Well, so much for managing to update weekly. For some reason, the teachers thought it was a good idea to assign two projects on the same week as the PSATs…evil.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! Act and Keleri, glad to hear you like it; ontherundetective, I'm afraid there won't be a last chapter posted for a while.

Morbane, more good points, thanks, I'll try to keep it all in mind. Also, the poster was a bounty-poster, not a 'lost pet' sort of thing. What Prowler said about rules was sort of badly worded, and she wasn't talking about anything official. I've changed it because it really is a bad way to put it. Oh, and unfortunately FFN ate my formatting for pokemon speech in earlier chapters, so Prowler wasn't actually saying that about the jigglypuff out loud. I've fixed that.

The title – well, you might be able to figure it out if you try to change the words into synonyms, but the phrase probably won't mean anything much to you, and it won't make sense yet.

Fights, Confidence, Rumor

-

Elliot walked, lost in thought. He still didn't really know what had happened. Din had been pushed out of the – whatever that place was, Elliot didn't know – and had woken up seconds later, as energetic and happy as she had been earlier. She didn't seem to remember anything that had happened. He hadn't let out any of his pokemon after that, just headed toward Saffron.

He hadn't seen any bellsprout since he'd left, either. Not that he'd looked closely – he'd kept his eyes on the ground right in front of them, abandoning his earlier thoughts about catching more pokemon. He'd camped when it got dark; even the idea of things lurking in wait in every patch of grass wasn't as frightening as the one image of the raticate dripping blood like a monster. But he'd also gotten up early and headed on early, not long after the first light of the day. He wanted to get to Saffron, to have ground made up of asphalt and concrete instead of deceptive grass, to have streetlights and lamps at night. He hurried.

-

-

Elliot met a trainer less than an hour's walk to the city, a boy about eleven years old but with a somehow predatory look to him.

"Six on six?" the boy asked.

That would mean he'd have to use Prowler and Din. He couldn't do that. But he'd been challenged. He couldn't back away from a challenge. And he couldn't change the rules, couldn't say, no, three on three, because no one ever did that.

"Okay," he said, and his voice sounded strange, as if he hadn't spoken but someone else for him. He picked a pokeball, feeling detached, as if he wasn't the one doing it.

Howler appeared. The other boy tossed out his first pokemon too, a pidgeotto. The battle began.

Soon, Howler, Discord, Sono, and even Caw had fainted. The boy still had two pokemon left himself.

Elliot sent out Din.

The boy's poliwrath was battered from fighting with Caw, but was still capable of battling. Din tried, but before long was knocked out. And then there was only Prowler. The poliwrath, by then exhausted, went down without a struggle. The boy sent out his last pokemon, a wigglytuff.

Prowler's eyes widened. She had never seen one, but she could see and smell the resemblance. She lunged before either trainer could speak, digging all four sets of her claws into his soft body and tearing at him with her teeth.

The boy recalled his pokemon seconds later, unaware of her intent but able to see the wigglytuff couldn't win.

Elliot retrieved his money and walked to Prowler as the other boy, looking more angry than might be expected, left.

"I'm sorry," Elliot told her. He'd sworn he wouldn't use her after getting the Thunderbadge. He felt horrible. It wasn't fair to ask her to do this. "You shouldn't have to fight."

((What do you mean?)) asked Prowler.

"After what happened. You must be scared-"

((I'm not scared,)) Prowler said, sounding somewhat insulted. ((What would I be scared of?))

"Of getting hurt. Or killed."

((Why would I be scared of that?)) Prowler asked. ((That is how things are. I'm not a coward.))

"You're not…"

((I am not afraid of fighting. If I did not want to fight, I would not fight,)) said Prowler firmly.

"And Din?"

Prowler considered. ((Din is not strong, so, do not use her unless you are certain the other one is weak.)) The persian began washing her face, tired of the conversation.

-

-

Saffron was called the golden city of commerce, and it lived up to its name. It wasn't dark, but already the yellow glow of electric lights was there, fighting with the whiter sunlight. Stores were everywhere, packed close together and several stories high. Elliot had already gaped and stared when he'd first come there with Michael, so this time he managed to be less awestruck by the magnitude and urbanness of the place.

Of course, that time he hadn't also done much exploring. Elliot set off.

The center of Saffron was the Silph Co. building. Twelve stories high, with rows of gleaming windows, it was an impressive skyscraper, visible and almost beckoning in the distance. Inside scientists created all sorts of things, pokeballs, items, and even the first ever man-made pokemon, porygon.

Up close, unfortunately, while it looked even more mysterious and interesting, it was impossible to enter. Elliot could see the doors were guarded by a pair of black-garbed men. Although Elliot could still have tried to approach and see if they'd let him in, their dark uniforms reminded him a bit of rockets, and, unsettled by the reminder, he headed on to the Pokemon Center.

