The lights dimmed as several patrons ran from their seats to crowd around the battlefield. From my chair, which I refused to leave since I was still simmering from my earlier embarrassment, I managed to lean back enough to get a perfect view of the scene before me.

Three spotlights came on and aimed straight down, illuminating three waiters standing side-by-side in the darkness, each one with hair of a primary light color. A fourth spotlight shot down and revealed Sylviana. How showy. In front of Sylviana and the waiter in the middle, which happened to be Cress, was a control panel with only a dial, three small black screens set at 120-degree intervals around the wheel, and a timer.

If I knew right (which I did because I did a report about rotation battles for a class last year), the dial turned the rotation plates and the screens would show which pokémon was in what position. Three pokémon would represent each side, and only the center pokémon could spar. The center could only be switched via rotation by the control panel, only operable for one use once the timer reached zero, which got reset after the trainers decided to rotate or pass. The timer limit was two minutes.

I had gotten nearly every fact correct except the time limit, in this case, according to the numerous rules the referee listed off with surprising gusto. For this exhibition match, the limit was only one minute.

Rotation battles were also all the rage in gambling circles. They tended to be unpredictable and quick. What was Sylviana's plan with proposing a rotation battle? Probably just to show off.

"Why don't we go first?" the waiter with green hair suggested.

"I couldn have said it better myself, Cilan." Cress, who had disappeared for a second, walked over with a cloche in hand. I didn't think his response really applied, but whatever.

"Let's do this!" The one with red hair removed the cover, revealing three poké balls. Each man took one and assumed their positions.

"Calm down, Chili. Now, let us begin." Cress took a bow, then followed his two companions. In complete sync with one another, the three men tossed their poké balls to the rotation platform. From each one came a human-sized monkey with colors matching their trainers.

Without missing a beat, not letting the eyes on her best her, Sylviana winked and tossed three luxury balls out in one motion. I recognized all of the 'mon who looked back at their trainer to figure out what they were supposed to do.

"Just stand on the plate. Dean, take the front." Sylviana looked unfazed. I watched as Dean the hydreigon fluttered over to hover at the head of the rotation pad, opposite Cress's (according to Stat Star) simipour. Her cinccino Micky and swanna Odette seemed to have dragged their feet to stand to the left and right of Dean, respectively. "Please, Odette."

Those three plus Celeste were the only pokémon I knew Sylviana had for sure. Anyone else, I never met. Though, I found it strange that in the several years since Sylviana came back from her journey, I only ever saw Dean and Celeste on occasion. Then Sylviana hadn't kept up with training and junk. So, was she going to win? I didn't know.

My thoughts were broken as the referee belted out, "Battle begin."

"How about you take the first move, dear?" Cilan gestured with an arm for Sylviana to go.

"Thunder fang!" She went in for the kill. I knew the type-advantage chart well enough. Dean's mouth glowed yellow, sparks flying out every which way, as he charged straight for the water monkey.

Though, that kind of confused me: what was battle etiquette? Unrelentlessly using super-effective moves against the opponent? Or using them in moderation? The former was cheaper, but it had a higher chance of winning, for sure. Would I be looked down on for exploiting weaknesses like that? I guessed watching this battle would help me determine that.

"Rainie, dodge." Dean went for a chomp, but bit nothing but air as the simipour leaped back in a flash. The hydreigon had enough energy to try another time, then another, and another, all of which garnered the same result.

"Not fair!" Sylviana stomped a foot. Boy, was that monkey fast, like some blue blur.

A loud buzz went off, nearly making me fall out of my seat. "One minute has elapsed. Each side must decide on rotating or staying," the referee said.

"Stay." Sylvina squinted at her opponents, probably anticipating who would come up next.

On the other hand, a mechanical whirring came from the other side of the field. The rotation plate spun surprisingly quickly, going clockwise until the green monkey, the simisage or whatever, took Rainie's place.

"Our turn, Sprout," Cilan said as he and Cress hopped with grace to switch positions on their side.

"Flamethrower." Sylviana didn't waste any time. Just as the waiters' plate stopped spinning, a shot of wild fire hit Sprout dead-center. He yelped, leaping into the air. Unrelenting, Sylviana said, "Keep going."

"Hold yourself, Rainie," Cress called out, hands held palms-out to say stop. I glanced over to see the simipour holding his tail pointed towards the flaming grass-type, his back (the part not getting directly hit by flamethrower) on fire. Like, not even a small flame, but as if he had wings made out of them.

"It's alright. Sprout, slide in for low sweep." Cilan kept his composure. His simisage managed to stand tall, withstanding the move. Then, in one fluid movement, he dropped down and slithered towards Dean, fire extinguishing in the process. A swift kick made contact with Dean's round belly, ending the stream of fire shooting out. Like a sack of junk, Dean dropped to the plate and groaned.

