Strategically placed right across the street from the earthy-colored, reddish-brown stadium that was Rokkraw Gym, the Pokémon Center was its normal pristine white-and-red, standing out from the more worn-down and eroded aesthetic of the rest of Rokkraw. The interior was, of course, identical to all the others. The Pokémon Centers all throughout Allanza were all built and run by the same organization, after all.

In the softly-lit, white-walled waiting room, Amber was waiting patiently for her Pokémon to be healed. She had just gotten them healed after the battle against Ricky, and she was frustrated that she was back here again, so soon. Luckily the nurse seemed to understand.

She saw Oliver and his tagalongs enter and she pointedly avoided making eye contact. Mercifully the foul mouthed Galarian lass didn't want to start anything else, seeing as she won their last battle and probably felt pretty smug about herself. She and Oliver merely deposited their injured and KO'd Pokémon to be healed and sat down to wait, just chatting that same inane chatter she expected from them.

Oliver had that stupid smile back on his face. Of course he did. No one was really expecting anything from him. He didn't have any pressure to win. He was just some darkhorse from the suburbs of Shorevul. Not like her. Of course he'd treat this whole thing like a joke.

That was when the P.A. chimed in.

Ding ding ding-ding diiing!

Ms. Amber Stern, your Pokémon are fully healed. Please come to the front desk to take them back.

She got up, ignoring the eyes that darted to her when her last name was spoken.

Amber took back her three Pokémon, promising herself that she'd give Lotad another chance, but that wouldn't stop her from working that thing to the bone.

She was just about to leave when the nurse spoke up.

"Hey, I was wondering since you came in here earlier… you wouldn't happen to be related to Gregory Stern, would you?"

"Yeah, I am," Amber said, a bit more roughly than she probably should have.

The nurse didn't seem to notice her harsh tone of voice. Instead she smiled broadly. "It's so lovely that you decided to follow in his footsteps! He was basically a one-man Elite Four back in his day, you know."

"I know." Because people just won't shut up about him! Amber's eyes kept flickering to the door, hoping for an out so she could leave.

"It must've been hard for him when his Froslass was crippled like that. He might've become champion that year if he didn't have to pull out."

Yeah, it's not like the announcer of the Gym battle already milked my relationship with him for all it was worth.

"Well, I'm going to succeed where he failed," Amber said, hoping this would give her the chance to leave.

"I don't doubt that for a second. Come back any time you need our assistance!" The nurse said, oblivious to Amber's discomfort.

The trainer swiftly turned on her heel and left, walking faster than normal. Normally when she got like this, she'd take it out on Oliver. But the last time she did that, her team was taken down by his vengeful girlfriend, so she simply glared at him on the way out.

Of course, he was distracted reading that infernal Crobatman comic, so he didn't even notice.

Amber strode purposefully out of the Pokémon Center, not oblivious to the whispers of some of the adult trainers in the building, the ones who would've remembered Gregory in his heyday.

Yeah. I'm gonna win this tournament.

Then, maybe… then people will know me as more than just "Gregory Stern's Daughter."


While Oliver and Moira were healing their teams, Scarlet went up to the Gym's lobby to talk to the Pokémon League staff. The lobby was dimly lit by light fixtures dangling from the roof, but not in a way that made it seem run-down or poorly-maintained. It gave the place a feeling of being close to home, the sort of feeling you'd get in a small local arena, the place underdogs are born. The color scheme on the inside reflected the exterior- muted reds, oranges, and browns.

Scarlet and Cassandra walked up to one of the League Staff members. "Excuse me, miss?"

"The registration desk is over that way," she responded automatically.

"Oh, I'm not here to compete. I'm here because I'm worried there might be foul play among some of the competitors."

Scarlet had her attention now. "Ever since the opening ceremonies I've seen a few battles. And something didn't seem right about them. It seems as though they're using moves that they shouldn't be able to, and I'm worried there might be foul play involved."

