Whew! Now that Year 6 is out of the way, let's progress to Year 7 of the Timeline. Some credit here goes to Elite4James, for inspiring the 'hands-on training' idea, but I think mine's been adapted enough in my own way. Also an attempt at shippyness here, hopefully that's OK as well.

Enjoy!

Year 7
Dave leaves his friends behind. Laura is upset, but Alan tells her they will see him again. Together, they journey around Kanto, Laura challenging the new contest circuit there, and Alan re-challenging the Indigo League. Laura comes runner-up again in the Kanto Grand Festival, while Alan places second in the Indigo Plateau Conference.

Dave returns to Pallet Town for a while, asking Professor Oak to construct a device capable of holding as many Pokémon as necessary. This is so he doesn't have to interrupt his training to find a Pokémon Centre to switch his Pokémon. While waiting for construction to be complete on the 'Pokébox' he hears about a young, local trainer rising through the ranks, named Ash Ketchum. Despite wishing to meet the boy, Dave learns that he has recently competed and won in the Orange League, and just departed for a new adventure in Johto. After getting his new Pokébox, he heads to Mount Silver, ready to train…

I dodged the next punch, that one had been close. "You're too slow!" I taunted. The response was another punch, which I again evaded. "You think you'll hit a Pokémon in battle if you can't hit a human?" I asked. My attacker was obviously getting wound up by this, and let me know it after the next dodged attack.

I suddenly felt blinding pain, all through my body, before collapsing. After a couple of minutes of getting my breath back, I walked over to my assailant.

"No! We agreed no Thunderbolts!" I scolded. The Pokémon I was training with looked at its feet, sheepishly. It was a huge, shaggy mass of a Pokémon, mainly yellow, with black stripes. It had two tails, each with a red tip.

"Ele-vire…" It muttered, obviously feeling ashamed for losing its cool with me. I smiled at it.

"It's okay buddy," I reassured it. "Those punches are really coming along. I'm gonna try and get you to learn Ice Punch soon." My Electivire smiled at this. It, like me, wanted to get as strong as possible.

I reached for the Pokébox, "You take a rest for now, alright?" Electivire continued to smile at me even as it was converted into energy and recalled into the box. It was similar to a Pokéball, except that it couldn't be minimized, staying at a constant cubic foot in size. It was cube-shaped, and had a handle on the lower back, so it could be held and the top could still open. I thought about who to train with next, before deciding.

"Heads up! Gallade!" I said. The box opened, and white energy was exuded from it, forming into a tall, humanoid Pokémon. It had white legs, but a green upper body. There was a red horn on its chest, with a similar horn on its back. Its face was white, but its scalp was smooth and green, except for a spiky ridge in the middle. The effect was of a gladiator's helmet. Its most noticeable feature, though, were the blade-like forearms that extended backward, past the elbow.

"Gallade!" it exclaimed, happy to be out of the box again, "Gall?" it enquired, obviously wanting to know what we were doing.

"Good news Gallade! Look what I finally got!" I said, and Gallade's face lit up as I produced two blunt, but sturdy old swords. I had wanted to help Gallade practice the blade attacks it had learned since evolving, but had been unable to do so. Eventually I'd found an old salesman at the foot of Mount Silver willing to sell me these swords, as he saw no further use in them.

"Gallade! Gall-gallade!" It said, obviously very happy with the development. I put one of the swords down, and hefted the other, feeling its weight and how to handle it. I eventually got comfortable with it. I then pulled out my Pokédex and scanned Gallade, to see what sword attacks I could help it train to use more effectively. My eyes widened when I saw the list.

"How about Leaf Blade?" I asked, picking a new attack at random. "Fancy learning to use that better?"

"Gallade! Gallaaaaaaaaa…" Gallade closed its eyes in concentration. After meditating for a few minutes its forearms turned a lighter shade of green than usual. It looked at them, and then at me, a determined look in its eyes. "Gallade!" It said, challenging me.

I bowed, before hefting the sword again, and then holding it, ready to duel…

"Come on Garchomp! This attack focuses all of your inner rage into a powerful aura of fury! You need to get really angry to pull it off!" I encouraged. I was trying, without a lot of success to teach my Garchomp an attack that was even more powerful than Dragon Rush. But my Shark-Dragon couldn't quite understand what I was asking of it.

"Gar?" it asked, cocking its head in confusion. Fortunately, I had another Pokémon that could teach it the move.

"Dragonite, heads up!" I called. The Pokébox sprang open to release my newly acquired Pseudo-Legendary, a large, orange and cream dragon-type, which looked at me expectantly. "Dragonite, use Outrage on those rocks. Watch this carefully Garchomp."

Dragonite nodded, and then let out a mighty roar, "AAAAARROOOOOOOOOO!" The roar continued, and a red aura built up around the Pokémon. After a while, the dragon was encased in what looked like a flame, only almost solid crimson. It's eyes were terrifying, all reason was gone, the pupils almost invisible. Dragonite then charged at a nearby rock formation, smashing straight through. It then continued through several other piles of rocks, before returning to my side, the red aura of Outrage disappearing.

I knew Dragonite would be worn out by using this attack, so recalled it to the box. I then turned to Garchomp. "Think you can manage that?" I asked it. The dragon nodded, and also let out an ear-splitting roar.