"One minute has elapsed."

I heard two plastic ticks, Sprout jumping back to his spot with a clang, then the two plates turning clockwise. The red monkey and Odette faced each other. Sprout fell down to one knee, clutching at parts of his body where greenery once was.

"Shoot, guessed wrong," Chili said, trading places with Cilan.

"Scald!" Sylviana wasted no time. Her swanna, however, did. The bird craned her neck to the left and spread her wings to (slowly) stretch. "Odette!"

"Um, okay… Rock slide, Sunny!" Chili called.

Well, it was still a battle, so he shouldn't have showed mercy. But what was Odette's deal? I was pretty sure Sylviana absolutely spoiled her. From how many times Sylviana fawned over the poké-musical Swanna Lake to me, I knew the bird was her favorite pokémon. Was that not the case?

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a rumbling. I looked to see a mini avalanche of rocks falling down to Odette. Only then did she move. The swanna snapped up and whipped her head, shooting out a jet of pressurized water (probably not scald) above from her beak. All rocks hit by the blast were either blown to bits or swatted away. Once everything hit the ground, Odette resumed her lazy stretching.

"One minute has elapsed."

Time sure was going quickly. It seemed like each side could only get in one move per round. Either that or the waiters were padding it out. I was pretty sure that Sunny could have gone in for another move after unleashing rock slide.

Again, both sides swapped pokémon. Rainie came back, and Sylviana's cinccino slowly stood up once the plate stopped spinning. "Mickey, attract."

Was Rainie even a girl? I didn't bother checking Stat Star again. It didn't even matter. Similar to Odette, Mickey took his sweet time warming up. However, he didn't outright ignore Sylviana as he eventually struck a pose and winked, casting pink hearts to cross the battlefield.

"I'm afraid this is it for you." Cress and Rainie both pointed at Sylviana with a wink. "Go in for acrobatics."

Once again, Rainie's speed was showcased as he ("he" since he charged right through the hearts) darted for Mickey. In an instant, he appeared behind the cinccino and slammed him.

"Follow with hydro pump." The next second, Mickey was doused with water, eliciting a cry worse than before. But it probably wasn't from pain. His fur wilted, only becoming worse as he sat up to stroke it.

"One minute has elapsed." Couldn't this guy shake it up or something?

One tick resounded and Sylviana's plate spun to Odette. Mickey lay writhing in pain at the back, but eventually stood up. Well, the guy was small, and Rainie was pretty huge, so it stood to reason it did a little more than just hurt. I was impressed he wasn't knocked out.

The swanna cawed out, answered by a shaky response from Mickey. She then took a proud stance and stood at the edge of the plate, beak almost poking Rainie. She at least had camaraderie, I guessed?

"Crunch." Rainie leaped towards Odette, face gentle and calm. That was, until he came close enough to go in for the kill. He shot for her right wing, opening his mouth to reveal chompers ready and willing.

Odette's targeted wing glowed white. Sylviana immediately commanded, "Wing attack." With a twitch, just as Rainie was about to bite down, the swanna smacked the monkey in the face, right between his gaping maw, causing him to fly backwards. He landed face-down, one hand clutching his mouth. "Air slash."

After grumbling and not moving for a moment, Odette lifted her wings and, well, slashed the air. The sheer force of the attack generated carried over to Rainie, hitting him while he was down for ten strikes.

"Lift your head and let's try ice beam."

Cress might as well have said nothing at all. Much louder than he, Sylviana cried out, "Hurricane."

Odette growled again for some reason, then obeyed. What a moody bird. She flapped her wings once more, only this time continuously. In no time flat, a small twister formed with Rainie at the center. He screamed out as the hurricane cut him deep, over and over again. I glanced to see Sprout and Sunny maintaining composed faces while clenching fists at their sides.

"Get out with acrobatics!"

"Aerial ace." Again, Sylviana drowned Cress out. For the finishing blow, Odette swooped in at breakneck speed with pinpoint precision, colliding with his head. Only then did the hurricane die down, revealing Rainie splayed on the floor covered with bruises and cuts, yet still trying to stand (barely making it onto one knee before kissing the floor again).

The referee looked at Cress, who nodded. Only then did he declare, "Rainie is unable to battle."

The waiters were screwed. Odette was a beast and had the type advantage for the remaining monkeys. On cue, the buzzer went off. Sylviana and Cress put their hands on their dials, but only one tick sounded out; Sylviana faked switching.

Sunny came out. Well, Sprout was still pretty charred. "Sneaky. Very sneaky, indeed." Cress returned Rainie and gave his ball to a waiter who dashed to a back room, presumably to heal.

"Sorry." Well, her move wasn't technically illegal, but boy was it cheap. "Hydro pump!"

