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.

BLUE'S JOURNAL

The Jack:

Screams and people running in panic. I reach to my side, but something is wrong, what should be there is not and I am defenseless. I try escaping, but now all is quiet, and the people lie face down covered in blood.

The ground shakes familiarly. Am I on a boat? I look up, no, there is a sky clear and full of stars. Except the stars are all falling, falling, falling, and when they drop I realize they are not stars at all but instead glass chandeliers shattering, exploding on touch with the ground, their shards cutting the lifeless bodies like pieces of shrapnel. And out of the wounds gush a red liquid all too familiar like a tsunami, catching me and bringing me up high to the lightless sky.

I was wrong, I can see now that it isn't the sky but a mouth instead, a huge, gaping mouth with teeth surrounding it. My vision expands, I notice the giant wyrm attached to the black hole, twitching midair, and I am helpless, my silent scream is heard by none as the darkness swallows me.

Then come the voices.

"GARY! GARY!"

"I have him, take him, hurry!"

"Daddy, what's happening, what's happening?"

"Linda, get the kids, GET THE KIDS! GO! RUN!"

"Daisy honey, close your eyes, it's going to be okay, okay, alright?"

"Mom? MOM?"

"I need you to be strong honey, hold your brother, hold your brother here, mommy's going to go get daddy okay?"

"Mom, don't go, mom don't leave me!"

"...Mom? Mommy?!"

Bright flashes ripping at the dark blind me, something roars, and I cannot see but know it is coming, near, nearer, almost on top of me, about to squash me flat and I-

"Aaaaaarghhhhhhhh!"

I woke up and immediately threw up all over my hospital gown. Trapped where the line between reality and dreams was blurred, I allowed the nurses to fuss over me. One of them yanked the hospital gown I had off and went to bring a new one while the other cleaned the vomit and cold sweat.

And if a fairly attractive lady in a nurse uniform wiping your naked upper body with a towel soaked in hot water wasn't a call back to reality, then I didn't know what was.

"I'm okay," I managed muttering to the unconvinced nurse. "Really, I am. Just a nightmare."

An understanding look came to her eyes. "Completely understandable Mr. Oak, after that tragedy, I can't even imagine-"

The expression on my face must have convinced her to stop. Grimly, I lay back and waited in silence till the nurse was done, pondering on my dream.

What in the hellity hell was that all about?

It didn't take being a shrink to guess last week's S.S. Anne... disaster, for lack of a better word, had messed me up pretty bad. My body was already in poor health before because of my semi-suicidal attempt at catching Argo, and witnessing gyarados making an open buffet out of people wasn't exactly the medicine my doctor had ordered, plus a night's long exposure to the winds and rain born of the sea beasts' appetite had left me with a nasty fever. The one good thing that came out of this was because of my brave services during that night, a room at one of Vermilion's most luxurious private hospitals was reserved for me, free of charge.

Unintentionally my hands formed fists, if the nurses noticed they didn't say anything.

Brave services.

I hadn't done shit that night, except survive. It was Alexa who had saved us all, it was her who had braved the storm and dragons, her who had flown above it all to send the signal that saved everyone's lives. Me and Red? We had just held our ground and pulled those close to us, that was it.

Twenty-six people, not mention the many pokemon on board, including one of my own, were now dead. Partner was dead. Dead. Lives lost in the most horrid, degrading fashion anyone could ever imagine, chewed on by the man-eating beasts, drowned, or bled dry through open wounds.

All while I did nothing.

Some champion I was going to make.

This is survivor's guilt talking, my inner voice took charge. You're being too hard on yourself and you know it. You saved twenty lives that night, you and Red both. That's twenty husbands returning to their wives, twenty mothers hugging their children, twenty parents not weeping over their kids' bodies. You did what you could.

I did what I could... I almost smiled, and I could hear the venom drenched sarcasm dripping from my thoughts. I did what I could, sure. Tell me, if Lance was on board that night instead of me, what would have happened?

That is not fair, and you know it, my inner voice replied immediately as if in defense for a response he guessed was coming, which in a sense he actually did, since he was, uh, me. Just because you're aiming to become a champion, doesn't mean you get to compare yourself to one, not yet. You have some quality mons, yes, but you lack the experience. And for the record, even Lance couldn't have saved everyone from that many gyarados.

The whole point of this is to be better than even him! The best! So the people can prosper. So my people can live. So my people can have a night's afternoon celebrating a son's birthday with friends without the risk of being eaten. I shut my eyes. Do I have to wait three years before that can happen?

It's... still too early. You're still too inexperienced. The voice was soft, almost in a motherly fashion, not that I would know what that was like. And besides, not three years. Two years nine months. Time passes by quickly.

Like I needed a reminder. A minute's silent passed before I dared myself for the conversation I was not ready to have. So, about the second half of that dream...

