Hey guys, it's been awhile. I've been very caught up in my life lately, so writing takes a backseat. I wish this chapter was more exciting, but here we are. The next few chapters will be very battle oriented, so fasten your seatbelts.

Review Response:

I really don't like the chapter's that are taken up by his dreams.

Fair enough. That's why I try to bounce between the different sub stories so it's not the same stuff over and over.

I like it, though the realism is sorta questionable.

Care to elaborate? If it's about the battles, it's very hard to balance realism with fantasy. If it's about the story itself or the dialogue, let me know, because I'd like to improve that where I can.

I feel though you're greatest problem is your character. In efforts to keep him from becoming a Gary Stu, he seems to ordinary to survive the trials that await. He doesn't have great enough initative to take use of the stuff he knows, nor aggressive enough training to hope that he can actually somehow fend off or help Darkrai. Simply, he's no hero, who can do the impossible.

That's kind of the point. Despite doing some noble things, Cody is hardly a hero just yet. That's why he's expressed mixed feelings about whether or not he can overcome Darkrai. Even Darkrai has told him that he's not that special and that there are a million people he would rather use if he could. We'll have to see if he can overcome.

Cody: Bastion (Wartortle), Mars (Diglett), Colossal (Pupitar), Antonia (Skarmory), Cortez (Litwick), Elesa (Zebstrika)

Heather: Somnos (Poliwhirl), Feathers (Pidgeotto), Nadine (Nidorina), Bella (Gloom), Smaug (Trapinch), Sasha (Eevee)

Jared: Charmeleon, Servine, Croconaw, Shelgon, Onix, Fearow

Chapter 37: Into the Woods

He became quiet again for days after Darkrai's latest visit. However, this time, nobody seemed to notice. All three of them were too busy training for the next gym battle, and beyond that, Heather was still worrying over Jared's moodiness, while Jared was still being silent and indecisive about what to do about his girlfriend. Cody himself was trying not to think about the latest visit. The more he thought about Darkrai, the more depressed he became, and without Madame Stella's presence, he was unsure of what to do next. Most of the time, he wished he could just curl up in a dark room and simply give up, but doing that would only destroy his chances of becoming the best trainer in Skitrex and make his departure from his crumbling family pointless.

I must keep going. There has to be some to overcome this monster. Just be strong. He only exists in my dreams, so can't hurt me here. Remembering the memories of Stella's demise, he knew that there was much of Darkrai's methods that he had yet to understand, but he still kept that fire of confidence within him that some sort of power within would help him pull through. He could only hope.

"Graywood…" Heather murmured in a dreamy tone as the trio saw the city of trees from the hillside they were crossing.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jared asked as he looked on in awe as well.

It was an interesting site to see, as while the city was almost as big of Lockton, tall, gray, trees with thick trunks grew high above many of the smaller buildings. In a way, it was hard to tell if the location was more forest or more city. It made Cody wonder why anybody would build a city in a place with so many trees without cutting a few more of them down, given that the trees and their roots probably caused problems with the foundations of the buildings and the roads. Then again, he figured that he couldn't judge, given that his own home town was built on a steep sloping set of hills. These people must love their fresh air.

He broke out of his daydreaming when he noticed that Heather and Jared were looking at him, waiting for some sort of response relating to the magnificence of the city they saw. He said the first thing that came to mind.

"Yeah… really flammable," he mumbled, and the stares he received became more critical.

"Good lord, you're eerily quiet all day, and when you finally say something, you say that," said Jared, disapproving with a brief shake of his head.

"Just being practical," he mumbled, and he kept walking ahead of the other two, not feeling in the mood to put up with what they had to say.

After walking down the hill and eventually into the city, they got a nice look at the interesting mixture of nature and humanity, seeming to coexist quite harmoniously. Unlike many cities that they had been too, this one was very clean. They would have been hard-pressed to find a piece of litter anywhere.

"Do they have some sort of super, anti-pollution law here?" Cody asked, his eyes scanning the scene.

"Yeah, several," Jared answered, looking at the guidebook for Skitrexian cities. "They'll fine you out the ass if you so much as stick your gum under a bench."

"Fascinating. Now can we get back to strategy?" Heather asked impatiently. She had been buzzing on about strategy for battle for the past hour, mostly criticizing how Cody was far too heavy-handed whenever they had double battles together. It was true, and Cody noticed it plenty during the past few days when they had double battles with other trainers to practice for the gym. Even when they won, everybody knew that it was Cody's pokémon who took the spotlight and handled the harder tasks. But despite all the truth about the situation, Cody had no interest in listening to Heather's complaints, especially when she wouldn't recognize her own faults in battle.

