"Wow…" Lana says, looking up at the big waterfall.

"Yeah, she would like that," Leon whispers to Zoey, who chuckles behind her hand.

"Hum…" Gardenia says, looking around.

"What is it, Gardenia?" Leon inquiries, seeing her actually being serious.

"We are in heavily disputed territory," Gardenia informs after a while.

Leon, Zoey, and Lana look at each other with a curious expression before turning back towards the woman. "What makes you say that?" Zoey questions.

"Quite a few signs of battle," Gardenia says, pointing out several broken rocks, destroyed plants, and cuts in the grounds. Some are old, and some seem recently made.

"Maybe she is a gym leader after all," Lana teases.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gardenia accuses.

"What do you think?" Lana asks with a cheshire smirk.

"She…we are being watched," Leon says as a shiver runs up his spine.

'I got this,' Crystal assures, and they feel something like a buff of wind before they look at Crystal as she seems to be concentrating. 'Yep. Right behind you. About twenty yards,' she thinks to them, opening her eyes.

"Blade," Leon says calmly, tossing his pokeball right in front of him.

The grovyle is about to cry out as he appears before Crystal mentally shuts him up with a psychic slap in his mind. Blade looks annoyed before turning to his master and Crystal. "What's going on?" he asks, noting all the expressions on everyone.

'Twenty-yards behind me. Go investigate and be prepared for a fight,' Leon informs.

Crystal links both of their minds together as Leon can feel and almost see what Blade is seeing before the pokemon jumps away to the side. 'So that you know…I need to practice this more once we are camping or in a room,' she warns as she seems to be struggling with how much she is sweating.

"Scyther!" a mantis-like pokemon calls jumping out at Blade as he nears. Its blade-like arms are striking against Blade's leaf blade with sparks able to be given off.

"Looks like we found one of those laying claim to this territory," Zoey says as Glameow gets ready to jump in.

'Tough guy, huh?' Blade says with a smirk before punching the bug-type, making them disengage.

Leon smiles as he looks at Glameow. "Looks like Blade has got this," he remarks as Blade's claws glow bright, and he starts to swipe rapidly at the retreating scyther. The bug type cries out in pain and tries to spin and lift at Blade, but he merely holds up a leaf blade on his arm and blocks the attack dead cold. Blade then grabs the other arm coming at him and holds them both in place. At which point, veins and lines of energy flow from scyther to Blade as he uses Giga Drain to get the assailant to a weak state.

"It's quite strong," Gardenia comments, watching the two go at it.

"No shit," Blade growls, trying to keep the scyther still and keep up the Giga Drain.

'Hum…Scyther does evolve into Scizor. One of the more robust and versatile bug types…Blade, switch to using only False Swipe or quick attack. It's resistance to your grass moves,' Leon instructs.

Blade's leaf blade glows on one of his arms before swiping at the scyther, sending it flying back against a tree with a crash. 'Done master,' he chirps before launching at the struggling pokemon with a quick attack, smacking himself into the giant bug and squeezing him against the tree to leave a divot.

'Dodge when I say so,' Leon instructs, pulling out a pokeball and throwing it. 'Dodge now!' Leon commands, and Blade uses a quick attack to move out of the way quickly, narrowly avoiding the pokeball. The pokeball absorbs Scyther and lands on the grass, moving around as the center is flashing red. 'Come on,' Leon thinks, waiting before noticing a crack form on the pokeball before it shatters and Scyther rematerializes.

"It actually broke the damn thing?!" Zoey yells, surprised, along with the others.

"That means it is powerful," Gardenia says as Blade quickly reengages.

Leon is about to do something when a warning image appears before his eyes. Leon's eyes widen as he remembers this. 'Warning, Alpha pokemon,' it reads, reminding him this is a game. 'Wait…I see.' "Blade, don't hold back. Give this all you have. If you don't, you can't beat this opponent," Leon instructs, completely serious.

Blade growls and grits his teeth. He clenches his hands as his leaf blades shine bright and grow larger than last time. "Come on!" he eggs on towards the bug type. Scyther calls out as it charges with its blades raised, only to be stopped by Blade blocking them both with his leaf blades. "You are so persistent," he huffs before launching a quick attack with a kick from his legs and strikes at the scyther's leg, making it kneel and lose its stance. Blade then has his arms light up in a bright glow before swiping furiously at the down pokemon. A canopy of cries sounds out as he tries to make as many cuts as possible to any weak points he can find.

"This is definitely an alpha pokemon," Gardenia says while watching it.