-

-

Elliot gave the Joy his pokemon, and headed over to the videophones. He dialed home and talked to his mother, who mentioned another of his friends had come home. "You should call him and say hello," she told him.

After they said goodbye, Elliot did so.

Anthony appeared on the screen. "Oh, hey Elliot."

"Hi Anthony," Elliot said, not sure what to talk about. Did he mention what had happened on his journey or would that be bad, now that Anthony had dropped out?

"Your mom said you'd gotten half the badges," Anthony said, answering his question.

"Five," Elliot said proudly. "And I just got to Saffron."

"Cool. You think you might get them all before the end of the year? Think you'll finish in time for the League?"

"Yeah! Hey, did you-" Elliot broke off, feeling awkward again, but his friend didn't seem to mind.

"I got the Boulderbadge, but while I was going through Mt Moon, I decided, that well," he said, "I really didn't want to be a trainer," he finished in a rush. "I mean, I was there in a cold, dark, damp cave chasing around the clefairy I'd promised Tina. I didn't – I don't really care if my squirtle evolves and I'd rather be at home than out in the middle of the night trying to catch some special pokemon. I like pokemon and all, but running around in the wild, I'd rather have a dry bed." He grinned suddenly. "You were always happy to spend the day in the middle of the forest, so I guess it makes sense you'd be able to keep going without a care."

"Y-yeah," Elliot said.

"Anthony!" called a woman's voice from off-screen.

"One sec, Mom!" he yelled back. He turned back to Elliot. "One thing. I do regret not getting a ghost type like I wanted. If you pass by Lavender, catch me one, kay?"

"Sure," Elliot said. "Bye."

"Bye." The screen went black.

-

-

The Dojo was located at the northern edge of Saffron, not far from Sabrina's gym. Irrationally, its unofficial status made Elliot assume it would be tough rather than weak. He headed inside.

The place was full of musclebound trainers and even more muscular pokemon, all working on equipment. Almost all of them were punching or kicking huge bags hanging from the ceiling. They paused when Elliot entered. "Hey, another challenger," one said, sounding scornful. They stared at him, not looking too impressed. A man approached from the back.

"A scrawny little thing like you? Well, I can't refuse a challenge." He laughed contemptuously. "You know the rules." Elliot didn't. "We'll fight one on one. You give an order to your pokemon, you forfeit."

An order? But then how was he supposed to fight? Elliot regretted coming there. There wasn't even any point, it wasn't like he was going to get a badge for this. But he couldn't back out.

Well…Elliot thought, flying was good against fighting types, and…Caw, Caw was pretty strong. Elliot tossed his pokeball.

Caw turned his head from side to side, looking around the place and waiting for an order. The released hitmonlee kicked him across the room.

"Caw, I can't give you orders," Elliot yelled. "You have to fight yourself!"

Caw, still on the ground, sending a small, controlled gust at the hitmonlee, careful not to hit the surrounding humans or equipment. The hitmonlee blocked with his puny arms, then ran forward, attacking with a volley of quick kicks. Caw seemed unable to get out of the way. The hitminlee bounced backward, and then, seeing his opponent looked stunned, charged forward for a high jump kick attack.

At the last instant Caw flew upward. The hitmonlee crashed into the equipment and stayed there, tangled and unconscious, one leg bent awkwardly.

"Here," the man said, sounding annoyed. He didn't bother to recall his pokemon. He tossed something to Elliot. "A focus band, your prize."

Elliot caught it, recalled Caw, and left.

That hadn't been as hard as he'd thought. He headed toward the northeast corner of the city, toward psychic gym rather than back to the Center. If he was such a good trainer that he could win at the first gym so quickly, he'd probably be able to win at the official one pretty easily too.

Although, Elliot thought, he'd heard some strange stuff about this gym. He'd fought psychic pokemon before, and they'd seemed pretty similar to all the other kinds. But there were all sorts of weird rumors going around, and Michael had warned him about Sabrina, he remembered, although there hadn't been any explanation.

Elliot flipped through the 'dex. It didn't say anything particularly scary about the psychic type. It advised him that he should use physical attacks, unless the pokemon were strong enough to create barriers, at which point he shouldn't. It didn't mention any way of telling the difference, so the advice was pretty useless. Pokedexes really weren't expected to give useful battling information, so he figured he should have known better than to have tried asking. He shut it with a click.

Still, he was a good trainer. He'd just beaten one gym leader, so he didn't have anything to worry about. He kept going.

The gym's appearance made him pause. It was huge, and more of his confidence drained away. He took a deep breath and pushed the front double doors open.

He saw a hallway, a bit shadowy and red-colored. Nervously, he started walking in, looking around.

"I presume you're looking for a badge?"

Elliot almost yelled, stumbling back in surprise. He hadn't seen the man approach. He collected himself and nodded.