"I said teamwork, do you understand?" she asked him impatiently. He realized that it was his turn to speak.

"Yes, Heather," he replied blankly. Finally, he could see the gym. From where they were, it looked like a giant arena where people would play soccer or football in, but the big pokeball insignia above the main gates told a different story. Still, it was the biggest building they had seen to date, and in a week's time, they'd get to battle inside of it… assuming they could make it past their pre-battle without falling apart.

The differences in how a gym was ran varied by the establishment. There were solo gyms like those run by Eagle and Hornsby, in which the leader was responsible for all tiers of battle. Leaders often found that raising such a large number of constantly growing pokémon to be incredibly taxing, so many gyms had multiple leaders, such as how Kito Grove had Vladimir and his protégé, Ian. But out of the gyms they had visited thus far, Graywood's gym took the cake in its uniqueness. To many trainers' astonishment, the gym had twenty-four gym leaders.

Since Graywood was a gym devoted to double battles, each battle consisted of two challenging trainers facing off against two gym leaders of their tier. Over time, as the gym leaders of a certain tier grew stronger, they would go off to earn their badges at other gyms before coming back to resume their role as a higher tiered leader. Because of the constant growth, the gym was constantly changing in its styles of battle and those who were involved in said battles. Some things never changed though, as the leaders who participated in the program were required to specialize in either bug or grass type pokémon. Also, the two leaders who never changed were the ones of the 12th tier, Lily Harding and Beckett Channing, the grass and bug specialists respectively. Both leaders had been friends since they were children and they each had master's degrees in pokémon studies, specialized in training their elements. As well as battling at the 12th tier, they also were educators in the likes of training grass and bugs, producing more successful element specialized trainers than any other gym in Skitrex.

Upon entering the lobby, Cody, Heather, and Jared were directed towards where they were to do paperwork before being ushered to different rooms for their pre-battles. Heather felt nervous for Jared, knowing that he would be paired with somebody who he was not familiar with, but Cody assured her that he would be alright. After all, the older boy had been relatively successful at pretty much every gym battle he had ever participated in. However, Cody and Heather were still fresh to the experience in comparison.

"Who are you using?" Heather inquired as she sat down on the bench in the waiting room they were in. "I think I'm going to use Feathers. She's got the natural element for this fight, but I don't know who else to go with."

"Nadine," Cody answered without even thinking. "She's got the poison element, and she's resistant to bug and grass elements. I'd say Bella too, but I don't think she'd do too well here."

Heather seemed to get a little offended by this statement. "Why not? She battles well!"

"Yes, but she's a Gloom," Cody continued. "Gloom typically battle via forcing their opponents into attrition. But because most bug and grass pokémon will be immune to Leech Seed, Poison Powder, and the like, she'll have little advantage here, even with resistances."

"I suppose you're right," Heather groaned, still seeming a bit upset. "Nadine it is then. What about you?"

"Well, there's a problem already," Cody began, turning one of his pokeballs in his hand. He could tell it belonged to Cortez, thanks to the small scorch mark on the back. "Three of my pokémon are weak to grass types. At best, they probably take out maybe one of the enemies at most. Maybe Colossal gets two against the bugs, but I don't know. Elesa is a solid choice for the battle and Antonia should be able to hold her own. Cortez is the best choice for-"

"Oh no, you are not using him," Heather interrupted, fire rising in her eyes at the very name. "Jared is right about him, you know. He's reckless and lazy and doesn't take fights seriously. Plus, he's dangerous in double battles. He nearly burned Smaug to a crisp last time when-"

"Hey, you know that was unintentional," Cody interjected, trying not to raise his voice, especially at the mention of Jared's name. He was already distracted enough and he didn't want to fall apart anymore before the pre-battle. "He's a good pokémon. He just needs a bit of direction."

"Good, then let him find his 'direction' later this week. We need to win this battle, so just use Antonia and Elesa, alright?"

"Fine, fine, no Cortez," Cody said back to her, rolling his eyes. And you and Jared think I'm the one who's bossy. He leaned against a metal locker and rubbed his right temple, groaning slightly. He had been sleeping since Darkrai's last visit, but not well, averaging about four hours a night. While it was more than he was getting before, he still was plagued with headaches and the constant urge to nap.

"You okay?" Heather asked from across the room. "How many hours did you sleep last night?"

"About three, three and a half," Cody answered wearily. "We need to start traveling at night again so I can sleep soundly."

"Without that guy following us, Jared sees no point in it," Heather replied, her voice housing shades of concern. "Maybe if you told him-"

"You don't even believe me about him, so why would he?" Cody slumped even more, burying his face deeper into his palm. "Look, let's just win this battle and then we can grab a pizza or something. After that, I'll sleep. I promise."

