Arc IV- Development I: Initiative (Frustration)

US- My gosh. Did somebody call a Lovecraft, for even death may die… and yet this story somehow lives? Sleeping, until the stars align?

Actually. Too lazy to wait. Damn. Okay, we'll just give you what we've got, okay?

DV- We're still alive, still working on this story and we don't plan on stopping anytime soon. In future, we hope that our hiatus' will be less than most of a year long, but no promises.

US- Now, this time you will be grateful to hear that we won't need a mythology 101 class every chapter for title names. Instead we've settled upon a formula describing some of the developments our characters may be experiencing - both positive and negative. A True title and a (False) title.

Disclaimer: we'll cut to the chase. We get no cuts of profit. We own nothing.

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Last time on Partners…

Olivine in lockdown - a Gym Leader murdered. The presence of a member of the Elite 4 personally oversees matters. A terrible attack on Olivine City, this time from within. Team Rocket goes to war - and primarily amongst themselves. In the chaos, Karen seeks to quell the violence, and goes straight for the head of the snake. Giovanni.

Mia sets up matters to be smuggled out of the city. Joseph offers Ben an out - and is rejected. Joseph and friends (excluding Ben) then successfully flee the lockdown, aiming for Cianwood City. In the distance, the city burns.

Meanwhile, Ben and co. get into a bit of a sticky situation caught between loyalties. Before he can make a decision there, he gets an unwelcome blast from the past that decisively solves the matter for him. Now down a leg, he flees to Sinnoh, the only safe(ish) place he knows.

Elsewhere, Whitney schemes with Clair and sells out Ben. They are not the only ones however, as Pryce and Blaine begin their plans to secure Ben and Titan as a whole.

XXXXXXXXXX

Joseph POV

The dawn had come, and with it the sky was starting to clear of smoke. All through the night we'd sailed without rest, while behind us the presence of a great tower of thick darkness was a persistent reminder of what we'd narrowly escaped from.

If someone here and now told me that Olivine had been burned to the ground, it wouldn't surprise me.

Instead, I tried to take the clearing smoke as a good omen. Either way, whatever happened there, it was over now. "It really is over, isn't it?"

"Fucks sake…" growled Fujitora. "And we were almost clear too. If ever there was a time for an oversized Sharpedo to leap from the waters, now would be it…"

Myself, Sophie, Mia and Fujitora all looked into the murky darkness of the ocean. Nothing.

"I'll open another bag." announced Mia. She got to her feat slowly, then carefully maneuvered to the back of the small, narrow ship to where the most crucial of our cargo was stored. She took a knife and cut a massive gash in the sealed bag, then steadily began pouring its contents out into the ocean.

I briefly choked at the smell of raw flesh and guts, but held it down. This was the fourth time we'd had to leave behind a crimson trail to protect us. It was a disgusting practice to partake in, but I also acknowledged the necessity of it. The open seas were capital D Deadly, just like any route between cities. Except that the seas were nigh endless, and so were the Pokegirls within. On the road you could fight a decent swarm off, but on the seas they would just keep coming and coming…

Thus the practice of using animal remains and other unused butcher products as camouflage. Feral Pokegirls are instinctual creatures, so aren't capable of very high level thinking. Meat like this is dead, so the stupider than average Water Types automatically assume that there are no living things worth breeding with above, while those that are hungry are content to eat the leftovers sinking down. Furthermore, the blood will serve as a lamp to the moths - bringing them to one spot, and thinning them out elsewhere.

It was hardly the only protectIon at sea, but it was usually performed by smaller ships such as fishing vessels that can't ward them away through other means and often done concurrently with another.

Alas, we'd been in a rush. And very lucky.

"Look." Says Sophie, pointing ahead of us and drawing my attention away from the possibility of Bizarro World's strange equivalent to Jaws potentially hiding out in the waters. And I can see it. Shoreline and golden beaches, and a small lighthouse in the bay. Further in, modest stone walls on raised ground, and the telltale lights of civilisation.

We were at the final stretch. We had made it.

