-Begin week five-

"I can't believe this!"

"I know, who is that guy?"

"He doesn't look that great!"

'What's all the commotion about?' Adrian wonders as he enters the class room.

In the middle of the room, he sees a group of students surrounding a news paper.

Curious, he seats himself close to the commotion in an attempt to listen in.

"What are you guys going on about?" Adrian eventually asks.

"Adrian, seriously, have you not seen the newspaper?"

"Well, you don't really know anything, so no surprise."

"We're busy right now, so go away."

"Erika how could you do this?"

"Tell us who he is!"

"Yeah, he should speak for himself!"

"Why are you seeing this worthless scum!"

"I can take him."

"This guy is just talk. When it comes down to it, he'll run away scared."

"Yea, he's a piece of trash."

"Hey, who do you think is weaker, him or Adrian?"

"That's an easy one."

"Definitely Adrian."

"Adrian."

"Yeah."

"Agreed."

"Adrian's su-" The professor then walks to start homeroom cutting of any further discussion.

'I'll just ask Caitlin later.' Adrian makes a mental note.

…..

Adrian had finished feeding his pokemon and was now heading to class. Along the way, he spots a discarded newspaper.

'Now I can find out what the commotion is about. Everyone's been going on about it all day.'

Looking at the front page, Adrian pales.

The paper was dated last Saturday, November 6th.

"Exactly two days ago..."

The cover page showed a picture of Erika and Adrian sleeping in front of Celadon gym. The picture had been taken from the gym's gate entrance. Due to the positioning, Erika's head blocked out Adrian's face. The following caption read, "Famous for Her Naps, Has Erika Found Someone to Enjoy them With?"

Skimming the page, Adrian read, "Embarrassed, Erika denied any involvement with this boy and refused to reveal his name. What we could gather is that his height is somewhere between 5'4 to 5'8 and that he has dark hair. Even though Erika denied involvement with this male, many witnesses testified that they saw her and a 'mysterious youth' walking together and eating at Zan-Chini in the park. The boy even played his violin for her after they had finished eating. Erika claims it was all a misunderstanding. As I interviewed her, I felt as though she was denying the situation too hard. Regardless of what Erika says, I'll leave you with the evidence. Please decide for yourself and tell us what you think."

Reading the article, Adrian becomes embarrassed.

'I hope Erika isn't have too hard of a time because of this.' Adrian laments remembering gym leaders possess celebrity status.

'If they all knew it was me in the picture, urghh, I would be getting attacked every day over and over.' Adrian panicked. 'I wouldn't be able to raise my pokemon like that.'

Adrian sighs in relief, 'Me resting my forehead on her does give the wrong impression... I am so thankful Erika didn't say anything.'

"I am so lucky right now!" Adrian laughs.

"Really, about what?"

"Oh, Caitlin. No, I'm remembering a fortune cookie I read earlier."

"So it has nothing to do with the picture of Erika and the mystery boy?"

"No…" Adrian bluffs.

"You're blushing. That's you in the picture, right, right?"

"Of c-course not!" Adrian blushes losing his composure.

"Hahaha, yeah. Chill man, no one would ever believe you to be that mystery person. But what is this? You're reading about gossip. You've never cared about gossip before. Tell me, what do you think about Erika's new boyfriend?"

"I'm only reading this because of the commotion everyone is making. Now that I've read it, I still don't understand why so many people care if Erika is seeing some guy or not. It isn't like she's been promised to someone else..."

"That's more like the Adrian we've all come to know."

"It's kinda funny to see everyone so worked up over this though."

'But, I'm terrified on what they'll do if they realize it's me in the picture.' Adrian ponders.

"The expected Adrian response. So looking at the picture, do you really think they're not together? I mean, she's resting so comfo-."

…..

"Guy's, this is going to be a long week." Adrian comments to his pokemon later that day.

…..

"Alright class, please break up into teams of two. I will explain everything afterwards." Spoke professor Biden.

Adrian looks around, but no one desires to work with such an incapable student.

'Of course, I'm incompetence, and any success is always suspected...' he thinks. 'Although, those are starting to fade away too. My grades did improve, but the constant training and traveling is making it difficult to focus in class. Worse, my homework and project grades suffer from tardiness and inadequacy. I wouldn't even want to work with me..."

"Tch, I'm best off on my own."

Most students by now have created their own groups.

'To do what I do and also do fine in class... that person would have to be perfect... like Skye.'

"Tch"

"Adrian, I see you still haven't found a team." Professor Biden says.

"I can work alone."

"Nope, that would kill the point of this exercise. Let's see, ahhh, here you can join Samuel and Jarod, the Golden Two. Try learning from them."

'Perfect. Both of them are elite students, best friends, and typical horrible people. Although Jarod might not be in the top ten at the moment, he's bound to sneak in there sometime this year.'

