Edric took a deep breath, the fresh smell of saltwater and the ocean breeze filling his body. Holding it for a second, he swiped a hand through hair much longer than he'd thought he'd be comfortable with three months ago. Leaning backward on the bench, looking out toward the horizon line. The sun dipped below it, the bottom tip just beginning to touch the water, throwing a pinkish orange hue across the sky in a perfect gradient with the darkening blue. In his hand he fiddled with a small pebble he'd gotten lodged into his boot on the way down. He'd have thought to try to skip the flat rock but figured the ocean would get in his way. Best not to disrupt the sweet rhythm of the waves lapping at the sand. He closed his eyes slowly for several seconds at a time, the sound lulling him into hypnosis.

He heard a sound almost like someone blowing their nose in the distance and opened his eyes, shrugging off his exhaustion again. He caught a glimpse of something lumbering across the shoreline, a small blue shape about a foot tall. It skittered along on several legs and was lead by a giant pincer it almost looked like it was having trouble carrying. It seemed to shriek and Edric noticed another Pokemon behind it, chasing it across the sand. It was a light blue color with large ears and horns sticking out of its back. It's red eyes stared ahead at the small crab Pokemon unwavering. Edric chuckled and stood, grabbing a ball.

"Wanna help me handle this, Psyduck?" He said, releasing his Pokemon. "These guys look like they're having a bit of a disagreement."

Psyduck looked at the two Pokemon curiously as they raced across the sand, waddling alongside Edric. It's head turned toward Edric to ask permission, when he nodded, Psyduck ran forward and placed himself between the two Pokemon as the larger one lunged at the small shrimp.

"Psy!" Psyduck seemed to announce as the small Pokemon finally noticed it's presence. Within a second, it was cowering behind Psyduck's pudgy yellow frame. The other Pokemon, taller than Psyduck by maybe a few inches, froze in place.

"Doran!" It yelled back in a challenging response. Edric could only assume that meant a threat in Pokemon form. Pressure on the back of his neck confirmed it. This Pokemon wanted to battle over it's food. Edric was happy to accommodate it.

"Water Pulse, Psyduck!" Edric called.

In one swift motion, Psyduck pelted the light blue Pokemon with a glowing ball of water that immediately flattened it and sent water rushing over already-damp sand. The mouse-looking Pokemon lay out on the sand, clearly taken way off guard by Psyduck's attack. Edric couldn't help but smirk a bit as it got to it's feet with an angry "Nido" and began to tense. Edric's eyes widened with realization, but it was too late as the Pokemon send a bolt of lightning sailing through the air and into Psyduck, who looked just as surprised as he did.

"Wow, Thunderbolt." Edric remarked despite Psyduck's look of panic. He looked at his Pokemon apologetically and watched as it's eyes squinted at it's enemy.

"Psy!" It shouted as it thrust it's hands out in front of it and sent a wall invisible psychic energy slamming into the other Pokemon, who this time went down and did not get back up. Edric readied a Pokeball as Psyduck placed his arms on it's hips and gave a curt "Duck".

- Serves her right -

Edric threw out an empty Pokeball at the unknown Pokemon and it whizzed back to his hand with nearly no delay. He gave a surprised eyebrow raise as he stared at it. He felt a tug at his pant leg and looked down to see the small shrimp Pokemon standing beside him expectantly. It seemed to motion toward his belt of Pokemon.

"You want to be one of my friends too, little guy?" Edric kneeled.

The Pokemon seemed a little nervous as Psyduck came in beside it, but it nodded and Edric knew it meant it. He tapped another empty Pokeball on its giant claw and it was sucked in too. Edric stood, holding two new Pokeballs. He held them aloft and hummed happily to himself. Attaching them to his belt, he looked down to Psyduck and gave it an affectionate pat on the head.

"That was a very impressive Confusion attack, Psyduck." He said. The Pokemon leaned into his touch and gave a relaxed sigh.

A quick internet search told Edric he had just caught a Clauncher, a small water-type Pokemon that is very native to this area, and a Nidorina, a Poison-type who prey on the sea creatures who beach here. "Didn't think I would find a poison Pokemon out here." he said to himself as he tapped through Nidorina's information. As he pulled up another page, realization dawned on him. He pulled his new Pokeball from his belt and released the new Pokemon.

"Hi, my name is Edric.. uh, it's nice to meet you." He said awkwardly, offering a hand to the blue Pokemon. It stared at him a little confused and Edric's cheeks grew a little red. Still holding his hand out, he said "I know this is probably a little sudden and all that, but I didn't know if you were okay with coming with me or not. I know it could probably be a little bit trapping to be captured by a random trainer but I wanted to let you know, if you're not happy, I understand."

