to you." answered Bill before placing the card, along with a small box, into a nearby machine and pressing a button, causing it to vanish in a flash of light. "Do make sure that Mr. Loud gets it, will you? I believe you'll be able to get the program to work with his Pokedex."

"I'll see about borrowing it from him long enough to install the program." said Oak as the card and the box appeared inside of his own Transfer Machine. "...What's with the box?"

"They contain the necessary parts you'll need to get the Pokedexes to be able to utilize the PBL program. I salvaged them from a bunch of non-functioning Transfer Machines and had them specifically modified to be able to fit into a small device...one like Lincoln's Pokedex, for example." replied Bill, pointing at the box. "There should be plenty of parts for you to use on the other Pokedexes you have available as well."

"So you're fine with me allowing the other Trainers I'm sponsoring to utilize your program as well?"

"Certainly. Just means more data for me to work with in order to perfect the final product." replied Bill, nodding. "I should mention that the data on the card is reusable, so you can install it as many times as you like. Just make sure to keep it in a safe place when you're not using it. I'd hate for someone to get ahold of it and use it for less-than-noble purposes."

"I'll keep it safe, Bill. You have my word on that." said Oak, nodding. "I may even considering adding something of my own to their Pokedexes, too."

"Oh?"

"Have I ever told you about the National Pokedex project?" asked Oak, causing Bill to nod in response. "Well, I'm considering upgrading all four of their Pokedexes with a National mode. A reward for all the work they've put into helping me with my research, if you will."

"Good to know." answered Bill, smiling. "Now then, I have to go. Do tell Lincoln that I said 'hi', will you?"

"I'll make sure to do that, Bill. Goodbye." said Oak before ending the call. As soon as the screen had cut off, Bill sprints towards his personal study, intent on finding the VideoPhone number that Lisa had given him.

(AN: The meeting between Bill and Lisa will happen in the next chapter.)

-=O=-

-Vermilion City Pokemon Center - Lobby (8:15 AM)-

Meanwhile, Lincoln and Pikachu were sitting together in the Vermilion Pokemon Center's lobby, waiting for Misty and Brock to come back from their shopping trip.

Both had set out earlier that morning to get some last-minute shopping out of the way before the St. Anne's arrival. And since he didn't have anything else he needed to do aside from the match between Azami and Raph later, Lincoln had chosen to stay behind at the Pokemon Center with Pikachu, which the Electric-Type didn't seem to mind considering that there wasn't anything else he wanted to do in Vermilion City either.

As the Mouse Pokemon sitting beside him continued to read through the magazine he was holding in his paws, Lincoln was reading something else on his Pokedex - an e-mail that Ronnie Anne had sent him a few days ago.

Just as Lincoln was about to start over on reading it again from the beginning, Leaf walked over with several bags draped on her arms and a smile on her face, asking

"Hey Linc, how's it going?"

Hearing the familiar nickname, Lincoln turns away from his Pokedex to give Leaf a look, causing her smile to falter.

"...I'm guessing by the look you're giving me that you don't like the nickname? I can go back to calling you by your name, if you want."

"It's not that. It's just...that's what some of my sisters back home used to call me, that's all. If you want to use that name for me, go ahead. I don't mind." replied Lincoln, causing the brunette's smile to return as she took a seat beside him.

"Good to know. So whatcha reading?"

"An e-mail from a friend of mine living in the States."

Interested, Leaf asks "Really now? What's his or her name?"

"Ronnie Anne. She's a good friend of mine, despite the fact she used to pick on me in the past." answered Lincoln as memories of the Hispanic girl's earlier antics towards him ran through his mind. Inwardly, he adds 'Good thing she's not doing that anymore. It got really tiring having to constantly clean up the messes she left in my locker or fishing out the sloppy joe sandwiches she used to shove down my pants.'

"Another female friend, huh? Bet Misty must be jealous." remarked Leaf in a joking tone.

"You have no idea..." remarked Pikachu, rolling his eyes.

"There's some...er, friction between them, but nothing too serious." admitted Lincoln, scratching the back of his head.

"Friction? Both of them want you as their mate, Lincoln. That's not friction, that's a rivalry just waiting to explode between them."

"So when'd you receive your e-mail, Lincoln? You get it today?" asked Leaf, causing the white-haired boy to shake his head.

"A few days ago, actually. Around the same time the others and I were at A.J.'s gym, to be exact." answered Lincoln as the memory of the night he had received Ronnie's message went through his mind...

-Flashback-

-A.J.'s Gym - Tent Outside Of The Gym (11:45 PM)-

As Misty, Brock and Pikachu continued to snooze away inside of the rather small tent they had to share together, Lincoln was laying inside of the sleeping bag that A.J. had lent him, deep in thought about something as he stared up at the roof of the tent.

It wasn't about his family or how his journey was going so far, however. Rather, he was thinking about how Ronnie Anne and Clyde were doing on their goal of coming to the Kanto region.

And considering the fact that he hadn't heard any word from them about that particular subject, he was starting to wonder about the possibility of the two being unable to leave their homes.

'Which would be a real shame. I like hanging out with Misty and Brock, but it'd be nice to have some friends from back home here, too.' thought Lincoln to himself before letting out a sigh. 'Guess I'll just have to keep waiting until I get word from them. That's about all I can do for now.'

After letting out another sigh, the white-haired Loud started to close his eyes in order to try and get some sleep. Before he could doze off however, the sound of something pinging inside of his jacket's pocket could be heard, causing him to immediately sit up in alarm.

"What the...what was that?"

Hearing Lincoln's voice, Pikachu tiredly opened one of his eyes before asking "...What's the problem? You have a nightmare or something?"

"It's not that. I think something just 'pinged' in my pocket." whispered Lincoln in a low voice before reaching over to his jacket and rummaging through its pocket. After a moment, he manages to take out his Pokedex. "...Dexter?"

'Yes? What is it?' inquired the red-colored device, wanting to know what Lincoln wanted with it.

"This may sound kinda weird, but did you just...uh, 'ping'?"

'That was me, yes. I had just received an e-mail for you just a few moments ago.'

"E-mail, huh...I honestly forgot that you were able to handle something like that." mused Lincoln to himself before opening the Pokedex and booting it up. "Can you bring me to my inbox, please?"

'Certainly. One moment.' replied Dexter in response before beeping a few times as he attempted to gain access to Lincoln's inbox. After a few seconds, the Pokedex's screen displayed a webpage for an online e-mail site. '...You have one new message. And a lot of spam mail about 'enhancements', 'hot singles in your area' and other nonsensical rubbish. One moment.'

After a few more beeps, Dexter adds 'And done. I have taken the liberty of deleting them from your inbox. You're welcome.' in a smug-sounding tone.

"Good to hear, Dexter. Thanks." said Lincoln, nodding. "So who's the message from?"

'It's from someone named...SickSk8trRA. What an odd name.' remarked Dexter, causing Lincoln's eyes to light up upon hearing the name.

"That's the name Ronnie Anne uses when she's online. Can you open the message for me, please?"

'Certainly. One moment.'

After letting out a few beeps, the Pokedex displays what appeared to be a lengthy e-mail on its screen, causing Lincoln to raise his eyebrows while Pikachu walked over to read it as well.

Peering at the message curiously, the Electric-Type asked "Ronnie...is that a friend of yours?"

"Mm-hmm. Do you remember the black-haired girl in the purple hoodie who was glaring at Misty during our call from Cerulean City?" replied Lincoln, causing the Electric-Type to nod. "That's Ronnie."

"Ah...I gotcha." said Pikachu, nodding as a knowing smirk started to form on his face. "Looks like Misty's got some competition."

"Competition when it comes to winning me over, right?" remarked Lincoln, causing the Mouse Pokemon to look at him, surprised.

"You know about that?"

"Ever since our time at Cerulean Cape, buddy. It was pretty obvious due to the fact that she admitted that she wanted to be 'more than just friends' with me. And let's not forget about how mad she was when Brock interrupted us while we were at the beach, checking out the sunset together."

"Then why aren't you acting on it yet? You know that she likes you, so why aren't you showing her that you like her, too?"

"Because I know that Ronnie likes me, too. I've got two girls interested in me and I'm worried that by picking one, I could end up wrecking my friendship with the other." replied Lincoln, sighing. "And I don't want to lose either one, buddy. Both are good friends of mine and I don't want to ruin things with them."

"That explains it." said Pikachu, nodding. "However, I honestly think that you're wrong about Misty or Ronnie being upset with you for choosing someone else other than them. They're your friends, Lincoln - I think that they'll support whatever decision you make, even if it's one they don't like."

Pointing at himself, he adds "And the same goes for me, too. I may like the idea of you and Misty together, but if you think that Ronnie's the one for you, then I'll have your back on the matter."

Giving the white-haired boy a sly grin, he includes "Though I will say that it'd be really nice if you got lucky and managed to work something out with them so you can court them both. One mate's nice, but having two of them is even better."

"Considering those two and how much they don't like each other, I doubt I'd be that fortunate, buddy. As for everything else you said...well, we'll just have to wait and see." replied Lincoln with a roll of his eyes before turning his attention back to Ronnie's e-mail. "Now then, let's see what Ronnie's message has to say..."

Hey, Lame-O. Just thought I'd check in on you, considering that we haven't spoken since your call from Cerulean City. So how are you? Everything going alright with your journey so far? Are you doing alright after what happened between you and Lynn?

'Good to see she's actually wondering if I'm doing okay or not.' thought Lincoln to himself before reading further.

As for me and Clyde, we're doing okay for ourselves. Everything's still going on as usual, save for the fact that you're not here. Don't know why, but things just don't seem...right without you around. Almost like a puzzle that's missing one of its pieces.

Sappy talk aside, a few things have happened in Royal Woods while you were gone. Do you remember that old goat Flip?

Face turning slightly green as he remembered all of the disgusting things Flip did in his store, Lincoln thought 'Kinda hard to forget someone like that.' before continuing to read the message.

Well, the old fart ended up getting busted by the police a few days ago. Turns out he's been up to a lot of dirty stuff inside of that store of his - re-labeling the expiration date on the milk he's been selling, sticking his feet in the cheese that goes with the nachos, selling pre-scratched losing lottery tickets while keeping the winning ones for himself...all kinds of rotten stuff. After the cops found the store's surveillance tapes, they not only busted the guy and took him down to the station for questioning, but the store itself had to be shut down after the health inspectors searched the place and found it too hazardous for anyone to continue shopping there. Last I heard, old Flip was found guilty during his trial and is now serving time in jail.

At this, Lincoln stared at the screen for a moment before stifling the chuckles that were threatening to come from his mouth.

"Serves him right. I guess there's such a thing as justice in the world after all."

"Something happen?" asked Pikachu, ears perking up curiously.

"Just someone I had a bad experience with back home getting what's coming to him, buddy. Nothing you need to worry about." answered Lincoln with a smile before going back to reading the e-mail.

As you're reading this, you're probably wondering why you haven't heard anything about us coming to Kanto yet. Well, we're still working on trying to convince our parents to let us leave. We've already got someone who can possibly be our sponsor (a professor by the name of Ivy, who Professor Oak mentioned to us during some report he wanted to give to the rest of your family), so once we manage to get our parents on-board with the idea, I think we'll be all set to start heading your way. With any luck, it'll probably be sometime within the month.

'Well, that addresses my earlier worries. But who's Professor Ivy? I've never heard of her before...' thought Lincoln to himself before he started reading again.

One more thing - I know we haven't had the best history with each other, especially with how many times I had pranked and picked on you in the past. But I hope that with enough time, we can leave things like that in the past where they belong in order to look forward to a brighter future together as friends. Maybe, with enough time, we can be more than just friends with each other. I meant it when I said that any girl would be lucky to have someone like you.

Anyway, I better cut this letter short before I start rambling on any more than I need to. Make sure to take care of yourself out there, Lincoln. Hopefully, both Clyde and I will be there with you soon.

- Ronnie

P.S.: Considering that I'm going to be an official Pokemon Trainer soon, do me a favor and let Misty know that anytime she wants a battle against me, I'll be more than willing to put her in her place.

P.S.S.: Bobby and Clyde said 'hi'. Just thought I'd let you know.

After scanning over the message one more time, Lincoln smiles and says "...You're on your way, huh? I'll be looking forward to seeing you here...both of you." before closing the Pokedex and putting it back in his jacket pocket, then laying back down in order to get some sleep.

-Flashback End-

While Lincoln sat there quietly, deep in thought about the night he had received the e-mail, Leaf says "So this friend of yours...she knows about you being here, right?"

"Yep. As a matter of fact, both her and another friend of mine - my best buddy Clyde..."

"Hey, I thought I was your best buddy, Lincoln." remarked Pikachu in a mock hurt tone.

"Uh...I mean..."

"I'm just joshing you. I'm fine with you calling someone else that."

After letting out a sigh of relief upon realizing that he hadn't hurt the Mouse Pokemon's feelings, Lincoln turns his attention back to Leaf, saying "Anyway, both of them do know that I'm here. As a matter of fact, I spoke to both Ronnie Anne and Clyde a few weeks ago during a VideoPhone call to my sister. Both of them seemed interested in trying their hands at being Pokemon Trainers, too."

"Really now? And how's that coming along for them?" asked Leaf curiously.

Shrugging, Lincoln answers "Dunno. I haven't heard any word from them about that since the night I got the e-mail from Ronnie. Since then, I've been left completely in the dark about what they've been up to. The only thing I know is that they're possibly going to be sponsored by a Professor named Ivy. Does that ring any bells?"

"I've heard the name, but that's it. Sorry." said Leaf, causing Lincoln to let out a sigh of disappointment. "Cheer up, Lincoln. I'm sure that they'll be able to make it. Just wait and you'll hear from them again before you know it. Heck, for all we know, they could be on their way right now."

Deciding to change the subject to something else, she adds "Anyway, today's the day that the St. Anne arrives, Lincoln. Are you excited?"

Taking a moment to look away from his Pokedex, Lincoln replies "Admittedly, yeah. I was kinda unsure about the idea at first, but the thought of checking out a world-famous cruise liner started to grow on me. I'm actually getting antsy just waiting for it to show up."

"Well, it should be arriving sometime today. And to be honest, I'm looking forward to it, too." said Leaf, smile widening. "There's gonna be all kinds of neat stuff on-board and I want to check it all out before moving on to the next town. Might even give Wonder Trading a whirl, too."

"Don't forget about the battle you promised, too. We agreed to face off once we get on-board the ship, remember?"

"I'm especially looking forward to that. It'll be interesting to see how a battle between us goes."

"Same here." agreed Lincoln, nodding. "Aside from that...I might check out some of the stuff they've got on the ship, Wonder Trade a few Pokemon and then move on to the next city. I'd rather not be on-board when they set sail. I don't want to fall behind you and the others again."

"Instead of worrying about keeping up with us, you should focus on your own path and where you want to take it." suggested Leaf, giving the white-haired Loud a look. "If you're not having fun with doing things your own way, then why bother doing it at all?"

"Yeah, but it sucks hearing about how you, Red and Gary are miles ahead of me progress-wise, y'know? Almost makes me feel like I'm not good enough to compete with you three."

"It's not about competing with...well, maybe it is somewhat, considering that we're rivals and everything." said Leaf before quickly changing what she was trying to say. "Look, just because you feel like you're lagging, it doesn't mean that you actually are. After all, you've seen and done all kinds of stuff that the three of us have come nowhere near close to doing. When it comes to experiences like that, you've got us beat hands-down."

"I guess that's true." admitted Lincoln, nodding. "Even if I'm lagging behind, I'm still enjoying every step of the journey I've taken so far."

"And you'll be sure to enjoy the ones in the future if you focus on the journey itself and not the destination." said Leaf sagely. "So what else are you going to do once you get on the St. Anne?"

Feeling his cheeks flushing slightly, Lincoln remains quiet for a moment before mumbling "...I'm thinking about giving Misty a gift."

As sly smiles formed on her and Pikachu's faces, Leaf asks "Oho...a gift for Misty, huh? What kind of gift?"

"This." answered Lincoln before taking a laminated voucher out of his pocket and handing it to her. "I got it from the owner of the local Pokemon Fan Club after listening to him babble on about something called a Rapidash. Nearly ended up falling asleep while he went on about it, but I was able to keep awake long enough for him to give me the voucher you're holding."

"A voucher? You want to give Misty a voucher of all things?"

"It's for a new bike. Her old one ended up getting destroyed during our time together in Viridian City and she's been struggling to afford a new one. I'm considering the idea of giving that voucher to her in order to help her out."

"Ah...that explains it." said Leaf, nodding in understanding before a warm smile formed on her face. "It's good to hear that you're willing to look after your friend like that, Lincoln. You must really care about her to help with something like that."

"She's my friend, Leaf. Of course I care." replied Lincoln, smiling as well. "I just hope she likes it. That was forty-five minutes of my life spend on listening to that old guy's rambling that I'm not going to be getting back."

"Considering what it's for, I think she'll..." started Pikachu before a pinging sound came from Lincoln's Pokedex, catching the trio's attention. "...What was that?"

"I'd recognize that sound anywhere, considering that I heard it before I managed to read the e-mail that Ronnie Anne sent me." replied Lincoln, tapping a few buttons on the Pokedex. "I think someone just sent me a message."

"Either that or someone's trying to send spam mail to you." joked Leaf, chuckling. "I've lost count of how many 'enhancement' e-mails I had to remove from the junk part of my inbox."

Mentally thanking Dexter for taking the time to remove his junk mail for him, Lincoln starts searching for the recently-received e-mail. Upon finding it and seeing who it was from, he says "...Looks like this one's from Professor Oak."

"Really now? What does he want?"

"Let's see here...apparently, he wants me to call him as soon as possible, wanting to talk about something important with me."

"Did he specify what that 'important' thing is?" asked Pikachu curiously.

Taking another look at the message, Lincoln answers "Nope. Aside from the fact that it's important, he didn't say anything else."

"Well, if it's important, you should go and see what he wants." suggested Leaf before her eyes lit up. "Say, do you mind if I come with you? I'd like to say 'hi' to the Professor, too."

"I don't mind." replied Lincoln with a nod before closing his Pokedex and pocketing it. Standing up, he adds "Let's get going. I don't want to keep Professor Oak waiting any longer than I need to."

"After you."

-=O=-

-Professor Oak's Laboratory - VideoPhone Room (8:20 AM)-

As Lincoln and Leaf made their way over to the Center's VideoPhones, Oak sat patiently in his lab's VideoPhone room, looking over the SD card that Bill had sent him earlier.

While his eyes traced over the sleek black-colored card in his hand, Oak mutters "The Pokemon Box Link program...part of me wonders how it's supposed to work with the Pokedexes I've made. Bill stated that his program should be compatible with them, but how exactly? I can't seem to think of a way for the program to allow the Pokedexes to be able to transport Pokeballs freely from the lab..."

Before he could think about it further, the sound of his VideoPhone receiving an incoming call rang out, breaking him from his thoughts for the moment.

"That must be Mr. Loud. About time." remarked Oak to himself before answering the call, causing Lincoln, Pikachu and Leaf to appear on the screen. Not expecting to see the latter, he asks "...Miss Rose? Is that you?"

"Yep. Good to see ya, Professor Oak." greeted Leaf with a smile.

"Likewise, Leaf. It's good to see you as well." answered Oak with a smile of his own before clearing his throat. "Anyway, I'm glad that you decided to call me, Mr. Loud. There's something of great importance that I'd like to talk to you about."

Giving the white-haired boy a smile, he adds "Before I do, I'd like to congratulate you on your victory at the Vermilion City gym. Your battle was certainly an 'electrifying' one, Mr. Loud...pun intended of course. The explosive finish at the end had me at the edge of my seat."

Eyebrow raising at Oak's remark, Leaf murmurs "Explosive...?" before recalling what had happened to her and her Charmeleon a few days ago. "Wait..that was you? Seriously? You were the one who blew out the Vermilion Gym's windows?"

Scratching the back of his head, Lincoln admits "Er...yeah. My Pikachu faced off against Surge's Raichu in a rematch and...well, the fight finished with Volt Tail and Volt Tackle clashing against each other. There was electricity shooting all over the battlefield from the collision those two had with each other."

"Which caused the explosion, right?" inquired Leaf, causing Lincoln to nod in response. "Well, at least I know what knocked me and my Charmeleon on our butts when we passed by the gym a few days ago."

Concerned, Oak asks "You weren't harmed by the blast, were you?"

"Nah, I'm fine." replied Leaf casually before noticing that one of her Pokeballs was starting to wiggle excitedly. "...Huh. Guess Charley must've heard you, Lincoln. He's practically just itching to come out of his ball."

"Not to harm us for what happened, I hope..."

"Probably not. If anything, he's probably chomping at the bit, ready to challenge that Pikachu of yours to a match. He's the kinda guy who loves the idea of facing off against someone strong."

Tapping the Pokeball, the brunette remarks "Settle down in there. You'll get to face off against him later." before turning back to Lincoln with a small smile. "You don't mind having Charley face off with your Pikachu during our match today, do you?"

"I don't mind if Pikachu's fine with it." answered Lincoln with a shrug. "Whaddya say, buddy?"

"I'm still a bit sore from the match with that Raichu, but I should be in good enough shape for a battle today."

"He said 'yes'." replied Lincoln, causing Leaf to grin in response.

"Thanks, Lincoln. I appreciate it."

"Anytime." answered the white-haired Loud before turning his attention back to Oak. "So now that we've gotten that out of the way, what's this important business you wanted to discuss, Professor?"

Taking on a worried tone, he asks "...Did something happen?"

"Something did happen, but it's nothing bad, my boy. Rather, I think you'll be pleased with what I have to share." assured Oak with a smile, causing Lincoln to let out a subtle sigh of relief. "Especially considering the fact that it addresses something you brought up to me a few days ago. Do you remember when you called me while I was speaking to Professor Tree?"

"That was when you wanted me to go to Pokemon Tech to pick up your package, right?"

"Indeed. And do you remember what you asked me about during that particular call? It happened while we were switching out some of your Pokemon from the lab, if that helps."

Scratching his head again, Lincoln replies "Er...let's see..." as he ran the memory of that particular call through his mind in an attempt to remember what he had asked Oak about before...

-Flashback-

"Of course. You should already know how things work by now, so go ahead and send your Pokemon over."

"I'm on it." said Lincoln before placing the two Pokeballs into the transfer machine and sending them over. "By the way, Professor...is there any way of increasing the number of Pokemon I'm allowed to carry at a time?"

"That's a peculiar question, Mr. Loud. I sincerely hope you're not showing any doubts about whether we're taking good care of your Pokemon here at the lab."

"It's not that, Professor. I just find the 'six-at-a-time' limit to be kind of a pain to deal with." replied Lincoln, shaking his head. "Besides, I'd like to have as many Pokemon with me as possible in case I ever need them for something. After all, there's going to be times where I won't be able to access a Pokemon Center to have you transfer my Pokemon over to me."

Nodding his head in understanding, Tree comments "Now that I think about it, that would be pretty problematic if you got into a jam like that." before giving Lincoln a smirk. "You're the kinda person that likes planning for any kind of situation, arentcha?"

"You have no idea." muttered Lincoln in response with a roll of his eyes, thinking back on all of the times he had to plan ahead to be a step ahead of his sisters in the past.

Scratching his chin, Oak says "Well, I'm not sure about whether it's possible to extend the carrying limit or not, but I believe that I can look into the transferring issue. I'll need some time to talk to Bill about his transfer system and see how it fully functions first before I do anything, though."

-Flashback End-

As his eyes started to light up in realization, Lincoln says "...Right. I asked you if there was a way to extend the carrying limit."

"Very good, Mr. Loud." commended Oak, nodding. "Now then, while I haven't found anything out about that particular subject, I did manage to acquire something from an acquaintance of mine that may help out with you being able to transfer Pokemon on the go."

Clearly surprised by this, Leaf asks "You actually have something like that, Professor? Truly?"

"I do, Miss Rose. And considering that you're here as well, I'll also offer the same thing to you, if you like."

"Please do! No offense, but it's a pain having to constantly call the lab in order to get a Pokemon I need when I don't have it on hand."

"None taken." replied Oak, nodding in understanding. "In any case, I can install the 'Pokemon Box Link' program onto your Pokedexes once you send them over to me."

Frowning, he adds "I'd also like to know how they're getting around the Pokemon Transfer's lockout feature as well. I've noticed that both of you have been able to lock and unlock Pokeballs at will when you capture a new Pokemon."

"You're talking about how Dee's able to send any Pokemon I want to the lab when I catch something new, right?" said Leaf, causing Oak to nod. "Well, I don't know how he's able to do it, but he can send any Pokemon I choose back to the lab after I catch a new one."

"I see. Mr. Loud, can your Pokedex do the same?"

"Yep. Dexter's a real help to have along when I want to start acquainting myself with a newly caught Pokemon while sending another one back to your lab to rest."

"Fascinating. I never imagined that my creations were capable of something like that..." mused Oak in wonder, inwardly looking forward to seeing what else the red-colored devices could do. "In any case, just send your Pokedexes to me through the Transfer Machine and I'll get started on installing the program, along with the necessary parts, for you. And while I'm on the topic of installing things onto your Pokedexes..."

At this, both Leaf and Lincoln looked at Oak curiously, wondering what he was about to say.

"...How would you two like to play a role in helping myself and several colleagues of mine with completing the National Pokedex project?"

