Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

Chapter 13: Tips And Tricks

"I still don't understand why you invented that whole move," Danny said as helioptile and litwick fed electricity and fire into the barrier that gardevoir had summoned around himself. It was two days after the teens had gotten their Rising Badges, and they had left Blackthorn at dawn, getting about a third of the way to Enion Town before lunch and the heat making walking uncomfortable. They'd stopped near a small stream that looked perfect to spend time in, with large trees casting shadows to keep things bearable while they weren't moving. "It just seems so wasteful."

"Maybe," Max agreed as he saw the attacks mix and explode inside the shield yet again, gardevoir not feeling a thing thanks to the inner barrier. "But that's what we're practising it for."

"Psychic attacks become easier to use and more efficient when you use them a lot, yeah, you've only said it half a dozen times in the last few days," Danny replied, sticking out his tongue when Max poked him in the shoulder. "You realise the last badge we're going for is the Dark-type Gym, right? Not everything can be brute forced like you did against Lance."

"Which is why we're practising it now, so he can be more efficient," Max explained, biting back his agitation. It wasn't deserved – Danny's comment was tongue in cheek – but that didn't stop the annoyance from happening. "It's probably time to stop anyway. Litwick needs rest."

The Ghost-type was immediately returned, its fire flickering out. "Held out longer than last time, I think. Still not sure if the sun helps or hurts, though."

"Write Professor Oak and ask him," Max replied as gardevoir levitated over, helioptile hitching a ride and jumping onto Danny's shoulder. A small spark appeared, but after over two years, both of them were pretty used to static shocks. "If he doesn't know, he'll know someone who does."

Max saw Danny shrug. "Could do that," Danny said, and Max translated it to having to remind Danny that it was an option. "Going to jump in the water now. You coming in?"

His stomach still felt a bit heavy, and sitting in the shadow as they were was very comfortable anyway. "Gonna wait. Find someone else to do splash wars with. Maybe swampert?"

Both of them laughed. "I'll do that in a place where I can't get thrown into the bank or something."

Danny waded into the stream a few moments later, apparently having been wearing swim trunks all day already, and Max threw masquerain in after him on the second attempt. The former Water-type proceeded to pelt his Trainer with bubbles, and peals of laughter reached Max's ears.

Gardevoir settled down near Max's back, broadcasting amusement. "Playing with water is yet another way in which we are similar," he observed. "Up to and including throwing water at each other."

"You could join in anyway. Just don't throw it too hard," Max returned. "Did you do that often with ralts?"

"In the very lake you first found him in. It was even encouraged." Max turned around, with an eyebrow raised. "Practice. Water is forgiving and fun."

The teenager wasn't sure how he had missed something that obvious, but it was as genius as it was simple. Something to keep in mind if he was going to raise another Psychic-type. "What other ways do you think we're similar in, then?"

He felt some surprise creeping in; gardevoir clearly not caring about keeping a lid on his emotions. That had been different before. "As a whole or as individuals?"

"Both?" Max asked as he made sure to pay full attention. The Psychic-type was incredibly perceptive, and learning stuff was always good.

The reply got him a wide smile, just a bit rueful as well, judging by what Max felt. "The older protect and teach the younger until they're ready to be on their own, living in groups. The younger they are, the more the teaching is couched in fun activities, and the more they are sheltered from the world at large and its perils."

That sounded logical enough. "And as individuals?"

"Some humans or Pokémon are good at one thing and are encouraged to be like that. Like your friend and her drawing skills, or my lack of skill at Fairy-type moves."

"But wouldn't that be the same in other groups of Pokémon?"

"I don't know," gardevoir replied, honesty radiating off both the words and his emotions. "Perhaps in some?"

Max shrugged. It was as good an answer as he could come up with in the heat, and probably outside of it too. Human-Pokémon interaction like what they were doing was rare; telepathy being limited to only a few Pokémon. Lucario was really the only one he could think of that wasn't a Legendary. "Not sure who I could ask… Houndour are pack Pokémon, but most of mine were on their own when we met."

It was sudden; a question arising fully grown in his mind, instantly making Max uneasy. A moment later, he realised the why of that: he wasn't certain if he wanted to know the answer to that question.

"What is on your mind all of a sudden?"

Of course the empathic Pokémon next to him would detect it immediately.

The genie was out of the bottle now, though. It was the kind of question he needed to know the answer to. "Why did you end up leaving Izabe? Why make your way to Littleroot?"