"What is an alpha pokemon?" Lana inquires.

"A wild pokemon that has absorbed a great deal of raw energy. They are far stronger in nearly every way than normal pokemon. They are also very territorial. When an alpha pokemon site is found, the pokemon rangers usually set up a perimeter to protect travelers and keep them from entering into its territory," Gardenia says, explaining how much danger they are in now.

"To make it worse, most consider Scythers to be one of the strongest known bug-type pokemon," Zoey adds.

Blade keeps swiping away as much as he can but is then blasted away from a potent bullet seed. Blade cries out in deep pain as he smacks into the trunk and covers himself as the strong seeds leave bruises all over him.

'Its ability is technician!' Leon suddenly realizes as he watches the battle. 'Blade, watch out. Even his weaker moves are fifty percent stronger than they should be because of his ability. Also, please don't make it flinch. Every time you do, its speed will also increase,' Leon informs.

"I'll try, master!" Blade calls as he struggles against the pestering attack. After the seed bullets stop, he quickly gets up and reignites his leaf blades again.

'…Blade, can you see from my point of view?' Leon questions.

Blade keeps his eyes on the scyther before looking partially in his trainer's direction. 'No…'

'Got it!' Crystal calls before Blade suddenly can see everything from a different point of view. His master's viewpoint, to be exact.

'Time to kick up dust,' Leon instructs, moving to see the Scyther better.

Blade snorts before striking and cutting up the ground. The scyther tries to cover itself, fearing it must be another attack, but then becomes angrier when noticing the grass type is making a dust cloud out of the dry dirt. The scyther scratches its blades together as it sidesteps and tries to get closer to Blade, peering through the dust cloud in an attempt to spot him. "Master…?" Blade calls, quickly jumping to another hidden spot and striking the ground.

'Pursuit, now!' Leon orders as he sees the Scyther turn away, making a perfect opportunity to blindside the alpha.

Blade jumps around, aiming his direction towards the bug type. At which point, he surges forward, bowling into the alpha with his leaf blades striking into its abdomen. The scyther cries out in pain and is sent flying away before rolling across the ground to a stop. "Is that enough?" Blade pants, starting to feel a level of exhaustion.

'No, it's a fake-out. Quick attack now!' Leon orders, recognizing Lana did the same in their first battle.

Blade crosses his arms with his blades held outward before charging forward. The scyther quickly picks itself up and gets ready to pounce by slamming its arms into the ground but bowls over and skids across the floor. The blades dig into the exoskeleton and leave large gashes before Blade grunts and swipes his arms outward, making more significant wounds, and jumps away into a tree to gain his strength back.

Leon throws a great ball this time at the alpha, pulling it into it, and they all wait as the ball rolls around before it clicks and moments later vanishes in a light teleporting to the lab. "He beat the alpha…or is that a draw?" Zoey asks as Blade collapses onto the ground.

Leon doesn't hear them and rushes over to Blade as he rests against a tree. "Not bad, buddy," he praises while digging into his bag. "How do you feel?" Leon asks, taking out a health potion and spraying his wounds with it.

Blade gives off a sly smirk. "Like I got my ass kicked for a bit. What do you think, master?" he retorts, chuckling before wincing as he feels the sting of the potion.

"You just lay there and rest while I do my job and heal you up. You also definitely fought a major opponent with a major handicap," Leon assures as he brings out bandages.

Blade grins now. "And I feel like a badass," he proudly remarks before noticing Crystal giggling. "What so funny, princess?" he jokes, chuckling along.

Crystal hums innocently. "The fact that you seemed like a gallant knight protecting his king," she swoons playfully and then gives a sideways glance at him. "And no. That does not mean I am going to give you a rose to cherish and for you to court me," she warns with a wag of her arm before walking over to the side.

"We will be really getting into your training soon as well," Leon informs and examines one of the worst wounds Blade has as Gardenia arrives and starts helping with the injured grass-type.

"Professor Rowan is going to have a field day with that alpha," Gardenia notes as she grabs some first aid from his bag.

"We will get to talk to him about it soon enough too," Leon remarks as Crystal returns with a Spinarak and Joltik struggling in vain in the air in her psychic move,

"I found these two," Crystal says, smirking.

Leon sighs. "And the trouble continues," he says, getting up and walking over to the two. "Set them down. Let's see what they have to say," he says to Crystal and kneels as they are put on the ground in front of him. However, they are still held in a psychic hold to ensure they don't attack or scuttle away.