"National Pokedex project?" questioned Lincoln, eyebrow raised. "What's that?"

"I'm glad you asked, Mr. Loud. The National Pokedex project is a special project that myself and several other Professors from regions all around the world are collaborating together on." answered Oak proudly. "To put it simply, this project is meant to allow a Pokedex to collect data on any Pokemon that lives on Earth instead of just being locked to the ones that are native to a single region."

"Which means that if we get involved with helping you out with this project of yours, we'll be able to collect data on Pokemon that live outside of the Kanto region, right?" asked Leaf, causing Oak to nod.

"Precisely. So what do you two say?"

After looking at each other for a moment, the two Trainers turn back to the gray-haired professor and nod eagerly, repling "We're in!" in unison.

"Splendid! Just send your Pokedexes to me and I'll get right to work on upgrading them." answered Oak with a smile, causing both Lincoln and Leaf to quickly place their Pokedexes into the nearby Transfer Machine before activating it, causing the two red-colored devices to vanish in a flash of light. After taking them out of his own machine, he adds "Thank you. I'll get started on them as soon as our call ends."

"Quick question before you go, Professor - are you going to give Gary and Red the same opportunity that you're giving us?" asked Leaf curiously, prompting Oak to give her a nod.

"Of course. It wouldn't be fair to give your Pokedexes an upgrade while neglecting to do the same for theirs. Both will be receiving the same upgrades that you two will."

"Good to know, Professor. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now then, I must be going - I'd like to get this finished as soon as possible so I can have your Pokedexes returned to you. Goodbye." answered Oak before ending the call and leaving the room to head back to his office.

-=O=-

-Professor Oak's Laboratory - Oak's Office (8:35 AM)-

Upon returning back to his office, Oak walks over to a large computer-like machine in the corner of the room. After booting it up and pressing a few keys on it, he opens up the two Pokedexes he had borrowed from Lincoln and Leaf.

"Dexter? Dee? Can both of you hear me?" asked the old professor, causing both Pokedexs to light up slightly before answering him.

After letting out a beep, Dee answers 'We can hear you, Professor.'

'Loud and clear, Professor. Did you need something from us?' questioned Dexter in response, causing Oak to nod before pointing at the machine.

"I'm planning on giving both of you an upgrade - one that will give you access to the National Pokedex. With it, you should be able to gather entries on non-native Pokemon."

Giving Dexter a look, he adds "Which should give you a wider variety of Pokemon translations to work with regarding Mr. Loud's earpiece, Dexter. And since I'm able to copy any data you collect on the Pokemon you meet, that'll make completing the National Pokedex even easier."

'Pokemon translations? This is the first I've heard of something like this.' inquired Dee, curious. 'And why don't I have something like this as well, Professor?'

'It's a feature that, at the moment, is currently exclusive to myself.' stated Dexter, sounding almost smug.

'And how is that fair? I demand that you install the same feature into me as well, Professor!'

"If I had the means to do it, I would in a heartbeat, Dee. However, I regretfully do not have a spare earpiece at the moment."

'Earpiece?'

"The translation requires a specific earpiece crafted by Mr. Loud's younger sister. And since I currently do not have any available save for the one I use for my studies..." started Oak, causing Dee to let out a dissatisfied groan in response. "However, while I may not be able to help you or Miss Rose with something like that, I can give you something that's possibly just as good - an upgrade for the Pokedex that utilizes a speech-to-text translation program. Much like Mr. Loud's earpiece, all you need are speech samples to make it work."

'Better than nothing, I suppose.' said Dee in a mollified-sounding tone. 'So are you going to install anything else aside from the National Pokedex and the translation program you mentioned before?'

"There is one more thing I'm going to install into both of you - a program created by a friend of mine. Dexter, you remember Bill, correct?"

'I do, yes. I take it he's the one who created this program?'

"Yes." replied Oak, nodding. "The program is called the 'Pokemon Box Link'. From what I understand, it should allow you two to be able to access Mr. Loud and Miss Rose's Pokemon freely using the Pokemon Transfer system, permitting you to retrieve and send them at any time."

Frowning, he mutters "Before I install it however, I'd like to ask on how you two are able to lock and unlock Pokeballs at will. I'm not upset with you two about this, but I would like some answers."

'I can answer that one, Professor.' said Dee before making a throat-clearing sound in order to prepare her response.

'Was something like really needed? You do not have a throat, you know.' asked Dexter dryly.

'Shut up.' retorted Dee as one of her lights turned a bright red. After a moment, it turns back to green as she says 'Before I begin, I must inquire if you know about how Pokeball locking works, Professor.'

"I do. When a Trainer captures another Pokemon while carrying a full team, the Pokeball used to capture it becomes electronically locked, rendering it unable to be opened. The Pokeball will then be transported away via the Pokemon Transfer system."

'Precisely. But what people don't know is that there's a way to decide which Pokemon you can send away.' stated Dee, light blinking. 'The process is a simple one, really - when Leaf asks me to send a certain Pokemon to the lab after a new capture, I wirelessly connect to the Pokeball containing that particular Pokemon and electronically lock it, preventing it from being opened while unlocking the Pokeball belonging to the one she wants to keep with her. The locked Pokeball will then be transported to your lab, where upon reaching its destination, it will unlock again.'

"I see." said Oak, nodding in understanding. "Well, that answers one question, but raises so many others. In any case, thank you for addressing that for me, Dee. I appreciate it."

'Anytime, Professor. Now then...our upgrades, please?'

"Of course. We should get started on that." said Oak before taking Leaf's Pokedex and sliding it into a large slot computer-like machine. After typing in a few keys in order to start uploading the National Pokedex to the red-colored device, he places Lincoln's Pokedex onto a nearby desk before opening the box that Bill had sent him. "I'm about to start installing your new parts, Dexter. Can you shut down for a moment for me, please?"

'Of course, Professor. Shutting down now...' replied Dexter before going quiet as the Pokedex turned off.

After taking several small, complex-looking parts out of the box, Oak sighs and says "...Okay, Samuel...you can do this. Nobody knows how to perform maintenance on a Pokedex better than you. You've got this." before starting to open up Lincoln's Pokedex in order to get started on installing them.

-=O=-

-Vermilion City Pokemon Center - VideoPhone Booths (8:40 AM)-

Exhaling sharply as Lincoln hung up the VideoPhone's receiver, Leaf remarks "A way to transfer Pokemon on the go and the National Pokedex...this is a lot to take in, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." replied Lincoln before a small grin formed on his face. "It happened at a good time, though. There's supposed to be a Wonder Trade machine on the St. Anne, right?"

Nodding, Leaf says "Yeah." before a grin of her own started to appear. "...And considering that we'll probably end up getting Pokemon from other regions...yeah, it couldn't have happened at a better time, now that I think about it."

"Must be that Rainbow Wing working out for you again. I've noticed that ever since you started carrying that thing around, things have started taking an upturn for you." commented Pikachu, causing his Trainer to look at him for a moment before taking the item in question out of his bag.

Eyes catching onto the shimmering feather, Leaf asks "So many colors...what is that thing? It's beautiful..."

"It's..." started Lincoln as he hesitated to answer the brunette's question for a moment before deciding to go through with telling her. "It's a Rainbow Wing. I got it from the Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh sometime during the start of my journey, along with a bag of Sacred Ash. Apparently, it's supposed to be able to bring happiness to whoever holds it."

As he handed over the multicolored feather for Leaf to look at, he adds "Managed to snap a few pictures of it with my Pokedex, too. I'll see about showing them to you when I get it back."

"I'll hold you to that." murmured Leaf as she gazed at the Rainbow Wing, entranced. "Still...to think that you received something like this from a Legendary Pokemon...wow. Just wow. I'm actually feeling kinda jealous, to be honest."

"Not jealous enough for something like this to hurt our friendship, I hope..."

"Nah, we're good. Just kinda wish that I was the one who ran into it, y'know?" answered Leaf before handing the Rainbow Wing back. "You ought to make a good luck charm out of it or something. Better than just keeping it in your bag, at any rate."

"I might just look into that..." mused Lincoln, nodding as he thought over the idea while looking at the shimmering feather in his hand. As he started to become enthralled by its continually changing colors however, one of his Pokeballs on his belt started to rattle around in its socket, breaking him from his trance.

Recognizing the Pokeball immediately as the one belonging to Raph, Lincoln sighs before putting the Rainbow Wing back into his bag, then taking the Pokeball off of his belt and sending the Water-Type out.

"A Squirtle...didn't know that you had one of those." remarked Leaf as Raph finished materializing in front of Lincoln. "Is that the only Kanto starter you've got on you?"

"I've got a Charmander and Bulbasaur, too. One's here with me while the other's back at Professor Oak's lab." answered Lincoln, holding up two fingers.

"All three Kanto starters...wow. You really need to consider that idea of turning that Rainbow Wing into a lucky charm. Seriously, you do."

"I'll look into it when I get the chance." replied Lincoln before crossing his arms as he looked down at Raph, who glared at him in response. "Alright Raph, what do you want?"

Clearly annoyed by the question, Raph snaps "Don't tell me that you've already forgotten, you dipshit! You promised me a chance to fight for my freedom, remember?"

"Right...I did promise something like that. So when do you want to do this?"

"Right now. I want to hurry up and whip your overgrown salad's sorry ass so I can get the hell away from you."

Sighing, Lincoln replies "...Fine. Go wait in the lobby while I finish up here. I'll be with you once I'm done.", causing Raph to scoff before walking back to the main part of the lobby.

"I'm guessing there's bad blood between you two?" inquired Leaf, eyeing the Water-Type as he plunked himself down onto one of the lobby's couches.

"Long story short, Raph used to be the leader of a gang of troublemaking Squirtles. Brock, Misty and I helped the local Officer Jenny with busting the entire gang and he's still mad at me about it. He doesn't even listen to me." answerd Lincoln, shrugging. "Yesterday, I offered him a chance to earn his freedom - all he has to do is beat one of my Pokemon in a match and I'll let him go. He chose my Bulbasaur to be his opponent since he was the one that defeated Raph before he was captured."

Sighing again, he adds "I'm actually starting to regret catching him, honestly. If I had known he was going to be this much of a pain to handle, I would've taken my chances with one of the other Squirtles. They'd probably be more cooperative."

"Give him some time, Lincoln. I'm sure that he'll eventually warm up to you." said Leaf reassuringly.

"Time's something I'm starting to run out of when it comes to him. I'm usually a patient kind of guy, but even my patience has it's limits. I'll try to make things work, though." said Lincoln before noticing that Raph was peering at him from the backrest of one of the lobby's couches.

"Hey shithead, stop babbling with that chick already and get your ass over here! I wanna fight that Bulbasaur of yours already!"

"Well, I guess I better go ahead and get this out of the way. Can you keep an eye out for Professor Oak for me, please?"

Nodding, Leaf says "Sure thing, Lincoln. I'll watch out for him.", causing Lincoln to give her a grateful nod in return before heading towards the Center's front doors while motioning for Raph to follow him outside. After watching the two leave the Center completely, she shrugs before opening one of her shopping bags and taking a magazine out of it.

-=O=-

-Vermilion City - Beach (8:35 AM)-

Upon arriving at an expanse of beach after a brief walk through Vermilion City, Lincoln nods in satisfaction before remarking "This place will do. Plenty of room for you and Azami to go wild during your match."

"And it'll give me a faster way to get away from your sorry ass after I win." commented Raph, eyeing the vast expanse of sea nearby. "Yeah, this place is perfect."

Giving Lincoln an expectant look, he adds "Alright, go ahead and send out that overgrown salad, will ya? The sooner I beat his leafy ass, the sooner I can get back to my gang."

"Before I do let Azami out, I need to tell you something first."

"Whatever it is, I don't wanna hear it. Just send him out already."

"Raph, this is important, alright? Just be quiet and listen to me for just one moment, will you?" stated Lincoln with a somewhat annoyed tone, causing the Water-Type to glare at him before giving him a curt nod. "Thank you. Now then...I taught Azami a few moves in preparation for this match. Since I did that for him, I'm offering to do the same thing for you in order to level the playing field a bit. I've got a TM for the move..."

"Don't care. I don't need or even want your stinkin' help to beat that overgrown weed. I can beat his ass on my own." replied Raph with a sneer. "I'm the leader of the Squirtle Squad. I don't need some loser like you to help me lay the smackdown on someone. You get me?"

"Raph, I'm trying to hel..."

"I said I don't care. Now send that leafy son-of-a-bitch out here so I can kick the shit out of him. I don't wanna keep my gang waiting any longer for my return."

Sighing in exasperation, Lincoln mutters "Fine, whatever. I tried to help you..." before tossing Azami's Pokeball into the air, sending the Seed Pokemon out. Giving the Grass-Type a glance, he says "I'm assuming you heard everything we've said so far?"

"More or less." answered Azami before giving Raph, who was glaring at him, a bored look. "So, you ready to get your shell-covered behind handed to you again?"

"You're the one who's going to lose this time, seed boy." snarled Raph, sneering while Lincoln sent out the rest of his current team to watch the upcoming fight.

As Skyera, Astro, Pikachu and Fearow stood to the side of the improvised battlefield, Lincoln gives Raph a look before saying "Last chance, Raph. Do you want me to teach you that new move or not? It'll probably be strong enough to help you win this one."

Scoffing, Raph answers "Like I'd want anything you have to offer, snowball. You just sit back and get my Pokeball ready so I can destroy it after I finish kicking your Bulbasaur's ass." before turning back to Azami, who was shaking his head. "...What?"

"You're turning down something that could help you win our fight. What kind of idiot are you?"

"I'm not falling for his bullshit. Besides, I don't need his help to beat you."

"Suit yourself. You're the one who's going to be beaten when this is over." replied Azami dismissively before taking on a ready stance while Raph took off his sunglasses before doing the same.

Raising a wing to support her fellow teammate, Skyera chirps "Yeah! Kick his shell-wearing ass, bulb boy! Make him piss himself like he did during the fight at the Vermilion Gym!", causing Azami to give her a dry look while Raph glared at her.

"You shut your fucking dicklicker, you overgrown chicken! Don't make me come over there and kick your ass, too!"

"Bring it, bitch! I'll beat your ass and show these guys that you're not the hot shit that you think you are. If anything, you're nothing more than a cold cup of wet crap!"

"Fuck you, you feathered shitstain!"

"Enough of the obscenities, you two!" barked Lincoln, causing Raph to glare at him before scoffing while Fearow cuffed Skyera with her wing to settle her down. After eyeing the Flying-Type for a few more seconds to insure that there wouldn't be any further outbursts from her, he turns his attention back to the two Kanto starters, who were glaring at each other. "...Are you two ready?"

"Yes."

"Let's get this started."

"In that case...go!" replied Lincoln suddenly before jumping back, not wanting to get in the way of the upcoming fight.

It was a good thing that he did move, because almost as soon as he had heard Lincoln say 'go', Raph starts firing multiple jets of water at Azami, attempting to try and knock the Seed Pokemon out to bring the fight to a quick end.

Azami, on the other hand, starts charging towards Raph while pushing through the blasts of water, using his type's resistance to ignore the damage the attacks were dealing to his body.

Seeing that his attacks weren't having much effect on the Grass-Type, Raph changes tactics and starts firing bubbles out of his mouth, causing them to hit Azami's body, slowing it down slightly.

Shrugging off the minute damage that the bubbles had done to him, Azami manages to hit Raph with a Tackle that had a lot less 'oomph' to it, knocking Raph back an inch or two.

"Man, is that the best you've got? What a..." mocked Raph before a Vine Whip lashed across his face, causing him to let out a pained yelp. "Ow! You motherfucker!"

"You were the one asking for it."

"Fuck you, weed!" growled Raph before firing a mix of Water Guns and Bubble attacks at Azami, hoping that they'll be enough to take him down. "Just shut up and fucking go down already!"

"I'd rather not. Lincoln?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to use my new move now. Is that alright with you?"

Shrugging, Lincoln answers "It's your fight, not mine. Go nuts.", causing the Seed Pokemon to smirk slightly before opening up his bulb and pointing it at Raph, who was still firing away as many attacks as he could throw at his opponent.

After a few seconds, the bulb fires several small, golf ball-sized seeds at Raph's body, bouncing harmlessly off of it.

Upon feeling the seeds harmlessly collide against him, Raph stops attacking long enough to mockingly laugh at his opponent, asking "That's it? You think some shitty seeds are gonna stop me? Ha!"

Much to his surprise and bewilderment however, Azami simply answered "Actually, yeah. Those aren't just any old seeds, you know. Those are Leech Seeds." with his smirk still on his face.

"Leech what?!" questioned the Tiny Turtle Pokemon before the seeds suddenly split open, unleashing several thorn-covered vines from within them that quickly wrapped around his body. "What the hell is this?!"

"Leech Seed. Lincoln helped me out with remembering how to use it specifically for our match today." answered Azami simply, watching as the vines constricted around Raph's body, sinking the numerous thorns deep into his skin.

"Ugh...these seeds...aren't going to stop...me..." groaned Raph as he attempted to ignore the thorns sticking into his body, only to let out a pained yelp as he felt them drain...something from his body. "What the hell?!"

"Right. Almost forgot to mention what those seeds do, didn't I?" remarked Azami calmly as a soft green-colored aura enveloped his body for a moment before vanishing, leaving the Grass-Type's body looking in better shape than it did before. "They drain your energy and pass it on to me. So all those attacks you wasted on trying to knock me out? Completely healed up in a matter of seconds."

"You motherfucker! That's cheating!" snapped Raph before glaring at Lincoln hatefully. "I thought this was going to be a fair fight!"

"I tried to make it fair by teaching you a new move that would even things out, but you didn't want that. This is on you, Raph. Not me." replied Lincoln, shrugging. "And for the record, Leech Seed is a legitimate move. I made sure to check that before I helped Azami relearn it."

As Skyera starts pointing a wing at the Water-Type while laughing at him, Raph growls "...Ugh...whatever. Some shitty seeds won't help you beat me, you overgrown weed. I'll just have to keep hitting you hard and fast enough to knock your ass out so they won't be able to patch you up."

"You're more than welcome to try." answered Azamim simply in a calm tone, causing the Tiny Turtle Pokemon to growl again before speeding towards him as a cone of water starts to form around him. "...This again? Guess you need a reminder of what happened last time."

With that said, the Grass-Type calmly aims his bulb at Raph, who narrowed his eyes upon seeing what his opponent was planning to do.

"Oh fuck no, you're not getting me with that again!" exclaimed Raph before leaping into the air over the pointed bulb, causing the water surrounding his body to shimmer as the bright sunshine filtered through it.

"Wow...so pretty..." remarked Astro, eyes sparkling in awe at the sight.

"Looks like he's caught onto the trap that Azami used on him before." said Pikachu, arms crossed. "At least he's sharp enough to know not to fall for the same trick twice."

Upon coming in contact with the sandy ground, Raph immediately pulls a U-turn and starts charging towards Azami again, aiming to land a direct hit from behind.

"Got you now, you bastard! Aqua Jet!"

"No. It's me who's got you." answered Azami before jumping into the air and discharging a thick cloud of yellow pollen from his bulb directly in front of Raph's Aqua Jet attack, engulfing the Tiny Turtle Pokemon. "Leech Seed wasn't the only move I learned from Lincoln. I picked up Stun Spore, too."

Upon feeling the pollen's paralyzing effect on his body, Raph's Aqua Jet attack quickly cancels as the Water-Type himself falls to the ground, unable to move anything save for his mouth.

"This isn't right! I'm not supposed to be losing like this!" snarled Raph as he tried to get back to his feet, only to fail.

"You wouldn't be losing period if you had just accepted Lincoln's offer. He wanted to make this as even of a contest as possible for both of us and you turned him down. Idiot." said Azami, walking over while Raph glared hatefully at him. "Even then, I'm not sure if that would've helped you win or not. When was the last time you actually put any effort into making yourself stronger?"

"I'm the leader of the Squirtle Squad! I don't need to worry about making myself stronger! I'm already strong enough!"

After giving his opponent a clearly bewildered look, Azami says "...So you not only turn Lincoln's help down, but you neglected to improve yourself on top of that. Once again, I must state that you are an absolute idiot."

No response came from Raph, save for a hate-filled glare.

"Lincoln, I'm going to end this one now. This joke of a fight has gone on long enough." said Azami before taking aim at Raph, who was now wriggling on the beach in anger, attempting to get back to a vertical base. Once he was certain that he was going to hit with his next attack, the Grass-Type fires a storm of razor-sharp leaves at Raph's immobile body, causing him to let out loud cries of pain as the leaves carved into his skin.

Wincing as she tried to ignore the screaming coming from Raph, Fearow asks "Razor Leaf...don't you think that using something like was a bit much, Azami? You practically had the fight won after you used Stun Spore and Leech Seed on him."

"Yeah. Friend Raph sounds like he's really hurting right now..." whimpered Astro with a shudder.

"He's the one that started this by being so stubborn in the first place. If he had just cooperated with us instead of being a pain in the ass to everyone else, then he wouldn't be in this situation." stated Azami before looked down at Raph, who was covered in several shallow cuts. "So are you done? Do you want to quit?"

"Fuck...you..." groaned Raph before his body goes limp, unable to continue the fight.

Giving Lincoln a glance, Azami says "He's done. You can go ahead and treat him now.", causing the white-haired boy to nod before hurrying over with two bottles of Potion, a bottle of Paralyze Heal and the first aid kit that Lisa had given him.

-=O=-

As Lincoln started to treat Raph's injuries, Skyera and Pikachu head over towards Azami, who simply watched over his Trainer as he started working on patching his fallen opponent up.

"Nice job on giving that bubble-spewing asshole the beating he deserved, plant boy. Maybe now he'll stop being such a dick towards the rest of us." commented Skyera, clearly pleased with the fact that the Tiny Turtle Pokemon had lost. "Would've loved to kick his ass myself, but seeing you do it was almost just as good."

"It was a painful, but necessary lesson for him to learn." replied Azami dismissively. "Besides, now that I've beaten him twice, he'll want to become stronger in order to be able to match up against me again."

"And if he wants to do that, he'll have to start training with Lincoln in order to get the strength he needs to take you on. Clever." mused Pikachu, nodding.

"Exactly. Now hush. I want to make sure Lincoln treats his injuries correctly."

Walking over with a worried look on his face as Lincoln continued to tend to Raph's wounded body, Astro asks "...Is Friend Raph going to be okay, Friend Lincoln?"

"He'll be fine once I'm done patching him up, Astro. Don't worry."

"Good to know. I don't like seeing one of my friends getting hurt like this..."

After cleaning the cuts on the Water-Type's body and using the contents of the three bottles on him, Lincoln mutters "...Looks about right. What do you think, Azami?"

"Passable. He should be waking up any moment now." answered Azami, watching calmly as Raph's eyes started to slowly open.

"Wha...where am I...?" mumbled the Tiny Turtle Pokemon in a dazed voice before noticing Lincoln looking down at him with a concerned, yet relieved expression his face.

"Hey, Raph. You doing alright?"

In an instant, Raph's eyes narrowed in anger before he quickly pulled himself away from the white-haired boy and the rest of his team.

Pointing at Lincoln, he snarls "What the fuck were you doing, you white-haired bastard? Did I ask you to help me?"

"Would you rather have your injuries go untreated?" countered Lincoln in return, arms crossed. "You could at least thank me for taking the time to heal you, you know."

"Fuck you! I'm not thanking you for shit!" snapped Raph before hobbling over to Azami, who eyed him with amusement. "...You."

"Yes?"

"...One way or another, I'm going to beat your ass if it's the last thing I do. I don't care how long it'll take for me to do it - I'm not going anywhere until I beat you. Got that?"

"Good to know you'll be sticking around with us a bit longer then." commented Lincoln, causing the Water-Type to glare at him. "Not that you could leave anyway, considering you just blew your only chance at freedom."

After staring at him for a moment, Raph dumbly asked "...What?" in response.

"Our arrangement, remember?" replied Lincoln, causing the Water-Type to stare at him again before the memory of the agreement he had made with Lincoln went through his mind...

-Flashback-

"So...you really want to go free again, do you? Is that what you want?"

Pointing at Lincoln, Raph snarled "You're damn right it is!"

Eyebrow raised, Lincoln asked "Are you willing to fight for it?", causing a suspicious look to form on the Tiny Turtle Pokemon's face.

"...What are you getting at?"

"I'm willing to give you a chance - one chance - to earn your freedom." answered Lincoln, holding up the Water-Type's Pokeball. "All you need to do is beat one of my Pokemon in a battle and you're free to go. No objections, no catches - you win, you're free."

-Flashback End-

Now realizing that his one and only chance at freedom had just went up in smoke, Raph shook his head in denial, muttering "...No...no...this can't be happening...this can't be happening!"

"Face it, turtle boy. It's definitely happening." replied Skyera mockingly. "And since the talking salad over there kicked your sorry ass, that means that not only are you stuck with us, but if our Trainer gives your ass an order, you follow it to the letter. You gave your word as the leader of that shitty gang of yours, remember?"

"I have a name, feathers. Use it." remarked Azami in a dry, annoyed tone.

"I'll call you what I damn well please!"

"I can't believe this...first I lose to that fucking Bulbasaur again and now I learn that I'm stuck with that white-headed shitnugget. What'd I do to deserve this?" moaned Raph in defeat as his current situation finally took its toll on him.

