A/N: I do not own Pokemon

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Solidarity

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Chapter 2: Route 4 Troubles

Ace Trainer Sean/Youngster Joey

"Hey, Sean, have you heard about Team Flare?"

"Team Flare? What's that?"

"It's a group that is growing in size here in Kalos."

"A group of what?"

"People and their Pokémon."

"Huh. What do they want?"

"Apparently, their goal is to 'Create a Beautiful and Better World'. They're trying to help the world's problem with overpopulation, growing lack of natural resources, and a world in which Pokémon are free to live."

"That… actually sounds pretty good, Michele."

"Yea. My thoughts exactly. It sounds good on paper. But the issue lies in how Team Flare is going about it."

"Which is?"

"They require two things to work: finances and manpower. The first they usually steal. They steal money in any way they can; from petty theft to embezzlement and larceny. The other they usually get by using force .They force people to join their ranks by intimidation, bribery, and many other ways. They usually don't take 'no' for an answer."

"That's… not so good."

"Yea. Again, exactly."

"Truthfully, I have heard of Team Flare before. Only a little though. Just rumors and gossip around the bigger cities."

"What have you heard?"

"Nothing all that good."

"See? That's actually why I'm here in Kalos. I want to find out more about Team Flare and do what I can to curtail their activities."

"Doing your 'Good Samaritan Deed'?"

"I've been around a lot of places, Sean. Seen a lot of different regions and people. There are a lot of groups like Team Flare. Team Galactic, Team Plasma, Team Rocket— they are all the same. They may have different outfits, or different monikers, but trust me; none of them are up to any good."

"I see."

Even with the dim, slightly fuzzy silhouette of the Holo Caster, I could tell Michele was unhappy. It wasn't easy to make out, what with the sunlight blazing down on me in the middle of Route 4, but seriously, the girl's frown was so big, it looked like it was sucking up the entire lower half of her face. I could only see her upper body in the hologram, and even though I couldn't see much of her, she looked restless.

Her arms worked over her chest, fingers gripping and loosening around her upper arms. Her jaw clenched tightly, her eyes shifting from side to side. Her blonde hair, shimmering a light gray in the hologram, hung loosely from her dark hat atop her head. She looked kind of worn out, but overall she looked a lot better from the previous week when she and I had finally found our way out from the depths of Victory Road.

I cleared my throat, getting the other Trainer's attention back on me. "Well, what can I do to help, then?"

Her face took on a suddenly surprised look. "Help? You want to help me?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "You clearly want my help with something. Why else would you call me?"

She huffed, narrowing her gray eyes at me in irritation. "Excuse me! Maybe I just wanted to talk to you! Maybe I just wanted a friendly chat! Did you ever think about that?"

I had to fight to keep from laughing at her sudden outburst. In the short week I spent since first meeting the Ace Trainer Michele in Victory Road, I learned one important thing about her: While friendly and outgoing, she also could yell. Really loud. And I wasn't in a hurry to replace my Holo Caster's speakers quite yet.

"Right, right. Sorry. Of course you just wanted to chat. My bad."

"Your damn right!" Her hologram glared at me. "And would it kill you to give me a call once in a while?"

"I didn't realize we were such good friends." I said honestly.

Sure, after getting out of Victory Road and recuperating at the League's Pokémon Center we had exchanged Holo Caster frequencies, but then we parted ways shortly after that. I went back towards Lumiose City to restock and resupply, whereas Michele had said something about heading up north towards Dendemille Town and the Frost Cavern just on the outskirts. When we departed, she made me promise to keep in touch, and I agreed mainly to be polite. She had been amiable company, and a good partner for Victory Road, but I hadn't intended to really stay in close contact with her.

Apparently, when she called me on my Holo Caster a week later, clearly irritated at my lack of contact over the past week, she had intended to make good on her own promise.

"Of course we are friends!" She said, her Kantonian eyes widening. "When you survive Victory Road with someone, you tend to keep in contact!"

"Ah." I said. "In that case, I am sorry. I'll contact you more often, then."

Michele eyed me for another few moments, and then her face relaxed. "Good then. I'll be expecting your call in a couple days."

"Right. You still around the Frost Cavern?"

"Yea. I'll stick around here for a few more days, and then I'll head down south for a bit. It's a bit too cold up here for my taste."

I nodded. "Take care of yourself then."

"Aww, I didn't know you cared." She sounded sarcastic, but her face was sincere. An interesting effect, I had to admit.

