Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Having the Blues:

The charmeleon stood up again for probably the tenth time, and the crowd went wild.

I had thought that in a second-tier tournament like the Nugget Bridge Tournament the best match the people could had hoped to see would be between me and Blue. After all, we were both trainers of similar capabilities and had both entered with similar pokemon. Our match had had it all; suspense, strategy, flashy elemental attacks... The crowd had loved it.

Also, not to sound arrogant, but I had thought that after defeating Blue, I would have had the final prize in the bag. Yes, Pikachu was tired and hurt, but the competition wasn't that high, not with the ban on Alpha and Omega level pokemon. In a festive tournament like this, all trainers had for themselves was skill, not strength. So it wasn't that farfetched for Pikachu and me to win this.

I was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.

Pikachu was panting, and each of his attacks were doing less and less damage. His electrical charge was already running low due to four consecutive matches, and the wounds he had received from Blue's jolteon weren't to make light of either. Still, he was trying his best, keeping his distance from the monster in front of him and trying to dodge the unbelievably intense flames coming out of its mouth.

This is impossible, I thought as I watched the charmeleon stand up again after taking the full brunt of a last-minute attack from Pikachu. I had ordered him to go all out, release everything he had, discharge all of his built-up static. Na da. The charmeleon hadn't even tried to dodge, it had simply stood there, tanking it. It had fell for his knees for a moment, but now it was standing up again.

And that right there was actually the summary of our entire match. I had used every tactic I knew that could be applied against a charmeleon. Don't attack from the back, beware the flaming tail. Never attack head on, its claws and fangs can rip you apart. Keep away and attack from the sides, thunderbolts are instantaneous whereas your opponent has to take aim with its head to spit fire. Shoot, then move around before it can target you. Eventually you'll tire it out. Pikachu had executed my orders perfectly, he had zapped the charmeleon many times without getting caught in the return fire, but the charmeleon had never went permanently down. It had tanked all the hits and even outpaced Pikachu.

We're going to lose this.

I glanced at the charmeleon's trainer. A blonde boy in his early twenties, only a few years older than me. His skin was chalk white, and he had this habit of biting his lips. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, as if he hadn't slept the night before. He seemed nothing special and didn't have the aura of a confident trainer owning a monster like that charmeleon. In fact, I would bet that this was his first tournament match, he looked so nervous, eyeing the crowd nervously and fidgeting all over. He wasn't watching the match, or his opponents, Pikachu and me. I didn't think that he was even checking on his own pokemon. I made my mind, this was an incapable trainer who had lucked himself on a very strong pokemon, and whose only understanding of battling was to throw a ball and let the monster do the rest.

He disgusted me.

Yet when Pikachu just barely dodged another great fireball, which somehow never lost any of its intensity during the match, I knew what had to be done. Irritated, I slightly tapped my microphone five times. Pikachu, having never heard me give that order before, hesitated for a second and even let out a snarl that was directed at me, but when the charmeleon slashed with impossible speed at his side where Blue's jolteon had injured before, after a cry of pain, he too gave up. Limping, he ran out of the designated battle area and came near me, admitting his defeat. I caught the trainer across me sighing in relief.

The crowd politely applauded Pikachu and me, and then cheered loudly for the winner. I saw out of the corner of my eye Blue walking up and starting a conversation with the victor. Not wanting to have my defeat rubbed into my face more, I picked Pikachu up and walked away. "You did great," I muttered. "It's my fault. That thing was a beast, and I just couldn't think my way around it." Pikachu licked my hands, making me feel slightly less awful. I checked his injuries, his fur had small burn marks and part of his side was cut. I checked the wound, it wasn't deep, but still needed stitches. He was also shivering, probably because he was all out of charge. "C'mon," I said. "Let's get you to a pokecenter."

))(())((

"In local news, the Nugget Bridge Tournament has come to its end! After a day of exciting battles, the winner's nugget goes to Trainer Nolan, and his team of one, Dante the charmeleon. Nolan Tucker and Dante won every match in the tournament, but afterwards refused to give any comment. Nevertheless, we congratulate this young trainer and wish him well on his journey. Here is some edited footage of his batt-"

"Hey, let's turn that down, shall we?" said Blue.

The barman grunted, and lowered the volume of the small TV. I nodded in appreciation and took another sip of my beer. Pikachu was still at the pokecenter, the nurses had insisted that he stayed the night. I had thought of waiting, but Blue had found me there and convinced me to go out for a long overdue drink. I had agreed, but now I wasn't too happy about that decision, this was the first time since Pikachu and I were partnered we would be spending the night separately. I had gotten so accustomed to his presence that now I felt as if I was missing an arm and a leg.

"I think he cheated," Blue suddenly said.

I glanced at him questioningly.

"This trainer, Nolan. I think he cheated," Blue explained. "The way he battled against you... There's no way that guy knows what he's doing. After you guys' match, I went up to congratulate him, tried chatting him up, use the old Gary Oak charm, see how he raised such a fucking beast of a monster. I mean, you know better than anyone, that thing was invincible, how do you get a mon to become like that? Charmeleon aren't the sturdiest of mons y'know, there's no way it could take that much thunder, it's not like that thing is a blissey or something."

"Pikachu... was tired. His attacks weren't hundred percent," I argued back. "The quantity of his attacks were high, but not the quality. They probably didn't do a lot of damage. At least, that's the only explanation I got."

"You named your pikachu Pikachu? Arceus, you suck at names even more than I do." Blue snorted. "Can't wait to hear the rest of your team's names, do you call your butterfree bug?"