"They were basically the wards of the alpha. So why not bring them with us?" Crystal asks with a smile.

Leon smirks down at the two and hums. "They would have not to attack us all the time, though," he notes and eyes the scared eyes of the two. "Go ahead. Talk. Crystal there is translating for us," he says, nodding his head to the little princess who waves.


"So how do alphas come into being? Like do they become alphas by experience and battle or are they born that way?" Lana asks as they sit around the fire.

"They are naturally born, but I can't find any hint of an alpha in this area," Gardenia says while researching on her phone.

"Maybe it's new," Leon suggests, poking the fire and moving the wood around. "Possibly just recently."

"Or could be the rangers are slacking in patrols or don't have enough to find the alphas," Zoey points out.

Leon hums as Crystal yawns and leans against him in his lap. "How big is this forest again?"

"We are about halfway through this part. We will have to start north soon if we are to make the site of the summer camp," Zoey informs.

Leon taps a finger against his leg and keeps poking the fire. "If so, best someone keeps on watch just in case for another alpha we didn't come across yet. And the rest of us can sleep," he summarizes as Crystal curls up in his lap, laying her head against his chest.

'The signs of an Alpha are hard to miss for us pokemon,' Crystal informs.

"You suggesting one of you guys?" Leon asks, looking down at the tired pokemon. He even starts to pet and stroke her back, making her snuggle deeper in his lap. "I guess Echo would be good for tonight."

'No, I mean there are no alphas in the area,' Crystal informs.

"No alphas, huh?" Leon says out loud, almost thinking about it. "Now with saying it out loud, we haven't seen one in our entire journey until now. Even the places rangers or trainers go on a lot at times."

"Alphas are very rare. Not shiny rare, but they are rare," Gardenia informs.

"Then we can rest easy there," Zoey says happily, grabbing her bag and taking out her sleeping bag. "Early to bed, early to rise. Especially before that academy starts I guess."

"Right. Alright, everyone. To bed and Echo…you don't need to gorge yourself," Leon says smiling at his golbat.

The bat pokemon looks up from his big berry and gives a happy grin. He then latches his teeth into it and carries it away, intending to eat in the trees for now and then head to sleep.

"With how happy he is, I expect it to evolve into Crobat any day now," Zoey comments.

Echo screeches happily to her while hidden by some other branches. "He says he hopes so," Crystal replies, enjoying herself being carried by Leon to their sleeping bag.

"He just wants to fly better with four wings," Leon teases and gets a happy screech in return.

"Okay," Gardenia chuckles as she slips into her bag. "Let's get some shut-eye guys," she calls, eyeing the rest of the pokemon sleeping together in a pile with Blade getting his own bed for his injuries.

All the pokemon still awake in some fashion give a tired cry as they snuggle into the pile. As for the humans, they all slip into the sleeping bags and zip them up. The last of the entire group doesn't fall asleep until the last of the embers goes out.


"So this is the place, huh?" Leon says as his group enters the academy grounds.

"Yeah, now we need to find professor Rowan and get squared away," Zoey says, stretching a bit.

Leon smiles and looks around the large building and eyes the field of many types of landscapes around it. "I can go meet him and…is that Ash?" he asks, seeing the trainer and her group interacting with other people and pokemon.

"Yep and Dawn, but leave that for later," Zoey says, pulling him along to find the staff to get situated for this assignment.

"Hey! What does that mean?" Leon accuses as he is dragged along by his arm.

Crystal looks at Lana and Gardenia and they all smirk and smiles at each other before catching up and following close behind.

After being caught up on the roles they would have and the orientation with the students was over and the battles started, Leon approached the professor. "Professor Rowan, along the way here, I managed to catch an Alpha pokemon. Should we incorporate that into the lessons to teach them about Alphas and how aggressive and territorial they can be?" Leon asks.

Rowan looks surprised. "An alpha…yes. Yes, we would need to show what these new trainers will face."

"Shall we contact the lab and transfer it over?" Leon asks.

Rowan nods. "I will get the transfer and call ready. Can you help me?" he asks, gesturing to follow him to the lab.

"What is the professor up to?" one of the assistants asks, seeing the two heading into the building.

"Probably just getting something for the lesson," another says as Zoey meets and talks with the leaders of the three teams.


"He's a mean one," Leon mentions, looking at his shaking pokeball as he waits at the front of a classroom. "Luckily, some of my team is ready to grab and hold him if something goes wrong," he assures, the rest of his pokemon giving a small affirmative nod at the mere mention of it as they wait on both sides of them. Right now, he has Crystal on his shoulder like always, Amber and Rumble on one side while Blade and the eevee on the other. Everyone is ready to grab and hold the scyther still in case he lashes out towards them or the students.