With one shot, Odette fell Sunny. Water gushed out and slammed into him like a wall. He went flying, stopping only when he fell onto Sprout. Sunny lay unconscious, above a winded simisage.

"Whoa!"

"I'm sorry!" Sylvina immediately said. Would that be considered a foul, even if it was accidental?

"Sunny is unable to battle."

"We're alright." Cilan looked at his simisage and took the center position. After Sunny was returned, the plate auto-rotated to Sprout. Collecting himself quickly, Cilan snapped and spun in place. "We're only reached the climax. Let us see if we can turn this around." There was no way they were winning.

The crowd, which I had completely forgotten about and ignored as I put all my focus on the battle, uproared. I only then noticed that Sylviana had her own little fanclub. I glanced over to my side to see Maverick bored out of his mind. I guessed he was waiting on Sylviana to foot the bill.

"One minute has elapsed."

Sylviana rotated to Dean. I had a feeling it would be over in an instant. "Flamethrower." Yep.

"Dodge and use seed bomb." Sprout just missed being singed again as he jumped up. He wasn't as quick as Rainie, but a close second. The simisage grabbed glowing green orbs from his pompadour and threw them like grenades, hitting Dean straight on the head. However, once the dust settled, the hydreigon was perfectly fine. "Low sweep."

"Flamethrower." So much for variety. But, it didn't matter as Sprout became roasted before he charged his attack.

"Sprout is unable to battle. And so, the victor is challenger Sylviana!"

~X~

As Sylviana went off to get her pokémon healed, I made my way to a sector of the poké center with a whole line of videophones set against a wall. My Xtransceiver went off the hook with notifications right after we left the restaurant. Both my mom and brother texted me to call the latter. The latter also sent me a bunch of pictures of various pidove since knew my disdain for them. Well, not for the one I caught, though.

I went to the station at the very end and pulled a 100-poké coin out from my bag. Some notice about a serial vandalist hung above each phone. After inserting the change, I checked my Xtransceiver to enter the location coordinates that my brother gave me to call the videophone he was waiting at currently. I punched in the information carefully, triple-checking before pressing enter.

A full minute of connecting, loading, and stomach churning later, I got a picture on my screen. Of Miles. He stood unmoving, breathing heavily and strangely, until he got pushed out of frame.

"Where are you?" He wasted no time.

"Striaton City." From behind him, his bisharp edged back on screen and kept staring me down.

"How many badges do you have?"

"N-none."

"The hell do you mean, none? You've been out for a week." He had a tendency to exaggerate time. I, on the other hand, overestimated time.

"It's been a day and a half. What do you want from me?" I whipped my head back to see if I was the only one in the room. Thankfully I was.

"So?"

"I'm not a god!" Hot shit, why was I supposed to have accomplished?

"Have you caught anything yet? If you haven't, I've lost all hope for you."

"Yes." I made sure to keep my tone unsure.

"Who"

Oh, if he knew I caught a pidove, he would never let me live it down after how much I whined about them at home. "A munna."

"From where?"

"The Dreamyard?"

"What the hell? I've never seen one. I wasted a whole week trying to find one there."

"I don't want him, though. But he wouldn't leave when I sent him out." Also, I feared for whether or not he was capable of existing alone.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Who else?" Were we changing subjects already?

"...A pidove." What could I say? I was a coward.

"Ha, that's all?"

"What was I supposed to do?" I could have said that all day long. "At least I caught a munna."

"What was your starter again?" Oh, he knew. And I knew he knew. "Oink." And he said it.

"This is costing me money." I fed the machine another 100 poké.

"Whatever. Have you gotten lost yet?"

"No." I was following Sylviana the whole time. Hopefully, that would have been the case until the end.

"Do you even know where to go next?"

The answer to that question was a big, fat no, but there were only so many places to go directly from Striaton City. I at least knew that much.

"Go to Nacrene. Then to Castelia. Get a badge like any normal person would." Each sentence bled frustration, stretched out and stressed like he was talking to a baby. "Do you even know where that is?"

I barely even remembered the first name he told me. Something beginning with an N probably. Maybe it was actually M? "What?"

"Go north. Do you even know that?" Well, who knew what cardinal direction they were facing at any given time? "Go to the transporter behind you, then. Before I hang up."

"Why?"

"Wait, you said you didn't want Munna? Then go to the thing on the side of this phone." He pointed somewhere off-screen.

I looked to the right and saw a mass of green and yellow plastic. It was a trading station. I knew from reading various starter pamphlets about pokémon journeys last week. You put a poké ball in the middle of the contraption, and somehow it would be traded with the person on the other line's. I honestly didn't care enough to learn the mechanics behind it.