For the first time since we first set off, I felt a weight light off my shoulders. And then I felt a new one, as Mia gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. I nodded my appreciation, and she let go.

Together, we looked towards Cianwood City.

It was dawn.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ben POV

Wheeling over another uneven cobblestone, I wince at the jerky movement as we make our way towards the cafe Mikhail and I had agreed to meet up at.

"You know, dear," Katsumi says, walking besides me. "You could let me help you."

I tilted my head in acknowledgement. "I could, but I need the practice wheeling myself around." And there was no way in hell I'm going to let Katsumi carry me. Getting her to push my wheelchair might become necessary though, despite my wishes. Fucking old cities with old streets.

When another raised cobblestone nearly tips me over, I grind my teeth. I hate this city already. Why did I come here again? Still, I don't do more than cross my arms and grumble like an old codger when Katsumi grabs the back handles of my wheelchair, pushing us the rest of the way down the street to our destination.

At a table outside the cafe proper next to the water were some familiar faces, two that I know and two that I do not. Arriving at the table and the spot they had saved for us, I couldn't help but flinch. From next to Mikhail, amber eyes looked back, the Pokegirl's hair a soft beige ending in tipped green, behind her a vaguely leaf-like tail along with two leaf-ish ears popping out on the top of her head.

Mikhail gives me a once-over. "The hell happened to you?"

Oh, that's right, I never did him details, did I? But at the same time… it's not really something I'm ready to talk about outside of my girls, not yet. "I, uh… lost a battle. Badly."

Unfortunately, Katsumi doesn't share my opinion, though she doesn't add much either. "We ran into trouble with a Venasaur." She points to my leg, or rather lack of one. "Solar Beam. We're lucky Ben got off that easily."

Easily? I guess it depends on how you look at it. Losing a limb isn't easy, but if Amy hadn't taken the brunt of it, I'd almost certainly be dead, so there's that perspective, I suppose.

"Ah. All makes sense now." Mikhail says, seemingly rather smug that he can put the pieces together without just being told. "I figured something was up, since it was rather unusual for you to call me up out of the blue, especially since you were asking for you to get me a Pokegirl for you. You asked for Fire or Ice, both strong against Grass type, which given that I recall your girls being a Pupitar and a Prinplup, makes perfect sense if you had a foul encounter with something both your girls are weak against. So, am I right?"

"You are." I take a moment to rub my temples and sigh. "So, I recognise Vera, but I don't recognise the other two."

He points to the girl I had first noticed. "This is Natasha, a Leafeon. Now that you've been helping me… I've been able to start putting together a proper harem. She's my Alpha."

The girl in question gives a somewhat demure wave, but otherwise doesn't say anything. A Leafeon is a pretty solid choice, I suppose, all things considered.

Mikhail turns to the other new girl, who's been sulking off to the side this entire time. Her body and face were extremely similar to the now-named Natasha, but there were a few key differences. Her hair was, as opposed to Natasha's beige tipped with green, a dark blue in the front with a long strand on each side, while it faded into a much lighter blue in the back. Her eyes were like chips of ice. But perhaps most importantly, she looks young and I start getting a sinking feeling. "And this is-"

She cut him off with a roll of her eyes. "I can totally introduce myself. The name's Klara, I'm a Glaceon. And before you ask, everyone always does, yes, Natasha and I are identical twins… or least before we went down separate evolutions. So you're my employer, huh? I suppose you'll do."

What?

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Employer?"

Klara shrugs. "I mean, like, yeah? You didn't pick me up in the wild, you didn't pick me up cause you liked me, you asked your friend/subordinate to pick up a girl for you. He only chose me cause he and Natasha hit it off, so he didn't want to just leave me when I fit the reqs he was looking for. So like, this has nothing to do with anything but the fact that your harem has a glaring weak spot that you need plugged. So yeah, forgive me if I consider you more my boss than my Tamer."

This is… unexpected, though not totally unwelcome. At the very least it will hopefully make things with Katsumi less complicated. "I see. Well, if that's what you want. Though if I may ask, why wouldn't you want to stay with your sister?"

