I'M BACK! After some number of years. Massive thanks to Sleeping Dreamer4 for all the help that they have been. I realize I was a little ambitious with my story, but I'll keep chugging along. Last chapter you met Damien and Marcus, and now we'll meet his friends. The only OCs that I received were from Sleeping Dreamer4. Those are Crystal, Taz, and Robin. The only one I'll be using is Crystal, as I haven't found a way to use the other two yet. Anyway, let's get going.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

"Hey guys." Damien said to his friends as they walked up. Well, it was just one friend. Sebastian. He was a senior, tall and well-built as he trained alongside his Pokemon, both of whom were fighting types. The two were actually standing next to him, a Chesnaught and a Pangoro. The Shiny Charm hung from Sebastian's wrist. He'd been given it by his father, and so took up the mantle of shiny hunter. He hadn't had any luck so far. "Where is everyone?"

"Elsewhere." Sebastian said. "Felix and Karek are racing, they'll be done soon. Then they'll argue, Pamira will have to get involved, and so they'll be a while. Speaking of which, Pamira and Crystal are talking about something, they won't tell me what. Said they'll be here in a few minutes. Thomas and Katie are discussing work and the recent influx of Pokemon for them to take care of. Jack is-"

"Out of the way!" A male voice shouted.

"There he is." Sebastian said. Jack ran through the doors of the practice field, his Totodile hurrying behind him. Damien and Sebastian both moved to clear the way for him. He was a tall, thin teenager with a permanent mischievous grin on his face. He had a penchant for technology like nobody else, and was actually working on designs for a new Pokeball after having "received" blueprints for the basic one and knowledge of how it worked. This one was supposed to help in dark areas, making cave Pokeon easier to catch. How that would work, Damien had no idea, but Jack was having fun with it.

"Get back here!" some guy said as he ran through the door, soaking wet. "You'll pay for this!"

"It's just a bit of water, what harm could it do?" Jack asked, laughing.

"Cyndaquil, show this man a lesson!" The man said, chucking a Pokeball onto the ground, making the Johto Fire-type appear.

"What is-" Damien started, but Marcus stopped him.

"Let this happen. I want to see it." He said. Damien nodded and looked on.

"You want a battle, I'll give you one!" Jack said, "Toto, Water Gun!" A blast of water shot out from Totodile's mouth, hitting the Cyndaquil.

"Use Swift!" The man said. A series of stars shot out from the Fire-type's mouth.

"Water Gun on the Swift!" Jack said. But instead of one big blast of water, Totodile used a bunch of little, precise blasts to send the move back at Cyndaquil. Then he used another Water Gun to hit Cyndaquil with a super effective move, getting the knockout. "Ha ha, I win!"

The man growled, returning his fainted Pokemon before stomping inside, likely going to the school's Pokemon Center.

"That was…" Damien trailed.

"Fast." Sebastian said.

"Looks like he's pretty good with what he's got." Marcus said.

"Hi Damien, hi Sebastian!" Jack said, jogging over to us. "Who's this new guy?"

"I wouldn't recommend any tricks on him. This is Marcus Redwood. He's part of the school's new program to make more people into Pokemon professors." Sebastian said. "I was offered a spot, but I declined. Didn't want to waste my time attempting to corral bored and energetic teenagers. He's also the strongest Pokemon trainer at this school."

"The same Marcus that won a league last year?" Jack said.

"The very same." Marcus confirmed. "I didn't even come close to beating the Elite Four though. They're a whole other class of trainer. Especially Alder. Who would've guessed that normal types could be so difficult to deal with? He crushed me with only his Bouffalant."

"Woah…" Jack said admirably, "So you remember Pamira right? She's a part of this group."

"She is?" Marcus asked.

"Why would he remember Pamira?" Damien asked.

"She's the one he beat to win the Unova league. Meaning she got second place." Sebastian explained.

"Wait, seriously? I thought you needed six Pokemon to be in the league. Pamira only has five" Damien asked.

"She has a Darmanitan, but something happened and she doesn't really talk about it. I'm not surprised you haven't heard about that." a female voice said. They all turned to see Crystal and Pamira, Crystal having been the one to speak. She was short, tan-skinned, and had white eyes. Her Froakie sat on her shoulder and her Rockruff was in her arms. Crystal was from a very wealthy family who owned a fashion empire, so she was always dressed up in the latest trends. She was currently wearing black leggings and flats, with a simple white blouse. On her wrists were various bracelets and around her neck was a Lunar Feather replica made of gemstones. "We were just talking about that actually."

"But enough about that, why were you talking about my league placing?" Pamira asked.

"Because Marcus is here and Jack recognized him." Sebastian said.

"Oh." Pamira said. "Hello Marcus."

"Pamira." He greeted her. Pamira was also from a wealthy family, hers being the ones to own many of the train lines that ran all across Unova. She was taller than most of us, being about the same height as Sebastian, and very lithe and graceful. She had her shiny black hair in a low ponytail going past her shoulder blades, and was wearing torn jeans, a pink t-shirt, and sneakers. Her twin brother was Felix, who Damien could see rounding the curve of the track field, attempting to keep up with Karek, whose Blaziken was also racing beside them.

"I'd better go calm down the ensuing argument." Parmira said, running over to where the school's pre-set-up finish line was. "I'll bring them over after that!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Damien sighed.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure everyone will get here eventually." Crystal said. Damien smiled.

"I suppose." He said.

"So we're all meeting at the door, okay." another new voice said, also female. This was Katie. She wore a leather jacket, a black shirt, ripped jeans, and knee-length leather boots. Her normally brown hair was dyed a vibrant pink and cut short. Her Torracat was walking next to her. Next to both of them was Thomas. He was wearing brown work boots, black pants, and his family aviary's jacket, which was like a red sports jacket. It had the logo on the left shoulder and right breast, which depicted a Braviary in profile with the words Reviot Aviary across the bottom. His Rowlet was perched on his head.

