A Shadow from the Past - Part 1

Flashback #2: Tested

The young woman walked out into the arena, absentmindedly spinning a Pokeball in her hand.

That Azure guy said this would be enough, she thought, skeptical. So it must be a pretty strong one.

A small stadium –if one could even call it that– sprawled out before her. The concrete floor was cracked and scorched and stained with blood all over, surrounded on all sides by rusty fences which were missing a few chunks here and there. Beyond them stood only about a dozen spectators, waiting for the fight to begin. Steps echoed not far off as more people started coming in.

Her opponent, a middle-aged man with a horrid multicolored mohawk, turned his nose up at her and chuckled derisively. He grabbed a Pokeball from his belt, opening it to a blinding flash of light. That the ground shook under the creature's weight was already bad news. The fact that it ended up being a Rhydon only exacerbated the crease of anxiousness in Sabrina's forehead.

"And who's this, eh?" scoffed the man. "This ain't a kindergarden. I came here to fight the Gym leader, not have a tea party."

"Then how about you show me what you're made of?" replied Sabrina, ticked off. "If a snot-nosed brat like me gives you a beating, that'd be pretty humiliating, wouldn't it? Then again, with that hair, you must be used to the feeling."

"Tsk. Just shut your mouth and open that Pokeball."

"You don't have to tell me twice!"

Filled with confidence, she smiled and threw the ball up on the air. After the flash, the figure that appeared was small, skinny and with a big head, its body swaying sleepily from side to side.

An Abra.

"…Ah."

A gnawing, growing worry started rising up her body. Abra couldn't learn any offensive technique normally, but… that Azure guy wouldn't just give her a defenseless Pokemon for her first fight. The Abra surely knew a TM or two… right?

"Psychic!" she yelled, hopeful.

The Abra turned his head slowly toward her, questioning, sleepy.

"…You only know Teleport, don't you?"

As the creature gave a lazy nod, their opponent's order echoed through the arena.

"Rhydon, use Megahorn!"

"…Shit."

Surprisingly, Sabrina felt good when she woke up. Nothing hurt. Her body just felt a bit heavier than usual. She let out a big yawn, stretching her limbs.

It was a grave mistake

CRACK

Ah… pain and agony.

Her entire face scrunched up, she let out a long, pained breath and let herself fall against the pillow once more. She stared gormlessly at the ceiling, wondering what she would do next.

If she continued with this mission, she'd most likely end up in a similar situation to before, fight to the death against an Elite Four and all that jazz. And to make things worse, that masked fuck knew what they were going to face, but chose not to tell them. He either cared nothing for their wellbeing or had expected a miracle. She'd be completely justified in kicking him in the back of the knee and shoving both her foot and this stupid job opportunity up his robed ass.

Then again… could she really make it out of the region on her own? She wasn't defenseless anymore, but she was still pathetically weak compared to… the other seven. Eugh.

I need that fucking money.

With that matter resolved, she got out of bed and went about her day. First was a shower, and as soon as she rid herself of all the dust, grime, blood and zombie bits, she put on the new outfit she'd grabbed from that duffel bag. It was comfortable, and most importantly; inconspicuous. Well… the purple scarf not so much, but still.

After an uneventful breakfast, she got prepared as best she could. Putting on her new gloves, adjusting the crossbow hanging from her back, preparing her backpack and making sure her Pokeballs were in the right order in her belt. Once that was done, she left the hotel and started looking around

The sun was high up in the sky, and that green-haired girl from yesterday was neck-deep inside that sorry excuse for a vehicle that had brought them here, looking for a way to repair it. Next to her rested…

Sabrina blinked a couple times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. A bazooka. There was an actual honest to god bazooka just laying against the pickup truck. Silver and the ninja were standing next to it, staring at the weapon with awe.

"God damn, just look at that toy!" Silver whistled appreciatively. "Nice and straight to the point, I like that in a woman."

The girl didn't look up from inside the hood, but Sabrina had no trouble hearing the eye-roll in her reply.

"Nice and straight to the point… right. Trust me, kiddo, you wouldn't last me a single round."

Silver looked like he was about to retort, but Sabrina hurried to interrupt before this stupid conversation could continue.

"Hey," she called out to them. "Since we got some time, I figured we could look around, get rid of our dead weight and re-stock on what we'll need for the trip."

The ninja made a so-so gesture. "Yeah, money's not exactly in abundance right now but if we end up like back in Cerulean…"

Sabrina frowned. "Don't you even think about it."

"What?" he complained, hiding a lit lighter behind him. "I agree, so let's get going. Silver?"

That brought back Silver back to the conversation. He looked away from Levan and hoisted his scythe over his shoulder, letting out a sigh.

"Nah, y'all can take care of that. I actually wanted to take a look around town," he said. "Anyone know where the… uh… lab or museum or whatever is? I heard it was here in Pewter."

Both Sabrina and Ñako frowned in confusion, and they were not the only ones. For the first time Levan lifted her head up from inside the vehicle's hood, shooting Silver a questioning glare.

"The museum? Why do you ask?"

"'Cause of the fossils, of course!" Silver exclaimed with a smile. "Man, I fucking love Pewter. The old Brock was the best and then I heard the museum here can give you Pokemon that used to be dead! That's just the best shit, and I wanted to check it out."

Levan exchanged a glance with the other two, wordlessly asking something like 'Is he always like this?'

"Well… you'd have to head north of town, past the big fences. Pretty sure the museum's that way," she said. "Doubt you'll find what you're looking for, though. Last I heard the place had been ransacked to hell and back. It's probably just full of homeless people at this point."

"Nah, that's alright." Silver gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks, I'll go check it out. See y'all later! Feel free to come over if you want."

Ñako gave him a cheery goodbye, while Sabrina simply rolled her eyes and started walking away. Hopefully the black market here wouldn't be too hard to find. If anything, she could always pull up that Rosita Storm story to ask townspeople if–

"E-eh, bon-bonjour! Please, wait a moment…!"

