My first glimpse of Cerulean City left me a little breathless, I must say. The setting sun, reflected orange and pink rays over the calm waters of the lake, contrasted beautifully with the smattering of quaint, blue rooftops which stood adjacent. I caught glimpses of the few rivers which ran through the city like arteries from the main reservoir, and understood why Cerulean had been known as a romantic paradise city for generations; It seemed to radiate tranquility, no hustle and bustle one would expect from such an old city. If anything, the city somehow managed to incorporate its history into the charm. Most buildings were old faded brick, with green vines and vegetation sprouting from cracks and rooftops. There was no concrete here, just cobbled bridges and gondolas. Freaking gondolas!

I didn't trust it.

There's a few lessons I have come to appreciate in this short stint of life I've had. Lessons which have stood with me and seen me through things that would break most people. Firstly, be indecisive about nothing; Failing to make a decision is making the worst decision possible. Secondly, everything always doubles in value the moment it is lost. And thirdly (and most importantly), there is such a thing as too good to be true.

Indeed, the closer I looked the less I felt myself under Cerulean's spell. Perhaps the greenery seemed more brown than green. Perhaps the cracks in walls were a smidge too noticeable. Then again I've often found the most obvious point to be the most prudent, something which I once again admired the moment the wind changed and I caught my first smell of Cerulean City.

Ancient sewage systems are quite an interesting subject if ever you're searching for a way to impress at a dinner party. You see when a city is formed it needs a few things: Fresh water, access to food, and access to trade with other cities. Now the whole city being nestled on the largest freshwater lake in Kanto certainly provides access to both water and food, plus the rivers which run downstream of the lake, through the city and down to the metropolitan hubs of Saffron and Celadon certainly take care of trade. By all intents and purposes Cerulean is prime location for a city to be built, and that's exactly what its settlers thought too, escaping the pollution of larger cities for the pristine lakefront. Unfortunately, like the old lady who swallowed a Growlithe to catch the Meowth to catch the Pidgey and so on, they soon found themselves causing new problems in order to fix their old ones. They were digging their own graves. Or digging their own cesspits, if you want to be historically accurate.

The faster people immigrated to this pristine city, the more they had to alter the environment to accommodate; Damming rivers to save freshwater, clearing land to farm for more food, and perhaps most immediately prudent, digging holes to bury their shit. Initially when the city was smaller everyone just dumped their refuse into the rivers, to be washed away and become someone else's problem. Unfortunately the sudden and unexpected wave of popularity led to the largest metropolitan growth ever seen, so much so that sanitation couldn't keep up. That's when someone else did have a problem with it. Saffron did.

It's not as if the people of Saffron were ignorant of why their water suddenly tasted a bit tangy. It was only when a visiting noble made the ill advised joke that Saffron's water tasted like shit, that the ruling class decided enough was enough. And so the army was mobilized, Cerulean was taken and the people were told to dump their shit elsewhere. That elsewhere included a combination of literal cesspits, and the lake itself (depending on how wealthy you were and who you could pay not to care about where you dumped your shit).

All of this certainly appeased Saffron, but as a result the lake never really recovered. People just had to adapt to breathing through their mouths. A small price to pay for their 'pristine' city, far from the 'pollution of Saffron and Celadon'. Plus perfume sales have seen a constant boom ever since.

I suppose that's why the people of Cerulean have put so much effort into the aesthetics of the city, regulating building heights and styles, pruning vegetation to specificity, painting in provisionally designated shades. The Waterflower family, gym leaders of Cerulean, have worked as glorified cosmetic landscapers for the past century, to the point of obsession. Heck, even Misty stuffs her bra!

I could see now why Cooper would be reluctant to return to this place, already wondering if it was worse Pewter. The disingenuity of the city was intolerable. I walked through the city gates (an old, yellow brick monstrosity sporting a plaque 'The floral lagoon city. Escape through beauty.') and was smiled at no less than 6 times on my way to the pokemon centre! Who did these people think they were fooling? They at least had the decency to look scandalized at my reciprocal scowl.

After checking in my pokemon, once again filling out all the necessary paperwork for Beelzebub (Artemis was good enough nowadays that I didn't have to worry about her attacking nurses for no reason. Though we still differed on what our definition of 'reason' constituted), I ordered the room furthest from the lake and collapsed onto the bed. A bowl of paprika sat on my bedside table, mixing with the persistent stench of shit to create some new horror of a smell. Fortunately I was too tired to care, falling swiftly into sleep.

"Yum Yum, try and pin her down with Stun Spore!" My dedicated little mushroom bug clicked affirmatively, whilst trying to pin down my agitated feline with a slow moving cloud of yellow spores.

Felicity to her credit avoided the cloud with ease, zig zagging and leaping around like she was part Mankey. She eventually got in close enough to retaliate with a Bite to one of Yum Yum's claws, and tossing him aside.