"Couple reasons. First is that siblings in the same harem, while possibly a nice fantasy dream of Tamers, is, like, totally nasty. Second… well… Natasha needs to go on without me to lean on. Sorry not sorry sis."

"Eh, fair enough." I can see how those things would all apply. And at the end of the day, it's an acceptable arrangement. She's right, I don't want her for some fantasy harem, I need a type weakness hole covered.

"As your employee, I demand a proper wage for my services." She says, evidently trying to appear serious, but just not quite managing to pull it off. It's more adorable than anything else.

"...I see. Alright, I'll bite. How much are you looking for?"

She thinks for a moment. "Five thousand a week."

I raise an eyebrow. That's a decent chunk of change for a kid like her. Around half of a week's grocery bill between Katsumi, Lorraine and I, actually. Probably somewhere in the ballpark of around fifty dollars? I don't know exactly, but it's higher than I'd like. I'm not sure I can afford something like that at the moment. Well, I technically can, but I don't want to. Oh sure, it's not like it's a full salary cost, but if she tried to demand that I'd walk away now. Fiscal responsibility in times of trouble and all that, especially since I'm not sure on what state Titan is going to be in getting out of this and currently I have no alternative income sources. "One thousand."

"Four and a half."

I give her a look. "One and a half."

"Three and a half."

"Two and a half, final offer." With that, I lean back in the chair as much as possible.

"Eh?!" She leaned over the table. "What do you mean final offer?"

I shrug. "Final offer is final offer. Look, despite what Mikhail might have said or what it might look like, I'm not really made of money. Especially not now of all times. I need to run a tight ship. Maybe in a different world I could pay you more or even your asking price, but not right now. But at the same time, I don't really want to force you into servitude, that's not really my style. Which of course leaves me one last negotiating chip."

"It does?"

"Well yeah. I can pay Mikhail for getting you here, decide you're not a good fit and leave you behind to do the job myself."

I could pinpoint the exact moment that my words were truly comprehended. She had this dumbfounded look, as if the very idea that I could just walk away and leave her in Mikhail's hands never occurred to her.

"Y-you, like, wouldn't really do that, would you?"

I look at her, eyebrow raised. "Wouldn't I? Do you think we know each other well enough for you to make a call either way?"

For a long moment, she stares me down before turning away with a defeated sigh. "Fine. Two and a half."

A moment later we shake it, followed by me passing her the cash while she hands over her Pokeball.

"Well." Mikhail states with an amused smirk. "That's not how I imagined this going, but hey, what works works. It was a good show at any rate." He frowns and turns somber. "Jokes aside, I do have my own favor to ask of you Ben."

Katsumi raises her hand to stop him. "One moment Mikhail. Klara, for the record, how old are you?"

Klara leans back a little, eyebrows raised. "My gods, you are being, like, super uncool. Don'tcha know it's rude to ask a lady her age?"

Katsumi gives her a flat expression, one that promises pain, and Klara relents. "Fine, fine. I'm sixteen."

Sixteen? I turn my own glare on Mikhail mouthing "I'm going to strangle you."

He winces a little before pulling me over to the side. Not overly far away, but out of casual earshot, the kind of distance that indicates privacy more than secrecy.

"What is it Mikhail? Come to account for yourself?"

"Look Ben, I've heard about Olivine." At my raised eyebrow, he elaborates. "Everyone has heard at least the basics. A former Kanto Gym Leader and a Johto Elite Four member go head to head in the middle of a major metropolis. That's international news, especially since the talking heads like to go on how embarrassing this must be for the Kanto League to have let him become a Gym Leader in the first place. But that's not my point. You're probably in a tougher spot, I would guess."

"Mikhail… where are you going with this? And don't think I'm going to just let this go. At the very least, I'm never gonna let you live it down, even if I forgive you at some point."

"Look." He says. "Ugh, this is hard to say. Counting Klara, you now have three girls in your harem. Merely half-full, technically. My favor… I'd like you to take my mother on as your fourth. It'd free up the money you spend on the treatments… among other benefits. Your girls only faced her at her worst, but mom is actually pretty strong. At least as powerful as your main two now that she's all there. I know most Tamers wouldn't be interested, but you're not like most."