"Being an asshole to everyone you met, for starters. You want me to start going over everything else?" remarked Pikachu, frowning.

Giving Pikachu a look, Lincoln says "That's enough, Pikachu." before crossing his arms as he looks down at Raph, who still had a defeated look on his face. "You brought it on yourself by not working with us in the first place, Raph. We tried to work things out with you and you didn't want that."

Crossing his arms, he adds "In any case, you lost the match, so now you're going to listen to me from now on.", causing the Water-Type to open his mouth in order to raise a protest. "Oh no, you don't. You gave your word as the leader of the Squirtle Squad, remember?"

After sputtering in outrage at the fact he couldn't back out of the deal without tarnishing his reputation, Raph grimaces before nodding, saying "...Fine. I'll cooperate for now. You're the boss." before giving Lincoln a hate-filled glare. "But no matter what, just know this - I may start listening to you from now on, but you're never going to earn my respect, snowball. Never. You got that?"

"Your cooperation's more than enough for me right now, Raph. You want me to recall you back so you can get some rest?"

"Might as well. It'll get me away from you shitheads for a little while." answered Raph, causing Lincoln to roll his eyes before taking the Water-Type's ball from his belt. "But before you do..."

"Yeah?"

"The move you wanted to teach me...what was it?"

Placing a hand on his hip, Lincoln asks "Are you sure that you want to know? You'll probably end up kicking yourself once I tell you."

Sighing, Raph mutters "Just get it over with and tell me so I can go back into my ball. It's not like what you have to say will ruin my day any further, anyway."

"Suit yourself." replied Lincoln before taking a white-colored disc TM out of his bag. Holding it up, he adds "The move I was going to teach you was this one - a move called Frustration. Considering that you can hardly stand being around me, it would've been strong enough to help you overpower Azami in your battle."

Upon hearing the name of the move and what it did, Raph's jaw dropped in disbelief while Pikachu and Skyera started cracking up at the Water-Type's expense.

Even Astro, Azami and Fearow couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the situation.

"I don't believe it! Lincoln practically offers you a guaranteed way of winning your freedom and you end up turning it down!" cackled Pikachu as he and Skyera fell backfirst on the sand, unable to contain their laughter.

Nothing came from Raph in response, save for stunned silence.

"Must've been too much for him to handle." remarked Lincoln to himself before recalling the shell-shocked (no pun intended) Raph back into his Pokeball. After placing it back onto his belt, he gives Azami a nod, saying "Good job, Azami. Didn't expect you know have Stun Spore and Razor Leaf added to your arsenal, to be honest. You pick those up yourself?"

"I picked them up while you were training me to relearn Leech Seed." answered the Seed Pokemon in return. "Speaking of which, thanks for taking the time to help me with that. I didn't want to say anything, but I was starting to feel the damage from all of those attacks that shell-brained idiot was throwing at me."

"No problem." said Lincoln with a smile before recalling the rest of his Pokemon, save for Pikachu, back into their Pokeballs. "Well, we're done here. Let's get back to the Pokemon Center and get Raph completely patched up. The patch-up job I gave him isn't going to be enough to get him back to peak condition."

"Lead the way." said Pikachu as he hopped onto his usual spot on Lincoln's shoulder. "So...are you still going to teach that shell-for-brains how to use Frustration?"

"A move like that will definitely be useful for him to have during a battle, considering how much he hates my guts. I'd be a fool to turn down the idea of teaching it to him."

-=O=-

-Vermilion City - Inside The Rocket Warehouse (9:10 AM)-

While Lincoln and Pikachu started to make their way back to the Vermilion Pokemon Center, they remained unaware of the three sets of eyes peering out at them from one of the warehouses at the end of the dock.

"Dere dey go. It's a damn shame we can't do nothin' to 'em until dey get on da St. Anne." commented Meowth, eyeing the white-haired boy and his Pikachu as they walked away from the beach.

"Be patient, Meowth. Once those two and their little friends manage to make it onto the ship, we'll wait for the right moment to strike, then hit them when they least expect it." said Jessie, giving the Normal-Type a look. "And this time, we're not going to fail. We'll have more than enough backup to ensure that things go smoothly this time around."

"Not to mention that we'll have more Pokemon to use against them, too." remarked James before punching his fist as a grin appeared on his face. "I can't wait to get some well-deserved payback on that little brat..."

"We're going to make all of them pay for causing our failures, James. Count on it." replied Jessie before noticing Midori, who was now clad in her usual black uniform, walking towards them. "Speaking of failures, here comes someone who's possibly screwed up as much as we have, if not more."

"Shut it, you worthless grunt. I may not be a squad leader anymore, but I still outrank you two nimrods." snarled the green-haired woman in response. "If it hadn't been for that little white-haired shit and his friends, I'd still have my former rank."

"So you ran into him too, huh? Guess we're not da only ones havin' trouble with him." commented Meowth, causing Midori to glare at him.

"Don't put me in the same catagory as you and your worthless partners, cat."

Irritated with being called 'worthless' again, Jessie growls "Worthless? I'll show you worthless, you bit...", only for James to grab her shoulder, stopping her from doing something rash towards the other woman.

"She's not worth it, Jessie."

"...Fine. So what do you want, aside from running your mouth?"

After glaring at Jessie again, Midori answers "Mr. Proton wants all of you to report to the briefing on the St. Anne operation. Your attendance is mandatory.", causing all three to nod before heading off. Watching them as they walk off, she mutters "Stupid, worthless grunts. Our organization would be better off without them, in my honest opinion."

"Something that you and our boss happens to have in common, believe it or not." remarked Proton's voice from behind her, causing Midori to let out a startled cry before turning around to face her superior.

"S-sir! I was just...why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be giving the briefing?"

"It's not your place to question why I'm here, nor is it to dictate what I should or should not be doing, grunt. That's my role, not yours." snapped Proton with a scowl.

"A-Apologies, sir. It won't happen again." stammered Midori before recalling what the green-haired man had said before. "...Sir? What did you mean when you said that I had something in common with the boss?"

"Like yourself, he also believes that those three nimrods have expended their usefulness to our organization." answered Proton simply. "Which is why he has entrusted me with insuring that they will not be a problem for him or Team Rocket in the future."

"He wants you to kill them, sir?"

"Kill them, fire them, dump them out at sea...it doesn't matter. He just wants them gone." said Proton before giving the nervous woman in front of him a glance. "...However, considering that my main focus will be on the St. Anne operation, I'll need to designate this particular job to someone else in order to ensure that it'll be attended to."

Noticing the look that Proton was giving her, Midori asks "...Me, sir? You want me to handle this for you?"

"Yes. Think of it as a way to atone for your earlier failures at Mount Moon and Cerulean Cape while performing a service for the greater good of Team Rocket." answered Proton, nodding. "Do a good enough job and I might talk to the boss about reinstating you back to your previous rank."

Eyes lighting up at the idea of getting rid of the Rocket Trio and getting her old rank back, Midori nods eagerly and says "You can count on me, sir! I'll see to it that those three will never bother the boss again!"

"I'll be holding you to that. Now then, you should be making your way to the briefing, grunt. Dismissed."

"Someone's giving the briefing for you, sir?"

Giving Proton a salute, Midori replies "Yes, sir!" before running off to join the other grunts in the warehouse.

After watching her leave, Proton shakes his head before walking off in order to start briefing his subordinates on the upcoming operation.

-=O=-

-Inside Of A Restaurant Somewhere In Pewter City (10:25 AM)-

"Ahh...there's nothing like a hot meal after a hard-fought victory." said Rusty as he, Joe and Giselle sat together with their Pokemon at one of the many restaurants in Pewter City, enjoying what appeared to be a large meal with each other.

All three were completely clad in new clothing as well - Joe was wearing a black polo shirt, a pair of dark blue, knee-length cargo shorts and black shoes that were fit for on-foot travelling. On his right wrist was a new-looking wristwatch made completely from Unovan silver.

(Based on Blue's outfit from Pokemon Sun and Moon, but without the sunglasses.)

Giselle's outfit consisted of a blue skirt with a darker blue criss-crossing pattern, a white, short-sleeved dress shirt with a blue-colored sweater vest, shin-length white socks and a pair of black mary-jane shoes. Like with Joe, she wore a wristwatch, but it was a golden one that was on her right wrist.

(Based on a character design for a Loud House OC that had caught my attention.)

Rusty, though he was still wearing his usual hat and glasses, was clad in a pair of crisp, brand new-looking blue jeans, a white shirt with short red sleeves and a red Pokeball design on the front of the shirt. On his feet were a pair of red and white-colored high-tops. Like the other two members of the group, he was also wearing a wristwatch, but it was a simple red and white digital one made of plastic.

(Based on Red's outfit from Pokemon Sun and Moon.)

Earlier that day, all three had challenged Flint and had managed to obtain their first badge from him, which had led to the celebratory meal that they were having now.

Giving the Mankey beside him a smile as it chomped away at its meal, the glasses-wearing boy adds "You did great out there today by kicking that Onix's big, rocky ass, Joe Lewis."

After giving his Trainer a happy-sounding grunt, the Pig Monkey Pokemon went back to eating again.

"Same goes for you too, Edgar." remarked Joe, taking the time to pat the Grass-Type on the top of his head. "Your Grass typing really came in handy with helping me earn my first badge."

Giving her Cubone a warm smile, Giselle adds "I'm proud of you too, Cubone. You've proven exactly why you're the strongest Pokemon on my team with your efforts today.", causing the Lonely Pokemon to wag his tail happily.

Noticing how the brunette had referred to her Pokemon, Rusty asks "You haven't come up with any nicknames for your Pokemon yet, Giselle?"

"Never really saw a need for it, honestly." admitted Giselle, shrugging. "It is something I should look into, though. What do you think, Cubone?"

"I think it's a good idea. I'd like to have a name to call my own." said the Ground-Type, nodding his head.

"I see...in that case, I'll try to come up with something good for you."

Giving Joe a glance, Rusty asks "Speaking of nicknames, do you have one for that Hoothoot of yours yet?"

"Haven't been thinking about giving him one yet. I'm still trying to figure out the identity of the person who ditched him on Route 22." said Joe, arms crossed. "I haven't figured anything out yet, but I'm certain that whoever it is, they definitely live in Viridian City."

"What makes you think that's the case, Rogers?"

"Well, considering that this breeder probably wanted to ditch my Hoothoot as quickly as possible, they most likely didn't want to go too far in order to do it. And I doubt that anyone at the Indigo Plateau would be willing to take part in something like this, considering that's where the Kanto League Committee's headquarters can be found."

"That makes sense, now that I think about it." conceded Giselle, nodding. "So who do you think it is?"

Shrugging, Joe answers "Dunno. If you ask me, I think that it's someone at Pokemon Tech who's doing it. Call it a hunch, but I've got a gut feeling that the one responsible for ditching Hoothoot is there."

"You actually think that someone at the school may be doing something like this?"

"I wouldn't put it past them, considering how obsessed they are with being the best. Who's to say that they wouldn't try to do this in order to get their hands on Pokemon with the best traits?"

"Aw man...to think that someone at our old school may be doing something like that..." moaned Rusty, shuddering in disgust. "Now I'm even more glad that we got out of there. I don't want to think about the idea of sharing a school with someone like that."

"Likewise." replied Joe, grimacing. "Leaving that toxic place was the best possible thing to happen to the both of us."

"While I was originally distraught about being expelled at first, I have to agree with you two. Our expulsion from Pokemon Tech is more of a blessing than a curse." said Giselle with a nod.

"Yeah, it is. We're..." started Rusty before feeling an unpleasant sensation running through his lower body. Giving Joe a look, he asks "Aw, dang it. Where's the bathroom in this place?", causing the other boy to point at a pair of doors on the other side of the restaurant.

Seeing them, Rusty starts running towards the doors while clenching his stomach.

"While he's handling that, I'll go ahead and collect our bill." said Joe before getting up and leaving as well, leaving Giselle and the Pokemon still at the table behind.

As she waited patiently for both boys to come back, Giselle suddenly heard the sound of her cell phone going off, causing her to take a teal-colored phone out of her pocket.

"Hello? Who is this?" asked the brunette as she held the phone up to her ear, only for a familiar voice to respond - one that, unknown to her, caused the girl's heart to flutter upon hearing it.

"Giselle, is that you? It's me - Lincoln!"

"Lincoln? I never expected you to contact me so soon. How are you?"

"Pretty good, actually." replied Lincoln's voice cheerfully. "Just won my third badge a few days ago. How are you coming along so far?"

Smiling, Giselle answers "All three of us won our first badge in Pewter City today. A fine achievement, wouldn't you agree?"

"Definitely. I know I was certainly amped when I won my first badge." said Lincoln's voice in response. "So...by all three of you, I'm guessing that you're travelling with Joe and Rusty?"

"I am. After all, someone needs to keep those two out of trouble." joked Giselle, letting out a few chuckles. "So where are you right now?"

"Still in Vermilion City. Brock, Misty and I are here, waiting in line for the chance to board the St. Anne." answered Lincoln, causing a surprised look to form on the brunette's face.

"The St. Anne? You're going to ride on the St. Anne?"

"Yep. Managed to score a few free passes to board it. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Lucky's a more appropriate term, if you ask me. Even someone like myself has never stepped foot on the St. Anne before."

"Well, I'll see about telling you about what it's like when I call you again." said Lincoln before taking on a more morose tone. "...Giselle?"

"Yes?"

"I...I'd like to apologize for what happened to you after our match back at Pokemon Tech. Had I known that Verdant was going to..."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Lincoln. If anything, I should be the one to blame for dragging you into the match in the first place." answered Giselle, cutting him off. "I was the one who challenged you to that fateful battle, not the other way around."

Giving the phone a small smile, she adds "Besides, it's not like I'm going to miss that place anyway. I'm actually starting to enjoy the idea of travelling more, especially since it'll allow me to pursue my goal of defeating you without needing to worry about whether you'll come back to Viridian City or not."

"So you're not mad?"

"Not at all. If anything, you did me a favor."

After a moment, Lincoln's voice replies "If you say so. In any case, I better go since the line's starting to pick up. Talk to you later?"

"Of course. See you around, Lincoln. Enjoy your time on the St. Anne." answers Giselle with a smile before ending the call and placing the phone back just as Joe and Rusty started to make their way back to the table.

As the two boys sat down, Giselle's attention was diverted away from the going-ons of the table by the feeling of her own heart, which was beating surprisingly quickly.

Placing a subtle hand onto her chest, Giselle thought 'My heart...why is it beating like this?'

"You okay, Giselle? You're looking kinda flushed..." questioned Rusty in a worried tone, causing the brunette to snap out of her current train of thought.

"I'm fine. Just a bit of indigestion." answered Giselle assuringly before changing the subject. "So how do you think things are going back at Pokemon Tech so far?"

"Don't know and don't care. That place is behind me now." replied Joe dismissively, though inwardly he was wondering how his old school was doing...

-=O=-

-Pokemon Tech - Headmistress's Office (10:35 AM)-

"What do you mean you can't do anything about those losers?!" complained Leanne as she and Cardin stood in front of Headmistress Verdant's desk with furious expressions. Slamming her hands on the desk, she barks "They knocked us out and stole everything of value that we had! Are you just going to let that stand?!"

"Unfortunately, I can't do anything about that, Miss Yamato. In case you've forgotten, those three are no longer students of Pokemon Tech, so whatever they do is no longer my concern. Besides, what do you expect me to do about what they've done - expel them?"

"I expect you to do the right thing and have those three arrested!"

"What she said! We're elites of Pokemon Tech - you can't let something like this go unpunished!"

Steepling her fingers, Verdant answers "You want to talk about punishment, Mister Winchester? Well, how about I punish both of you for letting those three rob you in the first place?"

"We're the ones who were wronged, Headmistress! You should be punishing those three failures, not us!" complained Cardin, incensed.

"And yet those three 'failures' managed to snatch up everything of value from the two of you." countered Verdant, eyebrows furrowing. "That makes our school look incompetent, which in turn makes ME look incompetent by association. That's something worthy of a punishment, in my opinion."

Giving the two students a look that was clearly not taking 'no' for an answer, she adds "You are banned from competing for the Battle Trophy for two weeks and may not have access to any recreational rooms in the school until the end of the month."

"This isn't fair! You can't do this!" protested Leanne, clearly pissed off with Verdant's decision.

"I just did. Now get out of my sight." said Verdant before pointing at her office door, causing the two students to glare at her before storming towards it. Just as they were about to open the door, the intercom on her desk activated, catching the three's attention.

"Headmistress Verdant? There's a couple of new applicants here to see you."

Hearing this, Verdant's eyes lit up as a smile formed on her face.

"That must be them. Send them in, please."

"Of course. One moment."

Raising an eyebrow, Leanne asks "New students?", causing Verdant to give her a nod.

"Yes. Both of them hail from Blackthorn City in Johto and have personally trained under Lance of the Elite Four." replied the green-haired headmistress before taking on a proud tone to her voice. "This will be an excellent way to bolster the reputation of Pokemon Tech after losing our former top student. Imagine it - two of the Kanto champion's proteges, coming to our institution!"

"Proteges or not, they probably won't be able to stand up to a pair of elites like us." boasted Cardin, causing Verdant to give him a disgusted sneer.

"The only thing 'elite' about you two idiots is the amount of 'funding' that both of your parents are contributing to our school, Mister Winchester. If it wasn't for that, you and Miss Yamato would be down in the lower ranks with the rest of the rubbish students."

At this, both teens grimaced, knowing that despite how harsh Verdant's words were towards them, it didn't make them any less true - despite their claims of being 'elites' of Pokemon Tech, the two were only getting by due to the 'generous contributions' that their parents were paying to the headmistress. Every passing grade, every advantage that they had over other students, every item that the two were given as 'rewards' for their hard 'work'...all of it was paid for with their parents' money.

And they weren't the only ones. Almost half of the upper-rankers in the school (who were, conveniently enough, the ones who picked on everyone who was ranked lower than them) were doing the same thing as well.

"Now then, get out of my sight. I have more important people to deal with than you two." stated Verdant as she pointed at the door again, causing the two students to grimace again before complying.

As Leanne opened the door to allow herself and Cardin to leave, two people who looked to be in their mid-teens - a brown-haired male and a long-haired, redheaded female who were wearing clothes with the Dragon Clan's insignia on them - stepped past them, causing the two 'elites' to give them leery glances before stepping through the doorway.

Putting on a friendly-looking expression on her face, Verdant greeted "Ah...you two must be the ones who were sent by Lance. Welcome to the Pokemon Technical Institute, the finest Trainer's School in the entire Kanto region, if not the world itself. I am Allison Verdant, headmistress of this

institution."

Giving her a curt nod, the female of the two Trainers replied "Yes. We've heard of your school from Master Lance. Both of us were rather impressed with the institute's resume when he showed it to us."

"It is rather impressive, isn't it? We worked hard to establish our reputation as the best school the Kanto region has to offer." replied Verdant proudly. "Now then, considering the fact that both of you have been trained by the Champion himself prior to coming here, I think we'll put you two in the upper ranks with our best students. Exceptional cases like you two deserve to be with Pokemon Tech's elite."

At this, the two look at each other before giving Verdant a nod, causing a wide smile to form on her face.

"Excellent! You won't regret this decision, I promise!" stated the green-haired woman, offering the two a handshake which was immediately accepted. "I see a lot of potential in you two. Good enough to become the new top students of our school, even."

Upon hearing this, Leanne glares hatefully at the two newcomers before storming out of the room with Cardin, mentally making a reminder to have her cronies start harassing them as soon as possible.

There was no way she was going to allow a couple of upstarts to move in and take what she felt was rightfully hers. The position of top student was hers and hers alone.

-=O=-

-Vermilion Port - Outside The St. Anne (11:20 AM)-

While Verdant was continuing to try and flatter her two new students, Lincoln, Misty, Brock, Leaf and Pikachu were standing in the middle of a massive line in front of a large, luxurious-looking cruise ship.

"It's been almost two hours now..." groaned Lincoln as he continued to wait in line with a clearly bored look on his face. "Is the St. Anne really worth waiting in line like this, Misty?"

The wait to board the St. Anne had been a very long one for the white-haired Loud and his companions, almost making him wonder if the passes they currently held were worth the trouble. In fact, the only good thing that he could actually say about the long wait to board the ship was the fact that it gave Leaf time to try out the new translation program on her Pokedex while he was able to put some of his TMs to use on some of the members of his current team - Frustration and Water Pulse for Raph and Shock Wave for Pikachu.

"It'll be worth it, Lincoln. You'll see." said Misty reassuringly. "Once you see what the inside of the ship looks like, you'll be changing your tune."

"How would you know what it looks like on the inside?" questioned Brock, eyebrow raised.

"I saw a TV special on the St. Anne when I was a kid. That's how I know what it looks like." replied Misty before giving Lincoln a glance. "Trust me, it'll be worth the wait."

As she tapped her foot impatiently, Leaf comments "Let's hope so. I'm starting to get tired of waiting."

After a moment, Lincoln nods and says "...I guess I'll take your word for it, Misty." before deciding to start a conversation in order to help pass the time. "So...uh, what kinda stuff will we be seeing once we get on board? I know that there's supposed to be a way to Wonder Trade on the ship, but what else does it have to offer?"

"Wonder Trading is just one of the many services that the St. Anne has available to those who board her, young man." replied a woman's voice from nearby, catching the group's attention. "There are plenty of others who intend to ply their respective trades on-board as well."

Upon seeing the owner of the voice - a glasses-wearing woman with red hair and a curvy figure - Misty's eyes lit up as she said "Master Lorelei! It's..."

Before she could finish, the woman puts a finger to her lips and shushes, cutting the younger redhead off. After checking to see if anyone nearby was listening, she whispers "It's good to see you too, Misty. But please, try not to use my name while we're out in the open like this. I'd like to avoid attracting unwanted attention."

"You're asking for discretion. Completely understandable, considering who you are." replied Misty, nodding her head. "So what are you doing on the St. Anne? Someone as important as you should be at the front of the line, if not on the ship already."

"I'm not the kind of person who cuts in line, Misty. I prefer to wait for my turn like everyone else." replied the woman, shrugging. "To answer your first question, I'm here to enjoy what the St. Anne has to offer. It's not every day you get a ticket to ride on a world-famous cruise liner, after all."

"I know what you mean. When we managed to acquire passes to go on board, I..."

Cutting Misty off, Lincoln asks "I don't want to seem like I'm interrupting here, but...uh, who are you? You seem to know Misty fairly well.", causing Misty, Leaf and Brock to look at him in disbelief while the woman simply raised an eyebrow in response.

"You seriously don't know who this is? This is..." started Leaf before remember what the woman had just said to Misty earlier. "Um...er..."

"Prima. Just call me Prima." replied the woman simply before leaning in to whisper something. "...My actual name is Lorelei, young man. I'm a member of Kanto's Elite Four."

Unknown to the group, three figures who were standing right behind them - a well-dressed lavender-haired man with a mustache, a classy-looking woman with red hair and a Meowth that was standing on its hind legs - flinched upon hearing the woman's actual name.

'Ugh...talk about rotten luck. We finally get something set up to get the jump on those brats and a member of the freaking Elite Four decides to show up.' thought the woman, grimacing. 'It's almost like something's trying to keep us from doing our job.'

While Lincoln stood there, surprised at the fact he was facing one of the most powerful Trainers in the entire region, Brock asks "Prima? The very same one who wrote all of those guides on raising Pokemon?" in an astonished tone.

"The very same. It's something I do in my spare time alongside my...other duties." replied Prima calmly before walking over to Lincoln and offering him a handshake. "You must be Lincoln Loud, the American Trainer who's been making a name for himself here in Kanto. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, that's me. And it's nice to meet you, too." replied Lincoln, accepting the handshake with a smile. "So what did you mean before by the St. Anne offering 'other services'?"

"Merchants of all kinds, mostly. Pokeballs, rare evolution stones, TMs, unique items that usually can't be found in PokeMarts...you'll probably find people selling those kind of things on the ship." replied Prima with a shrug before a small frown crossed her face. "Although I have heard rumors of an unpleasant-looking man on board who's trying to sell Magikarp to anyone who passes by him."

"Which is something I'll never understand. Why pay money for a Magikarp of all things when you can just use a fishing rod and catch one for free?" commented Misty, shaking her head.

"Probably some scam artist trying to make a fast buck off of anyone gullible to fall for his scheme. Ugh." said Leaf, disgusted.

"Most likely." remarked Prima, nodding. "In any case, our spots in line are about to move up to the front. I'll see the four of you on board the ship."

"We'll keep an eye out for you." replied Misty, causing Prima to nod before turning around and walking towards the man in front of the St. Anne's gangplank. "...Wow. To think that Lorelei of the Elite Four actually took the time to talk to us."

"Yeah." remarked Brock before giving the Water-Type Trainer a teasing grin. "So how close were you to fangirling over her, Misty?"

"Shut up, Brock! I wasn't going to fangirl over her!"

"Sure you weren't."

"I wasn't, damn it!"

"Will you two knock it off?!" barked Lincoln, causing the two Gym Leaders to look at him. Pointing at the now-open spot at the gangplank, he adds "We're up next."

Hearing this, any anger that Misty had towards Brock immediately disappeared as she ran towards the man standing guard and presented her pass.