Nidorina still looked confused at him, regarding him with what Edric could only assume was a raised brow – To him it just looked like it was trying to concentrate with how it's face furrowed. After a second, Nidorina visibly shrugged its shoulders and grabbed his hand, saying "Nidora" with a sense of confirmation.

"Then welcome to the team!"

Edric saw Nidorina's eyes unfocus and look past him, her attention catching on something behind him. She looked back and forth from his hand to Psyduck, who seemed preoccupied with making sand-angels. Edric continued as she eyed Psyduck curiously.

"I was looking some things up, and I saw that you don't learn Thunderbolt naturally. Did someone teach you that before?" Edric asked it. Once again, Nidorina stared blankly at him, seeming utterly confused at Edric's questioning. After a moment, Edric seemed to get the message; It had no idea how it learned such an attack. He straightened and rubbed at the back of his neck as the Pokemon still stood there, now glaring at Psyduck who still rolled about in the sand. It seemed to be ready to snap at it on a moment's notice. Noticing the exchange, Edric chuckled.

"Sorry about him hurting you. I promise he's a nice Psyduck. He's been with me for a long time and is one of my good friends."

Nidorina gave Edric a sort of surveying look, peering at the 10 Pokeballs on his belt and the apologetic look Edric was trying to sustain in hopes his two Pokemon weren't going to break out into a brawl. She looked him up and down and Edric felt a press on the back of his neck.

-As long as he doesn't treat me like the last trainer -

As Edric's head filled with memories he didn't know he had, he suddenly understood Nidorina. He offered it the most comforting smile he could and reached forward to scratch it behind it's large ears. Nidorina seemed to want to flinch at first, which got a grimace out of him, but it let him touch it's head. "I would never, ever force you to do something against your will. That's a promise."

Suddenly, Edric felt a buzz in his pocket, his phone was ringing.

"Hello?"

"Edric? This is Trevor. Is right now a good time to talk?"

"I was just about to walk back to the hospital for Infernape's release. I guess now is as good a time as any." He answered. He looked down at his Pokemon as he began to walk, motioning him to follow.

"Great. I have my supervisor on the line who just wants you to go over what happened the other day at the gym, then they'll ask you a few questions and let you know what's going to be done. Then we'll be out of your hair…"

Another person eventually came on the line and Edric went through the details of what he saw to the best of his ability up until when he went underwater. As he recounted it, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous talking to the woman as she asked him to go into further detail about what could've been Golduck's motivation for wanting to hit him. Edric could only say 'I'm not sure' in so many ways, but in a way, some part of him – some indescribable, inexplicable, unreasonable part of him knew why. He just couldn't get it out for some reason. Every time he felt himself trying to talk about it, the conversation seemed to divert.

As Edric finished up with waking up in the hospital waiting room, the woman, who'd introduced herself as Amina, the HR Manager for the Rookie League, seemed to go silent as she typed away at a computer. Edric paused to cross the street to the hospital and heard her sigh deeply. She seemed tired and annoyed, but not at him.

"Well, I should start off by saying how very sorry I am that this happened to you. Wake has publicly been a longtime problem for me and the Rookie League and I'll have you know that this is very likely the end of his time with us, although it is not up to me directly. We are glad that both you and Infernape seem to be okay."

"He's supposed to be getting out today, actually." Edric said.

"Wonderful! That's wonderful to hear." There was a short pause as she typed a bit more, then Edric heard her voice a little quiet she seemed to speak to someone in the room with her. Coming back to the phone, her tone had changed slightly. "It is wonderful to hear that you're both doing better and because of that, would it be appropriate for us to ask something of you?"

"Something?"

"Just that you'd keep this business between the parties involved for now. We've dealt with this kind of thing before with Wake and it did not end up so well and did not get resolved in the way any of us wanted because of the public opinion of him at the time. We just ask for your discretion until things are handled and we can get the new gym up and running without a hitch."

Edric smirked, his eyebrows raising. "The public opinion? Good or bad? You guys let Wake stay on board the first time, right?"

Suddenly, he heard Trevor's voice cutting in "Well, yeah, but not without a lot of backlash."

"I mean, I have to admit, I'm a little confused here too. The guy has nearly killed two trainers at this point. Why let that go the first time?" Edric asked.