"Good," Heather said, though she was still worried. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier about Cortez. I know you're stressed. I'm stressed too. But I just want to win this so badly. You-"

"I understand. I want it too. Don't apologize. This battle will be a piece of-" The door that led to the practice arena opened and a young, racially ambiguous girl of about fourteen years with dark hair poked her head in.

"Miss Landon? Mr. Storm? We're ready for you out here."

"Thank you," Heather replied, motioning for Cody to follow her. He did so, walking into the arena behind her.

The plot was covered in grass, ranging from short to tall, the patches varying in distribution. A perfect field for the bug and grass types. He had already seen the main arena, which had varying grass lengths, an artificial creek running through the south side, and a canopy of branches that grew from a breed of trees that were highly flame retardant. It would be like fighting in a forest clearing that was tailor made for the advantage of the pokémon that lived in such environments.

I'll analyze that more later. Looking up to his next opponents, one of the opposing trainers caught his eye. The one who had alerted them to enter the practice arena did not interest him, but the other trainer did. He looked to be about thirteen or fourteen, was kind of short, and had brown hair with a slight auburn tint to it. I remember you… just what was your name… "Izzy?"

The other boy's eyes lit up when he recognized Cody. "You! Um… your name again?"

"Cody." He walked up to the bug catcher and gave him a firm hand shake. "Look at you, working in a gym and everything. Doing pretty well?"

"Yup," Izzy replied, smiling, though it faded slightly as memories flowed through. "I got another badge. I'd probably have four right now if it weren't for what happened back in-"

"Hey, I hate to interrupt, but how do you two know each other?" Heather prodded, obviously confused about the reunion. "Is he from Stone Rise also?"

"Met him on my first day on the road," Cody explained, realizing that he hadn't talked about Izzy at all since meeting him. "First trainer I ever lost to."

"Ha, you didn't just lose. I kicked your ass," he added with a snicker.

"Hey now, I had to beat all your friends before we fought. I would have-"

"Still lost to me," Izzy interrupted. "That's cute, thinking you could have beat me on my first-"

"Alright you two, if you want to catch up, get a date." A referee had arrived, much to Cody's surprise. Usually, the pre-battle didn't have a ref, as the gym leaders trusted that the pre-battle trainers would let them know who won. However here was one, though this one looked kind of young, like he was Cody's age. Both Cody and Heather figured that he must have been a ref in training. "You two stand over there next to those buttons and get ready. We're limiting this fight to two pokémon per trainer and because this is a double battling gym, when you're in the actual match, we won't call out the pokémon's name when it has fainted. Instead, your buzzer will go off and you will be forced to make a switch. Got it?"

"Got it," Cody and Heather said simultaneously as they took their places, looking down at the light that would go of when his pokémon fainted. Cody figured that the ref would definitely have to be on his game to judge which pokémon were fainted in a battle involving four pokémon at once. He looked down at his pokeballs and ran through his options. He could use any of his six, but he promised Heather that he'd stick with his lovely ladies. Looking back up, he plucked a pokeball from his belt and waited for the ref's call.

"Begin!"

With flashes of light, the four monsters graced the field four the double battle. Izzy had sent out his Yanma, the buzzing dragonfly moving in jolts from side to side. The pokémon next to it was foreign to Cody. It was a small brown pokémon with rounded green ears and a giant, cottoneque puff protruding from the back of its head. It was two feet tall and it seemed to be floating from the mere drafts that the Yanma was creating.

What are you? Cody looked over to see Feathers, but he also noticed Heather, clenching her teeth with ire at what she saw in front of him. He looked forward to see Cortez, floating and giggling like normal.

"I thought we said no Cortez," she muttered through her teeth.

"I swear, it was an accident," Cody muttered back, his face trying to gain her acceptance. It didn't work.

"You meant to use him! Even if it was subconsciously, you-"

"Tailwind!" The opposing girl ordered. The mystery cotton pokémon let out a whimsical shriek as she floated upward and threw her hands forward. As if on cue, a breeze blew past her and the already speedy Yanma road the wind and smacked into Feathers with a Quick Attack. The hardy bird was not fazed though, and with a strong wing, she swatted the dragonfly back.

"Cortez, Night Shade!" But Cortez floated by, head in the clouds as always. He didn't seem to care that Feathers had been hit and he either ignored Cody's order or didn't hear it. It wasn't easy to tell.

"Whimsicott, Poison Powder!"

So that's what it is. "Cortez, get your head in the game and use Ember! This is getting embarrassing!" The candle pokémon finally blew a small stream of flames at the floating cotton pokémon, but the Whimsicott gracefully avoided the hit before scattering purple dust particles about. Cortez simply backed up before shooting another small stream of flames at his target. However, he was quite sluggish in comparison. "Focus, buddy! Ember!"

