A/N: … Sooooooo… I guess it's time to get back on this, huh? Hi! I am back with this (messy) story! Also, lemme just say this thing about last chapter:

"Chapter 3 should be up by December of 2018, I'll try really hard to get it done by then!" And now it's MOTHER#$%&ING 2020! I am SO good at keeping track of things… *golf claps in the distance*.

I can only blame this on college. And D&D. And Critical Role. And travels. And my ridiculous talent that allows me to forget things (sometimes very important things). Also, whoever read the original chapters of the story will notice that I changed the name of one of the original characters! I decided to change the name because I felt like it sounded a bit weird as an english name, while it doesn't sound weird here in Brasil, so I changed it. It won't affect anything in the story, though. If you didn't read the chapters, then feel free to ignore all this LOL!

But now it's all over! This chapter is finally ready! So get yourselves a drink (and for you minors, the drinks can't be alcoholic! That's the first time I said that and I already regret it lmao), and please enjoy this!

Chapter 3

The Void of One's Heart

Part 1: Fear of the Dark

Kanto, Cerulean City, 3 months before Gary's and Isa's battle, 21:49 pm

That night was rather chilly on Cerulean, especially now with such few people on the streets so late. From time to time, Hoot-Hoots and Notcowl's could be heard through the faint breeze of the night, and the city's lights barely illuminated enough for the people who were still outside.

As the clock hit 10 pm, the city's streets were suddenly empty, and no more sound could be heard from the outside, only the distant sounds of the pokémon that were active by night.

But then, a girl came out of the Poké Mart. There was a pink pokémon beside her, with very small wings on its back, very large ears that were tinted in a dark brown on their ends and a tail that curled on itself several times. Both the girl and the pokémon were carrying several bags from their purchases at the store. As they walked beside a city lamp, the light revealed her straight black hair that reached just below her shoulders, as well as her rather gentle looking grey eyes. She was very short, and was probably very young too. She wore very simple clothes, just regular jeans and a white-and-red striped t-shirt that would look like it was pink from afar. A necklace was tied around her neck, a very pretty pendant was on it, and it resembled a star that seemed like it was turning into a blooming flower. Surprisingly, she wore running shoes, that were… very colorful, like a rainbow was powdered on them.

They quickly made their way to the Pokémon Center, which was one of the few places that's open 24/7. She quickly greeted the nurse at the counter with a warm smile and made her way upstairs to her room.

From the Pokémon Center, on the second floor, where the rooms were, a boy sat on the bed. Strangely, as far away from the window as possible, even though it was covered by curtains. What was even weirder: the lights were off. Though it was dark, anyone else that could be in the room would be able to listen to his fingers tapping rhythmically on the nightstand besides the bed. Aside from that, he made no other sound or movement.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened, and whoever entered the room turned on the lights.

The same girl with the Clefable stood in the room, smiling at the boy sitting on the bed, the light revealing his appearance. His deep green eyes seemed to penetrate the souls of whoever he would be talking to. His short light brown hair was trimmed nicely. As he stood up, helping his friend get the bags she brought to a corner in the room, he revealed himself to be just a tad bit taller than her, by barely an inch. His white t-shirt had many letters on the front, but no specific words could be discerned from them, but if one tried… He wore cargo pants, completely black, and what seemed like skateboarding sneakers. On a chair beside the bed, there was a black hoodie, with what seemed like the a white cracked skull on the back.

"Hey! I'm sorry for taking so long. But I didn't know we would only arrive here before sunset." She said, her voice carrying what could only be described as an innocent breeze.

"It's not a problem. That gave me time to get my thoughts flowing, And you know I'd help you today had it not been night." The boy answered

She smiled sweetly, but then the smiled faded, a rather gloomy expression taking its place. "We're gonna fix your problem someday, I know that."

The boy averted his look from her to the window. "It's good to see that you still believe that, even after 4 years like this."

She put an arm on his shoulder, which made him look her in the eyes again. "Of course I believe it! You're my friend, and I want you to be on your best condition at all times. Never forget that, Alphonse."

He smiled lightly, "Erin, I don't deserve you." he said. "But anyways, what did you get for us today?"

"I was lucky enough that I found some sweets for us today, and I also got us some burgers, and yours has pepper and extra cheddar cheese, just the way you like!" She placed their food on a small table close to the door while he finished getting everything else organized.

"Thanks Erin." And they started to eat. After sometime, Alphonse had already finished his meal, while Erin was still halfway through hers. He looked at the window again, as if he was expecting something.

