A/N: Sorry for the huge wait. I've been distracted and working on other things. I hope that you are enjoying the story. Please be aware there will be another stupidly long wait before the next update.

See you in 2023!

Chapter 17: Arc 2: Practical over Theoretical

Instead of heading straight to Saffron City as the group had decided, they ended up taking Nugget bridge to get to route 25, at the end of which was an isolated beach that researcher Bill lived and worked on. When Ash phoned home, he ended up being requested to check in on Professor Oak's friend who hadn't been responding to phone calls. After talking it over, the group decided that taking the diversion wouldn't take them far off track even though they would have to walk back along the same route to get back to Cerulean city and continue on their way.

After taking into consideration Professor Oak's worry, the group set out after lunch instead of spending another night at the Pokemon centre as they had originally intended. Because of the time that it had taken to cross the Nugget bridge, which covered the first half of Route 24, they got to solid ground just as the sun was about to set so they stopped to set up camp.

Once they had set up camp, Harry moved off to the side and released his whole team since he hadn't gotten the opportunity to congratulate Torchic on her win yet, and he wanted to begin working on ensuring she knew protect and sleep talk – preferable before they got back too Cerulean so that he could remove the Everstone and allow her evolution as he had promised. He had already given her, and the rest of the team, the TM he had brought for them the day before. With the TM and the group working together it shouldn't take more than two days for them to know the move to an acceptable degree, and with Kirlia's help she would have protect down within three days – not mastered, but the basics enough that Harry was more than happy letting her evolve.

Once the celebrations and congratulations were out of the way, Harry settled into training. Eevee and Aba had been cleared for full training so he stopped going easy on them because of their age, and Beldum had yet to experience a true training program under him and he wanted them to be physically strong enough to tank hits as well as use moves like protect and iron defence.

While Harry was putting his own Pokemon through their paces, Ash was testing Poliwhirl and his new strengths and the new moves he had learnt upon evolving (hypnosis and belly drum). Brock was training Onix and Golem while helping Zubat get used to being out in the light, however fading that it happened to be. Misty was training Staryu while also working out which Pokemon she wanted to try and capture when they made it to Bill's Lighthouse since it was on a beach and would therefore have plenty of land-based water Pokemon she could try and capture.

The next morning, the land was covered by a mist that got thicker as they walked.

"Shouldn't this get lighter, the further from the river we get?" Brock questioned with a frown, looking at his compass.

"Yeah, and we're not actually getting closer to the sea until we turn east so the mist isn't coming from there." Misty agreed, looking around suspiciously.

"You thinking the mist isn't natural?" Ash asked, surprised. "Are there any buildings or villages near us that could be the cause?"

"We're near a school. Your Pokemon Academy is near here according to the maps." Harry answered after a moment to sense for life forms. The large group of humans weren't far from where they were.

"Do you think they are responsible for the mist?" Misty pondered. "I've never been to the Academy."

"If they are trying to simulate different battle situations, they could be responsibly. But why would they extend the mist so far out?" Harry questioned.

On Jura there was a simulation room in each of the labs which each of the classes had access to four times a year. He'd never heard of a simulation being used outside or extending beyond strict boundaries, unless the school was using Pokemon in order to create the environment change?

"I don't know." Brock frowned.

"Pokemon Academy?" Ash questioned.

"It's the only Pokemon school in Kanto." Brock explained. "I don't know a lot about them, but it's really privet – for those who can afford the really high tuition. Graduating is the same as obtaining six badges. They have to earn the seventh badge in person."

"School is not a substitution for experience." Harry muttered, frowning at learning this information about Kanto's Pokemon school. He was discovering that Kanto had a very different idea of 'prepared for their journey' compared to Jura – no wander that there was such a high failure and fatality rate.

"Hay, what's that?!" Ash pointed ahead of them where there was a light from what looked like a fire being dispersed by the mist.

"A fire?" Misty said questioningly.

"Let's check it out," Ash proposed.

The closer they got to where the fire was burning, the easier it was to tell that the fire was from candles which were being held by a group of teens. Teens, who were surrounding another, younger, teen who was running on a tread mill.

The teen with the red hair, the one who appeared to be the leader, was holding up a photo to the kid on the tread mill.