"Cotton Guard!" The puffy pokémon's cottony tufts began to growing at an alarming rate until they covered its body. Looking at the oversized cottonball, Cody figured that the flames would burn through its defenses with ease. This time, the ghost's fire did hit the target, but the effect was not desirable. The exterior cottony layer was burned away, but the singed, inner layer of cotton remained. This covering seemed to be a lot tougher, keeping the pokémon protected. "Fairy Wind!" The Cottony grass pokémon let out a shrill cheer as she threw her hands forward and a pinkish wind flew at Cortez… and he just took it. He didn't even bother moving. He just laughed maniacally at the attack as it hit him. This only brought concern to his trainer. Sure, the attack would do little to a fire and ghost pokémon, but did he know that? Or was he simply that smug?

"Wake up! Will-O-Wisp!" The blue flame lazily flew from the candle to the grass pokémon, but it missed its target. Frustrated, Cody looked over at Feathers, who seemed to be faring much better in her fight, though the Pidgeotto was not holding up so well against Izzy's Yanma, which seemed to be moving faster and faster by the second. Though they traded blows, Yanma was now hitting harder and more often.

"Heather, you want to trade dance partners?" Cody asked between orders. The Whimsicott was slower than the Yamna, so perhaps Feathers could handle her better.

"No, we're fine! She can do it. Focus on your enemy! Quick Attack!"

"She's going to faint!" Cody shouted back. "This Whimsicott is slower, so Feathers can take her. Let Cortez help out!"

"No, we can handle a bug pokémon!"

"Ancient Power!" Izzy shouted.

How could I forget Yamna can do that? Before Cody could bark out an order to Cortez, the little ghost pokémon already stepped in, knocking Feathers out of the way with a Flame Charge and shooting a fireball in the dragonfly's direction. It took a direct hit, but the insect managed to hang on, though just barely. "Good, it's burned! Try a Hex!"

"Detect!" Izzy countered. He was delaying the inevitable, but sometimes, that was the best strategy one could go for.

"Cody, what the hell?" Heather yelled at him after slugging his shoulder. "Cortez just burned Feathers!"

"At least she's still in the game. Roost or something!"

"She doesn't know that," Heather confessed. "Well, we haven't practiced it enough because-"

"Bad excuse! Just try and keeping the Whimsicott at bay. Cortez, Fire Spin!" A spiral of flames erupted from Cortez's burning wick, but before it even got close to the Yanma, it was blown back with a Sonic Boom. He followed it up with a Supersonic, the sound waves hitting the Litwick straight on. Meanwhile, the burned Pidgeotto was trying desperately to strike the Whimsicott, but even though the Tailwind had died down, she danced around the bird, dousing her with a Stun Spore. Being burned and slowed was not a good combination.

"Leech Seed!" the opposing girl shouted.

No… Cody thought to himself. That cotton pokémon would restore all of her damage against the damaged Pidgeotto. If she continued, it this would become a 4 vs. 2 battle, since Cortez was confused from the Supersonic. We need a way out… But how I hit them? Cortez can't shoot straight… I need a move that will hit everybody without aiming. It came to him, but he knew Heather would kill him for this. "Flame Burst!"

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The candle ghost's body wavered and wobbled while exploding with a fire blaze. While the attack did not cause him to faint like a proper explosion may (and it wasn't as strong), the flames smashed into every pokémon nearby, as well as burning the grass on the battle plot. The ref looked at the three pokémon that had fainted (the Yanma, Whimsicott, and Feathers) and three buzzers sounded.

"What the hell, Cody? Why did you do that? We're on a team!" she shouted, punching him again. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and saw that her rage was burning like a Slugma with a fever.

"I'm sorry, but we weren't going to win that fight playing it safe. At least we're ahead now."

"Do you really think this is okay?" she shot back. "You can't just-"

"Miss, please select your next pokémon," the referee interrupted.

"Okay, fine!" she sulked, releasing Nadine onto the charred plot. Across from the Nidorina and the weary Cortez were their next opponents: a Weepinbell and a Whirlipede.

"Two bulky pokémon," Cody muttered to her. "By all means, pick your poison."

"Gladly," she growled. "Nadine, Take Down the Weepinbell!"

Fine by me. "Cortez, burn the bug!"

"Rollout!" Izzy ordered. The curlipede pokémon let out a grunt before rolling like a wheel. The flames hit, but most of them bounced off of the rolling bug's armored body. It just kept rolling until it bounced into the candle pokémon at top speed. Cortez was knocked back, hurt, but he was still burning bright enough to survive one more hit or so.