"Here's my pass. May I step on board, please?"

After eyeing the pass for any signs of it being falsified, the man nods and says "...Everything seems to be in order." before stepping aside to let her step onto the gangplank. "Thank you for choosing the St. Anne. We hope you enjoy your time with us."

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" cheered the redhead excitedly before sprinting up the gangplank and onto the deck of the ship.

"...Well, she's certainly energetic all of a sudden." remarked Leaf, amused.

As he handed over his pass to the guard, Lincoln replies "She's been going on about the St. Anne for the past two days. What did you expect?" before making his way onto the ship as well.

-=O=-

-Inside The St. Anne (11:45 AM)-

"Wow...look at all of this..." murmured Lincoln in awe as he and his group looked around the interior of the St. Anne. From what he could see, there were thousands of people and Pokemon mingling with each other, a large line of stalls that were selling various wares of all kinds and a table piled with a buffet of delicious-looking food. "I've never seen so many people and Pokemon together in one place before..."

"Told you it'd be worth it." said Misty smugly. "So what do you guys want to do first?"

Stomach grumbling, Brock points at the food-laden table and says "I'm going to go check out the buffet. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving."

"Might see about doing a bit more shopping. I bought a few things earlier, but it couldn't hurt to purchase a little more, right?" answered Leaf with a shrug.

"I'll probably come with you. With any luck, I'll be able to get a real Water Stone for my Poliwhirl this time instead of some useless paperweight. What about you, Lincoln?"

"Don't know yet. I'm probably going to..." started Lincoln before suddenly going quiet as his eyes caught onto something in the distance - a large tank full of orange-colored fish-like Pokemon with yellow dorsal fins, white tail and pectoral fins, yellow whiskers, pink lips and vacant-looking round eyes.

And one of them was looking directly at him with a pleading look, as if asking for his help.

Beside the tank was a stall with a chubby black-haired man running it, trying to get anyone who passed by his stall to purchase one of the fish-like Pokemon from him.

Noticing what the white-haired boy was looking at, Leaf comments "That must be the guy Prima mentioned before...the one selling Magikarp to people." with a look of disgust on her face. "What kind of awful person tries to make a profit off of selling Pokemon like that? I can understand why breeders do it, but people like that guy...no. Just no."

Giving Lincoln a look, she says "Don't bother with that guy, Lincoln. It's not worth losing your money."

Instead of replying, Lincoln takes out his Pokedex and points it at the Magikarp looking at him, causing it to beep before saying 'Magikarp, the Fish Pokemon. Magikarp is a pathetic excuse for a Pokémon that is only capable of flopping and splashing. This behavior prompted scientists to undertake research into it. This male Magikarp is Level 19 and knows the moves Splash and Tackle.'

Raising an eyebrow, Leaf asks "Level 19, huh? Maybe it might be worth it for you to pick up that thing after all, if it's at that level. Magikarp evolve into Gyarados at Level 20, so if you can get that thing to level up just once, you'll have a Gyarados on your team."

"I don't want to buy him because of that. I want to buy him because he looks absolutely miserable in that tank, Leaf. Take a good look at him and tell me what you see." said Lincoln, causing the brunette to shrug before complying with his request.

Upon seeing the pleading look in the Water-Type's eyes, she mutters "Ooh...yeah, we should probably get the poor thing outta there. It's gotta be pretty cramped in that tank."

"Glad you agree." said Lincoln with a nod before recalling what Leaf had said earlier. "...Wait, that thing evolves into Gyarados?", causing both Leaf and Misty to give him a nod in response. "Well, that settles it then. I was just going to buy him in order to get him out of that tank, but having a Gyarados on my team will be one heck of a nice bonus on top of that. I'm gonna do it."

Walking over to the stall and tapping on it to get the owner's attention, the white-haired boy asks "Uh...excuse me, sir?"

"What do you want, boy? I have no time for idle chit-chat with brats like you. Unless you're here to buy something, beat it." said the man running the stall, scowling at him.

"That's just it. I'd like to purchase one of your Magikarp, please."

In an instant, the man's demeanor suddenly changes from a grouchy, unpleasant stall owner to the friendly, overly-cheerful personality you would expect to see from a used car salesman.

"I may not have time for idle chit-chat, but I've always got time for a potential customer! You'll be making a very wise decision with your purchase today, young man." replied the man, plastering a Cheshire-like grin on his face. "So which one's got your eye, hmm?"

After taking a look at the tank again and finding the one who was looking at him earlier, Lincoln points at it and says "This one. I'd like this one. Is it available for purchase?"

Grin widening, the man nods and answers "It is. You interested in buying it, young man?"

With a nod of his own, Lincoln replies "Yeah. How much?"

Acting like he was thinking over whether to sell the Fish Pokemon to the white-haired boy or not, the man says "Well...since you seem like you're a shrewd customer who know what he wants, I'll sell it at the low, low price of 500 PokeDollars. A fair deal if I say so, myself."

'Five-hundred Pokedollars? That's definitely a lot cheaper than what I was expecting...' thought Lincoln to himself before nodding again and saying "Deal.", causing the Magikarp in the tank to look at him in surprise.

"You...you actually want me?" asked the Water-Type feebly, prompting Lincoln to smile before giving him a nod.

"You bet I do. Do you want to come along with me, little guy?"

"Gladly! Anything to get out of this horrid tank! It's cramped in here!"

Nodding again, Lincoln takes out his Trainer Card and hands it over, allowing the salesman to scan it in order to complete the transaction.

"Five-hundred, as we agreed. You've made a wise decision today, kiddo." said the salesman, handing the card back with a smile. After taking the Magikarp out of the water and shoving it into Lincoln's arms, he adds "There you go, lad. Go ahead and use a Pokeball on that worthless piece of shi...er, your excellent purchase so you can be on your way."

As a grin formed on his face, he quickly includes "By the way, I don't offer refunds. All sales are final.", causing the white-haired Loud to roll his eyes in response.

'Didn't intend to ask for one in the first place, jerk.' thought Lincoln to himself before taking a Pokeball out of his bag and gently tapping it on the Magikarp's body, causing the ball to pull it inside in a burst of red light.

Seconds later, the ball goes still, signalling that the Water-Type had been successfully captured.

"And that's that. Welcome to the team, Magikarp." said Lincoln as he placed the Fish Pokemon's Pokeball on his belt while Astro's ball vanished in a flash of light. "Thanks for the Magikarp, sir. You have a good day."

"You too, my boy. Enjoy your purchase." replied the man in turn as Lincoln started to walk off. "Heh heh heh...what a sucker."

Nearby, James (still in disguise) watched as Lincoln walked away, having seen and heard everything that had transpired between him and the Magikarp salesman.

'So...the brat's planning on raising a Gyarados, huh? Well, two can play at that game, boy. I'll buy one of those Magikarp and get a Gyarados of my own...we'll see how you like that.' thought the lavender-haired man before hurrying over to the same stall and tapping on it to get the owner's attention. "Excuse me? I'd like to purchase one of your..."

Before he could finish speaking, his eyes caught onto something inside of the tank - a ragged-looking, light brown-colored fish-like Pokemon with darker colored spots on its body, large deep-set eyes, a pair of pink lips, a tattered-looking dull blue tail, a similarly-colored hollow dorsal fin and a pair of pectoral fins that shared the same color as its tail.

'Th-that's a Feebas...what's a Feebas doing here?!' thought James, not expecting to see the Hoenn-native Pokemon among the Magikarp in the tank.

Snapping his fingers to get James' attention, the stall owner say "Hey, snap out of it. Do you want to buy a Magikarp or not? I'm a very busy man, you know."

"Uh...yes, I'd like to buy one." replied James before pointing at the lone Feebas inside of the tank. "The brown one. How much for it?"

"Brown one? What are you..." started the salesman before noticing the Feebas in the tank among the other Magikarp. After eyeing it for a moment, the salesman mutters "Huh...must be a sick one. Damn it, I'll probably need to dump the whole lot back into the sea because of this."

Quickly realizing that the salesman had mistaken the Feebas as just another Magikarp, James giddily thought '..This fool doesn't realize what he's got in that tank of his! This is perfect!' before quickly tapping on the salesman's booth to get his attention. "Sick or not, I'll take it. How much?"

Scratching the side of his head, the salesman answers "Don't know why you'd want a sick Magikarp, but I'll tell you what - considering it's condition, I'll sell you that one at a discount. 250 PokeDollars."

"Two-fifty, huh?"

"Yep. And don't expect me to go any lower than that. I'm practically giving these things away at the price I'm asking for."

Taking an assortment of small bills and coins out of his pockets, James replies "It'll cost me what little money I've got in my pockets, but here you go - two-hundred and fifty PokeDollars."

Taking the Feebas out of the tank and handing it over to the other man, the salesman answers "And here's your worthless, diseased piece of...er, I mean your fine purchase, sir. Here's hoping you're able to get it treated or whatever."

In response, James wordlessly nods before capturing the Fish Pokemon with a Pokeball, then runs off in order to go find Jessie and Meowth.

Once the lavender-haired man was gone, the salesman glares at the Magikarp still left in the tank and grumbles "Worthless pieces of crap..." before dragging the tank towards a nearby exit, intent on dumping its contents back into the ocean.

(AN: I didn't want to just leave the other Magikarp to be stuck with that guy after Lincoln bought one from him, so that's where the Feebas idea came into play. Besides, it'll mean that James will possibly be getting a Milotic in the future, which isn't a bad thing, right?)

-=O=-

"So did you manage to get it?" asked Misty upon seeing Lincoln coming back to rejoin the rest of the group.

Tapping a Pokeball on his belt, Lincoln answers "Yeah, I got it." before letting a small sigh of disappointment. "I just wish that I had enough to help the other Magikarp out, too. They didn't seem like they enjoyed being in that tank very much..."

"Don't feel too bad, Lincoln. Sure, you weren't able to help them all out, but you definitely made the life of one of them much easier by getting it away from that creep." said Leaf, patting his shoulder reassuringly before opening her bag and fishing through it. "And hey, considering that your new Magikarp is only a single level away from evolving, I might as well give you something to help out with that...if I can find it in here somewhere, that is..."

"What is it?" questioned Brock, causing the brunette to turn her attention away from her bag.

"Some Rare Candies I found a few days ago. They should give Lincoln's Magikarp the energy it needs to evolve."

"Rare Candies?" asked Lincoln, eyebrow raised. "What are those?"

"They're special candies made with highly nutritional vitamins and minerals that promote Pokemon growth. When a Pokemon eats one, they gain a Level." answered Misty, holding up a finger. "However, as the name implies, they're not easy to come by. Something about their production being discontinued because the company that made them went out of business."

Giving Leaf a hopeful glance, Brock asks "Can you spare one for me, too? I'm pretty sure that my Geodude's getting pretty close to evolving as well."

"I think I can spare another one, yeah. Gimme a moment to...ah, there they are." said Leaf as she took two pieces of candy wrapped in blue foil out of her bag and tossed them over to Lincoln and Brock. "There you go. Just feed them to your Pokemon and they'll evolve."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to feed it to Geodude later."

"I'll save mine for Magikarp once we get off the St. Anne. I doubt it'd be a good idea to have him evolve into a Gyarados while we're still here."

"Good call." said Leaf, nodding in approval. "Right then, Misty and I are going to check out some of the shops. You want to come with, Lincoln?"

"Might as well. I might find something that'll interest me. Brock, are you going to be..." replied Lincoln with a shrug before turning to face Brock, only to find him already at the buffet table, gathering a hearty plate of food for himself while Pikachu was there with him, emptying a bottle of ketchup into his mouth. "Huh. I guess since Pikachu will be with him, he'll be alright without us."

"Enough worrying about Brock, Lincoln! C'mon, we've got shopping to do!" exclaimed Misty before grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him towards the numerous stalls, ignoring the protests that came from the white-haired Loud.

After shaking her head in amusement at the sight of the pair's antics, Leaf chuckles before following after them.

-=O=-

-St. Anne - Wonder Trade Room (2:00 PM)-

While Misty, Leaf and Lincoln were busy, Jessie and Meowth were inside of a circular room with a large capsule-like machine in the center, apparently waiting for the third member of their group to show up.

"Where is that idiot?! He should've been here five minutes ago!" snapped the redhead irritably as she checked the time on a nearby Hoothoot-themed clock.

"Gettin' mad like dat ain't gonna make James appear any quicker, Jess. He'll get here when he gets here." replied Meowth, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed while eyeing the machine in the center of the room. "...Say, how d'ya tink dat Wonda Trade ting works, anyway?"

"I honestly don't know, Meowth. I've only just heard the name and what it does. Aside from that, I don't know anything about it." answered Jessie, sighing.

Giving her a glance, Meowth says "Well, why dontcha try it out while we wait for James ta get here? Betta than just standin' around and doin' nothin', if ya ask me."

"I...might just do that. It'll give me something to do while I wait for that bumbling idiot to show up." remarked Jessie before walking over to the machine and looking it over. "Okay, let's see here...two buttons that say 'open' and 'trade'. Seems simple enough so far. Let's just push this and..."

With a loud whirring sound, the transparent top of the capsule-like machine opens up, revealing a round socket inside that looked big enough to hold a Pokeball within it.

"Huh...I tink dat's where yer supposed ta put da Pokemon you wanna trade." commented Meowth, walking over to get a better look.

"Looks like it." replied Jessie with a nod before taking a Pokeball out of her pocket. After taking another look at the socket, she mutters "Okay, so we just need to pop this in here and..." before placing the Pokeball into the socket, causing it to click softly as it locked into place. "Got it. Now how do I close this thing?"

"Try da openin' button again." suggested the Normal-Type, causing Jessie to shrug before pressing the aformentioned button, causing the top of the machine to slowly close over the Pokeball. "Looks like dat did da trick. Now all ya gotta do is trade it, right?"

"Seems like it. I just need to press this and..."

As soon as Jessie had pressed the 'trade' button, the machine starts letting out a loud buzzing sound as white bolts of energy start to discharge from the electrodes that were inside of the machine. After a moment or two, the energy converges onto the Pokeball in the socket, converting it into white-colored energy that immediately disappeared in a flash of light.

"Alright, dat did it!" cheered Meowth while a smile formed on Jessie's face as she waited for the Wonder Trade to finish.

Seconds later, the electrodes start discharging energy again, causing it to start taking a round, spherical form inside of the empty Pokeball socket. After a few more seconds, the energy finally stops generating, leaving a black and green-colored Pokeball behind.

"Did...did it work?" asked Jessie cautiously as she eyed the Dusk Ball that was sitting inside of the machine.

"I tink so. Go ahead an' take it out, Jess."

After opening the Wonder Trade machine again, Jessie tentatively starts reaching for the Dusk Ball in the socket, gradually inching her hand closer and closer to it.

Upon feeling her fingers coming into contact with it, she quickly plucks it out of the socket and looks it over.

"I...I actually did it. I've got a Wonder Traded Pokemon now..." mutters Jessie to herself as she stared down at the Dusk Ball for what felt like minutes...before breaking out into a fit of evil laughter. "Those poor twerps won't know what'll hit them when I send this after them! We'll finally get to pay those little shits back for all the humiliations they've dealt us!"

"Yeah. I can't wait ta see da looks on dere faces when you and James use yer new Pokemon against 'em." chuckled Meowth as he rubbed his paws together. "Speakin' of which, dontcha have another one you were wantin' ta trade away?"

"Already on it." said Jessie with a smirk as she activates the machine for the second time, sending another Pokeball off to its new owner. Upon seeing a Pokeball with a camo-styled upper half appear in its place, she raises an eyebrow, asking "...A Safari Ball?"

"Must've come from one of dose foreign Safari Zones or somethin'. Ya might as well take it wit ya." remarked Meowth, causing Jessie to shrug before complying and taking the Safari Ball out of the machine.

Opening the door to enter the room, James walks in, saying "Sorry about being late. I got caught up with something on the way here."

"What kept you, you idiot? We were supposed to meet here..." started Jessie before looking at the clock again. "...Five minutes ago! Where were you?"

"Well, I was making my way to the Wonder Trade room when I saw that white-haired brat talking to that one guy who was selling Magikarp. You know who I'm talking about, right?" replied James, causing the redhead to nod. "Well, after learning that he was going to buy one to evolve it into a Gyarados, I felt like having one of our own would be a good call to make, so I..."

Incensed, Jessie roars "You bought one of those worthless things?! How stupid are you?!"

"Can I finish, please?" answered James in response, causing Jessie to glare at him for a moment before nodding again. "Thank you. Now then, as I was saying...I went over to talk to the guy in order to see if I could buy a Magikarp as well. However, I saw something else in the tank that caused me to change my mind on the idea instead."

"What'd ya see, Jim? Don't leave us hangin' here!"

"A Feebas. The fool had a Feebas inside of the tank and didn't notice it until I pointed it out." replied James before a smirk crossed his face. "Poor fool thought it was a sick Magikarp and sold it to me for a discount. If only he knew exactly what kind of valuable Pokemon he had practically just given away."

"Feebas...that name sounds kinda familiar..." mused Jessie as she tapped her chin thoughtfully, trying to pinpoint where she had heard that name before.

"It's the same Pokemon that evolves into Milotic, Jessie." answered James before taking Feebas's Pokeball out of his pocket and holding it up. "Which means that if I can raise this thing the right way, we'll be able to have a Milotic within our ranks."

"A MILOTIC?!" exclaimed both Jessie and Meowth, stunned.

"Mm-hmm. I don't know exactly how we're going to get my Feebas to evolve into one, but we'll figure it out." said James before noticing the Wonder Trade machine in the center of the room. "Is that it? The machine used for Wonder Trading?"

"Yep. Jess had already traded away dose shitty Pokemon dat she caught a few days ago, so we just need ta wait fer you ta do da same and we can get outta here."

"It's pretty easy to use, James. Just open the machine, pop the Pokeball into the machine, close it back up and then press the 'trade' button. It's that simple." explained Jessie, causing James to nod before taking a nondescript Pokeball from his pocket.

"Okay...open, pop in, close, trade. Got it." murmured the lavender-haired man before following through with Jessie's instructions and sending the Pokeball on its way.

Minutes later, a Great Ball took its place.

"It works! It works!" chimed James jovially, pleased as punch to see that his trade went through successfully.

"Of course it did, you boob. Now hurry up and get your other trade finished so we can go back to watching out for the twerps."

Nodding, James repeats the procedure one more time, receiving yet another Great Ball in return for the Pokeball he had traded away.

"All done. Let's move."

(AN: I bet you guys just dying to see what Pokemon Jessie and James managed to score from the Wonder Trade machine, huh? Well, you'll just have to wait until the next chapter comes out in order to see who the four mystery Pokemon are.)

-=O=-

-St. Anne - Shopping Area (2:00 PM)-

Two hours. Two entire hours spent on watching Misty and Leaf shop for whatever caught their eye. Two hours of being forced to carry their bags for them while they shopped for even more stuff to burden him with.

Sure, he was used to it since he had to carry bags for his sisters during their trips to the mall, but it was still a pain to deal with.

"Ugh...and here I was thinking I'd get the chance to relax and enjoy myself. This is starting to remind me of the trips I had to take with my sisters to the mall and not in the good way either." grumbled Lincoln as a memory of one of those trips ran through his mind...

-Flashback-

-Royal Woods Mall (12:15 PM)-

Inside of the expansive Royal Woods Mall, Lori and her sisters (with the exception of Lily, who was at home with her parents) were chatting with each other eagerly about their current shopping spree so far, going on about what they had purchased earlier and what they were planning to buy as their time at the mall progressed.

Behind them, Lincoln was slowly trailing behind them, struggling to carry a large number of bags that were in his arms.

Usually, he was content with staying home and reading his comics while they went shopping, but he had chosen to come along with them this time, hoping to find something he would enjoy doing during the trip.

Unfortunately for the sole son of the Loud family, his hopes were brutally dashed when, instead of being able to stop by the stores he wanted to visit, the others made him their personal pack mule, piling their purchases on him and gradually weighing him down more and more with each store they visited.

'I could've stayed home and read some of my comic in peace, but no...I just had to choose to go to the mall. What the hell was I thinking?' thought Lincoln to himself before opening his mouth to speak to his oldest sister. "...LorI?"

"Make it quick, twerp. I'm trying to text to my Bobby Boo-Boo Bear." replied the blond, eyes locked onto the phone she was holding.

"Can...can I take a break, please? Or can you at least get someone to take some of these bags off my hands?"

"Suck it up and quit being such a baby, Lincoln." replied Lori, taking her attention away from her phone in order to glare at her brother. "You're the guy here out of all of us. It's literally an obligation for boys to carry around stuff for girls when they go shopping."

"Yeah! So shut your yap and keep walking, buster!" snapped Lola, shaking her fist.

"Please, can we just take one little break?! I've been lugging this stuff around all afternoon!" protested Lincoln tiredly. "I just need one that's long enough to get the feeling back in my arms again! Please?!"

Groaning in exasperation, Lori answers "...Fine. You've got five minutes. No more than that.", causing Lincoln to let out a relieved sigh before placing the numerous bags on the floor. "Happy now?"

"Elated." replied Lincoln, wiping his brow. "Seriously though, can some of you at least take some of this off of my hands, please? I really don't want to have to carry all of that all over the mall again."

After giving each other a look, all nine sisters shake their heads in response, causing the boy's hopeful expression to fall.

"What?! Why not?!"

"Sorry dude, but there's a music store over there that's callin' out to me and I have to answer it." answered Luna as she pointed at a nearby store. "And I can't check it out if I'm luggin' around that stuff with me."

"A princess doesn't...no, shouldn't carry her own belongings around like some kind of pack mule. She has someone around to do it for her." stated Lola arrogantly. "And in my case, that 'someone' is you."

"You need to get a little more muscle on your scrawny little body, Lincoln. Carrying around our stuff will do you some good." added Lynn, flexing her muscles.

"I can't, like, carry all of that stuff around with me. How am I supposed to shop for cute clothes if my hands are full?"

"My pre-adolescent frame will not allow me to carry such a large burden."

Excuse after excuse came from the nine girls in an attempt to justify the decision not to help their brother carry the bags, eventually taking up the entire five minutes that Lori had given Lincoln for his break.

"Break's over, twerp. Pick up those bags and let's get going." stated Lori in a firm tone, causing Lincoln to open his mouth to protest, only to close it when she and the rest of the sisters glared at him.

Realizing that he was once again stuck with lugging his sisters' things around, Lincoln sighs before hefting the massive load of bags into his arms.

"...Can I at least stop by the comic shop before we go?"

"We'll see. Now shut up and keep walking."

-Flashback End-

"All of that effort and nothing came out of it, save for a complete hassle of a day that I never wanted to go through ever again." muttered Lincoln to himself before glaring at Leaf and Misty, who were chatting with each other over something they were purchasing. "And now it's happening again, this time with two people I consider to be my friends. I'm honestly starting to regret stepping foot on this ship."

Pikachu, who had rejoined him sometime within the two hour timespan, remarked "Why don't you send out a few of your Pokemon to help you out?"

"If my arms were able to move, I'd be sending some of them out right now, buddy. They've gone completely numb on me."

"Lincoln! We've got a few more bags for you to carry for us!" chimed Misty as she ran over with around six or so bags on her arms, all filled to the brim with purchased goods.

With a similar number of bags as well, Leaf asks "You don't mind carrying them for us, right?"

Finally having enough of being the two girls' pack mule, Lincoln sighs and says "Actually, yeah. Yeah, I do mind." before placing the bags he was carrying on the floor. "Tell me something...we're friends, right? All three of us?"

"Of course we are. Why would you ask something like that, though?"

"Okay. And have I done anything to upset or wrong you two?"

"Not that I know of." replied Misty, shaking her head.

"Then why are you two making me carry all of this stuff you're buying?! I'm your friend, not your personal pack mule!" snapped Lincoln, causing the two girls to wince at the angry tone he had used before noticing the numerous bags at his feet.

After taking another look at them, then at the bags on her arms, Leaf sheepishly replies "That's...uh...wow. I guess we bought a lot more than what I thought, huh?"

"And you've been making me carry every single bit of it! I can't feel my arms, for crying out loud! That's not right!"

"Why didn't you say anything, Lincoln? We would've let you rest if you had told us you needed a break." replied Misty, concerned. "Better yet, why didn't you tell us that we were overloading you? We would've been willing to carry some of the burden if you had just brought it up to us."

"I didn't want to make you two upset. Both of you seemed like you were enjoying yourselves and I didn't want to ruin that." replied Lincoln, sighing. "...That and when I went shopping with some of my sisters back home, they practically forced me to lug around their stuff for them without giving me any say in the matter. It was always just 'shut up and deal with it' with them. A part of me was honestly worried that you two would say the same thing if I asked for some time to rest."

Grimacing, Misty bitterly thought 'Great...we try to have fun here and both of us end up reminding him of how his sisters treated him. Way to ruin what was supposed to be a good, Misty.'

"Furthermore, I haven't gotten the chance to check out anything I've wanted to yet. The past two hours have been about what both of you wanted to do and I've finally had it." said Lincoln as he crossed his arms, having finally managed to get rid of the numb sensation running through them. "One way or another, I'm going to take the time to relax and enjoy myself here - you can either take these bags off of my hands so I can actually have some fun around here or I'm just going to leave right now and check out the St. Anne without you. Your choice."

Beside him, Pikachu nodded his head, firmly in agreement with his Trainer.