"It's true that breeding practices can go a bit far sometimes," the staff member replied, "but they aren't grounds to disqualify anyone. I totally understand your frustration, but there's nothing I can do."

Scarlet wanted to protest, wanted to say it was more than the moves and it couldn't just be breeding, that the Pokémon were way stronger than they should be to the point of being unnatural, and since when can a Magmar use water-type moves?! But without any solid proof aside from black briefcases she didn't know what the heck was in them, she could only keep quiet.

"Just… got suspicious is all, and thought I'd bring it to your attention. C'mon Cassandra."

She turned to leave, but when she was almost at the entrance, Cassandra stopped, turning her head to the right.

"What's wrong, Cassie?" Scarlet asked, before looking where she was looking. A young man was standing by the wall, with brown hair, brown eyes, light skin and wearing mostly brown except for the white shirt underneath and green pants.

He smiled. "I wanted to talk to you outside, but your Absol beat me to it. Name's Spencer."

"I'm Scarlet. And this is Cassandra. Can I help you?"

Spencer put his hands in his pockets. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with the staff."

"Oh, that?" Scarlet asked. "It was, uh, it was-"

"You noticed it too."

Scarlet halted what she was about to say. "I beg your pardon?"

Spencer simply smiled. "Pokémon using moves they shouldn't. Most of the time they use moves just plausible enough that most people won't question it."

He was right. A Rock-type like Boldore using Magnitude wouldn't really raise too many eyebrows. Even Magmar using Scald wasn't too far removed from the realm of plausibility because despite the type mismatch, the move causing burns was very in character for a Fire-type, plus Magmar's mouth gave it a slight resemblance to Psyduck and Ducklett, both Water-types, meaning one could surmise they were distant relatives.

"I want to put a stop to it. But most people aren't observant enough notice anything is wrong, as you just found out." He leaned against the wall, thn continued. "So my plan is to take the Gym Challenge myself. I'm not planning on entering the finals or anything. I just want to find out how they're cheating and expose them."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because, well, I'm not really the best at battling. My team isn't really bred for battle and one of the cheaters would rip them to shreds. So I was hoping I might team up with another trainer. And seeing as you're the first one I've met who's realized something's up, I was wondering if you'd be okay teaming up?"

Scarlet blinked. Then she shook her head. "I'll have to decline. I gave up being a trainer a long time ago and I promised myself I'd never battle again."

Spencer frowned, then nodded. "I see. So you're not taking the Gym Challenge?"

"No, well, kind of… I'm just a chaperone for two other trainers."

"Ah. Then we might see each other around then." Spencer walked out of the stadium doors. "It was nice meeting you, Scarlet."

As Scarlet began to leave as well, Cassandra stopped, looking around the lobby as though she sensed something. Not seeing anything, she caught up to Scarlet and followed her outside, completely oblivious to the figure hidden above the dangling lights, watching them.


"Sobble, use Swift!"

Sobble generated a series of stars again and flung them at Oliver's Hoodlet.

"Use Pluck!"

Hoodlet leapt into the air, the stars following behind her, forming a trail. Hoodlet struck Sobble and flung itself back into the air, but was unable to ditch the stars.

They impacted Hoodlet and knocked her out of the air, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Use Water Pulse!"

"Dodge it and use Thief!"

Sobble launched a burst of water at Hoodlet, who regained her balance and, at the last second, swiftly dodged and struck Sobble from behind before anyone could see what was happening.

Oliver and Moira were standing north of Rokkraw on Route 4, toughening their Pokémon. The more defined road had given way to a few trails, each ascending the foothills to the north of the city, with the only foliage being the odd bush here or there. This was actually the first time Oliver had ever actually used Hoodlet in a battle, even though this was just sparring and not a real battle.

"Good work, Hoodlet, come on back! Karrablast, you're up!"

Hoodlet hopped back to the rest of Oliver's team on the sidelines. Which very conspicuously lacked Karrablast.

"Um… Karrablast?"

Oliver heard a rustling in the nearby bushes, one of which had a few various kinds of berries on it. Groaning, he walked over to the bush and bent down.