Trauma triggers repressed memories, you already know that. My inner self was too quick. Apparently, you had a glimpse of the Safari Zone family vacation, the accident where we lost our parents. Albeit a very different one from Daisy's descriptions of the day.

I was barely a year old at the time. Can memories really reach that far back?

Don't ask questions you know the answers to.

Then those... voices. Dad and Mom? Huh.

And Daisy.

And definitely Daisy. The way she described the accident all those years... And I also read the police reports afterwards, she was the only reliable witness, granted she was six at the time but still, the way she had always told it... I imagined everything had gone...

Cleaner?

Yes. That they hadn't... suffered. This was as if it was a... hit?

...

Inner voice? You there?

There's two explanations I have. Either this is just a dream and you're projecting your recent drama to it, making you needlessly doubt the unchanging story of the accident your own sister has told everyone, from police authorities to family members, even gramps, for fifteen years straight. Or...

Or she's been lying all this time.

You need to talk to Daisy.

I need to talk to Daisy, I agreed.

"Mr. Oak, sir? Mr. Oak?" The voice of the second nurse returning with a fresh new gown interrupted my thoughts.

"Blue or Gary. Mr. Oak's the older, less handsome guy," I muttered.

She rolled her eyes at my response. "I'm not calling you a color. You have a visitor and he quite insists upon seeing you, been asking if you were awake yet for quite some time."

"I really don't want to see anyone in this position." I waved my hand up and down over my body barely covered by the clothing. "Tell whoever it is to come another time."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"And why is that?" I asked, intrigued.

"Because he owns the hospital and I don't want to lose my job."

And as if practiced beforehand, on cue entered Obadiah Silph himself.

"Leave us."

The nurses didn't make him repeat his words.

I tried pulling myself up from my bed as Obadiah Silph pulled a chair closer to sit near me, but with a wave of his hand he signaled me to stop. "Please, Mr. Oak, do not discomfort yourself on my behalf," he said with a controlled voice. "I will not take much of your time, and I'm only here to... I am only here to..."

Pity filled my heart when I heard the old man's voice crack, which reminded me the simple fact that this man, this business giant, this billionaire was, used to be, a father, an aging father, who had not only lost his two sons, but also his heirs, his last surviving blood, in last week's tragedy, a tragedy first organized as a celebration. Here was a man on the brink of emotional destruction, and from what I could understand by reading the little pieces of news I had kept track of during my time here, his financial empire wasn't doing well either; too many VIPs lives were risked and lost under the supposed protection of the Silph brand. Stocks were being sold at an alarming rate, and many wondered how long the Silph Company could keep the mightyena aiming to profit from a potential sell at bay.

Yet here was the man himself in person next to me, diligent and respectful as ever, even if he had the look of defeat in his eyes. What was it Red used to say, I thought to myself involuntarily. Eyes are not windows to the soul, but to despair.

"Mr. Silph," I said too quickly, not waiting on the old man to finish. "I cannot thank you enough for the care your people have put into me this last week, had I known this hospital was funded by your brand, I would have sent thanks through more appropriate channels. I, I know I speak on behalf of also my grandfather when I tell you this Mr. Silph: The Oak family will forever be indebted to yours."

The awed look on old man Silph's face lightened the darkness of his eyes but for a second before they reverted. His hands on my bed side trembled as he responded to my speech. "You Oaks, you shame me, really. My boy, I came here today to thank you, and I do not accept the other way around, no. Young master Oak," He swallowed before continuing. "It is my understanding that Pokemon Trainer Blue has saved many lives of my guests, guests I was supposed to protect. Had you, and young mistress Wiseman, and Mr. Red not been on board that night, I, I shudder to think the repercussions the Silph name would suffer. No, no my boy, I do not accept your thanks. I do not accept the debt you feel you owe me. If anything, it is I who owe you."

With that last remark, Obadiah reached into his pocket, and to my surprise, took out a checkbook of all things. "I, I know I insult you with this," He waved the wad of papers in his hands. "What amount of credits could I offer the Oak fortune already does not exceed, but in truth..." The last part came as a whisper. "This is all I can offer."

His voice picked up again, and a certain, ironic pride could be heard in it. "And I urge you to name your wish quickly, Mr. Oak, for I fear my signature will soon be worthless."

This is a great chance to compensate for what we lost when gramps cut us off, my inner voice began. With this, we can bank our jou-

"Mr. Silph," I said coldly. "You do insult me. Do you think so little of me, my name, to believe I would accept a monetary reward?" I paused, slightly hesitating before continuing. "Or do you believe by doing so, you could relieve your own guilt?"

His hands quickly turned to fists, and his face went red as blood rushed. "You dare-"

"YOUR SONS ARE DEAD!" I yelled. The impact my words had were visible, the blood left his face as quickly as it had come, leaving it chalk white.

I mercilessly continued my barrage. "Marc Silph is dead. Jacob Silph is dead. Your company has no future and is facing bankruptcy. And here you are, chasing the smallest of debts. Let me guess, you made the same offer to Alexa and Red too, didn't you?"