You couldn't have offered that first? For fucks sake Mikhail, why do you do this to me? Did you really think I would want the tomboy teen over the hot milf? If I had a wall to hit my head against, well…

Still, it's really not a bad offer. I have vague recollections of playing Diamond and I think, maybe the first of the Elite Four had a Yanmega that was a particular annoyance because their type weaknesses tend to be less obvious. Just on it's own merit Yanmega isn't exactly a pushover, not accounting for the fact that all my other girls can cover just about all it's type weaknesses. And well, an Ice-type and a Bug-type? A potent Grass-Type-Be-Gone herbicide combination mulcher.

But…

That's the wrong way to look at this, isn't it? With a long sigh, I let my head fall back as I look straight at the sky.

Has it really come to this? Getting a girl for no other reason than to fill a type weakness with no consideration of her as a person and now trying to do an objective measure of another by her stat potential and weaknesses? Was the attack really so traumatic that I've started looking at my girls - present and potential - as pieces on a game board instead of as people? I want to say no, that it hasn't and I'm just worrying for nothing, but… that's not what my actions say, is it?

Fuck.

I've never been a good person, but this is a new low, I reckon. But it's too late to do anything regarding Klara, nor is she a bad fit, it seems. Could be far worse.

"Maybe." I finally answer him.

"Maybe." He repeats back to me, sounding slightly confused. "Okay, that's definitely better than you outright declining or getting mad at me for even suggesting it."

"Yes, well, it's a maybe for now. Here's the condition I'll give you. I'm planning on laying low in Sinnoh for a bit, so I figure I might as well hang with the one person I consider a friend around these parts. Since we'll have the time, I'd like to spend some more time with Vera and see if we click, as it were, since I now no longer have a pressing immediate need for anti-Grass warfare."

Mikhail stares at me for a long moment. "If I hadn't brought you Klara and had presented my mom as your solution, you would have just taken her with no further questions, wouldn't you?"

"Yep." I say. "Would have made me a lot happier too."

"Drat. Should have thought of that."

I laugh a little, but it's hollow and mocking. "Yes, yes you should have kiddo."

Beside me, I can hear the distinct sound of Mikhail grinding his teeth. "I thought I told you not to call me those kinds of names last time. You're not even a decade older than me. You're barely half a decade older than me."

"And yet, despite that, you're basically asking me to become your stepdad, if in form though not function."

At Mikhail's grumbling I decide to wind him up a bit more and pat him mockingly on the shoulder. "Chin up sport, I'm sure we'll have a good time."

XXXXXXXXXX

Joseph POV

We had to get off at the main dock - there was no other choice, and in this situation there was really no way to avoid it. The authorities were going to be far too alert concerning the circumstances. Even Fujitora knew that for this smuggling attempt, he wasn't going to be able to drop us off like cargo and be on his merry way. At least not once that clusterfuck in Olivine began. So when a League member asked us to peacefully come with him, we all naturally complied.

We were taken to separate rooms. It was just lucky that they didn't confiscate our Pokeballs. Thus, I released Keiko. Sophie would be more reassuring, but I felt I needed my 'Alpha' right now. Especially considering how the civil liberties I knew of were far looser here in Bizzaro world than back home on Earth. And we'd very much committed a capital C Crime in breaking lockdown.

And I was not a person that had ever gotten in trouble with the law like this. I took solace in the fact that it was better than the alternative of remaining in Olivine.

"Quite a mess we're in right now, eh?" The portly man in the hawaian shirt said. He was a constable, if one could believe it, according to the badge standing out against his garrish purple and green torso."So, let's hear the story one more time."

"Uncle Fiji was doing a spot of fishing when everything went down. I was there to help haul things along with my cousin." I said, rattling off the backstory Fujitora told me to memorize once we'd left the city and we knew our chances of discretely docking were FUBAR. "Then we saw the fire and decided we should take our chances with sailing here."

"And the absence of fishing equipment?"

"Lost overboard." I told him, trying to sound sheepish. "I knocked them overboard."