"Who am I getting?" All I could think was, Please don't be Queen. Please don't be Raze. Please don't be Pierce. His slacking, archeops, and excadrill (respectively) were especially prone to hostility. I would have included Miles, but there was no way he would part with his first partner. But, wait. The same applied for all the ones that intimidated me. So, who would he pass off so easily?

"Pawn." On cue, Miles scoffed at the name. I knew two things about Miles: that he had a cruel streak, and a one-sided rivalry with Pawn, my brother's gallade.

To me, Pawn was a strange one. I got along with him, actually, and with his sister Bishop, a gardevoir. The only two of my brother's team that never went out of their way to tease me when they were at home. "Why?" I shoved in another 100 poké.

On the screen, I saw him reach his arm off-screen clutching a poké ball while Miles did his best to stop him. "Because babies need a babysitter. So says Mom. He comes back once you get a badge. What, would you rather Bishop?"

"No." Bishop was an affectionate and flamboyant one. Because I had nothing to lose, I took out Munna's ball. I guessed he was better off with my brother.

Before I could step away to load up the trading dock, I got pushed aside. A forceful, purposeful push. I stumbled into the wall to my right. There, having taken my place in front of the video phone was Maverick. Sylviana followed close behind.

"Joel, what are you doing right now?" Maverick barked.

My brother loudly groaned and dragged himself back on screen. "Hello, Maverick."

Then things clicked for me: Maverick was the annoying guy that kept proclaiming he would beat my brother, but never could. I knew as much from the televised competitions they squared off against in that I watched when there was nothing else on TV.

That was why Maverick's bisharp was familiar to me. It was the cocky one that got stomped on by Miles a couple of times before on public television, the scratch on his horn an eternal reminder of that one humiliating match. Apparently, Maverick ripped off Miles, but couldn't come close with Edge.

"Where are you?" Maverick repeated.

"I can't say." Apparently, Maverick also sought my brother out to extreme lengths to challenge him. Like one of those annoying recurring characters in video games. Never got a win in, I could tell.

"Hey, Joel!" Sylviana pushed Maverick away and smiled. Wow, was this becoming a mess. Was I going to get Pawn or not? He seemed more tolerable as a traveling companion than the two in front of me were at the moment.

"Yes, hello." My brother was stilted as hell.

Sylviana and Maverick gabbed on and on as I waited behind them. What exactly happened? Wasn't that supposed to be my call?

Eventually, I felt my Xtransceiver buzz. A text came in from my brother, reading Go to Station 1. At my previous phone, Station 10, Joel, very close to the edge of the screen, looked bored out of his mind as Maverick kept going on about something we couldn't care less about.

I followed the instructions and saw on the screen above the trading station lit up. On the right half of the screen was my brother's name, his trainer ID, and who he was offering. I used common sense to put my ID card on the scanner thing and Munna's ball on the transporter. To my relief, it worked.

Press OK already was the next text I got. I followed, and after a cute animation played on the screen above and a pillar of light shooting down on the poké ball, I picked up the capsule in the trader. Then, from the phone at Station 1 came an incoming call from the same location as the one my brother gave me earlier, off by just one number. Pick up was the next text I got.

I answered the call and saw Joel and Miles again. "Hurry before they notice I'm not going back." He pointed with his thumb to his right. "Did you get Pawn? If you didn't, I will kill you."

Immediately, I sent whoever was in the ball in my hand out. And out came a gallade with a black fanny pack on and a choker around his neck with some circular divot. I recalled all of Joel's pokémon had this same accessory, just in different places; way to go, team spirit. Pawn raised an arm to cheer and placed his other on my shoulder. He stood in view of the phone to reassure my brother.

"Good." Joel then brought the poké ball he had into view and looked at it before tossing it. "Stickers. Nice."

He referred to the slip of paper I stuck on the ball with Munna scrawled on it. How else was I supposed to differentiate who was in what ball? I hadn't a clue how other people sorted that out. And I only had three.

From his ball came Munna, as spacey as ever. He took one look at me, then my brother, and nothing more. Either he didn't care, or he… No, he probably just didn't care.

"Pawn won't battle for you. He's just there to hold a stick to your back and make sure you don't hurt yourself somehow. Keep him out except where he's not allowed." He started talking faster. From behind me, I heard Sylviana chattering. She was probably within view of him. "Again, he won't battle for you. Figure it out yourself. Pawn, bring her to Castelia City. I'm sorry for doing this to you."

"Wait, I don't think I have enough money-"

"Joel, when's our rematch?" Maverick called out and dashed to Station 1.

"Goddamn it!" With that, my brother hung up.

"Hey!" What was wrong with Maverick? He was so uncomposed and gruff with my brother in the room. Then, he turned to me. "Who is he to you?"

Only now did I exist to him? Jeez, I could see why Joel couldn't wait to hang up. I noticed that Pawn stood behind me, possibly trying to hide. "My brother."