"All right, what's the name of this one?"

"Is it a zubat?"

"Listen," the one with green hair snorted with contempt, "just because it's foggy out here doesn't mean your brains has to be in a fog."

"It's a pidgey," the kid identified.

Harry narrowed his eyes as he took in the scene in front of him. He hated bullying, and no matter the reason they might be given for this instruction-based mockery, this was still bullying. The uniform, proximity to the school and time of day meant that these kids should be in lessons, or be monitored by a teacher, but if they were able to gang up on a younger student like this, it was clear the teachers were neglecting their duty.

"Nice guess," The red head snorted. "You just got lucky."

"Now, tell us what its special attack is." The green haired one demanded.

"Pidgey's attack is gust. At level 5, Sand Attack. At level 12-"

Harry blinked in surprise at the statistics that were being rattled off by the kid. Pokemon didn't develop uniformly like that and Pokemon skill and power couldn't be quantified into levels. That would be like trying to put humans into categories and saying that certain levels of understanding and physical fitness correspond to a level within humans; it was impossible.

"Everybody knows that." The red head interrupted. "Tell me at what level Pidgey evolves and what's the name of Pidgey's advanced stage?

When the kid they were tormenting didn't respond right away, the green haired one pressed a button on the tread mill. "You better come up with answers quick or you'll have to run faster."

Unable to keep up with the speed increase, the kid tripped and fell.

"Hay!" Harry called, finally having enough of standing and being unnoticed while a kid was bullied in front of him.

"Leave that kid alone." Ash chimed in; his fists clenched in anger. "What's going on here?"

"There's nothing going on here. Mind your own business. This is a privet training session." The red head turned to them; his arms crossed.

"That isn't training, that is bully." Harry disagreed at once.

"There's no room in our Pokemon school for losers who don't even know Pidgey's evolved stage. We have to maintain standards." The green haired student sneered.

"That is not the job of a group of students, that is the job of the teachers. The only responsibility of the students is for their own individual grade and nothing more." Harry snapped.

As the Potters had been one of the families that had helped form the schools of Jura, he had found that founding information while going through his family's paperwork, including the principle and aims of the school and the teachers responsible for educating the children. One of the things that Hufflepuff had made clear in those founding notes was that it was not about the reputation of the school, it was about the individual development of each of the students and ensuring that they had the best possible help in reaching their goals. Clearly, this Pokemon Academy didn't have the same standards.

"I don't know anything about this school of yours, but if it's turning out students like you, I'd have to say the standards are pretty low." Ash narrowed his eyes.

"Why don't you lot run along to your precious little school before I speak to your headmaster and have you reported for un-gentlemanly conduct? How will that look on your precious little school and record?" Harry raised an eyebrow. To kids like this, appearance was everything, and the school couldn't look the other way when someone like him files a complaint – especially if he had the backing of two gym leaders and someone sponsored by Professor Oak

"We'll see you back at the Tech, Joe." The green haired one back down, with the rest following his lead.

"Okay." Joe, the kid they had been harassing, agreed.

They watched the kids walk away, into the mist and the school which was being hidden by it.

"Why is there a treadmill in the middle of a court yard?" Harry wondered, keeping an eye on the kid's back to make sure they didn't turn around.

"They took it from the Gym, since we were supposed to be training outside." Joe explained.

"Training, by forcing you to run on a tread mill and recite useless facts about Pokemon?" Harry blinked.

"This place sounded better in the flier." Misty informed them.

"What flier?" Ash asked, confused.

"It was handed out to all gyms and places with the money to afford the privet tuition." Brock snorted. "I didn't read it all the way through, but I think I still have the flier."

Pokemon Technical Institute, a boarding school for serious Pokemon trainer preparation. All students guaranteed to enter Pokemon League upon graduation. Pokemon technical is the educational facility for exceptional students who want to become Pokemon trainers in a very short time without having to travel on difficult badge-collecting journeys. Graduating from our institute is the same as earning seven badges.

"Wait, getting into the League without earning all their badges? That's too easy." Ash interrupted, affronted.

Students' entrances fees and tuition are in keeping with the highest standards set by Pokemon Technical.