I stood silent.

Sensing me disturbed, Blue looked up. "Something I said?"

I choked out the words "Butterfree is not with me anymore. I traded him."

"Oh. Well, from that video of your match against Brock, it looked like it was a pretty decent mon. Still, I don't blame you for trading, no way it could have held up against the upper tier mons. And a butterfree who won against Diamondback, you probably got something good in return, didn't you? Don't get why you got so emotional," Blue said. "Unless... that's not what upset you?"

He knew me too fucking well.

We stood in silent for a few minutes, drinking our beers. Then, Blue finally asked the question I dreaded. "Red, where's the rest of your team?"

I took a long sip of my beer before putting my glass back on the bar. Fixing my eyes on the edge of the glass, I began telling Blue about my journey. I told him everything I had been up to since I left Pallet, how I caught a zigzagoon, how my bike got trashed in Viridian Forest, how I captured a mankey, venonat and metapod there. I skipped the details of my battle against Brock and explained my reasoning behind taking the Mt. Moon route. I told him the story of how I got Poka the nosepass, and how she and my mankey met their end by the zubat colony. I also told him about the clefairy, their hidden sanctuary, and their brave leader clefable, who had died at the hands of Jessie's arbok. I broadly touched upon the subject of our battle against the operation run by Jessie and James, and my torture at their hands. Finally, I finished my tale with how I got arrested in Cerulean and how I got my license and pokedex back.

To his credit, Blue listened to it all without interrupting. At the end, he gave a long whistle, shaking his head. "Another round," he addressed the barman. "If that story doesn't deserve another drink, I don't know what does." He raised his newly filled glass. "A toast," he said. "To Poka and that wild clefable, for without them, you wouldn't be alive today."

"I'll drink to that," I agreed, raising my own glass. "To Poka and the clefable."

"Now I get why you got so mushy after I mentioned your team," Blue said after drinking his share. "Couldn't have been easy to lose one. I'd get it if you want to just give up and return to Pallet."

I looked up at him. He had the hint of a daring grin on his face, as if he was testing me. "Fat chance," I muttered, making him laugh.

"Still, the most unbelievable thing in this story is that gramps let you have your dex back," Blue said. "I'd never imagine him the forgiving type. Then again, he always had a soft spot for you."

"I guess," I said. "I mean, soft is relative you know, like, a geodude is softer than a steelix. I guess, yeah, he was relatively soft."

Blue heartily laughed.

"Speaking of the Oaks," I continued. "What's up with you? I've been checking some news on you and couldn't find a thing. It's been, what, forty, forty-two days since we left Pallet. No badge yet?"

"Nope," Blue calmly answered.

I eyed him suspiciously. "Then what?" I asked. "Did you change goals after seeing me break the Kanto record - fastest badge winner in Indigo, the media calls me that now, you know," I teased. "Wait, is that why you came to Cerulean, to battle against me in the tournament, to test yourself? To see if you had an ounce of hope winning, only for you and your jolteon to miserably lose against Pikachu and me?"

"Keep speaking shit and you might start believing it all Reddy boy," Blue answered. "What I told you was I didn't get a badge. I didn't tell you something like I lost."

"What?" I asked, now genuinely confused. The drinks might have had an influence on that though.

Blue rolled his eyes. "I'm saying I challenged Brock, and won. You know how you used many underhanded methods and two pokemon? I used only one. Against Graniteslice, his kabutops. Afterwards, well, I just refused the badge. He told me that if I refused it now, later I would have to challenge him again to acquire it. I looked him in the eye and told him I'd be ready to take him on, any time, any day," he said, as he wiped the foam of beer from his mouth with his sleeve.

"You're telling me," I asked, not wanting to believe. "You and your newly evolved jolteon took out a kabutops, an armored prehistoric predator trained by the best rock type trainer in Indigo, in a one on one match?" I looked him in the eye. "No way."

"Nah, for me and Hope, that would be impossible. You saw Hope, she's not a physical fighter, Graniteslice would have destroyed her," Blue replied while taking a pokeball out of his belt. "But for me and Vic, however, heh, I'd say he loved the challenge." He then released his pokemon.

Every customer in the bar screamed, and I fell out of my bar stool. I had never, ever felt the absence of Pikachu more than I felt now, with that horrid monstrosity in front of me.

"Red, let me introduce you to Invictus," Blue said, quite enjoying himself.

My mouth popped a silent oh. Big and scarred, Blue's heracross was intimidating. The meaning behind the challenging spark of its yellow eyes was clear, this was a monster that had killed, would kill, and wanted to kill. With one look I understood that in front of me was a fighter at the peak of its species, a pokemon befitting a champion.

"Now imagine," Blue said, as he recalled his heracross to its ball. "Imagine, if there wasn't a ban on the higher level pokemon in this tournament. Do you still think Pikachu could have won?"

I was saved from an answer when the barman kicked us out, screaming and threatening us with the cops. Not wanting a scene, I quietly stepped out, Blue trailing right behind me.

"Well, that went almost too well," I heard Blue say behind me. "We didn't even pay the tab. Might let Vic loose more often from here on out. Hey- wait up!" he called when he realized I kept walking.

Together, we kept walking in silent until we found a quiet spot near one of the canals separating the city. We sat on the nearest bench. Neither of us spoke, we watched the flowing water in silence. Half an hour passed, then an hour. During that time, I was aware of the fidgety glances Blue occasionally gave me, but I ignored them.

Finally, Blue broke the silence. "I still think he cheated."

I didn't say anything.

