Warning: This chapter includes a very graphic, gory murder scene. Viewers under the age of 16 should not read unless they want violent nightmares. I'm serious. Unless you like graphic violence, then turn to the next chapter, or two chapters after this because the next chapter also includes some graphic violence at the beginning.

After resting up in the house, I set out towards the forest. The sign stated that the forest was called Eterna Forest which connected Route 205 to Eterna City. According to the map, the next gym was located there. Not waiting another second, I bravely marched into the forest.

It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark forest. The trees overhead were dense, allowing only a bit of light to enter. The grass was lush green and the smell of evergreen filled my nostrils and birds chirped softly in the quiet environment. I was reminded strongly of home and I felt homesick.

Suddenly, a girl ran up to me looking worried.

"Hi, um, my name is Cheryl. And you are…?"

"Oh, hi. My name is Vincent, but you can call me Vinny."

"Ok, Vinny. I'm sincerely glad to meet you. Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Uh, sure. What do ya need?"

"I need to go through this forest, but I'm afraid of going it alone."

"Why, might I ask?"

"Because I heard that there's this evil group of people called Team Galactic wandering about, and I'm scared that I should have to face them. So, may I please go with you?"

I will admit, I did think about it for a second, because I'd be going with a complete stranger, but I thought against it. One, I did feel kinda lonely myself, and two, she seemed nice enough. Cheryl was pretty. She had a nice face with dark green hair. Her clothes were green, her eyes, her hair, she seemed to blend right in with nature… I snapped back to reality.

"O-okay, sure."

"Thank you, Vinny. In return, I can keep your Pokémon in perfect condition."

"Oh, thanks."

"You know, when we're together, we might be able to see two Pokémon come out of the tall grass at once. It's kind of startling."

"Two Pokémon at once? What!?"

"Yeah, that can happen. Also, we might be able to get into a double battle with trainers as well."

Well, that's exactly what happened. Throughout the forest, there were numerous trainers, always in doubles. Cheryl always sent out her Chansey, while I used Spearow most of the time. Cheryl did witness my power, but only briefly.

Before we knew it, we had made it through the forest without meeting a single Galactic Grunt.

"Oh, here's the exit! We made it… I'm so relieved. I never would've been able to go by myself. Thank you so much, Vinny!"

"Oh, no problem! I'm also relieved that we were able to get through as well."

"Here, take this as a symbol of my appreciation." She handed me a silver bell. "It's a Soothe Bell. Use it to calm a Pokémon and make it friendlier. Oh and also…" She leaned forward and kissed me on my cheek. I felt my face getting hot. She walked towards the exit. "I hope we'll meet again someday. Bye for now!"

I stood there for a second, lost in my own world. I was replaying that little kiss over and over again. I exited the forest as well.

There were a few trainers on North Route 205, all Fishermen. I defeated them all like it was nothing. I thought about that. Was I really that strong already?

I entered Eterna City. Tall buildings rose up around me mixed with old-fashioned houses. I noticed the blue-green hair around the city and grew angry.

"Again?! I swear to God, they are going to DIE!" I noticed a Grunt standing by the Pokémon Center. I didn't recognize him, because he looked like every other Grunt, with the spacey, skin tight jumpsuit, and the stupid blue green bowl haircut. But by the look on his face, he sure as hell recognized me.

"Y-you! Please don't hurt me! I'm not doing anything wrong! Mercy!" At first, I didn't know what he was talking about, but suddenly, I remembered Jubilife City. It was that one dude who I promised to kill if he didn't spread my word. Then thinking about the Windworks and how no one recognized me, I grew even angrier than I was before.

"OH, NOT ME. YOU." I growled in the demon voice. I grabbed his throat and dragged him into an alley. He screamed for his life.

"BY THE END OF TODAY, TEAM GALACTIC IS GONNA HAVE ONE LESS TEAM MEMBER."

"What did I do wrong?" he cried.

"BACK IN JUBILIFE CITY, I TOLD YOU TO SPREAD THE WORD OF MY COMING. AND YOU DIDN'T."

"Yes I did! I told my teammates! I'm sorry! They didn't believe me! They just laughed like it was nothing, and just walked away."

"WELL JUST LIKE THEM, YOU'RE GONNA DIE. BUT THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT YOU'RE GONNA DIE AN EXTREMELY SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH. NOW DIE!"

I slammed him up against the wall and punched him in the guts 20 times. Hard. He spit up blood all over his suit, which turned a deep shade of red. To prevent him from screaming, I grabbed his throat and ripped out his vocal cords. I punched really hard all over his chest, breaking all of his ribs. Then I grabbed both of his arms, planted my foot of his back, and pulled with all my might, pulling his arms out of his arm sockets. I kicked his back, sending him flying and breaking his vertebrae at the same. I crushed both of his dislocated arms against the wall and the advanced on him. He lay on the ground, unable to scream.

"DON'T WORRY. I'LL PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERY ONCE AND FOR ALL."

I jumped on his back, broke his legs and ripped them off. I crushed both of his legs as well and jumped on him again and Steel Punched his backbone. I started to rip out his guts, one by one, from his heart to his intestines, until he was a lifeless shell. I broke every bone in his body and squashed his muscles and then after he was mush, I ripped his brain out, crushed his head, and set all of his guts and mushy body on fire with a Flame Ball.