Bullseye. From the way his eyes twitched, I could tell I had hit the mark.

"You probably couldn't catch Red, he recovered quickly enough and disappeared shortly after. I'm guessing you did speak with Alexa though. And now me," I sighed. "Let's assume I had accepted your offer. Let's assume you had written a number there, signed it, and left. Then what? Free of the last remaining obligations your honor demanded be paid, would it be poison, or hanging, Mr. Silph?"

This time I truly caught him off-guard. "Wha- What?" he stammered.

"Do not, do not, tell me I've misinterpreted that look you have, Mr. Silph," I said cruelly. "I've seen it far too many times in my adolescence years on my sister's face. So, I'm asking how would you do it, Mr. Silph, poison or rope? Or, wait, drowning, isn't it? Closest way to feel how your sons felt. A better way would be finding a wild mon and-"

"STOP!" The old man yelled. "In the name of Arceus, I beg you, stop..."

And this time I did. I gave the old man a good minute to whimper and cry, I gave him a brief time, the only time, he had had since the incident to mourn. And I knew he had needed this, because I too was raised in a similar way, I too knew the burden of a name, the burden of aristocracy, where the private life was readied to be shred to pieces by the people who looked up to us elite. And I too knew what was expected of us in times of emergency: Stability.

There was no way of confirming it, but I knew it in my bones, I knew it as well as I knew myself, that ever since the S.S. Anne incident, Mr. Silph had done everything; he had made the proper apologies to the right people, paid the funeral expenses of those lost and hospital fees of those injured, done PR meetings within his company, he had done everything he could to make sure everything seemed fine when it wasn't, he had done everything he could... but mourn.

And more than the actual pain of grief, I knew it was the absence of it that drove people to end it all. I knew it from Daisy's early years, I knew it from gramps after the first few years. I might have been too young to remember that feeling of loss, but I wasn't that young enough to forget how it had affected those around me.

But we Oaks had it lucky compared to the Silphs; Daisy had me, and gramps had the both of us, not to mention the numerous responsibilities he had to Indigo. Bouncing back was easier for them than it would be for Obadiah Silph.

But damned if I was going to let another human death happen when I was around.

"Give your family the funeral they deserve," I said. "Mourn them properly. And then get back to work. Find your next of kin. Adopt, if you have to. But man up, for the Silph line has been too much and too long integrated with this nation to end now."

"And never forget, Mr. Silph," I whispered between his whimpers. "We are the elite. Our obligations to the people outweigh our own pain."

Never forget, I silently completed the sentence in my thoughts. That is my motive. That is my drive.

That is why I will be champion.

))(())((

There were a number of candidates for the title "most dangerous place in Indigo".

The Lake of Rage, a known breeding ground for gyarados, was certainly one. Mt. Silver, closed to all but league officials and sixteen-badgers, where most omega level beasts made their home, was another. Compared to these two, the Safari Zone was almost tame, but still arguably dangerous. As was the Victory Road cave.

But the truth was, not many human casualties occurred in these places, and for that we had the Indigo Rangers Organization to thank. After training school, after either sufficient gym training or badge numbers, a career path most trainers chose, rangers differed from Indigo's military and police force in one most important way: Instead of battling armed humans or trainers, rangers fought against beasts. They had one foremost goal and duty only, to guard the borders between humanity and the wild.

And naturally, it made sense that only the best of trainers within the I.R.O. were assigned to patrol the likes of Mt. Silver. A hundred sixteen-badgers patrolled the mountain regularly, twice that number of ten-badgers stood guard near. The I.R.O.'s central office in Fuchsia collaborated regularly with Koga's gym to assure visitor safety in the Safari Zone, and expert water and flying type trainers always watched over the Lake of Rage. And when not opened because of the Championship Games, Victory Road's monsters were held back by eight-badger rangers.

So, with Indigo's best-of-best trainers, second only to leaders and the four, keeping steady watch over these fortresses of the wild, any incident that occurred could be rightfully downplayed to simple bad luck; which was why this snorlax incident was taking too much screen time. People weren't used to warnings of a high-caliber, untrained duo of monsters roaming freely near the largest city in Kanto, and were rightfully alarmed.

But I digressed, the topic was the most dangerous place in Indigo. And if one were to define danger by a percentage of either loss of or injury to human life due to unnatural occurrences within a specific time frame, well, even Celadon City with its citizens' known lifestyle of debauchery ranked higher than the aforementioned places. So, could one argue that cities like Celadon, Goldenrod, and Cianwood, or isles like the Sevii chain, all places mostly human inhabited, but had the largest number of deaths due to drug overdose, gang wars, and intentional trained pokemon attacks were more dangerous than Mt. Silver or Lake of Rage?

Some would say yes; Red for sure, he would prefer dealing with the wild rather than humans. Me, I honestly believed no. But not that I would find the wild inhabited parts of Indigo worthy the title "most dangerous" either.