"Ah," gardevoir replied, somehow infusing that one word with enough emotions that Max had trouble distinguishing them all. The strongest was definitely something like… resignation? "Are you sure you want to know the answer?" he asked, followed by an immediate shake. "No, that is not right. You've held off on asking that question far longer than I had expected."

"Only just now thought of it," Max admitted. "Kinda used to weird things happening. Too used."

A shriek stopped gardevoir from answering, and they saw Danny being buried in a mountain of bubbles, oblivious to what was being discussed. "I wanted to see the place where my brother had died for myself. I snuck on board of a boat from Izabe and made my way to that accursed mountain. One girl tried to capture me, but she didn't have anything to keep me tethered to the location. Then… Then they found me."

Cold fury edged into the gardevoir's voice and emotions, but he didn't identify the ones who had found him. "Who did?"

"The same group of people who kidnapped my brother in the first place."

An icy stone plummeted into Max's stomach. "Where?"

"South-west from a desert-like area. Hills and forest, mostly."

North of Mauville, maybe north-west. "How did you get away? Ralts..."

"I was forewarned. Not enough to slip through the chains that held me, but enough to allow me to cross a wide stream. That created distance, and though they chased, I was able to Teleport straight to the mountain."

That was… quite the distance for a kirlia. "Was that when you evolved?" Max half asked, half guessed.

"Indeed it was," gardevoir said, and silence fell between them. Max felt the Pokémon had more to say, and he was proven right half a minute later. "You've said multiple times that you couldn't not do something. That things were right to do. That was why I headed to the laboratory."

"And if I had declined, like I did with the Egg? How would you have felt?"

"I only doubted in the moments we saw each other, because the closer to reality something becomes, the more doubt rears its head. I was wrong to do that."

Max grabbed gardevoir's arm, tugging slightly and making red eyes meet his own. "No. You weren't. I think I would've never trained a ralts if it hadn't been you. Someone who'd understand, even if I don't understand the depth of your sorrow for your brother." He snorted softly, breaking eye-contact. "We're a sorry pair, aren't we?"

"Perhaps, but neither would have it any other way."

~~§~~§~~

They had arrived in Enion by ten o'clock, and by eleven o'clock, Danny had gone off to buy new shoes, Max had found Evan still in bed in the Pokémon Center, and one of Professor Oak's assistants had swapped Pokémon around for both older teenagers, sending a letter from Hugo along. "You're really lazy, aren't you?" Max asked as the brown-haired boy finally came out of his room, expecting, and getting, a raised finger. "Just saying it as it is."

"You try being up until four and be awake by eleven," Evan grumbled as he nabbed an apple from the fruit bowl.

"Why exactly were you up until four?" Max said as he followed his taller cousin out the door, into a half overcast day. "Did you capture a nocturnal Pokémon?"

Evan bit into the green fruit before shaking his head. "No," he said, half muffled "Too' a wong nap."

It was all Max could do to not put his hand to the bridge of his nose, for multiple reasons. "I'm not sure how you do it, but..." he said, trailing off, uncertain where to go. "We get up at dawn most of the time."

Evan made a face. "That's why I took the nap." A deep sigh. "I'll try to fix it."

It wasn't like his cousin to be so contrite, but maybe he was annoyed at himself. "Good luck with that," Max said earnestly. "And if you find a trick that works, tell me."

"Huh?"

"You know how everyone says we're supposed to sleep for like nine hours or so?" Max asked. "Yeah, no. Seven and a half at most, except for one day every month that's like nine." To catch up, he had guessed before. "And I sleep light."

"Guess it runs in the family."

Max shook his head. "May never had that. She just slept around the clock if she could get away with it."

"Just the boys then?"

"Maybe?" Max spotted a convenience shop. "Hang on, getting us some food."

He ignored the protests about just having had breakfast and quickly bought some buns, putting them in the in-store microwave to warm them up after having paid for them.

Despite Evan's complaining, the food went down anyway in amiable silence, except for some blowing on fingers because the napkins were way too thin.

Just as Max finished his bun, he spotted what he had been looking for: the town's arena that Nurse Joy had mentioned. There was nobody there, maybe because it was lunchtime and people had gone elsewhere, but that suited him fine. "So, haven't seen your Pokémon in ages. Show me."

Poochyena and butterfree, Max had seen before, and tentacool was also there. He knew of the skunky and the murkrow as well; the bird cawing in protest against the harsh sun that was coming down. Then Evan released a sixth Pokémon, and a chuckle escaped Max. "You too, huh."

