"While physical training is less important than mental conditioning, Receivers know the two are linked."

-Dedication, Baseline Set

Charlene groaned, pulling herself up with the workbench. She took a cautious step forward, hoping her struck leg wouldn't give out. One. Two. The leg came out from under her. Hissing in pain, she caught the edge of the table to steady herself.

Experimentally, she stretched her damaged leg out, feeling her muscles contract. Good. That was something. The second time, she felt them strain.

It wasn't good progress. Nigel had recommended she not work in fear of damaging it further. She picked up the makeshift crutch she had fashioned and sighed. Glancing out the door to make sure that no one was around, she limped out, past racks of tools and assorted components.

Stretching exercises would have to wait, she figured. Out in the cafeteria, she found Luis and Marill playing checkers. Hoping not to disturb them, she carefully set her crutch down with each step to minimize noise. If she had been paying attention to the duo, she would have seen Marill's ears twitch and heard the rather surprised squeaking.

It was only when Luis greeted her with "Hello, Charlene." that she responded by almost falling over, managing to catch herself. She turned to see Marill giggling. That was the last thing she wanted.

"Oh. Hello guys. I think I left my sidearm in the shooting range." She turned to leave. "Gotta get it before-"

"You really should come over here and have a game with us," Luis said. "Besides, you think that lie would work? The workshop does not have any entrance to the shooting range."

"Where's Audrey?" Charlene asked.

"What, her? She caught a [Pokemon] just outside the town. Got Cecily to go with her to the PokeCenter." The book detailing Pokemon was long since returned, but Henry had managed to track down a copy at the local bookstore. He had reportedly paid full price for it – but still, it was nice to have a copy to keep.

"Anyway, who was accompanying her? I see Dawn and Rowan are really busy. Besides, we're all Tier 1 Trainers, right? How are we going to obtain or own an elemental type legally?"

"Dawn said some elemental types are safe enough for Tier 1 Trainers to handle. We just need Everstones, which the PokeMarts around here sell. If you want to know who Audrey went with, it's Cecily and some Pokemon Trainer. He's with Henry if you want to find them. Uh, go down to the shooting range, that's where they are."

Charlene hobbled into the range to see a teenager standing at one of the stalls. Their conversation was inaudible at this distance, but she saw Henry turn to face her.

"Was wondering if you'd come here," Henry said. "This is Andrew."

Charlene looked over the Trainer's face. He looked familiar, then it hit her. "You're the Trainer from yesterday, right? I'm Charlene."

"Nice to meet you. Man, your leg looks a right mess."

"Yep. My Marill wasn't too happy with me after that battle. She let me know it by knee-capping me with her tail. Luckily we've got some medical personnel here. Nigel's the one guy who you can count on to save your life."

"Huh. Is she always this unruly?"

"No. Mostly she's fairly nice."

"Andrew," Henry said, cutting them off, "I'd like to ask you a question. You challenged the Elite Four, correct?"

"Yes," Andrew replied. Charlene noticed his slouching. "I failed to defeat them, and there's the issue of training my team. It'll take me months and a lot of work to do so."

"That's fine," Henry smiled. "We can help you. Look here. Our world was almost destroyed by an extra-dimensional entity. That's why we came here, seeking help from your people. From what I heard, you trained hard enough to potentially match a group of your region's second-best group of trainers. If you can do that, surely you might be able to handle an extra-dimensional threat."

"I- I don't know, man. That seems like something better suited for the Champion or Elite Four themselves."

"Yes. We actually contacted them. They're busy as all hell. Along with the Gym Leaders and Pokemon Masters that are running around. Don't you see? People like you are the best chance we've got, aside from them."

Andrew frowned. "You are Trainers yourselves, right? Why not attack whatever you're fighting directly? You've got 50 people and plenty of weapons. Unless you mean that whatever you're fighting is-"

"Adapting?" Henry cut in. "Yes, they are. Our weapons are now much less effective when we first fought. We need new ways to counteract our enemy. And we need you to aid us. We don't know that much about Pokemon and there's not enough time to train any of the Pokemon we have to your level, understand? This is why we need you."

"Why should we help you in your fight?"

"The threat we're fighting." Henry looked around. "When we first fought it, we thought our world was the only one to be attacked. But we've found some scraps that suggest it's going for other worlds." Ignoring Andrew's shock, he continued. "It's attacking worlds where people wield supernatural power or near-fantastical technology. Put simply, it will wipe out all that it considers a threat to its existence. And your world is next in line."

