Author's Note

I spent more time getting this chapter ready than I thought, so I'm really sorry about that.


Sorry, I didn't finish the last entry. I started feeling really sad and couldn't finish it. I swear, I'm the most emo person I know.

Then again, when I say that I didn't finish it, I mean that I haven't written my six paragraph essay length of complaints about the forest air and the smell of barf and tea on all my jackets. So maybe it wasn't that much of a loss?

Anyway, it was a short trek through mountains and small hiking trails to make it to Route 26. I came upon a lonely bridge which was built above a flowing blue river, and this was where I learned that Ace Trainers can't really give two shits. (I already knew that from Blackthorn City, where they mostly stood around bragging about their Battle Tower scores, but here it was confirmed.) I dropped my Trainer Card and some other papers and crap in front of an Ace Trainer when Kitty twisted around my bag and caused multiple things to fall out. After scolding Kitty, I kneeled down to retrieve my papers, causing the Ace Trainer to kneel down with me to help. She took my papers and stacked them together neatly, and after reading a few words off of one of them, said thus:

"It's been a long while from New Bark, you must be exhausted."

That was a crazy thing to say. New Bark was less than a mile away at least, and objectively closer to Kanto than most major Johto cities. I figured she meant my entire trip around Johto in my race to have all the Gym Badges, but that journey would be long no matter where you are. Sure, there are places that are more closer to the center than others, but there are still relatively far-off places to visit regardless of where your hometown was. Anyway, Johto isn't an exceptionally large area either, so it's not like any large feat to travel the entire thing.

Still I was about to offer that yes, I was exhausted, when she tossed out her Poké Ball, acted like we hadn't talked peacefully the past five minutes, and pretty much behaved like she didn't know me. I was forced into battle, then after that, she had the nerve to ask for my phone number so we could meet up some time. Well, I accepted it, since I needed less testosterone on my contacts list, but I wasn't overly happy about it. In fact, I did gave her a bit of a glare when I got back my Pokégear. I don't think she noticed though. If she did, I would've known, since my glares are epic.

I traveled by night towards the end of my trip. I didn't feel much tired, and Kitty was refreshed by the night's soothing moonlight. Away from the constant blaze of the sun, the path ahead seemed much more shorter. So we kept going, embarking onto the thick woodland and steep hills the Kanto countryside warranted. Despite any labeling of regions, however, the feel of the land was strictly Johto. Perhaps I was expecting too much, but shouldn't the land of another country have a different feel to it, a stranger tang to the air? Instead it remained stubbornly the everyday verdant countryside I came to expect of Johto, and this made my annoyance greater. Still I kept on the hopes that Kanto would be different, a distinct place from the dreariness of Johto. I was on the Johto side of the path to Victory Road, I reassured myself. Past this part, things wouldn't be the same anymore.

It's hard for me to realize how much I should say about this part of my journey, honestly. Like so many other parts of my journey, it was mostly walking and trying to ignore the growing pains in my ankles. The air was thick with the smell of trees, and that strange humidity that generally occupies forests at night was present (as usual). Although the forests around me were quiet, there was several Pokémon Trainers spread around, challenging any serious Trainer that came their way. Last minute training before they reach the Pokémon League, probably. Past that, there were some signs that would try to indicate the way, despite their rude appearance. The sign was often frail, kept together by small glued together chunks of wood, and the text was barely legible from years of rain and snow. Leave it to Johto's Pokémon League to leave the signs in a crappy state. As if the region's horrible law enforcement wasn't enough, the government has to leave its duties in disrepair too. I really do wonder what the government is doing with our tax money.

Lance probably uses the money to take his co-workers to the bar after a successful forced evolution session with Dragonairs. Then goes to the hair cutters to dye his hair an even bolder shade of red.