"Call him for me."

"That's gonna be hard…" I couldn't come up with a good reason to weasel out of his request. Thankfully. I didn't have to. He noticed Pawn and circled around to him.

"Let me battle him, then."

"That's gonna be impossible…" Was battling the only thing on his mind?

"You don't command him. I don't care if you're not Joel. Just let me battle him as is." Did he not understand no? What was wrong with him?

Pawn waved his arm-stalk-things left and right as he stepped back, clearly uncomfortable. A loud smack rang out, then a groan of pain. Sylviana dusted her hands and huffed. "You're being annoying. Let's go."

Sylvinana left the room, and then did a reluctant Maverick. I looked to Pawn who made an after you gesture while slightly pushing me on the back.

The good that came out of this? Pawn would help me, and I actually didn't mind him. The bad? Maverick also had an interest in Pawn, and my brother. An annoying one.

~X~

I left the disaster that was Striaton City behind me following Sylviana and Maverick. The latter only stuck around because Pawn joined our party. Not too soon after, we passed by some pre-school. Although school wasn't in session yet since it was still early summer, there were a couple of kids playing in a sandbox.

I didn't think much of them until one shouted when we almost left plain view. "Hey, stop."

I kept my head down and walked faster, convincing myself that they weren't calling out to me. Why would they have? But, Sylviana held me back by the sleeve and turned me around. "I think they're talking to us."

The two kids from the sandbox ran up to us and bounced on their heels, looking at Pawn. I noticed they looked extremely similar, dressed in the same blue sundress and wearing the same hat, probably twins. The only difference was that one had her hair down and the other in pigtails. A woman ran after them, but didn't get close in time before one girl said, "You're trainers? Let's battle."

Said was too generous of a descriptor. She more screeched it, with words full of confidence of unknown origin. I hated it. Why was this conversation even happening?

So annoying. I didn't want to battle at all, much less with little children. If I lost? I got beat by a kid like a third of my age. If I won? I would be a bully that didn't relent against a kid like a third of my age.

"No, what did I tell you girls? Don't go challenging strangers like that. It's rude," the woman, probably their mother, chided.

"But we're bored!" The other girl spoke up. Well, kid, you needed to learn how to sit still and bear with it. That's what I did.

"Oh, well… How about it?" The woman turned to me. All because I had Pawn out? What if I wasn't a trainer, and he wasn't my pokémon? What then? "Could you battle my daughters? Just for a while."

The answer was obviously no, but I couldn't outright say that, as much as I wanted to. How rude would I be, and what were the potential consequences for saying that? So, I froze and felt myself warm up.

Meanwhile, Sylviana bent down to talk to the kids. "I'm a trainer too. Why don't we double battle?" No, what was she getting me into again? Well, it would be better than a solo battle, but no battle at all would be better. "Is that okay?"

Both kids nodded and ran a distance away to a battlefield drawn in the sand. Sylviana went opposite them, dragging me with her the whole way. I wanted to run away, but things would have gone to shit if I did. Plus, what would that make me? Damn it all.

It just wasn't fair. When I was their age, I didn't have a pokémon, nor was I so excitable. The two had accomplished much more with their lives than I did at present.

"Alright, since they're okay with it." The mother handed each daughter a poké ball from her purse. Immediately, they flung their balls out, revealing a petilil and a cottonee.

So this was my first trainer battle? I hated it. Beside me, Sylviana sent out Celeste. I only had Pepper and Tempest, the pidove from yesterday, to choose from. After I caught Tempest, we did train quite a bit against wild pokemon in the Dreamyard. However… Well, sending her out would say it all.

I opted for Pepper. "Showtime," I said to myself. Pawn stood next to me, cheering on with genuine joy.

"Absorb!" each kid called out.

"Dodge." Sylviana sounded like she had no stake in this battle. Well, it was going to be easy for her. What about me?

I knew absorb was a grass-type move. I also realized that if we (I) lost this battle, I was a complete failure. "Ember."

To my delight, Pepper heard me and sent out fire to the green pair across the field. After the last smoldering bit launched out, she jumped in time to avoid being hit by a red claw of energy surrounded by green spores, what apparently was the move absorb. I ended up "dodging" as well.

"Louder, El." Sylviana nudged my side, saying the obvious.

Would if I could, I thought. But, I said, "One more time."

That was how Pepper got on my good side in addition to being cute: she actually managed to hear me. What a miracle. At first she couldn't, but eventually we got along.

I saw the initial ember being dodged just barely by the petilil. Before she landed, Pepper shot out the second flame, knocking all composure out of the plant. When the petilil fell, she made a noise like she was crying. Please, someone had to tell me she knew fake tears or something.

"Not fair!" The girl with pigtails, the petilil's trainer, stomped her foot and made a fuss.