"Karrablast? Buddy? We need to train-"

He was cut off when, from within the bush, a burst of acid sprayed out and covered Oliver, hitting his face and upper body.

He didn't react at first, simply ceasing his speech as the tingly liquid dripped off him, Moira watching in shock, her hands flying to her mouth. The Pokémon of both trainers simply stated from the sidelines, eyes widened.

Never in my life have I been more glad I wear glasses, he thought.

"Hey, uh, Sobble?" Oliver asked, the acid starting to sting. "You, uh, wouldn't mind using Water Gun on me?"

Sobble resounded by spitting up a fountain of water that doused Oliver with a jet of medium-pressure water, soaking him.

"Thanks." Oliver reaches into his backpack and pulled out a small cloth, then took off his glasses and proceeded to wipe them off with the cloth. He let out a long, heavy sigh.

"What am I gonna do with you, Karrablast…" Oliver grumbled.

"I'm surprised you haven't released him yet," Moira pointed out.

Oliver shook his head. "I'm not giving up on him. I'll get through to him soon. Just… it'll probably take a while. But I'm not going to abandon him."

The image of a baby Ralts, crying, unwanted in the corner of the Daycare floated into his mind uninvited.

"If you say so," Moira said. Oliver put his glasses back on, then pulled out a Pokéball and withdrew Karrablast, the Bug-type kicking and screaming as it was dragged out of the bushes.

Oliver pocketed the Pokéball and sat down on a nearby rock, head resting on one of his fists. Moira sat down next to him.

"Hey, Oliver, if you don't mind me asking… why do you want to be the Champion?"

Oliver pondered a bit. "I think it was Raleigh, actually."

Moira tilted her head. "What about her?"

"When she first became the champion," he explained, looking wistfully into the distance, "she would do interviews all the time. And she always, ALWAYS spoke out about Pokémon abuse and Pokémon abandonment."


A young Oliver, cradling a newly-adopted Ralts in his arms and Joltik resting in Oliver's hair, fixed his eyes on the TV. Raleigh was giving an interview shortly after defending her title for the first time (of many).

"So is there anything about the competitive Pokémon scene that you wish to discuss?" The interviewer asked, a woman with brown hair and blue eyes wearing a pink blouse, dark blue skirt and glasses.

Raleigh put a finger to her chin. Her purple hair wasn't as long as it would be at the end of her career, only going to her neck. She also didn't have her trademark black beanie yet, though she was wearing her typical black jacket.

"There is, actually," she said. "Pokémon breeding has been a part of official tournaments for a long time. That's never going to change. But it still upsets me. For every hatched Pokémon that meets the trainer's criteria, there are probably 5 that didn't. At least. Where are they? Maybe they'll get adopted if they were lucky, but more likely they'll get thrown out into the wild to fend for themselves or just stay abandoned and unwanted."

Oliver found himself unconsciously stroking Ralts's hair, remembering the situation she was in not long ago. He thought about Joltik, who was thrown back into the wild unprepared because his original trainer didn't want him.

They're the lucky ones, he thought.

"I love Pokémon battles. But I also love Pokémon. And they're not just weapons, tools to be thrown away when they break. They're our partners. Our friends."

Oliver looked at Raleigh, at the sincerity in her deep blue eyes. He looked at her, as she cast a light on the ugly underside of Pokémon training and he realized something.

"I'm going to be just like her one day."


"If I can become Champion, I'll be able to do that same thing. Speak out on behalf of Pokémon cast out because they aren't strong enough or aren't the right color or what have you. I might save some Pokémon, somewhere, from having to go through what Ralts and Joltik did.

Moira's team had gathered to listen to his story. She understood now why he was so bent on keeping Karrablast. If it were here, she would've released him well before now.

Moira let the silence sink in for a bit, before a slight smile crept to her face. "Sounds like you had a crush," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

Oliver blushed, whirling around to face her. "I did not!"

She playfully hit him on the shoulder. "You totally did."