"We never settled that discussion. That guy with the charmeleon, what's his name, Nolan, yeah, I think he drugged his mon," he continued.

"There are no drugs that leave no aftereffect," I mechanically countered. "The charmeleon had no change in eye color, experienced no physical contractions, and did not lash out wildly. It just... stood there and attacked on instinct, exactly how a good mon with a bad trainer would behave. I think we both need to accept I lost fair and square."

Blue raised his eyebrows but didn't give a response. I decided to ask something that was weighing on my mind since I saw his heracross.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you defeat Brock only for the sake of it? Why would you not accept the badge?"

"Because, unlike you, I didn't enter this game half-cocked," he harshly said. "I have a plan. You see, I don't want to collect badges without a full team, and I know how to get a full team. I found Invictus, and I will find the other anomalies like him. The core, the checks, the counters of my team, I have plans for all. And I'll admit I was startled when I read about you winning against Brock so quickly, that I decided to also test myself. I went to Pewter, fought, and, guess what, won. That was all I needed. I declined the badge because I didn't want to alert other leaders and trainers to my presence, better to crush them all in one go after than spread it to time. Then I came here to Cerulean, in hopes of having battle with you, to test myself again. The opportunity presented itself, and I took it. That's pretty much it."

A small grin began building on my face, and soon it turned to laughter. "What?" asked Blue sharply.

"Nothing," I replied between breaths. "It's just that - well, I'll confess I was slightly intimidated that you took out Brock on a whim, with a wild mon you newly caught, in a physical battle. But, now I see that you really have been planning this for years, haven't you? I mean, so have I, but not to the extent of building a scenario for every possible teammate for every possible pokemon out there. And now I just realized that your eevee - Hope you said? - well, it isn't a coincidence that she evolved into a volt absorbing jolteon, is it?"

Bingo. I hit the mark. I could see Blue getting flustered. "You evolved your starter as a direct counter to mine, didn't you?" I continued. "And here's the punchline, you might've defeated Brock, but despite all your planning, all your calculations, at today's tournament, you lost to me. You and your starter lost to me and my starter, against whom you had specifically evolved and trained yours. Meaning even if all your other plans work out, and you get to defeat every single leader, the entire four, and even Lance himself, it doesn't mean jack shit if your plans fail against me." Grinning, I looked at him. "You have to see the joke in that," I finished.

Blue stood speechless for a record breakingly long moment, but then shrugged his shoulders. "I guess, you're right," he nonchalantly said, though I could see he was bothered. "But you have to keep in mind Hope isn't a finished product, she has loads of training to go through still. Not to mention, I've been busting my ass training not only her, but also Invictus, Sky, and Partner - my pidgeotto and raticate. Meanwhile, all this time, you've only focused on training one single pikachu, already born with the instincts of a fighter. So, Pikachu versus Hope, not exactly the fairest comparison, eh?"

I gave him that. "True." I nodded. "But irrelevant to the fact that in the end, you lost."

"Only the one battle Reddy boy, only the one. The real war between you and me, and its victor, heh, we'll see who it'll be in two years and ten and a half months. That is, if you survive that long with only one gamma level pokemon at your side, and an entire team of killers pursuing you - Jessie and James, was it?" Blue retorted.

"Oh, I'll survive," I said. "Those two however..." I left the sentence unfinished.

After giving me a glance, Blue began talking in a more serious tone "Look, Red. Joking and bantering aside, be careful. Back in the tunnels, it was smart of you to buy time until backup came, but here, out in the open? You need protection. From what you described, these guys are serious. Serious enough that it took one of the four, a leader, and an armed squad of Plateau trainers to make them retreat. And not only did you help stop these guys' operation, you also gave them your trainer's name, which while might have seemed pretty badass at the moment, was actually pretty dumb if you think about it."

His eyebrows rose in concern as he continued "And that's not even the most worrisome part. The fact that there's no mention of this bust in the news, that worries me. If, let's say, this Jessie and James were only there to mine moon stones, well, why would the league keep this quiet? You'd see headlights like 'Plateau puts stop to smugglers', interviews, discussions, etc. Anything to make it seem as the government works, am I right? But no, this story was kept shut. Which begs the question, why?"

"The only logical conclusion is that there is more to what Jessie and James were up to in those tunnels than just evolutionary stones. And that unknown part of this story is somehow connected to the league. In a bad way." Blue kept on brainstorming. "In other words, you probably pissed off a lot of strong players that day Red, players operating on both sides of the law. Now, if I didn't know you, I'd advise you to go to the press and blow this thing out. I'm sure this professor you saved, Dr. Lome, would back you up. The league would be forced to give an explanation, you'd get protection, and the good citizens of Indigo would be informed of a shadow organization in our midst."

I stared at Blue open mouth. It was sometimes easy to forget he was an Oak, but times like these, where his brain would process and analyze information faster than anyone I knew, I would be crudely reminded again, that my rival was not one to take lightly of. His assumptions were all logical, and were almost enough to convince me that reporting what I had witnessed was the right thing to do.

Almost.

"Then again, I know you," Blue continued with an annoyed look on his face. "You being the selfish prick you are, don't care about anything aside yourself and what is yours - Arceus help us all if you actually become champion. So I know for a fact that, instead of doing the right thing, you're going to continue your journey as if nothing happened, and deal with your problems later, on your own - because why ask help when you're out of your league? Who cares if there is some sort of hidden connection between our government and an unknown, dangerous organization? The people, they care? Screw the people, I'm Trainer Red, I don't caaaare, I haaaate people, bla bla blaaa..." Blue mockingly finished, imitating my voice.