Sabrina stopped in place, looking over her shoulder with raised eyebrow as Mycroft rushed out of the hotel to stop her.

"I… just wanted to, er…" He swallowed, a look of disgust on his face as he said his next words. "Con…gratulate you, je suppose, on your performance against Ivonne. I… would not remain yet alive, were it not for you. And, well… I figured you and Ñako were on your way to get supplies, so–"

"Yeah, yeah, get on with it princey boy. You coming or what?" she asked, exasperated. "Unless your aristocratic ass can't handle my humble company, that is."

Mycroft looked like he seriously considered it before letting out a Hmph and walking past her.

"I… don't know what you're talking about. Let's just go."

Rhin blinked, and the world changed around him. The crackle of flames licking up wood filled his ears, and the heat that crashed against him felt so heavy, so real. He was inside a house… no, a cabin. Small, cramped, and slowly falling apart, walls and ceiling going up in flames.

A man with white hair stood beside him, and behind both of them a woman and her daughter huddled close to one another, eyes tightly closed with fear. In front of him, past the wall of flames slowly advancing toward them, stood a pale young woman with orange hair, accompanied by a massive Arcanine.

The girl's face was wrought with fear, and panic. She stammered something incomprehensible and slowly backed away, trying to protect herself from an invisible threat.

The back of her foot hit a piece of debris and she tripped backwards. Even on the ground, however, she kept trying to retreat, to run away from whatever it was that caused her such terror.

"Why is she so scared?" asked Rhin, his voice echoing oddly. "What is she running away from?"

The voice that answered was cold and heavy, dripping down his back like ice water, sending a painful shiver down his spine. It was his own voice.

"It's you, Rhin."

Rhin felt his eyes go wide, and confused he looked down at his hands, only to find them covered in dark, almost black blood.

"W-what…?"

The flames burst alight, and everything went red, then black.

When Rhin woke up, the confusion from his bizarre dream was almost immediately overpowered by the agony that wracked through his bones as he tried to move.

"Ah… ah… right. Almost died yesterday."

He figured the damage from that fight would start taking a toll on him sooner or later. He got up from the bed with teeth clenched, and it took him almost ten minutes of stretching to stop wincing in pain every time he moved. Part of him wanted to go back to bed, but he knew he needed to make use of what little time they had left in Pewter before tomorrow's trip.

I'm clearly in much more danger than anyone else in the group, he thought sadly. I need to get supplies and ready myself.

As he dressed himself and grabbed his things, he noticed the folded up newspaper resting on the ground near his bed. The one he'd taken with him to his room so the others wouldn't see. He frowned and kneeled to pick it up. The headline from last night hadn't changed, so that hadn't been part of his dream.

So what was?

He pressed a hand against his temple and winced, trying to remember to no avail. He remembered his mother's words, telling him to always remember his dreams, for they were the best source of information for someone of his… abilities. Yet even with his best efforts, he couldn't recall a single thing.

His dreams, what had happened back near Mt. Moon… it all seemed to get away from him, like smoke filtering through a closed hand.

Wolfswift… Charity… what happened?

He sighed and threw the newspaper over toward his bed again. Then he took a tarot card from the small holster on his belt, and spun it around on his fingers without looking at it.

So… looks like all the government's lapdogs will come after me sooner or later.

He looked down, and saw the familiar yet ominous image of an upside-down tower being struck by lightning.

"Inverted tower… an oncoming disaster," he whispered to himself. "And also the opportunity to weather it."

A smile formed on his face. Even if he couldn't rely on his companions or even in his own mind and memories, he could rely on this.

Alright then… try me, scumbags. See what happens.

Somehow, the gloomy warehouse which housed Pewter's black market smelled even worse than the dungeon full of rotting bodies they'd gone through yesterday. And Sabrina knew for a fact, because that smell was still seared into her nose.

"God, this town really is a bigger pigsty than Saffron," she whispered to herself.

She looked around, trying to determine if there was anything else she needed. The place was laid out much like Saffron's black market. Only this time there were no canopies over the stands, which meant she couldn't quite burn it to the ground. A shame.

The others were going around doing their shopping too. At some point, Muffin, Vard, Siegfried and the… uh… that guy with the tarot cards whose name she couldn't remember had joined the rest of them, and now the market was more populated than it'd ever been, most likely. Muffin was looking around like a kid in a candy store in a way that betrayed just how much of an outsider she was. Ñako and Vard were in front of the same stand as hers, haggling for something.

I could use a couple Pokeballs, she thought. Let's see…

As soon as she was in earshot, what she heard made her regret her decision.

"Hm. There you go, little lady, a couple Greatballs and a Premierball," said the bald dude behind the counter. "How about you two? Got anything to offer me?"

Vard raised an eyebrow in a way that made it clear he'd misunderstood the man's intentions.

"My good baldman, I understand your eagerness, but this is a public place. I am flattered, perhaps even curious, but I'll have to decline. I'll simply take two Greatballs."

Muffin took a small golden pebble out of her pocket and showed it to the man. "E-excuse me, I found one of these gold nuggets. Is it valuable?"

Baldie opened his mouth with a glint in his eye, clearly looking forward to scamming the poor girl, when Ñako interrupted him. He slammed one hand on the table, then flipped it over to show an identical golden nugget.

"I got one of those too, my smelly friend!" he exclaimed. "And we want 500. For each one."

The man's face darkened. "And what if I refuse? You wanna fight?"

A satisfied smile formed in Ñako's lips. At first Sabrina thought she might have to intervene, but her fears were unfounded. Whether it was for the best or not…

"Ah, why would I fight," he exclaimed. "When I could set your soul ablaze with a SIZZLING DANCE!"

And with a big jump, he landed atop the man's counter and started shaking his hips to a rhythm that probably only he could hear. Baldie's reaction was immediate.

"Alright, alright!" he yelled, pushing Ñako off his counter. "500 for each one, fuck. Just take the money."

"Ah. A pleasure doing business with you, my good man."