"Did you see it?" His voice carried a hint of sadness this time.

"See what?" She said. Though she knew what he was talking about, she still didn't want to talk about it. If only he could at least forget about it for just 5 minutes…

"You know what I'm talking about, Erin." He paused, as if waiting for a reaction. But she remained quiet and eating her burger. "Did you see the moon?"

The moon.

Why would he ask something like that?

"Yes, I did." She said, putting down her burger for a while, and looking deep into her friend's eyes. "It's really pretty tonight, shining very brightly…" She smiled lightly, expecting him to drop the subject.

He looked at the window again. "What does it look like today? Is it full?"

"No, it's a crescent today, a waning crescent."

He looked at her again. "I wish I could see it again without having to worry about anything." He smiled, though his smiled carried sadness. "But it's been years since I've been trying, and nothing works."

She finished her meal, and then she grabbed his hand that was resting on the table, and looked deep into his eyes again. He blushed visibly. She was a bit closer than he was used to, so he looked to the side as to not look directly in her eyes.

As he looked to the side, realization dawned on him, because of the one thing he laid his eyes upon: the bed. There was only one bed.

His face burned from the blush as he looked back at Erin, who was still oblivious to the "bed problem".

"We're gonna find a way, Al, I know it! You just have to trust in yourself, and believe that you'll be brought back to normal!"

He smiled at her again. I really don't deserve her…

"I still don't trust myself for this, but I trust you." He closed his eyes as he said this, which was good for Erin, that way he would see the blush on her face. "As long as you help me through this, I know we'll find a way." He then stood up, his t-shirt flowing a bit, but just enough to show a tattoo on his belly.

A Celebi tattoo.

"You can take the bed, I'll just sleep on the floor today."

"But Alphonse, there are two beds in here, we coul-" As she said this, she looked at where the supposed 'two beds' were, except there was only one, but a very big one. She averted her gaze from the bed and her friend, her hands on her cheeks as she did so to try and cool them off. "Well… The bed is big enough for the two of us… You can take one side and I'll take the other."

Not speaking to each other any further, they simply took off their shoes, Erin's Celebi tattoo on her right foot being revealed, and they got on the bed, feeling overly conscious about their current situation.

"Hey Al, look at the bright side." She said.

He made a confused noise in response. There is no bright side…

"At least you're not a werewolf. That would be even more complicated for us." She just laughed it out, as if nothing was wrong in the first place.

Okay, so maybe there is a bright side to this. He smiled at her, but then remembered something else, that was even more important than his situation.

"Remember that story my brother told us some weeks ago?"

"Which one? He tells a lot of stories."

"The one about his Gothitelle's vision, and how our destinies as Children of Celebi will be revealed." He continued. "I think we're getting there."

"What makes you think that? I mean, I know he said it would be this year, but I didn't receive any kind of sign from Celebi."

He looked at the ceiling. "Me neither. But I completed my training, Erin." He said. "Just as Sonya and Bernard did. And you know what that means."

Her face seemed suddenly grim, and it was really strange considering she used to be so cheerful. "What are we-" she paused, as if not wanting to think about this topic. "What are we gonna face in the future? Also… Bernard? HE IS READY?! Even after all this time without meeting any of us except you and Sonya?"

Alphonse laughed "Oh, believe me; he is ready. And take my word for it: he is very powerful, and one of his pokémon might be the strongest in the world. And Sonya, as we all know, trained the strongest team we ever witnessed, and back then, when we all first saw all of her pokémon in action, she wasn't nearly half as powerful as she is now."

She gasped. It's really happening… "But what about you? I mean, I know you're the Dark Type Master, but your team isn't as strong as Sonya's and your strongest pokémon is probably not as strong as Bernard's strongest pokémon. How do you even know that you're ready?"

"You know why."

Yes, she knew why.

"Because you are the absolute all-rounder. There's nothing any of your pokémon can't do. They can heal, attack with physical moves or special moves simultaneously, render their opponents completely powerless with status moves and they can fight multiple opponents as if they are just one." She said. "But you could do all that before, how is now any different?"

He laughed again, closing his eyes to try and get some sleep. "You'll see, I think."

Part 2: Where do we go now?

Sinnoh, Canalave City, Present time

The four teens had made their way back to Canalave after their battle, though Gary was at awe and Dawn was still confused. But Heinrich and Isa were chatting happily, as if nothing had happened.

"What should we get to eat? This challenge made me hungry!" She said.