"You know I like Dark-types, and this mutt wanted my food like a week ago." His cousin kneeled, scratching the Fire-type under its chin. "Told her she'd have to come with me if she wanted more, so she did. That talkin' tip of yours really works." The houndour put her left front paw in Evan's hand, and he started massaging it.

"Most Pokémon are pretty smart. Probably way smarter than most adults give them credit for." Max also gave the canine a quick scratch on her back, feeling less sinewy muscle than in Danny's. He checked the paw pad that was visible, seeing less calloused skin. "Might have a younger one here."

"How you figure that?" Evan wondered, and Max told him about what he'd just noticed. "Damn. Just from tiny details? And you don't even have a houndour yourself."

The canine let go, walking back to the others, where she started snapping at the poochyena after a short while. Playfully, Max figured. "It's just a guess, but an educated one. I have seen a lot of Pokémon, you know. Close to five years of travelling."

"No wonder you're so good," Evan said as he nudged Max knowingly. "I bet you could do better with my Pokémon than I could."

"Don't underestimate familiarity. I don't know anything beyond the bare basics about the style you've been practising. I can guess at the direction," Max said as he checked out the arrayed Dark-types. "But that's just going off what I know of the Pokémon in general, not specifically. Individual Pokémon differ." He cast a look at Evan, who looked fairly confused. "C'mon, sit down."

His cousin did so, and all of his four-legged Pokémon gathered around his feet, while the flying Pokémon settled down to the side. The skunky's ability to keep its stench under control was pretty good: Max remembered Evan half-complaining about that.

Only half, because he knew the teenager liked fart jokes as much as any boy did.

Max sent out swinub, who looked surprised to be sent out, but was soon lured in by the appeal of fingers running through fur. "All swinub are Ice-types, but that doesn't mean every one of them is good at the same thing. This one's good at doing things up close, but others are better at the long-ranged style. Doesn't mean he can't use Icy Wind, but it's not as effective." A short pause, and Evan seemed to still be with him. "Style is also about working with what your Pokémon can do at first."

"I've been trying to work on disrupting opponents. Smog, skunky's stench, poisons from butterfree, shit like that," Evan said. "'That's why I skipped Fuchsia Gym."

Trying to disrupt a Gym based on ninjas. Max smiled widely, as did Evan a moment later. "That's good. Knowing what your weak points can really help you become better. And having others to help you with that is really useful too." Another smile. "So, you ready to get help until after our next Gym?"

~~§~~§~~

It was chaos. Complete and utter chaos, and Danny was trying to cook in the bedlam. Only xatu being almost prescient in stopping the pot from overspilling from where it was hanging had saved him from annoying burn wounds and more of that. "I should blame you for this, Max," he said as the bespectacled boy sat down near him.

"Sure, but why do you think I sent xatu out?" Max returned, and Danny had no real answer to that. "Besides, it's good endurance practice and fun for them."

The fun consisted of a complete train of quadruped Pokémon running around their camp, ducking over and under and through everything except the fire burning underneath the pot, and Danny was pretty sure that his houndour only didn't do that out of respect for the Trainer. Max had suggested that a half-dozen Pokémon do some kind of tag game with the twist that they had to move around everything.

Every single one of them had agreed, and soon, four Dark-types, one more Fire-type, and an Electric-type were here, there, and everywhere in the camp as they tried to tag each other on the nose. Manectric had soon tagged out, being just a bit too big and too fast for the game to be properly fun, but she seemed content at lying around and surveying her kingdom from atop a nearby rock.

"They're having… Fuuuc… oh," Evan said, switching tact as two houndour unbalanced him, and then xatu kept him from dropping onto the ground while he was carrying some wood for the fire for later on that night. They had battles planned for after dinner, so Max had sent Evan out to get it now while he set up cover for the night and Danny cooked. "Won't they be too tired for battles?"

"Battles aren't fair either," Max said sing-song. "But I wanted to focus on tentacool with you, and have Danny deal with this pack here."

"Why do I have a feeling you're using me as a Pokémon sitter?" Danny said, rolling his eyes.

"Because we are?"

"Arceus save me from the extended Maple family," Danny muttered in response to Evan's teasing statement. "I'll give froslass a workout too, then. And swampert."

There was some sound of confusion – Evan – but also one of understanding. "Ice rink?"

"Sled dogs," Danny corrected as he stirred one last time. "And you're doing the rope on the wood."