"If this is a highly specialised privet school, and I'm beginning to doubt it's effectiveness in turning out Pokemon trainers, what do the rest of the population have?" Harry asked the question that had been bouncing around inside his mind since he had met Ash.

"That depends on your city and family." Misty admitted. "Every city and village, with over 200 hundred people, has a school which teaches language, maths and basic sciences until you're ten. After that, it's all apprentices, trade schools and journeys. The only way to learn about Pokemon is to have a connection to a gym, a trainer or to get on Professor Oak's summer camp and even the camp is very basic knowledge because the kids are between seven and eight years old."

"That's… that's…" Harry tried to think of a word, but his wide vocabulary failed him.

"Stupid?" Kirlia offered.

"That's why I had to get into Pokemon Tec." Joe admitted. "It's the only place to learn about Pokemon."

'Today's special class, fog battle techniques, is now ended.' A woman's voice came over speakers. 'Tomorrow's lesson will be snow competition secrets.'

"What were you supposed to be doing out here? What does fog battle techniques consist off?" Harry questioned.

"Well, today we were supposed to be finding flags and, if we come across over students, defending ourselves." Joe admitted. "Darrel and Tyler retrieved the flags for the group so they wouldn't get in trouble."

"And tomorrow?" Misty asked.

"They'll make me into a snowman, again, while Darrel and Tyler complete whatever task they were given." Joe sighed; shoulders slumped.

"This sounds like a horrible place," Ash grumbled. "Why would you want to go here? Why do you put up with that kind of behaviour?"

"They're my friends, and they're just trying to help me." Joe defended.

"With friends like that, who needs enemies?" Brock questioned.

"They helped me learn that Pidgey evolves to Pidgeotto at level 18, it learns whirlwind at level 21, wing attack at level 31, and that as its level rises, it learns various tricks. After evolving to pidgeotto, it can fly at 1200 metres and speeds of up to Mach 2." Joe resisted, still trying to defend his bullies.

"I don't get it." Ash frowned. "If you know everything about Pidgey, why didn't you just answer them before?"

"Sometimes, I make believe that I don't know all the answers, because if I do, they make the questions that much harder. But I have to stay here at Pokemon Tech. My mother and father worked hard and saved money, so they could pay to send me to school here." Joe pointed to a tree which had an older man sat, furiously reading a book. "You see that guy over there? He's an upperclassman. The classes are so hard here, some students are held back for many years. Everybody's too ashamed to go home without getting a diploma. That guy, he's in the beginner's class with me."

"And what does a beginner's class entail? As in, what is the trainer equivalent?" Harry questioned.

How could a man, who was clearly in his forties, still be in a school for kids? How much money was he sending down the drain each year he refused to simple leave? Would it not be more shameful to graduate twenty or thirty years after entering the school then to simply give up and try another option?

"There are three level of classes, beginner, intermediate and advanced." Joe started the explanation, leading the way into the school building. "You graduate from beginner when you have the equivalent of three badges. I've only got two. You advance from intermediate with five badges. Graduate with seven."

"And without facing the gyms, how do you know that you've earned those badges?" Misty questioned with a frown.

"It's all about knowledge and levels. I don't know exactly how they do it." Joe shrugged. "But we have computer simulations of the gyms."

'It sounds like they took a very short look at how Jura does it, and then forgot about all the supplementary lessons, training and everything else you do.' Kirlia commented.

'Unfortunately, we don't have any jurisdiction in Kanto, so won't be able to help these students. At least, not right now.' Harry admitted.

"What about the teachers, do they have anything to say about the kind of help you've been getting?" Misty questioned.

"They don't even know about it, or if they do, they pretend not to." Joe admitted.

"Who runs the students? Which student is in charge?" Misty asked.

"Oh, that's Giselle." Joe answered as they entered a computer lab. "Giselle always practises here by herself. Even if you beat her in a fight, it won't matter to her. At Tech, it's your skill as a Pokemon trainer that counts more than winning in any one battle." Joe explained.

"Pokemon trainer? Do you even have your own Pokemon?" Ash questioned.

"Well… technically. The school gets a certain number of Pokemon each year, enough for three for each student and then there are another three which were then shared between students. We all have three Pokemon we prefer to use in battle and train, and then the other three are ones where there is an overlap in preference so we have to arrange times so we don't end up fighting at the same time." Joe explained.