Somehow stopping her urge to face-palm, Sabrina approached the counter and took a quick look at the goods being offered. A couple evolutionary stones, a few battle items of low quality, some battle medicine and a few rusty Pokeballs.

"What a waste of time," she sighed. "Here, I have something I need to get rid of."

From her belt she produced a Pokeball that was different from the rest she had; all white with a red line going through the middle. She set the Premierball on the table and glared at baldie.

"I got a good Pokemon here. It's worth a lot more than this, but I'm willing to exchange it for a Greatball and a Heavyball," she said. "She's a Ghastly. Not overtly strong, but she's got attacks that would be useful for certain… tasks, if you catch my drift. I'm sure you could find someone who'd pay you a lot more for her than what you'll give me."

While the man grabbed the ball and offered two of his own in exchange, Sabrina could swear she felt her teammate's surprised glares on the back of her head.

"W-wait…" whispered Muffin. "You're selling one of your….?"

"It's not one of mine, not really," said Sabrina. "It's one of the Ghastly I found in that dungeon. I caught her in the room before the last trial. Figured I could get something out of it." She looked from Muffin to Ñako, both of whom looked surprised. "…What, you two didn't catch anything?"

"Didn't think we could," said Ñako. "Figured… y'know, they all belonged to ghost grandma."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. Of course, she couldn't count on these people having common sense.

"Think about it. All the Haunter, Gengar and Mismagius we fought? Those were hers for sure, but the Ghastly and Misdreavus? There were hundreds of those. There's no way she'd caught all of them," she explained. "Ghosts attract more ghosts, that's a fact. A lot of the smaller ones we saw were probably wild ones that'd been attracted to the place."

"Ah… right."

Muffin nodded to herself with wide eyes, like a student paying close attention to her teacher. The thought made Sabrina's stomach turn. Luckily, Ñako chimed in as usual with his stupidity to distract her away from it.

"Again… that's probably the most words I've heard you say in a row."

"Eat a dick."

"There we go."

She grabbed the two balls and saved them in her backpack before turning around, but Ñako spoke before she could walk away.

"By the way, we were thinking of training outside the city with Sieg and Mycroft," he said. "Any of you wanna join?"

Sabrina and Vard exchanged a quick look.

"I appreciate the invitation my good ninja, but my beasts are more than capable enough already. I believe I shall bless the rest of this town with my presence."

Sabrina was silent for a while, considering it. On one hand, Pokemon could never have enough training, and there was no doubt they'd need all the experience possible if they were to survive their next mission. On the other…

She glanced down at her belt. They could probably use some rest too…

"I'll pass," she said. "Silver said he'd be heading for the museum. I'll see if there's anything worth stealing there."

A couple minutes after leaving the black market, Sabrina started hearing familiar steps behind her, and a glance over her shoulder told her that it was Vard and tarot guy. An exasperated sigh left her lips.

"Hm… let's see here. Inverted magician? That must mean this is the right way," the latter smiled to himself, looking down at one of his cards. "If I might ask, why are you two heading for the museum?"

Vard chuckled. "To bathe everyone there in my greatness, of course."

"You again?" asked Sabrina. "This isn't a school trip. Why are you coming?"

Rhin shrugged. "Had nothing better to do, and believe me, I'm more than capable of defending myself," he said. "How about you? Do you know where the museum actually is?"

"Hmph," scoffed Sabrina. "I can check."

A purple blaze came to life behind Sabrina's eyes, the atmosphere around her suddenly changing, feeling heavier. She took a deep breath and concentrated. It'd been a while since she'd tried this from such a long distance.

Silver? Hey, Silver!

"Ah! Holy fffff… Flaca, that you?"

A proud smile formed on Sabrina's lips. She still had it.

Yeah, it's me. Did you make it to the museum? How are things looking over there?

"Huh? Oh, yeah! I'm here just outside the building. Stopped to chat with one of the locals."

…Locals?

"Yeah, you know, one of the guys that live around the place."

You mean a homeless guy?

"He's just a bit down in the dumps but he's a chill guy. We were eating some sandwiches and shooting the breeze."

Right… well, got any info out of him?

"Info? Uh… well, he told me he used to live inside the museum, but it was taken over by a bunch'a fucking narcs. Probably looking for something in there."

Sabrina smiled to herself. Good, that can only mean there is something valuable in there. I'm heading over. Get ready to throw some hands.

No response came for a few seconds.

…Silver?

"Yeah, sorry. I was just telling my guy here why I was so quiet. Kinda hard to talk and think at the same time."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard."

"What?" asked tarot guy.

Shit, I said that out loud.

"Huh? Said what out loud?"

"Never mind," she said.

Never mind, she told Silver. I'm on my way. See if you can find anything in the meantime.

And with that she cut off the connection, the purple behind her eyes being snuffed out. Without thinking she grabbed a Pokeball from her belt and spoke.

"If you're so bent on coming with, then get ready," she said. "Things might get ugly."

Silver shot up to his feet from the tree he was sitting against and stretched out, letting out a big yawn.

"Ah… alright, gotta go then," he said, looking over his shoulder. "Thanks for the talk, man."

The man gave him an appreciative nod. "Hey, thanks for the sandwich."

"Any friend of the old Brock is a friend of mine," said Silver. "Say hi to my pals if they come around. Later!"

He headed toward the building, and noticed that not only was the fence broken, but the main doors were wide open, ready for him to just waltz in.

A laugh left his lips.

"The front door… yeah, right."

There was a flash from his Pokeball, and a second after Pogo the Fearow materialized in front of him, extending his wings and letting out a big caw.

"Just like back in the prison, Pogo! Get me to the roof!"

As they shot up high into the sky, Silver simply standing atop his Fearow's back, he raised one fist up in the air while holding his scythe with the other hand.

"Let's fucking go!" he yelled. "Orange Islands represent!"