"Confuse Ray!" If he couldn't burn the bug pokémon, perhaps he could cripple it? But no, the Whirlipede rolled right on through it and smacked him again. Cody frowned. This was not going well. He figured Cortez could handle that slow Weepinbell better, but he decided to let Heather handle it. He didn't want to step on her toes any more than he had already. Just try to beat this one and then you can worry about her. "Night Shade"

What Cortez did next was unpectede: his body flashed gray and he fell to the earth. What? Did he just faint? The answer came to him in the sound of a buzzer, but when he looked back at Cortez's fainted body expelled a flash of black energy (for lack of a better word) that shot right at Izzy's Whirlipede. When the flash hit the enemy, it didn't seem to hurt it at all, but the pupa stopped rolling and shuddered. If Cody had to take a guess, what Cortez just did was a Memento: a last resort move that some pokémon performed in a battle that they couldn't win to cripple an opponent. He wondered why Cortez didn't just use Curse, but then again, he didn't have any idea why Cortez did anything he did.

"Return," Cody shouted, calling his Litwick back. Though the Whirlipede lacked a real face, Cody could see in its eyes that it looked pained. Time to bring up the big guns. "Antonia! Clean house!

"Skreeee!" As the armored bird practically flew out of the pokeball stream, everybody in the room seemed to stop and stare for just a moment. Izzy looked genuinely terrified, but he remembered his training, shook it off, and ordered his next attack.

"Wing Attack!" He looked over at Heather's Nidorina, who was dealing with a Stun Spore, but was holding her own with the flytrap pokémon. "You need help, Heath-"

"No. Shut up."

He sighed. "Still mad?"

"Very." Her voice didn't sound mad though.

She was very in the zone at this point, so he decided to leave her alone. Looking back at Antonia, he could see that she and the Whirlipede were trading blows. However, she was getting the better of the tradeoff since the rolling bug's Rollout had been weakened from the Memento. But Izzy seemed to catch onto this.

"Agility!"

"Antonia, use your own Agility!"

Both pokémon sped up greatly, but surprisingly, it was the Whirlipede that took advantage. The armored bug may have been shuddering, but his shielding plates were still enduring Antonia's hits and the agility had made him faster than the steel bird. Though Cody was still pretty confident, he decided to play this battle safe.

"Spikes!" From her wings, a shower of razor sharp spikes rained down, embedding themselves all over the plot.

"What have you done now?" Heather hissed between orders. "We have to deal with these spikes too!"

A legitimate mistake. "Sorry," he offered quickly, but to no avail. Given how they were battling separately now, he forgot that there were two other pokémon on the field. However, the plan so far was working well in his favor. The rolling bug continued his path, barreling through the spikes. Some of them crushed, but others embedded themselves in the Whirlipede's armor. Hopefully, that would work to his advantage. "Steel Wing!"

"Iron Defense!" The steel wings clashed with the steel-like plating on the bug. Still, it was becoming apparent that strong as this Whirlipede was, he wasn't going to win this fight. All Izzy could do now was continue to delay his defeat and hope that his partner could pick up the slack.

"Protect!" A small force field emerged around the bug, blocking the next steel wing. But then, Antonia did something that was very clever. She flew up into the air with the appearance that she would be smashing her entire frame into the Protect, but right before she hit the shield, she turned midair, dodging it just slightly. Thinking it was going to be hit, the Whirlipede focused most of its energy into the shield at that moment, leaving the bubble weakened afterward. Antonia took advantage of this by breaking through the force field with a steely wing. A perfect feint. Before Cody could congratulate his pokémon, he heard both of his opponent's buzzers sound. He looked over at the Weepinbell to see that Nadine and Heather had managed to handle her effectively.

"The challengers are victorious!" the ref announced, pulling out his clipboard. "You'll be slated for a badge battle later this week."

Alright! Cody left his place and walked over to his Skarmory, who proudly looked over the enemy that she had defeated. Once at her side, Cody petted her neck and she affectionately leaned her head against his shoulder. After hearing the sound of a pokémon being returned to its ball, he looked to see that Izzy had approached him with an outstretched hand.

"Gotta say Storm, that was fun. Never would have guessed that you'd have a Skarmory. Didn't see that coming at all." He seemed enthralled, even after losing. Or maybe it was just his job to act as though he cared.

"Thanks… we weren't on the same page though… We'll have to work on that won't we?" He turned his head to see that Heather was gone. The he remembered. Oh crap… That's going to bite me in the ass.

Pokémon centers were usually where trainers would relax and unwind after a hard day of training and battling, but today, the building gave no such comfort. Cody had tried to avoid Heather by getting dinner alone, but she eventuall caught up with him, leading to an explosion of arguments between the both of them.