"Follow me." The man walked off, at a pace that made Elliot have to run a few steps to keep up. They came to a set of elaborately carved, ornate doors. The archaic designs made Elliot feel uneasy. The man pushed them open without a pause.

"A challenger," he called into the room. Another man stepped forward, and the first left.

He looked at Elliot in mild annoyance. "Sabrina has been drafted into some pointless investigation in Cerulean, so I am the one who will fight you. The battle will be three on three. Any questions?"

Elliot shook his head.

The man threw out a pokeball, releasing an abra.

That didn't look too intimidating, and Prowler had said it was okay to use Din now. "Go!"

Din formed. She looked around, seeing she was in a battle again, and wagged her tail happily. She hadn't understood why he'd been using her so rarely, and had wondered if he was upset with her.

"Okay, try tackle," Elliot said, remembering what the pokedex had said. It was worth a try.

She charged, and the abra teleported away. Din looked around, confused.

"Psychic."

The abra glowed, but nothing happened.

"So it is a dark type," the man said, not sounding particularly surprised. "It'll take more than a type advantage to win, though."

"Bite!" Elliot ordered.

The other pokemon teleported away, and Din's teeth closed on air.

"Dynamicpunch."

One of the abra's fists glowed, and Din jumped out of the way. The abra hit the floor of the gym, causing it to crack.

"Thunderpunch."

Electricity crackled around its other arm. This one connected, and Din yelped. She snapped at it, but it vanished again.

What should he…"Faint attack, Din!"

This time, Din vanished. She reappeared as she hit the abra, then grabbed it in her teeth. She shook it from side to side until it went limp. The man recalled it.

"Girafarig," the man said, tossing out a Greatball. "Stomp."

The appearing pokemon ran forward and then reared up. Din slunk down, dodging the hooves as they crashed down, and ran to the side, barking madly. She feinted a lunge. The girafarig reared slightly, backing up. Din tried to circle around and was kicked squarely in her side by the girafarig's back legs. She was knocked backward and crumbled to the ground.

"Return," Elliot said. Who should he use next? Not Discord, he still wasn't that strong. Caw was his other dark type, but shouldn't he save his strongest for last? Howler…but the pokedex had said it was a good idea to use physical attacks if the pokemon couldn't make a barrier, and this one hadn't. Sono wasn't good against big things. He remembered her quick loss to the tauros. Prowler, definitely.

He throw the Ultraball. "Be careful, it's psychic," he warned.

Prowler mumbled something that might have been either 'so?' or 'I know'. Elliot figured it wasn't really important which.

The persian hissed, seeming to grow in size, her shoulders hunched up in preparation of a jump. The girafarig backed up stiffly. She let out a roar and the girafarig turned, starting to run. She leapt, landing on its back and biting into its neck. Blood spurted around her jaws.

The girafarig vanished almost immediately and Prowler fell through and landed on the ground.

The man threw his third pokeball. "Hypno."

Prowler waited, not recognizing it.

"Hypnosis."

Prowler yowled, running to the side as the hypno started the attack. Without her looking at it, the move failed.

"Psychic."

She smashed into the wall. She stood back up, started to run at it.

"Again."

There was a snapping sound. She stood again, much more slowly.

"Again."

She didn't get back up. Elliot recalled her. Now Caw.

"Headbutt!" the man ordered. Now he seemed a bit more anxious.

"Fly, Caw!"

Caw beat his bruised wings and managed to get out of the way just in time. He added in sharp peck as the hypno barreled past, and the pokemon tottered and nearly tripped. Caw flew up higher, gaining the altitude needed.

"Now!"

"Thunderpunch!"

Caw dove. The hypno punched him, but he hit as well. Hidden by the electricity, one wing turned silver. He swiped it across the hypno's face, making a thin, light cut. A line of red blood beaded on it.

The murkrow shuddered, paralyzed, and crashed. He quivered on the ground, then managed to get back to his feet.

"Return, Hypno," the man said.

Elliot had won.

-

-

He headed back to the Pokemon Center and handed his pokemon over to the Nurse Joy. He took a seat and waited, looking through his pokedex but not paying much attention.

"…in Lavander," someone nearby said. "You still think you should go?"

"Doesn't matter," another trainer said. "Some rumor about Team Rocket's not going to make me do anything different. Aren't you a little old to believe in the boogieman?"

"Hey, I saw them!" said a third kid angrily. "They're real."

"Oh, come on. You expect me to believe there's a bunch of guys running around attacking strong trainers? They'd get their butts handed to them," the second speaker said.

Then another voice cut through the conversation.

"Thank you!" a boy a bit older than Elliot was saying ecstatically at the counter. "Thank you thank you!" He took the pokeball she held out, grinning happily.

"You may want to avoid battling with it for a few days," said the Joy.

The boy nodded in what might have been agreement and ran out of the Pokecenter excitedly.

Next chapter: Elliot has a sister. There's some strife. Does Caw really know what he's talking about?