"Uhuh. And the fact that we found a second set of Tamer ID's hidden in your boat?" namely, our official details, and not the fake ones Fujitora was loaned out.

"I've never heard such nonsense." Keiko chipped in, voice furious and smile wide, stopping me from breaking my composure. "What nonsense is this!? I'm sure even if there were other ID's, they were planted. Sure we broke the Quarantine, but we could hardly be expected to return with the city like that!"

The officer gave her a look - one she returned. "I want to speak to your manager." Keiko said, doing her best Karen impression.

The door slams open dramatically. "It's a good thing I'm already here then, isn't it!?"

My first impression? "Oh god, so loud!"

My second? "Holy shit, that man is ripped."

Tall and thick, muscles like a bodybuilder. He looked more like he'd come from a workout at the local dojo than a meeting, despite the undersized briefcase in one hand, blazer draped over his back with the other hand and a loose tie around his muscular neck.

"B-boss!?" the constable stuttered. "What are you-"

"Look, I'm taking over here. Shoo shoo." He all but kicked the man off his own chair, draped the coat on the back of it, then turned it around and sat down on it like some kind of delinquent.

I looked to my left. Keiko was silent, shaken. Idly, I noted her mouth was slightly ajar. I reached over and shut it with an audible click.

He laughed at Keiko's expression, then he turned my way and I was suddenly acutely aware of how close he was. "Look, I know you're lying. Let's cut to the chase."

"I'm not lying."

Eyebrows raised. "You're a shit liar. So your name?"

"Shiro."

"Quite a girly name, eh?" I grit my teeth. "Uncle's name?"

"Fuji."

He leaned backwards on the chair that he was still sitting backwards on like some kind of delinquent. "Uhuh. And I guess your fishing vessel just happened to salvage some false ID with your face upon them while fishing without a rod."

"Yes." an elbow dug into my side. I turned my gaze briefly back to Keiko, who seemed to be desperately trying to get my attention and tell me something with her eyes alone. I didn't have long to consider what though, as the man quickly grabbed my attention again.

THUD! He slammed his palms on the table and leaned forwards. "And that's the story you're sticking to?"

Well, it was what Keiko, Sophie AND Mia had all agreed was our best option. Deny. Deny. Deny. "Yes."

He didn't reply for a moment, before he simply clapped his hands together. "Well, at least I can say that you've got some guts, eh?"

"Me?" I pointed to myself, fists clenched. I didn't know what, but something was really ticking me off right now. Ever since he'd entered the room, I'd felt what little control I had of my surroundings slip. "Don't know what you're talking about."

Keiko's elbow slammed into my side painfully, shutting me up. "Fucks sake, shut up Joseph! A thousand apologies! My love is just… stressed… from recent events. We'll agree to answer all your questions."

Nani, the fuck Keiko!? Talk about a 180.

The man just laughed. "Nah, I wish you'd let him finish. I mean, it takes guts to lie to my face and keep lying even after he's caught out. I might have had to smack him in the face for disrespecting me out of sheer principle, but I'd buy him a drink afterwards."

"Jeez. Police brutality anyone?" I mumbled under my breath, prompting another laugh and yet another elbow.

"Kid, I am the law!" he grinned wide. "Do I need to bring out the trading card or magazines?"

Trading card? Magazine? I felt I was missing something.

"Darling, this man is-"

"Chuck's the name, and fucks the game." he reached for his blazer and pulled off the Gym Leaders badge that had been on the non-visible side.

I gulped. I hadn't talked back to an officer. I'd spoken shit to a Gym Leader.

"Ghahahahah! You should have seen the look on your face!" He put the badge back. "But nah, all seriousness, I am a Gym Leader, so watch that tongue of yours. Might get you in trouble you aren't tough enough to deal with just yet."

"Duly noted." I was able to croak out.

The man stretched out, causing the Fighting Leaders muscles to flex and strain. "Eh, don't worry yourself too much. I liked you better when there was some cheek in you. Anyhow, onto business. We figured you were smugglers from Olivine, but considering the shitshow in Olivine, we would have probs just let you off with just a slap on the wrist. I know I'd do the same thing."