I laughed. "Seems like you've got me all figured out."

Blue rolled his eyes. "Yeah, go ahead and laugh, I mean it's not like all you got for yourself is a pikachu and one badge against men with guns and killer pokemon. Wait, no, that is actually all you've got for yourself. You're so full of it Red, but it's your ass that's on the line, not mine. All I can do is promise you that when I'm champion and in the power to do something, I'll take this threat much more seriously than you are right now."

"If you become champion," I corrected him.

"When I become champion, Mr. Smartass. Seriously, when did you get so witty and hung up on words?" Blue replied.

He wasn't actually expecting an answer, it was all playful banter, but I gave him one anyway. "After I met someone," I simply said.

Out of all the things I told him, this was probably the one that surprised him the most. "You. Met. Someone. Red, the people you've actually spoken with, heck, I bet I could count them with one hand. There's your mom, me, uh, Daisy, gramps, aaaaand, yep, no one else," Blue said. "May I learn the name of your latest acquaintance, you social beatifly, you."

That was when I told him all about Melanie, about how she lived, and why she had to live like that. I told him about her being psychic, and her pokemon. I realized a shadow drop on his face the more I kept talking, but, losing myself in conversation, I ignored it.

"She interests me. Mostly because of the way she speaks. She, uh, I don't know how to describe it, replaces words with some other made up words, I think. That makes her entire speech a giant puzzle, and I'm pretty sure, because of her gifts, her sentences have more meaning than she lets on. That's why I've been spending the last two nights with her, I'm trying to crack her code," I explained.

"Suuuuuuuure, trying to crack her code. Well, I guess it took a homeless and crazy chick for it to happen, but it was bound to happen eventually. Congratulations on finally getting some tail action, Red," Blue said, frowning, and with a tone I didn't appreciate.

I felt the blood rushing my cheeks, I hadn't told Blue about my other... activities with Melanie, but he was clever enough to figure it out. Not wanting my private life out in the open, I went on describing Melanie's unusual speech patterns. "Just the other day for example, during dawn, she used the word solgaleo. 'The solgaleo rises', that's what she said. It took me a while to understand she used the word solgaleo instead of the sun. Now, I don't know what that means, but... Blue? You okay?" I asked.

Blue's eyes were fixed on the water flowing in front of us. "Solgaleo. solgaleo. Solgaleo..." he kept muttering. He looked up at me. "Give me your dex," he said.

My interest weighing heavier than my reluctance to do so, I gave him my dex. He flipped it open. "You haven't been doing much homework Red," he muttered, pressing buttons on my dex rapidly. "Remember what gramps said about this dex: It includes all known pokemon, and updates itself as new ones are discovered."

"What? You mean solgaleo is the name of a pokemon? Impossible. I know all by name in the six regions," I said.

"Yeah, well, this one isn't in the six regions," Blue said, finally giving me my dex back.

My mouth popped open as I remembered the words of Professor Oak. Programmed to update as newer species in Alola are being discovered.

The screen of my dex showed the photo of a primitive, wooden carving. An unknown pokemon that resembled a slightly overgrown male pyroar was pictured. Underneath was the word "Solgaleo" carved.

I scrolled down to the explanations: "Not much is known about the locals' religious beliefs, they are not keen on sharing their 'gods' with foreigners, but from what I could decipher, like many primitive societies, they seem to be worshiping the sun and the moon. They see these two in the form of pokemon, Solgaleo and Lunala, of which the first I have taken a picture of - see above. I have yet to find either a drawing or any other kind of visual representation of its counterpart, Lunala. What's interesting to note is, that in their own language, they do not use the same word that means 'pokemon' in ours to define these two pokemon - they have another specific term for them. When asked if these two were treated differently because of their status of deities, none of their elders answered, save one who told me that they were 'other worldly', or 'from another dimension'. I pressed for more details, but the elder would say no more. I think I am done with this village, and I shall move on to the next, hoping for more answers. Samson Oak"

Startled, I closed my dex. Blue began speaking again immediately. "That's how gramps got to add the Alolan list to our dexes, Samson Oak, the head explorer of the Alola expedition, is gramps' cousin. The question is-"

"Why does Melanie call the sun solgaleo?" I finished his sentence. Blue however, shook his head.

"That's not the main question Red. Nobody knows what's going on in Alola, no one except those who are already there, high ranking league and military officials, and people connected like gramps. And us. And only because gramps entrusted us with these dexes." Blue's voice was shaking. "So, the question is, how is a homeless girl from Cerulean privy to knowledge that is not known to public? How on earth does she know what a solgaleo is, let alone use it correctly? 'The solgaleo rises', that sentence only makes sense if you know that solgaleo means the sun!"

"Not just solgaleo," I confessed. "She also has a nickname for me... Lunala-kicker." I shook the dex in my hand towards Blue. "Lunala kicker. According to Samson, lunala is the moon. Moon kicker. She told me I had kicked the lunala out of the rockets' hands. Meaning, I kicked the moon out of someone's grasp..." I couldn't finish my sentence, suddenly filled with understanding.

So was Blue. "She's talking about the Mt. Moon operation," Blue whispered. "You stopped people from mining moon stones. That's as close as you can get to kicking the moon out of someone's hands. Meaning, said someone is the-"

"Rockets." I finished him a second time. "Question is, are these guys actually named 'Rockets', or is there a double meaning to it, like the lunala and solgaleo thing?"