It was a bizarre experience, sparring with only my own pokemon. On the one hand I was directing Yum Yum alone, because he needed the most help, and so I obviously wanted to do my best to help him win, but at the same time the better that Felicity did against us, the more I felt my chest twinge painfully with pride. She had come a long way from that haughty kitten I'd first met in Viridian.

With an inelegant yowl, she pounced again on the recovering Yum Yum, slashing away with Fury Swipes. I jumped onto the opportunity, "Grab hold of her and use absorb!"

Yum Yum, twisted around, clamping down onto different parts of Felicity's body with all of his little limbs and began draining the energy out of her. Shimmering orbs of green and white siphoned from the points of contact up towards Yum Yum's mushrooms, which were glowing green themselves. It was my ace in the hole against Misty, and I reflected briefly on how glad I was to have Yum Yum as a part of the team. He was like a puzzle piece we hadn't known we were missing; Fiercely loyal towards me, he had stood up to Beelzebub the first time they met and come away unscathed. That had won Artemis over almost as much as it had for me. He was also surprisingly gentle with Bumble (A couple days prior, I'd spied him showing Bumble how to attack properly with stingers in a way none of my pokemon or I would have ever known how).

I imagine that's why I had two rapt audience members in Bumble and Artemis, cheering for Yum Yum (in their own subtle ways). Beelzebub was off rampaging against some wild pokemon. He'd been overjoyed to find the large population of Ekans that lived on Route 4. I was trying not to think about that.

Felicity hissed weakly at the little paras, twisting her head and shooting him point blank in the face with a Pay Day attack, firing coins with much more volume then she had ever done for me on the very rare, not at all daily, occasion I needed some extra cash. I made a mental note to be more vigilant with that from now on.

Yum Yum clicked angrily and released her, scuttling away and leaving a cloud of purple dust in his wake to discourage pursuit. Not that he had to worry, Felicity had always been more of an opportunistic fighter, preferring to scamper away and wait for a better moment to strike, as opposed to following on with the onslaught.

I decided that now was a good enough time as any to put an end to this, "Alright you two, that was really good. Let's call this one a draw for now." Both pokemon protested of course (and I could swear I heard sounds of protest coming from the sidelines too, however a quick glance revealed only poker faces). I simply fixed them all with my best 'Don't-fuck-with-me' scowl and moved forward to chat to each of them privately. Normally I would have just let them battle it out until one was defeated, but Cooper had suggested on one of our "No-they-are-not-daily" phone calls that it wasn't a good idea. He'd said it was fine when both pokemon were battling completely solo, but if I was directing one then it was a surefire way to create tension in a group. At this point I was almost beyond pretending not to listen to his advice. Almost. I had still told him he was a naive bleeding heart over the phone and hung up.

As I drew level with Felicity, I crouched down to her level to talk. She sat on her haunches cleaning her paws, but the fact that she hadn't sauntered off told me she was listening. "That was fucking incredible Felicity, when did you get so Mew damned good at battling? Remind me to use you more often, because you're just as ruthless as I like it. Next time we train solo, I think you're ready to take on some new, complicated moves." She preened at my praise, or rather, she didn't preen. But that was because she was trying not to preen, which I knew meant she really was preening. It didn't always make sense when I understood her, but I was slowly catching onto her mannerisms.

I chanced a quit pat on her head as I headed over to Yum Yum, who was lavishing in the attention of his two insect groupies. It still bothered me quite a bit that I technically had 4 bug pokemon on my team, but I didn't really battle with Bumble, and it hadn't put me at a disadvantage yet.

Yum Yum looked up at my arrival, and I tried my best to smile warmly at him. I really did. I had trouble relaxing my face enough to make it seem natural. Then again, I was talking to a bug eyed mushroom pokemon who had lived in the dark his whole life, so I don't think he was all too interested in those sorts of pleasantries.

"That was our best yet Yum. You're really getting good at improvising, even better than Artemis over here", I grinned smugly at the affronted chirrup behind me, "Your Absorb attack is definitely going to be the crux of our strategy against the Cerulean Gym."

I sat down ass to grass with him then, motioning for Artemis and Bumble to give us some space. In all honesty, Yum Yum was probably the only reason they actually listened. "I'm really impressed with you Yum. I know it's been a rough two weeks training, but your results have proven them more than worth it. I've been pushing you hard, but you've not only been able to keep up, you've actually surpassed my expectations. I'm glad we took this time to train before challenging Misty", I didn't mention it was mostly because Misty had a two week waiting list to be able to actually challenge her gym. Minor detail. "Just between the two of us, you're our best chance to beat her. Artemis, Felicity and Beelzebub are all strong, but without a definitive advantage I don't know how they would do against a gym leader. We just barely beat Brock, and Bumble still hasn't…" I glanced up at my little wasp. Shadowing Artemis and twiddling his stingers nervously. Despite Cooper's encouragement, I was beginning to wonder if he would ever battle again. I swallowed a familiar lump in my throat and tried my best to ignore the way my gut clenched whenever the topic came up.