I wanted to say suck it up, but what kind of asshole would I be then? What, was I supposed to yield? Go easy? Let her win because she didn't want to lose? Well, guess what? I didn't want to lose either. So, I let the shame I felt fester inside and opened my mouth again. "Tackle."

Pepper charged in and knocked the petilil down. The cottonee just stood a ways away, probably hoping to avoid getting hurt. So much for teamwork.

"Stop it!" the sister, the one with the cottonee said just as Pepper slammed into the petilil. I hesitated and froze. Meanwhile, Pepper bounced back and retreated to our side of the battlefield, her head down. Did she feel shame too? Well, weren't we kindred spirits!

"Leech seed!" That little jerk. That wasn't fair. What a distraction, though, I would give them that. A pod shot out from the cottonee and landed on Pepper, sprouting vines that wrapped around her.

"Ember." Was I supposed to be bored and at my wit's end by now? At least I was probably never going to see these two twins in my life ever again after this.

I looked to Sylviana, who nodded her head as if to tell me go on, finish this. Bull-honky. She was just here for moral support? Why did she accept the challenge first, then? She severely overestimated my abilities.

The move hit its mark again, sending the petilil back. She fell down and didn't get back up again. So we won? Kinda pyrrhic if you asked me. "That's not fair!"

Well, life wasn't fair, so…

I don't know why, but I was so thankful that I stopped caring about shame at that point because I went into autopilot. I could stew in my shame after the battle finished. "Again. New target."

Pepper pivoted and faced the cottonee, charging up ember again. Did she have a limit to how many successive times she could use that move?

"Stun spore!" Yellow dust shot out and blew across the field, passing by the ember going the opposite direction. The head-of-cauliflower-looking thing didn't try to dodge, so he got splattered in the face with the fire-type move.

"Whoa, get out of the way." That came out on its own. But even with the warning, she just wasn't fast enough to avoid getting covered with the powder. Shortly after, Pepper crackled with electricity, faltering in just seconds after her joints locked up. So cheap. "Can you move?"

Nope. She struggled to stand tall.

"Well, just get it over with. Ember one more time." That cottonee was not going to last. At least, that was how it seemed.

And I was right. He didn't dodge the ember, so he got seared again and fell. After a few seconds of dead air, I sighed and rifled through my bag to find a paralyze heal. I knew I had several. So sue me for being over-cautious. I couldn't find it immediately, though, and my mind went blank.

The sound of two crying twins snapped me out of my daze. Across the field, the sisters stomped and whined to their hearts' content as their pokémon tried to comfort them. The mother walked over and gave an awkward smile. "Thank you for entertaining my daughters. They'll be fine in an hour."

When I came to, the three strangers were gone. Sylviana tapped my shoulder with a yellow spray bottle. "Here, a paralyze heal. Hurry and use it. She needs it."

My "victory" set in and deflated me. Trying to forget it ever happened, I bent down to the slightly-spasming Pepper and sprayed her with the medicine Sylviana gave me. It took only a few seconds for the yellow tinge to dispel from her. When I stood back up, I saw Pawn trying to hide the golden bottle he slipped back into his fanny pack, the words Full Heal printed along an edge in a fancy font. What the hell was that thing?

Pepper oinked. It sounded just as unsure as I was. I returned her and hoped we wouldn't get dragged into another battle before the next city.

"Let's not count that." I managed to look up and lift my feet, hands tightly balled into fists. Sylviana and Maverick walked on ahead, heads high and posture perfect. I slumped over and walked the fastest I could to catch up to them.

~X~

It was about a three hour walk to get to Nacrene City. I kept my head down the whole trek, managing to keep my stamina up the distance only because Sylviana walked so slowly.

The shift in atmosphere cause me to look up. It was a quaint, mostly gray city. The buildings were huge, but couldn't compare to the loudness of Opelucid City. And that was ignoring the weird neon aesthetic of my hometown.

I went through the motions and, after checking into the poké center and having Pepper checked out, found myself in front of Nacrene Museum. It looked like just about any museum I had ever seen before on school trips, except for the large sign outside with Shauntal Book

Signing 6-27! printed on it. A picture of the Elite Four member Shauntal took up most of the sign That was a few days from now.

"The gym is part of the museum. Like some mutant twin," Sylviana said with a strange smile. I almost laughed at her description. "Now, it's your turn."

"Hold up, wait." Was she serious? I was anything but prepared."I'm not up for this right now." My voice tapered off at the end.

"What do you mean, El?" she asked like I was the one talking nonsense. Well, not everybody could be her.

At this, Pawn (who I never returned since receiving him as per my brother's orders) tugged on my arm and motioned to pass the museum. He pointed to the western exit, marked by a nicely placed sign for me to read nearby. Didn't Joel say to go to Castelia? Why, if Nacrene was in between? Maybe it would have been easier. I knew Castelia gym's typing was bug.