There was a short pause where both Trevor and Amina seemed to wait for the other to answer. Eventually, Amina said "Well, what I can say is that Wake's family held a lot of influence over the Rookie League before it even existed. Wake's late brother, who was the Sinnoh League Champion at the time was actually an employee at the League and not just a trainer. He was very well loved by the fans and there was a lot of push for us to keep Wake in the gym with the promise that he would remain… stable."

"Sober, you mean?" Edric corrected, his eyebrows raising.

"Yes…" Trevor answered quickly.

Amina seemed to grow either nervous or impatient then, asking, in a still overly perfumed tone "So can the Rookie League count on you to keep this quiet?"

"What is going to happen to Wake's gym?" Edric asked.

"We have plans to move it to another city, but I cannot really share much beyond that. For now, we will be sending in a replacement to occupy it immediately while we deal with Wake." Amina answered

"Well…" Edric began, his jaw clenching. He thought about how he felt about what had happened. His Pokemon had almost died, but ultimately ended up coming out of the other side in better condition. Nothing in the world meant more to him than keeping them safe and healthy and happy. It felt a little weird just throwing this entire situation away without anything to show for it.

Slowly, Edric measured his next words, as he could very easily overstep his position."I'd keep it secret, but I'm going to need something in return."

–

"Enjoy your walk?" Ethan asked as Edric walked in to the hospital room.

"Yeah, it was nice." Edric smirked, then beamed as Infernape's eyes opened at the sound of his voice. The Pokemon was out of its bed in seconds, wrapping Edric in a big warm hug. "Hey Infernape" Edric said through Infernape's tight embrace, his face coming dangerously close to Infernape's crown of flames. Infernape put Edric down and seemed to chuckle. Edric ran fingers through its fur, massaging its shoulder. Infernape let out a soft coo. The other three in the room seemed to look at the two of them silly.

"He's a big baby." Edric reasoned, his hand moving to scratch Infernape's back.

Emily groaned impatiently and stood, her backpack flopping off the seat. "Okay, you're back from your walk. Are we ready to be on the road yet? We're almost definitely going to be late for the tournament now that we've spent four more days in this city than we were supposed to."

Edric scowled at her "Hey, it was to make sure Infernape didn't have any more loose fluid in his body. He could've died!"

Despite his arguing, Emily still looked at him expectantly. Edric stared back, shrugging. Ethan chimed in.

"She's kind of right, Edric. We've gotta get moving as soon as possible or else we're not going to make it in time. We had already taken a risk in coming here in the first place instead of going straight there. We're really going to have to pick up the pace if we want to make it there in five days. Hart says at a normal pace the walking road takes a week."

"We'll be fine. I have something of a surprise to take care of that anyway." Edric said, now scratching circles into his Pokemon's back. Infernape still cooed at his touch.

"What kind of surprise?" Hart asked.

"Well… I guess maybe not a surprise." Edric looked at the three of them, his voice growing quiet. "The league gave the four of us Sponsorships."

Their eyes all widened collectively.

"Like, Sponsorship Sponsorship?" Hart asked, shocked.

"That exactly. They agreed to it to keep me quiet about what happened." Edric answered.

"How the hell did you manage to negotiate that? All four of us? Arceus!" Emily marveled.

"Honestly, it didn't take much and I have a feeling they may have been expecting a lot more. They were basically jumping to pay me in some way. I admit I even felt a little guilty asking for it, but I had a feeling they were going to offer something like it anyway so I just jumped."

"Like cold hard cash?" Emily quipped.

"Or something of that nature." Edric replied, a little tickled.

Hart's eyebrows still raised, "Well that'll save a lot of travel time over the rest of the season if we don't have to walk everywhere. I assume they only last for this season?"

"Yep, just until the end of August after the finals."

"Well, shit…" Ethan remarked. "That's a hell of a relief. We get free transportation throughout the entire region, huh?" Edric nodded in response and looked at Hart, who still seemed to be a bit skeptical, but Edric could tell he was coming to.

"Hmm…" Hart hummed. "Why do you think they'd go to any length to keep it quiet? The case from decades ago was very highly publicized and they came out of it just fine."

"Not sure exactly. It could maybe have something to do with Wake and his reputation? From what I could tell, they seemed to like the guy given his past. They said they've been trying to move on from him for a while but he's stubborn. I guess this gives them reason to axe him…" Edric crossed his arms over his chest, thinking back to the conversation he'd had with the woman. "I think they just want to end his career and give him an option to save face."

He looked at Hart, who was nodding. The blonde then shrugged and placed his hands on his hips. "So where do we start with this, then?"

"Well," Edric began. "We go to the station, first. There are our new trainer cards there." The four of them all agreed and began to gather their belongings from the small Pokemon Hospital room.

