Reaching Pewter City was like falling outside the gates to paradise. After days of trekking through Viridian Forest and suffering through Hibari's sporadic "training" sessions—honestly, Hibari was crazy; who in the world tried to fight other Pokémon? Needless to say, he was terrifying and Fairy was no different—Tsuna was already thinking about resting in the Pokémon Center when he was suddenly lifted in the air.

Yelping, he struggled against the surprisingly strong grip around his backpack while his Pokémon grabbed onto his legs, pulling him down. Bacchus' vine whips squeezed around his waist, making Tsuna wince; his stomach felt like it'd explode. "H—Hibari!"

It was Fairy who responded instead. He hopped on top of Dante's head and leaped in the air. Tsuna heard a loud thump before he fell, landing in Hibari's arms.

"That was pathetic, omnivore," Hibari said.

Tsuna gaped at him. "Are you—I was just about to be kidnapped and you just stood there!"

"Hn."

"Don't 'hn' me! That's not—We spent three freakin' days together! I fed you and made you—"

Tsuna squeaked when Hibari unceremoniously dropped him to the ground, but Bacchus' quickly held him up with his vine whips; the brunet gulped when his face was close to touching the floor. Dante waved Fairy off from getting too close to Tsuna but the star-shaped Pokémon just hopped over him and cuddled the boy's face. "Cleffa, Cleffa!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Heracross!"

All eyes turned to the Pokémon that had tried to carry—no, abduct Tsuna. Needless to say, it wasn't very welcomed. Tsuna, still upside down in the air, was more busy with keeping his hoodie from sliding down his stomach. "It's never nice to kidnap people for any reason at all! And I'm not fluffy!"

"Herac—"

"Charmander!"

Ace screeched and started pecking Heracross' face with no success in damaging the bug Pokémon. Tsuna opened his mouth to berate Dante about his language when someone shouted, "Ceros!"

A teen in a white tank top and long black pants ran towards them with blinding speed. His slim muscles rippled as he pulled Heracross into a headlock. "Where'd you run off to, huh? We weren't done with our ultimate training!" He smiled sheepishly at Tsuna. "Sorry if Ceros bothered you. She usually doesn't approach people that easily."

Tsuna blinked as Bacchus finally set him on the ground and tapped his ankle as a signal to pick him up again. "Oh, it's…okay," Tsuna said, taking out the green Pokémon Trainer's Guidebook from his backpack. "Wait." He flipped through the pages until he found the Pewter City section. He turned another page before he found the teen's face inside. "Oh, you're Knuckle!"

The gym leader grinned. "That's me! You must be a trainer." He cocked his head. "Actually, you kind of look like…"

Tsuna smiled. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi!" He scratched his left cheek, the other one being incessantly cuddled by Fairy who ignored Mira and Dante's glares. "But maybe you heard about me from my brother, Giotto. You can call me Tsuna."

Knuckle grinned. "Yes! I've heard of you! He talks about you all the time!" He straightened up, letting Ceros go, and gestured at himself. "You're here for a battle, right? You seem like a strong kid. That Cleffa you got there seems pretty powerful. You see, Ceros is tough to hit."

Tsuna flushed. "Oh, um, Fairy's not mine."

"Cleffa!"

"Stop calling me that! I'm telling you, it's not appropriate!"

Knuckle blinked a couple of times. "You can…understand it?"

"Him," Tsuna corrected, trying to pry Fairy off of his face. His cheek was starting to get sweaty. "Come on, go back to Hibari."

Hibari, on the other hand, had climbed up a nearby tree and was napping without a care in the world, the jerk. All he did was sleep and fight and eat the food Tsuna made for him.

"Charmander!"

"Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling him that? It's rude!"

"Squirt."

"No, you can't dump him in the river! Remember what happened last time?" (Fairy had literally swum against the strong currents like a knife cutting through butter. It was just bizarre.)

Ace trilled a few high-pitched notes while perching himself on top of Tsuna's head.

"You and Dante seriously need to get your mouths washed out with soap or something. Where did you even learn those words?"

"Cleffa!"

"No! Don't copy them!"