It was an hour past midnight by the time I checked my map. I was still smack in the middle of Route 26, and I wasn't going to go any closer for a while. True, my map could have been wrong (after all, you can't trust cheap Pokégear knockoff map apps) but after all this way, I was willing to trust my stupid map for just a few weeks later. I took the time to gaze over the map, and this was what I figured: I had to go straight ahead on this path to reach the Indigo Plateau, where the Pokémon League was apparently held (I say "apparently" because you can never completely trust cheap Pokégear knockoff maps). The infamous Victory Road, where people train for weeks and sometimes months, is right in the middle between Route 26 and the Indigo Plateau. This seems reasonable, considering that you want to make sure only the best of the best in either skill or sheer determination manage to get into the Elite Four. Doing otherwise would force the Elite 4 to be paid a lot more than they already are, and the Pokémon Association can't have that. Besides, it would make the waiting be longer, since each challenger has to enter the Elite Four individually.

I know a little bit about the Pokémon League already from when Kris was interested in it. Once a challenger enters the Elite Four, it is customary for them to face all of the Elite Four one by one, nonstop. They say "nonstop," but Kris said that Trainers often bought a fortune worth of medicine which they then used on the arena itself in between the matches. I don't know if they're allowed to do this, but everybody does it.

Other things I know about the Elite Four are that each Trainer in there specializes in a type of Pokémon, as though they were Gym Leaders. The only person not obliged to do such is the Champion, who is supposed to be the ultimate challenge, that one person you just can't beat. It's propaganda, of course, and at least a hundred people defeat the Champion of any given region in a year. Still, the Pokémon Association chooses to revere it, giving it false weight in order to promote the program. Despite this, Kris told me that the Champions in fact can be hard to defeat if you're early in your career as a Pokémon Trainer, and it is still a marketable achievement to say you've defeated the Champion of your region. For the unprepared, beginner Trainer that often makes up the mass of Trainers across the world, beating the Champion does seem more impressive. Among experienced Trainers, however, taking the Pokémon League challenge is more of a rite of passage than anything else. I've gathered this much from Kris, who briefly mentioned that there are groups of professional Pokémon Trainers out there, competing each other and trading.

As for the Pokémon League itself, there was a huge scandal a few years back, the same one that managed to get Lance to become promoted to Champion. I don't know any of the details about it, but basically, it greatly weakened the power of the Pokémon League in Johto and Kanto, though this especially affected Kanto. The reputation of the Pokémon League members—including Gym Leaders—were crushed. Eventually, there was a revival and people began to go on their Pokémon journeys again, but the League never recovered. I want to remember what the scandal was about, but I can't...

Anyway, I don't know much else about the Pokémon League besides that.

Right now, I'm at a woman's house. I'm sitting at one of her chairs, writing this on her dinner table. It's not a dining table, not really. It's too small, like everything else in the entire house. It's a one room house, with a tight "kitchen" to one side—it's just a fridge and a sink with a counter—and a table and closet at the other side. I can't believe people even freaking live like this. I don't even know where that woman could sleep in.

I don't think this is exactly gossiping, because the woman is complaining too. Even though when she talks to someone you think she's the nicest person alive, she still complains and apologizes for the cramped state of her house every now and then.

"I want to leave this place," she told me, straight faced, "but the Pokémon League paid me to leave here since I used to be a nurse. They have too little funds to build a Pokémon Center."

Hundreds of thousands of people have gone to the Pokémon League in drones each year, losing hundreds of dollars, but the Pokémon League doesn't have enough money. Fucking believe that.

We need to replace the chairmen of the Pokémon Association, obviously. I thought the crappy job they did aren't supposed to happen in developed countries.


After I left the house, I still had some ways to go. It was another long, winding road, often occupied by Ace Trainers standing at the side waiting for potential challengers to come through. I had nothing else to do in my life, obviously, so I just kept going.

Apparently Pika Boy—Silver—came this way as well. I know that the Ace Trainer I was battling against meant him, because most people have black hair and usually people don't color their hair an angry red color. Besides, coincidences are very common in Johto, where cities consist of six buildings and the amount of people who live in the towns are often less than the amount in the Cabinet of Japan.

"I just got defeated by a redheaded boy. He was really strong, but...it was as if he absolutely had to win at any cost. I felt sorry for his Pokémon."

I probably had something to do with that. I did indirectly insult him by saying he was completely unprepared for Lance, after all. Honestly, I'm the most surprised that he even managed to get this far at all. He must have went back and challenged the Leaders he skipped around the time I was recovering from the Marill Spit Flood. Such an unproductive thing to do could only be planned out by him.