"Uh…" I racked my head for any reason to chicken out of entering the building, whether it was for my non-existent pride's sake or to see what Pawn wanted. "Train. Yeah, train! -ing…" I prayed to whatever god that would hear me that I didn't sound like an absolute idiot.

"What do you mean? You'll do fine." Sylviana always reassured me like this, but this was something entirely different from doing an oral presentation at school. "This gym is a normal type one. And the leader is super nice… I think. That's what I remember."

"Uh-huh." How was I supposed to take that?

"No, that's totally how I remember her. But, her gym was so annoying."

At that, my mind raced. Gyms typically had gimmicks to them before one could challenge the leader, I read somewhere. What could this one could have been? It was a freaking museum. Well, Striaton's was apparently a restaurant, so this one would be… a museum? Like, some interactive thing or something. How the hell could I have guessed it?

"Just use Pawn. Everything will be over in one move that way," Maverick said, staring at the gallade who was still gently pulling me to walk away from the gym.

"Yeah, totally!" Sylviana agreed.

Oy, vey. That would have been a brilliant idea had Joel not made it super clear that Pawn wouldn't battle under me. "Uh… I want to do this on my own merit," I fibbed. If I could use Pawn to one-shot everything, boy would I. Anything to get this over with ASAP.

"Fine, then. I'm bored." Sylviana followed this with a yawn and an arm extended to a cafe just down one door. If only I could be that blunt.

She left, Maverick following her after Pawn swatted his arm for staring at the poor pokémon too long. I sighed and said, "Normal-type gym, huh?"

Pawn pulled on my elbow again. This time, I let him drag me out of the city.

The outskirts of Pinwheel Forest was perfect for the Nacrene gym. After a quick internet search for places interest, I learned that the place was full of fighting-type pokémon, which were effective against normal-types. If I caught one, maybe we could have won on our first try.

Pawn nudged me in the direction of the forest that led to Castelia. "Uh, let's wait for Sylviana." That was my cover for I'd rather not.

Pawn put a hand (or whatever constituted as his hand) to his mouth and looked back and forth between me and the eerie-looking forest. He shut his eyes tightly for a good second before nodding his head and standing patiently while I dug through my bag. At that, I searched faster for my objects of desire to not waste his time any more than I already had.

I pulled out a piece of gum and Tempest's poké ball. I threw the gum into my mouth and the ball a couple yards away. The pidove came out with no sense of urgency, taking her sweet time to stand up just to peck at her wings.

"Tempest." Why such an edgy name for my spacey pidove? It was the only damn one she responded to yesterday. All other ones I tried out, I thought she thought I was talking to something else entirely. This one, she at least looked at me when I said it. "Tempest."

She hopped in place, then pivoted herself to face me. Please don't let this be painful, I said in my head. Just in case, I sent Pepper out as backup. "Let's find something easy to start off with."

Oh, Tempest, my dear. I looked around to see if any pokémon were around at all. And there were plenty a distance away. Most prominent to me was a tall blue one in what looked like a karate gi squaring off with a stout red one, also in a karate gi. Where they got those, and how they got them, and why they wore them was anyone's guess. When the shorter one grappled the other, I walked off in the other direction as quickly as I could.

Eventually, I found an opponent of similar caliber to Tempest. At least, I really hoped she could take it on. It was another pidove. It wasn't bigger, nor did it appear completely hostile, so it wouldn't have been impossible to win, yeah? It would hurt to try. Well, actually it would, but…

"Get her attention." Tempest didn't move, nor show any sense of knowing what was going on.

"Tempest, Tempest." I tried again. This time, she pivoted to face me. For whatever strange reason, this was the norm for her. She was lucky I had a lot of patience. Pepper looked at her with what I assumed to be worry. So did I, but for a different reason.

"Quick attack." I slightly raised an arm, hoping to convey it as an attack order. My pidove about-faced again and jumped a couple of times, glowing white. I repeated, "Quick attack."

With a sharp cry, she launched forwards, hurtling at breakneck speed. Tempest flew on and on, aiming at the other bird until there was little distance between them.

"You think she can do it normally this time?" I started at Pawn, who shrugged. "That's a no? Same here."

On cue, Tempest came to a dead stop, just before slamming into the wild pidove. Instead of a quick attack, our opponent, who I kept calling Ma'am in my head, received a small love tap. This caught her attention, resulting in Tempest getting pushed away by a stronger, complete quick attack.

"Damn it." Tempest was flung towards me in an instant. To my delight, Pawn caught her like a basketball for me. "Tempest, Tempest." She couldn't have liked a one-syllable name?

Tempest hopped out of Pawn's arms and back onto the ground. Ma'am came closer, meaning the battle really started.