No, for me to say "this, this place is the one place I would never step foot into, fuck that"; that place could never belong primarily to either the wild or humanity.

No, for me to say those words, that place would have to be an equal composition of both sides; a place where the worst of both the wild and humanity lived, a place where man-eating beasts were free to hunt and where humans could commit illegal activities safely without fear of retribution.

In short, for me, the most dangerous place in Indigo was where I happened to fucking stand right fucking now, in the motherfucking Ruins of fucking Alph.

Alph, a city in ancient Johto that predated my ancestor Leonal Oak, supposedly a city of wonders and miracles, where the blind marveled at the artistry of painters, the mute spoke poetry, and the deaf cried tears of joy at the music played by talented bards. Personally, I never bought into such exaggerated tales, especially if it came from Johtons, who were a more romantic folk compared to us Kantons, but whatever, since all records were lost and the recovery of historical relics was near impossible due to reasons I would explain later, rumors and tales were the only backstory Alph had.

One thing was undeniable though, Alph was definitely the largest and strongest human settlement of its time. And how did we know this?

Because the wild tore it apart.

Red used to always argue in history class that there was no way to be sure the wild was responsible, to which I would reply, "If it looks like a ducklett, swims like a ducklett, and quacks like a ducklett, then it probably is a ducklett; there's no force other than the wild in this world that can bring that sort of destruction." And that would shut him up, but I could see he wasn't convinced.

If I were to be entirely objective though, I supposed he was right, with no records we couldn't be a hundred percent sure. But what else could have brought that scale of destruction, heh, maybe like most Johtons believed, frickn' Ho-Oh and its three emissaries? Dumb.

In any case, maybe the details escaped us, but the destruction itself, that was there. Covering the triangular area between Goldenrod, Azalea, and Violet, the massive landscape was full of the long-collapsed ruins of great palaces and temples, simple households, and fortresses and watchtowers, each covered in moss maybe a hundred times over, with viney roots of strong trees breaking through stone and marble. The wild that once invaded never left, and the grassy terrain welcomed new nests of pokemon. The fairy mists played tricks on human visitors' minds, the rain water accumulated within the stone debris and trees built lakes for water types to drag their prey in, and the psychic species' high-psionic influence could always be felt. The reports of the few ranger and military expeditions that had been made in the ruins told there was no reported sightings of omega levels, but more than plenty of alpha and high beta level pokemon, perhaps even in more concentration than any other place in Indigo.

And another species with high-concentration in the area was of criminal variety.

With its close proximity to three of Johto's main cities, was it any surprise that drug pushers and weapons smugglers chose to stack their cashes here? The ruins provided great hiding spots, the wild made their merchandise less likely to be discovered, and the bureaucratic disagreement between the three cities' police forces and the I.R.O. over whose jurisdiction the land fell under was exactly what those who operated outside the law needed. Sure, their lives were a constant struggle against the wild there, but like I had mentioned before, there were no omega levels present, so the fighting chance was fair for both sides. And even if a gang were to lose numbers to the wild, recruitment options were plenty due to the three cities' outcasts migrating towards the ruins, especially those from Violet where the Chief Police Station was located. The disowned punk, the unwanted bum and homeless, the drug addicts, they all had to find shelter from the cities that wanted their arrest, or at the least, their absence, and the ruins allowed these people a free zone.

Even before Agatha the ruins were a problem, and time had only made it worse. Generations of criminals toughened by the wild and knew the area's twists and mazes like the palm of hand, plus the wild pokemon accustomed to humans and their fighting strategies made the ruins difficult for the league to cleanse. And frankly, the league hadn't really tried; the words of Violet Leader Falkner, "If there's a beedrill in the room, I'd rather know where it is," perfectly summarized the official approach to the situation. By keeping the leash on the ruins relatively loose, the league at least guaranteed that Indigo's majority of criminal parties were away from the public and confined to a place where wild pokemon did the police's job of eliminating them. The league looked great on paper with low crime rates within city walls and was therefore happy, the criminals safe from arrest were happy, heck, even the wild pokemon were happy since they regularly feasted on man-meat. And so what if valuable historical research was thrown under the bus because the ruins offered no favorable condition for archaeologists and historians to study and the league offered no funding or solution to solve the problem, as long as the masses were content, right?

Ugh.

I really, really, really hated this place that showed the ugliest parts of our world. I pushed a tree branch in front of me out of the way and reached a clearing surrounded by broken down stone pillars. Throwing my bag down, I called back towards trees, "Let's take a break."

With a thud and snap, my heracross Invictus emerged. He was the one who would be acting as a companion for me today instead of Hope, honestly, this place was a bit out of her league. I had a sneaking suspicion Argo would love the ruins, but the problem with a seabed pokemon was that out of water, he was mostly stationary, it would be impossible for him to travel. Plus, I still wasn't comfortable using him, fifteen days were not enough for us to get familiar, the possibility of an icicle stabbing me in the back was too great.