At least that was something he could foist off. "Eh, can one of you idiots explain?"

Danny gestured in Max's direction as he busied himself with grabbing bowls for the stew, starting with a half dozen. "Swampert puts a thin layer of water over an area, and froslass immediately snap-freezes it with a Blizzard," Max explained. "Makes it into an ice rink. Good for learning to control movement precisely."

"Precisely? If you're sliding fuckin' everywhere?"

"Exactly," Max said, and Danny could imagine the smirk. "You need to not slide everywhere, so you need to be careful."

Evan accepted that, seemingly. "But wh… Oh, shit, there's an Ice stadium in the Indigo League."

"Give him a medal," Danny said as he started ladling food. "Lots of Trainers aren't great when you change the battlefield up like that. Especially if they're your age. And it means you can use it yourself if you catch something that knows Ice Beam. Hey, Max, it's only sneasel and weavile that are both Dark-type and Ice-type, right?"

"Couple of the Water and Dark hybrids can learn Ice Beam too, I think," Max answered, before taking a deep breath and whistling on his fingers. "Dinner's nearly here!"

For all the chaos they had caused, Danny had to repress a hearty laugh when he saw all five of the running Pokémon line up, sitting back on their haunches as they waited for the food to be placed down. "Is it too much to ask everyone to stay put so I can take a picture?" he asked.

His houndour promptly answered by sneezing hard and falling flat on her belly.

The stew was perfect, as Danny knew it was, and for a while, they ate in blessed silence, except for the occasional munch. Even Evan was silent, but from the way Danny saw the teenager's brow furrow in a thinking gesture – surprisingly similar to Max's, somewhere – he knew it wouldn't last.

Evan had the sense to wait until he had finished the food, which still was first of the three humans. "Danny? How did you figure out your style?"

He hadn't expected that question, and to his embarrassment, Danny didn't immediately remember when he'd started doing it like that. The first success, sure, but when he'd first started using it? "Good question," he said, half commending and half asking that of himself. "Let's see. I learned about styles the night after, well… that," he said with a nod to Max, who was wearing his birthday shirt from last year. It still fit, thanks to Danny buying it a bit big and Max's growth spurt being slower than a shuckle in showing up. "But I think that was only me starting to actively think about it."

"Actively think?" Evan echoed. "What now?"

"Tons you do is subconscious. You don't think, you just do," Max chimed in. "Just like breathing."

Danny resisted a groan. He regretted introducing Max to that quote he'd found on the internet. "That's about it," he said, waiting for a moment to figure out his thoughts a bit better. "I think… I think most of it was me, and not my Pokémon." He smiled at Evan. "I didn't have a lot of defensive Pokémon back then."

"Mudkip, snorunt, duskull, gulpin," Max said, listing Danny's first four Pokémon. "They're all pretty pants at doing things slowly, except gulpin maybe."

"It was more about waiting for the right time back then," Danny said, remembering the Gym Battle with Terry. "It's the perfect contrast to Max. He wants to create the right time, I wait for the right time. Or waited, anyway."

"Huh?"

"Styles change, and mine did a lot." Danny put his own bowl down. "You want to know what people hated about me in Kalos?" He waited for the cautious nod. "I used a ton of Hail and Sandstorm to make sure that my opponents couldn't see anything. Froslass and helioptile work better in that weather too. The audience didn't really like it, though."

Evan put a hand on his chin in a thinking pose, and the older teens let him. "Wait. Is that why you're so bloody silent when battling?"

"Nah, that's a side effect from Max and Ash," Danny easily admitted. "Certainly doesn't hurt. Like the ice, a lot of Pokémon rely on their Trainers to assess the situation. Not that that's bad," he added, holding hands up just in case. "But If you're blocking vision everywhere, a bit of trust in your Pokémon goes a long way." He turned left, nodding at the eating Dark-types. "If they're in a thick Smokescreen or Smog, you don't want to give your opponents hints at what you're going to do next, and if our Pokémon can hear us, so can theirs."

"We're looking at this from our perspective," Max added. "So it's going to be different for you. But I don't think there's any Pokémon who's not going to be pleased by planning for things on their own."

"Instinct," Evan said, surprising Danny and Max both. "Pokémon have better instincts."

"Uhuh. And they're also closer to the battle. Something you think is possible might not be because of something you can't see or feel yet. Or they have a better idea."