"...Sorry, Lincoln. We just got so caught up with everything that's been going on that we forgot that you came along to have fun with us, too." said Leaf, clearly embarrassed and ashamed with herself. "Please don't go."

Nodding in agreement, Misty says "Yeah. We honestly didn't mean to make a pack mule out of you."

"I know, but you two really needed to stop and think about how this was effecting me. You two were having the time of your lives. I was standing here, carrying your stuff and wishing that I hadn't stepped onto the ship in the first place." said Lincoln, frowning. "No more of this, alright? No more."

"No more. We'll try not to do something like that to you again." agreed Leaf, nodding. "Still, I can't just let this go without doing something to make this right."

"You really don't have to, you know. Just admitting that you were wrong was enough for me."

"I know, but I still feel pretty bad about making you lug around our stuff."

"Really, you don't have to do anything. I'm fine now that I've gotten that off of my chest." assured Lincoln, only for Misty to drape an arm over his shoulders.

"Yeah, but we're not okay with this. We wronged you and we intend to make it right." answered the redhead before her eyes caught onto the nearby stalls. "Tell you what - you see those stalls? Pick out anything you want and I'll cover the cost for you. My treat."

"Same here. I owe you that much at least for shoving my stuff onto you like that." added Leaf, causing the white-haired boy to look at them, surprised.

"...You two would really do that for me?"

"Sure. We owe you at least that much for what happened earlier." said Leaf before looking at the mess of bags on the floor. "...Still, we'll have to find a way to bring these along with us. I doubt any of us will be willing to carry all of this around."

"Well, Pikachu suggested the idea of having our Pokemon help us out. With all three of us sending them out, we can distribute everything among them instead of dropping it all on one person." suggested Lincoln, causing the two girls to look at him, dumbfounded.

"...Why didn't we think of that sooner?"

"You two were caught up with buying stuff." said Lincoln, causing the pair to blush in embarassment before sending out some of their Pokemon to help with the bags. After doing the same with Skyera, Azami and Fearow, the white-haired boy picked up the few remaining bags back into his arms and lets out a sigh of relief at how much lighter the burden was on him. "Much better."

"Glad to hear it. We'll try not to do that to you again." replied Leaf with a smile, happy to see Lincoln in a better mood. "So which stall do you want to stop at, Lincoln? Go ahead and choose."

"My pick, huh? Let's see..." muttered Lincoln to himself before his eyes caught onto an old man and the stall he was running, which had gemstones, evolution stones and many other items displayed on it. "That one. Let's visit that one."

Eyes gleaming in delight upon seeing several Water Stones among the goods on display, Misty replies "Good call, Lincoln! Let's go!" before running over in order to check them out.

Seeing the redhead coming his way, the man smiles and says "Well, hello there. Can I help you, miss?"

"You sell evolution stones, right? Genuine ones?"

"Mm-hmm. Everything you see here comes directly from the mines of Stone Town. They're the real deal."

"Great! I'll take a..." started Misty before stopping to give Lincoln an aside glance. "...Actually, you know what? Lincoln, can you come here for a bit?"

Walking over, the white-haired boy asks "You need something, Misty? Don't tell me that you're going back to making me carry bags again..."

"It's not that. I promised you that I'd cover your next purchase for you, right?" asked Misty, causing Lincoln to nod in response. "Well, go ahead and pick out something. Anything you want, I'll pay for it for you."

"Anything, huh..." mused Lincoln as his eyes glanced over the numerous wares, trying to decide what he wanted to pick. After spending a few minutes looking over everything the man had to offer, he finally found something that seemed to call out to him - a yellow crown-shaped rock.

Pointing at it, he asks "Can you tell me what that thing is, please?", causing the man to nod in response.

"That's a King's Rock, son. If you give it to a Slowpoke or Poliwhirl and then trade it to someone, you can evolve them into a Slowking or Politoed respectively." replied the man, pointing at the stone. "Comes in handy during battles, too. Don't know how the heck it works, but they make your Pokemon's attacks more likely to cause an opponent to flinch."

"So this can help my Poliwhirl evolve into a Politoed..." said Lincoln to himself as he eyed the stone curiously. "...I'll take it. How much?"

"3000 Pokedollars. These things aren't easy to come by, you know." answered the man, causing Lincoln to blanch at the price while Misty simply shrugged before handing over her Trainer Card.

"It'll cost me whatever money I've got left, but it's worth it." said the Water-Type Trainer as the man finished scanning the card before handing it back. Handing the King's Rock over to Lincoln, she adds "There you go, Lincoln. Are we good now?"

After staring at the rock in his hand, Lincoln nods and says "Yeah, we're good. You didn't need to spend that much on me, though."

"It's alright. I can always earn that money back, but losing you as a friend would cost me a lot more than what I just paid for that stone."

Clearly touched by her response, Lincoln nods again before pulling the redhead into a hug, causing her to stare at him in surprise before returning the gesture a few seconds later, cheeks flushed with color.

"Well, it looks like you two managed to patch things up. Good to see." remarked Leaf from nearby, causing the two to quickly break off the embrace with embarrassed looks on their faces. "So what'd Misty get for you aside from a hug, Linc?"

"A King's Rock. I might keep it around to help my Poliwhirl evolve into Politoed." answered Lincoln, holding up the stone in question.

"Awesome. Anyway, I...uh, I may have decided to pick up something for you without consulting you on whether you wanted it or not." replied Leaf sheepishly before taking what appeared to be a metallic yellow and white-colored box out of the bag she was holding and handing it over. "It's a TM Case. You can hold both the new and old types inside of it. I...uh, might added a few TMs in there, too. Hope you don't mind."

Instead of the look of disappointment she had expected to see, Lincoln warmly smiles before taking the box.

"I'm not about to turn down some free TMs and something to keep them in. Thanks, Leaf."

"You're welcome, Lincoln. So what do you want to do now?"

Slipping the King's Rock and the TM Case into his bag, Lincoln answers "A break from shopping would be nice. How about we head up to the deck and get our battle out of the way?"

"I'm up for that." replied Leaf, grinning. "You two go on ahead and wait for me there - I've got to make a quick stop first."

"We'll wait for you." answered Lincoln, causing the brunette to nod before running off. As he prepared to leave as well, Lincoln's eyes caught onto one of the Water Stones that were on display. "...Misty?"

"Yeah?"

"You go ahead and wait for me at the deck. I want to take one last look at what this guy has to sell before I join you, alright?"

Nodding, Misty answers "Sure thing." before walking off, leaving Lincoln and the old man alone.

"Friends of yours?" asked the man, smiling.

"Both of them, yeah." replied Lincoln, nodding. "...How much for a Water Stone?"

"Getting something for your red-headed friend, are you? I can tell based on how you were looking at the stones while you were talking to her." surmised the man, causing Lincoln to flush slightly before nodding. "Tell you what, son - normally I don't do something like this, but I'll give you a discount on one of my Water Stones. What do you say to...1000 Pokedollars?"

"A thousand, huh..."

"I'm also open to stone-trading, if you don't have the cash on you. If you've got another evolution stone, give it to me and I'll fork over a Water Stone in return."

"Will a Leaf Stone suffice? I've got two of them that I really don't need at the moment." asked Lincoln, taking the green-colored rock out of his bag.

"It'll do." answered the man before swapping one of his Water Stones for the Leaf Stone in Lincoln's hand. "There you go. Now then, do you need anything else?"

"I'm good. Thank you."

"Anytime, son. Good luck with your girl."

Trying his hardest to fight his blush down, Lincoln quickly nods before hurrying off towards the ship's deck.

-=O=-

-St. Anne - Deck Battlefield (2:15 PM)-

Upon reaching the deck of the St. Anne, Lincoln and Pikachu started looking around for any sign of Misty or Leaf.

"We all agreed to meet here at the deck, so they shouldn't be too hard to find..." muttered Lincoln to himself as he glanced around the area. After a moment, his eyes caught onto Misty and Brock, who was standing by a large painted-on battlefield, one that was more than big enough for his upcoming battle with Leaf.

On the other side of the battlefield were Leaf and Prima, who were talking to each other about something.

Upon seeing Lincoln and Pikachu heading towards her, Misty says "There you are. About time you showed up."

"Sorry about the hold up. Just wanted to pick up something from that stone salesman before I came here."

"Really now? What'd you get? Did you pick up something good?"

At this, Lincoln smiled before replying "Maybe. Maybe not." in an evasive tone. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Must be something good if you're being this secretive about it." commented Brock before pointing at Leaf, who was now heading to one side of the battlefield. "Leaf's ready to go whenever you are, Lincoln. She's been waiting here for the past five minutes or so."

"Then I guess I better not keep her waiting." said Lincoln with a grin before stepping onto the battlefield, causing the brunette on the other side of the field to smile upon seeing him.

"Hey, there you are! It's about time you showed up!" chimed Leaf, waving at her soon-to-be opponent. "You ready to get this thing started or what?"

Taking his spot on the other side of the battlefield, Lincoln nods and says "Whenever you are.", causing Leaf to smile before giving Prima a nod, prompting her to take up the referee's spot on the field. Surprised by this, he asks "...You're going to be overseeing our match, Prima?"

"Yes. I suppose you can call it an interest in watching two prospective Trainers displaying their skills in battle." replied the glasses-wearing woman, nodding before raising one of her arms. "This battle is between Lincoln Loud of Royal Woods, Michigan and Leaf Rose of Pallet Town! This will be a three-on-three battle with no substitutions permitted! Begin!"

As the two Trainers stared each other down, other people started to gather around the battlefield in order to watch the match unfold.

Gesturing for Leaf to send out her starting Pokemon, Lincoln remarks "Ladies first." in a joking tone, causing Leaf to smirk in amusement at the reply before taking a Pokeball off of her belt.

"Such politeness. Well, if you want me to go first, that's fine by me." joked the brunette in return before tossing the Pokeball into the air, causing it to release whatever was inside in a burst of white light. "C'mon out, Jiggly!"

-=O=-

As a round pink-colored Pokemon with short stubby limbs, small triangular ears, a curled tuft of fur on its head and two large teal-colored eyes materialized onto the field, Misty and several other female members of the crowd started cooing over it, causing the Pokemon in question to start preening at the attention it was getting.

"A Jigglypuff! It's so cute!" said Misty, eyes shining in delight.

Lincoln, on the other hand, simply eyed the new Pokemon curiously before taking out his Pokedex and scanning it.

'Jigglypuff, the Balloon Pokemon. Jigglypuff's vocal cords can freely adjust the wavelength of its voice. This Pokémon uses this ability to sing at precisely the right wavelength to make its foes most drowsy.'

"So this thing can put its opponents to sleep, huh? Better watch out for this one..." muttered the white-haired Loud to himself before taking a Pokeball off of his belt and looking at it. "Well, I promised that I'd let you take part in the next battle I get myself into, so I'm going to keep my word on that."

Throwing the ball, he calls out "You're up first, Skyera!", sending the foul-mouthed Bird Pokemon out onto the field.

"Yes! It's about damn time that you let me fight someone again!" chirped the Flying-Type, clearly pleased with the fact she was finally getting the chance to battle once more. "So where's the ass I need to kick, huh? I hope it's someone that can actually give me a challenge."

"Over there." replied Lincoln, causing Skyera to eagerly turn to face her opponent...before turning back to him with a look of disappointment on her face.

"A Jigglypuff? You want me to fight a Jigglypuff? I was hoping to fight something a little more...you know, badass. Not some walking, talking balloon."

"Well, I promised to let you fight in my next battle, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but...a Jigglypuff? Surely you can get me a better opponent than that." remarked Skyera, ignoring the Fairy-Type as it puffed up in anger at what she was saying.

"Better than nothing at all, Skyera." countered Lincoln before giving her a smirk as an idea to get her to accept her opponent came to mind. "...And you know what?"

"What?"

"...I doubt Fearow would be complaining about having to face a Jigglypuff."

Eyes narrowing at the comment, the Bird Pokemon asked "...And just what do you mean by that?"

"I'm saying that she'd probably be willing to fight that thing without raising any complaints about who her opponent was. She could probably beat that Jigglypuff, too." stated Lincoln before taking on a mock thoughtful look. "Maybe I should've sent her out first instead..."

Incensed, Skyera screeches "Oh no you don't! I'm not about to let that longneck take over MY fight for me!" before giving the Jigglypuff a steely glare. "Get ready to get your rubbery ass kicked, pinky! You're gonna be smeared all over the battlefield by the time I'm done with you!"

'Knew that would do the trick.' thought Lincoln to himself as the two Pokemon glared heatedly at each other, watching for their opponent to make the first move. "Let's start this thing off with a Quick Attack, Skyera! Go for it!"

"You got it!" replied the Flying-Type before tucking in her wings and diving towards the Balloon Pokemon at high speed.

"Disarming Voice, Jiggly! Stop that Pidgeotto in its tracks!" ordered Leaf, prompting the pink-colored Pokemon to nod before opening its mouth and singing a melodic, but eerie-sounding tune, which caused a ripple of pink energy to form in front of Skyera, hitting her and canceling out her charge.

Glaring at her opponent as she shook off the damage she had taken, Skyera chirped "Ow! That hurt, you little pink bastard!" in anger.

"I'm a girl, you asshole!" snarled the Fairy-Type in response before singing again, attempting to blast the Bird Pokemon again.

"Don't give her the chance to use that move again, Skyera! Use Gust to send that Jigglypuff flying!" ordered Lincoln, causing Skyera to start flapping her wings, creating a strong gust of wind that snagged her opponent off of the battlefield and into the air.

"H-help me! I can't get down!" whined Jiggly as she helplessly flailed about through the air, unable to pull away from the gusts that were blowing her body around like a leaf during a windstorm.

"We've got her right where we want her, Skyera! Use Quick Attack!"

After taking a moment to aim at her opponent, Skyera speeds towards Jiggly and hits her with a full-force tackle, knocking her out of the air.

Fortunately for the Balloon Pokemon, the attack had also managed to knock her away from the gusts of wind that were blowing her around, allowing her to return to the battlefield safely.

"Are you okay, Jiggly?" asked Leaf, concerned.

"I'll be fine. Gotta watch out for that Gust attack, though." replied the Fairy-Type, nodding. "What's our next move?"

Having read the translated question on her Pokedex, Leaf answers "I'm thinking Defense Curl and Rollout. Think you can do it?"

"I'm on it." answered Jiggly before quickly curling up into a small ball, causing her body to shimmer slightly with a white aura. After a few seconds, she starts rolling towards Skyera, who takes to the air upon seeing the pink-colored Pokemon coming her way.

"You're not gonna get me from down there, pinky!" mocked the Flying-Type with a smug tone as her opponent continued to roll towards her, gradually moving faster.

"Alright, Jiggly - while you're still rolling, use Disarming Voice!" commanded Leaf, causing her Jigglypuff to start singing again while still rolling towards her opponent.

Before Skyera could do anything to act, another ripple of Fairy-Type energy hits her, causing her to fall out of the sky...directly in the path of Jiggly's Rollout attack. With a meaty 'thwack', the Balloon Pokemon slams full-force into Skyera, sending her skidding across the battlefield.

"Ow...that one hurt..." muttered the Bird Pokemon as she started to pull herself off of the ground, only for Jiggly to pull a U-turn and hit her again. "Ow! Damn it!"

Seeing the surprised look on Lincoln's face, Leaf remarks "Like my combination move? I came up with it a few weeks ago." with a proud smile on her face.

"It's certainly a clever one." remarked Prima, nodding as Jiggly managed to hit Skyera once more with Rollout, sending her crashing back onto the battlefield. "Using Defense Curl to boost the power of Rollout, then using Disarming Voice to not only damage the opponent and stop them from dodging, but ensuring that even if Rollout misses, you'll still score a direct hit. Very clever."

'Note to self - find a way to counter something like that later.' thought Lincoln to himself before he gave Skyera a concerned look. "Are you alright, Skyera?"

"I'll live. That little puffball is starting to become a pain in my ass."

"Guess she's not as weak as you originally thought it would be, huh?"

"Very funny." snarked the Bird Pokemon dryly before glaring at Jiggly, who was starting to roll towards her again. "So what are we going to do? That little shit's starting to come back this way and those Rollouts are starting to hurt more and more by the second."

"Let's try sending it into the air with Gust again. We might be able to break her out of that Rollout and turn this thing around." answered Lincoln, causing the Flying-Type to nod before taking to the air once again.

"Disarming Voice one more time, Jiggly! Knock that bird out of the sky!"

"Use Gust now, Skyera! Don't give that thing the chance to start singing again!"

Focusing as much energy as possible into her wings, Skyera starts to rear them back, unaware of the shimmering white aura that was starting to form around them. With a mighty flap, she sends a large crescent-shaped burst of wind directly at Jiggly, hitting her hard and knocking her out of her Rollout attack.

While Jiggly was sent barreling across the battlefield, Skyera looks at her wings with a stunned look on her face, muttering "What the...what the hell was that?"

"I don't know, Skyera. I just know that whatever it was, it definitely wasn't a Gust attack." answered Lincoln before taking Dexter out of his pocket. "Dexter? Any idea on what that move was?"

'Air Slash, a Special-based Flying-Type move. The user attacks with a blade of air that slices even the sky. It may also cause the target to flinch.' replied Dexter before adding 'It is also, coincidentally, one of your Pidgeotto's Egg Moves.'

"Another Egg Move, huh..." mused Lincoln as a smile formed on his face. "Skyera, use it again. I want to see just how strong this new move really is."

"I'm on it." replied the Bird Pokemon before firing another Air Slash at Jiggly, causing the Balloon Pokemon to let out a terrified squeak before jumping out of the way as the blast of air slammed into the battlefield, leaving a deep cut into its wooden surface that caused everyone nearby to wince.

"Yikes...that's one sharp attack." murmured Misty, eyeing the gash cautiously.

"What the hell was that for?! You nearly hit me with that!"

"Well, you were hitting me with your shitty rolling, so turnabout's fair play, pinky. Now hold still!"

With that said, Skyera starts firing continual Air Slashes at her opponent, causing the Fairy-Type to quickly start jumping and bouncing about in an attempt to dodge the oncoming attacks.

Pointing at the still airborne Jigglypuff, Lincoln orders "Your opponent's wide open, Skyera! Send it back into the air with Gust, then hit her with a Steel Wing!"

Accepting her Trainer's commands, Skyera flaps her wings repeatedly, causing a burst of wind to once again send her opponent into the air. While the Fairy-Type attempted to regain control of herself, the Bird Pokemon speeds towards Jiggly, wings shimmering with a silvery aura.

Realizing that her Pokemon was probably going to go down after the super-effective attack, Leaf orders "Disable, Jiggly!", causing Jiggly's eyes to glow with a blue light just as Skyera's Steel Wing attack connected with her body, sending her flying with a deafening 'clang'.

Seconds later, the Balloon Pokemon starts slowly drifting back down to the battlefield in an unconscious heap while Skyera, unaware of the blue aura that covered her body for a brief moment before vanishing, flew back to her Trainer,.

Raising one of her arms, Prima says "Jiggly is unable to battle! The winner of the first battle is Lincoln from Royal Woods and Skyera!"

With a pleased look on her face, Skyera starts showing off for the applauding crowd, saying "Oh yeah, who's number one! Me, that's who!"

(AN: Leaf's first Pokemon is a reference to the Pokemon Adventures manga. In it, Green (Leaf's counterpart) had one as her starter.)

-=O=-

Recalling her fallen Pokemon, Leaf remarks "That was a pretty close match there, Lincoln. I didn't expect your Pidgeotto to know Air Slash."

"Neither did I. She just...kinda picked it up." replied Lincoln, scratching the back of his head. "Your Jigglypuff definitely caused us some trouble with that combo of yours, though. I'll have to find a way to counter it someday."

"And maybe you will. But right now, you need to focus on our match." answered Leaf as she placed Jigglypuff's Pokeball back onto her belt before taking what appeared to be a Great Ball off of it. "Before I send out my second Pokemon, I have to ask - have you tried Wonder Trading yet?"

While everyone else gave the brunette questioning looks, Lincoln shook his head, saying "Not yet. Why do you ask?"

"Because my next Pokemon's going to be a real treat for you to face - it's one that I received through a Wonder Trade." replied Leaf with a smile before activating and throwing the Great Ball into the air. "It's time for your first battle - come on out, Carbink!"

Once the light from the Great Ball finishes taking form, it clears away, revealing a gray-colored Pokemon with a rocky conical body that had several light blue crystals embedded in it, a white-colored collar of white fluff around its head, two flat diamond-shaped ears, blue eyes and another light blue crystal on top of its head.

"A Carbink...those are supposed to be native to the Kalos region, if I'm not mistaken." mused Brock, eyeing the new Pokemon curiously. "Seems to be in fine shape too, based on how shiny it's crystals look."

Smiling, Leaf replies "Thanks. You really know your rocks, Brock."

"I have to. I'm a Rock-Type specialist, remember?"

'First Misty and her Starmie and now Leaf with this thing. Girls really like showing off their jewelry.' thought Lincoln to himself before taking his Pokedex and pointing it at the Kalos-native Pokemon. "Dexter, you'll probably need to access the National Pokedex for this one."

'Finally, a chance to add a non-Kanto entry to my database...' replied Dexter in an excited-sounding tone before scanning the Carbink. 'Ahem...Carbink, the Jewel Pokemon. Born from temperatures and pressures deep underground, it fires beams from the stone in its head.'

"Now this is more like it - a chance to kick the shit out of a Pokemon that's from another region." chirped Skyera with a grin as she eyed the Carbink with interest. "Gimme an order, Lincoln. I wanna beat this thing down."

"Alright then. Considering that it's probably a Rock-Type, let's go with a Steel Wing attack." commanded Lincoln, causing the Bird Pokemon to nod before flying towards the Carbink, unaware of the fact that the silvery aura from before was not covering her wings.

Upon slamming them into the Jewel Pokemon's body, Skyera lets out a pained screech before quickly moving away.

"What the hell? My attack just stopped working all of a sudden!"

"You can't use Steel Wing anymore...?" questioned Lincoln, only for the sound of Leaf clearing her throat to catch his attention. Taking that as a hint that she knew what had happened, he asks "Alright, what did your Carbink do to Skyera?"

"It's not my Carbink's fault that your Pidgeotto can't use Steel Wing anymore, Lincoln." answered Leaf with a smirk. "You can thank my Jigglypuff for that."

"How the heck did it manage to pull that off? I know we didn't reach the move limit..."

"Stop and think about the last order I gave my Jigglypuff before your Pidgeotto knocked it out." suggested Leaf, causing Lincoln to think back for a moment before his eyes lit up in realization.

"You told it to use 'Disable', right?"

"That's right. Disable is a move that temporarily prevents the targeted Pokemon from using the last move it utilized it battle. And since your Pidgeotto used Steel Wing right before Jigglypuff used Disable..."

"...That means she can't use it again until it wears off." said Lincoln, paling.

"Yep. And now that I've gotten that little lesson out of the way, it's time to even our score. Carbink, Smack Down!" commanded Leaf, causing the Rock-Type to nod before spinning wildly, creating a swarm of heavy-looking rocks around it. With a loud cry, Carbink fires the rocks at Skyera, hitting her directly and sending her crashing directly into the battlefield with a loud 'thud'.

Dismayed, Lincoln shouts out "Skyera, no!" as the rocks roll off of the Bird Pokemon's body, revealing her to be unconscious.

-=O=-

"Skyera is unable to battle! The winner of the second battle is Leaf and Carbink!" proclaimed Prima, causing the nearby audience to start cheering in approval of the brunette's victory while Lincoln knelt down to check on his injured Pokemon.

Giving her a small smile, Lincoln says "Good job out there, Skyera. Return." before recalling her back into her Pokeball. As the Jewel Pokemon started to take in the applause it was being given, he mutters "Okay...gotta use something to beat that thing. I can either go with Azami or Fearow for this one."

"What about Raph?" suggested Pikachu, pointing at the Water-Type's Pokeball. "He's agreed to cooperate with us now, so why not take the time to see what he can do?"

"Hmm...considering that he's also a Water-Type Pokemon...yeah, I think I might do that. Thanks for the suggestion, buddy."

"Anytime. Now go show that overgrown pebble who's boss."

Giving Lincoln a glance as he took Raph's Pokeball off of his belt, Leaf asks "So now that I've evened the score, who are you going to send out next, Lincoln?", causing him to smirk in return.

"Just the guy I need in order to take your Carbink down." replied the white-haired boy before tossing the Pokeball into the air. "You're up, Raph!"

Hearing the name of Lincoln's choice, Misty and Brock muttered "Raph? Oh no..." with concerned looks on their faces.

Upon materializing on the field, the Tiny Turtle Pokemon looks around for a moment before turning around to glare at his Trainer.

"Hey shithead, where the fuck are we? And while I'm at it, what the hell do you want?"

"We're on board the St. Anne right now, Raph." replied Lincoln before pointing at Leaf's Carbink. "As for what I want, I'd like for you to battle that Carbink in front of you."

"Carbink? What the hell is a..." muttered Raph as he turned around to face his opponent, only to stop upon seeing it. "...What the fuck is that ugly thing supposed to be?"

"Your opponent. Are you up for it or what?"

Grimacing, Raph answers "Normally, I'd tell you to fuck off before going back into my ball, but..."