Has it really been that many days? I thought to myself, but the date on my dex didn't lie. Two days after Obadiah Silph's visit I had been discharged, and since my loving gramps had cut me off the family fortune, I had no money at all and had been therefore stuck in Vermilion. I couldn't have paid someone to fly, shadow, or port me. My pidgeotto Sky wasn't large enough to carry me, also I didn't have a flying license anyway. I had briefly thought of borrowing from Daisy, wanting to speak with her in any case, but learned she was stationed in Sevii-Two and was out of reach. But thinking of her had reminded me; she had already lent me her alakazam prior the S.S. Anne event. A quick mental conversation with the pokemon had told me route no:36, just outside of Violet City, was a place where it had ported with Daisy before and was still in its memory. Which was almost perfect, because the next beast I had wanted to capture was in the ruins, I could walk the way from there to here, which I had done.

All this was almost perfect, because it still didn't solve my lack of funds. The equipment I currently had was what had survived my encounter with Argo; I was lacking on pokeballs, antidotes, berries, and all sorts of recourses with no chance of replenishing them. My hunting skills were sufficient enough to keep me fed, and Vic was capable of fetching his own food, but truth be told, wandering these dangerous parts in search of physical clues of the rumors that brought me here was not a task I was happily taking part in. Especially since my body was still weak, for the last few weeks I had been hospitalized far too much, and the hiking, hunting, and camping activities of the last six days were straining my muscles, reminding me I had led a far too stationary lifestyle for a trainer these recent days.

I sat on a larger piece of stone and checked my bag for some leftover furret I had hunted the other day. Vic meanwhile did a quick tour around the area checking for threats. Finding none, he took his place across me in the clearing and began performing his second dan swords dance katas. My heart swelled with pride as I saw him, the growth Vic had shown under my tutelage was remarkable; before he was a wild, poison-addicted killer, and now he was a wild, poison-addicted killer that fought more in control, more efficient. I didn't want to brag, but as Vic was right now, there were very, very few trained pokemon the league could offer that he could not defeat in a one-on-one physical match, and once he ascended to third dan, I was sure there would be none left.

My picked-up morale quickly fell once I realized I had underestimated my hunger and how much I had eaten the other night, the remaining furret was barely a mouthful. And what was worse, I had to eat it cold, I couldn't risk lighting a fire this deep in the ruins, if the more dangerous wild pokemon did not take care of me first, the smoke would attract the human mobsters. Disappointed and frustrated, I tried clearing my mind by once again reading the info on my dex that had brought me here.

"New drug, new gang? From the world of guerilla journalism, Reed Lucky brings you a story to chill the bones. A homeless family of five caught returning to Goldenrod from Alph try explaining their plight. 'The demon feasts,' cries the elderly and mentally unstable Ricky. 'It took El and Jo, it won't take me!' The El and Jo in mention are the bodies of the twin children wrapped in cloth in their parents' arms (Click for images. WARNING – the images may be too graphic for younger readers). Blood tests show the family has a history of drug usage, and the parents are under arrest for suspicion of forcing drugs on adolescents, but an officer on the inside tells a different story. 'I've been working the Goldenrod underworld for ten years,' our source claims. 'I have seen all sorts of effects drugs leave on people, and I've seen nothing that can leave two children in that condition.' The police remain silent on the question whether this might be a new drug aiming to enter the market."

"Ugh." I tried not vomiting, the images were disturbing at the least. "Whatever did that, that is not a chemical." El and Jo looked as if something had drained the life out of them, they were nothing but skin and bones, everything useful in between squeezed out. My guess, the police knew what did this, there was only one thing known to man that could do this, but they were covering it up, for they did not want to travel the ruins to hunt the perpetrator.

Cowards. Shaking my head, I scrolled further down my notes.

"Miracle escape! Rogue archaeologist Dr. Daniel Lowell recounts how he survived the Alph experience. 'I was and still am frustrated with the lack of interest the Plateau shows to this topic' says Dr. Lowell. "All of the priceless artifacts lying in those ruins, all we could learn from them! I am not the kind of person cowered by gangsters and wild beasts, so I took matters into my own hand. Hired a duo of trainers for protection, packed my gear, and after a week or so of preparation, was ready to explore the unknown. I explored the ruins freely for near a month, a paper will be published soon! Unfortunately, tragedy struck near the end, a dive to a cave-ruin resulted in me stumbling accidentally into what I could only assume was a heroin stash. I tried leaving, but saw from a distance my two protectors being butchered by hoodlums at the entrance where they awaited my return. Having no other choice, I ran for my life, alas the vile men were too quick on their feet and caught up soon. Cornered, I am not ashamed to admit I begged for mercy, when the most curious phenomenon occurred; all the men collapsed on their feet and fell into a deep slumber. I did not linger long, I ran for my life and…'"

"Yada, yada, yada..." I muttered. "Nobody cares how you holed up and survived on rain water and girafarig poo until a trainer found you. What's important is this." I tapped my finger on the word "slumber".