Evan glanced over at his Pokémon, smiling a bit in a way that surprised Danny slightly. "That was how I got my Earth Badge. Stunky used some move that just puked in the drilbur's face." The skunk strutted over, leaning in for a scratch. "Didn't even bloody know it was a move."

Danny didn't either, but Max had an encyclopedic knowledge of Pokémon and their moves. "Belch, right?" he said, and Danny resolved to look the move up after everything was done. Maybe gulpin could learn it too. "You're going to have to get a diet just for stunky at this rate."

"Why's that?"

"I'll explain after I finish this," Max said, ladling some more stew into his bowl. "I want to eat without discussing farts and belches."

~~§~~§~~

The laboratory's inner sanctum was pretty empty, and in this particular room, there was only the teenager lounging in a comfortable chair, flipping through a research journal.. Most of the ones with clearance had left alongside Gramps for a convention in Olivine about marine Pokémon and how changes in the sea currents could affect them. Some kind of work group that finally finished their work after years of models and research, Gary remembered. It had been put together after two weather events in a short time in the first year or so of his travels.

Then, in the first week after it had started doing actual research, some idiots unleashed groudon and kyogre, making it even more important.

Legendary or Legendary-tier Pokémon were behind all of those events, but when the weather was at the mercy of some very powerful individual Pokémon… Gary definitely could see why the old fogies wanted to do something about that, even if he didn't really care about doing the actual research himself. Practical work was way better than modelling.

It was too important, and basically all the Professors of the Home Regions, and more than a few from abroad too, were there. Work at the Oak Ranch basically shut down for the week, but that suited Gary fine. He could do some ranchsitting and test some stuff with the newly hatched litter of eevee that he strongly suspected umbreon had a part in; not that his Dark-type would ever admit it. Didn't matter either: what his Pokémon got up to when he wasn't looking was all their thing. As long as he didn't have to deal with some destroyed outhouse, it was all good.

An urgent ring echoed through the room, and it took Gary a moment to realise which one it was. Curse Gramps for having over a dozen different sounds to indicate incoming calls, and this was the one he'd only heard one time before.

Typical it was the one he technically wasn't allowed to pick up. Porygon-2 level clearance, and he only had the regular level.

It didn't stop him from answering anyway. He could tell them that Gramps was away at least. "Oak Laboratory, Gary Oak speaking."

"Gary Oak?" came a metallic-sounding voice. Scrambled? He couldn't even tell gender because of that; the voice sounded male, but scramblers could make anyone sound like everything. "Doesn't matter," it added. "There isn't much time. Two Trainers are in danger right now. They cannot be captured. You need to send someone to save them."

Fuck. It was an actual emergency. Prank calls on this were not possible. Gary's mind shot into overdrive, even as he grabbed a pen and paper from nearby. "Who is it? Where are they?"

"Intercepted message. Only known as targets. Near these coordinates," the voice told him, and Gary jotted down the numbers as he heard them. Somewhere between Indigo and Mt. Silver, if he remembered right. "Don't bring Psychic Pokémon. Dangerous."

The call ended, leaving Gary with precious little information, and not enough knowledge to fill in the gaps.

He could extrapolate, at least, and he wrote down shorthand for all the other things with one hand as he waited for the map programme to load fully on the computer.

The location was a bit further south than he had originally thought, but it was close enough. Seventy miles north west from Pallet, about a day west of Carnation. Middle of nowhere, but there weren't any confirmed Legendary sightings near there apart from the zapdos that migrated all over the north of that region.

Not that a call for that would be done to him. There was regular police for that, and it was close to the Indigo Plateau. Bruno was on duty for that this week.

Targets implied someone was trying to capture something, and humans capturing humans meant that there was something like Team Rocket involved. Maybe. Possibly. The warning against Psychic-types didn't make sense – Team Rocket was prone to using lots of Poison-types.

Clarity struck as a thunderbolt, and with a quick swipe across the power button, Gary got up, crumpling the paper up and sticking it in his pocket. He'd get something to incinerate the note at some point, but now, he had to find the one Pokémon that could help him get there fast enough.

Fearow was too slow, and that was the only long-distance flight-capable Pokémon Gary had, so he had to find someone else. Luckily, he knew just who to grab.

The old dragonite might not have been as strong as he once was, but when it came to Pokémon like that, it still meant he could throw down with the best of them. There was a reason thieves didn't even try to come near the Lab, and he was one of the big ones.

