Finally done! I'm sooo sorry this chapter took so long, guys. School. Blegh. I can't focus on one long chapter for very long before my mind starts wandering, especially about homework I haven't finished yet...oops. But it's finally here and done! And we've finally reached a new city with a new gym leader. Let's check it out!

Last time: Pichu begins to show signs of evolution, but it quickly becomes clear that the baby mouse does not want to evolve. Michelle meets a boy named Austin, who is willing to give her an everstone in order to keep Pichu the way she is. Team Rocket soon bursts in and steals the stone, however, leading Pichu to team up with Raichu in order to show off just how strong she actually is. After learning a new move, thunderbolt, Pichu blasts Team Rocket away and receives her everstone, remaining as a Pichu for the time being.

Chapter 34: Tackled Fuchsia!

"Ugh, are we there yet?"

"You're so whiny, Aiden!"

The boy narrowed his eyes and glared at his twin sister, who looked quite pleased with herself for telling her brother off. They had been travelling towards Fuchsia City for what felt like an eternity now, and he was just about at the end of his rope.

"Hey, I'm not in the mood for any of your sass," Aiden quipped, earning an almost shocked look from Michelle. "Keep your stupid comments to yourself!"

"They're not stupid!" Michelle shrieked.

"Are too!" Aiden snapped back.

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Brandon sighed and lowered his head, of which Pichu was perched atop in an effort to get away from her loud trainer.

"Of course they're back to fighting again," Brandon sighed. "It wouldn't be an afternoon without it."

"Chu," Pichu softly agreed.

"I kind of thought they'd grow out of this by now," Brandon mused, Pichu's ears twitching out of curiosity. "You know, when we were like…five. I thought 'wow, by the time we're all Pokémon trainers, Aiden and Michelle will be mature enough not to fight so much!' Of course I'd be wrong. Why would that ever be a feasible idea?"

"Pi-chu," Pichu chimed.

Just as the group was about to reach the end of the clearing that would, according to Brandon's map, lead them into the Fuchsia City limits, they were swept up into a large net and left hanging from a tree, which of course didn't do much for Aiden and Michelle's current state of argumentation.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"Why are you blaming me?! I didn't do this!"

"You probably did, you liar!"

"Why would I trap myself in a net, genius?!"

"I'm getting such a headache," Brandon grumbled.

"Pi," Pichu agreed.

"Hey! What are you kids doing hanging out up there?"

Aiden and Michelle instantly stopped arguing, and joined Brandon in peering down towards the ground through the twine of the net. Staring back up at them was a petite woman with very fair skin and purple hair pulled back into a spiked up do. Her dark purple eyes, which looked nearly black in the shade provided by the tree of which she stood under, were full of bewilderment and genuine curiosity. But the mischievous little smirk playing on her lips seemed to tell a conflicting story.

"We aren't doing this for fun!" Michelle cried.

"Yeah, we were just walking through, and all of a sudden, we got stuck in this dumb net!" Aiden added, his obvious anger bubbling to the surface.

"Yeowch, still hot under the collar from going at it with that little red haired lady, huh?" The woman teased.

"She's my sister, not a lady," Aiden scoffed.

"Hey!" Michelle shouted.

"Could you please get us down from here?" Brandon tried, knowing his two friends were basically useless in their current state. "The close proximity to this shouting match is gonna leave me hard of hearing soon enough."

"Yeah, sure!" The woman chirped. She reached behind the tree and yanked on a long rope, which sent the net barreling towards the ground with the young trainers still inside. They landed very harshly, Pichu getting crushed between all three and shrieking before unleashing her newly learned thunderbolt on the gang, leading them to scream and then groan in the aftermath.

"Thanks…" Brandon breathed.

"Don't mention it," the woman hummed, hiding her hands behind her back.

"Pichu pipi!" Pichu cried, glancing apologetically at her trainer and the two boys who accompanied her.

"It's okay, Pichu," Michelle sighed, managing to sit up on her knees and pick up the remorseful baby mouse. "You just got startled is all. But we're okay!"

"Speak for yourself," Aiden grumbled, shaking the ash off of himself as he too sat back up. "What's some random net doing in the path, anyway?"

"Maybe it's one of Team Rocket's nasty tricks," Michelle replied angrily.

"Not a trick, just a training tactic!"

Aiden and Michelle both looked up at the young woman, who was now smiling confidently at them.

"A training tactic?" Michelle repeated.