As soon as they got past the small stretch of forest and wilderness north of the city, the museum came into view. It was dilapidated and gloomy as all fuck. Trash was littered all over and the air around the building was full of Spearow picking through it in hopes of finding food. Silver was up there high with his Fearow, flying around the ceiling looking for a way in. As soon as he saw them, he gave them a thumbs up and Sabrina replied in kind, reluctantly.

"Oi."

There was a man sitting on a tree near the building, enjoying a big sandwich, who was probably the guy Silver had talked about. Sabrina called out to him and grabbed something from her pocket.

"Hey, you're that guy's friends, right?"

"Something like that," said Sabrina. "Listen, do you smoke?"

"I… yeah, of course. Got some fire if you wanna but I ain't got no cigs so–"

"Then you're in luck."

She tossed him a full pack of cigarettes and the man hurried to catch it, a look of surprise on his face.

"Consider them yours," said Sabrina. "All you have to do is give us a yell if you see anyone suspicious approach the museum."

"Y…you're suspicious."

She pursed her lips. "Anyone other than us."

"Oh. Yeah, sure!" The man smiled and gave them an enthused nod. "Thanks, man. Y'all are much better than the fucking narcs around here."

Sabrina simply grumbled under her breath and walked away, Vard and the other guy following behind a moment after. She didn't need to turn around to imagine the look on their faces.

"Ah, as always your endless charisma astounds me, my good vice-commander," said Vard.

"Yeah, never imagined you could be so… generous," said the other one, putting an odd emphasis on that last word. "You're good at making others do what you want, huh."

Sabrina shrugged. "You just need to know what people wanna hear. And besides…"

I… had a good teacher, I guess.

She didn't say that last part out loud, but the thought did sit heavy and uncomfortable in the back of her head. Good thing that there was plenty to distract her here. As soon as they got past the broken fence and set foot inside the building, she physically felt the ambience change, as though the air had gotten thicker, heavier somehow.

Even the lobby looked as though a stampede of Tauros had gone through it, marble from the broken floors and wood from the exhibition pedestals littered all throughout. Not to mention the lights were out. She sighed and flared her eyes to life again, the outline of the room burning bright into her retinas. No one she could see at first sight. But there were no wild Pokemon either, and that could only mean one thing. They'd been recently chased out.

On cue, steps resounded in the distance, past the wide staircase on the other side of the room. She raised her palm to signal the others to stop. Then she wordlessly pointed at her own belt and grabbed a Pokeball to demonstrate what she meant.

In response, she heard a sudden voice in her head and almost jumped from shock.

"No need to worry." Tarot guy's voice echoed in her mind. "I can talk to you like this if necessary."

Sabrina didn't say anything, didn't show the slightest reaction. But deep down, she was aware of yet another possible danger besides the people coming down the stairs.

Didn't think there was another one like me in the group, she thought, glancing subtly over her shoulder. Does he only have access to telepathy or…? Well, whatever the case I'll clearly have to keep a closer eye on him from now on.

Not like she had time to worry about that. Three figures came running down the stairs, and that was enough to bring back that anxiety, that primal sense of survival she hadn't felt since the fight with that Elite Four.

It was nice while it lasted.

Three men, each one holding what looked like a baton or beating stick, like the ones police used. They looked messy and scraggly, but not like the man outside the museum. The look on their faces, the way they carried themselves… yeah, these guys were definitely trained mooks.

"Ah, very good!" Vard exclaimed behind her. "I was awaiting the welcome party. Ehem…"

He walked in between her and tarot guy and made a polite bow toward the three men, who all shared equal looks of confusion.

"I, Vard, have come to reclaim this building as part of the Kingdom of Vard!" he exclaimed, raising his palm toward the sky. "Mine are now its insides, as well as its history and all objects within."

"…What?" asked the one on the left.

"Who is this guy? Circus performer?" chuckled the one on the right.

The guy in the middle, the tallest and grubbiest one, hoisted his baton over his shoulder and ran his fingers through his beard in exasperation.

"Hm… what are you three doing here? Are you from Pewter?" he asked surprisingly calmly. "I thought we'd made it pretty clear what the punishment is for leaving the city without permission."

The scrawny one on the left fidgedted nervously. "Boss… he ain't gonna like this if he sees'em. Ain't supposed to be intruders today."

Sabrina perked up at that. He? And today specifically? That could only mean…

"At ease, men," tarot guy said out of nowhere, raising his hands to appear non-threatening. "We were just here to look around. We don't want any trouble."

The bearded one let out a chuckle and shook his head. "Boy, that ain't how things work here. Still, I'm feeling generous today and I wouldn't want him to see pests scurrying around, so… so…"

He trailed off suddenly, in that way people did when some kind of realization dawned on them. Whatever it was, Sabrina didn't like that glint in his eye. Greed. Opportunity.

"You…" His eyes went wide, a smile forming on his face. "You're the guy in the news! The one that killed that family in Lavender!"

His two companions gasped in unison. They seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

"Shit, it is! Let's get him"

"Yeah! If we turn him over we can get the reward for ourselves!"

The three men started walking forward eagerly, and behind her Sabrina could swear she heard an 'Ah, shit'.

Re…ward?

Sabrina glanced over her shoulder, skeptical. This guy, with his dumb smile and big doe eyes, a wanted killer? Hard to believe. Still, innocent or guilty, it didn't matter. As long as she could turn the situation to her advantage…

There was a flash of light, and Carrie appeared in between her and the three men. The Scyther glanced around nervously and, once she confirmed that there were no Pokemon present, glared at the men with ferocity. Thank Mew. She couldn't deal with another panic attack right now.

The three men looked alarmed at the sudden appearance, gripping their batons tighter.

"Easy there, it's just for precaution," she lied. Taking a cigarette from her pocket, she lit it and took a drag, thinking her words over. "A reward for this guy's head, eh? Sure; take him if you want. I don't even know who the fuck he is. BUT!" She raised her hand, pointing at them with the cigarette. "We're not giving him away for free. From what I understand, there are certain valuable items inside this building," she bluffed, hoping to be right. "So how about letting us each choose one, in exchange for Mr. Popular? It only seems fair, considering we're much more… armed than you are."