"Well I don't really care." Heinz said. "Though I would prefer if it isn't something expensive. I'm saving money for Full Restores."

She turned to him. "You're still on that? I thought you had quit it!"

"I can't quit, and he would never forget about our bet and would never let me forget that I lost."

"Oh come on, Alex only has, like, half of his brain cells still functioning, you shouldn't take it so seriously!"

"Of course I should! That was the most embarrassing moment of my life."

She giggled a bit, remembering what happened. "Well, at least your glasses were still on you. Sadly the same can't be said about what happened to your clothes…" Then she laughed harder, getting an annoyed sigh from her tall friend as a response.

From a few feet behind them, Gary and Dawn walked mostly silently, and quietly watching their new… friends? Could they be called their friends right now?

"It's weird." Dawn said. "Just watching them talk and laugh together almost makes them look like they're normal."

"Yeah, if you're not counting the unrivaled battle skill, super powerful pokémon and slightly big ego, then they're pretty much the same as we are." Gary said sarcastically, making Dawn giggle a bit. "And I wonder where their fellow Reborns might be right now."

He looked at the two in front of them again, trying to imagine what it would be like if all 18 Reborns were already reunited, and thinking that maybe it's someone they know. "Do you think Red is one of them?"

She turned to him. "I don't know. He is one of the best trainers in the world, but I'm not sure if he could be one of the Reborns. I mean, he is a well-known trainer, and most people have never even heard of the Reborns. I think it's highly improbable that he would be one of them."

He sighed. "I kinda wish he was though, it would make our job a bit easier, because we could just go to Mt. Silver and ask him to join us."

"Too bad we're so far from there right now."

Heinz and Isa stopped to let the others catch up to them. Heinz then spoke up.

"Alright guys, here's some stuff you might need to know." He adjusted his glasses then continued. "First of all, we have no goddamned idea where most of the other Reborns are." This got a slightly annoyed sigh from Gary and Dawn. "But we do know that we could be anywhere, which means there might be one of us here in Sinnoh, and there is definitely someone out in the other regions. The one Reborn that we know the location of is on Kalos, a place that is, quite frankly, very far from here."

"And who would that be?" Dawn asked.

"William Kenson." Isa said. "He is not just the oldest of us, as in he is also one of the strongest, and he is the fighting type master. He has been living in Kalos for a while, because he already traveled the world and experienced everything the world could provide him, so he decided to settle down. I have no idea of what he's been doing there though. He tries to contact us from time to time, but he hasn't joined most of our meetings in a very long time. When we were in Kalos we tried to contact him, but we had no luck. It's like he didn't want to be found, even by us."

Ash is in Kalos… Gary thought, remembering they might have a chance to locate one of them. "We have people in Kalos, they might be able to find this guy."

"Excellent! That's one less problem to deal with. But there are 15 others we have to locate." Heinz said.

"And we also have people in Hoenn that have already agreed to help us. So we're covering three regions as of now."

The Reborns looked at each other. "I see you guys have been planning a bit for this, right?" Isa said. "But who's in Hoenn, though?"

Hoenn, Lilycove City, During the Dawn's and Gary's Challenge

May waited outside of the Lilycove Contest Hall for Drew. He had gone in and has been there for a while, after saying he had some stuff to organize for the next Contest Season, of which he would be a judge this time around so he had to get some paperwork done since he was in town. They had just gone through a rather long time shopping and she was starting to get a bit annoyed since he was taking longer than expected (and she was hungry), so she decided to get inside.

As expected, the hall was pretty much empty, since this year's season hadn't started yet. Scanning around the huge interior, the pink and brown floor accentuated shiny walls that was filled with pictures of coordinators with their winning pokémon from past contests.

She planned to participate in the next season along with Dawn and Serena, who would be making her coordinator debut this season, and Cilan, who would also be debuting this season. But lately she just hasn't been getting good enough ideas for the contests. She knew she would be likely entering all categories this year, but she didn't know what to do for each of them this time around.

As she scanned the room, she noticed he was nowhere in sight, so he was probably with the other judges inside the administration room, so she decided to take a seat and wait. Since the place was mostly empty, anyone would stand out while inside.

But she would stand out anyway if it was the other way around; bright blue clothes with matching bandana, that went really well with her brown hair and blue eyes(A/N: Yes, that's supposed to resemble Sapphire's appearance from the Manga: Pokémon Adventures/Pokémon Special, on the Emerald Chapter!), and also the fact that she was May Maple, one of the best coordinators out there, as well as one of the most famous, so she wasn't surprised when the few people that were inside noticed her and asked for autographs and pictures. She didn't mind it at all, even though she wasn't in the mood for this.