Yum Yum clicked in response. Almost like he was trying to tell me 'If you need me that bad, then maybe this will help', he stood up on all 4 legs and burst into white light. Goosebumps ran down my arms and spine as the energy in the atmosphere supercharged and felt heavy, like the moments before a lighting storm began. A thousand tiny clicks came from my shifting white pokemon before everything settled down and I glanced my first look at my evolved Parasect. He raised a claw, like a thumbs up and I imagined he was telling me he'd evolved just to help us beat Misty. It probably wasn't true, but I liked to think of Yum Yum as loyal like that.

The rest of my team had all gathered around to watch the show, even Beelzebub, who was eying Yum Yum up and down, sizing him up as a new adversary. I let my gaze wander over the whole team, feeling an unfamiliar tightness in my chest, and for perhaps the first time I was eager to show Misty the results of all our hard training.

No, fuck that. I was excited to show that fake, vain bimbo exactly what I thought about her city.

So obviously when I arrived at the gym the next day I was promptly informed that she had left to go on an important landscaping trip down to Saffron, and wouldn't be back for another month.

Cooper was surprisingly sympathetic over the phone. "Ohh, Natty, that sucks Taurus balls! Like, castrated, fried up, salty, edible Taurus balls you just want to suck the flavour out of!"

I peered down at my Spaghetti and Meatballs peevishly. Another unfinished meal thanks to Cooper. "Thank you for the imagery", I muttered.

He replied primly, "I like to paint a picture. I almost became an artist instead of a trainer, you know."

"How the art world doth suffer so."

Cooper snorted into the phone. "How long did the sign say she would be gone for?"

Motioning a waiter to take away the unfinished meal, I also ordered another ginger beer while I spoke, "It said she was going on an 'incidental yet unavoidable journey for the betterment of our fair city' for maybe a month. Maybe. The sign said maybe."

"Yikes Natty boy, you can't see this, but I'm wincing right now. Because we both know that when Misty Waterflower says a month, she means like, give or take two months."

I bit down on my straw, "Yes thankyou, I had guessed as much. It figures that the leader of this odious, Beedrill-fucking city would pull something like that."

Some older resident at the table next to me made an affronted sound. I glared back at her, pouring all of my frustration into it. She decided to move seats after that. "The only redeeming quality this place has", I mused over the phone, "Is that its people are so unused to rudeness. You'd think they've never seen someone look angry before."

"Apparently Cerulean children are taught to internalise their bad feelings so that only the good ones show." Cooper responded amused. "Then again I don't think anyone could be used to rudeness at your levels!"

I recalled a very specific occasion where someone had been unphased by my rudeness, grumbling as much over the phone.

Cooper of course picked up on what I was saying immediately. Practically grinning through the phone, "Oh it was definitely a new experience for me too Natty! Though I guess that's why I had to stick around. I don't think I'd ever met someone so unapologetically transparent in my whole life!" He cracked up at some joke I was no doubt the butt of, before continuing, "So what are your plans then? If I was still in Saffron I would suggest you come down so we could run this town."

He hushed a bit, "Then again, the city didn't look like the kind of place you want to have a fiesta in." He muttered on darkly, "Something's in the air down there, everyone looks over their shoulder. People are angry at those in charge, and angry at each other. It's gotten worse from the last time I visited."

I frowned, it was well known that corruption was a way of life in Saffron. So much so that it wasn't even considered corruption at this point. Just daily business. There was no organized crime in the city, no gangs or black market; The police did all that themselves. They took their orders from the politicians, who took their orders from the businesses, who were all owned by Silph Co. Even the pokemon centre was a Silph building. If you didn't wear a Silph tie in Saffron you were either making regular 'donations' to the corporation, or you were a pariah, to be chased out by the authorities or by people afraid to work with you. Not a lot of people actually know how the Silph Co. came to control the city, all records of it were nearly impossible to obtain, and nobody dared to stand up to Silph to try and find out. Plus there was Sabrina to contend with.

From some obscure forums on the internet, along with word of mouth and historical city records, I had managed to do a report on the city during school. Partly because I found it interesting, but mostly because my teacher had told me not to. The fact that everybody seemed repelled by the obfuscation also attracted me. Apparently there had been an original gym, dating back to Saffron's genesis. The trainers and gym leaders had all served as bodyguards to the Saffron Aristocracy for centuries, which was an unusual system.

Usually a gym leader held proxy authority within a city. There were elected officials of course, but they either worked with or for the gym leader. Because the gym leader was the strongest trainer in the city, and they had a posse of gym trainers with them, there weren't a great deal of politicians who desired to work against them after all. This was all solidified with the introduction of the Pokemon League, which united all the gym's under a single authority: The Champion.