Blue groaned "How can you always ask the wrong questions Red? The question is not if these guys are actual rockets or not, it's how the frickin hell does she know about them at all!"

A long pause passed between us. "She's psychic," I finally said. "She might have plucked the information out of me." Even as I said it, I knew I didn't believe it.

"No way. No human psychic can be that strong. She might read instantaneous thoughts like your name or your starter's name, but not something that happened to you days ago, she's not an alakazam." Blue shook his head. "Whatever she is, you have to talk to her again Red."

He looked me straight in the eyes. "There's more to this girl than what meets the eye."

))(())((

"The Champion is right. You need protection," Melanie said.

After my talk with Blue, I had gone to Melanie's shelter. I had initially planned on asking how she knew the things she knew, but she had had other plans for me, plans to which I had been more than willing to agree.

Needless to say, I hadn't gotten a word in all night, and dawn was just about to break before she dropped that little bomb on me. I broke our embrace and faced her.

"The Champion? You mean Lance?" I asked. "What's he right about?"

"Not the Triple Headed Dragon, no," Melanie answered. I thought I understood her nickname this time, Lance was after all famous for his triple dragonite. But that meant-

"Yes, your friend, the Champion. He was right. You need protection." She looked at me. "You need a team."

I could barely hear her, I hadn't gotten over her calling Blue "The Champion". I spat out almost aggressively "I will be the next Champion. Not Blue. Never Blue."

She looked at me sympathetically, but she made no comment. I felt slightly ashamed for raising my voice. "It's just... Melanie I know your condition." I held her hand in mine. "But when you give out information like this, making prophecies, speaking in riddles... It seems as if you are," I chose my words carefully, "more. And I can't help thinking, was it a coincidence, that you found me two days ago by the canal?"

She turned her back towards me, ignoring my speech. "You have heart. You need five more. Also, a bench. A strong bench. Or you'll never leave the lagoon." she said.

"Okaaay, a bench. I'll look into it," I said, thinking about what she meant this time. The lagoon was obviously Cerulean City, what was this "bench" that I needed to leave?

"Don't look. You already know where to find it." She got up, and began putting on her torn clothes. "Also, follow the aurora, when in doubt."

"Got it. The aurora," I lied, I had no idea what this one was. I made a note in my mind to check my dex later, maybe it was another pokemon in Alola, or maybe she actually meant the northern lights.

Melanie stood still for a moment and her eyes went blank. "The aurora... is what made Melanie, Melanie," she whispered.

"What?" I jumped up, sensing what she said was important, maybe even something she wasn't supposed to, or even allowed to say.

"What? Oh, your heart is waiting." She changed the subject.

I looked her over. I really wanted to press further about this aurora, but decided otherwise. Besides, it was now morning, and I had to pick up Pikachu - despite the night's many distractions, his absence was like a hole in my heart. Oh. Wait. Heart. When she says heart, she means Pikachu. Gotcha, I thought.

"Listen, Melanie," I said. "I have to go now. I'm going to get Pikachu, and then I need to register my name at Misty's Gym. Afterwards though, I'll come back and maybe we can talk more about the... aurora? And maybe the Rockets? Is that okay?"

Melanie hummed to herself, not listening to me. Deciding now was as any a good time to leave, I was about to step out of the curtains that separated her hideout from the rest of the city, when suddenly I noticed something.

"Melanie, where are Mel and Anie? Where is Callidora?" I asked.

"Hmmmph? Oh, Mel and Anie are gone. But Alli is here, can't you see?" She gave me a dazzling smile.

"Right. Here. Ok. I'll take my leave," I muttered, and I made my way towards the pokecenter, where Pikachu awaited me.

))(())((

The nurses at the pokecenter told me they would bring Pikachu out in a minute. Judging that a minute's wait at a hospital would take more than an actual minute, I decided to check up Misty on my dex while waiting.

Misty, I read to myself. Born in Cerulean City. She is one of the few leaders who made it to Victory Road as a trainer before being assigned to a Gym. One of Indigo's younger Leaders, she's also well known for her volunteer work at her city's orphanages. Her main team consists of: Blastoise. Golduck. Gyarados. Starmie. Quagsire. Floatzel. Her signature pokemon: Roulette the Starmie. Her starter: Rainy the Squirtle.

This team is a huge problem, I thought. Unlike Brock's team, which depended only on physical superiority, Misty's was incredibly versatile. All members of her team were amphibian, and one was even airborne, her gyarados, which I was sure she had added to her team because of not only of the omega level monster's sheer strength, but also because of it being a counter to grass types, a common water type weakness. Which was also probably why she had a quagsire, the water type pokemon had an insulated flubbery skin, making it the perfect electric type counter. Another pokemon that worried me was Roulette, her starmie. From watching logs of previous battles, I knew this laboratory bred mon was a huge threat, simply because no one could predict its attacks.

I remembered reading an article once specifically on Misty's starmie. The article was asking whether if it was ethical or not to bring experimented pokemon in to the championship games, and was using Roulette as an example. Most pokemon are limited in their elemental attacks, the writer was arguing. But some, due to either mutations, or cross breeding, gain access to other types' powers, meaning rarely, in the wild, we might see, let's say, a psychic type like a gardevoir with ghost type specific characteristics, which it normally should never have. Naturally, this phenomenon has peaked scientists' interests, and using machines far too technical to describe in this article, some have even managed to artificially add one type of pokemon's ability to another's. A famous example would be Cerulean Gym's starmie, Roulette, who not only possesses the psychic, regenerative, and aquatic potential of its species', but can also produce electrical currents, drop the temperature of objects, store and release moonlight, boil water, and finally, concentrate its flash energy. Now, a monster like Roulette may be in the capable hands of a leader like Misty, but one has to ask the question, what happens when rookie trainers are allowed to simply buy such terrifying threats simply from their local research facility?