"Of course I do. We're friends, aren't we?" Suddenly, becoming serious, I stared directly at her hologram. "And I'll keep an eye out for Team Flare, too."

Michele looked back at me, her face matching mine, and nodded. "Thanks. Let me know if you find out anything. Take it easy, Sean."

"Right." I said and, giving the Ace Trainer one last smile, I shut off the Holo Caster.

Sighing, I stood up and looked around. Route 4, known to the locals as "Parterre Way" was one of the routes in Kalos that proved how important exterior looks were to the people here. Flower gardens, hedge mazes, steppes and fountains littered the entire route. Trees from outlining forests surrounded the route on the far sides, giving the impression of a strait road from Santalune City to Lumiose City, Kalos' capital. But that's all it really was; an impression. The forest surrounding the route was easy to enter and easier to get lost in if you weren't careful. Many travelers, Trainers and regular Kalosian alike, usually kept to the main road and enjoyed the flowers, hedge mazes and well-kept landscape.

I had started on the route the day before, taking a stop at the Pokémon Center in Santalune to switch out a few of my veteran Pokémon for a few of my newer additions, and set out shortly thereafter. I didn't really have a goal in mind for heading through Route 4 other than the simple fact that the route was a nice area to be in. After the week spent in Victory Road, I had decided to take it easy for a while.

I had earned a break, anyway.

I adjusted my bag across my shoulders and leaned down to slide my roller skates onto my shoes when a shadow fell across me. I stopped and looked up, blinking to get a clear look at the person standing in front of me.

"Hey!" A youthful, slightly high-pitched voice called out unnecessarily loudly. "I like shorts because they are comfortable and easy to wear!"

I blinked again.

"Uh… what?"

"I wanna battle!" The voice said again, this time matching the figure in front of me. I stood up and was surprised to find that the person standing in front of me was actually much shorter than I was. Only coming up to maybe my chest, the person was a young boy; messy, unkempt brown hair, a blue hoodie and, apparently because they were comfortable and easy to wear, a pair of khaki shorts.

"Huh?" I voiced, unsure of what else I could say. What was what about shorts? And a battle?

The boy grinned and held out a red-and-white Pokéball in his hand towards me. "My Rattata here is the best! He's Pokémon League material; totally in the top percentage of Rattata!"

"The hell?" I managed, eyes shifting from the boy's Pokéball, to his shorts he apparently liked, and back to his short stature.

The kid grinned widely. "Yup! The world's most awesome Rattata! Don't believe me? Let's have a battle!"

Here the kid was talking about his Rattata, which was apparently awesome, and I was still stuck on shorts. Sure they were easy to wear, but when you are travelling through the forest and caves they weren't really that useful for protection. On the other hand, they didn't chaff like some trousers and heavy pants did. But pants had more pockets that shorts did, so they had storage going for them. Then again, in the end, I guess what really mattered was if the clothing fit at all, huh?

"Oi!" The kid called again, shaking the Pokéball in his hand. "Old Timer! You gonna battle me or not?"

Old Timer? What the hell? Did he just call me Old Timer?

I stood up fully and looked down at the Youngster before me. He grinned up at me, completely unfazed by my hard stare. It looked as though that needed to be fixed.

"Hey kid, how old are you?"

"Eleven."

"You a Trainer?"

"Yup!"

I nodded, satisfied. "Cool. Then I won't feel too bad running your Rattata into the ground."

The kid jumped, pumping his fist into the air. "Sweet!" He crowed enthusiastically. He ran a few good meters away and turned back around. "I'm Joey! Prepare to get whooped, Old Timer!"

"Right." I replied evenly. Seriously, that 'Old Timer' comment was quickly getting old. "Your start?"

"Age before beauty!" Joey called out.

I knew this kid was young and immature, but I really didn't help but take the comments a little personally. I mean, I wasn't old. I wasn't… was I? I thought about throwing a catcall or two back the Youngster's way, but decided against it. That would make me as immature as he was. I was wiser and more mature, and would therefore set the better example.

But that still didn't help my mood.

With a heavy sigh, I tossed out my leading Pokémon.

"Go, Alexander." I called out as the Pokéball snapped open and my Nidorino leapt out with a hiss and a flash of light. The purple, Poison Pin Pokémon looked around and, seeing me behind him, nodded in understanding. Alexander looked back just in time to catch Joey throwing out his own Pokéball, and hissed at the Scatterbug that appeared with a plop on the grass.