Therefore, for the Saffron gym to defer to another ruling class was quite a strange phenomenon. One that Sabrina 'supposedly' took advantage of. From what I could gleam, Sabrina had met with the original owner of Silph Co. before it had become the monolith it was, and used her psychic powers to see the bright future it had. She then used her powers to advise the company, suggesting stock options, projects and whatnot, slowly increasing their influence. Eventually when the old gym and Saffron nobility took notice, Sabrina and Silph struck. It was Imperialism vs Capitalism. The old world vs the new world.

I think anyone could guess how it turned out. Sabrina deposed the former gym leader and set up her own Psychic gym. Silph Co. appropriated all of the traditional assets and the city entered a new era of tyranny. Oligarchy.

I shook myself awake, frustrated that I had zoned out again. I glared out at the lake. It had been happening more frequently lately. Cooper seemed to not notice, chattering on about nothing, though I wondered if that was because he did notice.

I interrupted him brusquely, "What do you mean 'worse than last time?'"

The chattering was replaced with thoughtful silence for a moment, before "Saffron has never been, like, the nicest place in the world to be. Not unless you were a millionaire. But lately it's been downright horrible. There's tension everywhere! People are unhappy with being taken advantage of, while the rich benefit, and I can't say I blame them Natty. All that remains to be seen is who the anger gets directed at."

I nodded to myself, well aware of the lessons history taught about civil unrest. Then again Cooper always was driven to theatrics; I wouldn't be surprised if the real story was someone accidently bumping into him on the street for him to fabricate this whole thing.

He directed the conversation away, "So I got out of there as soon as possible and I am now relaxing on some beautiful sandy beach, like, right outside of Vermillion. You should come join me Nat! I know about this underground tunnel that runs from Cerulean straight here. Plus Lt Surge is ruthless! You'll really learn so much if you take him on next!"

I frowned, feeling myself warming to the idea of fresh sea air and warm beaches. And Cooper was usually right about the learning stuff, so Surge might be a great asset to take on next. And if Cooper happened to be there too then I guess that was just a small, insignificant bonus.

I was easily sold on the idea; It was the most logical choice for me, providing me everything I needed right now (plus I really wanted to do it). So when I told Cooper, "No. I'm heading the other way. Too bad." I don't even think I was expecting it.

I had definitely been fond of the idea, it was effective and easy. Too easy. I had wanted it too much, already coming up with reasons to convince myself. To manipulate myself.

I made a habit of not letting myself get manipulated. Right now that habit comprised of digging my heels against anything I liked too much.

Cooper was equally shocked, "North? Of Cerulean? There's nothing there Nat! Just come to Vermillion, you know it's the best choice. I'll even return to Saffron with you so you can challenge Sabrina, okay?"

Once again I felt a painful clenching in my gut, responding by walling up everything except my finality. "Nope. I heard about a pokemon expert who lives north of the lake. I want to find him. To ask him. About science."

Almost pleading now Cooper replied, "Come ooooon Natty! That doesn't even make sense. You're acting, like, really, immature right now and you're going to get yourself hurt that far out in the wilderness! Or worse, you'll get your pokemon hurt!"

"Fuck you Cooper." I hung up.

If I'd known that would be the last conversation we would have for a long time, maybe things would have been different. I like to think I would have been nicer. It wouldn't have changed my decision, but maybe I would have felt better about it.

I hadn't been lying to Cooper about wanting to see the pokemon expert Bill, he apparently had some 'off the grid' setup just on the fringes of wilderness. The kind of place only hunters or criminals hung out at. Everyone in the city spoke about him in distasteful terms, which only made me like him. And if he was so repulsed by Cerulean that he'd live in the wilderness, then that only gave us more in common.

There had been plans to build a bridge to the opposite shore from Cerulean for years, but it was always ultimately shut down by the Waterflower family. Apparently the practicality of it didn't compensate for what an eyesore it would be on the lake. So the only way to cross was to charter a local, which is exactly how I ended up shelling out almost quarter of all my money to some shady fisherman.

About 15 minutes later I was surreptitiously dumped off the speedboat, with a promise to be picked up again in a week's time that I knew better than to trust.

"Fucking Cerulean", I muttered to nobody in particular. On the bright side, the smell had almost completely dissipated on this side of the lake.

I released Artemis to walk with me, as we trudged through the forest ahead. About 5 minutes later and the lake was gone from sight, blocked by dark trees towering above. I had to forcibly keep myself from ruminating on how similar it felt to Viridian Forest.

We stopped for a moment while I took out a compass, "I don't suppose you can find him on your radar?" I side-eyed Artemis.

"Chirrippriii."