"It's essential for ninjas to know exactly what to expect in any kind of situation!" The woman continued, nodding her head as she spoke. "I come out here to do all of my stealth training! I have my assistants set up different obstacles for me, and then I come out and try to beat the course!"

"Are you any good?" Aiden asked.

"Of course!" The woman laughed. "I'm a real life, professional ninja! I'm one of the best, in fact."

This is when the young trainers took notice of the rest of the woman's outfit. She wore a short and tight black dress over a gray bodysuit that stretched down both her legs and arms, with black gloves pulled over her hands and black boots covering her feet. A pink sash wrapped around her waist, and a long, flowing scarf in the same color was draped around her neck.

"You sure look stealthy," Brandon commented, earning another snigger from the purple haired stranger.

"Thanks!" She trilled. "The name's Janine. Nice to meet ya!"

"No, thank you for saving us!" Brandon fussed, earning a groan from his two friends. They knew exactly what he was up to, and neither one appreciated it. "I'm Brandon! But you could call me your boyfriend, if you're so inclined!"

"Uh…I think you're a little bit too young for me," Janine laughed nervously, slowly backing away from the overzealous breeder.

"That's being generous," Michelle muttered, finally earning a snicker from her brother. "My name's Michelle, and Pichu here is my partner!"

"Pi!" Pichu greeted cheerfully.

"And I'm Aiden," the raven haired boy added.

"Hold on…Aiden and Michelle…" Janine murmured, carefully eyeing the two siblings. "Oh! I know you both! Not personally, but I know of you. How interesting!"

Aiden and Michelle exchanged strange looks, but said nothing in response.

"Well, come on!" Janine urged, breaking the two out of their stupor. "Come with me back to my house! I can put up some tea, and I've got some really delicious treats there, too!"

"Are you sure?" Michelle questioned.

"Yeah, of course!" Janine laughed. "After all, it's the least I could do after getting you guys trapped in my training net."

Michelle opened her mouth to respond, but an excited Aiden was quick to cut her off. "That sounds great, Janine! Thanks!"

"That boy will never turn up the opportunity for some free food," Michelle sighed, shaking her head.

"Pichu pipi!" Pichu squeaked.

XXX

Janine brought the group back to what appeared to be an old-fashioned Japanese mansion: white walls bordered by wooden stakes and topped off by dark green roofs that almost reminded the young trainers of bamboo. They walked through the entrance of the complex, beneath an archway that was identical to the exterior of the gigantic building. Aiden, Michelle, and Brandon were all surprised to see people standing around in classic ninja garb, doing intense training or even listening to lectures taught by older, wiser teachers.

Eventually, they were led to a section of the complex all the way in the back of the property. It looked exactly the same as every other section of the mansion, but just the sight of it seemed to bring extra joy to Janine's face. She herself obviously knew it was different, but the younger trainers couldn't exactly tell.

"This is my home!" Janine announced, swinging her arm out in front of her. "Isn't it awesome?"

"It's cute," Michelle giggled helpfully.

"But how come it's so small compared to the rest of this big place?" Aiden asked.

"Oh, the big building is just used for ninja training," Janine explained. "This place is actually a ninja school that my parents run. I teach too, sometimes, but it's not my passion."

"What is your passion?" Brandon prodded.

"Ah, it's not interesting!" Janine laughed, causing the three younger trainers to sweat drop. "Follow me inside. I'll serve you!"

They followed Janine inside the house, which was a lot more quaint than they were expecting. Even though the outside of the house was small, it had been just as beautiful and elaborate as the rest of the mansion. But the inside didn't exactly match the façade. It was warm and homey, made almost entirely out of wood. Even the tea table set in the middle of what appeared to be the living room was wooden, set low with scarlet cushions surrounding each side.

"Please, have a seat!" Janie urged, motioning towards the table. "And I'll go fetch the tea and snacks."

Aiden, Michelle, and Brandon each sat on a different side of the table, looking across at one another with bewildered looks.

"She sure is an interesting one," Michelle murmured.

"Chu," Pichu agreed.

"How bad can she be?" Aiden scoffed. "She's giving us free food!"

"You're such an idiot," Michelle groaned.

"She said her parents teach at this ninja school," Brandon mused aloud. "So obviously it runs in the family, the whole stealth thing."

"I wonder if she's like…a professional ninja," Michelle added.

"Well, she must be pretty good if she can teach other people how to be one," Aiden reasoned.