"I totally did," Oliver admitted, looking down with a slight nostalgic smile. Moira chuckled a little, causing Oliver to join in. He turned to her, smiling. "Well that's my backstory. What about you."

Moira's eyes widened a bit, her thoughts basically interrupted by a record scratch. "Me?"

"Yeah," Oliver said. "Why did you want to enter the tournament? Come to think of it, didn't you say you took part in one in Galar a couple years ago?"

Moira began sweating. "Well, y-ye see, I-"

"WAIT! STOP!" Cried a woman somewhere nearby, sounding out of breath from running.

On one of the lower trails, visible from where Oliver and Moira were standing, was a woman, a little on the heavier side wearing green, chasing after someone else, evidently fleeing.

The fleeing… man? Oliver wasn't sure. Anyway, they were clad in a dark purple outfit that resembled a labcoat, with black gloves and boots. Their belt had a few Pokéballs on it. In their arms was something that looked like a rock.

Seeing the pursuing man stop and catch his breath, Oliver withdrew Hoodlet and Tryote, let Ralts and Joltik into his backpack, and slid down the gravelly hill to the lower trail.

"Wha- where are ye going?" Moira asked, but Oliver was already out of earshot. She shrugged, withdrew her team as well and followed suit, though went at a slower pace than Oliver did.

"Hey, miss!" Oliver said as he touched down near the panting woman. "Are you all right? Who was that guy?"

"That thief… he stole that fossil from me. I collect fossils, you see," she said, having caught her breath as Moira approached. "This guy broke into my home with his Pokémon and attacked me with it. Then he took one of my fossils, an Anorith claw fossil, and bolted."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't call the police?"

"Well I would have… but he took my Pokémon hostage, and said if I called the cops, I'd never see Missy again!"

Moira gasped. "That's just awful…"

Oliver clenched his fists in anger. Then, he had an idea. "You know… I got a Pokémon who specializes in stealing things. Maybe I could catch up with him and-"

"Oliver, no," Moira said firmly, tugging on Oliver's sleeve. "No way. This is a terrible idea. You could get seriously hurt!"

"I know. But at the same time I couldn't imagine what it'd feel like if anyone stole Ralts. Or Joltik. I'm just going to rush in, have Hoodlet snatch the stuff back, and book it. Besides, I thought you were the one who was always up for a fight?"

"Oliver…" Moira massaged her forehead. "There's a difference between picking a fight with a spoiled b**** and an actual criminal."

"Point taken. But I'm not changing my mind."

"Seriously, why are ye so f***in' insistent on doing this?" Moira said, growing more frustrated.

Oliver put his hands in his pockets and sighed. "I just… didn't it feel good to help that farmer guy out? I mean, I did it so I could make up for the cash I lost, but in the end, it just felt… good. Didn't it?"

Moira hesitated, then sighed. "Yeah. I guess it did. But shouldn't we at least call Scarlet about it?"

"Good idea!" Oliver pulled his phone out and dialed the number. It rang for a bit, Oliver growing a little more impatient every time it rang, then went to voicemail.

"Huh. She's not there. But I'm still going."

"Oh, thank you so much!" The woman said, relieved, making Moira jump, as she actually forgot she was still there. "But don't worry about the fossil. I can live without it. I got plenty. I just want Missy back… *sniff*"

"Don't worry, we'll get her back. Which way did he go again?"

The woman pointed down the road to a cave, which was almost perfectly round and clearly manmade. "The old Underground Highway."

Oliver nodded. He'd heard about the Underground Highway. A few years back the Rokkraw City Council tried to construct an underground tunnel to go under the foothills that Route 4 rested on, but though the tunnel was completed, the underground wild Pokémon didn't particularly like it, so it wasn't really used that much. Trainers who didn't mind risk still often went down there to train.

They walked down the road, Oliver stepping into the cave first. "All right, if I'm not back in 10 minutes, something's gone wrong and you should call the police."

The woman nodded. "Okay. Good luck in there!"