He patted Infernape on the back, jolting it out of a small stupor. "Ready to go fight another gym?" He asked it, smile on his face. Snapping out of its stupor, Infernape turned around, fire dancing in its eyes.

–

After about an hour of travel on foot, they came to a large station with a parking lot out front with long parking spaces designated for buses. On the inside of the station was a large seating area for waiting and vending machines littered about selling random snacks. Walking in, Edric immediately noticed the place had a kind of a smell to it, like a new car. He and his friends hustled along excitedly.

At one end of the room was a counter where a woman watched a screen that was turned away from the counter. She had a uniform on that displayed a league employee badge. She greeted them and Edric told her what they were looking for.

"You're Mr. Ryerson? Give me one moment." she said, disappearing into a room behind the counter. After a moment, she came back out and slid 4 cards over the counter to him. Despite being made aware that the card would have all their trainer information on it, Edric was still surprised to see an almost exact replica of his trainer ID card, just printed in golden lettering. Underneath the picture, which Edric momentarily groaned at, were the words "Rookie Sponsored Trainer". He turned the card as instructed in the phone call earlier and saw "Active Membership" that indicated he'd get all the perks of being sponsored. He handed out the other three cards to wonderment from the other three trainers.

"Where are you all planning on going from here?" the woman at the counter asked. She glanced back at her screen. "The next shuttle isn't supposed to arrive until about noon, but I may be able to call one since it's not a particularly busy day."

"We're going to Veilstone City." Edric answered.

She glanced back at her screen again and nodded an affirmative. "We do have a straight-shot route to Veilstone from here, and I think it could be available for immediate pickup. We're talking about a trip of maybe about 4 and a half hours? Does that sound okay?" She asked. The way her tone lilted read to Edric like he was talking to a butler. Edric nodded, trying to look casually to make her relax. She seemed to ignore it. As she instructed them to go take a seat and the bus should be there in an hour.

"This is really fancy." Ethan said turning his new trainer ID in hand as they sat. "I always kinda wondered what it was like to be a sponsored trainer."

Nodding in agreement, Edric placed his new ID in his wallet over top of his old one. "Now we know, I guess. Look at what almost being killed gets us."

The four of them let out a collective laugh before Hart said "You know, despite all that, it's still extremely rare for Rookie trainers to be sponsored. Usually this is reserved for high-ranking veteran trainers or like, stuck-up kids who have rich parents who pay their way through their rookie year."

Ethan chewed on a granola bar and he reached for Edric's hand, who happily intertwined fingers. "Maybe that's a good thing. I'd love to meet some more veteran trainers. I loved hanging with Peter for a few weeks… Well except for the part where we all got kidnapped by a weird organization looking to enslave Pokemon."

"Yeah. Wouldn't want to relive that." Edric said, smiling.

An hour later, a large white charter bus pulled into the station. It was mostly unmarked save for a sleek-looking Pokemon League logo painted on the tail end. The windows were tinted and it looked to have space underneath the cabin for storage. The driver, a large man named Roger, checked their Trainer IDs and destinations and boarded them.

The bus resembled less of the normal charter bus Edric had been on before on school trips and the rare vacation with his father and more of the high-class private jets he'd seen in movies. The four of them stepped onto a luxury first-class bus with spacious seating, mini-fridges, and what looked to Edric like flat-screen tvs.

"There's free wifi, too." Roger said, coming up behind him.

Edric breathed what smelled like fresh car scent and made his way down the aisle, which seemed to have enough space to not have to squeeze like a normal bus. As he moved, he noticed a bathroom in the back too.

"It's like a tour bus from those documentaries about rock bands." Ethan said, testing the cushioning of one of the seats with his hands. "God they're so soft and comfy you could sleep on them."

Edric looked at the seats longingly, before he noticed something Emily immediately voiced.

"There's a man at the back of the bus too. Guess we better keep it quiet, He's sleeping."

The man had a large blanket covering most of his head, only a tuft of blonde hair stuck out from the top. Edric nodded to his four friends and took a seat.

"Wonder where he's going." He wondered as he seemed to sink into the cushions. He felt the tension leave his shoulders. He heard a humming sound from next to him and saw Ethan pushing at a control panel on the bottom of his seat. Looking for his own, he pressed a button on his and the seat began vibrating. He moaned.

"Sponsorship is fucking great." Emily said, who'd taken her own seat behind them. "Edric, you should have near death experiences more often."

Rolling his eyes, Edric reached in between the seats to give her the finger and she laughed mockingly in response, slapping his hand away. They all sat up as the bus started up and Roger announced it was time to depart.