"Look, I know we need to go over our issues as a team. I understand that. Just please, can we go over this in the morning? I really need to… I really need to…" He really needed to sleep and get away from the sound of her voice for a little bit, but it was so early that she wouldn't believe that that was what he wanted. "I need to go for a walk."

"It can wait," Heather snapped. She was still pissed off about their performance earlier and rightfully so. He had tried to console her with the fact that they had won the match, but she would have none of that. "We may have won today, but we were facing trainers at our level. Against gym leaders? They're going to be using bigger, stronger pokémon! You think that your Litwick's shenanigans are going to work against them? We need to be cohesive and you need to stop being so domineering!"

"And you need to listen to me! I had to make a judgment call on that." Cody shot back, suddenly waking back up again. "You keep playing the power game and that's not going to hold you! Izzy's Yanma was faster than Feathers and he would have beaten her on his own. Not once did I hear you order a Feather Dance or Agility!"

"Oh, so now you're telling me how to battle now too? Your Litwick is out of control! At least my pokémon listen to me!"

"But they aren't picking up any good habits. You can't brute force your way through ever battle."

"You think I don't know that?" she asked, frustration growing. "But I know when I can win, and I should have won that battle if you didn't jump in. It was looking bad, I know, but Feathers is bulky. She could have beaten that Yamna. I just felt it."

"Your gut feeling was wrong," he answered coldly, leaning forward and giving her a cold stare. He didn't show it in his face, but Cody felt bad about being tough with Heather. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but he had to tell her what was up. She was right about him too, but he refused to admit it. Not now at least. He knew that if he did, she would brush off his critiques of her and she would continue to make the same mistakes. In time, he would tell her that she was right, but for now, he would hold true to his stubborn nature.

"Ugh, why do I even bother?" Heather rubbed her eyes and groaned. She obviously needed food or a nap or something comforting. As if on cue, her Eevee started to paw at her left knee. She picked it up and snuggled her a little bit in her arms. "Listen to me," she growled, forcing him to look back at her with her cold sounding words. "I'm going to get a slice of chocolate cake from the sweet stand, take a warm shower, and maybe catch a nap. When I come back, we are going to discuss our battle plan, and we will not stop until we have a rough draft of some sort, alright?"

"Fine. I'll probably fall asleep out here or something, assuming the nurses don't kick me out." They had managed to get a room at the pokémon center that evening, but since she would be there in this state, he decided that he'd rather avoid her.

"Fine." She stood up and began to leave, but Cody stopped her.

"Heather!" She looked around to see him, his arm reached out as if he were trying to grab hold of her. "Look… I'm not sorry about criticizing your battling style. But I am sorry that I've been a bit cold. Just…"

"You just gotta be you, right?" A small smile crept back onto her face. "Moody, crazy Cody." She turned back to head towards the dormitories before saying, "but I'm still going to give you the business when I get back."

"Wouldn't want it any other way!" he called back before falling back into the couch. What a day it had been, but now, he was all alone. Heather was gone, Laurence and his flavor of the month were out, and all of his pokémon were either in check-up or asleep, all except one. He looked over to see Colossal sitting at the side of the couch, his eyes fluttering with drowsiness. He had once been an anxious pokémon, but ever since evolving, the Pupitar was now even less expressive, probably the least expressive of all of his pokémon. Not that it was a bad thing, but if the young teenager ever wanted to be social, Colossal was not the pokémon to talk with.

"You're not so worried about the gym, are you?" he asked, petting the pupa's head, receiving a low pitched hum in return. No, the Pupitar was ready to squash the competition, as was the rest of his team. Still, he did feel a bit anxious about the coming battle. With four trainers and twenty-four pokémon, there were too many variables to even consider. He was suddenly wishing that he had fought this gym for his first badge. First badge battles only required three pokémon per trainer. Things would have been a whole lot simpler in that regard.

So much to think about. I wish I had somebody to discuss strategy with that wasn't going to yell at me. Across the large room, he could see Jared chatting with his gym-battle partner, a boy about his age who got a lot of stares. Jared's partner was a brown-haired wheelchair bound boy. His crippled legs were the result of accident from what Cody understood when Jared talked about him. Still, the boy was an excellent, intelligent trainer. Most of his pokémon were "whittlers", a term used for a monster that chipped away at an opponent slowly by upping their own defenses while inflicting their foes with toxins, burns, leech seeds, paralysis, and so on. Cody had already seen the boy's Shuckle and Cradily in battle and both of them were very effective. Despite their styles being so different, Jared made an immediate connection with his partner, respecting him for his expertise, and the two of them were already creating a strategy for their battle. It almost made Cody wish that he didn't sign up with Heather. Maybe they'd both be better off with somebody else?