At that moment, Janine came bustling back through the doorway, a tray in her hands that was balancing a teapot, teacups, and several pastries. Turning elegantly on her heel, Janine bent down and placed the tray in the middle of the table, beaming at the three stunned trainers who were gathered around the same table.

"There! Perfect!" Janine sighed.

"Whoa, this looks awesome!" Aiden crowed, reaching for one of the pastries and stuffing the entire thing in his mouth.

"Thanks!" Janine giggled. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening and then closing sounded, and before any of the trainers could react, Janine was gone like a flash.

"That…was weird," Brandon noted.

"Where'd she go?" Michelle gasped, looking all over the room.

"I dunno," Aiden chirped. "At least she gave us the food before she left!"

At this, Michelle dramatically rolled her eyes. Footsteps soon sounded, and began to grow louder and louder. Aiden, Michelle, and Brandon all assumed it was simply Janine, returning from wherever it was she'd run off to, and therefore were genuinely surprised when instead, an older man with a rather furious expression walked through the doorway.

"What are you three doing in my house?!"

Aiden, Michelle, and Brandon all jumped, smiling weakly and nervously backing up towards the front door.

"Heh, w-we're sorry, sir!" Aiden rushed out.

"Yeah, we were brought here by Janine!" Michelle added.

"We thought this was her house!" Brandon gasped. "She told us it was!"

At this, the man's expression softened. He ran a hand through his greying teal hair and shook his head, adding a disgruntled sigh to the mix as well.

"That girl…" he muttered.

"Uh…so do you want us to leave?" Aiden asked awkwardly, earning an elbow in the side courtesy of his twin sister.

"No, no," he gruffly replied. "I'm sorry for snapping at you before. Please, have a seat. Help yourselves."

"But, uh…is this actually her house?" Michelle questioned.

"Yes, Janine lives here," the man confirmed. "She is my daughter, after all. And this is my house."

"Oh, you're Janine's dad?" Brandon marveled.

"Yes," the man breathed. "Koga is the name."

"Wait a minute!" Aiden screeched, frightening Michelle and Brandon. "I know you! Koga…you're a member of the Elite Four!"

Koga smirked and tried to choke back a rough laugh. "That is correct."

"Whoa, so cool!" Aiden fussed.

"It's not a bad job, I suppose," Koga teased. "It comes with nice benefits. But I don't want to talk about myself. I certainly hope my daughter hasn't caused you any trouble."

"Janine? Not at all," Brandon murmured.

"Unless you count getting us caught up in her net," Michelle huffed.

"Yeah, but that's because we just so happened to wander into her ninja training territory," Aiden helped.

"Ninja training territory? Not that old excuse again."

The trainers all looked up at Koga, who seemed rather disappointed. This only heightened their bewilderment.

"What do you mean again?" Brandon queried.

"Janine lied to you all," Koga replied, causing the three trainers to gasp. "A nasty old habit of hers."

"Wait…what?" Aiden breathed.

"Janine hasn't gone through the kind of life that I have," Koga explained. "She was much more fortunate, and never had to give a single thing up. I love her, but she's naïve."

"What do you mean by that?" Michelle pressed.

"I know I said I didn't want to talk about myself…" Koga sighed, sounding rather hesitant before continuing, "but I feel that I must for you to fully understand why Janine does what she does. You see, both of my parents died when I was just thirteen. This left me to raise my younger sister on my own. It was never easy, but I found my way. I opened up this ninja school, and it started off much smaller than it is now. Over time, however, the business grew. More and more people wanted to learn the fine art of being a ninja. It was through the school that I met my wife, in fact. Once Janine was born, we started raising her as a ninja as well. She had always been naturally talented at it, perhaps because it runs in the family. But as she got older, things became complicated. Janine would skip her classes, even the ones she was supposed to be assisting in, and wouldn't come home until late at night. Far past her curfew, in fact. I was gym leader back then, so I knew everyone in Fuchsia City. Through connections, I was able to discover that the reason Janine was always out was because she had become entangled in petty crimes."

"No way!" Aiden gasped.

"I can't imagine her as a criminal," Michelle added thoughtfully.

"She didn't exactly know they were crimes," Koga grumbled. "The naivety, like I said. Janine simply thought she was making money. Odd jobs, if you will. I had to firmly explain to her that doing those kinds of things were wrong. She can't simply trust everyone who she comes in contact with, especially since she was the gym leader's daughter. That warning didn't seem to stop her, however."

"So what happened after that?" Brandon prodded.