"What do you think happened Vic?" I shouted towards him, which he ignored with a grunt. Hope was much more of a conversationalist, I thought.

"I'll tell you what then," I said. "Isn't it curious that only the archaeologist remained awake? That every other human fell asleep? How does that happen? Unless…" I pointed at a picture of Lowell. "The article doesn't tell us everything, but we can guess Dr. Lowell here was wearing a gas mask. He says he just reemerged from a cave dive, it would be stupid of him to do so without one. And I'm willing to bet, alarmed and panicked as he was, he still wore it during the chase, finding no time to take it off. So, if we combine this info with our first story, then..." I looked up to see if Vic was following, and realized he was more interested in sharpening his horn against a tree.

"Suit yourself." I shrugged and kept reading.

"New year's psionic readings, top ten places in Indigo with psychic residue, and you'll never guess where just joined the list! 1. Lavender City: Long known a breeding ground for ghost, psychic, and dark types, is it any surprise this gruesome city tops our list? 2. Sevii-Three, Berry Forest: A coupling forest for hypno and drowzee, minors should beware visit. 3. Ilex Forest…" I scrolled further down until I found number ten. "10. Ruins of Alph: A surprise jump from last year where this place ranked fifteenth, one can only assume the year has been fruitful for the psychic types inhabiting these ruins!"

"The list is from a stupid magazine site, but the sources link to the I.R.O.'s main site," I said to no one in particular. "These measurements are true, so how on earth can a place jump five ranks at once in one year? Psychic and ghost types carry the most psionic potential of all types, and given their long life span and low breeding rate, I find it unlikely they birthed that many baby monsters in only a year. Nah, something else happened, either a powerful psychic outsider entered this habitat, or..." I grinned to myself. "Something evolved in the last year, something monstrous that put this place in this list."

"And finally," I continued my rambling. "There's this piece of news..."

"Water shortage in Alph? Rangers have stopped too many near dehydrated wild water pokemon marching out from the ruins and on their way towards the cities near…"

"Something's not only pushing water pokemon out of their habitat, but also claiming their territory for itself," I explained. "and mind you, these are not wooper or poliwag that are leaving, but feraligatr, swampert, and golduck, pokemon high up the food chain. So, combining all of these clues together, what do you think we're dealing with, Vic?"

Kra-aaaack.

With a deafening crash, the tree Vic was practicing on finally broke and fell. He looked proud upon the ruin he brought.

"Exactly," I said. "Now, pay close attention, because you're going to be instrumental in catching this guy." I reached into my bag, pulling out the one thing that would either save or destroy us in the upcoming battle. Vic's bug eyes widened as he saw what I had pulled out. "Here's the plan…"

))(())((

"Champion Blue! Champion Blue, you've defeated the fourteenth challenger since your fifty-year reign, any comments on the match?"

"Champion Blue, are the rumors true that Elite Four member Red will be retiring, and your son is ready to take his place?"

"Any word from the first Indigon settlements in Alola?"

"In only fifty years, crime rate is near zero percent, expansion against the wild is successful, and humanity lives it golden age, how do you manage Champion Blue?"

"Alright, alright, save the questions for the press conference later. Shoo you all, shoo," says the spiky-haired blonde woman. Her blue eyes turn towards me, and she leans forwards to whisper, "Red's in the throne room waiting, Mr. Oak, seemed urgent."

"Fifty years, Daisy, and you still call me that." I chuckle as we close the door on the crowd behind us. "It's Blue now, nobody has called me Oak since that day. Why do you still insist, sis?"

"Sister privilege, kid. Besides, it's always good to remember your roots." She points to the portrait of Leonal Oak as we walk together through the Hall of Champions.

"Oh, also, gramps called, he congratulates you on the latest victory. And asks some extra funding for the Pallet branch of Oak Laboratories." Daisy says.

Wait, hadn't it been fifty years? How was gramps still alive?

"-ary? Gary?"

"Huh?" I mutter, distracted.

"You passed out for a second there, kid. You okay?" Daisy asks, worried.

"I'm… fine," I lied. "The treasury's full of unspent money, so I don't see any reason to decline gramps' request. I'll call him in the afternoon. Now sis, if you'll excuse me..." I enter the throne room, where my childhood friend, my best friend, is waiting.

"One last thing, Gary," my sister calls. "I just wanted to say… You did the name good, Gary. Mom and dad would be proud of you." She hesitates for a second. "I'm proud of you."

I smile genuinely. "Appreciate it, sis. Now get out of here, and give my favorite nieces and nephews kisses."

Grinning, Daisy shuts the door as she leaves, and suddenly it's only me and him in the room, alone. I turn towards my childhood friend, my best friend, and ask-

He looked exactly the same as when we were teenagers? And so did Daisy?

-if there were any news on the rockets.