"But...?" repeated Lincoln with a grin forming on his face.

"But...since I gave my word that I'll listen to you from now on, I guess I've got no choice in the matter. Let's just hurry up and get this Tauros-shit out of the way." grumbled the Water-Type, causing the white-haired boy to smile.

"Sounds good to me, Raph. Let's do this."

While Raph turned back to face his opponent, Misty felt her own Squirtle's Pokeball rattling around on her belt, as if asking for her to let him out. Complying, the redhead opens the ball, allowing the Water-Type to appear right beside her.

Giving her a flirtatious smile, the Squirtle remarks "Sorry about disturbin' you like that, babe - I just wanted to see the boss in action. You fine with that?"

"As long as you behave yourself, I don't mind." replied Misty, nodding.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about any trouble from...wait, you can understand me now?"

"Yep. You can thank Lincoln and his sister for that." answered the redhead with another nod, causing her Squirtle to frown slightly before staring at Lincoln, eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses.

"I see..."

While Misty's Squirtle continued to watch the white-haired Loud carefully, Lincoln points at Carbink and says "Water Pulse, Raph!", causing the sunglasses-wearing Squirtle to grumble something foul under his breath before firing a sizable sphere of compressed water at his opponent.

"Dodge it, then use Sharpen!" ordered Leaf, prompting Carbink to move out of the way of the oncoming attack before creating several small stones in a close circular formation around it. With a cry, it starts spinning rapidly in place, causing the stones to grind away at its body, making it both smoother and sharper-looking. "Now follow it up with Rock Tomb!"

With another cry, the Jewel Pokemon slams bottom-first into the battlefield, causing a small group of stalactites to burst out of the ground underneath Raph, sending him flying into the air.

"Aqua Jet, Raph!"

Hearing the command, Raph breaks out of his free-fall and starts diving toward Carbink as a corona of water started to form around his body. With a sickening, wet-sounding 'thud', his body connects with the Carbink's, sending it skidding across the battlefield.

"Great job! Now follow it up with Bubble!" cheered Lincoln, once again causing Raph to mutter several obscenities under his breath before firing a stream of bubbles at Carbink, causing it to let out a pained cry as the bubbles burst onto its body.

"Rock Throw, Carbink!"

"Fire back at that overgrown rock with Water Gun!"

"Man, the boss is kicking that thing's ass!" cheered Misty's Squirtle as Leaf's Carbink and Raph started firing attacks at each other. "He might actually win this one!"

"I know I'm going to win this one, you fucking idiot!" snarled Raph, having heard the other Water-Type's remark. "And don't call me 'boss', Arceus-damn it!"

Giving Lincoln a glare, he snaps "Hey shithead, hurry up and end this, will you? I don't wanna be out here with you any longer than I need to."

Rolling his eyes, Lincoln answers "Alright, whatever. It'll be a good chance for us to try out the new TM move I taught you earlier." before pointing at Carbink. "Raph, use Frustration!"

"Frustration?" parroted Leaf, bewildered. "Why would you want to use a move like..."

She would get her answer as Raph charges towards Carbink with a flaring red-colored aura surrounding his body, furiously belting out every single swear and insult he could think of regarding his Trainer. As soon as the attack had connected with Carbink's body, the Rock-Type was sent flying like a cannonball towards a nearby wall, causing it to leave a nasty-looking dent upon impact.

After letting out a moan of "...Ouch...", the Jewel Pokemon falls to the floor, unconscious.

Blinking in surprise at the damage the Normal-Type move had caused, Prima murmured "...Goodness." before raising one of her hands to signal the end of the round. "Carbink is unable to continue! The winner of the third round is Lincoln Loud and Raph!"

While everyone in the area stared at the damaged wall in shock, Raph starts gasping for breath, muttering "Man...I don't know why, but it felt good when I used that move." before a surprisingly calm look appeared on his face. "...Really good, as a matter of fact. Huh."

Eyeing Raph curiously, Lincoln thought '...That's strange. I didn't expect Frustration to have that kind of effect on him. I'll have to mention this to Professor Oak later and see what he has to say about it.' before walking over and giving the Water-Type a smile. "You did great out there, Raph. Nice work."

"Yeah, whatever." replied the Tiny Turtle Pokemon dismissively. "So am I done here or what?"

"Yeah, you're done. Do you want to keep going?"

"Nah. Just return me back to my ball so I can get away from your ass already."

"Suit yourself." answered Lincoln before recalling Raph back into his Pokeball, much to Prima and Leaf's confusion. "Raph isn't in the mood to continue fighting, Miss Prima. I'll be sending out my final Pokemon instead."

Shrugging, Prima answers "Suit yourself. Please send out your final Pokemon, both of you.", causing Pikachu to eagerly leap into place on the battlefield while Leaf took a Pokeball off of her belt.

"Gotta say that this has been one heck of a battle so far, Lincoln. You're really giving me a run for my money here."

"Same here. You're putting up a pretty good fight, too." answered Lincoln, nodding. "Definitely didn't expect you to have a Wonder Traded Pokemon with you. You'll have to show me where I can try it for myself after we're done here."

"Sure thing." replied Leaf with a grin before activating the Pokeball she was holding. "But right now, we've got a battle to finish. It's time for you to meet the ace of my team!"

Throwing the ball into the air, she shouts "C'mon out, Charley!", causing the ball to release a large burst of light that started to take form on the battlefield.

(AN: The move Frustration will, believe it or not, play an important role in helping Raph with his anger towards Lincoln.)

-=O=-

Once the light coming from the Pokeball cleared away, Lincoln raised an eyebrow at what Leaf's final Pokemon was - a dark orange-colored Pokemon that bore a close resemblance to a Charmander, but was larger in size and had a horn-like protrusion on the back of its head.

Upon seeing the Electric-Type standing on the field across from it, the Pokemon licks its lips in eager anticipation while the flame on its tail started to burn brighter, taking on an almost bluish-white color.

"What in the world is that? It looks like a Charmander..." questioned Lincoln, eyeing the Pokemon warily.

Gesturing towards the Pokemon with a proud smile on her face, Leaf answers "Lincoln, I'd like for you to meet Charley. He's not only the ace of my team, but he's the Pokemon I started my journey with when I first left Pallet Town."

Remembering that Leaf had left Pallet Town with a Charmander, Lincoln thought 'So that's what Charmander evolves into. Interesting...' before taking out his Pokedex and pointing it at the Fire-Type.

'Charmeleon, the Flame Pokemon. Charmeleon mercilessly destroys its foes using its sharp claws. If it encounters a strong foe, it turns aggressive. In this excited state, the flame at the tip of its tail flares with a bluish white color.'

Noticing the flame burning brightly on Charley's tail, Lincoln mutters "A bluish-white flame...we've gotta be careful against this one." before giving Pikachu a glance. "You ready, buddy?"

"Whenever you are. Let's do this."

"Alright then, let's start by setting up with Double Team!"

As the Mouse Pokemon starts making copies of himself on the battlefield, Leaf eyes them for a moment before shouting "Use Scary Face, now!", causing the Flame Pokemon to roar before taking on a frightening-looking posture as he glares at the Pikachu in front of him.

Much to Lincoln's complete shock and horror, the Double Team attack starts slowing down, causing the real Pikachu's body to blur slightly as he continued to make copies of himself on the battlefield.

Pointing at the blurry Pikachu on the field, Leaf says "That one! Hit it with Ember now, Charley!", prompting the Fire-Type to spew a red-hot ball of fire at his target, scoring a direct hit and causing the fakes to disappear instantly.

"That was a very impressive counter to Double Team, Miss Rose." remarked Prima, nodding in approval. "I'll have to see about borrowing that one for my personal playbook. Should help out a lot with dealing with those pesky Double Team stall teams I occasionally face."

"You're more than welcome to it, Miss Prima." replied Leaf with a smile before turning to face Lincoln. "C'mon Lincoln, step it up, will ya?"

"We're not done yet, Leaf!" answered Lincoln before giving Pikachu a nod. "Pikachu, let's really show Leaf what we're made of - use Electroball!"

"On it!" said Pikachu before channeling a ball of electricity on the tip of his tail and hurling it, sending it flying towards the Fire-Type.

"Use Ember to knock it out of the sky, Charley!" commanded Leaf, causing Charley to open his mouth in order to spit out another fireball.

Acting quickly, Lincoln shouts "Now's our chance! Use Thunder Wave while it's distracted!", prompting Pikachu to quickly fire the paralyzing Electric-Type attack at his opponent, cancelling the Ember attack and stopping him in his tracks.

As jolts of electricity started to waltz on Charley's body, Leaf remarks "...Using Electroball as a distraction so you could score a hit with Thunder Wave...clever. Very clever." before a smile formed on her face. "It's too bad for you that I've prepared for something like this, though. Charley?"

As if knowing what Leaf wanted from him, the Flame Pokemon smirks before swallowing something that was inside of his mouth, causing the paralyzing effect on his body to gradually fade away.

"What did your Charmeleon just swallow?" questioned Lincoln, eyebrow raised.

"The Cheri Berry I gave him to hold before the match started. I knew that since you would be using your Pikachu against him, I needed to have a backup plan just in case you tried to use paralysis in our match."

"You really thought this one out, didn't you?"

"I like to be prepared for anything."

"I can see that now." replied Lincoln, frowning. "Dang it...first the Eviolite that Surge's Magnemite had and now this. I really need to start taking this kinda stuff into consideration when I battle."

"You'll get used to it, Lincoln." assured Leaf with a smile before pointing at him. "Right now however, you need to worry about our match! Charley, it's time we stop playing around and really show that we mean business! Use Fire Punch!"

With a wild grin on his face, Charley starts running towards Pikachu with a flame-coated fist reared back, prepared to strike.

"Stop it with another Electroball, Pikachu!"

"You're not gonna trick us with that again, Lincoln! Knock it out of the way, Charley!"

Not slowing down at all, the Flame Pokemon simply punches the Electroball with his flaming fist, sending it crashing harmlessly into a nearby wall.

Wincing upon seeing the Electric-Type move fail, Lincoln mutters "Dang it...okay, think Lincoln - how do we stop that thing?" to himself before going over every single move that Pikachu currently knew.

"Lincoln, if you've got something in mind, hurry up and say it!" said Pikachu, eyeing the Fire-Type warily as it drew closer.

Still wracking his brain for something to do in order to stop Charley in his tracks, Lincoln exclaims "I...I don't know! Just try to keep dodging that Fire Punch until I come up with something!"

Much to both his and Pikachu's surprise however, the Fire-Type suddenly came to a stop before cancelling his Fire Punch attack.

"...Is this really the best you can do?"

"Pardon?" questioned Pikachu, confused.

"I came into this battle expecting you to put up more of a fight, but all I'm getting is nothing but disappointment." answered Charley as he crossed his arms while the flame on his tail started to revert back to its usual orange color. "If this is the best you've got, then you may as well give up now and save me the trouble because this is starting to bore me."

Turning to walk away, the Flame Pokemon adds "I don't see how something as weak as you could've beaten Surge's Raichu. It must've been a fluke.", causing Pikachu's eyes to widen slightly before narrowing in anger as his cheeks start sparking wildly, unknowingly causing an electrical aura to form around his body.

"Pikachu?" asked Lincoln, eyebrows raised in concern.

"Weak? You arrogant little..." growled the Mouse Pokemon as the aura started to grow brighter, causing the voltage coming from his body to start increasing in intensity. With a loud furious-sounding cry, he discharges a large bolt of lightning directly at Charley, hitting him hard enough to send him rolling halfway across the battlefield. "How's that for 'weak', asshole?"

Worried, Leaf asks "Charley, are you alright?", only for the Fire-Type's eyes to spark as a smirk forms on his face as he pulled himself back to his feet.

"So...you've got a little bite to your bark after all. Is that it?"

Another powerful blast of electricity was his response, causing him to groan in pain for a few moments before giving Pikachu a hungry-looking glance.

Feeling the flame on his tail starting to heat up again, he remarks "Ah...there he is. There's the Pikachu that I wanted to fight, not that cautious little weaking from before."

While Pikachu glared heatedly at the Flame Pokemon with his cheeks sparking, Lincoln asks "...Dexter, what happened to Pikachu? There was this weird aura surrounding him a few moments ago."

'That would be Charge, an Electric-Type move that allows the user to charge themselves with power, boosting the strength of any Electric-Type moves they utilize in battle for a short time.' answered Dexter simply. 'I should also add that it's one of your Pikachu's Egg Moves.'

"Huh...maybe this will help us get the firepower we need to take that Charmeleon down..." mused Lincoln to himself before giving Pikachu a nod. "Pikachu, use Charge again! We're gonna store up for something big!"

"Charge, huh? Well in that case, we better put a stop to that before you get the chance to power up again!" said Leaf with a smirk. "Fire Punch, Charley! Don't stop for anything this time!"

After taking a second to look at the planks that made up the battlefield, Lincoln's eyes lit up as an idea popped into his mind. Pointing at Charley, he orders "Cancel your Charge and close the distance with Quick Attack, Pikachu!" ordered Lincoln, causing the Electric-Type to start running towards his opponent.

Once the Fire-Type was close enough, he adds "Now use Iron Tail on the floor in front of you!"

Complying with the command, the Mouse Pokemon slams his silvery tail into the battlefield, causing one of the planks to pop loose before shooting upwards, cracking Charley directly in the face.

"Now follow it up with another Quick Attack!"

With a burst of speed, Pikachu hits Charley with a full-body tackle, sending him skidding back several feet.

"Let's switch to long-range, Charley! Ember!" commanded Leaf, prompting the Fire-Type to open his mouth to shoot another fireball at his opponent.

"Electroball, Pikachu!" shouted Lincoln, causing Pikachu to fire another Electroball - one that was much larger and faster than the one before - at Charley, who fires a white-hot ball of flame at the attack in response.

Upon coming into contact with each other, the two attacks immediately combust and explode, creating a large cloud of smoke that engulfed the battlefield.

"Now's our chance, Pikachu! Shock Wave!"

Letting out another furious cry, Pikachu fires a large wave-like blast of electricity from within the cloud, hitting Charley hard and sending him skidding towards Leaf, covered in electrical burns.

Pulling himself to his feet with a wild grin on his face as he ignored the pain coming from his burns, the Fire-Type demands "More! Show me more! Show me your full power!"

Hearing the Flame Pokemon's words, Lincoln says "If he wants full power, then that's what we'll give him! Pikachu, we're going for it! Volt Tail!"

"Got it! Here goes nothing!" replies Pikachu before using Iron Tail to spring himself into the air and out of the smoke cloud. Once he was high enough, he starts using Iron Tail while charging up an Electroball, causing the familiar burning sensation of Volt Tail to start running through his tail.

Due to Charge's power still running through his body, the electricity surrounding his tail had increased in intensity, causing the people surrounding the battlefield to start backing away.

Upon seeing the hybrid attack coming his way, Charley's eyes lit up with delight as the flame on his tail started burning even brighter, turning from a small flame to a hotly burning inferno.

"Yes! That's it! This is the power I was looking forward to fighting!" replied the Fire-Type, laughing wildly. Turning to face his Trainer, he barks "Leaf!"

"Uh...yeah?" asked the brunette worriedly.

"Let me use 'it'! Let me match their power with my own!"

Seeing what her starter was saying to her through her Pokedex, Leaf asks "Are you sure you'll be able to handle using something like that, Charley? You're still trying to perfect it..."

With a wide grin on his face, Charley answers "I can handle it. Give me the order, Leaf."

"Alright, but you're the one that asked for it." replied Leaf before pointing at Lincoln, eyes blazing. "You're not the only one with a special attack up your sleeve, Lincoln! You think you're the only one with a hybrid attack? Think again!"

"You've got one, too?!" asked Lincoln, alarmed.

Giving him a playful wink, Leaf replies "You bet! You should consider yourself lucky, Lincoln - we usually don't use this one for just anyone, you know." before pointing at the airborne Electric-Type. "Charley, let's turn up the heat with our secret weapon - use Dragon Blaze!"

Grinning madly, the Fire-Type starts generating a massive amount of blue-colored energy from his body as he leaps into the air towards Pikachu, who was starting to swing down his Volt Tail attack directly at his opponent's head.

As the energy surrounding Charley's body started to take on a dragon-like form, the Flame Pokemon opens his mouth widely for a Fire Fang attack. In an instant, the flames rapidly start spreading across the dragon-like aura, setting it ablaze.

"Whoa..." gasped Lincoln as his eyes widened at the sight of the brightly burning dragon as it charged towards Pikachu's Volt Tail.

Upon coming into contact with each other, the two moves clash violently, sending wild bolts of electricity and red-hot embers flying everywhere as Pikachu and Charley attempted to overpower their opponent.

While everyone else on the deck ran for cover, Lincoln and Leaf stood in place, watching the clash between the two Pokemon.

"You can do it, Pikachu! Just push a little bit more!"

"Don't let him beat you, Charley! You can do this!"

After clashing for a few more seconds, the two attacks finally destabilize and explode violently, creating a massive ball of flame that manages to knock everyone on the deck off of their feet.

"And I thought the blast at the Vermilion Gym was bad..." muttered Leaf as she rubbed her now-sore head. "...You okay over there, Lincoln?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. But where's Pikachu and Charley? I don't see them anywhere..."

As if to answer the brunette's question, both Pokemon suddenly fall from the sky, unconscious and covered in heavy burns.

"Pikachu!" cried out Lincoln in alarm before running over to catch the Mouse Pokemon while Leaf rushed over to see if Charley, who had crashed face-first into the battlefield, was alright.

After taking a moment to eye both Pokemon for any sign of being able to continue the fight, Prima raises both of her arms and says "Both Pikachu and Charley are unable to continue! Therefore, as referee of this match, I have to declare this battle as a draw!"

"A draw..." murmured Lincoln, sounding absolutely stunned upon hearing Prima's announcement. "Our match ended with a draw..."

Recalling her fallen Fire-Type, Leaf replies "I'm just as surprised as you are, Lincoln." before walking over and offering him one of her hands. Smiling, she adds "Great match, Lincoln. I think you've proven today that you definitely earned your Thunder Badge."

"Thanks." answered Lincoln with a smile of his own before giving Pikachu a concerned look. "The only thing I don't like about our match was the fact that both of our Pokemon ended up getting hurt with that final clash."

"There's a Nurse Joy running an improvised Pokemon Center on board the ship, Mr. Loud." stated Prima, walking over. "I'm certain that she'll be willing to help both of you with getting your Pokemon back into peak condition."

"We'll look into that, Prima." replied Leaf, smiling. "Thanks for refereeing the match for us."

"Anytime. Now then, I must be going. There's still so much for me to see and not enough time to do it." stated Prima before giving the two a nod. "Work hard and make sure that your Pokemon become stronger, you two. I'd love to see a rematch someday."

Turning to Lincoln, she adds "And if may make a suggestion...try teaching your Pokemon a wider variety of moves. You'll be able to answer more effectively against whatever your opponent will be able to throw at you."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind, Prima. Thank you." said Lincoln, causing the glasses-wearing woman to nod before walking away. Turning to Leaf, he says "I guess we better get our Pokemon patched up first before you show us the Wonder Trade room, huh?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." answered Leaf before letting out a sigh. "...Nurse Joy's going to chew us out for letting Charley and Pikachu go that far during their fight, isn't she?"

"Probably." replied Lincoln before letting out a startled cry as a loud blaring horn sounding through the air, followed by the St. Anne slowly starting to move away from Vermilion Port. "Wh-what the heck was that? What's going on?"

"Looks like we're leaving." commented Misty, watching as Vermilion City gradually became further and further away.

"Leaving?! We can't be leaving like this!" exclaimed Lincoln, startled. "Dang it! I knew we shouldn't have stepped foot onto this thing! Now I'm going to fall behind again!"

"Hey, if it's any consolation, I'll be falling behind with you, Lincoln." replied Leaf, patting his back reassuringly. "Besides, each voyage only lasts a month at the most. You'll be back at Vermilion City in about thirty or so days."

"Those thirty days could've been used on catching more Pokemon or winning some more badges..."

"Instead of seeing this as a setback, think of this as another break from our travels." said Brock, draping an arm over his shoulders. "Almost like what had happened with Cerulean Cape, but this time Team Rocket isn't around to ruin things for us."

After a moment, Lincoln sighs and says "...Fine. But when something like this comes up again, we are definitely saying 'no' to it. This is the second time I'm going to be falling behind when it comes to the other Trainers from Pallet Town and I don't want it to happen a third time."

"Deal. Now c'mon, let's go find that Wonder Trade room. Lead the way, Leaf."

"With pleasure."

(AN: I know that Charge is only supposed to work for the next Electric-Type move that is used in battle, but I thought that having Pikachu using it over and over after every Thundershock or Electroball would get repetitive after a while, so I changed its effect to being able to boost the power of every Electric-Type move he knows for a short time, but it temporarily renders him unable to use any of them for a little while (around 15 minutes or so) once the boost runs out. By the way, the 'Dragon Blaze' attack consists of Dragon Rush (which is an Egg Move for Charmander) and Fire Fang. And no, Leaf and Lincoln aren't going to be the only ones with hybrid moves. Expect to see more of them from other trainers in the future.)

-=O=-

-St. Anne - Wonder Trade Room (5:00 PM)-

Opening the door leading to the ship's Wonder Trade room, Leaf says "Here we are, guys. This is where I got my Carbink." as Lincoln, Misty, Brock and a slightly bandaged Pikachu step inside.

"It's certainly...round." commented Misty as she looked around the room curiously before taking notice of the VideoPhone and Transfer Machine on the other side of the room. "Figures they'd have something like that in here. It'd be a pain to have to constantly go back and forth in order to swap out your Pokemon for the ones you want to trade away."

"Yeah, it's pretty convenient." remarked Leaf, nodding. "Definitely a lot easier than just leaving the ship in order to go to the Vermilion Pokemon Center."

"Both of us shouldn't have to worry about that now, considering the new upgrades our Pokedexes have gotten, though." commented Lincoln, causing Misty and Brock to look at him curiously.

"Upgrades? What are you talking about?"

"Professor Oak installed something into our Pokedexes earlier today that should allow us to be able to switch out Pokemon on the go without needing a Transfer Machine." explained Leaf, surprising the two Gym Leaders.

"You two can actually do that now?!" asked Misty, eyes widened in shock.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that neither of us have tried it yet, but there's no better time than now, right?" replied Lincoln with a shrug before taking his Pokedex out of his pocket and opening it up. "Uh...Dexter?"

'Yes? Do you need something?'

"Can you access the Pokemon Box Link, please? I want to give it a test run."

'It's about time you asked me to access that particular program. One moment, please.' replied Dexter before letting out several beeps as the Pokedex started to access the PBL program. After a few seconds, a solid-looking hologram of a capsule-like machine appears from the device's main light, causing the others to gape at it in awe. 'The Pokemon Box Link is now active.'

"Wow...does it actually work?" questioned Misty, eyeing the hologram carefully.

"Only one way we're going to find out. Dexter, can you send over Geodude, Paras, Diglett and the Pokemon I caught on Route 24 over here please?"

'Certainly. Please insert the Pokeballs that you wish to send back to the lab into the hologram, please.' answered Dexter as the hologram opened up, allowing something to be placed inside of it.

After taking a moment to steel himself, Lincoln says "Well...here goes nothing..." before taking four Pokeballs off of his belt and placing them into the hologram. Much to his and everyone else's surprise, the Pokeballs remained inside the holographic capsule, almost as if it were completely solid. "Okay...you can send them now, Dexter."

Beeping, Dexter replies 'Transferring. One moment, please.' before causing the four Pokeballs to vanish in a flash of light, almost like if they were inside of an actual Transfer Machine. Seconds later, four more Pokeballs take their place. 'Transfer complete. Your Pokemon have been successfully exchanged.'

"So my Pokemon made it back to the lab safely?"

'Yes. All four are completely fine, although I believe your Pidgeotto is quite miffed about the fact you're sending her back to the lab.'

"I'll make it up to her later. Thanks a lot, Dexter." said Lincoln with a smile before closing his Pokedex and pocketing it again. "Looks like it works to me."

"That's...that's unbelievable..." gasped Brock, unable to comprehend what he had just seen.

Smile widening, Lincoln says "It's also pretty dang convenient. No more Transfer Machines for me." before giving Leaf a glance. "Now then, how do I use the Wonder Trade Machine? Think you can give me a rundown on how it works?"

Shaking off the shock of seeing the PBL program in action, the brunette nods before giving Lincoln a brief, but easy to comprehend summary on what he needed to do.

Nodding, Lincoln says "Okay, got it." before activating all four Pokeballs. "However, before I send these guys on their way, I'd like to try speaking to them one more time and seeing if they'll be willing to reconsider joining up with my team."

With that said, he tosses all four into the air, causing them to send out his Paras, Geodude, Diglett and a muscular human-like Pokemon with bluish-grey skin, red eyes and three small yellowish-brown ridges on its head.

Upon seeing the white-haired boy, both Paras and Geodude glower at him while Diglett and the other Pokemon look around the room curiously.

Giving them a small wave, Lincoln says "Uh...hey, guys. Just wanted to talk to you for a bit about something.", causing all four to look at him curiously. "...What's the best way to say something like this...?"

Deciding to speak for his Trainer, Pikachu walks over and says "Lincoln's thinking about Wonder Trading you four to new Trainers and he wants to hear your input on the matter."