"That…" Ash was the one who was lost for words this time, and Harry couldn't blame them.

"When you graduate, do you get to take those three Pokemon with you?" Harry questioned.

"Yeah, and some of the students also get their parents to send them the other three Pokemon to round out their team so they aren't sharing." Joe shrugged. "But that only happens with the very important students."

"You mean the very rich. Is this Giselle one of those?" Misty challenged.

"Oh, no. But she is the top beginner here. She's got the equivalent of three badgers, but they can't move her up until at least seven others get the same. I'm the bottom of the class, but I'm still powerful enough to beat someone with two badges." Joe said proudly.

"Argh!" Ash slumped.

"Hold on a second here." Misty said sternly. "I learned how to be a Pokemon trainer at the Cerulean city Gym. Are you saying you can beat me?" Misty demanded to know.

"Oh, Cerulean city. Water Pokemon." Joe took a seat at one of the computers.

"How'd you know?" Misty blinked, like it wasn't common knowledge what typing was associated with what gym.

"I always beat them on the simulator. See?" Joe brought up the appropriate program, showing a Victoreebell vs. Starmie.

'This is a different program,' Kirlia observed.

'Yes, this is the old one. It's outdated and doesn't take into consideration progress and previous battles.' Harry admitted. 'And it doesn't have the capacity to take in scanned data from real life Pokemon, so if you're simulating your own Pokemon in gym battle, it wouldn't accurately reflect any real-life training and progress that had been done.'

'So, it's basically useless.' Kirlia nodded.

"A simulation's one thing," Misty huffed on seeing her simulated Staryu defeated, "but this is real life. Let's battle!"

"You'll be sorry," Joe warned.

"But, what do you two have to battle for?" Ash questioned, confused as they moved to an open battle room.

"I have the Cerulean City Gym's reputation to defend and I'm going to defend it. Misty calls Staryu!" Misty called out her go to Pokemon.

"Too bad your water Pokemon won't be able to beat my plant. All right, Weepinbell, let's go." Joe released his Pokemon.

"I'll teach him about Pokemon. Staryu, go!"

Staryu used water gun, which had Weepinbell flying back towards Joe. When Staryu stopped her water gun, Weepinbell was unconscious.

"Huh? But Weepinbell is strong against water Pokemon." Joe said confused.

"Type advantage isn't everything." Harry explained gentle.

"Your opponent is from the Cerulean City Gym," A girls voice came from behind them. "Her Pokemon has much more experience battling."

Harry raised his eyebrow when he turned to see a well-formed young brunet teen backed by the group who had surrounded Joe earlier.

"Her Pokemon have also been trained to fight against Pokemon with a type disadvantage over them; something that all trainers strive to do especially with a main team Pokemon or when striving to become a type master." Harry picked up, explaining the situation in a gentle manner instead of the harsher nature he could sense from Giselle. "It was through training that Ash was able to beat the Pewter Gym with an electric type, and I was able to beat the Cerulean Gym with a fire type. From what I've seen of this school, you don't dedicate time to training your Pokemon in real life like a travelling trainer does."

Giselle raised her chin, affronted by the accusation. "I'm the top student in the beginning class of the most exclusive prep school in the world, Pokemon tech. I won't let you insult our training."

"It's not you I'm questioning, it's the school." Harry informed her.

"You're the top student? Prove that you're worthy of that title." Misty agreed with Harry's assessment.

Giselle stared at Misty a moment before she approached the rolling shelf of Pokeballs, and selected one. "Against your water Pokemon, I'll choose… Graveler. Go!"

Brock blinked in surprise to see a rock type Pokemon sent out against a water type. "If it's on the shelf, doesn't that mean a shared Pokemon? You think that Graveler's trained enough to get over the type disadvantage?"

"Of course, he's one of my own." Giselle boasted.

Staryu managed to dodge the first Rollout, and countered with Water Gun, but Graveler stopped the attack by rapidly spinning and dispelling the water. His forward momentum overcame the Water Gun, and Graveler slammed into Staryu with enough force to send it flying. Since the school battle grounds didn't have physic barriers or reinforced windows, Staryu was sent flying out the window.