"I imagine that it was purely coincidence." Thomas said. "I just heard from Mike and Anne. Mike's home sick and Anne's going to Alola for a bit to see her family over there."

"Pamira's going to be so jealous." Crystal said. "She loves Alola."

"I'd say more obsessed considering she constantly asked you about Alola when we first met her." Damien said.

"She was simply curious." Crystal said. "I answered as much as I could. Not like I actually know much."

"Here comes the Argument Train." Jack announced. Karek and Felix were walking over with guilty expressions, and Pamira followed them with an irritated one.

"Hey Karek." Damien said. "Where'd Blaziken go?"

"I put him in his ball." Karek said. Karek was short, but taller than Crystal. He had yellow-green hair that was shoved up through some tube in an attempt to emulate ninjas from Kalos, which he wanted to be one day because he thought they were super cool. He wore shorts, sandals, and his track jersey. Felix was Pamira's twin brother, but he was just as short as Karek. He too was wearing his track clothes, but his hair was cut short. Felix and Karek had a massive rivalry going between the two of them, and they competed over almost everything. Pamira was the only one to be able to continuously calm them down.

"I would've won if your Blaziken hadn't been putting off so much heat." Felix said, panting.

"Stuff it Richy." Karek said. "You just need to get better at running." Karek stuck his tongue out at Felix, but Pamira intervened before another argument could start up.

"Alright you two, that's enough." she said.

"Fine." Felix grumbled. "What's this guy doing here anyway?"

"I guess I'll just explain everything again." Marcus said. "The school started a program in which seniors get to help lowerclassmen get better at being trainers, whether that be by gaining strength in battle, knowing more about them, being able to assess certain dangers, or more. I am one of those who was picked for this. I came here to help offer to train all of you to be stronger."

"We don't need your help. We've already got a league placer in our group, we don't need a winner." Felix said.

"Felix, be nice." Pamira said. "If it makes you feel better, he didn't even beat a single Elite Four member." Felix just scoffed.

"Regardless of how you feel about it, that's why I'm here." Marcus said. "I want to have a battle with your strongest Pokemon to see how strong you all are. Including Sebastian and Pamira, even though I already know their strength. I need to see what they should be working on."

"Um, okay." Damien said, sending out Bagon.

"I don't need you to send them out now, I was just letting you know that I want to do that at some point soon. I need your permission to do it first." Marcus said.

"Well you don't have mine." Felix said.

"Felix, be nice." Pamira said. "There's always more to learn."

"I don't even really want to be a Pokemon trainer. Why should I listen to him?" Felix said.

"Oh, so you don't care about your Pokemon?" Karek asked.

"I care about them plenty!" Felix said.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Pamira shouted, and everyone flinched. "You two need to stop. Karek, stop antagonizing him. You know he cares, and your rivalry is getting out of hand! Felix, I know you don't like that Marcus beat me, but he's simply the better trainer. Deal with it. If you don't want his knowledge, you don't have to get it." Everyone was quiet. "Now, when did you want to do this Marcus?"

He paused for a bit before saying, "Like I said, sometime soon. I'll have to adjust my schedule for this, but I should have enough Pokemon that I can take all of you on with someone different. But I'll be sure to use Pokemon that will give you a challenge." Damien looked at Felix but he said nothing. "So, when should we do this?"

"Why not now?" Pamira said. "I don't think any of us have particular places to be right now. So let's do it."

"Alright." Marcus said. He looked at Damien. "Since you've already got Bagon out, let's start with you."

And that's done. Next chapter will be coming soon. There will be battles. At the end of each chapter I will post one character's team, including moveset, ability, level, item (if applicable), and nature. Up first, Damien.

Character: Damien

Team: Ivysaur, Eevee, Luxio, Vulpix, Poochyena, Aron, Nidorino, Swinub, Mareep, Bagon

Ivysaur:

Level: 29

Ability: Chlorophyll

Nature: Rash (Up SpAtk, Down SpDef)

Moves: Seed Bomb, Take Down, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder

Eevee:

Level: 18

Ability: Adaptability

Nature: Quiet (Up SpAtk, Down Speed)

Moves: Dig, Swift, Charm, Quick Attack

Luxio:

Level:25

Ability: Intimidate

Nature: Naive (Up Speed, Down SpDef)

Moves: Spark, Tackle, Charge, Bite

Vulpix:

Level:21

Ability:Drought

Nature: Quiet (Up SpAtk, Down Speed)

Moves: Incinerate, Disable, Quick Attack, Confuse Ray

Poochyena:

Level: 17

Ability: Quick Feet

Nature: Impish (Up Def, Down SpAtk)

Moves: Bite, Thunder Fang, Howl, Tackle

Aron:

Level: 30

Ability: Rock Head

Nature: Relaxed (Up Def, Down Speed)

Moves: Rollout, Take Down, Iron Head, Protect

Nidorino:

Level: 23

Ability: Poison Point

Nature: Lonely (Up Atk, Down Def)

Moves:Double Kick, Poison Sting, Toxic, Horn Attack

Swinub:

Level: 28

Ability: Oblivious

Nature: Careful (Up SpDef, Down SpAtk)

Moves: Mud Bomb, Ice Shard, Reflect, Icy Wind

Mareep:

Level: 14

Ability: Spark

Nature: Modest (Up SpAtk, Down Atk)

Moves: Thundershock, Thunderwave, Tackle, Growl

Bagon:

Level: 35

Ability: Sheer Force

Nature: Hasty (Up Speed, Down Def)

Moves: Dragon Claw, Headbutt, Crunch, Ember