"Just to be safe, we will have a few more fire types on standby," Rowan says, going over and grabbing a few pokeballs.

Leon smiles as he watches a couple more fire types appear next to his own. All of them cry on their own while greeting his pokemon. They even let the little eevee climb up onto their shoulders.

"Right, shall I release Gigan here or wait till in front of the students?" Leon questions.

"Wait for it. We are still missing a couple of students," Rowan informs, looking at his watch before eyeing the ones already waiting outside and ready to take notes. Even other researchers once they were sent word.

Leon nods as he follows the professor back out with the pokemon in tow. The professor starts with an introductory lecture to the students about what an alpha pokemon is and halfway through it, explains what they used to be and why many in ancient times feared them. Then Rowan looks to Leon and nods, giving his confirmation to release Gigan. Leon throws the pokeball and erupting from it is a six-and-a-half-foot big scyther who lets out a roar that intimidates some of the weaker or younger pokemon showing its might.

Gigan chitters and looks around, eyeing the many people and pokemon around him before it spots one of the students standing enough from the group. At which point, he charges and screeches at the girl as she shrieks from the sudden attack. Crystal frowns, reaching out and grabbing Gigan's legs with her physic hold, making him trip and fall on his face, but digs his claws in the ground. Gigan tries to keep crawling toward the girl, but Crystal yanks him back and sends him flying towards Amber who punches him down with a fire punch to the face. Gigan groans, screeching towards her who huffs back with a flaming fist in his view.

'Wow…I did not understand a word he said at that moment,' Crystal mentions and Leon looks surprised at her. Crystal slowly nods before Gigan screeches at them in anger.

'Oh shut up you little bitch!' Gigan yells.

'That I understood,' Crystal says happily before giving him a psychic slap on the head.

'Quiet, you are here to show what an alpha is. You are an example of the power and difference between an alpha and others. So get up and let them marvel at you then we will feed you afterward,' Leon lectures.

Gigan hisses at them before Amber flexes her flaming hand in front of him. He huffs before slowly standing as Blade stands there as if daring him to do that again so he can fight him.

Leon sighs as Gigan stands, not looking happy at all. "Sorry about that. Working on his temper," he apologizes before seeing the girl who was about to be attacked being helped up by Blade. "Continue professor," Leon says, gesturing to the students as he looks over at the man.

"An alpha is a member of their species that is naturally bigger and stronger than the rest." The professor starts to explain what alpha was. While the explanation goes on, Leon's eyes scan the crowd, trying to spot people he recognizes. He then spots Team Rocket fairly quickly, given he remembered what they looked like, and surprisingly this short arc is one where they did nothing bad. He also catches sight of Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Angie. The last one is listening very intently to the explanation as, if he remembers correctly, she is from a family of pokemon caretakers and got to appear in an episode after this arc which is very rare.

'So what looks good to you?' Crystal asks teasingly, seeing what he is thinking about. 'Maybe that girl. She looks hot and a tomboy just like you like them.'

'Quiet you. The last thing I want is for Zoey to get mad because you say that,' Leon thinks back as Gigan starts sniffing around, smelling something.

Crystal rolls her eyes. 'I am joking. Jeez,' she mutters before noticing Gigan looking and sniffing around. Then starts moving and walking somewhere. She then wraps him in a psychic hold, freezing him in place. Her eyes glow bright blue as she frowns at the large pokemon, glaring at him.

"Gigan. They are preparing lunch. Wait here till they are finished," Leon says, recognizing what the mantis pokemon is looking for.

Gigan growls and chitters at them and Crystal gives a psychic slap in return. 'Quiet you. Now be patient. We are almost done,' she warns.

Leon smirks as he watches the large scyther struggle in Crystal's hold. He then looks at the professor as he starts to finish up and even gives a little assignment for alpha pokemon. "Okay, everyone. Now that our little quick lecture on alpha pokemon is done, time for lunch. Then after which, we will split everyone into teams and get into the fun and spirit of things," he calls, looking at everyone as they write the last bits of his lecture.

"Come on Gigan. Time to go get food," Leon informs before grabbing the pokemon's arm and leading him along to his great confusion as Crystal snickers.