"Completely and thoroughly eliminated." Red grins. "Our spies proved worthful, we captured every single one of the terrorists. I personally caught their leader myself and brought him to the Plateau, he awaits your interrogation."

"Good," I say. "This is justice fifty years in the waiting, it's time we brought some consolation for the Silph family." A sudden sadness tugs at my heart. "I suppose you'll be leaving the four and returning to your wife, Melanie, now that our deal is complete?"

"Hmm, maybe, maybe not. Have you already found my replacement?" he asks.

"As if there's any replacement to Pokemon Trainer Red, deadliest trainer in the world," I answer.

"Second deadliest," he retorts automatically, "you beat me fair and square fifty years ago, and you've kept to your word ever since that if I stuck with you, with the league backing me, I'd have my revenge on the rockets. And so I have." He looks at me uncomfortably.

"What is it, brother?" I ask.

"You've always said you would do it," he says in a monotone voice. "That you would inspire people, save them, redeem them. That you would bring stability and safety. And you've done it. And here I find myself wondering…"

"Wondering what, Red?" I urge him.

"What's next in Pokemon Trainer Blue's life, and… if it's perhaps worthwhile to stay and see it." He laughs. "I find myself… inspired? Is that the right word?"

I can't help it, I hug him and-

This wasn't real. None of it was. It couldn't be.

Because no matter what the future held, there was no timeline where Red would accept serving under me.

I felt the tears forming in my shut eyelids, and in my sleep, I muttered the words, "Hurry, Invictus."

-clap my hand on his back. "You're staying!"

"If you promise to stay interesting," he says. "Perhaps, I was wrong, perhaps humans were never boring…"

Now that I knew this was a dream, the fakeness of it was obvious, the cheesiness of it, the one-dimensional happiness it emitted. I hated the pokemon that made me see this, but secretly, I admired the power of it, keeping me asleep even when I knew I was in a dream, keeping the construct going even though I was aware it was all fake, fighting my body and mind to force the dream upon me as reality; this power was other-worldly.

And if my heracross did not hurry, I would soon lose to it.

"We have to celebrate," I cry. "You, your wife, and your mother; our place, tonight. I'll call gramps and Daisy. The children will be so happy, they haven't seen each other in…"

Invictus...

"Arceus, Blue, slow down," Red says. "I haven't even made my final decision-"

Vic...

"Nonsense," I cut him mid-sentence. "You're just playing coy. Now, let's discuss the futu-"

"AAAAAAARGGGGHHH!"

My cry was primal, full of rage. I felt the heavy pressure in my mind lessening, however, by no means disappearing, yet the hold the foreign mind had was now weakened enough that I could break myself free from the illusion. I wiped the tears in my eyes with one hand and stood up, prepared for the battle.

But not the horror.

I felt it under my shoe before I saw it; the crushed human skull, and the accompanying skeleton lying in front of it. The little grown grass covering the field I was in did nothing to hide the remains of dead pokemon and people, and the fresher, less disturbed bodies looked similar to the pictures of El and Jo: Bones covered in skin or fur, with no meat in between.

Next, I noticed the stillness and quiet around me, not a single bird chirped, not a single bug buzzed, any noise one expected to hear in a wild covered place like the ruins, all were cancelled, further confirming the idea this place was an avoided dead zone.

And the reason stood in right in front of me, with Invictus' horn stabbed right into its body.

It was grotesquely thick, in other words, fat. Its size, twice as tall as Invictus, should have been impressive on its own enough, but what I couldn't keep my eyes off was the incredible, unbelievable number of heads that surrounded the top of its trunk, just below where the huge leaves sprouted. The regular number for its species was three, exceptional trainers could train those with four, and Leader Erika had a record-breaking, five headed one. Here, here was a six headed beast, one never seen or heard of before.

And by the way all six heads were grimacing, they were giving their all to keep Invictus from breaking their body in half. That shift of focus in attention was what had allowed me to wake up.

The purple eyes of Invictus showed my plan was working. It was obvious from the clues that we were dealing with a dream-eater, a pokemon that feasted on its prey's lifeforce as it slept. The regular culprits for such an act would be hypno and haunter, but if we were dealing with either of the two species here, then Dr. Lowell too would have been put asleep together with his chasers; the sleep inducing hypnosis these two species performed worked on a psychic level. The fact that a gas mask had prevented it made me suspicious that our culprit used sleep spores instead. Adding to this suspicion the facts of sudden growth in psionic residue and migration of water pokemon led me to believe a recently evolved, very, very gluttonous and strong, possibly mutated species was now in the area.

And the exeggutor in front of me checked all the boxes.

"Enjoying Vic's mind, you fat freak?" I asked sarcastically as I made my way towards the exeggutor. The heads on my side of the body fixed their look on me immediately, and when Invictus pushed forwards and dug his horn deeper, the eyes winced in pain.