I stood there, panting. I felt no remorse for just brutally murdering a Grunt. I felt no sadness. I felt only anger. Fury surged through my soul like rushing water. The bonfire in front of me crackled and flared with an orange light. Why am I so angry? Did that guy really deserve to die? I wondered. Yes, he did deserve to die. Just like the rest of Team Galactic. Ah, what am I talking about? I'm a monster. I looked at my hands. They were a deep red color.

Monster… I'm a monster…

xxxx

"How did you ever get so much blood on you? Who did you fight?" questioned Nurse Joy.

"Some things are left unanswered, Nurse Joy. And is there a bathroom?"

I exited the Pokémon Center and headed north in Eterna City. There was a tall building there, but it was blocked off by trees. I moved on.

I walked eastward, and up to a big statue that looked like an ancient Pokémon. Standing there was Barry, but also a man with blue hair in a Team Galactic uniform.

"Hey Barry." I tapped on Barry's shoulder.

"Gah-oh, hey dude. There's this weird Galactic dude standing in front of the statue over there talking to himself. What a weirdo! Listen."

The blue haired man spoke to himself. "So this is Eterna City's famous Pokémon statue… shaping our world are time and space in an intertwining spiral. Revered in Sinnoh are the Pokémon of time and space… so Sinnoh's myth… it needs true investigation." He stopped talking and walked over to us.

"Pardon me. Stand aside."

"Wait, are you part of Team Galactic?"

"That is nothing of your concern. Now kindly stand aside."

"No. I would like you to answer me. Who are you?"

"Fine. You want an answer so bad? I'm Team Galactic's boss, Cyrus."

My memory flashed back to Jubilife City. The guy I just killed, I remember him talking about working for this dude Cyrus.

"You're Cyrus?"

"Yes. I'm the leader of Team Galactic, and if you don't move, then I will force you. Now while I'm still saying it kindly, move aside." He walked off leaving me and Barry standing there confused. Who does he think he is, pushing us aside like he's some high power aristocrat? I thought.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you some other time. I'm gonna go challenge the gym. Bye!" Barry walked away, whistling a tune.

I guess I should go challenge the gym as well, I decided.

I started walking towards the gym, but along the way, I bumped into a lady with yellow hair.

"Oh, sorry ma'am."

"It's all right. Oh, uh were you just looking at the Pokémon statue over there?"

"Yes. I was just looking at it with my friend."

"Oh. Uh, if I may ask, what is your name?"

"Vincent. But you can call me Vinny."

"Alright. I will be sure to remember your name. Um, my name is Cynthia. I'm a trainer like you. I've recently been studying Pokémon mythology, out of curiosity. As you saw over there, that is Eterna City's famous Pokémon statue. It is the statue of an ancient Pokémon. According to legend, it was an extremely powerful Pokémon that created the flow of time. Who knows? You may encounter it one day."

"Ah, I doubt it. It looks ancient, like from billions of years ago. No way could it still be around."

"You never know. You look like a tough trainer. Here, you can use this HM."

She handed me an HM. "It's HM01, Cut. It can cut down trees that are blocking your path."

"No thank you. I don't need it. Why use an HM you have fire?" I held up a Flame Ball.

"Wow! Interesting. You know, I've met someone like that before. Just like you. You know, with the fire and all. It was a long time ago, like 7 or so years ago. He was from a faraway land, a long way from the Pokémon Regions. I don't remember his name, I think it started with an N or something, but he was referred to as 'Salamander'."

"Salamander? Was he a lizard?"

"No, he was human, but he had fire powers like you, Vinny."

Huh, I'd like to meet this Salamander one day, I thought.

"Okay then. I will keep that in mind."

"Good luck to you, Vinny."

I made my way to Route 211, fighting some trainers there with Spearow. I entered the cave's entrance on the side of the mountain, only to find my path blocked by giant boulders. I tried Steel Punching them, but I had no luck, because they were extremely heavy.

Back in Eterna City, I headed to the gym to find Barry walking out ("This gym should be easy for you, since you're a fire type. Good luck!") then headed inside the gym.

The gym was a big puzzle, but it was relatively easy. I ignored the flower spinny-thingy-whatever in the middle of the room and just walked through the water spouts blocking the way. Take that, rules, I thought. I challenged everyone in the gym until I got to the gym leader, who introduced herself as Gardenia. She was no match for me, of course, with her Turtwig, Cherrim, and Roserade. I defeated Gardenia in seconds, who gave me the Eterna City Forest Badge and TM86, Grass Knot. She told me that I could legally use HM01, Cut outside of battle, but since I didn't have it, I ignored that.

I headed to the south route, Cycling Road and Route 206, but the guard said that I couldn't pass if I didn't have a Bicycle.

I remembered that I had seen a bicycle shop in Eterna City, so I headed there. When I got there, there was a sign on the door that said "Closed". Then I saw the fine print underneath the "Closed" sign which said, "The bike shop will be closed until Team Galactic is gone from this city." I look at the building to the north and walked over to it. I burned down the trees that were planted there and marched inside the building, ready to kick Team Galactic's ass once more.