I shrugged, "Worth a shot." And we continued onwards. I had a vague idea of where Bill would be, he was by the bluff, overlooking the ocean, so I had to make my way east. Unfortunately the terrain soon did not permit this, unscalable cliff walls and hills blocked that path at every juncture; The only way to go was west. On the ride here the fisherman had warned me to steer as clear from the west coast as much as possible. There were rumours of a cave more terrible than Victory Road, so dangerous that Lance didn't even go there.

Of course that probably was more likely to do with the fact that Lance was too busy to investigate fishermen's ghost stories. I kept that to myself however.

Regardless, I had enough personal experience to know that things with reputations that could kill you, usually could kill you. So I released Bumble asking him to fly up and try to spot a path up the cliffs to the East.

It was a couple of tense minutes later when he returned and gestured madly with a stinger. That was hopeful. Artemis and I followed him through some thick foliage to a worn path, designed to be hidden. It led up a more tapered hillside and over the crest.

"Maybe It's Bills?" I supposed. Artemis did not look sold on the idea, while Bumble hovered low, practically hugging my hair.

With an annoyed huff at my frayed nerves, I took a confident step up and began climbing. My legs and back were practically screaming by the time I made it to the top. "Need to catch a bird pokemon," I grumbled. Artemis chirped behind me in agreement.

The view was something else, overlooking the majority of trees, I was able to see the lake once more and way off in the distance I could make out Cerulean; It lived up to its namesake, blue rooftops were the only thing visible from this distance. Behind me on top of the hill, the trees were much thinner and smaller, looming over another steep drop about 50 metres away. It was actually a nifty little nook up here, well defensible from any pokemon attacks, and providing a view over all the surrounding area that wasn't blocked out by adjacent, taller hills. Out over the trees to the west I saw the occasional rustle, probably not from the faint breeze which hit me up here. Best not to think about what caused them, I told myself. Finally, at the end of the treeline I spotted a small waterfall feeding into a river. Water rushing out from a dark cave, to tumble over the edge and rush downstream. The cave entrance was more a hole in the wall than anything, dark and ominous.

It would have been almost invisible from any other location, fringed on all sides by overhanging rocks and trees, however the elevation I was at provided an unobstructed view directly to the inky depths. It felt… strange. Like there was a thrum emanating from within. A heartbeat even. There was a pull, the same pull felt when looking down from a great height, tempting you. It was subtle at first, teasing the edges, sliding right up to my consciousness, then easing back softly, me with it. Like a tide coming in, every fresh wave brought me closer and closer, pulling with a soft grip that would brace firmly when I tried to pull back. So I went with it. Until I found myself standing at the entrance, dark shadows filled my view. The depths seemed endless, infinite. I gazed into the abyss in front of me, as two purple pinpricks of light flashed into being. Or maybe they had been there the whole time? They shone steadily, unflickering. Watching me, almost like they were-

"Stare long enough into the void, and the void stares back at you." A voice uttered behind me.

I blinked. I was on top of the hill again.

Artemis was pressed right up against my leg, warily eying something behind me. The cave was just a cave.

I spun around slowly, frowning. My companion was watching me calmly. He had spoken with a sophisticated accent, so I'd expected him to look less shabby. Or perhaps shabby wasn't the right word, his outfit was immaculately groomed, it just didn't strike me as affable attire. Aside from the black beret he wore, the type popular amongst the women of Celadon, he had a black turtleneck on, over black slacks. I tried not to scoff at the grey 'space-man' boots and gloves he wore, noticing the 6 pokeballs he wore on his gray utility belt. Most notable of all, however, was the embossed red 'R' on his shirt.

I had to bite my tongue to keep from pointing out that he was clearly trying to make some sort of statement. Choosing instead to ask, "What's the 'R' stand for?"

He ignored my question, pulling out some binoculars to view the cave entrance, and I knew then that it was no coincidence that he was up here. Once again I glanced at the pokeballs at his belt, grimly aware that I stood right on the edge of a steep drop.

He looked at me then, staring passively into my eyes, "I haven't seen many pokemon trainers this far out. Were you hoping to catch a powerful pokemon on the edge of the wilderness?"

I swallowed at my dry mouth, "Something like that." I flicked my eyes over the top of the hill again, noticing details I had missed before; The cleared remains of a camp, charred sticks, cleared dirt grooves. Signs that someone had been here for a long time. Signs that someone had taken the effort to remain hidden.

He leered at me, eerily similar to the way Felicity sometimes did with the Rattata she caught, "That's what the other ones were here for. Though none of them were clever enough to find my little lookout. What makes you so special?" I didn't like the way he spoke so softly. His voice was high and lilting. It was an offputting contrast to the threat in his eyes.

Forcing myself to keep my breathing steady, I returned his gaze, shifting ever so slightly to the right. He matched me step for step, so that I remained sandwiched between him and the drop. "I have a habit of acting against expectation", I rattled off.