After that Trainer, I got a call from my mother, who happily told me she was spending my money again. I allowed her to save my money again, and this was what happened. Meh.

Honestly, I can't bring myself to care anymore. If she finds fit to place down her glass of red wine and buy me random rare berries from Africa instead, all the power to her.

When I finally reached the end of Route 26, and I came upon the Pokémon League Reception Gate (sign's capitalizations, not mine). Crudely painted in orange, and appearing quite pathetic in the moonlight, I wondered if this really was the right path for me. Then I decided to hell with it, and stepped inside onto the nauseatingly bland brown carpeting. The clerk at the reception desk gave me a critical look, like he thought I was a fraud or something. I immediately stepped forward, trying to give some semblance of presence, but something tells me I resembled more of a wrinkled Bellsprout than anybody who knows what they're doing. Cinder looked incredibly disappointed in me, and the clerk looked like he was going to throw up. I don't think it was the carpet that turned him off.

I shoved my Trainer Card and League Badges across the counter, staring at the counter's newish greenness. It looked like alien slime.

"Oh!" the clerk said in complete surprise. "The eight Badges of Johto!"

He rose his head from the Trainer Card, stared at me for a few long moments, and was considering if I looked smart enough to forge League Badges. I stared back at him, blankly. His face instantly relaxed and he slid the card and badges back to me.

"Please, go right on through!"

I backed away from the alien slime counter reluctantly, waiting for someone to shout at me. Nobody did so I sprinted out of the building. I saw the Victory Road, which was a bland, boring cave, and I went back into the nauseating reception gate.

There were two police officers on each side. Both were blocking portions of the gate that went outward onto both sides. I considered, then sprinted past the officer on my right. He rushed forward. He ended up tripping me and I landed right on the carpet, close and personal with the carpet's agonizing smell of coffee candy. My cheeks stung on the floor's rough surface.

"Are you all right, ma'am?" he asked, pulling me up onto my feet. My face felt bruised and my knees felt more bruised.

"Uh."

"This way leads to Mt. Silver," he said, giving me a stern look. "You'll see scary-strong Pokémon out there. You aren't ready for it, young girl."

I was somewhat offended. He had no way of knowing whether I was ready for Mt. Silver or not. For all he knew, I could have been a Legendary Pokémon Trainer from Sinnoh who had nineteen badges from three different regions with the title of Honorary Region Champion and boat-keeper to boot. What a judgmental twit.

He came forward to me, obviously meaning for me to back up until I was back at the center of the gate. I had no chance but to do it, and when I tried to walk civilly the other way, the officer told me that way led to Kanto, and it was blocked for the time being.

"Is every way to Kanto by walking from here blocked?"

"Yes."

"What if I go by train?"

"The train is closed."

"What of plane?"

"The airports are closed."

"Subway?"

"If we have a subway, it's probably closed, too."

"Can someone explain to me why a major accessible region with multiple transportation methods is so clearly blocked?"

"No."

There was no hope for that conversation. I walked back onto the boring waste of space we all call Victory Road.


I planned on training Virginia, my poor little Eevee, once I had more of a general idea of how strong the Victory Road Pokémon were. It was tight in the cave, with a stifling, warm feeling encompassing the entire place. I felt disgusted just by being alive in that place. Apparently the rest of Johto shared my sentiments, since for the most part I didn't see a single Trainer at Victory Road.

After kicking around a "heavy" boulder that was approximately as tall as my ankle, I ran aimlessly about the cave, feeling as pathetic as a Crobat. Hamako wasn't impressed, but she didn't have any ideas either, so we just kept going around aimlessly a few more cycles before I finally decided to create a horrible map penciled at the back of an Everstone. By the end of the map, it looked like a disfigured Pidgey brain a Rattata drew with its eyes closed. Maybe I should have taken drawing classes this summer instead going on a Pokémon trip to the ends of the Earth. After that disaster, I found a receipt from Poké Mart and drew on that instead. It didn't look much better, but at least the brain seemed vaguely functional this time.

At last I came to the bottom of the cave, where a small entrance was. With Hamako by my side, I gleefully headed towards it. To get this far, I flew past all the holes from Kitty's back and made at least twenty different turns in random directions until I finally figured out where I was supposed to go. Then I heard someone shout after me.