Knuckle watched the interaction with some kind of morbid fascination in his eyes for a second before he smiled. "Are you ready for the battle? I'd be really honored."

At the mention of "battle" from their gym leader, the onlooking and passing pedestrians fled immediately, leaving nothing but dust behind. Before Tsuna could even process the strange spectacle, Knuckle already had a Pokéball in his hand. "I look forward to this, Tsuna!"

The brunet widened his eyes. "W—Wait, I'm not ready for a—"

Knuckle just threw his PokéBall in the air. "Brutus!"

A Geodude appeared in a flash of light, shouting its name proudly. When his eyes landed on Tsuna, he immediately flew towards him, making Knuckle blink. Tsuna was too busy skimming down Knuckle's profile page. "Ah, crap, wait, Knuckle's a Ground and Fighting-type gym leader and, uh, Geodude's, um—" He tugged his hair. His nerves were getting to him. "Wait, Knuckle, I really don't think I'm r—"

"Squirtle!"

Mira spewed a powerful Water Gun at Brutus, knocking him out instantly. Tsuna blinked. Then blinked again. "Uh…"

Fairy still clung onto his face. "Cleffa, Cleffa!"

"No, you're not even my Pokémon! And stop calling me that!"

Knuckle returned Brutus to his PokéBall. "You have some strong friends there, Tsuna! Let's go, Tyson!"

"Wait!"

A Mankey appeared next. He hopped on his feet excitedly when he saw Tsuna, who was flipping through the guidebook like his life depended on it. "Um, Mankey's a, uh… Oh, wait." He fumbled through his backpack just as Tyson sprinted towards him with a happy squeal. When Tsuna finally found his red Pokédex, he laughed sheepishly, feeling very dumb. "I forgot I had this."

Ace soared in the air and flapped his wings to conjure a powerful Gust, blowing Tyson away. He slammed into some trees before sliding down, his eyes swirly. Tsuna widened his eyes. "Holy—A—Are you okay?"

Cooing proudly, Ace flew back to Tsuna's hair. Knuckle rubbed his chin. "It says a lot when your Pokémon knows what you're thinking and wants them to do. You must be really close!"

Tsuna wrinkled his nose. "Huh? Wait—"

Knuckle returned Tyson into his Pokéball and removed another one from his belt. "Well, third time's a charm right, Tsuna?"

"Uh, wait, I'm—"

"Arthur, go!"

A Cubone appeared, twirling his bone impressively, until he saw Tsuna. His eyes immediately teared up. "C—Cubone!"

"Wait, no, I'm not—" Tsuna gaped when Dante opened his mouth, getting ready for Ember. "Dante, n—"

"Cleffa!" Fairy suddenly leapt from Tsuna's face and back-kicked Arthur in the chest.

Tsuna gripped his hair. "Fairy, what did you do?"

The unconscious Cubone was swiftly returned to his PokéBall while Dante screamed some colorful words at Fairy's giggling, innocent face. Tsuna just stared on at the scene, not sure what to make of it. Bacchus patted his ankle again. "Saur."

Tsuna just fell onto his butt in shock as Knuckle headed towards him. The teen's words were a faint buzz in his ears. Mira patted his arm in concern while Dante looked up at him with wide eyes, mumbling his name. Bacchus just made himself home in Tsuna's slack arms. Fairy hopped onto his neck, cuddling his chin, as Ace flew down to perch on his shoulder instead.

"—ations, Tsuna! Here's your ultimate Boulder Badge! You earned it!"

Tsuna was pretty sure he didn't. It wasn't like he actually battled Knuckle; his Pokémon did all the work.

"I also feel very blessed," Knuckle rambled on, "because I sincerely believe that Arceus has sent you as a sign that the world will be revolving on a higher, greater, and better path for the future."

Tsuna stared at the teen for a good moment, and holy crap, he was being serious. "Wait, what? Did you just—Arceus what?"

That got him some really long lecture about the spiritual workings of the universe, Arceus, the Fated One, and all Tsuna could think about was how he should just go back home and hide under his covers.

A/N Kidnapping is a no-no, peeps.

Thank you for reading! I hope to see you again in the next chapter.

Have a lovely day~

Little Miss Bunny