He found the Pokémon lounging near one of the ponds, and after a quick exchange of bows – a tradition they'd started when Gary was four – he spoke up. "Need you to fly somewhere with me. Fast, and with hostile Pokémon at the end. You up for it?"

The fiery snort was plenty of answer.

~~§~~§~~

Max left the clearing, a basket slung over his shoulder for the berries he was going to find, and Danny took a look up at the sky, where more and more clouds had started to block some sunlight. Dark ones too. "Let's hope Max is back before the thunderstorm hits."

"Magnemite not good enough for it?" Evan asked.

"Magneton, sure. Magnemite, no." Danny tried to remember the exact process that Electric-types used to channel wild lightning into the ground. "Something to do with voltage reserves. Magnemite can't discharge fast enough, so the capacity just overloads." He shrugged. "It's fine for emergencies, but not for a longer storm, manectric's great. She loves it."

"An Electric-type loving thunderstorms. No shit," Evan shot back, but the smirk revealed that there was no venom in there. For all the rough talk he did – and Danny was still pretty annoyed at it sometimes – Max's cousin was a good person. "Maybe I need to catch one."

"There's no Dark and Electric type, I think."

"There isn't," Evan confirmed. "Bet they're be fucking awesome too if there was."

Danny refrained from pointing out that Evan thought all Dark-types were cool. The attitude reminded him of Sidney, and only knowing how poochyena had come into Evan's hands stopped him from thinking it was the Elite Four member who had left a very lasting impression at some school visit.

That did remind him of something. "Evan?" he said, jolting the teen from his wandering away to a nearby tree. "Weird question, but did Max ever seem strange when around your Dark-types? All three at the same time, maybe?"

"No?" Evan seemed uncertain why Danny asked. "Except when stunky farted on him."

"Anyone would react to that," Danny said drily, ignoring the grin Evan was sporting as he walked back. "If I tell you, can you keep it a secret from him?"

"Du-uuuuh."

Danny motioned towards the grass. "Noticed this in November. There's something he feels around powerful Pokémon. Dark-types, and some Ghost-types. Been trying to figure it out, but kinda fell by the wayside a bit," he started explaining. "Drapion and dusclops trigger it, froslass and houndour don't. It's really weird."

"Aren't gardevoir these amazing Pokémon that bond with their Trainers?" Evan said derisively, scowling for a moment. "Girl in my class wanted one because of that."

"Gardevoir didn't join us until December," Danny pointed out, and he stifled a chuckle at the face Max's cousin made. "It probably has to do with yveltal, but if that's what caused it, what does it do?" Confusion greeted that statement. "Think of it like an allergy to Pokémon fur. It is just annoying and it makes you itch when you touch it, or do you get teary eyes and rashes when you're within twenty feet of even the youngest growlithe?"

The brunet nodded in understanding. "And only strong Pokémon trigger it?"

"Strong Dark-types. It's weirder for Ghosts," Danny clarified. "He reacted to Ash's absol, drapion, and I think Gary Oak's umbreon, too, but he doesn't to my houndour or any of your Dark-types." The sun appeared from behind the clouds, and he looked down to not be blinded. "At least it seems like it's just when he's close to them. Wouldn't want him to freeze for every Dark-type."

"Yeah, that'd suck," Evan said, before he stifled a yawn. "We don't have anything to do, right? I could go for a na-aaap."

The warmth was pretty comfortable, and Danny took a deep breath himself to shake the heat from his mind. "Go ahead," he said, even as Evan yawned hugely. "I'll wake you up in an hour or so."

There was no reply, as the younger boy laid himself down, put his head under his arms, and went to have a nap, falling asleep pretty much instantly. Danny was a bit jealous of that, but even as he thought that, a yawn escaped him, and he shook his head. He needed to stay awake. Now wasn't the time to… fall asle...eeeeeep.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Kanto-Johto uses three security clearance levels. Regular Porygon levels are the most common, utilised for most sensitive information. Porygon-2 is next, required for the upper echelons of various security organisations and politicians holding positions of power while not being in government in particular. Porygon-Z is the last designation, and only a select few individuals possess this access. Additionally, information classified under this cannot be spread under a need-to-know basis. Impeccable service to the nation is required for this clearance, and once done with that service, it is automatically revoked.

Leaking information is punishable with up to thirty years in prison and no chance of parole.

Author's Note: We have reached the start of this very fanfic. Only took 80k words, give or take.

Addendum August 7th: My HDD is currently in the stages of dying, update this week might be delayed.