After this, she took out her cell phone and checked the texts: 1 from Dawn (very long), 1 from Ash (a picture, probably another dumb meme that she would never admit to anyone that she actually enjoyed), some texts from her brother Max (he was probably asking for tips again since he had recently become a Pokémon Trainer) and several texts from the group chats.

She quickly skimmed through the group chats, skipping whatever she felt was dumb or useless, replied to her brother (No, you shouldn't try to beat dad without getting at least 4 gym badges), muffled her giggles upon seeing Ash's meme and then read Dawn's text.

That was a bit… different.

That makes a surprising amount of sense though… She thought, remembering how the tide around Mossdeep had remained very high for a week, and then it would be low for another week and so on, while the tides around the other parts of Hoenn had been changing accordingly. She also remembered that ex-champions Steven and Wallace had put them on standby for any kind of situation that could involve the League. And since Dawn and Gary were put on standby for Cynthia and Lance respectively, it seemed plausible that May and Drew were now… on a mission? A quest? And what's this talk about super powerful trainers? She was a bit confused, even though Dawn's instructions were very clear about the whole "situation".

As she tried to make more sense out of all this, she noticed Drew approaching her. He was wearing a red t-shirt underneath a black button-up shirt and jeans. He looked a bit too colorful, and he had green hair to top it off, so he kinda looked like he had come out of an anime of some sort.

"Sorry for the delay" He said as he sat beside her, put his arm around her as he did so. "There was more paperwork than I thought, and Mr. Juan kept asking me questions all the time."

She smiled. "It's okay, but next time just do everything faster, because today we have lots to do. Also I'm hungry."

He laughed nervously. The phrase "I'm hungry" could mean "you'll be in for a lot of pain if we don't get something to eat in 10 minutes", so it still made in a bit uneasy even after almost two years of dating. "Okay, where do you wanna go? I'm also a bit hungry."

"Anything will do, really." she said as she stood up and took him by the hand, leading him out of the Contest Hall. "How about Emporio?" she pointed to a nearby cafe.

"That's a good idea. But really, I'm in the mood for a good beer today so I suggest 'The Laughing Salamence'." he said, grinning a bit.

"Let me guess: Juan made you bored out of your mind again."

"That pretty much sums it up, yeah." He laughed a bit. She simply rolled her eyes.

"I would totally go there, but it's in the other side of the city." she said. "It may be good beer but It's pretty far from where we are right now."

He looked to the side as she talked. "Then how about Lana's Diner? It's like a five-minute walk from here, the food is good, and they have those delicious smoothies."

She smiled brightly. "Well, I think I know exactly where we're going now!" They made their way there.

Upon arriving, they were surprised to find the place to not be as crowded as it normally is. But then they remembered that it was about 3 pm, a bit too early. There were just about six tables with people talking, drinking and eating.

As they got themselves a table and made their orders, May told him about Dawn's text.

"Are you for real?" He said. "This sounds pretty damn crazy…"

"I know! But it can make sense though. The tides around Mossdeep, Mt. Chimney going active again, all the pokémon behaving strangely… Things have been weird."

"Yeah I guess you're right." He played with his fork a bit, looking around the diner. "But what about these trainers, though? I never heard of this kind of stuff."

"Me neither. But what if it's for real? What if there really are super powerful trainers out there with Celebi tattoos and that can actually defeat Champion level trainers with ease?"

"If it's real, then cool!" He said. "They exist, and that's it. If it's not real, then cool as well. I mean, I don't think they could have made such an impact on these past years. I mean, it sounds too… fantastic to be real."

"Yeah that makes sense." She said. "But think about it. Steven wouldn't have put us on League standby if he and the others weren't expecting something serious. And we were not the only ones he put on standby. Wally was also called, and Brendan is the Champion, so he is automatically involved, I think."

Slowly, he realized. "All the people who received the standby notice are experienced and well known trainers… We are both top coordinators, Wally has some of the best records on the Hoenn Battle Frontier and is Top 1 on the Battle Tower right now, Brendan is the Champion… We're all people who have a certain amount of accomplishments."

"Yeah! And there's also Ash who was chosen by Lance, along with Gary. Dawn was chosen by Cynthia and Serena was called by Diantha. All of us have several achievements as trainers and coordinators. Since the beginning, they were assembling a team, because they knew the situation could become complicated or even dangerous."