"Wonder Trading, huh?" questioned Paras, scratching the underside of its head with its claw. "Does that mean we won't have to be around your Trainer pr that old coot at the laboratory anymore?"

"Pretty much."

"Then go for it. The sooner I'm away from here, the better." replied Geodude, arms crossed.

"You already know my answer." added the Diglett, eyeing the machine in the center of the room. "I'm not going to change my mind on that."

The fourth Pokemon, on the other hand, stood there deep in thought, thinking about what it wanted to do.

"Okay, so three of you want to go and the fourth's undecided. I'll let him know." replied Pikachu before walking over and telling Lincoln what the three Pokemon had said to him.

"They don't want to stay with us after all, huh...that's a shame. But it's their choice and I'm not going to force them to change their mind." said the white-haired boy before taking notice of the fourth Pokemon. "What about that one?"

"Undecided. You might be able to talk it into staying."

"Can't hurt to try. Just gotta scan it with Dexter, first." said Lincoln before taking out his Pokedex and pointing it at the humanoid Pokemon.

'Machop, the Superpower Pokemon. Machop exercises by hefting around a Graveler as if it were a barbell. There are some Machop that travel the world in a quest to master all kinds of martial arts. This male Machop is Level 22 and knows the moves Seismic Toss, Revenge, Focus Energy, Foresight and Karate Chop.'

"Hmm...interesting lineup. I might end up keeping this one." mused Lincoln to himself before walking over to speak to the Machop, who eyed him with crossed arms as he stepped closer. "Uh...hi there."

"Hey. You need something from me, man?" replied the Fighting-Type, surprisingly calm despite what was going on.

"Just wanted to ask you something, that's all. You remember how we first met, right?"

Rubbing the back of his head, the Machop answers "Yeah, I remember. You and those Pokemon of yours gave me a real drubbing when we tried to get you to leave our territory. What of it?"

"Well, considering that I had captured you after our skirmish, I'd like to ask if you're open to the idea of staying on the team with the rest of us. You seem like you'd be a pretty useful guy to have around." answered Lincoln, arms crossed. "So what do you think? Will you stay on with us?"

After thinking over the question for a moment, the Machop shakes his head, answering "Sorry, but I'm just not interested in having someone like you as a Trainer, bro. No offense, but you look like a walking, talking twig to me. Not the kinda guy I want to be training me, dude." before a grin formed on his face. "But...considering you look like you could do with some muscle on that twiggy body of yours, I can stick around and help whip your scrawny butt into shape. You'll be a manly, muscular chick magnet who'll have to beat the girls away with a stick by the time I'm done with you."

Quickly realizing what the Machop was talking about, Lincoln quickly shakes his head, saying "No, that's alright! No need to keep you around if you don't want to stay, right?"

"Yeah, but..." started the Superpower Pokemon before the sole son of the Loud family quickly recalled him back into his Pokeball, cutting him off.

After quickly opening up the Wonder Trade machine and shoving the Pokeball inside, Lincoln starts repeatedly muttering "Send, send, send, send, send..." as he continuously pressed the 'trade' button, wanting to send the Machop away from him as soon as possible.

Nearby, the others - both human and Pokemon alike - start snickering as the white-haired boy continued his attempts to trade the Fighting-Type away.

Upon seeing the Pokeball vanish in a flash of light, Lincoln lets out a sigh of relief, saying "Thank goodness for that. Now then...let's just hope that I get something that won't try to force me to exercise with it."

After a few seconds, another Pokeball appears in the machine, causing him to smile before taking it out.

"Well? Are you going to send it out or what?" asked Misty, eyeing the Pokeball curiously.

"Not yet. I wanna trade over Geodude, Paras and Diglett first before I see what I got. I'd like to meet all four of my new Pokemon at the same time." replied Lincoln before giving the three Pokemon in question a glance. "Last chance, guys. Are you sure that you want to go?"

Three nods in unison was his answer, causing him to nod in response before recalling them and sending them on their way to their new owners. A moment later, two Pokeballs and a Great Ball appear inside of the machine.

After looking over all four of his newly-acquired Pokeballs, Lincoln says "Alright guys, time to come out and say hello!" before tossing them into the air, causing all four to release bursts of white light that started to take form in front of him.

Seconds later, the light finishes materializing, taking the form of four Pokemon that he had never seen before.

The first one was a small white-colored bipedal Pokemon with green hair styled into a bowlcut and two small, flat red horns on its head.

Beside it stood a gray rabbit-like Pokemon with long, brown-tipped ears, a pair of buck teeth and a collar-like tuft of brown colored fur around its neck.

Standing beside that was a yellow mustelid-like Pokemon with red-colored sleeve-like arms, yellow paws and red-colored legs and eyes. Tied around its waist was a black karate-style belt that looked to be well-worn, but still in good condition.

The fourth and final Pokemon was a small round mauve-colored Pokemon with short stubby, yellow-tipped limbs, yellow-tipped ears that were tightly folded onto its head and small black-colored, plus sign-shaped eyes.

"Wow...I've never seen Pokemon like those before..." mused Misty in an awestruck tone as she looked over all four in wonder. After a moment, she starts heading over to the nearby Transfer Machine, saying "I'm going to try and score a couple of Wonder Traded Pokemon too! You're not the only one who's going to get them, Lincoln!"

"Wait for me, Misty! I wanna try this out, too!" called Brock as he followed after the redhead, leaving Lincoln and his new Pokemon behind.

As the four newcomers looked around the room, wondering where they currently were, Lincoln takes out his Pokedex and scans them in order to find out what kind of Pokemon he had just received.

'Mienfoo, the Martial Arts Pokemon. It takes pride in the speed at which it can use moves. What it loses in power, it makes up for in quantity. This female Mienfoo is Level 19 and knows the moves Dual Chop, Meditate, Detect, Fake Out and the Egg Move Vital Throw. This Mienfoo is in possession of a Black Belt.'

'Bunnelby, the Digging Pokemon. It has ears like shovels. Digging holes strengthens its ears so much that they can sever thick roots effortlessly. This male Bunnelby is Level 13 and knows the moves Leer, Agility, Quick Attack, Mud Slap and the Egg Move Defense Curl.'

'Whismur, the Whisper Pokemon. Whismur is very timid. If it starts to cry loudly, it becomes startled by its own crying and cries even harder. When it finally stops crying, the Pokémon goes to sleep, all tired out. This male Whismur is Level 11 and knows the moves Echoed Voice, Astonish, Howl and the Egg Move Fake Tears.'

'Ralts, the Feeling Pokemon. Ralts senses the emotions of people using the horns on its head. This Pokémon rarely appears before people. But when it does, it draws closer if it senses that the person has a positive disposition. This female Ralts is Level 14 and knows the moves Confusion, Disarming Voice, Double Team, Teleport and the Egg Move Misty Terrain.' stated Dexter, finishing off the last entry. 'I should also mention that this Ralts is in possession of a Gardevoirite.'

"Gardevoirite?" repeated Lincoln before kneeling down to get a better look at his Ralts, who shied away slightly upon seeing him. "...It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you."

After a moment, a small, timid-sounding voice asked "...Y-you're not? Promise?" inside of Lincoln's head, causing him to jump back in surprise, which in turn caused the Ralts to let out a startled squeak.

Seeing this, the Mienfoo steps in front of the Ralts, ready to defend it from harm.

"Step away. Now."

After taking a moment to regain his nerves, Lincoln notices the Fighting-Type taking a defensive stance in front of him. Holding his hands up defensively, he says "Hey, I already said that I wasn't going to hurt anyone. I was just surprised at having someone speaking to me through my mind, that's all."

Hearing this, the Ralts peers from behind the Mienfoo and stares at Lincoln for a few seconds before cautiously approaching him.

"Um...I'm sorry about scaring you like that...I should've warned you that I was able to talk to you telepathically. You're...you're not upset with me about that, are you?"

"Nah, we're good. Just make sure to give me a notice before you talk to me like that. It's bad enough that my sister scares the crap out of me by talking to me out of nowhere, but I don't need you doing it, too." replied Lincoln before kneeling down again and offering one of his hands. "The name's Lincoln - I'm your new Trainer."

"R-Ralts. It's...it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." answered Lincoln before taking notice of the necklace around the Feeling Pokemon's neck. Upon seeing what appeared to be a Mega Stone hanging from it, he adds "That's a pretty cool stone you've got there. Is it yours?"

"I-it belongs to my mother. She gave it to me before...before I was sent here to you." replied Ralts timidly. "Is it okay if I keep this with me, please?"

While Lincoln did want to send the stone back to Professor Oak for safekeeping, another, more logical part of his mind, thought it would help make befriending the Psychic-Type easier by letting her hang onto it for the time being.

"Sure. Just make sure to keep it where you won't lose it, alright?"

"O-okay..."

"Alright." said Lincoln with a smile before turning to address the other three Pokemon, hand held out for a handshake. "I'm Lincoln. It's nice to meet you three."

After eyeing the hand for a moment and finding no sign of deceit, the Mienfoo cautiously accepts the gesture, stating "Mienfoo." in a simple, blunt tone.

"Whismur. It's nice to meet you, too." greeted the Whisper Pokemon in a hushed voice as it shook his hamd with one of his ears.

"And I'm Bunnelby. Nice to meetcha, I guess..." added Bunnelby with a shrug as he shook Lincoln's hand as well. "So...you're our new Trainer now, huh?"

"Pretty much. You four are okay with that, right?"

"I suppose I can live with having someone like you as my Trainer." nodded Mienfoo, arms crossed. "Just know that if I catch you picking on that poor Ralts, you're going to learn the hard way what my Martial Arts training has taught me."

"I...I'm fine with it...well, if you are." mumbled Ralts, shuffling her feet nervously.

"I can work with someone like you, I guess." replied Bunnelby, shrugging.

"Yeah, what he said. You seem like a pretty nice guy." whispered Whismur, nodding.

"Alright then, it's settled." said Lincoln with a smile before giving Pikachu a nod. "Do me a favor and remind me to introduce them to the rest of the team later, will you?"

"I'll make a note of it."

"Thanks." replied the white-haired Loud before noticing Misty and Brock coming back towards him with two Pokeballs each in their hands - a teal and black-colored Pokeball with a net-like pattern and a blue-colored Pokeball with a white wavelike pattern for Misty while Brock was holding a Great Ball and what appeared to be a regular Pokeball, but with yellow-colored linking circles with green centers spanning vertically on the top half of the ball.

"Done and done. We've gotten our Wonder Trades out of the way." said Misty, holding up the Dive Ball and Net Ball she had in her possession.

"Nice. What'd you trade?"

"Just a few Pokemon we caught during our time at Cerulean Cape. Nothing too major." answered Brock as he activated the Repeat Ball and Great Ball in his hands. "On three, Misty?"

"Sure. One..."

"Two..."

"...Three!" exclaimed both Gym Leaders in unison before tossing the four Pokeballs into the air, sending out the Pokemon inside of them.

As the four Pokemon finished materializing, Misty comments "I hope I got something good for that extra Goldeen and Staryu I caught..." before looking at the two Pokemon that had come from the Pokeballs she had thrown...and then immediately letting out a loud scream before backing away quickly. "B-B-B-Bug! I got a bug!"

Standing in front of her were two Pokemon - a small, round blue-colored Pokemon with yellow eyes and black plus sign-shaped pupils, small feet, two light blue pectoral fins and two antennae-like protrusions with glowing yellow orbs attached them. Standing beside it was a small spider-like Pokemon with a black thorax, two large blue eyes, six greenish-yellow legs with three of them holding what appears to be a bubble on its head.

While Misty continued to tremble in fear of the spider-like Pokemon, Brock looks over the two that he had received - a small brown puppy-like Pokemon with a curled grayish-white tail, blue eyes and a light brown collar-like cluster of rocks around its neck. Beside it was a flat rock-like Pokemon with two brown and orange-colored arm-like protrusions with sticking out of it. On the 'hands' of these protrusions were a pair of eyes and several sharp claw-like rocks at the tip of each 'finger'.

Chuckling as he pointed his Pokedex at the four new Pokemon, Lincoln remarks "First you get a new upgrade and now you're getting a lot of usage on scanning Pokemon. Today's a pretty busy day for you, isn't it Dexter?"

'I do not mind. I'm always eager to collect new information on any Pokemon you encounter.' stated Dexter before scanning Misty and Brock's new Pokemon.

'Chinchou, the Angler Pokemon. Chinchou lets loose positive and negative electrical charges from its two antennas to make its prey faint. This Pokémon flashes its electric lights to exchange signals with others.'

'Dewpider, the Water Bubble Pokemon. When two Dewpider meet, they display their water bubbles to each other. Then the one with the smaller bubble gets out of the other's way.'

'Rockruff, the Puppy Pokemon. It's considered to be a good Pokémon for beginners because of its friendliness, but its disposition grows rougher as it grows up.'

'Binacle, the Two-Handed Pokemon. They stretch and then contract, yanking their rocks along with them in bold hops. They eat seaweed that washes up on the shoreline.'

Hearing what Dewpider's entry had to say, Lincoln comments "Well, this is an interesting conundrum for you, Misty. Your new Dewpider is both a Bug and a Water-Type Pokemon."

"It is?!" asked Misty, clearly unhappy with the news.

"Yep. So you've got yourself in a situation - do you want to keep it because of it's Water typing or trade it away because of it's Bug typing?"

"...Are either of you interested in trading for it?" questioned Misty in a hopeful tone, only for all three Trainers to shake their heads in unison. "...Damn it. So much for that."

"Look at it this way, Misty - at least you've got two new Water-Type Pokemon to add to your team." suggested Brock, causing the redhead to groan in response.

"I'm fine with the Chinchou. It's the...b-bug that I'm worried about."

Almost as if sensing the Water-Type Trainer's distress, the Dewpider tottles over and starts rubbing its bubble-enclosed head against her leg in a loving manner, causing her to start shaking in terror at the sight while her skin starts to pale.

Taking on a calming voice, Lincoln says "Relax, Misty. It's not trying to hurt you." before walking over and kneeling down to give the Water Bubble Pokemon a pat on the head. "See? It's harmless."

"B-but it's a...a bug..."

"It's also a Water-Type Pokemon, too. Don't forget that." stated Brock reassuringly. "And if you want to be a Water-Type Master, you'll need to obtain every Water-Type to be found in the world, including the ones that may share the Bug Type as well."

At this, Misty whimpers in fright before timidly turning to face the Dewpider, who looked up at her with its round, blue eyes. After letting out another whimper, she moves a trembling hand towards its head and slowly starts stroking the Water-Type's bubble, causing it to let out a soft coo of delight at the sensation.

"See? That's not so bad, is it?" said Lincoln gently while Chinchou hopped over to see its new Trainer.

Upon seeing the dual Water/Electric-Type, Misty's mood perked up as she squealed in delight before picking it up into a hug, causing the Dewpider to look at the other Pokemon with an annoyed look on its face.

"Oh sure, ruin my time with our new Trainer, will you?"

While Misty was hugging her new Chinchou, Brock knelt down to greet his two new Pokemon, saying "Name's Brock. I'm your new Trainer."

"Binacle. We're not much for introductions." stated the Two-Handed Pokemon as it crossed its 'arms'.

Looking excited about having a new owner, Rockruff answered "Well, I am! I'm Rockruff - it's nice to meetcha, Brock!" as its tail started to wag eagerly.

"Well now, it looks like all three of you have managed to acquaint yourselves quite nicely with your new friends already." commented Leaf, smiling. "So do you guys want to do some more Wonder Trading or..."

While Misty attempted to resist the urge to say 'yes', Lincoln shakes his head and answers "Nah, we're done. Let's go.", causing the brunette to nod before making her way out of the room.

After recalling all of their newly acquired Pokemon, Lincoln and Brock do the same while Misty, holding Dewpider's Net Ball in her hands, looks at the Wonder Trade machine for a moment before groaning and recalling both of her new Pokemon back into their balls. After attaching them to her belt, she mutters "I just know I'm going to regret keeping that...thing with me..." before leaving the room as well.

(AN: As you can already guess, Dewpider will play an instrumental role in helping Misty overcome her fear of Bug-Type Pokemon. When will that happen? You'll just have to wait and see. When it comes to the Gardevoirite, it was specifically requested by Mr. Haziq, who had gotten an earlier quiz question correct.)

-=O=-

-St. Anne - Cargo Hold (4:20 PM)-

While Lincoln and his group started to make their way out of the Wonder Trade room, a meeting was being held in the St. Anne's cargo hold between Proton and several of his subordinates.

After giving stony looks to all of the grunts who were waiting for him to speak, Proton remarks "Alright, looks like everyone's here. Good." before snapping his fingers, causing Midori to walk over with a manila folder in hand. After taking it, he opens it up, revealing what appears to be several detailed maps, documents and schematics related to the St. Anne and its internal structuring.

"What's with the papers, Boss?" asked a rather dim-looking grunt as he eyed the documents.

"These 'papers', as you call them, will help us with coming up with a way to get off of the St. Anne once we're finished with stealing every Pokemon that's currently on board." answered Proton, giving the grunt a frown. As he points at seven small islands on a map of the oceans surrounding the Kanto region, he says " in exactly 6 hours after setting sail from Vermilion Port, the St. Anne will be heading west, going through the Sevii Islands area. When the ship passes over Seven Island, we'll make our move on the other passengers. By the time the ship reaches Five Island, we should have everything finished and ready to make our escape."

"How do you know they'll be heading that way, sir?" questioned a blue-haired female grunt, causing Proton to point at the documents in response.

"Those papers go over every single detail of the route that the St. Anne will be taking this month, which includes going through the Sevii Islands area. Now then..."

Raising a finger, the dimwitted grunt asked "Uh...why Five Island, boss?", cutting Proton off.

Stepping into the conversation, Midori states "It's because we have a base there, you idiot."

"Precisely. After blowing a hole in the hull of the ship and making our getaway, we should only be a few meters away from the shores of Five Island. From there, we'll use the Surf-capable Pokemon that were distributed at the warehouse to make our way to the base and prepare the stolen Pokemon for pickup." stated Proton, nodding.

"But how exactly are we going to blow a hole in the ship, sir?" asked a male grunt, raising his hand.

As if to answer his question, Proton simply snaps his fingers again, causing two more grunts to place two large aluminum cases onto the floor, then opening them up to reveal several explosives inside.

"Does this answer your question, grunt?"

"Y-yes, sir..."

"Good." replied Proton before nodding, causing the two grunts to close the cases again. Pointing at the St. Anne's schematics, he adds "Now then, I've taken the liberty of marking points where I want you to place the explosives. All of them are vulnerable points of the St. Anne's structure, which means that not only will we be able to blow open a hole to make our getaway, but we'll be able to sink any evidence of us being on board the ship as well."

"We're sinking the ship, sir? But what about the other passengers on board?"

"What about them? The only thing you need to worry about is making sure that our plan goes as smoothly as possible." replied Proton, frowning. "Everything else is irrelevant. The mission is the only thing that matters."

"Besides, it's not like having all of those people going down with the ship is going to be a bad thing." said Midori, shrugging. "It'll get rid of any witnesses."

While several of the grunts grinned at the green-haired woman's words, a few of them seemed unsure about what they were being told to do.

"Y-yeah, but..."

"Just do what you're supposed to do, grunt. That's what we pay you for." snapped Proton, ending any arguments or protests. "Now then, considering that we still have some time before we reach the ambush point, I want half of you to go set the explosives while the other half goes topside in order to do recon on what kind of Pokemon are on board. If you see anything of value, I want you to report it back to me at once. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" chimed all of the grunts in unison, giving him a salute.

"Good. All of you save for the green-haired one, dismissed."

Once she and Proton were all alone, Midori asks "You wanted something from me, sir?"

"Yes. Have you come up with a plan to deal with those bumbling idiots yet?"

"Not yet, but it's one of my top priorities aside from the St. Anne operation, sir."

"Well, make sure you find some way to take them out before we make our getaway. I want them to go down with the St. Anne, not escape it." stated Proton, giving the green-haired grunt an expectant look.

"I'll do my best to find a way to make it happen, sir." replied Midori, nodding. "What about that white-haired brat and his friends?"

Thinking it over for a moment, Proton answers "Do what you can to ensure that they go down with the ship as well."

"You're giving me permission to off that little shit, sir?"

"Yes. While the boss may see potential in our little American friend, I see him as a possible threat to Team Rocket and it's future. And when you see a threat, you don't allow it to grow into an even bigger problem, you nip it in the bud so it won't be an issue."

"Won't the boss be mad with you doing this, though?" asked Midori, concerned.

"I believe that the boss will understand if I explain to him why I went against his orders." stated Proton, neglecting to mention that if things ended up going badly with his boss after the operation, he was going to use Midori as a patsy to get himself off the hook.

"If you say so, sir. So are we finished here?"

"Yes. You're dismissed." replied Proton, causing Midori to give him a salute before running off in order to attend to her duties. After collecting all of the papers that he had used during his briefing, the green-haired Rocket admin departs as well, leaving the now-empty cargo hold behind.

-=O=-

Lincoln's Pokemon (Current)

Pikachu Lv.28 (Male)
Ability: Static
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Mild
Moves Known: Shock Wave, Double Team, ?, Electroball, Thunder Wave, Iron Tail, Grass Knot, Volt Tail (Custom Move), Charge (Egg)

Fearow Lv.25 (Female)
Ability: Sniper
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Calm
Moves Known: Fury Attack, Leer, Aerial Ace, Mirror Move, Pursuit, Assurance, Steel Wing, ? (Egg)

Poliwhirl Lv.26 (Male) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Water Absorb
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Jolly
Moves Known: Hypnosis, Water Gun, Water Sport, Double-Slap, Bubblebeam, Body Slam, Ice Ball (Egg)

Beedrill Lv.23 (Male) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Swarm
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Lax
Moves Known: Poison Sting, String Shot, Bug Bite, Harden, Twineedle, Fury Attack, U-Turn, Venoshock, ?

Pidgeotto Lv.24 (Female) (Nickname: Skyera) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Tangled Feet
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Rash
Moves Known: Gust, Twister, Tackle, Sand Attack, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Steel Wing, Air Slash (Egg)

Zubat Lv.16 (Male) (Nickname: Bruce) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Inner Focus
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Quirky
Moves Known: Bite, Absorb, Wing Attack, Astonish, Supersonic

Sandshrew Lv.20 (Female) (Nickname: Andrea) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Sand Veil
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Calm
Moves Known: Magnitude, Defense Curl, Rollout, Fury Cutter, Rapid Spin, Swift, Rock Tomb

Clefable Lv.18 (Male) (Nickname: Astro) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Magic Guard
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Gentle
Moves Known: Metronome, Disarming Voice, Double Slap, Follow Me, Minimize, ? (Egg)

Bulbasaur Lv.19 (Male) (Nickname: Azami)
Ability: Overgrow
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Serious
Moves Known: Vine Whip, Leech Seed, Stun Spore, Tackle, Sleep Powder, Razor Leaf, Poisonpowder

Charmander Lv.19 (Male) (Nickname: Firestorm) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Blaze
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Naive
Moves Known: Ember, Smokescreen, Metal Claw (Egg), Growl, Dragon Rage, ?

Squirtle Lv.16 (Male) (Nickname: Raph) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Rain Dish
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Rash
Moves Known: Water Gun, Withdraw, Bubble, Tackle, Bite, Aqua Jet (Egg), ? (Egg)

Meowth Lv. 24 (Female) (At Oak's Lab)
Ability: Pickup
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Naughty
Moves Known: Swagger, Foul Play (Egg), Feint Attack, Fake Out, Thief, Taunt, Fling (?), Snatch (Egg)

Ralts Lv.14 (Female)
Ability: ?
Hold Item: Gardevoirite
Nature: ?
Moves Known: Confusion, Disarming Voice, Double Team, Teleport, Misty Terrain (Egg)

Mienfoo Lv.19 (Female)
Ability: ?
Hold Item: Black Belt
Nature: ?
Moves Known: Dual Chop, Meditate, Detect, Fake Out, Vital Throw (Egg)

Bunnelby Lv.13 (Male)
Ability: ?
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: ?
Moves Known: Leer, Agility, Quick Attack, Mud Slap, Defense Curl (Egg)

Whismur Lv.11 (Male)
Ability: ?
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: ?
Moves Known: Echoed Voice, Astonish, Howl, Fake Tears (Egg)

-=O=-

Misty's Pokemon (Current)

Starmie Lv.21 (No Gender)
Ability: Natural Cure
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Mild
Moves Known: Rapid Spin, Water Gun, Swift, ?

Poliwhirl Lv.26 (Male)
Ability: Damp
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Bold
Moves Known: Water Pulse, Mega Punch, Body Slam, ?, ?

Gyarados Lv.22 (Male)
Ability: Intimidate
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Rash
Moves Known: Thrash, Bite, Tackle, Leer, ?, ?

Goldeen Lv.16 (Female) (At Cerulean Gym)
Ability: Swift Swim
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Gentle
Moves Known: Horn Attack, Water Pulse, ?, ?

Squirtle Lv. 14 (Male)
Ability: Torrent
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Bold Moves
Known: Withdraw, Water Gun, Tackle, Mirror Coat (Egg Move)

Krabby Lv.15 (Male) (At Cerulean Gym)
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Impish
Moves Known: Leer, Bubblebeam, Harden, Vicegrip, Slam (Egg Move)

Chinchou Lv.? (Male)
Ability: ?
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: ?
Moves Known: ?, ?, ?, ?