Taking a deep breath, Henry continued. We've found that if your world and others like it do not help us stop this Threat, your world will die, just as ours almost did. Look at yourself. If your world was in this situation, would you stand by and watch everything get destroyed? Or would you fight for everything you cared about?"

Tears started to form in Andrew's eyes. The Trainer took a shaky breath. "I- I would fight this threat if it tries to destroy my world. That- that is what I would do, Henry."

"Good. If a twelve year old from our world can train themselves to be an experienced soldier, and the same twelve year old from your world can train supernatural creatures to fight for them, I am certain they will be able to triumph against all odds."

"The other Trainers are coming tomorrow morning, right?"

"Yes, Andrew." Henry replied. "We can discuss more at that time. For now, we'll get you on the path to becoming a Receiver. First things first…" Henry tapped a few buttons to reveal the firearms rack, now familiar to Dawn, Charlene and the Receivers.

Charlene excused herself and went upstairs to see Marill and Luis. Instead she was greeted by Cecily and Audrey.

"You've been treating Marill like she was your cat, haven't you? Too had you couldn't ask her to put out that burning bridge…"

Audrey excitedly threw out her Pokeball. "Look at him! Isn't he cute?" The cub-like Pokemon tottered up to Charlene, sniffing her curiously. She had to admit, it did look a little like a kitten.

"Oh, hello. The name's Charlene," she said. 'You hungry?"

It shook its head vigorously in response.

"Got it," Cecily replied. "I think you can stop bothering Charlene now. Come on, we've got things to do."

Charlene leaned back against the counter. She could take care of a Pokemon herself, couldn't she? After all, a few of the Receivers already were well on their way to catching their own, even if they weren't capable of taking care of a house plant let alone a living creature, supernatural or not. Hell, she already had experience taking care of a pet herself once in Reality B.

Maybe she could make it work.

The Shinx hid behind a table leg as Audrey tried to coax it out. It hadn't shocked her yet, so that was something. But then, it didn't exactly like the other children in the Receiver compound either. Cecily had chalked it up to the fact they all smelled of gunpowder and metal after fighting for so long in Reality B.

Still, Andrew – the Pokemon trainer they'd asked for assistance – had suggested capturing a low-level, young Pokemon. Short of getting an egg and raising it as a child, it was the best chance of getting a Pokemon to have a good 'bond' as trainers called it.

Behind her, Cecily said, "Shinx, return!" The electric kitten was sucked in with a flash of red light. She sighed. Pokemon training was supposed to be easy, wasn't it? Barring supernatural abilities that was.

Her daughter wasn't the bright-eyed young girl typical of her age group. The Mindkill and extra-dimensional robot invasion had hardened her eyes and scuffed up her clothes. She held an impassive scowl instead of a warm smile. Cecily had difficulty remembering a time where her daughter was innocent still; she had fought in the Mindkill-blasted wasteland for two years. The Receivers still needed help though, not being able to fit in be damned.

Maybe that was what Pokemon were afraid of? Cecily's mind wandered to other things. How would the Receiver teachings affect Pokemon? Her Marill's attitude had changed too after the Receiver conditioning, being more ready to attack over minor things. Charlene had told her that much.

Henry described it as being better in the long run. "If these Pokemon and Trainers still have their innocence, they aren't going to make it in Reality B. They gotta learn the value of lethal force. Look, even Marill took to it well. If she can do it, why can't other Trainers or Pokemon?"

"Marill? Oh, right. Now you've got her on the track to becoming a Receiver, she's changed. Every time someone of something annoys her she looks ready to drown it!" Cecily slammed her hand on the table. 'Did you ever tell Rowan about this?!"

Henry glared at her. "No. And it's a good thing I didn't. This world sends fourteen year old kids to wander the wilderness with supernatural creatures. They can handle that, and some become famous against all odds. What we're doing here is to ask them to fight like we do! It's easy! Once this is all said and done, you'll see that I was right. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Remember, we did this to our own children by having them fight. You should be fine with what we're doing! This is for the sake of both worlds, you hear me?"

Cecily stormed off without a word. Henry sighed: the first attempt at recruiting a Pokemon Trainer had gone smoothly. Now was the time to see what their Pokemon could do.

One of the newest Trainers gets recruited! The next chapter will detail the construction of the Comms Tower. Also, a few more chapters detailing some of the Pokemon the Receivers have caught. Finally, they have to return to Reality B with their recruits in tow.