"After I became a member of the Elite Four, I appointed Janine as the new gym leader," Koga elucidated. "I figured it would keep her out of trouble, keep her busy. But somehow, she still managed to find a way around it to get back into the money making business."

"So…are you saying the nets were some kind of crime trap?" Michelle tried.

"That's exactly what I was saying," Koga sighed. "She was more than likely trying to swindle the three of you."

Aiden, Michelle, and Brandon all exchanged shocked looks. Janine had come off as so kind and hospitable. But, as it would turn out, she was actually a criminal. Perhaps an accidental one, but still a criminal. And she had tried to make them victims!

"But then why would she bring us back here if she was trying to steal from us?" Brandon reasoned.

"It's all part of the trick," Koga replied. "She didn't want the three of you to know what she was really up to."

"Wow," Michelle breathed, her emerald eyes scanning all of the treats Janine had left for them on the table. "I really can't believe this. It's so crazy."

"I've tried for so many years to break her out of this habit," Koga lamented. "Even her aunt, my younger sister Aya, has tried. She and Janine are extremely close. But not even Aya has managed to convince Janine to go down the straight and narrow. Old habits die hard, I suppose."

"Well, criminal or not, she's still a gym leader," Aiden decided, getting to his feet and holding a determined fist in front of his chest. "And I plan on winning a badge from her!"

"Aiden, maybe we should just go to another gym," Michelle murmured. "I don't know if it's such a good thing to get tangled up with a criminal gym leader."

"Aiden?" Koga repeated, sounding rather breathless as he spoke the name. "Wait just one moment…you are the son of Ash and Misty, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Aiden confirmed.

"And that makes you Michelle," Koga continued, glancing over at the bewildered redhead. "Their daughter."

"Yep!" Michelle chirped.

"And you," Koga murmured, setting his black eyes on Brandon. "You look awfully familiar as well. Is your father a gym leader? His name…Forrest?"

"That's right," Brandon authorized.

"Ah, so you three are all familiar with the gym leaders then," Koga crowed.

"Not particularly," Aiden sheepishly admitted.

"Our mom never really talks about the other gym leaders because she doesn't want us getting involved in her work," Michelle elaborated. "Sometimes, it really frustrates her, and she doesn't want to drag us into it. We know Brandon's dad really well though because he's good friends with our mom."

"I'm on the same boat as these two," Brandon chimed in. "Dad's pretty hush-hush when it comes to work affairs. Unless it's his own battles. Then he's more than happy to gloat."

"Your parents are wise," Koga declared, nodding his head as he spoke. "I too never divulged much information to Janine. I didn't want her to feel like a privileged child who never had to work for what she wanted. She was far better off than I was growing up, but I refused to let her believe that. Yet she still manages to get herself entangled in such messes. It baffles me beyond all belief."

"I bet we could go find Janine and talk some sense into her," Aiden offered, earning horrified gasps from his two traveling partners. "What?!"

"You must be joking, right?!" Michelle cried.

"You can't just talk sense into a criminal, Aiden!" Brandon added.

At this, the raven haired boy smirked and clicked his tongue, officially irritating his twin sister. "Guys, guys. You're overthinking it! Janine's not doing this stuff on purpose. She's just confused is all!"

"At this point, she knows what she's doing," Michelle growled. "Nothing's an accident anymore! She knows she's a criminal, Aiden! She doesn't want to stop!"

"That doesn't matter to me," Aiden huffed, getting to his feet and pumping a determined fist. "She's still a gym leader, and she's got a badge that will get me one step closer to the Indigo League! I'm finding her and challenging her to a battle, and that's that!"

Before Michelle or Brandon could protest again, Aiden took off right through the front door, running down the pathways of the ninja school to try and find the criminally involved gym leader.

"He's so stupid," Michelle muttered, shaking her head.

"Stupid, yes," Brandon sighed, "but also very determined."

XXX

"Janine! Hey, Janine! Where are you?"

Aiden had wandered back into the forest, the same one where Janine had caught him and his traveling companions previously. He figured that if she was still entangled in her criminal deeds, she would just go back to the same place as before. After all, it seemed to have been her territory. He knew he was risking getting caught in another trap, but it would be worth it in the end if he wound up with his fifth badge.

"Come on, she's gotta be around here somewhere," Aiden muttered to himself, looking behind each and every tree that was in his path. "Nothing!"

"Shi?"