"Staryu!" Misty ran out the room, and everyone else followed her out to the pool where Misty was hugging her fainted Pokemon. "I can't believe it."

"Now we're by the pool, your Pokemon's specialty." Giselle smirked. "You can use a different water Pokemon if you want."

"Oh, and I'm sure you'll choose another Pokemon that's weak against water." Misty narrowed her eyes as she returned Staryu.

"Perhaps, you should try against another trainer?" Harry jumped in.

Misty's other two Pokemon, goldeen and feebas weren't suited for battle yet since they didn't have the same training as Staryu or her Gym Pokemon, and that was not something that Misty would admit.

"What? You mean against that Kirlia, who is so badly trained you don't even keep it in a Pokeball? Or maybe the Pikachu, who you haven't evolved yet? How long have you been a trainer?" Giselle mocked.

"About two months, I guess." Ash said thoughtfully.

"Training Pokemon is about more than levels and evolving them as quick as possible." Harry scolded. "Kirlia is the only member of my team to have been evolved, and my Torchic joined my team the same time Pikachu joined Ash's. As a serious trainer, you should know that some Pokemon don't want to be evolved, or that it is better to keep Pokemon unevolved as part of a training program or because they need an evolutionary item to evolve and the Pokemon just doesn't want to. And you should also know that some Pokemon don't like being confined in Pokeballs, something that has most commonly been reported in the Pichu-line and in psychic type Pokemon."

"Those are just excuses," Giselle snorted. "You need to teach your Pokemon discipline."

"Pikachu is my friend; I don't need to instal disciple in him. Just like with my Butterfree, Pidgeotto and Poliwhirl." Ash defended immediately.

"Is that all you have?" Giselle asked scornfully.

"Huh?" Ash questioned confused.

"That's funny because even new Pokemon trainers usually have at least six Pokemon and you've got two badges with only four. He sure was lucky, wasn't he?" Giselle mocked.

"I've only recently gained five active Pokemon; while Brock and Misty only have three personal Pokemon. Trainers who take their time to select Pokemon who are a good fit for their team are more successful then other Pokemon trainers who just keep catching Pokemon." Harry raised an eyebrow, making it very clear that he considered her to be foolish with her logic failings.

"Alright, I'll battle one of you instead of Misty." Giselle finally conceded.

"Pikachu," Ash instructed, stepping up before Harry could call out one of his own team.

"You think Ash can beat her?" Kirlia questioned.

"If he thinks smart instead of just trying to power through Giselle's Pokemon." Harry confirmed.

"Cubone, you're up." Giselle released her Pokemon onto the open space that had become their battle ground by the pool.

'We're being watched by Team Rocket.' Kirlia suddenly announced as they watched Pikachu dodge Cubone's bone.

'How many?' Harry questioned, sensing the area around him to see if he could pick up the Team Rocket members but with all the students around them, he couldn't distinguish the additional humans. It would take his entire attention and focus to achieve such a feet, and he didn't want to leave himself vulnerable. He was going to start meditating and focusing more attention on his sensing each night after this, he couldn't keep relying on Kirlia as an early warning system – that was unfair on his friend.

'Two. The same two that attacked Viridian.' Kirlia answered after a moment.

'How is that possible? They were arrested.' Harry frowned at the news.

Anyone confirmed as being part of Team Rocket was classed as a terrorist and arrested, no exceptions. And, even if they were not confirmed as being part of that organisation despite wearing the uniforms, those two individuals had attacked a Pokemon centre with the intention of steeling Pokemon and that was a minimum of ten years in prison. They shouldn't be wondering around, looking to steal more Pokemon. Once they were dealt with, he was going to have to make a report on the Capture Device about their presence in the area.

'What do you want me to do?' Kirlia asked.

'Think you can teleport behind them and use Hypnosis to knock them out, without being notice?' Harry questioned thoughtfully.

'I can do one better; I can teleport both of us behind them so you can tie them up.' Kirlia adjust the plan, grabbing Harry's hand. 'Ready?'

'Let's do it.' Harry agreed. Kirlia's eyes flash purple and they disappeared without alerting anyone as to what was happening.