Dewpider Lv.? (Female)
Ability: ?
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: ?
Moves Known: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?

-=O=-

Brock's Pokemon (Current)

Geodude Lv.26 (Male)
Ability: Sturdy
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Hardy
Moves Known: Defense Curl, Rollout, Tackle, Rock Polish, Rock Tomb

Onix Lv.24 (Male)
Ability: Rock Head
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Adamant
Moves Known: Bind, Harden, Tackle, Rock Tomb, Rage, Stealth Rock, Rock Throw

Diglett Lv.18 (Female)
Ability: Arena Trap
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: Gentle
Moves Known: Slash, Dig, ?, ?, ?

Rockruff Lv.? (Female)
Ability: ?
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: ?
Moves Known: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?

Binacle Lv.? (Male)
Ability: ?
Hold Item: n/a
Nature: ?
Moves Known: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?

-=O=-

(AN: Four new omakes for you guys. Enjoy.)

-Omake 78: David's Trading Lesson (Dmattox94)-

"So you wanna learn about trading, huh?" David asked.

"Yeah" replied the Loud child "I was hoping you could teach me."

"Sure." the Arkansan complied "Follow me."

-=0=-

-St. Anne - Trade Machine Room-

Lincoln followed David into a room with Brock and Misty behind them. In the room was a large machine that possessed a large red lever between two small screens, all under a larger screen. On either side was a platform that looked to be for the sole purpose of holding Pokeballs. Above the platforms were Pokeball transfer receivers that looked to be connected to each other behind the larger screen.

"What is this?" Lincoln asked.

"This is a Pokemon Trade machine, squirt." Misty explained.

"Trainers use this in order to exchange Pokemon." Brock clarified.

"To exchange Pokemon?" Lincoln repeated "But wouldn't it be simpler to just swap Pokeballs without the machine?"

"That's the thing, kid." David stated "It's too simple."

Lincoln just stared at David with a confounded look on his face.

"I'll get into the details later." David said "For now, it's time for a crash course in Pokemon Trading. You got your Trainer Card, right?"

"Of course."

"Good. Get it out." David instructed as he pulled out his own Trainer Card.

Fishing his out, Lincoln asked "Why do I need it?"

"Your Trainer Card is more than an ID and a debit card." David said as he walked over to the Trade machine. "It's how you turn on the machine."

Taking his card, David inserted it in the left of two slots under the red lever. The screen left of the red lever began to light up as the machine hummed to life.

"Now insert yours."

Lincoln stepped toward the Trade machine and inserted his Card into the remaining right slot, lighting up the right screen.

"OK, now don't freak out," the Arkansan attempted to pacify "but we're gonna trade Pokemon for a few seconds. Once you understand how's it's done, we trade them right back. You got it?"

"Got it." replied the white-haired child.

"OK, pick your Pokemon." the fifteen-year-old suggested as he pulled out and activated a Pokeball "I'm going with a Graveler I caught."

David then placed the Pokeball in the left platform of the machine. Deciding to go with Fearow, Lincoln placed Fearow's Pokeball in the right platform.

"All right, next part is very simple:" David said, facing Lincoln with a smile "Pull the red lever."

"Your joking, right?"

"I'm being fully serious here."

With a huge amount of skepticism on his face, Lincoln reached for the lever and pulled down. Hearing a crackle, Lincoln stepped back and watched as he saw a beam of blinding white light shone down on the Pokeballs from the transfer receivers. The light dissipated, leaving the platforms bare.

"Where did the Pokeballs go?" the Michiganite asked, worry staring to show in his voice.

"Look up on the screen."

True to David's words, Lincoln looked up to the main screen and was instantly relieved. He watched as a silhouette he knew was Fearow traversed the screen right-to-left, while another silhouette he recognized as a Graveler traversed in the opposite direction. The transfer receivers again beamed the harsh light down on the platforms, this time leaving behind the Pokeballs. David picked up the Pokeball on his platform and unleashed the Fearow that was once Lincoln's before recalling her.

"That's all there is to it." David calmly stated.

"Pretty cool." Lincoln said before asking "So back to my question - Why can't Trainers just swap Pokeballs and trade that way? Why build a machine specifically for trading?"

"Brock, Misty, let me take this one." David said, receiving a nod from both Trainers.

"You see, Lincoln," David started as he held up Fearow's Pokeball "a Pokeball is a pretty advanced piece of technology. And in this piece of technology are two codes, OT and CT."

"OT and CT?" asked the eleven-year-old.

"Original Trainer and Current Trainer." David clarified "Lincoln, have you ever bought Pokeballs recently?"

-Flashback-

"Welcome to the Mt. Moon PokeMart - how may I help you today?" asked the clerk as Lincoln walked up to to counter.

"I would like to buy some Pokeballs, please?" Lincoln asked.

"Certainly." said the clerk as he opened a case underneath the counter "How many?"

"Uh... five will do."

The clerk picked five Pokeballs and set them on the counter.

"Great. How much?" questioned the white-haired boy.

"Let's see... a single Pokeball costs two-hundred Pokedollars, times five equals one-thousand Pokedollars. Would you like to buy them?"

'Ok, so in American money, this only costs ten dollars. Doesn't sound like a bad deal.' Lincoln thought as he took out his Trainer Card "Yes, please."

Taking the boy's card, the clerk took a scanner, scanned each of the Pokeballs, and swiped the Trainer Card "All right, the Pokeballs are yours. Just wait a moment while I register them."

"Register?" Lincoln asked.

"Yes. Like buying a firearm in the United States, Pokeballs must be registered to the person who is buying them."

"Really? Why?"

"So in the event that a Pokemon becomes separated from it's Trainer, it is easier to return to it."

Lincoln stood there with a perplexed look on his face.

"Allow me to explain." the clerk said as he took a different scanner and scanned the Pokeballs.

"If you look at your Trainer Card, you'll find your Identification Number." the clerk started as he slid Lincoln's Trainer Card into a slot in the store's computer that accompanied the register.

"When Trainers buy Pokeballs, the Balls are registered to the Trainer's ID No." The clerk continued as he started typing on the computer "So if a Pokemon is somehow separated from it's Trainer, it's Pokeball can be run through the system to find the Pokemon's owner."

"OK." Lincoln said as he processed the information.

"And one neat thing about registering Pokeballs is that it's all done wirelessly."

"That's awesome!" exclaimed the Loud boy.

"And done." the clerk said as he stopped typing and pushed Lincoln's Pokeballs toward him "You're all set."

-Flashback End-

"Yeah." Lincoln remembered "Whenever I buy Pokeballs, they have to be registered to me."

"To your ID number." David clarified "And that's what the Original Trainer and Current Trainer codes are - Trainer identification numbers. The CT can be altered when a Pokeball goes through the Trade machine, but the OT can't. When you buy a Pokeball, the OT and CT are automatically set to your ID number. Any Pokemon you catch, it's Ball will name you as it's Original Trainer."

"The Current Trainer code" David continued "identifies whoever is the legal Trainer of a Pokemon. Take the trade we just did - the Pokeball your Fearow is in has your ID as it's OT, but since Fearow is technically my Pokemon now, the Ball's CT is now set to my ID number."

"Yeah, about that. Can I have my Fearow back now?" Lincoln asked his friend.

"Sure." David said as he placed Fearow's Pokeball on the left platform. Lincoln watched as David pushed the lever back up and pulled it down again, triggering the trade that sent both Pokemon back to their original owners.

"Welcome back, Fearow." Lincoln greeted as he picked up Fearow's Pokeball and nuzzled it.

"Lincoln, can you take a guess why we go through all this trouble to trade Pokemon?" the Arkansan asked the Michiganite boy.

Pondering for a few seconds, Lincoln stated "So when people trade Pokemon, they won't get in trouble with ownership issues?"

"Exactly." David said "The police forces in the Pokemon regions take Pokemon theft very seriously. They're even talking about developing scanners to scan Trainers, their Cards, their Pokeballs in one go. Anything that doesn't match, well, needless to say, it ends in a lot of trouble."

"Wow." Lincoln said in somewhat awe.

"I mean, you can give away a Pokemon as a gift," David began "but there's a lot of hassle making it legal. Paperwork, red tape all that jazz."

The four Trainers stood in silence for a few seconds before David spoke again "Well, that's really everything on Pokemon trading, so I guess I'll just go. See ya later, guys."

The Arkansan started to leave the room as Lincoln's group bid farewell to him when a thought crossed his mind at the last second.

'I can't believe I forgot! I got so wrapped up explaining to Lincoln that I forgot why I chose Graveler in the first place!'

Quickly spinning around, David quipped "Hey Lincoln, next time your at a computer, look up two words - Trade Evolution."

"Trade Evolution?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah," David sheepishly chuckled "I forgot to mention that the Trade machine can actually trigger evolution in some species of Pokemon."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Lincoln shouted in disbelief.

"Yep." David said smugly as he took out Graveler's Pokeball "In fact, Graveler is one of those species, and I used mine so I could show you. Come on out!"

David tossed the Ball in the air, allowing his Graveler to form in front of Lincoln's group. The Rock Pokemon started to glow in a dazzling white light, grew at least a foot in height, and the glow subsided to reveal a tortoise-like creature with plated green rocks as a shell.

"When Graveler go through the Trade machine, it triggers them to evolve into Golem. This is the best known method since no one has seen one evolve in the wild." David explained as he recalled Golem to it's Ball. "Well, that's really everything this time. See ya later, guys."

"See ya later!" Lincoln responded.

-=O=-

-Omake 79: The Salesman's Map (SilverNugget)-

(AN: Another omake that would've been perfect for Chapter 20. Thanks to 'Victor John Foxfire' for bringing up the idea to me.)

-Mount Moon - Campsite (7:10 AM)- (Takes place after Lincoln wins his bet with Misty)

"I want you to start using my name from now on. No more of this 'squirt' stuff, got it?"

"...That...that's all you want? Seriously? You don't want my money? Or any of my Pokemon? Or anything else in particular from me, for that matter?"

Shaking his head, Lincoln answered "Nope. All I want is for you to start addressing me by my name instead of 'squirt' from now on. Can you do that?"

After staring at him for a few more seconds, Misty lets out a sigh of relief and answers "...Alright, if that's what you want, then I guess I can do that...Lincoln."

Nodding in approval, Lincoln asks "See? Now was that so hard?"

"It was, actually - I like 'squirt' a lot better. But a deal's a deal and I intend to honor it." replied Misty before opening her bag and taking out a blue-colored stone. "I guess I should consider myself lucky that you chose something like that as your prize - you could've taken this little beauty from me instead."

Walking over to get a closer look, Brock asks "...Is that a Water Stone? Where did you get that?"

"Pewter City - I've been after one for some time so I can evolve my Poliwhirl into Poliwrath." answered Misty before she sent out her Poliwhirl. "And now that I've gotten one, I'm finally going to put it to use. You ready, Poliwhirl?"

In response, the Water-Type gave her a thumbs-up.

"Alright then, here we go!" proclaimed Misty before touching the stone to Poliwhirl's body...only for nothing to happen. After repeating this action a few more times with nothing happening, she asks "What!? Why didn't it work? He said that...oh, you have got to be kidding me! That no-good con artist scammed me!"

"No-good con artist?" asked Brock before noticing the blue-colored stone in Misty's hand. "...You bought it from that shifty shop owner back in Pewter City, didn't you?"

"He claimed that it was a legitimate Water Stone!" whined Misty before she glared at the stone in while Lincoln was on the ground, howling in laughter. "I can't believe I paid 5,000 PokeDollars for this piece of junk!"

"And you said I was a fool for paying a thousand PokeDollars for that piece of junk map - you paid five times as much for that worthless rock!" said Lincoln in between fits of laughter. "What does that make you?"

"Shut the hell up, you little brat! And stop laughing!" snapped Misty before looking down at the fake Water Stone. Sulking, she added "...Great. First I lose a wager against the squirt and now I find out that I got cheated out of five grand by that swindler back in Pewter City. This just isn't my morning..."

While Misty kept moping over having her morning ruined, Brock asks "So what are you going to do with that map you bought, Lincoln?"

Taking the shoddy map out of his bag and looking it over, Lincoln answers "Dunno. I should toss it, but part of me wants to keep it as a souvenir of my time here." before taking notice of the fact it was slightly transparent. After eyeing it for a moment and noticing something about it, he mutters "I wonder..." before taking out his map of the Moon Mountain Range and placing the other map on top of it.

"What are you doing, Lincoln?" asked Misty, breaking out of her funk in order to see what the white-haired Loud was trying to do with the two maps.

"Just a moment. Gotta check something with my Pokedex really quick." said Lincoln as he pressed a few buttons on his Pokedex, causing an overhead map of the area to appear on the screen. After comparing it and the two maps in front of him, he adds "Oh, no way..."

"What? What is it?"

"That old swindler was right about his map after all. Take a look for yourself."

After taking a look at the overhead map on the Pokedex and the two maps that Lincoln had placed on top of each other, Brock mutters "...I don't believe it. They match up perfectly with the ceremonial grounds. You can see the crater from the explosion last night right there."

"...So you mean to tell me that this piece of crap map was actually more than worth the money that Lincoln paid for it?" questioned Misty, clearly in disbelief.

Giving the redhead a shit-eating grin, Lincoln answers "Looks like it. Guess it wasn't a waste after all, was it?", causing her to let out an exasperated groan, knowing that the white-haired boy wasn't going to let her hear the end of it anytime soon.

-=O=-

-Omake 80: Machop's New Trainer (SilverNugget) (Considered Canon)-

(AN: Ever wondered where Machop ended up going after being Wonder Traded? Well, here's your answer.)

Shoving the ball into the Wonder Trade machine, Lincoln starts repeatedly muttering "Send, send, send, send, send..." as he continuously presses the 'trade' button, wanting to send the Machop away as soon as possible.

Nearby, the others start snickering as the white-haired boy continued his attempts to send Machop away. Thankfully, the Pokeball containing the Fighting-Type disappeared a few seconds later in a flash of light.

"Thank goodness. Now I just need to wait and see what I get. Hopefully, it'll be something that won't try to get me to exercise." muttered Lincoln in relief as he watched the Pokeball vanish. "See you later, Machop. Here's hoping your new Trainer likes you."

-=O=-

-Lumiose City Pokemon Center - Wonder Trade Room (9:10 AM)-

While Lincoln waited for his trade to go through, two figures were standing in front of a Wonder Trade machine - a woman with short brown hair styled into a star-like shape and a white outfit with two wing-like objects attached to her back. Standing beside her was a Pokemon with a thin white-colored figure with dress-like frills around its narrow legs, a red triangular protrusion poking from its chest and green hair that was styled in a crescent-like shape.

These two individuals were Diantha, famous movie star and current number-one contender to the Kalos League Championship and her Gardevoir, who was the ace of her team.

"Looks like someone's accepted my Wonder Trade, Gardevoir. Isn't that nice?"

"It certainly is. I just hope that the one who receives my child will take good care of her." replied the Pokemon, nodding its head.

"I'm still surprised that you would actually go along with something like this. When you suggested the idea of Wonder Trading your daughter to another Trainer, I honestly thought you had completely lost your marbles. No offense intended, of course."

"Future Sight is more than just a move to use in battle, Mistress Diantha. It can also give a Psychic-Type like myself a brief glimpse into the future. My daughter...she will become strong under the care of her new Trainer, possibly becoming even stronger than myself one day. I have forseen this."

"If you say so, old friend." replied Diantha with a shrug before noticing that the Wonder Trade machine now had a Pokeball sitting inside of it. "Looks like the trade's gone through successfully. Let's see what our trading partner sent us, shall we?"

After taking the Pokeball out of the machine, she activates it, causing it to open up and release Lincoln's former Machop from within it.

Smiling as the Superpower Pokemon looked around the Pokemon Center curiously, Diantha remarks "A Machop! Splendid! It'll be nice to have another Fighting-Type Pokemon on my team alongside my Hawlucha."

Arms crossed, the Gardevoir says "Let's just hope that this Machop's just as well-mannered as him, too. This one seems like he's going to be a meatheaded brute."

Upon taking notice of his new Trainer and her Gardevoir, the Machop scratches the side of his head, muttering "...Huh. You're not that scrawny white-haired kid I met before." before a small grin formed on his face as his eyes trailed up and down the woman's figure. "Definitely much easier on the eyes though. You like your men fit, sweetcheeks?"

While the white-clad woman raised an eyebrow at the way the Fighting-Type was leering at her body, the Gardevoir beside her narrowed her eyes before snatching the Pokeball out of her Trainer's hands, recalling the Machop back and shoving it back into the Wonder Trade machine.

As her Pokemon slammed the 'trade' button, causing the machine to send the Superpower Pokemon off to yet another Trainer, Diantha mutters "...Well, so much for the idea of having a Machamp on my team..."

"Your Hawlucha is more than capable enough to fulfill the need for a Fighting-Type on your team, Mistress." replied the Gardevoir simply. "So are we almost done here? I'd like to get back to training for the upcoming match with the Kalos champion."

Rolling her eyes as she took what appeared to be a black and yellow-colored Pokeball out of the Wonder Trade machine and pocketed it, the woman replies "Of course, of course. Let's..." before noticing that something was off about her Pokemon - the pendant that was supposed to be around the Psychic-Type's neck was no longer there. "...Where's your Gardevoirite?"

"My Mega Stone? It's right..." started the Embrace Pokemon as she reached for her neck, only for a frown to cross her face upon finding nothing there. "Huh...I could've sworn I had it with me."

"Perhaps you dropped it somewhere on the way here." suggested Diantha, causing her Gardevoir to shake her head.

"No, I'm certain I had it when we came in here. As a matter of fact, I specifically made sure to give it to..." replied the Psychic-Type before her eyes widened in horror. "...Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?"

"My...my daughter was nervous about the idea of going to a new Trainer, so I let her hold my Gardevoirite to help soothe her. I...er, forgot to take it back before you sent her off. I'm sorry."

After staring at her Pokemon with disbelief, Diantha mutters "I see..." before patting the Pokemon's shoulder gently. "Don't worry about it, Gardevoir. It was an honest mistake."

"I know, but you put so much time and effort into trying to acquire it for me. We were going to use it for our battle against the champion today."

"True, but you're more important to me than some stone or even the Kalos championship, old friend. But if losing it is bothering you that much, we'll see about talking with the gem salesman here and seeing if he has one for sale before our match starts. I seem to recall him having a few Mega Stones on display when we last met him."

-=O=-

-Omake 81: Diglett's New Trainer (SilverNugget) (Considered Canon)-

(AN: Same thing applies here - we're going to see where Diglett ended up after being Wonder Traded away.)

As he placed Diglett's Pokeball into the Wonder Trade machine, Lincoln says "Time to send you on your way, Diglett. I hope you end up going to wherever it is you want to go." before pressing the 'trade' button, sending the Ground-Type to its new Trainer.

"So what do you think you'll get, Lincoln?" asked Leaf, watching as the Pokeball disappeared in a flash of light.

"Who knows? We'll just have to wait and see. I just hope that whoever gets Diglett will take care of her."

-=O=-

-Hau'oli City Pokemon Center - Wonder Trade Room (10:20 PM)-

Meanwhile in the Alola region, a stout-looking, dark-skinned and gray-haired man clad in a yellow floral-patterned overcoat, a blue shirt and a pair of white shorts stood in front of the Hau'oli Pokemon Center's Wonder Trade machine with a Great Ball in hand, preparing to place it inside.

This man was Hala, Kahuna of Melemele Island and renowned expert when it came to Fighting-Type Pokemon.

"Farewell, young one. May the Guardians watch over you and your new Trainer, whoever that may be." stated Hala before putting the Pokeball into the machine and pressing the 'trade' button, sending it to it's new owner.

The Pokemon he had sent was a young Mienfoo - an energetic Pokemon that had plenty of promise and was eager to prove itself, but had a hard time fitting in with the rest of the veterans on Hala's current team. So after teaching the Martial Arts Pokemon a few moves that would be of use to whoever would end up receiving it, the Fighting-Type Kahuna made his way to a local Pokemon Center in order to send it to it's new home.

A few seconds later, a Pokeball appears inside of the machine in a flash of light, causing the old Kahuna to nod before pocketing the ball and leaving the Center in order to return back home.

"I'll see what I've gotten tomorrow morning."

-=O=-

(The Next Day)

As the morning sun shone brightly in the cloudless skies over Iki Town, Hala stands outside of his home with the Pokeball he had received the night before, ready to see what he had gotten for his Mienfoo.

Activating the Pokeball, Hala says "Now then, time to see what I've gotten..." only to stop upon seeing the familiar form of Tapu Koko, the Guardian Pokemon of Melemele Island coming towards him. "Hmm? What brings you here, Tapu Koko?"

"Thought I'd come and see what kind of new Pokemon you're bringing to our home." answered the Land Spirit Pokemon simply, pointing at the Pokeball in his hand. "I see everything that happens in Melemele Island. I'm its guardian and I need to know if your new Pokemon will be a problem for everyone living here."

"I see. So you're curious about what I've gotten through last night's Wonder Trade. Well, let's find out together, shall we?" replied Hala before throwing the Pokeball, causing it to release the Pokemon inside. Upon seeing what he had gotten, his eyebrows furrowed for a moment as he mutters "Huh...a Kantonian Diglett...didn't expect to get something like that."

As it looked the little Pokemon over curiously, Tapu Koko asked "...Where's its hair? This one is completely bald."

"Where am I? This place doesn't look like the Kanto region..." questioned Lincoln's former Diglett as she looked around, wondering where she currently was.

Kneeling down to face the little Pokemon, Hala gives it the traditional welcoming gesture of the Alola region before saying "Alola, little one. As Kahuna of Melemele Island, I'd like to personally welcome you to your new home."

"Thanks for the warm welcome, I guess...wait, did you say 'Alola'?" asked the Ground-Type eagerly before popping in and out of her hole eagerly, clearly ecstatic that she had managed to reach her desired destination. "Yes! Yes! This is a dream come true for me!"

Watching as Diglett kept popping out of its hole with a cheery expression, Hala simply nods and says "Well, you certainly seem happy to be here, little one."

"Melemele Island is a beautiful place to live for both humans and Pokemon alike. Of course it'd be happy about coming here." remarked Tapu Koko, taking on a proud look.

"You have no idea! This is great! This is wonderful! This is..." cheered Diglett before her eyes caught onto something in the distance - a Trainer standing talking to another Diglett with three golden strands of hair poking out of its head. "Diglett! An actual Alolan Diglett! I have to get a closer look!"

With that said, the Mole Pokemon burrows into the ground and starts speeding towards the other Diglett, eventually popping out of the ground in front of it.

Remaining surprisingly calm despite the fact another Diglett without a single trace of hair on its head had popped out of the ground in front of it, the other Mole Pokemon replied "Alola, my hairless friend. Welcome to Melemele Island."

"Thanks, I guess." replied Lincoln's former Diglett before looking over the other one curiously. "So...you're an Alolan Diglett, huh? No offense, but...uh, you look...kinda disappointing, to be honest. I was expecting to see you with long, flowing locks instead of just three strands of hair."

"Well, that's something that can't be helped. If you want to see long flowing hair, you'll want to talk to the Dugtrio living on Poni Island."

"Aw...well, at least I made it to Alola. That's gotta count for something."

-=O=-

AN: Chapter 34 is done. Bet you guys didn't expect to see it done so soon, huh? Turns out that coming up with a detailed plan on what to do with the chapter works wonders in helping me out with writing this stuff out, so I'll probably end up doing it more often. Maybe one day I'll be able to go back to how I was doing before the slowdown began.

Gotta say that things have been kinda disappointing regarding Smash Bros. and the Pokemon anime as of late. I'm not exactly a big fan of Byleth (Do we really need ANOTHER Fire Emblem character? Seriously?) and the current season of the anime has been a major disappointment so far save for Ash managing to catch a Dragonite. Aside from that, I honestly think that it sucks more than Sun and Moon. At least that had a kickass final battle between Ash and Kukui.

I'm also kinda mixed on the upcoming expansion passes for Sword and Shield as well. While I do like the fact that they'll allow players to re-obtain older Pokemon and capture new ones (I like the two new Regis, hopefully this will mean a new form for Regigigas), I don't like the fact that they're charging so much money for them. It just feels like The Pokemon Company's just trying to squeeze every penny they can out of the people playing the games.

Anyway, let's move on to other matters, shall we?

First of all, it's time for yet another quiz question, which will give the winner the chance to name Lincoln's new Magikarp. The question is this: What are all of the moves that Magikarp can use, including ones that are available to the species through events?

Secondly, I'd like to mention that the St. Anne saga will consist of four parts, which will end with the Cobalt Island chapter. During these four parts, yet another one of Lincoln's sisters will start coming to her senses, which will lead to her speaking with him sometime after the fourth gym. I'm not going to say who it is, though.

Finally, I'd like to give a shoutout to 'yoshi3000' and his fic 'The Outsider's Insurrection - Indigo Iliad', which takes ideas for this story that both of us have discussed, but never got the chance to be used. And he makes them work wonderfully. These, along with several references to other aspects of the Pokemon universe and other well-known anime series and cartoons, make it an enjoyable read and I suggest you give it a look if you get the chance.

As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter and look forward to the next one.