Moira followed behind Oliver. "I'm still not sure I want to do this, but I'm not going to let you go in alone."

"Thanks, Moira."

And the two entered the cave.


"Ugh, stupid phone…" Scarlet muttered as she put her phone in her pocket. She hadn't gotten the chance to charge it when they were at the farmer's house so it was dead. She was going to call the two to let them know they needed to check into a hotel room for the night.

Oh well… they're only up on Route 4. I can find them easily. I mean, they're smart enough to know how dangerous it is to go into the Underground Highway so they wouldn't have wandered in.

She and Cassandra walked through town. At this hour everyone was at work so the streets were sparse. It felt deserted almost.

Cassandra looked around their surroundings as Scarlet walked forward nonchalantly. Scarlet noticed how her Pokémon was acting after a bit of walking, though, and turned to check on her. They were almost at the city edge of town where Route 4 began, the industrial section of town bordering the rocky hills, a power plant being the last building before the city stopped.

"What's wrong, Cassie?" Scarlet asked, concerned.

Suddenly Cassandra's eyes widened and she rammed headfirst into Scarlet, shoving her to the side just as a focused stream of purple gunk struck the spot they had been standing moments before. The gunk must have been somewhat acidic, as it began to eat away at the pavement of the road.

Scarlet sat up, dazed, seeing the point of impact. Frantically, Scarlet looked around for who or what had attacked them. She noticed Cassandra was glaring up at the wall surrounding the power plant, and looked up to see two figured. One was a Pokémon. It was a Mastox, she recognized. It was likely the one that had just used Gunk Shot, and the other figure must have been its trainer.

"Oh well, it was worth a shot," the man said before jumping down from the wall, Mastox following suit. The man was wearing what looked like a purple-colored doctor's frock with black rubber gloves and boots. Over his chest was a large, light blue letter V, with two yellow lines passing horizontally through the V like an equal sign.

"Wh-why did you attack us?" Scarlet managed, incredibly frustrated that her phone had died now of all times.

"I'm with Team Vortex," the man said. "You and your Absol witnessed something you should not have, and we're here to guarantee your silence. Mastox, take out the Absol by any means necessary."

Mastox lifted one of its syringe-like claws, aiming it at Cassandra, as it began to fill with a purple liquid.

Scarlet's eyes widened, realizing what was happening. She quickly took out her Pokéball and withdrew Cassandra, who she didn't notice was getting into a battle stance. She bolted back to town, barely avoiding another focused stream of poison, this time hitting the wall of the power plant.

She turned left into the power plant, which just happened to have the gate open at the time for maintenance. I might be able to lose him in here! She saw a transformer and hid behind it just as the Team Vortex grunt entered the plant himself, Mastox in tow.

"Gonna do this the hard way, huh...?" the grunt asked no one in particular. "Mastox, use Poison Gas," he ordered, putting on what looked like a surgical mask.

Mastox raised its syringe-like claw yet again, a purple mist pouring forth. Scarlet's eyes widened and she held her breath, holding her nose as the purple mist enveloped the area around her.

"Now," the grunt said, "It's only a matter of time."


The Underground Highway's entrance was perfectly manmade, but the same could not be said once they had gone in for a couple minutes. On the right side of the tunnel, it was broken open to reveal a natural cave formation. Evidently the tunnel's construction had collided with this cave, and this was where the wild Pokémon had come from.

A small group of Roggenrola watched Oliver and Moira walk past, Oliver looking back at them. There sure were a lot of wild Pokémon in there- Holy crap was that a Sableye?!- Oliver shook the thought out of his head. As much as he'd love to add Sableye to his team, he promised he'd get that Pokémon back.

He took out Hoodlet's Pokéball and let her loose. The small Fairy-type looked up at him curiously as Oliver beckoned her to follow them.

Up ahead, they began to hear a voice.

"Why did we need the fossils, anyway?" a woman asked.

A man's voice responded. "I'm not sure. But the boss insisted we revive a prehistoric Pokémon at the lab for the next test."