She tapped her belt with her free hand after that, and the men seemed to get the message. For a moment, she thought she'd almost convinced them. Behind him the tarot guy opened his mouth to protest, but she shot him a quick, meaningful glare and he zipped it up.

In the meantime, she sent a telepathic message to Carrie.

Get ready, this might get ugly. Focus Energy.

There were a few seconds of silence as Carrie subtly gathered energy. Then, the man in the middle laughed to himself. It wasn't a pleasant sound. Sabrina unconsciously grit her teeth, readying herself.

"And… what makes you think there's anything valuable here, girlie?" he asked, grabbing his beard with one hand. "Maybe we're just here to get rid of some vagabonds. Either way, I think you're vastly underestimating our strength here. After all…"

Another pair of steps echoed behind the men, and soon a man's silhouette could be seen walking down the stairs.

"…We have the strongest in Pewter right here with us. Ain't that right, boss?"

Sabrina forced a cocky smile onto her face, and was about to reply with something mocking when the man finally appeared into view. Short, dark-skinned and with a mess of thick brown hair sticking out in all directions. His white tank top was loose and dirty, and those sunglasses…

Sabrina's smile dropped dead. Something cold and heavy sank into her stomach.

"The hell is going on here? Why aren't you assholes looking upstai…"

He stopped on the base of the staircase, eyes shooting wide, gaze focused entirely on her. For a moment, there was hesitation. Then his lips stretched into a smile.

"Ah… Sabrina," he whispered, not relaxing his posture in the slightest. "It's been some time, hasn't it? But that face and that grubby hat of yours are unmistakable."

She swallowed, but her throat felt very dry all of a sudden. Her brain had taken a few seconds to process what was happening. Somehow, she'd never thought that, out of all the shitholes in Pewter, she'd end up in the same place as this guy.

One could only admire that kind of rotten luck.

"…Brock," she whispered, more to herself than anything else.

Vard didn't as much as raise a curious eyebrow, but tarot guy actually jumped back in surprise.

"Brock? As in…?"

He didn't need to finish the sentence. Sabrina just shook her head; no, of course he wasn't that Brock, but she was in no state to explain it at the moment. Not that she would have, in any case.

Brock chuckled to himself and made way through his subordinates, stopping in front of them. Immediately, Sabrina caught sight of the Greatballs hanging from his belt. Three.

"Tell me, what were you thinking, coming to my city all alone and defenseless?" he asked, amused. "And accompanied by wanted criminals, no less. It's a pretty unique escape strategy, I gotta say. Stupid, too. But enough with the pleasantries. Here's what we're gonna do."

He turned around, facing his men.

"You three take care of the fugitive and the other guy, I really don't care what chump change I could get for them," he said. "I'm keeping the girl. I figure the idiots upstairs must've already found the Old Amber, so…"

The young man let out a big yawn and walked back toward the staircase, sitting lazily on the first step.

"…What?" he asked, noticing the looks on his men's faces. "You're not expecting me to do any more, are you? What do you think I pay you for? None of those idiots are any threat, for fuck's sake."

That was all the incentive they needed. The three men started walking, slowly at first, keeping their eyes on Carrie as they held their batons firm. Vard and the other guy took a sudden step forward, Pokeballs in hand.

Sabrina was about to do the same when she saw something whistling through the air. In a burst of speed one wouldn't have thought possible from his previous laziness, Brock threw a Greatball up and kicked it with enough strength to make it reach the door behind Sabrina. As it opened up, she noticed the familiar shape of a Machoke standing there, cutting off their escape.

"Oh, I know well just how good you are at scurrying like a Rattata," said the leader. "But I'm afraid I can't let you leave."

She didn't answer. Barely even reacted as the men approached. She lowered her head, eyes suddenly hidden by shadows, and instead the wave of panic she'd expected, a gust of memories washed over her; quick, disconnected images. Of that place… that person.

Sighing, she looked up at Brock again. She weighed her options quickly, logically. A fight against someone like him, with her actual team, would probably end badly, but…

A Pokeball slipped from her fingers. Gouda materialized before her, raising a psychic barrier before she even gave out the order.

"Heh…"

Brock raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"You," she replied with a smile. "Are you sure you're not being a little careless? Let me remind you that every time they weighed our combat aptitude, you always ended up at the bottom."

She waited for the words to bite. They did.

"You know that under normal circumstances you'd have no chance against me, right? I guess facing me like this makes you feel strong, even if it's just an illusion. But that's fine. I never believed in playing fair, the only thing that matters is victory."

She raised a thumb over her shoulder, pointing at the Machoke.

"Cutting off our escape is useless. You saw me, which means I can't leave until I shut your mouth permanently."

Her order was implicit. Carrie, who'd been focusing on one of the men with batons until now, shifted her focus toward Brock and tightened her muscles, ready to strike.

"You two, take care of those guys," she told her companions. "And you, Brock, come on. Let's have ourselves a good old fashioned fight to the death. Quick Attack!"

She took a casual drag of her cigarette, and Carrie shot forward like a bullet, eyes set on their opponent.

The sounds of battle and Pokeballs being opened echoed throughout the room. Vard and Rhin stepped forward to take on the three men with batons, the former facing their leader while the latter fought the other two.

"A simple stick is nothing against thousands and thousands of vibrant pink strands!" Vard exclaimed. "Secret technique of Vard Nº 16: Afro Shield!"

He threw his head forward as the baton came down upon him, and by some strange miracle the weapon bounced with violent strength, almost flying out of the man's hands.

"Wh–what the…!?"

"Fate is always on Vard's side! Come out Pikachu, and take care of this miscreant!"

On the other side of the room, Rhin jumped out of the way of an attack and threw his Pokeball out as well.

"You too, Wyvern! Light them up!"