"Would have? May we humbly ask for further clarification?" Keiko said, as polite as I'd ever seen her.

"Well, you aren't just some random loser, are you? Moment your results from your actual ID came up, I knew I needed to extract you quickly. Your 'sponsor' would be pretty pissed off if I didn't."

I raised my hand like a school child, and he gestured for me to ask. "So… why did we even have this interrogation if you already knew the truth?"

He shrugged. "Eh, it's a little bit of 'I wanted to see you sweat a bit for making us go through the trouble' and a bit more of 'I wanna size that guy up, see why Whitney's even bothering'."

"Great." Now Whitney's very association with me was causing problems.

"If it makes you feel any better, then if this was a test of some kind for character you probably passed. Probably. And even if you failed, my actions wouldn't change. That brat would be intolerable if she didn't hear about her dear sister and pet Tamer."

I frowned. "Why does that feel like an injoke?"

"It is. All the Gym Leaders aware of you call you that." My mortified expression said it all. "Be glad that the first nickname of 'Whitney's Sugar Baby' didn't stick."

"Urk! That's even worse!"

He smirked. "Tell me about it. Nobody ever refers to it like that. The name I voted for was 'Boy Toy'."

"I hate you." I said with the voice of one that has finally had the secrets of the universe delivered to him. "I mean, I disliked Jasmine, but I think I legitimately hate you."

Once again, he didn't seem to care. "Nah."

"Yeah, not really." it wasn't really hate. More a feeling that this man was inevitably going to drag me into trouble I didn't need.

"So yeah. No slaps on the wrist for you. Just call her quickly so she doesn't act like a pain in the ass for me not immediately hauling your ass in a cargo box straight to Goldenrod."

I bow my head. "That would be rather unpleasant. Cheers."

"Eh. Don't worry about it." He got to his feet, and picked up his shit. "Wish I could talk for longer, but we Gym Leaders are busy souls. Still, it was nice to meet you and see what the fuss was all about. Considering matters, I'm shutting down our dock for now, so don't expect to be leaving any time soon."

He stopped at the door, midway through, before turning back. "Go chill out the beach or something. You look like you need a tan."

And then he was gone. The fourth Gym Leader I'd ever met, and now he was gone again.

"Why is it that every fucking Leader we meet is such a goddamn headcase?" I ask Keiko.

For once in my life, we were on the exact same page. "I don't know. Maybe it's something in the water in the Gym Leaders water fountain?"

"Or maybe you have to be mad to get the job to begin with."

Long story short, a minute or two later, Constable Hawiann Shirt dutifully used his law given ability to abuse his authority to get us out and on our way.

Leaving us dumped out in the middle of Cianwood, with nothing to do.

"This will be a long day indeed…"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Ben POV

"Alright, so the game plan so far is basically keep to the down low until things settle down."

Lorraine raises one of her hands from where she was resting in a chair inside the hotel room we had rented for the time being. "And we'll know when things have settled, how?"

"Because the League will want to make a spectacle of their capture of many of Rocket's top brass, they'll have installed a new Gym Leader and will declare the blockade over and pretend things are normal again." Katsumi replies from the bed, not bothering to look up from where she was braiding Klara's hair.

"So basically the plan is 'we'll figure it out as we go along?'" Lorraine says. "That's very unlike you, Katsumi."

I shrug, answering for her. "Honestly, we don't have a lot of choices if we intend to stay out of harm's way as much as possible. Let the Jennies do the dangerous work of mopping up the elements of Rocket with more guts than brains. The less enemies we have to directly deal with ourselves, at least potentially, than the better off we'll be. Doesn't mean we can let our guard down, but it's less directions to watch at once, you know?"

"Mmm, I suppose that's sensible."

Further discussion was interrupted by the ringing of my Pokegear. "'Titan Corporate, this is Mr. Hagen, who's calling please?"

"I've been wanting to speak with you for a little while, Ben Hagen."