Team Rocket didn't have a chance to react, the moment they appeared behind them, Kirlia used Hypnosis and knocked the three out. Now they weren't a threat, Harry tied them up and took their Pokeballs away before sending a report on his capture device to alert the closest authority with a note that these Team Rocket members had already been arrested and detained once.

By the time that Harry had handed his prisoners off to the STAR pair who had turned up, Ash had finished showing the students of Pokemon Academy the error of their ways and convinced them that experience was just as important as learning states. He even convinced Joe to go out and earn five badges in person instead of remaining at the school for intermediate and advanced classes.

"Where did you disappear too?" Misty asked when Harry and Kirlia re-joined the group.

"Some old friends dropped by; thought I'd say hello." Harry smiled wryly. "How'd your battle go?"

"I won," Ash smirked proudly. "Pikachu was awesome."

"That's good," Harry hummed. "Now, I've got an alert from my capture device telling me there is unusual Pokemon activity in the vicinity of Bill's Lighthouse which might explain why he hasn't been in contact with Professor Oak."

"What tight of unusual activity?" Brock questioned.

"The Ranger report wasn't very clear – something about an Arbok nest, and a large group of Ferrow that has moved in." Harry shrugged. "But there might be another Pokemon who is causing problems."

The rest of the journey to the lighthouse went without any problems. They didn't encounter any wild Pokemon, and the few trainers they encountered that were training along the route were doing so before going on to challenge Cerulean and so were very happy to accept challenges to see where their Pokemon were in comparison to someone who had defeated the Gym. Misty even got the opportunity to give her Staryu, Goldeen and Feebas plenty of work out against wild Pokemon in the river as well as Ash and Harry. Since she wasn't a trainer, she couldn't accept official challenges from other travellers.

Harry and Kirlia both let their senses open as they got closer to the light house, looking for the Pokemon disturbance which had been reported by the rangers. So far, all that they had noticed was the distinct lake of everything except for water living Pokemon. Which was odd, since there was lots of tall grass and trees in which pidgeys, rattatas and other common Pokemon which were typically found in such environments.

"A Krabby!" Ash pointed to the beach not far from where the grass became sand. "Misty, didn't you want to capture one?"

"Not as a priority, but I do need to add someone new to my team. Unless you want to add Krabby to yours?" Misty paused before she grabbed the Pokeball with Staryu in.

"Nah, I've got Poliwhirl and I want a Squirtle, so it would unbalance my team to add Krabby as well." Ash slumped slightly. "I'll catch a Krabby when I have more spaces on my team."

"Alright," Misty cheered. "Misty calls Staryu."

"Kirlia, did you notice that?" Now that they had stopped, Harry sent out his senses as far as he could go, and he noticed a congregation of agitated Pokemon somewhere at the edge of his range to the south of him – east to the cliff which had the lighthouse.

"Yes, the Pokemon that we have been unable to find appear to have formed together." Kirlia agreed. "If you wish to investigate, we will have to go and look before entering the lighthouse, otherwise it will be dark out."

"We'll separate once Misty has caught her Krabby," Harry decided.

In the end, Misty was able to take down Krabby with a powerful Water Gun. It didn't put up a fight when she threw an empty Pokeball to capture it.

"Way to go, Misty." Ash cheered.

"Yes, congratulations." Brock agreed.

"Thanks," Misty smiled. "I just need to get a Seel, and evolve my current team before capturing anyone else."

"How close is your current team to evolving?" Brock hummed.

"Well, Goldeen's thins are starting to get longer, so she'll probably evolve in the next two weeks. Staryu's scales are getting brighter and Feebas doesn't show signs of evolving. So, two or three weeks for Goldeen and Staryu to evolve." Misty said thoughtfully. "What about you lot? How long until you think your team will start evolving?"

"Well, Pidgeotto crest and feathers aren't showing signs of changing, but he has grown a little." Ash frowned, tyring to recall what his travel companions had been teaching him about his team. "So, maybe two months before evolution. Poliwhirl has also not shown signs of evolving, but he's only recently become a Poliwhirl so I wouldn't expect him to evolve for another three months anyway."