Sabrina, on the other hand, kept staring straight at Brock as the fight unfolded around them. She knew taking her eyes off him would be lethal. Especially after the fucker had completely repelled Carrie's attack with nothing but a long wooden stick, forcing the Scyther to fly back a few feet.

"Shutting me up permanently… I doubt you could, no matter how hard you try, brat." He hoisted his weapon over his shoulder. "You had enough time to take care of your business. It's about time you fucking die already."

Two things happened at once. First, he sliced at the air with the long stick, making it separate into two segments connected by a thick chain. Then, he grabbed two Greatballs and opened them, materializing a Gloom and a Doduo by his side.

Sabrina smiled nervously. If Brock had any inclination of taking her alive, her little speech had probably changed that.

Go me.

"Me, die?" She forced herself to laugh. "Sorry, but I can't afford that just yet."

A vine shot from the Gloom straight toward Carrie, tightening around the joint between her arm and her scythe. Immediately, all confidence vanished from the Scyther's face. She began to tremble from head to toe, clearly wanting nothing more than to escape the fight as fast as possible. Brock let out a mocking laugh at the sight.

Tsk.

"…Come back." Sabrina raised the Pokeball and returned her to it, a shameful blush rising up her cheeks. "Rokon, you go."

The Vulpix materialized next to Gouda, shaking his head in all directions while spit flew out of his mouth. Sabrina smiled and took one last drag of her cigarette. Then, as was custom by now, she threw it on top of Rokon's fur and saw as it lit up a bright golden, a rush of power washing over him.

"I want that Gloom roasted."

Silver rested the scythe on his shoulder and looked proudly at his group of four vagabonds, standing in a line and waiting for orders.

"Why are we listening to this guy again?" muttered one of them, confused.

"Oi, didn't you hear me!?" Silver yelled, putting some weight into his voice. "I'm Brock's second in command here, and we gotta find some uh… that thing we're looking for."

Another of the men frowned. "I thought you had a beard?"

"Yeah w–"

"And were a lot fatter."

"Yeah well, you know how it is," Silver shrugged. "Change in management, administration, whatever. That's not important, just get moving people!"

The authoritative tone of his voice seemed to have convinced the men, or maybe they just didn't care enough considering how little they were being paid. As ordered, they started looking around the dilapidated second floor of the museum, lifting up all the debris and seeing if they could find the object they'd came here for.

"Oi, boss, what eh… what does the object look like again?"

Silver formed a fist and closed his eyes dreamily.

"It looks like freedom."

"Huh?"

"Come on, get to searching! I ain't got all fucking day here!"

His favorite vagabonds scattered around, and Silver had to admit to himself that this felt kind of good, giving orders and having people follow them. Made sense why all his previous bosses had liked it so much. Though of course these guys were a lot better than he'd been, and even if–

A crash was heard in the distance. Silver frowned and looked toward the staircase leading down to the base floor, where the sound had come from. A few more followed. Screams and crackles echoed consistently, which could only mean one thing.

"Huh… guess the others found some fun," he said with a smile. "Just about time to crash the party, so–"

"Boss! Oi, boss!"

"Huh?" Silver looked over his shoulder. "What is it?"

One of the men was waving at him from the back of the room, and in his hand he held a familiar object, big and yellow and shiny.

"I think I found it, boss!"

Sabrina inhaled sharply as she jumped out of the way, Brock's nun chuck whizzing by the side of her head. The man didn't give up. He took another step forward and spun in place, ready to slam the weapon against her back, but luckily Gouda came in just in time.

"Barrier!"

The nun chuck bounced off an invisible wall, and that gave Sabrina enough time to get some distance while Rokon spat a burst of flames toward Brock. The man jumped back, dodging the fire by inches.

The two trainers stood across from each other, gathering their breath. A single glance to the side told them how the previous fight had gone. Gloom lay on the floor, completely unconscious, smoke rising from its charred body. Doduo didn't look much better, one of its legs shaking with pain because of a burn.

Sabrina smiled to herself. Choosing to take that attack head on had been a good decision. It'd given Rokon enough time to deal good damage on their opponents.

"Ugh, this isn't good," Brock whispered. "Machoke, stop blocking the exit and join in on the fight!"

Sabrina heard the mass of muscles move behind her, and yelled instantly. "Gouda, behind me! Take care of him!"

She was now surrounded by enemies on both sides, but Gouda had proved herself good enough to handle this, at least for a short time. Only a little more… around her, tarot guy had already taken out of commission one Brock's men while Vard was doing quick work of another one. She could see realization start to dawn on Brock's face that the fight was not going in his favor. If she could press him a little more…

"Fucking brat… this is enough!" Brock grabbed something from his pocket, a small electronic device with a white triangle pasted onto it. "We need to call the Pewter rangers, this has already gotten out of han–!"

It happened in a flash. Sabrina was about to yell for Rokon to attack when a crackle echoed throughout the building, followed by a bright light. Brock yelled in pain and jumped back as a bolt of electricity slammed against his hand, exploding the device into a dozen little pieces.

"Wh…?"

Sabrina, eyes wide, turned toward Vard and his Pikachu in the distance. The man simply smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

Heh… nice one, freak show.

Looking back at a shocked Brock, she smiled and, demonstrating that she couldn't stop herself from making things worse, opened her mouth again.

"Hoping for reinforcements? What's wrong, are you nervous? Thought you were the Persian but ended up being the Rattata instead?" she asked mockingly. "Don't worry, they' won't interfere; I'll take care of you myself. Then you won't have any of your pathetic excuses when you're face-down on the floor, lying in a puddle of your own filthy blood."

Brock stumbled back, eyes wide in worry, but his Doduo wasn't affected. He shot forward with clear killing intent, their multiple beaks spinning rapidly toward her. Without thinking Rokon jumped and intercepted the blow. He was thrown back with a rabid scream and fell next to her, a couple of puncture wounds on the side of his body, yet still standing.

"Stand your ground, Rokon. It's time to finish this."