I roll my eyes. I'm in no mood to deal with cliched theatrics at the moment... or ever really. It sometimes must be done, but it's just such a drag. "Again, who's calling please?"

The man on the other end had the temerity to laugh. "I'm surprised, boy. I would have thought that brat Giovanni would have had all his, hmm, close relatives trained enough to recognise the voice of any of the Gym Leaders. He must have been slacking when he got too comfortable. Oh well."

An older man, a Gym Leader. Likely to either be one from Kanto, where Giovanni himself was a Gym Leader up until relatively recently or from Johto, where Rocket has been basing out of for a while. Not a guarantee by any measure, but I guess it's more likely. Blaine or Pryce. Which is worse, I can't really say. I've never met either personally. Still, given everything that went down in Olivine, I'd put money on Pryce. Fucking hell. And here I thought I'd be able to avoid time in the slammer. "Gym Leader of Mahogany Town, Pryce. Am I correct?"

"Indeed." He replies. "I'm glad to see that the younger generations aren't completely hopeless."

Urge to 'ok boomer' him increasing, even if it would be pointless and antagonistic. Still, I can't help but shrug, even if he can't actually see it. "There weren't exactly a plethora of options, you know. Wattson, Drayden, Ramos and Wulfric I've never had any contact with, to the point I've never even entered their respective regions. While it may have been a pure business call, your attitude is too casual for that. It could have been Crasher Wake, warning me to keep away from his city while I was in the region, but the same reasoning applies as above. Really, only you and Blaine were left and I considered someone from the same region as me to be a more likely candidate."

I hear him give a bit of a sigh. "That's an awful lot of assumptions in your reasoning, but no matter. Still, that doesn't change the fact that we do need to talk, Mr. Hagen... or whatever your actual name is."

I freeze and my Pokegear nearly falls from my hand. How in the goddamn hell…?

Well, I'm fucked aren't I? Might as well face this with dignity. "It doesn't matter. I go by Ben Hagen now. What did you want to talk about then?"

"It's rather simple actually. To reduce risks, I'll keep it short and simple. Don't come back to Johto for at least a few weeks. Things are extremely hot right now and even I can't say what might happen to you if you're within easy reach of League authorities."

I frown. "Aren't you part of that group?"

"Technically, yes." He admits. "But I think you'll find that I'm not quite of the same mind as many of the youngsters they let be Gym Leaders these days. If you come back now, you're likely to be taken in for at the very least interrogation, simply on the basis of being more in Titan than a mere laborer."

He says that, but… "Forgive me if I have my doubts. For all I know, you could simply be trying to arrange things so that you can be the one to have, ahem, 'caught' me."

"Is that what you're thinking? Well, it shows proper forethought on your part, so that's a point in your favour, even if it does inconvenience me slightly. As for glory…" Pryce scoffs disdainfully. "Glory is a young man's game. I've gotten all the glory and honour in my life that I'm interested in. Let me make the situation clear. I'm the eldest, most experienced Gym Leader in Johto. If I wanted you in my grasp, I need not resort to amateur trickery. If you truly doubt my sincerity however, I will tell you this. Did you not find it odd that I personally had such a large stake in Titan? Whether you believe I have your personal best interests in mind, Titan falling entirely would be very unfortunate financially. As you've proven to be reasonably skilled in running Titan's operations, at least partially, it would be in my interests to help you."

Greed. He's asking me to take him on greed. "I... see." What else can I say? There's an old saying about how when you can't trust people, you can instead trust them to act true to their vices and weaknesses, but... I've never met Pryce in person. I have no idea if this is an actual weakness of his, or just smoke and mirrors. "So your advice is to refrain from returning for at least a few weeks."

I suppose I'll just go with it for now. Honestly, I have very little to lose by following this piece of advice. I have all my girls, none of the material possessions I left at home in Olivine are irreplaceable and with any luck Joseph made it successfully to Cianwood, where he'd be safer. It was also basically my plan in the first place. A few weeks is perhaps more than I had initially planned, but on the whole, not a big deal.