Aiden blinked and turned around, gasping at the sight before him. It was a Pokémon, one he was sure he had seen before, but not very often. Its blue and black fur, wide yellow eyes, and big ears were all bright and seemingly well cared for. It looked healthy, alert, and strong, despite its small stature.

"No way…" Aiden murmured, pulling out his pokedex to scan the creature.

Shinx, the flash Pokémon. Its fur acts as a defense mechanism: glowing brightly to blind predators or dazzles when danger is sensed.

"Shinx…they're from Sinnoh!" Aiden gasped. "Which means they're really rare in Kanto! I've got to catch it!"

Shinx watched on as Aiden took a step closer. Whining, the flash Pokémon narrowed its eyes as its fur began to stand up and spark.

"Oh, that defense mechanism," Aiden muttered, stopping in his tracks. "I've got to be more careful. I'll have to battle it."

Reaching to his belt, Aiden plucked off one of the dual colored spheres and tossed it up in the air, watching as it popped open and released Growlithe.

"Growl!" Growlithe barked, his tail shifting back and forth.

"Growlithe, use fire fang!" Aiden ordered, pointing at Shinx.

Growlithe barked once in understanding before charging at the electric type, who growled in response. It tried to jump out of Growlithe's way, but the puppy Pokémon was too fast, opening his mouth and catching one of Shinx's arms. Digging his teeth in, Growlithe unleashed the flames that made up his fire fang attack and caused Shinx to cry out in pain. The two landed back on the ground with a considerable thud, Shinx getting caught beneath Growlithe's body.

"Growlithe, bite!" Aiden called.

Once again, Growlithe opened his mouth to attack. Before he could get his teeth into Shinx again, however, the electric type yelped and surrounded itself with electricity, butting heads with Growlithe and electrocuting the fire type in the process.

"Spark!" Aiden gasped, his eyes widening.

Growlithe shrieked unhappily and jumped off, shaking out his newly charred orange fur. During this time, Shinx managed to pull itself up onto its paws and jump forward, its mouth filling with electricity before clamping down on Growlithe's side, getting a pained bark out of the puppy.

"Thunder fang!" Aiden marveled. "Whoa, that's the electric version of Growlithe's fire fang…"

Growlithe began to frantically shake his body out, trying to get Shinx off of him. It worked, and the flash Pokémon went flying, skidding across the grassy ground before stopping right in front of a good, strong oak tree.

"Finish it off, Growlithe!" Aiden commanded. "Ember!"

The fire type opened his mouth and unleashed the attack at Shinx, knocking the flash Pokémon back down as it tried to stand up. That seemed to do the trick, as immediately after, Shinx tried and tried to get back up, legs giving out with each and every attempt.

"Perfect," Aiden breathed, reaching to his waist and pulling off another poke ball, this one empty. "Go, poke ball!"

The red and white sphere sailed through the air, eventually bouncing off of Shinx and opening up in order to suck the flash Pokémon up in a ray of light. Once the ball landed back on the ground, it rocked back and forth a few times before sealing shut with a click, the center button sparkling for a short second before fizzling out.

"Alright!" Aiden cheered, running over to the ball and retrieving it. "I caught a Shinx!"

"Growl!" Growlithe barked, tail wagging once again.

"Thanks for your help, buddy!" Aiden chuckled, reaching to pat Growlithe's head. "You were awesome!"

The dog barked again before jumping on his trainer and licking the boy's face, causing Aiden to laugh wildly.

"Hey, cut it out, Growlithe! That tickles!"

"What?! You caught her?!"

Aiden blinked and managed to sit up, Growlithe sliding off to the side and sitting down as he looked in the same upward direction as his trainer. "Caught who?"

"That Shinx!" Janine gasped again, jumping out of the tree that hung above Aiden's head and landing on her feet. "You actually caught her?"

"Yeah…" Aiden drawled. "So, Shinx is a girl?"

"Mmhm. I brought her here all the way from Sinnoh," Janine explained. "I wasn't expecting anyone to actually catch her, though."

"Oh, she isn't your Pokémon, is she?" Aiden asked, face falling at the thought of having to give up his newest capture; a rare one at that.

"No, no she's not mine!" Janine quickly refuted. "She's just…uh…something that I brought back with me."

Aiden blinked curiously at this, confused by Janine's obvious fluster. Then, it hit him. Like a train, in fact. Everything Koga had told him, everything he had thought while he was searching for her in the forest…

"Was Shinx part of a crime?" Aiden breathed.

At this, Janine's entire face paled. "Why would you think that?"