I sighed and scrolled down my dex, trying to find Misty's Gym's rules for single badge trainers. There it was, Clause Fifteen stated that if the challenger had one badge, the battle would be a three to two single battle in favor of the challenger.

I visibly slumped in my chair, I had to battle and win against not one, but two from Misty's team? Doubt was about to fill my heart, when suddenly I heard the all too familiar snarl.

I jumped to my feet, and there he was, sprinting between people and running away from the yelling doctors, my starter, Pikachu. He raced his way towards me and finally jumped.

I caught him midair and fell on my back from the added weight. How, just how had I even survived a single night without him? Him in my arms now, licking my face, all my doubts were cleared.

We were Pikachu and Red. Our goal was higher than Misty, and cheesy as it may sound, we would never let anything stop us. "Missed you too buddy," I muttered, scratching his ears. He growled pleasurably. I stood up and looked at him again - had he grown even more? No, that was impossible, but the single night separated from him had allowed me to see him differently, I was so used to his presence that I hadn't even noticed that throughout our journey Pikachu had grown twice the size of regular pikachu, and I would dare say he was about half the size of a raichu, maybe even larger.

I grinned. Blue could collect all the beasts he wanted - the one I had next to me now? Wouldn't trade him for the lot of them.

"Excuse me." An angry voice interrupted our moment, and I came face to face with one of the doctors. "The amount of damage your Pikachu caused trying to escape, what kind of trainer are you?! Who's going to pay for all that!"

Still grinning, I went towards the registrar to pay for the damage Pikachu caused, apparently after being stitched up, he had ignored the doctors' advice of resting the night, and tried to fight his way out, resulting in a number of shocked nurses, one still knocked out happiny, many appliances breaking, and Pikachu himself being physically restrained.

And that was how I spent the rest of the money I got from trading my moon stone.

))(())((

"Oh. Oooh. You're Pokemon Trainer Red!" the receptionist at Cerulean Gym excitedly said, after checking my trainer's card.

I said nothing, only glanced questioningly. Pikachu next to my feet growled.

"Misty's been expecting you, ever since she heard you've been in her city," the receptionist explained, then leaned forward as if giving a secret. "She's tight with the Police Chief, and well, since you were..." She didn't finish her sentence, blushing.

I got it however. Misty being a Gym Leader, was probably informed of my arrest, a new trainer who had just begun building himself a name.

"Well then, when would you like to schedule a challenge?" she asked.

Wait, what? When would I like to schedule? "I thought you were supposed to tell me when there was an opening in her schedule, not the other way around," I asked.

"Normally, yes, but for you Misty told us to make an exception. Between you and me, she was delighted after watching your battle against Pewter's Leader, she told all of us aides that if you were to challenge her next, we were supposed to fit you in her schedule whenever it was suitable for you. She likes trainers that... well, know what they're doing," the receptionist answered.

This was a first. But everything the receptionist said was confirming my suspicions about Misty, she was a true leader, keeping an eye out for competition and wanting to test rookies like myself. Brock's parting words echoed in my mind, no further leader will underestimate you. She was definitely not going to go easy on me.

I wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Just to be clear. I can challenge Misty, whenever I want, right?" I asked. The answer was affirmative.

"Then I'll get back at you later," I said, and walked out of the gym, leaving the receptionist behind me surprised.

"What?" I asked when I saw Pikachu's questioning look. "This is different than when we were against Brock. First of all, we're now against not one, but two pokemon from a leader's team. Do you think you could take two Diamondbacks?"

I chuckled when I saw Pikachu actually pondering on the question. "We need more teammates. And a strategy. Our first badge match, I was ninety percent sure what pokemon Brock would use against me, that made it easy to prepare. This time I've got nothing, though she'll probably use her quagmire for one, because she knows I have you, an electric type," I explained. "Which means a grass type wouldn't hurt. Anyways, if we can challenge her whenever we want, best do it when we have an effective counter strategy."

Pikachu nodded, my explanations satisfying him. "You know what," I said. "Let's go see Melanie. She's dropped some interesting clues so far, and... Oh, wait, you were at the pokecenter. Well, see, here's what happened while you were gone..."

During our walk I told him everything he had missed, though I was sure he didn't get half of it, and also seemed not interested about anything regarding Melanie.

My guess was that he didn't like sharing me.

When we reached the bridge under which Melanie lived, I was stopped dead in my tracks.

The place was surrounded by a police band. Two officers were talking among themselves.

There was no sign of Melanie.

I forced myself to walk up towards them. "What happened here?" I asked in a funny voice I could not have imagined coming from me.

Something in my face might have prompted them to answer me seriously. "A case M. We got a tip on a homeless, dangerous mutant," the female officer said.

"Don't worry kid. She's locked up and on her way to the Plateau. She's not a danger to anyone anymore," her partner continued.

I turned my back, despite my vision going red with anger. Pikachu, so attuned to my emotions, looked up, worried.

I would not describe myself an emotional person. But there was something in losing your first... first what? Melanie was not my girlfriend. Three days was not enough for me to love her.

We were barely friends.

But she was mine. She was someone who interested me, when rarely anyone did.

She was important.

And now she was taken away for the very reason that made her exciting. For being unpredictable.

Because of something that wasn't her fault. Because of something she was born with.

Because of me.