I turned around, and there was Silver. He was some distance away and was tripping over all the rocks, so it took some time for him to finally catch up to me. I waited impatiently near the opening. Once Silver came close to me, he stared at me intently for a few moments. His lips parted, and he said—

"Hold it."

I stared at this freaking idiot.

"Are you going to challenge the Pokémon League?" he asked.

"No, I'm just here for charity," I said dryly.

"Wouldn't it be better for you to go to the city for something like that?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

"Well, Victory Road is at its end, for sure," Silver said. "But did you notice that you didn't see any real Trainers on the way? Did you?"

"It's probably the bad weather, the bad maintaining of the cave, the bad everything," I said. "There are so many holes in the ground here, I don't see how this Victory Road can be considered usable. Frankly, I'm surprised."

I thought the Pokémon League would be better about this, and that's saying a lot.

Silver shook his head. "The other Trainers were all spineless. The fact that you have come this far means you're not one of them, though."

"I don't think it's that way. I just used some Max Repel and went on my way by flying on Pokémon. I hardly think—"

"But!" Silver suddenly screamed, causing me to stare at him in shock as he punched his fist into the air. "Your journey ends here!"

"What the actual fuck—"

"Because...right here, right now...I will crush you!"

"Dude," I said, "even if you defeat me now, I'll just come back to Victory Road and the Pokémon League another day. You do realize that, right?"

"TOO BAD!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, tossing out Sneasel. I was so taken by surprise, I just kind of stood there gazing at him for a few moments.

Sneasel aimed at Hamako's side before attacking front on instead. Hamako frowned, bringing a wave of scalding water and tossing it onto the Sneasel. Sneasel dodged much of the water, though a spray of it attacked his side. Some kind of techno rock music was blaring in the background as Hamako moved back from the Sneasel, studying the Pokémon with a critical look.

"Okay," I said lamely. "I guess we're fighting now."

Sneasel attempted to punch Hamako, but Hamako moved him aside with the great strength of her flippers, pushing him against a rock in a startling charge towards the wall. The sharp edge of the rock crashed onto Sneasel's shoulder, the creature passing out in pain. As I watched, a puddle of blood began to appear at the Sneasel's shoulder, steadily spreading until it began to drip at the hard cave floor. Silver cursed fiercely at his unconscious Pokémon, though eventually he threw out his Magneton. His Sneasel was withdrawn into a Poké Ball in a flash of pink light.

"This is hardly fair," I said, tossing out Cinder.

"It's fair if I say it's fair," Silver said, the rock music reaching a climax somehow reminiscent of 60's music. He leaned against the cave wall, his hands in his pockets.

His shoulders slumped. Shadow obscured half of his face, which created a false sense of age among his normally youthful facial features. His dark jacket appeared scruffy and, when I studied it more closely, had a scratch down one side of it. The scratch was long and curved, reaching from the edge of his shoulder to somewhere close to his elbow, and despite the scratch's thinness, it resulted in a huge, gaping hole that even oblivious Silver surely would have noticed. It looked like it was made by an exceptionally sharp knife.

"Cinder, flamethrower."

Cinder obliged, tossing out bursts of flames towards the Magneton. The Pokémon sizzled in the fire for a few short moments, then gradually ceased its resistance as it descended into unconsciousness. Anger suddenly crossed Silver's features, though he was silent as he withdrew his Magneton. The light outside was slowly fading and a bright orange color drifted inside the cave. Soon Silver's face was illuminated by the dying sunlight, his hair almost aggressively saturated with its crimson red color.

We went on with the Pokémon battle. More of his Pokémon were shot down in a single move, further highlighting Silver's pathetic nature. I may have felt bad for him, if he wasn't so stupid among his other crappy traits. Silver threw out his Kadabra, biting his lower lip.

"I see it now," he said. "You didn't come all this far only based on luck."

"I wonder what was your first clue."

"Lugia, waterfall." Kitty and Cinder were tired.

The Kadabra faded away among the water, and never actually resurfaced. Silver quickly retracted it. The weird rock music gradually faded in the background.

"I couldn't win," he muttered, taking his Poké Ball back to his side. "And I gave it everything I had..."