"Because of your dad," Aiden replied honestly. "Koga was kinda telling us about stuff, and that came up…am I wrong?"

Janine sighed loudly and shook her head. "No. No…you're right. That's why I brought Shinx back to Kanto with me. She was going to be part of a scheme. A really good one I came up with, too!"

"But how come you keep coming up with schemes?" Aiden tried. "Why would you want to keep doing all this bad stuff? I don't get it!"

"I'm not a bad person," Janine murmured, her dark purple eyes shining with what seemed to be guilt. "Really! I didn't know what I was getting myself into at first. I thought it would just be a one-time thing. But then I realized it's kind of fun! I've never hurt anyone or stolen anything significant. I'm not a real criminal."

"So then…what are you?" Aiden murmured.

"A con artist," Janine admitted, frowning at the title. "But, I told you, it's nothing serious."

"But your dad worries about you!" Aiden cried.

"He just doesn't understand the nature of my jobs," Janine dismissed. "If he knew I wasn't really hurting anyone, I don't think he'd be so upset! It's pretty much just like being a professional trickster. I've always loved pulling pranks on people, and doing this kind of stuff, sometimes you'll get a little pay out of it! I mean, a gym leader's salary isn't bad, but it's not like it's totally substantial."

"Wait…what?!" Aiden gasped.

"Oh, right!" Janine shrieked, her eyes widening. "I forgot your mom is a gym leader! Sorry! I don't want you to think you're poor or anything! Besides, your mom does get paid more than I do…"

"It's alright, I didn't think anything like that," Aiden sighed, his heart still secretly pounding away in his chest. "But since you're a…'con artist,' what were you going to do with Shinx? You weren't going to sell her, were you?"

"No!" Janine immediately refuted. "Arceus, I would never sell a Pokémon! That's just cruel. I don't believe in such practices."

"Then what was your scheme?" Aiden demanded.

"Shinx are very rare in Kanto," Janine explained. "They're plentiful in Sinnoh and parts of Unova, but not here! People go crazy when they see such a rare Pokémon to the region wandering around in the wild! So, I was going to train Shinx and use her as bait. Trick people into trying to catch her and getting some stuff out of them along the way, like food or maybe some rare poke balls. But…you actually managed to catch her. I have to say, I'm impressed!"

"Uh…thanks?" Aiden trilled. He didn't know whether being complimented by a con artist was a good thing or not.

"Am I to assume you want a badge from me?"

Aiden's breath hitched, and he found himself just awkwardly staring at Janine in silence for five very long seconds. Once sense began to return to him, the young trainer slowly nodded his head, suddenly feeling a decent amount of shame in himself. Wanting a badge so badly from someone who was an admitted criminal. He didn't care that she only believed herself to be a con artist. That was still a criminal. And all he'd wanted from her was a badge.

His father would be ashamed.

"I'm more than willing to battle you in the gym," Janine declared, a smirk gracing her lips. "I think you're just the kind of challenger I've been waiting for."

"Fine," Aiden croaked, his throat dry. "But I want a condition."

"A condition?" Janine repeated.

"Something extra, if I win," Aiden explained.

"Ah, that can probably be arranged," Janine scoffed. "What else do you want aside from a badge?"

"I want you to stop getting involved in all of those criminal acts," Aiden strongly stated, earning a look of surprise from Janine. "And stick to being a gym leader. To make your dad proud, just like how I try to make mine proud of me."

At this, Janine's smirk turned into a more genuine smile. "You certainly seem invested in my life, little boy."

"Not invested," Aiden refuted. "Just aware."

Janine made a sound of interest and slowly nodded her head. "Alright. I'll agree to that. You win, and I'll stop my schemes. Deal?"

Aiden watched as the ninja girl stretched her hand out, offering it to him. Sucking in his breath, Aiden reached out and grasped Janine's hand, giving her a firm, single shake.

"Deal."

Obviously, Janine's never been seen in the anime, so I kind of had to make her up. I took her game design and combined it with parts of her personality from Pokémon Adventures. But I also threw some of my own characterization and interpretation into her as well. It's kind of fun when the characters aren't really well defined: you can shape them a bit!

Aiden also had a bit of character development this chapter: he's beginning to learn that a badge isn't just a badge. There's real meaning behind it, and that he's got to stay true to his morals and integrity. He's maturing just a little more, like Ash did :)

Next time, the battle between Aiden and Janine! Who will win? Stay tuned!