Because deep down, despite everything else I felt right now, despite the sense of loss and sadness, the emotion that drowned all the others was rage.

Because I knew who had tipped the police. Because I knew how he had done that, why he had done that.

Because I had told him so.

))(())((

I found him in the same bar we were in the last night. My punch landed right on his face.

He fell on the ground, blood spurting out of his nostril. "I guess I deserved that, but why the face?" Blue muttered.

He tried getting up, but Pikachu jumped on his chest, crouching and crackling his fur, growling, his jaw snapping.

Blue wisely decided against getting up.

I faced the barman. With one look, I convinced him to stay out of this. He gulped and began rubbing a dusty glass with his towel.

The bar was silent. All the customers were looking at us.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you were acting like a moron," Blue calmly answered, seemingly not bothered by Pikachu on him. "Because she was a threat to society."

"When I gave you my dex... you added a tracking function," I said.

"I did," he replied.

"You traced my location. You found out where she lived. Then you reported her."

"I did."

"You planned this the second I told you about her?"

"I did."

Pikachu shocked him.

His body spasmed, and his wide-open arms hit the floor up and down independent from his body. Foam came to his mouth, which he spat to the side.

Pikachu stopped.

"Do that again," Blue hoarsely whispered, panting. "Do that again Red, and we'll be having a very different conversation."

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh my fucking Arceus, use your fucking head!" Blue screamed.

I signaled Pikachu. Except the shock didn't come.

Two pokeballs rolled from Blue's sides. And suddenly I was launched in the air.

Glass broke behind me as I was hurled outside the bar's window. Blue's heracross, Invictus, stood in front of me. With one meaty claw, he lifted me in the air. My feet dangling helplessly, I saw Invictus also stepping on Pikachu, pinning him down, with Hope in contact, absorbing every shock Pikachu was sending.

Blue stepped outside after a minute. "I paid for the broken glass. Also doubled it for his silence. So I guess you owe me."

"I. Am. Not. Joking." I spat out.

"Neither am I," Blue coldly replied. "If you don't understand why I did what I did, let me simplify. You, my rival, want to be a Champion. For no other reason than the sake of it. To prove somehow you are the best. That you are different."

"Me, I want it because I believe in the title. I believe in this nation. Its people. I want to lead, not because of myself, because of them. If there were any other job I were qualified to do better, to help more, I would do it. In a heartbeat. But there isn't. So this is my dream." Blue continued in a silent voice.

Worse part was, everything he was saying, he was meaning it. This was his truth.

"When you believe in society and its structure, you work for it. If there's something you don't like, and believe me buddy, there's tons of it I don't like, you work for it to change. That's why I work as a trainer. With each battle, I get closer to the ultimate seat, to the power to right the wrongs. You, on the other hand..." He pointed his finger at me. "You ignore society. There's something wrong going on, you don't give a damn. Tell me, Red, why didn't you report what you saw in Mt. Moon?"

I struggled to free myself from the heracross, which only made him grasp me harder.

"Don't bother. I'll tell you. Because you could give two shits if anyone gets hurt by them." Blue's voice level was rising. "And you know what? I actually respect that. You take care of your own, by yourself. You cross a serious criminal organization, challenge them directly, and refuse to hide behind the media, that takes balls. I don't approve of your attitude, because I believe coming forth with this story would help society more. But Arceus damned I respect your attitude, because this was something you witnessed, you experienced, in some forsaken tunnel road, away from humanity. Who am I to judge what you do with this knowledge, even though if it were me, I would do otherwise, and maybe even go in there again to find these clefairy's miracle fountain, just imagining how much it could improve our medical knowledge! But like I said, your story, your experience."

"Then you come forth, with this girl, this girl who is clearly unstable, who has psionic potential, who lives in one of Kanto's largest cities. She can predict stuff for fuck's sake! And you think this individual should be best left alone? I draw the line there Red, because this doesn't only involve you, it involves everyone in Cerulean. What happens when, say, she goes mental one day and starts psychically attacking people?"

"She can't, she's not that strong," I managed to choke out, but Blue wasn't having it.

"But you don't know that! You don't know anything! And like always, instead of seeing this as a threat, a problem, you ignore it, even bed her! This, Red, this won't do. There's a reason why society has rules, why some of those simply have to be followed! See, as trainers, you and I know best, when it comes to the wild vs humanity, the wild wins. Even if you were to add the six realms together, how much fight do you think can they put against an entire world of beasts?"

Blue took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm explaining all this because you need to knock it in to your thick head the main philosophy behind our rules, our laws. They are designed to protect humans from threats. Even the seemingly safe ones. You claim that this girl Melanie is safe, despite the fact she can read minds, and knows stuff no one should know about, like the Alolan gods. Samson Oak has just learned about these deities' existences, yet she speaks of them as if she's known them forever. Deem her safe or not Red, you can't deny there's potential there, and by alerting the authorities, I've at least made sure that if she eventually snaps, no one will get hurt. And if there's no danger, then she's now in an institution, filled with people qualified to help her, heal her. She has a roof now above her head, and is getting fed three times a day. You hear me Red?" Blue almost pleaded with me. "I did this for everyone, including her."

"I hear you Blue. Loud and clear." I gritted through my teeth. "So far you've confessed you institutionalized a girl who hadn't done anything wrong, and given the chance that you would have raided the clefairy's sanctuary, just for the greater good. It's nice to see my rival aiming to be a different sort of Champion, only to act just like all the others."

The heracross dropped me. Hard. I didn't make a sound though. Pikachu was also freed from his step, I checked for injuries and found none, aside his pride. I looked at Blue.