"That's correct. You just sit tight in Sinnoh and don't attract too much attention to yourself. You could probably take on a single gym without giving up the game. When you do get back, I'd recommend you bypass Olivine and head all the way to Cherrygrove. You can catch a flight to Mahogany from there. When you arrive, we have many things to talk about that it wouldn't be ideal to talk elsewhere. Till then Hagen, stay safe and don't get killed."

"Wait!" I interject before he hangs up. "Why did you think I had a different name?"

He doesn't say anything for a long moment and then he speaks. "You've never been to Floaroma Town, have you? If you have time, you should head there. You'll find at least some of the answers you seek."

XXXXXXXXXX

Joseph POV

It was odd. Almost… anticlimactic. Yesterday we'd been fleeing for our lives from a city tearing itself apart. And today? We'd dropped our bags off at a reasonably priced hotel and were now at the beach.

I mean… what the fuck? Who decided now was the time for a goddamn beach episode!

"Calm down." Mia said from her spot on a towel a few meters away. I was very blatantly not looking at her. To cut a long description short, she was dressed for the occasion. Despite my active sex life, I still didn't trust myself not to stutter if I was looking at that much pale flesh. I might think of such degenerate things as hand holding.

"I can't." I admitted. I was in a pair of trunks and shirt, bought only an hour or so ago. I definitely didn't feel content, and while the spot on the sand was nice, I couldn't relax. "We've only been on Cianwood a few hours. Right now people in Olivine are likely suffering. I don't even know what's happening there! It just feels…"

"Insensitive?" she asked, and I looked over at her. The expression on her face wasn't calm - I didn't know what it was. "I know. I think this is one lesson you haven't learned as a Tamer yet. There are things in life you can deal with, and those you can't. We're… so insignificant in the end. If you spend every moment thinking about those topics, you'll never live."

"But this!" I gestured around. I couldn't help but feel like I was the only one taking this seriously. All of Mia's Pokegirls were released and seemed to be having a sand castle building contest (the Sandslash Hana was cheating, and everyone knew it), while my own girls were also trying to chill. Keiko was sunbathing topless (because unsurprisingly, public nudity on beaches was a wee bit more lenient here in Bizarro world for obvious reasons), Sophie was reading one of the few books we'd been able to bring with us, and even Amora was trying to have some fun by herself in the publically protected stretch of sea.

Hours ago, we'd been smuggling into the city, and now we were working on our tans! It was just such a tonal dissonance!

"I know." Mia said, voice soft. "When things are at their worst, that's when you need happiness like this the most. You aren't a machine. You need rest just as much as everyone does."

"I know." I parroted back. It was an obvious statement - of course I needed rest and relaxation. It just didn't feel right to do it now. "We'll be here for days though. Maybe even weeks if we're unlucky. I just…"

Mia's expression shifted. Her smile became toothy and wide. Mischief was afoot. "Would you be able to relax better if I personally rubbed some more sun cream onto your back?" Eyebrow waggle module engaged.

"Please don't tease me." I said, shuffling on my bottom so I was facing away and couldn't show just how red I actually was.

"You're red."

"It's sunburn."

"We've been here for 15 minutes."

"... I am a delicate flower. I burn easily." With that, our deadpan expressions cracked. I wasn't sure who laughed first - only that we were soon giggling uncontrollably. I was almost tearing up. Mia really knew how to force a smile onto my face. She. Was. Good.

Dang it Mia! Stop reminding me why I like you so much when I know it's a bad idea!

"Better?" The more experienced Tamer finally asked me.

"Maybe." I admitted. "I'm just… tired."

"Then sleep." She ordered, throwing me a spare towel for me to bunch up into something akin to a pillow. I rolled my eyes and tried to get comfortable. I made sure to angle myself so I could watch my Pokegirls (to make sure they were safe, that we were safe) and shut my eyes.

The weather was lovely. Despite the docks being on lock down, the beaches were still heavily guarded and open to the public. The sun felt great.

It couldn't be that bad to let my guard down, right? We'd hear if something bad was going to happen, right?

But nothing did, and I found myself slipping into a cozy snooze.

Nothing disturbed me. And I didn't dream. It was a good sleep.