I raised my eyebrow and scoffed loudly. "I thought you said you had a Rattata."

Joey returned with a snort. "I do. He's super strong. I'm just saving him for last. If you're lucky and survive through my other Pokémon, then maybe you'll have the honor of losing to him!"

I sighed and put my hands on my hips, shaking my head. "Alright then. Age before beauty you said? Alexander— poison jab."

The Scatterbug had no chance. With a shriek the Nidorino rushed forward, putting all its weight behind its charge and lining up its spine. Its horn collided with the Scatterbug, throwing the Pokémon back a good few meters to land behind Joey in a crumpled heap.

"Jimmy!" Joey called shrilly, his hands in his hair disbelievingly.

Huh. A scatterbug named Jimmy. How original.

The Youngster Joey next released a Pancham named Patches. At least that was a cute name. Unfortunately, the Pancham was a girl. Somehow after finding that out, I couldn't quite keep a smile off my face. Something about a female Pancham named Patches was funny to me. I wasn't quite sure why.

Anyway, she fell almost as fast to my Scraggy (I felt like giving the Youngster an even match, but I just got in more lucky hits), and then he was left with only one final Pokémon: his Awesome, Top-Percentage Rattata.

"Go, Rattata!" He called, and with a snap-hiss from his red-and-white Pokéball and a flash of light, the small, purple Mouse Pokemon stood there; all one foot of him.

"No name?" I asked, unimpressed with the rat bouncing up and down on its paws, hissing at me excitedly.

Joey shook his head. "Nah. I got him from my cousin in Johto. He didn't give him a name because he's already too awesome. So I kept him that way."

"Right…" I said. "Well, let's get this over with."

"Let's get your loss over with, you mean."

Ignoring Joey, I released my third Pokémon.

Honestly, when the fight had started, I didn't want to completely overwhelm the poor kid. He was clearly still somewhat new at Training. If I had to guess, his Pokémon were between levels five and fifteen. I really could have taken out his entire team of three with only one of mine, and still have the energy left to ransack the entire area of wild Pokémon.

But I try not to be a jerk. I really try. I know I'm not the most friendly guy in Kalos, but I actively try not to be too aggressive or too rude to people… unless they are rude to me. If you are rude to me, then gloves are off. I may not be Champion of Kalos, but I have a team or Pokémon that are right up there in terms of strength and ability. I can definitely bring the smack-down. But, again, only if you pick a fight first.

Anyway, I really hadn't wanted to bring out the big guns against this kid. He was kind of cute in annoying, little brother kind of way. He was energetic and, truthfully, he reminded me a bit of myself at that age. So I just wanted to break it to him gently, you know? I didn't want to stomp him into the ground… I wanted to defeat him and still leave his confidence there, only to come back stronger and better that before.

But, now that I had taken taunts, jeers and cajoles about being 'old', suffered through the Kids supremely overconfident attitude about his still-new Pokémon, and now staring down an extremely irritating Rattata that was hissing at me like I was rat food…

I'll admit it: I kind of forgot about my goal to take it easy on the Youngster.

In a flash of light and a roar that rumbled the earth, my Aggron appeared between me and Joey, towering over the suddenly silent and still Rattata. A few passersby stopped to stare at the battle, wide-eyed. Even a few of the more passive wild Pokémon stopped their grazing and meandering around the flowers to stare at the giant Iron Armor Pokémon that had appeared suddenly.

I looked past Aggron to find Joey and smirked. For once, it seemed he was struck speechless. He stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed at my giant, eight-hundred pound, nearly eight foot Aggron and then back to his Rattata. Back to my Aggron, and then back to his Rattata.

"This is Aaron." I said with a wave of my hand. "I named him that when he was a small little Aron."

Joey nodded shakily and blinked, pulling himself back from whatever thought he had been lost in. He swallowed visibly and managed to smile. "He's alright." He said, his voice a much higher-pitch than before. He crossed his arms over his chest and stood up straight, defiantly. "But he's not a Top-Percentage Rattata!"

I don't know why, but somehow, I had to give it to Joey. It took a lot of confidence (or naiveté) to stand in front of a fully-grown Aggron with nothing but a Rattata and still talk like that. If anything, my respect for the kid grew.

But only a little.