He appraised me some more, prolonging the silence. "What am I expecting now?" He asked finally.

My brain worked overtime, I couldn't stop it if I had wanted to. He was clearly here incognito, probably for the sole purpose of surveillance on the cave. He was aware of other trainers having come this way and had spoken to them to find out they were here to catch pokemon. Somehow I doubted the other trainers were given tea and crumpets to be sent on their merry way. Furthermore he had apparently been living out here for an extended period, which meant he was obviously a highly skilled trainer. Something that I had to assume the other trainers noticed as well.

They would have begged maybe, pleaded. Maybe they ran or maybe they fought. Either way, this guy still remained, so I could assume how it ended. A million possible decisions raced through my mind. I probably chose the worst one of them all.

It was an old trick I read about in Bruno's biography; I raised both hands and unclipped my pokemon belt. I tailored my face to look wide eyed and scared (which came a lot more naturally than I'm happy admitting), "Okay, okay, here. Please just let me go!" I shook my voice a bit for extra emphasis. Artemis chirped unhappily and I mentally begged her to shut up.

The R guy raised an eyebrow disinterested, expecting something similar and already losing interest.

I held the belt aloft as I stepped forward to hand it to him. His eyes flicked down to it for just the briefest moment. That's when I struck, curling my free hand into a fist and punching him right up close. I allowed myself to enjoy the instant look of shock on his face before my fist collided with his nose, eliciting a satisfying crunch. Unfortunately it was short lived by his own fist smacking me across the jaw in response, but with surprise on my side I had got the better hit, sending him reeling and giving me time to get away from the cliff edge.

I released my pokemon as he released his, smiling through the mess of blood gushing down his face, "You're right. I wasn't expecting that." He spoke softly still, grinning coyly. Not a single crack in his facade, he knew he was still firmly in control of the situation.

I didn't even have time to respond before I was dodging back from the closing beak of a Fearow, aimed directly for my throat. I jumped back and kept going, putting as much space as possible between myself and Artemis and Yum Yum, who had retaliated against it. Artemis clipping it with Confusion attacks while Yum Yum blasted Stun Spore into the airspace. It wasn't long before they were joined by a Pidgeotto too, and I hoped the two of them working together would be able to keep up with two bird pokemon.

Felicity had circled around and leapt upon a Raticate as it tried to come at my bug pokemon from the side. She lept onto its back clamping down on its neck with a Bite attack, but the fur there must have been too thick to do any real damage as it just shook her off. It tried rushing her with a Quick Attack, so she blasted it in the face with a Pay Day.

Meanwhile Bumble had jumped away with me, sticking close. I knew I couldn't count on him to fight and I debated with myself about releasing Beelzebub. Unfortunately the decision was made for me as a razor sharp leaf sliced across my cheek. I barely had time to duck as a vine snaked around my leg and yanked hard. I fell rough and felt something twinge, but didn't have time to worry about that; I was being slowly pulled along towards a small mess of vines with feet! A second vine appeared, rearing back and slamming down against my chest in a whipping motion. That time I definitely felt something break as pain blossomed over my chest. The second vine reared up to whip again. I winced involuntarily as it descended, stopped at the last moment by Bumble, shimmering in a gold Harden attack. He lost altitude and landed heavily on my chest, but it wasn't as bad as the Vine Whip.

Bumble shimmered again, surging forward instantly to stab at the vines around my leg just the way Yum Yum had taught him, and I tried not to think about how notoriously bad his aim was.

As my leg was freed, another vine came up and whipped Bumble from the side, but it seemed weak, probably because of his dual Bug/Poison typing. He may have been battling at a handicap but that typing definitely helped even the scales as he squared off against the Tangela. It shot another Razor Leaf his way, but he just ploughed right through them, stabbing for the eyes over and over again, poison burning through the protecting vines almost as fast as they could cover the Tangela's face.

I didn't stick around to watch, crawling backwards with my hands. I tried to get up, but the pain shot up through my chest again and I faintly realised I couldn't take a whole breath. Definitely broken ribs, I thought.

Across the carnage, 'R' stood with the same grin on his face. A soft smile, from a man who treated murder like a leisurely stroll. He had his phone out, glancing down at it occasionally.

Artemis and Yum Yum were working marvelously together, combining their Poisonpowder, Stun Spore and Spore attacks together to create some noxious combination, and successfully keeping the two flying type pokemon from getting close. Both sides were shooting long range shots at each other, Yum Yum being far less mobile was taking the brunt of it, but he also had a lot more bulk to him to handle it. The Pidgeotto was far nimbler than Fearow, dodging the majority of Artemis's Confusion blasts, while Fearow had more trouble. I wanted to shout across at her to use Disable and get them to fall through the cloud but my lungs wouldn't let me breathe properly, let alone shout!