"So, looks like we get to baby sit."

"Make sure you stay out of my way. I don't get many opportunities to use my Pokedex."

'Whatever, maybe I can just sit this out and let them do all the work.'

"Ok class, now that you're in teams I'll explain the exercise. There come times when trainers cannot overcome a challenge with their strength alone. Sometimes they need the assistance of another trainer. Therefore, I want you to work with your partner to overcome the challenges in the obstacle courses prepared for each group. The objective is to reach the end as a team, retrieve the pokeball, and return. As you know, this exercise will take all day but do try to return by dinner. If you would all please come forward at this time, we will begin to distribute your pokemon." Professor Biden explains.

…..

"Naturally they gave me my Machop. What did you get?" Sam answers as the new team begins their task.

"A Charmander. Now, fork it over Adrian."

"What?"

"You heard me, pokemon are wasted on fifth rate trainers like you. I can bring out your pokemon's full potential."

"Wouldn't Sam do a better job?" Adrian asks attempting to cause internal discord.

'Fifth rate, what happened to third rate?' he also wonders.

"I don't need any pokemon other than Machop to get past this. So give it to him Adrian. Besides, I'm not going to risk losing my place as first because of your incompetence."

"Tch, fine, here." Adrian clicks his tongue as he turns over his pokemon.

'It didn't work' he silently laments.

"A Zubat, nice."

"Great, now let's get going."

'This is going to be a long hike. Mr. Biden was wrong though. My team and I have been acting alone this entire time and have been just fine. Sure, we've meet people, stayed with them, studied, and learned, but those are the rare occasions and rewards of life. The travels we went through to get there to meet everyone, the long hours of training every night, and the gym battles, we did those all on our own. We're going to keep getting stronger. We don't a choice.' Adrian thinks back to the long hours of training

'Even if we face the impossible, we'll overcome it like we always do. Besides, we can't depend on others. We won't always have help...' Adrian recalled a rock slide from when he was training in Mout Moon.

'Just like now, we don't have a choice but to move forward on our own. If word about what we're doing gets out, I could be expelled and my pokemon confiscated. Yet, to compete in the League Challenge we have to continue. If we want something, we'll go and take it our selves. We can't wait for someone to get it for us. We are going to take our place among those competitors and fight. We'll show the world exactly what we're capable of...' Adrian feels him angering.

''Tch, just fine..." He lowly growls in a voice carrying a concealed loneliness he was unaware of.

A shattering boulder brings Adrian out of his thoughts.

"Have we arrived at the first task already?"

"Pay attention, this is the third trial!"

"That was quick."

"Well what do you expect? Sam and I are doing all the work while you get an easy A."

"I'm sorry for not contributing with my assigned pokemon."

"Shut up and watch how it's done!"

After some more walking they reach a river.

"Machop, karate chop that tree."

'If we had walked a little we could have found a bridge… in either direction. Heck, we could have swum across if needed. There was no need to cut a tree...' Adrian recalled the few times he had been in that area.

"Adrian, quit stalling!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

"We made it."

"Yeah, this was easy."

'Considering you forced your way through every obstacle. Blocked paths were either smashed or burned, even if they were still navigable. If pit holes and other traps were suspected, Machop would cut a tree to test the area. Such a brutal destruction of nature... Is this a race to them?'

"We got the ball, now let's go. Move it Adrian!"

On the way back, Adrian notices just how different the land is from when they had originally started. He saddens as he compares the current formation to the previous one.

'Pikachu use to dart in and out of the bushes, jump across tree the branches, and do all sorts of crazy antics. Spearow soared the skies looking down on the trees. Bellsprout, heh, he rooted himself into the ground, literally, and relax. I they saw this, they'd be horrified. This isn't how people should interact with nature, with pokemon.'

"Adrian, quite stalling!"

The group soon returns to the academy.

"Excellent, excellent, you three are the first to return. Adrian, I hope you learned something from this experience." Professor Biden asks.

'Does, how to destroy nature count?' Adrian silently quips.

"You are dismissed."

The three leave Professor Biden's office and Samuel and Jarod face Adrian.

"Next time, find someone else to leech off of."

"Stay out of our way."

Turning, they left.

…..

"Finally, we're free." Adrian rejoices, "I'm so glad Professor Oak said we should wait at least two weeks beffore seeing Mr. Fuji. If not for the half day, I'm not too sure we'd be able to make it to Lavender town and back in time. I wonder what Mr. Fuji does? I don't know much about him and couldn't find out anything either. Well, the mystery only makes this more worthwhile. Don't you three agree?"

'Mr. Fuji lives in Lavender town,' Adrian ponders, ' and the fastest way there is by… we have to go through Celadon...'

"We'll figure something out. Thankfully, the underground path below Saffron city avoids the city traffic. Although, considering the distance, this may take us most of the night. We might end up camping out. Honestly, I'd rather not, I've never gone camping before, and the nights are starting to get cold. Well, we'll manage something. We always do, right?" Adrian spoke aloud.