He looked at me, and wordlessly, gave me the prize money. I stuffed it in my bag, wondering when his melancholy mood would end. I gazed out to the dying light of the cave entrance and wondered when I would battle against the Pokémon League. I had a little fear, tucking in the corner of my heart, telling me I would lose. I speculated on how prepared I was, and how much stronger the Elite Four were. I feared that I would lose against Lance, the Champion.

Most of all, I feared I would be outed as an inferior Trainer for once. Elm counted on me to win, but there was a huge chance I would lose. I hadn't seriously trained in a while, and I'm horrible at making strategies. I clenched my fists, focusing on my vision of the entrance. My fingers pained where my nails came in deep into my skin.

"What are you doing, Lyra?"

"I'm thinking. You should try it more often."

Silver studied me.

"I've actually been thinking. You want to know what I've been thinking?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me regardless."

"I haven't given on becoming the world's greatest Trainer. And I never will. So I'm going to find out why I can't win and become stronger. Why I train almost nonstop but still can't beat a laid-back Trainer like you. Why I can't even beat Lance after battling him several times. Why it just seems to be this way. People tell me it's because I don't trust my Pokémon enough, but I don't think that's the only thing. It seems to be something deeper.

"And when I find out why I can never win, Lyra, I'll come back and challenge you. I'll beat you down with all my power, and you'll know my worth then."

"You'll never give up your stupid dreams, huh?"

"No, I won't. Because I'm not like you. Because unlike you, Lyra, becoming a Pokémon Master has always been my dream. And I won't stop until I fulfill this quest. I don't know why you are the way you are, but I hope it never happens to me. I won't lose my dreams, no matter how many times I fall."

Well, that was certainly dramatic. Then he just sort of left. He turned away from me slightly, his red hair glinted in that brilliant fading sun, and walked past me. He returned to the labyrinth we left rather than reach towards the Pokémon League we both sought for. As I watched him leave, his ripped sleeve barely kept together by a small collection of stitches, it occurred to me where he got that scratch. It had appeared to me at first to have been done by a sharp knife, but it must have instead been done by sharp teeth, clawing through with fierce intent to take the life of its hateful owner.

Why am I here? I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.


I passed through the cave entrance. The Pokémon League was a dominating presence with its imposing stone, its authoritative statues of Poké Balls that sat beside each edge of the numerous archways that curved over the path that led to the Indigo Plateau. The building was a study of Byzantine architecture with its domes and color scheme, which consisted of a more than healthy amount of oranges and greens. Although it seemed a marvel from afar, coming closer showed that it was made out of sturdy red and orange bricks, significantly destroying the demeanor of the building in some degree. Surrounding the building were idyllic fields of flowers, a pale mockery against the Pokémon League's businesslike composure.

Overall, it was the kind of place that tried to make itself more significant than it actually was. I entered the building, and it was lavishly endowed with deep red titles outlined with gold. At first sight you think the tiles are expensive, but then when you look more closely they were chipped off and scratched despite the glossy look. I hate this country.

There were few people around. Only two people who looked like they could be challengers were there. Everybody else was just staff, working the desks of the Pokémon Center or maintaining the stagnant business of a Poké Mart (there were a few facilities like that, made for the purpose of aiding in preparations for the Pokémon League). Out of the two I assumed were challengers, one was an older man in a karate suit who was examining the wares of the Poké Mart slowly, and the other was a young Ace Trainer, casually tapping the screen of her smartphone.

I felt intimidated by the glossiness of the Ace Trainer's smartphone. Since I was obviously not ready for this shit, I headed back outside. I felt the Everstone at the front of my pocket and reached it out. The map on it was, which was penciled in soft graphite, was already smudged over and was rubbing on the rest of my clothes. Since I couldn't very well place in back inside my bag, where the graphite would smudge all over, I poised to throw it over to the flowerbed next to the Pokémon League building. I practiced for a few seconds my fastball, then launched it over to the flowerbed. The layout made it so that there was no way I could miss.

Well, I missed anyway.

So unfortunately, I missed and hit the door of the Pokémon League building instead, because of weird physics. The cheap door fell in completely and crappy burglar alarms were triggered in the inside of the building.

I think I have some issues now.