They fell silent for a moment, only getting out a 'thank you' as a waiter brought their orders. They ate in silence, just letting everything sink in.

"So…" he started "Where do we start?"

"Well, we're in Lilycove! It's a big city and attracts a lot of tourists from all around. So I think we're in the perfect place to start."

"Sounds good. But what about the challenge?"

She took a sip of her smoothie, thinking of how to answer. "That… I'm not sure. As far as I understood it could be anything."

"So not necessarily a battle… That gives us a better chance, I think. Or maybe it makes things even more difficult."

She looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"A non-battle challenge may be even harder because it could be something completely random, like arm-wrestling, a race or some kind of game. So it depends on the kind of challenge. A battle requires skill and luck from us, while any other kind of challenge would, pretty much, only require luck, and there's a reason you can't trust luck."

After they finished their meals, they paid for them and left the establishment. As they walked through the streets, she took her phone. "I'm gonna call Wally. Maybe he knows something about it already since he's always traveling around Hoenn."

"Good call."

She quickly dialed Wally's number. After sometime, she could hear his ever gentle voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Wally! It's May. How've been?"

"Oh I'm fine! You?"

"Doing great!" She said. "I actually wanted to ask you a question."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Have you heard anything about some legend of Celebi and trainers and that kinda stuff?"

"I did! I'm actually headed to Littleroot right now. I got a call from Brendan telling me to meet him there at his father's laboratory. He knows the full background that Steven told him and will tell me and his father about it. Do you know about it as well?"

"Yes, Dawn just told me. I guess we're in for a lot of work, huh?"

"Unfortunately." He laughed. "But we were put on standby for a reason, so I guess we shouldn't complain. But since something will begin, then I guess I'll see you soon!"

"That's right! Nice talking to you Wally, I'll see you next time. Bye!"

"Bye, May! And good luck!"

She put her phone back in her pocket. "He says he'll be joining us soon and that he'll meet Brendan on Littleroot."

"That's good." Drew said. "So where should we start here in Lilycove then?"

"How about the department store?"

"Sounds good. Let's go!"

Part 3: Littleroot Town

Hoenn, Littleroot Town

Upon arriving in town, Wally stretched his arms. "Oh, boy. It's been a while since I've been here…" he thought to himself as he walked through the small town, the wind rustling his white button-up shirt and making his necklace go everywhere around his neck. "I wonder what Professor Birch's been up to these days."

He quickly made his way over do Birch's Laboratory. It's a very big house, a-kin to Oak's Lab, but a bit more modest in appearance, especially because this one doesn't have a big windmill AND a small farm in the back.

He noticed they were already expecting his arrival, seeing as he knocked on the door and it opened almost immediately after he knocked, one of Birch's aides standing in front of him, holding the doorknob.

"Welcome, Wally! The professor and his son are waiting for you. They are at the professor's office."

"Oh, uh- thanks!" he said quickly before making his way over to said office, passing through a lot of the aides in front of the computers, seeing some familiar faces here and there. He's been there plenty of times, just enough to know not to bother those working. As he stood in front of the door, he could hear some conversation happening behind it, but it was muffled to the point he could hear them but not understand them.

He opened the door, the view of his friend and the professor gracing him pleasantly. "I'm sorry for the delay." he said.

"As if that would be a problem." Brendan said. As always, he wore that really weird white hat of his, that was so fluffy it confused people into thinking it was his hair, as well as a black and red sports shirt, along with shorts and sneakers, all on that same color pallette (A/N: Again, like it was done with May, this is a reference to Pokémon Special, in this case, Ruby's clothing on the Emerald chapter.). His red eyes, normally so intense that seemed to pierce the soul of whoever he was talking to, were now calmer, as was his smile. "But come on, we got some stuff to talk about." he said as he approached Wally, sharing with him a handshake.

The two teens sat down in front of the table in the middle of the room, the professor sat on his chair while they sat on two chairs on the other side of Birch. The professor shared a handshake with the boy who had just recently arrived. "Long time no see, Wally! Do we really need to have these meetings on potentially grave situations most of the time?" he joked a bit, getting a short snicker from them. "Well, seeing as we're all here, we should start this. And don't forget to tell May and Drew about this meeting. Now, Brendan, what it that you have to tell us?"

And so, he began to relay every bit of information Steven Stone, the ex-champion and current executive admin of the Hoenn League, had told him about the Reborns.