…..

"Ok guys, we're outside Celadon city. Now, I don't think anyone will give us any problems, but just in case, let's rush." Adrian whispered to his pokemon.

Adrian hurries through the city trying to avoid doing any conspicuous action. However, many citizens point and whisper. Some even attempt to take his picture. As Adrian hides his face, he apologized, 'Sorry Erika, I may have made things worse for you.'

"Finally, we're past Celadon city. Now we just need to get through Saffron and Lavender town will be right down the road. But, it's getting late and Saffron city is the largest city in Kanto... We may end up camping… Let's try to avoid that."

As Adrian continues, he considers what camping would entail,'I'll have to improvise due to lack of equipment. We should stay near a river for water and for a fire, maybe Pikachu could zap some wood. I have some food to eat, but it will only last for dinner and breakfast. The cold night weather along with the smoke, should keep the bugs away too. Great news for bug magnet me... What's this?'

Adrian notices an ad on a sign. "Need to cross Saffron? Don't want to suffer Saffron city in the process? Then try the subway, circles beneath Saffron city around all four gate points."

"Interesting... Hey guys, we should check this out. If it works, it'll be a great time saver."

…..

Adrian approachs the west entrance to Saffron city and takes the stairs down to the terminal.

"Tickets: one day- $20, week long- $50, month long- $100, yearlong- $150." A billboard read.

'That's expensive… But what's this about a contest?'

"Subway challenge! Battle your pokemon until the end. The winner will receive a yearlong subway pass. Contests held every third week of the month at nine. Register…"

"One of those is today and we still have time to register. Guys, this will be a great way to see how far we've advanced."

Adrian proceeds to register his team and then prepares for the tournament to begin. They didn't have to wait long. They're turn finally arrived on the third match and the referee called, "In the left corner we have Adrian, on the right we have Joey. This will be a one on one match. Begin now."

"Tell you what Adrian, I'll make life easy for you and start first. Go Arbok!"

"Why you're too kind. Come on Pikachu, flash!"

"Arhhh, our eyes!"

"Now, thunder bolt!"

"Sorry, you're going to need more than that, Arbok glare!"

As Arbok intimidated Pikachu, he began to coil up.

"Pikachu, double team."

"Too late, wrap!"

Arbok wraps herself around Pikachu and squeezes tightly.

"Baka..." Adrian smirks, "Pikachu, discharge your electricity. Point blank thunder bolt."

"Arbok is unable to battle, the winner is Adrian" The referee calls.

"Good job buddy."

Adrian and his team continued to win the next few rounds until they reached the final match.

"This is the final match!" The referee then announced, "This will be a two on two battle. Adrian will be in the right corner while Paul will stand in the left. Please hurry, the second to last train will leave shortly with or without the winner."

'Second to last… Oh I see. The trains stop at each station until it has made a full loop back to its original station. Also, each station has its own train. If I want to get across Saffron city, I need to make this train.' Adrian reasons.

"Spearow, your turn!" Adrian calls.

"A Spearow eh, then I'll use Beedrill! Twin needle!"

'Beedrill, seriously? He must have something planned.' Adrian wonders.

"Spearow, keep him away with gust! Fly in with peck!"

'Good, it fainted…'

"You may have defeated Beedrill, but you're no match for Rattata!"

"Good job Spearow, return. Your turn Bellsprout!"

"Rattata, double team."

'Is he going to try hyper-fang?' Adrian wonders

"Bellsprout, prote…Razor leaf, now!" Adrian changes his command midway though.

'Odd, that Rattata was pretty slow. What's with this guy?'

"Return Rattata. Hey, you're pretty good. Your pokemon must be in top shape to get this far without tiring themselves out. Most of mine have fainted already."

"Yea, you're amazing."

"Dude, you've got to tell me how you got this strong."

'All of this commotion just because we won. This is kind of embarrassing…' Adrian blushes.

"Awww, come on everyone, we just got lucky, and you're all really strong too."

"Attention, the next train will be leaving momentarily. Please proceed to take your seats. Thank you."

"Sorry, we need to get going." Adrian and his pokemon rush away after collecting the prize.

…..

"Nice, the train saved us at least three hours worth of walking beneath Saffron. If we run, we might be able to make it to the Lavender pokemon center before it closes for the night."

…..

"Morning guys." Adrian greets his pokemon inside the pokemon center.

"Dang, my feet are sore from last night's run, but... haha, we made it. Let's get breakfast and then find Mr. Fuji."

…..

"I heard Mr. Fuji lives in here with abandoned and orphaned pokemon. Sounds like a swell guy. I hope he's he home."

Adrian knocks on the door and the person who answers is a child.