"Rock types are the second slowest Pokemon to evolve," Brock took over. "And many of them don't show physical signs of change. But, based on studies done, I expect Geodude to evolve in the next month. As for Zubat, his wings have started showing signs of change, indicating that he will evolve in the next two weeks."

"Harry, what about your team?" Ash asked when he didn't jump in to answer when Brock had finished his run down.

"Well, Torchic is three days off from learning protect to a satisfactory degree and has already mastered sleep talk, so I'll take the Everstone off then. Eevee has decided to become an umbreon and I'll take the Everstone off her in three months' time, but it might take her a week or so after then to evolve. I will take the Everstone off Abra once we defeat Vermilion, and I have no doubt that he will evolve at that point. Beldum won't be able to evolve until after we face Fuchsia gym." Harry went through his team, leaving out Kirlia since he'd already explained that he wouldn't let Kirlia hold the Dawn Stone until they had defeated Viridian.

"I still can't believe how many Everstone you have access to," Misty shook her head.

"My family has been hoarding for years," Harry shrug. "Anyway, I'm going to go and investigate the surrounding area. You guys should head up to the lighthouse and see why Bill hasn't been checking in."

"Alright, we'll see you in a bit." Ash agreed. "Will you be back before it's dark?"

"That's the plan," Harry agreed before separating from the group and heading into the trees which ran alongside the beach, past the path that led to the hill with the lighthouse.

As he walked through the forest, getting closer to where they could sense the Pokemon, Harry noticed that there was an increase in venom secretion left by Ekans and Arbok to mark territory. Based on standard territory size, and formation, this then meant that all the Pokemon he could sense were in what was typically the Arbok nest in a zone of this size. Something that the snake-like creature would never normally allow – no matter their own numbers or the species of Pokemon taking refuge. Which meant, whatever had happened here was bad enough to overrule the instincts of more than one Pokemon.

"Kirlia, can you feel what is threatening the Pokemon?" Harry questioned, not liking the feeling that he was getting at all.

"Humans," Kirlia said angrily. "Eight of them have set up camp, they have prisoners."

"Alright," Harry stopped. "Okay. We need to get a better idea of who they are, how strong they are and what sort of Pokemon they have. Then, we decided if we can handle them alone or if we need to call in help. And then we go to the wild Pokemon and let them know that everything is, or will be, okay."

"Sounds like a plan. And if we're spotted, I'll teleport us out of here." Kirlia determined.

During their training sessions, Kirlia had been getting better with his teleporting and was now able to cover the distance to Pallet Town with Harry at his side. He was determined to be able to cover the length of Kanto – from the Pokemon League Reception Gate to Lavender Town – by the time that they confronted the Saffron Gym. Harry was happy to encourage such a goal, even though all the research he'd done did warn that Kirlia wouldn't be able to manage such a distance until he evolved. He had faith in his friend's ability to not only know his own limits, but to reach any goals that was set before him. The fact that Abra was already starting to show improvements in his own teleporting ability under Kirlia's tutelage likely pushing him to strive for goals which others had considered impossible to show the young psychic that nothing was impossible.

Keeping low to the ground and concealing their presents, they carefully moved forward towards the camp that Kirlia had been able to feel. Harry wasn't able to sense the camp until they were around a five-minute trek away because it seemed that the humans had been smart enough to employ the help of a pair of psychic Pokemon in order to conceal their presents – likely the reason why they hadn't been picked up and stopped from operating so close to Bill's Lighthouse. Despite the supressing presence of the psychics, they weren't skilled enough to go unnoticed by Kirlia who had been trained to use his emanation powers alongside his psychic gifts to pick up on life forces even at a distance. Harry needed to be closer to pick up on the same life forces since he was still young and hadn't completely unlocked all his powers yet.

Finally, they made it to the outskirts of the camp.

"Only four of them are awake." Kirlia observed.

There were four two-person tents, with one human sleeping inside each of them. The other four humans were presently gathered around a log which was set up next to their camp-fire, it seemed they were discussing a plan of attack and how to best use the terrain against the Pokemon. To the side of the camp was a collection of cages in which there was Pokemon who had been drugged into sleep.