"See you at the summit Red. That's probably going to be the only time worth talking to you again," Blue said while recalling his pokemon. Then he turned his back and disappeared into the night.

))(())((

I had crawled under the police band, and was now sitting in Melanie's usual spot, watching the water flow. Pikachu was curled on my lap, but tried not to move and distract me, he respected my need to be alone in my thoughts.

I was shaken, to be honest. I didn't want to think about him, but he had made some valid points. Like how I only wanted the championship title for myself, just so that nobody else could have it.

He had today beaten me, not because of his pokemon being stronger, but because of his beliefs supporting his drive to be Champion. I, who was all drive, but no belief, had lost today's battle between us. It didn't matter who was right, it only mattered that his arguments were supported by his whole body, soul, and mind. Compared to me, who was angry only just because, without anything behind it, he had won.

There was a lesson here today. Something that could be only learnt from the defeats that crushed your soul and not your body. Today I had learned, that having the potential to be great, having the capability of being great, and perhaps even actually becoming great, was not enough without meaning behind it.

Meaning, that until today I had not, but after now was becoming clear.

As were Melanie's words.

Alli is here. Can't you see?

Almost automatically, I got up and begun climbing the underside of the small bridge. Pikachu looked to me from down below like I was crazy, but I knew what I was doing. I reached the spot where I could see the end of the curtains tucked in the cracks of the bridge, I tugged once, twice, and let them fall.

A soft thud confirmed my suspicions.

I dropped myself, hitting the ground. Quickly getting up, I walked towards the great drapes, and picked up the old pokeball.

With one press of a button, Callidora the ivysaur was released.

I sat down in front of her. Pikachu stood next to me.

"Your master is gone," I said. Her head fell a bit, and her red eyes shivered like candle light, but otherwise she gave no reaction.

She probably already knew.

"You've lived your entire life down here with her, at the bottom, but at least with meaning. I'm on my way up, and am only just finding my meaning." I reached out my palm. "I can't promise anything else, except I will reach there. This one already knows." I gestured Pikachu forward. "That's why he follows me. So Callidora of Melanie Under-The-Bridge, I ask you, will you follow me?"

Her red eyes met mine, and after a minute that felt like eternity, a slippery thorny vine crept out of her back and surrounded mine.

I reached out and hugged her in close to my embrace. Pikachu fidgeted in his place, but otherwise didn't interrupt our moment.

My eyes were focused on the water, while my head was thinking.

I need to push forwards. That much I know.

I need to defeat Misty for that to happen. But even with an ivysaur and a pikachu, I still may not, she's too strong.

But Melanie said I already knew how to defeat her.

I forced myself to think on everything that had happened to me since I arrived in Cerulean.

The prison cell with Rusty.

Meeting Melanie.

The tournament.

Blue.

Wait. The tournament.

Could it be that easy? The answer was right there in front of me.

Because for all the strength of Misty's team, there was one thing it suffered from, all of her mons, in common. And it wasn't type weakness.

I grinned.

Pikachu is my heart. Melanie said I needed five more, because it takes six pokemon to make a main team.

But a main team is not enough.

I need a strong bench.

))(())((

Author's Note: Back from a two-and-a-half-week break, and with 2018's first chapter! Happy new year everyone.

About this chapter:

Let's see, this was a more dialogue heavy chapter, sorry for those who expected action. There was a much-needed confrontation between Red and Blue, and the first dialogue between them is actually a helpful summary of events for people who aren't binge reading.

I'm dropping lots of terms like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega, for pokemon power levels. Don't worry about them now, Blue will explain them in two chapters.

If the first dialogue between Red and Blue is confusing, that's probably because it's not presented linearly, like instead of first let's discuss this and this then that, it's more like a circle, where the topic randomly changes for a moment and then returns to the same one. Because let's face it, I strive for realism, and that's usually the way real life conversations go.

If you remember from Chapter One, Alola is still a newly discovered land without civilization, so there's that.

Also, there is my interpretation of TMs. For those who don't know, TMs, like breeding, allow pokemon to learn attacks they normally can't. So that's what Red's talking to himself about while reading Misty's bio.

Speaking of Misty, let's talk about Roulette. Now the way that article described Roulette is just a fancy way of me saying that starmie are the f*cking best. All those ability descriptions were actually me saying a starmie in the games can learn Psychic, Recover, HydroPump, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dazzling Gleam, Scald, and Flash Cannon, that's seven different types of attacks, four different haxes (frozen, paralyzed, burned, confused), and a reliable recovery, plus rapid spin. I'm a fangirl when it comes to starmie.

If you don't remember what's the problem with Melanie, last chapter Red explained why mutant humans like Melanie are forced to be driven away, though this chapter Blue also gave some pretty solid reasons.

Here's something else, I think you the readers get a hint about the characters of Red and Blue here, and while both have their right points, you might realize Red is a more self-absorbed kind of guy than Blue. Now I am NOT saying this story will follow the games EXACTLY to a point, but these characters were inspired by the games. Think about it, in the games the player character Red defeats his lifelong rival on a whim to become champion, and then says f*ck it and retires to a mountain, crushing his childhood friend's dream, basically for nothing.

Dick move Red, though that's why I like you enough to write.

Finally, can anyone guess what Red's gonna pull up against Misty? (And I promise you, it's not parafusion, I think one special tactic against one leader is quite enough)

Next Chapter: Finally, vs. Misty, and also back to our weekly updates! Expect a new chapter on January 21st.