Needless to say, the professor was rather thrilled. "I have to be honest, boys, I was not expecting this. I mean, these weird climate events were already pretty sketchy, but having them being caused by interdimensional distortions? That is definitely a first for me." he said, smiling at the opportunity of working on something that was quite possibly going to be pretty big. "And the Reborn Children of Celebi too… I thought this was a myth, because there is no solid evidence pointing to their existence in the past or present, only very remote rumors. But seeing as Cynthia Celestic actually battled one, I guess I should probably put some faith into this 'myth' now."

Brendan was quite surprised to see his dad was quick to accept all the information. "Good, that's good, but the thing is that we don't know where to start."

"Well, then it's a good thing you said that Brendan, because I know where we shouldn't start: Lilycove City." Wally said.

"... The reason for that being?"

"May and Drew are already there, and they're already searching for the Reborns. She called me just before I arrived in town, and she told me Dawn told her about the recent news."

As the green haired boy talked, Brendan couldn't help but avert his eyes from him the moment he mentioned May. "Cool." he said, but not quite as an answer to Wally. "Then we go to Mauville or Rustboro. They're big cities, so the chances of them being there are higher, though the search will be more difficult."

"Could I suggest you start at Slateport, then?" Said Brendan's father. "It's also a big city, but its urban area is not as crowded as Rustboro's or Mauville's, and its port is mainly used for cargo ships instead of cruisers, so I think it would be preferred for people who don't want to draw too much attention for themselves, such as a Reborn."

The boys smiled at the professor's suggestion, and Brendan, voicing their contempt, said "That might just work, dad. Thanks!"

"Oh you're welcome!"

As the professor apologized, a knock on the door was heard.

"Who is that?" asked the professor.

From behind the door, a voice, deep but serene, answered calmly.

"It's Mike! Today's reports are all done! Could I enter so I can leave them in your hands?"

"Sure thing, Mike!" said the professor, as he turned to Wally and Brendan "You guys don't mind, right?"

"Not at all, it's how things work around here, after all!" said Wally.

The door opened to a man in a lab coat, a black shirt underneath it (poor guy was probably close to dying from the heat), very dark jeans and boots. His skin was very pale, contrasting with his very dark (almost black) brown eyes, with simple glasses decorating them. The short hair was very well trimmed, not a single strand of his black hair out of place.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, professor, and sorry for the delay on the reports. Jay messed up the file he was working on so he had to start again, and Victoria had to take an emergency call from her family so she had to pause her work, but everything is here now, all printed and properly put into binders." he said, a bit embarrassed for handing in the work late "by the way, Brendan, Wally, good to see you guys again! I couldn't talk to you earlier when you arrived because of, well… this." He lifted the papers close to his face, smiling lightly, getting a short giggle from Wally and a reciprocated smile from Brendan. He then walked towards the professor's desk to leave the file with him.

As soon as he left the file with the professor, he turned around rather briskly, and a 'thud' sound was heard, as if something had fallen to the floor.

They all turned to the source of the sound, finding it beneath Mike.

Something that resembled a pen.

"Oh no!" Mike immediately went to pick it up "I hope it's not broken…"

"Oh, what's this, Mike? One of your new experiments?" asked the professor. Mike had a certain reputation in the lab for creating new equipment for the lab. He had created things like portable chargers for everybody's phones that could charge a phone up to 15 times, several calculation programs to make most of the research quicker, and surprisingly, a coffee machine that managed to only break twice. "I hope it's not another 'alarm clock' situation" There was also that time when he tried making an alarm clock that looked like a mini Electrode, making a very loud explosion sound. But it ended up backfiring, since it ended up working exactly like an Electrode.

"I swear this is never gonna happen again." he said. "But yes, this is one of my prototypes. It's a pen, and I know it looks underwhelming, but it's actually pretty neat. You can use either side of this pen, but it doesn't use as much ink as a normal pen: it works like a laser printer, but a lot smaller, and I used heat insulating material to make it so it doesn't burn you when you use it, but it's still a prototype, and by that I mean that I'm still having problems with the heat output, that is still too much in my opinion, and I'm having difficulties finding a better material for the heat, because this one is good, but not good enough."

Brendan didn't understand much of what the lab aide had just said, but Wally seemed to like it, seeing as he looked at the pen as if he wanted to try it out.

"Interesting, Mike. Seems like you've been really invested on your personal projects these days." said the professor.

"Only on my free time, professor, but it's been fun." He smiled.

"Hey, how do you make it work? Your pen, I mean." Wally said.