"They're probably working in rotation." Harry observed bringing up his poke-nav to record what he was seeing and send it to the rangers along with their co-ordinates. As it was not Team Rocket, and they were not presently attacking, the Ranger station would probably take up to an hour to assemble and arrive so as to not potential startle the wild Pokemon or poachers into attacking.

While he waited for the Rangers, he concealed his Poke-Nav in a tree with a good view of the whole camp, with it recording. He'd sent the short clip to the Rangers, and started a new recording that they would be able to access since they had his poke-nav ID on record along with his current co-ordinates allowing them to find and log in.

He and Kirlia then shifted to be closer to the caged Pokemon so that they could act quickly if anything happened to trigger the poachers. Hopefully, the rangers would use a quiet approach and be able to take the poachers down before they realised that they were in danger.

This time, they didn't have to intervene in order to protect the Pokemon.

"Back up," Kirlia hummed, tilting his head only twenty minutes after they'd set up camp. "Rangers,"

"Eight-man team, which means two teams of four." Harry nodded. "And two of those are coming in from the air."

The six Rangers on the ground moved to surround the camp, which meant that one of them snuck up close to the position that Harry was in. Being careful not to make any noise, he and Kirlia moved slightly so that they could be seen by the Ranger. The Ranger waved him back so that they could whisper without being overheard and still be able to see the camp.

"Harry Potter?" the Ranger questioned.

"Yes, sir," Harry confirmed.

"Why are you here? Your co-ordinates place you on the other side of the clearing. We sent a man to talk with you." The ranger questioned.

"I've set my Poke-nav up in a tree to keep a camera on the sight, but I moved over here because this is where the vulnerable Pokemon where and I didn't know if you were going to go in hard or soft." Harry shrugged.

The Ranger nodded, before he touched the com in his ear and reported that he had located Harry.

"There are eight poachers, four are in their tents while the other four are awake. They don't seem to have a heightened guard, but I've spotted at least eight Pokeballs on each of the visible men." Harry told the Ranger, allowing him to relay that information to his men.

The Ranger spent a few minutes discussing their approach, before the Ranger moved back to his original position and Harry remained back with Kirlia. With the professionals on sight, they didn't need to be actively involved in the take down. However, they were still in position to move to defend the cages if the take down took a horrible turn for the worst.

It seemed that they were an experienced team, because the poachers didn't have the chance to release any of their Pokemon before they found themselves bound and under arrest. Once the camp was secure, Harry left his hiding place and went to the cages. Kirlia was quick to release a reassuring coo to the uneasy and wary Pokemon.

"It's alright," Harry soothed as he lifted a bristling Bulbasaur from its cage and knelt so he could attend to its injuries. Three of the rangers came over to help him tend to the injured while the others worked on figuring out the logistics of transportation and documentation.

They'd just tended to the last Pokemon when the bang of what sounded like a bomb going off was heard from the direction of Bill's tower. Harry and Kirlia didn't even think to wait, Kirlia simple grabbed Harry and teleported right to where he could feel their friends. They arrived in time to see a truly huge Dragonite destroying the lighthouse that Bill called home while it was being shot at with rocket launchers by people in the Team Rocket unform.

"Kirlia, take Team Rocket down with prejudice." Harry ordered as he ran towards the enemy.

Kirlia flickered in front of him as he used quick attack. He aimed a thunder punch at the hands of the Team Rocket members which forced them to drop the Rocket Launchers. As Kirlia followed up his attack with mega punches to knock out the humans, Harry grabbed the rocket launches and threw them in one direction while throwing the amo in the other to make sure that they couldn't re-arm themselves.

In the time that it had taken them to subdue Team Rocket, the Dragonite had retreated into the depths of the ocean and the lighthouse has fallen nearly completely into ruin. Fortunately, it looked like Bill, Ash, Brock and Misty were unharmed if a little dusty.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked despite his visual inspection.

"Months of sleepless nights, ruined." Professor Bill stared out at the ocean where the retreating Pokemon was no longer visible.

"Not completely, look!" Misty pointed excitedly to the shore where an egg was visible.

A group of unhappy rangers arrived then to take charge of the scene. Bill ended up taking the blunt of the official statement, but Harry did also have to give his own statement as to why he left the Rangers and acted to take down the Team Rocket members when backup had been available.