Zoey snarks and watches the large alpha try to understand what is going on. "I feel like he will be dealing with more confusion than anger being stuck with Leon," she observes, seeing the others take some notes while Gardenia takes a lot of notes for later.

"And done," Gardenia calls, closing her book. "This is going into my files back home," she says before following the group to get lunch. "Who wants to bet the first-day lunch is great while every other day is cheaper?" she challenges the others.

"Don't complain. Our food is already covered by our work here," Lana reminds. Gardenia giggles as Lana sighs while Zoey follows behind them.


"Okay. Some bonding with a given research pokemon with different personalities, a water type report, and finding some ruins…" Leon trails off as he reads that last part before humming and looking over the large lunch room as every student and participant ate. Team Rocket gobbling down a lot for their sake.

He then whispers something to Crystal as everyone at the table becomes interested in what Leon is doing. Crystal giggles before taking off from his shoulder and lands on Ash's table who looks surprised to see Crystal there. Crystal and Ash's Pikachu talk a bit as Crystal seems mildly amused with Pikachu cracking a joke as Crystal laughs. Crystal keeps laughing as she takes off and heads back to Leon with her giving a wave back.

"Pikachu says Ash's sense of direction and terrible luck might make her be able to find those ruins by just stepping on a bad root and tripping," Crystal explains, landing on Leon's shoulder and making Leon snark to the side as he attempts to hold in his laughter.

He keeps trying to hold in his laughter before stopping as he realizes something. 'Her?' Leon asks, confused, turning to the psychic pokemon.

Crystal tilts her head, just as confused now. "Yeah. Her," she explains while the girls at the table try to hold in their laughter to not bother everyone else around them. "I mean, Pikachu has been sticking with Ash since the beginning. I would imagine he knows what he is talking about and knows if Ash was a guy trying to play off being a girl," she says matter-of-factly.

'Oh…shit…what the hell are the settings I put?' Leon tries to remember as some memories of him setting up the game came to mind. But most are fuzzy now as Crystal raises an eyebrow at what is flowing through his head. 'I mean, I choose a rival setting…I think. No…I choose anime so it's more flowing and…fuck. What did I choose?' Leon thinks as he looks over to Ash and sees the aforementioned girl talking with her friends and not looking bothered at all. 'Maybe it's like Paul. Yeah…has to be…'

Crystal looks worried at him as she sees more fuzzy images and thoughts racing through her master's mind. But feels almost compelled to not say anything and mention it at all. Now she has the urge and feeling to find a way to handle and speak to Leon about this.

"Well, that may not be good," Leon says, watching Ash and Angie arguing. "Should we interfere or let them work it out?" he asks the others.

All the girls look at each other before looking back at Ash's table as things get more heated. "It might get better," Zoey concludes as she notices not even Brock or Dawn interfering with anything.

"By the way, where is Gigan?" Leon questions.

Everyone looks at each other before they all turn to stare at the double doors of the kitchen. Leon sighs and gets up, taking their empty plates to make things easy. He frowns as he walks through the doors and stops at a certain sight. He sighs and shakes his head, looking at the very content alpha lying on the ground with a thorax full of food. Leon leaves the plates behind as he wonders if he can leave Gigan in his pokeball. He also gives an apologetic look to the kitchen staff as they give a small wave with a smile as they know the feeling.

"Good news. He's asleep," Leon informs as he sits back down and gives everyone a salad and fruit plate. "Bad news. He ate a lot of food," he groans, passing Crystal an oran berry slice.

'He's fat now,' Crystal says cheekily.

"If it puts him to sleep," Gardenia mentions, eating a figy berry piece. "Frankly, not surprised," she says with her mouth full. "He's been stuck in the forest and eating what he can find. Now he found a whole kitchen," she chuckles, smirking at Leon.

'Don't pamper him. He will be competing against other powerful pokemon to become a top dog,' Crystal says and Gigan's eyes shoot open at that, fully alert.

'The question is…how to train him…" Leon notes to himself as he looks at Gigan curling up to sleep his meals off.

"What are you thinking?" Zoey asks.

Leon hums. "It's tricky. Plus, he is an alpha so it might be different. But I will need to ramp things up and put him through a gurgling regimen…and deal with that attitude," he adds at the end as they hear a snort from the kitchen.

"Well, how did you deal with Blade?" Zoey asks.

Leon shrugs. "Battling. But the problem is I got a double issue here. Who here knows how to handle and train an alpha pokemon?" he proposes and all the girls don't say or look elsewhere. "Thought so. Look, this is going to be different. But at least I can give the professor some valuable research material."