"Again. Quick attack." I waited for her to charge up. "Quick attack." Only then did she charge forward. Once they were only about five feet apart, I said one last time, "Quick attack."

Three certainly was a magic number. Finally, Tempest finished the attack and pushed Ma'am back.

That wasn't really something to be proud of. "Well, finish it you're so good. Air cutter." Tempest flew up, wings glowing a bright blue. "Air cutter." She took bigger flaps, causing a strong wind come even my way. "I hate this. Air cutter."

Three crescents of high-speed wind cut through the air and hit Ma'am square-on. She fell down and twitched a little. I waited again to see if she would keep fighting. But, when she flew back up, she left.

"I hesitate to compliment you. I hope you know that," I said to Tempest. Either she really didn't understand what was happening or she was really good at playing dumb because all she did was tilt her head. "Let's hit the grind. And please, let's drop having to repeat commands like that."

She would have been cute if she weren't so infuriating in battle. And I wasted a good chunk of yesterday after having caught her trying to figure out that I had to say the same command thrice for Tempest to carry it out to completion. Good thing I had patience and a strange imagination.

We didn't have to go far to find another opponent. Out of a bush came a short gray mole-like pokémon with what looked like veins bulging off of its body. It wielded a stick, like one from a tree, waving it around like a sword.

It was a timburr. I didn't get to read any more of the entry before it charged at Tempest, whacking her out of the air with the wood. "You have a weapon?"

Well, the dex portrait had a timburr holding a square log, so I guessed anything was possible. While I tried accepting that as fact, Pepper nudged Tempest back on her feet with her head. Not too long after, Pawn poked my shoulder and nodded at the pidove who jumped and fluttered her wings wildly. That was one reason I hesitated to touch her.

Before I could say anything, Tempest lunged forward with quick attack.

"That is a supremely bad idea." I got louder with each word as my prediction came true: the timburr raised its stick straight up, creating a makeshift shield. It barely constituted as one given its shape, but whatever. Tempest went straight into it in her blind rage, crumpling to the ground soon after impact. "Ah, that's gonna hurt."

I looked closer at the stick and counted more than five protruding twigs from the branch the timburr waved back and forth. Was it taunting us? It then twirled the stick like a baton and turned tail to run closer into the forest looming ahead, all the while beckoning us to follow.

"Do we give chase?" Pepper tilted her head and Pawn held his hands up. Meanwhile, Tempest stood again and thrashed her small feet. "I don't wanna. I really don't care. Let's go back."

And of course I couldn't even have that. Tempest immediately launched into the air and shot after the timburr without waiting for anything.

"You better not lose it, then." Never had I wanted to walk away more than then.

Pepper, Pawn, and I followed Tempest, the tepig shooting ahead at surprising speed. I started running the fastest I could too. For a few seconds, I managed to trail Pepper by only a couple of yards. Then, the distance between us became greater and greater as my legs and lungs began to ache. Pawn put an arm to my back as if to help me keep running faster, but he soon let go and kept a steady pace at the midpoint between me and Pepper, probably to make sure we didn't get separated.

I was left struggling to lift my legs and continue, already wishing I hadn't left the poké center. Wallowing in my own shame at my physical incapabilities, I cursed myself and forced my body to keep running.

~X~

Complacency lends itself my ear

and whispers, "Take the path most traveled by."

Before me wind two long, long roads.

The first one shoots straight to the unknown horizon.

The other branches off the first,

curling in loops and waves to the plain unknown.

The sign along the first reads The Answer,

while the other reads The Journey.

Both roads promise satisfaction at travel's end.

The first path is covered with leaves,

a sunset of hues calling for me,

except in a straight line down the center, where the road is barren.

No, not barren. Leaves had been trampled

so much as to become one with the ground.

How many people must have walked it to become as such?

The second path is covered with snow,

a pure, smooth white inviting me to dance.

Hundreds, thousands, and so on footprints mar the surface of the snow.

They mix together and overlap so much,

it almost appears as if the snow was left untouched.

How many people must have walked it to become as such?

My only goal is to reach the end of one path.

That is my one wish.

Which road is the one most traveled by?

I shall take that one.

That one is safer.

That one is easier.

That one guarantees that I make progress.

Both look well-traveled, so

I flip a coin, and it lands upright.

I go eeny, meeny, miny, moe, and end up biting my tongue.

I draw a card, and it blows away with the wind.

So I just close my eyes and walk blindly

and somehow, I'm back where I started.


Author's note: And the ball starts rolling. Again, keep in mind that the poem is written by Eloise in a journal she carries around.

I just hope that gallade aren't as played out as I've heard people make them out to be. He was just the best option for Pawn. I'm actually basing Joel's team on my brother's competitive team from White 2, which he beat me bunches with.