"That was quite a show you put on earlier. Can't believe you caught a Skarmory. That'll be in your favor for sure." It was Izzy. The younger boy sat on the couch across from Cody. He had changed into shorts and a white tank top from his work clothes. A young Wurmple sat on the boy's shoulder, chewing on an oversized mint leaf. It looked too young to be in gym battles, so Cody figured that it was a new team member.

"Thanks," Cody replied, leaning back and resting his head on the palms of his hands. "She was a pain in the ass to raise and train, but she's been doing great. She's definitely becoming one of my strongest." He couldn't help but let a smug smile show through. How could he not boast about his baby?

"Truly," Izzy agreed, though he wasn't captivated by Cody's boasting. "That Litwick though… You better be careful. Gym leaders here know how to deal with fire types. You better be on guard and synch up with your girlfriend if you want the badge."

"Yeah, yeah, and she's not my girlfriend," Cody corrected. People always just assume that. I don't get it.

"You're right, she's too hot for you," Izzy teased, chuckling some. "If she were your girlfriend, I'm sure you wouldn't deny it. I know I wouldn't."

"Really now?" Cody laughed. He didn't remember Izzy being a funny guy the last time they saw each other. "So, what are you going to evolve that Wurmple into?"

"Oh, her?" Izzy looked at the caterpillar who was still chewing on that thick leaf. "I hope she evolves into a Silcoon. I really would like a Beautifly. Not that I wouldn't want a Dustox, but I already have a Venomoth. Call me a stylist, but I like variety on my team."

"Oh, I get you," Cody answered. He noticed that Colossal had passed out now. "So, I gotta know; how'd you get this job? It must be exclusive to get a position as a gym trainer."

"It is exclusive," the younger boy agreed, nodding. "I was really lucky. There just so happened to be an opening when I arrived in town. They needed a young, second tier leveled bug specialist, and I just so happened to meet their credentials." He sighed and lay back on the couch, looking relieved. "I love this place."

"Really? The perks that good to keep you around?" Cody asked. Being a gym trainer had interested in him from the get go, but since he didn't specialize in a certain element of pokémon, he knew that such a life wouldn't work out for him.

"I love the city too," Izzy extended. "But the job is great. We get free dorm lodging at the stadium, free training with the older leaders, and we're give opportunities to select new pokémon from time to time to fit our teams… There are some drawbacks though. The pay isn't great and even though we're allowed to catch a ride to another town to earn badges, we're all locked into a contract that states that we have to earn our twelfth badge here. It's a money thing. Twelfth tier battles draw the most money and TV time, so the gym tells us we need to have ours here for economic reasons. Still, it's a great deal. Hopefully, I can get placement as a lower tier gym leader soon. It would really help out with the money thing."

"I bet…" But something was bothering Cody. Izzy had mentioned that he now did all of his training at the gym and that he was just given new pokémon. Given. He could understand the occasional gift, but did he ever catch pokémon anymore? "That Wurmple… Where did you get her?"

"Her? Just got her yesterday. Somebody's Dustox had laid eggs, so-"

"So you didn't catch it?" he asked. He was trying to be polite, but Izzy seemed offended by this question.

"What, are you judging me or something for not catching pokémon anymore?" His face contorted into an ugly frown. "You know what I hate? I hate it when elitists tell me that I'm doing things the wrong way. I really hope that you're not doing that, because if you are-"

"I'm not," Cody interrupted, holding his hands up as if he was guilty of something. He knew that not every trainer went out into the woods. Some trainers, such as Jared's partner, physically couldn't. Others were trained at training academies. He wasn't out to say that one way was better than another, but he had to know what was up. "Sorry, but I… you need to know that I'd never do that. It's just… You seemed to love being outside and exploring. Don't you miss that? Don't you miss battling passing trainers, catching your own pokémon, exploring-"

"No! I don't. Not anymore." Something changed in Izzy's expression. That lively, optimistic expression that he always had about him had morphed into something of terror. Cody had seen such an expression before, but on his own face when he looked in the mirror after all those nights that Darkrai had haunted him. But what had happened to Izzy?

"Look, I'm sorry, I-"

"You're curious. I get it," Izzy continued. "Look, it's dangerous out there. You've been traveling since late July, right? Surely, not all your stories are happy ones, right? You've seen what happens out there, right?"

"Yes… I've seen pokémon abuse, attempted muggings… I was kidnapped once. Saw a dead body during the winter months. I've been stalked, and…" He paused, remembering that first campfire that he had shared with Izzy. "Remember how you told me you heard about guys in helmets wandering around? You're right. They're out there. They're not the Cipher, but they're out there."