"Another one? After the Tirtouga experiment's failure? You saw the way it spazzed out when we made it use Thunderbolt," the woman said. Oliver's eyes narrowed at the notion of forcing a Pokémon use moves it wasn't meant to.

"I know. And I don't see why we need prehistoric Pokémon in particular. Hardly anyone uses them around here. Surely there are more reliable ways to test Breakthrough's effectiveness."

Breakthrough…? Oliver wondered as the three of them crept closer. The two were dressed in the same light purple coat and black gloves. The three were facing away from them, thankfully.

Oliver crouched behind a rock, Moira following suit. He peered around and looked at the man's belt, which had a few Pokéballs on it. They were all the normal red kind, except for one which was a pink ball with hearts on it.

That's our target. "Hoodlet," he whispered, "Go out there and snatch that pink ball, and do it without being noticed. Got it?"

Hoodlet nodded, prepping its trusty picnic basket as it softly hopped to another rock closer to them. She hid behind it, peering around it to make sure they were still talking.

Come on, Oliver mentally pleaded. You can do this!

Hoodlet looked back and saw Oliver's nervous expression. She turned back to face the two adults, and then darted out.

Oliver and Moira both held their breath as Hoodlet hopped towards the two at top speed, silently praying that this would work.

Quickly, she snatched the pink ball and stuffed it in the basket before rushing back to Oliver's hiding place. Neither of the adults noticed.

Hoodlet stopped next to Oliver, proudly holding out the pink ball. Oliver reached down and pet her soft, fluffy, massive ears. "Great work, girl!" Oliver whispered. "Now let's get out of here."

The two trainers turned and ran, deciding not to withdraw Hoodlet yet, as the sound of the Pokéball would give them away. They bolted at top speed, not even checking to see if the two had seen them yet. They just needed to get out of the cave as fast as possible.

All right, there's the exit! Oliver thought. Just a bit further, and we'll be home free!

They passed by the entrance to the natural cave, and Moira happened to turn her head to the left as they ran by.

Oliver didn't notice that wild Sableye from earlier jump out of the darkness, right towards him.

"Oliver, look out!" Moira shouted, before realizing her mistake and slamming her hands over her mouth. Oh no… what have I done?!

Luckily, Oliver managed to avoid the Sableye's attack, causing Hoodlet to immediately hit back with a Disarming Voice attack in her trainer's defense, knocking the Sableye back.

"What was that?" The woman from behind them asked.

"Sounded like- Hey, where's the hostage?"

Ah sh**e.

"Guess we've got no choice but to fight…" Oliver thought with dread as the two adults, whose outfits had a stylized letter V on them, ran towards them. The man's was gold-colored instead of blue though.

"I can't believe we were spotted by a couple of kids!" The woman said angrily, cracking her knuckles. With the tunnel exit providing some light, Oliver got a better look at the two.

The woman had dark green, long hair tied in a ponytail. The man was tall, broad-shouldered, had short brown hair that was spiked and ruffled in places, and had a chin covered in stubble.

"Hmph. You were close. Almost got away with our hostage. I don't know how much of our conversation you heard, but as an executive of Team Vortex, I can't let this humiliation slide."

"You tell 'em, Cole!" The woman said, surprisingly cheery.

"Can you dial back the cheering? Please?" The man, evidently named Cole, said to his associate, turning towards her with an annoyed expression. "I'm trying to look professional."

"I know, I'm sorry," the woman said sheepishly. Cole rubbed his forehead in frustration, then turned to face the two kids. The Sableye had decided to book it, so Hoodlet was now standing protectively in front of Oliver. Moira had taken the opportunity to bring her Sobble out.

Smirking, Cole pulled a Pokéball off his belt. "You two will rue the day you ever heard the name Team Vortex."


Sorry this took so long! I've been really busy since the new semester started. To make up for it, here's an extra length chapter... that is actually half a chapter.

I can't guarantee the same rate of 2 uploads a week, but I'll definitely have at least one a week.

I will also say it was fun to write in Amber's perspective for once.