"Well, it's simple." He got closer to them, so he would be between Wally and Brendan and in front of the professor so they all could see. "You just press this button in the middle and it starts." he pressed said button, and thus, both sides of the pen ignited a bit, but not enough to start smoking, but probably just enough to write something down. "And to turn it off, you just press the button again." He then pressed the button again.

But it didn't turn off.

As the button was pressed, two sparks, one from each end of the pen, shot in the directions of Brendan and Wally, so quick no one could react.

As the sparks hit them, they started to tremble violently, the professor and his aide freaking out before both boys fell unconscious on their chairs.

"Oh no, Mike! What did you do?! Are they gonna be okay?"

The aide just looked at the pen, then pocketed it, drawing a strange glance from the professor.

"Mike? What's wrong?"

The man took a pokéball from one of his pockets. From it, he released an enormous blue pokémon, clearly a dragon type. The red wings and menacing look were a dead give away on its identity: Salamence.

Mike smiled at the professor, but unlike before this smile lacked any warmth. "Nothing's wrong, Professor Birch. In fact…" he checked the pulses of both unconscious teens in the room "everything is absolutely splendid." he said as he noticed both were still breathing.

The professor carefully read the room, and he knew the type of situation he was in. "Who are you?"

The smile faded from Mike. "It's me professor. Mike." as he answered, he started to take of his lab coat, also throwing away his glasses in the process. The black long-sleeved shirt he was wearing had a very large 'V' in the middle, in the color white. "Or, as my real colleagues and friends call me…" from his lab coat, somehow, he took a black leather jacket and a military hat "Captain Michael Wyvern, of Team Void. And I am here do business with you, professor, and as you might have noticed, I already have the upperhand in our soon-to-be negotiations." he motioned to the unconscious bodies lying on the chairs.

"I can guarantee that will not harm them if you, at least, listen to what I say, though I do believe that you do not have much of a choice right now."

Birch knew this situation was nearly impossible to get out of. Brendan and his best friend Wally, both extremely talented and skilled trainers, passed out. The betrayal of one of his best assistants in the lab. The traitor's Salamence looking at both the passed out teenagers and the professor with a look that literally spelled murder, and conveniently standing between him and the only exit from the room. He also realised trying to reach for his phone or shout out so someone else could hear him were options out of the table as they could put both his life and his son and Wally's life at an even greater risk.

This is really bad. He thought "What do want, Mike?" he said his 'name' with such scorn that the Salamence growled a bit.

"Easy, Salamence. He didn't do anything yet." Michael said. "I know that you have information about the distortions that have been happening throughout the regions. And before you asked how I knew about this information, yes: I do have ears in this filthy room of yours during all working hours." As he said this, he took one of the pens on the professor's desk in his hands. "You have to be creative when spying on someone."

The professor was astonished. Apparently, Michael thought about everything so he'd get exactly what he wanted from this encounter.

"What do you know about them?"

"Team Void caused them." He answered simply. "You can consider them tests, if you will. It's a fairly new technology, and our scientists are still getting to know it better, and so far, the results have been… acceptable."

"Acceptable?!" the professor said. "Thousands of people died on Pewter City's earthquake, a lot more were injured! And the tornado on Cianwood left people completely miserable! These were disasters!"

"I am well aware of that, professor." said the spy "What I mean by 'acceptable results' is that they all reached our minimum expectations: chaos and destruction. And these tests also served as a major distraction for us, seeing as basically nobody knows about us, and we have kept things these way smoothly by taking control of news platforms and popular media so nothing gets traced back to us."

"I see you've been very cautious up until now, Michael, because you just told me everything, and once I get out of here, you're gonna get screwed!"

Michael chose to remain silent, simply watching the raging professor with a stoic expression. "And what makes you think you're getting out of here, professor? I mean, I have the upper hand in every situation possible. I have calculated it. Your chances of success here are zero, especially with Brendan and Wally out of the way. I know I'm not a good enough trainer to stand up to Wally, the guy who broke several records at Battle Frontier, so I'm automatically no match for Brendan, who's the Champion of the Hoenn League. Making sure they were out of the picture at the same time was the hardest part of this plan of mine. May and Drew being out of town, though, I have to admit that was a surprise, but a very good one."

He was right. He had the upper hand.

"So, professor Birch, let me make things simple. You either come with me peacefully and I don't do anything to these two, or I'll simply have my Salamence make them his lunch. And I should warn you, he likes his food deep fried" Michael said, the stoic expression still strong, sending chills through the professor's body, shaking him with fear.

"Why me?"