"I'm sorry but Mr. Fuji is in Lavender Tower paying his respects for deceased pokemon. If you wait, he'll be back soon."

"No that's alright, I was hoping to visit Lavender Tower. Thank you."

Adrian proceeds towards a large tower looming in the distance.

'I'm here. This place isn't too scary.' Adrian comments as he enters the building.

…..

"Why Mr. Fuji? He's probably on the top floor getting ready to ring the Serenity Bell in honor of all the pokemon here. If you're going to go see him, be careful. Ghost pokemon and trainers gather around and battle in the upper levels." The front desk attendant informs Adrian.

Adrian thanks the lady and continues to the top of the tower. On the way, the team battles various ghost pokemon and trainers. They even make some new friends in the process. Finally, they reach the top floor and found a grandfatherly person in front of a large silver bell praying. Adrian continues forward, kneels beside him, and join him in his prayer. Eventually, without moving, the man spokes to Adrian.

"Say, would you like to ring the bell?"

"Are you sure that is alright?"

"Yes, the air around you is sincere and you give that feeling off, although there is something else. But, you care about your pokemon and that is the most important trait you could have."

"I give off a feeling?"

"It's something you learn to tell with age. You just know when a person truly cares for pokemon, or only wants to give off an image."

"…I see, thank you. Is there a special way to ring the Serenity Bell?"

"No, just ring the bell three times."

Adrian rings the bell and then with Mr. Fuji proceeds down the tower.

….

"I see, so Oak asked you to deliver these to me." Mr. Fuji says back at his house, "Hmm, these are just notes asking for my opinion on pokemon behavior. I can't fathom why he would take such precautions in its delivery. No matter, here, I have something for you."

"Oh, you really don't have to."

"No, I insist. A young man like you who truly cares for pokemon can better use this device Oak gave than I could. I'm just not interested in pokemon research anymore. All I want to do now is live peacefully in my old age while caring for pokemon. Of course, that doesn't stop others from asking me for help. Ahh, no matter."

"Thank you." Adrian says as he receives a small box.

"Say, what are you planning to do with your pokemon?"

"I just want to get stronger with them. Much much stronger."

"What will you do then?"

"I don't know. I just feel as though we need to get stronger."

"Why is that?"

"I'm tired of people looking down on me. At least, that was the original reason. Now, I feel like there is something more. But, I don't know."

"Then how about this, what will you do with your strength once you get it?"

"I'm not sure. I do know I enjoy being with pokemon and helping others. Thinking about my travels, this much is clear to me. Maybe if I get stronger, I can help others more?"

"Relax, haha. You are still young. Continue your traveling, you will understand yourself in time. Go on, experience life and think about what it means to you."

"Thank you"

With those words, Adrian leaves and begins for the academy.

'So, he wants me to think about life?' Adrian ponders.

"I don't get it."

As Adrian continues walking, he thinks 'What exactly…Skye…"

…..

"It's a pokedex!" Adrian excitedly exclaims as he opens his gift from Mr. Fuji.

...

"Saffron city, sorry guys but I don't think we're ready for Sabrina yet. Let's come back some other time when we're more rested." Adrian tells his pokemon.

They take the subway to the west gate and proceed to the Celadon city pokemon center.

"We could have continued back and arrived by night fall, but do we really want to go back on a Saturday?" Adrian mumbles, "I know Celadon is dangerous, but there really isn't any other place we could go."

They walk around Celadon city and find themselves visiting the department store. They take the elevator to the top floor then take the stairs to the roof.

"Adrian?"

Adrian turns and sees Erika. Upon seeing her face, he immediately blushes.

"Oh, hey..."

"I'm really sorry about this. This wouldn't have happened if I didn't fall asleep."

"No, no. It's alright. No one knows who I am anyway. You're the one who must be having a hard time."

"Well, it's starting to quite down, or was until you came by the other day."

"Sorry, but I needed to cut through Celadon to reach Lavender town."

"You were going to Lavender? Why wer…"

They continue talking on the roof top until night. They decide to take different routes down to avoid being seen together. Adrian takes the elevator while Erika takes the stairs.

As Adrian leaves the store and continues to the Pokemon center, he begins thinking about the next day.

'We've agreed to meet up again but maybe I should get disguise. I don't want to make Erika's life any more difficult.'

Adrian sighs and continues his thoughts.

'But, I'm a bit surprised her students asked her who the mystery man was. All week, the practitioners from her archery, and students from her flower arrangement, and university classes had been bringing up the subject. But, the worst one was definitely from her tea ceremony classes. Do those women have nothing better to do than gossip? It was starting to die down, but me being seen in town the other day flared everything back up again. My bad.'

Finished another chapter. On a side note, dance is fun! Now if only I could find someone to dance with... I decided to show how Adrian was progressing with his school life more so than trainer life. But, he is a trainer, so his trainer life does get some attention.