"Yeah, it's hard to control an addict's mind, isn't it? I imagine it's not pleasant trying to find some sort of coherent thought you can focus on in all that dreamy, rainbow covered murkiness," I continued. "Once it was pretty obvious I would be dealing with a grass-psychic dual type, the first thing I did was pump Vic's blood here with poison." I took out and shook the empty vial in my hand, and a pleasurable moan came out of my heracross' mouth.

"Isn't it just great how venom not only just augments his strength, but also increases his adrenaline secretion, leaving him in a permanently excited state where he can't be put to sleep?" I put my hand on the exeggutor's trunk, its - her, I realized – body trembled slightly, but when Invictus dug deeper in, she stopped.

"Many think addicts are a bother, but me, I personally find some charm in them." I looked up to the three heads near facing me with a hateful expression. "But enough about Vicky here, let's talk about you, you gluttonous fuck."

"I'm guessing you were a sextet of exeggcute, each already relatively powerful, but there was a bit of mixed blood in there, wasn't there? Maybe one of your heads had a distant hypno relative? Just guessing. In either case, that's how you grew this big - and fat, if I may add." On my signal Invictus dug even deeper, and greenish blood mixed with water gushed out the wound. The exeggutor shook violently, but the prong on Vic's horn held the coconut pokemon in place. Ignoring the action, I continued.

"Normally, when a hive of exeggcute evolve into an exeggutor, they need immense amounts of nutrition, that's why you don't see exeggutor with more than three heads around, the grass type body can literally not afford anymore mouths to feed. There's only so much nutrition in sunlight and water after all." I explained. "But you, thanks to your mixed heritage, you found a way around that problem, didn't you? Yes to sunlight and water and all that regular shit, but you also began draining the lifeforce of all these poor beings around here by utilizing a deadly combo of sleep powders and dream-eating. That's how you grew so big, that's how you grew so strong."

Powerful psionic potential with a unique ability added, plus all the annoying grass type crap; sleep powders, stun spores, leech seeds, and vines. Truly, a useful jack-of-all-trades, this one here, I thought to myself.

"Now normally when it comes to recruiting pokemon as strong as you, I have a whole routine. I beat them myself at what they excel at and make them accept me master, willingly, because I know real strength comes from there. That's how I got Vic here, that's how I got Argo - you'll meet him later. With you though..." Try as I might, I couldn't hide the disgust in my voice. "I'll do no such thing. You see, Vic might be crazy, and Argo might be a psycho, but they both have a code of honor they follow. You," I waved my hand around this makeshift cemetery we were in, "are nothing like them. You're just a pathetic, insatiable parasite sucking the life out of everything within a certain radius. And so, you'll be dealt with as the disgusting piece of slob you are."

I turned and began walking. "I'm going leave Vic here now alone with you. He has instructions to beat you to the inch of your life, but not kill. And when you come to your senses, when your grass type body heals itself, Vic's gonna take another swing at you. Then another." At this point of my speech, I deliberately lowered my mental guards and pulled out the image of the twin children, El and Jo, in my mind. "This will continue until Vic gets off the poison high… And then, only then, will I capture you, and you better get in that ball the first try, because I only have a few pokeballs left and no money at all. And if you don't get in, well, I guess you'll have to meet Argo sooner than intended. We'll just test the range of your spores against his spears..."

I left the clearing, the exeggutor's both physical and mental screams still ringing in my head.

And try as I did, I simply couldn't muster a single ounce of pity for the pokemon.

Might have been because the first skull I stepped on when I woke up, it had been a human infant's.

))(())((

Author's Note:

Long time no update, apologies. Long story short, I decided to listen to my reviewers and friends, and spent my time fixing all the grammar and dialogue mistakes of the previous chapters before posting a new one, that's 3047 quotation marks and 127k words. The revised chapters will be uploaded during this weekend. (NOTHING storywise has been changed or added.)

In case the timeline is confusing, this story takes place after the S.S. Anne event but before Red won his third badge, while he was still training in Diglett's Cave. Invictus' and all heracross' biology regarding poison and adrenaline was explained in the first Blue chapter, and how mutations worked was briefly touched upon in Chapter 7 of Red, when reading Misty's bio, in case anyone claims exeggutor don't learn dream eater naturally. Oh, and dream eater is a move that drains an asleep pokemon's life, if you're not familiar with the games.

Exeggutor is in my opinion Blue's signature pokemon in the games, there is no other pokemon that he uses in every version of himself in every main series game; from the good ole days of red and blue to the newer Alolan Islands, Blue has always had an exeggutor in every team. I tried to give it justice and spin it in a way as it would come as a surprise, but I might've dropped too many hints, eh, whatever, hope you enjoyed.

So far, our Oak boy has; Jolteon, Heracross, Cloyster, Exegguttor, and a bunch of bench pokemon. Based on the hints on cores I've dropped, can anyone guess the last two pokemon? Mental hugs and congratulatory cookies to anyone who do.

Next chapter: End of month, in two weeks. (This time for real.)