"GAAAAAAARRRAAAAAARRR!" it cried, the same red flame building up around it. I was amazed, Garchomp was getting it on its first try! My joy was short-lived however, as the aura surrounding the dragon faded.

"Wow, you're really going all-out." a voice behind me said. I saw Garchomp get into a battle-stance, before turning myself. A girl in black was stood there, her long, golden hair blowing in the breeze. I recognized her instantly.

"Hey Cynthia." I called to her, before remembering something, "It's ok Garchomp, she's a friend now." I told the dragon, who stood down from its attack pose.

She giggled at that. "Looks like your Garchomp still remembers me then." she said. I again felt my face heat up as I thought about how nice her laugh sounded. "Outrage training huh? I remember trying to teach my Garchomp that attack. Of course, I didn't have a tutor like a Dragonite helping me…"

"I could help you with that, if you'd like." I blurted out, perhaps a little quickly. She smiled at me, and I again felt a warm feeling in my gut. What was wrong with me? Was I catching a cold? I'd been making sure to eat the right things during my training, so I couldn't be that sick, could I?

"No, I think my Garchomp's strong enough. Thanks anyway though." she replied. I felt a little disappointed at that. "Besides, I thought I was here to help you train?" she asked, giggling a little.

"Yeah, I suppose." I muttered. Then I brightened up, a new thought entering my mind. "How about a little battle then?" I asked of her.

She smiled, and grabbed a Pokéball from inside her coat, "Let's do this!" she said, fire in her eyes. I grinned at this. She had no idea how many new tricks I had to show her…

"Whew!" panted Cynthia, sitting next to me on a rock, "That was… intense! You've really improved!" I smiled at this compliment. I knew I'd improved over the last year, but it was different to hear Cynthia say it.

"Thanks, that means a lot, coming from you." I replied, also breathing heavily. We had just had a close three-on-three match, which I had barely managed to win. Some of my Pokémon had really impressed me with new attacks that they had only started learning a few weeks ago.

"I can see how much this training has done for you Dave. Aren't you glad I put you onto this idea now?" she asked, another 'I told you so!' look on her face. I smiled.

"Yeah, thanks again for that. I feel a lot stronger than before, and my Pokémon… well you saw the battle." I replied. "I can't imagine what would have happened if you hadn't encouraged me, especially after… my friends left me." I finished, trying not to remember my two 'former' friends, who had sent me into this spiral of needing to get stronger.

"Yeah, I'm just glad you're out of that bad place." Cynthia said, a look of concern on her features. She then stood up.

"Hey, where're you going?" I asked her.

"Look around us Dave, did you lose track of time or something?" she said, sounding a bit exasperated. I did look around. The sun was setting over Kanto, illuminating the whole of the region. I could see the Indigo Plateau, where I planned to re-challenge the Indigo League next year, glowing in the orange light. In the east, I could just make out Blackthorn City, as well as Silver Town near the foot of the great mountain. We had battled for so long it was now the end of the day.

"Sorry, I guess I did. I don't even bother with a watch these days, just train until the sun goes down." I explained.

Cynthia calmed down a bit at this. "Okay, sorry for losing it with you. I haven't been getting a lot of sleep recently." she explained. "Anyway, I'd better get going. I'm staying with a friend in Ecruteak City." She started to walk off.

I thought about that for a second, before it clicked. "Hang on! Ecruteak's miles away! You'll never make it back before nightfall!" She had turned and was looking at me with that cool, grey-eyed gaze.

"You have another suggestion?" she enquired, smiling a little.

I clawed for a response on the inside of my head, "You could stay here, with me." I cringed when I realised what I had just implied, but it was too late now.

The setting sun must have caught her face, as it glowed slightly red, which showed against her pale skin. "No thanks, I didn't bring any camping gear." she said, suddenly looking at her feet.

I felt disappointed with this, as much as when she didn't let me help with her Garchomp's training. She started walking away again.

"Cynthia." I called. She stopped once more, turning back. I walked up to her, and enveloped her with a hug. She stood still for a minute, before reciprocating the hug to me. We just stood there for a few minutes, in each other's arms, before she pulled back.

"Thanks for that, Dave." She smiled. The setting sun must have been getting intense, as her face was now glowing as red as beetroot in the light it cast.

"You'll come back, yes?" I asked. I just had to know if I'd see her again.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'll be back in a few days. I just have some stuff to check out in Ecruteak, and I'll be back after that."

"Thank you." I said. We hugged again, during which time seemed to stand still, and I swore I felt that same spark I did before, before she backed away, turned, and started walking down the mountain path.

"How are you getting to Ecruteak, anyway?" I shouted to her.

I heard her call back, "Let's just say I have friends in high places!"

I turned back to my camp, before I heard the whoosh of wings. I looked at where she had been, and saw nothing. I looked toward Johto, and saw a large, winged shape disappearing into the distance, with the figure of a person on its back.

I smiled. At least I knew I would see her again. Hopefully soon.

So, that was my attempt at shippyness, hopefully it was alright, but not having much experience in that department doesn't help. In case anyone couldn't visualise it, Outrage looks like a red version of Volt Tackle / Head Smash in the Anime, although Flare Blitz will probably look like that when it debuts. An alternate description would be the Kaio-ken aura in DBZ. Next chapter should be up tomorrow, as usual. So stay tuned!

Dave