"There's been rumors about a certain project shared amongst the most accomplished professors throughout the regions. If I remember correctly, it's something called 'Project REBOOT', or something along these lines."

As soon as he said it, the professor froze. This is a secret project! How could he possibly know about this if only me and the other profe-

And that's when he realised.

"Who did you capture? Oak? Juniper? Sycamore?"

"None of those. And I didn't do anything. I've been here for months planning this meeting of ours." Michael said. "We have Professor Elm under our custody, courtesy of one of my colleagues. She might have done the job faster than I did, but she did have to basically silence the entirety of New Bark Town in the process as to not have any witnesses. She always says 'the best ways to have no witnesses is to simply kill everyone'. She's such a barbarian sometimes."

Everyone in New Bark Town is dead and Elm is missing… What the hell?

"But enough talking about me and my allies, professor. What is Project REBOOT?"

"You'll never know. I'm not telling you shit!"

As soon as the professor said that, Salamence opened his mouth, flames beginning to burn inside it as he aimed at Brendan.

"Should I remind you of your situation, professor?"

Birch looked at the Salamence, then at Michael. He stood up walked right up to him. "Go to hell, you son of a bitch!" He then spat on his face.

With his eyes closed, Michael carefully cleaned his face. "How disappointing. I was being very considerate of your situation, professor, and that's how you repay me? With your simpleton saliva? Honestly, I should have just done this from the beginning." He then whistled, and his pokémon put out the flames in his mouth. "Leave the boys, Salamence." He said as he looked at the professor. "Burn him instead."

"What?!"

Salamence instantly released a flamethrower at the professor, making him crash against the wall behind him, the intense flurry of flames pinning him to the wall and burning him as he screamed helplessly.

But slowly, the screams began to die out, until suddenly the only sound that could be heard were the flames engulfing the now completely charred body of professor Birch.

"I will be a gentleman and leave your son and his friend alive, Birch. Sadly, I planned all of this too well to guarantee the same to the rest of the crew here in the lab and the townsfolk."

The door opened behind him, a woman coming through it, several bloodstains on her lab coat and blond hair. She carried a large knife in her right hand and from behind her, a Weavile walked in, its claws covered with blood.

"I waited for the signal, Captain. The signal being Birch screaming in pain because of the flames. I thought this was supposed to be a kidnapping mission, not an assassination."

"There's been a change of plans, Lieutenant Victoria. By the way, how was 'family business'?"

"The squads are already silently eliminating the townsfolk, sir. We'll be clear for extraction in minutes."

"Excellent work, Lieutenant. Also, we've got bigger fish to catch."

"What do you mean by that, sir?"

"Something I caught them talking about before entering the office. Something about… super powerful trainers. Reborn Children of Celebi, if I recall correctly. Have you heard of anything like this before?"

"No, sir. As lost as you are." she said. "Should we contact the Grand General about it?"

He looked at Brendan and Wally, then at the now dead body of Birch on the ground. "No, not yet. I have a better idea." He returned his Salamence to his pokéball, activating another of his pokéballs, a Beheeyem coming out of it. "Lt. Victoria, we have about two hours before they wake up. I want this entire town clean in one hour. We'll do 'Operation Substitute', but…" he looked at his pokémon. "A little bit different than how we usually do it."

"As you wish, sir." With that, she recalled her Weavile and left the place, leaving the Captain alone.

"Beheeyem, rewrite their recent memories exactly as I tell you to." he said, the pokémon making beeping sounds in response as it approached the boys, its eyes and fingertips shining brightly as it started to concentrated its psychic powers. Michael turned to look at the boys again. "I am so terribly sorry. But as long as I am alive, you won't know what really happened today." He then turned back to Beheeyem and started giving it instructions for the memory change.

A/N: Chapter 3 was one heck of a ride for me to write. The most FRUSTRATINGLY AGONIZING Writer's Block I faced so far. But at least I got through it. Anyways I really hope you guys enjoyed this (and yes, I know part 1 on this chapter is kind of outta nowhere but FIGHT ME, I did this for reasons XD).

Random Question: If you had to pick one of the following sexualities (you read that right), which would you choose to be for the rest of your life?

a) Jake Peralta (Brooklyn 99)

b) Jade West (Victorious)

c) Danny Devito (no, for real tho, him)

d) Lando Calrissian (specifically the one from the Han Solo movie)

e) All of the above, but with a bit of Bakugou Katsuki (My Hero Academia) on the side

f) Other (surprise me)

Well anyways, thanks for reading this, and I'll hopefully see you (not literally) next chapter!

StZushi out!