Judging by the psychotic smile and the boiling saliva running down his fangs, the Vulpix cared little for the damage he'd taken. He took a deep breath and shot another volley of flames forward.

"Tsk… you fucking bitch," Brock spat out, face going red. "I've had enough! Come here!"

Sabrina knew this would happen. Her constant mockery had clearly done a number on his self-esteem, low as it already was, and now he was heading straight for her instead of focusing on Rokon. It wasn't great news for her, but it would free the Vulpix enough to finish up his opponent. She could heard the sounds of Gouda's fight behind her too, could hear the Machoke groan more and more, each time sounding more weak.

Just a little more, she thought. I have to hold him off a little more!

She moved as fast as her body allowed her, letting her backpack fall to the floor and grabbing what was under it just as Brock attacked her with his nun chuck. There was a quick movement, and the sharp sound of wood against wood.

"Wh–?"

Brock's weapon bounced strongly enough to throw him off balance, stumbling back a few feet. He looked at Sabrina, and what she'd used to block his attack, with wide eyes.

Sabrina smiled, holding her crossbow over her head. The back of it had cracked a little due to the slam of the nun chuck, but it was still perfectly usable. A quality weapon; she'd have to thank the guy she stole it from sometime.

"Take this!"

Not wasting a second, she pressed the crossbow close and shot a bolt at Brock, who barely had enough time to move to the side as it whistled past. As he did so, Sabrina finally saw it. There, hidden by the folds of his shirt, hanging from the side of his pocket… an octagonal piece of grey metal, inside of a black triangle.

His badge…

"S-shit!" he yelled, taking in a sharp breath. "Where the fuck are all my other trainers!? God dammit!"

He unfolded his weapon, a deranged look on his face, and ran toward Sabrina once more.

"Doduo, finish off that fucking Vulpix!" he yelled. "This brat's mine! You'll see… Even if Koga and Blaine are after you, I'll be the one to bring in your head! I'll receive all the honors!"

Right up until that moment, Sabrina was the very definition of confidence. She'd even thought about making a comment about how she'd be tearing off that badge off his cold, dead fingers, but then she heard those two names come out of his mouth. Her smile died. Her blood turned to ice, and she was pretty sure her face had gone pale as paper.

Blaine… Koga…

She'd been travelling all over until now thinking she was way under in their list of priorities, but if Koga and especially Blaine were after her… then she was a lot more fucked than she'd suspected.

For an instant she looked over her shoulder, expecting the two leaders to be standing there behind her. That was enough to make Brock laugh. Her reaction had clearly given him back some of the confidence he'd lost. He threw himself at her, the whistle of his weapon cutting through air bringing her back to reality.

Shit!

This time she was barely quick enough. She raised her crossbow like before but the nun chuck hit against the metallic cover on her gloves instead, bouncing off it and hitting her on the arm. She grit her teeth and jumped back, a numb pain shooting down the point of impact.

"What's wrong, are you nervous?" Brock mirrored her words back at her. "I imagine someone of your level, isn't worried about trainers like Koga or Blaine, right?"

Worried was not the word Sabrina had in mind.

She was terrified.

Brock threw himself at her again, but this time she wasn't fast enough to even react. She was frozen by fear. The only thing she could do was raise her hands slightly as the nun chuck slammed against the side of her head with the force of a hammer.

"Ghk!"

She slid a couple feet back, but Brock was relentless, following suit and winding back his arm for another hit. Sabrina couldn't see. Her vision swam, pain numbing her thoughts and movements. Everything was going black…

"Die already!"

The blur of the weapon was all she could see. This one would kill her, she was sure of it. She had to do something, had to…

It was a matter of an instant. With what little focus she had she pressed the button on her Pokeball and Carrie emerged in between her and Brock. Instantly, the Scyther turned around and carried her a few feet to the side, unable to retreat more due to the fight between Gouda and the Machoke.

As soon as Sabrina's feet hit the ground again, dizziness and nausea overtook her. Blood ran warm and sticky down the side of her head, and the edges of her vision were extremely blurry. Brock's cocky smile was all she could see.

"Sabrina!" she heard someone's voice in the distance. Tarot guy?

"S'all… It's all under control," she muttered as best she could. "Don't interfere, no matter what. I already said it before… for trash like this, I'm more than enough!"

Carrie turned toward her, worry clear in her eyes. It made her stomach turn. To be so pathetic that even her Pokemon were taking pity on her…

"What are you looking at?" she scoffed. "Stay close, I might need you to block a hit or two."

She tried to raise her crossbow, but her arms felt weak, numb. That hit really had taken a lot out of her.

"One foot in the grave already," muttered Brock. "Isn't it time to call it quits?"

"Heh," she smiled, blood dripping into her teeth. "I'll be honest, I was just using you as a sandbag for my Pokemon to train a little bit. They need the experience, you see. But I think it's time I stop playing games."

"Tsk. We'll see about that!"

He threw himself at them again, and she didn't fail to realize how worrying that was, considering there was a Scyther in between them. She knew she was the least physically capable of all eight but… was he really that confident? If so–

"Yo, Flaca! Y'all, how's it going!?"

The scream echoed throughout the museum, getting everyone's attention. All heads turned toward the staircase in the back of the room as not only Silver, but four other men with batons walked into the room with confident steps. He carried his scythe on one hand as usual, and in the other he held an object Sabrina recognized instantly.

A fossil.

"W-what!?" Brock yelled, momentarily forgetting the fight. "What is he doing with the Old Amber!? Get him!"

Silver raised an eyebrow at Brock and laughed.

"Sorry pal, but these here are my squad now," he said. "This is our Pewter, and we only answer to the real Brock! Ain't that right, boys!?"

"YEAH!"

The echoing yells seemed to stun Brock and his two subordinates still fighting, and their opponents did not waste that opportunity. All three of them moved in unison. Rhin shot forward faster than he would've normally been capable of, his hair suddenly tinted an odd black. He grabbed the man he was fighting by the back of the head and kicked at the back of his knees, throwing him face-first toward the ground.