Izzy was nodding his head to all of the things he had heard, but he didn't seem to respond to the confirmation about the helmet wearing persons. "You know… I was never stalked or kidnapped. But I have seen abuse and I was mugged three times when I was out on my own. That's why I traveled with those kids last year. I told their parents I'd keep them safe… You saw a dead body, you say. I have too. But it's… it's different when it's somebody you know."

Something he said struck Cody. "Izzy, where are your friends now?"

"Home." His eyes fell. "You remember Justin? The kid with the Caterpie?"

How could Cody forget? Justin was the first trainer he ever faced; the first trainer he ever beat. "Of course. How is he?"

"He's dead."

It felt as if a vacuum had sucked all of the air out of his lungs. Justin? Little Justin? Dead? It couldn't be true.

"It was two weeks or so after we met you," Izzy continued solemnly. "There were a few Scyther in the woods we passed through. Justin said he wanted to catch one, but I told him to back off. He only had one pokémon; that Caterpie. It wasn't even evolved. But he told me that he believed in himself and in his pokémon. But I told him that I forbade it because he wasn't ready. He said 'okay,' but…" A small tear formed in his left eye. "We found him an hour later. His body was… his body was sliced in so many places. We couldn't find the Caterpie. Probably got eaten…" For a time, Izzy stared into space, not making any effort of eye contact. "Do you know what it's like to call a kid's parents and tell them that their son died? Under my watch too. And for what? A pokémon that was just following its instincts to kill. He had no chance."

Cody just stared, the lump in his throat growing. He wasn't feeling any tears, but he couldn't believe this. It was just too awful.

"The kids went home. Their parents didn't trust the world and they didn't trust me. Even my dad begged that I come home. I agreed, but when I heard about this opening, he let me take it. It's safe here. I can still become great without having to risk my life. I know I'll miss out on some things, but it's worth it."

"Yes… I understand. I can't fault you for that…" Cody agreed his tone soft. He couldn't even imagine what that was like. "But what if you traveled in a group and played it safe? Obviously, you could tell that a Scyther was too much for Justin at that time. And that's why I caught my Skarmory as a baby. A wild, full grown one could have killed me. What if-"

"That's the thing," Izzy interrupted. "We don't always know what we can handle. We're taught to believe that we can accomplish anything if we believe in ourselves and our pokémon. That's what Justin believed. And that's why he's dead. He believed so much that he could accomplish anything that he got himself killed…"

Silence took over as again, Cody had no idea what to say. "What are you saying?" he finally asked.

"I know you're not going to stop traveling because of this. You're the stubborn type. I accept that, just remember this: you and your pokémon… you're not invincible. You're not immortal. And neither are they. No matter how much you accomplish, never let your victories go to your head."

"Yeah… okay." He couldn't believe what had just happened. One moment, Izzy and him were having a pleasant conversation, but now, he didn't know what to think. This swerve in the conversation came out of nowhere, and now, what could he say. Izzy was just talking about pokémon, but the words hit elsewhere for Cody. His battle with Darkrai… was that beyond his strength? What about the Brotherhood? His goal was to stay out sight and out of mind with them, but if they were watching… For somebody who usually believed he had control of his life, he still felt incredibly humbled and helpless.

After his chat with Cody, Izzy returned to the gym dorm. Most of the trainers were either out or asleep, but he felt secure enough here to make contact. Nobody here would question his texting anyway.

[Report: Target Sierra Charlie One spotted in Graywood one day later than expected. Current activity: Gym Challenge. Estimated length of visitation is between 7 and 17 days. Observation will be continued until further notice or until new orders are given.]

It only took him a minute for him to receive a response.

[Your service has been noted. Continue your surveillance.]

With that, he returned his phone to his pocket and let out a long sigh. Days after Justin's obituary was printed, he was visited by a young woman who recruited him. She told him that with his help, he could work to educate young trainers to prevent tragedies like this from happening. This woman helped him get into the gym as a trainer where he did basic work with younger trainers while discretely handing out recruiter contact numbers to potential recruits. But when he and the other members of the Brotherhood received the email of the targets that were supposedly coming through Graywood, he was surprised to see Cody Storm's picture appear. He remembered the face somehow, though he feigned remembering the name upon seeing him again. He was told to observe, but he decided to actually talk with him, as he was only a low level threat. The story he told him was real, but hopefully… hopefully it would keep him from getting involved in the Brotherhood's affairs. But even though he didn't know Cody that well, it almost felt as if he was betraying his trust.

"I hope I did the right thing… and I hope he listens." Somehow, he didn't see that happening.

Coming soon: The biggest battle I've written to date. Stay tuned.