Needless to say, I won the battle. It had been like shooting rubber bands at a tank. Not funny in the slightest. Well, it was pretty funny to me, at least.

Afterward, Joey handed over a plan handful of coins (I really didn't need his change, but rules were rules) and grumbled something about a 'lucky-shot'. Whatever.

I bid the kid goodbye and started to walk away north towards Lumiose City. It only took me a few short moments to realize that Joey was following a few short steps behind me. I ignored him at first. But as the minutes passed and neither one of us changed course, I started to wonder how long he was going to follow me. Eventually, I got tired of the silence and sighed, turning around. Joey stopped a few feet away and looked up at me with an almost expectant face.

"What?" I asked blankly.

"Nothin'." He said, shrugging.

"Nothing." I repeated, staring hard at the kid. "Nothing? Or something?"

Another shrug. "Nothing…" He said again, looking down at the dirt. "Just… walking."

"Walking in what direction?" I asked. "If you're lost, I can give you directions."

Joey looked back up at me angrily. "I'm not lost!" He puffed out his chest indignantly. "I just… don't wanna go where I was going."

The hell did that mean? I narrowed my eyes at the kid standing in front of me, his feet kicking at the dirt nervously, and sighed. "Look, kid—"

"I told you, my name is Joey!" The Youngster said, suddenly trying to stand up straighter. As if that would impress me. "And I'm not a kid! I'm eleven!"

"Right." I said. "Sorry. Joey. I'm sorry about the battle."

Joey's eyes widened. "Sorry?! Your sorry? Why are you sorry? You are the coolest guy I ever met!"

"What." I deadpanned, seriously caught off guard by that one.

He ran up – I mean right up to me – and grabbed my arm. I tried to recoil but his grip was surprisingly tight. "You beat me so easily! And you only used three Pokémon! You even beat my Rattata! I mean, sure, you used an Aggron and Aggrons are naturally stronger than Rattatas so my Rattata is still in the Top Percentage of Rattata… but still! You are so cool!"

He said all of this with one deep breath, looking up at me like the world would end if I were to refute anything he said. I tired yet again to pull away, and this time I slid easily from his grip and back up until I was a good few paces away. I looked around the path and did my best to ignore the curious stares from a pair of skaters making their rounds around Route 4. Joey stepped forward again, but this time didn't grab at me. Instead, he held out his Rattata's Pokéball towards me.

He didn't seriously want a re-match, did he? Even after I went through the kindness of loaning him a Revive? No. Loan wasn't the right word. He would never be able to pay me back for it.

"I want you to teach me." Joey suddenly announced. "Teach me to be as cool as you."

I blinked down at the Youngster. Teach him? Teach him to be like me? Was that even possible? I suppose I could teach a little about Pokémon training and some cool tricks but… really it was the experience and effort that made all the difference. You couldn't replace time and experience with a little training from an expert.

Then again, if given the right guidance and proper pointers… and maybe even good advice… then Youngster Joey may be on his way to being a proper Pokémon Trainer.

Nodding, I stepped forward and placed my hand on Joey's head. "Alright, Kid—er, Joey." I corrected myself, seeing his eyes flash in irritation. "I won't teach you, but I will give you pointers and advice when you want it. I have my own things to do, so I don't have a lot of free time."

A bald-faced lie. I had nothing but free time. I had oodles. But neither did I want to spend it all with an eleven year old kid and his Rattata. And there was the shorts thing, too.

Seeing his face fall, I rushed to continue. "But, whenever you have questions or want some advice, feel free to contact me and ask, alright?"

Joey seemed to consider my words for a few moments. His eyes shifted around to avoid mine, and his hands worked at his Rattata's Pokéball nervously. I was half-afraid he would decline and just follow me whether I wanted it or not. If that happened, I could just release Zippo, my Talonflame, and fly away… but that seemed little too cold.

Eventually, Joey sighed and hung his head. "Alright…" He said heavily, accepting my offer. "I understand."

"Good." I said, straightening up. I did feel a little bad seeing the Youngster so down, so right then I decided to do my good deed for the day. "Hey, I'm on my way up to Lumiose City. You wanna hike up there with me? I can show you some of the basics."

Suddenly smiling and puffing his chest out, Joey scoffed loudly. "I already know the basics!" He skipped a few paced ahead of me down Route 4 towards Lumiose. "How about some of the more advanced stuff?!"

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A/N: Don't we all love that little Youngster? Heh

See you on the next chapter!

XoX