"Down you go, you bastard," he whispered.

Vard acted swiftly as well, running toward the bearded man and using his momentum to swipe at the man's feet, sending him off balance.

"Secret technique of Vard Nº 22…!"

As the man fell, Vard pushed himself up with the hand he'd pivoted on and made an arc with his leg through the air as he kicked him straight in the stomach, slamming him against the ground with enough force to steal all air from his lungs and make his head bounce on the cement.

"Vard Rendan!"

Behind them, Sabrina steeled herself and raised her crossbow once more, finger pressing on the trigger. The shock of the situation was enough to throw Brock off guard. He only realized at the last second and, despite trying to jump back, the bolt dug straight into his bicep with a visceral sound.

"Agh! Y-you… you cheating bitch!"

Sabrina breathed heavily, the weight of the crossbow making her arms shake. Even so, she managed a smile somehow.

"Thought I'd made it clear… I'll do anything to survive, no matter how low or dirty. That's what's gotten me so far. And that's what'll seal your death here."

"SHUT UP!" Brock screamed. "Even if you kill me, you'll never escape! Kanto, Johto, no matter where you go, they'll chase you to your death!"

Wounded and alone, Brock yelled from the depth of his lungs as he threw himself at her one last time. He raised his nun chuck with one hand, the other numb, dangling behind him. Sabrina inhaled quickly. Carrie took a step forward, but she raised a hand to stop her and walked in straight into Brock's path.

Time seemed to crawl. She saw the trajectory the weapon made as it went straight for her head, and with a strength and confidence she shouldn't have, Sabrina raised a hand of her own to meet the blow.

Her eyes burst alight. The nun chuck, and all of Brock's arm for that matter, stopped like they'd been frozen in place. The man's eyes went wide. He looked up at the purple glow covering his arm, disbelieving.

"…Goodbye."

Finding strength from Mew-knows where, she raised the crossbow with her remaining hand and pointed it straight at Brock's forehead before pulling the trigger.

The sound echoed inside her head. Brock's arm fell limp to his side and he stumbled back two steps, then crumpled to the ground. Lifeless. Sabrina let go of the breath she'd been holding, the crossbow slipping from her fingers. A sudden pain exploded in her head, followed by a shaking dizziness. Using her powers while wounded hadn't been the smartest idea.

But she was alive. Still.

"It's… it's over."

The rest of their opponents fell around them. Gouda walked closer, a look of indifference in her face, while a wounded Rokon limped his way to her side with his usual psychotic smile on his face. Carrie looked from her to Brock and then back to her, clearly concerned.

Walking on shaky legs, Sabrina approached Brock and grabbed the Boulder badge from his corpse, saving it inside her pocket. Then she spat her almost empty cigarette to the ground and lit another with shaky fingers.

"This one's for you," she told the dead man. "Not much of an eulogy, but it's more than you deserve. See you in hell… my fellow Gym leader."

After a couple drags, she hoisted the crossbow over her back again and returned everyone but Rokon to their Pokeballs. She could practically feel the curiosity in her teammate's faces as she walked toward them. Hard to blame them, after what they'd just witnessed. Still, this was neither the place nor the time.

Somehow, in the few minutes they hadn't seen each other, Silver had become the new leader of Pewter or something. At this point she really shouldn't have been surprised.

"Oi, Silver," she said, voice tired. "If those guys are with you then you should tell them to scram, 'cause this place is going down once we set fire to it. Erasing evidence and all that."

"Ah, our specialty," smiled Silver. "You got it."

While he took care of that, tarot guy approached her in a way that was either very brave or very stupid considering she'd just killed a man in cold blood not a minute ago.

"You shouldn't be walking around with a wound like that on your head," he said, frowning. "Here, let me close it."

"I don't…"

But she stopped herself. Maybe being aloof and arrogant wasn't the best move right now, considering a copious amount of blood was still running down her face.

"…Fine, but make it quick."

While he took out a first aid kit from his backpack and got to work, Silver ordered his subordinates to leave the building and keep an eye on its surroundings until they were done burning it down.

"Ah, very good! A pyre would be a great way to immortalize our victory upon this place!" Vard exclaimed.

"Weren't you planning on keeping the museum?" asked Rhin, hands on Sabrina's wound.

"The real goods are immaterial, my good man. And speaking of which." He smiled and put a hand on the boy's shoulders. "You fought admirably! I am proud to welcome you into the Team of Vard as its latest member!"

He opened his mouth as though to complain, but decided to just let it go and sigh instead.

"I'm Rhin, the one that's been here since the beginning, but sure," he muttered, defeated. "Anyway… I'm almost done here, Sabrina."

"Sure."

"Not even a thanks?" the boy chuckled. "Even though you were ready to sell me to the highest bidder only a few minutes ago."

Her lips pursed nervously. She didn't like to do this, but this guy was literally messing with a wound in her head.

"…It was just strategic. To lower their guard," she said. "You weren't in any danger."

"Right, right," he said, clearly not believing a word of it. "Anyway… there we go. Good as new."

Sabrina said nothing, pressing against her temple with a hand. Rhin had closed the wound in no time, and though she was far from fully recovered, at least she didn't feel ready to face-plant the floor anymore.

She glanced at him. Had this guy really killed a family in cold blood? Neither his hands nor his eyes seemed like those of a killer, but then again those kinds of quick judgments had brought her nothing but trouble before. It wasn't her business, in any case.

"…Come on, let's get this over with," she said. "It pains me to leave this place with empty hands, but we've wasted enough time here."

Rhin took out his Charmander, and she knelt down to give a quick pat to Rokon's head.

"Last one," she said. "Then you can rest."

Once they made sure that the wood, the walls –and especially the corpses– had caught ablaze properly and smoke was filling the place, they left as discreetly as they could and made their way back to Pewter.

Everything was okay. Once the fire had done its job, no one would be able to link them to Brock's death.

Everything was okay.

…

"…Shit."