Felicity and the Raticate had long since disappeared, and I tried to convince myself she was fine. She hunted Rattata all the time, even the occasional Raticate. She was fine.

I glared at 'R' once more, hating the fact that I was too exhausted and sore to muster up the appropriate level of hatred for him. At this point I was just tired and scared. He seemed to know, regarding me like a fond movie he knew the ending to. He gazed behind me for a moment and something twitched in the back of my mind as I ducked. Pure instinct drove me, forcing me to the ground mere seconds before the jaws of an Arbok closed around my vacant air, and without a single thought, I grabbed the knife from my pokemon belt and slashed back in a single movement.

I didn't expect it to do much damage; It opened up a slight gash across the hood of the giant snake, earning me a look of pure, uninhibited loathing from the now asymmetrical Arbok.

'I'm dead. I'mdead I'mdead I'mdead I'mdead I'mdead' I repeated over and over in my mind. The Arbok fixed my eyes with a Glare attack and I felt my limbs stiffen as it began coiling around me. 'So dead.' Was all I could think.

It probably would have been my last thought too if not for the lump of bloody white fur that pounced on top of the Arbok, howling bloody murder and opening up so many cuts and gashes that everything nearby was soon covered in blood. Myself included.

Arbok fixed its attention, releasing me from the Glare attack and refocusing on Felicity with a vengeance. A delirious thought crossed my mind, 'I wonder which one of them is more angry about their ruined appearance right now?'. Hysterical laughter bubbled forth, as I gasped for air that wouldn't come, forced to my knees.

It was Felicity's pained yowl which brought me to focus again, noticing for the first time how weakened she was. I knew immediately there was no way she was winning this fight, and that's what gave me the fortitude to heft Beelzebub's ball.

He materialised with a red flash and his usual furious screech.

I dimly watched as he swept his eyes over the battle; Artemis and Yum Yum still tied up with the bird pokemon, Bumble trying valiantly to sting Tangela with his Poison Stings, Felicity getting thrown around by Arbok. Then his eyes landed on me. Maliciously.

'Oh no'.

His eyes grinned at me.

'Not now'.

Beelzebub released a predatory hiss that sent primal chills down my spine.

For all his rage, I always knew Beelzebub was an intelligent creature. That intelligence beget spite.

He advanced on me slowly, savouring it. I may not have had the energy for 'R', but Beelzebub copped the brunt of my hatred. I had trained him, protected and fed him. The hatred came easily to me.

His eyes grinned wider.

I swept my eyes out for my other pokemon, wanting to see them a final time. Wanting to tell them I'm sorry.

That's when I spotted the advancing Arbok.

I returned my gaze to Beelzebub, "You listen to me you spiteful, ungrateful creature." I wheezed out pathetically. He regarded me curiously, "You're about to be fighting for your life, and if you want to have any chance of surviving," I coughed up a bit of blood, "Use your Rage attack."

Beelzebub didn't get a chance to wonder what I meant before he was clamped down on from the side, by the jaws of an enraged Arbok. Fury overtook his motor control, lurching around and pulling the snake off by sheer strength, and throwing it to the side.

I saw him pause before rushing on to fight Arbok; I wondered if he would have targeted me if it were a different pokemon he was facing.

Regardless, I allowed myself a chance to breath as well as I could, while I recalled the bloody mess that was Felicity. She was zapped up into the pokeball; She was alive. I repeated it to myself while I checked on my other pokemon.

Bumble had managed to take out the Tangela by some large miracle, and now hovered shellshocked in midair. Unresponsive to everything around him. Artemis and Yum Yum we're faring better, having managed to paralyze the Fearow which Yum Yum was currently Absorbing to finish it off, while Artemis traded shots still with the Pidgeotto. Neither of them looked to be in very good condition.

"You're doing remarkably well," I heard 'R' mutter somewhere next to me. I hadn't even noticed him there in my hazy state. He was still smiling warmly, making my skin crawl. "I should have used stronger pokemon," He continued airily, pulling open a bag filled with pokeballs. Many numerous pokeballs.

He fingered through them, looking for a particular one as he spoke, "Do you want to see something terrifying Nathaniel?" I didn't even register the significance of what he'd said before he'd kept talking, "Your trainer record keeps a video file of all your gym battle attempts, congratulations by the way, on defeating Brock on your first try."

Finally he pulled a single pokeball from the bag, "I didn't have time to watch the whole thing of course, time is still a factor up here. I did notice one interesting little factoid though. A reaction of yours." He smiled at me again, warmth filling his eyes.

My stomach dropped, 'No, no, no, no, no' I repeated to myself.

Reading my thoughts, 'R' smiled wider. "So, Nathaniel. Do you want to see something terrifying?"

He aimed the pokeball at my feet.

He didn't get a chance to throw it.

Bumble came shooting out of nowhere, stabbing straight through his hand with the pokeball, and poking out the other side.

'R' screamed painfully, dropping the pokeball to cower over the gaping hole in his hand.

The ball hit the ground and bounced once, landing button down.

A gigantic Onix emerged in a flash of red.

I passed out for a couple of seconds.

There was a blade of grass in front of my eyes. A single blade swaying softly with the vibrations of the ground.

'Why is there grass in front of me?'

…

'Why is the world sideways?'

I sat up quickly, ignoring the way my head throbbed and heaved.

Bumble buzzed next to me shaking heavily, watching as Beelzebub and Artemis traded blows with the massive Onix in front of us. It was easily twice as big as Brock's, darker gray in colour and almost black in places.

It smashed a tail down and I noticed Yum Yum latched onto its tail, holding on for dear life and using Absorb, riding and sucking harder than a Pewter whore on a friday.

'R' was still curled up over his hand, not realising that Bumble wasn't stopping him from reaching for his bag of pokeballs.

Beelzebub jumped high and knocked the Onix across it's face in a superpowered Rage attack, sending it staggering to the side, followed up by a Confusion blast from Artemis.

Not to be outdone however, the Onix dived straight for the ground, disappearing swiftly underground. Yum Yum let go just in time to avoid going along for the ride.

"Split up, create more targets," I whispered out, but I doubt any of them heard my broken voice over the rumbling of the hillside. Chunks of the cliff edge cracked and broke off to fall crashing to the ground below.

The ground beneath Artemis started to crack, and I barely even drew breath to warn her before the Onix blasted up underneath. It didn't matter that she'd detected him and leapt aside, he was so big that she couldn't possibly have leapt far enough, clipping herself on the side of his head and tumbling painfully to the ground. The Onix swept around and smacked her sideways with a Slam attack before tunnelling back underground.

I grimly returned her, not even caring if she could keep battling. I wasn't risking it. Not with Artemis.

Yum Yum scuttled over to me as fast as he could while Beelzebub rampaged around, angry at having lost his foe.

He didn't have to wait long.

The Onix swept up from underneath him, jaws wide enough to swallow him whole, completely enveloping the furious devil.

'He's dead. Beelzebub is dead.'

Onix swept down snaking along the ground, shaking his head furiously, and it was then I noticed two gray pincers, clenched tight over the bottom lip, inhibiting the Onix from closing its jaws fully. That stubborn bastard held on with sheer willpower and rage, refusing to die.

I paused for only a second, before raising his pokeball and returning Beelzebub to the safety of his pokeball. I swear I heard Brock's voice then, "I can guarantee your Pinsirs's jaws will be the first to snap", but it was probably just the delirium. Either way I scowled weakly, shutting it down hard.

Yum Yum arrived and I noted that him and Bumble were all that stood between me and death by Onix. It rampaged towards me, gaining speed.

"Shit!" I heard 'R' proclaim, spotting him try to scramble aside.

An idea hit me, a crazy desperate idea, and raising unsteadily to my legs, I sucked as much breath as my ribs would allow and shouted with as much force as I could, "Bumble, use String Shot to stop 'R' from getting away!" I hoped that the Onix wouldn't want to kill us if we had it's master as a hostage.

Bumble buzzed up at me.

Blankly.

"Quickly, he's getting away!" I lunged for 'R's legs grabbing them and crying out as I fell hard.

The Onix continued on with its charge, unabashed.

'R' kicked at my face and hands, "Let go of me!"

I didn't listen, shouting repeatedly at Bumble, "Now Bumble! I can't hold on, stick him to the ground before he gets away and we all die!"

Bumble just buzzed weakly, twiddling his stingers.

'Of all the times to shut down' I thought to myself.

The ground shook as Onix loomed closer.

With a final kick 'R' hit my fingers and I felt bone snap, but I was beyond pain at this point.

My grip slipped and 'R' cried out triumphantly crawling away.

A dark shadow blocked out the sun.

Onix reared back above us.

That's when Yum Yum, my loyal little bug, lunged after 'R', spraying a Spore attack in his wake.

He stabbed down through 'R's leg, who cried out once more in pain, effectively diverting the Onix's attention.

Already I could feel the effect of the Spores in the air, as I gazed lazily at Yum Yum.

He clicked something urgent, rolling his eyes to the cliff edge and pointing with his free stinger.

The Onix started slowing down, shaking it's head against the drowsiness.

It glared at the offending Parasect, lunging forwards to snuff this new challenge out.

I didn't see, I was already over the side of the cliff, hopping down as fast as I could.

I felt the final crunch more than I heard it.

At the bottom of the hill I hobbled off into the forest. Not aware of where I was heading, only heading 'away'.

Eventually I found myself at the door of a large house overlooking the ocean.

I don't remember anything else.